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ex-progamers, fresh from KeSPA retirement and unable or unwilling to suppress their need for competition. The latest crop of Afreeca debutants is one of the strongest ever and the new kids on the block wasted no time in making their presence felt.
The most notable of the bunch is obviously ex-Hwaseung and T8 Zerg, Killer, who has looked a level above most of the players on Fish since he begun streaming a few months ago. Although he was placed in the relatively weak Group B, Killer was imperious in the Ro32, advancing with perfect play and a perfect score. Elsewhere, recent retiree and former Hwaseung player, Perfectman, looked relatively assured as he advanced to the Ro16, dismissing beast 3-0 in the Group B final match.
Yet another former ex-OZ progamer, Saber_Lt, made a strong impression as he topped Group E. Saber’s good form is a pleasant surprise given the amount of time that has passed since his retirement and his relatively recent arrival to the BJ scene. His performance against Sexy was especially impressive, taking two solid late-game wins over a Terran player who has previously taken wins off the likes of Minho and Luxury.
Amateurism Fading
However, not all is lost for the semi-pros. Lead by IcaruS[ScM] and Shinee, two players who have been competing at the highest level on Fish and West for a number of years now, a small number of hard-working and well-prepared semi-pros have made it to the Ro16 and stand a decent chance of making it further if things work out their way.
Shinee, the Hulk Terran. You wouldn't like him when he's angry.
Whether it’s a case of the better players from the pro scene displacing those who were never quite good enough to make it or just disenchantment for long time BJs who have lost their audience to famous ex-pro streamers, it is sad to see the guys who competed so valiantly in the past drift away from the scene. With the SOSPA Proleague due to begin soon, there should be an opportunity for the players who for a long time formed the core of this scene to again have a reason to practice and a chance to compete. While technically the SSL is an amateur league, the huge influx of A team progamers into the scene in the last year has slowly begun to marginalise the old guard of semi-pro and amateur players who were for a long time the lifeblood of the Afreeca scene. Swift eliminations for the likes of force[name], Minus)mahell and AsiaSin[ScM] paint a bleak picture for the future of those players not lucky or talented enough to have spent time as part of a professional team.However, not all is lost for the semi-pros. Lead by IcaruS[ScM] and Shinee, two players who have been competing at the highest level on Fish and West for a number of years now, a small number of hard-working and well-prepared semi-pros have made it to the Ro16 and stand a decent chance of making it further if things work out their way.Whether it’s a case of the better players from the pro scene displacing those who were never quite good enough to make it or just disenchantment for long time BJs who have lost their audience to famous ex-pro streamers, it is sad to see the guys who competed so valiantly in the past drift away from the scene. With the SOSPA Proleague due to begin soon, there should be an opportunity for the players who for a long time formed the core of this scene to again have a reason to practice and a chance to compete.
The King is Dead, Long Live the King(s?)
Anyone who watched Afreeca streams regularly during the first half of 2012 will remember Minho_Lt. When he was at his peak and playing a lot, Minho was one of the best players to ever compete in any Afreeca tournament. His management was as good as sAviOr’s, his mutalisk aggression as good as Luxury’s and his speed and mechanics as good as HiyA’s. He was both the most entertaining and the most dominating player that you could ever hope to watch. Unfortunately for Minho, his best play came at a time when there weren’t many leagues to play in and he began streaming less and less before getting temporarily banned from Afreeca for some Terror-esque antics.
Minho still entered this tournament as a player most would have expected to at least reach the bracket stages but in his series versus Sexy he looked like a shadow of the player that he was a few months back. Conveniently, however, a group of new Zerg players have appeared to fill the void that Minho had left.
The first is Killer, who, while not quite as fast or as aggressive as Minho, comes to us with OSL Ro8 pedigree and teachings from the mouth of The Dong. There’s little doubt that Killer is an objectively better player than Minho and his performances so far in showmatches and on Fish ladder make him look like a clear favourite to win this league and any other he may choose to participate in.
Another player who has shown sufficient potential to fill the void that Minho left is former CJ Entus progamer Cola. While he was actually active on Afreeca at the same time as Minho, competing in HSL and SSL6, Cola never showed much in the way of form, being eliminated in the Ro32 of both tournaments. Since he began streaming his FPV on Afreeca, Cola’s play has improved significantly and his performance in the Ro32 of this SSL gave viewers an inkling of why CJ chose to draft him back in 2010. He is fast, very fast, and his management-oriented style of play is a lot of fun to watch when he gets up and running. While he doesn’t have the experience of Killer or the flair of Minho, Cola brings something unique to the table that we hope to see more of in the future.
Finally there is Saber_Lt, a player who we knew little about prior to this tournament. He is one of the seemingly ever expanding ex-Hwaseung crew and his play in the Ro32 was genuinely impressive. One to watch out for.
Sky Rockets in Flight
Evil has a face.
At the start of 2011, when there was a huge rush of individual tournaments taking advantage of the newfound wealth of ex-progamer fame and viewer numbers, the main question was when HiyA would finally win something. In Terror and Hodduk’s Starleagues, HiyA was undone by his former teammates, losing to Sexy in the TerSL Ro8 and Anytime in the HSL Ro4. In SSL6, everything seemed to fall into place for HiyA. He was drawn on the opposite side of the bracket to all three of his former teammate Protoss and crushed his Ro8 and Ro4 opponents easily. In the final, he met Sky, a player who conventional wisdom said had the weakest PvT of the three ex-OZ Protoss.
Unfortunately for HiyA, it wasn’t to be. Sky won the final, claimed the 1.5 million won prize and then proceeded to go on an absolute tear. He topped the Fish ladder for the first time and in doing so became one of a select few to ever exceed 2000 points, he won numerous showmatches and was for an extended period of time the player to beat in any Afreeca tournament. After a while it seemed like Sky got bored, he was less active on Afreeca and Fish and he fell in showmatches to players like Pusan and Sexy, players that he never would have lost to when at his best.
Fortunately for us, it looks like Sky is trying again. His performance in the Ro32 was vintage Sky; weird, slow and damn effective. His wins over Shinee and Zergman, two very strong players who have been at or around the top of Fish ladder for some time, were exactly what you would expect from Sky when he is on his game. Sky is one of the most unique and intriguing characters in the Afreeca scene and his ability to produce interesting, if imperfect games, is unparalleled as evidenced by his Sky is a hard player, or indeed person, to get a measure of. His APM is low, often sitting at well below 100 in the early-game, his play is often unorthodox and his manners are not always very good. In spite of this, he is very, very good at Starcraft.At the start of 2011, when there was a huge rush of individual tournaments taking advantage of the newfound wealth of ex-progamer fame and viewer numbers, the main question was when HiyA would finally win something. In Terror and Hodduk’s Starleagues, HiyA was undone by his former teammates, losing to Sexy in the TerSL Ro8 and Anytime in the HSL Ro4. In SSL6, everything seemed to fall into place for HiyA. He was drawn on the opposite side of the bracket to all three of his former teammate Protoss and crushed his Ro8 and Ro4 opponents easily. In the final, he met Sky, a player who conventional wisdom said had the weakest PvT of the three ex-OZ Protoss.Unfortunately for HiyA, it wasn’t to be. Sky won the final, claimed the 1.5 million won prize and then proceeded to go on an absolute tear. He topped the Fish ladder for the first time and in doing so became one of a select few to ever exceed 2000 points, he won numerous showmatches and was for an extended period of timeplayer to beat in any Afreeca tournament. After a while it seemed like Sky got bored, he was less active on Afreeca and Fish and he fell in showmatches to players like Pusan and Sexy, players that he never would have lost to when at his best.Fortunately for us, it looks like Sky is trying again. His performance in the Ro32 was vintage Sky; weird, slow and damn effective. His wins over Shinee and Zergman, two very strong players who have been at or around the top of Fish ladder for some time, were exactly what you would expect from Sky when he is on his game. Sky is one of the most unique and intriguing characters in the Afreeca scene and his ability to produce interesting, if imperfect games, is unparalleled as evidenced by his Ro32 game against Shinee. With Killer on the scene now and HiyA looking as strong as ever, the likelihood of Sky taking back to back SSL victories seems slim, but viewers should look forward to Sky’s games for as long as he’s able to stick around.
By ArvickHero 10 Recommended Games
10 Mong vs Force[Name] on Neo Jade
+ Show Spoiler +
From the ground-breaking studio AfreecaTV and visionary director Sonic. Force[Name] and Mong, starring in "Crazy Zerg"
9 Mong vs Pusan on Neo Electric Circuit
+ Show Spoiler +
The Spirit is unaffected by Age.
8 Shinee vs Sky on Neo Jade
+ Show Spoiler +
Shinee and Sky, mud wrestling. Action-packed, scrappy, and dirty.
7 ZergMaN vs Sky on Neo Jade
+ Show Spoiler +
Scrappy, low-econ PvZ game. And then suddenly. Corsair/Scout.
6 KangTaeWan vs Terror on Fighting Spirit
+ Show Spoiler +
Terror, the king of ceremonies. But something goes awry this game.
5 Hint vs Saber on Neo Electric Circuit
+ Show Spoiler +
Sick strategy, but will it work?
4 Mong vs Minus)ZeLoT on Neo Jade
+ Show Spoiler +
Never a dull moment.
3 Sexy vs Hint on Neo Jade
+ Show Spoiler +
The game isn't over until it's over.
2 KangTaeWan vs Ondol on Neo Electric Circuit
+ Show Spoiler +
There are no such thing as hard-counter units in this game.
1 LYH vs Soma on Fighting Spirit
+ Show Spoiler +
Great back-and-forth PvZ.
By Simplistik Shinee vs Sky[kaL] Battle Report
It's the Ro32 of the SSL. The map is, a semi-pro Terran player who once participated in the ill-fated MyStarleague. He goes up against the reigning SSL champion, Protoss player, a former Hwaseung Oz pro and Dream League powerhouse(?!). This is Sky's first game on the road to defending his title. Last season he saw off Anytime, and to clinch the gold. Can he do it again?
Shinee lands in the top left as the yellow Terran. Sky, in red, warps in at the bottom left. Both players open standard with a supply building. The map is fairly balanced for PvT, so Sky starts his nexus after making twelve probes. By that time Shinee is already half-way through building a barracks as well as a very fast refinery.
One can clearly sense early game shenanigans. Sky continues by warping in a gateway, getting his gas and making a second gateway as well as a cybernetics core. Shinee starts a factory as soon as he has collected enough gas. He also sends out two Marines and a huddle of approximately six SCVs.
The first zealot kills the two marines, but gets taken down by a vulture. Meanwhile probes have prevented the first bunker attempt. The second attempt is thwarted by Sky's first two dragoons.
Denied. For now...
Shinee stays on one base, continues to produce vultures and starts siege tank production, while upgrading from his single machine shop. Sky is researching dragoon range, while starting down the robotics tech path. A few dragoons scamper around the map, but don't find anything. With spider mines available Shinee inches his way towards the Protoss natural expansion. When siege tech finishes the shelling begins in earnest.
The sound of siege tanks makes me shiver.
A few vultures find their way into the Protoss main and manage to kill a few probes. At the same time Sky uses a shuttle loaded with two dragoons to pick off a reinforcing siege tank. Shinee is still on one base when that shuttle arrives in his main base. However, missile turrets, spider mines and vultures convince the lone dark templar passenger to stay on board.
The Siege Tanks have finally gotten in range of the Nexus. Shinee has also re-positioned his Barracks to solidify his position. But Sky has also been busy at home, researching Leg Enhancement, adding a number Gateways and making a round of Zealots. He uses them to great effect by destroying every single Siege Tank.
Where have all the siege tanks gone? Zealots killed them every one.
With his early push nearly in ruins, Shinee realises that there are only very few Protoss units left in the field. He orders his remaining marines and vultures forward, killing a number of dragoons and forcing the probes to evacuate to the safety of the main base.
Attack!
At the same time the Terran commander has realised that he can't stay on one base any longer. He starts his second command center approximately eleven and a half minutes into the game. Sky finds himself in a little bit of trouble, having no observers to help him get up his own ramp. And what does a self-respecting Protoss do in such a situation? He uses his previously ineffective dark templar shuttle to kill several reinforcing units including at least two siege tanks.
An observer finally arrives, allowing the dragoons to break into the natural. The nexus barely survives. Due to the different state of the players' respective economies Sky is able to overpower the contain with pure dragoons. He celebrates this achievement by taunting his opponent in the chat.
"Ki Ki"
After that mad moment the game calms down a bit. Shinee tries to get his two base economy going and adds a few factories. Sky replinishes his probes and continues to warp in dragoons. He fakes a storm drop, wasting some SCV mining time, and takes his third base. The Terran responds in kind by building a third command centre.
Both players continue to macro up. Shinee is evidently concerned about arbiters, so he starts construction of a science facility and assembles some goliaths. Sky has a few high templars charging up their energies. The first weapon upgrade research starts.
The game seems to be progressing normally. The Terran player fortifies the ridge connecting his natural expansion to his third base, while the Protoss takes a fourth base in the bottom right empty main. The end comes so suddenly that the observer nearly misses it. A great storm drop wipes out nearly all the SCVs at the natural. Shinee realises that he only has a handful of SCVs left and is also behind in tech and army size, so he taps out.
GG.
The previous six seasons of the SSL passed me by. So this was actually one of the first SSL games I ever watched. It was packed with action, had some tense and some funny moments and was overall of fairly high quality. But most importantly it reminded me of two games I really like:
By kjwcj Round of 16 Previews
Group A Group B Group C Group D Pusan Mong Killer Cola IcaruS Perfectman HiyA Sky Larva Shinee Hint Ample Soma Saber KangTaeWan Koala
Group A
Through an oddity of the group drawing procedure used by Sonic, Group A finds itself with three players who won their Ro32 groups. In spite of this, it doesn’t seem like a particularly strong group, with none of the players in it being considered strong favourites to win the tournament or even reach the final. Group A can best be characterised as a group of underdogs, with Pusan, IcaruS and Larva all having shown, both in the Ro32 and in other tournaments, that they have the potential to upset the very best but not quite the level of skill to consistently be a factor.
This is the most normal Pusan's face has ever looked.
Pusan and IcaruS look to be the two clear favourites to progress, with the winner of their meeting likely deciding who advances first in the group. These two have some history in the SSL, with Pusan eliminating IcaruS 3-1 in the Ro8 of SSL6. IcaruS’s TvZ looked strong in the Ro32 and with both Larva and Soma having exhibited little proficiency outside of ZvP so far, he looks in good shape to make it to the Ro8. Pusan ought to be a little more worried, his PvZ often relies on gimmicky play and up against Larva, his clanmate and regular practice partner, he’s unlikely to have any new tricks to pull. In the past, Pusan has been able to pull of a decent macro game when the occasion calls for it, his ability to do so here will likely be the difference between the Ro8 and elimination.
Pusan and IcaruS to advance.
Group B
In congruence with the strange circumstances of Group A, Group B finds itself with three second place getters from the Ro32 but has ended up looking like a much stronger group. All four players have shown enough to suggest they’re good enough to reach the Ro8 and who advances will likely be decided by how the match-ups shake out and the form of the players on the day.
As the current leader of the SOSPA BJ rankings, a lot is expected of Mong in this tournament. He is probably the best equipped player in the entire tournament to take down Killer, with TvZ having been his specialty since his days as a CJ progamer. However in the Ro32, Mong looked like he’d be lucky to even making to the Ro16, needing five games to defeat relatively unknown semi-pro Minus)ZeloT in the Group A final. Having looked that vulnerable in what has always been his strongest match-up, it will be one hell of a revival if Mong gets it together and advances from this group.
Elsewhere, past SSL champion Shinee only just scraped through Group D after winning 3-2 versus ZergMaN and Perfectman advanced easily over relatively weak opposition in the form of beast[kaL]. As the only player in this group to have advanced to the Ro16 in first place, Saber looks to be in an excellent position to continue his impressive debut run into the Ro8. With a solid victory over strong TvZ player Sexy in the Ro32, Saber should be favoured against both Shinee and Mong based on the form they’ve shown so far in the tournament. Saber’s other Ro32 series, a ZvP against Hint was a good clean win but doesn’t prove anything conclusive about his ability to take out a player of Perfectman’s experience. This group may come down to Perfectman’s ability to win a PvT, a match-up in which he has not been tested so far in this tournament but one in which he was probably least awful during his career as a progamer.
Saber and Perfectman to advance.
Group C
Group C features two of the favourites to win the whole tournament facing off against two players who needed needed all five games to advance from their Ro32 groups. Hint played some neat PvT as he reverse swept Sexy in Group E and has a slim but definitely real chance of taking down HiyA, whose TvP has been his Achilles’ heel in past Afreeca leagues. KangTaeWan won a lot of TvZs as he advanced from Group F but will likely pose little threat to either Killer or HiyA.
Two out of three ain't bad.
This group, then, is essentially about one Bo3 between HiyA and Killer to decide who gets the better seed into the the Ro8. Past meetings between the two have generally swung in favour of Killer, with the ex-T8 Zerg’s more recent exit from the progamer lifestyle likely playing a big role. HiyA’s standard TvZ is excellent and he also has the ability to mix in some builds which could take his old teammate by surprise. Although, HiyA’s ability to execute standard play is about as good any other Terran in the tournament, it probably isn’t good enough to beat Killer in a long game. Preparation or invention could be key for HiyA here but even then it’s hard to say whether or not it will be enough to overcome the best player in the tournament. Either way, this is the most high profile match-up of this round and the victor will likely be favourite to win it all.
Killer and HiyA to advance.
Group D
While Group B is difficult to predict because of the strange form of its competitors, Group D has the same issue simply because all the players involved are so good. Sky and Koala demolished their groups with consummate ease, Sky having appeared to regain some of his past form and Koala setting a record for the quickest 4-0 in history, taking a little over 30 minutes of gametime to win a weak Group H. Their good performances in the Ro32 should have given them confidence about reaching the Ro8 and if the groups were drawn differently they may have been favourites. The two second place getters have potential to upset things however.
Cola’s only real mistake so far in this tournament has been to get drawn in a group with HiyA. While his ZvT didn’t look objectively bad in his Group C match against the ex-OZ Terran, it wasn’t anything close to being enough to win him the group. After being quickly dismissed by HiyA, Cola rallied and was a level above his two remaining opponents, StarCue and Minus)eagle. Having reached the Ro4 of the last SSL, it was a bit of a surprise that Ample just barely scraped through to the Ro16 and based on his showings against both Perry and He)Jy, he should be desperate to avoid playing Sky in any meaningful scenario.
Although it is closely matched, based on his past form and current level of activity Sky should have enough to advance from this group in first place. The real fight should be for the second spot and as in Group B, it will likely come down to which match-ups are played and the individual form of the players on the day. Although he struggled in the Ro32, Ample’s past experience in these tournaments and his strong TvT showings give him enough of an edge to be the favourite for that second slot but the group remains finely poised.
Sky and Ample to advance.
WRITERS: kjwcj, Simplistik, ArvickHero
GRAPHICS: HawaiianPig
EDITORS: SirJolt, 2Pacalypse- It's the Ro32 of the SSL. The map is Neo Jade. The challenger is Shinee, a semi-pro Terran player who once participated in the ill-fated MyStarleague. He goes up against the reigning SSL champion, Protoss player Sky[kaL], a former Hwaseung Oz pro and Dream League powerhouse(?!). This is Sky's first game on the road to defending his title. Last season he saw off Pusan and HiyA to clinch the gold. Can he do it again?Shinee lands in the top left as the yellow Terran. Sky, in red, warps in at the bottom left. Both players open standard with a supply building. The map is fairly balanced for PvT, so Sky starts his nexus after making twelve probes. By that time Shinee is already half-way through building a barracks as well as a very fast refinery.One can clearly sense early game shenanigans. Sky continues by warping in a gateway, getting his gas and making a second gateway as well as a cybernetics core. Shinee starts a factory as soon as he has collected enough gas. He also sends out two Marines and a huddle of approximately six SCVs.The first zealot kills the two marines, but gets taken down by a vulture. Meanwhile probes have prevented the first bunker attempt. The second attempt is thwarted by Sky's first two dragoons.Shinee stays on one base, continues to produce vultures and starts siege tank production, while upgrading from his single machine shop. Sky is researching dragoon range, while starting down the robotics tech path. A few dragoons scamper around the map, but don't find anything. With spider mines available Shinee inches his way towards the Protoss natural expansion. When siege tech finishes the shelling begins in earnest.A few vultures find their way into the Protoss main and manage to kill a few probes. At the same time Sky uses a shuttle loaded with two dragoons to pick off a reinforcing siege tank. Shinee is still on one base when that shuttle arrives in his main base. However, missile turrets, spider mines and vultures convince the lone dark templar passenger to stay on board.The Siege Tanks have finally gotten in range of the Nexus. Shinee has also re-positioned his Barracks to solidify his position. But Sky has also been busy at home, researching Leg Enhancement, adding a number Gateways and making a round of Zealots. He uses them to great effect by destroying every single Siege Tank.With his early push nearly in ruins, Shinee realises that there are only very few Protoss units left in the field. He orders his remaining marines and vultures forward, killing a number of dragoons and forcing the probes to evacuate to the safety of the main base.At the same time the Terran commander has realised that he can't stay on one base any longer. He starts his second command center approximately eleven and a half minutes into the game. Sky finds himself in a little bit of trouble, having no observers to help him get up his own ramp. And what does a self-respecting Protoss do in such a situation? He uses his previously ineffective dark templar shuttle to kill several reinforcing units including at least two siege tanks.An observer finally arrives, allowing the dragoons to break into the natural. The nexus barely survives. Due to the different state of the players' respective economies Sky is able to overpower the contain with pure dragoons. He celebrates this achievement by taunting his opponent in the chat.After that mad moment the game calms down a bit. Shinee tries to get his two base economy going and adds a few factories. Sky replinishes his probes and continues to warp in dragoons. He fakes a storm drop, wasting some SCV mining time, and takes his third base. The Terran responds in kind by building a third command centre.Both players continue to macro up. Shinee is evidently concerned about arbiters, so he starts construction of a science facility and assembles some goliaths. Sky has a few high templars charging up their energies. The first weapon upgrade research starts.The game seems to be progressing normally. The Terran player fortifies the ridge connecting his natural expansion to his third base, while the Protoss takes a fourth base in the bottom right empty main. The end comes so suddenly that the observer nearly misses it. A great storm drop wipes out nearly all the SCVs at the natural. Shinee realises that he only has a handful of SCVs left and is also behind in tech and army size, so he taps out.The previous six seasons of the SSL passed me by. So this was actually one of the first SSL games I ever watched. It was packed with action, had some tense and some funny moments and was overall of fairly high quality. But most importantly it reminded me of two games I really like: fantasy vs Stork and Bisu vs Hwasin. And so I got hooked (again)!Through an oddity of the group drawing procedure used by Sonic, Group A finds itself with three players who won their Ro32 groups. In spite of this, it doesn’t seem like a particularly strong group, with none of the players in it being considered strong favourites to win the tournament or even reach the final. Group A can best be characterised as a group of underdogs, with Pusan, IcaruS and Larva all having shown, both in the Ro32 and in other tournaments, that they have the potential to upset the very best but not quite the level of skill to consistently be a factor.Pusan and IcaruS look to be the two clear favourites to progress, with the winner of their meeting likely deciding who advances first in the group. These two have some history in the SSL, with Pusan eliminating IcaruS 3-1 in the Ro8 of SSL6. IcaruS’s TvZ looked strong in the Ro32 and with both Larva and Soma having exhibited little proficiency outside of ZvP so far, he looks in good shape to make it to the Ro8. Pusan ought to be a little more worried, his PvZ often relies on gimmicky play and up against Larva, his clanmate and regular practice partner, he’s unlikely to have any new tricks to pull. In the past, Pusan has been able to pull of a decent macro game when the occasion calls for it, his ability to do so here will likely be the difference between the Ro8 and elimination.Pusan and IcaruS to advance.In congruence with the strange circumstances of Group A, Group B finds itself with three second place getters from the Ro32 but has ended up looking like a much stronger group. All four players have shown enough to suggest they’re good enough to reach the Ro8 and who advances will likely be decided by how the match-ups shake out and the form of the players on the day.As the current leader of the SOSPA BJ rankings, a lot is expected of Mong in this tournament. He is probably the best equipped player in the entire tournament to take down Killer, with TvZ having been his specialty since his days as a CJ progamer. However in the Ro32, Mong looked like he’d be lucky to even making to the Ro16, needing five games to defeat relatively unknown semi-pro Minus)ZeloT in the Group A final. Having looked that vulnerable in what has always been his strongest match-up, it will be one hell of a revival if Mong gets it together and advances from this group.Elsewhere, past SSL champion Shinee only just scraped through Group D after winning 3-2 versus ZergMaN and Perfectman advanced easily over relatively weak opposition in the form of beast[kaL]. As the only player in this group to have advanced to the Ro16 in first place, Saber looks to be in an excellent position to continue his impressive debut run into the Ro8. With a solid victory over strong TvZ player Sexy in the Ro32, Saber should be favoured against both Shinee and Mong based on the form they’ve shown so far in the tournament. Saber’s other Ro32 series, a ZvP against Hint was a good clean win but doesn’t prove anything conclusive about his ability to take out a player of Perfectman’s experience. This group may come down to Perfectman’s ability to win a PvT, a match-up in which he has not been tested so far in this tournament but one in which he was probably least awful during his career as a progamer.Saber and Perfectman to advance.Group C features two of the favourites to win the whole tournament facing off against two players who needed needed all five games to advance from their Ro32 groups. Hint played some neat PvT as he reverse swept Sexy in Group E and has a slim but definitely real chance of taking down HiyA, whose TvP has been his Achilles’ heel in past Afreeca leagues. KangTaeWan won a lot of TvZs as he advanced from Group F but will likely pose little threat to either Killer or HiyA.This group, then, is essentially about one Bo3 between HiyA and Killer to decide who gets the better seed into the the Ro8. Past meetings between the two have generally swung in favour of Killer, with the ex-T8 Zerg’s more recent exit from the progamer lifestyle likely playing a big role. HiyA’s standard TvZ is excellent and he also has the ability to mix in some builds which could take his old teammate by surprise. Although, HiyA’s ability to execute standard play is about as good any other Terran in the tournament, it probably isn’t good enough to beat Killer in a long game. Preparation or invention could be key for HiyA here but even then it’s hard to say whether or not it will be enough to overcome the best player in the tournament. Either way, this is the most high profile match-up of this round and the victor will likely be favourite to win it all.Killer and HiyA to advance.While Group B is difficult to predict because of the strange form of its competitors, Group D has the same issue simply because all the players involved are so good. Sky and Koala demolished their groups with consummate ease, Sky having appeared to regain some of his past form and Koala setting a record for the quickest 4-0 in history, taking a little over 30 minutes of gametime to win a weak Group H. Their good performances in the Ro32 should have given them confidence about reaching the Ro8 and if the groups were drawn differently they may have been favourites. The two second place getters have potential to upset things however.Cola’s only real mistake so far in this tournament has been to get drawn in a group with HiyA. While his ZvT didn’t look objectively bad in his Group C match against the ex-OZ Terran, it wasn’t anything close to being enough to win him the group. After being quickly dismissed by HiyA, Cola rallied and was a level above his two remaining opponents, StarCue and Minus)eagle. Having reached the Ro4 of the last SSL, it was a bit of a surprise that Ample just barely scraped through to the Ro16 and based on his showings against both Perry and He)Jy, he should be desperate to avoid playing Sky in any meaningful scenario.Although it is closely matched, based on his past form and current level of activity Sky should have enough to advance from this group in first place. The real fight should be for the second spot and as in Group B, it will likely come down to which match-ups are played and the individual form of the players on the day. Although he struggled in the Ro32, Ample’s past experience in these tournaments and his strong TvT showings give him enough of an edge to be the favourite for that second slot but the group remains finely poised.Sky and Ample to advance.kjwcj, Simplistik, ArvickHeroHawaiianPigSirJolt, 2Pacalypse- WriterA former Laurel police officer who pleaded guilty to photographing his girlfriend's 15-year-old daughter as she got out of a shower was sentenced Monday to four years in prison for the sexual abuse of a minor.
Howard County Circuit Court Judge Diane O. Leasure also sentenced 38-year-old Edward Charles Schmitt to a one-year term for use of a hidden camera. The state sentences will be served concurrently with the seven-year federal sentence Schmitt received earlier on a child pornography charge.
Schmitt could have received up to nine years on the state charge.
Schmitt pleaded guilty in federal court June 14 to receiving child pornography. He was suspended by the Laurel police force in April of 2010 and resigned four months later.
Earlier this year, Leasure found Schmitt guilty of sexually abusing a minor after he admitted to hiding a small camera in the closet of his live-in girlfriend's home in February 2010. Schmitt left the camera in the closet to take pictures of the teenage girl dressing after a shower. Schmitt also masturbated in front of the camera.
After police searched his house, Schmitt was found to be in possession of nearly three dozen sexually explicit images and more than a dozen videos of minors on two of his computers. The pictures and videos showed minors, some under the age of 12, engaged in sadism and masochism.
One of the computers contained a video card with the 15-year old girl undressing.
don.markus@baltsun.comSenate minority leader Harry Reid is the most vulnerable Democrat up for re-election in 2016, and may retire to duck a humiliating defeat, according to a new analysis of the 2016 race.
“We identified Reid as probably the most vulnerable Democratic incumbent in this Senate cycle,” said a " Crystal Ball" report from the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.
It’s also possible that he will retire, although his heavy fundraising and public comments suggest that he’s running again,” said the latest report from analyst Geoffrey Skelley. Recent reports suggest Reid is going for his sixth term.
The analysis found that of all senators ever to seek a sixth term, Reid’s ratings and margin of victory in past races puts him on the endangered list.
But it also notes that the Nevadan is among the best in pulling off last-minute victories.
“There are 71 other senators who have won at least five straight elections, but Reid’s record arguably makes him the greatest of the Senate survivors,” said the report.
In his last election, for |
controlled cell growth [39, 40]. Also, the E5 protein in oncogenic PVs decreases exposure of the infected cells to immune surveillance and decreases cellular dependence from external growth factors [41, 42]. Oncogenic PVs are responsible for virtually all cases of cervical and anal cancer cases and for a fraction of cancers of the penis, vagina, vulva and oropharynx (Fig. 2). Progression of precursor lesions to invasive cancer usually requires more than one decade, which allows time for the cancer screening programs, identification and treatment [27].
Figure 2. View largeDownload slide PV phylogeny reconstruction. Best-known maximum likelihood nucleotide phylogenetic tree of the concatenated E1E2L1L2 gene sequences of full-length 263 PV genomes. Phylogenetic reconstructions yield four well-supported PV supertaxa. Colour code highlights the four crown groups: red, Alpha-Omikron-PVs; green, Beta-Xi-PVs; ochre, Lambda-Mu-PVs; blue, Delta-Zeta-PVs and white, PVs without well-supported phylogenetic relationships. Branches in black correspond to HPVs and branches in grey to non-HPVs. Outer labels indicate the most common tropism for the groups encompassing HPVs. Carcinogenicity of HPVs is indicated: a black dot indicates International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) group 1; a white dot indicates IARC groups 2A or 2B. Animal PVs with carcinogenic potential are marked with a black triangle. Asterisks on branches correspond to ML bootstrap support values. Two asterisks indicate maximal support values; one indicates support values between 90 and 50; and values under 50 are not shown
Figure 2. View largeDownload slide PV phylogeny reconstruction. Best-known maximum likelihood nucleotide phylogenetic tree of the concatenated E1E2L1L2 gene sequences of full-length 263 PV genomes. Phylogenetic reconstructions yield four well-supported PV supertaxa. Colour code highlights the four crown groups: red, Alpha-Omikron-PVs; green, Beta-Xi-PVs; ochre, Lambda-Mu-PVs; blue, Delta-Zeta-PVs and white, PVs without well-supported phylogenetic relationships. Branches in black correspond to HPVs and branches in grey to non-HPVs. Outer labels indicate the most common tropism for the groups encompassing HPVs. Carcinogenicity of HPVs is indicated: a black dot indicates International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) group 1; a white dot indicates IARC groups 2A or 2B. Animal PVs with carcinogenic potential are marked with a black triangle. Asterisks on branches correspond to ML bootstrap support values. Two asterisks indicate maximal support values; one indicates support values between 90 and 50; and values under 50 are not shown
PV DIVERSITY AND TAXONOMY
The study group of PVs, within the International Committee for the Taxonomy of Viruses, provides guidelines for PV classification and nomenclature (http://ictvonline.org/index.asp). Biological taxonomy is a human convention, and changing borders between categories reflect disagreements between splitters and lumpers. Virological taxonomy is also disputed [43], but a clear definition of viral taxonomical levels is essential for comparability between datasets. Since 2004, PV taxonomy relies on nucleotide sequence comparisons [44], and since 2010, PV classification should integrate phylogeny, genome organization, biology and pathogenicity [45]. The L1 gene has been chosen as yardstick for building PV comparisons, and taxonomic categories are based on percentages of identity at the nucleotide level in this gene. Threshold definition is facilitated because the distribution of evolutionary distances among PVs shows a multimodal distribution [44–46], even if these distances are not homogeneous throughout the whole PV tree [46].
Viral taxonomy standards do not implement taxonomic categories below viral species. However, for the PV community, the clinically relevant taxonomic level is the ‘type’: two PV genomes sharing more than 90% nucleotide identity in the L1 gene belong into the same PV type [44]. Isolates from closely related PV types may show very different phenotypes. As an example, HPV16 and HPV31 are sister taxa and display similar tropism, but HPV16 is 15 times more prevalent in cervical cancer than HPV31 [47]. Similarly, HPV6 and HPV11 are sister taxa and cause similar productive lesions, but differ in tropism, as HPV6 is more often associated to genital warts, whereas HPV11 is more often associated to respiratory papillomatosis [48, 49]. The International Agency for the Research on Cancer classifies also PVs at level of type depending on their carcinogenicity (Fig. 3). The clinical focus at this taxonomic level is further obvious in the current developing trends of commercial assays for PV identification, essentially in the context of cervical cancer screening, which provide tools for genotyping always at the level of PV types [50], as well as in the choice for vaccination targets.
Figure 3. View largeDownload slide Classification of carcinogenicity used by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). IARC’s programme relies on international working groups of scientists expert in the particular area under investigation. The working groups analyze the information from case reports and epidemiological studies on humans, animal studies and other relevant biological data to evaluate the carcinogenicity of different agents to humans. Agents are classified into one of the four carcinogenicity groups. (Data extracted from IARC Monographs vol. 100B and 104.)
Figure 3. View largeDownload slide Classification of carcinogenicity used by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). IARC’s programme relies on international working groups of scientists expert in the particular area under investigation. The working groups analyze the information from case reports and epidemiological studies on humans, animal studies and other relevant biological data to evaluate the carcinogenicity of different agents to humans. Agents are classified into one of the four carcinogenicity groups. (Data extracted from IARC Monographs vol. 100B and 104.)
Around two-thirds of the full-length genome PV types entries in the Genbank correspond to HPVs. The strong research focus on PVs and cancer has led to the description of around 60 types in the AlphaPVs genus, which harbours all oncogenic HPVs associated to anogenital cancers. The advent of rolling circle amplification first and of next-generation sequencing later have largely expanded the number of HPVs classified as Beta- or GammaPVs, with both genera spanning now over hundred HPV types. Results from metagenomic surveys suggest that we may have already identified most human AlphaPVs [51], whereas most of the unexplored HPV diversity may belong within the Beta- and GammaPVs [52, 53]. This trend is also reflected in the evolution of the number of PV sequences available in the Genbank, with AlphaPVs reaching a plateau, whereas BetaPVs steadily increase and the number of GammaPVs has rocketed (Fig. 4). It is very interesting to note that two PV genera (Mu- and NuPVs) encompass only three HPVs for which no close relative has been described thus far. Should this difference in number be true, it would imply a large variation in differential success, as measured in terms of number of lineages infecting the same host, for different PV genera, in the sequence GammaPVs > BetaPVs ≥ AlphaPVs >> MuPVs ≥ NuPVs.
Figure 4. View largeDownload slide Evolution of the number of PV sequences available in the GenBank. Data have been extracted at the level of type for the genera encompassing PVs infecting humans: Alpha-, Beta-, Gamma-, Mu- and NuPVs. The evolution of the number of different full-length genome HPV16 variants is also shown. The trends in the number of sequences available indicate that although the members of AlphaPVs, the best-studied PVs, have reached a plateau, the number of Beta- and GammaPVs is still increasing. Only three members within Mu- and NuPVs have been described. Although largely undersampled and constantly growing, the number of animal PVs represents one-third of the global known PV diversity
Figure 4. View largeDownload slide Evolution of the number of PV sequences available in the GenBank. Data have been extracted at the level of type for the genera encompassing PVs infecting humans: Alpha-, Beta-, Gamma-, Mu- and NuPVs. The evolution of the number of different full-length genome HPV16 variants is also shown. The trends in the number of sequences available indicate that although the members of AlphaPVs, the best-studied PVs, have reached a plateau, the number of Beta- and GammaPVs is still increasing. Only three members within Mu- and NuPVs have been described. Although largely undersampled and constantly growing, the number of animal PVs represents one-third of the global known PV diversity
PV EVOLUTION
The consensus in the PV community poses that partial phylogeny mirroring between hosts and viruses suggests that virus–host coevolution is the main driving factor of PV evolution, even if other mechanisms also contribute significantly [54, 55]. PVs are thus conceived to be well adapted to their hosts and to evolve slowly.
Mutation and substitution rates in PVs
PVs do not encode for a DNA polymerase, and the viral genome is replicated during S-phase by high-fidelity cellular polymerases with error correction. Mutation rates and mutational biases ought to be thence close to those of the hosts. However, genome composition and codon usage preferences in HPVs do not match those of the host genome. They are instead enriched in A+T and display extreme codon usage preferences [56–58], as much as that there is not a single instance of match between the most used synonymous codon by HPVs and by human genes [56]. These compositional differences possibly reflect a bias in the mutation/selection evolutionary processes that still needs to be understood. Regarding mutation, it is conceivable that viral infection could modify the polymerase biases by altering the biochemical environment for PV genome replication. Additionally, the PV genome could be a target for the cellular APOBEC3 cytidine deaminase [59], resulting in a C>>T bias similar to those observed in several cancer genomes [60]. Finally, viral genome replication occurring in superficial layers of the skin may be exposed to increased UV radiation and therefore subject to additional error-prone mechanisms linked to resolution and repair of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers [61]. Regarding selection, three adaptive explanations for the biased codon usage preferences in PV genes have been proposed. First, wild-type PV genes are usually poorly translated in cell culture [62, 63]. It has been classically claimed that PV codon usage preferences have been selected for because they decrease viral protein synthesis, thereby lowering immune exposure [64] and experimental evidence in vivo with the rabbit model also points in this direction [65]. Second, it has been postulated that codon usage preferences in PVs may have evolved to match the varying tRNA profile of the keratinocyte through the differentiation program [66]. Finally, the barely 8-kb PV genome accommodates overlapping genes, transcription, regulatory and splice sites [67] and is subject to complex differential methylation during the life cycle while avoiding accumulation of CpG islands that could elicit immune response [68]. The biased codon usage preferences of PV genes may thus reflect the trade-off between all these forces optimizing the protein coding and non-protein coding information encrypted on the viral genome.
Estimates for PV substitution rate, i.e. the rate at which mutations are fixed in the PV genome, fit well our common understanding of viral mutation rates, with dsDNA viruses showing the slowest evolutionary rates among viruses [69, 70]. Estimates for PV coding regions render values between 2 × 10−8 and 5 × 10−9 substitutions per site per year [71, 72], whereas the non-coding, regulatory region of the PV genome accumulates mutations around two-times faster than the coding regions [73, 74]. These values are slightly higher but around the same order of magnitude than for mammals, reinforcing the idea that PVs use the cellular polymerases with proofreading capacity. Experimentally, the PV episome can be maintained in cell culture at numbers of 500 copies per cell without obvious generation of diversity among the intracellular viral genomes, as no variation has been reported with a frequency above 0.5% in the W12 cell line, which harbours HPV16 episomes [75]. Thus, evolutionary rates in PVs may occur too slowly to be studied by means of serial sampling or historical clinical material. Analyses of HPV16 sequences show that there is not enough signal-over-noise to infer evolutionary rates by means of root-to-tip phylogenetic regression [76]. Indeed, two BPV1 isolates sampled in Sweden and in Wisconsin more than 30 years apart displayed 99.89% nucleotide identity, not different from the standing genetic variation of this virus [77].
Recombination in PVs
The common understanding about PV dynamics is that recombination plays a minor role in PV evolution. However, the molecular evidence suggests that recombination is central to PV genome replication, and phylogeny and comparative genomics pinpoint several recombination events along the evolutionary history of PVs. Some of these events have had profound implications for colonization of new niches and the emergence of oncogenic phenotypes.
PV replication requires homologous recombination activity. Replication of the PV genome occurs bidirectionally during the non-productive stages of the infection, yielding episomes [78] and switches during the productive stages of the infection towards a rolling circle-like replication that generates concatenated viral genomes [79]. Homologous recombination may provide the molecular tool for resolving, excising and re-circularizing the concatenated genomes into individual plasmid genomes that are eventually packed as virions [80]. Resorting to homologous recombination might allow for rare error events of non-homologous recombination and indeed, the presence of recombinant HPV16 sequences has been reported during natural infection [81]. Using the rabbit model, experimental infection with a mixture of complementing, truncated viral genomes resulted in productive lesions that contained possible recombinant sequences from both parental DNA sequences [82].
Several independent recombination events have also shaped the evolution of Papillomaviridae. The clinically important AlphaPVs have undergone recombination event(s) between the early and the late regions of the genome [42, 83, 84]. As a consequence, the phylogenetic relationships among AlphaPVs differ when inferred based on the early or the late genes. Reconstructions based on genes related with transformation or with replication (i.e. early genes) cluster together viruses associated with similar clinical manifestations, cutaneous warts, benign mucosal proliferative lesions or mucosal lesions with malignant potential. This pattern disappears when the phylogeny is based on the capsid genes (i.e. late genes) [42, 83]. This recombination event is most likely related to the integration of the ancestral E5 ORF on the backbone of the ancestral AlphaPV genome, as there is a clear match between the E5 genotype and the associated phenotype of the infection [42]. The integration of the E5 gene provided a way to immune evasion by modifying membrane chemistry [85, 86] and decreasing presentation of viral epitopes [87, 88]. Hence, the acquisition of a novel repertoire of mechanisms for sustaining cell growth and for evading immune response triggered an adaptive radiation that generated the three main lineages of the AlphaPVs [42]. Integration of this E5 block occurred in the boundary between the early and the late regions of the PV genome backbone (Fig. 5). This genomic locus has been implicated in at least five independent integration events during the evolution of the Papillomaviridae [2, 89], either involving additional coding regions, such as E5 ORFs in DeltaPVs or in TauPVs, or long non-coding regions of unknown function in different members of the Lambda-MuPV crowngroup and of the Beta-XiPV crowngroup.
Figure 5. View largeDownload slide Global scenario of PV evolution. (A) Ancestral amniotes were already infected by ancestral PVs. The four PV crown groups (labelled in red, green, blue and orange) appeared during the evolution of skin glands and hairs (250–150 Mya). Subsequent mammalian radiation triggered further a second wave of PV diversification (110-60 Mya). (B) Zoom into the evolutionary scenario for lineages in the Alpha-Omicron-PVs crown group, with individual, rare events largely influencing the evolutionary history. A recombination event yielded a novel viral lineage with the early genes from an Alpha-Omicron-PV infecting cetaceans and the late genes from a Beta-Xi-PV infecting artiodactyls. Separately, in a PV lineage infecting the ancestor of Old World monkeys and apes, an integration event between the E2 and the L2 genes introduced a DNA segment encoding for the ancestral E5 ORFs. This integration triggered an adaptive radiation that generated three viral lineages with different tropism and different clinical manifestations. In one of these lineages, the E6 proteins acquired the ability to degrade p53. Some viruses in this lineage are responsible for anogenital and oropharyngeal cancers in humans
Figure 5. View largeDownload slide Global scenario of PV evolution. (A) Ancestral amniotes were already infected by ancestral PVs. The four PV crown groups (labelled in red, green, blue and orange) appeared during the evolution of skin glands and hairs (250–150 Mya). Subsequent mammalian radiation triggered further a second wave of PV diversification (110-60 Mya). (B) Zoom into the evolutionary scenario for lineages in the Alpha-Omicron-PVs crown group, with individual, rare events largely influencing the evolutionary history. A recombination event yielded a novel viral lineage with the early genes from an Alpha-Omicron-PV infecting cetaceans and the late genes from a Beta-Xi-PV infecting artiodactyls. Separately, in a PV lineage infecting the ancestor of Old World monkeys and apes, an integration event between the E2 and the L2 genes introduced a DNA segment encoding for the ancestral E5 ORFs. This integration triggered an adaptive radiation that generated three viral lineages with different tropism and different clinical manifestations. In one of these lineages, the E6 proteins acquired the ability to degrade p53. Some viruses in this lineage are responsible for anogenital and oropharyngeal cancers in humans
Recombination events have also occurred between distantly related PVs. This has been the case of certain patchworked monophyletic PVs infecting cetaceans, sharing the early genomic region with cetacean PVs in the Alpha-OmicronPV crowngroup and the late region with bovine PVs in the Beta-XiPV crowngroup [55, 90, 91]. Finally, recombination between very distant viral relatives can also lead to fixation, as in the chimeric viruses retrieved from bandicoots and displaying genomic features of two different viral families: the early, transforming genes of polyomaviruses and the late, capsid genes of PVs [92]. Both Papillomaviridae and Polyomaviridae are small circular dsDNA viruses, and the convergence on similar replication mechanisms may allow for such extremely rare events of non-homologous recombination. Fixation of non-homologous recombination shows a preference towards events involving non-coding regions, possibly because the probability of a non-homologous recombination event involving a coding region to maintain gene functionality is very low.
Globally, recombination has played a role during the evolution of Papillomaviridae, as it has been shown to occur in vivo, and several independent instances of fixation have been documented at very different levels of the PV tree.
Within-host evolution
The study of within-host evolution is key for understanding the evolutionary dynamics of rapidly evolving viruses, such as human immunodeficiency virus or hepatitis C virus [93, 94]. For PVs, because of the low evolutionary rate, it is commonly assumed that generation of viral diversity during the course of PV infection is negligible. However, given the combination of large population size, large infection time and large prevalence, the study of generation of diversity in chronic PV infections and its connection with the differential outcome of the disease deserves deeper attention.
A careful analysis of published data reveals that generation of diversity does occur during chronic PV infections. Retrospective sequence analysis of HPVs in recurrent respiratory papillomatosis showed no evidence of strain replacement in 67/70 cases during a median follow-up of 4 years, with an individual case of 22 years follow-up [95]. However, in 5% of the patients, the original strain was replaced by another one very closely related, which could be explained either by viral replacement or by intrapatient evolution [95]. Similar results have been reported from the study of PV infections in women in consecutive genital/cervical samples. In most cases of persistent infection with HPV16, the same variant is retrieved during serial sampling [96–98]. However, changes in the predominant variant, as identified by changes in one or two nucleotides through consensus sequencing, have been reported in 4-8% of women during a follow-up of up to 2 years [97, 99–101]. Retrieval of the same PV variant during consecutive samplings is usually interpreted as evidence for persistent infection, whereas retrieval of a different variant is interpreted as a novel infection and never as a result of a bottleneck or of a selective sweep upon mutation. Claiming the case of selective sweep requires evidence for generation of diversity during the course of an infection; indeed deep sequencing of viral genetic material from clinical lesions showed that 3/7 samples contained polymorphic sites above the reliable mutation threshold, reaching frequencies of up to 5% for the minor sequences [75]. The study of viral persistence has traditionally been assessed through Sanger sequencing or by amplicon hybridization with probes targeting variant-specific polymorphisms, but such approaches are unlikely to capture the dynamics of slowly evolving viruses.
Conspicuous evidence of PV intrapatient evolution has been described in two independent cases of lung cancer developed in patients after a 20-year long history of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, associated to HPV6 [102] and to HPV11 [103]. In both cases, viral genomes retrieved from the malignant lesions contained duplications of the regulatory region, a feature absent from the viral genomic sequences retrieved from benign lesions in the same patient. Colonization of a novel niche—the lung epithelium in both cases—may thus have provided with an evolutionary advantage to a rare mutant that appeared after a recombination event resulting in duplication of the regulatory region. These examples of parallel intrapatient evolution illustrate that highly prevalent, long-lasting infections by PVs result in viral effective population size values large enough to efficiently explore sequence space and to allow mutants with an advantage to be fixed, even if mutation rate and if recombination rate are (very) low. Along this line, HPV6 and HPV11 are common in healthy tissue of the female anogenital tract [104] and appear as the main causative agents of genital warts [105] but are associated with occasional cases of anogenital carcinomas [106]. Characterizing the PV population in such rare malignant lesions may help understand the intrapatient viral dynamics in slow evolving viruses.
Ecology of the virus–host interaction
Viruses causing acute infections usually transform the infected cell into a virus factory, eventually leading to cell death and release of the viral progeny, while eliciting a strong, protective immune response [107]. PVs, however, do not kill the infected cell. Instead, most PV infections persist for decades but are not very productive. Only warts caused by PVs have a faster clinical course and are highly productive lesions. Natural infection by PVs elicits specific immune response in most cases [26, 108] but only a limited number of individuals develop high antibody titres that provide some degree of protection against reinfection with the same type [109]. Further, infections by multiple PVs in healthy women and in low-grade lesions are more common than single infections [110]. Nevertheless, it is not clear whether certain PVs tend to appear together in co-infection patterns more often than expected by chance [111–113]. The presence of multiple infections by oncogenic PVs has an additive effect on the risk of developing high-grade lesions [114]. However, the mutual interactions between types causing simultaneous infections and the interplay with the host’s immune system are not necessarily correlated with the occasional development of cancer, because infectious tumours derive most likely from a single clonal expansion event [115] and individual lesions are associated to individual PVs [116].
Oncogenic potential in PVs is linked to a viral monophyletic lineage (Fig. 5a), characterized by two specific synapomorphies: the ability of the viral E6 protein to induce degradation of the cellular p53 protein [39, 40], and the presence of a particular E5 protein, able to downplay immune exposure in infected cells [42]. The combined effect of both viral activities allows these viruses to establish chronic infections through sustained low-level replication of the infected cell and immune escape. Such chronic infections produce very low amounts of virions but last for decades. The non-oncogenic sister lineages (Fig. 5b) have instead evolved towards benign lesions that grow fast and produce large amounts of virions but that are ultimately controlled by the immune system and cleared. A strong trade-off between virion productivity and immune exposure is thus evident in the alternative evolutionary strategies of sister viral lineages. Long-lasting uncontrolled cellular replication in chronic infections eventually leads to accumulation of mutations [117] and in some cases to genomic instability linked to integration of the viral genome in the cellular genome [118, 119]. Malignant growth is therefore a non-adaptive consequence of the increased potential in oncogenic PV for persistence without eliciting immune response, and cancers should be conceived as a sink in the ecological source and flux dynamics of PV infections. In the natural history of PV infections, cancers are a very particular stage because they are a double dead end: (i) for the virus, because cancers virtually do not produce virions and are therefore not infectious and (ii) for the host, because invasive cancers do not spontaneously revert, whereas precancerous lesions do spontaneously revert in the majority of cases following immune activation.
Studies on the time trends in HPV type prevalence in cervical cancer during the last 70 years have shown that the relative contributions of the different oncogenic HPVs have not varied from 1940 to 2007 [120]. Also, viral DNA similar to HPV18 and to HPV91 was retrieved from a genital lesion in a female XVI-century mummy, [121]. Nevertheless, stability of HPV type prevalence values in cancer does not necessarily imply stability of HPV type prevalence values in the healthy population, in the same way that viral prevalence in cancer [47] does not reflect circulating viral prevalence [104]. Globally, our ecological understanding of cancers linked to PV infections is still very poor, especially when compared with the strong epidemiological research developed around the burden of HPVs-related diseases.
Long-term evolution of PVs
Coevolution with their hosts has been historically considered as the main force driving PVs evolution [122]. However, virus–host coevolution contributes to explain barely one-third of all events needed to reconcile the evolutionary histories of PVs and their hosts [55]. Other mechanisms such as intrahost duplication, lineage sorting—‘missing the boat’—or host-switch [123] need to be invoked to fully explain the global diversity of PVs and their relationship with their hosts [54, 55]. These results should, however, be interpreted with caution because PV hunting has been systematic in humans but remains opportunistic in most hosts, thus overestimating the contribution of intrahost duplication and of lineage sorting [1, 55]. Further, analyses of virus–host coevolution require knowledge on host-specificity that is commonly missing, and broad host-range may be more common than anticipated for PVs [24, 55, 89, 124, 125]. Finally, evolutionary relatedness between HPV16 and HPV18 sequences retrieved from the same geographical continent has served to sustain the claim for coevolution between PVs and human populations in recent times [74, 126], although this match was not observed for HPV6 [127]. From a more recent comprehensive sampling of the worldwide HPV16 diversity [128], we suggest that recent PV evolution may have been punctuated by episodes of expansion and bottlenecks/selective sweeps that deserve further study.
The evolutionary scenario that fits best the current description of the PV genetic diversity is a series of basal duplication events followed by limited virus–host coevolution [55] (Fig. 5). The E6 and E7 genes are very divergent, and the organization of these loci is highly variable across the PV tree. The ancestral PV, containing at least the core of the E1-E2-L2-L1 genes, may have already infected ancestral amniotes some 300 Mya, by the time of divergence between the ancestors of birds and the ancestors of mammals [2]. During some 100–150 My, mammals evolved a glandular epithelium, associated to changes in beta-catenin pathways, lipid complexes and keratinized structures, that resulted in sebaceous, sweat and mammary glands and ultimately hairs [129]. Ancestral PVs may have diversified while colonizing these new niches, generating the ancestors of the extant PV crowngroups. No PVs have been retrieved—yet—from monotremes, but the presence of a PV pseudogene integrated in the platypus genome shows that they have been exposed to these viruses [130]. The single PV genome retrieved from a marsupial host is not basal to all PVs infecting placentals [131], suggesting that the initial PV diversification predated the split between both mammalian clades. The ancestral placentals were thus already infected by several ancestral PV lineages, and viruses expanded with their hosts as they radiated. The Alpha-OmicronPV crown group evolved towards an essentially mucosal tropism, whereas the Beta-XiPV crown group evolved towards a commensal cutaneous phenotype. The conspicuous absence in the Delta-ZetaPV crown group of PVs infecting primates suggests an event of lineage sorting. More recently, one recombination event involving the ancestral AlphaPVs occurred before the split between old world monkeys and apes and led to the integration of small hydrophobic ORFs with oncogenic activity, the future E5 genes [42]. The novel genomic resources triggered an adaptive radiation that generated at least three lineages allowed for a change of tissue tropism and diversified the phenotypic presentations of the infection (Fig. 5, Supplementary Table S1). In one of these lineages, the E6 protein evolved later a gain of function favouring degradation of p53 [39, 40]. All oncogenic PVs associated to human anogenital cancers stem from this latter lineage and share a recent common ancestor [42, 132], possibly contemporaneous with the split between old world monkeys and apes (Fig. 5).
At shallower levels, the evolutionary forces driving diversification and differential ecological success between closely related viruses, such as the successful HPV16 and the obscure HPV35, are not well known. Albeit not systematically, experimental interspecies transmission was explored since the early stages of PV discovery [133, 134], and cross-species infection occurs under natural conditions [55, 89, 124, 125]. For certain sister PVs infecting closely related hosts, the barrier to cross-species transmission might rather be cultural than biological. This may be the case of HPV13, PtPV1 and PpPV1, causing similar oral proliferative diseases in humans, chimpanzees and bonobos [135–137]. Such cultural barriers allowing for isolation and fixation of viral lineages may be especially effective when viral spread is linked to intimate or sexual host contact and when the viruses involved mutate slowly, as is the case for PVs or for certain herpes viruses [138, 139].
Novel ecological pressures linked to vaccination
The introduction of vaccines targeting a subset of the circulating PV diversity implies a dramatic change in the differential ecological pressures to virus circulation. Therefore, evolutionary and ecological considerations on vaccines and PV dynamics have both fundamental and clinical implications. Such considerations address the individual levels of protective immunity elicited by vaccination, the possible generation of herd immunity, i.e. the protection against viral infection in non-vaccinated individuals elicited through barrier effect of vaccinated individuals and the possibility for the pathogen to evade immune restrictions through sequence evolution.
Two prophylactic HPV vaccines are currently available: a bivalent vaccine targeting HPV16 and HPV18 [140], and a quadrivalent vaccine additionally targeting HPV6 an HPV11 [141]. Both contain recombinant L1 proteins that autoassemble into hollow structures mimicking virions, called virus-like particles. An enhanced vaccine including virus-like particles from five additional targets—HPV31, 33, 45, 52 and 58—has just been licensed [142]. This vaccine is intended to prevent infection by HPVs responsible for the majority of anogenital cancers (Fig. 6), and it is envisioned that extending the repertoire of viruses in the formulation should suffice to cover eventual type replacement dynamics [143]. Despite their incomplete status, these pseudo-viral structures can elicit protective antibodies [144]. Indeed, immunization results in generation of high antibody titres in above 95% vaccinated individuals [140, 141]. Vaccination delivery of the viral antigens by intramuscular and the presence of adjuvant molecules acting as local immune modulators are possibly responsible for the very high level of seroconversion and for the high antibody titres compared with those elicited during natural infection [14]. Additionally, immunization results in partial cross protection against viruses not directly targeted by the vaccine formulation, essentially HPV31 and HPV45, close relatives of HPV16 and HPV18, respectively [145–147]. The strong immune response elicited through vaccination and the sexual transmission dynamics of infection predicts a strong herd immunity effect [148], compared with that induced by the limited immune response to natural infection [149]. Indeed, data on the decrease of incident cervical lesions and genital warts suggest that vaccination results in the establishment of a herd immunity effect in unvaccinated women and partly also in unvaccinated young men [146, 150, 151].
Figure 6. View largeDownload slide Fraction of anogenital cancers caused by HPVs infections preventable through vaccination. Data should be read as follows, with vaginal cancer as an example: every year, 9,000 vaginal cancer cases associated to HPV infection are diagnosed worldwide, which corresponds to 70% of total cancer cases. This is known as PAF, Population Attributable Fraction. From these, 64% are associated to HPV16 or HPV18, and could be prevented using the bivalent or the quadrivalent vaccine; 1% are associated to HPV6 or HPV11, and could be prevented by the quadrivalent vaccine; 21% of the rest of HPV-related cases are associated to HPV31, HPV33, HPV45, HPV52 and/or HPV58, and could be prevented using the nine-valent vaccine; the remaining 14% of the vaginal cancer cases are not targeted by any current vaccine. PAF and number of new cases in 2008 extracted from [4]. Viral type prevalence data were extracted from the retrospective cross-sectional studies by the Catalan Institute of Oncology [47, 120]
Figure 6. View largeDownload slide Fraction of anogenital cancers caused by HPVs infections preventable through vaccination. Data should be read as follows, with vaginal cancer as an example: every year, 9,000 vaginal cancer cases associated to HPV infection are diagnosed worldwide, which corresponds to 70% of total cancer cases. This is known as PAF, Population Attributable Fraction. From these, 64% are associated to HPV16 or HPV18, and could be prevented using the bivalent or the quadrivalent vaccine; 1% are associated to HPV6 or HPV11, and could be prevented by the quadrivalent vaccine; 21% of the rest of HPV-related cases are associated to HPV31, HPV33, HPV45, HPV52 and/or HPV58, and could be prevented using the nine-valent vaccine; the remaining 14% of the vaginal cancer cases are not targeted by any current vaccine. PAF and number of new cases in 2008 extracted from [4]. Viral type prevalence data were extracted from the retrospective cross-sectional studies by the Catalan Institute of Oncology [47, 120]
Pathogens targeted by vaccination may evolve escape mutants that render the vaccine ineffective. For PVs, such phenomenon is described in the literature as type replacement. The strong protective response against the targeted viruses, the induced cross protection and the low evolutionary rate of PVs have led to the consideration that type replacement after massive vaccination is unlikely [143, 152]. However, interactions between PVs and the immune system remain difficult to interpret. As an example, acquisition of a novel infection by HPV33 seems to occur more often in unvaccinated people already exposed to other oncogenic HPVs [153]. Nevertheless, a major threat for type replacement after vaccination would be the emergence of a viral recombinant encompassing the early region of one of the highly oncogenic PVs and the late region of one virus not targeted by the vaccine [1]. Even if both, recombination rate and the probability of such two viruses to simultaneously infect the same cell are very low, combination of large population size and chronic infection may provide the (remote) possibility for such an event to occur, and the selective advantage under the enormous pressure of the vaccine-mediated immunity would result in spread of the recombinant.
A few ecological models addressing the dynamics between anogenital PVs and humans have been developed. They have focused on the trade-off between virion production and immune exposure [154], on the connection between PV infection, cell differentiation and epidermal dynamics [155], on the intrinsically patchy nature of the PV infection in the epithelium and the competition between simultaneous viral infections and the immune system [156] and on the impact of acquisition and clearance of concurrent infections [157]. Although limited and simplified, results from these models are valuable as they suggest that many of the common assumptions regarding intrapatient and epidemiological dynamics of the PV-human interaction may need to be revised. Specifically, we still need to understand why natural immunity does not always generate protective immune responses [144, 149]. Such information is essential to make a choice between ‘susceptible-infected-resistant’ and ‘susceptible-infected-susceptible’ models [109]. We need to decipher whether the interactions between PVs are or not neutral [111–113] and how multiple infections influence the probability of clearance of each individual virus, because predictions on type replacement largely differ depending on whether sequential or simultaneous clearance is assumed [157]. Finally, integration of the viral mechanisms |
experiences. Now you're talking about your inner experiences, and I think there's a different sense here. Your songs are actually a little bit vague this time around; there's a sense of urgency and a sense of needing change, but what exactly that change comes from isn't obvious.
Robert: Yeah, well I’m always trying to search for lyrical ideas that come from a personal base for me, but to try not to put them over in such a personal way that it becomes too particular for someone to put those feelings onto themselves. As a fan of music, when I’m really listening and completely emotionally involved with a song, I think it actually connects with me personally. It’s not because I empathize so closely with the person who’s singing the song; it’s because I feel it, in my life, and I compare it to what I’m going through. For an artist to sing so selfishly about themselves in such a biographic way, it’s a bit of a turnoff to me; I’d rather be able to share an idea that someone can totally relate to themselves, rather than be impressed by how flowery I use my own…
Listen: “Something To Believe In” – A Silent Film
What are you most looking forward to this year?
Spencer: Honestly man, people hearing the songs that we’ve been playing for the last year, year and a half – that is just always exciting, and there’s nothing… When you release music, it’s such a good feeling.
Robert: The horrendous anxieties is all I remember.
Spencer: Well obviously the crushing anxiety of everyone who’s probably going to hate us.
Robert: Or I just close all the curtains and stay at home and panic for a week, but you seem to enjoy it.
Spencer: No, it’s cool. You never call Robert the day a song is released. He lives in his own little space where he just slowly melts. Look, I could name fifty things I’m excited about for this year, because when you’re about to start another cycle, it’s just such a buzz. Getting back and seeing all our wonderful fans is going to be great – we can’t wait!
Can we expect a more traditional push come the fall?
Spencer: This was one thing that will be followed closely by much more conventional means. We definitely appreciate that this was a super weird way to start a cycle, but we’re always going to probably do slightly weird things. Having said that, we will also make sure we do plenty of conventional things as well.
A SILENT FILM FALL 2015 TOUR
October 14 – San Diego, CA – The Casbah
October 17 – West Hollywood, CA – Troubadour
October 19 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent
October 21 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
October 23 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater
October 25 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry
October 26 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
October 27 – Detroit, MI – The Shelter
October 29 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
October 30 – Indianapolis, IN – Rathskeller
November 1 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
November 2 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
November 4 – Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair
November 5 – Uncasville, CT – Wolf Den @ Mohegan Sun
November 6 – Brooklyn, NY – Rough Trade
November 7 – Washington, DC – Rock ‘n Roll Hotel
November 9 – Charlotte, NC – The Neighborhood Theatre
November 10 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade – Purgatory
November 11 – Nashville, TN – 3rd & Lindsley
November 13 – Gainesville, FL – High Dive
November 14 – Orlando, FL – The Social
November 16 – Tampa, FL – The Crowbar
November 18 – New Orleans, LA – The Parish @ HOB
November 19 – Dallas, TX – Club Dada
November 20 – Austin, TX – Stubbs Jr.
November 21 – Houston, TX – Fitzgerald’s
November 24 – Phoenix, AZ – Valley Bar
more info here
A Silent Film – A Silent Film
Available October 16, 2015
Learn more about A Silent Film online at www.asilentfilm.com
You can follow A Silent Film on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.I had been seeing a few photos of the frozen waterfalls at Starved Rock State Park popping up on some groups and forums I follow. The forecast for Friday (3/7/14) was high of 40. I made a snap decision if I was going to capture them it had to be Friday before they started melting and the trails got so bad you could get there or they closed the trails altogether.
My good friend Jacki Pienta is the main photographer for Starved Rock Lodge gave me a few pointers and tips and I was off. She told me lots of stairs and lots of ice and that Yak Traxs were required. I was able to find a pair at Wild Country, I went with the Pro model. The pro model was $10 more but have a velcro strap to help hold them on. I can’t tell you how many times they saved me and my gear! Best $30 I have spent in a long time!
I decided that I was going to hike into St. Louis Canyon and Wlidcat Canyon. I wasn’t sure how much a overweight 53 year old could handle with a 17 month old knee replacement. I had been to Starved Rock several times to watch and photograph eagles, but had never been on the trail system so was sure what I was in for. St. Louis was the closest and shortest hike. Jacki stated 40 minutes from the lodge parking lot since the parking lot was closed. I went against her directions and parked off of Route 178 at the entrance to the St. Louis Canyon exit. There was room for 6 or 8 cars to park there since the road to the parking lot was closed and had not been plowed all season. I headed down the gradual slope of the road, it was peaceful and reminded me of the bunny slope at Devil’s Head, with a long winding curve to the left. I lacked a little confidence to how to find the falls, no map, just followed the footsteps in the snow. I was pleasantly surprised once I hit the normal parking lot and found really nice signs and trail markers!
Thought this would give you much more confidence that I started out with and an idea of why the Yak Traxs were required.
Finally, 18 minutes later and an easy hike I was at the falls.
Another tip from Jacki was to protect your gear if you do fall. I usually hike using a belt system, but last year in the Smoky Mountain I felt like my gear was way too exposed if I got caught in weather. I am a huge fan of Think Tank Photo and all my bags but one are from them. The one that isn’t is one I helped get started from their sister company Mind Shift Gear. I backed their project for the 180 Rotation Pro on Kick Started and was one of the first 500 to get this incredible bag. The bottom part rotates while bag in on your back and will hold a full body DSLR with grip and a large lens. The main compartment It has two main entry ways. One from the top, but the main section is from the section against your back and can be accessed while wearing the pack and never sitting it down in elements HUGE benefit while in the field. Keep belt fasten, slip both arms out and rotate entire pack to front. Almost makes a take to work on while changing lenses. The pack comes with a rain hood also. Easiest way is to watch the video from their site. Video #1
Hiked out back to the car and drove to the lodge for a bio break, map and reset for the longer hike to Wildcat Canyon. Heading out or the main parking lot you go down what hast to be 500 stairs. The stairs are steel with very aggressive industrial tread! My Yak Traxs kept getting snagged in the stairs. By the time I reached the bottom I knew I wasn’t going back out that way. Found out later you can park at the visitor center on the bottom and avoid these stairs. I was already pot committed since I left my car in the upper parking lot. Once again clear signage and several sets of up and down stairs as pictured earlier. 35 minutes to Wildcat Canyon. Once there I found 6 or 7 ice climbers there, and a Chicago TV station doing a story on them. Wildcat is the tallest standing in at 75 feet! Took a few photos, but wasn’t really interested in landscapes with the climbers in them.
Since I was already on the bottom and the climbers thought they would be done in an hour, decided to go check out two more falls. Headed to La Salle Canyon but ended up at Tonti. There were climbers there too, but was able to work around them. If you look real close in the first photo you can see the climber almost at the peak.
Behind the falls looking out.
I thought this was La Salle but after checking the map it wasn’t! We met some other people coming in that just came from La Salle and it had the best colors. What the heck, in this far, might as well go another 35 minutes to the next falls. The last third of a mile into La Salle was pretty dicey! No guard rails, icy trails sloping towards canyon floor (30 -40 drop)! The Yak Traxs saved me more than once. I had met up with another member of our local WeClickPhotoGroup. He was struggling with footing in normal boots, no Yaks. We both agreed we weren’t going back out that way. The front of La Salle was really disappointing, covered in dirt and debris. It was so bad I didn’t click off one photo! However behind the falls looking out I captured my favorite photo of the day!
In the photo above you can see the little creek winding though the canyon back towards the Illinois River. This was a flat level way out. Sounded like a great plan, so we carefully worked our way down to the creek. We weren’t very far in when we ran across this ground hog. He was stressed out, I believe he had fallen to the canyon floor, solid rock walls and everything frozen he was stuck. We tried to coral him back towards flat land and the river but he wasn’t in the mood for help! Never shot wildlife with a 16-35mm wide angle before. Good thing Ray let me borrow his 70-200mm.
We were making great time and were headed back to Wildcat to see if all the climbers were gone when the day got more interesting. First Ray broke through the ice and got both feet wet. That got my attention! I was really trying to be careful, but I too broke through about 10 minutes later, and right leg went in knee deep and filled boot up! All gear stayed dry! Good thing the temps were up to 40 and I had on wool socks. The fun was over, time to bust butt back to Wildcat, snap a few photos and climb every stair in the park with one wet foot! Man up big boy, you are only 5 or 6 miles from the car and between you and the car is several hundred stairs!
Put the camera gear away and headed back to the car. We went up the Wildcat stairs to the top and worked our way across back to the main parking lot. Safe and sound and back on the grid.
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KentJuventus Football Club has today completed the signing of Sami Khedira.
The 28-year-old, who will officially join from Real Madrid on a free transfer on 1 July 2015, has agreed terms on a four-year contract which expires on 30 June 2019.
Born in Stuttgart, Khedira progressed through the youth sector of his local side before making his professional debut in a Bundesliga encounter against Hertha Berlin on 1 October 2006.
Following four seasons and a championship winners’ medal, the midfielder left for Real Madrid in the summer of 2010, a club with whom he would go on to achieve success in La Liga, the Copa del Rey (twice), the Supercopa de Espana, the UEFA Super Cup, the Champions League and the Club World Cup.
On the international scene, he captained Germany Under-21s to European Championship glory in 2009 before also being part of the Die Mannschaft squad which won the World Cup at last year’s tournament in Brazil.
Khedira, who is normally deployed in front of the defence as a ball-winning midfielder, is able to cover a lot of ground while also possessing excellent passing and shooting ability, and great vision of the game.
Bianconeri boss Massimiliano Allegri is set to add a player of class, quality and international experience to his ranks, ready to enrich one of the strongest midfields in world football.Book Reviews
Posted May 2, 2017 at 10:35 am
Book Review Tuesday! More available at TheWeinerworks.com
The Pope of Physics (Segrè and Hoerlin) On the one hand, I enjoyed this book. On the other, for such an important and fascinating character as Fermi, I couldn’t help but think this book was a bit of small beer. I would’ve happily enjoyed a book three times its length. Relatedly, I would’ve liked fewer asides about the general aspects of the Manhattan Project.
Perhaps there’s no good way to get all the info now, but I would’ve loved to get a stronger feel for all those deathbed conversations with great and controversial thinkers. I don’t want to say it’s a bad book - in fact it might be the best Fermi biography available. It also has the incidental point of interest that one of the authors is the nephew of Emilio Segrè, which may explain why the sections about Fermi’s friends were some of the best and most detailed of the book. If you, like me, enjoy biographies from the Heroic Age of Physics, it’s definitely worth a read.
Pandemic (Shah) This was a solid pop science book on how diseases spread, and what we’re doing (or not doing!) to stop them. The book is structured according to human behaviors vis-a-vis diseases, and also uses cholera as a particular case of a disease with which to weave together the general complexity of epidemiology. I found the overall book a bit disjointed, though many individual parts were quite enjoyable. That said, overall I would’ve liked a bit more depth, especially in the sections concerned with policy.
Shenzhen (DeLisle) These DeLisle books are just delightful. They’re light and fun, but you really get a feel for his experiences going to work in other countries. This one was less funny than the North Korea one, but as a comic I think it was better. He does such a good job of capturing the feeling of loneliness and isolation he experienced. In part this is accomplished by developing a set of silent images for different people and places in the city. These images recur over the course of a book that is sometimes funny and sometimes sad, but either way serves very well to convey his experience as a guy who doesn’t speak Chinese going to work in a city with few English speakers. Highly recommended.In 2008, in the middle of the global financial crisis, Satoshi Nakamoto published a white paper describing the bitcoin protocol. The bitcoin blockchain then came into existence on January 3, 2009 when Nakamoto created the genesis block — the first block of the blockchain. All subsequent blocks contain data from the previous block as an input, thus forming an unbroken chain representing all transactions that have occurred in the past.
The genesis block, having no previous block, instead contained this line of text:
The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks
This line of text refers to an article published by The Times, the newspaper of record for the United Kingdom, and hints that Nakamoto’s motivation behind creating bitcoin was due to the fallout from the financial crisis.
The financial crisis highlighted the major flaw in our current system of fiat currencies — it’s all based on trust. Central banks must be trusted to respond prudently to macroeconomic conditions and not debase the currency. Policymakers must be trusted to be fiscally responsible and maintain the creditworthiness of the government’s sovereign bonds. Banks and other financial institutions must be trusted to lend responsibly and not take unnecessary risks. Bitcoin addresses this flaw by eliminating the need for centralized institutions and the need for trust — instead, everything is based on cryptographic proof.
Bitcoin is still evolving rapidly and market participants aren’t quite sure yet whether bitcoin’s primary utility derives from its properties as a currency that facilitates low cost, secure, and anonymous transactions without a centralized institution or if its utility derives from its properties as a safe haven asset. This post is interested in examining the second possibility: bitcoin as a safe haven asset and how effective it is as a hedge against tail risk, financial instability, banking crises, currency devaluation, hyperinflation, and geopolitical events.
In my previous post, I argued that bitcoin deserves a place in a passively-managed, long-only portfolio because it is uncorrelated with all major asset classes. In this post, I examine bitcoin’s response to several macroeconomic and geopolitical events.
Bitcoin’s Response to Cypriot Banking Crisis
On March 16, 2013, Cypriot policymakers announced a plan to solve the country’s banking crisis which involved confiscating a small percentage of ordinary citizens’s deposits to bailout banks and implementing strict capital controls. Ordinary citizens were faced with the possibility of losing 6.75 percent or more of their deposits.
The following Monday, bitcoin rose from $45 to $55 on speculation that forced haircuts and capital controls could be considered in the bailout plans for other countries within the European Union. During this time, the eurozone was still in the midst of dealing with the region’s debt crisis with many countries trading with high credit default spreads and high interest rates on their sovereign bonds. Strong demand for bitcoin was seen from countries most directly linked to Cyprus, including Greece and Spain.
Below, I plot the price of bitcoin, price of gold using the ETF GLD, U.S. equities using the ETF SPY, and the U.S. 10-year bond yield. In response to the Cypriot banking crisis, there was a classic flight-to-safety where investors sell higher risk assets like equities and buy safer assets like gold and U.S. treasuries.
In this case, bitcoin also rose in concert with gold and U.S. treasuries. This is not surprising since if policymakers are thinking about confiscating your bank deposits, it makes sense to try to hide your cash somehow. But this incident represents one of the first times that investors began to see bitcoin as a safe haven asset. Previously, bitcoin was seen more as a novel way to facilitate trust-less transactions.
Bitcoin’s Response to Greek Default Fears
On June 27, 2015, the Greek debt crisis escalated as policymakers withdrew from bank bailout negotiations. Soon afterwards, Greece temporarily shut down its banks and implemented strict capital controls in an effort to contain the crisis.
When financial markets opened again on Monday, June 29, bitcoin rose along with other safe haven assets while equities declined. Bitcoin continued with a strong rally afterwards (although gold didn’t) and there was strong anecdotal evidence that the rally was fueled by Greek citizens interested in protecting their assets.
The escalation of the crisis continued for several weeks as progress in bailout talks was limited but was finally resolved on July 13 with an agreement on another bailout program. This coincides with the sharp rally and decline in bitcoin prices at the time, demonstrating bitcoin’s ability to serve as an effective hedge against financial crises, even in a localized market. Interestingly, gold did not rise during this time.
Bitcoin’s Response to Brexit
On June 23, the United Kingdom held a referendum on the United Kingdom’s membership in the European Union and the majority of British voters voted to leave.
In the weeks prior to the vote, there was significantly increased trading volume and bitcoin rose from around $600 to $765. Bitcoin ended up giving up the majority of its gains in the days before the vote as investors thought that Brexit was unlikely based on latest polling numbers. During this time, gold and bitcoin were highly correlated with the implied odds that the United Kingdom would leave based on the lines on betting websites.
When Brexit was confirmed, bitcoin again rose in response to the news in concert with other safe haven assets while almost all equity markets around the world and currencies in the eurozone declined sharply. This confirmed bitcoin’s status as a safe haven asset in the eyes of many investors and demonstrated how effective a hedge it is when centralized institutions fail.
Bitcoin’s Response to Trump Election Win
On November 8, 2016, the United States held its presidential election and Donald Trump was elected president, shocking investors around the world. In the immediate hours following the election, the classic flight-to-safety movement in financial markets in the above examples played out.
Investors quickly reevaluated the implications of Trump’s win and global equity markets actually rose the following day. But the intraday movement in bitcoin again demonstrates its safe haven properties as well as how efficient the bitcoin market has become in absorbing new information.
Bitcoin is the Ultimate Save Haven Asset
Looking at these historical cases has given me increased conviction that bitcoin (or cryptocurrencies in general) deserve a place in a passively-held, long-only portfolio. I strongly recommend an allocation of between 1 to 5 percent. It probably makes sense to own other cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin at this point since there is a real risk that an altcoin displaces bitcoin as the leading coin if bitcoin cannot solve its internal debate on the best way to scale the blockchain.
Here are some additional closing thoughts.
First, bitcoin is a safe haven asset, but it is different from other safe have assets like gold, U.S. treasuries, the U.S. dollar, Swiss franc, and Japanese yen. I examined many other examples in the past where flight-to-safety occurred, mainly in response to macroeconomic events and changes in expectations for future monetary policy. There is very little evidence that bitcoin responds in a predictable way to these events. Gold is primarily driven by changes in real yields, but I found very little evidence that bitcoin responds in the same way. My interpretation is that bitcoin is not mature enough of an asset class yet to have meaningful changes to macroeconomic conditions. This confirms my findings that bitcoin has very little correlation to other asset classes.
Second, bitcoin is a true hedge of black swan-type events, particularly events where centralized institutions fail. This goes back to the design philosophy of bitcoin of why it was created and how it can function without any centralized institutions or trust. When financial institutions fail or political institutions and policymakers fail, bitcoin responds very favorably.
Third, bitcoin’s volatility is beneficial from a portfolio construction perspective. If it’s volatile and negatively correlated to risky assets in times of crisis, that’s very desirable. I wrote a post on how to implement a simple risk parity portfolio which expands on this subject.
Fourth, since bitcoin was created, the world has been fairly stable, with volatility well below historical averages and equity markets around the world trending upwards with few exceptions and few corrections. Another crisis will happen in the future, either financial or political. If a significant enough crisis occurs, I would expect cryptocurrencies to rise significantly and become a legitimate asset class.
Overall, I strongly recommend some exposure to bitcoin and altcoins. As a practical matter, you should create an account at multiple exchanges now since it takes several weeks to build a meaningful position. Exchanges require identification confirmation and there are usually transfer limits that prevent you from accumulating quickly.
The code for this post can be found on my Github.
I have an email list where I occasionally send updates to readers on the trading systems that I’m developing. If you are interested, please enter your email below.It is entirely reasonable to experience some feeling of anxiety at some stage in our life, but when the feelings of intense fear and constant worry influence everyday living, it could be a sign of an anxiety disorder. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America breaks down the difference between everyday anxiety and an anxiety disorder in the chart to the right.
Anxiety is a real, serious mental health condition. There is no conclusive explanation why, but it can occur as a symptom of depression; however, it is also common to have depression triggered by an anxiety disorder. It can be an endless cycle – depression can make us anxious, and anxiety can make us depressed. Although anxiety disorders and depression are not the same, individuals often experience many of the same symptoms, such as:
Constant, irrational fear and worry
Physical symptoms like rapid heartbeat, fatigue, headaches, hot flashes, sweating, abdominal pain, and difficulty breathing
Insomnia
Changes in eating, either too much or too little
Trouble with memory, decision making, and concentration
Constant feelings of sadness or worthlessness
Loss of interest in hobbies and activities
Feeling tired and cranky
Inability to relax
Panic attacks
There are things that you can do that help you reduce the symptoms of everyday anxiety, including:
Exercise: A proven mood-booster, exercise is good for your mind and body, and is known to increase your self-esteem and confidence.
A proven mood-booster, exercise is good for your mind and body, and is known to increase your self-esteem and confidence. Relaxation techniques: Yoga, meditation, and breathing exercises are all relaxation techniques that can ease anxiety and lighten your mood.
Yoga, meditation, and breathing exercises are all relaxation techniques that can ease anxiety and lighten your mood. Healthy diet: Anxiety and depression can often be triggers for craving carbohydrates. Choosing lean proteins, healthy fats, fruits, and vegetables can leave you more satisfied and calmer.
Building a support network of family and friends can give you the encouragement you need as you deal with your anxiety and depression. Support groups can help you form relationships with others who are going through some of the same things.
If you feel symptoms of anxiety and depression are hindering your daily functioning, it is important to get help. Talk to your doctor or therapist and begin taking steps for treatment. If left untreated, anxiety and depression can lead to more serious conditions.
At Pasadena Villa, we use the most advanced and valuable methods available to treat these disorders. Pasadena Villa’s Social Integration ModelTM, allows our therapist to observe and interact with residents in real life situations to help ensure customized treatment plans are as accurate and effective as possible. Using recreational, social and life strategy activities within the community, we have been successful in assimilating individuals back into everyday life and reaching the highest level of functioning possible.
In conjunction with social integration, we use multiple therapeutic modalities, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which modifies mood patterns by stopping negative and hypercritical ways of thinking. Our therapists work with clients to change the dysfunctional thinking that affects their mood, sense of self, behavior, and physical state and replace it with healthier ways of thinking. Over time, they can identify and correct the false beliefs that contribute to their disorder, leading to a change in thoughts, behavior, and mood.
We are committed to offering the highest quality clinical services in an environment that promotes health/well-being, recovery, and personal motivation. If you or a loved one would like more information on anxiety or depressive disorders, or other mental health or co-occurring substance use disorders, please call us at 877-845-5235 or complete our contact form. We currently offer treatment at two residential locations in both Orlando, Florida and Knoxville, Tennessee, and outpatient services in Raleigh, North Carolina.Prime Directive is a 1990 novel written by Judith and Garfield Reeves Stevens.
Plot summary [ edit ]
On a local moon of Talin IV, a Federation first contact observation post is monitoring the events on the planet below with growing confusion and concern. Talin IV, a world inhabited by a reptilian society with a culture equivalent to late-20th century Earth, and possible first contact prospect for the Federation in the near future, is now a world divided. The two principal nation states of the planet have become increasingly paranoid and in danger of instigating a nuclear war. Provocations seem to be coming from each side, although both sides deny any intrusions into enemy space. Each nation's heightened security has made the UFP First Contact Office's work much harder, as detection has become more likely. Further complicating matters, Talin scientists have been researching naturally occurring dilithium crystals that may be capable of sensing the advanced subspace signals used by the galactic community. While the discovery of an interplanetary culture would allow for contact with the Federation, it is also possible the Talin will destroy themselves before they make that historic leap. To avoid accidentally revealing their presence and possibly affecting the delicate political situation, the Talin system is locked down by the First Contact Office, so no use of subspace or warp drive is permitted near the planet.
While preparing for their mission, James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy discuss the similar situation that faced Earth. To determine whether or not the First Contact Office has been discovered, Kirk and a joint USS Enterprise/First Contact Office team beam down to the planet at one point, narrowly escaping detection. Soon after, Kirk prevents an accidental nuclear detonation from erupting into full-scale nuclear war. Afterward, Kirk convenes a board of inquiry on his own actions, and it is determined that he acted to prevent what was most likely a computer error from destroying a world. However, shortly after the inquiry, all the planet's nuclear arsenals are fired at their targets at once. The Enterprise is crippled when an intercontinental ballistic missile warhead explodes nearby. The fact that the missile targets the Enterprise is seemingly conclusive proof that Kirk's actions have not only revealed the existence of his ship, but that his prior intervention has also prevented the Talin culture from learning the lessons needed to prevent nuclear self-destruction.
Kirk and the other senior officers (with the exception of Scotty, who was not on the bridge at the time) are blamed for the destruction of Talin civilization, attributed to their supposed violation of Starfleet's Prime Directive (hence the title of the book), and either resign from Starfleet, are demoted to ensign, or in Uhura's case, court-martialed and dishonorably discharged. Although they are separated, Kirk's crew do not give up individual efforts to return and establish what went wrong at Talin. Kirk, under assumed aliases, works his way across space as laborer and cargo chief. Sulu and Chekov join up with an Orion smuggler and slave trader in order to steal his ship. Uhura and McCoy join forces and purchase a space craft and create a fictitious identity for McCoy, the feared pirate "Black Ire." On Earth, Spock joins forces with a radical student group that advocates the elimination of the Prime Directive. Through manipulation of the students, the Vulcan embassy and the by-laws of the Federation, Spock arranges for two Talin astronauts (one from each of the two Talin superpowers) who escaped before the planet's destruction, to speak before the Federation Council as ambassadors for their planet, and request the Federation's help. Through various means, Spock, Kirk and the other senior Enterprise officers rendezvous with Scotty (who has been working feverishly to refurbish the nearly-destroyed Enterprise) at the now-closed observation post on Talin's moon.
It is revealed that the nations of Talin IV were manipulated into attacking each other by insect-like drones of a planet-sized creature called the "One," which is slowly approaching Talin IV. The drones (called the "Many") were sent to prepare Talin IV for consumption by the One. The drones inadvertently fomented the nuclear exchange by their efforts to create conditions on the planets' surface conducive to the growth of the algae that is the One's food. Ultimately, a gas giant planet in the Talin system is substituted for Talin IV as the One's new food source, sparing Talin IV without destroying the One. Kirk and the other senior officers are restored to full rank and resume their duty stations on the Enterprise. Kirk lands on the surface of the planet with an away team, which begins reviving billions of Talin who have survived by going into hibernation.
Influence [ edit ]
The novel is a favorite of the relaunch film's co-writer Roberto Orci.[1]Sir Dave Brailsford’s seven-year reign as boss of Team Sky could be coming to an end after Chris Froome did not respond to a request for the riders to support him.
A source said cyclists were asked to tweet support for their boss ‘or else the team is done’.
But although some of them responded, team leader and three-time Tour de France champion Froome was noticeably silent.
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Concerns have been raised over Sir Dave Brailsford's handling of the jiffy bag controversy
The situation at the crisis-hit cycling team descended into farce when claims of an uprising from riders against their boss was met by a blanket request to tweet support or risk the team going under.
Cycling News quoted an unnamed source claiming riders were becoming increasingly concerned that Brailsford’s handling of the Jiffy bag controversy and the Sir Bradley Wiggins medical exemption storm was damaging the credibility of the team.
Brailsford and his management team responded to the Cycling News story by asking riders to support him on social media, and a series of messages followed from riders such as Geraint Thomas.
It was noticeable that a number tweeted much the same message, pledging their ‘100 per cent’ backing but in doing so exposed that it was an orchestrated response.
But Froome, who is currently training in South Africa, did not appear to follow suit, tweeting a picture of himself having dinner at around the same time but making no mention Brailsford. On Monday night an insider revealed that riders had essentially been told to ‘tweet or else’ while observing that the team management had ‘lost the plot’.
There is a widely held belief that if principal sponsor Sky do ask Brailsford to step down, it will spell the end. As one source said: ‘Team Sky IS Dave Brailsford.’
A blanket request has been issued to Team Sky riders to tweet their support for Brailsford
But some riders were uncomfortable with the pressure that was exerted. Froome also declined to offer his unequivocal support for Brailsford back in January.
Stories had emerged from Team Sky’s Paris-Nice training camp that several leading riders had discussed approaching Brailsford and asking him to step down.
Last week Damian Collins MP ended a select committee hearing by saying Team Sky’s ‘credibility was in tatters’ after hearing from the head of UK Anti-Doping, who are investigating allegations surrounding a medical package ordered by Team Sky for Wiggins.
For Sky and British Cycling the hearing was a disaster with revelations that the team doctor did not keep proper medical records to explain the package or a bulk order for the drug triamcinolone.
UK Anti-Doping have launched a full investigation into whether the team and British Cycling committed a violation in 2011 when a medical package was transported from Manchester to the Criterium du Dauphine to treat Wiggins.
It shouldn't even need saying, but we all back Dave B 100%!!! I've known him a long time and I wouldn't want anyone else leading @teamsky — Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) March 6, 2017
I think all the riders on team sky would join me in saying they are completely behind Dave Brailsford — Peter kennaugh (@Petekennaugh) March 6, 2017
Cycling News quoted an unnamed rider claiming: ‘There is a concern over the impact that this may have on the current season and the distraction it is all causing for Dave Brailsford and the other management.
‘With a team that is so focused on details, things are starting to slip through the cracks because people’s attentions are elsewhere.
‘No one in the team, currently, is involved in this controversy other than Dave. What’s it going to take for the team to get on with racing?’
Pressure has intensified on Brailsford with the team’s doctor Richard Freeman unable to provide medical records to assist UK Anti-Doping’s investigation, and MPs claiming British Cycling has been left in a ‘terrible position’ regarding their credibility.
Brailsford also appeared to request the support of his staff. Team director Nicolas Portal said: ‘I back Dave 100 per cent. I know that there are a few things, but he’s a great manager. That’s the end of the story for me.’Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) has introduced legislation to strip several professional sports leagues, including the NFL, of their tax-exempt status.
The bill, which is called the Securing Assistance for Victim Empowerment (SAVE) Act, seeks to raise $100 million over 10 years for domestic violence assistance programs.
The NFL's handling of domestic violence has come under intense scrutiny in light of multiple high-profile cases involving players, including Ray Rice, Ray McDonald and Greg Hardy.
• After horrible week off field, NFL marches on more popular than ever
The NFL gained tax-exempt status as a nonprofit in 1944. A designation in the tax code -- 501(c)(6) -- enables the league to function like a trade organization. The league office is not required to pay taxes but individual teams are.
The bill would impact leagues that are exempt under 501(c)(6) and make at least $10 million annually, including the U.S. Tennis Association, NHL and the Professional Golf Association.
• New NFL Drug Policy: Testing/Punishment Questions Answered
The NBA and MLB would not be affected.
Here are parts of a statement issued by Booker, from NJ.com:
“This legislation will help ensure that victims of domestic violence have the resources they need to break away from abusers and begin rebuilding their lives,” Sen. Booker said in a statement.
“Stopping domestic violence is a national priority that requires long-term, meaningful investment.” Booker said. “This common sense update to our tax laws would save more than $100 million over 10 years – money that can instead be used to pay for vital support programs that have seen their funding slashed in recent years due to sequestration and gridlock.”
Also on Tuesday, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) announced that she will introduce legislation aimed at eliminating the NFL's tax-exempt status because of the league's continued inaction against the Washington Redskins name.
- Chris JohnsonMy career in industry was limited at times by my unwillingness to do as I was told. Despite that, I earned high marks and was rated as a “high potential” employee throughout my career. Here is one of the things that I had difficulty with: stupid metrics. Specifically, metrics that were so obviously wrong that they forced managers and workers to do dumb things |
the present.
“When my two children are grown, the chances of them remaining here in Ireland are slim,” said Patricia Keigher, a member of the Addergoole Titanic Society. “The bell ringing out across the lake and the mountain is a call to say: You may not be here, but we are still thinking of you.”For comparison, I–V tests are carried out for PVA, carbon, pure copper nanowires and Cu-Cu 2 O-C nanocapacitor, respectively, as shown in Figs 6 and 7. The resistance of PVA is ~650 MΩ (Fig. 6a), which is close to that of an insulator. The typical resistance of carbon nanotube and pure copper nanowire are 26.4 KΩ and 19.6 Ω (Fig. 6b,c), respectively. For different carbon nanotube samples, electrical conductivity ranged from 0.2×105 to 3.3×105 S m−1, comparable to that of bulk graphite ~1.2×105 S m−1 (refs 18,19. For the pure copper nanowires, the measured electrical conductivity ranged from 0.7×107 to 1.9×107 S m−1, close to the value of bulk copper ~2.0×108 S m−1. The conductivities of these devices are compared in Fig. 6d. I–V curves of Cu-Cu 2 O-C nanocapacitor are shown in Fig. 7a–d. For most of devices, the working voltage needs to be larger than 1 V. When a voltage less than 1 V is applied, no current could be detected (<2 pA, which can be regarded as background noise, Fig. 7a). Although the voltage is up to 5 V, the cuprous oxide layer showed recoverable electrical breakdown (Fig. 7b, Supplementary Fig. S5). The devices permanently break down if the applied voltage is large than 10 V (Fig. 7c) and therefore maintain a small resistance (~740 Ω, Fig. 7d) in repeated measurements. The corresponding conductivity is ~3×107 S m−1, comparable to the value from pure copper nanowires we discussed above. Such I–V behaviours can be found for most samples we have measured. According to the breakdown voltage and the typical thickness of cuprous oxide (~5–10 nm from TEM results), we estimate that the dielectric field strength of cuprous oxide is more than 100 MV m−1, close to the value of PEFE (Teflon), a widely used insulating material in coaxial cables.
Figure 6: I-V curves and conductivity of different devices. (a) PVA-coated copper nanowire. (b) Carbon-coated copper nanowire (after CVD process). (c) Pure copper nanowire. (d) Conductivity of these devices. Full size image
Figure 7: I-V curves of voltage and frequency response of Cu-Cu 2 O-C cylindrical nanocapacitor (IV). (a) Voltage less than 1 V. (b) Voltage from −5 to 5 V. (c) The device is permanently broken down by applying a 10 V voltage. (d) I-V curve of Cu nanowires after breakdown of the Cu 2 O layer. Resistance is ~740 Ω (e) Frequency response of the device. Inset: corresponding configurations of the electrodes. Full size image
LCR meter and network analyzer are used to study the frequency response of Cu-Cu 2 O-C nanocapacitor as shown in Fig. 7e. They have been calibrated carefully before measurements, and the noise can be suppressed down to 2fF in a wide frequency range (103–106 Hz, Supplementary Fig. S6). Interestingly, for most devices, the capacitance per unit area are 28–143 μF cm−2 (at106 Hz), with magnitudes 10–37 times higher than that predicted by the classical electrostatics (Supplementary Fig. S7). A similar result is also obtained via the radio frequency measurement (Supplementary Fig. S8). These values are higher than various M-I-M capacitors built in sub-microporous templates (from 2.5 to 100 μF cm−2)2,3,4,5,20,21. The measured capacitance is further supported by impedance spectroscopy for Cu-Cu 2 O-C nanowires, shown in Fig. 8a. A semi circle was found in the Nyquist diagram (Z′ versus −Z″, Fig. 8b) with a red line showing the best fit, which is often found in RC circuits and is well explained based on the coaxial structure of the device. The structure of the cylindrical nanocapacitor and its equivalent circuit are illustrated in the inset of Fig. 8b. The resistance of carbon, copper core and the capacitance between them are denoted with R c, R Cu and C, respectively, as shown in the circuit. For d.c. or low frequency, current flows along the outmost graphitic layer. At high frequencies, current passes through both the graphitic layer and inner copper nanowire because the capacitance won't work at such a frequency. According to the best fit of the plot, the resistance of graphitic layer and copper core were R C ~3.2×105 Ω and R Cu ~30 Ω. Also, the same device measured with a DC source exhibited a resistance of ~3.5×105 Ω (Supplementary Fig. S9), close to the fitted value. The resistance of copper nanowire core was found to be of the same order as the value for pure copper nanowires shown in Fig. 6c. The fitted capacitance between graphitic layer and copper core is ~54.9 pF, close to the value in the frequency response measurements (Fig. 7e).
Figure 8: Impedance spectra of Cu-Cu 2 O-C cylindrical nanocapacitors. (a) Impedance spectra of cylindrical nanocapacitor. (b) Z′ versus −Z″ fitting based on traditional cylindrical capacitor geometry. R C, R Cu and C are the resistance of carbon, copper and capacitance between them, respectively. (c) Configuration of Cu-Cu 2 O-C capacitor [3 Cu cells-3 Cu2O cells-2 C cells] for the first-principle calculations. Full size image
We have carried out detailed quantum mechanical calculations to better understand our experimental results (Supplementary Fig. S10 and Supplementary Methods). Figure 8c shows the configuration of Cu-Cu 2 O-C capacitor (3 Cu cells-3 Cu2O cells-2 C cells). The total capacitance of the Cu-Cu 2 O-C nanocapacitor consists of two capacitances added in series : the classical term and a quantum capacitance term. At small sizes, quantum capacitance (which is usually very large) can be the controlling factor and can either significantly decrease the effective capacitance or increase it if the quantum capacitance is negative22,23,24,25. Recent work has illustrated some interesting (and exotic) cases where negative capacitances are found, especially for oxide interfaces. Accounting for both roughness of the metal–dielectric interface and the quantum capacitance (which is indeed found to be negative for this materials system), we find that the capacitance of Cu-Cu 2 O-C capacitor can be up to 40 pF. It is important to note that quantum capacitance has such a significant effect only because of the extremely small dimensions of the dielectric. In the 5-10 nm regime (corresponding to Cu 2 O thickness), C Clas is quite high and becomes comparable to. In case of macroscopic dielectric thickness, C Clas is much smaller than and thus the latter becomes irrelevant. Our experimental process that allows fabrication of the coaxial dielectric layer at such nanoscopic dimensions provides direct experimental evidence of the significant role of quantum capacitance in nanostructures.Online shoppers in the U.S. made $1.2 billion of purchases via their phones and tablets on Black Friday, marking the first billion-dollar mobile shopping day in U.S. history, according to estimates from Adobe. The estimate marks a 33 percent increase over last year’s mobile sales total for the day.
Overall, Adobe predicts that total online sales reached $3.34 billion on the huge discount shopping day, on which retailers are increasingly running the same discounts online as they do in their stores.
Large retailers that have invested heavily in their mobile websites and apps are seeing big gains this holiday season. At Fanatics, an online retailer of licensed team sports apparel, 56 percent of Thanksgiving Day sales happened on mobile — 42 percent via phones and 14 percent via tablets. These numbers were likely helped by consumers making purchases while watching the day’s slate of football games.
American consumers are increasingly comfortable making purchases via their phones, and the popularity of larger screen sizes is one contributor. Payment methods that simplify the checkout experience — think Apple Pay, Android Pay and PayPal One Touch — are starting to help, too.
Still, when it comes to mobile commerce, the U.S. lags way behind some international markets such as China. On Singles Day, China’s biggest shopping day, mobile commerce accounted for more than 80 percent of sales on Alibaba’s shopping sites.
Watch: Why Is Black Friday Still a Thing?Former Secret Service officer Gary J. Byrne, author of Crisis of Character: A White House Secret Service Officer Discloses His Firsthand Experience with Hillary, Bill, and How They Operate, joined SiriusXM host Alex Marlow on Tuesday’s Breitbart News Daily to discuss the state of the presidential race after the second debate.
Byrne began by saying he “couldn’t disagree with Glenn Beck more” about the radio host’s proclamation that voting for Hillary Clinton was a more moral choice than voting for Donald Trump.
“Voting for Hillary Clinton is, to me, a complete mistake, and here’s why: I started out in the U.S. Air Force. I had to pass a battery of tests to get to the point where, in the U.S. Air Force, I was allowed to protect our nuclear arsenal. I then went on to become a Secret Service uniformed division officer for 12 years, where I had to take a polygraph test. In eight out of those twelve years, I protected the Clintons, and the Hillary Clinton I know is a complete pathological liar,” he said.
“Really, if you’re honest with yourself and you pay attention to some of the politics that goes on, you’ve seen this yourself,” said Byrne. “She never displays any kind of leadership. I cite many examples in my book where she gets so angry, she has the people that work for her, they’re terrified of her.”
He recounted a story from Crisis of Character about “these three women who came up from Arkansas with her. They knew the Clintons. The one lady worked with her at the Rose Law Firm, and she knew that Mrs. Clinton’s anger became so ferocious that she immediately started demanding people would get fired.”
“In the incident that I’m talking about, these women made a mistake ordering some stationery, and I saw them talking about it,” he continued. “They really looked like they were afraid of something. I thought something was wrong, somebody was sick. And they explained to me what happened, that they had inadvertently allowed an intern to order some stationery, and the girl had made a mistake, so they had tens of thousands of copies of these invitations to the White House that were worth a lot of money, that were useless. And they weren’t worried about the wasted taxpayer dollars. They were worried about who was gonna tell Hillary Clinton because they knew somebody was getting fired and sent back to Arkansas.”
“That’s just one example of her incredible anger toward people,” said Byrne. “She got so angry one time, she hit a Secret Service agent in the back of the head with a bible, sitting in a limousine. You just can’t explain that away. And when you put that together with what we’ve seen today, she is completely inept when it comes to leadership.”
“One day, I was standing at my post outside the Oval Office. It was during Christmastime, and they were decorating,” he recalled. “There was a group of women that had come up from Arkansas, volunteers to help decorate the White House. This is common, people come from all over the world. Mrs. Clinton was going to have a meeting with them over in the mansion, and they were going to come over to the Oval Office, and she was going to give them a tour and let them take pictures in the Oval Office. The President wasn’t there at the time. So her staff member comes over, and tells me what they’re gonna do, and she says, ‘When we’re done, we’ll be leaving them here, and Mrs. Clinton and I will be leaving and going to do something else.’”
“I said, ‘Someone else is going to have to escort them out of here; they can’t stay here.’ She said, ‘Oh, no, they’ll be staying here until we come back and get them.’ And I said, ‘You can’t do that.’ Now, these aren’t Gary’s rules. These aren’t the Secret Service’s rules. These are rules based on national security law. This is very important for your listeners to understand,” Byrne stressed. “She had started shirking these rules about national security way before the email server. She didn’t want to hear anything about what the rules and the laws were, to protect the President’s Oval Office and the information in it.”
“So I got in a discussion, the assistant called me an a-hole, and a little while later, the first lady came up, and she walked right up to me – and you know, she’s about five-foot-five; I’m about six-two – and she walked right up to me and she starts berating me. She calls me an a-hole, she refers to the uniformed division as an a-hole, and then she says – and she said this a couple of times, I talk about it in the book – ‘We should have fired you all when we got here.’ She wanted to fire a thousand federal police officers that protect her, twenty-four hours a day,” he said incredulously.
“She got so wrapped around the axle. And if she had just taken a breath – and, you know, I had already figured out a compromise because that’s my job there … to try to make things work. If they had just taken the people over across the hallway to the Roosevelt Room, and leave them there, and have somebody come down from her staff and sit with them, it would be fine. But then she threatened to call the director, and she did. A little while later, I got a phone call from an inspector, who said, ‘Be prepared: you’re going to get a phone call from the director’s office.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ The assistant director called my post and said, ‘Tell me what’s going on.’ I explained it to him, and he said, ‘You’re doing the right thing. Thanks for making it work,’” said Byrne.
He said he wanted listeners to understand that “when the American people voted Bill Clinton into office in the early nineties, they got Bill and Hillary, and if she gets elected, you’re going to get Hillary and Bill.”
“Here’s the truth about that,” Byrne continued. “The things that made the economy decent were put into place before Bill Clinton got there, and he wasn’t responsible for the things that they did. I mean, those ideals came from Mr. [Erskine] Bowles and Bob Rubin, who eventually became the secretary of the treasury. Those were their financial ideals, not Bill Clinton’s. Listen, all Bill Clinton, in my experience, used those eight years as president to keep his perverted lifestyle and dating up. That’s the only reason I see – and this is my take, after protecting him for eight years. That’s the only reason he got into politics, is because he didn’t have to get his hands dirty, and he used it to manipulate women and keep up his bizarre sex life. And that’s no exaggeration, believe me. If your listeners get a chance to read my book, or do some research on the Internet, you’ll see that that rings true.”
“When it comes to Mrs. Clinton, she is involved in everything,” he said. “When a woman would surface and accuse him of doing something wrong, she was in charge of, they call it ‘slut shaming.’ They would berate these women. How is it that when a woman accuses Bill Clinton – they used this term one time; it drove me crazy: ‘That’s what you get when you drag a hundred-dollar bill through a trailer park.’ Well, what’s at the other end of that string? The other end of that string is Bill Clinton. Why does he get a pass and all these women get slut-shamed, and he gets away with it every time. It’s incredible.”
“And she’s in charge of it. She’s the one that hammers these women, and they talk about it,” Byrne said of Hillary Clinton. “When you see these women like Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Willey tell their stories, if you can’t understand what they’re saying, and you can’t believe them, then how is it that anybody else that’s ever been assaulted, how come their stories are true, but these women are not?”
Byrne referenced Eleanor Holmes Norton, congressional delegate from the District of Columbia, and her callous dismissal of Bill Clinton’s accusers as “middle-aged-looking women” who were “not looking their best, perhaps looking much better, you know, 40 years ago.”
“They have Eleanor Holmes Norton come out and say that. They talk about their appearances. But let you and I say something about somebody’s appearance, especially a woman, and they would try to hang us out to dry,” he observed. “What they do is, they say whatever they have to to distract you at the time. It may be negative. And because it’s Eleanor Holmes Norton – you and I, most people, you don’t expect any better out of her. So she can say whatever she wants, and then the Clinton machine mentality is, and this comes back from when Bill Clinton first started running from Arkansas, ‘So what?’ No matter what it is, they say, ‘So what?’ and they push forward.”
“For instance, when you hear Hillary Clinton talking about Donald Trump’s behavior, and the way he acts? What she’s talking about, she’s talking about herself. It’s like she read my book, I swear. It’s like she’s channeling what I wrote about her in my book, and she’s flipping it on him,” Byrne declared. “That’s what they do. And the reason it’s working is because the mainstream media buys into it. They don’t call them on anything. They’re really helping them get elected. They’re doing more to get her elected than the people that are running her campaign.”
Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
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While thousands of humanitarian organisations around the world are struggling fiercely with diminishing support from governments and the public, one has achieved a surprising amount of support from Western governments in a surprisingly short period of time and gained a surprising attention from mainstream media and ditto political elites: The Syrian Civil Defence or White Helmets.
Their name of course makes you think of the UN’s Blue Helmet and white is the colour of those who should be protected in harm’s way – and the colour of innocence. However, for many years there has been an Argentinian relief organisation with the same name.
The SCD or White Helmets counts nearly 3.000 rescue workers who operate in very dangerous areas in rebel-held territories in Syria and claims that it has, in three years, rescued about 70.000 lives according to its Twitter account (or 65 per day).
Contrary to what you might think, it isn’t a Syrian organisation because Syria has its own organisation, incidentally also called Syria Civil Defence, which was established in 1953 and is registered with ICDO, the International Civil Defence Organisation, since 1972.
The White Helmets seems to have an annual budget of US$ 30 million and has raised a total support of well over US$ 100 million. And it seems that they operate exclusively in war zones in which the fighting against the Syrian government and the Syrian Arab Army takes place, i.e. in ‘liberated’ areas where hundreds of groups and some 80 countries, mainly NATO members, Gulf states and Saudi-Arabia, operate.
On the White Helmets’ briefing page it is stated that “funding for their humanitarian relief work is received from the aid budgets of Japan, Denmark, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.”
Here is how the Foreign Ministry in Copenhagen explains the roughly US$ 9 million to the White helmets from Denmark, a country that bombs in both Iraq and Syria.
Other civil society and humanitarian organisations inside Syria have not been so fortunate. You’ve probably not heard that much about the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and its work? How much/little support have they received from Western humanitarian-concerned governments? And in general, civil society organisations in Syria – women, peace, human rights, culture, etc. – have received nothing like US$ 100 million in a few years and no one has such a flashy media appearance as the White Helmets.
The White Helmets was started in 2013 by James Le Mesurier who seems to have tried a little of everything everywhere, including the grey zones of special forces and intelligence in virtually all NATO wars, Yugoslavia in particular. He later set up a foundation in Holland to gather the funds. Here is a recent account by Scott Ritter, former US Marine Corps intelligence officer and weapons inspector in Iraq with tremendous knowledge of things Middle East:
“The organizational underpinnings of the White Helmets can be sourced to a March 2013 meeting in Istanbul between a retired British military officer, James Le Mesurier—who had experience in the murky world of private security companies and the shadowy confluence between national security and intelligence operations and international organizations—and representatives of the Syrian National Council (SNC) and the Qatari Red Crescent Society. Earlier that month, the SNC was given Syria’s seat in the Arab League at a meeting of the league held in Qatar. At that meeting, the SNC assumed Syria’s seat, and the Arab League authorized member states to actively provide support, including arms and ammunition, to the Syrian rebels. The Qataris, working through the SNC, helped assemble for Le Mesurier $300,000 in seed money from Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom for a seven-day course designed to train and equip a 25-person rescue team, recruited by the SNC, for duty in so-called “liberated areas” of Syria. The SNC made available a pair of Syrian activists—Raed Saleh and Farouq Habib—to assist Le Mesurier in this work.
The group is – as will be seen below – treated as uncontroversial in virtually all Western mainstream media. However, there is enough material with documentation to merit caution.
If you read media reports about the White Helmets and do not see the author mention that this group’s real identity is disputed and functions controversial you can be sure that you are wasting your time with somebody who is politically incredibly naive, or gullible; someone who has not done his or her research or is knowingly part of a deceptive effort serving a one-sided political agenda.
The White Helmets definitely is an controversial NGO – at the same time as it is (made) difficult to understand clearly what it really is.
And until the whole picture has been developed, anyone ought to be cautious with taking information about them at face value. So much must be clear given the links below.
Dual purpose?
That said, this author has not been on the ground but has studied both the pro- et contra links provided below.
Some observers draw the conclusion that the White Helmets – Syrian Civil Defence – is purely good guys rescuing lots of people, children in particular. The opposite advocacy claims that, all told, they are part of the terrorist groups, serve Western governments with intelligence and that their backers run political propaganda in their name and that they are simply executioners – murderers with a human face.
But does it have to be either/or?
An alternative hypothesis could be that the White Helmets is a dual-purposeorganisation. They claim to be ordinary Syrian volunteers who came together around the idea of saving lives and are truly altruistic “bakers, tailors, engineers, pharmacists, painters, carpenters, students and many more, the White Helmets are volunteers from all walks of life.” It could well be that some of them actually are, even a majority.
That doesn’t preclude that other elements – not the least those operating outside Syria such as foundations, PR and marketing firms, change organisations, NATO government and NGOs are in it with less noble, war-promoting purposes.
Link collection pro et contra
Find below a link collection – long but fascinating in its wealth of information. We bring it as a help to those seriously interested in Syria’s fate and in studying how opinions are being built by means of connected actors in a rather opaque networking structure, in how NGOs have increasingly become Near-governmental organisations and for those who do not want to sound foolish when they discuss these matters.
First some links to how the the White Helmets presents themselves. Second, some mainstream media articles in their favour of and praising it – including some that argue that the White Helmets ought to receive the Nobel Peace Prize (which happens to be nonsense, since they don’t even remotely qualify according to the criteria in Alfred Nobel’s very clear will and the prize is not a general do-good-prize. In addition, it must be doubted that the Nobel Committee will get more persuaded by the White Helmets’ – quite immodest – campaign in favour of their own candidacy).
Third some links to the comprehensive network of organisations, including governments, that the White Helmets seem to be part of – and it is quite a confusing lot with absolutely no transparency – but quite a few investigations have been carried out.
And fourth and final – the main links to investigative reports and other stuff that are sceptical in various degrees to the first three.
1. The White Helmets present themselves
The Syrian Civil Defence – The White Helmets
The White Helmet Homepage
On the front page you are asked to sign an appeal for establishing a No-Fly Zone (which would be a violation of international law).
Wikipedia’s entry about the White Helmets
The White Helmets’ media FAQs
Syria Civil Defence on Facebook
The White Helmets on Twitter
Netflix
Official Trailer about White Helmets
The Atlantic
The makers of the Netflix movie give their background
Mayday Rescue
Dutch foundation supporting the White Helmets
According to its website it channels government funds to the White Helmets: “Syria Civil Defence receives funding (through Mayday Rescue and Chemonics) from the governments of the UK, Holland, Denmark, Germany, Japan, and the USA.”
Chemonics
A US global development corporation through which government funds for the White Helmets are channelled (according to Mayday Rescue).
White Helmets themselves campaigning for the 2016 or 2017 Nobel Peace Prize
2. Sources that promote the White Helmets without questioning
Time
How the White Helmets are being hunted in a devastated Aleppo
Time
The White Helmets of Syria
The Economist
The rise of Syria’s White Helmets
Syria’s White Helmets
A film by Danish journalist Nagieb Khaja shown on Al-Jazeera (30 secs into the film one learns that they have saved more than 56.000 lives “since the war began in 2011″ although the White Helmets were formed in 2013).
Nominated for an Oscar
The Nobel Peace Prize must go to the White Helmets
The Guardian view on the Nobel peace prize: give it to Syria’s White Helmets – Editorial
Syria’s White Helmets nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
The White Helmets get the Right Livelihood Award
The Right Livelihood’s motivation – almost a copy of the White Helmets’ own story
3. Organisations in the network around the White Helmets
Purpose
A social movement creation and PR company that allegedly wants to change the world, co-founded by Jeremy Heimans – whose mainstream, politically correct background you see here. Jeremy – of course – began his career with the strategy consultants McKinsey & Company. He also happens to be a co-founder of
Avaaz
Avaaz means voice or song in several languages and the organisation is known by millions as a petition platform for many good/progressive causes. Avaaz has some 43 million members around the world and is thus easily the largest NGO in the world.
Avaaz has also created Purpose.com. Here Jeremy Heimans, co-founder of Avaaz too, speaks to Forbes about his background and what the two companies do.
Avaaz is very active in promoting a No-Fly Zone in Syria which it explains in a petition text with these words: “Let’s build a resounding global call to Obama and other leaders to stand up to Putin and Assad’s terror. This might be our last, best chance to help end this mass murder of defenceless children. Add your name.”
The sad thing is that it has learnt nothing from its own campaign for a No-Fly Zone in Libya. John Hanrahan is a former executive director of The Fund for Investigative Journalism and reporter for The Washington Post, The Washington Star, UPI and other news organisations has made this extremely interesting analysis about how odd it is that Avaaz maintains an interventionist war-agenda in spite of earlier experiences and resistance even by high-ranking militaries.
Hanrahan quotes Avaaz’s campaign director, former State Department official John Tye, “that Avaaz shows 54,000 members in Syria in a population of 23 million – which means that even if every Avaaz member supported a no-fly zone, this would still mean that only one of every 426 Syrians had “voted” for one.
Avaaz spearheads – at least in this matter – an extreme militarist policy while “Avaaz is a global web movement to bring people-powered politics to decision-making everywhere”. Which people want a No-Fly Zone in Syria? Do they know it’s a violation of a sovereign state’s airspace, of international law? That it would embolden every terrorist on Syrian soil because they would get rid of the Syrian Airforce as their enemy? That it continued into regime change in both Iraq and Libya?
Many questions unanswered by this peculiar “people power” organisation, more militarist than governments!
But back to Purpose.com and one of its important clients:
The Syria Campaign – home
They maintain on their website that “The Syria Campaign is fiercely independent and has accepted no money from governments, corporations or anyone directly involved in the Syrian conflict. This allows us full autonomy to advocate for whatever is needed to save lives.” But they also say that they have accepted funds from the Asfari Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation and other anonymous donors.
The Syria Campaign also states that it is only pro-human rights and pro-freedom and takes no side. But they explain the conflict in these words:
“The regime of Bashar al-Assad is responsible for crushing a peaceful uprising that has led to the deaths of over 450,000 people, the displacement of over 12 million – half the country – and the emergence of violent, extremist groups like Isis.
Today the fighting in Syria has given way to a world war with more than eighty countries involved on all sides.
The majority of Syrians want neither Assad nor Isis. They want an end to the violence and a democratic Syria.
What is happening in Syria could be happening to any of us. No one is free until we’re all free.”
I would characterise such a presentation as side-taking wrapped in substance-free marketing jargon; a very politicised statement wearing only black-and-white.
About the Syria Campaign
What the Syria Campaign is proud of: Impact page
The Syria Campaign seeks all-stars senior campaigner and “You don’t need to know anything about Syria”
The Syria Campaign on Facebook
The Syria Campaign on Twitter
Analysis, Research and Knowledge (Ark)
A private company, headquartered in Dubai, that describes itself as “a research, conflict transformation and stabilisation consultancy”.
In Syria “Ark has been at the forefront of the response to the conflict … for the past five years”. One of its two team members, Alistair Harris is described here advocating two years ago that “moderates” should be armed to fight ISIS and not only in Iraq but also in Syria.
The British-based Asfari Foundation for change
White Helmets, according to their website, received seed funding came from the Asfari Foundation – trustees of which are heavily related to the oil industry and corporate finance. The Asfari Foundation’s bonds with the Syria Campaign is dealt with here.
4. Sources raising investigation-based questions about the White Helmets
Vanessa Beeley
Syria’s White Helmets: War by Way of Deception – Part I
Scott Ritter at TruthDig
The ‘White Helmets’ and the Inherent Contradiction of America’s Syria Policy
Hands off Syria
The White Helmets – al-Qaeda with a facelift (video)
Rick Sterling
The “White Helmets” Controversy
Vanessa Beeley
Who are Syria’s White Helmets?
Vanessa Beeley
The real Syrian Civil Defence
Christina Lin, Asia Times
White Helmets: Instrument of regime change in Syria?
Jonathan Gornell
Newsmaker: The White Helmets
Syria Solidarity Movement
Its list of humanitarian/human rights organisation that are pushing for war on Syria and its government
Open Letter from The Hamilton Coalition To Stop War
White Helmets should NOT be Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
Max Blumenthal
Inside the shadowy public relation firm that is lobbying for regime change in Syria (I)
Max Blumenthal
How the White Helmets Became International Heroes While Pushing U.S. Military Intervention and Regime Change in Syria (II)
Rick Sterling
Seven steps of highly effective manipulators
The article contains this diagram:
21st Century Wire
CrossTalk: ‘White Helmets, Really?’ with Vanessa Beeley, Eva Bartlett & Patrick Henningsen (video)
Russia Today
Multi-million funded – can’t be independent
General reasons for concern about the real identity of the White Helmets
Here are some of the reasons – numbers not indicative of priority:
1. Huge funding by NATO/EU countries which are militarily involved.
2. A degree of political lobbying – a very specific explanation of the conflict and how it started which points to a no-fly zone, weaponization of human rights issues and speaks strongly against the Syrian government and Russia and very critically of the UN – that is extremely unusual for a purely humanitarian organisation.
3. Incredibly advanced public relation in terms of very professional websites, videos and PR strategy dropping the right stories and images at the right time – quite unique for a group of “bakers, tailors and students” etc..
“Omram rescued from a Russian airstrike” – From the White Helmets’ homepage.
4. Too professional wordings and images, too much playing to (exploitation of) emotions, too catchy smart formulations again and again; in short, lacking every sense of genuine local quality. Too many children – and cats – in the images speaking to an audience with little politically consciousness but surely a good heart. In short, populist marketing also in the sense of conveying the message: Look how good we are and how evil everybody else are.
5. Guilt by association: If the White Helmets is a 100% humanitarian first responder organisation it must be extremely naive in ignoring that its integrity, credibility and noble purposes is put at risk with the specific network of organisations and governments that it has chosen to seek support from.
6. Substance versus public relation: how does a humanitarian organisation justify that millions of dollars are spent on self-promoting public relation rather than on saving more lives in such a horrific war? And taking so many photos and shoot films of its own work in the midst of massacres and bombing raids?
7. It’s very difficult to discern who actually manages the White Helmets in general and in terms of day-to-day operations. One looks in vain for something like an organisational chart secretary-general, board, executive director (although one is mentioned, Raed Saleh, whom the US has on one occasion actually denied entry into the US).
8. How come that such an innovative organisation seems to have been started in circles that have to do with oil interests, British intelligence, mercenary/military operations and interventionist/bombing countries?
9. How come it works only in rebel/terrorist/liberated areas? Could it do that without co-operation or co-ordination with some of these groups? It has been stated – naively – by the Right Livelihood Award Foundation that their vision is to operate also on government-controlled territory and later be a leader in re-building a new democratic post-war Syria. However, why should the sovereign state of Syria’s legitimate government accept a foreign-based and -financed civil defence territory there when it has had its own since 1953?
Perhaps we should not be that surprised?
Should we be surprised that humanitarian workers are involved in “something else” and are not exclusively devoted to doing no harm and doing good for humanity?
Not really. I’ve met that sort of people and organisations during the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, among other places at the US Embassy in Zagreb where the humanitarian section people, most likely CIA operatives, after some talk with me about helping the people switched to talk about how good it would be if president Milosevic was killed.
Are humanitarian organisations – like most other NGOs today – highly or completely dependent on governments? Yes, most are. And they should therefore always be checked for possible moral corruption and co-optation. Many are no longer Non- but Near-governmental and behave, at minimum, politically correct or serve/promote the interests of their governments one way or the other.
Wasn’t Doctors Without Borders started by Bernard Kouchner who advocated military humanitarian intervention as an idea, did the dirty job for NATO in Kosovo and morally advocated the bombing of Libya as a “peace guarantee”? Here an interesting video debate with him at Oxford by Mehdi Hasan.
Should it be so surprising that – even liberal, democratic – governments propagandise, construct concrete stories to appeal to the human heart in us all (for a good cause) and that they regularly lie, do fear-mongering, use stereotyping and demonisation, present black-and-white narratives – all of which serve their elites’ interests and may not always be that noble in reality?
Think of the ugly shadow world of the global arms trade in which virtually all governments take part in?
Of course not. |
large vein in the heel. It is beneficial for treating ulcers that occur on the thighs and calves, the interruption of menses and skin irritation on the testicles.
Cupping at the bottom of the chest is beneficial for the treatment of sores, scabies and mange on the thighs. It helps against gout, hemorrhoids, elephantiasis and itchiness on the back." [Zaad al-Ma'aad, 4/58].
Cupping For Women
Jaabir ibn Abdullah (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) asked permission from the Messenger (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) to do cupping. So the Messenger (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) ordered Abu Teeba (may Allaah be pleased with him) to cup her. Jaabir ibn Abdullah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said, " I think he (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) said that Abu Teeba (may Allaah be pleased with him) is her brother through breastfeeding or a young boy who didn't reach puberty". [Saheeh Muslim (5708), Abu Dawud (4102), Saheeh ibn Maajah (3480)].My husband, Mohammed Ramadan, is due to be executed in Bahrain any day now. Our three young children are distraught. We want Theresa May, the British prime minister, to call for Mohammed to be released when she meets Bahraini leaders today on her Gulf visit. Our criminal justice system has failed him and the British government, which supports that system, has failed him too.
Bahrain torture ‘ignored’ by UK-funded monitor Read more
In 2014 Mohammed was arrested at Bahrain’s airport where he worked as a police officer. My husband believes in human rights, democracy and transparency. He attended peaceful marches in Bahrain calling for our government to respect these values. As a state employee, he knew that it was risky for him to go to these protests. But he believes in reform and so he went anyway.
After Mohammed was taken into custody, our family heard nothing for four days – we had no idea where he was, or even if he was alive. Eventually, two weeks later, we were allowed to see him, but only with three guards watching us on a surveillance camera. As soon as we saw him, it was clear that Mohammed had been tortured by the security services.
Mohammed seemed weak and exhausted, and his body was trembling; this suggested to us that he had been subjected to extreme torture. But no one would tell us the reasons for his arrest or the charges against him.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Theresa May meets Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince of Bahrain, in Manama on Monday. Photograph: Reuters
Later, he told us what they had done to him. They had detained him, naked and humiliated, in a freezing cold cell. They had beaten him. They had forced him to stand for days on end. They had electrocuted him. They had sexually assaulted him. They had made him listen to the screams of other prisoners being tortured. They had threatened to rape me and other members of our family in front of him.
Eventually, Mohammed and his co-defendants signed false 'confessions' to make the torture stop
Their aim was to punish Mohammed for his participation in the pro-democracy protests by getting him to confess to a crime he did not commit. Eventually, Mohammed and his co-defendants signed false “confessions” to make the torture stop. Mohammed was not allowed to see or speak to his lawyer until after his trial had started. He was convicted on the basis of his forced confession, even though he had recanted it. This “evidence” – which would immediately be thrown out of any court in Britain – is the reason that my beloved husband and the father of my children is facing imminent execution.
Shortly after my husband’s arrest, I submitted a complaint about his mistreatment to my country’s UK-trained ombudsman, who is meant to investigate such allegations. An international human rights organisation submitted a torture complaint, too. But the ombudsman conducted no investigation for more than two years, even as Mohammed was sentenced to death.
Then this year, following intense pressure on the UK Foreign Office by human rights groups such as Reprieve and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, the ombudsman agreed to open a new investigation. I’ve been told that this investigation is now closed, but I know very little about its outcome. Furthermore, the Foreign Office has not yet called for his release.
Britain lobbied UN to whitewash Bahrain police abuses Read more
Sadly, my husband is not alone. In the past two years judges have handed down eight death sentences, including my husband’s. Many of these people have been convicted on the basis of confessions extracted through torture. The Bahrain government regularly strips its political opponents of their citizenship and sentences peaceful human rights activists to decades in prison.
Throughout this time, the UK government has championed Bahrain’s supposed human rights reforms, spending millions coaching a torture watchdog, training hundreds of guards at the death-row jail where he is held, and secretly assisting Bahrain’s police, who continue to torture peaceful protesters.
The only result of all of this that I have seen is that my husband remains in prison, facing execution for a crime he didn’t commit – while the people who tortured him still walk free.Leaders of four EU countries lashed out at Germany for insisting on migrant quotas as the German chancellor paid a visit to Poland, a staunch opponent of Berlin’s strategy on refugees.
On Friday, Chancellor Angela Merkel, who arrived in Warsaw for official talks with her counterparts from Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary, faced discontent over the migrant quotas backed by Berlin.
During the joint press conference, Merkel advocated unity and said that the quotas should remain the ground for dialogue.
"The Czech Republic cannot agree to any system, based on the mandatory quota for the compulsory distribution of refugees," Bohuslav Sobotka, the Czech Prime Minister, countered.
Read more
The country alongside Poland, Slovakia and Hungary forms a so-called “Visegrad group” that staunchly opposes any regulations on re-distribution of migrants across the EU.
During the meeting Sobotko and the Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban also proposed increased European cooperation on security issues.
“The EU has lost its adaptability, and we have no right answer to migration and terrorism," Orban said.
Prior to Merkel’s visit the Polish foreign minister accused Germany of “following its own goal” and lacking cooperation will on current challenges, including refugees.
“We often see that [Germany's] intention is only to follow its own goal,” Witold Waszczykowski said in an interview with DPA news agency.
“Of course, every country has the right to pursue its own interests, but in some circumstances we'd expect a certain level of compromise,” he added.
While talking specifically on the mandatory quotas Waszczykowski called them “forced resettlement."
The official noted that not every state within the EU can follow the policies proposed by the German government, claiming that “many countries, including Poland, have very limited capacities and capabilities."
READ MORE: Hungary set to build second fence on Serbian border to stop migrants – Orban
The divide between Germany and other European countries on refugees deepened on Thursday. In an interview to the Austrian Krone newspaper the country’s Defense Minister Hans Peter Doskozil called the “welcoming” approach by Angele Merkel towards the migrants “irresponsible.”
“The ‘we can do it’ policy is irresponsible,” as it harms Europe and Austria in particular, Hans Peter Doskozil said. The official added that his country “is not a waiting room for Germany,” alluding to the fact that many of the migrants are crossing to Austria in a hope of eventually settling in Germany later.
In a bid to curb the problem, Doskozil even suggested that the EU should hold a “summit on deportation” to discuss steps that would speed up the process of returning migrants back to their home countries.The Experts
Don’t panic! The property bubble isn’t about to burst!
John McGrath
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
By John McGrath
Have you noticed that the speculation has started? The property market is “grinding to a halt”. The boom is over. The banks have lent too much. The bubble is going to burst.
This sort of chatter happens at the end of every boom. I have seen it time and time again over 30 years and the ‘doom and gloom’ predictions simply haven’t eventuated. The moment we see even the slightest change in boom market conditions, the headlines begin. The end is called. The umpire blows his whistle. Yesterday we were in a boom, today we’re on a slippery slope.
A gradual process
In reality, booms don’t end this way. It’s an extremely gradual process. Yes, we might be at the start of a slowdown in Sydney and Melbourne today. Or we might not be – no one knows. But there’s a few small signs that the market is slowing and that’s why we’re seeing these headlines and predictions of price falls. The key is not to panic.
I’d actually encourage you to welcome a slowdown in growth. After a long period of price rises – about 75% in Sydney alone, we need a period of consolidation that will put a floor under these new price levels and provide stable ground for home values to rise strongly again in the next boom.
Of course, no home owner likes to see prices go down. But it’s important to remember that if we do see some price reductions, they’ll be small and short term. History tells us that good quality properties double in value every decade but growth is never in a straight line. More often than not, we have a few years of strong growth, a few years of little growth and round in circles we go.
I’d advise you to ignore all suggestions of a market crash. It’s not going to happen. Yes, we’ve had phenomenal growth over the past five years. That doesn’t mean we’re due to have phenomenal declines.
Property is now analysed, or should I say over-analysed, as closely as the stock market but property is not an asset class that changes overnight. We have too much population growth fuelling demand and too much of an undersupply to experience a crash.
Overseas commentators, in particular, do not understand this. They also don’t appreciate how ingrained it is in our culture to pursue property ownership. We have entirely different dynamics to overseas markets that will continue to keep our property values strong well into the future.
Sydney and Melbourne
Now, the question on everyone’s lips is whether the Sydney and Melbourne markets are turning. Firstly, no one can ever identify the exact time of a turn – it will only become clear to us several months after it has happened because once again, the property market changes at a very slow pace.
As discussed in my column last week, new CoreLogic figures tell us that the supply of established housing stock available for sale in Sydney and Melbourne is at its highest level for this time of year since 2012. Does this indicate slowing demand? Yes. Is it a sign that the market is actually slowing or just a blip? We don’t know yet.
Saturday auction clearance rates remain very high. About 60% represents a normal market. About 80% represents a boom. For the past couple of months, Sydney has been in the 70% - 75% range. Does this indicate a slight drop in demand? Yes. Is demand still strong? Absolutely.
Again, when the property market slows down after a boom, it does so very, very gradually. In my opinion, I do think the Sydney and Melbourne markets are at, or near, their peak for this growth cycle. What’s going to happen next? The two most likely eventualities are as follows:
1. The pace of growth in property prices will slow down but not stop. Property prices will keep growing but at a lesser rate per year.
2. We have a minor correction, where the market will do as it has done before and give back about half of the prior year’s growth, so that would be around 5%.
Neither scenario is cause for panic. If the boom is indeed over, then here’s my advice to people in the market.
If you are a recent buyer, don’t panic. Yes, you’ve purchased at what is probably the peak of the cycle but if you plan to hold long term (which is what you should always do) then it won’t matter if we experience a small correction. You’ve purchased a sound investment during a time of record low interest rates. Think about what your property will be worth in 10 years’ time – probably double!
If you are in the market to buy, d on’t put it off because you think prices will plunge – it never happens that way. Take a sensible measured approach, set a budget and buy the right property for you.
If you are thinking of selling, now’s the time. It feels to me like we’re at, or close, to the peak of this cycle, so if you want to fully capitalise on this boom, now is the time to sell.
Property is a fantastic vehicle for wealth creation if you can hold it long term. That means riding out market slowdowns without panicking and staying focused on the goal of debt-free ownership down the road.
Have you read Peter Switzer's property article today? Read it here.
Published: Tuesday, May 30, 2017
DisqusI explained patiently, again, that there was no madam around. I would be approving my own modular kitchen, cabinet colours and all.
When it finally dawned on him that there was no madam at all, he was aghast. I don’t know what shocked him more – that a man might approve a kitchen design, or that I lived alone, or that a man who lived alone wanted a kitchen.
When I first moved to the United States as a graduate student I could not wait to live by myself. The idea of a town where no one knew your name was just exhilarating.
When I was moving back to India after 20 years in the US, many friends were aghast. How will you manage, they wondered uneasily. Twenty years of San Francisco can change you. How would I adjust to life back in a city without non-GMO Swiss chard, late-night carnitas quesadillas and gay bars?
“Do they have gay bars in India?” well-meaning American friends asked me.
Kolkata actually had the first Rainbow Pride parade in India back in 1999. But no, there were no gay bars here, though there were several men-only bars, no Leather Weekend street fairs with paddling stations, no same-sex marriages officiated by the city’s mayor. I knew and I understood that certain things I took for granted in a San Francisco lifestyle would just not work in India. Neighbours in San Francisco minded their own business. Neighbours in India minded your business.
While the gay movement in the US was focused on marriage equality, in India it had its hands full trying to overturn a Victorian era anti-sodomy law that had hung around after the British had packed up and left. India had changed dramatically in the last decade when it came to visibility of gay issues in the media but there was still a fog of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell around issues of sexuality.
But I had not reckoned that what would be truly difficult was being an unmarried man, especially an unmarried man living part of the time on his own, away from family. That was what was regarded as profoundly abnormal. And I wearily had to come out about the lack of a “Madam” all the time. My banker wanted to know if “Madam” also needed to open a new account. The water filter service man said breezily that, even I was not at home, he could install the water filter as long as “Madam” was around.
Even the traffic signal near my apartment plays an earnest road safety message all day that entreats us to “Please cross the road carefully. Remember someone is waiting for you at home”. It made you feel that if you were heading home to an empty apartment you could just carelessly fling yourself into the path of the next careening minibus. Every television soap featured great bickering extended families with at least three sons and their wives all living and feuding under one roof along with a few assorted widowed aunts and hangers on.
Not being married meant not being acknowledged as a responsible grown-up. It’s the biggest failing of parenthood – the incompleteness of the unmarried child.
Family friends squeezed my cheeks as if I was a little boy instead of a middle-aged man. Aunts worried how I’d cook on my own, forgetting that I had fended for myself for 20 years in America.
More people are living solo around the world these days. You can call it a splintering of society. Or you can say it’s because we have better internet connections. 10,300,000 Indians live alone, according to the 2011 Census. In 2001, only 30 percent of those who lived alone were over 60. Now that figure is nudging 50 percent. According to a 2012 study the countries where single-person households are growing the fastest are Brazil, China and India.
That statistic has clearly not percolated its way down to my kitchen design store in Kolkata. This is still not a society set up for living on your own. Living alone means hanging out all day waiting for the carpenter who promised to come at 9 and has not shown up at 11. The courier comes three times a day bringing telephone bills, magazines, invitations to jewellery exhibitions. Everyone assumes someone will be around at all times to answer the doorbell.
It sometimes makes me wonder whether Indians can more intuitively grasp a right to marriage rather than a right to privacy or self-expression. The hot debates around gay rights revolve around consenting adults and their right to privacy. Marriage is hardly on the radar. But coming out in India is really about marriage. In fact, the standard coming out line is “Mom, Dad, I don’t think I am going to get married.”
As same-sex marriage becomes more and more commonplace around the world, that old coming out line is going to inevitably feel out-of-date. India might be a conservative country but if it understands anything, it understands marriage. That might just extend even to same-sex marriage one day. At least he married someone, thank goodness.
I imagine one day a classified ad in the Sunday paper or on one of the matrimonial websites like Shaadi.com will read:
Hindu very well-established Kolkata family invites professional match for son, 32, 5’9”, MBA, Senior Executive in Fortune 500 company. Prospective grooms encouraged to reply in confidence with complete bio-data and returnable photo. Must be professional, under 30, caste no bar.
Stay tuned for the first gay arranged marriage. And the modular kitchen salesman who will say with a knowing smile, “No madam? What about a sir then?”
Sandip Roy's new novel, Don't Let Him Know, is published by Bloomsbury on January 29, £16.99Darryl Greenamyer (August 13, 1936 – October 4, 2018) was an American aviator. He started his flying career in the US Air Force Reserve.[2] After leaving the Air Force, he then began to work at Lockheed where he eventually became an SR-71 test pilot at Skunk works. While working at Lockheed he met many of the engineers who would later help him make modifications to future race planes. He won his first victory in the Unlimited Class at the Reno Air Races in 1965. He is the third most successful competitor in Reno Air Race history.
History [ edit ]
On August 16, 1969, flying the highly modified Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat "Conquest I" (N1111L), Greenamyer broke the 30-year-old FAI Class C-1 Group I 3 km speed record with a speed of 777.38 kilometres per hour (483.04 mph). An earlier attempt in 1966 by Greenamyer had to be aborted due to directional stability problems and an attempt in 1968 ended with a blown piston.[3] The previous record had been set by Fritz Wendel flying a German Messerschmitt Me 209 in 1939.[4] The record-breaking was featured in the 1970 documentary "Man for the Record" (Pennzoil/Cobra Enterprises).[5] Greenamyer won the National Air Races six times with this airplane before donating it to the Smithsonian in 1977.[4]
On October 24, 1977, Greenamyer, flying a modified F-104 Starfighter "Red Baron" (N104RB), set a FAI Class C-1 Group III 3 km speed record of 1,590.45 kilometres per hour (988.26 mph), which still stands.[6] An earlier attempt on October 2, 1976 yielded a higher time (1,630 km/h), but one timing camera didn't work on one run, meaning the record couldn't be certified.[7][8]
He built the Starfighter by collecting and putting together myriad parts over a 13-year period. The cockpit side panels and some control column bearings of the Red Baron came from the very first production F-104A, which crashed in Palmdale, California 22 years earlier. The tail of the Red Baron, minus stabilizers, came from a junkyard in Ontario, California. The stabilizers and some nose wheel parts were from scrap piles in Tucson and Homestead, Florida. The idler arm for the elevator controls, the ejection seat rails and some electrical relays came from an F-104 that crashed and burned at Edwards Air Force Base on the edge of the Mojave Desert. Greenamyer got his throttle quadrant from a Tennessee flying buff he met at the Reno National Air Races. The trunnion mounts for the nose gear, some of the cooling-system valves and a few relays on the Red Baron came from a 25-ton pile of junk that Greenamyer bought at Eglin Air Force Base. In a swap with NASA, he obtained the nose of a Lockheed NF-104A, with its reaction controls. The all-important J79-GE-10 engine was obtained from the US Navy.[9]
On February 26, 1978, while preparing an assault on the FAI altitude record using the same aircraft, he was unable to get the landing gear to lock before landing. As it was dangerous to land in this condition, he was forced to eject and the airplane was destroyed.[10]
Other projects [ edit ]
In 1994, Greenamyer led an unsuccessful mission to rescue the Kee Bird, a B-29 aircraft which crash-landed in Greenland in 1947. The attempted recovery resulted in the loss of the airframe by fire on the ground.
Greenamyer had been working on building an Unlimited Class racer named "Shockwave". This racer combines the outer wing panels of a Sea Fury with a new centersection and fuselage. The tail is from a F-86 Sabre and it is planned to be powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-4360.[11]
After the Sport Class was introduced at the Reno Air Races in 1998, Greenamyer built a Lancair Legacy (N33XP) that he has since raced successfully.[12][13]
Other sports [ edit ]
Besides aircraft, Greenamyer was also active in drag racing.[14] In addition, he owned several classic Ferraris.[15][16]
See also [ edit ]PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Despite a threat from cable giant Comcast to take legal action, Philadelphia has banned employers from asking potential hires to provide their salary history, a move supporters say is a step toward closing the wage gap between men and women.
Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney signed the measure on Monday, and said he’s confident the bill can withstand legal challenges.
“I know that Comcast and the business community are committed to ending wage discrimination, and I’m hopeful that moving forward we can have a better partnership on this and other issues of concern to business owners and their employees,” he said. “This doesn’t need to be an either/or argument — what is good for the people of Philadelphia is good for business, too.”
Comcast and the city’s Chamber of Commerce have said the law goes too far in dictating how employers can interact with potential workers.
The City Council unanimously passed the ordinance in December. Supporters contend that since women have historically been paid less than men, the practice of asking for a salary history can help perpetuate a cycle of lower salaries for women, continuing throughout their careers.
Women in Pennsylvania are paid 79 cents for every dollar a man earns, according to a 2015 Census Bureau report. For black and Hispanic women, the pay gap is even wider.
Democratic City Councilman Bill Greenlee, who sponsored Philadelphia’s bill, said he was inspired by a Massachusetts pay equity bill signed into law last summer that included a ban on asking for salary history.
“It’s reasonable to think if you take this question out of the equation it could help lessen wage inequality, and it’s worth a chance,” Greenlee said. “We’re trying to ensure fairness.”
However, Comcast and the Chamber of Commerce see the bill as yet another hassle in bringing business to Philadelphia.
“The wage equity ordinance as written is an overly broad impediment to businesses seeking to grow their workforce in the City of Philadelphia,” Rob Wonderling, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, wrote in an opinion piece to a city business journal this month, adding it “infringes upon an employer’s ability to gain important information during the hiring process.”
Comcast had urged the mayor to veto the bill or face legal challenges, according to a legal memo obtained by The Philadelphia Inquirer earlier this month. The memo said the law would violate employers’ First Amendment rights to ask potential hires about their salary history.
Comcast referred questions to the Chamber of Commerce for this story. Neither responded to requests for comment after the mayor signed the bill.
David Cohen, a senior Comcast vice president, told the newspaper on Jan. 10 the bill was stoking frustrations in the city’s business community about increased regulations coming from City Hall. He said the policy doesn’t make sense in “corporate America” and pondered how companies would know what to pay top executives without past salary knowledge.
Since the Massachusetts bill was signed, similar legislation has been picking up speed around the country, said Maya Raghu, director of workplace equality at the National Women’s Law Center in Washington, D.C.
“For lawmakers, it is something that you can easily understand, thinking back to your first jobs and how those salaries impacted you,” she said.
Similar salary history bans have been introduced in New Jersey, and the city councils of New York City and Pittsburgh as well as the District of Columbia. In November, New York City stopped asking applicants for municipal jobs what they currently earn, and earlier this month Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order banning state entities from asking about pay history. Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia’s delegate to Congress, has sponsored similar legislation in Congress.
The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce ended up backing the Massachusetts legislation after lots of meetings and some tweaks to the bill, said Jim Rooney, president and CEO of the group. Employers are allowed to ask candidates what their salary expectations are, and candidates are free to reveal their past salary, as with the Philadelphia bill.
“‘What are your salary expectations?’ is a powerful question, and it lets you be within law,” he said.
Victoria Budson, executive director of the Women and Public Policy Program at the Harvard Kennedy School, says many steps are needed in order to close the wage gap, including educating employees and employers and understanding what a job is worth in a particular labor market.
“This provision won’t close the wage gap, but it’s an important piece in helping close it,” she said. “You’re not allowed to ask someone’s marital status or if they are planning to have children. We have a long standing history of things not to ask an employee. This would just be one thing added to that.”
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.MINNEAPOLIS -- In the midst of preparing for the holidays and caring for the couple's two young children, Adrian Peterson's wife, Ashley, added an unusual task to her to-do list earlier this month: finding a Santa Claus suit big enough for the NFL's leading rusher.
The Petersons were in the process of making arrangements for their event Tuesday, where the Minnesota Vikings running back surprised more than 400 children with Christmas gifts at Mary's Place Transitional Shelter in Minneapolis. Adrian and Ashley Peterson planned to dress up as Santa and Mrs. Claus, and Adrian Peterson had already purchased a Santa suit from the time he dressed up in 2013 at a team Bible-study Christmas party, but that one had gone missing.
Sixty dollars and a shopping trip later, the problem was solved.
"He's very tall and buff, but the fact those suits are so big, it's not too hard to find something that fits him," she said.
"He's very tall and buff, but the fact those suits are so big, it's not too hard to find something that fits him," Ashley Peterson said of finding Santa gear for husband Adrian. Courtesy Ben Goessling
The Petersons decided to buy, not rent, the suit, because they plan to turn what they did Tuesday into a yearly event. They showed up at the housing center in the shadow of Target Field with gift bags, sorted by gender and age group, for 420 children living at Mary's Place. Many of the families are immigrants from Somalia or transplants who'd left Chicago after the recent waves of violence there. Plenty of the children Peterson met didn't know who was behind the beard, or realize they were talking to the 2012 NFL MVP.
"I love to see smiles on kids' faces, especially when you have kids that are less fortunate," Peterson said. "When Christmastime comes around, they don't know what to expect. They don't think they're getting anything. So to surprise kids, and see the smiles on their faces, and to be able to bless people, that's what it's all about."
Adrian and Ashley Peterson decided about two weeks ago they wanted to give Christmas presents to a shelter in the Twin Cities. They reached out to Calvin Simmons -- the Petersons' pastor with National Athletic Pastoral Care, who officiated the couple's wedding ceremony in July 2014 -- and Simmons and his wife, Shareese, told the Petersons about Mary's Place.
"We turned around the next day and got on it -- immediately starting ordering toys, letting people know what was going on and working with Mary's Place to make sure we had the correct number of children and all the details down," Ashley Peterson said. "It's a lot of work, but it's very much worth it."
Peterson absorbed heavy nationwide scrutiny last year after he was indicted for injuring his 4-year-old son in an act of corporal punishment, and the running back's All Day Foundation went on hiatus when several charities it supported were questioned over their affiliation with Peterson. Even as public support for the running back dried up, Peterson kept doing philanthropic work away from the spotlight, continuing his support of the AAU girls' basketball team in Austin, Texas, and, he says, helping 22 kids go to college last year.
"It's funny, because this is something I always do," he said. "I always do things to give back to the community and those that are less fortunate. You take away last year, this would be something I'd still be putting on."
The Santa suit, it seems, isn't going away.
"This is definitely something we want to do yearly with the foundation," Ashley Peterson said. "Christmas is my favorite holiday, so I want to make sure that, as many kids as we can help to have the best Christmas ever, I want to help those children."Ebola is having a devastating impact on Sierra Leone’s informal mining sector, which provides a livelihood to some of the country’s poorest people
Ebola is having catastrophic economic consequences for Sierra Leone, where the disease is running rampant.
The country, together with the two other Mano River Union states, Liberia and Guinea, are presently in economic paralysis. Despite being natural resource-rich countries, inflation, food prices and currency exchange rates have soared, international investors have fled, and industries have come to a grinding halt. World Bank estimates suggest that the Ebola outbreak could cost the West African economy $32.6bn (£20.3bn) by the end of 2015, unless the epidemic is rapidly contained.
In Sierra Leone, the macro-economic impacts of the crisis came into sharp focus two weeks ago, when the country’s second largest iron ore producer, London Mining, went into administration. The London-listed company was one of the country’s largest employers, providing jobs for 1,400 local people at its mine in Marampa, and contributing an estimated 10% to GDP. While the company has been hard hit by a 40% drop in the global price of iron ore, it seems that the disruption caused by the Ebola epidemic served as the final nail in the coffin.
The Ebola crisis is having devastating consequences on Sierra Leone’s macro-economy, but it is also having far reaching knock-on effects at the micro-level, suppressing informal livelihood opportunities for poor people. This is particularly the case for those who are dependent on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) – low-tech, labour-intensive mineral extraction and processing activities that generate disposable income for hundreds of thousands of families in an employment-constrained economy.
With many parts of the country in effective quarantine and regional trade routes blocked off, there are enormous logistical challenges for ASM. It is Sierra Leone’s second largest employer after agriculture and provides a livelihood for an estimated 200,000-300,000 individuals and their families. It is also an activity that is characterised by a high degree of mobility, and it often takes place in confined spaces where there is poor hygiene. While the spread of Ebola has forced many ASM operators to abandon mining altogether, tight border controls implemented to halt the spread of disease have also made activities within the ASM sector increasingly difficult.
ASM does not merely generate income for poor people, but it interlocks closely with a host of other downstream and ancillary activities that drive the rural economy. This micro-economy is defined by seasonal migratory labour streams, where individuals straddle different productive activities throughout the year, by moving freely between various geographic locations.
Artisanal diamond operators often combine farming and mining, with mining being undertaken predominantly in the dry season when river levels are low, and farming being carried out mainly during the rainy season. The income generated from diamond mining is frequently reinvested into farming, or the expansion of cash crops, such as coffee, cocoa and kola nuts.
Restrictions on the movement of people have severely curtailed both artisanal diamond and gold mining. Before the crisis, artisanal gold mining, being a female-dominated activity, provided a steady and reliable income for women. Gold revenue contributed to the cost of essential household expenses, including food, clothes, school fees and books, and family medical costs.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Women mining gold in Kono, Sierra Leone. Photograph: Roy Maconachie
These earnings also provided women with the necessary ‘start-up’ capital to create farming associations, revive agricultural labour clubs and rebuild trading networks that were rendered dysfunctional during the war. This prominent gender dimension to the sector suggests that artisanal gold mining is, in normal circumstances, an important vehicle for alleviating poverty and enhancing food security, as it puts income directly into the hands of women.
Restrictions on movement are not only affecting producers, but also buyers, many of whom travel from as far as Guinea to do business. Reports indicate that sourcing patterns are also being affected. Buyers in Surat, India, where an estimated 80% of the world’s diamonds are cut and polished, have stopped sending their traders to West Africa and have even returned parcels originating from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, over fears of the disease.
Everyday life in rural Sierra Leone is a challenge at the best of times, with many people in the alluvial mining areas experiencing some of the worst poverty in the country. While Ebola has had a devastating effect on the mining sector – both large-scale, like London Mining, and small-scale – the predominant national response to restrict mobility has been particularly damaging to the ASM sector and the livelihoods of those it supports.
It has had an impact upon the day-to-day survival of hundreds of thousands of people within the gold and diamondiferous areas of the country. This indicates that managing the risk of further contagion is a doubly challenging task, given that the trade networks and population mobility that define the rural economy are also potential pathways to spread the disease further.
Ebola control must involve a process of rapid identification of cases, followed by removal and isolation of those infected for treatment. Public health education is also key. But a truly holistic approach to containing the disease, without cutting the lifelines that support the livelihoods of Sierra Leone’s rural inhabitants, must first start with a detailed understanding from all agencies involved, of the country’s rural landscapes and an appreciation of the micro-economic patterns and processes that are central to rural society.
Roy Maconachie is senior lecturer in international development at the University of Bath
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Join the community of sustainability professionals and experts. Become a GSB member to get more stories like this direct to your inboxWASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In a frenzy of early-morning activity on Saturday, President Donald J. Trump ordered aides to immediately cover every phone in the White House with tin foil, White House sources confirmed.
According to the sources, Trump contacted staffers Kellyanne Conway and Sean Spicer at approximately 6 A.M. and instructed them to purchase enough tin foil to cover every phone in the building.
The President, still wearing his bathrobe after what was reportedly a sleepless night, personally supervised the tin-foil installation, sources said.
“Wrap it tighter,” he was heard bellowing at Conway.
After the installation was complete, Trump ordered the Secret Service to check every room in the White House for signs of former President Barack Obama.
“He’s still here somewhere, I know it,” Trump reportedly muttered.I have been bleaching my hair for 26 years and it had taken a toll on my locks, until I started using the right hair products. Keeping it healthy and strong has been a challenge and I have learned so much and I am excited to share with you what I have learned.
You will find out why you should be using Sulfate Free Shampoos and Conditioners and which ones are the best. How switching from a Hair Straightener (aka Flat Iron) to a Hair Straightening Brush in the long run is a healthier choice for your hair. Why you should invest in a Professional Hair Dryer and which one is right for your hair type. As we all |
Furtado, Gerardo Uribe, Solano and others, alleging she was misled.
Furtado acknowledged setting up the grow even though it was against Douglas County rules but denied misleading the woman, Roddess Ekberg. Furtado eventually was awarded more than $600,000 after Ekberg failed to respond to his counter claims, records show.
Ekberg also was a grower for a dispensary called Daddy Fat Sacks. In 2011, dispensary owner and president Larry DeVillier notified Denver city officials he was closing the business and was no longer affiliated with Furtado, who had an ownership stake in the dispensary.
DeVillier wrote that Furtado “is unethical and I have reason to believe that his practices in the marijuana business are illegal.”
Furtado denied the allegations and said Ekberg was dishonest and unreliable. Ekberg could not be reached for comment.
Furtado said VIP Cannabis’ flagship store at South Federal Boulevard and West Alameda Avenue brought in about $9 million in 2013 before the raid.
VIP reopened in December, restocked with marijuana it legally purchased from other businesses, and Furtado said at least one VIP grow operation is up and running again.
Furtado questioned why the government could not audit the businesses or investigate further instead of hitting them in the raids.
“It could have been handled differently,” he said. “It could have been done more professionally. I think what people forget is, this affects people’s lives, their families.”
The Uribes acquired an interest in another marijuana business — a grow in north Denver operated under the name Elizabeth’s End — in August 2012. By November of that year, the brothers, through Gerardo and a business they own called Herbology, owned 85 percent of the grow, plus 94 percent of a connected dispensary.
Their new share came from Jared Bringhurst, who was the businesses’ previous majority owner, according to a lawsuit Bringhurst and the two remaining minority owners — Anthony Nuccio and Jesse Benitez — are pursuing against the Uribes and their associate Felix Perez. Bringhurst, Nuccio and Benitez all say the Uribes and Perez owe them money.
The lawsuit also previously alleged that the Uribes and Perez were suspected of hiding profits and product from their marijuana businesses and selling marijuana out of state, which they denied. Bringhurst, Nuccio and Benitez subsequently removed that allegation from the lawsuit, at the request of Furtado, according to a motion.
Although Bringhurst has said he now holds no interest in any of the businesses, he was still named as a target in the raid search warrant, as was Perez. Benitez and Nuccio were not named. The lawsuit is set to go to trial in September.
Late last month, Bringhurst filed a motion for a protective order against Perez, alleging that Perez had been harassing and threatening him. Bringhurst wrote that Perez repeatedly asked to be dropped from the suit. A judge approved the protection order last week, according to court documents.
Another possible dispute
Court records from Florida — where a raid target named Juan Guardarrama currently sits in state prison — hint at another possible business dispute involving Gerardo Uribe.
Guardarrama, 50, was convicted of working in the Miami area with Colombian and Cuban gangs to sell diamonds taken during violent robberies. But he also split his time in Denver, where he lived in a luxury apartment in the city’s Golden Triangle neighborhood, according to court records.
According to a report in The Miami Herald, Guardarrama asked undercover investigators if they would help him smuggle 20 pounds of marijuana a month from Colorado to be distributed in Florida.
Guardarrama — whom authorities said used the street name “Tony Montana,” after the character from the film “Scarface” — also asked to have two people murdered, according to charging documents. One was a man named Lino Alvarado. The other was Gerardo Uribe.
Both the marijuana-trafficking charge and the murder-solicitation charge were dropped as part of Guardarrama’s plea deal.
Another November raid target, John Frank Esmeral, is identified in city records as a co-owner with Luis Uribe of a dispensary in northwest Denver and an affiliated grow near Coors Field. Both shuttered after being raided, said Esmeral’s attorney, Rob Corry.
“He and I have no idea why the federal government decided to essentially dismantle his business,” Corry said. “It was perfectly legal under state and local law, operating with all the appropriate licensure. If the Department of Justice’s goal was to strike fear in our industry, mission accomplished.”
Grateful Meds in Nederland, another raid target, also faces an uncertain future.
The once-thriving business was out of product and money when Gerardo Uribe and Furtado bought it for a song in 2012, said Mark Rose, one of Grateful Meds’ original owners.
Rose said he had a hard time getting paid his share and had to drive to the main VIP Cannabis store in Denver to collect.
“I wasn’t really happy with the way they did business,” Rose said.
Furtado was “a hothead,” Rose said. “He was boisterous. He was a big bully. He was all about trying to intimidate you from the start.”
After the VIP group took over Grateful Meds, it remodeled the inside to match its other locations and brought in Joseph Taveras, a 50-year-old Dominican-American businessman from Miami, as manager.
Taveras — also identified as a target in the raid — said in an interview he has seen nothing questionable and suspects Gerardo Uribe is being unfairly targeted because he is Colombian. Uribe has struggled to get financing, which would not be the case if he were involved with cartels and money laundering, Taveras said.
“Gerardo, he is the one who cares more about everything,” he said. “He knows because of the stigma, of being Colombian, that his people may be targeted. He all the time talked about doing the right things.”
Another business associate, Olga Skuratovich, described Gerardo Uribe as intelligent, honest and well-versed in rules and regulations. Skuratovich is an owner of Metro Cannabis, a Denver dispensary that was to lease grow space from the Uribes at a planned greenhouse in Pueblo County that has been put on hold.
“I am not sure the government was being very fair,” she said. “I am in this industry, too, and I can see how anyone can be picked on. I am Russian. Gerardo is Colombian. I think that’s part of it, a stigma that is attached. No one will ever say it, but it’s out there.”
Furtado, the attorney, said agents carrying out the Nov. 21 raids left a message for the business owners.
One of the grow warehouse walls is adorned with the VIP Cannabis logo — a cloud of smoke wearing black sunglasses and a grin.
Over the cloud, Furtado said, someone had drawn a picture of a sun with rays coming down from it, and the initials, “D.E.A.”
Eric Gorski: 303-954-1971, egorski@denverpost.com or twitter.com/egorski
John Ingold: 303-954-1068, jingold@denverpost.com or twitter.com/john_ingoldMajor American foundations have given millions of dollars in funding to Islamic organizations accused of having ties to radical Islamist movements or designated terrorist organizations and a group of activists is trying to convince them to stop.
Groups like Islamic Relief Worldwide, which some countries have banned for allegedly funding Hamas and other terrorist organizations, have received millions of dollars from corporate charities like the GE Foundation, community foundations like the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and independent foundations like George Soros’ Open Society Foundation. (RELATED: Soros Transfers $18 BILLION To His Open Society Foundations)
Researchers with the Middle East Forum, an activist group devoted to promoting American interests abroad, identified the financial stream from American foundations to seven Islamic groups with radical ties: Islamic Relief Worldwide and its sister organization in the United States — Islamic Relief USA, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Muslim American Society (MAS), the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and, despite rebounding from highly damaging terrorist allegations in 2008, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
The various foundations have given $5.8 million to these seven groups since 2000, IRS filings show, with $5.6 million of that taking place since 2008.
In total, 46 corporate foundations, eight community foundations, nine private foundations and one donor-advised fund have given money to these seven groups.
The MEF researchers tried — with very limited success — to privately persuade every foundation on the list to cease giving money to the seven groups, before sharing their findings exclusively with TheDC. In the interest of transparency, TheDC included the entire list of donations — with accompanying documentation — at the bottom of this article.
Terror-Linked Groups
All seven groups have all been accused of having ties either to radical Islamist movements or to designated terrorist organizations.
The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) supports the establishment of an Islamic caliphate and has ties to a radical Pakistani political group called Jamaat-e-Islami. Al-Qaeda recruiter Anwar al-Awlaki spoke at an event for the ICNA in 2002. ICNA members have been involved in terroristic activities in the United States. One woman was arrested in 2015 for allegedly planning a terrorist attack had spoken at multiple ICNA events. Five students who were arrested for terrorist activities in 2009 were all members of an ICNA mosque in Alexandria, Va. (RELATED: New York Terrorist’s Mosque Has Ties To Fundamentalist Islamic Umbrella Group)
A 2010 handbook given to members of ICNA’s sister wing revealed the group’s goal of “a united Islamic state, governed by an elected khalifah (caliph) in accordance with the laws of shari’ah (sharia).” ICNA did not return a request for comment. Read an in-depth look at ICNA’s radical ties here.
Islamic Relief Worldwide is an Islamic charity that Israel and the United Arab Emirates have both banned for allegedly financing terrorist activities. The organization, which has affiliate organizations around the world including in the U.S., claims an independent audit cleared it of those allegations.
Islamic Relief has previously accepted tens of thousands of dollars from the Charitable Society for Social Welfare, a now-defunct Islamic charity founded by Sheik Abd-al-Majid al-Zindani.
Both the U.S. and the United Nations designated al-Zindani a terrorist in 2004. Federal prosecutors in 2005 described Zindani’s organization as “a front organization” that was “used to support al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden,” The Washington Post reported in 2008.
Islamic Relief accepted funding from the al-Qaeda-linked group as recently as 2009, according to their annual report filed that year. That report has since been deleted from Islamic Relief’s website, although it can still be seen in cached form here.
The group’s founder, Dr. Essam El-Haddad, was a senior official for the Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt.
An investigation by the Gatestone Institute concluded that Islamic Relief Worldwide “appears to be a hub for donations from charities accused of links to Al Qaeda and other terror groups.
Islamic Relief USA described Islamic Relief Worldwide as a “sister organization” in a statement to TheDC, but denounced that either organization has radical ties.
Their full statement is below:
Mr. Westrop and his colleagues at Middle East Forum, along with other apparently Islamophobic publications, continue to pedal the same nonsensical claims that have been debunked time and time again. The only thing credible that the Middle East Forum has ever said in their posts is a sentence that states that Islamic Relief does “laudable work” in providing clean water and food for those suffering from hunger or food insecurity. This is why corporations donate to Islamic Relief USA, because of our laudable work. Like any good and successful corporation, it invests in a good product. Islamic Relief is as good a product as there is. We have never encouraged an ideology of hatred and violence. We stand for humanitarianism and abide by the principles of neutrality, impartiality, humanity and independence. That is why we engage in disaster relief, feeding the hungry, and run education programs in more than 38 countries around the world, serving anyone in need regardless of religion, race, or gender. We have never funded terrorist organizations like Hamas. We have strong accountability mechanisms in place to ensure that our funds are not diverted to listed entities and our finances are regularly audited to ensure strong accountability. We fund programs based on need, not on ideology. We submit ourselves to several voluntary sectoral standards. In fact, Charity Navigator has consistently rated us as a four-star organization, and a recent Business Insider article listed us as among the best charities to support with donations for Hurricane Harvey. Independent investigations have debunked the claims made by Israel. Also, the United Kingdom-based Disasters Emergency Committee, has said Islamic Relief Worldwide, our sister organization, is satisfied in how our the organization has robust systems in place to ensure aid money is properly accounted for and spent appropriately. They added that there isn’t any evidence that IR used funds inappropriately. It is not about, nor has it ever been, about advocating or perpetuating terrorist dogma. We welcome people to scrutinize our finances, as time and time again, we have proven our donations are spent to solely uplift people.
A spokesperson for GE Foundation told TheDC that it has determined Islamic Relief Worldwide doesn’t meets the corporate charity’s standards, which the spokesperson said includes compliance with IRS designations and the U.S. Patriot Act.
The group’s sister organization, Islamic Relief USA, still meets GE’s standards, the spokesperson said.
The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) is a group with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. The group, which declined a request for comment, has lobbied Washington to remove two militant groups, Hamas and Hezbollah, from its list of designated terrorist organizations. MPAC’s founder, Salam al-Marayati, once suggested that Israel was behind the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The Muslim American Society (MAS) “was founded as the overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in America,” federal prosecutors said in a 2008 court filing. (RELATED: Keith Ellison Failed To Disclose Group Tied To Muslim Brotherhood Sponsored Mecca Pilgrimage)
In 2009, MAS and ICNA held a convention that, according to the ADL, “served as a forum for religious scholars and political activists to rail against Jews, call for the eradication of the state of Israel and accuse the United States government as waging a war against Muslims at home and abroad.” The group did not return an email seeking comment.
The Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) faced damaging accusations of terror ties in 2008 and 2009, although the organization has rebounded to the extent that it is welcomed within the mainstream Left.
CAIR was named an un-indicted co-conspirator in the 2008 Holy Land Foundation terror financing trial. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has said that CAIR was founded by “leaders of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), a Hamas affiliated anti-Semitic propaganda organization.” The ADL has accused CAIR of pushing an “anti-Israel agenda” and of being soft on Islamic terrorism.
A federal judge concluded in 2009 that there is “ample evidence” of ties between three U.S.-based organizations, including CAIR and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), and radical Islamic groups such as Hamas, which the State Department has designated a terrorist organization.
In response to TheDC’s request for comment, a spokesman for CAIR pointed to pages on the group’s website that claim to dispel misinformation surrounding CAIR.
“Almost all of the foundations we asked to stop funding Islamist groups told us the same thing: all they looked for was an active 501(c)3 status. The side effect of this is that foundations end up funding all sorts of racist and anti-Semitic hate groups. Under these foundations’ standards, for example, an eligible 501(c)3 would be the New Century Foundation, a notorious white supremacist group,” said David Swindle, a coordinator for Islamist Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum.
“Islamist groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations and Islamic Relief fall into this same category of utilizing charitable status to obscure long histories of promoting and funding extremism and hate.”
The Foundations Behind Them
The foundations funding the seven Islamic groups fall into four categories: corporate charities, community foundations and independent foundations and donor-advised foundations.
Independent Foundations: Soros And Gates Lead The Way
George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have combined for more than $2 million in donations to at least one of the seven groups since 2011.
OSF gave $625,000 to ISNA between 2011 and 2015. (RELATED: Leaked Memo Shows Soros Group Funded ‘Opposition Research’ On Critics Of Radical Islam)
OSF sent a lengthy answer in response to questions about ISNA’s ties and OSF’s financial support of the group:
The Islamic Society of North America is one of the largest mainstream Muslim organizations in the United States. The group runs youth leadership programs, promotes efforts to improve the governance of mosques, promotes gender inclusivity, and works with members of the Catholic and Jewish communities on interfaith programs, among other activities. The group’s leadership has partnered with the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense in Democratic and Republican administrations alike to make the country safer. And they’ve joined State Department-sponsored travels abroad to promote the benefits of U.S.-style democracy.
Unfortunately, the organization has long been a favorite target of extremist anti-Muslim hate groups, who continue to circulate discredited information in an effort to stain their good reputation. The Open Society Foundations is proud to support ISNA’s work on the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign, an interfaith effort to stand up against hate crimes and anti-Muslim bigotry.
The Gates Foundation gave more than $1.3 million to Islamic Relief Worldwide in 2014. The Gates Foundation, which did not reply to a message seeking comment, told the MEF researchers that they currently have no plans for future donations to Islamic Relief, but refused to commit to not funding Islamic Relief in the future.
The Gates Foundation told the researchers they rely on the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center in determining whether a group the foundation is giving money to constitutes a “hate group.” The SPLC is known for smearing mainstream conservative organizations as “hate groups.” (RELATED: SPLC Says Army Bases Are Confederate Monuments That Need To Come Down)
The full list of independent foundations that have given to the seven groups can be seen below:
Foundation Support FINAL – Independent by Peter Hasson on Scribd
Corporate Foundations: Intel, GE, Johnson & Johnson, Verizon and more.
GE Foundation gave more to groups on the list than any other corporate foundation — more than $537,000. That money went to Islamic Relief (both the worldwide organization and its U.S. affiliate) and ICNA.
A spokesperson for GE said that, after reviewing Islamic Relief Worldwide, the company will no longer be giving money to the group.
“We regularly review the charities we support to certify compliance with IRS 501(c)(3) status or equivalent for non-U.S. organizations as well as the U.S. Patriot Act, and determined Islamic Relief Worldwide did not meet these standards,” a spokesperson for GE said.
GE will, however, continue funding Islamic Relief USA, the group’s sister organization in the United States.
Altogether, corporate foundations accounted for more than $2.3 million in donations to the radical groups.
Virtually all of the donations from corporate foundations from employee matching programs, in which companies will match any employee’s donation to 501(c)3 charitable organizations. In other words, the seven Islamic organizations likely weren’t vetted before the corporate foundations gave them money.
A spokesperson for the Verizon Foundation, which had the sixth largest record of donations to groups on the list, emphasized to TheDC that the corporate charity did not make donations to any of these groups aside from matching employee contributions.
See the full list of corporate foundations’ support for the seven groups below:
Foundation Support FINAL – Corporate by Peter Hasson on Scribd
Community Foundations
Unlike the corporate charities, community foundations would have specifically chosen the recipient organizations for their donations.
The Silicon Valley Community Foundation, which claims to be the largest community foundation in the world, gave more than $330,000 to CAIR and Islamic Relief between 2008 and 2015, IRS filings show.
A group of self-described “moderate Muslims” implored the foundation in a letter to cease giving donations to the two groups, which they described as Islamist and opposed to Western values. The letter said that Islamic Relief “gives charitably to terrorist sympathizers and enablers, including affiliates of Hamas.”
Signatories of the letter included Muslim academics and representatives from organizations including the Center for Islamic Pluralism and Muslims Facing Tomorrow.
Moderate Muslims Letter to SVCF by Peter Hasson on Scribd
Five Republican congressmen wrote a similar letter to the foundation in June, asking them to cease giving money to CAIR and Islamic Relief. The foundation has given no indication that they plan to cease funding the two groups. A spokesperson for SVCF pointed TheDC to a statement the foundation released in August, standing by its support for CAIR and Islamic Relief.
See the full list of community foundation donations to the seven groups below:
Foundation Support FINAL – Community by Peter Hasson on Scribd
Donor-Advised Funds:
Donors gave more than $450,000 to groups on this list through Schwab Charitable Fund between 2007 and 2015. The fund allows donors to give input on where their money goes, but the ultimate decision lies with Schwab.
Five groups received money through Schwab Charitable Fund: Islamic Relief, CAIR, ISNA, MPAC and ICNA.
See the full donation list below:
Foundation Support FINAL – Donor-Advised by Peter Hasson on ScribdSmarthistory together with leading art historians, and museum partners have created hundreds of short engaging conversational videos and articles, making Khan Academy one of the most accessible and extensive resources for the study of the history of art.
Students who want to go to US colleges can prepare for the SAT at their own pace, at absolutely no cost on Khan Academy through a close collaboration with CollegeBoard, the authors of the SAT.
The Churchill Archive includes more than 800,000 pages of original documents, produced between 1874 and 1965, ranging from Winston S. Churchill’s personal correspondence to his official exchanges with kings, presidents, politicians, and military leaders. This fantastic collection of primary source material offers new insight into a fascinating period of our past.
Trying to find a particular book? Trying to locate the origin of a quote or phrase? Google Books is a great way to work backwards and find the original source of information for your citation!
Trying to find a particular book? Trying to locate the origin of a quote or phrase? Google Books is a great way to work backwards and find the original source of information for your citation!
Student created animation - Thank you, Anthony!
More Links to useful research resources:
Please send any interesting links you find to Mr Bancroft, if you think they would be useful to others at VIS
Have you ever wondered about presenting your thoughts as free as they come? Ever got tired of creating a slideshow? It's been said, that the best innovations come from people who are unhappy with the tools they use. We realized that our ideas won't fit into slides anymore. Putting together creative thinking and technology expertise, we have created Prezi, a living presentation tool. Prezi is zooming sketches on a digital napkin. It's visualization and storytelling without slides. Your ideas live on stage and on the web.
http://www.khanacademy.org/ A free world-class education for anyone anywhere. Khan Academy is an organization on a mission. We're a not-for-profit with the goal of changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education for anyone anywhere. All of the site's resources are available to anyone. It doesn't matter if you are a student, teacher, home-schooler, principal, adult returning to the classroom after 20 years, or a friendly alien just trying to get a leg up in earthly biology. Khan Academy's materials and resources are available to you completely free of charge.
The Short and Simple Story of the Credit Crisis. By Jonathan Jarvis. The goal of giving form to a complex situation like the credit crisis is to quickly supply the essence of the situation to those unfamiliar and uninitiated. This project was completed as part of my thesis work in the Media Design Program, a graduate studio at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.
From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.
http://awesomestories.com/ These stories, movies and pictures are from sources who were actually there to witness historic events. These 'Primary Source' documents are invaluable for understanding historical events in context and avoiding the modern interpretations of events based on later information. "Enjoy an interactive learning experience as you see thousands of hand-selected and relevant links to pictures, slide-shows, videos, audio-clips, artifacts, manuscripts, documents and other primary sources linked, in context, within each story. "
http://www.archives.gov/ "The National Archives and Records Administration serves American democracy by safeguarding and preserving the records of the US Government, ensuring that the people can discover, use, and learn from this documentary heritage. We ensure continuing access to the essential documentation of the rights of American citizens and the actions of their government. We support democracy, promote civic education, and facilitate historical understanding of our national experience." Mission statement of the US National Archive
http://www.teachersfirst.com/ TeachersFirst is a rich collection of lessons, units, and web resources designed to save teachers time by delivering just what they need in a practical, user-friendly, and ad-free format. We offer our own professional and classroom-ready content along with thousands of reviewed web resources, including practical ideas for classroom use and safe classroom use of Web 2.0. Busy teachers, parents, and students can find resources using our subject/grade level search, keyword search, or extensive menus.Matthew Hobden was part of the England Performance Programme
Police are investigating whether Sussex bowler Matthew Hobden was asleep on the roof of a building before falling to his death.
The 22-year-old was found dead at a private property in the Forres area of Scotland on Saturday, 2 January after celebrating the New Year with friends.
His cause of death remains unexplained and Police Scotland told the BBC there are no suspicious circumstances.
The Mirror claims Hobden and other guests were star-gazing on the roof.
It said one line of police inquiry was that Hobden fell asleep and became disorientated when he woke, before he fell to his death.
Post-mortem tests have taken place and a file has been passed to the Procurator Fiscal.
The right-arm pace bowler's family said they were "deeply saddened" by his death.
Hobden made his first-class debut in 2014 and represented Sussex in all formats of the game.
On Wednesday, it was announced former Warwickshire fast bowler Tom Allin had died at the age of 28. He was found at the base of a bridge in north Devon.January 18, 2015—There are still Republicans out there pitching the partisan, race-baiting propaganda that Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of them. It’s not enough to judge King by the content of his character; they prefer to exploit his image for (not much) political gain. This has to end.
No one knows what party MLK affiliated with, but he did write, “In the past I have always voted the Democratic ticket,” in a letter to a supporter asking about the 1956 presidential election.
The idea of a Republican King would be nice for the mass Republican. For all the cheap race card plays from the left, it can be tempting to believe erroneous sources claiming King to be a GOP member. Not to mention Republicans love their party’s history of advancing blacks in civic life while Democrats were busy running KKK meetings. But that hasn’t cut it in appealing to black voters.
The myth of the Republican MLK has to be busted, but so do all other bottom-scraping tactics deployed against black voters. For one, stop propping up poor candidates and politicians just because of their skin color. From Alan Keyes to Herman Cain to Ben Carson or even Allen West or Elbert Guillory, it happens every time. It’s not that they only do this to their black candidates. Ben Carson gets away with terrible gun control positions just as Giuliani and others have. Still, there’s always the awkward, “and he’s black!” intonation when these guys are presented.
There is still some of MLK’s legacy that Republicans could continue if they chose. Honesty and consistency is what won Ron Paul more support among people of color. At one time, Paul polled better than any other Republican against Obama specifically among non-white voters. It’s about honesty and consistency.
Speaking of which, King addressed the challenge of being honest when it means going against the United States government. But his conscience demanded consistency.
From his speech Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence:
“As I have walked among the desperate, rejected and angry young men I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problems. I have tried to offer them my deepest compassion while maintaining my conviction that social change comes most meaningfully through nonviolent action. But they asked — and rightly so — what about Vietnam? They asked if our own nation wasn’t using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today — my own government.”
He said this one year exactly before he was assassinated April 4, 1968. Both parties could use a voice like that today.
AdvertisementsThis graphic novel adaptation contains more than fifty pages of exclusive content not available in the original comic books, including
• a new Preface by George R. R. Martin
• early renderings of key scenes and favorite characters from the novels
• a walk-through of the entire creative process, from auditioning the artists to tweaking the scripts to coloring the final pages
• behind-the-scenes commentary from Daniel Abraham, Tommy Patterson, and series editor Anne Groell
You’ve read the books. You’ve watched the hit series on HBO. Now acclaimed novelist Daniel Abraham and illustrator Tommy Patterson bring George R. R. Martin’s epic fantasy masterwork A Game of Thrones to majestic new life in the pages of this full-color graphic novel. Comprised of the initial six issues of the graphic series, this is the first volume in what is sure to be one of the most coveted collaborations of the year.
Winter is coming. Such is the stern motto of House Stark, the northernmost of the fiefdoms that owe allegiance to King Robert Baratheon in far-off King’s Landing. There Eddard Stark of Winterfell rules in Robert’s name. There his family dwells in peace and comfort: his proud wife, Catelyn; his sons Robb, Brandon, and Rickon; his daughters Sansa and Arya; and his bastard son, Jon Snow. Far to the north, behind the towering Wall, lie savage Wildings and worse—unnatural things relegated to myth during the centuries-long summer, but proving all too real and all too deadly in the turning of the season.
Yet a more immediate threat lurks to the south, where Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, has died under mysterious circumstances. Now Robert is riding north to Winterfell, bringing his queen, the lovely but cold Cersei, his son, the cruel, vainglorious Prince Joffrey, and the queen’s brothers Jaime and Tyrion of the powerful and wealthy House Lannister—the first a swordsman without equal, the second a dwarf whose stunted stature belies a brilliant mind. All are heading for Winterfell and a fateful encounter that will change the course of kingdoms.
Meanwhile, across the Narrow Sea, Prince Viserys, heir of the fallen House Targaryen, which once ruled all of Westeros, schemes to reclaim the throne with an army of barbarian Dothraki—whose loyalty he will purchase in the only coin left to him: his beautiful yet innocent sister, Daenerys.He sits pensively, his hand on his chin, like a Middle Bronze Age predecessor to Rodin’s famous sculpture “The Thinker.” His eyes stare blankly as he sits atop a pot that was shattered sometime after it was buried some 3,800 years ago.
The unique clay statuette, mounted atop a ceramic vessel, was found in the central Israel town of Yehud by a team of Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists, who paired up with high school students in October.
News of the discovery was reported by the IAA on Wednesday.
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Gilad Itach, the archaeologist heading the dig, said that on the last day of excavations, just before construction of a building commenced on site, they found the 18-centimeter (seven-inch) tall figurine, along with an assortment of other items.
“It seems they first prepared a pot characteristic of the period, and afterwards they added the unique statue, the likes of which have never before been discovered in previous research,” he said. “The level of precision and attention to detail in creating this almost 4,000-year-old sculpture is extremely impressive. The neck of the jug served as a base for forming the upper portion of the figure, after which the arms, legs and a face were added to the sculpture.”
Archaeologists also found other vessels, as well as daggers, arrowheads, and ax head, as well as the bones of sheep and what may be ass bones. Itach suggested the items were funerary objects for a prominent member of the Canaanite community.
“It was customary in antiquity to believe that the objects that were interred alongside the individual continued with him into the next world,” he said in a statement. “To the best of my knowledge such a rich funerary assemblage that also includes such a unique pottery vessel has never before been discovered in the country.”
“One can see that the face of the figure seems to be resting on its hand as if in a state of reflection,” Itach added, “It is unclear if the figure was made by the potter who prepared the jug or by another craftsman.”
In addition to the Bronze Age finds, researchers involved in the salvage dig discovered 6,000-year-old remains from the Chalcolithic period, including a circular stone installation that may have served as an ancient well, as well as fragments of a ceramic butter churn from the same period.
Earlier this year, archaeologists operating in Yehud, not far from the statue’s discovery, found a Middle Bronze Age necropolis containing 94 pit graves containing men, women and children along with funerary offerings including pots, daggers and pins, scarabs, animal bones and jewelry. The site continued to be used as a burial ground for centuries thereafter.
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Follow Ilan Ben Zion on Twitter and Facebook.This article is about the 18th-century ship. For other ships or uses of the same name, see Bounty (disambiguation)
Plan and section of the Bounty Armed Transport showing the manner of fitting and stowing the pots for receiving the bread-fruit plants, from A Voyage to the South Sea, available from, from William Bligh's 1792 account of the voyage and mutiny, entitled, available from Project Gutenberg
HMS Bounty, also known as HM Armed Vessel Bounty, was a small merchant vessel that the Royal Navy purchased for a botanical mission. The ship was sent to the Pacific Ocean under the command of William Bligh to acquire breadfruit plants and transport them to British possessions in the West Indies. That mission was never completed due to a mutiny led by acting lieutenant Fletcher Christian. This incident is now popularly known as the mutiny on the Bounty.[1] The mutineers later burned Bounty while she was moored at Pitcairn Island. An American adventurer rediscovered the remains of the Bounty in 1957; various parts of it have been salvaged since then.
Origin and description [ edit ]
Bounty was originally the collier Bethia, built in 1784 at the Blaydes shipyard in Hull, Yorkshire in England. The Royal Navy purchased her for £1,950 on 23 May 1787 (equivalent to £209,000 in 2016), refit, and renamed her Bounty.[2] The ship was relatively small at 215 tons, but had three masts and was full-rigged. After conversion for the breadfruit expedition, she was equipped with four 4-pounder (1.8 kg)[5] cannon and ten swivel guns.
1787 breadfruit expedition [ edit ]
Preparations [ edit ]
The Royal Navy had purchased Bethia for a single mission in support of an experiment: the acquisition of breadfruit plants from Tahiti, and the transportation of those plants to the West Indies in the hope that they would grow well there and become a cheap source of food for slaves. Sir Joseph Banks had proposed the experiment and had recommended William Bligh as commander. Bligh in turn was promoted through a prize offered by the Royal Society of Arts.
In June 1787, the Bounty was refitted at Deptford. The great cabin was converted to house the potted breadfruit plants, and gratings were fitted to the upper deck. William Bligh was appointed Commanding Lieutenant of the Bounty on 16 August 1787 at the age of 33, after a career that included a tour as sailing master of James Cook's Resolution during Cook's third and final voyage (1776–80). The ship's complement was 46 men: a single commissioned officer (Bligh), 43 other Royal Navy personnel, and two civilian botanists.
Voyage out [ edit ]
On 23 December 1787, the Bounty sailed from Spithead for Tahiti. For a full month, the crew attempted to take the ship west, around South America's Cape Horn, but adverse weather prevented this. Bligh then proceeded east, rounding the southern tip of Africa (Cape Agulhas) and |
-sphere, but I think, the best journalist in America. And the commenters he attracts are the best I have ever seen.
AdvertisementsAs the U.S. government and the Texas Legislature consider penalizing so-called "sanctuary cities" for undocumented immigrants, Mayor Sylvester Turner insists that Houston "will continue to be a welcoming city."
On Tuesday, the Texas Legislature approved Senate Bill 4, which would defund cities that do not comply with detention requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Gov. Greg Abbott has called the bill one of his priorities.
An executive order signed by President Trump in January would also cut federal money to "sanctuary cities" if local law enforcement agencies do not comply with U.S. immigration requests.
It's not clear whether either measure could be enforced or would pass court scrutiny. Nor is there a clear definition of "sanctuary city." By some definitions, Houston qualifies as one, but not by others.
The stakes could be high. According to the Houston's 2015 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the city receives $255 million in federal funds and $13 million in state funds.
Chronicle reporter Olivia Tallet spoke recently with Mayor Turner.
In your opinion, what are the chances that SB 4 will be approved?
There has always been a sanctuary bill filed probably in the last five sessions, but no one has ever passed the Texas Legislature. This time, there is more pressure on the members to vote to pass a sanctuary bill.
In the Texas House, I know, they will be fighting very hard not to pass a sanctuary bill. It has never passed out the Texas House under Speaker (Joe) Straus. Still, the governor is supporting it; this time it may be a real possibility that it comes out.
(Editor's note: A "sanctuary city" bill passed the House in 2011 under Speaker Straus but did not become a law.)
What happens to the City of Houston if the bill passes?
The question would be what would be the substance of that bill. I have always said that we are a welcoming city; that we embrace every one. One out of four in this county is foreign born. The Houston Police Department is not going to be ICE or INS. So that's not going to happen. In my administration, it's not going to happen.
What about the executive order signed by President Trump?
It is somewhat ambiguous in its definition of what is a sanctuary city. The U.S. Supreme Court has said that law enforcement cannot stop someone on a pretense to determine whether or not a person is legally or illegally in the U.S. Houston police officer cannot look at someone and say, "Oh, I think this person may be here illegally here, so I am going to stop and interrogate this person." That is not going to happen.
Also, if the sanctuary bill comes out of the Legislature, I doubt that they could [ignore] what the Supreme Court has outlined as the law of the land, so it doesn't really change the status quo.
But there is always a risk that some police officers could profile people and stop them with some pretext...
HPD, under my administration, as long as I am mayor, is not going to profile people. Period.
Regardless of what the legislation may be, the Houston Police Department is not going to profile people. We are not going to be ICE. Period. End of discussion. It's not going to happen, irrespective of what the legislature or anybody else may say.
We are going to follow the dictates of the United States Supreme Court.
Let's supposed that the Texas bill passes, and the president's executive action is fully implemented. What happens to undocumented immigrants if they are detained?
In Houston, if they have not committed any crime, the police will not stop them to determine their status. But let's assume that this person has robbed a bank, they are arrested, and it's determined that that person is illegally here. If you commit a felony, a serious crime, then you go through the process to determine if the person is here illegally. That person, yes, is turned over to ICE, but that is a felony.
But let's say this other person is stopped for running the red light. Citation is probably given or it's a misdemeanor. Then no, you don't go through all that. If that person is illegally here, it doesn't matter: That is a misdemeanor.
In New York, it's very similar. So is in L.A. and other cities.
What if the city is defunded by the federal or state government?
We are going to continue to operate as we have operated, and we will continue to be a welcoming city. We do not separate families. We place a great deal of value on families being together. I don't want children in schools to be concerned or nervous. I don't want to increase the anxiety of people in our city and especially our kids.
We have heard from the federal government and the state legislature, and a lot of it has been challenged in our federal court. At this point there are several courts across our land that, even as it relates to the administration's so-called ban, the courts have said that it's unconstitutional. With respect to the administration executive order, it is highly ambiguous and very difficult to enforce.
There is a lot of verbiage and talk, but that is not a reality, and it's highly unlikely that it will become a reality.
Why do you think the City of Houston should keep the current status quo?
Because this is who this city is; this is who we are. We are a city of immigrants.
Let me start by saying that I think that what we need to be doing is a comprehensive immigration policy. That would help to clarify a lot. If anything, Congress and the administration should be working on a comprehensive immigration policy. That is number one. Short of that, it´s very difficult to do it in this piecemeal; it creates a lot of confusion and anxiety.
One things that has worked well for us is that people know that in this city we value diversity. We work very hard for inclusion. If we look at the top administrators, the people in power in the city of Houston, you have myself, an African-American. You have Chief [Art] Acevedo as police chief. You have Chief [Samuel] Peña as chief of the Fire Department. You have Juliet Stipeche in charge of education for the city. [Editor's note: Acevedo, Peña and Stipeche are all Latinos.]
I cannot think of any other city that is more diverse and inclusive than we have been. What I have tried to do is to demonstrate what my philosophy is and the value that I place on diversity by appointing people that are diverse.
Has the city already been under pressure to take measures against undocumented immigrants?
I haven't received any major pushback. I am sure not everybody agrees with my positions. But the positions that we are taking are the right positions for us to take. The business community, by large, supports the positions that I have taken.
Mi casa es su casa. I like seeing people feeling good about being in our city. Houston is a great city, and we place a premium on our diversity. From those who run the city — from those who run for example HISD, Superintendent [Richard] Carranza — we have all stood together and made it very clear that we are moving forward and we are embracing the people in our city.
There is no reason for people to have fear or anxiety. We're going to continue to work to be even more inclusive in how we address the concerns. Things will happen on the federal level, and things will happen on the state level. There is going to be a lot of dialogue and debate, but as far as the City of Houston — we are the fourth-largest city, soon to be the third; we are the most diverse city in the country; and I think that people can find a great deal of confidence in the leadership and those who are making key decisions in the city.
We need to be concerned with everything that has been said. Suddenly we have to be concerned with the actions and words that are coming out of D.C. We have to be concerned with the actions coming out of the state of Texas. I am concerned about that.
But in many ways, I can control what takes place in the city. This is our home, and as long as I am the mayor of the city, this is our home, and you're welcome in this home.
Olivia.Tallet@chron.com
Twitter: @oliviaptalletPHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The leader of Philadelphia’s police union is concerned after Tuesday night’s election victory by long-time civil rights attorney Larry Krasner, who is the Democratic nominee for district attorney.
“He’s anti-law enforcement,” said Philadelphia FOP President John McNesby. “He’s sent that message for years.”
McNesby says electing Krasner as the DA’s Democratic ticket is bad for law enforcement.
“He made us a point during his campaign that he was anti-FOP and anti-John McNesby for whatever reason,” McNesby said. “He has to uphold the law, whether he likes it or whether he doesn’t like it. No matter what his personal beliefs are.”
READ: Newly Formed Coalition Aims To Fix Aging Philadelphia School Buildings
Krasner, however, says he is actually a big fan of law enforcement.
“I’m not an enormous fan of people who make apologies for unconstitutional police abuse and corruption,” Krasner said, “but I’m an enormous fan of people in law enforcement who keep their obligation to uphold the constitution and seek justice.”
Following Krasner’s victory speech, supporters began shouting anti-FOP chants.
“They can’t even act right at a victory party. They are bottom feeders,” McNesby said. “The bottom line is they are the rebel rousers, they are the profession protestors, they’re the people he represented for all these years.”
READ: Retired FBI Agent: Remains To Be Seen Whether Trump Committed ‘Obstruction Of Justice’
Krasner took his own shot at McNesby and FOP officials.
“They are not the commissioner, they are not the brass, they’re not the rank-and-file, they’re not in the chain of command,” he said. “They’re not even police in the sense of being in active duty. I mean, these folks are not in active duty.”
McNesby stopped short of saying the union would back lone Republican candidate Beth Grossman.
“We have not done that yet,” he said. “We are going to wait and see what happens in the next few weeks.”
But McNesby says despite opposite views, he welcomes discussions with Krasner. He says the union is a group of professionals who will try to work with anyone in office.
“Am I optimistic? No,” McNesby said. “If he’s elected, we will work with anyone, you know, we follow a process and we’ll make sure we are very successful at what we do at different places, so we will wait and see what happens.”
Krasner says he’d be happy to meet with the FOP.Archaeologists have discovered a new statue depicting the daughter of King Amenhotep III, Tutankhamun’s grandfather and ruler of Egypt over 3,000 years ago.
During routine excavation works at Amenhotep III's funerary temple in the Kom El-Hittan area on Luxor's west bank, a European archaeological mission uncovered the statue of the king's daughter Iset.
The statue, which is 1.7m tall and 52cm wide, forms part of a huge, 14m high alabaster statute of Amenhotep III.
Minister of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim told Ahram Online that several parts of the colossal Amenhotep statue had been unearthed during previous excavation seasons.
"It is a very important discovery because it is the first time to unearth a statue that shows the king with his daughter, alone without her mother, brothers or sister," Ibrahim said.
There are several extant statues that show Iset with all the members of her family.
Ali El-Asfar, head of the Ancient Egyptian antiquities sector at the Ministry of Antiquities, explains that the original colossus shows the king sitting on the throne with his hands on his legs, while between his leg stands Iset wearing a rounded wig and long tight garb.
The statue’s face has suffered serious damage due to erosion, and the statue’s legs are missing.
El-Asfar said that the Amenhotep III statue is being restored, and on completion the Iset statue will be installed in its original position between the king's legs. The colossus will be re-erected at its original position in the temple.
Short link:Heart disease and depression are both serious and prevalent conditions; mounting evidence infers that they are connected. Depression has been shown to increase the likelihood of developing heart disease later in life. A new study looks in depth at this relationship.
Treating depression early might help reduce the chances of developing cardiac problems. Treating depression early might help reduce the chances of developing cardiac problems.
An estimated 6.7% of American adults suffered one or more major depressive episodes in 2014.
Additionally, around 1 in 4 deaths in the US is attributed to some form of heart disease.
Depression and heart disease are not only incredibly common, they also appear to be intrinsically linked.
After a heart attack or heart failure, some individuals who have never been troubled by depression can find themselves under its spell.
Conversely, people who have suffered from depression seem more likely to develop heart problems later in life.
A new study, carried out at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City, UT, investigates this relationship further.
Depression and cardiac risk
Researcher Heidi May, PhD, a cardiovascular epidemiologist, wanted to examine whether treating depression reduces the chances of developing heart disease.
An additional question that May set out to answer was whether brief encounters with depression still have the ability to increase the risk of heart problems further down the line.
To investigate these questions, May delved into data from Intermountain Healthcare's depression registry, containing information from more than 100,000 patients. This information source proved essential for the success of the research, as May explains: "There's little publicly available data about this question."
From the database, the team used data from the 7,550 patients who had filled in at least two depression questionnaires over the course of 2 years. The individuals were then divided into four groups: never depressed, no longer depressed, remained depressed and became depressed.
The patients were followed to observe whether they later developed cardiovascular problems including stroke, heart attack or heart failure.
Treating depression reduces cardiac risk
The results showed that individuals who were no longer depressed had similar rates of heart disease as those who had never been depressed (4.6% and 4.8%, respectively). However, in the group of individuals who had become depressed during the study or remained depressed, the rates of cardiac disease were higher (6% and 6.4%, respectively).
In other words, treatment for depression resulted in a decreased level of cardiovascular risk that was roughly equivalent to someone who did not have depression.
May summarizes the results as follows:
"Our study shows that prompt, effective treatment of depression appears to improve the risk of poor heart health."
Past research has shown that depression increases the chances of cardiovascular health issues in the long-term but, as May explains, "knowing that alleviating the symptoms of depression reduces a person's risk of heart disease in the short term, too, can help care providers and patients commit more fully to treating the symptoms of depression."
The findings will be presented at the 2016 American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions in Chicago, IL, on April 2nd.
May hopes to continue research in this field. She notes that the results of the current study are observational, and full clinical trials will be necessary to investigate the interplay between depression and heart disease further.
A complex web of factors
There is a swarm of potentially confounding variables that must be studied and controlled before solid conclusions can be drawn. For instance, individuals with depression are more likely to be obese; according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 43% of depressed adults are obese.
Of course, obesity comes with its own range of related cardiac issues. Lack of exercise is another factor that can increase the risk of heart disease and obesity, and also increase the chances of depression. The web between these factors will be no mean feat to unfurl.
Once these factors have been controlled for, and the results are in, the best methods of treating depression will still need to be discussed. Certain antidepressant medications can, themselves, cause changes in weight. The story certainly is a complex one.
Medical News Today recently covered research investigating whether depression and bipolar disease might raise heart disease risk in teens.Kaj Sotala: > Twitter, the most widely used social network for political discussions, doubled the limit of characters in a Tweet in November 2017, which provided a natural experiment to study the causal effect of technological affordances on political discussions with a discontinuous time series design. Using supervised and unsupervised natural language processing methods, we analyze 358,242 Tweet replies to U.S. politicians from January 2017 to March 2018. We show that the doubling the permissible length of a Tweet led to more polite, less informal, more analytical, and overall healthier discussions online.
Brevity is the soul of Twitter: The constraint affordance and political discussion by Kokil Jaidka, Alvin Zhou, Yphtach Lelkes :: SSRN December 11, 2018 9:15 am
Kaj Sotala: Cw: rape, discussion of serial rapist tactics.
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> Lisak doesn’t actually say this, but having read some of his work in depth now, I really think the major difference between the incarcerated and the non-incarcerated rapists are that the former cannot or do not confine themselves to tactics that are low-risk to them. The undetected rapists overwhelmingly use minimal or no force, rely mostly on alcohol and rape their acquaintances. They create situations where the culture will protect them by making excuses for them and questioning or denying their victims. Incarcerated rapists, I think, are just the ones who use the tactics that society is more willing to recognize as rape and less willing to make excuses for. [...]
> In fact, [non-incarcerated rapists] are unlikely to be reported because rape survivors know that the tactics these men use leave them with little real recourse. In fact, these rapists may put the victim in a position where she is so intoxicated or terrified or just isolated and defeated that she never even says “no,” and because the culture overwhelmingly refuses to call these tactics what they are, even the victims themselves may be unable to call it rape for a very long time afterward, if ever. [...]
> These undetected rapists:
> • are extremely adept at identifying “likely” victims, and testing prospective victims’ boundaries;
> • plan and premeditate their attacks, using sophisticated strategies to groom their victims for attack, and to isolate them physically;
> • use “instrumental” not gratuitous violence; they exhibit strong impulse control and use only as much violence as is needed to terrify and coerce their victims into submission;
> • use psychological weapons – power, control, manipulation, and threats – backed up by physical force, and almost never resort to weapons such as knives or guns;
> • use alcohol deliberately to render victims more vulnerable to attack, or completely unconscious. [...]
> My first takeaway from this is that it may help some survivors to know this. I’ve seen and heard so many women beat themselves up about what they could or should have done — usually with no end of “help” in the self-flagellation. It might help some survivors of these kinds of rapes to know that they were not stupid and they didn’t make a mistake; that they were in overwhelming probability targeted and harmed deliberately by someone who has planned and maybe practiced a routine of testing, intoxication and isolation. Survivors shouldn’t feel like suckers.
Predator Redux December 11, 2018 8:32 am
Kaj Sotala: > The biggest and most frightening impact of the AI revolution might be on the relative efficiency of democracies and dictatorships. [...] We tend to think about the conflict between democracy and dictatorship as a conflict between two different ethical systems, but it is actually a conflict between two different data-processing systems. Democracy distributes the power to process information and make decisions among many people and institutions, whereas dictatorship concentrates information and power in one place. Given 20th-century technology, it was inefficient to concentrate too much information and power in one place. Nobody had the ability to process all available information fast enough and make the right decisions. [...]
> However, artificial intelligence may soon swing the pendulum in the opposite direction. AI makes it possible to process enormous amounts of information centrally. In fact, it might make centralized systems far more efficient than diffuse systems, because machine learning works better when the machine has more information to analyze. If you disregard all privacy concerns and concentrate all the information relating to a billion people in one database, you’ll wind up with much better algorithms than if you respect individual privacy and have in your database only partial information on a million people. An authoritarian government that orders all its citizens to have their DNA sequenced and to share their medical data with some central authority would gain an immense advantage in genetics and medical research over societies in which medical data are strictly private. The main handicap of authoritarian regimes in the 20th century—the desire to concentrate all information and power in one place—may become their decisive advantage in the 21st century.
Why Technology Favors Tyranny December 10, 2018 7:43 amIn the morning the janitor takes a broom and goes to draw his morning painting.
For several years now, Izhevsk school janitor Semyon Bukharin has been creating paintings in the snow, delighting pupils – who have now created an Instagram account for him. An RBTH correspondent met with the janitor-cum-artist and found out how children helped bring out the talents of “Uncle Senya.”
At six o’clock in the morning, while children across the country are still sleeping or getting ready to go to school, janitor Semyon Bukharin cleans the new-fallen snow from the grounds of Lyceum No. 25 in the city of Izhevsk, 800 miles east of Moscow.
But as the first lesson begins, the janitor takes a broom and goes to draw his morning painting – a portrait of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. For two hours, his effort adorns the ground under the school windows until it disappears under the soles of students and parents.
How it all began
According to Bukharin, a couple of years ago, after the end of his routine work, he took a broom and began to draw the first animals in the snow under the windows of the school. Children saw his drawings and opened an Instagram account, where they started to share the janitor's works.
As time passed, the followers grew in number, and Bukharin was noticed by the regional media.
Bukharin's characters are Russian authors, composers, and fairy-tale animals. As the janitor told RBTH, his works look best on the dark asphalt immediately after a snowfall, when the snow is soft and pliable.
A photo posted by @semenbukharin on Nov 27, 2014 at 3:28am PST
Bukharin works only on fresh snow – it is impossible to draw when it is trampled down. According to him, the drawings look best at night when you can see the penumbra, though unfortunately there is no one at school at that time to see them.
Jack of all trades
"Uncle Senya regularly draws something for us: in the winter – on the snow; in the summer – landscapes on the house opposite the school," one of the school’s pupils told RBTH.
"He also makes ice sculptures! Last year, Uncle Senya cut three sheep from ice: He threw in some snow, made it into a cube, poured it with water and carved on it!"
Children say that the "opposite house" is painted over every year but another landscape appears on the new "canvas" after a while.
"He also drew a giant poster with Tchaikovsky for his anniversary last year! Uncle Senya makes ice slides for us, cleans snow and keeps dogs out of the yard. He is very kind!" said a pupil.
A photo posted by @semenbukharin on Dec 2, 2014 at 3:06am PST
Bukharin enrolled in art school in the city of Tchaikovsky at the age of 17, but gave it up – he was from a big family, and there was a need to find work and help his parents.
A few years later, he moved to the Far East, where he first worked as a fisherman on the Kamchatka Peninsula, and then went on to serve in the Emergencies Ministry.
For many years he moved from place to place, until five years ago Bukharin took the job of janitor at Lyceum No. 25.
A photo posted by @semenbukharin on Nov 28, 2014 at 3:00am PST
In addition to his basic work, Bukharin helps repair furniture; he fixes chairs, desks and boards. He is also involved in school life – he helps prepare the school for celebrations and makes decorations together with the pupils and teachers.
Best of Russia 2015: The way of life outside Moscow
All rights reserved by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.North Miami Beach Police are investigating after a group of high school students who walked out of school in protest of the Trayvon Martin shooting were caught on video ransacking a drug store last week. (Published Tuesday, March 27, 2012)
North Miami Beach Police are investigating after a group of high school students who walked out of school in protest of the Trayvon Martin shooting were caught on video ransacking a drug store last week.
The incident happened shortly before 11 a.m. Friday at the Walgreens at 1501 Northeast 163rd Street, minutes after between 400-500 North Miami Beach Senior High students walked out to protest the 17-year-old's shooting death in Sanford.
According to North Miami Beach Police, the protest was mostly peaceful and orderly with the exception of the 80-100 students who flooded into the Walgreen's store, ransacking shelving displays and breaking merchandise.
About $150 worth of merchandise was broken and police and the store haven't been able to determine whether any items were stolen, authorities said.
Students Protesting In Support of Trayvon Martin Ransack Walgreens
North Miami Beach Police are investigating after a group of high school students who walked out of school in protest of the Trayvon Martin shooting were caught on video ransacking a drug store last week. Police released the surveillance on Tuesday. (Published Tuesday, March 27, 2012)
Police say video shows the school's assistant principal trying to stop students from entering the store and telling others already inside to leave.
Police are trying to identify some of the offenders who were seen possibly taking or breaking merchandise.
"Our police department fully understands that our country was founded on free speech and we agree that all people have a right to peacefully march in protest. We will even help with law enforcement duties to facilitate such orderly demonstrations," North Miami Beach Interim Police Chief Larry Gomer said in a statement. "However, criminal acts will not be tolerated. This instance crossed that line, and will not be tolerated now or in the future. We all understand that this is a very emotional issue but when our businesses or our community are negatively impacted by anyone breaking a law, we will enforce those laws without question."
Miami Lakes Students March For Trayvon
In Miami-Dade, several dozen students from the Miami Lakes Educational Center marched after school Monday in support of Trayvon Martin, before a planned meetup with students from a dozen or so other schools. The group headed north before turning west onto NW 183rd St. (SR 860) just before 3:30 p.m. with the aid of a slew of police vehicles who shut down a major intersection. They gathered for a prayer at the end, and students thanked police for their help. (Published Monday, March 26, 2012)
Walgreens said they are cooperating fully with police.
Students from several South Florida schools held walkouts Friday to protest the Feb. 26 shooting of the teen by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.
Though Martin was unarmed, Zimmerman told police the shooting was self-defense, and no charges have been filed in the case.Welcome Back, Welcome Back!!
Well, Avengers/Defenders War is almost upon us, so I figured it was time to crank out at DXF Top Ten. Unfortunately, my brother Ninwashui has been immobilized for the better part of the last month with a serious illness that he’s only now getting over, so we’re a bit behind on things (what else is new?).
But enough jibber-jabber! Okay! You folks know how this works: Five Honorable Mentions, followed by Ten Top… uh, Ten figures!!
Also, normally I’d start with some Notes About the Set, but, well, I kinda already covered that during the Wind Apocalypse of 2017!
The only thing I’ll add is that I think this is one of the strongest top-to-bottom sets that we’ve gotten since World’s Finest (and probably the most powerful Marvel set we’ve gotten since Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.), so no Top Ten list (even with our customary five Honorable Mentions) could cover every great figure in this set. So if we left something off, hopefully that piece will come up in a future article (so sorry, Chipmunk Hunk!). It’s not that we don’t like, say, Fast Forces Stingray, or Solo in his Deadpool uniform–it’s just that there’s only so much we can spotlight in one article!! But this is a deep, deep set that will spawn a ton of Meta play!
So, with that said… LET’S GET ON WITH IT!!
FIVE HONORABLE MENTIONS:
5. DXF101 Terror — 100 Points — LE:
This is one of the better release date LE’s we’ve gotten in quite some time (at least as far as figures go–that Symbiote object from SFoSM is getting used a TON in the Meta right now). Terror is an interesting character who has been tooling around the Marvel Universe for 25 years and who has now, finally, been Clix’d (with THREE versions no less!).
What makes his dial so interesting is his Morro-like Trait (HE WON’T BE NEEDING IT: When an adjacent standard character is KO’d, choose a standard power that character could use on any click. Terror can use that power this game.) that theoretically allows him to access almost any power in the game! And remember, his Trait doesn’t care if that figure is opposing or friendly–only that it’s adjacent.
Beyond that, Terror gives you seven Clicks of life, Sidestep, 3 native damage, three Regen Clicks on the back end and a weird Outwit that only letss him counter Pink powers (Sidestep, Precision Strike, Invincible & Empower), which, I guess, is better than NOT being able to counter anything.
I can’t quite say that he’ll be a Meta staple (he takes a lot of in-game planning to get going), but he is worth a look and he’s a lot of fun to field.
4. FFDXF003 Fantomex — 75 Points –– Fast Forces:
Wow! Now this is what a 75 Point Secondary Attacker piece should look like! Great evasion with his Rooftop Movement Special (ROOF-RUNNING GUNFIGHTER: Fantomex can use Running Shot. On opponent’s turns, lines of fire drawn to Fantomex are blocked if he occupies the rim of elevated terrain.) and E.V.A.-provided Super Senses combined with a solid 3 Damage top dial with Energy Explosion and two bolts.
Alternatively, you can pop E.V.A. off and take advantage of her (his? its?) Outwit. For the points, this is an extremely solid complement to almost any Primary Attacker. If you Theme him and get to choose Map, he can really become a gamebreaker.
3. DXF010 Tippy-Toe — 25 Points — Common:
Tippy-Toe is 25 points of tie-up annoyance that can also help break up teams that depend on hunkering down in covered, adjacent positions (Bizarro Green Arrows and the like)… but only on certain Maps (specifically those with a bevy of Hindering Terrain).
Her Attack Special (SQUIRREL TALK: Give Tippy-Toe a free action to deal 1 damage to an opposing character within 8 squares and line of fire that occupies printed hindering terrain.) lets her nibble at enemies from across the board. If they have Stealth or she loses that top dial power, though, she can still walk right up to characters to tie them up with her 18 Defense (plus Super Senses) and scratch them for 1 Exploit Damage.
2. FFDXF010 Slapstick — 50 Points — Fast Forces:
50 Points for Hypersonic Speed (or whatever Speed power you want), Willpower and 2 Damage with Precision Strike? Okay! Once again you are paying Support/Tertiary Attacker prices for a solid Secondary Attacker. Slapstick is awesome for taking out opposing Support pieces before they can impact the game.
1. DXF064 Hulkpool — 125 Points — Chase:
Most of the (EIGHT!!) regular Chases in this set are pretty damn good. Even if you don’t like the dials by themselves, you have to remember that each of them can gain one of EIGHT different abilities as a free action from a Comic Panel marker if they have no action tokens at the beginning of your turn.
You can choose from Smoke Cloud (meh); Enhancement (eh… situationally useful); an extra Bolt (somewhat useless now–really useless in about two months when Energy Explosion gets nerfed); Quake (comes with this figure and is more on the “meh” side than not); Precision Strike (almost always useful); Stealth (wait, I can give what is essentially a Hulk dial Stealth? This is very useful!! Now I might make it across the board unscathed!!); Combat Reflexes (very useful!!); or Energy Shield/Deflection (even usefull-er!!).
This makes these pieces EXTREMELY adaptable, and adaptability is one of the key strategies in the current Meta (look no further than the domination of Jakeem Thunder right now).
So add to all that a dial that features 10 Movement with Charge; 12 Attack with Super Strength; 18 Defense with Impervious and 4 top dial damage WITH Probability Control! He also has Indomitable and 8 Clicks of life. His last 3 Clicks feature a Revert Special Power that basically lets you heal him one Click and then replace him with ANY figure that has Deadpool in its name (except for the new title character Deadpool).
Again, to reiterate: you get insane Primary Attacker stats mixed with what basically amounts to a Resource (the eight Comic Panel powers) in an increasingly Resource-less Meta environment and HE BRINGS ALONG ONE OF THE THREE BEST SUPPORT POWERS IN THE GAME!!
This is the best Hulk dial they’ve made in a long time, AND THEY’VE MADE INSANELY GOOD HULK DIALS NONSTOP FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS!! I mean, can you name another Hulk with the ability to pop on ES/D or Stealth top dial to actually get across the board in one piece? Or another Hulk piece who can change into a competent Ranged Attacker at the end of his dial?
Do not sleep on Hulkpool!
And now, for your…
TOP TEN DEADPOOL AND X-FORCE FIGURES!!
10. DXF052 Mistress Death — 100 Points — Super Rare:
Yes, there is a lot that she doesn’t do. But her Touch of Death Trait (TOUCH OF DEATH: When Mistress Death hits with a close attack, immediately place a Touch of Death token on the target’s card if it doesn’t already have one. For the rest of the game, when a character with a Touch of Death token is dealt damage by an attack, double the damage dealt.) is almost bonkers-good–if you can get it off.
She also has another Trait (YOU CAN’T KILL DEATH… OR MARRY HER, I TRIED: When Mistress Death would be KO’d and there is another friendly character on the map, you may instead place her in your starting area on click #3 with 2 action tokens and the opponent scores her. This can’t be ignored.) that causes her to revive throughout the entire game as well as a third (THIRD!!!) Trait (THE REALM OF DEATH EXPANDS: When another standard character is KO’d, remove an action token from Mistress Death.) that means she’ll potentially be taking an action almost every turn as long as you are dishing out lethal punishment. And a 12 Attack with Pulse Wave is nothing to sneeze at, either.
If you can find a way to boost her with Plasticity (Symbiote maybe?) or TK her next to someone for consistent same turn strikes (hello Stryfe! or Jean Grey! or… you get the idea), you can turbo-charge the Damage Output of your entire squad in a hurry.
But I wish there was just some piece out there that could open some sort of Space Portal and let Death pop out adjacent to an opposing figure and attack it in the same turn. Alas, we live in a world governed by the laws of physics, but man, sometimes I just want to tell the laws of physics that they can kiss my… nevermind, this is a family website.
Well, family-ish.
9. DXF054 Swarm — 120 Points — Super Rare:
Another piece that is just really hard to KO. Swarm has a Trait (ONLY THE QUEEN MATTERS: Unless the attack roll is doubles, Swarm takes no more than 1 damage from attacks.) and an Attack Special (ORPHAN SWARMS: Each time swarm hits an opposing character, after actions resolve put a Bee Swarm bystander adjacent to that character unless there already is one.) that can take over the game in certain matchups, especially if your opponent hasn’t packed the right abilities to counter him.
And yes, Poison is getting slightly nerfed in that it will no longer combo with Sidestep, but the Bee Swarm tokens that Swarm generates with each hit don’t count against your action total when they move, either, so navigating the map starts to become really tricky for your opponent (not Prime Anarky tricky, but still).
8. DXF058 Stryfe –– 135 Points — Super Rare:
Looking strictly at his dial and Standard Power mix, |
Dad’s really missed Aisling – she’s definitely the favourite child,” Murray chuckles.
He remembers being with his father on that emotional afternoon when Munster, led by Foley, won their first European Cup in Cardiff in 2006. Murray had just turned 17. “When Axel lifted the trophy it was a dream. I remember it was the first proper hug I’d had from Dad – ever. Even that moment alone was quite famous for me. That’s why it’s so exciting right now. There is potential – and I emphasise that word – we could also do something special this season.”
Murray smiles gently when asked how he would feel if Munster, somehow, did it again for Axel. “Oh … if we won it this season we’d probably not really celebrate. We’d cry a little bit. I get tingles just thinking about it.”6.2k SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Whatsapp Pinterest Print Mail Flipboard
On Meet The Press, Sen. Ted Cruz stated that his alternative to the ACA is that uninsured people should get a job, but 60% of the uninsured already have jobs.
Video:
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Transcript:
DAVID GREGORY: You don’t think Americans will like it. You don’t think that 25% of the state of Texas that’s uninsured will actually like the expanded access to get health insurance? SENATOR TED CRUZ: I don’t. And here’s why. Because it’s not working. What’s happening, if you want people to get health insurance, the best way for them to get health insurance is to get a job. And Obamacare’s the biggest job killer in this country. If you look at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce surveyed small businesses subject to the mandate. Half of them said that they were forcibly reducing people’s hours to 29 hours a week or less, or hiring part-time workers. Another 24% said they weren’t growing, to keep their size under 50 workers. If you’re a young person coming out of school right now, unable to find a job, a big part of the reason you’re not able to find a job is because small businesses aren’t growing because of Obamacare. And there’s nothing that could give you better health insurance than having a vibrant economy where you can get a job. Let’s take, for example, the 15,000 workers at UPS, who, just a few weeks ago, received notice from their employer that spousal coverage was being dropped, that their husbands and wives were losing the health insurance that they’re enjoying right now. Let’s take the workers at Sea World, who were told, “We’re forcibly reducing your hours to 28 hours a week because of Obamacare.” This is happening all over the country, David. People are hurting because of this law.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Ted Cruz is completely wrong about who the uninsured are, “Over six in ten of the uninsured have at least one full-time worker in their family, and 16% have a part-time worker in the family. Individuals below poverty are at the highest risk of being uninsured, and this group accounts for 38% of all the uninsured (the poverty level for a family of four was $23,050 in 2012). In total, nine in ten of the uninsured are in low- or moderate-income families, meaning they are below 400% of poverty. The problem for employees whose employers offer health insurance is that they can’t afford it, “Workers usually enroll in employer-sponsored health insurance if they are eligible.4 However, it has become increasingly difficult for many workers to afford coverage. In 2013, the average annual total cost of employer-sponsored family coverage was $16,351, and the share of the premium paid by workers was 29%. Between 2003 and 2013, premiums have increased by 80%.5.”
Cruz and his small band of Republican ACA defunders aren’t defending the poor and middle class. They are trying to keep them locked into a system that either denies them health insurance, or makes it unaffordable. Sen. Cruz sells himself as a small government conservative who is standing up for personal liberty, yet he believes he gets to decide what the American people will like.
People should have the freedom to make up their own minds. Instead of Republicans like Cruz trying to overturn a law before it is even implemented, the American people should be allowed to decide for themselves. The law should be implemented. If it works, people will like it. If it doesn’t, they won’t. Recent polling shows that people like the specific parts of Obamacare, which suggests that they will like the full law.
Cruz doesn’t want the uninsured to have a chance to access healthcare. The vast majority of the uninsured already have jobs. They have fallen through the cracks of an employment culture that has seen bigger employers pay lower wages and offer fewer benefits. Sen. Cruz doesn’t understand the lives of the people that he is representing. The uninsured aren’t lazy. They are working hard, and they can’t afford to get sick.
The ACA is going to help these people to access healthcare, and no amount of misinformation from Ted Cruz is going to change that.
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:Evolutionary biologist and celebrated God-slayer Richard Dawkins is expressing his bewilderment at how America can simultaneously be the world leader in the natural sciences while also a strikingly religious nation.
Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, admits in a new video posted on the Business Insider that America represents “a curious paradox” for him, because while “beyond any doubt it’s the world’s leading scientific power,” it somehow hasn’t sloughed off its religious spirit and still clings to a fundamentally biblical worldview.
And since he cannot even entertain the possibility that America’s achievements in both science and religion go hand in hand, he comes to the only conclusion possible: that if America is the leading scientific nation in the world now, it could only soar higher if it were to break free from the chains of religiosity that hold it bound in darkness and ignorance.
“What’s remarkable is that America is the leading scientific nation despite being held back by this incubus, this burden of ignorance and superstition,” Dawkins says. “If there were some way, some educational way perhaps of getting rid of that burden, I imagine that America could bound ahead even further than it already has.”
And who will save America from its religious burden? Who will free Americans from their slavery to superstition? Who is the white knight galloping up to the castle to break America’s iron fetters? Why Dawkins, of course.
“So the answer, I think, is education and the responsibility is on scientists like me to go out and explain to people the wonderful things about science which we now know and which so many children are shielded from by educational ignorance.”
It is odd that Dawkins imagines that American children are “shielded” from science, while at the same time growing up to be the leading scientists in the world. Another paradox, one supposes.
A recent study by the Pew Center found—unsurprisingly—that atheists are far more likely to see a conflict between faith and science than religious believers. While people of faith often see no conflict whatsoever between science and religion and happily embrace them both, irreligious people often imagine that the two are completely incompatible.
The Pew report states that 73 percent of those who seldom or never attend religious services say that science and religion are often in conflict, while those who attend services at least once a week are 23 percent less likely to say so.
Among the unaffiliated—a group that includes atheists, agnostics, and those who belong to no religion in particular—the numbers are even higher. More than three quarters (76 percent) of the unaffiliated say that science and religion are “often in conflict.”
A second reason for Dawkins’ inability to understand the American paradox is that he seems ignorant of the historical fact that the natural sciences grew out of Judeo-Christian culture. As the sociologist Rodney Stark has so convincingly shown, science was “still-born” in the great civilizations of the ancient world, except in Christian civilization. Why is it, Stark ponders, that empirical science and the scientific method did not develop in China (with its sophisticated society), in India (with its philosophical schools), in Arabia (with its advanced mathematics), in Japan (with its dedicated craftsmen and technologies), or even in ancient Greece or Rome?
The answer is fairly straightforward. Science flourished in societies where a Judeo-Christian mindset understood nature to be ordered and intelligible, the work of an intelligent Creator. Science grew and flourished where people assumed that the natural world makes sense and thus can be studied and understood. Far from being an obstacle to science, Christian soil was the necessary humus where modern science took root.
The happy marriage between faith and science is not some recent phenomenon. Despite every Church-basher’s favorite (and only!) illustration to the contrary—the Galileo case—the Christian Church unapologetically supported science throughout the centuries, just as it patronized the arts. To take but one area—that of astronomy—J. L. Heilbron of the University of California-Berkeley has written: “The Roman Catholic Church gave more financial aid and social support to the study of astronomy for over six centuries, from the recovery of ancient learning during the late Middle Ages into the Enlightenment, than any other, and, probably, all other, institutions.”
What can be said of astronomy can be said equally of medicine, physics, mathematics, and chemistry. The caricature of an obscurantist, ignorance-promoting church simply doesn’t correspond to historical truth. Some of history’s greatest scientists—Newton, Pasteur, Galilei, Lavoisier, Kepler, Copernicus, Faraday, Maxwell, Bernard, and Heisenberg—were all Christians who found that faith was an asset, not an obstacle, to science.
Nonetheless, one can’t fault Richard Dawkins for his dogged persistence and unshakeable faith in the dogmas of atheistic materialism that rule out a priori the possibility of spiritual realities, and thus make religion a bugaboo. Dawkins’ personal creed declares that if you cannot measure it, weigh it or see it, it simply isn’t there.
Moreover, since Dawkins has made a name for himself more by his popular atheism than by any accomplishments in the field of evolutionary biology, one easily understands that he has staked everything on his claim that God cannot exist.
At the same time, Americans can rest assured that their secret is safe for the moment. Yes, a rigorous scientific mentality and an openness to spiritual realities complement each other and spur each other to greatness.
The new atheists like Dawkins can scratch their heads in disbelief, while Americans—excelling in both religion and science—continued enjoying their “curious paradox.”
Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter @tdwilliamsromeI had an update earlier today on what was happening with the Lee Enfield rifles used by the Canadian Rangers. The Rangers will be receiving new rifles. The Department of National Defence will take the now surplus Lee Enfield rifles and turn over some to the cadets for non-functioning drill rifles (an estimated 9,500) and gift some to the Rangers (or those Rangers who want them…..some 5,000 potentially). A number (as yet unknown) could be made available for sale to the public. See the questions below that Defence Watch submitted on this issue and the answers provided by Ashley Lemire, DND spokeswoman:
1) How many Lee Enfield rifles will be sold?
The total number of surplus Lee Enfield rifles eligible for sale is dependent on a number of factors including, the total number required to service the identified need for retention by the Cadets, the number successfully transferred as donations to the Canadian Rangers (as citizens), and the relative serviceability of the rifles remaining following the aforementioned approved strategies.
2) What will be the process for selling these rifles?
As mandated by Treasury Board, all saleable surplus assets are sold through Public Services and Procurement Canada.
3) When will these rifles be sold and to whom?
The timing of the disposal of the Lee Enfield rifles is dependent on the implementation and the distribution of the replacement rifles under the New Canadian Ranger Rifle project. As per Treasury Board mandate, sales of surplus assets proceed on a competitive basis, unless otherwise authorized by the Minister of the respective Department disposing of those assets.
4) Will the general public be able to buy these rifles?
The sales strategy has not been finalized and will be developed in consultation between equipment managers in the Department of National Defence, and sales agents within Public Services and Procurement Canada. The timing of this finalization will be dependent on the progress of the New Canadian Ranger Rifle project."Carl Solomon, Patti Smith, Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs" by Marcelo Noah - Flickr: More Solomon. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carl_Solomon,_Patti_Smith,_Allen_Ginsberg_and_William_S._Burroughs.jpg#/media/File:Carl_Solomon,_Patti_Smith,_Allen_Ginsberg_and_William_S._Burroughs.jpg
David Olio, an award-winning English teacher in Connecticut, was forced to resign by South Windsor School District officials after reading the sexually-charged 1968 poem “Please Master,” a graphic account of homosexual affection by celebrated American author Allen Ginsberg. (You can read the entire poem here). A student had brought the piece to Oilo’s advanced placement English class in hopes of having a reading and discussion. Olio, who friends describe as “earnest to a fault,” thought nothing of it and obliged.
School officials, however, found out and quickly pressured him to quit, writing in Oilo’s disciplinary letter that “reading the poem in class showed egregiously poor professional judgment.” The letter, obtained by The Daily Beast, would go on to lambast the popular teacher:
You violated the trust placed by the Board of Education in you as a teacher, you brought discredit upon the South Windsor Public Schools, you undermined public confidence and parent trust in you as a teacher, and you put the emotional health of some students at risk.
Moral panic would, predictably, follow. One parent would tell local TV affiliate WTNH, “I don’t feel that the content was appropriate whether it was a senior class or an honors class. It was a little bit much. I’m not sure what the reasoning was behind reading that particular poem.”
Oilo’s colleagues, friends, and students were quick to defend him. Said one former student “There has been a definite tonal change since I grew up here. It makes me think of Mrs. Flanders from The Simpsons: ‘Will no one think of the children??’ I mean, if there are parents in town who think their teenagers don’t know what a blow job is, they are sorely mistaken.” At a Board of Education hearing, several current students testified on his behalf and even Olio’s own church minister was quoted as saying “every time David talks about teaching you can see his face brighten, his hands start to move, and the energy emerge…This is my preacher talk now, but I believe this is what God has created David Olio to be and to do.” Even the student who brought in the poem that caused the controversy says Mr. Olio had inspired him to be an educator.
But it was all for naught, last week Olio’s 19-year career came to an unceremonious end. The origin of the dust-up? This is where it gets even more cynical. According to David Freelander:
The controversy began when one student in the class begged off a test in a different class the next day, claiming he (or she) couldn’t concentrate because of the reading of the poem. The story quickly blew up on social media in the town before the local press picked up on it and disciplinary proceedings began.
And there you have it. Academic freedom — and the career of a widely respected teacher — done in by a lazy student, social media moral panic, and CYA-obsessed school administrators. Per usual, our response to a “won’t someone think of the children” controversy was far more damaging to our children than anything Ginsberg could have possibly thought up.
h/t The Daily BeastSpeaking to investors during Overstock.com’s fourth-quarter earnings call on 30th January, CEO Patrick Byrne revealed he now holds “several million dollars” in bitcoin, having recently invested in the currency.
Byrne retracted earlier statements that indicated both he and Overstock would not hold any bitcoin. The outspoken exec further freed his company to hold bitcoin on the call, stating that it is “no longer bound” by previous restrictions.
Notably, Byrne echoed statements made by executive vice president Jonathan Johnson at the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) hearings this week, saying that Overstock is exploring ways to pay employees, suppliers and vendors in cryptocurrency.
“I think that we’ll be moving, making it optional for some of our colleagues to take some of their pay in bitcoin once that process is worked out, maybe take bonuses or something,” Byrne said.
Johnson suggested that the more bitcoin is used by Overstock’s consumers and suppliers, the more it will be able to bring additional savings to its supply chain.
Stock performance
Despite the boom in publicity, Overstock’s stock notably dropped by more than 20 percent after its fourth-quarter earnings announcement.
Bitcoin sales, which the company began processing after 31st December, were not factored into the report. It’s big first-day earnings will not be reflected until the end of first quarter 2014.
“In our first day of accepting bitcoin, we did $130,000 in bitcoin transactions.” – J Johnson http://t.co/wUZYC0oVCA #bitcoinhearings — CoinDesk (@coindesk) January 29, 2014
Year-over-year, the Utah-based company reported a 19% increase in revenue, and a spike in net income to $88.5m from $73.8m. Further, the company’s diluted earnings per share was $3.64, up from $3.02 in 2012.
Informing investors
Byrne and his colleagues issued the responses to an investor that asked whether the company would be offering special deals to bitcoin users. Neither Johnson nor Byrne answered this question directly, but they did reiterate their strong support for bitcoin, stating that they want to be a key part of the ecosystem.
The CEO also recounted how he came to be involved in bitcoin, noting that he has been interested in the cryptocurrency for over a year, and that concerns about the legal status of bitcoin initially held back the decision. He called the implementation a “testament to [Overstock’s] IT department”, noting that integration with Coinbase took just 10 days.
2014 outlook
While it was not stated during the call, Johnson indicated at the NYDFS hearings that Overstock would continue to monitor developments in the altcoin markets.
Jonathan Johnson of @Overstock says the company is open to altcoins if they can be received “risk-free” #bitcoinhearings — CoinDesk (@coindesk) January 29, 2014
A spokesperson also indicated that Overstock will be expanding internationally to serve two additional countries in 2014, but did not indicate where or when this expansion will take place.
Image credit: Overstock.comThere are typos and then there are complete and utter catastrophes.The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the name of Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney is misspelled “Rich Whitey” on electronic-voting machines in 23 wards — “about half in predominantly African-American areas.” The error only occurs on screens voters would see when they are reviewing their choices (Whitney’s name appears correctly on the initial screens), but officials say the error cannot be corrected before election day.
Jim Allen, spokesman for the Chicago Board of Elections, told the Sun-Times he expects 90% of votes on election day to be cast on paper ballots — minimizing the number of voters who would see the misspelling.
“I don’t want to be identified as ‘Whitey.’ If this is happening in primarily African-American wards, that’s an even bigger concern,” Whitney told the Sun-Times. The paper says he’s considering legal action. “I don’t know if this is machine politics at play or why this happened.”
The latest Rasmussen poll shows Whitney drawing just 2% of the vote.
(h/t Drudge Report)The free monad is defined by this structure:
sealed trait Free [ F [ _ ], A ] final case class Return [ F [ _ ], A ]( a : A ) extends Free [ F, A ] final case class Suspend [ F [ _ ], A ]( s : F [ Free [ F, A ]]) extends Free [ F, A ]
We can use the free monad without understanding its implementation, but to really understand it we need to know why it is defined this way.
It certainly wasn’t obvious to me why this is the correct definition, and reading the literature quickly devolved into “doughnoids in the category of pretzelmorphisms” land. Here I want to present an explanation aimed at programmers that doesn’t involve abstract alphabet-soup.
Preliminaries
The free monad represents the minimal possible structure to implement a monad and nothing else. This is achieved by separating the structure of monadic computations from the process that gives them meaning. The free monad gives us the means to construct a monad from any type (that is also a functor) by wrapping it in the free monad.
Let me give a simple example of this separation of structure and meaning that doesn’t involve any monads. Consider the expression
1 + 2 + 3
When we write this expression we bundle the structure of the computation (two additions) with the meaning given to that computation ( Int addition).
We could separate structure and meaning by representing the structure of the computation as data, perhaps as
Add ( 1, Add ( 2, 3 ))
Now we can write a simple interpreter to give meaning to this structure. Having separated the abstract syntax tree from the interpreter we can choose different interpretations for a given tree, such as computing with dual numbers to automatically compute derivatives, or running the code on a GPU for performance.
The free monad is just an abstract syntax tree representation of a monad. It has the advantage that we can define custom interpreters for the computations represented in the free monad, and with some further tricks compose monads and interpreters.
We should be able to derive the free monad from the operations required to define a monad, as it is just a representation of those operations as a data structure. Before we dive into the free monad, however, I want to return to our example of addition and derive the free monoid. This serves as a useful warmup before we tackle the free monad.
The Free Monoid
Our goal with implementing the free monoid is to represent computations like
1 + 2 + 3
in a generic way without giving them any particular meaning.
The free monoid will wrap an arbitrary type and must itself be a monoid.
A monoid for some type A is defined by:
an operation append with type (A, A) => A ; and an element zero of type `A
The following laws must also hold:
append is associative, meaning append(x, append(y, z)) == append(append(x, y), z) for all x, y, and z, in A. zero is an identity of append, meaning append(a, zero) == append(zero, a) == a for any a in A.
The monoid operations ( append and zero ) suggest we want a structure something like
sealed trait FreeMonoid [ +A ] final case object Zero extends FreeMonoid [ Nothing ] final case class Append [ A ]( l : A, r : A ) extends FreeMonoid [ A ]
but this doesn’t work – we can’t write, for instance, Append(Zero, Zero) because the types don’t line up.
We can use a structure like
sealed trait FreeMonoid [ +A ] final case object Zero extends FreeMonoid [ Nothing ] final case class Value [ A ]( a : A ) extends FreeMonoid [ A ] final case class Append [ A ]( l : FreeMonoid [ A ], r : FreeMonoid [ A ]) extends FreeMonoid [ A ]
Now we can represent 1 + 2 + 3 as
Append ( Value ( 1 ), Append ( Value ( 2 ), Value ( 3 )))
This is not the simplest representation we can use. With a bit of algebraic manipulation, justified by the monoid laws, we can normalize any monoid expression into a form that allows for a simpler representation. Let’s illustrate this via algebraic manipulation on 1 + 2 + 3.
The identity law means we can insert the addition of zero in any part of the computation without changing the result, and likewise we can remove any zeros (unless the entire expression consists of just zero). We’re going to decree that any normalized expression must have a single zero at the end of the expression like so:
1 + 2 + 3 + 0
The associativity law means we can place brackets wherever we want. We’re going to decide to bracket expressions so traversing the expression from left to right goes from outermost to innermost bracket, like so:
( 1 + ( 2 + ( 3 + 0 )))
With these changes – which by the monoid laws make no difference to the meaning of the expression – we can construct the following abstract syntax tree.
sealed trait FreeMonoid [ +A ] final case object Zero extends FreeMonoid [ Nothing ] final case class Append [ A ]( l : A, r : FreeMonoid [ A ]) extends FreeMonoid [ A ]
We can represent 1 + 2 + 3 (normalized to (1 + (2 + (3 + 0))) ) as
Append ( 1, Append ( 2, Append ( 3, Zero )))
The final step is to recognise that this structure is isomorphic (in the real, not the Javascript, sense) to List. So we could just as easily write
1 :: 2 :: 3 :: Nil
or
List ( 1, 2, 3 )
Our final step is to make sure that List itself a monoid. It is. The monoid operations on List are:
append is ++, list concatentation;
is, list concatentation; zero is Nil, the empty list; and
is, the empty list; and we can “lift” any type into the free monoid using List.apply
High fives all around – we’ve derived the free monoid from first principles.
The Free Monad
We are now ready to tackle the free monad. We can take the same approach starting with the monad operations point and flatMap, but our task will be easier if we reformulate monads in terms of point, map, and join. Under this formulation a monad for a type F[_] has:
an operation point with type A => F[A] ;
with type ; an operation join with type F[F[A]] => F[A] ; and
with type ; and an operation map with type (F[A], A => B) => F[B].
From this list of operations we can start to create an abstract syntax tree. We start with the definition of Free.
sealed trait Free [ F [ _ ], A ]
We can directly convert point into a case Return (following the names I introduced in the introduction).
final case class Return [ F [ _ ], A ]( a : A ) extends Free [ F, A ]
We are going to convert join into a case Suspend. What is the type of the value we store inside Suspend? We might think it should store a value of type F[F[A]] but if we did this we wouldn’t be able to store, say, a Return inside the outer F. We can break it down like this:
The inner F[A] will be represented by an instance of the free monad, and thus has type Free[F, A].
will be represented by an instance of the free monad, and thus has type. The outer F[_] will be wrapped in the Suspend we’re creating.
Therefore the value we should store has type F[Free[F, A]] giving us
final case class Suspend [ F [ _ ], A ]( f : F [ Free [ F, A ]]) extends Free [ F, A ]
Finally we have map. This suggests a case like
final case class Map [ F [ _ ], A, B ]( fa : Free [ F, A ], f : A => B ) extends Free [ F, B ]
This looks a little problematic. We have three type parameters while Free only has two. In fact we can do away with this case! We inherit map from monad being a functor. A map represents a pure, not an effectful, computation. We don’t need to represent Map in the free monad abstract syntax tree so long as we can implement the map operation in our free monad.
Our final free monad data type looks like
sealed trait Free [ F [ _ ], A ] final case class Return [ F [ _ ], A ]( a : A ) extends Free [ F, A ] final case class Suspend [ F [ _ ], A ]( s : F [ Free [ F, A ]]) extends Free [ F, A ]
This is what we saw in the introduction. But does it really work? To show it does, let’s implement the monad operations on this data type. We’ll use the more familiar flatMap and point formulation, which is better suited to Scala, than the point, join, and map formulation above.
We can knock out point easily enough.
object Free { def point [ F [ _ ]]( a : A ) : Free [ F, A ] = Return [ F, A ]( a ) }
Things get a bit trickier with flatMap, however. Since we know Free in an algebraic data type we can easily get the structural recursion skeleton.
sealed trait Free [ F [ _ ], A ] { def flatMap [ B ]( f : A => Free [ F, B ]) : Free [ F, B ] = this match { case Return ( a ) =>??? case Suspend ( s ) =>??? } }
The case for Return just requires us to follow the types.
sealed trait Free [ F [ _ ], A ] { def flatMap [ B ]( f : A => Free [ F, B ]) : Free [ F, B ] = this match { case Return ( a ) => f ( a ) case Suspend ( s ) =>??? } }
The case for Suspend is a bit trickier. The value s has type F[Free[F, A]]. The only operation we (currently) have available is f, which accepts an A. We could flatMap f over the Free[F, A] wrapped in F, but we haven’t yet required any operations on F. If we require F is a functor we can then map over it. Concretely, we can use this code snippet:
s map ( free => free flatMap f )
A bit of algebra shows the result has type F[Free[F, B]], and we can wrap that in a Suspend to get a result of type Free[F, B]. Our final implementation is thus
sealed trait Free [ F [ _ ], A ] { def flatMap [ B ]( f : A => Free [ F, B ])( implicit functor : Functor [ F ]) : Free [ F, B ] = this match { case Return ( a ) => f ( a ) case Suspend ( s ) => Suspend ( s map ( _ flatMap f )) } }
We can write map in terms of flatMap
def map [ B ]( f : A => B )( implicit functor : Functor [ F ]) : Free [ F, B ] = flatMap ( a => Return ( f ( a )))
It’s left as an exercise to the reader to prove the monad laws hold.
Conclusions
In this blog post I’ve tried to explain how the free monad comes to be without invoking category theory. Hopefully this sheds a bit more light on the construction, and shows it’s a natural consequence of the monad operations.
There is a lot more to the free monad than just constructing it – using it is rather important too. I’ve linked to a few more ideas in the footnotes, but I have another blog post the describes why the free monad is interesting. Finally, our book Essential Interpreters has complete coverage of the free monad (at least it will, when we’ve written it!)The Defense Department on Wednesday released the name of the soldier who was killed this week in Afghanistan.
Staff Sgt. Adam Thomas, 31, died Tuesday in Nangarhar Province from injuries caused by an improvised explosive device that exploded during dismounted operations, according to DoD. Thomas was partnered with Afghan forces when he was killed, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told reporters Tuesday.
The incident is under investigation.
Thomas, of Takoma Park, Maryland, was assigned to B Company, 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group at Fort Carson, Colorado.
"The 10th Special Forces Group wishes to express deepest sympathies and condolences to the family and friends who have been tragically touched by the loss of Staff Sgt. Adam Thomas," Col. Isaac Peltier, commander of 10th Special Forces Group, said in a statement. "Staff Sgt. Thomas epitomized what it is to be a professional Green Beret and soldier. His loss from our organization and his memory will not be forgotten."
Staff Sgt. Adam Thomas
Photo Credit: Army
Thomas joined the Army in April 2008; he was stationed at Fort Carson since February, according to information from 10th Special Forces Group.
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A Special Forces medical sergeant, Thomas deployed once to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan.All 10 Johnnie’s Foodmaster supermarkets are closing, not just the six being taken over by Whole Foods Market, according to a company hired to liquidate the local chain But a seventh store — in Medford — will reopen as a Stop & Shop.
Hilco Merchant Resources, based in Illinois, said Johnnie’s has started offering discounts of up to 30 percent on all food, beverages, household products, and general merchandise as the business starts to wind down after 65 years.
Late Friday, Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC said it has entered into an agreement to take over the Medford Johnnie’s lease and “quickly convert’’ the location into a Stop & Shop by the end of the year.
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A spokesman for Johnnie’s declined to comment on the fate of its remaining stores — in Lynn, Whitman, and Alewife Brook Parkway in Somerville.
Also on Friday, Whole Foods said its purchase of Johnnie’s stores in South Weymouth, Arlington, Charlestown, Brookline, Melrose, and on Beacon Street in Somerville will close Nov. 30. The stores will be renovated and reopened as Whole Foods supermarkets by next September, the Texas-based company said. Employees at those Johnnie’s stores will be interviewed for jobs at the new Whole Foods locations, it said. Stop & Shop promised to do the same for workers at the Medford store.
The sale of the six leases to Whole Foods was made official last month.
At that time, Laura Derba, Whole Foods’ president for the North Atlantic region, said in a statement that the upscale chain has been seeking to expand its presence in the Boston area. Johnnie’s owner John DeJesus also said the deal came at a good time for his business.
“I am confident that we have found the best partner that offers the most positive outcome not only for our employees but for the communities as well,’’ DeJesus said in a statement released Oct. 26.• Manager says City will not try just to defend 5-3 Champions League lead • Sergio Agüero reiterates he wants to remain at City beyond this season
Pep Guardiola said Manchester City will be eliminated from the Champions League if they fail to score in Monaco, despite holding a 5-3 lead from an extraordinary encounter at the Etihad Stadium.
Sergio Agüero helps Manchester City pull it out of the fire against Monaco Read more
The City manager vowed to maintain his commitment to attack at Stade Louis II on 15 March after a breathless first leg against the French league leaders, who twice led and missed a penalty before conceding three goals in 11 minutes late in the game. Even the Monaco coach, Leonardo Jardim, said he enjoyed the spectacle, if not the final result.
Guardiola described the contest as “beautiful” and an example of what can happen “when two teams want to be the protagonists” but also revealed mistrust of the City defence against the highest scoring team in Europe’s top divisions. After Nicolás Otamendi, John Stones and Willy Caballero endured a difficult night against Radamel Falcao and the eye-catching 18-year-old, Kylian Mbappé, the City manager admitted he could not send his team out to defend a 5-3 advantage in Monaco.
“We attack in small spaces and defend huge spaces behind, that’s why the people contracted me to come here,” Guardiola said. “It is special for football when two teams play like that. I am happier than my colleague from Monaco because at 2-0 [two goals behind] we are out. If one team can score a thousand million goals, it’s Monaco. They arrive with six or seven players in the box and it is tough to control that on the counterattack.
“Of course we have to improve. The first goal was a mistake, the second was a mistake but today the lesson is that we never give up. We were lucky in some aspects of the second half and very unlucky in some aspects of the first half. They will attack more and more and we have to defend better. But we will have our chances. We are going to fly to Monaco to score as many goals as possible. We are not going to defend that result. We now know each other better. We will adjust some things, they will adjust some things but we have to score goals. If we don’t score a goal in Monaco we will be eliminated.”
Guardiola refused to comment on the Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz’s decision to book Sergio Agüero for a perceived dive over Danijel Subasic in the first half when the Monaco goalkeeper made contact with the striker inside the area. “Next |
the Chinese government's policies are effective. However, climate change is predicted to eliminate more than 35% of the Panda's bamboo habitat later this century and could therefore reverse the gains made since the 1990s.
To protect this iconic species, the IUCN emphasises it is critical that the effective forest protection measures are continued and that newly emerging threats are fully addressed. The Chinese government is planning to expand its existing conservation policy for the species, which the IUCN says must be strongly supported to ensure its effective implementation.
From left to right: Extinct (EX), Extinct in the wild (EW), Critically endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), Vulnerable (VU), Near threatened (NT), Least concern (LC).
Graphic credit: Peter Halasz
Although the news is encouraging for giant pandas, other species are facing much greater challenges. The Eastern Gorilla – the largest living primate – has been moved from "Endangered" to "Critically Endangered" due to a devastating population decline of more than 70% in 20 years. Its population is now thought to be fewer than 5,000.
Grauer's Gorilla (G. b. graueri), one of the two subspecies, has lost 77% of its population since 1994, declining from 16,900 individuals to only 3,800. Killing or capture of great apes is illegal; yet hunting represents the greatest threat to Grauer's Gorillas. The second of the species, the Mountain Gorilla (G. b. beringei), has been faring better, increasing in number to around 880 individuals.
Four of the six great apes – the Eastern Gorilla, Western Gorilla, Bornean Orangutan and Sumatran Orangutan – are now listed as Critically Endangered, whilst the Chimpanzee and Bonobo are listed as Endangered.
"To see the Eastern Gorilla – one of our closest cousins – slide towards extinction is truly distressing," said Inger Andersen, the IUCN Director General. "We live in a time of tremendous change and each IUCN Red List update makes us realise just how quickly the global extinction crisis is escalating. Conservation action does work and we have increasing evidence of it. It is our responsibility to enhance our efforts to turn the tide and protect the future of our planet."
Habitat ranges of the eastern gorilla (left) and the giant panda (right). Credit: IUCN, species assessors and the authors of the spatial data. [CC BY-SA 3.0]
The latest Red List includes almost 83,000 species of animals and plants, of which nearly 24,000 are threatened with extinction. The IUCN, its Species Survival Commission and nine partner institutions will jointly commit more than US$10 million, as part of an ambitious strategic plan that aims to double the number of species assessed on the Red List by the year 2020.
"The world is changing fast and dramatically," said Dr M Sanjayan, senior scientist from Conservation International. "Now more than ever, amid the updates to the Red List, it's crucial to identify and track the elements of nature that need protection the most. Monitoring the diversity of life is a fundamental part of all our efforts to understand the changes happening on our planet and focusing our conservation efforts so that people and nature can thrive."
"Illegal hunting and habitat loss are still major threats driving many mammal species towards extinction," said Carlo Rondinini, Coordinator of the mammal assessment at Sapienza University of Rome. "We have now reassessed nearly half of all mammals. While there are some successes to celebrate, this new data must act as a beacon to guide the conservation of those species which continue to be under threat."
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An Introduction of kladio Game:
kladio is a new game and you can play it and enjoy it online free on Rim Sim Games. The location of the game is somewhere in the forest like ranger game. In many ways, it is like rangersteveio which is also a shooting game. There are some differences between both of the game that is shape. When you play this game you will realize that the face of your soldier is not so good. But the case is opposite with rangers. The character of this game is very good in a funny manner.
How to Play kladio Game online:
The controls of kladio Game are similar to other multiplayer games in which we can also include squaddio game. You have to move fast in the stage by using WASD keys. Additionally, it has an extra feature of jetpack which you can use by right click of the mouse. Aim with the help of mouse and also shoot others with the help of left mouse button.
Strategies of klad.io Game:
The best strategy of kladio game is to be careful and active in the course of the game. You have to keep moving in order to survive. In addition, you have to make an escape from the shot of your enemies. You can hunt them by shooting backward.
An Introduction of kladio Game: kladio is a new game and you can play it and enjoy it online free on Rim Sim Games. The location of the game is somewhere in the forest like ranger game. In many ways, it is like rangersteveio which is also a shooting game. There are some differences between both of the game that is shape. When you play this game you will realize that the face of your soldier is not so good. But the case is opposite with rangers. The character of this game is very good in a funny manner. How… kladio – Play Klad.io A rapid firing io game kladio – Play Klad.io A rapid firing io game Klad.io Game Review Game-Play - 66% Controls - 71% Graphics - 62% 66 % Nice One! User Rating: 4.51 ( 8 votes)Iranian officials have warned that the talks will fail if 'pressure' is used to stop the nuclear programme [Reuters]
Proposed talks on Iran's nuclear programme must be without "pre-conditions" and produce "concrete results", world powers have said.
"We call on Iran to enter, without pre-conditions, into a sustained process of serious dialogue, which will produce concrete results," a statement issued on Thursday said.
The statement, issued on behalf of the United States, China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany, known as the P5+1, added that the countries' readiness to negotiate was "on the understanding that these talks will address the international community's long-standing concerns and that there will be serious discussions on concrete confidence building measures".
The statement was read out by China's envoy to the United Nations atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, at a closed-door regular board meeting at its Vienna headquarters in Austria.
On Tuesday, Catherine Ashton, the European Union foreign policy chief, said on behalf of the six powers that they were ready to hold talks with Iran. The details of where and when the negotiations would be held have not yet been decided.
The last round, which took place in Istanbul, Turkey, in January 2011, broke down, according to Western diplomats, over Tehran's demand to discuss "preconditions" before dealing with specifics in the nuclear dispute.
Ashton said in a letter to Saeed Jalili, the chief Iranian nuclear negotiator, that the powers did not want to "repeat the experience of Istanbul" and that the dialogue "will have to focus" on the "key issue" of Iran's nuclear programme.
Ali Larijani, Iran's parliamentary speaker, warned that the talks would fail if they were used to "pressure" Tehran.
The White House said on Wednesday that in the talks Washington "will demand that Iran live up to its international obligations - that it provide verifiable assurances it is not pursuing a nuclear weapon."
Nuclear activities
Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's envoy to the IAEA, refused comment on what concessions Iran may make in order to facilitate the planned talks.
Tehran's willingness to discuss with the IAEA allegations of a nuclear weapons programme "by itself is confidence building," he told reporters.
"We will never suspend our nuclear activities, and we will continue [with them], under the supervision of course of the IAEA," he said.
The possible resumption comes despite an apparent deadlock between the IAEA and Iran after two fruitless visits to Tehran led by chief inspector Herman Nackaerts in January and February this year.
Parchin controversy
The visits saw Iran again reject a major IAEA report in November that alleged that suspicious nuclear activities were ongoing at several sites. Iran also denied access to the Parchin military site where the IAEA alleges that explosives testing for warhead research had taken place.
Thursday's P5+1 statement urged Iran to "fulfil its undertaking to grant access to Parchin".
Yukiya Amano, the IAEA's chief, on Monday appeared to allege that Iran was removing evidence at the base, saying "activities" spotted by satellite "makes us believe that going there sooner is better than later."
Iran says that the IAEA already cleared the Parchin site in 2005, and that it was under no obligation to allow access to what it terms a non-nuclear site.
Nackaerts said that since 2005 "we have acquired new information - from satellite imagery - from which we have been able to identify the precise location where we believe an explosive chamber is situated".
'Minor issue'
Iran is highly sensitive about allowing access to military sites following a large explosion at the Bid Ganeh base in November and multiple assassinations of nuclear scientists it has blamed on Israel and the United States.
Soltanieh said allegations of "sanitisation" of the site were "a childish [and] ridiculous story made out of nothing", describing Parchin as "one minor issue" in its negotiations with the IAEA, which he said were ongoing.
"Unfortunately, Western countries are not telling the truth... The truth is that Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons," with sanctions having "no effect whatsoever" on Iran's nuclear activities, including enrichment, he said.As GOP strategist Patrick Ruffini tweeted last night, in the middle of Mitt Romney's secretly taped fundraising comments going viral, "The media probably didn't know that this 53/47 thing is common currency on the right." This dynamic explains a lot about both the media (and its outraged reaction to Romney's comments yesterday, today, and tomorrow), and about the right, which is used to making such claims without sanction.
For instance, as Ramesh Ponnuru points out in a Bloomberg View column entitled "The Right Is Wrong to Pin Obama’s Edge on Welfare State,"
[M]any conservatives have expressed worry that the growth in the percentage of Americans who pay no federal income tax will make the electorate more supportive of big government. Paul Ryan said as much after a speech at the Heritage Foundation last year: "We're coming close to a tipping point in America where we might have a net majority of takers versus makers in society and that could become very dangerous if it sets in as a permanent condition."
Or as Sen. Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) told Nick Gillespie and I earlier this year,
Almost half of Americans are getting something from government, and the other half are paying for it. And we're on a track where 60 percent are getting something from government and 40 percent are paying for it. You can't sustain a democracy with that mix. reason: Because the 60 percent is going to be voting a bigger and bigger share of the 40 percent's money? DeMint: It's hard to win elections when you're talking about limited government if the constituents want more from government. You see that phenomenon on display in Greece. When the country is going down in flames, there are still people in the street, demonstrating for more government benefits. We've got to understand we're in trouble, that we don't have much time.
Ponnuru and New York Times columnist David Brooks make the same sensible retort to this line of argument, namely that the biggest "takers" of federal government largesse are seniors, ergo Republicans. While it can–and should!–alarm true advocates of limited government that appetite for entitlements is a strongly bipartisan affair, posing an important political obstacle to necessary spending reform, the arbitrary distinction that Romney, Ryan, DeMint, et al are making involves the allegedly iron link between paying no federal income taxes and voting Democrat.
Perhaps the worst thing about this 53/47 analysis is how it infantilizes voters of all income levels.
Go back to Romney's full description:
There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax…[M]y job is is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.
This is economic determinism at its worst, going against the very message the Republican Party was trying to sell to the world during its quadrennial national convention last month. Over and over again, we heard speakers there talk about how their immigrant grandparents came to this country, worked hard, built "that," never asked for a handout, and as a result their descendants have enjoyed the American Dream of ever-upward mobility. What the 53/47 dividing line says, to the direct contrary, is that income status is a permanent political condition, defrocking all Americans of agency and independent thought.
Most people at some point will be part of the 47 percent (indeed, nearly most already are). When my friends and I were comparatively poor, as people often are in their 20s and early 30s, we (for the most part) didn't "believe" that we were "victims," didn't "believe the government has a responsibility" to care for us, and didn't vote for Democratic political candidates "no matter what." We mostly took personal responsibility and care for our lives, and acted according to our idiosyncratic individual values and whims.
I should theoretically be the target audience for this stuff. I never took out a federally guaranteed student loan, never enjoyed the mortgage-interest deduction; I worry all the time about government spending and entitlements, and I am not unfamiliar with the looter/moocher formulation. But this kind of reductionism does not reflect individualism (as David Brooks charges), it rejects individualism, by insisting that income tax is destiny. It judges U.S. residents not as humans but as productive (or unproductive) units. (Though as long as people are thinking that way, is there any category of resident less taker-y than illegal immigrants with fake Social Security cards who file income taxes?) And it prematurely valorizes one class of government-gobbling Americans while prematurely writing off another.
There are to my mind many more important things to consider in this presidential race than Mitt Romney's reductive parroting of plausible-but-wrong GOP tropes. But the reason this controversy will have legs is ultimately because many Republicans think Romney's comments were just fine. They are about to learn what the rest of the country thinks about that.
UPDATE: Nick Gillespie has a post above well worth reading.
* UPDATE 2: I see from the (mostly disagreeing) comments that my headline is being misunderstood. I'm not saying that the number 47 percent is wrong, but that the political description about the 47 percent is wrong.25User Rating: 2 out of 5
Review title of Geoff Still needs some work...
Was looking for an app that would allow me to play my local MP3 collection from my Windows 10 PC to my Chromecast audio so I gave Playcast a try. It almost works - and there's no other apps that do this - So two stars instead of one. But it does have bugs and limited features. Sometimes it can see the Chromecast Audio device, sometimes it can’t, and when it’s casting the whole app sometimes freezes up. It’s also confusing trying to understand when it thinks it’s casting and when it isn’t. When you’re playing, you can’t play a folder of songs, just one, so you may as well play in the Chrome browser and cast from there. The trial period is only 24 hours, so with little kids and a busy life so I couldn’t really truly see if I could work around these issues – And the vendor doesn’t have a web site for help or a forum. If and when this app allows you to reliably cast an entire folder for songs (with shuffle) to a Chromecast Audio it will be a killer app. Until then...I spent the month of July in the far northwestern Indian Himalaya, climbing with Jed Brown, with whom I’ve done a bunch of good climbing, but with whom I hadn’t climbed in many years. Going off some tips from friends and some limited research, we travelled to the Zanskar region to try Kun (7,077m). Our hope was to acclimatize on Kun’s normal route, the east ridge, and then climb the mountain again via steeper, more technical terrain on the south or west aspects. Unfortunately, some last-minute visa debacles saw us arrive in Delhi with only 30 days to legally stay in the country. Based on past experiences at altitude, we thought this should be enough time to climb a technical route on a 7,000m peak if things went well, but unfortunately it doesn’t leave much leeway in case things don’t go quite as planned. Travel from Delhi to Gulmotonga went pretty smoothly, but the approach from Gulmotonga to basecamp went more slowly than expected, as the donkeys hired to carry our supplies had a really difficult time crossing the boulders on the moraines and glaciers. Once established, our basecamp was in a nice grassy place, conveniently close to Kun, and with some nice boulders to climb on just a hundred meters from our tents. However, as it turned out, Kun’s normal route was much more popular than we had realized. We had fortunately arrived earlier than what is apparently the standard season, and had the mountain to ourselves, but evidence of the area’s popularity was very visible. Perhaps I’ve simply been sheltered from it because I generally haven’t visited popular basecamps in the Himalaya, but the Kun basecamp was definitely the most trashed place I’ve ever seen in the mountains. There was garbage everywhere around basecamp, and scattered at various places on the approach from there up to Kun as well. You might wonder why we didn’t spend some of our acclimatization time cleaning it up, but we didn’t have the resources – I think there is easily 200kg of trash to be packed out… Our acclimatization seemed to progress at a good pace, perhaps partially aided by my previous trip to Denali, and Jed’s pre-trip acclimatization in Rocky Mountain National Park. Within the first week we visited a 5,900m summit and a 5,500m summit, and not too long afterwards established an “advanced base camp” at 6,100m on the broad, glacial plateau between Kun and it’s neighboring peak, Nun. On July 14 we attempted Kun’s normal route, the east ridge. While the route is very popular and indeed often guided, the clients climb it via fixed rope, which fortunately hadn’t been draped on the mountain yet. The ridge has a fair amount of 50 to 60 degree terrain which would be pretty cruiser if covered in snow, but in the hard ice conditions we encountered, it was tedious simul-solo front pointing. We climbed up to 6,800m, just a couple hundred meters of easy snow walking below the summit, but I suggested we turn around there – Even though I was fairly confident we could easily go to the summit that day, I was wary of having to down-solo a bunch of hard ice while feeling altitude weary. The biggest problem that we faced on our expedition was the same as I experienced last fall in Nepal: We had a bunch of glorious weather during the first part of our expedition, while acclimatizing, and then a lot of bad weather once well-enough acclimatized to really consider climbing. After our venture up to 6,800m, we returned to basecamp to get some more food and fuel, and planned to head back up almost immediately to tag the top. However, our departure from basecamp was delayed several days by heavy precipitation. We would wake up every morning at 5am or 6am, and most days it would already have started raining by the time we finished breakfast. One day it held off long enough for us to start up, but then when changing into boots at the edge of the glacier it started pissing and we retreated to basecamp. When we finally did make it out of basecamp and back up to our “advanced base camp,” it was near enough to the end of our trip that we brought lots of food and fuel, and all the technical climbing equipment we would need for climbing on the south or west aspects. I definitely wanted to go to the summit via the east ridge first, which I considered an important safety net before starting up a more technical route, but once that was accomplished we wanted to be well-enough supplied that we could stay up at our ABC and try a harder line without having to go down to basecamp between. On July 21 we finally went to Kun’s summit via the east ridge. Getting to the base of the route from our ABC was much more work than it had been before, because of the fresh snow that had fallen. Unfortunately the new snow hadn’t stuck to the steeper sections of ridge, and we still did a bunch of tedious simul-solo frontpointing on the way up and down. Going to 7,000m, which was the first time at that altitude for both Jed and I, felt fortunately fine after three weeks of acclimatization. The day after climbing Kun’s east ridge, we spent the entire day confined to our tent at ABC while it dumped snow. The weather was mediocre the next morning as well, and with a bunch of fresh snow, a pessimistic weather forecast and only a couple days left before we were due to travel back to Delhi, we humped our heavy loads down to basecamp. The next day we hiked out to Gulmotonga, and the day after began the journey back to Delhi. In addition to some unlucky timing with the weather, another problem for our expedition was my health. I felt as though my body was doing alright with the altitude, but I seemed to be slightly sick for the entirety of the expedition. On most days my body performed decently, but I never really felt good, and I was constantly dealing with a bunch of phlegm in my throat. Jed kindly made up for the discrepancy in our health by consistently carrying more than his share of group weight (a nice trait in a climbing partner!), but nonetheless the subtle sickness I was battling definitely affected my willingness to “go for it” on Kun’s steeper aspects in marginal weather windows – On a committing climb your safety is largely dependent on your physical endurance, and mine definitely felt compromised. I think I may have contracted some virus either in the days before departing for India, or en route from Delhi to basecamp, and the prolonged stay at altitude (our basecamp was at 4,550m) depressed my immune system just enough to prevent it from beating the virus. Another possibility, despite feeling very good before departing for India, is that my body was still somewhat depleted from my expedition in Alaska – After all, I wasn’t actually monitoring things such as my resting heart rate. For me, the biggest lesson of this trip is that 30 days does not give one good enough chances of success for a hard route on a 7,000m peak. That is of course something I already knew, but the experience underscores to me that you cannot underestimate the bureaucratic hurdles that the Indian (or Pakistani, Chinese, Nepali, etc) government might throw at you. I’m glad that we at least got to reach a 7,000m summit for our first time, and that after three weeks of acclimatization the altitude there felt quite reasonable – An experience that should give me a bit more confidence on 7,000m peaks in the future. We owe a huge thanks to the Mugs Stump Award for helping us afford this trip. There is no doubt that we could not afford to legally climb in the Himalaya without that financial support.If you genuinely believe that Antifa is comparable in any way to the white supremacists marching in Charlottesville chanting "The Jews will not replace us" then you are a fascist sympathizer. And if you are a fascist sympathizer, you are basically a fascist.
On Sunday 4th, October 1936, my Jewish grandfather took to the streets of the East End in London and went to fight fascists marching through his neighborhood. The Battle of Cable Street was a defining moment in British history when domestic fascism was beaten back and London refused to bow to a growing movement sympathetic to Adolph Hitler and the Nazi Party. Three years later, my grandfather went to war with Germany, and helped his country beat back the greatest threat humanity has ever faced.
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The world rose up against fascism during World War II, and Americans played a pivotal role in smashing the Nazis -- a contribution to the long term prospects of humanity that will never be forgotten. Yet now, in what appears to be a mass case of historical amnesia, fascism and Neo-Nazism is on the rise in America, motivated in large part by a president who explicitly appealed to the ideologies of White Supremacy. Trump does not directly condone White Supremacy, but his unwillingness to condemn them and his attitude towards anti-fascist movements like 'Antifa' is telling.
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Antifa: resisting fascism in America
'Antifa' has become something of a pariah in America and equated by the president and places like Breitbart, to violent Neo-Nazism:
Antifa's stated goal is to confront fascists, Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists using force if necessary and to never shy away from conflict. The far right is portraying this as a violent uprising and has formally urged the government to consider it a terrorist organization. The petition sent to the White House reads:
Terrorism is defined as “the use of violence and intimidation in pursuit of political aims”. This definition is the same definition used to declare ISIS and other groups, as terrorist organizations. AntiFa has earned this title due to its violent actions in multiple cities and their influence in the killings of multiple police officers throughout the United States. It is time for the pentagon to be consistent in its actions – and just as they rightfully declared ISIS a terror group, they must declare AntiFa a terror group – on the grounds of principle, integrity, morality, and safety..
This is as if World War II did not happen, and America did not lose hundreds of thousands of young men who fought valiantly against the deadly fascism sweeping through Europe. America itself was an anti-fascist movement during World War II, and people from all political persuasions joined the fight against an ideology that placed the racial superiority of white people at its core. My grandfather was not left wing or liberal in any sense of the word. Generally speaking he was conservative and voted that way his entire adult life, but he joined anti-fascists and fought with them on the streets.
'Antifa' understands one terrible truth about human societies: that evil cannot always be placated and cannot be reasoned with. Sometimes it must be fought tooth and nail until it is defeated, and they see the rising fascism movement in America for what it is -- Nazism reborn.
If you genuinely believe that Antifa is comparable in any way to the white supremacists marching in Charlottesville chanting "The Jews will not replace us" then you are a fascist sympathizer. And if you are a fascist sympathizer, you are basically a fascist.
You do not have to agree with the politics of those involved in the Antifa movement. You do not have to join them in fighting fascists on the streets of America. But you cannot compare them to Nazis or White Supremacists, and you must understand that they are fighting for the same freedoms your great grandparents, grandparents and parents fought for many decades ago.
“Are you a communist?" "No I am an anti-fascist" "For a long time?" "Since I have understood fascism.” - Ernest Hemmingway, For Whom the Bells Toll
Hey there! Please consider becoming a member of The Daily Banter and supporting us in holding the Trump administration to account. Your help is needed more than ever, and is greatly appreciated.Foto: RTCG / screenshot
Direktor crnogorske policije Slavko Stojanović potvrdio je danas da je prethodne noći uhapšeno 20 osoba iz Srbije, dok se za jednim licem traga, a zbog sumnje da su na teritoriji Crne Gore počinili krivično delo stvaranje kriminalne organizacije i krivično delo terorizam.
Foto: RTCG / screenshot
Kako saznajemo, svih dvadeset osoba privedeno je na saslušanje u crnogorsko Specijalno Tužilaštvo.
Foto: RTCG / screenshot
Oni su, kako se sumnja, ušli u Crnu Goru i imali nameru da prvo preuzmu automatsko oružje, a potom da večeras izvrše napade na instutucije sistema, policiju i predstavnike državnih organa, ne iskučujući mogućnost napada na visoke državne zvaničnike.
Foto: RAS Srbija Slavko Stojanović
Zbog interesovanja "svih medija", Stojanović je rešio da se oglasi pisanom izjavom u kojoj potvrdjuje hapšenje, saopštilo je Ministarstvo unutrašnjih poslova Crne Gore.
Kako je naveo uprava policije je u vezi navedenog događaja, shodno proceduri, uputila tužilaštvu informaciju koja je planirana za javnost, kaže se u pisanoj izjavi direktora crnogorske policije.
Iz Specijalnog državnog tuzilaštva je saopšteno da za 20 uhapšenih državljana Srbije postoji osnov sumnje da su izvršili krivična dela – stvaranje kriminalne organizacije u sticaju sa krivičnim delom terorizam.
Među uhapšenima u Crnoj Gori je i Bratislav Dikić, nekadašnji šef Žandarmerije, saznaje "Blic".
Kako su ranije danas preneli crnogorski mediji grupa je na osnovu dogovora sa pojedincima iz jedne političke grupacije, kako sumnja crnogorska policija, planirala napade i akcije, navodi televizija PinkM.
pročitajte i... SAZNAJEMO Bratislav Dikić među uhapšenima zbog planiranja terorističkih akcija u Crnoj Gori
Predsednik Vlade Srbije Aleksandar Vučić izjavio je danas da nema nikakve podatke o o navodnom hapšenju paravojne kriminalne grupe u Crnoj Gori koju, kako je objavljeno, predvodi bivši šef srpske Žandarmerije Bratislav Dikić, ocenivši da je "čudan dan" u kojem se to dešava.
Povodom hapšenja Dikića oglasio je i ministar unutrašnjih poslova Nebojša Stefanović izjavio je danas da srpska policija sigurno nije učestvovala ni na koji način u hapšenju bivšeg šefa srpske Žandarmerije Bratislava Dikića.
Slavko Stojanović je u četvrtak 13. oktobra izjavio povodom održavanja današnjih parlamentarnih izbora u Crnoj Gori nakon kolegijuma sa čelnicima policije u kampu na Zlatici, da prema operativnim saznanjima postoji mogućnost izazivanja nereda i eventualne eskalacije nemira.
Stojanović je, kako prenose podgorički mediji, saopštio da su službenici Uprave policije spremni da odgovore svim bezbednosnim izazovima.LONDON (Reuters) - An ally of British Prime Minister Theresa May has said income tax will not rise for higher earners, making a new promise to voters less than a week before a national election with opinion polls showing a narrowing of May’s lead.
Britain's Defence Secretary Michael Fallon and Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson leave number 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, May 25, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall
The comments from Defence Minister Michael Fallon in an interview with the Daily Telegraph suggested that the ruling Conservative Party would not increase the top rate of income tax, striking a contrast with main opposition Labour Party.
“You’ve seen our record. We’re not in the business of punishing people for getting on. On the contrary we want people to keep more of their earnings,” Fallon told the newspaper.
“The only way they can be sure their taxes won’t rise is to vote Conservative. We already know your tax will go up if you vote Labour on Thursday,” he said.
May has left open the possibility of higher income taxes by only promising no increases in value-added tax before Thursday’s vote. That marked a break from the Conservative pledge under former Prime Minister David Cameron in a 2015 election campaign not to raise income tax, national insurance contributions or VAT.
Earlier this year, May’s government was forced into a U-turn when it dropped a plan to increase national insurance contributions on self-employed workers after Conservative lawmakers protested that it broke the 2015 pledge.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has said that promise makes it harder for him to bring down Britain’s budget deficit.
Labour said Fallon’s comments showed the Conservatives were protecting higher earners at the expense of the less well off.
“The mask has finally slipped,” John McDonnell, a lawmaker who would be the Chancellor if Labour win the election, said in a statement. “The only guarantee the Tories are prepared to give at this election is to big business and high earners.”
Labour has said it will raise income taxes on people earning more than 80,000 pounds ($103,152) a year, promising no increases for the other 95 percent of taxpayers.
An opinion poll published on Friday showed May’s Conservatives lead the opposition Labour Party by five percentage points, down sharply from 15 a little more than two weeks ago.
Other recent polls have also shown that May’s lead, which stood at more than 20 points when she called the campaign, has been eaten away, meaning she might no longer win the landslide she had hoped for.
May has said she wants a bigger majority in parliament to strengthen her hand as she goes into negotiations with the rest of the European Union about Britain’s exit from the bloc.
($1 = 0.7756 pounds)Israeli War Industry Clashes with U.S. Foreign Policy: The Cases of El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala
Skynet recently cast its spotlight on the inconvenient history of Israeli arms trading and other, related commercial involvements that sometimes fly in the face of official U.S. foreign policy. In addition to the Israeli weapons sales and death squad training furnished to Colombian drug kingpins in the 1980s, involvements in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala during the Carter and Reagan administrations provide other useful examples of this disturbing tendency. The website Third World Traveler gives this account:
From its earliest attempts to establish itself as an arms exporter, Israel had enjoyed the patronage of the military of El Salvador, which ruled that small, densely-populated country on the Pacific side of the Central American isthmus on behalf of a powerful plantation oligarchy. In 1973 Israel took orders from El Salvador for 18 Dassault Ouragan jet fighter aircraft. Israel had obtained these planes from France for its own use. Refurbished and delivered to El Salvador in 1975, they were the first jet fighters in Central America, representing a significant jump in the level of military sophistication in a region where war had flared between Honduras and El Salvador in 1969.
Other aircraft ordered from Israel by El Salvador in 1973 included six French-made Fouga Magister trainers and 25 Arava short-take-off-and-landing aircraft. The Arava is produced by Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) and is advertised for a variety of uses from hauling cargo, to medical evacuation, to transporting troops in counterinsurgency warfare. The Salvadorans also bought a quantity of small arms, ammunition and rocket launchers. Military links with El Salvador actually began around 1972, when the Israeli Defense Ministry carried out a youth movement development program there. Alongside their arms sales, the Israelis also sent advisers to El Salvador. Former Salvadoran Army Col. and Undersecretary of the Interior Rene Francisco Guerra y Guerra recalled that during the 1970s ANSESAL, the Salvadoran secret police, had security advisers from Israel. According to Guerra, as a low-ranking ANSESAL officer, Roberto D’Aubuisson, who would later rise to prominence as leader of a far-right faction linked to death squads, was a student of the Israeli instructors. At least one Salvadoran officer, Col. Sigifredo Ochoa was taught by Israeli trainers in El Salvador and also went to Israel for training in the mid- 1970s. Ochoa, who was credited with a massacre of civilians in 1981, made no secret of his preference for his Israeli mentors over the U.S. advisers who came to El Salvador after 1981 |
commitment is called marriage."
Wolfson said that the nonprofit initiative — which tapped Reed and Atlanta Congressman John Lewis as honorary co-chairs — wants to make marriage equality an easier issue for politicians and hesitant members of the public to support. The $1 million spend, he said, would include a variety of formal press conferences, forums, the documentation of marriage license denials, litigation, and legislative battles.
During the press conference, where numerous same-sex couples and local advocates spoke in support of the effort, Reed said he'd work to help end marriage discrimination in Georgia. The mayor said he would work to overturn a Georgia constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2004 that made it illegal for the state to recognize or perform either gay marriages or civil unions.
"Some patience will be required," Reed said. "But patience should not mean forever. We need to be about the business of removing discrimination from Georgia's Constitution, which must be done not yesterday or tomorrow, but right away."
Reed's remarks come at the same time GOP state lawmakers have introduced a measure that could allow businesses to discriminate against gay people and other groups in Georgia.
The mayor also intends to push for the state to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. Reed said he has already had conversations with several state lawmakers, whom he declined to name, about authoring legislation to repeal the gay marriage ban.
Congressman John Lewis, D-Atlanta, was not able to attend the event but said in a video that he urges people to speak out against discrimination toward LGBT couples — including laws that wrongly uphold those practices.
"I see the right to marriage as a civil rights issue," Lewis said in the video. "You cannot have rights for one segment of the population and one group of people and not for everybody. Civil rights and equal rights must be for all of our children."Kasi Lemmons (born Karen Lemmons; February 24, 1961[1]) is an American film director and actress, most notable for her work on the films Eve's Bayou, The Caveman's Valentine and Talk to Me.[2] She was described by film scholar Wheeler Winston Dixon as "an ongoing testament to the creative possibilities of film".[3]
Early life [ edit ]
Lemmons was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of a poet/psychotherapist mother who is white, Dorothy Stallworth and a biology teacher father, Milton Lemmons who is black.[1] When Lemmons was eight years old, her parents divorced, and she and her mother and two sisters moved to Newton, Massachusetts. Her mother remarried when she was nine.[4] Her passion for movies came at an early age, but becoming a director was her goal. "I wanted to do something more meaningful than going to auditions…”.[5]
Career [ edit ]
Acting [ edit ]
In 1979, Lemmons made her acting debut in the television movie 11th Victim (1979). She performed with the Boston Children's Theater and later attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts but transferred to UCLA to major in history. She eventually left UCLA and enrolled in the film program at the New School for Social Research.[6] As a young child, she got her first role on TV on a local soap opera called You Got a Right, a courtroom drama. She played the first and only black girl who integrated to an all-white school.[7] Her acting credits include episodic parts on shows like As the World Turns, Murder, She Wrote, The Cosby Show or ER and films such as Spike Lee's School Daze (1988), Vampire's Kiss (1988), the Academy Award winner for Best Picture The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Candyman (1992), Hard Target (1993), Fear of a Black Hat (1993), Gridlock'd (1997) and 'Til There Was You (1997).[8]
Filmmaking [ edit ]
In 1997, Lemmons directed the film Eve's Bayou starring Samuel L. Jackson, Lynn Whitfield, Debbi Morgan, Diahann Carroll, and Jurnee Smollett.[9][9][9][10] The film was well-received among critics (currently holding an 80% rate of approval on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes[11]) and won Lemmons an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature as well as a National Board of Review award for Outstanding Directorial Debut.[12]
In 2001 she directed Jackson again in The Caveman's Valentine[6] about a schizophrenic homeless man trying to solve a murder mystery.[13] In 2002 Lemmons conceived and helmed the tribute to Sidney Poitier for the 74th Annual Academy Award show. Shortly afterwards it was announced that Lemmons would direct The Battle of Cloverfield, a supernatural thriller, from her own script for Columbia Pictures.[6] In 2007, she directed Talk to Me (2007) about an ex-con (played by Don Cheadle) who became a popular talk show host and community activist. Lemmons specifically wanted Don Cheadle in her movie. She felt Martin Sheen would be fitting to play E.G. Sonderling, head of the radio station.[10] The film and the actors were praised[14][15] and Lemmons received an Image Award for Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture.[citation needed]
Lemmons adapted the Broadway musical Black Nativity and filmed it in 2013. It starred Academy Award winners Forest Whitaker and Jennifer Hudson, as well as Academy Award nominee Angela Bassett.[16]
Lemmons is also attached to direct the Apartheid-set drama Agaat, based on Marlene van Niekerk's novel,[17] in addition to an adaptation of Zadie Smith's best-selling novel On Beauty.[18]
Lemmons explained during an interview that she considered writing to be central to her task as a director:
I've been writing scripts all the time, pretty much every day for fourteen years.... I have to write scripts, because that's the only way I can write parts that will get a lot of people whom I really want to work with involved.[19]
Personal life [ edit ]
Lemmons has been married to actor and director Vondie Curtis-Hall since 1995. The couple has four children.
Lemmons states that her husband is immensely supportive and feels that he is more relaxed than she is. Compared to how he works, she prefers the pressure of working on a set with the actors. As a director and a mother, Lemmons says that it gives her perspective. Her life outside of the movie set and Hollywood has kept her grounded.
Though she is a black woman, Lemmons identifies primarily as an artist: "I don't wake up every day saying I'm a black woman because it's too given, but I wake up every day feeling like an artist and I feel I'm an artist".[20]
Filmography [ edit ]
As director [ edit ]
As actress [ edit ]
Awards and nominations [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]
Alexander, George. Why We Make Movies: Black Filmmakers Talk About the Magic of Cinema. Harlem Moon. 2003.
. Harlem Moon. 2003. Bergman, Anne. "An Affinity for the Road Less Traveled". Movie Directors, Los Angeles Times. March 21, 2001.
. March 21, 2001. Hurd, Mary G. Women Directors and their Films, Praeger Publishers, 2007.Image copyright Letchworth.com
A major competition is asking for a design for a new "garden city" for the UK. But what might it look like and where could it go?
The UK has a housing shortage. But any plans for bold new projects are often met head-on by outraged residents who feel their local area is already overbuilt.
In an attempt to counter the trend, the Charles Wolfson Charitable Trust is to award a prize of £250,000 for the best plan to deliver a new "garden city".
The concept is not new. Letchworth - Britain's first garden city - was built over a century ago, in line with Ebenezer Howard's utopian vision. Out of the grime of 19th Century Victorian Britain, he wanted to build high quality homes arranged around village greens.
Replete with lush green open spaces, Letchworth's 33,000 people are encircled by a 13-mile country path, allowing residents to amble on an endless loop without straying far from civilisation.
Any new garden city would need to differ from Letchworth in a number of ways, however.
Newhall Be: Design for living Image copyright PA Newhall Be in Harlow... is a suburban development with a very un-suburban nature. The windows are large, the ceilings are high and the walls are black. "We tried to make homes that have some joy, that feel a bit like you are on holiday," says the architect, Alison Brooks. Stirling Prize: Newhall Be (The Magazine, 16 September)
For a start, it would have fewer cars, says architect Alison Brooks. Referring to the new post-war towns like Milton Keynes and Stevenage, she says that "one of the flaws in the vision was that they were based on private car ownership". She argues for a clever mix of public transport, car-sharing, and cycling at the heart of any new development.
Density would need to be central to a new garden city - about 60 homes per hectare - double that of Letchworth. "We need to think about medium-height buildings," says Fabiano Lemes, who teaches urban design at the University of Portsmouth. Pushing people closer together would make walking more realistic, and needn't feel claustrophobic, he says. Balconies and terraces could replace individual gardens, roofs could become gardens themselves, and apartments could be arranged around communal parks.
Brooks's new development at Newhall Be in Essex saved space by building clusters of square houses - as opposed to rows of terraced houses - and she believes the idea could provide a blueprint for a new garden city.
Not everyone agrees that new cities should be planned at all, however. "We've been making cities for centuries, but it's only for the last 100 or so years that we've seen the need to plan them from the top down," says Dan Blott, of Portsmouth University. He cites a major new development at Almere in the Netherlands where it is hoped that a return to a more organic approach will reap rewards for its residents.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The Dutch new town of Almere
Some planners privately talk of a Nimby frontier with the line running between Bristol and Hull
"They're proposing that a vast area of the new town will be constructed along the lines of self-build," he says. The new development has no blueprint, and instead the authorities foresee up to 60,000 new houses being built in steady response to demand.
Former mayor of Letchworth, Philip Ross, thinks that the essence of a new garden city is not about elaborate architecture. "If you go back to the original garden city, it was more of a social project than an urban planning project," he says.
Much of Letchworth is still owned collectively by its residents as opposed to absentee landlords, he explains. By holding most of the commercial buildings in a special trust, its residents benefit by leasing them out to shopkeepers. "It has assets of over £127m, and can invest £7m a year into the local economy," he says.
The principle of common ownership means its citizens share in the spoils of rising land values which are likely to continue over the coming years.
Image copyright PA Image caption Plans for Owenstown were unveiled for 2009
Detailed plans have been drawn up for a new development to be run on similar lines in Lanarkshire, Scotland. Owenstown - named after social pioneer Robert Owen - is intended to be an eco-friendly town containing 3,000 new homes. Some would be rented out by a trust, with the profits being reinvested in the new community. Although plans were first unveiled in 2008, however, planning permission has still not been granted.
However a new town or city might be owned, its first problem will lie in finding an acceptable location.
More from the Magazine Image copyright Getty Images "[Ebenezer] Howard was a true son of the Arts & Crafts movement, and as such... he looked backward, idealistically, to the vernacular architecture of a supposed merry and harmonious England." Will Self: Staring at the Shard (18 January)
Proximity to London is a major factor. The South East and London in particular has the most severe housing shortage. But there's an obstacle to a new city, and to development more generally, says Jack Pringle, a former president of the Royal Institute of British Architects. "Not only is the South East congested but it's also full of Nimbys. Nobody is going to want it."
Some planners even privately talk of a Nimby frontier - with the line running between Bristol and Hull. In crude terms, they characterise everywhere north of the line as being pro-development because residents think primarily in terms of jobs. South of the line people are primarily concerned with protecting their area against development.
Peter Hall, professor or urban regeneration and planning at UCL, favours a cluster of new towns just north of the line. This "Mercia" development around Rugby, Northampton and Kettering, would still allow residents to commute to London.
The issue of location is so fraught that the Town and Country Planning Association, a key proponent of new garden cities, refuses to make any suggestions at all.
Image caption Sites suggested for new cities in southern England
At the beginning of the year Nick Clegg went as far as to name three counties - Buckinghamshire, Warwickshire and Oxfordshire - as potential locations. And in 2012 David Cameron gave his support to the "principles of garden cities" in new schemes, but is yet to specify where they might go - presumably for fear of alienating voters.
Blott is so frustrated with opposition to new building schemes that he even suggests creating a new city in the South Downs. "It might sound facetious, but maybe the best place for a garden city is in the last part of the South East that you would think about building it - in a National Park or a designated area of outstanding natural beauty," he says.
Brooks thinks that building on new green field land is wasteful when there are so many existing urban and suburban areas - brown field sites - that are readily available. "You could provide millions of homes on the outskirts of every British city without building a new garden city," she says, though a debate still rages about whether such sites could meet the growing housing need.
For some, the ongoing conversation about garden cities has become outdated - the result of a dearth of new ideas.
Image copyright PA Image caption South Downs: Would you build a city here?
Alastair Donald is a director at the Future Cities Project, a group that aims to challenge our aversion to risk in urban development. "It suggests a lack of ideas about the future to go back to an idea that's 100 years old."
"50 years ago we had all these fantastic ideas about how we could move around - jetpacks, flying cars, and all sorts of ambitious ideas. Today it seems that we've lost that scale of ambition to create something radically new," he says.
Readers gave their suggestions for the location of a new city on Facebook and on Twitter.The good news is that this father was jailed in New Zealand. He was not dealt with lightly by authorities who feared being branded a racist or Islamophobe, as has happened in Britain.
One may logically argue in this particular case that there are cruel and abusive fathers of every creed and race, but what makes this case significant beyond mainstream domestic abuse is Kiimatangiroa Junior Samuel’s readiness to illustrate to his young son a practice that is widely implemented globally when Islam is considered to have been disrespected or blasphemed: murder or severe punishment for blasphemy or for offending Islam.
This jihadist father took deep personal offence at what he considered to be disrespectful behavior by his young son at a mosque, and he also struck terror into his other children who were forced to be witnesses. In Western culture, such cruelty, particularly done in the name of a religion, is inconceivable, but this father demonstrated a culture of death and abuse that motivates jihadists.
Many Muslim children are steeped in such a culture. For example: Palestinian kindergarten children held a shocking “graduation ceremony with small children performing military-style terrorist drills”; and U.N.-sponsored summer camps teach and encourage Palestinian children to destroy Israel.
The West has grown accustomed to jihadist abuse against Israel, infidels (including infidel children) and apostates, but not against a young child for disrespecting his own religion. This father is reminiscent of the perpetrators of honour violence against young daughters for bringing dishonour and shame to the family.
“Muslim father laughs as he gives his son a mock execution”, by Belinda Cleary, Daily Mail Australia, July 21, 2017:I’m busy cleaning out my old house today and FINALLY wrapping all that up. But, I had to stop what I was doing so I could come here and do a short hit on the recent news concerning BuzzFeed. It looks like one of their authors stole a young woman’s story idea, then possibly threatened her with retaliation over outing the theft. Just another day for the scum over at BuzzFeed, unfortunately.
Here’s the archived screenshots…
So, she says it wasn’t BuzzFeed themselves threatening her, but I can only assume that one of their writers has been. This looks like it may cause this young lady to quit the journalism profession altogether. Who do these people think they are, Leigh Alexander? This is just the sort of story that should be spread far and wide, as it shows the complete depravity of BuzzFeed and the people they employ as “journalists.”
FeministPeriod, who is a regular contributor to the site, thinks we should start some sort of retweet campaign about all this…I happen to agree. I’m going to be using the tag #BuzzFeedThieves, which I think accurately sums up the situation. Also, I don’t have a lot of time to sit around and think of a better one. If one of you comes up with an improved tag, I’ll certainly roll with that. Either way, spread this shit around as much as you can.A study published by the Korean society of Clinical nutrition, has discussed the findings of an experiment done at a Korean Middle school. In this experiment, 40 subjects (26 students and14 teachers) switched from their normal diets to a vegetarian diet, for a period of 12 weeks. Participants had to answer a questionnaire and do a blood analysis before and after the experiment
After 12 weeks on a completely vegetarian these were results:
1) BMI (body mass index) was reduced. So all participants lost weight
2) TC (Total colestherol ) was reduced in both groups
3) LDL-C (low-density lipoprotein cholestherol ) or “bad cholesterol” were reduced
4) Serum calcium and Vitamin B12 was increased in the students and teachers
5) Teachers reported to be less stressed
6) The number of participants facing functional constipation decreased
These results are just a confirmation of a previous study that proved, through a randomized controlled trial of 41 subjects, that increasing the intake of whole grains, fruits and vegetables have an the anti-oxidative effect on the body, which is promoted by a large amount of vitamins that protect cells from the oxidation-induced damage. So, a more vegetarian focused diet may also work as a preventative measure and treatment of various chronic diseases including obesity, diabetes, constipation, and cancer.
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The International Journal of Medical Sciences has published review-summary of two in vitro studies performed on the anti- colorectal cancer properties of flavonoids, the polyphenolic compounds found in various fruits and vegetables known to possess antioxidant activities. The most common foods flavonoids are found in are: grapefruits, oranges, tomatoes, blueberries, almonds, pears, strawberries, watermelon and others
In what way do Flavonoids work in the body?
1) Interfere in the pathway of the most important signaling pathways involved in the diagnosis of colon rectal cancer.
2) Affect one or more of these pathways, resulting in the inhibition of CRC.
In yet another study it was reported “Vegetarian and vegan diets increase beneficial plant foods and plant constituents, eliminate the intake of red and processed meat, and aid in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. The direct and indirect evidence taken together suggests that vegetarian diets are a useful strategy for reducing risk of cancer.”
According to Colorectal Cancer statistics, this type of cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. So, researches that involve no invasive ways to treat and prevent millions of people developing cancer and other chronic illnesses related to diet are extremely importantSwissquote Partners with Bitstamp to Offer Bitcoin Trading to 200,000+ Customers
Switzerland’s leading provider of online financial and trading services, Swissquote Bank, has partnered with bitcoin exchange Bitstamp to offer bitcoin trading on its platform, available to 200,000+ private and institutional investors.
Also read: India’s Supreme Court Seeks Answers as Bitcoin Legalization Focus Turns to Taxation
Bitcoin Trading Launched by Swiss Regulated Bank
Switzerland’s leading online financial and trading services provider, Swissquote Bank, announced on Friday that it has launched bitcoin trading on its platform, available to all customers with a Swissquote trading account. Customers can exchange euros or U.S. dollars for bitcoins in the same way they would any other currencies offered on the platform, ”except without access to leverage,” the announcement revealed. “The minimum bitcoin transaction is set at five USD/EUR and the maximum at 100,000 USD/EUR.” Fees range between 0.5% to 1% based on the amount invested.
The company wrote:
Swissquote is the first online bank in Europe to offer bitcoin investing.
Swissquote Bank holds a banking license issued by the Swiss Federal Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) and is also a member of the Swiss Bankers Association. Its parent company, Swissquote Group Holding Ltd, is listed on the Six Swiss Exchange. “As Swissquote Bank is also a regulated bank, traders and partners benefit from the highest Swiss banking security and transparency standards,” according to the company’s website.
With a staff of over 500 serving customers in over 120 countries, the bank claims that “today, we rank among the top 10 online Forex brokers in the world, empowering over 200,000 private investors and institutional clients to trade a wide range of currencies, commodities and indices.”
Partnership with Bitstamp
To facilitate bitcoin trading, the company has partnered with Luxembourg-based Bitstamp, which is the first and only bitcoin exchange to obtain a license from the European Union. “This is our first foray into the world of bitcoin,” Swissquote CEO Marc Bürki said, adding that “we wanted to work with a partner we could rely on. Bitstamp’s focus on regulation and compliance, as well as its payment institution licence, made it the standout choice for our needs.”
Bitstamp also made an announcement on Friday about the partnership, stating:
Swissquote today launched BTC/EUR and BTC/USD trading on its platform, with Bitstamp providing full back-office support. There are plans to expand this partnership in the future, with Bitstamp bringing more of Swissquote’s services to its customers.
The bank explained that “Bitstamp provides pricing data and executes bitcoin transactions for Swissquote customers.”
Bitstamp believes that with bitcoin available in Swissquote customers’ domestic trading environment, “we are well on the way to achieving our long-term goal – the full integration of bitcoin with traditional financial services.”
Bitcoin Interest on the Rise
In Friday’s announcement, Bürki revealed:
Many investors are interested in cryptocurrencies, but are afraid to trade them, because the players in this market are mostly little-known, and they often require the transfer of funds to a foreign account.
Swissquote’s announcement came just a few days after another Swiss bank, Falcon Private Bank, announced that it will offer bitcoin asset management to their customers through a partnership with Bitcoin Suisse AG. Last week, Bitcoin.com also reported on Vontobel bitcoin tracker certificates, listed on the Six Swiss Exchange, gaining popularity in Switzerland.
What do you think about Swissquote offering bitcoin trading to its customers? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Swissquote, Bitstamp, Finma
Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section.It’s time for the Fair Representation Act.
Our democracy is fundamentally broken by a dangerous new era of fierce partisan division. Close to 9 in 10 voters are locked in districts that are increasingly skewed toward one party. With no power to affect outcomes, too many votes simply do not matter. The problem goes beyond redistricting and money in politics. The problem is districting itself. Our zero-sum, winner-take-all system in which only one person is elected to represent each district no longer works in this era of hardened partisanship.
The Fair Representation Act (HR 3057) will establish that U.S. House members will be elected in both primaries and the general elections by ranked choice voting, which gives voters the freedom to support the candidates they like the most without helping to elect the ones they like the least. States with more than 1 seat will use multi-winner districts. That combination of reforms replaces our current system, where up to 49% of voters in a district can be shut out of representation. Instead, one-fifth of the voters in a district will have the power to elect a representative in a larger, more diverse electorate.
The Act will reliably provide fair representation both to the majority and those in the minority. It gives voters of all backgrounds and all political stripes the power to elect House Members who reflect their views and will work constructively with others in Congress. It is the comprehensive reform we need to rescue American democracy. Under the Constitution, it's the responsibility of Congress to act when state-by-state rules aren't working.
It is time for action.
We're 28.39% of the way to our goal, help us get there!Detectives from the Montgomery County Police Department- Major Crimes Division continue to investigate an armed robbery that occurred at the Clarksburg Pharmacy on September 3.
At approximately 9:49 a.m. on September 3, officers responded to the Clarksburg Pharmacy, located at 23213 Stringtown Road, for the report of an armed robbery that had just occurred. Preliminary investigation has revealed that the male suspect, whose face was concealed during the robbery, entered the pharmacy and displayed a handgun. He stole prescription drugs and then fled. K9 units and a United States Park Police helicopter assisted officers in the search for the suspect; the suspect was not located.
Previously, robbery detectives released surveillance video of the suspect committing the robbery. Detectives have obtained additional video of the suspect and continue to ask for the public’s help in identifying him.
Anyone with information about this robbery or suspect is asked to call the Major Crimes Division at 240.773.5070. For those who wish to remain anonymous, Crime Solvers is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for any information that leads to the arrest of the suspect. Anonymous tipsters can call Crime Solvers of Montgomery County toll-free at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).
Previous Press Release
RLIAt festivals like Burning Man, Zendo is first aid for bad trips
Vices By Reilly Capps
Sometimes you do the drugs. And sometimes, well, the drugs do you.
Having a bad trip is where the Zendo Project steps in to offer a soft landing.
For example: at Burning Man, for years, Omar was all "party party party" while hanging out in his friend's "drug den" RV. And he says it was awesome, until one night the drugs did him. Omar slammed LSD on top of a pile of molly and biked alone into the pitch-black desert. He saw a light. He "became the light," as he says and, "entered another dimension." Then he time traveled into the future only to find it was suddenly daytime, and his friends were gone, his cell phone dead, all his water drank, his thinking scattershot.
"The only thing that made sense was that I had been abducted by aliens, and that the aliens had changed me in a way," says Omar. He then staggered around the Playa, parched, confused, lost.
Moments later, out of the desert haze, came a figure: not an alien, not an angel, but a woman from Boulder, Colorado, named Sara Gael.
Gael is the director of the Zendo project, an offshoot of the nonprofit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies.
Zendo is like first aid for a bad trip. Its staff and volunteers guide bad trippers into a soft-lit, blanket-covered tent. There are mats to lie down on. Volunteers talk you through your stories of alien abduction. They don't call them bad trippers, they call them guests.
"Psychedelics are disorienting," Gael tells volunteers at the Burning Man training seminars. "The visuals can be frightening."
It's not just what Zendo does with bad trippers, it's what they don't do. They don't shoot anyone up with zombie drugs such as versed or haldol — like a paramedic might. They don't take anyone to jail — like a cop might. They don't fuck with a user by waving their hands in their face while saying, "Are you freaking out, MAAAANNNN?!" — like your dickhead friends might.
Zendo's biggest event of the year is Burning Man, the 70,000 person Nevada desert festival where tech CEOs mix with wooks in a dusty new age orgy of selflessness and self-expression. And — oh yeah — enough drugs to maybe kill Lil Wayne.
In 2016, at Burning Man, Zendo (which is funded through donations) assisted 477 people through bad trips, and educated hundreds more in training sessions.
[Zendo Project staff members, from right, Ryan Beauregard, Sara Gael, and Erica Siegal leading a public training about psychedelic harm reduction at Lightning in a Bottle in Bradley, California in 2017. Photo from MAPS.]
For this year's Burning Man, Zendo's sixth, a few things are changing: instead of two locations, there will just be one; and it'll be located near Center Camp, at 5:15 and A, near Rampart Medical. And it'll be open 24/7 during the event.
In its history, Zendo says it has helped 2,900 people through tough trips, and has trained over 1,500 volunteers. Zendo is now present at a handful of festivals, from Lightning in a Bottle in California to Envision in Costa Rica.
However, Zendo isn't the only organization doing this. There's Kosmiccare at Portugal's Boom Festival in Portugal and White Bird at the Oregon Country Fair. These are all part of a movement called Harm Reduction, in which conscientious objectors from the War on Drugs keep users safe and healthy by testing drugs and guiding users through bad trips.
Three Zendo volunteers say that bad trippers come in all shapes and sizes, from nervous suburban dads who ate too much weed brownie to sweaty terrified people looking like kidnapping victims who pulled off their blackout hood in an unfamiliar town. Often they're naked. Sometimes they're babbling about how they're God. (The volunteers don't tell them whether they're God or not — they just talk it through. "We're all God," one volunteer occasionally tells them.)
Zendo doesn't call these experiences "bad trips." They call them "difficult trips." Climbing a mountain or getting stuck in a flood isn't necessarily bad — it's difficult — and you can learn from it. Data backs this up. Johns Hopkins interviewed 2,000 people who'd had a bad trip, and "most reported the experience to be'meaningful' or 'worthwhile,' with half of these positive responses claiming it as one of the most valuable experiences in their life."
Boulder's Alyssa Gursky, when she volunteered at Lightning in a Bottle, saw this go down. A girl was found passed out, cradling a 10 gallon thing of nitrous. She was dragged into the tent like a ragdoll, dead to the world. When the girl would flash back into consciousness, she'd yelp, "Did I just kill myself?!" Then she'd bite the medic.
[The atmosphere at festivals, like Lightning in a Bottle shown here, can be disorienting for trippers. Photo courtesy of MAPS.]
"This girl was spun out," says Gursky. "People were terrified."
Turned out that the girl was hallucinating about dying. So Gursky, a grad student in therapy at Naropa University, asked the girl if maybe she was scared of death. She was. They talked it out. The anxiety lifted. The girl felt a catharsis. She got "giddy and goofy," Gursky says. "She came in having to be carried by four people and she left giggling into the sunrise."
Omar, the kid who hallucinated aliens, has a happy ending story too. Sara Gael and Zendo helped him realize the alien abduction wasn't necessarily his problem; the LSD and molly probably was. "It clicked like, Oh, I'm going through this psychotic episode," Omar says. "I need to come down from this."
Omar is paying it forward at this year's Burning Man, volunteering for the Zendo project.
"Sara kind of saved my life in a way," says Omar, who doesn't want his last name used. "I felt obligated to give back to the community, so that maybe I could be someone's Sara Gael."Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF
Nuclear test films from 1945 to 1962 are literally rotting away in US government storage facilities. But those highly classified films are now being restored, declassified, and released on YouTube thanks to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. And 62 more never-before-seen films were just released today.
The first batch of these classified US nuclear test films were released back in March and showed just how incredible some of these atmospheric explosions can be. The US and Soviet Union signed a treaty in 1962 to stop testing nuclear explosions above ground, but North Korea has toyed with the idea of doing an atmospheric test in the near future.
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And the release of the footage isn’t just for public spectacle. It’s important that the American people have access to government-created films, but scientists are able to make new calculations from these films that contribute to our understanding of everything from storage of nuclear materials to how they might be used in war.
The films include stunning nuclear tests from Operation Hardtack (1958), Operation Teapot (1955), Operation Redwing (1956), Operation Dominic (1962), along with others.
“We’ve received a lot of demand for these videos and the public has a right to see this footage,” nuclear weapons physicist Gregg Spriggs, who’s leading the project to preserve the films, said in a statement. “Not only are we preserving history, but we’re getting much more consistent answers with our calculations.”
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Spriggs and his team are in a race against time to digitize the films which are deteriorating at a rapid rate, but they’re working hard and learning a lot.
“It’s been 25 years since the last nuclear test, and computer simulations have become our virtual test ground. But those simulations are only as good as the data they’re based on,” Spriggs said. “Accurate data is what enables us to ensure the stockpile remains safe, secure and effective without having to return to testing.”
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has at least a couple more years of work to do, but they’re going to continue releasing the films in large batches like this one today. Let’s just hope we don’t see a new atomspheric nuclear explosion (test or otherwise) before they’re done with their preservation project.Read Swansea editor Declan Terry recently interviewed former Swansea striker, Lee Thorpe.
Thorpe played for many different teams in many divisions in English football, scoring over 100 goals in his career. Here, Lee speaks about the Vetch Field, Kenny Jackett, Lee Trundle, Garry Monk and of course, Swansea City Football Club. Enjoy!
You made over 400 appearances in a career spanning over 18 years, but how was your time at Swansea City?
My time at Swansea was great, and obviously I’ve got good memories at Swansea because we got promoted in what was the last season at the Vetch and even though I didn’t play too much for Swansea at the Vetch, I did play for quite a few clubs at the Vetch against Swansea so it was always one of them grounds; it was a nice ground to play at and always had a good atmosphere, and it was even better when I moved to Swansea and started playing there as a Swansea player. My fondest memories would be that season when we won the Welsh Cup in the last game at the Vetch, and getting promoted against Bury on the last day. Even though I was there for a short time, it was quite eventful.
You mentioned the Vetch Field, just how good was the atmosphere?
It was quite an intimidating place to play at when you were a visiting player, but when I played there when I was a Swansea player I really enjoyed it. The atmosphere was great, and I don’t know what it was but it was just one of them old grounds that carried a bit of history and when you played there for Swansea, it wasn’t so much like going back to the old days, but it kind of was in the way the dressing rooms were, the stands, the little alleyway you walked through to get to the changing rooms and the prison behind it as well. It’s always a place that I’ll remember well, and I remember some good times there too.
After the 2005 promotion, could you ever have predicted Swansea would do as well as they are now?
Not really, but I suppose in my second season there, I didn’t play at all really and it was a bit disappointing because we had just moved to the new ground and then I ended up going out on loan a few times that season and did quite well. I felt as if I could give something to the team that season, and I had chances to leave during my second season but I could see that the club was going in the right direction. The squad that was assembled at the time was brilliant and I carried on and stayed at Swansea when I could have moved to a couple of other clubs because I felt it was better for my career to stay and at least train with the players. I suppose if I look back at my career, my time at Swansea was the last big club I played for. They’re a massive club and it was on its way up back then, so it was wasn’t that much surprising because during my time there they were |
helps other animals, the authors write, and “investing in almost any panda habitats will benefit many other endemics.”
Some species are still neglected though. For example, many endemic animals live in parts of Sichuan that don’t fall into panda territory. And even though panda nature reserves overlap with endemic species habitat, they may not be big enough to protect the animals. In other words, the panda’s protective umbrella is a bit leaky. — Roberta Kwok | 10 September 2015
Source: Li, B.V. and S.L. Pimm. 2015. China’s endemic vertebrates sheltering under the protective umbrella of the giant panda. Conservation Biology doi: 10.1111/cobi.12618.
Image © Hung Chung Chih | ShutterstockOver the course of Black Friday weekend, I received a couple of strange calendar invites on my personal phone.
The summonses appeared, conveniently, as push notifications linked to my Apple iCal calendar. They read “19.99 Ray-ban&Oakley Black Friday In-Store & Online” and “$49 Michael Kors Black Friday Sale 2016.” Compelling prospects, yes.
Not one to neglect the itch of consumerism during the kickoff of shopping season, I pored over the promotions’ details. A variety of unrelated Gmail, iCloud, Comcast, and MSN email addresses were included on both notes, all alphabetically similar to my own contact information. The appointments came as blasts then. I had not been the only recipient of said “deals.”
Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter, where this essay originated.
One invitation, I noticed, arrived from a fellow called “qcjfu.” The other solicitor was yclept “满咳,” a pair of Chinese characters that Google Translate informed me means, in English, “full cough.” By then I had become, ahem, suspicious.
Responding to an email inquiry, Apple finally burst my bubble. “We are sorry that some of our users are receiving spam calendar invitations,” a spokesperson told me. “We are actively working to address this issue by identifying and blocking suspicious senders and spam in the invites being sent.” Shucks! Junk after all.
For more on a different kind of spam, watch:
If you received similar sham promotions on your iPhone, a word of warning: neither “accept,” nor “decline,” nor reply with a namby-pamby “maybe.” Reacting will only alert the senders that you maintain an active account, opening you to future unwanted solicitations. Instead, disregard them. (Or, if the alerts really bother you, follow the instructions here for a temporary workaround.)
Though Cyber Monday has passed, I share this anecdote to urge you, dear reader, to remain vigilant about online scams during the holidays. Not even this essayist is exempt from targeting.One morning of April…
It’s difficult to believe that it has been less than a day since The Great Pixel War at r/Place finally ended. And so I figured that I better put my story in writing before the events that transpired during those frenetic 72 hours fade into memory, and become the stuff of legends.
And legends were we. Each of us, placing pixel after pixel in the vast, empty 1000px per 1000px Canvas that greeted us one April 1st, 2017. In the beginning none of us knew what we were doing, and I would argue that we never figured it out, not even ‘till the end. But back then, in those early, sleepy hours, we found ourselves just scrolling around this new white world, confused and aimless in our tracks, as we discovered that we could place single color pixels wherever we desired. The only limitations we found were the very borders of the canvas, and a relentless clock that blocked you for 5 minutes after you laid a pixel down. Was that all?
Surely, we thought, such a vast, chaotic wild land would be impossible to tame. Surely, we reassured ourselves, this whole place would quickly degenerate into nothing but random noise and crumbling monuments, as people tried in vain to build from the ground up, only for their creations to be vandalized in an instant. And for a while, we were right in our suspicions.
Back in the day, when dick jokes were the pinnacle of human civilization.
And vandalism there was. For in the White Sprinkled Sea upon us, even the smallest islands of order popped to the eye like a sore. How did the Creators expected us to build anything in here? How could thousands of strangers from all over the world muster the will, the good-faith, and a precise enough coordination to draw something other than this colorful noise? And even if we could build a thing, how were we expected to defend it from bandits?
What image, what idol, what IDEA could possibly be worth the fight?
Oh right… I forgot this is Reddit we’re talking about…
I’m sure other historians can tell you who was the first. Others much more knowledgeable than me who can pinpoint where exactly in the vast Canvas did the cursors of hundreds aimed themselves into a singular area, and willed order out of the chaos. But I’m not the one to tell.
In some ways, Waldo was our Adam
Instead, what I saw as a bystander that April 1st was the emergence of life, color, and memes of all sizes and kinds growing almost by magic. And as the hours passed, as I laid a pixel here, waited, and laid another pixel there, the whole Canvas evolved and grew between each of my visits. It was an amazing sight to behold. An inspiring feat of human ingenuity, humor, and improvised politics in slow motion.
Yes, that’s right. For even in these early hours, even before the dedicated subreddits, the forums, Discord channels and massive bot armies of the later days, a silent, wordless body of politics was being established right before our eyes.
The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. Not in the pixels we know, but between them. They stand serene and primal, bi-dimensional, and to us unseen.
For you did not need any coordination to understand how a rainbow looked like. You did not need anyone to tell you how to Google the Helix’s sprites to know which pixels were right, and which were wrong. These characters, these pixelated idols were self-sustaining. Both by the love of their respective fandoms, the aid of bored strangers, or the actions of passerby's who simply knew, without any prompt or direction, how a Pokemon should look like. For these figures outlasted us all, enduring till the end of time. They were, without a doubt, our Titans.
“Side? I am on nobody’s side, because nobody is on my side…”
At times, you felt less like a builder, and more like an archaeologist. Unearthing these Titans from the surface of the White Sprinkled Sea, where they had laid dormant for thousands of years prior to you. Waiting.
Then again, sometimes we unearthed Terrors from the deep.
One Color to rule them all
It began, as both great and tragic things do, as a humble idea. A stain of deep blue pixels on the lower right corner of the canvas. A blue place that grew slowly outwards.
You just want to help these guys
Their premise was simple, yet powerful: Blue. Let us paint this whole place in blue. No coordination needed, no pixel grids or diagrams to follow. No dependency on a fandom, meme, or pop culture symbol that your builders had to recognize. Just place a blue pixel whenever you see a not-blue pixel, and keep on moving forward. Anyone can join, anyone can contribute. Comparisons with last year’s brouhaha with r/TheButton were unavoidable.
For this was not a group, this was not a project. This was a religion.
All of Reddit at this point
To say that there was a ‘battle’ against The BlueCorner is an oxymoron. Instead, it was more akin to the relief effort against a hurricane. A tsunami that flattened everything on it’s path. We were not defending ourselves against people anymore, but against a force of nature.
Something something, meme about Winter and Game of Thrones
But then, as the fate of this whole Place seemed determined to be Blue, it suddenly… stopped.
I can’t say what happened exactly. In my view, perhaps it was the Titans who saved us all. For not even TheBlueCorner could take them down, nor wanted to. And their prescence within deep inside the Blue territory gave courage and hope for the barbarians to invade Rome later on. Or perhaps it was the RainbowRoad who gave us hope, as we saw it’s multicolored sword pierce the heartland of BlueLand and remain stuck there, unscratched, causing a wound which would never heal.
Perhaps the people of this Blue Nation got eventually remorseful at destroying so many artworks, and eventually found it much more rewarding to create, rather than destroy. It could also be that such a vast empire learned what Alexander The Great once found out. That the vastest of empires are the first to fragment into smaller pieces, and BlueCorner’s empire was the vastest of all…
Then again, perhaps their people got sick and tired of placing nothing but blue pixels.
I don’t know, and I’m not here to tell what happened. I only know what I saw, and that was that by the end of that First Day, the Blue Menace had subsided, never to be a threat again.
And on the pedestal, these words appear: My name is BlueCorner, King of Kings. Look on my pixels, ye Mighty, and despair!
We really CAN do anything
What a glorious way to end that first day of April! The future was bright once again as people began rallying in the creation of bigger, and better projects. Monuments of all kinds were being erected all throughout the Canvas, building and building in a frantic, relentless pace none of us even thought possible that very morning. Soon, these improvised tribes were trying to one-up the other with ideas more and more ambitious than the last.
For activity on the Canvas had quickly evolved into a full-on spectator sport. Thanks to the 5 minute cool-down between each pixel you laid, you had time to go and explore the rest of the canvas to tourist around. For at this point we were all builders, but we were also an audience. And we all stood with jaws agape as our fellow builders willed their artworks into existence seemingly out of thin air. It was almost as if these were monoliths that were being slowly brought to the surface from inside the depths of the Sprinkle White Ocean.
There’s no way they’ll be able to complete tha… HOLY SHIT!!!
Yet all was not fine. For terrors were still waiting beneath our screens, lurking beneath the now cosmopolitan Canvas. The Blue Menace may had subsided, brought down by its own weight, but it’s idea, it’s driving motion, it’s unicelular mind, had endured. Dormant in the minds and cursors of each, and everyone of us.
And next time, it wouldn’t be colored blue.
“The Void cares not for your sexuality, your political ideals, your hobbies, or your art. The Void cares for change.”
But I’m getting ahead of myself, because at this point in our tale, the biggest enemy amidst these construction projects of epic proportions was not some mindless, dark threat from the depths. Not yet anyways.
No. Our biggest threat, were each other.
For politics cannot be silent forever, and the wordless strength of the Titans could simply not shield everyone out there. For as the border of neighboring images touched, as the designs of clans and nations found themselves trespassing onto the place of others, the need for diplomacy inevitably arose. Forums were started, Discord channels were established, subreddits were taken as bases of operations. Ambassadors were designated, briefed, and sent to struck a deal with foreign powers. To talk, negotiate, to parley. Most of the time with good intentions in mind. Compromises, pacts of non-aggression, alliances, shared pixel designs. For arms were wide open for the welcoming of new friends and allies.
Yet other times, these ambassadors were not so kind.
Which we’ll talk about in the second part of this series. Here.One of the strangest conversations I have witnessed happened when I was at a party at a's house several years ago. He was regaling me with a story about making breakfast in high and covering the dog with pancake mix. He got to the end of the story (which was funnier than you might think) when his brother piped in. "Great story," he said, "but that was me, not you. You were on the sofa watching." The next 20 minutes devolved into an argument over whose life it really was.
I had forgotten about that story until I read a paper in the September 2010 issue of Psychological Science by Isabel Lindner, Gerald Echterhoff, Patrick Davidson, and Matthias Brand. They were interested in how observing actions influences your memory for those actions.
Previous research has shown that if people imagine performing an action, they can later believe that they did it. I know I have had this happen to me. I have thought about bringing the garbage can to the street on the day when garbage is collected. Later, I am surprised that it isn't out on the street; I mis-remembered thinking about taking out the garbage as actually taking it out.
These authors were interested in whether observing an action can lead you to think later that you actually performed it. To test this possibility, they first had people read about a variety of simple actions like shaking a bottle or tapping with a pencil for 15 seconds. Some of the actions they only read about, while others they read about and also performed.
After a short break, people saw videos of other people carrying out some actions they actually performed, some they just read about, and some that were not a part of the first phase of the experiment at all.
Two weeks later, the participants were shown a list of actions and were asked whether they had performed them in the first session of the study.
Across three studies, people were consistently more likely to believe that they had performed actions that they had only seen someone else perform than actions they had not seen someone else perform. That is, watching someone else perform an action led people to believe later that they themselves had performed the action. This finding held up even when participants were told at the beginning of the study to pay careful to the actions they performed.
In a particularly interesting condition, this finding was observed even when participants were warned that people often mis-remember actions they see other people perform as things they did themselves. Knowing about this effect does not make it go away.
Why does this happen?
As I have written about previously in this blog, when you see someone perform an action, you often adopt the of the people you are watching. This phenomenon is called goal contagion. Goal contagion is useful in social groups, because it can lead an entire group to want to work together. A side effect of this goal contagion, though, is that you may later think you were more involved in an action than you actually were. The most extreme version of this effect is a that you performed an action that you actually did not.
Findings like this reinforce the point that our are not designed to provide a truthful readout of the events of our lives. Memory is designed to help us act in the future. Seeing an action performed gives you some that you understand how to perform the action yourself. Your memory is really trying to tell you that you understand how to perform an action.
For example, when I first bought a house, a wasp built a nest in ceiling of my back porch. I went to the local hardware store and bought a can of spray to take down the nest. I was really worried about getting stung. The sales guy at the hardware store took me outside with a bottle and sprayed it to show me how it was done. After that, I went home and did it myself. Just seeing someone else do it helped me to understand how to do it myself.
It is only because our culture cares a lot about exactly who performed particular actions that this facet of memory is seen as an error rather than a benefit.
Follow me on Twitter.LONDON — As Penguin found out when they tried using #yourmum to promote Mother's Day, and Susan Boyle's social media team realised with #susanalbumparty, hashtags can often mean more than one thing.
Tonight's seven-way election debate, which will see the leaders of the Conservatives, Labour, Lib Dems, UKIP, Greens, Plaid Cymru and the SNP face one another ahead of May's vote, is being promoted with the hashtag #leadersdebate.
That all works out quite nicely, but a number of people having been using their own hashtag to keep an eye on the event: #massdebate. Cue sniggers at the back.
Loads of people are using the hashtag with no ulterior motive, which has helped it to trend.
But let's be clear, #massdebate sounds quite a lot like masturbate, and mischievous tweeters have run with it.
it would appear that several politicians are going to #MassDebate on ITV tonight. i was going to watch it but now i’m not so sure…. — Simon Henry (@simon3862) April 2, 2015
I'm coming late to #MassDebate, looking forward to finding out how Cameron intends to clean up this mess. — Eric Lensherr (@TheCheeseAlone) April 2, 2015
The big questions: Who will come first in tonight's #MassDebate? Who will remain firm throughout? Who will flop? Who has no end product? — News Thump (@newsthump) April 2, 2015
So the the hashtag for tonights tv political doings is #massdebate appropriate given at least half of them are massive wankers — GorgieTiger (@captainjamtart) April 2, 2015
Join me tonight for a #massdebate and you can decide for yourselves who the biggest tossers are #GE2015 — Ed Miliband (@edmiIIiband) April 2, 2015
Ahead of the #MassDebate tonight I wonder if any of the leaders have a way of relieving tension? — David Ginsberg (@alittledavetime) April 2, 2015
Once you've made the connection, those innocent tweets take on a new meaning.
Off to Salford for #massdebate. Plaid's big moment! — Ben Page, Ipsos MORI (@benatipsosmori) April 2, 2015This is not a typo. I am giving away a Pelikan M1000.
I reviewed this pen a couple of months ago for Massdrop, which you can read about here. This is the green stripe model with gold trim and a medium 18k gold nib. I love having this pen as part of my collection but the fact remains that it just doesn't see a lot of action. I reach for a few of my other Pelikans before this one, so I may as well send it off to someone else who will use and enjoy it.
Here is how to enter:
Leave one comment on this post anytime between now, and Wednesday night at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. You are limited to one entry. This contest is open to US and International readers. For this contest, I will pick one winner at random from the comments section of this post. The comments will be numbered in the order they are received, i.e. the first comment is #1, the second #2, and so on. The Random Integer Generator at random.org will be used to pick the number of the winner. The contest winner will be posted on Thursday, April 30th. The winner will have one week to email me via the Contact link at the top of the page.
Thanks and good luck!Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) says comments he made Monday about terrorists failing to strike the United States in the eight years before President Obama took office were misinterpreted.
"I'm not there to give a major 45-minute policy address," he told the New York Daily News on Tuesday, referencing his introduction ahead of a speech by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on foreign policy.
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"You speak in somewhat abbreviated language," Giuliani said. "All human beings speak in abbreviated language at times.
"I didn't forget 9/11. I hardly would. I almost died in it."
Giuliani, who was the mayor of New York City during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, was mocked for the comments he made Monday when commending Trump's running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence Michael (Mike) Richard PenceVenezuela's Maduro says he fears 'bad' people around Trump 'And the award for best political commentary by an Oscar nominee goes to...' UN nuclear watchdog: Iran maintains compliance with 2015 pact MORE.
"Under those eight years before Obama came along, we didn't have any successful radical Islamic terrorist attack in the United States," Giuliani said.
On Tuesday, the former New York City mayor defended his remarks, saying when someone is giving a short speech, there's no time to "give an encyclopedic explanation."
"Could I have repeated it at that point? In a way that you wouldn't be asking me this question today? Sure," he told the paper when asked if it was likely he would "find his foot in his mouth again."
"But will I again say things in the future that can be taken out of context or misinterpreted? Of course I will," Giuliani said."I see," I said, walking down the street and glancing at Cardin. "You're that asshole that bullied me in elementary, aren't you?"
"Huh, color me impressed that you figured it out." He said with a slight chuckle. "You still dating whats-her-face? That one girl who saved your ass."
"Pyrrha, and no, we never dated." I said, rolling my eyes.
"So, she's not a ghoul." Juuzou said, twirling around and grabbing at his coat. "She just let's you hang out with her?"
How much should I tell them? I need enough that he would believe me, but not enough to give away that I'm completely bullshitting.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." I said, giving a shrug. "We have an interesting relationship."
"I can tell by the bite marks." Cardin sighed, his breath forming a fog on the wispy winter air.
"Hey, you're not a ghoul. Hunger doesn't give you a choice." I said, narrowing my eyes.
"If you say so." He sighed. "So tell me about this Fox guy."
"Don't know too terribly much."
Aogiri. They mentioned Aogiri.
"He works under an group called Aogiri. I'm... new to the block, so I'm not too familiar on how much power they hold. But I did work with a gang for a bit. They called themselves the Shifts. They were dealing with Aogiri for a bit." I lied, pointing to the warehouse.
Revenge will be sweet. I need an escape, and you lot are assholes. I would say nothing personal, but that would be a lie.
My plan was simple. Lure him into a fight with the Shifts, then escape. I get some revenge, they get a fight, everyone's happy.
"So you worked with them?" He asked, referring to Aogiri. I had to continue to lie, but this wasn't that hard. Really, he had to be new or something. Maybe the CCG just didn't know about Ghoul politics, since I would think it was pretty obvious that I was BSing him. My tone, my stiff stature, everything wanted to give it away.
Or maybe these two are just idiots.
"Sort of. I'm at the bottom of the barrel, man. Its not exactly like I see my employer." I said, lying through my teeth. "I take the money, and occasionally some RC Cells for the black market, and take my leave."
"How did you get into the business? You uh... seemed pretty normal when we went to school together." Cardin said with a sigh. "Did something happen?"
"Its a long story that involves revealing identities of ones I care about," I continued to lie "I hope you understand why I won't tell it."
"I suppose that's fair."
"...So if and when shit goes south in there, what do I do?" I asked, tilting my head. "Should and can I run away?"
"I mean, I guess." Juuzou said. "It's not like we need him. He probably won't stay, so its whatever. We know where the human girl is, at worse."
Shit.
"Well, let's see what happens," Cardin said. "If he's right and we really do bust Fox, I'll turn a blind eye to him and his girlfriend. Bringing this Fox guy in will help my career out insanely. If he's wrong, however..." He chuckled, popping his knuckles.
Shit shit shit shit...
"Ready?" Cardin asked quietly, leaning against the door and pulling out his flesh sword. Juuzou chuckled in excitement, extending a large black scythe from the flesh-like metal from his suitcase.
"Knight, you breach." He said. I shrugged, my heart pounding as my vision dyed red, the black flesh rushing down my shoulder and coiling around my forearm. With a grunt, I slashed downwards, cutting away the lock in a burst of light. Instantly, I kicked open the door and turned to Cardin and Juuzou, ready to attack when they learned I tricked them.
But in the warehouse stood Mercury and his gang, a man with dark red hair, brown skin, and a fox mask turning his head towards us.
You have got to be fucking kidding me. He's actually here?.
"FREEZE! CCG!" Cardin shouted, raising his sword. "GET ON THE GROUND!"
"Shit! It's the doves!" Mercury shouted. "Scatter!"
Fox turned towards us silently, red spikes firing from his back and sliding down his arms.
"Twin Koukakus?!" Cardin shouted. "Juuzou, watch out! This guys dangerous!"
"WEEE!" Juuzou shouted, leaping from a crate and flipping midair, slashing downwards with his quinque. Sparks exploded off the flesh as Fox thrust his right arm upwards. The scythe flew up in Juuzou's hand as Fox stabbed forward with his left arm. Juuzou giggled, throwing his scythe in the air and rolling underneath the blade. He pulled open his jacket, turning to Fox's back and throwing what seemed to be thousands of small knives.
He let out a grunt as Juuzou grabbed his blade midair, slashing downwards. Fox grinned, blocking the blade with his right arm.
"You!" Cardin shouted, pointing to Cinder. She let out a seductive giggle, her flame bursting from her back.
"I see the little punk went and tattle tailed on us. What a bad time to do so..." She said, her voice becoming thick with anger. "I was about to make enough money to retire!" She shouted, bursting forward and leaping into the air. Flaming shards shot towards Cardin as he weaved through the mass, striking down. Cinder's wing flexed, crystallizing instantly as the blade crashed into it.
A loud crack and whirring echoed explosively through the warehouse as Cardin's chainblade tore through her wing, striking down her leg and cutting it wide open.
I inched backwards to the door, turning around to meet Mercury's gas mask.
"You bastard." He shouted, grabbing my throat and hoisting me up into the air. "I'm going to kill you now, you fuck head. Then, I'll find that idiot of a girl that was apparently worth all of this, and kill her too!"
"Die... in a pit!" I shouted, thrusting my sword arm up and cutting off his arm. He let out a scream as he grabbed his stumble, my hands fumbling to tear the fingers of the cut off arm from my neck. With a gasp for breath, I tore off his arm and ran past him. A loud crack exploded as his tail shout out, stabbing into the concrete beside me. Turning around, I slashed into his tail and returned my gaze forward, sprinting forward.
"Cardin!" I shouted.
"What is it?! I'm a little busy!" He shouted, dodging Cinder's fire.
"I can leave, right?"
"Sure, whatever! Just shut up!" He shouted, slashing into the flaming mass.
"I'm going to cut you up~!" Juuzou cheered, slashing into the torso of the Fox. He didn't falter, sprinting forward and tackling Juuzou.
"Bastard!" Mercury shouted, sprinting towards me. I lowered my stanced, leaping over his tail and spinning around midair, impaling his spine with my sword.
I turned the blade to the side, snapping it in two. He twitched, falling to the floor as he lost control of his legs. With a smile on my face, I walked away from the scene.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"You're an absolute idiot!" The girl with purple hair shouted. Kaneki introduced her as 'Touka'. "You lured the Doves here! Now they know something's up with this place!"
"No, only Cardin does. He said he'd be quiet."
"Oh, and that obviously means he's telling the truth, right?! Kaneki, are you listening to this?"
"I am." The white haired boy said with a sigh. "But you said you know Cardin, correct?"
"I do."
"Will he go back on his word?"
"Go back on it? No. He may come by and extort me for information, but he's not going to flat out stab me in the back. At least, not like this. Probably. Hopefully." I said, scratching at the back of my head.
"Well," Ozpin said, glancing at his coffee shop staff. "Welcome. I'll assume you'll be staying with us?"
"I see no reason not to, if it's okay with you." I said, giving a smile "How's Pyrrha?"
"She should make a full recovery." He said, handing me a bag. "This is some food for you. I'd imagine you must be famished."
"Yeah, actually. I only had that one bite of her, and then I fought off the Shifts..." I sighed, taking the bag from him.
"Well, this is my shop." He said, pointing to two women. One had short dark brown hair with glasses covering her eyes. A burette rested on her head as she slowly lowered her glasses to look at me.
"This is Coco."
"Hey." She said, pushing up her glasses and turning to the long brown haired girl.
"This is Velvet."
"H-Hi!" The nervous girl said with a smile "I-I like coffee!"
Ozpin chuckled, turning to Touka.
"You've met Touka and Kaneki. Yang's out searching for food, but that's all the people we have."
My stomach dropped.
"All?" I asked, my face turning pale. "There isn't one more?"
"Who would you be thinking of?" He said, pouring a cup of coffee.
"A girl worked here roughly two weeks ago, injured in an accident. Ruby Rose. What happened to her?" I said, standing up.
"How, exactly, do you know my sister?" Came a voice from behind me. I turned to see the blonde girl Kaneki had introduced me at the club as 'Yang', hey gaze cold.
"Back... Back when I was a human-" I waited for the gasps, but none came "I went on a date with her. We got hit by a train, and I woke up in a hospital. I was a ghoul after that."
"That is certainly Kanou's work." Kaneki sighed. "But Ruby never came back. We assumed she is dead, is this not the case?"
"She checked out of the hospital, yes." I said, furrowing my brow. "Where would she be?"
"I don't know." Ozpin said, placing his hand on his chin. "My best guess would be MM. She would have been weak from hunger, and knows a few people there. Why she hasn't returned remains to be seen. Anyhow, we can worry about that later." He said, handing me the coffee. I glanced down at the coffee, tilting my head.
"I'm confused."
"Drink it."
"I can't." I said, glancing up. "Ghouls can't eat or drink human food."
Ozpin smiled, sliding out the seat and sitting down. His fingers locked together as he leaned in, peering over his small black glasses.
"You want to know a secret?" He said quietly. I nodded, still utterly lost. "Ghouls can drink coffee."
"What? You're kidding." I said, leaning back in shock. He smiled, raising his hands and shrugging.
"It's true, try it." He said. I sighed, instantly taking the cup into my hand and placing it to my lips. The familiar flavor flooded into my mouth, tears welling in my eyes.
"Hot damn," I said, giggling like a child "I missed that."
Touka hid a smile as she turned away, Kaneki tilting his head and giving one for her.
"So... what now?" I asked, glancing at them. "What's the goal of this place?"
"To live as best we can in this human world." Touka said, giving a smile.
"I mean, who plans on killing us."
Silence. Awkward in nature.
"What?"
"If there's something I've learned of the Ghoul world, someone always has a knife to your neck. I'm asking who." I said, causing Touka to furrow her brow.
"Aogiri. The CCG. MM. Take your pick. Right now, we are trying to infiltrate the Black Dragon and stockpile some RC Cells. A source we know is tied to Kanou, so we're going to lure him in with a trade, and cut off the snake's head then and there."
"I see." I said, nodding. Yang frowned, pulling out the seat next to me and plopping herself down, resting her arms on the back of the chair.
"Now that all the initiation shit is over, what's up with my sis?"
"I told you. I didn't know she was a ghoul and asked her out, and she said yes-"
She shot her gaze up and down, her mouth falling to a disgusted look.
"You?"
"Yes, is it that hard to believe?"
"Kinda."
"Anyways, she started crying and saying how she was sorry, and bit into me."
"The hunger," Kaneki sighed "Ruby never seemed to want to hurt a fly. Especially humans."
"Hell if I don't know what that's like now." I said with a sigh. "But then the train hit us, end of story. I planned on becoming a doctor in the real world, you know? Now I can't do anything like that, I'd eat the patients."
"A doctor, you say?" Kaneki said, seeming interested. "What kind?"
"A surgeon, but I also specialized in microbiology and drug testing." I said with a sigh.
"Do you think you could study the Ghoul biology?" Kaneki asked, furrowing his brow. "We... acquired some deceased Ghouls. I half thought to eat them, but they would be better served as test subjects."
"I mean, I could try. Why, though?" I asked.
"We need to know more." He said, frowning. "The technology to make a human ghoul hybrid is slowly becoming more refined. While we were human, Jaune, we certainly are Ghouls now. Some in the Black Dragon are rumored to be a literal hybrid, the sweet spot of RC Cell count."
Both humans and ghouls have RC Cells, but ghouls have tens of thousands while humans only have a few hundred.
"They can live as a human, but have the powers of a ghoul. They call that one the Sphinx." He said, crossing his arms. "If we could create that tech, or just flat out get ahead in the technological race, we could make a difference. How remains to be seen."
"I'll... play around with the idea. Where's your kit?"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
It took me a minute to adjust to the darkness, Kaneki turning toward me with... what frankly looked like torture tools. Scalpels, medical scissors, and pins, yes, but it had far more than just that. Restraints, spiked weights, monkey wrenches, and more.
"I can fetch the bodies from our freezer, if you need them."
"No, I want to study on a live ghoul for now."
"What do you mean?" He asked as I walked over to the microscope.
"Why do you have this?"
"Ozpin used to want to learn more about the Ghoul biology. Find a way to adjust our tongues and digestive systems to eat human food again. He failed. The body transforms with RC Cells. The more you have, the more ghoulish you are. End of story, that's the law."
I summoned my Kagune, the black flesh bursting from my shoulder.
"I am the subject." I said, narrowing my eyes and grabbing a saw. "And I want you to be the surgeon. Cut off a slice of my Kagune."
"I will not be able to do that with just a saw." He said, tilting his head. "A saw like that wouldn't cut through a ghoul's skin, yet alone a koukaku. Do you want me to resort to other methods?" He said, his red tendrils slowly rising from his back. I swallowed harshly as I held up the blade, his finger wrapping around his thumb with a pop.
"Do it."
His tendrils shot around the claw, glowing as he tore the section off. I screamed as the flesh's tendons snapped, the piece falling to the ground.
"You have a high pain tolerance." He assessed. "Most Ghouls would have fainted."
"Its... nothing." I said with a grunt, my kagune vanishing. I glanced at the large slab of hardened flesh, lifting it onto the table.
"So, what are you going to do?"
"Wait and watch."
...
"That's your big idea?" Kaneki sighed. "Watching it?"
"Ukakus can fire projectiles, and that's what tires them so. Yet, the flesh can stay hard and even shatter after it separates. How long can a piece of a kagune sustain itself when detached?"
"That's..."
"If it rots, then the entire thing |
to play sweet music at all times so they can add less sugar to their cakes and pastries,” Spence goes on, explaining how sounds could help make us healthier in other ways.
But not everyone is as convinced as Spence about tablets at the table. Ross McGinnes runs the popular Twitter account We Want Plates which documents – and mocks – restaurants who use shovels, tiles, boards, and mugs to plate up food. I ask him what he thinks of Spence’s idea:
“Food on iPads – another crackpot method which puts the emphasis on presentation rather than taste. We pity the serving staff, having to peddle this stuff with a straight face: ‘I'm sorry but the squid starter isn't available – our chef's iPad charger cable is broken. I can recommend the crab cakes though, they’re served on a vintage Nintendo Donkey Kong.’ Madness.”
Regardless of the doubters, Spence’s work is far from over. He is also working towards high-tech augmented reality dining experiences. With his lab partner in Japan, for example, he has shown how wearing a virtual reality headset can change your experiences with food, from making your runny ketchup appear thicker to adding virtual creamer to your coffee. “Those visual appearances just change the expectation you have about your food and then hence your taste experience,” he explains. Virtual steam can make food seem hotter, unappetisingly green food can become a pleasant pink.
Still, Spence hopes his work will be accessible for everyone in the home (“some of the best technology around is in our pockets.”) So next time you serve your spag bol, why not use your iPad as a plate?
“The notion that you must not play with your food needs to be broken down,” says Spence, who admits it will take work for his vision to be implemented across the country. “Of course it raises some questions, probably a steak isn’t going to be easy to cut into… maybe it’s better for finger food or canapes.”
Charles Spence will be revealing more details of his project, The Un-Instagrammable Dish, during his London Food Tech Week keynote speech Playing Mind Games with Your Food on Tuesday October 31, 2017.'Go Forward Believing The Word' [Shutterstock] http://tinyurl.com/nxk87w2
A Mississippi religious group is waging an email campaign urging church members to lobby on behalf of a “religious freedom” bill critics contend would allow for discrimination against members of the LGBT communities.
The email from the Christian Action Commission, obtained by The Raw Story Friday afternoon, states in part, “Ask your minister to ask people in the pew this Sunday and all next week and the following Sunday for church members to contact and tell their MS Representaive to support the the MS Religious Freedom Restoration Act.”
However, the email appears to encourage churches to engage in political lobbying on behalf of the bill. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) states that organizations listed as 501c(3) tax-exempt groups may not engage in partisan campaigning, though IRS guidelines do not explicitly mention legislation under that rule.
The bill, known in the state legislature as SB 2681, would mandate that that state law “shall not substantially burden a person’s right to exercise [freedom] of religion” without a “compelling governmental interest.” The bill was passed by the Republican-heavy state Senate in January, and was amended to take out language seen as too similar to Arizona’s infamous SB 1062. The state House is reportedly studying the bill further.
“I think what will happen is, they’re not going to be able to write this bill,” Jackson business owner and LGBTQ activist Eddie Outlaw told Raw Story in a phone interview Friday evening. “Religious protections already exist; it is the law of the land. It’s complicated in Mississippi because the legislation refers to ‘people,’ and ‘people’ has already been defined in Mississippi as businesses, corporations. It opens the door for all kinds of tomfoolery from them. I’m hopeful they’ll just figure out they’re chasing their tail and wasting time and money. There’s no good end for that legislation except for it to just die.”
The commission’s email also claims that the American Civil Liberties Union “and the homosexual lobby [are] attacking Mississippian’s [sic] religion and liberty.” Christian Action’s leader, Jimmy Porter — himself a Baptist minister — also emailed lawmakers separately dismissing opponents’ arguments that the bill amounts to legalized prejudice.
“When I hear someone speak of being discriminated against who has never been told to go to the back of the bus, who has never seen a loved one hanging from a tree by a rope, who has never been served a plate lunch from the back door of a restaurant, who has never been denied lodging in a hotel, who has had to drink from a fountain or use a restroom with a posted ‘Colored Only’ sign, who has never been denied access to the community swimming pool, all due to the God-given color of their skin, desecrate the word when it comes out of their mouth,” he reportedly wrote.
But as Raw Story reported earlier this month, not only has the ACLU voiced its disagreement with SB 2681, but so have local college communities and clergy members.
For his part, Outlaw, who has operated his business for 17 years alongside his partner, took issue with the argument from supporters of the bill that it would protect business owners, saying it would create more problems than it purports to solve.
“As a business person, I just think it’s utterly ridiculous to deny goods or services to anyone,” Outlaw said. “It’s just bad business. [There is] this ridiculous thinking that we need to be protected because we exercise our strongly-held religious beliefs. I don’t really think that there’s gonna be this scourge of gays looking bring up lawsuits to shut these businesses down. What’s gonna happen is, the word’s gonna get out through social media [and] reporting, and people are gonna see it for what it is, which is hateful bigotry.”
Raw Story emailed the commission seeking comment on the email campaign.
[Image: “Go Forward Believing The Word,” via Shutterstock]As a teenager Julian Fellowes felt awkward and boring. But when an aunt asked him to work in a summer camp in Colombia, he saw his chance not just to broaden his horizons but to become the man he wanted to be
I have always thought that, contrary to the presently fashionable blame culture, to a greater or lesser extent our lives are a product of our choices. And while it is usually hard to pin down the exact instant when we took this road or that one, it is not always so. Sometimes we can remember precisely when we altered direction and, in my life, a Damascene moment occurred when I was just beginning what we did not then call my gap year. I had left school in December 1966 and I was waiting to go up to Magdalene College, Cambridge, to study English literature.
My childhood was a happy one, spent in a tall house in South Kensington and later in East Sussex, but my early and mid teens were less successful. Among my contemporaries in the county I did not shine, for I suffered from a bad case of sibling rivalry. I was not in competition with my eldest brothers, Nicholas and David, who were far above me in age, 12 and six years older respectively. Their lives placed them in a different sphere; not only because they had girlfriends and cars, but Nick was a young officer in the Blues, dancing his way round London's ballrooms, and David was just wild. Once he hid out in the shadier parts of Paris for three months until my father agreed to let him skip university. Eventually he turned up working the lights in a revue bar in Piccadilly, which he never confessed to my parents.
On one memorable evening when I was 10 he took me there, having agreed to be my babysitter. The girls, pretty and charming in their sequins and feathers, spent the whole night venting their frustrated mothering instincts on me until David drove me home. I never betrayed him.
This stuff seemed exciting and even admirable, but it had little relevance to my own struggles. My problem concerned my third brother, Rory, a figure of immense beauty and glamour who kept me, plain and ungifted as I was, permanently in the shade. Of course many people have to contend with a prettier sibling, but not everyone has a brother who is invited to model on the front of teenage magazines and is put under a recording contract. On one Valentine's Day at school, he received 47 cards. I got one. From my mother.
Release came from an unexpected source. My mother's sister, Phyllis, had recently been widowed in slightly dramatic circumstances. She had married an Anglo-Argentine in the 1930s and spent her life in South America, ending up in Colombia. The sudden death of her husband had left her in something of a crisis and she decided to open their ranch (or finca as it is known down there) as a children's summer camp, with the help of her sons. But she needed some more unpaid labour and she rang my mother to see if she could borrow a child. Mummy explained that I was the only one available and so the plan was made.
When my father refused to stump up the airfare for what he considered an idiotic scheme, my mother went to the Shell building (where he worked) and somehow blagged me aboard an oil tanker. On every tanker, it seems, there is a commodious apartment, usually empty, known as the Owner's Cabin, at the disposal of the company. The journey would take three weeks, with no sight of land. I would be met in Cartagena and travel down to Bogotá.
The crew was Dutch. The Dutch are a courteous race as a whole and, of course, wonderfully gifted when it comes to languages for the simple reason that they know they must speak some language other than their own if they are ever to enjoy travelling. But they're also a hard-working lot and not much given to frivolity. The net result of which was that I was almost entirely alone for 21 days.
I'd meet the captain and his officers at lunch and dinner, and we would converse pleasantly enough, but apart from that I spent my time in my handsome apartment. This included my own private deck and, as I watched the Atlantic slip past, I got down to the required books for my approaching course. I read Sense and Sensibility, and Hard Times and A Sentimental Journey and Daniel Deronda and Gulliver's Travels, and The History of Henry Esmond… until the letters started to dance before my eyes and I realised I could read no more. So I thought. I thought of my failures, social and romantic; I thought of how much I had to say within the family and how little outside it; of how unsatisfactory my life was and of how much I would like it to improve. And I was not humble in my humiliation. I felt I merited better.
And then it dawned on me that I was travelling to a land where no one knew me. My aunt did not much visit England and we had not met since I was a small child. Ditto her two elder sons, while the younger two had never met me at all. I was going among close relations as a stranger. And in a sudden flash which I can recall even now, I realised this was a unique opportunity to alter my personality – or its public presentation – overnight. I had climbed the gangplank as a shy and insecure bore, an awkward, spotty teenager, only to be danced with as the partner of last resort. But I resolved to walk down it an outgoing, gregarious, confident young man, up for anything, eager for adventure. And that is what I did.
The camp was run by my aunt, her younger sons, Gordon and Nicky, Gordon's girlfriend Anna, and a rather beautiful American called Alison Starkey, all of whom were deceived into thinking I was naturally spirited, jovial and, although it now sounds vain to say it, fun. Thankfully I could swim and ride and knew the rules of the various games, and if I was initially nervous in my masquerade, I was helped by the fact that it was all pretty chaotic.
None of us had the faintest idea how to get the children to go to bed, so they used to stay up all night dancing and only flag out in the small hours. We even had an earthquake and we all ran out of the heaving, jumping buildings to watch the water dance on the surface of the pool. No wonder they begged their amazed parents, who had expected to find them aching to come home, if they could be allowed to stay an extra week.
One afternoon I suggested a scavenger hunt. For those who are too young to know, this was a party favourite in the England of the 20s and 30s and enjoyed a revival in my own day. The guests would separate into small groups, they would be given a list of objects – a policeman's helmet, a Ritz ashtray, an autographed programme from Covent Garden and so on (or the rural equivalent) – and they would set off.
The children at the camp were mainly either from American service families or embassy kids, and certainly none had ever played it before, but they were very enthusiastic. The trouble came when we put "a spider" as one of the desired items and a group of nine-year-olds returned with an enormous tarantula pushing its hairy legs against the glass of the jar they held it in. We explained that it was dangerous and could probably have killed any one of them, but this only prompted the leader, who surely had a future in diplomacy, to ask for extra points.
At last the summer was over and I set off for Cartagena to wait for the tanker that would take me back. My aunt, anxious that I should sleep late, taught me how to order breakfast in bed. Dos huevos fritos con tocino, y tostadas con mantequilla y mermelada, y café con leche para uno, por favor. It remains my only Spanish to this day.
But the point is, it worked. I went up to Cambridge and, the following year, dove into the London Season and I never turned back into the lonely, tongue-tied pumpkin. I did not much cultivate my friends in Sussex on my return, not because I disliked them but because I was no longer the person they had known and it seemed unnecessary to convince them of the new me when there were so many other fish to fry. The rest, if not history, has at least proved more interesting than it might have been. I suppose it is further proof, if proof is needed, that contemplation, the time to think properly, is an essential ingredient to any rounded existence.
Julian fellowes is an actor, director and Oscar-winning screenwriter. His latest work, Downton Abbey, is on ITV at 9pm on SundaysDestiny 2 isn’t the game its fans want it to be. That isn’t apparent from the game’s design, which seems to check every box a fan of the original would want. But a quick trip around the Internet shows just how much the sequel is failing to live up to many players’ expectations.
Take this 390-comment thread about the state of Destiny 2, for instance. It reads like the pre-apocalyptic screed you’d find scrawled on a wall in any number of other video games. It got to be so bad that Bungie had to interrupt its Curse of Osiris PR plans to address the complaints. And now that Curse of Osiris is out, the fan reaction isn’t exactly getting better.
That’s a shame, because Destiny 2 is a totally solid first-person shooter, taken in the vein of Bungie’s own previous games. In 40 or 50 hours you could get through every story mission, strike, raid, and a decent bit of the competitive multiplayer. That’s a good amount of content, especially compared to many other first-person shooters, and Destiny 2’s best-in-class action is enough to carry those hours forward enjoyably.
The problem is when you reach the endgame. That is to say, there really isn’t much of one. Destiny 2’s design encourages those 40 to 50 hours to turn into hundreds as you grind to reach the level cap by completing Nightfall strikes and the all-important raid. But once you beat said raid—or bang your forehead bloody trying to organize six dedicated players at the right level and give up—there’s only the same old competitive multiplayer content to fall back on.
Time doesn’t heal all wounds
This was also the case in the first Destiny, which was developed in what already feels like a very different era. The first game’s reveal trailer referenced a product players would spend 50 to 100 hours with, not something they’d make into their years-long hobby. In the years since that launch, though, Bungie has been able to see exactly how players now obsess over shooters like Destiny—and Overwatch, Rainbow Six: Siege, Battlegrounds, etc.—often to the exclusion of other games entirely.
If anything, Destiny 2 is now extremely welcoming to new, more casual players, throwing out multiple pieces of exotic gear—one of Destiny’s biggest endgame draws—just for playing part of the main story. Other loot from mid-game activities, like Public Events, flows freely, up to a point. But reaching raid readiness is gated behind “Powerful Gear,” which can only be earned in limited quantities once a week.
It’s a smooth ride for anyone who picks up Destiny 2, saves the solar system, and walks away satisfied with their $60 purchase. Anyone who plays the game further is met with the same miserly grind that plagued Destiny in its earliest days and inspired meme-able shortcuts like the Loot Cave. The ramp structure of Destiny—from story, to strikes, to Nightfalls, to the raid—is still there in the sequel. It’s just bisected into two camps with what’s now a very sudden wall in between.
It’d be one thing if you saw that steep climb coming. You could prepare for it or bow out and tell yourself you’ll leave the endgame to the truly dedicated. But by emulating so much of the previous game, Destiny 2 doesn’t really communicate where that line is drawn—to new or returning players.
It’s one of a few quality-of-life issues that are unique to the game as a sequel. Players who stuck with the first game accrued years of habits, baggage, and expectations that don’t map one-to-one on this sequel. A further lack of communication on Bungie’s part has left those expectations created to fester and finally, at the end of 2017, to clash with the reality of Destiny 2.
Communication blackout
Take the Powerful Gear, for example. Grinding it out is vital to reaching the raid. Yet you can actually artificially limit the juiced-up equipment by unlocking it too early—before reaching the soft level cap that makes Powerful Gear drop with worthwhile stats. More than that, the game never actually hints that there is a soft, hidden level cap or that Powerful Gear is the only way to breach it. So early adopters (and anyone that doesn’t know to look up guides online) usually start the late-game grind from a deficit, with less-powerful Powerful Gear.
That’s an old complaint at this point, but it illustrates how Destiny 2 communicates one thing—that you should just keep on playing—and facilitates another, that there’s a hard and fast beginning, middle, and end to things.
Then there’s the new raid itself, the Leviathan raid, which caps off Destiny 2. Pummeling the mission’s boss, Emperor Calus, reveals that it’s (spoiler warning) not the battleship’s 20-foot hedonist ruler at all. It’s just a gold-plated life model decoy. The real emperor is somewhere else, watching you fight his stand-in for sheer amusement. When you finally beat the boss, it’s revealed that the Leviathan is filled with an endless supply of such duplicates. So Destiny 2 gives a canonical explanation for why you can go back and kill the same alien multiple times—as many determined players no doubt will.
It’s a fun little reveal, but its impact hinges on the idea that raids are meant to be repeated. But raids are such a chore to organize, even with the “guided games” feature that lets veterans shepherd newbies around, that the odds of convincing anyone but true-blue Destiny zealots to repeat the process is laughable. And so the vicious cycle of the game saying one thing and accommodating another continues.
Moving forward or falling back
The original Destiny eventually made great strides toward balancing rewards for repetition and accessibility, leaning toward more excuses to land addictive headshots and pull off slow, powerful locomotion across the solar system. The loot became generous enough to make something like shooting into a cave for hours on end seem unnecessary. Over-the-top cosmetics in the form of “ornaments” and standout, strike-specific loot gave tangible rewards for the intangible thrill of just playing.
Destiny 2 is getting there, too. A free update and the game’s first expansion have brought back armor ornaments and wacky Ghost shells (one of the only cosmetics you get to regularly see in first person). And there are more excuses to addict ourselves, like weapons with achievement-based upgrades, which should be up around the same time as this article.
But that in and of itself communicates one final problem with Destiny 2. The game is starting from square one; with many of the old problems wearing a different skin. It took Bungie’s last loot shooter multiple years and expansions to feel like more than a hollow package with superb shooting and little else. If Destiny 2 is already working from a deficit of content and quality-of-life problems, even after a clean break from the first game, endgame players might need to find what the game doesn’t organically offer: a place to stop.Astronomers who work for the Australian government are demanding “safe workplaces for scientists” that are free of alleged bullying and sexist comments.
The academics demand a safe space from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s state science research organization, because they allege it is “failing to address a culture of bullying and sexual harassment in its astronomy department.”
CSIRO has conducted only 16 investigations into alleged professional misconduct in the department since 2008. None of these investigations led to any legal action and only one involved police.
The academics claim that this extremely low number of investigations is evidence that the Australian government “may suppress reporting of harassment.” The only evidence of harassment provided by the academics demanding a safe space was a statement that their “pain was evident.”
Very little information has been published about the sole case involving police, and the only legal action that occurred was the perpetrator being counseled and having an “adverse finding” placed on their file, indicating that the situation wasn’t serious.
Regardless, The Astronomical Society of Australia pledged on Twitter to “ensure a safe and supportive workplace” and called for individual academic institutions to “critically assess their workplace conditions” to prevent future sexism.
This isn’t the first time astronomers have embraced extremely progressive safe space culture more commonly found on college campuses.
Researchers are planning to relocate a telescope worth $1.4 billion over 8,000 miles from Hawaii to Spain to avoid offending a small group of Native Hawaiians.
Opposition forced the U.S. National Academies of Science to reconsider 15 years of planning to construct one of the world’s largest telescopes on the summit of the dormant volcano Mauna Kea. The Spanish site won’t have the cloud-free Pacific skies, low atmospheric water vapor and other attributes that make Hawaii the best place on Earth for astronomy.
Left-wing protesters have repeatedly attempted to block the construction of the telescope and have attempted to stop it with lawsuits.
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Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.gerbv - A Free/Open Source Gerber Viewer
Overview
Gerbv is a viewer for Gerber RS-274X files, Excellon drill files, and CSV pick-and-place files.
Gerbv is a native Linux application, and it runs on many common UNIX platforms. A Windows version is also available.
Gerbv is free / open-source software.
You may download the source code from this page.
The core functionality of gerbv is located in a separate library (libgerbv), allowing developers to include Gerber parsing/editing/exporting/rendering into other programs. Documentation for libgerbv is here.
Gerbv is one of the utilities affiliated with the gEDA project, an umbrella organization dedicated to producing free software tools for electronic design.
The latest official gerbv release is available here.
About Gerber files
Gerber files are typically output by a PCB CAD tool (such as the gEDA Project's PCB), and are sent to a PCB manufacturer who uses the files for manufacturing Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs).
There are two standards defining Gerber files: An old one called RS-274D, and a newer one called RS-274X. Gerber files generated in the old format (RS-274D) lack aperture information, which must be supplied separately. The new standard (RS-274X) embeds aperture information into the file. Note: Gerbv displays RS-274X files! Gerbv will not display RS-274D files! When you create Gerber files using your PCB tool make sure you export RS-274X files if you want to view the files with gerbv.
In the Gerber format, the different layers of a PCB (e.g. top silk, top metal, interior layers, etc.) are held in separate files. Information about the PCB's stackup (i.e. layer order, thickness, etc.) is not captured by Gerber files; it is up to the user to supply this information to gerbv, and to his PCB manufacturer.
Gerbv's featureset
In summary, gerbv supports the following features:
Gerbv runs on Linux and other Unices (Linux native).
An experimental Windows version is available for beta-testing.
Gerbv displays RS-274X files. (It does not display RS-274D files)
display RS-274D files) Gerbv handles aperture macros with up to 10 levels of recursion.
Gerbv supports complex layer operations (e.g. knockout).
Gerbv can display many different drill file formats. In particular, Excellon drill files are supported. Other drill files with similar syntax will also display.
Gerbv displays well-formed pick-and-place files. Pick-place files should contain XYRS (X, Y, Rotation, placement Side) information, and be held in a comma-separated ASCII (.csv) format.
Gerbv will autodetect Gerber, drill, or pick-place file type when reading in the file.
When built using the Cairo rendering engine, gerbv can display Gerber layers in "semi-transparent" mode, making it easy to visualize your board's stack up.
Gerbv provides facilities for analyzing and validating your Gerber file's syntax, code count, aperture usage, etc. This can be useful in situations in which you are having problems in the CAM stage of manufacturing your PC Board (i.e. when your manufacturer is having problems with your files).
When built using Cairo, gerbv allows for limited Gerber editing. (Currently limited to object deletion.)
Panning and zooming (both stepwise and outline) of the image is supported.
Gerbv supports image autoscale — i.e. zoom and pan the image to fit the viewing window.
Multiple files can be loaded simultaneously and be shown "on top of each other".
The number of layers you may load simultaneously is unlimited by gerbv.
The layer order (stackup) may be changed using an intuitive "drag and drop" menu.
You may turn display of individual layers on and off independently using a checkbox.
You may set layer colors independently using a pop up color choice window.
You may change the layer polarity (negative/positive display).
Gerbv incorporates a measurement tool so you can make measurements on the image.
Three different measurement units supported: inch, mm, mil (1/1000 inch). Measurement units are user-selectable
Gerbv can export a layer image to PNG,.ps,.pdf, and.svg, both from within the GUI as well as via a command line switch (cairo version only).
Gerbv performs negative/scratch draws.
Gerbv includes a reload operation, which re-reads all loaded files off disk. This feature is useful when you are manually hacking Gerber files.
Gerbv allows you to save a session into a project file. The project file stores the names of all loaded files, their stackup, color, etc. so so you can easily reload all Gerber files in a project at a later date (e.g. after re-editing then using a PCB layout tool).
Obtaining and installing gerbv
Gerbv is targeted to run on Linux and other UNIX variants. Gerbv is now carried in most of the major Linux distribution's software repositories. Therefore, most people will want to install gerbv using their favorite package tool (such as yum, apt-get, etc.) You can get installation files from the following places:
Build and install instructions
Prerequisites
If you wish to build gerbv from source, your system should have the following libraries:
GTK+, the graphical toolkit.
Cairo, a graphics library. This provides advanced graphics rendering capability, as well as Gerber editing.
Building gerbv by downloading a release
Download source tarballs from here. Expand source by running gzip -dc <filename> | tar xf - Change to newly expanded directory Type./configure <switches>.
The following (gerbv) switches are available to configure: --help : Lists all configure options.
: Lists all configure options. --enable-debug : Program will output lots of debug spew while running. (default = no -> no debug output by default.)
: Program will output lots of debug spew while running. (default = no -> no debug output by default.) --enable-unit-mm : Set default unit for coordinates in status bar to mm (default = no -> units = inches by default.)
: Set default unit for coordinates in status bar to mm (default = no -> units = inches by default.) --enable-efence : Link with ElectricFence for malloc debugging (default = no -> efence off by default.)
: Link with ElectricFence for malloc debugging (default = no -> efence off by default.) --disable-update-desktop-database : Update desktop icon database after installation (default = no -> desktop icon installed by default.) Type make Type make install. Please note that if you want to install it in a system directory you have to su first. Test by typing gerbv
Building gerbv by downloading from anonymous git repository
Check out the source tree:
git clone git://git.geda-project.org/gerbv.git Recreate all build system files:
sh autogen.sh
Type./configure <switches>.
The following (gerbv) switches are available to configure: --help : Lists all configure options.
: Lists all configure options. --enable-debug : Program will output lots of debug spew while running. (default = no -> no debug output by default.)
: Program will output lots of debug spew while running. (default = no -> no debug output by default.) --enable-unit-mm : Set default unit for coordinates in status bar to mm (default = no -> units = inches by default.)
: Set default unit for coordinates in status bar to mm (default = no -> units = inches by default.) --enable-efence : Link with ElectricFence for malloc debugging (default = no -> efence off by default.)
: Link with ElectricFence for malloc debugging (default = no -> efence off by default.) --disable-update-desktop-database : Update desktop icon database after installation (default = no -> desktop icon installed by default.) Type make Type make install. Please note that if you want to install it in a system directory you have to su first. Test by typing gerbv Run git pull in the checked out gerbv directory to get the latest changes.
Supported platforms
Linux (2.2/2.4/2.6)
NetBSD/i386 (1.4.1)
NetBSD/Alpha (1.5.1)
Solaris (5.7 and 5.8)
FreeBSD/i386 (6.0 and 7.0)
Information for developers
Gerbv is split into a core functional library and a GUI portion. Developers wishing to incorporate Gerber parsing/editing/exporting/rendering into other programs are welcome to use libgerbv. Complete API documentation for libgerbv is here, as well as many example programs using libgerbv.
Gerbv now uses git for source code control. It is generously provided by geda-project.org. You can get a crash course in geda-projet git from here.
Random resources and information
Gerbv resources
Other Gerber software
gerbvQt uses QPainter from Qt rather than Cairo in libgerbv for vector graphics. The project is incomplete and needs some help.
pcb2gcode takes (contrary to its name) Gerber files and generates G-code used for drilling machines. The cool thing with this is that it uses libgerbv for actual Gerber parsing (Added on 20090819).
gerber2eps generates Encapsulated PostScript from Gerber files.
gerb2tiff generates TIFF's from Gerber files. Also includes a win32 binary for the interested (URL updated 20090819).
Gerber RS-274D/X file viewer in Java. Doesn't seem to work too well. Maybe a start if someone likes to hack Java.
gerber2pdf. A Python script that converts a gerber file 2 pdf. Seems quite advanced.
GBTiler is not actually a viewer, but a panelizer as I understand it. Takes several gerber files and puts them together next to each other. Written in Perl (URL updated 20090819).
GerbMerge is also a panelizer, but written in Python.
To convert an RS274D with an external aperture list to an RS274X Larry Doolittle described a short perl script in an email. Ormund Williams tried to use it, but had to do some slight modifications to make it work for him.
Information about Gerber and Excellon file formats
Submitting a patch or addition to gerbv
We are interested in all ideas and suggestions regarding gerbv. We also reserve us the right to reject them though. Ideas implemented in source code always have a greater chance to make it into the release in a near future.
If you want to implement something for gerbv there is a certain "code standard" we try to maintain. That is described in a text file in the distribution HACKING. Please read it. And check that your code doesn't stand out too much from the rest regarding naming of functions and variables.
When submitting a patch, the developers prefer git patches. The parameter to use to git is:
git format-patch <revision range>
and send us the diff file using Sourceforge's patch tracker.
and send us the diff file using Sourceforge's patch tracker. If you have questions about submitting patches, post them to the geda-dev mailing list.
License
gerbv and all associated files are released under the GNU Public License (GPL) version 2.0.
Programs and associated files are:
Copyright © 2001 — 2011 by Stefan Petersen and the respective original authors who are listed in the source files.
Contact information
ArchivesMidtown was an American pop punk band from New Brunswick, New Jersey.[1] Midtown was formed in November 1998 by three Rutgers University students, but soon became a quartet. The group released three full-length studio albums and three extended plays before disbanding in 2005. In early 2014, Midtown reunited to play three shows, the first as a secret show at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn,[2] and the two remaining at the Skate And Surf Festival.
History [ edit ]
Midtown was formed in 1998 by Rutgers University students Gabe Saporta (vocals/bass), Rob Hitt (drums), Tyler Rann (guitar/vocals).[1] The group added Heath Saraceno on guitar/vocals, and used its roots in the New Jersey punk scene to develop a sound that combined elements of pop punk and punk rock. Midtown began recording shortly after its formation. The band's first EP, The Sacrifice of Life, was released by Pinball Records in 1999, followed by a debut album, Save the World, Lose the Girl, released in early 2000 by the American independent record label Drive-Thru Records. The band was then upstreamed to major label MCA Records for its following album, Living Well Is the Best Revenge (2002).
Midtown's next album, Forget What You Know (2004), was produced while the band was not under contract with a record label and was later picked up by Columbia Records. This was the band's final studio album; they disbanded shortly after its release, in 2005. Former frontman Gabe Saporta then became the lead singer of alternative dance/synthpop band Cobra Starship, who disbanded in November 2015.[3] Former guitarist Heath Saraceno joined the band Senses Fail in 2005 but decided to leave them in 2009 to pursue personal endeavors.[4] Tyler Rann went on to sing for Band of Thieves with some friends but eventually left the music business and now works in the fashion/clothing industry.
Members [ edit ]
Gabe Saporta – lead vocals, bass guitar (1998–2005, 2014)
Tyler Rann – vocals, guitars (1998–2005, 2014)
Heath Saraceno – vocals, guitars (1998–2005, 2014)
Rob Hitt – drums, percussion (1998–2005, 2014)
Discography [ edit ]
Studio albums
EPs
Compilation appearances
Post-Midtown projects [ edit ]The holidays are almost here, but I’ve been eating like it’s Thanksgiving for the past few weeks. Food blogger problems! I’m seeking balance in the meals in between recipe testing by filling my belly with my favorite veggie-packed meals.
Case in point: This sweet potato, kale, chickpea and farro soup, which is both impossible to describe using fewer words. I shared this recipe five years ago, and it’s still one of my favorites.
I’m counting down the minutes until I can heat up a big bowlful of this soup for lunch. It’s spicy, filling, satisfying, and overflowing with so-called power foods and whole grain goodness. The Thai red curry paste might seem like an unlikely pairing for sweet potatoes, kale and farro, but somehow it just works.
I love this soup because each main ingredient contributes flavor while retaining its texture. The farro stays nice and chewy, the chickpeas don’t turn to mush like lent |
to run for president. He toyed with mounting a campaign in 2000 on the Reform Party ticket, and again in 2012 as a Republican (this was at the height of his Obama birtherism). Two years later, Trump briefly explored running for governor of New York as a springboard to the White House. “I have much bigger plans in mind — stay tuned,” he tweeted in March 2014.
Trump taped another season of The Apprentice that year, but he kept a political organization intact. His team at the time consisted of three advisers: Roger Stone, Michael Cohen, and Sam Nunberg. Stone is a veteran operative, known for his gleeful use of dirty tricks and for ending Eliot Spitzer’s political career by leaking his patronage of prostitutes to the FBI. Cohen is Trump’s longtime in-house attorney. And Nunberg is a lawyer wired into right-wing politics who has long looked up to “Mr. Trump,” as he calls him. “I first met him at WrestleMania when I was like 5 years old,” Nunberg told me.
Throughout 2014, the three fed Trump strategy memos and political intelligence. “I listened to thousands of hours of talk radio, and he was getting reports from me,” Nunberg recalled. What those reports said was that the GOP base was frothing over a handful of issues including immigration, Obamacare, and Common Core. While Jeb Bush talked about crossing the border as an “act of love,” Trump was thinking about how high to build his wall. “We either have borders or we don’t,” Trump told the faithful who flocked to the annual CPAC conference in 2014.
Meanwhile, Trump used his wealth as a strategic tool to gather his own intelligence. When Citizens United president David Bossie or GOP chairman Reince Priebus called Trump for contributions, Trump used the conversations as opportunities to talk about 2016. “Reince called Trump thinking they were talking about donations, but Trump was asking him hard questions,” recalled Nunberg. From his conversations with Priebus, Trump learned that the 2016 field was likely to be crowded. “We knew it was going to be like a parliamentary election,” Nunberg said.
Which is how Trump’s scorched-earth strategy coalesced. To break out of the pack, he made what appears to be a deliberate decision to be provocative, even outrageous. “If I were totally presidential, I’d be one of the many people who are already out of the race,” Trump told me. And so, Trump openly stoked racial tensions and appealed to the latent misogyny of a base that thinks of Hillary as the world’s most horrible ballbuster.
It was also thanks to some information he had gathered that Trump was able to do something that no other Republican has done before: take on Fox News. An odd bit of coincidence had given him a card to play against Fox founder Roger Ailes. In 2014, I published a biography of Ailes, which upset the famously paranoid executive. Several months before it landed in stores, Ailes fired his longtime PR adviser Brian Lewis, accusing him of being a source. During Lewis’s severance negotiations, Lewis hired Judd Burstein, a powerhouse litigator, and claimed he had “bombs” that would destroy Ailes and Fox News. That’s when Trump got involved.
“When Roger was having problems, he didn’t call 97 people, he called me,” Trump said. Burstein, it turned out, had worked for Trump briefly in the ’90s, and Ailes asked Trump to mediate. Trump ran the negotiations out of his office at Trump Tower. “Roger had lawyers, very expensive lawyers, and they couldn’t do anything. I solved the problem.” Fox paid Lewis millions to go away quietly, and Trump, I’m told, learned everything Lewis had planned to leak. If Ailes ever truly went to war against Trump, Trump would have the arsenal to launch a retaliatory strike.
In January 2015, Trump hired Corey Lewandowski as campaign manager at the recommendation of Citizen United’s Bossie. On paper, Lewandowski’s credentials didn’t shine, but what he lacked in pedigree he made up for in raw ambition and ruthlessness. Lewandowski grew up poor in the mill town of Lowell, Massachusetts. As an undergraduate at the local UMass branch, he ran unsuccessfully for state representative. After graduating in 1995, he moved to Washington, D.C., got a master’s in politics at American University, and worked as a House aide on Capitol Hill. In 2001, he got a job with the Republican National Committee. But Lewandowski’s time as a member of the GOP Establishment was short-lived.
In 2002, he managed the reelection campaign of New Hampshire Republican senator Bob Smith, who was loathed by George W. Bush’s White House for briefly leaving the party in 1999 to launch an independent run for president. Against Smith, the Bushes backed John Sununu Jr., the son of George H. W. Bush’s former chief of staff. “I told Corey that the Establishment is coming after me, even the president of the United States,” Smith said, recalling his interview with Lewandowski for the job. “I said, ‘If that bothers you in any way, if you don’t want to touch this with a ten-foot pole because of your political career, I understand.’ He just said, ‘No problem.’ ”
Smith lost, and Lewandowski, as Smith had warned, found himself cast into the political wilderness. He settled in New Hampshire, got married, and raised four children while bouncing around a series of jobs, at one point selling real estate and serving as a police officer. In 2008, he landed a position with Americans for Prosperity, the Koch-brothers-backed free-market group. Lewandowski rose through the ranks at AFP to become national director of voter registration but stalled after a voter-recruitment project he spearheaded failed to yield results in 2014. Politico also reported that Lewandowski once threatened to “blow up” a colleague’s car and even called a female co-worker a “cunt.” One former Koch executive told me he was going to be fired. (Lewandowski denies this.)
Luckily, Trump came calling. He hired Lewandowski thinking that the 42-year-old operative had two crucial assets: his Koch connections and an intimate knowledge of New Hampshire’s quirky political terrain. The first assumption was wrong, but on the second, Lewandowski proved his worth. And he gained Trump’s trust by demonstrating he possessed the quality Trump values most: loyalty. “This campaign, above all other things, is about loyalty,” Lewandowski said. In what’s been said to be a unique arrangement for a campaign manager, Lewandowski travels everywhere with Trump, a role normally reserved for the campaign’s “body man.”
Trump turned to an equally unlikely candidate to handle communications. One day in January 2015, Hope Hicks got a call from Trump’s office asking her to come in. At the time, she was working on the 25th floor with Ivanka. “Mr. Trump looked at me and said, ‘I’m thinking about running for president, and you’re going to be my press secretary,’ ” Hicks said. “I think it’s ‘the year of the outsider.’ It helps to have people with outsider perspective.” Her mother told her she should write a book about this experience someday. “She said it would be like Primary Colors, and I told her, ‘You don’t even know.’ ”
Six months later, Lewandowski and Hicks worked into the early hours of the morning prepping for Trump’s campaign announcement in the lobby of Trump Tower. “It had to be perfect,” Lewandowski said. “We had to build the stage, make sure the flags hung perfectly; the eagles faced out; the carpet was red, and he would wear a red tie.” And hire plants. The campaign paid actors $50 each to wear Trump T-shirts and wave placards.
Later that morning, they watched from the wings as Ivanka introduced her father in front of reporters and photographers and the manufactured crowd. “It looked like the Academy Awards!” Trump recalled. “You saw the cameras, forget it. You couldn’t get another person in.”
Trump didn’t read a prepared speech, but he knew what he wanted to say, which hardly mattered anyway because hardly anyone took his candidacy seriously at the time. “Nobody said anything,” Trump said about the fact that he had accused Mexico of sending “rapists” over the border into the U.S. “Then two weeks later, they started saying, ‘Wait a minute! Did he really say that?’ ”
He hadn’t tested the line, but Nunberg’s deep dive into talk radio had shown him that this was the sort of thing that would resonate with a certain segment of the Republican base. He also knew that this kind of outrageous statement would earn him the free media attention ($1.9 billion worth and counting, according to the New York Times) that would propel his campaign.
This strategy did not go over well in all corners of the Trump empire. Ivanka, Trump’s 34-year-old daughter, had carefully tended her public image as the softer, more refined face of the Trump empire. Now her father’s hard-edged nativist rhetoric risked damaging not only her brand but her business. A few days after the announcement speech, Ivanka received a terse email from Kimberly Grant, the CEO of ThinkFood Group, the holding company behind celebrity chef José Andrés, whose restaurant was supposed to be the anchor tenant in one of Ivanka’s biggest projects: the $200 million redevelopment of the Old Post Office in Washington, D.C., into a luxury hotel.
“We need to talk. Getting crushed over DJT comments about Latinos and Mexicans,” Grant wrote her, according to legal filings.
Ivanka forwarded Grant’s email to her executives.
“Ugh,” one responded. “This is not surprising and would expect that this will not be the last that we hear of it. At least for formal, prepared speeches, can someone vet going forward? Hopefully the Latino community does not organize against us more broadly in DC / across Trump properties.”
Ivanka’s older brother, Donald Jr., also weighed in. “Yea I was waiting for that one. Let’s discuss in the am.”
Ivanka did her best to salvage the partnership. She asked her father to issue an apology, even submitting several drafts for him to release to the press. But he refused. “Rapists are coming into the country! You know I was right,” Trump later told me.
On July 8, Andrés backed out of the restaurant deal, citing Trump’s immigration comments. The two sides are now battling in court.
Despite any differences of opinion, Ivanka is by all accounts thrilled at the possibility of her dad becoming president. She managed to persuade him to support Planned Parenthood—at least the part of the organization that doesn’t provide abortions—an extreme position for a Republican to take. “She’s very much into the concept of women’s health issues,” Trump said. (He no doubt embarrassed her last week by saying that women should be punished for getting abortions if the procedure were outlawed, a position held by almost no one even in the pro-life community, and one Trump recanted several hours later.)
Ivanka also pushed him to act more “presidential,” but in one of our conversations, Trump said he disagrees: “You know, there’s a difference between being presidential when you’re now president of the United States than being presidential when you’re running against 17 other people.”
“No one can control him,” said Nunberg. Not even his family.
Ivanka’s husband, the real-estate scion and Observer owner Jared Kushner, has also gotten involved in the campaign, serving as an emissary to the Jewish community. He helped plan Trump’s trip to Israel last December, though it didn’t go exactly as planned. When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized Trump’s proposal to halt Muslim immigration, Trump canceled the trip. “This was all your idea!” Trump scolded his son-in-law, according to a source. He fared better with Trump’s AIPAC speech, which Kushner wrote with input from Observer editor Ken Kurson. It was one of the most subdued of his public statements so far, perhaps because it was the only one he has read from a Teleprompter.
Kushner has tapped his network in an attempt to help his father-in-law. He reached out to hedge-fund billionaire Paul Singer to introduce him to Trump (Singer declined), and during Trump’s feud with Fox, he called Rupert Murdoch to try to make peace (Murdoch told him to deal directly with Roger Ailes). But this is where Kushner’s involvement makes for the strangest of bedfellows. One of Trump’s most prominent endorsers, Chris Christie, happens to be the man who, as U.S. attorney, sent Jared’s father, Charles Kushner, to federal prison for tax fraud, among other felonies, in 2004.
Trump’s Team: Corey Lewandowski, campaign manager; Hope Hicks, press secretary; and Paul Manafort, campaign convention manager. Photo: Charlie Neibergall/AP/Jim Young/Reuters
One way in which Trump’s campaign is like others is that its advisers have jousted for primacy. Over the summer, Lewandowski became embroiled in a battle for control with Stone, Nunberg, and Cohen. The principal fault line was over Stone and Nunberg’s belief that Trump needed to invest money into building a real campaign infrastructure and Lewandowski’s contention that their current approach was working fine.
On July 31, the dispute spilled into public view when Business Insider published an article revealing racist Facebook posts Nunberg had written years earlier. Nunberg believed Lewandowski was involved in the leak, hoping to use it as a pretext to force him out of the campaign. “I have been told by past colleagues that he has bragged about ‘ratfucking’ me in private,” Nunberg said. Lewandowski adamantly disputes this. “I am denying 150 percent on my kids’ lives that I had anything to do with it,” he said.
Trump is not usually one to be put off by a few racist tweets, but Lewandowski convinced Trump that Nunberg needed to go. (Nunberg now supports Ted Cruz.) A week later, Stone quit, although he continues to advise Trump informally. Cohen remains in the Trump organization but is no longer part of the core political team.
Having won the power struggle with Nunberg and Stone, Lewandowski focused on letting “Trump be Trump,” which is what Trump wanted too. There would be no expensive television ad campaigns, no bus tours or earnest meet-and-greets at greasy spoons. Instead, the cornerstones of Trump’s strategy are stadium rallies and his ubiquitous presence on television and social media. “Mr. Trump is the star,” Hicks said.
Pundits have scoffed at this. Trump has no “ground game,” they say. His refusal to spend money on television ads spells disaster. But from the beginning, Trump knew he was onto something. “I remember I had one event in New Hampshire right next to Bush,” Trump told me. “I had 4,500 people, many people standing outside in the cold. Bush had 67 people! Right next door! And I said, ‘Why is he going to win?’ ”
The Trump team is on the road — or rather in the air — five to six days a week on average. Lewandowski, Hicks, Scavino, Donald Jr., and security chief Keith Schiller travel with Trump, while Glassner often stays behind at headquarters. When they travel, they live on the plane, returning to New York or Palm Beach at night whenever possible, even if it means flying in at 2 or 3 a.m.
When they’re in New York, Hicks spends most of her day sitting in Trump’s office with her laptop, fielding press inquiries and taking dictation from him to tweet. Lewandowski spends most of his time in the campaign office, organizing logistics. He’s said to approve every invoice himself. Trump has given them both free apartments at a nearby Trump building.
The small scale and near-constant proximity mean they can respond to events quickly. In February, when the pope suggested Trump might not be a Christian owing to his plan to build a wall along the border, the campaign struck back within minutes. “If and when the Vatican is attacked by isis, which as everyone knows is isis’s ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president,” his statement said. Lewandowski recalled how it happened: “We found out about it as Mr. Trump was giving a speech on Kiawah Island in South Carolina, and within three minutes or less, he provided the response to Hope.” (By contrast, Clinton’s tweets are vetted by layers of advisers. “It’s very controlled,” one said to me.)
But if speed is the advantage of the small campaign, insularity is its inherent disadvantage. By all accounts, Trump doesn’t seek much counsel beyond his staff and children. There is, of course, his circle of declared foreign-policy advisers whom no one had heard of, but it’s unclear how much he talks to those he cites publicly. Carl Icahn told me that Trump didn’t call him before he invoked his name as a potential Cabinet member. “I saw one day he was on TV talking about making Carl Icahn secretary of the Treasury,” Icahn said. “I’m certainly not going to be Treasury secretary.”
A conservative source close to the campaign told me that Trump only truly consults one person, Alabama Republican senator Jeff Sessions: “When Jeff Sessions calls, Trump listens.” It’s hard to overstate Sessions’s influence on trade and immigration policy within the GOP. As far back as 2007, Sessions led the right-wing revolt to scuttle comprehensive immigration reform. Trump set out to win his endorsement early, calling him shortly after he launched his campaign and asking him to advise him. Then, while in D.C. for the anti-Iran-nuclear-deal protest in September, he met privately with Sessions in the basement of the Capitol. “That was a very long meeting,” recalled Stephen Miller, then an adviser to Sessions. “They discussed immigration, taxes, welfare, the Supreme Court, and entitlements.”
Trump stayed in contact with Sessions throughout the fall and in January strengthened ties by hiring Miller to serve as his campaign’s policy adviser. A 30-year-old Duke philosophy grad, Miller grew up liberal in Los Angeles but converted to the right as a teenager after reading NRA president Wayne LaPierre’s book Guns, Crime and Freedom. He said Trump inspires him. “I am here because in the bottom of my heart I see this election as a last-chance election,” he told me.
Since then, Trump and Sessions seem only to have grown closer. Sessions stood with Trump onstage near Huntsville just before the Alabama primary in late February. And when Sessions called Trump last month and criticized him for coming out in favor of H-1B visas, which allow companies to recruit high-level talent abroad, Trump promptly changed his position. “Sessions has told him to get off the personal attacks,” the source told me. “He says, you’ve got a policy position that’s resonating with the country, just stay on illegal immigration.”
A Trump supporter sent in a rendering of a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
Meanwhile, the Trump team has poured almost all of its efforts into producing rallies down to the most minute details. At a Christmas-themed one I attended in Cedar Rapids in December, eight perfectly symmetrical Christmas trees lined the stage. As Lewandowski told me, “It’s all about the visual.” He requires reporters to stay behind metal barricades and positions television cameras for the most dramatic shots. “We want to know, what does it look like when he walks out on the stage?” Lewandowski said. “Sometimes we’ll allow cameras up close, sometimes we’ll show Mr. Trump on the rope line.” And the networks, hungry for ratings, have played by these strict rules.
Trump is personally very invested in the theater of the campaign. In August, his private 757 buzzed a football stadium in Mobile, Alabama, that was packed with 30,000 supporters. “I was sitting up front,” Trump recalled, “and I saw a tremendous crowd of people. I went up to the pilot, I said, ‘Hack a left here and go right over.’ And the people went crazy. It’s my instinct.” In Florida last month, Trump’s helicopter hovered over a rally in Boca Raton.
After the rallies, Trump makes sure his fans stay mobilized. Everyone who attends a rally has to register by email, and the campaign uses this list, which Lewandowski estimates is “in the millions at this point,” to turn out voters. Most campaigns spend a lot of money to acquire voter lists; Trump largely built his own. “If you look at what the Obama campaign achieved many years ago, they were successful at bringing new people in, and then communicating with those people. What we’re doing is not dissimilar,” Lewandowski explained. “He had a brilliant plan, which was to go in and attract huge crowds,” added Ed McMullen, Trump’s South Carolina co-chair. “We had extremely strong interaction with them, and we were dedicated to keeping track of who those people were.” Trump supporters receive frequent email updates and phone calls from phone-bank volunteers.
Trump has refined the rally concept over the course of the campaign. To save time and money, he now does events at airports. “We’ll take a hangar because it’s not as expensive as a ballroom,” Trump said. “Look at the rally we did in Mesa, Arizona, December 16th,” added Hicks. “That was the first one when we pulled the plane in and ‘Air Force One’ [the theme song of the 1997 movie starring Harrison Ford] was playing. It’s efficient. It’s for branding, and we don’t have to pay for the cars.”
His ad strategy, too, is inexpensive. Trump has aired only six unique TV commercials, according to Hicks, while his GOP rivals have aired more than two dozen separate ads each. Through February, he spent only $10 million on ads; Jeb Bush spent $82 million. Trump relies mostly on essentially free Instagram spots produced by 29-year-old Justin McConney, the son of Trump’s corporate comptroller, whom Trump put in charge of building his social-media profile a few years ago. (One ad he made that featured Hillary barking and Putin laughing got a ton of — free — press.)
Trump is cheap, and proud of it. Indeed, Lewandowski’s bonus for winning New Hampshire was a paltry $50,000. It’s part of Trump’s central argument: He will run the government like a business. (Though, truth be told, there are few businesses that operate the way his does: Trump’s company is primarily a marketing vehicle at this point, licensing his name to other firms’ developments.) “I don’t spend much money,” he told me. “In New Hampshire, I spent $2 million” — actually $3.7 million — “Bush spent $48 million” — actually $36.1 million — “I came in first in a landslide, he came in sixth” — actually fourth. “Who do you want as your president?”
Trump at a rally at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Ohio, March 14. Photo: Mark Makela/© The New York Times
This formula has worked thus far better than anyone, including Trump, could have imagined. When he launched his campaign, Trump suspected it would eventually fizzle and he would return to The Apprentice. “You know, when I first got into this, it was for other reasons,” he told a friend. As weeks and then months passed with him remaining out front, he began to think winning the nomination was a real possibility, even as he resisted calls to professionalize his campaign. Why bother, when what he was doing was working so well? But now the cracks are starting to show.
Lewandowski’s criminal charge is just the latest self-inflicted setback for the campaign. There was also the canceled Chicago rally that sparked a near riot; Trump’s inability to blunt the criticism over Trump University; and his woefully unprepared performances recently before the Washington Post and New York Times. Until last week, when Trump hired Manafort to oversee his delegate strategy, there was virtually no serious plan to wage a battle for delegates in anticipation of a contested convention. As of now, Cruz may secure more delegates in Louisiana despite losing to Trump in the primary (Trump says he’ll sue over this). A Republican official in Texas recently told Breitbart News Network that Trump has no visible delegate operation in the state. “I’ll buy the delegates,” Trump joked to a friend over dinner.
Trump demurred when I asked him about his strategy to win the nomination at a contested convention. “I have people looking at it,” he said. What about his intimation that there will be riots in the streets if he loses on a second ballot? “You will have a lot of very unhappy people,” he said coyly. The threat is thinly veiled given the violence associated with his campaign, especially after he told NBC he’d consider paying the legal fees of a white supporter who punched a black protester in the face.
One explanation for all this raggedness is that the Trump team is simply burned out. People who know Trump say they’ve never seen him so tired. Several months ago, he began wearing a bulletproof vest, two sources close to the campaign told me, which has added to his discomfort on the stump, leaving him sweaty and spent after events. And given that his unfavorables among women already are at ruinous levels (a CNN poll last month found that 73 percent of registered female voters held a negative view of Trump), his ill-advised comments about punishing abortion-seekers seem like they might have been a function of sheer exhaustion as well. Outrageous comments may have gotten him attention early on, but now Trump is talking about pivoting. “I’ll have to expand the team and the theme,” he told me.
Some have speculated that the arrival of Manafort and the shifting strategy of the campaign mean that Lewandowski’s role will be reduced, and not just because of the battery charge. People inside Trump’s world, while praising Lewandowski’s talents as an advance man, are privately expressing doubts about his strategic abilities. One prominent conservative told me Trump surrogate Jerry Falwell Jr. complained about Lewandowski’s brusque demeanor. Another source told me Ivanka doesn’t think Lewandowski can handle the pressures of the next stage and has told her father as much. “Generally, her feeling is he’s low-level and doesn’t have a good rep and is not going to bring her father to the next level,” the source explained. A third source close to the campaign suggested Glassner is taking a more hands-on role. Recently, he persuaded Trump to dump the campaign’s data analyst and recruit a more experienced consultant. But publicly, Trump is still standing by Lewandowski, coming to his defense after the battery charge.
If Trump makes it to the nomination, he will face other challenges for which he seems right now completely unprepared. He’ll have to rally at least some of the GOP Establishment, which he’s spent the last year vilifying. “People are calling me, that you have interviewed, that you see on television, who have total disdain for Donald Trump, and they’re calling to see if they can join the Trump train,” he said. During one conversation, he told me Paul Ryan called him “very nicely, twice.” But when I later checked that with Ryan’s communications adviser, Brendan Buck, he said the two spoke only once and it was after Trump’s office called. In recent days, Trump named a new “House Leadership Committee” headed by Republicans Duncan Hunter and Chris Collins. On March 31, he sat down with Priebus at RNC headquarters. There are plans to open a D.C. campaign office.
He will also have to figure out how to raise money. Trump won’t fund a general election himself, and he has no national fund-raising apparatus in place. During my tour of Trump’s campaign office, I overheard Glassner on the phone discussing the nascent state of their finance efforts. “I have to find a place for these rich guys to go to,” he said. “Dinners, receptions, events. We need everything, because we don’t have a finance committee.” It will be a hard sell for Trump, one of the hardest of his career, to persuade GOP donors to pony up, especially after his attacks on the donor class. Groups like the Club for Growth have been committed to stopping Trump. And the Koch brothers have also been unhappy; the assumption is that they will sit this election cycle out. In February, Trump got some encouraging news when Sheldon Adelson said at a Las Vegas gala that he would support Trump if he were the nominee. The campaign has been talking to veteran GOP fund-raiser Ray Washburne about taking outside money, according to the Washington Post.
Trump perked up when I asked him about the prospect of running against Hillary Clinton, as if that were the thing he looks forward to more than anything. “Oh, I’m the only one who will beat Hillary,” he said. “Look what happened two months ago when she brought up the sexist thing about me. They went into a deep coma. They had a rough weekend, the two of them.” He began to impersonate a conversation between Bill and Hillary. “He’s saying, ‘Why did you say that?’ And she’s saying, ‘You sonofabitch.’ Because of his past problems.” Trump smiled.
A confluence of factors created the conditions for this election and Trump’s surprising success in it: the turbulence of economic change, anxiety about terrorism, the rise of social media, Obama-inspired racism, Hillary-inspired misogyny, resistance to all manner of social change; the list can go on and on. But one factor that’s been particularly crucial to Trump’s rise may be the way that reality television, cable news, and talk radio have shaped the culture’s sense of “reality” — in other words, its relationship to truth. If Ronald Reagan showed us that Hollywood was good training for politics, Trump is proving that the performance skills one learns in the more modern entertainment arenas are even more useful. Talk and reality shows are improvised operations, mastered by larger-than-life personalities expert at distorting and provoking, shifting and commandeering attention.
As Trump sees it, his television instincts are better than any of the network executives. “CNN is up 75 percent because of me. Call Jeff Zucker and you ask him. Because of me. You know 1010 wins? They say ‘All news all the time.’ CNN is called ‘All Trump all the time.’ ” The same goes for Roger Ailes. “You know my weekly call-in at 7:15” — on Fox & Friends — “was the highest-rated 15 minutes of the show.”
But a couple of things happen when reality-TV standards are applied to politics: One is that the level of sleaze gets so high that nothing is shocking — casual racism, misogyny, a campaign manager charged with battery, allegations about candidates’ affairs or sexual orientations, constant gossip about “even worse” revelations on all sides to come (“Tune in next week!”). This primary season would seem implausible if it were fiction. But as reality TV, it’s spot-on.
The other phenomenon is that everyone is assumed to be playing a role at some level, so it’s hard to tell what is real and what is just for attention. Trump has already started using this as a strategy to help him try to pivot to the general election. Those terrible things he said about and to women while playing himself on The Apprentice? Oh, he was just in character. He was playing “himself,” not being himself. The way he acted so unpresidentially in the primary? Oh, that was just to break out of the pack of all those pesky other candidates with some good ol’ provocation. And aren’t you glad? Because now that the field is almost clear, he can start to be presidential.
But I suspect Trump will have a hard time pivoting — not because of what he has said in the past, but because this is the script he knows best. He has been cultivating the character of “Donald Trump” for decades now, and it seems apparent that he can’t turn it off. Back at Trump Tower, it was striking how often he kept going back to the well of The Apprentice, unprompted.
“They wanted to renew The Apprentice with me so badly,” he told me. “Steve Burke” — CEO of NBCUniversal — “good guy, came out and sat right in that chair along with the head of NBC. ‘Please, please, I want you to renew. The Apprentice, after 14 seasons, is still a big hit.’ I said I’m not going to do it, because I’m going to run for president. They didn’t believe it, so they renewed anyway. Then I ran. Now they have Arnold Schwarzenegger. Let’s see how Arnold does. I hope it does well, because I still have a big chunk of it.”
He talked about it almost wistfully. Now that his campaign seems more vulnerable, I can’t help but wonder if sometimes he wishes he could go back to a reality show where he can’t be fired.
*This article appears in the April 4, 2016 issue of New York Magazine.
Editor's Note: The online version of this article was updated after press time to reflect that the Trump campaign has 94 people on its payroll, including state- and local-level employees, according to the latest FEC filing.Andrew Hone/Getty Images
Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen are two of the superstars of the last decade of Formula One. They have combined for 59 grand prix victories since 2003 and between them have won five of the last eight drivers' championships.
Now, they are team-mates at Ferrari.
One year ago, Ferrari looked to have the best driver line-up on the grid, partnering Raikkonen with another former world champ, Fernando Alonso. They promptly produced the Scuderia's worst season since the dark years of the early 1990s before Michael Schumacher arrived in Maranello.
Of course, the blame does not fall only (or even mostly) on the drivers' shoulders. Ferrari's engine was underpowered compared to the Mercedes power unit, and Raikkonen, in particular, was never comfortable in the car.
Even Alonso, who for years coaxed the maximum performance out of subpar Ferraris, could only manage two podium finishes. Still, had Raikkonen been able to match Alonso's points total, the team would have finished third in the constructors' championship ahead of Williams. Instead, they were closer to McLaren in fifth.
Now, Alonso is off to McLaren, replaced by Vettel, who also struggled in 2014. After four straight championships, he was soundly beaten by team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.
And so, here we are. Ferrari have two very good drivers coming off down years. They are also friends.
"The guy I have most to do with outside of racing is Vettel," Raikkonen told CNN's Sarah Holt and Amanda Davies. "The rest I don't really see as friends—I race against them."
What could go wrong?
But Raikkonen and Vettel won't be fighting for the title this year—Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne recently admitted the new car is behind schedule, per ESPN F1—so their friendship will not undergo the same strain Hamilton and Rosberg's did last year.
It will be interesting to see whether Ferrari gives preference to one driver over the other, though. Vettel is clearly the team's future, being eight years younger than Raikkonen, who is nearing the end of his career.
During the Schumacher glory years, Rubens Barrichello was the clear No. 2 behind the German champion. Even during the less glorious Alonso years, the Spaniard was given preferential treatment over Felipe Massa—remember the "Fernando is faster than you" incident?
The difference in the current situation is Raikkonen. He is so laid-back that it probably does not matter to him whether he is the first, second or 15th driver on his team. He just wants to drive fast and have fun. And he believes he can do that with Vettel as a team-mate.
"We try to beat each other all the time, but we can have fun and get things done in a good way," Raikkonen said, per Autosport's Jonathan Noble, after Vettel was announced as his new team-mate.
Both men will also have to overcome their struggles with the new technical regulations introduced for 2014, which meant less aerodynamic downforce, more torque from the new engines and a new brake-by-wire system.
One of the biggest problems for Raikkonen was the lack of front-end grip on the Ferrari F14 T, as ESPN F1's Laurence Edmondson explained.
Vettel, conversely, was thought to be struggling with the reduction in rear grip on his Red Bull, given the ban on blown rear diffusers. However, Vettel said his problems were more complicated than just that one issue, according to the BBC's James Galloway.
Now, one must wonder whether the benefit of an extra year working with the Ferrari engineers and designers will give Raikkonen an advantage on the track. The team knows what he wants out of the car and were working to provide it for him last year. Vettel was comparatively late to the party and will not have had nearly as much input into the design of the 2015 car.
But Vettel is a long-term project for Ferrari. For now, it is enough that he has energized their fanbase and brought new hope to the team.
After a large-scale culling of the team at the end of last year, 2015 will be a rebuilding season for the Scuderia. Victories are not expected.
They will be in the near future, though. And in the meantime, we can enjoy what should be an entertaining duel between two world champions—although we thought that about Raikkonen and Alonso last year too.
Follow me on Twitter for updates when I publish a new article and for other (mostly) F1-related news and banter:
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COHOES, N.Y. (NEWS10) - Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton made a stop at Cohoes High School Monday evening as part of her campaign trail toward potentially winning the democratic nomination for president.
A large crowd gathered in the gymnasium of Cohoes High School on Monday. Supporters as well as those who are undecided in the upcoming election came to hear the former U.S. Secretary of State speak about the changes and policies she would implement if elected president of the United States.
Clinton made her way to the stage with Rep. Paul Tonko and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand by her side. Both spoke Clinton's praises before the presidential hopeful took the microphone.
As a former senator from New York, Clinton began her speech discussing issues that have plagued Upstate New York, including failing infrastructure and unclean drinking water.
#HillaryClinton talking about the |
in Nuremberg, Bavaria into a middle-class family. He received his early musical training from Heinrich Schwemmer, a prolific tutor at the time. Pachelbel was attributed with exceptional music and academic ability and went to the University of Altdorf whilst working as an organist for St. Lorenz’ Church. Financial difficulties resulted in him having to leave Altdorf to be a scholarship student back in Bavaria at Regensburg he received this scholarship due to his impressive academic qualifications.
By 1673 Pachelbel was living in Vienna as deputy organist at Saint Stephen’s Cathedral, though it was not yet the seat of the Archbishop it was still a very prestigious position. Vienna was the cultural centre of the powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire and was home to many famous composers. Pachelbel spent 5 years here absorbing all he could from musical talent in Vienna.
In 1677 Pachelbel moved to Eisenach (Central Germany) as the court organist in the employ of Johann Georg I, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach. Here he also met the Bach family and became a life-long friend of Johann Ambrosius Bach (Johann Sebastian’s father), here Pachelbel also tutored the older Bach children. His time in Eisenach did not last long however as upon the death of the Duke many music positions were culled, including Pachelbel’s.
Pachelbel moved to Erfurt in 1678 as organist of Predigerkirche, thanks in part to his friendship with the Bach family who were well known in Erfurt. He remained entwined with the Bach family and worked for twelve years in Erfurt. His renown and skill grew dramatically during this time and in 1683 he published his first work at age 35, late for composer standards. His work was inspired by the death of his wife and only son to plague, the choral variations were titled “Musicalische Sterbens-Gedancken (Music Thoughts on Death). He later remarried and had 7 children.
He sought a better position in 1690 and moved to the court of his patron Duchess Magdalena Sibylla, where he worked for 2 years before fleeing from the French during the Nine Year’s War (France v Europe). He then worked as court organist at Gotha, and published his only liturgical collection in 1692. In 1695 he was invited to the position of organist at St Sebaldus’ Church back home in Nuremberg, he lived and worked in Nuremberg for the rest of his life, most of his work was published during this time.
Whilst Palchelbel was relatively famous in Germany during his life, his posthumous influence was limited. It wasn’t until the early 19th century that his work saw a resurgence and was truly appreciated.
The Music
O bone Jesu, fili Mariae (SWV 471) – Schutz: This feels like a large jump from what I listened to last week. Last week was a departure from typical sacred music, whilst this seems to have taken elements from traditional sacred music and secular music to create something new entirely. Musically there seems to be two distinct parts, solo vocal+instruments and a chorus. I quite enjoyed it honestly, seems to be a good balance for sacred music.
Sonata in G Major (BuxWV 273) – Buxtehude: A sonata! A musical form I recognise and absolutely love. This piece is beautifully crafted and typically Baroque, limited in emotion but mechanically so good. It’s very elated, a signature style of fast strings.
Sonata in B-Flat Major (BuxWV 273) – Buxtehude: This had a great sense of rhythm, and I enjoyed the way the instruments talked to each other, joyful and playful. However it was this point that I had my revelation. The Baroque period struggles with subtlety, and does not yet recognise the beauty of minimalism. Everything is more or less going at once, it’s amazing that that the composer is able to keep it harmonic and the skill to write something like this is insane. That is what the Baroque period is to me, the brilliance of having so much still sound good, yet sometimes less can be more, especially with strings.
Sonata in C Major (BuxWV 266) – Buxtehude: What I said about Buxtehude’s other sonatas more or less applies here. This particular piece was very intense and fast, it was impressive performance and typically Baroque.
Partie (Suite) in G Major – Pachelbel: I enjoyed this more, it seemed to capture subtlety a bit better. In addition there was a very impressive stylistic range between each part.
Partie (Suite) in E Minor – Pachelbel: More impressive strings with the occasional great intonation typical of later periods. The strings had great range, excitable and fast at times yet could also be more subtle and refined.
Aria con variazioni in A Major – Pachelbel: This was slower than previous pieces which was a nice change. It had a nice rhythm, and a particularly calm part (6 mins) which was refreshing to the usual barrage.
Overall it may sound like I am being negative toward this music but that’s not entirely true. A lot of pieces from today were very similar; same instruments, same style, just a slightly different execution. It can get tiring to listen to over an hour of many different pieces of music that are all very similar, if I had listened to each piece individually over a longer period I would’ve appreciated it much more. You can listen to any excerpt from the music today and it would all sound brilliant, because it is. It’s very very very well crafted, beyond my narrow comprehension.
Anyway, thank you for reading. Last week was my most successful week, which I feel was deserved because I think it was the best I have written so far. Next week we are focusing heavily on opera works of Henry Purcell which I am actually pretty excited for, should be some room for creative format and writing so stay tuned.
-27.471011 153.023449At least 30 people were killed in landslides triggered by heavy rainfall in West Bengal's Darjeeling district early on Wednesday even as more reports of major damages were pouring in.
The incessant rainfall that hit the district on Tuesday night triggered major landslides all across the hills and swept away many houses when people were deep in their sleep. Kalimpong alone received more than 200mm of rainfall.
At least 19 people were killed after their houses were swept away by the landslides at Tingling Tea Garden under Mirik block of Kurseong sub-division. In Kalimpong sub-division, at least seven persons are believed to be dead.
Authorities said while seven houses were swept away at Tingling's Limbudhura, three people were killed when their house came under the mud at Mahindragaon in Mirik and two people were killed at Thana Line.
A bridge washed away by landslide at Mirik in Darjeeling district. (HT Photo)
"Seven, five and one bodies have been recovered from Mirik, Kalimpong and Sukhiapokhari respectively and 10 people are still missing in Mirik," said Darjeeling district magistrate Anurag Srivastava.
Roshan Thapa, a local resident engaged in rescue operation, said many bodies are yet to be recovered.
The landslides have also damaged many roads all across the district and the Rakti bridge connecting Mirik with Siliguri has been swept away by the flood near Simulbari.
"Roads have been damaged at several places and we are moving earth removing equipment to the affected areas. We are also seeking the army's help to restore road connectivity that has been severed at many places in the district," said Srivastava.
Border Roads Organisation's chief engineer SS Porwal said strategic National Highway 10, which connects Sikkim with the rest of the country, has been hit by further landslides at Sethijhora under Kalimpong sub-division and is closed.
"Things are really very bad," said Porwal.
First Published: Jul 01, 2015 11:14 ISTHi, this is the Probirth teams official Tumblr blog, which we’ve created to post various updates and the development progress for our mod.
We’ll let you know that the team has been hard at work ever since the official announcement reddit post. As for your criticism and feedback, we’re listening! Every art related complaint has been forwarded to our team of spriters. On top of that, due to the negative reception towards our mods name, we have decided to rebrand now, before it’s too late. The mod will now be called The Binding of Isaac: The Devil’s Harvest and you’ll find out how it ties in with the inner lore of the mod soon enough. To avoid making new social media accounts however, our team will remain called the Probirth team.
As we move forward, community criticism is going to be an integral part in the development of this mod, allowing us to shape the mod’s future the way the community wants it. The opening of our Tumblr blog allows YOU (yes, you!) to submit questions and have our community representatives answer any burning questions you may have for us! We see all our fans as equal and aim to hear whatever suggestions or complaints you have for the Probirth mod team because without you - we’re nothing!
For now, we’re just going to leave you with a screenshot of one of our new bosses for the Hive floor (since you thought we didn’t showcase enough!). Make sure to follow our blog expect to see some frequent updates regarding the progress on The Devil’s Harvest.In 1922, the Queensland politicians of the day decided to disband the Legislative Council. The Upper House. The House of Review. It was not a decision of The People of Queensland, nor was it their will.
It was a political expedient to remove barriers to dictatorial control of the State of Queensland for the benefit of political parties and those who controlled them, i.e. companies, now more expressively known as corporations.
The passage of draconian laws recently by the Legislative Assembly, where one coalition of parties holds a huge percentage of the seats in that house, demonstrates that we need the Legislative Council as a House of Review to prevent further introduction of laws that remove the rights of The People.
The current "government" of Queensland is out of the control of The People and needs to be reined in and that can only be properly be done by a Legislative Council.1700 words
In part I, I showed how Dale Russel’s contention that the troodon would have evolved into a bipedal ‘dinosauroid’ with human locomotion and a human-sized brain was pure fantasy. I ordered the book of his that Rushton cited in his book Race, Evolution, and Behavior and I finally received it last week. When I read the relevant parts, I yawned because it’s the same old stuff that I’ve covered here on this blog numerous times. Since literally the only relevant part in the book about the troodon is the final 7 pages, that’s what I will cover today—along with a few more lines of evidence that large brains lie outside reptilian design (Gould, 1989).
First off, all of Rushton’s contentions in the final pages of his book (Rushton, 1997) need to be rebutted. Rushton (1997: 294) writes that dinosaur brains were ‘progressing’ in size for 140 million years, but neither of Russel’s writings that I have (Russel 1983; 1989) have the statement in them.
In the book Up From Dragons: The Evolution of Human Intelligence neuroscientist, evolutionary psychologist John Skoyles and science writer Dorian Sagan—the son of Carl Sagan—speak briefly about reptilian intelligence and why they wouldn’t have reached our levels of intellect:
But cold-bloodedness is a dead-end for the great story of this book—the evolution of intelligence. Certainly reptiles could evolve huge sizes, as they did over vast sweeps of Earth as dinosaurs. But they never could have evolved our quick-witted and smart brains. Being tied to the sun restricts their behavior: Instead of being free and active, searching and understanding the world, they spend too much time avoiding getting too hot or too cold. (Skoyles and Sagan, 2002: 12)
Hopson (1977: 443) writes:
I would argue, as does Feduccia (44), that the mammalian/avian levels of activity claimed by Bakker for dinosaurs should be correlated with a great increase in motor and sensory control and this should be reflected in increased brain size. Such an increase is not indicated by most dinosaur endocasts.
Most importantly, if some dinosaurs DID have bird-sized brains, the above contention would still hold. Hopson concludes that, except for coelurosaurs “the range of behaviors that existed in dinosaurs, as inferred from trackways and skeletal morphology, may not have lain much outside the observed range in ectothermic crocodilians” (Hopson, 1977: 444).
Since the conjecture/’thought experiment’ of the troodon was rebutted last week, it’s pretty conclusive that large brains lie outside of reptilian design; they need to spend so much time avoiding getting too hot or cold—as well as hunt and eat—so exploring the world and learning was not possible for them—along with the fact that they didn’t have a primate morphology and thus didn’t have the ability to fully manipulate their environment as we do which would further select for larger brains. However, as Hopson (1977) notes, animals with higher metabolic rates had larger brains; coelurosaurs had high metabolic rates and the largest dinosaur brains (Russel, 1983; 1989)—but that doesn’t mean they would have eventually evolved human-like intelligence, bipedalism or brain size and to say otherwise is fantasy.
Furthermore, there is large variation in encephalization and encephalization is not universal in mammals (Shultz and Dunbar, 2010).
Here is the thing about brain size increases: it is a local level trend. A local level trend is a trend that occurs within one or a few related species. This is exactly what characterized brain evolution; there is large variation depending on what the environment calls for (Boddy et al, 2012; Montgomery et al, 2012; see also island gigantism; Bromham and Cardillo, 2007; Welch, 2009; and also see the deep sea rule; Mcclain, Boyer, and Rosenberg, 2006). So these local trends differ by species—even one population split by, say, 50 miles of water will speciate and become evolve a completely different phenotype due to the environment of time. That is evolution by natural selection; local change, not any inherent or intrinsic ‘progress’ (Gould, 1996).
The same local level trend occurs with parasites. Now think about parasites. The get selected for ‘complexity’ or a decrease in ‘complexity’ depending on what occurs in their host. Now, looking at it from this perspective, the body is the host’s environment while the earth is ours; so my example for an environmental change would be, as usual, the asteroid impact hitting the earth blocking out the sun and decreasing high-quality food all throughout the earth. Surely I don’t need to tell you what would occur…
Russel (1989) writes:
Examples of evolutionary changes that occured at ever-increasing speeds include the initial diversification of animals in the sea 650 and 550 million years ago, the attainment of tree stature in land plants between 410 and 360 million years ago, and the diversification of mammals between 200 million years ago and the present. Changes like this have resulted in increased organismal complexity, which, in combination with a general increase in number of species, has made the biosphere of the modern Earth so much richer than it was several hundred million years ago. It is reasonable to suppose that animals living in a complex environment might find it advantageous to possess complex nervous systems in order to have access to a greater variety of responses. Indeed, the largest proportion of brain weight in an animal has also increased at an ever-increasing rate across geological time. The brain has become evidently larger in animals as diverse as insects, mollusks, and backboned creatures. Relative brain size can be taken as an indication of biotic interactions.
He references time periods that correspond with decimations (mass extinctions). Decimations lead to diversification. Think back to the Cambrian Explosion. During the Cambrian Explosion, many more lifeforms existed than can be currently classified. Therefore, according to the decimation and diversification model, greater diversity of life existed in the past. When decimations (defined as a reduction in the anatomical forms of life from mass extinction) occur, the niches that become extinct quickly become filled.
The time periods that Russel references are when mass extinctions occurred. This is how diversification occurs. What allowed for this ‘organismal complexity’ and increase in the number of species (though body plans are limited due to the Burgess Decimation) is due to the decimations. Decimation and diversification proves that evolution is not progressive.
A ‘trend’ in biology is directional change in a group stat using the mean, median or mode. Any existence of a trend from the mean (‘progress’) tells us nothing about the underlying mechanisms behind it.
To wrap this all up, even if a trend in X were to be discovered, it still wouldn’t tell us a thing about the underlying mechanisms causing it, nor will it tell us about any increasing tendency.
The analogy of the drunkard’s walk (Gould, 1996) is why ‘progress’ doesn’t make sense. Further, niche construction matters as well. When organisms construct their own niches, change occurs based on those niche constructions. Milk-drinking 8kya in Europe and African farmers diverting water for their crops having mosquitoes come by and gaining a resistance to malaria are two examples of niche construction (Laland et al, 2009). That’s another barrier to progress!
In sum, Dale Russel says nothing I’ve not heard before in regards to ‘progressive’ evolution. He only describes ever-increasing ‘complexity’ which is due to decimations and further diversification by organisms to fill empty niches. Any type of ‘progress’ would have been stymied by mass extinctions.
Further, the fact that species can consciously—in a way—guide their own evolution through the manipulation of the environment once again shows how evolution doesn’t mean progress—it literally only means local change and any type of local change, no matter to what type of environment, will cause concurrent increases/decreases on whichever relevant traits that will give the organism the best chance for survival in that environment.
This is why evolution is not progressive; and even if scientists were to identify one thing, still, a causal mechanism won’t be able to be inferred. Ruseel (1989) describes right and left walls of complexity—nothing more. Dinosaurs didn’t have the body plans to have our brain size, bipedalism and intelligence, nor did they have the right type of blood, nor did they have the time to search and learn about the world due to being constrained to their cold-blooded system—being a slave to the sun, always attempting to avoid overheating or getting too cold (Skoyles and Sagan, 2002). The so-called ‘dinosauroid’ is an impossibility and implies a teleological lean to evolution—as if our morphology (or something similar from an unrelated organism) will always evolve if we replay the tape of life again (Gould, 1989; 1996). This is what Russel is pretty much arguing, and he is 100 percent wrong as noted above.
References
Bromham, L., & Cardillo, M. (2007). Primates follow the ‘island rule’: implications for interpreting Homo floresiensis. Biology Letters,3(4), 398-400. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2007.0113
Boddy, A. M., Mcgowen, M. R., Sherwood, C. C., Grossman, L. I., Goodman, M., & Wildman, D. E. (2012). Comparative analysis of encephalization in mammals reveals relaxed constraints on anthropoid primate and cetacean brain scaling. Journal of Evolutionary Biology,25(5), 981-994. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2012.02491.x
Gould, S. J. (1989). Wonderful life: the Burgess Shale and the nature of history. New York: Norton.
Gould, S. J. (1996). Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin. New York: Harmony Books.
Hopson, J. A. (1977). Relative Brain Size and Behavior in Archosaurian Reptiles. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics,8(1), 429-448. doi:10.1146/annurev.es.08.110177.002241
Laland, K. N., Odling-Smee, J., Feldman, M. W., & Kendal, J. (2009). Conceptual Barriers to Progress Within Evolutionary Biology. Foundations of Science, 14(3), 195–216. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10699-008-9153-8
Mcclain, C. R., Boyer, A. G., & Rosenberg, G. (2006). The island rule and the evolution of body size in the deep sea. Journal of Biogeography,33(9), 1578-1584. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2006.01545.x
Montgomery, S. H., Capellini, I., Barton, R. A., & Mundy, N. I. (2010). Reconstructing the ups and downs of primate brain evolution: implications for adaptive hypotheses and Homo floresiensis. BMC Biology,8(1), 9. doi:10.1186/1741-7007-8-9
Russell, D. A. (1983). Exponential evolution: Implications for intelligent extraterrestrial life. Advances in Space Research,3(9), 95-103. doi:10.1016/0273-1177(83)90045-5
Russell, D. A. (1989). An Odyssey in Time: The Dinosaurs of North America. Minocqua, WI: Published by NorthWord Press in association with National Museum of Natural Sciences.
Rushton J P ( ). Race, Evolution, and Behavior. A Life History Perspective (Transaction, New Brunswick, London).
Shultz, S., & Dunbar, R. (2010). Encephalization is not a universal macroevolutionary phenomenon in mammals but is associated with sociality. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,107(50), 21582-21586. doi:10.1073/pnas.1005246107
Skoyles, J. R., & Sagan, D. (2002). Up From Dragons: The Evolution of Human Intelligence. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Welch, J. J. (2009). Testing the island rule: primates as a case study. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,276(1657), 675-682. doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.1180
AdvertisementsOK, I’m going to take a giant shit here. Can’t help it. We’re dealing with the INFJ woman’s love nature here and I can be nothing but honest (and a little messy) in this endeavor. What this means is that I have largely refrained from editing and dressing all this shit up into something neat and palatable. It is in the spirit of her implied Scorpio Moon that I present to you the following reeking clusterfuck of her garbagesque drives in this respect.
Down below (where she wants to go), I make references to this whole Fi id position that I came up with as a way to explain facets of the INFJ type that are not accounted for in prevailing descriptions of them. This Fi id of INFJ has two main components that are referenced as implied astrological positions throughout this clusterfuck article: An implied Scorpio Moon position, which acts as a normative id position, and an implied 12th house Fi Pisces, which often acts suddenly and overwhelmingly as a finalizing agent of the id that threatens to completely usurp the dominant orientation and reestablish the ego along its lines.
Also, this article is brought to you by popular demand. I trust that all the INFJ women who begged me for this information will know what to do with it.
Umm, what I mean is…
ENJOY!
What does INFJ woman do in a romantic/sexual relationship?
INFJ woman introjection of man. Swallowing, taking in whole. Like an intimacy that is an effrontery.
Dominance through submission. Hard submissive.
What is her goal in relating to a man?
Claims that she wants intimacy and understanding. It is hard to feel satisfied by any would-be man in this respect. Never enough. Neverending well of Fi (Pisces 12 th house implicated).
house implicated). But, what she does is devour the man and she does it under the guise of love and simple claims of needing intimacy. The reality is that entering into relationship with her is deadly on the emotional level.
Why? Because she is not in control of her nature here. Fi id of INFJ is akin to “the worst are full of passionate intensity” line from the Yeat’s poem, The Second Coming. Like Scorpio, it is either too strong or too weak. On the one hand, she needs to stay unsatisfied to stay interested, and this is like a game, but if she isn’t satisfied then she rebels and asks for more, more, more! Paying a lot of attention to the partner and what she isn’t getting from him.
Yet, if he does give it to her as much as he can then she will grow tired of him, lose respect because he has given into her, at which point she will go to sleep on him and husk. Meanwhile, there is a dead corpse on him emotionally, like an angry dead corpse. She won’t leave the relationship but will feed off of him in some way.
So, either way it is exhausting to her and him.
INFJ woman (Implied Scorpio Moon) really wants a man that she can respect. This means a man that doesn’t give in to the feminine power games of manipulation, power plays, vaginal power of castration, emasculation (subtle usually), getting absorbed in her, bonding to her etc.
However, she also craves a man that can meet her at a deep level or else she won’t feel satisfied. She might respect the man but still feel like he can’t satisfy her deep itch.
So, what does this bitch really want? Can she be satisfied at this Fi level?
Well, in light of the general dynamic of INFJ woman’s extremely strong passionate nature which she is weak to and a victim of, yet an enactor of nonetheless, she can’t help herself when it is activated/roused. She can’t resist the pull of the undertow.
And that’s what it is. She wants to go down and down and down. Deeper.
I guess her complaint is that no man can reach her depths.
What would happen if he did?
Like I’ve said before, another INFJ might do this, but, then they are liable to both be fucked. Because they are in this drive to death type thing that is linked to love.
At any rate, most men can’t go there so there will be two types of men – those that try to please her and those that just take control of her and won’t go there with her.
She respects the latter because he is strong, solar, and immune to her deadly and weak feminine wiles. This is basically a man that won’t allow himself to be weakened in will by giving into her.
Another dynamic here is that I think many INFJ women are a bit surprised about this power that they have. It is always something a bit alien to them perhaps. On a conscious level they aren’t likely to be aware of it.
Then there is the man that is willing to please her. I just have to think on some level that INFJ women are instinctively disdainful of men like this despite all their conscious claims to the contrary. Just my gut feeling on it.
The basic conundrum
An INFJ woman I know had a conundrum herself. She had a choice between two men in her life, one an ENTP and the other an INFJ. The ENTP is perfect for her in every way except this deep longing that she has for emotional connection. ENTPs cannot provide this, which is why I’ve said they are the perfect partner for an INFJ. They pretty much just completely circumvent and nullify the INFJ id, rendering it a non-issue.
The only type that could meet an INFJ at their id and probably satisfy that deep longing is another INFJ. This is liable to be one of the love relationships of epic order. However, it is fatal and tragic in aspect. Love to death.
The INFJ woman mentioned the possibility of both. That is the Venus in Cancer (implied Venus position of INFJ) tendency towards triangles in love. And now that I think about it that may be the natural Venus position of INFJ. The swoon. The Beatles early heavenly giddy teenage love songs. The hysterical girls that pass out in a fit of giddy love.
I hadn’t thought of that before this consciously, but, in my INFJ articles I usually give the solution to all these Fi id-derived problems as Fe, so maybe that would imply Venus in Cancer, as well as the Sun in Fe Pisces (INFJ has an implied Pisces Sun).
What I mean is, yeah, don’t only expand your love impulse out into wider social networks but also have two relationships at once or multiple shorter-term love relationships. This would be the two aspects of Fe in INFJ (Cancer and Fe Pisces) as there are the two id Fi positions for them as well (Scorpio and Fi Pisces).
So, polygamy polyamory maybe is the solution specifically for the Fi urge in INFJ to focus so much on one relationship and getting as much as you can from one partner. Venus in Cancer (implied Venus of INFJ) seems to indicate that colorful, giddy teenage love feeling. But, then, it is over after the infatuation phase passes. I think that is what Venus in Cancer implies – being interested in the first throngs of love. It isn’t love in the deep sense, but, love in the sensational, swooning sense. Like all the girls that loved the Beatles. They love them in that Venus in Cancer hysterical way. That’s not true love. This type of love is heightened by the unavailability of the love-object. Or that other girls are having them too, which makes them more desirable and dreamy.
Solution = have two lovers at a time. Probaly not too much more than that, because, after all, INFJs aren’t really players. But, two seems right. Like another INFJ girl I know mentions wanting to be a passive participant in a married couple’s life. Yes, I could see that. Cancer doesn’t really want to be responsible. It’s like they want to enter an established thing and be the charming baby that is moodily there when it wants to be and gone when it doesn’t. Also, it could keep INFJ out of the jealousy thing because that other person wasn’t theirs in the first place. That person was already married or together with another person first. So, it was never under the guise of that other person belonging to them exclusively.
I think INFJ would make great lovers who are a kind of a third wheel that might enter into an established and maybe somewhat boring and staid relationship and liven it up a bit. Secret lovers.
Cancer and Cuckolding
If INFJ is married they may fantasize about someone else entering into the relationship. Maybe guy INFJs would enjoy the fantasy of another man fucking his wife and he is the cuckold.
Maybe this is where the pussy-eating thing comes from. I think Cancer is the sign that most like to eat pussy and be smothered and all that. I see the women INFJs wanting their pussies eaten and the men wanting to eat pussy. The women would more embody the implied Cancerian Venus (and the implied Scorpio Moon) than the INFJ man, who would more seek that type of women.
But, INFJ women aren’t dominant in the sense of the Se and Te thing. It is more just a passive and strong magnetism and receptivity to this, and also with that certain type of man, like the one who tries to please her.
With the more dominant man that she craves, she would be more liable and open to being completely owned and used for whatever the man desires. But, the key is he has to be believable this way for her, make her feel really slutty and trashy, treat her like a little fuck slave slut. But, she won’t let on that she is really like this. The guy has to make the hard moves and make this side of her come out. On a conscious level, she is liable to maintain a certain dignity and exemption from all of this. To her more secret self, she longs to be penetrated like the hard mystery that she is. She longs for the dominance over her rogue and uncertain nature, for someone to master her, bust her ass open, and plow away at her like no tomorrow. In her deepest self, this is what she really wants.
And yet, yes, she still does want that love and true understanding of her. But, she doesn’t really respect this. And she is like a dangerous and double-tongued snake in this regard. She doesn’t know herself well enough here (often) to know what she really wants. She doesn’t want understanding. She wants to be violated and made to serve to someone that she can believe in as a source of power and will.
It’s like a ruse or a surface trick kind of thing, to weed out the weaklings. If you give her what she often claims she wants, then you will be dead meat. If you fall in love with her, ugh, that is such a turn off on some level to her.
Why?
Because she doesn’t respect anyone that will have her as a member of their club. On a deep level, the INFJ woman believes she is shit and worthless. This is true for healthy or unhealthy INFJs. It is just a thing of the primal and coarsely-developed and regressive id nature. Yes, on other levels she doesn’t believe that. But, in the id, it is always like this. The id is dumb, can’t learn, can’t change etc.
So, every INFJ has that trap door in themselves that never changes, that self that lies there under its halter, saddle, and whatever things you lay on top of it to control it. Deep down every INFJ feels culpable, dirty, shameful, lustful, hellhoundish, dark, disarrayed, infinitely susceptible etc. And because they have this id, like a law of physics, this is the way they must feel deep down as a rule.
INFJs may be a lot of things but what drives them deep down is a conviction of the skankiness and through-and-through jaded and innocence-long-since-faded, and well…just the whole Scorpion nature which cannot be changed. And in the INFJ the Scorpion nature is in its most fallen and negative and black state, so, not high Scorpio. It can’t really change, it can only be sublimated, or rather, other selves can be engaged to rise above it. Taken at its own level with no checks and balances from anywhere else the INFJ Scorpio Moon is primed to sting and usurp and be treacherous and mutinous and hellish and burning and passionate, antisocial, hateful of society, sexually demonic and low-level astral, wanting to be possessed by desire, jealousy, sexual perversions of a low order and so on.
That will never change. It can be chastened, made conscious, expressed etc. but not changed in nature. It can probably even be drained off over time but still it has the same basic structure and will fill back up again in the same way. Like in AA where they say that the pickle is always a pickle and can’t go back to being a cucumber and how your disease (addiction) is growing there all the time with you even though you are no longer actively using and giving into it. The id is a self that can’t grow, learn, etc.
So, the basic solution
Because the id is like this and cannot change, if left fully to its own desires or engaged by putting oneself in situations that rely heavily on the function that falls at this position, you will get pretty predictable results.
That is why I have said INFJs in sexual-romantic relationships is a breeding ground for downgoings and downfalls. I basically said it is futile for INFJ to be in long-term sexual/romantic relationships because they will devour the beloved (Fi Scorpio Moon) under the guise of trying to save them (12th house Fi).
Or they will want to be saved themselves. But, I don’t think I mentioned that in the article proper. It is more that I was saying that they present as these perfectly understanding creatures, which, of course, draws people to them for relationship prospects, but, they are like a mirage in this respect because what seemed so heavenly at the outset will turn into a hell at the inset.
And the hell will not be that overt hell where it is just intolerable and you will quickly run out of it. No, it will be a well-meaning hell (12th house) where it seems like the INFJ is sacrificing for the other person, saving them, and the INFJ will be aware of how much they care in certain moments.
But, inevitably, due to the Scorpio Moon they will betray, devour, suck up, test, put into a dark astral maze, stun the will, hypnotize, mesmerize, be afraid to be abandoned…it is like this power play of Scorpio in very negative sense…”I won’t leave you, but you won’t leave me either”, so, a taking of a hostage to stave off loneliness, keeping the person dependent on the INFJ in some way…there is also the Scorpio pride |
sad piano music)
Lord English was speechless. At long last, it was his turn to be afraid. John used the Breeze to bring up chairs and a table from the first floor, and Jade found a plate to enlarge. They lowered Lord English’s head onto it like a chopping block.
“You don’t have to do this,” John said as Jade sat down with him.
“You need me. You can’t eat all of him by yourself. Besides, I have to get even… This is for me and Dave, you son of a bitch!” She bared her canines, lunged, and bit both of English’s eyeballs out at once.
“WAGA ME GA! ITAI DE GOZARU! ITAAAAAIIIII!” Lord English screamed in pain, jerking his chocolatey, peanut-buttery head from side to side as a fountain of Skittles gushed from his eye sockets. John grabbed him by the ridges to hold him still while Jade lapped up her taste of the rainbow. Upon feeling the texture of the chocolate face beneath his fingers, memories of a lifetime of Halloweens tempting him with forbidden life-threatening peanut butter candy began to resurface, and he could no longer control himself. He bit off a huge chunk of the world-eater’s abominable candy skull, mashing peanut butter brain between his teeth, howling into his meal with ecstasy. The predator-turned-prey managed one last cry of “YAMERRRROOOO” before he dissolved into senseless babbling.
Their meal lasted only minutes. Jade finished first, slurping up most of the chocolate with a tongue elongated by Space powers. Her eyes had already flickered once or twice when she began foaming at the mouth and chasing her tail, running in smaller and smaller circles until she suddenly spewed blood and vomit from every orifice, dying instantly. John himself was feeling the urge to enslave hapless mortals and start a cult, but his closing windpipe snapped him back to reality just in time to unlock Dave and Rose and leave them a note of explanation. As the light faded from his eyes, Lord English’s body erupted in a tiny green mushroom cloud, and he knew reality was safe.One immediate problem temporary bases have, be it for military or civilian use, is power generation. This usually involves a dirty, gas burning generator that chokes the air with bad smells and unhealthy fumes. Natural Power Concepts of Hawaii believes it may have an alternative for this – a mobile wind turbine with integrated solar panels whose blades can be folded up in places where the winds are too strong.
The wind turbine, recently reported upon by Pacific Business News, was interesting enough to military contractor Oshkosh Defense to result in a contract between it and Natural Power Concepts. This deal, which is a collaboration on mobile wind turbine technology development, will result in a Renewable Energy Mission Module (REMM) that could be delivered to forward operating bases and other remote locations for their power needs.
What’s even more interesting than this, according to a company press release, is the fact that these REMM units could also be outfitted with expanded capabilities such as water purification or desalination systems for use in disaster management and humanitarian assistance missions. This would definitely increase their usefulness in a variety of remote scenarios.
Like what you are reading? Follow us on RSS, Twitter and Facebook to get green technology news updates throughout the day and chat with other green tech lovers.Today’s unmanned systems may be dumb compared to humans, but they may not be all ‘bad.’ By Patrick Tucker
Are robots capable of moral or ethical reasoning? It’s no longer just a question for tenured philosophy professors or Hollywood directors. This week, it’s a question being put to the United Nations.
The Office of Naval Research will award $7.5 million in grant money over five years to university researchers from Tufts, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Brown, Yale and Georgetown to explore how to build a sense of right and wrong and moral consequence into autonomous robotic systems.
“Even though today’s unmanned systems are ‘dumb’ in comparison to a human counterpart, strides are being made quickly to incorporate more automation at a faster pace than we’ve seen before,” Paul Bello, director of the cognitive science program at the Office of Naval Research told Defense One. “For example, Google’s self-driving cars are legal and in-use in several states at this point. As researchers, we are playing catch-up trying to figure out the ethical and legal implications. We do not want to be caught similarly flat-footed in any kind of military domain where lives are at stake.”
The United States military prohibits lethal fully autonomous robots. And semi-autonomous robots can’t “select and engage individual targets or specific target groups that have not been previously selected by an authorized human operator,” even in the event that contact with the operator is cut off, according to a 2012 Department of Defense policy directive.
“Even if such systems aren’t armed, they may still be forced to make moral decisions,” Bello said. For instance, in a disaster scenario, a robot may be forced to make a choice about whom to evacuate or treat first, a situation where a bot might use some sense of ethical or moral reasoning. “While the kinds of systems we envision have much broader use in first-response, search-and-rescue and in the medical domain, we can’t take the idea of in-theater robots completely off the table,” Bello said.
Some members of the artificial intelligence, or AI, research and machine ethics communities were quick to applaud the grant. “With drones, missile defines, autonomous vehicles, etc., the military is rapidly creating systems that will need to make moral decisions,” AI researcher Steven Omohundro told Defense One. “Human lives and property rest on the outcomes of these decisions and so it is critical that they be made carefully and with full knowledge of the capabilities and limitations of the systems involved. The military has always had to define ‘the rules of war’ and this technology is likely to increase the stakes for that.”
“We’re talking about putting robots in more and more contexts in which we can’t predict what they’re going to do, what kind of situations they’ll encounter. So they need to do some kind of ethical reasoning in order to sort through various options,” said Wendell Wallach, the chair of the Yale Technology and Ethics Study Group and author of the book Moral Machines: Teaching Robots Right From Wrong.
The sophistication of cutting-edge drones like British BAE Systems’s batwing-shaped Taranis and Northrop Grumman’s X-47B reveal more self-direction creeping into ever more heavily armed systems. The X-47B, Wallach said, is “enormous and it does an awful lot of things autonomously.”
But how do you code something as abstract as moral logic into a bunch of transistors? The vast openness of the problem is why the framework approach is important, says Wallach. Some types of morality are more basic, thus more code-able, than others.
“There’s operational morality, functional morality, and full moral agency,” Wallach said. “Operational morality is what you already get when the operator can discern all the situations that the robot may come under and program in appropriate responses… Functional morality is where the robot starts to move into situations where the operator can’t always predict what [the robot] will encounter and [the robot] will need to bring some form of ethical reasoning to bear.”
It’s a thick knot of questions to work through. But, Wallach says, with a high potential to transform the battlefield.
“One of the arguments for [moral] robots is that they may be even better than humans in picking a moral course of action because they may consider more courses of action,” he said.
Ronald Arkin, an AI expert from Georgia Tech and author of the book Governing Lethal Behavior in Autonomous Robots, is a proponent of giving machines a moral compass. “It is not my belief that an unmanned system will be able to be perfectly ethical in the battlefield, but I am convinced that they can perform more ethically than human soldiers are capable of,” Arkin wrote in a 2007 research paper (PDF). Part of the reason for that, he said, is that robots are capable of following rules of engagement to the letter, whereas humans are more inconsistent.
AI robotics expert Noel Sharkey is a detractor. He’s been highly critical of armed drones in general. and has argued that autonomous weapons systems cannot be trusted to conform to international law.
“I do not think that they will end up with a moral or ethical robot,” Sharkey told Defense One. “For that we need to have moral agency. For that we need to understand others and know what it means to suffer. The robot may be installed with some rules of ethics but it won’t really care. It will follow a human designer’s idea of ethics.”
“The simple example that has been given to the press about scheduling help for wounded soldiers is a good one. My concern would be if [the military] were to extend a system like this for lethal autonomous weapons - weapons where the decision to kill is delegated to a machine; that would be deeply troubling,” he said.
This week, Sharkey and Arkin are debating the issue of whether or not morality can be built into AI systems before the U.N. where they may find an audience very sympathetic to the idea that a moratorium should be placed on the further development of autonomous armed robots.
Christof Heyns, U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, is calling for a moratorium. “There is reason to believe that states will, inter alia, seek to use lethal autonomous robotics for targeted killing,” Heyns said in an April 2013 report to the U.N.
The Defense Department’s policy directive on lethal autonomy offers little reassurance here since the department can change it without congressional approval, at the discretion of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and two undersecretaries of Defense. University of Denver scholar Heather Roff, in an op-ed for the Huffington Post, calls that a “disconcerting” lack of oversight and notes that “fielding of autonomous weapons then does not even raise to the level of the Secretary of Defense, let alone the president.”
If researchers can prove that robots can do moral math, even if in some limited form, they may be able to diffuse rising public anger and mistrust over armed unmanned vehicles. But it’s no small task.
“This is a significantly difficult problem and it’s not clear we have an answer to it,” said Wallach. “Robots both domestic and militarily are going to find themselves in situations where there are a number of courses of actions and they are going to need to bring some kinds of ethical routines to bear on determining the most ethical course of action. If we’re moving down this road of increasing autonomy in robotics, and that’s the same as Google cars as it is for military robots, we should begin now to do the research to how far can we get in ensuring the robot systems are safe and can make appropriate decisions in the context they operate.”
(Image by Sarah Holmlund via Shutterstock)by Joshua Russo
Editor-In-Chief
Earlier today, Platinum Games announced they would be officially leaking their new game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan. The term “official leak” was used by Platinum Games as a tongue in cheek way to acknowledge that they’re pretty much the last ones to tell everyone about the game.
As some might have guesssed – the official leaked was leaked. More than twelve hours before the trailer was set to go live, it was found on the Xbox Marketplace for download.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan is releasing this summer and features four player online co-op and multiplayer. The game’s story is influenced by the TMNT comic and is written by Tom Waltz, the comic’s author. Players will take on Shredder, Krang, Rocksteady, Bebop and plenty of Foot soldiers.
EDIT: This article was originally posted with a leaked upload of the trailer. It has been replaced with the official video from Activision’s YouTube channel.
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commentsWARNING: This Page Contains Graphic Images of Gore!
Naturally Dave McGowan has responded to… my review of his Jeff Bauman Boston Bombings conspiracy theory, though disappointingly he decided to take things to an immature and personal level at times. Like the original I will proceed to quote and reply to his ponits. Just watch his toys, because they all seem to be flying out of his man-sized pram.
So I’m guessing that there must be a special ‘debunking’ school out there that all the fucktards on the internet must have attended. I say that because another ‘debunker’ has now emerged from the fetid slime to offer up essentially the same bullshit that others have already tried to pass off as good coin. In fact, much of it reads like a cut-and-paste job that combines Quinn’s Orwellian logic with Fucktard’s overwrought appeals to emotion. This new ‘debunking’ – and I am using the term ‘new’ rather loosely here because though the piece is dated July 20, it reads as though it were written back around the first week of May and treats my series as though it began and ended with the initial two posts on May 1 – was penned, albeit very poorly penned, by a guy by the name of Keelan Balderdash.
I’m not personally aware of “Quinn” or “Fucktard”, but I’m encouraged that so many people are taking McGowan to task for his delusional “research” and coming to similar conclusions. Perhaps he should take this as a sign that he might need to reevaluate his position…we can only dream.
I reject the notion that I’m a debunker, for the same reasons as I explained in the original article. I run an alternative news website concerned with reaching the truth regardless of mainstream or alternative dogma or nonsense. In the process of finding truth, critiquing others is simply part of the process.
Anyway, Balderdash has, like Quinn, taken a decidedly Orwellian approach to debunking my work. He begins by boldly stating that he hasn’t actually read my series: “As I write this sentence I have yet to engage with the series beyond a quick scan, thus I’ve titled this article a ‘review’ instead of a ‘debunking.’” It’s actually neither a review nor a debunking but rather a craven hit piece that utilizes the same ‘talking points’ already trotted out by others. But what is important here is that he is claiming to have not even bothered to read my posts. If I may be so bold, I’d say that Balderdash’s claim basically translates as follows: “I’ve read through McGowan’s work and there is no way that I can even begin to ‘debunk’ the body of evidence that he has put together without coming off sounding like a complete asshat, but my paymasters are insisting that I give it a go so I’m going to just copy off of some other people’s failed ‘debunkings’ and pretend as though about 90% of the research he has done over the last few months doesn’t exist.”
As clearly explained in the article I chose to approach McGowan’s piece step by step so the reader could go through the motions of the review with me with an open mind. I did not want to come to my conclusion before beginning writing for the express purpose of not coming across as a disingenuous debunker. After all it was one of my readers who linked me to his pages, so I approached it as respectfully as possible. However perhaps I was being too nice, because McGowan clearly hasn’t grasped my methodology and would prefer to believe I wasn’t reading what I was reviewing, regardless of the fact that I quoted what he wrote and the pictures he presented in the article!
The idea that I have “paymasters” (whether he was joking or being serious) is just typical arrogant conspiracy theorist mentality. McGowan believes he is so important that people are paid to debunk him. Tragically the truth it seems, is that several of us fools have wasted our time on McGowan for free.
I’m not going to bother responding to most of Balderdash’s feeble arguments, primarily because I already have – when they were originally penned by Quinn and Fucktard.
So I guess people clearly aren’t buying his “theory”, no matter how many times he claims to have responded to them.
I will though catalogue some of Balderdash’s more egregious lies and misrepresentations, beginning with this one: “this is the problem with a lot of the Boston bombings theories. They are based on ambiguous interpretations of a handful of photographs.” The reality, of course, is that to date I have presented into evidence and analyzed no fewer than 216 photographic exhibits. Balderdash’s attempt to dismiss all of that clearly reveals that he is either “willfully ignorant” or simply a brazen liar. And since it is readily apparent that he is feigning ignorance to try to avoid being caught in an outright lie, let’s just cut to the chase and acknowledge that this guy is a lying sack of shit. He strikes me as a guy who has spent his entire adult life trying to convince any woman who will listen that 4 inches is really 8 inches.
What McGowan fails to realize (or deliberately ignores) throughout his response is that my particular interest as stated and titled in the article is with bombing victim Jeff Bauman, and thus my reference to other theories and “a handful of photographs” are obviously in regard to the handful of photographs of Bauman he and others have used in their theories. I am not obliged to address the rest of his series, though as I’ve said I may do if time permits. If this is his foundation however, I don’t hold much hope that he has the “smoking gun” evidence he claims.
It’s particularly telling that instead of actually responding to what I wrote in my review about the pages that deal with Bauman, he decides to broaden the topic.
The pages I reviewed (the first couple), which dealt with the immediate scene of the first blast and those in and around Bauman (who he calls ‘accomplices’), is frankly, full of baseless crap. That’s not going to change no matter how many other pages he writes. Either his interpretation and claims quoted in my review are right or they’re wrong, regardless of whether he wants to swamp them in other material. If you’re going to respond Dave…then actually respond.
A psychologist once explained to me the theory of projection, so with that I’ll leave the last comment in the paragraph as it is. A man that can’t upgrade his website from some hideous 1996 coding probably can’t upgrade much else in his life either.
In this next short passage, Balderdash manages to squeeze in a couple more very obvious lies: “This lady in blue, named as Krystle Campbell, died. You can see her laying [sic] legless near Bauman and so called [sic] “accomplices” in the photo below. Another man in the middle (towards the top) of the photo has a serious leg wound. Why is McGowan ignoring these people?” As the photographic record makes very clear, Campbell was not lying legless. Had Balderdash done even the most rudimentary research, he would have known that. The other guy he is referring to is, of course, The Other Jeff, aka Patrick Downes, but Balderdash either has no clue who any of these people are or he is just a compulsive liar. The notion that I ignore Campbell and The Other Jeff in my series is without question yet another absurd lie. Balderdash’s audience, to the extent that he even has one, is apparently quite gullible.
Here McGowan quotes my response without even mentioning what I was responding to. He implied that people around Bauman didn’t “appear to have received any significant injuries despite having been right alongside a guy who supposedly got both his legs blown off.”
So to reiterate my response to this claim…for no apparent reason McGowan just refuses to acknowledge the injuries in some of the photos are real injuries, saying things like a man lying on the ground with torn trousers soaked in blood is laying “comfortably”, and he also completely failed to mention Krystle Campbell or Patrick Downes as being injured (or pretending to be injured) at all, despite them being close to Bauman. You can’t ignore them when it suits your argument (however delusional it is) and then mention them later on. And you can’t point your finger at me for not knowing who they are, when it was me who mentioned them and you who ignored them when it didn’t fit your argument!
And ok Campbell’s legs weren’t completely blown off, but forgive me for being hyperbolic at the sight of a gruesomely injured dying lady that you refused to even factor in to statements such as nobody appeared “to have received any significant injuries despite having been right alongside a guy who supposedly got both his legs blown off.” Her injuries were very serious, in that she died!
Since Balderdash is such an entertainingly ridiculous figure, let’s take a look at some more of his completely nonsensical and very poorly-written commentary: “The aftermath of a bombing is a very shocking and confusing time, there’s no telling what was going through the minds of those in the photo, but creating a baseless theory is not going to enlighten us any further. That being said there isn’t a constant stream of photos.” There isn’t?! Really? So the scores of sequential photos that I have presented exist only in my mind? Or is this just another example of Balderdash talking out of his ass?
Again like a true politician McGowan ignores what I’m even responding to. So lets recap. He said “Jeff is being ignored by everyone”, and “Jeff, just a couple of feet away, is apparently invisible”, and other similar statements.
Well short of there being video or a literal second by second photo account, McGowan doesn’t know if anyone looked at Jeff, or spoke to Jeff, or approached Jeff briefly. I happily conceded in my article that we “can all agree that Bauman needed immediate medical attention,” but I also quite reasonably followed that by saying “However that’s not evidence that he was an actor,” even if we assume he was completely ignored until Arredondo got there.
Who’s the “entertainingly ridiculous figure” here?
Let’s now listen in as Balderdash tells some more lies, this time about the heroic rescue of Jeff Bauman by Carlos Arredondo: “But why is it ridiculous that he’s in a wheelchair? If that’s the only thing his rescuers could come by in that immediate instance, so be it … If you’ve followed the story you’ll know that Arredondo tied up his arteries and can be seen holding on to the end of one of them.” Actually, if you’ve followed the story you know that even Arredondo has attempted to distance himself from the ridiculous claim that he was pinching shut one of Bauman’s femoral arteries. You also know that the notion that a wheelchair was “the only thing his rescuers could come by” has been completely and thoroughly debunked. You know that Carlos and company can be seen pushing Bauman right past an empty gurney and that several other gurneys had already left the scene. The ‘debunkers’ though seem to think that if they keep repeating the same easily refuted lies that it will somehow make them true.
The problem with McGowan’s obsession with the gurneys is that his conclusion is absolute, i.e. Because Bauman wasn’t on a gurney he was acting, it was staged etc. Whereas I can happily accept that Arredondo chose to use a wheelchair for completely reasonable reasons. Such as he didn’t see the gurnerys, he wasn’t medically aware enough to think a gurney was better than a wheelchair, he didn’t think there were enough people nearby to carry the gurney, or he thought he could save Bauman faster by wheeling him off in a wheelchair. There are umpteen different reasonable explanations, and none of them involve the idea that it was fake.
And if we assume it was fake, why use a wheelchair Dave?
And Arredondo hasn’t distanced himself from the artery story. It would appear McGowan has chosen to use an unsourced Wikipedia sentence instead of the various interviews where he states that he was pinching or blocking the artery. As the photo shows he’s tied it up, it’s not necessarily the pinching from his fingers that’s stopping the blood, but he is clearly holding it.
Note that there is no citation number after the statement above from Wikipedia. Arredondo explains the artery situation in This Interview.
McGowan’s aggressive and authoritative tone may continue to fool some people, but strip away his rhetoric and assertions and all that’s left is irrationality and a completely baseless theory.
So let’s recap.
Top 10 points Dave McGowan ignores about my rebuttal:
1) Dave says the media’s use of such gory images is odd, despite this being a mass public event where the majority attending would have personal camera technology. He also ignores the fact that the likes of the New York Daily News actually photoshopped out gore “out of sensitivity to the victims, the families and the survivors.”
2) Dave says photos of Bauman do not resemble the man photographed in the Wheelchair. I show side by side comparisons that clearly show them to be the same person, or at least that they look extremely similar.
3) Dave says everything about Bauman came from an unverified Facebook page, as if nobody would have realized all the information was incorrect. He jumped the gun and says there’s been no follow-up interviews, though Bauman has since appeared on the Today Show.
4) Dave focuses on small discrepancies in Arredondo’s rescue story, disputing that he was at Bauman’s side within “moments” as if such a subjective term somehow sheds doubt on the fact that Arredondo did end up at Bauman’s side once the fencing was removed as per the photos. Dave has yet to explain what the significance of any of this even is, because he clearly doesn’t dispute Arredondo’s presence.
5) Dave says there were few witnesses and the fencing prevented people seeing the staging of the incident taking place. In truth many many people were at the scene of the first blast and the fencing was neither high nor opaque – staging of the incident would have been in clear view of a lot of people.
6) Dave says Bauman’s stumps look significantly different directly after the blast than later in the wheelchair. NO THEY DON’T.
7) Dave says a victim putting on his sun glasses after the blast is suspicious, as opposed to several reasonable explanation such as dust or strain, or simply that it’s a free country and he can do what he wants with his sunglasses.
8) Dave says not a drop of Bauman’s blood landed on people nearby, despite photos of them with blood on them and blood all over the floor. Did Dave test for the presence of Bauman’s blood?
9) Dave says people aren’t injured, or should be more injured, when lots of photos show them injured.
10) Dave says two people near Bauman reeling after the blast are making dubious hand signals…LOL
Whether Dave McGowan is just delusional or has an agenda, I cannot determine, but his and similar disinformation is poisoning the alternative media.
Further Reading:
Review of Jeff Bauman (legless man) Boston Bombing Conspiracy Theory (GRAPHIC IMAGES)It’s hard to believe that the Ninja Turtles have been around for almost 30 years now. In that time since their inception in a black and white comic book from creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird back in 1984, they’ve had more than their fair share of fascinating and thrilling exploits. I went over most of these entries on my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles blog, TMNT Entity three years ago – and while I may revise the list to include more recent events, I believe the list as it stands still represents the Turtles’ most indelible adventures. So without further ado, here are the greatest moments in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle history, covering the comics, movies, and television series:
25. These season finales really suck (”Shredder & Splintered”)
The Fred Wolf TMNT cartoon was a lot of things. Incoherent? Yep. Repetitive? Yep. Badly animated? Most of the time, yep. Repetitive? Yep.
But say what you will about the quality-challenged seasons, um, two through seven of this series, when the Fred Wolf TMNT cartoon began, it didn’t pull its punches. The opening miniseries/season one was everything the later seasons weren’t: Competent, fresh and surprisingly well-animated by the slave labor at Toei Studios in Japan.
All the good qualities of the first season seemed to culminate in the finale, “Shredder & Splintered” (no, that isn’t a typo. At least, not on my end). The season one finale sported a bevy of memorable moments, such as Krang growing to Godzilla-sized proportions, Shredder and Splinter throwing down for the first time, Shredder uttering his classic soon-to-be-immortalized-by-a-Konami-video-game line, “Tonight I dine on turtle soup”, and a whole mess of other moments.
But perhaps most memorable of them all is the scene in which the Technodrome gets sucked into Dimension X at the episode’s climax. Don decides that the best way to stop the Shredder, Krang, the Foot Soldiers, the invading Stone Warriors, the Technodrome-itself and the looming horror of another obnoxious guest appearance by the Neutrinos is to set the Technodrome’s dimensional portal to “crazy go nuts” and get the Hell out of Dodge. The Technodrome proceeds to go crazy go nuts, indeed, sucking itself and everyone inside of it into Dimension X. The visuals of the scene are ridiculous, as the Technodrome literally turns inside out as it devours itself. And yet, somehow it is completely intact on the other side and Krang and Shredder, who by all rights should have been “shredder and splintered” by the blender-like swirling sheets of jagged inside-out metal, are none the worse for wear.
But who cares about physics and logic? The sight of the Technodrome getting sucked into Dimension X is a memorable one. Nearly every season after this would more or less recycle the same conflict resolution by having the Technodrome getting waylaid in some unremarkable fashion, be it sunk to the center of the Earth, sucked into Dimension X again, frozen in the Arctic, sunk to the bottom of the ocean or, god dammit, sucked into Dimension X again (but this time eaten by a giant plant monster). Regardless, the first time is still the best.
24. Splinter has a really bad day (TMNT Vol. 1 #59)
“City at War”, the concluding story arc of the first volume of Mirage’s TMNT series, boasted a veritable slew of plot threads, some intermingling and others not so much. Among my favorite of them, though, was Splinter having a really, really bad day. Or couple of weeks, actually.
Essentially, Splinter finds himself badly injured, buried alive inside an old building and on the verge of starvation. Come issue #55, things only get worse for him as he’s now being pestered by the Rat King, urging him to be a sport and eat the rats that are scurrying around the joint. I mean, come on, everyone’s doing it. Splinter eventually concedes and chokes down some sweet, sweet rat meat, learning valuable lessons about survival, the food chain and maybe a few good recipes, too.
Come issue #59, however, Splinter finally heals up and meets the Rat King face to face. Or face to rotting skull, rather. Turns out, the Rat King didn’t survive that tumble he took at the end of Tales of the TMNT (Vol. 1) #4 and died. It’s a shocking moment and one that helps transcend the Rat King from “one-off weirdo villain” to “crazy neutral spirit guide guy”. Rat King would go on to appear in visions to Splinter in a couple of later issues (both of which make this list!), cementing himself as one of the more intriguing and enigmatic recurring characters within Mirage’s TMNT universe. Let’s just pretend that Tales of the TMNT (Vol. 2) #35 and his moronic origin never happened, okay?
23. The future will make you want to kill yourself (Plastron Café #1)
The future of the Mirage TMNT is a riddle wrapped in a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in about three or four back-up strips scattered across various anthology books and some reprints of older material. The second volume of Tales of the TMNT would elaborate on the hazy era of the future Turtles with such thrilling stories as “Karai kidnaps babies from Raph when she’s bored” and “Leo bones Radical”.
But before Tales decided to burden the franchise with those epic pieces of graphic literature, the era of the future Turtles was a tragic mystery. Stories like “A Christmas Carol” and “Choices” revealed that Raph eventually loses an eye and goes to live alone in a swamp with a bunch of flying manta rays, but really, who didn’t see that coming?
No, the real heart-tugger came in a story by Peter Laird called “Old Times”, published in the short-lived Mirage anthology series Plastron Café. In this story, a geriatric Donatello undergoes a virtual training program with his computer, Chet, battling holographic images of the Shredder and the Foot Clan. Chet mistakenly includes holographic versions of his brothers, causing Don to terminate the program and break down crying, indicating that something is terribly, terribly wrong in the future of the Mirage Turtles.
Just what that is, well, we may never know. The frontispieces and conclusion created especially for the 2007 Tales of the TMNT Vol. 1 trade paperback collection runs with the idea begun in “Old Times”, with a geriatric Don once again encountering holographic versions of his brothers and bringing himself to tears over them. The implications are vague but grim. Are the other Turtles all dead or simply separated? Is Don the last remaining Turtle?
We may never know, but the mystery will incapacitate us with debilitating bouts of depression forever.
22. At last, a crossover that doesn’t kill brain cells! (Usagi Yojimbo #10)
The TMNT are crossover maniacs. In fact, I’m going to take a deep breath and rattle off as many other properties the Turtles have crossed over with off the top of my head: wildwestcowboysofmoomesapandakhancerebusthearchiegang
gutwallowgizmoflamingcarrotsavagedragonmiamimice
GHUUUUUUUUUH!
And that’s just for starters.
Yeah, when it came to “Hey, can my characters meet your characters?”, Eastman and Laird hardly ever said “no”. This indifference resulted in disaster more often than success, but I’d happily read a hundred issues of the TMNT meeting the Blazing Tales Varmints if it meant getting an Usagi Yojimbo crossover. Thankfully, I only had to suffer through one of those to get an Usagi Yojimbo crossover. Whew.
Usagi would first meet Leonardo in the story titled “Turtle Soup and Rabbit Stew” published in the Turtle Soup one-shot special. They’d go on to meet many times more between their books, cartoons and toylines. Usagi has become so intertwined with the TMNT universe, I’ve begun to think of him as part of their family and not so much a guest cameo character that shows up looking for a quick paycheck.
Of their early encounters, the second one strikes me as being the first “real” meeting of the two anthropomorphs. “Turtle Soup” merely had them make eye contact. “The Crossing”, published in Usagi Yojimbo (Vol. 1) #10, had them throw down and, eventually, become BFFs or whatever floats your slash fiction.
Drawn by Peter Laird rather than Stan Sakai, the story isn’t exactly a visual marvel, but it’s a most satisfying tale with a serviceable moral and the true beginning of a great series of crossovers.
21. “Oops.” (TMNT the Movie)
I suppose it says something about me when my favorite character in a book about giant mutant karate turtles is the drunken a-----e who runs around in a hockey mask, beating purse-snatchers with cricket bats. I guess it’s like saying your favorite character in the Avengers is Jarvis, but I can’t remember an issue of that comic where Jarvis crushes Kang’s head inside a trash compactor, on purpose, and with all the giddiness of a Chinese schoolgirl.
The first TMNT movie elicits a mixed reaction from fans. Some love it for its nostalgic fun and Muppety goodness, some hate it because it dared to mix and match aspects of the Mirage and Fred Wolf Turtles, while others are just happy that Vanilla Ice is nowhere to be found. Yeah, they tried to fuse the two disparaging versions of the Turtles into something of a mess of characterization, but whether or not you agree the outcome was a thing of quality, there’s one thing you cannot argue: they did Casey right.
Elias Koteas was Mirage Casey right down to the raging homophobia and chemically imbalanced bursts of psychotic fury. Nowhere is that better showcased than the cap-off to the climactic rooftop Shredder battle at the film’s end. After Splinter essentially tells the Shredder “see you in Hell” in his usual profound way, the itty bitty Asian guy in the humongous costume goes flailing off the roof and into the open bay of a dump truck waiting below. Casey, being Casey, isn’t satisfied to simply presume the Shredder might be dead, but would rather see the deed done to its rightful conclusion. So, with the most viciously insincere “oops” ever uttered on film, Casey flips the compactor switch on the back of the truck and watches with fiery joy as the Shredder’s head (or at least his helmet) gets squashed in the press. Yeah, sure, Shredder survived to appear in the sequel (where he gets defeated by the righteous power of a keytaur before drinking a potion that mutates him into Kevin Nash), but for all Casey knew, he just popped Shredder’s noggin like a ripe melon. And he couldn’t have been more satisfied with his day’s work (though, if Shredder’s mangled remains getting hauled off to the dump |
the similarly themed Outbreak, a competing film which would ultimately be a factor leading to the collapse of Crisis in The Hot Zone.[16]
Directors considered for the film adaptation included Wolfgang Petersen (who would later direct Outbreak), Michael Mann, and Ridley Scott. Scott eventually signed on to direct the film in February 1994.[17] Screenwriter James V. Hart was also signed to adapt the book. In late-April 1994, Fox announced they had signed Robert Redford and Jodie Foster to star in the film.[18]
However, this version would ultimately not be made. Foster dropped out of the film just before filming was to begin and production was delayed with Meryl Streep, Sharon Stone, and Robin Wright touted as possible replacements. In August 1994, Redford also dropped out of the film.[19] A few days following Redford's departure, it was announced that pre-production had been shut down.[20]
Television series [ edit ]
On October 16, 2014, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Ridley Scott again plans to adapt the book, this time as a television miniseries for NatGeo. Kelly Souders, Brian Peterson, and Jeff Vintar wrote the pilot. Julianna Margulies is starring as Nancy Jaax. Filming begins in September 2018. [21] Lynda Obst will again produce the series.[22]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Notes
Bibliography
Moeller, Susan D. (August 1999). Compassion Fatigue: How the Media Sell Disease, Famine, War and Death (1 ed.). New York: Routledge. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-415-92098-8.
Further readingSINGAPORE — What Asians regard as "aspirational" is unique and rooted in the region's culture, proposed BBDO's Beijing CCO Arthur Tsang and Greater China CSO Hans Lopez-Vito on the first day of the Spikes Asia Festival of Creativity here.
Western ideals, which are rooted in ancient Greek philosophy, are often diametrically opposed to Asian ideals, which are based on the teachings of Confucius, said Lopez-Vito. These differences include:
Happiness: In ancient Greece, happiness comprised the freedom to do what you want. For the Chinese, happiness is defined by harmony — to coexist and not disrupt the system.
In ancient Greece, happiness comprised the freedom to do what you want. For the Chinese, happiness is defined by harmony — to coexist and not disrupt the system. Nationalism: The borders of Europe often led to greater independent thought and traditions (and also lots of Hellenic wars). China, however, has no strict geographic border, and to be Chinese is often referred to more as a cultural identity rather than a national identity.
The borders of Europe often led to greater independent thought and traditions (and also lots of Hellenic wars). China, however, has no strict geographic border, and to be Chinese is often referred to more as a cultural identity rather than a national identity. Starch: Rice can't be grown by an individual; it requires a whole community. So in Asia, the way you're regarded by other people in the village becomes a matter of survival. If you cooperate, you eat.
Rice can't be grown by an individual; it requires a whole community. So in Asia, the way you're regarded by other people in the village becomes a matter of survival. If you cooperate, you eat. Goodness: In the West, people avoid wrongdoing because of feelings guilt. In Asia, individuals are more influenced by social shame.
These factors, Lopez-Vito said, have culturally disposed Asians to deeply about how their social networks regard them. "It nags them more than it does Westerners," he said.
But because Asians are more likely to trade up due to culture than pure economics, aspirational branding is also more likely to be effective, Tsang said. But what do Asians regard as aspirational?
1. Filial dependability. Filial piety, said Tsang, is central to tenets of Confucius. "Aspiration can be created by playing up responsibility as a badge of honor." The son who saves up to buy his mother a washing machine is a paragon of filial duty.
"In the Philippines and Indonesia, people who send money home to their families are regarded as national heroes," said Lopez-Vito. "And in China, this is true for 380 million migrant workers who send money back home."
2. Material wealth. If you value harmony, you need prosperity, Tsang said. Confucianism, he said, has been named the "religion of practicality." So, symbols of abundance are popular throughout Asia. "Asia knows how to do bling like no one else," he said.
3. Social distance. The love of bling among Asia's new rich has however resulted in a backlash among younger Asians, pointed out Tsang. Chinese netizens now use the term "tuhao" to describe people who are very rich but have no taste.
"Asians are more accepting of 'power distance' — the gap that sets the powerful apart," Hans-Lopez said. A Visa campaign that plays off this concept, sought to differentiate new sophisticated Chinese tourists from the hated stereotype.
3. Admirable rebellion. While individualism is traditionally frowned upon for disrupting harmony, social media has created the ability to rebel "harmoniously." Tsang cited BBDO Guerrero's campaign for Reporters Without Borders as an example.
This article first appeared on campaignasia.com.AMSTERDAM: Next year's European Championship in France was enlarged from 16 teams to 24. There still wasn't a place for the dismal Dutch.
The 1988 European champion and three-time World Cup finalist completed a catastrophic qualification series Tuesday with a humiliating 3-2 defeat in Amsterdam to the 10-man Czech Republic.
As if saving their worst for last, the Dutch went 2-0 down in 35 minutes, Robin van Persie scored an own goal and a late rally was not enough to secure a win that ultimately wouldn't have got Danny Blind's team to France anyway.
Instead, Turkey beat Iceland 1-0 to secure direct qualification from Group A as the best third-place team. “In the end, the disappointment is in the whole qualification campaign,” coach Danny Blind said.
“We have not been good enough,” he added.
It was a stunning admission in a nation where teenagers have emerged as future stars with every World Cup or European campaign since the 1970s — from Johan Cruyff to Marco van Basten, Dennis Bergkamp and Van Persie.
Look around and there are no worthy successors.
It made for a spectacular fall from grace for the Netherlands, which opened last year's World Cup in Brazil with a dazzling 5-1 defeat of reigning world and European champion Spain and went on to reach the semifinals, where Argentina needed a penalty shootout to prevail.
In Group A, the architects of Total Football failed totally.
“It is a collective failure,” midfielder Wesley Sneijder said.
It was the first time since the 2002 World Cup that the Netherlands had failed to qualify for a major tournament and the first European Championship since 1984 the Dutch have missed.
While teams like Albania, Wales and Northern Ireland made it to the tournament in France, the Netherlands will watch it on TV.
Veteran stars like Sneijder and Van Persie misfired again Tuesday and will now be wondering about their international futures as the country inevitably looks to rebuild ahead of a tough qualifying group for the next World Cup.
But the great hope for the future — Manchester United winger Memphis Depay has only three goals in 21 internationals.
Blind, who replaced Guus Hiddink with four qualifiers to go and lost three of them, said the country simply does not have enough quality players to make wholesale changes.
He said that a lengthy injury list was a key element in the failed campaign.
“We missed 12-15 players,” he said.
“We are not Germany or Spain, we are the Netherlands and it's hard to cope with that.”
Probably the key missing ingredient was Arjen Robben. The Bayern Munich winger was the most dangerous Dutch player by far at the World Cup in Brazil. But the injury-prone Robben missed several Euro 2016 qualifiers, including Tuesday's.
He was out for the opening match, a 2-1 defeat to the Czech Republic in Prague, missed the 1-1 draw to Turkey in Amsterdam and a 2-0 victory in Latvia.
The Dutch beat only Latvia and Kazakhstan in Group A.
The team did not manage a single victory in six matches against Turkey, the Czech Republic and Iceland.
The bad news for Dutch football fans is that the team's qualification group for the 2018 World Cup looks even tougher than its Euro 2016 group - featuring heavyweights France and Sweden - as well as Bulgaria, Belarus and Luxembourg.After the leftist Los Angeles Times decided in February to endorse self-proclaimed “bike advocate” Joe Bray-Ali for City Council over incumbent Gil Cedillo, on Thursday they reversed their position, joining the chorus of leftists retracting their endorsement because of Bray-Ali's perceived racism.
The Times wrote:
This week, another side of Bray-Ali was revealed when the website LAist reported that he had frequented viciously racist areas of the Internet and participated in shocking and entirely unacceptable conversations. The revelations are so deeply disturbing — raising serious questions about both his judgment and his character — that The Times has re-evaluated its original position. For the first time in recent memory, the editorial board is officially rescinding its endorsement.
The Times noted Bray-Ali’s participation on Voat, a “no censorship” social media site “which has become a haven for racists and bigots.” The Times pointed out that Bray-Ali commented on a site thread known as “v/Niggers,” and twice used the offensive word himself. The Times added, “He also commented uncritically on a video of a fight between two African American girls; that thread was titled “Sheboons fighting in a gas station.” He posted an offensive comment on “v/FATPEOPLEHATE,” a forum for mean-spirited mocking of overweight people. And on another thread, he disparaged transgender people who seek gender-reassignment surgery.”
In early February, the Times endorsed Bray-Ali, writing:
Many people in the district think of Bray-Ali, 37, as just a bike-shop owner and bike activist. Frustration over Cedillo’s part in stalling bike lanes on Figueroa Street propelled Bray-Ali into this race. But though he may be campaigning atop two wheels, he has educated himself way beyond bike and transit issues. In fact, his understanding of land-use policy is impressive for someone who has never worked in City Hall, and his experience running a small business in the city will make him a rare and important voice on the council.
The Times board interviewed Bray-Ali on Thursday, then decided to retract their endorsement because Bray-Ali’s explanations were “unsatisfying. He has said that he went on the site to 'track' bigots and hatemongers out of'morbid fascination' and that he sought to pick fights with them. But there’s no indication that he was 'tracking' anyone, and picking fights is exactly what he didn’t do. He participated in the conversations without once criticizing the headlines, the participants or the subject matter, without once noting that such talk was unacceptable or offensive.”
On Thursday, both City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell and the East Area Progressive Democrats also retracted their endorsements.
Bray-Ali remained defiant, saying, “Those endorsements were a great boost for my campaign, but they do not represent what a campaign needs to win.”Garret Sparks will become the 88th goaltender since 1926 to man the Toronto Maple Leafs' crease on Monday night.
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The 22-year-old native of Elmhurst, Illinois will backstop the Leafs against the Edmonton Oilers as starter James Reimer continues to battle a lower-body injury and Jonathan Bernier continues to struggle.
Bernier gave up four goals on 23 shots in a 4-2 loss to the Washington Capitals on Saturday night in his first start since November 15. He fell to 0-8-1 on the year and has not won a game since last April.
Reimer incurred his injury during Tuesday's practice. He left the session early and missed all of Wednesday's, but he returned in time for Friday's practice. He appeared at Sunday morning's session, but was the first goalie off of the ice and did not participate in any in-zone drills. He hopes to return soon.
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Sparks, originally a seventh-round draft pick out of the Guelph Storm on the Ontario Hockey League in 2011, was called up from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League. This is Sparks' fourth professional season, having split time between the Marlies and the Orlando Solar Bears of the East Coast Hockey League.
He's appeared in 11 games for the Marlies this season, posting an 8-2-1 record with a goals against average of 1.90 and a.938 save percentage.In episode 128 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Bradley Beaulieu, author of The Winds of Khalakovo and The Straits of Galahesh.
About Brad:
Bradley Beaulieu is the author of The Winds of Khalakovo and The Straits of Galahesh, the first two books in The Lays of Anuskaya trilogy. If you’re not familiar with them, he usually pitches them as: A Song of Ice and Fire meets Earthsea, with a Russian twist. It’s epic fantasy set on a world of cold, inhospitable islands, and he borrowed from Muscovite Russia, Medieval Persia, and Ottoman Turkey to round out the cultures in the story.
Like anyone, Brad had a lot of influences along the way, but the ones that stand out the most are J.R.R. Tolkien, George R.R. Martin, C.S. Friedman, Guy Gavriel Kay, Tim Powers, and (last but not least) Glen Cook. He’s a software engineer by day (for the IT savvy, he works mostly on enterprise-scale J2EE applications). He also likes to cook, especially Mexican and southwestern (basically, anything spicy). He lives in Racine, Wisconsin with his wife and two kids. He used to game quite a bit (role-playing and computer games). He also likes pool (billiards) and tennis. But as time goes on, his hobbies are slowly being whittled down to these two things: family and writing. In that order.
Find out more at www.quillings.com.
Links:
© 2012 Patrick Hester and John Anealio
This podcast features original music by John Anealio.WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate minority leader criticized President Donald Trump on Tuesday for his "indecisiveness" on relocating American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. After Trump said over the weekend that he would wait to see the results of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks his administration is trying to promote "before I even think about moving the embassy," Chuck Schumer called on Trump to move the embassy "as soon as possible," in line with the president's campaign promise from 2016.
"This year is the fiftieth anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem, yet with 2018 fast approaching, the U.S. still hasn't moved the embassy or made clear its commitment to Israel's capital," the New York Democrat said in a statement.
He added: "President Trump's recent comments suggest his indecisiveness on the embassy's relocation. As someone who strongly believes that Jerusalem is the undivided capital of Israel, I am calling for the U.S. Embassy in Israel to be relocated to Jerusalem. Moving the embassy as soon as possible would appropriately commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Jerusalem's reunification and show the world that the U.S. definitively acknowledges Jerusalem as Israel's capital."
Schumer was a member of the House of Representatives when he voted in favor of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, which called on the U.S. government to move the embassy to Jerusalem. The four U.S. presidents in office since that law passed, including most recently Trump, have used a presidential waiver to postpone the actual relocation of the embassy.
Trump promised multiple times during his presidential campaign not to use the waiver, but earlier this year he broke his promise, explaining that it was necessary to give a chance to peace talks with the Palestinians.
Schumer stated at the time that he was "deeply disappointed" by Trump's decision and wondered whether Republicans who criticized former President Barack Obama on the issue would find the courage to also criticize Trump about it.
Schumer and Trump have also feuded in recent days over the president's immigration policy after the Trump administration backed away from a deal the president and the Democratic leader had reached over the fate of immigrants who entered the United States illegally as young children.
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The researchers, who are from the University of Pittsburgh, published the results of their study in the journal Stroke.
They say that anxiety disorders - characterized by fear, unease and worry - impact nearly 20% of US adults each year and often last for at least 6 months.
A stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain stops, and the American Stroke Association says this cuts off oxygen and nutrients that are vital for the brain. When this happens, brain cells die, and depending in which side of the brain the stroke occurs, effects can include paralysis, vision or speech problems, memory loss and behavioral changes.
Stroke is the number four killer in the US and is a leading cause of disability, the researchers note.
"Anxiety is a very common condition in the general population," says Maya Lambiase, a post-doctoral scholar at the University of Pittsburgh and lead author of the study. But she notes that anxiety is a "modifiable behavior," adding:
"Assessment and treatment of anxiety has the potential to not only improve overall quality of life, but also reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, such as stroke, later in life."
The investigators say their study is the first to suggest a link between high anxiety and an increased stroke risk, despite other known risk factors, such as depression.
High-anxiety individuals 33% more likely to have stroke
Individuals who are highly anxious have a 33% increased risk of suffering a stroke, researchers found. Individuals who are highly anxious have a 33% increased risk of suffering a stroke, researchers found.
To conduct their research, the team analyzed over 6,000 individuals between the ages of 25 and 74 who had never had a stroke.
These participants were part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which involved data collection between 1971 and 1975.
The participants completed questionnaires that assessed anxiety and depression levels, and researchers followed them for 22 years, during which the team recorded stroke occurrences from death certificates and reports from hospitals and nursing homes.
Results showed that participants with the highest anxiety levels were 33% more likely to suffer a stroke, compared with those who were less anxious.
"Most of the focus up until this point has been on depression," says Prof. Rebecca Thurston, co-author of the study.
"These findings encourage practitioners to assess and treat anxiety, as well as to reconsider popular notions such as 'worried well' - this worrying may not make us so well," she adds.
The researchers also found that people who had high anxiety levels were more likely to smoke and be physically inactive, which they say may also explain some of the links between anxiety and stroke.
"Even a modest increase in anxiety was associated with an increase in stroke risk," Lambiase says, "so greater education and awareness of anxiety management is important."
Medical News Today recently reported on a study that suggested a gene linked to stress increases heart attack risk in individuals by 38%.Sep 11, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Chad Bettis (35) pitches during the fourth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
On his first Father’s Day since being diagnosed with and overcoming testicular cancer, Colorado Rockies pitcher Chad Bettis took another step toward rejoining the team.
Bettis threw a short bullpen session on Sunday at Coors Field under the watchful eye of Rockies manager Bud Black. After the session, the right-hander was succinct with his comments, saying, “Felt great.”
Black had some additional thoughts when he met with the media before the Rockies took on the San Francisco Giants in the finale of a four-game series.
“Full distance, full 60-feet-6,” Black said. “He threw the ball very well. Delivery looked good. Arm action looked good. Very positive. He did his post-pen work with our strength and conditioning guys, fine. He just continues to progress and it’s really, really good to see.”
Bettis threw an estimated 15 fastballs during the workout.
“He played long toss,” Black said. “His arm is strengthening. He could’ve thrown more pitches.”
Bettis is still hopeful he is able to rejoin the Rockies before the All-Star break begins after the Rockies host the Chicago White Sox on July 9.
When the 28-year-old Bettis does return to the Rockies, he’ll take the mound for the first time in his career as a father. He says he will also have a renewed vision for what’s truly important in life.
Bettis and his wife, Kristina, welcomed their first child into the world in late March and were glad to announce it to the world through this Instagram post. His daughter, Everleigh Rae, and his battle with cancer and subsequent chemotherapy has changed how Bettis now views the world.Hawaii. Image: Renewable Energy Services facebook page.
A new plan submitted to the regulator from Hawaii’s main utility HECO shows how the state can continue to steer a course to meet its ambitious “100% renewable energy-powered” target.
From reaching 23% renewable energy in 2015, Hawaii is looking to completely switch to renewable sources by 2045. HECO and its subsidiaries Hawaiian Electric, Maui Electric, and Hawaii Electric Light Company submitted its latest 30-year plan to the Hawaiian Public Utilities’ Commission (PUC) last week, outlining how it believes this could be done. The plan still requires approval by the PUC, while the overall three decades-long scope will be revisited every half-decade.
Suggested measures in this Power Supply Improvement Programme include the creation of smart grids, better demand side measures, continuing to support rooftop solar and favouring liquid natural gas (LNG) as a cleaner fuel than diesel and other petroleum products commonly relied upon by islanders. The plan also called for some 350MW of requests for proposals (RfPs) for new renewables capacity to be developed through a competitive process by 2022.
The electricity companies also want to see circuit level improvements on all of Hawaii’s islands to accommodate more renewables and for more energy storage to be deployed at utility-scale and linked with rooftop PV while supporting innovation and tech trials involving storage. More community solar programmes, a growing favourite topic for utilities in the US at present, was also called for.
Is Hawaii a 'test bed' for US solar?
Often cited as the US state thought to host the most installed PV capacity per head, Hawaii is sometimes referred to as a “test bed” for how larger regions might cope with rising levels of renewables penetration onto the grid. Net metering policy was suspended for new customers on the islands in October. What is thought to be the first distributed resources trade association group in the US was formed in the state towards the end of last year by companies including micro-inverter maker Enphase and “intelligent” commercial storage provider Stem.
In an interview for PV Tech's sister site Energy Storage News, Stem’s VP for Hawaii, Tad Glauthier, explained many of the ways in which Hawaii could be described as a forerunner in distributed PV, the lessons the rest of the US and the rest of the world could learn from it – and what lessons may not be as easily transferable elsewhere.
However the near-term future could be uncertain for Hawaii’s power sector. The Hawaiian Electric group of companies is in negotiations to sell a significant stake in its equity to NextEra Energy, which has been a controversial proposal for many consumers and industry observers.In the cutthroat world of marketing, companies have to make sure their advertisements are even better than amazing if they really want to stand out. Recently, Trojan was able to cut through the noise with its newest ad campaign that points out that you can also put condoms on your fingers to pick up dead bugs.
Wow. This is truly a massive marketing win for Trojan condoms!
Trojan launched its innovative ad campaign in a TV spot last week featuring an attractive man slowly unwrapping five Trojan condoms and putting them over his fingers while his girlfriend watches from a nearby bed. He then leans over to pick up a dead cockroach lying on his carpet before looking into the camera, winking, and announcing in a particularly sultry voice that Trojan condoms are just as good for picking up lifeless insects as they are for preventing STDs.
We’ve got to give it up for the marketing executives at Trojan, because they hit this one out of the park. This new campaign is an electrifying and forward-thinking way of showing the world that Trojan condoms are more than just a reliable way to ensure safe, pleasurable sex, but are also the perfect tool for popping onto the tips of your fingers to pick up disgusting insect carcasses you see on the floor. The ad writers who came up with this one deserve a pretty big raise, because in a few weeks, for pretty much every single person in America, the name Trojan condoms is going to be synonymous with safely picking desiccated wasps off your windowsill.
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So far the most-watched ad in Trojan’s new campaign has been YouTube preroll in which a woman on her knees methodically swats cockroach after cockroach with a rolled-up newspaper over sensual music while her boyfriend sits next to her picking up the bugs’ remains with his Trojan-covered fingers and throwing them in the trash one at a time. In the final seconds of the ad, the Trojan logo appears with the tagline “Only Trojan can provide protection you can trust for sex, but also for picking up gross, dead bugs.”
Absolutely amazing. If you’re in the advertising business, take note, because thanks to this incredible new campaign, every time a consumer finds a smashed dragonfly on the ground that they want to pick up to throw away or just to look very closely at, they’re going to pick up a box of Trojan condoms to protect their fingertips while they pluck it up. This is hands down one of the best ad campaigns of the year.Image copyright PA Image caption Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) Frances Fitzgerald attended the Dublin Pride parade
Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar has promised to use his position to campaign for same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland.
Mr Varadkar made his pledge as he addressed the annual Pride festival in Dublin on Saturday.
It was the first time an Irish leader has marched in Dublin's Pride parade.
Mr Varadkar, 38, was elected as taoiseach earlier this month, becoming the youngest ever, and the first openly gay, leader of the Republic of Ireland.
In his address to the crowd on Saturday, he said: "I pledge as taoiseach to use my office, for as long as I hold it, to advance the cause of LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender] rights, to press for marriage equality across Ireland."
He also promised to "speak up for LGBT rights around the world where they are under attack, and to push for the implementation of the sexual health strategy here at home at a time when it is more important than ever".
'Equality'
Same-sex marriage is legal in the Republic of Ireland but not in Northern Ireland, which remains the only part of the UK not to introduce same-sex marriage legislation.
Mr Varadkar said he would be "pressing for marriage equality in Northern Ireland where currently our citizens do not have the same rights as we do".
Image copyright PA Image caption Leo Varadkar said he would use his office to promote gay rights around the world
Same-sex marriage has been a contentious subject at the Northern Ireland Assembly, where members have voted five times on the issue.
On the fifth time of asking, in November 2015, they voted in favour by a slim majority of 53 votes to 52.
However, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) used a Stormont veto, known as a petition of concern, to prevent any change in the law.
During his first official meeting as taoiseach with DUP Arlene Foster on 16 June, Mr Varadkar raised the issue of same-sex marriage.
He later said there was "not a meeting of minds" on the subject, but added he believed it was "not a matter of if, but when" Northern Ireland changed its law.
Image caption Leo Varadkar discussed same-sex marriage when he met DUP leader Arlene Foster in Dublin on 16 June
This year's Dublin Pride festival is not the first one that Mr Varadkar has attended, but it is the first time a serving taoiseach has participated in the event.
His election as taoiseach on 14 June has been hailed as an embodiment of dramatic change in Irish society.
Homosexuality was a criminal offence in the Republic of Ireland until June 1993.
But in 2015, it became the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage through a popular vote.
Shortly before the 2015 referendum, Mr Varadkar came out as gay during an interview with Irish broadcaster, RTÉ.
Speaking at the time, the then minister for health said: "I won't be allowing my own background or my own sexual orientation to dictate the decisions that I make."
He added: "I just kind of want to be honest with people. I don't want anyone to think that I have a hidden agenda."
'Enormous changes'
When he was elected taoiseach, much of the international media attention focused on his Indian heritage and his sexual orientation, whereas Irish mainstream media focused mainly on his age and economic policies.
As he addressed the 30,000-strong crowd at Dublin Pride on Saturday, Mr Varadkar acknowledged that shift in Irish attitudes.
"I don't think my election as taoiseach actually made history, it just reflected it - reflected the enormous changes that had already occurred in our country," he said.
"So, I don't think that I have changed things for you; I think people like you have changed things for me."2015 Rankings: 2015 Team Recruiting Rankings | 2015 247Sports Composite
Five-star DT Daylon Mack headlines the early No. 1 class in 2015 for Texas A&M.
An inside look at ten programs that could potentially have big recruiting classes in 2015.
TEXAS A&M - The Aggies are already off to a hot start with the nation’s No. 1 class 363 days out from next year’s National Signing Day. They have seven commits, all from the state of Texas and all of them are four-star material or higher. Five-star defensive tackle Daylon Mack heads the pack. A&M is just warming up with this class as well. They are in the lead group for four-star QB Kyler Murray, a legacy prospect, four-star wide receiver Kemah Siverand, five-star linebacker Malik Jefferson, five-star cornerback Kendall Sheffield and four-star offensive lineman Conner Dyer. The Aggies could potentially land half of the top 20 prospects in Texas. Kevin Sumlin is selling an exciting brand of offensive football, playing in the SEC and a stadium expansion and the top recruits in Texas are lining up to play for him in College Station. The 2015 class has the makings to be very special for the Aggies.
ALABAMA - Recruiting at an elite level starts and ends in Tuscaloosa as the Crimson Tide are fresh off its fourth consecutive recruiting title. They’ve already secured seven early verbal commitments including five-star pass-rusher Mekhi Brown, one of the top recruits in Georgia. Alabama will continue to go after the best in the Southeast and nationally at each position. They are in good shape for players such as four-star wide receiver Jovon Durante, four-star tight end Devonaire Clarington, four-star offensive tackle Jake Fruhmorgen (a legacy prospect), four-star offensive tackle Drew Richmond, four-star offensive guard Richie Petitbon, five-star defensive tackle Daron Payne, five-star defensive tackle Tim Settle, five-star cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick and five-star athlete Kerryon Johnson. Those are some of the top prospects in Florida, the Mid-Atlantic region and locally for Alabama. The Tide will have their work cut out for them to five-peat as recruiting champs but its not unconceivable that it would happen again.
FLORIDA STATE - Fresh off a huge finish on signing day and inking one of the nation’s best classes, the Seminoles staff will carry the glow of the National Championship everywhere with them this off-season. In the process, tons of the nation’s best figure to jump in the boat and pledge to the Seminoles as few, if any, programs have as much momentum right now. The Seminoles have two of the nation’s best defensive backs - Derwin James and Tyrek Cole - already on the commit list. They are in the early lead group for studs like five-star wide receiver George Campbell, four-star wide receiver Da’Vante Phillips, four-star wide receiver John Burt, four-star athlete Deon Cain, four-star tight end Garrett Williams and four-star defensive tackle Darvin Taylor. Its looking like its going to be more of the same for the Seminoles as even more big-time talent is likely heading their way.
LSU - The Tigers are a fixture among the nation’s best recruiting classes and 2014 was more of the same. They tend to almost always land all of the elite talent Louisiana and compliment it by signing some of the best in Texas and in the Southeast. The Bayou Bengals already have two of the nation’s top five-star recruits in the boat with Kevin Toliver II and Maea Teuhema. Those are elite high-level talents. They have early pledges from in-state studs like Nick Brossette, a four-star running back, and four-star safety Kevin Henry. LSU has also positioned itself well instate for the likes of four-star wide receiver Tyron Johnson and four-star cornerback Xavier Lewis. Outside of Louisiana, the Tigers are in good standing with four-star wide receiver Carlos Strickland.
OHIO STATE - The Buckeyes figure to contend for top 5 honors for the best recruiting class in the country. They will continue to do so as long as Urban Meyer is running the operation. They’ll dominate the rich instate grounds in Ohio and pluck some of the country’s best throughout the Midwest and all the way down the East Coast and at times get into Texas. The Buckeyes have two early pledges from four-star cornerbacks Eric Glover-Williams and Jamel Dean. But they are only getting started. The Buckeyes are in the lead groups for some of the country’s best at almost every other spot including five-star dual-threat quarterback Torrance Gibson, four-star quarterback Brandon Wimbush, four-star offensive tackle Steven Gonzalez, four-star defensive end James Lockhart, four-star athlete Bryce Love, linebacker Sh’mar Kilby-Lane and four-star athlete Jerome Baker. The Buckeyes had the best class in the Big Ten again in 2014 and have positioned themselves early on to maintain that status going forward.
USC - What USC closed with on Wednesday, landing Damien Mama, JuJu Smith and Adoree’ Jackson on the same day was as big as it gets on the recruiting trail. It could be a potential taste of what’s head this cycle as the state of California is absolutely in 2015. Five of the nation’s elite junior quarterbacks reside in southern California. The Trojans have already landed the best with the recent pledge of five-star Ricky Town. Landing Jackson will help continue USC’s pipeline at Serra High School. The powerhouse has one of the nation’s top defensive tackles (Rasheem Green) and linebackers (John Houston). USC is already in great standing with both of the elite four-star prospects. The Trojans also lead or are in the lead group for four-star wideout Cordell Broadus, five-star wideout Christian Kirk, four-star wide receiver Desean Holmes, four-star guard Zach Robertson, five-star cornerback Iman Marshall, four-star athlete Kanya Bell, four-star defensive tackle Jacob Daniel and four-star defensive tackle Joseph Wicker. If USC can keep the best in L.A. at home this group will not only be a Top 5 recruiting class but also be the foundation in returning the Trojans to national prominence as the NCAA sanctions wind down.
GEORGIA - The Bulldogs traditionally land Top 3-10 classes year in, year out. They reside in the nation’s fourth best state for Division I talent and they usually get who they want in that state when they push for that prospect. In his first week on the job as Georgia’s new defensive coordinator, Jeremy Pruitt, landed five-star athlete Terry Godwin and four-star defensive back Rico McGraw. The Dawgs figure to land several more as early as this spring and into the summer. They sit in favorable position with running back Ty’Son Williams, three-star tight end Chris Clark, four-star offensive lineman Chuma Edoga, four-star defensive end Natrez Patrick, five-star defensive tackle Trent Thompson, four-star linebacker Roquan Smith and four-star safety Rashad Roundtree. The beat goes on in Athens.
Kevin Toliver II is one of two out-of-state five-star prospects already committed to LSU.
FLORIDA - Even off of a 4-8 campaign, the Gators finished with a Top 10 recruiting class in 2014. The national brand, program history and location continues to be a favorable option for some the nation’s best prospects. The strength of the 2014 class was landing three of the nation’s best defensive tackles with Thomas Holley, Gerald Willis and Khairi Clark. The Gators look to compliment that front this cycle as they are in good standing for five-star defensive end CeCe Jefferson and four-star defensive Byron Cowart. Both grew up liking the Gators and are the top two junior defensive ends in Florida. The Gators are also in good position for linebacker Tevon Coney, safety Ja |
bang on as information we provided months ago filtered down and ended up in the game. With an averaged Cd curve and the motor in the game we are confident and comfortable with the AIM-9M, AIM-120B and AIM-120C being the closest approximations possible with currently available information and resources.
AIM-7M performance
How does this information help with the other missiles, how can it be used further? If we look at the AIM-7E which has a wealth of information regarding we then extrapolated the Cd curve to the Sparrow. Firstly we started with generating a Sparrow Motor, the specifications can be found within the AD-A142-508 (Weapon File) and other sources validate the Weapon File's accuracy. The motor contains 42kg of 240Isp fuel which burns for 2.9s. We used this to modify the AIM-7M in the game.
The Cd curve was then altered to fall in line with what we would expect to see.
0.023, -- Cx_k0
0.048, -- Cx_k1
0.02, -- Cx_k2
0.028, -- Cx_k3
1.5, -- Cx_k4
1.5
The F-4 Phantom's Tactical Manual provides us DLZ shots for the AIM-7E which our AIM-7E falls within parameter of the curves. As graphs aren't very appropriate for this I have also attached all of the track and tacview files for the shots. This was then cross referenced with the AIM-7F Standard Missile Characteristics which lists a single instance of the AIM-7E and it matches. It should be noted that at the 40k feet shoots the missile potentially has slightly too much energy but as SL up to 25k feet match so well it may be another game artifact.
How does this impact the AIM-7M. Well we have information on the AIM-7F which has the same motor as the AIM-7M. The AIM-7's also have the same missile shape (Except for the Dogfight Sparrows but we wont talk about those). So the Cd curve is still appropriate but the engine now needs to be corrected. The SMC as previously mentioned as well as a number of other source all list the details of the Sparrow's motor. The SMC does have what we believe to be an error when listing the boost/sustain ratio. The missile has an Isp of approximately 265, has 62kg of fuel and the thrust of the two stages is sourced multiple times. This would demonstrate to us that it should be a 70% boost 30% sustain motor. Firing tests also show that this ratio to provide the longest range so that is what we opted for.
We have AIM-7F DLZ's and Rmax benchmarks from the SMC which the AIM-7F/M hits with modified motor and Cd curve.
t_statr t_b t_accel t_march t_inertial t_break t_end
-1.0, -1.0, 4.5, 11.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0e9,
0.0, 0.0, 9.8, 1.73, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0
0.0, 0.0, 25577.0, 4528.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0,
With this validation we feel comfortable with the American missiles in the game. We felt it was unfair to modify the American arsenal and not touch the Russian side of the table so similar curves were applied.
The Russian side of the coin
The access to the Russian information is much harder for us to obtain. There are R-27R and ER DLZ's which have been posted in this thread as well as details on the R-27 family's rocket motor. Whilst we have not sourced it we feel that the rocket motors for the 27 family are accurate and match both the Isp and fuel quantities we would expect to see and what is documented on Russian websites.
There has been a lot of dispute over the DLZ RMax for the R-27ER. When a similar Cd curve is given to the missile the Raero increases dramatically. I am going to copy and paraphrase the response I gave to Chizh regarding my belief as to why that is acceptable from later in the thread here as I feel the argument is still valid as no counter-argument has been given.
I would agree though that if the Raero the missile goes as you say an extra 24km, you would expect that DLZ to be larger as the missile has quite a bit more energy. Not necessarily, but I would agree, it would be strange. What could be a limiting factor though is as I said, the life time of the missile.
The R-27ER DLZ Curve says the Rmax is 66km. If translate this into nmi that comes out to be around 35.5nmi.
If we say that the DLZ is about as far as the missile can go on average as it is a DLZ and an Raero diagram, this would give you the maximum most useful range of the missile (Which you could say gives reasonably good Pk but that's another argument). So there are two limiting factors, how far the missile can fly, and how long the missile can fly for (Not aerodynamically, but due to internal lifetime functions). It's been agreed (Although I cannot source it) that the missile has approximately 60 seconds of life time in it (Battery life from what I hear. Possibly hydraulics in the same way as the AIM-7).
So lets say that missile flies for the max of 60 seconds before the electronics/hydraulics/whatever run out. The target moves at your speed of 1100km/h for 60s = 9nmi. So the missile in 60s has to make up the remaining 26.5nmi. The diagram below of how my missile behaves hits 26nmi at 60s. Aerodynamically, the missile can continue but in it is just drifting now as the fins cannot actuate to generate enough lift.
Missile launched at 10km ASL at 1100kph
Similarly it matches quite closely with the Tail-Chase diagram as well. Looking at the 400m/s at 60s for 10km ASL, both launcher and the target are moving at 400m/s, 10km ASL. The target will move 24km. The missile will move 16km. The missile also has to be doing at least 400m/s to make the intercept. If we translate this into imperial numbers. 400m/s ~ 800kts. The graph below shows that the missile at the 60s is doing just over 800kts, which is required to make the kill. It all fits within the realm of reason.
Missile launched at 10km ASL at 1100kph
This all assumes that the 60 second rule is correct and is factored into the Russian R-27ER DLZ curve. If it isn't then I have I would have to drastically alter the drag curve of the R-27ER to something of similar range to the AIM-7E. Based on the size and shape similarities between the AIM-7 and the R-27 a similar drag curve would be expected. With the much larger motor on the R-27ER a greater range would be expected which is what we see.
The only dark horses are the R-27ET which should probably have a curve that fits the Sidewinder more than the AIM-120/Sparrow due to the rounded seeker head and the R-77 due to it's grid-fin design.
The R-77 was compromised to give it higher drag in the sub-sonic region and much lower drag in the supersonic region which is what would be expected from the grid-fin design.
Bilbliography
AIM-120
General Missile Specifications
Air to Air Intercept Procedures Workbook Naval Air Training Command 2010 Pg: 149
Navy Training System Plan for the AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-air Missile 1998 Pg: 13
Distributed Simulation Testing for Weapons System Performance of the FA-18 and AIM-120 AMRAAM, Tom Watson, 1998, Pg: 3
Motor Specification
AMRAAM PEP Propulsion System,
Hazard of Classification of Unite States Military Explosives ans Munitions Revision 14 2009, Pg: 143
Rocket Propulsion Elements, George P Sutton, 2001, Pg: 492
Aerodynamic Performance
Performance Improvements with Sidewinder Missile Airframe Variants 1979, Pg: 7
A Method Of Increasing The Kinematic Boundary Of Air-To-Air Missiles Using An Optimal Control Approach, Robert D. Broadston, 2000, Pg: 40
AIM-7E
General Missile Specifications
AD-A142-508 (Weapon File), 1984, Pg: 9
Rocket Motor Specifications
Shrike and Sparrow Missile Baseline Cookoff Tests, Anthony San Miguel, et all, 1974 Pg: 46
Hazard of Classification of Unite States Military Explosives ans Munitions Revision 14 2009 Pg: 44
Rocket Propulsion Elements, George P Sutton, 2001, Pg: 492
Aerodynamic Performance
F-4 Tactical Manual, 1972, Pg: 223
AIM-7F Standard Missile Characteristics, 1977, Pg: 2
AIM-7F/AIM-7M
General Missile Specifications
AD-A142-508 (Weapon File), 1984, Pg: 10
Air to Air Intercept Procedures, 2010, Pg: 146
Rocket Motor Specifications
AIM-7F Standard Missile Characteristics, 1977, Pg: 2
Sparrow Propulsion System, ATK, Pg: 2
Hazard of Classification of Unite States Military Explosives ans Munitions Revision 14, 2009, Pg: 143
Rocket Propulsion Elements, George P Sutton, 2001, Pg: 492
Study of the deposition of ammonium perchlorate following the static firing of MK-58 rocket motors, 2008, Pg: 19
Aerodynamic Performance
AIM-7F Standard Missile Characteristics, 1977, Pg: 2
AAM-6 Sparrow III SMC, 1960, Pg: 5
AIM-9M
General Missile Specifications
AIM-9L Standard Missile Characteristics 1974, Pg: 2
Performance Improvements with Sidewinder Missile Airframe Variants 1979, Pg: 2
AD-A142-508 (Weapon File), 1984, Pg: 12
Rocket Motor Specifications
Sidewinder Propulsion System, ATK, Pg: 2
Performance Improvements with Sidewinder Missile Airframe Variants 1979, Pg: 7
Hazard of Classification of Unite States Military Explosives ans Munitions Revision 14, 2009, Pg: 143
Rocket Propulsion Elements, George P Sutton, 2001, Pg: 492
Aerodynamic Performance
Performance Improvements with Sidewinder Missile Airframe Variants 1979, Pg: 7
AIM-9L Standard Missile Characteristics 1974, Pg: 2 Lift curves altered for all missiles.Loft calculation has been adjusted, no needless high g bullshit.As some of you are aware by now, research has been done into the AIM-120C in an attempt to provide a more realistic flight model and gain greater understanding as to how this and other missiles behave.Essentially two major areas that need to be assessed. Firstly is the Cd curve which means to be adjusted to fall in line with realistic expectations of performance. Secondly is the thrust and motor behaviour of the missile. Fortunately the motor information is rather easy to gain access to (Apart from the R-77 but we'll talk about that later).As the Cd curves of the missiles are likely to be similar due to the general shape of the missile, we have made alterations from the AIM-9Variant curve and the AIM-120C curve generated through CFD. Obviously slightly more drag for the larger missiles and slightly less drag at certain envelopes for special circumstances (R-77's gridfins come to mind).The motors have all been taken from real world sources and adjusted accordingly in game. There are certain variables that are not factored which have a large impact (Reduced drag whilst the motor is running for example) which obviously cannot be included. This gives the missiles their distinct flight characteristics. The exception to this is the R-77 where I have been able to find no legitimate sources on beyond what is currently accepted doctrine on the Russian part of the ED forums and is currently already in the game.Where the big differences start to show are the surface area, diameter and overall mass of the missiles which impact each missile uniquely in combination with their very different rocket motors.All in all I feel as though this is the closest approximation that we're able to generate short of CADing and CFDing every missile in the game which is unrealistic on a budget of $0.Missiles effected: AIM-120C, AIM-120B, AIM-7M, R-77, R-27ER, R-27ET, R-27R, R-27TEDIT: Rationale belowThe Performance Improvements With Sidewinder Missile Air-frame Variants document provides the most useful and detailed source for the flight performance of the Sidewinder. Below are graphs taken directly from the paper.The AIM-9M was then shot in the game and compared to digitized versions of these graphs, as seen below with accompanied Cd variables and curve.0.04, -- Cx_k00.08, -- Cx_k10.02, -- Cx_k20.05, -- Cx_k31.2, -- Cx_k41.2,The graphs match, sort of. Two big points to note are how the missile doesn't get up to the top speed fast enough and how 10K doesn't seem to fit. The former is due to the lack of motor on reduced drag which is currently not modeled in the game. Below is a graph from the same paper that demonstrates a Cd difference with Motor On/off as well as from A Method Of Increasing The Kinematic Boundary Of Air-To-Air Missiles Using An Optimal Control Approach, both clearly showing a reduction of 10-20% in parasitic drag whilst the engine is running. This obviously varies with altitude but at current nothing is modeled in the game.The latter point about 10k being out of a recurring theme that will be seen time and again later on and appears to be an artifact within the game.The second curve in the graphs labelled as variant is testing the USAF did whilst developing the AMRAAM. It was to see what the flight performance of a missile with similar shape radome and fins would have. Whilst the variant doesn't fit the AMRAAM perfectly (picture below) it does have matching nose and fore fins to the AIM-120A and much reduced tail canards compared to the AIM-9L which was modified. Below are the graphs of the Cd curve designed to match the flight performance of these flyout shots along with the ingame comparisons.0.022, -- Cx_k00.047, -- Cx_k10.02, -- Cx_k20.027, -- Cx_k31.5, -- Cx_k41.5,This gives us a reasonable estimation on how the AIM-120 should behave. As has been mentioned around the forum and posted in this thread, there has been CFD work done on the AIM-120C and below are the Cd curves for that and the same three comparison graphs.0.016, -- Cx_k00.045, -- Cx_k10.02, -- Cx_k20.016, -- Cx_k31.2, -- Cx_k41.5This validates our work as real flyout shots of a comparable missile shape matched our own analysis. Now to complete the AIM-120C would be the motor. The engine in the game is more or less bang on as information we provided months ago filtered down and ended up in the game. With an averaged Cd curve and the motor in the game we are confident and comfortable with the AIM-9M, AIM-120B and AIM-120C being the closest approximations possible with currently available information and resources.How does this information help with the other missiles, how can it be used further? If we look at the AIM-7E which has a wealth of information regarding we then extrapolated the Cd curve to the Sparrow. Firstly we started with generating a Sparrow Motor, the specifications can be found within the AD-A142-508 (Weapon File) and other sources validate the Weapon File's accuracy. The motor contains 42kg of 240Isp fuel which burns for 2.9s. We used this to modify the AIM-7M in the game.The Cd curve was then altered to fall in line with what we would expect to see.0.023, -- Cx_k00.048, -- Cx_k10.02, -- Cx_k20.028, -- Cx_k31.5, -- Cx_k41.5The F-4 Phantom's Tactical Manual provides us DLZ shots for the AIM-7E which our AIM-7E falls within parameter of the curves. As graphs aren't very appropriate for this I have also attached all of the track and tacview files for the shots. This was then cross referenced with the AIM-7F Standard Missile Characteristics which lists a single instance of the AIM-7E and it matches. It should be noted that at the 40k feet shoots the missile potentially has slightly too much energy but as SL up to 25k feet match so well it may be another game artifact.How does this impact the AIM-7M. Well we have information on the AIM-7F which has the same motor as the AIM-7M. The AIM-7's also have the same missile shape (Except for the Dogfight Sparrows but we wont talk about those). So the Cd curve is still appropriate but the engine now needs to be corrected. The SMC as previously mentioned as well as a number of other source all list the details of the Sparrow's motor. The SMC does have what we believe to be an error when listing the boost/sustain ratio. The missile has an Isp of approximately 265, has 62kg of fuel and the thrust of the two stages is sourced multiple times. This would demonstrate to us that it should be a 70% boost 30% sustain motor. Firing tests also show that this ratio to provide the longest range so that is what we opted for.We have AIM-7F DLZ's and Rmax benchmarks from the SMC which the AIM-7F/M hits with modified motor and Cd curve.t_statr t_b t_accel t_march t_inertial t_break t_end-1.0, -1.0, 4.5, 11.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0e9,0.0, 0.0, 9.8, 1.73, 0.0, 0.0, 0.00.0, 0.0, 25577.0, 4528.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0,With this validation we feel comfortable with the American missiles in the game. We felt it was unfair to modify the American arsenal and not touch the Russian side of the table so similar curves were applied.The access to the Russian information is much harder for us to obtain. There are R-27R and ER DLZ's which have been posted in this thread as well as details on the R-27 family's rocket motor. Whilst we have not sourced it we feel that the rocket motors for the 27 family are accurate and match both the Isp and fuel quantities we would expect to see and what is documented on Russian websites.There has been a lot of dispute over the DLZ RMax for the R-27ER. When a similar Cd curve is given to the missile the Raero increases dramatically. I am going to copy and paraphrase the response I gave to Chizh regarding my belief as to why that is acceptable from later in the thread here as I feel the argument is still valid as no counter-argument has been given.I would agree though that if the Raero the missile goes as you say an extra 24km, you would expect that DLZ to be larger as the missile has quite a bit more energy. Not necessarily, but I would agree, it would be strange. What could be a limiting factor though is as I said, the life time of the missile.The R-27ER DLZ Curve says the Rmax is 66km. If translate this into nmi that comes out to be around 35.5nmi.If we say that the DLZ is about as far as the missile can go on average as it is a DLZ and an Raero diagram, this would give you the maximum most useful range of the missile (Which you could say gives reasonably good Pk but that's another argument). So there are two limiting factors, how far the missile can fly, and how long the missile can fly for (Not aerodynamically, but due to internal lifetime functions). It's been agreed (Although I cannot source it) that the missile has approximately 60 seconds of life time in it (Battery life from what I hear. Possibly hydraulics in the same way as the AIM-7).So lets say that missile flies for the max of 60 seconds before the electronics/hydraulics/whatever run out. The target moves at your speed of 1100km/h for 60s = 9nmi. So the missile in 60s has to make up the remaining 26.5nmi. The diagram below of how my missile behaves hits 26nmi at 60s. Aerodynamically, the missile can continue but in it is just drifting now as the fins cannot actuate to generate enough lift.Similarly it matches quite closely with the Tail-Chase diagram as well. Looking at the 400m/s at 60s for 10km ASL, both launcher and the target are moving at 400m/s, 10km ASL. The target will move 24km. The missile will move 16km. The missile also has to be doing at least 400m/s to make the intercept. If we translate this into imperial numbers. 400m/s ~ 800kts. The graph below shows that the missile at the 60s is doing just over 800kts, which is required to make the kill. It all fits within the realm of reason.This all assumes that the 60 second rule is correct and is factored into the Russian R-27ER DLZ curve. If it isn't then I have I would have to drastically alter the drag curve of the R-27ER to something of similar range to the AIM-7E. Based on the size and shape similarities between the AIM-7 and the R-27 a similar drag curve would be expected. With the much larger motor on the R-27ER a greater range would be expected which is what we see.The only dark horses are the R-27ET which should probably have a curve that fits the Sidewinder more than the AIM-120/Sparrow due to the rounded seeker head and the R-77 due to it's grid-fin design.The R-77 was compromised to give it higher drag in the sub-sonic region and much lower drag in the supersonic region which is what would be expected from the grid-fin design.Air to Air Intercept Procedures Workbook Naval Air Training Command 2010 Pg: 149Navy Training System Plan for the AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-air Missile 1998 Pg: 13Distributed Simulation Testing for Weapons System Performance of the FA-18 and AIM-120 AMRAAM, Tom Watson, 1998, Pg: 3AMRAAM PEP Propulsion System, www.atk.com, Pg: 2Hazard of Classification of Unite States Military Explosives ans Munitions Revision 14 2009, Pg: 143Rocket Propulsion Elements, George P Sutton, 2001, Pg: 492Performance Improvements with Sidewinder Missile Airframe Variants 1979, Pg: 7A Method Of Increasing The Kinematic Boundary Of Air-To-Air Missiles Using An Optimal Control Approach, Robert D. Broadston, 2000, Pg: 40AD-A142-508 (Weapon File), 1984, Pg: 9Shrike and Sparrow Missile Baseline Cookoff Tests, Anthony San Miguel, et all, 1974 Pg: 46Hazard of Classification of Unite States Military Explosives ans Munitions Revision 14 2009 Pg: 44Rocket Propulsion Elements, George P Sutton, 2001, Pg: 492F-4 Tactical Manual, 1972, Pg: 223AIM-7F Standard Missile Characteristics, 1977, Pg: 2AD-A142-508 (Weapon File), 1984, Pg: 10Air to Air Intercept Procedures, 2010, Pg: 146AIM-7F Standard Missile Characteristics, 1977, Pg: 2Sparrow Propulsion System, ATK, Pg: 2Hazard of Classification of Unite States Military Explosives ans Munitions Revision 14, 2009, Pg: 143Rocket Propulsion Elements, George P Sutton, 2001, Pg: 492Study of the deposition of ammonium perchlorate following the static firing of MK-58 rocket motors, 2008, Pg: 19AIM-7F Standard Missile Characteristics, 1977, Pg: 2AAM-6 Sparrow III SMC, 1960, Pg: 5AIM-9L Standard Missile Characteristics 1974, Pg: 2Performance Improvements with Sidewinder Missile Airframe Variants 1979, Pg: 2AD-A142-508 (Weapon File), 1984, Pg: 12Sidewinder Propulsion System, ATK, Pg: 2Performance Improvements with Sidewinder Missile Airframe Variants 1979, Pg: 7Hazard of Classification of Unite States Military Explosives ans Munitions Revision 14, 2009, Pg: 143Rocket Propulsion Elements, George P Sutton, 2001, Pg: 492Performance Improvements with Sidewinder Missile Airframe Variants 1979, Pg: 7AIM-9L Standard Missile Characteristics 1974, Pg: 2 Attached Files Replay Shots.zip (1.15 MB, 940 views) Last edited by IASGATG; 03-05-2016 at 09:58 PM.ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan and the United States moved closer to a billion dollar defense deal this week, after U.S. authorities notified Congress of a proposal to supply helicopters and missiles to sharpen up Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts.
U.S. ally Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation of 180 million people, is fighting a Taliban insurgency in its northwest, a separatist insurgency along its Iranian border in the west, and has a heavily militarized and disputed border with arch rival India in the east.
The $952 million proposal involves the United States supplying Pakistan with 15 AH-1Z attack helicopters, 1,000 Hellfire missiles, engines, targeting and positioning systems and other equipment. But negotiations are not complete.
The helicopters and weapon systems were designed for counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations, especially in the mountainous Taliban strongholds along the Afghan border, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.
On Monday, the agency notified Congress of the proposed sale, noting it would “contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a country vital to U.S. foreign policy and national security goals in South Asia”.
The equipment “will not alter the basic military balance in the region,” the agency said.
Pakistani defense officials did not reply to requests for comment. The United States has been pushing Pakistan to take action against the Taliban as it withdraws most of its combat troops from neighboring Afghanistan, which is facing its own Taliban insurgency.
James Hardy, the Asia-Pacific editor for IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly, told Reuters the helicopters would help modernize Pakistan’s aging fleet, some of which had problems with spares and maintenance.
“Attack helicopters give you ‘loiter’ capability - you can hang around, find the target, knock it out,” he said. “Right now Pakistan is using its fast jets for counterinsurgency work.”
Pakistan is also trying to finalize a deal to buy eight submarines from China for a reported cost of between $4 billion to $5 billion.
China supplied 51 percent of the weapons Islamabad imported in 2010-2014, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which tracks global arms sales.
This year’s budget allocated $7 billion to the military. The police received $800 million.Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
Aug. 4, 2016, 9:43 PM GMT / Updated Aug. 4, 2016, 10:11 PM GMT By Alex Johnson
President Barack Obama said Thursday that it "defies logic" that a $400 million U.S. payment to Iran in January could be considered a "ransom" for hostages."
The State Department announced the payment on Jan. 17, a day after the Tehran freed four Americans and on the same weekend that U.N. sanctions on Iran were lifted. The State Department has said the payment was part of a settlement of a decades-long legal dispute before an international tribunal in The Hague and that the timing was coincidental.
"We announced these payments in January, many months ago. They weren't a secret. This wasn't some nefarious deal," Obama said at a news conference after meeting at the Pentagon with Vice President Joe Biden, members of his Cabinet, military commanders and senior staffers on the National Security Council.
Related: Obama Calls Trump's Claims of Rigged Election 'Ridiculous'
In fact, he said, lawyers had advised him that "there was significant litigation risk, and we could end up losing billions of dollars."
President Barack Obama, flanked by Vice President Joe Biden, left, and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, at a National Security Council briefing Thursday at the Pentagon. Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
To drive home the point, Obama declared, "We do not pay ransom for hostages," saying Republican accusations otherwise made no sense.
"The notion that we would start now and announce it to the world — even as we're looking into the faces of other families whose loved ones are suffering — defies logic," he said, his voice dripping with incredulity.
Federal law bans the United States from conducting monetary transactions with Iran in U.S. dollars. But because the United States doesn't have banking relations with Iran, the only way to settle the case ws to pay in dollars, Obama said.
Obama started the news conference — the last one scheduled before he goes on vacation — by promising to keep up U.S. pressure on ISIS as U.S. forces expanded airstrikes into Libya this week.
"We're going to keep going after ISIL on every front across this campaign," he said. "ISIL" is the administration's preferred name for the so-called "Islamic State," or ISIS.
"Even ISIL's leaders know they are going to lose," Obama said. "ISIL turns out not to be invincible. They are inevitably going to be defeated."
The United States launched airstrikes this week against ISIS targets in Libya in an expansion of military operations beyond Iraq and Syria. U.S. officials have told NBC News that the strikes targeted ISIS military infrastructure like tanks, high-caliber weapons and command and control nodes.
The expanded attacks come as a secret National Counterterrorism Center report indicates that the number of places around the globe where ISIS is operating is rising at an alarming rate.
A map from the National Counterterrorism Center shows the worldwide expansion of ISIS as of August 2016. National Counterterrorism Cente
The document, dated August 2016 and obtained by NBC News, shows that ISIS has established "fully operational" bases in 18 countries — triple the number from just two years ago.
Exclusive: Counterterrorism 'Heat Map' Shows ISIS Branches Spreading Worldwide
Obama also challenged Russia to "show it is serious" about ending the violence in Syria.
"The United States remains prepared to work with Russia," he said. "But so far, Russia has failed to take the necessary steps."
The United States last week voiced its "deep concern" about Russia's announcement that corridors would be opened where Syrian opposition fighters could lay down their arms in exchange for amnesty and where civilians could leave the ravaged city of Aleppo.
Russia called the operation a "large-scale humanitarian operation," but the State Department said it appeared to be a surrender demand and a move to empty Aleppo of civilians.
"I'm not confident we can trust the Russians and Vladimir Putin," Obama acknowledged Thursday, "but we have to try, because the end result is perpetuation of civil war."
Shifting to what he called the "real threat" of the Zika virus, Obama called on Americans to pressure Congress to approve funding requested by health officials to fight the mosquito-borne virus.
Senate Democrats last month blocked a $1.1 billion take-it-or-leave-it Zika measure drafted by Republicans over a provision that would block Planned Parenthood clinics in Puerto Rico from receiving money to fight the virus.
Related: 'Striking' Results From Early Zika Vaccine Trial
"This is not the time for politics," Obama said. "The money we need to fight Zika is rapidly running out. The situation is getting critical."
For the first time, health officials reported last week that "home grown" cases of the virus have begun emerging in Miami-Dade County, Fla. — that is, native infections of people who haven't brought the virus in from outside the country.
Zika is known to cause a variety of birth defects in infected expectant mothers, most notably microcephaly in babies.With each fallen snowflake on a blustery Friday night just outside of Denver, the United States men's soccer team gave American fans a crucial 1-0 victory in a World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica—and a memory none of us will soon forget.
With three points in their pocket, Jurgen Klinsmann and his squad must turn all their attention to Mexico and the chance to create another unforgettable memory this Tuesday. Still, that scene—that moment—in Denver was pretty special.
There have been games in wind and snow before, but it's hard to recall a game with so much wind and so much snow, with so much on the line for both teams.
Surely the game became more memorable for American soccer fans after the final whistle, as the result for the U.S. meant the team—and fans—could exhale a bit before the nearly impossible task of trying to defeat Mexico at the Azteca just four days later.
As the playing conditions worsened on Friday night, the game seemed to draw more and more interest from both casual soccer fans and curious looky-loos around the country, many of whom turned away from the NCAA tournament for a few moments to watch the snowy spectacle.
ESPN's Bill Simmons tweeted, "Who would have thought a World Cup qualifier would be today's must-see sporting event? SNOWY SOCCER IN HD!"
Soccer fan or not, the game was one of those crossover events in sports that had people tuning in just for the wow factor of it all.
Of course, when any sporting event crosses beyond that game's core fans to include the general sports-viewing populous, the haters, malcontents and trolls invariably find their way into the conversation.
ESPN columnist and Around the Horn yapper J.A. Adande decided to play the role of soccer contrarian on Twitter Friday night, in a repeated attempt to joke at the expense of those who care about soccer in America.
In most cases, when an epic duel is being waged in front of you, it's easy to ignore the jester on the edge of the grandstand, jingling his bells for a modicum of personal attention and self-satisfaction.
On Friday, Adande's comments did not warrant more than a pithy quip back. In advance of the enormous match against Mexico on Tuesday, however, his comments deserve a bit more dissection.
It's one thing to rip the sport of soccer for being boring, or not having enough scoring, or for the flopping—things fans of the sport dislike as well—but it's another issue altogether to rip on American soccer fans by calling them snobs.
It's not 1985 anymore. Find a new insult.
Adande's discourteous assault on the American soccer fans—during a match with so much on the line and so much general interest because of the blizzard in which the game was played—was a feeble attempt at trying to get people like, well, me, to take our attention away from the game and onto him.
It wouldn't have worked if his insults weren't so antiquated and wrong-headed. Calling an American soccer fan a snob is like making fun of a basketball player for wearing short shorts.
The idea of real American soccer fans being snobs is a remnant of a bygone era in this country where, yes, fans were snobs about their sport being the most popular in the world but barely noticed in their own country.
The snobbery of the previous generation was an adaptation of European (read: British) sports sensibilities and a hackneyed defense mechanism that backfired on those who used it, setting back the growth and development of the sport in this country for more than a decade.
Those people still exist, somewhere on the fringes of the growing group of supporters in this country, but they are far outnumbered in today's American soccer culture.
In truth, American soccer fans are not snobs. American soccer fans have too big an inferiority complex to be snobs.
American soccer fans are ostensibly sports outcasts in their own country, mocked and pilloried for years by fans of more traditional, ahem, American sports like football, baseball and basketball. The American soccer fan is, at best, a fourth-class citizen in this country, up from seventh or eighth class less than a generation ago.
Whenever soccer is on ESPN or NBC or FOX or one of the other major television networks in lieu of more traditional American sports, the barrage of hate toward the sport and those who care to watch it is enormous.
Despite being the most popular sport on the planet, the old American bully mentality, perpetuated by Adande and others like him, has made most soccer fans in America go to great lengths to specifically avoid those arguments that created the snob mentality of years gone by.
Very few |
guidelines or suggest modifications, please edit this file on GitHub and submit a pull request.
There is agreement on the following:
FSharp.* projects should be high-quality or trending rapidly in that direction. Ideally any packages and code under the FSharp.* namespace should be of sufficient quality to be considered ready for production use by people in the wider F# community. We need to avoid pollution of the FSharp.* namespace, particularly by unfinished projects. We need to encourage some degree of incubation and experimentation using FSharp.* project, package and namespace names. Important F# components such as FSharp.Data have developed in this way. Packages and projects using FSharp.* naming should generally be cross-platform, unless explicitly qualified by some platform-specific moniker (e.g. “Windows”, “Android”, “Azure”, “Gtk” or “Linux”). Code in the FSharp.* namespace should build, run and pass tests across multiple platforms. We want to encourage and scale the positive and productive spirit with which the F# community operates by sharing information about how to make successful, long-lasting and broad-reach components in a collaborative way.
In light of these, we cover some specific recommendations with regard to naming, quality and general advice below. They are written to augment the existing F# Component Design Guidelines. Some of these recommendations may eventually be added to those guidelines.
Naming Guidelines
Guideline: Do make the purpose of your project or package clear in its name
When starting a project, it can be all-to-easy to choose a name that is too general, for example “FSharp.Helpers”. As you clarify what your project is about, make sure you adjust the name of your project accordingly.
For example, a project such as “FSharp.Cloud” is unclear in purpose. Is this for uploading music to Apple’s iCloud? Or for Amazon AWS? Or Microsoft Azure? Instead, use a name such as “FSharp.Azure.Scripting” or “FSharp.Amazon.Scripting” if your package is in fact a scripting library for a particularly cloud infrastructure provide.
Alternatively, you may end up dropping the use of an “FSharp” name for your project or package. see below, and choosing a more product-like name.
Guideline: Consider an FSharp.* name for things intended primarily for F# developers
Many libraries, package or tools are designed explicitly for the use of F# programmers. These may be valid candidates for an “FSharp.*” name, if other criteria are met.
For example, “FSharp.Data” or “FSharp.Data.SqlCommandProvider” are in this category.
Guideline: Avoid an FSharp.* name for things not intended exclusively for F# developers
Some projects, packages and tools use F# as an implementation or scripting language but are intended for broader use. If your audience is larger than the worldwide community of F# developers, then strongly consider using a name which doesn’t mention F#.
For example,
FAKE is a general build tool which happens to use F# as a scripting language. It has achieved widespread adoption, partly because the name is well chosen to appeal to a broad audience.
Deedle package is branded as “An exploratory data library for.NET” and includes a C#-facing API (implemented in F#). It was successfully renamed from “FSharp.Data.DataFrame” to broaden its reach, and at the time of writing a Google search for “C# DataFrame” brings Deedle as the first hit.
Likewise, some projects are product-like or are actual products, often with reach beyond the worldwide community of F# developers or enabling new development experiences. These should normally use a name that doesn’t begin with “FSharp”, though may mention F# if useful. Examples are MathDotNet, Akka.NET and WebSharper. Some of these are F#-specific, some are general.NET tools with an F# angle, some are products, some are open source, but all benefit from their own branding.
Guideline: Avoid using two word “FSharp.XYZ” names for projects and packages
We recommend that new public-facing projects do not use a two-word qualified FSharp.* name except in extremely rare circumstances.
For example, projects with names such as FSharp.Numerics, FSharp.Distribution, FSharp.BigData or FSharp.Web are named too broadly. We are uncomfortable with seeing anyone use unqualified two-word FSharp.* names for projects except in rare circumstances such as FSharp.Data.
If your project already uses such a name, then strongly consider renaming it. One exception is FSharp.Data which is sufficiently broad and canonical to use a two-word name.
Guideline: Do use existing second-level namespaces where appropriate
.NET and F# components are placed in second-level namespaces such as “FSharp.Control”, “FSharp.Data”, “FSharp.Net”, and so on.
Use the following prefixes where possible, rather than inventing new ones:
FSharp.Control : Functionality related to control flow, such as asynchronous programming, message passing, event-based programming, reactive programming, and similar
: Functionality related to control flow, such as asynchronous programming, message passing, event-based programming, reactive programming, and similar FSharp.Data : Types related to data access, data schema, and similar
: Types related to data access, data schema, and similar FSharp.Text : Text processing, formating, printing, or similar functionality
: Text processing, formating, printing, or similar functionality FSharp.Azure : Types related to cloud computing on the Azure plattform.
: Types related to cloud computing on the Azure plattform. FSharp.AWS : Types related to cloud computing on the AWS plattform.
: Types related to cloud computing on the AWS plattform. FSharp.Compiler : Functionality relating to compilation of F#
: Functionality relating to compilation of F# FSharp.Core : Use sparingly. Typically required for helper types required by incubation of compiler features
For example, a library like “FSharp.Actor” might be better renamed to “FSharp.Control.Actor”. Similarly, “FSharp.Reactive” is better renamed to “FSharp.Control.Reactive”. Likewise, a type provider for a data source or schema format XYZ should normally be placed in “FSharp.Data”, e.g. “FSharp.Data.XYZ”.
Guideline: Consider using “Experimental” in project/package names in early stages
We encourage incubation of candidates for the FSharp.* namespace. One way to do this is to allow some moderation, e.g. allow free use of names like
FSharp.Data.Experimental.XYZ
FSharp.Linq.Experimental.XYZ
FSharp.Core.Experimental.XYZ
The use of “Experimental” is useful and recommended in early stages. Renaming projects and packages is fairly well supported by GitHub and existing package managers, combined with global-search-and-replace.
Guideline: Clearly label project status prior to release
Projects, packages and tools using the FSharp.* top level namespace should clearly and prominently label their status in all documentation during the project’s early phases of development. Projects should use version numbers below 1.0 to denote pre-release status, and clearly label their status as “Alpha” when the project is still lacking features or functionality required for widespread usage, and “Beta” prior to adequate usage and testing to be considered a mature package.
Guideline: Do seek review of your project, package and namespace names
The F# community love to help and give good advice. Seek advice via the #fsharp tag on Twitter or other community forums.
Engineering Guidelines
Guideline: Apply good software engineering practice before publicizing your project
Before you publicize an open, public-facing project, it pays to get all the basics in place to allow people to collaborate with you. These are, minimally:
Naming. Get the naming of your project right. Make its purpose clear.
README and Road Map. Add a clear, simple README to your project. Make its purpose clear. Add a road map too.
Packaging. Make a package for your library, component or tool. Often this will be a NuGet package, but if it is some other kind of tool then make and publish the appropriate package. For example, the Emacs mode for F# is published as a MELPA package. Fable is published as an NPM package. Document how the package gets published.
Testing. Ensure your project has tests that build, run and pass out-of-the-box.
Documentation. Ensure your project has good documentation. If on GitHub, consider publishing your documentation via GitHub pages. Consider using documentation generation tools and templates used by the F# Project Scaffolding
Tutorials. Ensure your project has tutorials as part of its documentation. Templates and examples are available in the F# Project Scaffolding
Videos. If you’ve given a talk on your project, add a link to the video. It’s a great way to introduce yourself to potential contributors.
Continuous Integration. Add continuous integration build and testing to your project, for example using AppVeyor or Travis. For AppVeyor, this is done by adding appveyor.yml (example) and registering your project. For Travis, you add a.travis.yml (example) and register the project. Travis provides OSX and Linux machines - OSX machines are used if the language is set to “objective-c”.
Reach a Known State. Document all known issues. Consider labeling some of them as “up-for-grabs”. Don’t leave undocumented minefields in your package or tool.
Cross-platform. Set up CI testing on both Windows and Linux/OSX.
.NET Standard if possible. If writing a library, make your component a.NET Standard 2.0 component where possible.
If you don’t do these things, people are unlikely to want to collaborate with you on your project.
Guideline: Evolving code and new features should be carried out in a PR or a feature branch, and merged in only when ready
Do not develop features in your “master” branch or published NuGet packages. Instead, use a PR, a feature branch, or a fork, or a new project, or a component marked Experimental.
General Guidelines
Guideline: Consider putting open incubation projects in The F# Community Incubation Space
The F# Core Engineering group manages The F# Community Incubation Space for community incubation projects. To get your project added or removed from this space, add an issue to the admin section of this space.
Guideline: Do recruit additional contributors and maintainers of your project.
Please contribute fixes and improvement to the project scaffolding to make it easier for others to use. If you add your project to The F# Community Incubation Space then the owners of the space will also automatically be able to perform some maintenance tasks on your repository, including accepting pull requests or curating issues.
Guideline: Do use a nice logo for your package or tool.
Many F# community projects include nice logos. If necessary, ask for help to design a new logo in a matching style. For example, see the FSharp.Data library.
Guideline: Do add your project to the F# Community Projects list
We recommend you consider adding your project the F# Community Projects list. You can do this by submitting a pull request on GitHub as described on the page.
Guideline: Do consider creating a Twitter account for your package or tool
A Twitter account for a project can increase its visibility, especially in early stages, and set it on a track to be an independent, long-lived technology with multiple contributors. For example, see the FSharp.Data or F# for Open Editors on Twitter.
If you tweet, use the #fsharp tag on Twitter.
Guideline: Consider making your project “independent” of you or your company
Projects, packages and tools are often branded in a way to make them less directly dependent on a particular person or company, relying on people who fill roles rather than being permanently tied to an individual.
For example, the Akka.NET project started life as a project called “Pigeon” in the GitHub account of one major contributor. It is now branded as an “independent” project.
Branding your project as independent (or indirectly-dependent) can increase confidence, help attract additional contributors, give new opportunities (for example to start a consulting company around the technology), and above all can help with transitions as people move on and off the project. Effectively, a layer of indirection is placed between the projects and the contributors. Behind the scenes, the same contributors may be involved, especially initially, but the long term advantages are very large.
This approach is frequently used for open source packages and tools initially started by individuals. Note that detaching yourself from your project in this way can be both challenging and liberating.
This approach can also be used for products or open-source projects where companies are major contributors. This can be a difficult choice: the company may (or may not) want its name attached to the open-source project in a strong way.
Guidelines for the cultural processing of strings in.NET generally, and F# specifically
Guideline: Explicitly state cultural intent, where applicable, in the conversion and comparison of strings
Default.NET methods for string conversions of number types and DateTimes (value-to-string; string-to-value) have a notable behaviour characteristic: they are ‘culturally sensitive’. The same applies to the default methods for upper and lower casing of strings (string-to-string conversions). This means that commonly-used methods such as:-
Double.ToString()
Double.Parse(s)
Double.TryParse(s, out d)
DateTime.ToString(format)
String.ToUpper() /.ToLower()
/ and many more
use the rules of the current thread’s current culture to perform their conversions. Since this culture can vary from machine to machine (and is very likely to do so when machines are located in different countries), use of these method overloads gives rise to many potential problems, including but not limited to:-
failure to parse a string representing a floating-point number or a date (an exception is thrown)
parsing a string that represents a floating-point number or a date to an incorrect value
security issues
subtle bugs
Similarly, default.NET methods that involve the comparison of strings (for equality testing and ordering) have similar problems. Methods such as:-
String.StartsWith(s) /.EndsWith(s)
/ String.IndexOf(s)
String.Contains(s)
String.Compare(s, s1)
String.Equals(s)
and more
either use the current thread’s current culture for a culturally sensitive comparison, or are fixed to use an Ordinal (non-cultural, case-sensitive) comparison. The former can give rise to bugs and poor security decisions where the comparison should have been performed non-culturally. The latter (Ordinal only) may be too restrictive: e.g. the caller may need the comparison to be case-insensitive.
Since.NET 2.0, released in 2005, all the tools have been in place (in terms of enums, method overloads,.NET types etc.) to allow.NET developers to process strings correctly at all times - especially with respect to performing culturally-varying vs fixed-culture conversions of strings, and cultural vs non-cultural comparisons of strings. These tools should be used at all times. To do so, a.NET developer should, in general, always use those method overloads that allow the caller to explicitly state his/her cultural intent.
An example, for conversions:-
open System.Globalization let floatVal = 2001.345 let str1 = floatVal.ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture) //'string floatVal' does the same thing let str2 = floatVal.ToString(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture) let str3 = floatVal.ToString(new CultureInfo("en-US"))
An example, for comparisons:-
open System let s1 = "<some string>" let s2 = "<some other string>" let eq1 = String.Equals(s1, s2, StringComparison.Ordinal) //'s1 = s2' does the same thing let eq2 = String.Equals(s1, s2, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
Always explicitly stating cultural intent should ensure correct operation of the code, and - equally as important - shows that the developer is aware of the issues and has addressed them (calling Double.ToString(), even when use of the current thread’s current culture is desired, gives no such re-assurance).
F# developers should be aware of the behaviour of F#’s core operators with respect to cultural sensitivity:-
F# and FSharp.Core functions always use Ordinal (non-cultural, case-sensitive) string comparison by default for “compare”, “=”, “<>”, “<”, “>”, Seq.sort, Seq.sortBy, HashIdentity.Structural, ComparisonIdentity.Structural and so on
functions always use Ordinal (non-cultural, case-sensitive) string comparison by default for “compare”, “=”, “<>”, “<”, “>”, Seq.sort, Seq.sortBy, HashIdentity.Structural, ComparisonIdentity.Structural and so on core operators byte, decimal, float, float32, int, int16, int32, int64, sbyte, uint16, unit32, uint64 convert strings using the invariant culture.
F# developers can and should rely on the behaviour of these operators, and the need to be explicit about Invariant Culture conversions and Ordinal comparisons is removed when using these operators.
Guideline: Always follow the long-established Best Practices for using strings in the.NET Framework
See Microsoft’s official Best Practices for Using Strings in the.NET Framework, as well as the specific guidance for F# developers that is given in this document.
Guideline: F# components should be tested to ensure that they behave correctly when operating under different cultures
Unit tests typically run in-process and on the same thread as the code-under-test. Therefore culture testing may be as simple as modifying the current thread’s current culture in the Act (or Setup) phase of the test; e.g.
// change the current thread's current culture to French - France System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture <- CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR")
Integration tests may need to go to greater lengths to manipulate the code-under-test’s culture, including modification of the test machine’s Region and Language control panel settings.
Guideline: Public-facing F# libraries should make sensible decisions about cultural string processing, and should strive for consistency
A public-facing library that might reasonably be expected to run on machines of different cultures should ensure that all of the code is written to process strings correctly, with respect to cultural / non-cultural behaviour. Contributors should be encouraged to follow rules and guidelines that are established at the outset, so that the code is consistent in this regard.
If library-specific functions are used to wrap.NET string conversion and comparison methods then:-
these functions should be used by all contributors
the functions should encourage callers to be explicit about cultural intent, and not hide such details
the functions should wrap only those.NET method overloads that allow callers to be explicit about cultural intent
If library-specific operators are used to wrap.NET string conversion and comparison methods then their cultural operation should be explicitly documented and understood by all contributors.
On the whole it’s best to err on the side of caution and not introduce such library-specific functions and operators, since contributors may contribute to multiple libraries.
Where libraries introduce new data structures + associated operators and functions that use string-based identifiers (e.g. keys), the default string comparison for these identifiers should be Ordinal (non-cultural, case-sensitive). This should be noted in a library’s documentation.
About Us
The F# Core Engineering Group is a technical group associated with The F# Software Foundation.
We manage the cross-platform and open-source F# Compiler and Components repositories and the F# Community Project Incubation Space.
Visit our website and please continue all the great work on core F# engineering!
First Published: 19 September 2014
The F# Core Engineering groupNRL supports Indigenous students to get HSC with School to Work program
Posted
It is a shocking statistic — but only around half of Indigenous students in New South Wales go on to complete their Higher School Certificate (HSC).
But now the NRL is helping educators close the gap — supporting a program called School to Work.
The initiative also offers real world training and work opportunities on top of personal support and it is achieving great results.
Kristian Heffernan heads up the program and is also the youngest son of rugby league immortal Arthur Beetson.
"When you sit back and watch how they've grown, from when they first come into the program, like any young adult it's a tough journey, but rewarding," he said.
"Now we're seeing them graduate university and get their apprenticeships, that's what drives everyone involved."
He said it was a project his father would have been proud of.
"For Dad when he was alive, to be involved in the community and rugby league were two of his greatest passions," he said.
"So for me to get to combine them to help close the gap and help our community, I'm not sure he'd [Arthur Beetson] have any words that would be able to express how proud he is of the game and the community for being involved."
'It's something I would have loved to have': George Rose
The School to Work program has been running for five years and was started when the Bulldogs, Eels, Panthers, and West Tigers joined forces with the Federal Government to address education challenges facing students in Western Sydney.
Recently retired NRL player George Rose is one of the program's mentors.
"I've done a lot of work with the NRL over the years, but I think this program is outstanding and it's something I would have loved to have while I was transitioning from school to life after high school," he said.
"We don't force anyone to come into it, so the students who do sign up are students who want to make something of themselves and just need a bit of help to get there."
The program is aimed at students in years 10, 11 and 12 — a time when many Indigenous students drop out of school.
The latest statistics show that last year, 58 per cent of Indigenous students attained their HSC.
Majority of students in program complete HSC
But of the nearly 400 students who have taken part in this program so far, 94 per cent have completed their HSC.
Students Blake Griffith and Jake Gifford are working at one of Australia's largest companies as part of the program.
The year 11 students are working as trainee baggage handlers with Qantas, gaining work skills while finishing school.
"Working at Qantas is great, not many people get to work with them and us as 16-year-olds getting to work with them, it's just very exciting," Jake Gifford said.
"It's crazy, it's nothing you'd have imagined," Blake Griffith added.
"It's a lot different to what I thought it would be and you get real close to the planes.
"The amount of opportunities you get and they [School to Work] offer you, it's just amazing.
"It doesn't matter what path you want to take there's so much support."
Another student taking new steps is Montana Wink.
The 18-year-old from Western Sydney was selectively mute for 12 years. It is a complex childhood anxiety disorder, which left her unable to communicate.
"I was a bit of a rough one," she said.
"Going through primary school I didn't talk at all, even at high school.
"I actually learned sign language, then in year 10 I started to talk and now I'm here."
The aspiring veterinarian is now thriving at the University of Western Sydney.
And she can not stop talking about the program that helped changed her life.
"It's pretty magical, it's stuff we don't know about," she said. "We don't know all the opportunities that exist so it's great to have doors opened up."
NRL clubs supporting the initiative expected to grow
Currently 10 NRL clubs support the School to Work initiative, but Mr Heffernan said that was expected to grow as the program expanded.
"We're just about to hopefully double our numbers, so hopefully between 150-200 schools so when you talk about students that's an incredible amount," he said.
And he hopes other sports get onside.
"I'd love to see this drift into other codes.
"Sport for the Indigenous community is such a powerful mover, we're connected naturally to sport. So if we can use the power of sport to help close that gap then I think it falls on other sporting codes to get involved."
Round 10 of the NRL is the sports dedicated Indigenous Round from May 12 to 16.
Topics: nrl, access-to-education, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, sydney-2000We’re over halfway through Game of Thrones’ fifth season, and many feel that they’ve seen enough of the Dornish storyline to form an opinion on it, and that opinion is that it’s dumb. Nevertheless, the players behind the new Dornish characters—including Alexander Siddig as Doran Martell and Keisha Castle-Hughes as Obara Sand—keep hitting the press circuit aggressively. Siddig, for example, recently gave an interview for Hunger TV, the latest in a series of profiles the publication has done on people like Deobia Oparei, Toby Sebastian, and Jessica Henwick.
Siddig is a TV veteran who starred on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for seven years, and he had a lot of insights into how the TV landscape has changed over the course of his career. “There’s a massive shift, a tectonic shift,” he said. “Everyone’s fleeing to TV because people have the stamina to watch 24-hour movies…It’s down to there being an increase in money and talent for television – amazing new writers and producers coming into the business. The onset of video on demand, various digital download formats and that whole digital revolution, it’s the perfect storm for creating a world where TV is just ideal.”
This echos what a lot of critics have had to say about the current “golden age” of TV, an age that’s directly responsible for lavish shows like Game of Thrones. Siddig notes, however, that being the star on a show like Deep Space Nine—a time when he was “treated like royalty”—is very different from being one in a cast of many on Game of Thrones. Apparently, when he was on Star Trek, people would brush his teeth for him. That’s celebrity, right here.
Unfortunately, Siddig doesn’t offer as much insight into what’s next for the Dornish plotlines, as he was interviewed after he had only done two week’s worth of filming. He summarized the drama we’ve seen play out over the last couple of weeks, the one where Doran has been under pressure to go to war, but he’s as in the dark as the rest of us as to where, if anywhere, it’s all going. “There’s this tension building and something’s going to blow,” he said. “I honestly don’t know whether they’re going to stab me in the back, poison me (as they really want to do) or whether I’m somehow going to hold them at bay while I get my shit together, before just hurtling into war and losing hundreds of thousands of people.”
He does offer a few more insights in his video interview. For example, he mentions that there’s an upcoming scene in which Doran and Jaime have a sit-down, something that could happen in Sunday’s forthcoming episode, now that Jaime’s cover, such as it was, has been blown.
Something else to note is Siddig’s talk about how interesting it would be if Doran formed an alliance with Daenerys. In the books, this is something that Doran is actively seeking, but Siddig talks about it as though it’s a wild idea, suggesting that he’s not seeking it on the show. Of course, he could just be playing coy.
Check out Siddig’s full interview, which has some great stories about his career beginnings and his audition for Game of Thrones, here.
Meanwhile, Keisha Castle-Hughes sat down with Vulture, where she discussed the fight scene between the Sand Snakes, Jaime, and Bronn from “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken.” Castle-Hughes talks about how she trained with a spear and studied the martial art of wushu in preparation for the fight, but that didn’t save it from landing with something of a thud, as critics dinged it for unexciting choreography and a lack of urgency. The fight between the Mountain and the Viper it wasn’t.
Castle-Hughes also had some interesting things to say about the Sand Snakes’ mentalities. Growing up how they did, she suggests, may have warped their perceptions of their own abilities, which would provide an explanation for why they thought it was a good idea to raid the Water Gardens in broad daylight without enough fighting skill between them to take down a mercenary and a one-handed knight.
I think the problem is, Dorne is so far removed from the rest of Westeros, it’s like living in Fantasyland. It’s always sunny! The Sand Snakes have the same issue. There’s a bit of naïveté about how much power they would have in the outside world. They were in a really lovely position, in the sense that they’re part of the royal family, so they can get away with running around and doing whatever they want to do, but they don’t have any commitments pending, because they’re bastards, so they don’t have any right to the throne.
Admittedly, that’s probably not the message the Game of Thrones producers are hoping viewers come away with, but as fan opinion turns against the Dornish storyline, a little damage control couldn’t hurt. We’ll see what the final four episodes of the season bring for the land located as far south as south goes.This article originally appeared in our email newsletter on Monday morning. Create an account to get the full scoop on Toronto sports in your inbox every morning.
The Toronto Wolfpack, Canada’s first professional rugby team, are the new kids on the city’s sports scene. Still, after attending a game — my first — at Lamport Stadium this weekend, it’s hard not to see how nicely they fit into the local fabric. The team is in its debut season, playing in the lowest tier of the English Rugby Football League, which is split into three divisions.
Here are five things I learned while at my first Wolfpack game:
1. They have passionate supporters: After stepping out of my Uber on Saturday afternoon, I, and scores of spectators, was greeted with the team’s official supporters group, aptly called The Wolves, marching into the stadium — known as “The Den” — complete with flags, signs, drums and original chants. Later on, during the match, I ventured...End Times preacher Carl Gallups spoke to WorldNetDaily yesterday about Pat Robertson’s claim that this week’s stock market turmoil represented God’s judgment on America.
Gallups agreed with Robertson and warned that even greater forms of judgment are in store for the U.S. because of the country’s policies on abortion and homosexuality.
“How can we exterminate 55 million of our most precious national treasures and resources, our own children, and not expect God’s hand of judgment to eventually fall — and fall hard?” he asked WND. “How can we arrogantly usher in the Sodom and Gomorrah spirit of degradation and abomination; and then celebrate it, embrace it, glorify it, and codify it – while somehow expecting the author of life and marriage to remain silent?”
Pastor Carl Gallups, a former law-enforcement officer, talk-radio host and author of the upcoming book “Be Thou Prepared: Equipping the Church for Persecution and Times of Trouble,” believes hard times and even persecution are in store for American Christians. He thinks economic difficulties may only be the beginning.
“I am listening, along with the rest of America, to the various financial pundits insisting that what we are watching with the recent market percentage collapse is a ‘market correction’ or a ‘typical market drop’ for this time of year,” said Gallups.
“Those definitions may indeed prove to be true, in this particular case, as the next few weeks and months go by. But, I do know this – even if this particular financial disaster passes and/or corrects, America has a day of reckoning coming. And when it arrives, it will make what is happening now look like child’s play.”
When asked what he meant by that analysis, Gallups responded: “There is no way that we can teach our children – for several generations – that we originated from an accidental, random, cosmic explosion and that there is no need for God – and that the Bible is a simple collection of fairy tales and myths, without the Lord having His say in the matter. We are already paying the ‘reap what you sow’ curse, as we can see with the moral rot in our country. But there is worse yet to come if we don’t repent.”
Gallups continued: “How can we exterminate 55 million of our most precious national treasures and resources, our own children, and not expect God’s hand of judgment to eventually fall – and fall hard? How can we arrogantly usher in the Sodom and Gomorrah spirit of degradation and abomination; and then celebrate it, embrace it, glorify it, and codify it – while somehow expecting the author of life and marriage to remain silent?”
…
“I am not a ‘doomsday’ announcer by nature. But, I see the prophetic times in which we are living. I see the way we are turning from God and literally running in the other direction away from Him. Israel did the same thing and they eventually paid with their national sovereignty and centuries of horrific captivity in the hands of pagan nations. And it wasn’t as if God did not warn them of the judgment that would befall them if they did not repent. It seems to many biblical scholars as though we are running in the same path of that certain judgment.”About a year before Michael Salguero and I were first introduced, Salguero inked a deal to buy the website CustomMade.com. That was in 2009.
And for a business that hadn’t yet launched, Salguero and his co-founder Seth Rosen committed to purchase CustomMade.com for a whopping $150,000. Without the full cash on-hand, Salguero and Rosen negotiated terms that allowed them to put a modest deposit towards the purchase while they scrambled to source funding from investors to finance the website acquisition and launch their business. Sure enough, they raised $400,000 in seed capital to start CustomMade, a marketplace where shoppers could connect with woodworkers to handcraft one-of-a-kind household items such as tables, desks, cabinets, and shelves.
CustomMade was one of many fledgling Ecommerce startups looking to upend traditional retail and capitalize on what the industry believed to be consumers’ inherent need for individualization. In 2009, custom t-shirt company Spreadshirt earned approximately $30 million in revenue. NikeID sold $100 million worth of shoes that year too. And with the belief that CustomMade had brilliantly pioneered the future of furniture retail, investors from firms such as Google Ventures, Atlas Venture, First Round Capital, and NextView Ventures offered CustomMade $27 million over several rounds of funding.
However, the team behind CustomMade always knew that “raising money” was not synonymous with “success.”
The limitations of $27 million in funding
One of the major assets of the CustomMade.com acquisition was the website’s long history of dominating Google’s search engine rankings for keywords related to custom furniture, which the team harnessed and nurtured. “CustomMade’s growth strategy was driven almost exclusively through SEO. It was a killer domain that was initially focused only on custom woodworking and we expanded that into other crafts,” recalls Salguero. “By 2014 it ranked as the #1 search term for almost anything custom. There was a high volume of traffic and our efforts were centered around how we could convert those people into CustomMade customers.”
At one point, the domain generated one million visitors each month with three-fourths of that traffic coming purely through organic search. Despite all of those eyeballs, converting their audience into active — and paying — marketplace users was a challenge.
Among traditional Ecommerce businesses, the sales conversion funnel is straightforward:
Visit the online store
Browse products
Add desirable items to cart
Checkout
With CustomMade though, the buying process was more cumbersome and less predictable:
First, shoppers have to describe the exact item they want made (a step which can include creating your own 3D model)
Second, you receive quotes from multiple makers (who you’ll have to personally vet)
Finally, after selecting one craftsman to work with, you have to wait however long it takes for that person to fulfill the order (and that uncertainty alone can be detrimental to conversions)
Of course, with $27 million from investors who were expecting dramatic growth, the obvious action for CustomMade was to pour cash into potential solutions to its conversion problem. For the business to work, one of two things had to happen:
CustomMade had to further streamline the beginning-to-end buying process so that shopping in the marketplace felt as easy as buying sneakers from Zappos OR CustomMade had to fundamentally change consumers’ behavior to want to completely design their products from scratch using sketches, 3D models and the help of skilled craftsman
But the business could never quite figure out how to do either.
By 2015, the company made the difficult decision to downsize, shedding nearly 20 of its 30 staffers. Around that same time, Salguero transitioned out of his day-to-day role at CustomMade with ambitions to build a completely different Ecommerce business. This time, with his own money, on his own terms, and in a lean and bootstrapped manner to avoid the typical trappings of venture capital.
A calculated bet on the subscription-based business model
One of the toughest, yet most important, metrics to grow among traditional Ecommerce companies is customer lifetime value (CLV). In transactional commerce, store owners have to make it their mission to persistently follow-up with customers to encourage repeat purchases. This is even true when shoppers know they need a certain product; however, it is common that buyers can’t find the time to place another order or they simply forget.
In an age where customers demand convenience, subscription-based businesses remove most of the friction that can deter repeat purchases. So, when Salguero decided he’d start a new company, he aimed to offer a product consumers wanted on a regular basis in order to generate consistent and recurring revenue. Traditional Ecommerce companies assume a majority of their customers will only purchase their products once unless they are successful in hounding them every 30 days to reorder. By default though, subscription-based businesses get new customers to commit to monthly packages which means their average CLV is 12x higher than other Ecommerce stores.
From this mindset, ButcherBox was born. Salguero envisioned a monthly delivery service that would provide customers with grass-fed beef, organic and pastured chicken, and heritage breed pork. This was partly driven by Salguero’s personal desire to gain easy and regular access to quality meat. When ButcherBox first launched in September 2015, Inc.’s Christine Langorio reported:
Last year, Michael Salguero bought a cow. A whole cow. A whole, dead cow. He’d started with smaller meat purchases — a family friend from upstate New York had introduced him to buying shares of freshly butchered livestock — but one thing led to another, and soon enough the day came when he sat in his office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, staring at a few hundred pounds of beef, trying to figure |
and just plain old neighbors helping neighbors are doing some heavy lifting to aid the afflicted.
FOR THE RECORD: Here is the latest on the military’s relief efforts off Florida and in the Caribbean, per the Defense Department:
Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico:
About 4,600 service members are supporting relief operations.
USS Kearsarge, USS Oak Hill, USS Wasp and the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit are conducting relief operations. The SS Wright leaves Philadelphia today to support.
U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Southern Command are coordinating the movement of British Royal Marines to Antigua and Turks & Caicos Islands.
U.S. Transportation Command is moving Army medical support capability to St. Thomas to establish temporary medical facilities there.
Army Corps of Engineers power restoration teams, debris removal experts, temporary roofing teams, and port survey personnel are assessing support requirements.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency shipped 28 of 31 Defense Logistics Agency-provided generators.
Florida:
About 10,400 service members are supporting relief operations.
USS Abraham Lincoln is positioned off Florida's east coast with 27 helicopters. USS Iwo Jima and USS New York arrive today.
Search-and-rescue resources from Moody, Davis-Monthan, Nellis Air Force Bases, and Fort Campbell are prepared to support operations. Naval Air Station Key West is unusable. Air Force North is evaluating basing options.
The Army has 33 of 100 requested High Water Trucks en route from Fort Bragg, N.C.
Army Corps of Engineers power teams, debris removal teams, temporary roofing teams and port survey personnel are in place in Florida and Georgia. The Corps is working closely with the Coast Guard to reopen ports.
Defense Logistics Agency is coordinating shipment of fuel and meals to bases in South Carolina and Georgia.
THE RUNDOWN
AP: Oil will keep flowing, but UN sanctions hit Pyongyang hard
New York Times : Merkel suggests Germany should join North Korea talks
Defense One: Searching for $1 Billion: Inside the Pentagon’s Struggle to Match Trump’s Air Force One Boast
Wall Street Journal : U.S. deploys drone to Philippines in fight against militants
Defense News: U.S. Senate panel bucks Trump to back Foreign Military Financing
Reuters: Trump to weigh more aggressive U.S. strategy on Iran
Foreign Policy: From the war on al Qaeda to a humanitarian catastrophe: How the U.S. got dragged into Yemen
Washington Post : White House says its military response to Irma is unprecedented, but there’s a history of similar operations
Stars and Stripes: S. Korea rejects idea of re-deploying U.S. nuclear weapons on peninsula
War on the Rocks: Trump and counter-terrorism, sixteen years after 9/11
USA Today: Making ‘The Vietnam War’: Documenting destruction
DefenseTech: Retired but still flying, the F-117 Nighthawk may soon fade to black
Calendar
TUESDAY | SEPT. 12
7:15 a.m. 1700 Army Navy Dr. Washington, D.C. chapter defense leaders forum with Gen. Glenn Walters, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps. ndia.org
10 a.m. 2172 Rayburn. Pressuring North Korea with sanctions, diplomacy and information with Susan Thornton, acting assistant secretary of state, and Marshall Billingslea, assistant treasury secretary. foreignaffairs.house.gov
10:30 a.m. 1025 Connecticut Ave. NW. Suite 200. Michael Kofman and Peter Zwack will discuss Russia’s Zapad-2017 military exercises, which will take place Sept. 14-20. cftni.org
12:30 p.m. 1777 F St. NW. The state of security in Africa with retired Gen. Carter Ham, former commander of U.S. Africa Command. cfr.org
5:30 p.m. 1789 Massachusetts Ave. NW. How cyber, robots and space weapons change the rules for war with John Yoo, former deputy assistant attorney general. Aei.org
6:00 p.m. 1401 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson participates in a panel discussion ("The New American Space Age") with Politico at the Willard Hotel.
WEDNESDAY | SEPT. 13
9 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. The United States, the Soviet Union, and the nuclear non-proliferation treaty of 1966-1968. wilsoncenter.org
9 a.m. 1152 15th St. NW. A conversation with Rep. Adam Smith on Russia, the military and emerging threats. cnas.org
9:30 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Asia disaster response and cybersecurity in a time of rising challenges and constrained resources. wilsoncenter.org
10 a.m. House Visitor Center 210. Sixteen years after 9/11: Assessing suspicious activity reporting efforts. homeland.house.gov
10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Liberal democracy as the path to greater security with Brookings President Strobe Talbott. brookings.edu
10 a.m. 2172 Rayburn. Joint subcommittee hearing on the president’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget request for Afghanistan and Pakistan with Alice G. Wells, acting assistant secretary of state. foreignaffairs.house.gov
11 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. A book discussion on James Reston, Jr.’s “A Rift in the Earth: Art, Memory and the Fight for a Vietnam War Memorial.” wilsoncenter.org
11 a.m. 1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Intellectuals and a century of political hero worship from Benito Mussolini to Hugo Chavez. cato.org
12 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. How political neglect is choking American seapower and what to do about it with Seth Cropsey, former deputy undersecretary of the Navy. heritage.org
2 p.m. 2200 Rayburn. The malicious influence of state and criminal actors in the Venezuela crisis. foreignaffairs.house.gov
3:30 p.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Why Iraq and Libya failed to build nuclear weapons. wilsoncenter.org
THURSDAY | SEPT. 14
10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Cyber warfare in the maritime domain with Vice Adm. Jan Tighe, deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare. csis.org
10 a.m. 419 Dirksen. U.S. policy options to support democracy in Venezuela with Marshall Billingslea, assistant treasury secretary for terrorist financing. foreign.senate.gov
10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. The USS Baltimore incident of 1891 and how history informs present problems. csis.org
12 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Exposing and countering Iran. atlanticcouncil.org
5 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Global threats, global perspectives and America’s role in the world. atlanticcouncil.org
FRIDAY | SEPT. 15
9:15 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Europe and the U.S.: The old order faces a new world with Victoria Nuland, former assistant secretary of state. brookings.edu
9:30 a.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW. Voices from Japan and visions for Japan’s future defense posture. stimson.org
10 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. A united front? U.S.-Japan relations at a time of uncertainty. wilsoncenter.org
MONDAY | SEPT. 18
2 p.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW. The impact of the Trump administration on U.S.-Taiwan relations. stimson.org
3 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. U.S. policy toward Lebanon and what comes next. heritage.org
4 p.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. China's Arctic and Antarctic ambitions. wilsoncenter.org
TUESDAY | SEPT. 19
2 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. U.S.-Canadian defense industrial cooperation with Frank Kendall, former under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, and Martin Zablocki, CEO of Canadian Commercial Corporation. csis.org"Reasonable suspicion" should now be able to apply to Mitt Romney as it applies to anyone on the streets of New York City.
I remember being stopped and frisked by the NYPD after my first five minutes in Brooklyn in Spring of 2011. My business partner and I were singled out for a warrantless detainment and search for no other reason than the fact that we were a young white guy and a young black guy in a shady neighborhood late at night. Neither of us had drugs nor weapons, neither of us had committed a crime, but the NYPD officers who searched us said they were allowed within the law to stop and frisk anyone they deemed "suspicious." Reporters should likewise use that same standard of reasonable suspicion and relentlessly press the Romneys over their tax returns until the truth comes out.
Mitt Romney has been accused of not paying federal income taxes for over ten years by Harry Reid. Lawrence O'Donnell of MSNBC accused the Romneys of taking advantage of a past tax amnesty granted temporarily by the IRS, for those who had committed tax felonies through overseas bank accounts to come forward and pay their taxes without being charged with a felony. Either situation, if true, would be the final nail in the coffin of Romney's presidential bid.
Clearly, the best way for Romney to settle all accusations of him being a felonious tax dodger is to simply reveal through his tax returns that his finances are as clean as a whistle, just like he says they are. The fact that the Romney campaign would prefer to take constant heat from the press about their lack of transparency over their tax returns, even in the face of such bold accusations, should qualify as "reasonable suspicion" that the Romneys have engaged in tax practices that are, at best, excessive and unreasonable in the eyes of regular Americans, and at worst, felonious.
Ann Romney stands by her claim that everything they've done in their finances has been legal. Technically, that could apply to just about anything. It's completely legal for General Electric to only pay a 2 percent corporate income tax rate to the U.S. government over a decade, through the various schemes and loopholes their lobbyists have successfully convinced chairmen and ranking members of House and Senate tax-writing committees to insert into the tax code.
The same standard of legality could also apply to the Romneys, who have bank accounts in tax havens like the Cayman Islands and Switzerland, if they took advantage of a past tax amnesty for would-be felons by coming forward and filing such a return with the IRS in 2009 or 2011. There's simply no way to tell, since all they'll release is one tax return from 2010 and estimates for 2011. What we've seen isn't pretty -- Gawker released files documenting Romney's/Bain's offshore tax haven empire.
And just like GE's case, just because something is technically legal, doesn't make it right. And GE has it easy -- they aren't trying to win the votes of millions of taxpaying American families, most of whom probably don't even have a mansion with its own lobbyist to get around zoning rules, like the Romneys do.
For a candidate who is basing his run for the presidency on the fact that rich people, like him, pay too much in taxes and that poor and middle-class people should pay more, not being transparent about how much taxes he actually paid already looks really, really bad. It looks infinitely worse than being a group of two young guys in a rough neighborhood in the middle of the night. The Romneys deserve to be stopped-and-frisked over their missing tax returns by the press during every interview until they disclose them, because they're going to remain suspicious as hell until they show us what's really in there.Lokomotiv Moscow is heading for trouble from European soccer's ruling body after one of its players pulled off his shirt following a politically-charged game against Turkey's Fenerbahçe to reveal a portrait of Vladimir Putin and a slogan supporting the Russian president.
Beneath the portrait of Putin, who is wearing a Russian military gear in the picture, the vest worn Tuesday by Lokomotiv's Dmitri Tarasov read: "The most polite president."
Tarasov later defended his behavior, telling Russian agency R-Sport: "It's my president. I respect him and decided to show that I'm always with him and prepared to give my support.
"What was written on that shirt was everything that I wanted to say."
Political statements are not allowed by UEFA at its competitions.
Late last year, UEFA rejected calls to separate Russia and Turkey in the draw for this summer's European Championship - and also the two countries' clubs in the Europa League draws.
Tuesday's first leg match was in the Europa League's Round of 32.
Lokomotiv lost the game 2-0 as Fenerbahçe's Josef de Souza led his team to victory with a goal in each half of the game.
Ties between Turkey and Russia have been tense since November 2015 when Turkey shot down a Russian Su-34 jet on Jan. 29 after it violated its border near Syria.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 captain Ashley Williams looks set to complete a £10m to Everton in the next 48 hours, WalesOnline understands.
In a move that will rock the Swans less than two weeks before the start of the new Premier League campaign, it is believed a deal that will see the Wales captain leave the Liberty has been all but agreed.
And there is thought to be little to stop defender Williams – who led Chris Coleman's side to the semi-finals of the European Championships a month ago – being confirmed as an Everton player within days.
New Toffees boss Ronald Koeman had identified Williams as one of his top summer targets having replaced former Swans boss Roberto Martinez at Goodison, the Spaniard having first signed Williams for Swansea for a bargain £300,000 in March 2008.
It is not the first time the centre-back has attracted serious interest from top-flight rivals with Crystal Palace, Hull, Sunderland, Arsenal and Liverpool having all made varying attempts to lure the former Stockport man away from South Wales in recent seasons.
But it was thought Williams was tempted by Everton's advances and with Swansea hierarchy thought to be prepared to accept an eight-figure sum for the player who turns 32 later this month, manager Francesco Guidolin is resigned to going into the new season without his defensive lynchpin.
Guidolin had hoped to have Williams to kick-off the new campaign at Burnley a week on Saturday following his return to duty following Wales' heroics in France.
But with Swansea prepared to cash-in on a player who has two years left on his existing deal and Williams open to a new challenge, it looks set that the move will now go through.
Few fans will begrudge Williams his move after more than eight years service where he has moved up from the lower leagues to one of the Premier League's most consistent centre-backs, lifting the club's first major trophy in the shape of the 2013 League Cup along the way.
And it will mark the end of an era, with Williams – seen as many as one of the club's greatest defenders – having racked up 350 appearances and credited with key roles inside the dressing room during the bumpier parts of Swansea's successful rise.
(Image: Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images)
But that is not to say supporters will not be left reeling by his exit with pressure on the club and Huw Jenkins – backed by the new American majority shareholders – to strengthen the playing squad before the big kick-off.
Swansea have already looked to have seen off Everton interest in star midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson with the Iceland ace thought to be prepared to sign a new long-term deal.
And – despite being open to the idea of selling Andre Ayew earlier this summer – it seems the Ghana international is in the frame to lead the Swansea line this season despite £15m interest from West Ham.
There is still hope a deal can be done to land Sevilla striker Fernando Llorente but, having signed Mike van der Hoorn from Ajax earlier this summer to go with existing centre-backs Jordi Amat and Federico Fernandez,
it is not clear that they will target a replacement for Williams.The long, sad story of burn pits has included years of US veterans facing major health ramifications from being stationed near the pits, breathing in the toxic fumes from them. With studies showing the open burning of munitions and waste was wildly dangerous, you’d think this would be a slam dunk for a lawsuit.
That’s not the case, however, as US District Court Judge Roger Titus has dismissed a lawsuit by veterans and family members related to the health problems, and even deaths, caused by the burn pits, saying there was no way to hold anyone accountable for it.
The burn pit problem has been well documented for several years, but Titus insisted the lawsuit against KBR could not proceed, because the military contractor which ran the burn pits didn’t get to decide where to position them, that being a military decision.
The military’s off the hook too, Titus insisted, because the decision to put the pits dangerously close to soldiers’ housing was made in a time of war, and it would “not be appropriate” to question the military’s decisions in a time of war.
This is likely not over. Judge Titus tried to summarily dismiss this same case back in 2013, with the exact same argument that you can’t question military decisions, and the Fourth Court of Appeals overturned his ruling and sent it back to him to consider again.
That’s likely to raise the possibility of further appeals, and KBR’s continued claims that the pits were “operated safely and effectively” is probably going to continue to be a sore spot for the veterans, as they seek redress for calamitous health problems.
Last 5 posts by Jason DitzBrora Less - The oncoming storm for the SPFL
It pays to know a problem ahead of time. And one big problem is about to appear over the next few weeks. You might not hear about it. You might not even know of some of the participants in it. But it promises to shake the system to its core.
The problem is a fairly simple one. When the SFL became the SPFL, relegation was brought into the bottom tier beginning this season as one of the trade offs made when incorporating the Highland and Lowland Leagues. It was a concept put together off the hood but it was a change that was very much needed. So far, so good.
It was weighted heavily in favour of the incumbent league side. The “relegated” side would enter a playoff system where, over a two legged playoff, they would play the winners of a playoff between the winners of the Lowland and Highland Leagues. Again, so far, so good (albeit, it took a long time for the SPFL to confirm even these details).
The problem is that, because of how the system is set up, what happens when one of the lower league winners don’t want to or can’t go forward?
On paper, Brora Rangers are certainly good enough to take that step forward. They have money in the bank and are run as if they are a reincarnation of Gretna, albeit slightly more stable. Their side is peppered with Premiership players such as Grant Munro and Stuart Kettlewell who have recent top tier experience. But…
Brora Rangers don’t want to be a league side. They simply want to be the dominant force in the Highland League. There’s a couple of reasons for this - Brora is a small village further north than any other league club. The economies of supporting them in the Highland League are very different to those of supporting them in League Two and the choice is to be made “by the fans”.
While fans appreciate there is a bit of a difference between the furthest away trip being Cove and having to go to Annan and Berwick (before you take into account that, of League Two sides, Elgin would be the only one not further from Brora than the furthest Highland League side), to say the decision is up to them is, perhaps, a stretch. Brora’s ground isn’t up to standard - as in it doesn’t even have the right standard of floodlights. Nor, for that matter do the club actually seem like they want to do much to rectify their shortcomings.
Which leaves the SPFL in a real bind as the participants of the 42nd team playoff are more or less set - Edinburgh City are Lowland League champions already, Montrose are all but certain to be bottom of League Two and Brora may not be champions yet but with an 8 point league and goal difference of +112, it’d be fair to call them a sure thing. There is no mechanism to allow Turriff, currently second in the Highland League, to take Brora’s place so it leaves four scenarios. Scenario One is where Brora just don’t participate, giving Edinburgh City a bye and justified by Brora not meeting minimum requirements. Scenario Two is they play in the playoffs and are beaten fair and square, likely the preferred option for the SPFL. Scenario Three is that Brora play, win but Montrose remain in League Two by default as Brora don’t meet minimum requirements. Scenario Four is that Brora play, win and are given time to meet requirements, postponing the issue for a season in the hope they get their act together.
None of these scenarios are especially good and would leave one (or two) sides with legitimate complaints. If Brora Rangers don’t want to get their act together to get in the league then there is a potentially very embarrassing situation about to be foisted on the SPFL where they either deny a side a promotion they feel is earned or give a side a promotion who don’t actually want the thing. It may not have been predictable, but this situation was avoidable.
But it’s too late now for an end of season farce to be avoidable. Either Brora fall into line or one of reconstruction’s best points will be dead on arrival.Electric vehicles – currently languishing at just 3 per cent of the global auto market – have been named alongside solar PV, onshore wind and LEDs as one of four current “winning” low-carbon technologies with the potential to begin “bending the emissions curve”, in a recent Goldman Sachs report.
The report predicts that EVs – that is both hybrid and pure electric cars – will make up more than one-quarter of the global car market within just 10 years, their numbers growing from around 1 million today to around 25 million in 2025.
“Over the next 10 years, our sector analysts forecast sales to increase by a (compound annual growth rate of 26 per cent, expanding market share from 3 per cent today to 22 per cent in 2025,” the report says.
But as the report also notes, such significant market growth will require equally significant changes to key market drivers like cost and performance, before consumers will become inclined to make the change. Fortunately, Goldman auto analysts believe these changes are underway, courtesy of four key technological shifts, illustrated in the graph below.
As you can see, Goldman analysts predict a 60 per cent plunge in battery costs over the next five years – from $14,250 today to $5,250 in 2020 – and a 70 per cent boost to EV performance, including battery range, weight and capacity.
The graph also shows that analysts believe the range of a low-performance electric car battery – currently around 160km and a key barrier to mass market adoption – will increase to an average of 275km by 2020.
The average capacity of an EV battery, meanwhile, is forecast to increase by 10kWh over the same period, while the average battery weight is expected to be cut in half – from 250kg now to 120kg in 2020.
Alongside falling battery costs and vast technological improvements, the report also highlights the importance of favourable “sub-nation regulatory” support in the uptake of EVs and the shift away from hybrid models and towards pure electric “grid-connected” cars.
“In London, for instance, the Ultra-Low Emission Zone will from May 2016 onwards no longer exempt hybrid vehicles from the Congestion charge,” it notes.
“Similar policies, favoring grid-connected vehicles over hybrids have recently been put in place in California and Beijing.”Lean economic times didn’t stop members of Congress from splurging taxpayer dollars on food and drink, including a $6,090 meal tab racked up in a single day by Guam Delegate Madeleine Z. Bordallo during a visit home with members of the House Natural Resources Committee, according to a new report.
The bill that Mrs. Bordallo, a Democrat, charged to taxpayers on Aug. 11 was the largest expenditure by a House member on food and beverages during the third quarter, according to an analysis of the members’ $145 million in disbursements conducted by watchdog.org.
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, had the second most expensive meal: $5,380 on Aug. 28 at Middleton Hall, a posh banquet facility in Mr. Hoyer’s Southern Maryland district.
The menu for the Hoyer affair featured chicken cordon bleu, parsleyed red potatoes, green beans, garden salad and rolls for about 200 people, who were served coffee, tea and water — no alcohol, said Alice Leeson, office manager at Middleton Hall.
The spread was for a women’s networking fair hosted by Mr. Hoyer as part of Women’s Equality Day, said Hoyer spokeswoman Stephanie Lundberg.
“The event provided an opportunity for women to strengthen their professional opportunities and included a vendor fair, educational speaker and mentoring experience for young professionals,” she said. “The amount listed includes cost for the venue rental, food and beverage.”
Matthew Mateo, a spokesman for Mrs. Bordallo, said the price tag for the Guam event covered the cost of catering a meeting for about 300 island officials, residents and visiting House members at the Outrigger Guam Resort, where the ballroom overlooks an expansive tropical swimming pool and offers views of picturesque Tumon Bay.
The buffet-style meal offered entrees of chicken, pork and fish with side dishes of red rice, potato salad and assorted vegetables. Guests could partake of pastries, ice tea and fruit punch, Mr. Mateo said.
The resort “provided logistical and venue support for the meeting with constituents, including food and beverages, venue setup and event preparation, and technical support [such as] audio and video support services,” he said.
At least six House members attended the Aug. 10-12 trip to Guam. They included House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall II, West Virginia Democrat, and Rep. Henry E. Brown Jr., South Carolina Republican.
When all of the food and beverage records for the quarter were totaled, Mrs. Bordallo led all House members with a $12,834 tab, followed by Rep. Linda T. Sanchez, California Democrat, who spent $7,233, according to the watchdog.org survey.
The 3,400 pages of expenditure information culled by the group were made available for the first time on the Web, upholding a promise that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, made in June. The information previously was available only by visiting government offices.
The expenditures run the gamut from the $8.80 spent on laundry services by Rep. Mike Quigley, Illinois Democrat, to the $62,623 in travel reimbursements claimed by Rep. Don Young, Alaska Republican.
Other expenditures included $2,468 spent by Rep. Sanford D. Bishop Jr., Georgia Democrat, for a new carpet; $18,931 spent by Rep. Doc Hastings, Washington Republican, on furniture; $14,133 spent by Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., New Jersey Democrat, on security; and $17,846 spent by Rep. Donna Edwards, Maryland Democrat, on printing and advertising.
The list of pricey meals included $4,657 spent by Rep. Jean Schmidt, Ohio Republican, on a catered event July 31 at the Capitol; $4,066 spent by Rep. Barbara Lee, California Democrat, on a catered event Sept. 23 at the Capitol; and $3,863 spent by Rep. Kevin McCarthy, California Republican, for an event in his district.
Travel meals were calculated separately. Rep. Suzanne M. Kosmas, Florida Democrat, led the pack with $2,996 worth of dining on the go. Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican, came in second, spending $2,041 on travel meals.
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.Here we go again. The latest twist in President Donald Trump’s never-ending allegation that the Obama White House was spying on Team Trump before inauguration day involves an arcane, highly classified issue about Americans who are mentioned in signals intelligence intercepts.
Trump and his supporters seek to paint any interception of American phone calls—or even discussions about Americans by foreigners—as improper and maybe illegal. That’s not true. Every day, the National Security Agency intercepts lots of calls between foreigners in which Americans are discussed. If they’re important Americans—top politicians, for instance—that intercept may have intelligence value. If it doesn’t, the intercept is deleted and forgotten.
More rarely, the NSA intercepts phone calls in which one of the interlocutors is an American. As long as this operation has been approved per the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act—meaning a top-secret Federal court has issued a warrant for this collection—this is perfectly legal SIGINT. Here, too, an intelligence report will be issued in top-secret channels if the NSA determines there’s foreign intelligence value here and somebody, usually the FBI, needs to know what the intercept reveals.
In all cases, the identity of the American or Americans discussed is masked in the top-secret reports issued by NSA. They are referred to as “US Person” or USP for short; if there’s more than one of them, a number is added. Such SIGINT reports look like this fictional excerpt:
(TS/SI) In a recent conversation with one of his top aides, Zendia’s foreign minister, Abu Jefferson, opined that it would not be in his country’s interests if USP-1 is named U.S. Secretary of State by the incoming administration of USP-2. In particular, Abu Jefferson noted the concern of Zendia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) that USP-1 is too close to the oil business and his appointment as America’s top diplomat may prove negative for Zendia’s rising LNG industry. He indicated that USP-3 would be a better choice as U.S. Secretary of State from the Zendian MFA’s perspective, and that actions should be taken to support USP-3’s potential candidacy.
Let’s say a few months back you’re one of the high-level people in Washington with the right security clearances and a need to know, since SIGINT reports which cite USP’s are not widely disseminated even in top-secret channels. Unless you’re clueless, you’d immediately realize that USP-2 is Donald Trump while USP-1 is almost certainly Rex Tillerson. But who is USP-3?
That’s an important question since Zendia’s foreign minister wants “actions” taken to support USP-3 as Secretary of State. Given the tricky state of American relations with Zendia, it would be good to know what’s going on here, particularly since past Zendian “actions” in Washington have included illegalities such as bribes to members of Congress.
If you’re a top dog inside the Beltway, you would then ask the NSA to let you know who the mystery USP-3 is. There’s nothing sinister about this—it happens all the time in Washington. When the NSA receives a request to “unmask” that American’s identity, to use the proper spy-term, the Agency office which issued the report is asked if they’re ok with the unmasking. The request then goes up a chain, potentially as high as the NSA director, for final approval.
As Admiral Mike Rogers, the Agency’s director, recently informed the House Intelligence Committee in open session, the number of NSA officials authorized to unmask USPs is only about 20—including the director himself. Neither is this any sort of rubber stamp. The NSA reserves the right to decline unmasking requests, if they think the request is inappropriate or would reveal sensitive intelligence sources and methods. Denials are hardly uncommon.
Even if unmasking approval is granted, the USP’s identity is shared only with the requester, in top-secret channels, and cannot be shared more widely. At all times, the NSA retains control of the information and it must be protected per stringent Agency regulations.
The above scenario is the backdrop for the latest accusation against the Obama administration proffered by Team Trump. The White House has jumped on a new report by Bloomberg which alleges that Susan Rice, National Security Adviser during Obama’s second term, on multiple occasions last year asked NSA to reveal the identity of Trump associates who wound up in SIGINT reports.
The report, by Eli Lake, is hedging and cautious, noting that most of the intercepts in question involved two foreigners, not any member of Team Trump, while adding, “Rice’s unmasking requests were likely within the law.” Lake’s exclusive illuminates the strange saga of Devin Nunes, the House Intelligence Committee chair, whose mysterious late-night White House visit turns out to have involved a Trump administration unofficial investigation of possible malfeasance by Rice, including top-secret information which White House officials wanted to share with Rep. Nunes.
It hardly needs to be explained that this report has been greeted warmly by those who wish to turn attention away from the president’s mounting Russia problems. Since the commander-in-chief has repeatedly stated in tweets that the whole Russia story is FAKE NEWS, this is a welcome development indeed for the White House, since it puts the spotlight on Team Obama rather than Team Trump.
That said, President Trump and his fans should be cautious, since it will be nearly impossible to prove that Rice did anything wrong by asking the NSA to unmask Americans in SIGINT reports. Most of the reports in question involve senior officials of foreign governments discussing the still-forming Trump administration, including speculation about potential cabinet appointments. As National Security Advisor, Rice had perfectly legitimate reasons to want to know the full story about those reports. This “scandal” appears to be a giant nothingburger, to use one of President Obama’s preferred descriptions.
Yet there are caveats. Although it’s all but impossible to prove, if Rice asked for those identities for political—not national security—reasons, there’s a problem. Then there’s the possibility that she may not have adhered to NSA’s rigid rules about protecting the identities of those unmasked USPs. If she informed White House staffers without a need to know who those Americans were, the FBI may have something to investigate.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but Susan Rice is a deeply unpopular figure with our Intelligence Community. Her abrasive personality and overall incompetence grated on the IC. Her habitually coarse language was inflicted on senior intelligence officials more than once, while nobody outside Obama’s inner circle considered Rice even marginally competent at her job. Simply put, she was the worst National Security Adviser in American history—at least until Mike Flynn’s dismally failed three-week tenure.
In addition, Rice didn’t like to play by the rules, including the top-secret ones. On multiple occasions, she asked the NSA to do things they regarded as unethical and perhaps illegal. When she was turned down—the NSA fears breaking laws for any White House, since they know they will be left holding the bag in the end—Rice kept pushing.
As a longtime NSA official who experienced Rice’s wrath more than once told me, “We tried to tell her to pound sand on some things, but it wasn’t allowed—we were always overruled.” On multiple occasions, Rice got top Agency leadership to approve things which NSA personnel on the front end of the spy business refused. This means there may be something Congress and the FBI need to investigate here.
Susan Rice and Team Trump are both despised by our intelligence agencies, albeit for different reasons. The prospect of a death-match between them is causing unusual emotions in the IC. “For us, this is like the Iran-Iraq war,” explained another longtime NSA official: “We’d like both sides to lose.”
It’s unfortunate that the Rice story is distracting from the far more important KremlinGate issue, since clandestine Russian interference in our politics is a considerably weightier national security concern than potential illegalities about SIGINT unmasking by the past administration. Nevertheless, President Obama may have gifted his successor and his Republican allies in Congress a genuine scandal, which could delay necessary resolution of the knotty issue of Team Trump’s alleged ties with Moscow.
John Schindler is a security expert and former National Security Agency analyst and counterintelligence officer. A specialist in espionage and terrorism, he’s also been a Navy officer and a War College professor. He’s published four books and is on Twitter at @20committee.Man City manager Gareth Taylor says Anthony Gordon’s equaliser before the break change the game.
The Academy outfit lost for the first time in the league this season against The Toffees 5-3 at Finch Farm. Taylor pinpointed Gordon’s equaliser – to make it 2-2 – before the break change change the game.
City manager believes that goal knocked his players confidence and gave platform to Everton to accelerate into 5-2 lead in second-half.
“I said at half time 2-2 was probably a fair reflection,” explained the U18s boss.
“We were excellent in periods in the first half and we worked tremendously hard to get back into it. Then in last minute we conceded a goal which was avoidable.
“That was a telling shift in the game. They were disappointed and I tried to build them up and focus on the positives, but you could see they were disappointed.”
With the likes of Rabbi Matondo called into Simon Davies’ EDS squad, Taylor selected a young side including the 16-year-old Tommy Doyle.
Giving away a couple of years’ experience to the home team, Gareth Taylor felt there were positives to take from the performance, despite losing their 100% record.
“I was pleased with a lot of aspects of the game,” he explained.
“Only three second year scholars started and we had four U16s with us. The rest were first years so we gave quite a bit away in that respect.
“But we got the challenge we want for these players. I prefer that for their development, even though it hurts to get beat, especially by that margin.
“I thought it was a bit closer than that.”
Taylor The youngster grabbed a first half brace as City showed great resolve to fight back from Everton’s first minute opener.
Man City manager also drew positives from Keke Simmonds’ forward play. At Finch Farm the home side with a early goal before Manchester City Boy Simmonds equalise the score.
“There were some good passages of play from Keke |
wan Semiconductor (NYSE:TSM) just issued a press release in which it announced that its 16-nanometer FinFET Plus manufacturing technology has just gone into "risk production." The company also stated that it "anticipates" the "volume ramp" of this technology to begin "around July in 2015."
This timeline, coupled with recent statements on Samsung's most recent earnings call, suggests that TSMC may have lost the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) foundry business to Samsung (NASDAQOTH:SSNLF).
Digging into TSMC's most recent earnings call
On TSMC's most recent earnings call, company management pointed out that it takes about 1.5 quarters between when a particular manufacturing technology "goes into production" and when those chips actually generate revenue for TSMC.
So, if TSMC doesn't suffer any delays to its current 16-nanometer FinFET Plus schedule, production that begins on July 1, 2015, should mean that TSMC recognizes revenue in November. That, as Bernstein's Mark Li observed a while back, would be too late for a next-generation iPhone.
It really looks as though TSMC loses this round
Interestingly enough, on Samsung's most recent earnings call, Samsung's management noted that it's sampling 14-nanometer chips with "a customer that's already been secured." Additionally, Samsung's management stated that the "wafers for mass production" have been "fed in for the target date of going mass production in or at the end of the year."
Samsung even expects that 30% of its 12-inch wafer fab capacity will be producing 14-nanometer wafers by the end of 2015.
If this customer that Samsung is talking about is indeed Apple, then it looks as though TSMC isn't going to be in the next iPhone. Although TSMC should benefit from the ramp of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus over the next year, any potential loss of the Apple applications processor foundry business could hurt.
Could TSMC eventually rejoin the party?
TSMC suggested on a prior earnings call that its share of the 14/16-nanometer foundry business will be "lower than [that of] a major competitor in 2015," but it did claim that it would "regain" 16-nanometer share in 2016.
Whether TSMC expects to be added on as a second source for the next iPhones and iPads, or whether it expects volumes from other chip vendors to pick up the slack, or some combination of both, isn't quite clear yet.
What does this mean for TSMC stock?
If TSMC's business hinged on whether it won the apps processor slot in the next iPhone, this would obviously be bad news for the stock. However, it's important to keep in mind that TSMC serves a pretty broad range of clients, many of which don't even require leading-edge foundry technology.
This seeming loss of the applications processor slot in the next iPhone could make year-over-year revenue growth comparisons difficult by the middle of next year. However, TSMC still has a lot of low-end and mid-range smartphone exposure via the various merchant chip suppliers such as MediaTek, so growth there could help offset the potential loss of the Apple processor business this round.
What does this mean for Samsung?
As I have written about in the past, Samsung is probably going to focus even harder on its semiconductor logic foundry business, particularly as it seems possible that Samsung could take a pretty sizable bite out of TSMC's business.
While it now seems clear that Samsung should do very well during the 14-nanometer generation, it'll be interesting to see if this momentum will extend into the 10-nanometer manufacturing node and beyond. If Samsung is ultimately successful in building a sustainable, profitable foundry business, then it could mean very good things for Samsung's business and ultimately its stock price.The suicide rate among US soldiers has reached its highest level since records began almost 30 years ago, officials said.
Last year, 121 active members of the army took their own lives, up 20% on the previous year. Thirty-four of last year's deaths happened while the soldier was deployed in Iraq, compared to 27 in 2006.
Also on the rise are attempted suicides and self-harm. The number of soldiers who tried but failed to kill themselves or who deliberately injured themselves rose to 2,100 in 2007, up from 500 in 2002.
The Washington Post today reported on the case of Lieutenant Elizabeth Whiteside, who attempted suicide on Monday night by swallowing pills. She left a note saying: "I'm very disappointed with the army."
Whiteside had been awaiting news on a potential court martial for pulling a gun on a superior officer and then shooting herself after suffering a mental breakdown while working as a medic at an Iraqi prison.
She is now in stable condition, and the charges against her have been dropped.
The Post said studies had found that failed personal relationships, legal and financial problems and job-related stress have been the most common factors in soldiers' suicides.
With the army stretched thin by years of fighting two wars, the Pentagon last year extended normal tours of duty from 12 months to 15. Some troops have been sent back to the frontline several times.
Combat Stress, a British charity that provides care for veterans, said the most common mental illnesses it treats were depression, phobic disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder. It said many of the veterans it treats suffered from more than one of these conditions.In an effort to begin to address the glut of overqualified adjunct instructors, Johns Hopkins has announced that it is planning to cut its PhD enrollment by 25% and raise the stipend (read: salary) of the remaining graduate employees from $20,000 a year to $30,000.
Hundreds of current Hopkins PhD students are protesting, but they shouldn’t be, and in her writeup at Slate, Rebecca Schuman hits the nail squarely on the head — so much so that I’d like to elaborate a bit on how very right she is.
Generally speaking, a PhD — at least, one earned in the reasonable expectation of getting a “real” faculty job — is becoming a worse bet every year. Schools keep accepting more (and more schools keep creating new PhD programs in more disciplines), while colleges at all levels are relying ever-more-heavily on non-tenure track faculty. This includes adjuncts and (drumroll please) grad students.
This makes tremendous sense as a strategy for a given research university. Adjuncts and grad students (even if you count the tuition waiver) are way cheaper, more disposable, and easier to push around than full-time faculty. The star tenure-track faculty then get to teach more grad seminars. Advise more dissertations. Have more potential co-authors and research assistants floating about. Teach fewer lower-level undergrad courses.
The problem here, though, is that universities acting individually are not acting in the best interests of the academy overall or the nation in general. Collectively, PhD programs are burning through — and burning out — many of the nation’s best and brightest, then turning those same former rising stars into a lurking labor revolt.
Too often today, the people who did the best in undergraduate courses are becoming the burned-out, uninsured, woefully underpaid faces of college education to first- and second-year students. This makes college less valuable in a direct way. It’s hard enough to teach well when you’re paid fairly, have a reliable office, and teach 3 or 4 courses per semester while trying to do research and service. It’s damn near impossible when you’re teaching 5 or 6 courses, on multiple campuses, with little or no office space, little institutional support, and unsure how you’re going to pay your electric bill this month.
This system is also a poor advertisement for the product itself and even the “life of the mind” mentality that college is supposed to foster. If that’s what “too much” college education leads to, students might wonder if they should err on the side of too little. If the mastery of core liberal arts skills like critical thinking, reading difficult texts, and making sophisticated arguments has the appearance of leaving one broke, why should I put my best efforts into reading this book? Writing this essay? The savvy undergrad might think, “Give me the credential and let me get started at a ‘real’ job before your love of knowledge infects me and I wind up in your shoes.”
You know the “correction” the field of law just went through? The one with lots of freshly-minted JDs saying “I just spent a bajillion dollars and 3 years, and there are way too many candidates for every job”? We’ve been doing that in slow-mo in academia for heaven knows how long. It’s taking longer to sink in, of course, because compared to what you earned in whatever crap job you had during your BA, $15k/year and no tuition bill sounds like a great deal. Folks can’t or don’t account for opportunity costs, such as tens of thousands in lost salary, and heaven knows how much in lost opportunity to learn & rise up in other sectors.
More strikingly, nobody (not their undergrad faculty who graduated many moons ago, and certainly not the PhD programs who want as many apps as possible) tells these best-and-brightest about the real costs, benefits, and risks. Undergrad faculty in particular should be much more honest with themselves and their students about how much less repeatable their career trajectory is today versus 10+ years ago and how much depends on raw luck.
We’re also afraid to tell would-be applicants about the importance of the sub-discipline studied. Here, in my jauntiest department chair voice, is what the academy tells PhD students (outside STEM fields):
You there, doing critical cultural studies? And you there, doing detailed historical/archival/anthropological work? Welcome to the adjunct office! You’ll be here until you decide you want to own a home. Or get health care. Or not have your ability to pay rent be contingent on whether a tenured professor gets sabbatical. You, however… You, with the experience working on a giant grant-funded data-collection-and-article-production machine? With lots of statistical savvy, who can teach the research methods and (field-specific quant) classes that befuddle and/or bore most of your soon-to-be colleagues? We’d really like to talk to you! Pay no attention to those poor souls all crammed into that tiny office there. Their working conditions are the just and fair recompense for their recalcitrant poststructuralism. Now, let me introduce you to our grant support staff.
I’m glad to have postponed my higher earning years to have chosen what is (for me) a highly rewarding career, even with the substantially diminished long-term earnings potential — versus, e.g., becoming a private-sector IP attorney. I love researching in an environment where research productivity is celebrated but not fetishized. I’m happy to have the chance to shape students’ lives, despite students’ highly varying levels of college readiness. I love teaching, despite the occasional class disruption due to our building’s mouse infestation. (Wish that was a joke.) That should be the expectation for more faculty, further up and down the prestige chain, and it should be a more likely outcome for a smaller set of PhD students.
Even though I’m quite happy where I’m at, there was a point where I realized how very in-doubt this outcome was. I was lucky to have picked communication; I believe we hire a larger portion of our PhD grads as tenure-track faculty than pretty much any other comparable discipline. I was lucky to get into Penn — by acclamation, the top program in media studies in the country, and the co-sponsor (along with Annenberg USC) of the party that all party crashers crash at the conference.
Despite this good fortune, even during my coursework at mighty Annenberg U Penn, I realized that I had only the thinnest grasp on what a Plan B (other than law school — and even more debt and postponed earnings) might look like. I realized that most potential Plan B employers would see my PhD as having little additional value versus an MA. More stunningly, I realized how very far from certain Plan A was from working out.
I don’t blame anyone for not telling me all of the above, not least because I think awareness on this point was much lower when I started my PhD program ten years ago. But today, in late 2013, programs and research faculty and teaching faculty and would-be students all need to come to the same conclusion as Hopkins. We should have fewer, not more, PhD students.
And while we’re at it, how about we work on making a BA more valuable, more broadly taught by tenure-track faculty, and (the horror) harder to earn?If you ask the union-controlled California Public Employees' Retirement System about the state's looming pension crisis, you're likely to get this answer: What pension crisis?
But the story was much different at CalPERS' own Finance and Administration Committee meeting held Sept. 19. City officials from across California warned CalPERS board members about the dire fiscal situation their cities face because the pension debt is consuming larger portions of local budgets. The energetic discussion included 18 speakers, many of them local officials who trekked to Sacramento.
"In Hayward, 68 percent of our unfunded pension cost is retiree benefits," said Hayward City Council member Sara Lamnin, who pointed out that "this means the promises of the past weren't paid for, frankly." Hayward's future is really troubling. She said that "over the next three fiscal years, the city of Hayward's revenue is projected to grow 1.4 percent, but our cost for PERS is going to go up 30.5 percent." Lamnin wasn't asking for someone to rescue Hayward. Officials just want to know how bad the damage will be. "We ask you for data," she said.
Oroville Finance Director Ruth Wright said her Butte County city has been forced to cut its workforce by a third and negotiated cuts in police salaries by 10 percent. Oroville expects its cash flow to be gone in three to four years, she said. "We've been saying the 'bankruptcy' word."
These city officials were there to support state Sen. John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa), who sent a letter to the CalPERS board of administration requesting detailed answers to two seemingly straightforward actuarial questions.
First, Moorlach wanted to know the financial effect of moving employees from "their current tiers to a PEPRA tier on a going-forward basis." That would mean providing them with the slightly-less generous pensions offered after the 2013 reforms went into effect. Moorlach also wanted the pension fund to study the cost savings if cost-of-living adjustments to retirees were temporarily suspended until the fund's liabilities are stabilized. No one is proposing any cuts, but Moorlach was just seeking cost comparison data.
"Cities all across the state of California are gravely concerned about the rising costs of their annual retirement contributions and the growing size of their unfunded actuarial liability," said Bruce Channing, the city manager for Laguna Hills in Orange County, and chairman of the League of California Cities' pension-services committee.
He warned of "severe hardship" and cutbacks in staff in many cities if the problem isn't addressed – and reminded CalPERS officials that "saying we have to invest our way out of this really is not the answer."
The League's Dane Hutchings noted a shocking statistic: "I have members who by all accounts are considered financially healthy cities" but their financial models "suggest that by fiscal year '27-'28 as much as 94 cents of every current dollar of payroll will be allocated to CalPERS contributions." That's without accounting for new hires or raises in the coming decade.
Lodi City Manager Steve Schwabauer said his city's pension costs are expected to double by 2022, which is the equivalent of a fire station and "all of my parks and recreation and all of my library." These are ominous warnings from actual city officials.
Given CalPERS' touting of PEPRA as a key reason that the state is "bending the cost curve" regarding pension liabilities, Moorlach's first request should have been a no-brainer. Why not figure out other PEPRA-related savings possibilities? The second question would make sense, too, if the pension fund were interested in exploring ways to protect cities from potential insolvency rather than simply protecting public employees from any pain.
As expected, CalPERS gave the final say to union officials, who feared that the data would be used to justify lower benefits.
"Yes, it's painful for employers to deal with those rising costs," said Jai Sookprasert, a California School Employees Association lobbyist. "It's doubly more painful for the employees. What part of negotiate, talk to your employees is not clear? … Really, data? This is just data? … Is it data or conjectures?"
So, learning actuarially sound information about what different benefit levels might do to unfunded liabilities is now just a conjecture, at least in the view of some union officials. Apparently, it's better for local officials not to know what different options will mean for their budgets. They should just pay up and quit their complaining.
The CalPERS board fell in line and didn't even vote on the request, meaning that Moorlach's proposal will not be heeded.
In 1999, CalPERS promised that the legislature's proposal that would lead to 50-percent retroactive pension increases for public-safety officials across the state wouldn't cost taxpayers "a dime" because investment returns would make up the difference. The fund was laughably wrong, and their efforts led to the current problems cities across the state are facing.
Now CalPERS and its union allies typically claim that there's no pension crisis and that Democrat Gov. Jerry Brown's modest PEPRA reform will right the ship. Apparently, there's no need to worry about what these hard-pressed city officials are saying. But what will they say 10 to 15 years from now, as pension costs gobble up majorities of local budgets and services will be slashed and burned?
For now, denial is the easiest course. CalPERS had a good year with investment returns of 11.2 percent. Likewise, the Democratic-controlled state Legislature totally ignored the pension liabilities and the arguably even-larger problem surrounding soaring retiree-medical costs during its recently concluded legislative session. But the problems only are going to get worse, and other cities are going to hit the fiscal wall.
"The unions will say it wasn't our fault. We didn't vote for it. You guys voted for it," said Sen. Moorlach in an interview Monday. He was shocked by their audacity. No doubt, they'll also be blaming Wall Street and stingy California taxpayers. But by then the state and cities could be in full crisis mode. Will CalPERS still be in denial if dozens of cities are using about the "b" word?
This column was first published by the California Policy Center.The Brazil international says that the club will expediate his departure should a good offer come in and enthuses about the possibility of playing in the Premier League
Anzhi Makhachkala midfielder Willian admits that the Russian club are willing to sell him this summer and has revealed that he would be open to a move to Liverpool.The 25-year-old only moved to Dagestan in January but, following an indication from owner Suleiman Kerimov that costs would be cut severely, could be set to follow several players through the exit door, with long-time links to the Premier League renewed."For now, all there is are talks. I haven't received anything official yet," Willian told ESPN Brasil."There was the Manchester City bid [a few weeks ago, of €40 million (£34.1m)], that was turned down [before Kerimov made his decision to sell the players] and that was a while ago."Now I'm waiting for a new bid to arrive in the next days from a few clubs, like Liverpool. If it's really Liverpool, then it is surely a great club. I'm hopeful and very calm, just waiting for the best.""England is my goal. Of course the English championship is the dream of many players and I'm no different. I like the Premier League very much, I enjoy the English football and certainly, if that happens, it will be very good for me and for my image."All I know is that [Kerimov] told us that Anzhi wouldn't be making further investments, that in six months they will be returning to Makhachkala, that they'll be going home, that more Russian players will arrive and that, if the foreign players who had offers would be free to go, that he would help us."He doesn't want to let anyone go for free but he made it clear that, if good bids arrive - something at least close to what he paid for the players - he would certainly help us go. Not giving anyone away. If a good offer for the arrives, they'll let us go; if not, we stay. That's it."Senior White House aide Jared Kushner is scheduled to meet in June with Senate Intelligence Committee staffers, NBC News reported late Thursday.
NBC News’ Kasie Hunt cited two unnamed sources who said the meeting is set for mid-June but did not name a specific date.
According to Hunt, the meeting is a first step toward Kushner providing documents to the panel and answering its questions.
NBC News: Jared Kushner will meet with Senate Intelligence Committee staffers mid-month, two sources tell NBC's @kasie Hunt — Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 8, 2017
BREAKING ON NBC: Jared Kushner will meet with Senate Intel staff mid-month, 1st step in agmt to also provide docs & take senator qs — Kasie Hunt (@kasie) June 8, 2017
The Washington Post reported in May that Kushner, who is President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, spoke in December to Russia’s ambassador to the United States about setting up a communications backchannel between Trump’s transition team and Moscow.
Reuters reported the same day that on his application for a security clearance, Kushner failed to disclose at least three contacts he had with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak.
Kushner’s meetings with a Russian banker are also under scrutiny, according to a report by the New York Times, and the congressional committees investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election — including the Senate Intelligence Committee — reportedly want to question Kushner about whether he sought Russian financing for his family’s Manhattan tower from the banker.
Trump said in May that he had “total confidence” in Kushner, but appeared to joke in June that he was less than pleased with Kushner’s increased visibility.
“Jared’s actually become much more famous than me,” Trump said, to laughter. “I’m a little bit upset about that.”IGN could be going up for auction, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
IGN could be going up for auction.
The paper reported that News Corp. is working with investment bank Allen & Co. on an auction to sell IGN's network of video game and entertainment sites, following a year of failed efforts to produce a sales deal.
According to the report, News Corp. publicly stated its intention to sell IGN Entertainment after news that it was preparing to restructure its internal publishing and journalism assets, separating them from its media and entertainment businesses.
News Corp. bought IGN in 2005 for a price tag of $650 million (a deal that also included other sites, such as GameSpy.com and TeamXbox.com), but now hopes to sell the network of video game and entertainment sites for around $100 million.
According to the report, Break Media and SAY Media are among potential buyers for IGN, although sources close to News Corp. told the paper that other potential bidders could include private equity funds.
Sales negotiations were affected by turnover at both IGN and News Corp., with the departure of IGN chief executive Roy Bahat in August, and the resignation of News Corp.'s chief digital officer, Jon Miller.By Eric, AKA Grandpa Growth
Hello and welcome back to “Decksplanations.” Over the last couple of weeks we have been talking about how I approach increasing the power levels of my decks. So far we have covered the concepts of:
Solidarity – Focusing on what you do best and maximizing your chances of achieving it, removing elements that don’t advance your gameplan.
Durability – The ability to overcome the most common obstacles that would prevent your victory. Be difficult to stop.
Interactivity – Capitalizing on interaction advantage. Be superior to your opponents in the ways that matter most and capitalize on their weaknesses.
Proactivity – Begin to pursue your game plan immediately and be able to punish opponents with slower draws and decks. Fill use disruption to preemptively disable key cards from your opponent and slow down their plan even further.
As always, the information that I’m presenting compliments and builds on what I’ve already discussed in the series. If you missed the previously posted articles I encourage you to go back and read them, if not start at the very beginning of “Decksplanations.” Today we are discussing the fourth of five parts of power: value. Let it begin!
“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” – Warren Buffet
Every person reading this article, regardless of your economic situation, career choice, or what life stage you are in, should know who Warren Buffet is. He is unanimously considered to be the most successful American investor in recent history and is one of the most respected economic and business intelligences on the planet. He is also a man of inscrutable ethical character, a magnanimous philanthropist, and a personal hero of mine. The business success is nice, but what I really like about him is he has an incredible eye for value. I’m all about that value.
Value Lust
I really saved the best for last here. You can ask anyone who knows me, there is nothing – NOTHING – I like more than getting value. I’ll try and get it anywhere I can and I don’t care what other people think about it. My constant pursuit of value borders on disorderly conduct. For the sake of this article, I’m going to try and restrict myself to talking about how to get value in Magic.
Value is a term that gets thrown around a lot in the world of Magic. Much like ‘tempo,’ it has a seemingly opaque definition that changes more as time goes on. Before I get too far along, let’s lay out exactly what I mean when I talk about value: Value is just an abstract aggregation of your total resources. Increasing your total resources could be thought of as increasing the value of your position in the game. When you are able to net extra resources over and above what you invested, you can think of that as profit. Let’s not forget, though, this isn’t a competition about who can amass the silliest Scrooge McDuck pile of resources; the point is to win the game. The goal of increasing your value is only relevant if you can net resources compared to your opponent(s). So this brings us back around to what I’m really talking about when I say I want to ‘get value.’ I want to profit on resource exchanges with my opponent, netting out more than I invest, and do so in a way that is strategically relevant. If the resources you are amassing are not relevant to the current game, their value is diminished.
In it’s simplest form, the game of Magic begins with two players that each have access to the same amount of resources. Throughout the course of play, resources are expended, expanded, exchanged, and often recycled. By the end of the game, that beautiful equality of resources that we saw in the beginning of the game is gone. As the game goes on, the amount of resources available to each player changes dramatically. Depending on the composition of each deck and the content of each player’s draw, these differences in resources could swing back and forth several times. These resources change dynamically, both in their amount and their value. Frequently, the player who is able to secure an advantage on the most relevant resources will end up winning the game. If we expand our focus to multiplayer games, the same logic applies, but the math is just harder to keep track of. I’ll discuss a bit about how to get value in multiplayer situations later on, but let’s start by looking at some key principles that govern resources in Magic.
Properties of a Resource
This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive primer on resource advantage and how different advantage theories compare to each other; this is a series about deck building. My goal is to give you ideas about how to build decks that generate more value, but that topic crosses a lot of borders. To fully understand how to get value we have to build on a basic foundation: truly understanding the nature of our resources and what they can do within the game. For more on these other topics, I encourage you to search around on other Magic strategy sites, perhaps even take a look at an article that I penned on the subject over on “The General Zone”: Advantage Theories Part 1, Part 2.
All of the resources in Magic share at least the following qualities:
Quantity – That is to say, they can be measured quantifiably. These figures can be comparative, relative, or absolute. This isn’t to say that the only important things are quantifiable, but more so that if you can’t measure it in some way to compare it to other things, you can’t act effectively on that information (e.g., having a feeling that your opponent has a specific card isn’t a great basis for action, but knowing the exact probability of your opponent having said card is absolutely actionable information). The best example of quantity is life. It always has an easily identifiable number.
Instrumentality – It can be used to do something in the game. If it isn’t useful for something, it either isn’t a resource, e.g. unknown-unknown information (compared to known-unknown information or known information, thanks Rumsfeld ). Or it isn’t in the game, like a diet Coke. The obvious example of instrumentality is cards. They usually have some text box that explains what you are meant to do with them.
Liquidity – Resources can be exchanged for one another, sometimes for free, sometimes not. Once you have sufficient mana, cards are often the most important resource, because the ability to exchange them easily for other resources increases markedly. Look at a card like Trading Post. Its sole function is to facilitate transfers between unlike resources. The ease with which you can readily convert resources between one another increases their relevance. Speaking of which…
Relevance – A resource has to be relevant to the current game state. The number of cards left in your library might matter more in some circumstances, but less in others. Note the difference here: cards in your library are always instrumental, because they can be drawn and played, but they may not be relevant unless you are nearly out of them. A key measure of relevance is whether or not you need it to win, or if your chances of winning are positively correlated with acquisition of the resource.
Here are some things that a resource might be, but doesn’t need to be.
Public Information – You might know that you can kill your opponent in two turns, but your opponent could be unaware. Thereby the systems with which you are quantifying the resource of time may be different. Sometimes neither player will know about the quantity or relevance of a resource. Consider your ability to topdeck a burn spell late in the game. You don’t know it is coming, neither do they, but that doesn’t stop you from winning with it. The resource of drawing a card every turn is ALMOST ALWAYS relevant, but how much so is more situational.
Concrete – Using the example from above, tempo is a very important resource in many games, but it isn’t something you can physically deploy. It is more of an abstract concept than the physical land cards that you have in play. Remember that we need to be able to quantify it (e.g., “I’m three turns away from dying”), but you don’t need to be able to touch it. It is also important to note that resources which aren’t concrete are often unequally distributed. Some decks have a lower fundamental turn and begin the game with a tempo advantage. Always be cognizant of resources that don’t begin at parity; they are easy to overlook and thus easy to lose to.
Think back on all the times you have seen someone get overrun by an Aggro deck and not be able to stabilize. They might have said something like, ‘Well, I would have won if I had drawn X card.” They are only thinking of the game in terms of one concrete resource: cards. But, in point of fact, cards were a less important resource than time. Because you can’t directly affect non-concrete resources, you often have to build your deck in a certain way to harness them. U/R Delver can utilize tempo much more effectively than U/W Control. This difference in deck construction decisions like strategizing and card selection can result in an imbalance. Delver can have more tempo advantage by having a lower fundamental turn and create additional tempo by pointing burn spells upstairs. U/W Control can produce an advantage on cards and life by casting Sphinx’s Revelation.
Finite – Sometimes quantities of resources can become arbitrarily large, making them difficult to evaluate. If you can produce infinite mana, you have more mana than your opponent. Your access to mana may be less relevant than their access to mana though. So this goes to show that having infinite resources doesn’t translate directly to an infinite win percentage. Converting an infinite but irrelevant resource into a relevant one is usually how people win when they ‘go off’.
There is more to be said here, but that is enough to start thinking about how to build more resource rich and resource efficient decks. We are looking to include cards in our deck that help us win the resource interaction game. Let’s lay out the goals for doing that.
1. Expand Early
In Commander, everyone starts in the same place most of the time. We have the same number of cards in our decks, the same potential cards to make our decks out of, the same amount of life, and the lenient mulligan rules mean that we rarely begin with any kind of resource handicap. So from that starting point we need to begin separating ourselves early on. We must break parity to get ahead.
I like to start out by ramping up my mana, because mana is scarce in the early game and important for playing higher-impact spells. This transitions my less relevant resource (cards in hand) to a more relevant one (mana sources in play). That increases the total value of my resource position. However, attacking with a creature to lower your opponent’s life total can often serve the same purpose. You are lowering the total value of your opponent’s resource position. The key is to find out what is important,start acquiring the resource for yourself, and denying it to your opponents.
2. Make Favorable Resource Exchanges
Trade less relevant resources for more relevant ones. Trade fewer resources for more. Divination is a very straightforward way to increase the quantity of your cards. However, these actions can increase the value of our resource position without necessarily affecting the total quantity of resources we have. You might think of this as taking up more of the total pie, or changing the size of the pie all together.
Example one: A simple two-for-one. My resources went down by one and the opponent’s went down by two. I have profited from this exchange; I’m not better off in absolute terms, but relative to our opponent I’m ahead.
Example two: If you only have two lands in play, those lands are extremely important to your resource position. But if you had twenty lands in play, two lands will be less relevant. This draws on the concept of marginal utility, which you might remember from your college economics class (more on that here: Investopedia).
It’s important to remember that you can make exchanges across many different resources at the same time. Using a removal spell to kill a blocker and get in extra damage trades mana and one card in hand for damage, tempo, and one card in play.
Sidenote: With regards to exchanges in tempo, it is sometimes easier to look at things in terms of mana spent to remain at parity. Because you can’t always accurately predict when each player will win, you may not know who has the tempo advantage by examining only that information. We can say definitively though, that using a two mana spell to kill a ten mana creature creates an inequality of mana spent. We also know that mana is a resource and that spending more of it is correlated with winning (if you need more information about mana sum theory click, here to read Travis Woo’s article on the subject). So, if I spend less mana to achieve the same result of parity, I must have gained something somewhere. That thing is tempo, but keep in mind that resources still have differing relevances. If tempo is of low relevance in the current game state, gaining some tempo is unlikely to affect the outcome of the game to a large degree. The same can be said of mana spent.
3. End Up With More Of What Matters
This is my primary path to victory in most games. Every time I say, “the person who draws more cards wins,” this is what I’m talking about. Cards are frequently the most important resource in a Commander game. Like a zen master, I try to focus only on what is important and forget about everything else. Be patient and tolerant. This lines up well with the prototypical Control philosophy: Focus on the most important resource (cards) and don’t worry about the other resources unless you are about to run out of them. I’m not usually bothered by taking damage, but as I lose life points they become marginally more relevant. Life is plentiful at the beginning of games and damage is cheap. They are easy to get when no one is trying to stop you. Many times though, the only point of damage that matter is the last one – and it can be hard to get.
Here is the one point that I wanted to make about multiplayer: In single player, having a higher resource value is definitely correlated with winning, but in multiplayer having the highest resource value does not translate into wins quite as directly. Having more than everyone else might not be enough. Having more than everyone else combined will be sufficient. By definition if your total resource value is higher than all other opponents combined you can’t lose, because you will always kill them before they could collectively kill you. Remember: tempo is quantifiable, even if you aren’t sure what the quantity is. The tricky bit is that players can often rally to stop you from achieving that resource dominance. If a subset of your opponents feel threatened by your suspicious resource expansion or overt aggression against their resource bases, then they could convince uninterested players to ‘gang up’ on you for political reasons. Navigating the landscape of 1v1 is simpler because the adversarial relationship between players is explicit. There are only two of us and only one can win…you must be my enemy. In multiplayer, that relationship is only implied and it can change over time |
the final few races of last year experimenting with serrated tape on the rear wing main plane’s trailing edge. Last year’s car featured similar teeth on the front wing flap, and they are designed to induce tiny vortices that help keep airflow attached to the back side of the wing.
On the final day of testing a new rear wing profile was installed on the W07 to match the design seen on the front wing. It features asymmetrically shaped teeth along the same location that the experimental tape was used previously, and pictures of the rear wing doused in flow-vis reveal how the vortices travel up the top flap above.
The serrated profile should improve the re-attachment of airflow as the DRS is closed, improving braking stability and allowing the driver to keep the wing flap open as long as possible.
Toro Rosso rear wing and monkey seat
The STR11 is a proper eye-catcher in terms of technoology. The rear wing is one area where the team’s approach is strikingly aggressive. It is a total rework over last year’s version, featuring a conventional main plane profile (no lipped centre as in 2015) and a neatly integrated mounting pylon that passes through the exhaust pipe beneath.
However it is the endplates that bound the two wing elements together that are the most intriguing. Their design follows a similar theme to most of the cars on the grid – such as the array of strakes sweeping upwards at the trailing edge and the heavy sculpting to encourage air to flow upwards – but the horizontal louvres are a step ahead of the midfield pack.
Rather than being cut into the endplate, the louvres extend right to the leading edge and form serrations in the endplate. This design will start shifting the air close to the wing tips from the inner to the outer side of the endplate very quickly, reducing the pressure gradient and thus the size of the wingtip vortices shed.
A lot of the themes from the rear wing have also be carried over to Toro Rosso’s intricate monkey seat winglet, placed just above the exhaust to draw the plume up to the underside of the rear wing. This winglet is crucial to linking the airflow from the diffuser and rear wing together as it allows for greater wing angle and more rake angle, too.
With the regulations pinching the teams in so tightly, Toro Rosso appear to be exploiting the little details well compared to their immediate rivals. The winglet is attached to the rear wing’s central mounting pylon via a slender bracket that extends out above the trio of exhaust pipes. It features no more than four elements, with the uppermost element further divided with extra slots at the wing tips. Carried over from the rear wing design are the horizontal louvres – none of Toro Rosso’s rivals is using them on the monkey seat.
Toro Rosso S-duct
Like Mercedes, Toro Rosso have also exploited opening channels along a belly-shaped panel beneath the nose’s main crash structure to feed their S-duct system. The STR11 features four NACA slots along the belly of the nose – two provide air to the duct and the remaining two cool air for the driver into the cockpit.
This S-duct differs from W07’s in that it exits in the traditional spot where the nosebox and chassis meet. This is easier to manufacturer for a team with a smaller budget as it does not require additional work inside the monocoque, with all the plumbing housed inside the nose.
McLaren front wing
McLaren have admitted to being behind schedule on the development front. Their full 2016 package is expected to run for the first time in Melbourne this weekend.
On the final day of the second test, however, we did get to see their brand new front wing. Its core remains similar to the outgoing version, with Red Bull-style sweeping elements branching across the entire width of the wing before diving down at the extremities to meet the footplate. The cascade winglets – the small devices that branch from the endplates of the front wing itself – are new and are have been downsized from their predecessors.
Following in the steps of Toro Rosso, the small winglet is accompanied by a vane that curls upwards from a horizontal position to form a vertical fin. This will flick the airflow over the endplate and around the front tyre for improved aerodynamic efficiency.
2016 F1 season[This post is part of an ongoing challenge to understand 52 papers in 52 weeks. You can read previous entries, here, or subscribe to be notified of new posts by email]
The Hindley-Milner type system is one of the more impressive things in computer science. Global type inference that can figure out the general type of a whole program without a single type annotation anywhere.
I’ve only ever used it in Haskell and let me tell ya, when I get confused, I delete my type annotations and let the compiler tell me what the hell I’m doing. It’s usually right.
But while Hindley-Milner can do parametric polymorphism natively, it needed some work to support ad-hoc polymorphism and become what Haskell’s got today. In their 1988 paper, How to make ad-hoc polymorphism less ad hoc Wadler and Blott of the Haskell committee explain how to do just that by introducing type classes.
Type classes are the biggest extension Haskell adds to Hindley-Milner, which makes it a more practical language than its predecessors Miranda and ML. But no more powerful, of course.
Polymorphism
Polymorphism lets us define functions that can act on arguments of different types. Most obvious with operators where writing 1+4 works just as well as writing 1.3+3.14, you don’t have to use addInt or addFloat. The compiler handles that for you.
Strachey defined two types of polymorphism – ad-hoc and parametric.
Ad-hoc polymorphism occurs when a function behaves differently for different types, sometimes with completely heterogeneous implementations. Operator overloading is a common example of ad-hoc polymorphism
Parametric polymorphism occurs when a function behaves the same for different data types. length is a good example, because it doesn’t care what type of list it’s counting. You can implement a general length function to behave the same for any list type.
This paper expands Hindley-Milner’s parametric polymorphism, with type classes to introduce ad-hoc polymorphism. Because the paper shows how to translate between type classes and pure HM, the authors claim any language using HM typing could potentially be retrofitted with type classes via a preprocessor.
Limitations of ad-hoc polymorphism
The easiest places to look at issues arising from ad-hoc polymorphism are arithmetic operator overloading and equality.
Standard ML takes the simplest approach to operator overloading – arithmetic operators are overloaded, but functions that use them are not. This means while you can write 3*3 or 3.14*3.14, you cannot define a square function as square x = x*x and later use terms like square 3 or square 3.14.
You could solve this with an overloaded square function, using implementations of type Int -> Int and Float -> Float. This becomes unwieldy when you want to have a function squares that returns a tuple of three squared numbers. You’d need eight different implementations!
Generally speaking, overloaded functions grow exponentially with the number of arguments. Not good.
Equality doesn’t fare much better. If you treat it as overloaded, like Standard ML used to, you can use terms such as 3*4 == 12, but you cannot define functions based on equality. For instance, a function member that tells you whether something is in a list or not won’t have a defined type.
Miranda takes a slightly better approach in that it treats equality as fully polymorphic. Its type is then (==) :: a -> a -> Bool, but this forces the environment to perform run-time checks on the representation of abstract types.
Some might consider this a bug. Having to look inside an abstraction to decide its type definitely smells funny.
More recent versions of Standard ML take the approach of making equality polymorphic in a limited fashion using something called eqtype variables. This means that type clashes are correctly returned as type errors, but still poses some limitations on the run-time implementation.
Finally, object-oriented programming introduces the idea that users can define their own types. Getting these to support equality means having to force each object to carry with it a pointer to an equality function for that specific type. A dictionary of appropriate equality functions (to compare with different types) is even better.
But a lot of those dictionaries will look exactly the same so we might as well pass them around separately from objects. This is the intuition behind type classes.
Type classes
Let’s say we want to overload (+), (*), and negate on Int and Float. We can do this by introducing a type class called Num that says “a type a belongs to Num if (+), `(), and negate` in appropriate types are defined on it”*.
Now we can define type instances such as Num Int and specify which functions to translate the overloaded symbols into. We assume things like addInt and mulInt are defined by default.
class Num a where (+), (*) :: a -> a -> a negate :: a -> a instance Num Int where (+) = addInt (*) = mulInt negate = negInt instance Num Float where (+) = addFloat (*) = mulFloat negate = negFloat
This lets us define both the square and squares functions from before, but with a well-defined type at compile time.
square :: Num a => a -> a square x = x * x squares :: Num a, Num b, Num c => ( a,b,c ) -> ( a,b,c ) squares ( x, y, z ) = ( square x, square y, square z ) square :: Num a => a -> a square x = x*x squares :: Num a, Num b, Num c => (a,b,c) -> (a,b,c) squares (x, y, z) = (square x, square y, square z)
square is of type a -> a and the compiler will be able to resolve both square 3 and square 3.14 into their appropriate types. Similarly, squares no longer needs eight types, just one – (a,b,c) -> (a,b,c).
As expected, a call such as square 'c' will produce a type error because there is no Char instance of the Num type class.
Translating to Hindley-Milner
A compiler can use our class and instance definitions to create dictionaries holding pointers to correct methods. For Num we introduce NumD as a type constructor for a new type whose values are created using NumDict. Functions add, mul, and neg take a value of type NumD and return its first, second, or third component.
data NumD a = NumDict ( a -> a -> a ) ( a -> a -> a ) ( a -> a ) add ( NumDict a m n ) = a mul ( NumDict a m n ) = m neg ( NumDict a m n ) = n numDInt :: NumD Int numDInt = NumDict addInt muLInt negInt numDFLoat :: NumD Float numDFloat = NumDict addFloat mulFloat negFloat data NumD a = NumDict (a -> a -> a) (a -> a -> a) (a -> a) add (NumDict a m n) = a mul (NumDict a m n) = m neg (NumDict a m n) = n numDInt :: NumD Int numDInt = NumDict addInt muLInt negInt numDFLoat :: NumD Float numDFloat = NumDict addFloat mulFloat negFloat
To use NumD a compiler would simply replace all instances of Num with their respective dictionary values, as identified by the type. For instance, x+y translates into add numD x y.
add numD returns the correct addInt or addFloat function as identified by the type of x and y, then applies said function on the arguments. It’s pretty nifty.
Our square example becomes square' :
square' :: NumD a -> a -> a square' numD x = mul numD x x square' :: NumD a -> a -> a square' numD x = mul numD x x
Which means that a call such as square 3 will translate into square' numDInt 3 and square 3.2 into square' numDFloat 3.
A similar conversion works for squares, just with more characters involved.
Type classes and equality
When applied to equality, type classes don’t differ much from Standard ML’s eqtype variables. But they allow the compiler to decide types at compile-time rather than run-time and a user can easily extend new classes to support abstract types.
The definition is similar to how we defined Num earlier – we’ll make a type class called Eq and define instances for Int and Char. We’ll also define a member function, which was giving us trouble earlier.
class Eq a where ( == ) :: a -> a -> bool instance Eq Int where ( == ) = eqInt instance Eq Char where ( == ) = eqChar member :: Eq a => [ a ] -> a -> Bool member [ ] y = False member ( x : xs ) y = ( x == y ) \/ member xs y class Eq a where (==) :: a -> a -> bool instance Eq Int where (==) = eqInt instance Eq Char where (==) = eqChar member :: Eq a => [a] -> a -> Bool member [] y = False member (x:xs) y = (x == y) \/ member xs y
As you can imagine we can now write terms such as 5 == 4, 'a' == 'b', and member "Haskell" 'k' or member [1,2,3] 2. The compiler can infer the correct type each time and using member on a type that doesn’t have an Eq instance will produce a type error.
But what’s really cool is that we can define equality between lists and tuples. Even crazier things – sets, random data types we define ourselves, anything really.
instance Eq a, Eq b => Eq ( a,b ) where ( u,v ) == ( x,y ) = ( u == x ) & amp; ( v == y ) instance Eq a => Eq [ a ] where [ ] == [ ] = True [ ] == y : ys = False x : xs == [ ] = False x : xs == y : ys = ( x == y ) & amp; ( xs == ys ) instance Eq a, Eq b => Eq (a,b) where (u,v) == (x,y) = (u == x) & (v == y) instance Eq a => Eq [a] where [] == [] = True [] == y:ys = False x:xs == [] = False x:xs == y:ys = (x == y) & (xs == ys)
Essentially “two tuples are equal if their members are equal” and “lists are equal if they are both empty, or their heads and tails are equal”.
Now we can write terms such as "Haskell" == "Curry" and even member ["Haskell", "Alonzo"] "Moses".
The compiler figures this out in much the same way as before – using dictionaries. I’m not going to type it all out but, for instance, integers will have a corresponding eqDInt function, characters will have an eqDChar function and so on.
A term such as 3*4 == 12 will translate into eq eqDInt (mul numDInt 3 4) 12.
Subclasses
So far we’ve treated Num and Eq as completely different classes. But it makes sense that all numerical types should also be comparable, while all comparable types might not be numerical.
We can make Num a subclass of Eq :
class Eq a => Num a where ( + ) :: a -> a -> a ( * ) :: a -> a -> a negate :: a -> a class Eq a => Num a where (+) :: a -> a -> a (*) :: a -> a -> a negate :: a -> a
This asserts that a may belong to class Num only if it also belongs to Eq, making Num a subclass of Eq. All other class and instance declarations remain the same. Things magically just work.
Now we can write functions like this:
memsq :: Num a => [ a ] -> a -> Bool memsq xs x = member xs ( square x ) memsq :: Num a => [a] -> a -> Bool memsq xs x = member xs (square x)
Because Eq is implied by Num, we didn’t have to mention it in the type. Neat.
A nice consequence of dictionary-based translation is also that we can define as many super- and subclasses as we want and it doesn’t confuse the compiler in the least. This is a great advantage from object-oriented languages where having many superclasses usually poses implementation problems.
Conclusion
Now you know how type classes work in Haskell. They introduce a lot of neat things that help us write more expressive code while, naturally, not increasing the power of the language.
The only issue with type classes is that they introduce extra parameters to be passed around at run-time (the dictionaries), but that’s not too bad.
The rest of the paper deals with formalising this intuitive definition of type classes using lambda calculus. But I’m not going to include that in my summary, it’s too mathsy and doesn’t add much to understanding what’s going on. At least it didn’t for me.
That said, I finally understand how Haskell’s type system works. Now if only I could find more excuses to actually use Haskell.
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It's where I go to shoot the shit about programming.Picture a heads-up display inside a helmet and you probably imagine something like the one from Iron Man. But most consumer products—snowboard goggles, Google Glass, etc—instead have a tiny micro display housed at the edge of your peripheral vision. It's less of an information overlay and more of an extra screen that you struggle to see. Its this disparity that Russian tech entrepreneur Andrew Artischev is trying to remedy with his new LiveMap motorcycle helmet. We got to try an early prototype, and are excited to report that it genuinely made us feel like Tony Stark.
Artischev’s background is in apps, not optics. He was inspired to create a HUD motorcycle helmet after scouring bike shops in Moscow for what he was sure must exist, but that he couldn't find. He knew that giving motorcyclists easier access to information about navigation, speed, and the performance of their bikes made sense. He just needed to figure out how to pack all that data, plus a display, into a skid lid.
Why hasn’t there been an HUD motorcycle helmet yet? After all, the technology has been around in high-end cars from BMW, and even Chevrolet, for a decade or more. HUDs have been fitted in fighter pilots’ helmets for even longer. The answer lies in the complex series of jobs a motorcycle helmet has to perform—jobs no other helmet has to tackle.
Where a pilot’s helmet simply has to protect the wearer’s head from flying objects and serve as a mount for various auxiliary equipment, like an oxygen mask, radio, and visor, a motorcycle helmet has to provide adequate deceleration for the human brain in massive impacts—a racer walked away two years ago after head butting the ground at 209.9 miles per hour—and small ones. (Concussions can occur during even waking-speed topples.) To achieve that, various densities of styrofoam are layered between the wearer’s head and the outer shell. Made from a strong but malleable material like carbon fiber or plastic, that shell deflects impacts and spreads their energy over a large area. All aspects of a motorcycle helmet’s construction are highly regulated, and those regulations vary between markets. The helmet you sell in Australia must meet different standards than a helmet sold in the U.S., for instance. Those regulations also cover the shape and size of the viewport, vents, and more.
One of the biggest considerations in motorcycle helmet design is in delivering good crash protection in a package with the smallest possible external dimensions. The smaller a helmet is, overall, the more aerodynamic it will be, and the lower the force with which it may twist a user’s head and neck. It'll also make the wearer look less like a Q-Tip. Heavier helmets also cause muscle fatigue and soreness.
Therefore, just sticking a set of big optics and a computer in an existing motorcycle helmet is not an option. And that was Artischev’s challenge. So he basically set about reinventing the heads-up display, shrinking it, and adding unique, motorcycle-friendly functionality.
Unlike micro displays, which are basically what they sound like (little screens), a true heads-up display works by projecting an image onto a clear surface in front of your eyes. In so doing, it overlays data on vision, without the wearer having to change his focal point. Think about it: when you’re riding, are your eyes focused on a point one inch from your face or 100 yards away? By making the projected image appear as if it’s floating way out in front of you, you can see it without changing the focal distance of your eyes. A true heads-up display empowers users with data in an immediate way that isn't distracting.
Artischev came over to my house in Los Angeles one day last week with the second generation prototype of his helmet. The optical projection system in it, and its processor, are much smaller than those used by fighter pilots or in cars, but remain larger than what he hopes to bring to production later this year. Wearing the prototype helmet, which still needs to be plugged into a laptop to function (so riding with it isn’t currently practical for review purposes), I was able to see a clear, bright image that covered a large part of my field of view. The projected image was bright enough to see, even while looking into Los Angeles’ bright blue sky, and it hovered out there at about 10 yards, allowing me to perceive its information without looking down at a tiny screen an inch from my face. Artischev says that focal distance will be programmable.
His company is called LiveMap for a reason. A big part of the need for this technology is to give motorcyclists heads-up navigation data. Particularly while riding in a city—a high-threat environment—bikers can’t afford the time it takes to look down at their speedometer, much less a busy navigation screen. By inserting data like speed, engine revs, and turn-by-turn navigation into your field of vision, Artischev hopes to empower better decision making while removing distractions.
Particularly in Russia, where insurance law heavily favors evidence, drivers and riders have started relying on “dash cams,” or constantly-recording, front-facing cameras installed in their vehicles that can provide an objective account of who’s at-fault in an accident. In a car, these dash cams can be bulky, but on a bike helmet, affixing even a GoPro can be awkward and uncomfortable. So Artischev is additionally including a front-facing HD camera in the helmet, and plans to include the latest cellular data connection to also allow live streaming from it. He’s achieving much of that, along with a tiny and low weight, by employing an off-the-shelf chipset from the Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone. The LiveMap helmet will run on Android.
Artischev has developed the LiveMap helmet over a period of eight years, on a budget of just $1.5 million. Some of that was afforded by a grant from the Russian government, but most was derived by re-investing the profits from his previous business. He’s the kind of passionate inventor who truly believes his product is going to solve a real problem. After trying the system, I’m a believer, too.
Currently, I navigate on my bike in one of two ways. Around town, I typically look up directions, commit as much as I can to memory, pull over when that limited capacity is exhausted to consult my phone, then repeat. On longer trips, I’ll write shorthand directions on a piece of paper and duct tape that to my fuel tank. GPS navigators (or phone holders) that mount to your handlebars are available, but they're expensive, exposed to both theft and weather, suffer from poor UX design, and are difficult both to see and operate on the move. None of this is what you would call fool proof. The LiveMap helmet is.
One hurdle that Artischev isn’t trying to tackle—and this is smart—is in producing his own motorcycle helmet. Instead, he plans to purchase a white-label design that’s produced for several other non-HUD helmet manufacturers in Japan. Doing so means all the various legal hoops have already been jumped through, for every market, and that safety is already maximized. By employing a modular helmet—one where the face portion flips up (an arrangement preferred by cops and many other people who ride through cities around the world), he’s able to house the HUD optics and processor in the chin portion, which is not only less vulnerable to direct impacts in a crash, but is a largely empty, unused space. From there, the optics project an image up onto a proprietary visor, which reflects the image into your field of vision.
Without final production numbers, Artischev isn’t able to quote a finished weight for the helmet. But by using a high-end carbon fiber shell, he hopes to make it competitive with existing, low-tech, full-face designs. As for price, you obviously are talking about a significant premium for new and miniaturized technology, housed in a safe, high-quality package. He tells us to expect something in the region of $2,000 to $2,500. Helmets could be in the hands of consumers early next year.
That price puts the LiveMap helmet in the same ballpark as the Skully AR-1. That design, which has yet to come to market, falls well behind LiveMap’s true HUD solution. Instead, Skully is essentially housing a Google Glass-clone micro screen inside a similarly off-the-shelf helmet. When we reviewed it in 2014—a world first—we found that solution to be neat, but the small display is obviously of limited utility and it's hard to see in direct sunlight.
If Artischev is able to deliver the LiveMap in 2017, and if he’s able to do so in a slick helmet which can be free of compromises, then I think he’s going to be genuinely onto something. This daily rider has his fingers crossed.Buy Photo Get crime and safety news at Argus911.com and @Argus911 on Twitter. (Photo: Argus Leader file photo)Buy Photo
The McCook County Emergency team spent Friday morning and early afternoon finishing the removal of more than 500 pounds of McDonald’s fries off Interstate 90 near Salem after a six-car pileup Thursday afternoon.
Around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, six vehicles were involved in a pileup due to zero visibility conditions on Interstate 90, McCook County Emergency Manager Brad Stiefvater said.
“A couple vehicles just stopped (on the road) because of the visibility,” he said. “I’m just glad there were no injuries.”
One of the semis involved in the crash was carrying a load of McDonalds french fries, which spilled all over the road.
“We had to use a plow to move them off the road,” Stiefvater said. “We did that until dark last night and are still out there today cleaning it all up.”
Read or Share this story: http://argusne.ws/1BJdgfzGamers have largely gotten a bad rep for being lazy, slothful people who spend their hours mindlessly pressing buttons. The Wii changed that a bit by getting kids (and their parents... and their parents) up off the couch, but what about giving their brains a workout too? For your family's little mind freak to-be Mattel is introducing the Mindflex, a brain-powered game that relies on your mental activity to control the height of a ball suspended in a column of air. Don the headset then start concentrating to make the purple orb rise; relax and it lowers. There are six total game types but all entail getting a ball over, under, and through a variety of hoops and the like, sometimes against a clock so that you can challenge your friends. Sadly you have to actually reach up and turn the dial to move the ball around the course, but in our heads on trial we found the thing to be impressively responsive, gently sinking down when we thought about getting some sleep -- then shooting back up again when we pondered the number of posts left to write tonight. It was challenging for sure, and definitely turned a lot of heads, but we're a little concerned that extended sessions could be headache inducing. Its $80 price tag might cause some temple pain too when the thing releases this fall, but we've certainly spent more money on things that were less fun -- and mentally stimulating. Video of floaty balls and squinting players below.About
Let’s start supporting the human race and its unmeasurable worth and responsibilities. To truly understand the human being, one must understand the integrated totality of the universe and the foundation to its development.
Current condition
I’ve built a working prototype, submitted 4 provisional patents to the USPO and published a book of long-forgotten capabilities and understandings that will be of great benefit to the human race and the planet we live on.
What It Is
My prototype creates an active energy conduit that can drain energy from what could be called subspace. This energy conduit’s capability is happening on a continuous basis within every active synapse in the living brain. This subspace energy is not what we think of as electricity you would find in an electrical outlet that you plug your coffee maker into. However, this subspace energy can be converted into a normal electric current, as we see happening on a continuous basis within the body’s nervous system.
Basically, this subspace energy has been recognized throughout time as natural energy, life energy, chi energy and many more references throughout the differing cultures. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi
This is one form of energy that can be humanly experienced but is not readily observable or measurable with current instrumentations, as the scientific community would like to have it. The type of energy that is in subspace, as atoms and electrons, is what I call non-reflected energy. Subspace non-reflected energy is the first form of energy created, that in essence developed the 3 dimensional spatial universes, and energy in normal space is what I call reflected energy. Normal space reflected energy, as atoms and electrons, is much more compacted or dense and has a much longer decay rate than subspace non-reflected energy.
“The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.”
― Nikola Tesla
Benefits
The benefits of subspace non-reflected energy and building an active subspace energy conduit would be to increase the flow of subspace energy (life energy) throughout the body’s nervous system. As some ancient cultures have done, through enhanced synaptic activity, through deep disciplined and practiced clear thinking and meditation. This enhanced subspace energy flow, when administered appropriately, will give the body massive healing capabilities that can be used to regrow or heal severed or mis-formed limbs, damaged organs and enhance the body’s immune system. Or amplify the flow of subspace energy through a healthy DNA code to ward off cancer growth and much more. Another benefit would be to convert this subspace energy into normal space energy as a usable electric current to charge batteries from any location in normal space, or through refinement we can increase the useable electric current output for regular usage.
See more possible benefits and more details on the workings behind the functioning prototype on my web site at www.GaryLouisWarren.com
Read my press release at http://www.prweb.com/releases/GaryWarren/Aware/prweb11848044.htm
Goals
I need to raise funds to build test worthy working prototypes and explore and refine the other capabilities. Yes, I can do some basic prototyping and testing on my own as I have been doing for years but that is taking way too long. Tried to raise funds through the sale of my book! I already have $5,500 invested in patent attorney bills, prototype fabrication, book press release and that doesn’t include my many late after work hours. The current working prototype was a quick example, which is missing many options for reusability. It is an extremely minimal design and built with basically junk I found around the house.
Estimated requirements
To pull this off, I need to setup a lab and leave my current position. So the funds I am looking for would be to setup, at the minimum, a small lab as a product development and design facility with the required equipment. I give myself 1 year to fulfill the main aspects of this undertaking. That would be for a design and lab facility with a fully functioning test worthy prototype.
$100,000 for test worthy prototype fabrication
$50,000 for the product development, design and lab environment
$50,000 operating costs and living expenditures
$20,000 for 1 year taxes and fees
$220,000 total
The goal is to have fully engineered production worthy working prototypes to create a sustained and repeatable subspace conduit with completed test results, drawings and full 3D models. Besides some assembly tolerance requirements, for fit and function, my prototype design is currently complete.
Knowing that the subspace energy conduits actual output per mechanism size, internal solution with mechanism and outer disk gap adjustments are currently unknown. These conditions will be determined through testing of the first prototype. I currently have no shielding requirements for subspace energy over exposure, so gap adjustments, observation and testing will have to be done remotely.
The plan is to create a much larger and robust version than my current example, with an internal mechanism at a 10,000 point increase in capacity, spec-out the most optimal build materials and create a 304.8 mm (12”) diameter disk prototype. This prototype would incorporate an adjustable disk gap mechanism to manage the intensity of subspace energy flow and vacuum space bubble size. The synaptic gap size in a living brain is automatically adjusted and managed by natural universal laws. I plan on pushing this gap adjustment for maximum subspace output but yet hold the vacuum space bubble size in check to keep the main mechanism from being totally enveloped by the vacuum space bubble. To totally envelope the main mechanism, would setup a new realm of possibilities which are currently outside of my objectives; but is well within the realm of future study.
After this first year of build and test I will submit another Kickstarter project to fund two more mechanisms that utilize the subspace energy flow. These two attachments will produce an edible substance, and second create an energy barrier to reduce impact to moving objects and more. As for increasing and testing the subspace energy flow throughout the body's nervous system, to amp-up the immune system or applying subspace energy for spot healing like early cultures have done. This testing is outside of my current facilities. But with the appropriate funds I can hire this research out. This research can determine many things for product development in the health related area.
I have a few more products in mind that use subspace energy and the main mechanism as a foundation. And the number of other possible prototype working products will be determined with testing, and as refinement research results dictate. Actual salable products can only be established through examination and refinement. Of course the more funds I have the faster this process will move along and allow working on multiple product and test worthy prototypes concurrently.
I've tried many options to move this project forward but have been unsuccessful. So now it’s up to the public to consider ownership of the next wave in human evolution.A new (to me) anecdote about philosopher Bertrand Russell’s opinion that the world would be better off with a Nazi victory. As reported by Richard Jencks, who was one of Russell’s students at UCLA in 1940:
“The British philosopher Bertrand Russell, who had been jailed in World War I for his pacifism by a government of which Churchill was a minister, is considering whether he should abandon those pacifist beliefs if Britain faces imminent invasion. He does not think that passive resistance would work against Hitler. These considerations do not prevent Russell from confiding to his philosophy students at the University of California in Los Angeles (this writer among them) that world peace, in the long run, will probably be better served by Hitler’s victory. World peace, Russell posits, cannot be had without world government. Over the long years ahead, he says, civilizing influences will operate to soften the bestial edges of Nazi rule.”
How does one makes that consequentialist calculation? Is it like this:
Scenario 1: If the Nazis win, there will be many deaths from war and bestial Nazi government. But if they win, the Nazi will establish a world government; and if there is a world government, there will be no more war. Meanwhile, civilizing forces will lessen the harms done by the Nazi world government. Total death and human damage account: X.
Scenario 2: If the Nazis lose, there will have been many deaths from that war but bestial Nazi damage will cease. However, many different nations will still exist, and they will exist contentiously, so there will continue to be wars. Total death and human damage account: Y.
Russell thinks X < Y. I have no idea how to assign numbers here. I wonder whether Russell did. Also: Are those the only two scenarios? I don't think so. The continued existence of many states is in principle compatible with peace, as long as we continue to make progress in teaching about individual rights and that we should make trades not war — the so-called democratic peace and capitalist peace hypotheses.
So: Can we assign some Russellian numbers to the above two scenarios? And are there other plausible scenarios we should consider?
Source: Richard W. Jencks, “Why Capitol Hill Needs a Churchill Reminder,” The Wall Street Journal, May 10, 2013. Viewed May 26, 2013.
Related:
Friedrich Engels against liberal peace.
Is commerce rendering war obsolete?Researchers have found that climate change is likely to have far greater influence on the volatility of corn prices over the next three decades than factors that recently have been blamed for price swings — like oil prices, trade policies and government biofuel mandates.
The new study, published on Sunday |
its NBCU unit, is a minority investor in Vox Media, which owns this site.In the beginning of June, the U.S. Navy reportedly signed a $30.8 million contract with Microsoft to keep supporting PCs that run Windows XP at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, according to PC World. The U.S. Navy will pay Microsoft $9.1 million a year until 2017.
Microsoft ended public support for Windows XP on April 8 2013, notifying users that continued use would leave their computers more vulnerable to malware and hacking.
Which is why a declassified Navy document obtained by PC World warned that without Microsoft's "continued support, vulnerabilities to these systems will be discovered, with no patches to protect the systems." The document further cautioned that the resulting "deterioration" would put Navy's computers in danger of being infiltrated by hackers.
In 2013, the Navy started transitioning out of Windows XP but wasn't fast enough. As of now the Navy still operates at least 100,000 PCs running Windows XP. And they aren't alone, 16.9 percent of PC owners were browsing the web with Windows XP in March, according to Net Applications.
Fortunately because of the contract, Microsoft will continue issuing security updates for Windows XP, Microsoft Office 2003, Windows Server 2003 and Exchange 2003 to the Navy.
"The Navy relies on a number of legacy applications and programs that are reliant on legacy Windows products, until those applications and programs are modernized or phased out, this continuity of services is required to maintain operational effectiveness." said Steven Davis, Fleet Liason Officer at the Office of Naval Intelligence.
Davis added that the Navy was making inroads in updating their PCs to more contemporary operating systems. Still, they clearly don't think they'll be finished until 2017. What the 100,000 Windows XP Navy computers control remains classified.Looking for news you can trust?
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Not too far from the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, a local art gallery is featuring an exhibit called “Divided State of America,” but it’s not necessary to trek to this space to contemplate the deep divisions within the nation. You need only spend a few nanoseconds at the Democratic presidential convention, after experiencing a week at the Republican gathering in Tampa, to realize you have left one reality for a much different one. And this goes far beyond policy positions and political stances.
Here’s a brief guide:
The people. It’s rather obvious: Planet Democrat is inhabited by people of different colors; Planet Republican is monochromatic. This stark contrast has long existed and is not a surprise. (One recent poll showed Mitt Romney with zero—yes, zero—support among African Americans.) Yet shifting from Tampa to Charlotte is not unlike the moment in The Wizard of Oz when black-and-white gives way to the full spectrum. In Tampa, it seemed there were more black and Latino Americans on the stage than among the audience of thousands of white people. The streets of downtown Charlotte—which, for some reason, is called “uptown”—are overflowing with diversity.
And this extends beyond race. The thousands of delegates in Charlotte represent more income (or class) diversity. Sure, plenty of well-heeled Democratic donors, lobbyists, and supporters are strolling about, but there are many folks who look as if they are heading back to tough jobs when the convention is done: teachers, nurses, Teamsters, and the like. In Tampa, I conducted an experiment and asked several journalists to fill in this blank: “These Republican delegates look like they come from ________.” The most common answer: “a country club.” Another reply: “a gated community.”
The street. Tampa was an antiseptic affair. The arena was in a security area that resembled a Green Zone. Delegates were bused in, then bused out. With scant interaction between the convention and the rest of the world, no sense of community was created. It was as if the GOP delegates were suburbanites—or exurbanites—commuting to and from their place of business, zipping past the locals and their neighborhoods. In Charlotte, the delegates and others have flooded the downtown area, walking from one event to another, interacting with one another, the residents of the city who have flocked to the city’s center, and even the street-corner anti-abortion protesters. There’s a vibrancy that embodies the best values of community and urban life.
The past. On Planet Democrat, memory exists. In Tampa, there was a dark hole. At Mittfest, barely any mention of George W. Bush or his presidency occurred. History began the day President Barack Obama took office (with the exception of Paul Ryan claiming Obama was responsible for the closing of a GM plant that shut down before Obama assumed office). There was no talk of what had caused the economic collapse that still reverberates. Instead, Obama’s post-collapse actions were held responsible for the ongoing woes precipitated by the Bush-Cheney crash. Tribute was indeed paid to Ronald Reagan, but all Republican policies and actions since 1988 were photoshopped out of the picture. It was very Soviet—as was the Republican revisionism that erased Mitt Romney’s signature policy accomplishment as Massachusetts governor: implementing comprehensive health care reform.
Democrats are suffering no such amnesia. They embraced and celebrated Bill Clinton, who delivered perhaps the best ex-presidential speech in decades. It was a bravura performance that integrated the past (his) and the present (Obama’s). In his most charming manner, he deftly argued the case that the Republicans’ previous policies and actions are a prologue for a dark and dangerous future, should Romney win. Clinton turned history into ammo.
The ladies. In Tampa, Ann Romney had a double challenge. As the Romney campaign’s emissary to women, she first had to convince women voters that though she hails from the highest rungs she still understands the economic difficulties they confront daily, and then she had to persuade them that because Mitt Romney is a swell guy (who once safely walked her home from a high school dance!) he deserves their support. In her speech to the Democrats, Michelle Obama didn’t have to plead a case; she only had to tell her story. Her connection to working women and struggling families is based on her own past; it has a more authentic foundation.
Why they’re here. It’s tough to generalize about the attitudes of large crowds, but let me try. At the Tampa arena, many GOP delegates oozed entitlement and privilege. When Ann Romney proclaimed, “This is our country”—and the crowd cheered—it didn’t come across as a moment celebrating inclusion. And there were few expressions of support from the GOP stage for the least fortunate in American society. The Republican convention presented no speakers who needed help, except for a few business people who claimed their companies had been injured by Obama administration policies (even though several had benefited from government contracts). The Democrats have featured citizens who were in dire need of assistance, most notable among them was Stacey Lihn, the mother of a young daughter with a congenital heart condition who would not receive critical medical treatment were it not for Obamacare. The Republican convention ignored such Americans.
There have been other differences. In Charlotte, much more campaign swag has been for sale, with more entrepreneurial street hawking than there was in Tampa. The music in Dem-land (John Legend, Common, Jeff Bridges, James Taylor, the B-52s, the Warren Haynes Band) has been much closer to what you find in the real world than the musical fare at the GOP convention (Journey—that is, Journey without its original lead singer).
It’s unclear how much the political conventions matter. Romney’s afforded him no bounce—especially after Clint Eastwood’s improv stole the show. And at the Democratic convention, much of what happens will not reach those undecided voters—now estimated to be 4 percent of the electorate. These voters don’t pay great attention to such events. Only Bill Clinton’s speech and Obama’s acceptance address have the potential this week to influence impressions within this small voting bloc. The conventions were largely designed and programmed to rev up the respective base and the donor community for each of the parties. But they do tell a tale, and it’s a story of starkly dissimilar visions of the American experience.A brazen thief stole an excavator from a construction site Monday morning, then used it to knock over and steal an ATM -- and cops are having trouble digging up clues.
Details are sketchy, but police say a short man climbed into the excavator at a Winston-Salem, N.C., construction site sometime before 1 a.m., WXII reports. The suspect then drove 200 yards to an ATM kiosk, knocked over the 2,000-pound cash machine, and made off with that, too.
Using the excavator's claw, the thief dropped the ATM into a waiting vehicle and left with an unidentified amount of cash, WGHP reports.
Surveillance footage shows that a black Crown Victoria with tinted windows was involved in the heist. The suspect vehicle was last seen leaving Vine Street, going east on Martin Luther King Drive. The thief is described as a white male, possibly short in stature because he had to reach for the excavator's steering wheel, according to WFMY.
Past that, police haven't released any details. It's also unclear whether the thieves left with the excavator.Concealed weapon permit holder fires shot inside Orlando sports bar, injuring one
Drew gun to show off safety features, cops say.
John A. Smith drew the.45-caliber Kimber pistol show its safety features to a friend when he fired it into the floor, a report stated.
A concealed weapon permit holder showing off his pistol late Sunday inside Miller's Orlando Airport Ale House and accidentally shot one victim, according to Orlando police.
A piece of the bullet struck Leanabel Torres-Rodriguez, 22, leaving a small wound above her right ankle.
"Rodriguez stated the handgun was pointed at the ground when the gun accidentally discharged," according to the report. "Rodriguez stated she did not wish to press charges and signed a declination of prosecution."
The report did not indicate if Smith was showing the gun to Torres-Rodriguez.
By the time police arrived after the 10:34 p.m. incident, Smith left the restaurant at 6141 So. Semoran Blvd., later saying he panicked and drove home, according to the report.
"I'm the guy you're looking for," Smith, 36, told police when he returned without his $900 Kimber 1911 Custom II handgun. "Smith stated he was not drinking while at the Ale House."
Smith proved to police he had been legally carrying a concealed weapon by showing his Florida concealed weapon permit, the report stated. Florida has issued 1.2 million active concealed weapon permits, but does not test applicants on their knowledge of state laws restricting where and when weapons can be carried.
"If any person having or carrying any dirk, sword, sword cane, firearm, electric weapon or device, or other weapon shall, in the presence of one or more persons, exhibit the same in a rude, careless, angry, or threatening manner, not in necessary self-defense, the person so offending shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree," the law states.
Smith was issued a trespass warning banning him from the Ale House. Neither Smith nor the victim could be reached for comment Monday morning.
Criminal charges may follow.
"There are various laws regarding firearms," police spokesman Sgt. Jim Young wrote the Orlando Sentinel. "In this incident, the person was not arrested, but follow up investigation is being done to determine if any charges will be filed."
hcurtis@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5257.NEW! Healthcare solutions is now available for PowerSellers' employees.
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By Steve Palazzolo • Aug 1, 2016
Last year’s list of breakout players featured a who’s who of the nation’s top players by season’s end, including Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry, as well as Heisman candidates Deshaun Watson and Leonard Fournette. It also featured a first-round pick in Clemson’s Shaq Lawson as our list was able to identify a number of players with strong performances in limited snaps in 2014 to project their taking the next step toward stardom in 2015.
This year, the criteria is the same. We are identifying players with strong performances in their limited time last season, projecting larger roles and in turn, larger impact in 2016. Here’s a look at the players you’ll know a lot more about by season’s end.
1. Deatrich Wise Jr, DE, Arkansas
2016 grade: 81.6 | 2015 snaps: 375 | PFF College 101 rank: 22
Few players affected the quarterback as frequently as Wise Jr during the second half of the season and his pass rush productivity of 16.0 against Power-5 competition ranked second to only first-round pick Joey Bosa among 4-3 defensive ends. Wise used his long frame to pick up 10 sacks, 12 QB hits, and 21 hurries on only 258 hurries last season and he complemented it with a solid +4.5 grade against the run. Wise has the size to move around the defensive front for the Razorbacks, so look for him to rush off the edge while also kicking inside to take advantage of guards as well. Wise may not be able to keep up last year’s incredible pace, but a full-season workload should make him one of the nation’s most productive pass rushers.
2. Ryan Anderson, OLB, Alabama
2016 grade: 83.7 | 2015 snaps: 361| PFF College 101 rank: 37
Internally, Anderson is already a star as his two-year grade of +53.7 on only 681 snaps is outstanding. However, he’s merely been a rotating piece for Alabama at outside linebacker, but an expanded role this season should help him stick out as an all-around talent. He sets a strong edge in the running game, jacking up blockers and shedding to make plays as he’s graded at +23.9 against the run in our two seasons of grading. His pass rushing has been just as efficient as he’s posted a +28.8 grade with 10 sacks, 10 QB hits, and 48 hurries on just 342 rushes.
To see an example of Anderson’s potential dominance, look no further than the SEC Championship last season in which he picked up two sacks, a QB hit, and four hurries on just 10 rushes, to go with a +1.9 grade against the run on only six snaps. While Alabama is generally known for their stout run-stopping outside linebackers – a trend bucked last season by pass rush specialist, Tim Williams – Anderson has a chance to be the best all-around outside ‘backer to come out of Tuscaloosa in the Nick Saban era.
3. Ryan Glasgow, DT, Michigan
2016 grade: 84.8 | 2015 snaps: 332 | PFF College 101 rank: 72
The argument could be made that Glasgow has already broken out as he boasted the nation’s No. 19 run-stopping grade before going down to injury last season, but since he only played 332 snaps, he still qualifies as a breakout candidate. He’s seen the field for 753 snaps the last two seasons, posting a strong +32.7 grade against the run, and last year he improved his pass rush grade to +9.0 on the strength of a sack, four QB hits, and 12 hurries on 179 rushes. Glasgow is part of a loaded defensive line at Michigan that is often difficult to single out the best of the bunch, but he’ll have plenty of moments as the anchor at nose tackle.
4. Kevin Maurice, DT, Nebraska
2016 grade: 83.2 | 2015 snaps: 332
Last year saw Maurice’s teammate, Maliek Collins, break out and rank No. 12 among the nation’s interior defensive linemen on his way to a third-round selection by the Dallas Cowboys. Maurice is primed to have a similar impact this season after his dominant +23.4 performance on only 281 snaps. He was unblockable against Southern Miss — picking up nine hurries on only 32 rushes — and in his only extended game action, Maurice posted a +6.4 overall grade on a 76-snap effort against Illinois in Week 5. He plays low and explodes into blockers, showing equal ability to blow up both runs and passes. Maurice will be the anchors of the Nebraska defensive line in 2016.
5. Stacy Coley, WR, Miami
2016 grade: 78.4 | 2015 snaps: 399
Miami’s slot receiver last season, Coley will see the field more often with WRs Herb Waters and Rashawn Scott moving on. He caught 70.4 percent of his targets last season, and despite playing the third-most snaps among Miami’s receivers, he posted the top grade at 78.4. Coley is more than just a short-area slot receiver as he has the speed to stretch the field and on-target passes usually turn into receptions as he’s only dropped three of his 72 catchable targets the last two years.
6. Marcus Newby, LB, Nebraska
2016 grade: 84.0 | 2015 snaps: 319
One of the most explosive players on Nebraska’s defense, Newby packs a punch when taking on blockers in the running game, often dictating the action to opposing offensive linemen and lead blockers. In addition to his strong work in the running game, Newby graded positively in coverage, including three passes defensed on only 18 targets, and he added a sack, two QB hits, and eight hurries on his 43 blitzes. He’s played only 362 snaps in his career, but he’s made the most of them with a +18.9 overall grade.
7. Taco Charlton, DE, Michigan
2016 grade: 83.0 | 2015 snaps: 389
Yet another Michigan defensive linemen to highlight, Charlton was extremely productive on his 389 snaps last year. He was solid against the run with a 79.2 mark, while his pass rushing took a huge step forward at 82.6. After compiling only 11 pressures on 120 rushes in 2014, Charlton notched six sacks, nine QB hits, and 26 hurries (41 total pressures) on 229 rushes last season. The Wolverines’ defensive line is top heavy with most of their returning talent at defensive tackle, and while Charlton is certainly not slight at 6-6 and 275 pounds, he brings the best edge rushing dynamic on the team. Look for Charlton to play at least 600 snaps this season while continuing to develop into one of the nation’s best edge rushers.
8. George Kittle, TE, Iowa
2016 grade: 82.2 | 2015 snaps: 383
While teammate Henry Krieger Coble saw the majority of the snaps at tight end a year ago (879), Kittle was the better all-around player and he’s the best all-around tight end heading into 2016. He was used as a “move” tight end in Iowa’s offense, bringing outstanding run blocking while also showing well as a receiver. As a blocker, he was able to move defenders much better than his 6-4, 235-pound frame would indicate and as a receiver, he used his speed and athleticism to both get behind the defense and sprinkle in the spectacular catch. Kittle ranked eighth among all returning tight ends in both run blocking and receiving, and he’ll get a much bigger opportunity to showcase his skills with Krieger Coble off to the NFL.
9. Terry Beckner, Jr; DT, Missouri
2016 grade: 81.0 | 2015 snaps: 324
A late-season injury kept Becker Jr eligible for this list as he was on his way to one of the best true freshman seasons in the nation. He still finished as the top true freshman interior defensive lineman at 81.0 as he brought excellent run defense (83.1) to go with an average pass rushing effort (74.1). Beckner Jr came in with plenty of recruiting hype and he lived up to it when he had an opportunity to play as a freshman. Expect another step forward as he becomes more of a household name around the nation as a sophomore.
10. William Johnson, CB, Oklahoma
2016 grade: 79.9 | 2015 snaps: 332
After starting to see more playing time in week seven, Johnson locked down the slot corner role for the Sooners. He did a fine job of attacking screens and staying on top of the many wheel routes deployed by Big 12 offenses, leading to a strong coverage grade of 79.5. Johnson was also a sure tackler, missing only one of his 17 attempts while providing strong run defense. Other than a few plays in which he was burned, Johnson was an important piece of the Oklahoma defense and he’s poised to make an even bigger name for himself in 2016.
11. Duke Ejiofor, DT, Wake Forest
2016 grade: 80.6 | 2015 snaps: 332
Injuries slowed Ejiofor down last season, but once he got back on the field in week six, he was Wake Forest’s most productive defensive linemen. Ejiofor’s strong hand usage allowed him to post a +13.4 pass rush grade as he picked up four sacks, two QB hits, and 16 hurries on only 207 rushes. He still has room to improve against the run, but with a full season of action, Ejiofor will be one of the ACC’s best pass rushers by year’s end.
12. Daylon Mack, DT, Texas A&M
2016 grade: 79.7 | 2015 snaps: 388
Much like Beckner Jr, Mack stepped right in as a true freshman and did a fine job against the run. Known for his impressive high school running back film, Mack moves well for a 335-pounder and those skills translated in the transition to the SEC. His 84.6 run defense grade led all true freshmen, so that will earn him even more snaps in 2016, but he does have work to do to improve as a pass rusher. Mack pressured the quarterback on only two of his 148 rushes, but his athleticism should allow for improvement in that area. At the very least, Mack will emerge as one of the nation’s top interior run stoppers on one of the nation’s top defensive lines.
13. Kemoko Turay, DE, Rutgers
2016 grade: 80.4 | 2015 snaps: 239
Turay was on this list a year ago on the strength of his pass rush ability and athleticism, and he’s back on the list after failing to earn full-time snaps in 2015. He continued his strong pass rushing with an 82.8 mark after grading at 81.4 as a rusher in 2014. The last two years, Turay has picked up 10 sacks, 15 QB hits, and 44 hurries on only 382 rushes. The key in 2016 will be to improve against the run and get on the field for at least 500-plus snaps. If he does, expect Turay to notch a 10-sack season and grab the attention of NFL scouts.
14. Mikal Myers, DT, UConn
2016 grade: 79.9 | 2015 snaps: 365
UConn is quietly loaded with impressive run stoppers and Myers has been a dominant run defender on his 653 total snaps the last two seasons. He’s posted run defense grades of 82.7 and 85.9 each of the last two years respectively, making the most of his part-time role. In our two years of grading, Myers has a mere three negatively-graded games and even those were hardly disastrous efforts. Like Daylon Mack, there’s room to grow as a pass rusher, but against the run, Myers is poised to rank among the nation’s best if given a heavier workload.
15. Alvin Kamara, RB, Tennessee
2016 grade: 79.7 | 2015 snaps: 338
Backfield mate Jalen Hurd gets more of the publicity, but Kamara made the most of his 338 snaps last season. He was a threat on the ground, averaging 6.6 yards per carry and an impressive 3.8 yards after contact per rush, good for 12th in the nation. As good as Kamara was as a runner, he was even more impressive as a receiver, finishing with the nation’s ninth-best grade at 82.1 as he forced 13 missed tackles on his 35 receptions. With Kamara and Hurd flanking a run-first quarterback in Joshua Dobbs, Tennessee has one of the nation’s most dynamic backfields and Kamara will see his fair share of touches.
16. Jack Cichy, OLB, Wisconsin
2016 grade: 79.0 | 2015 snaps: 349
Wisconsin has had outstanding production from their outside linebackers the last two years, mostly behind Joe Schobert and Vince Biegel. Schobert moves on to the NFL, but Biegel returns and Cichy has a chance to mitigate the drop-off from Schobert’s departure. Last season, he made an impact in all phases, particularly as a pass rusher and in coverage. He rushed the passer only 60 times, but came back with five sacks, four QB hits, and eight hurries. In coverage, he posted an 83.7 grade as he had a knack for getting his hands in passing lanes, finishing with four passes defensed despite being targeted only nine times. Cichy capped the season with a six-pressure outing (three sacks, one QB hit, two hurries) against USC in the Holiday Bowl and he’s ready for a big 2016 season.
17. Mitch Trubisky, QB, North Carolina
2016 grade: 66.7 | 2015 snaps: 119
The sample size was small but excellent for Trubisky last season, and he’s primed for a big season in North Carolina’s offense. Even if the play-by-play grading doesn’t live up to expectations, Trubisky will likely put up huge numbers in an offense with a loaded, well-rounded receiving corps and one of the nation’s best running backs in Elijah Hood. Trubisky showed the quick release and accuracy needed to excel in North Carolina’s system as he completed 40-of-47 passes, averaging 11.8 yards per attempt to go with six touchdowns and no interceptions. While 47 passes do not a career make, Trubisky’s skills combined with North Carolina’s playmakers should have that offense rolling this season.
18. Devaroe Lawrence, DE, Auburn
2016 grade: 77.8 | 2015 snaps: 287
After transferring from JUCO, Lawrence saw the field for only 26 snaps in 2014 before seeing action on 287 plays last season. He was stout against the run, finishing at 82.2, including a strong late-season stretch against SEC rivals Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Georgia, and Alabama. He led Auburn defensive linemen with a run stop percentage of 7.6, putting him in line for more early down snaps this season. Lawrence added in a sack, two QB hits and six hurries on his 105 rushes, good for a XX rush, so he’s not just a one-dimensional player.
19. Sam Hubbard, DE, Ohio State
2016 grade: 77.4 | 2015 snaps: 346
Ohio State’s attrition on both sides of the ball is one of the biggest stories heading into 2016, but Hubbard is ready to make up for the large voids along the defensive line. Replacing the nation’s top-graded defensive linemen (Joey Bosa) is no easy task, but Hubbard showed his potential on his 346 snaps as a redshirt freshman. He’s still young as a defensive lineman as he played safety in high school while dabbling at tight end and linebacker while redshirting in 2014. He picked up seven sacks, six QB hits, and nine hurries on only 186 rushes while holding his own in the run game. Given his lack of experience at the position and strong production last season, the future is bright for Hubbard.
20. Pita Taumoepenu, DE, Utah
2016 grade: 77.1 | 2015 snaps: 154
Last year we touted Alabama’s Tim Williams as a highly-efficient edge rusher who was ready to break out and this season it’s Taumoepenu. Over the last two seasons, he’s played only 335 snaps but he’s still notched 12 sacks, eight QB hits and 22 hurries on only 229 rushes. It’s not as simple as merely extrapolating that production over a full season, but even a manageable 500-snap workload could lead to gaudy pass rush production from Taumoepenu. Utah is very deep along the defensive line, but expect Taumoepenu to be one of their most efficient pass rushers once again.
21. Vic Enwere, RB, Cal
2016 grade: 77.0 | 2015 snaps: 245
The passing game has taken center stage at Cal the last few years behind 2016 first-overall pick Jared Goff, but they’ve quietly featured a number of strong running backs as well. Daniel Lasco moves on to the NFL after a strong 2014 and injury-riddled 2015, leaving three strong options in Enwere, Khalfani Muhammad, and Tre Watson. Enwere graded the best of the bunch last season and he forced 33 missed tackles on just 106 carries, leading to an elusive rating of 105.0 that ranked 11th in the nation. With Goff to the NFL, expect more reliance on the running game at Cal and Enwere has a leg up in what should be a strong trio of runners this season.
22. Kalen Ballage, RB, Arizona State
2016 grade: 75.9 | 2015 snaps: 397
Ballage pairs with Demario Richard to form one of the best running back duos in the nation and he’s in line for even more opportunities this season. At 6-3 and 220 pounds, Ballage has size and speed that few running backs can match. He can take it to the house any time he touches the ball, often using that speed to get to the edge or using his size to run through tacklers. Ballage’s 75.0 run grade bested Richard’s 73.0 mark, so expect a bigger workload for Ballage who missed the first three games last season.
23. Darius English, DE, South Carolina
2016 grade: 70.3 | 2015 snaps: 295
Admittedly, English has been a one-dimensional player at South Carolina but that one dimension has a chance to explode this season. Despite massive struggles against the run, English started to tap into his pass rush potential last season, finishing with six sacks, three QB hits, and 12 hurries on only 133 rushes. He possesses a classic, late-blooming pass rush frame at 6-6 and 241 pounds and another year of development and an increased workload could see even strong pass rush numbers. The point may be moot if English doesn’t improve against the run and he can’t get on the field, but he has 10-sack potential heading into his senior year.
24. Jeremy Tyler, S, West Virginia
2016 grade: 79.9| 2015 snaps: 287
West Virginia is losing a lot of talent off their strong defense and Tyler will be called upon to fill a bigger role this season. He played deep safety at times while also showing well as a box safety in West Virginia’s scheme, using his speed to make plays off the edge. Tyler showed well as a tackler where he missed only one of his 26 attempts and he finished the season on a high note with a strong bowl performance against Arizona State as he played a season-high 74 snaps.
25. Jhajuan Seales, WR, Oklahoma State
2016 grade: 70.1 | 2015 snaps: 222
While the grade wasn’t as good as others on the list – largely in part due to his dropping four of 22 catchable targets – Seales’ speed stood out on tape and he made just enough big plays to whet the appetite of Oklahoma State fans. Seales has good size at 6-2, 185 pounds and his speed was evident when watching QB Mason Rudolph and the rest of the strong Oklahoma State receiving corps. Seales explodes into his routes, often sneaking up on cornerbacks and showing the ability to get behind them for big plays. With WR Marcell Ateman expected to be sidelined until at least October, Seales has an opportunity to shine and Rudolph is one of the nation’s best deep ball throwers – expect a few big plays to Seales.It's the summer of 2011. The United States Men's National Team, fresh off of winning their (admittedly relatively easy) World Cup group in South Africa, make it to the finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup with a spot at the 2013 Confederations Cup on the line before completely imploding against Mexico and losing 4-2.
In the wake of that watershed loss, the USMNT manager, Bob Bradley, was fired by the president of the United States Soccer Federation, Sunil Gulati, and replaced by the incumbent coach, Jurgen Klinsmann--whom many suspected Gulati had wanted to hire all the way back in 2006 over Bradley, but who turned the job down.
The 4-0 loss inflicted upon Team USA by the Ticos down in Costa Rica in the CONCACAF Hexagonal is a similarly watershed loss. In fact, it's probably an even bigger loss. No, it wasn't a tournament final with silverware and a Confederations Cup berth on the line, but whatever else you may think about Bob Bradley's tenure as the USMNT coach, his players never, ever quit on him.
Out on the pitch against Costa Rica, Klinsmann's boys pretty obviously had quit on him. It was a resignation by the players that likely had its seeds sown over the course of the year, as serious tactical errors by Klinsmann resulted in eminently winnable World Cup qualifying games away at Guatemala and then here at home against Mexico being losses rather than wins or even draws.
Those tactical errors, however, represent only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. After all, nobody really expected Klinsmann to be a tactical genius when he took the job, not after Jogi Loew was given the credit for Germany's tactics during its time under Klinsmann and certainly not after Jurgen's solitary season helming Bayern Munich.
But player management *was* touted as a Klinsmann strength, and yet during his time managing the Yanks, the list of players whom Klinsmann has, at one time or another and often in full public view, thrown under the bus is an extensive one. Donovan. Bocanegra. Bedoya. Altidore. Nagbe. Fabian Johnson. After the Mexico loss, it was Jones and Bradley. And, of course, Sporting's own Matt Besler when he said that he was focused on meeting his club conditioning goals during the USMNT's annual Camp Cupcake in January and was promptly exiled by Klinsmann for several months.
This is on top of the number of players who have inexplicably been exiled into the international soccer equivalent of Siberia by Klinsmann. SKC's Benny Feilhaber is the most obvious headliner of that particular list, but MLS stalwarts like Dax McCarty, Juan Agudelo, and Matt Hedges as well as internationally-based players like Eric Lichaj, Tim Ream, and Perry Kitchen have all been left on the outside looking in on a team that now appears to be imploding around its embattled manager.
I haven't even gotten to how many of these feuds with players stem from Klinsmann's continual insistence on playing them out of position, with Matt Besler being shunted out into left back multiple times this year despite not having played the position for Sporting since he was a rookie being the most recent iteration of this pattern. I realize that left back is a recurring scar on the face of many a USMNT lineup and that Edgar Castillo has long since run out of chances with the USA faithful, but I'm willing to bet that somewhere in England, Lichaj and Ream were both drinking their early morning coffee and watching the carnage come out of Costa Rica with strain-inducing eyerolls.
I honestly do not know if Gulati will fire Klinsmann immediately. Gulati has made it clear multiple times that Klinsmann is *his* guy, and that it remains Klinsmann's job to lose, but there are some losses which exist as prima facie evidence that a team has reached a point of no return with its current boss and that the boss must be removed. This is one of those games.
And, frankly, I felt like both the Jamaica loss in the 2015 Gold Cup (and really, the 2015 Gold Cup in general, in which the US looked terrible save for a shellacking of Cuba) and the loss to Mexico in the 2015 playoff match for next year's Confederations Cup berth both represented similar watershed losses. Klinsmann was so obviously outcoached against Mexico that it was a minor miracle that the game even made it into extra time, and his response was to send Fabian Johnson home (not a huge problem) and then (this is the huge problem) publicly air that dirty laundry to the press. Meanwhile, Klinsmann oversaw the United States not even make it to a Gold Cup final in 2015, and to |
to make good on that promise, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, was embraced by both parties as a historic breakthrough. “This legislation will slow the revolving door that shuffles lawmakers and top staff between federal jobs and the private sector,” Harry Reid, newly the Senate majority leader, said of the lobbying reform law. Sen. Susan Collins, the Maine Republican, added, “This bill, then, is a critical part of restoring the people’s trust by reforming ethics and lobbying rules.”
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Instead, it made things worse.
Nine years later, the result of the law is very nearly the opposite of what the American public was told it was getting at the time. Not only did the lobbying reform bill fail to slow the revolving door, it created an entire class of professional influencers who operate in the shadows, out of the public eye and unaccountable. Of the 352 people who left Congress alive since the law took effect in January 2008, POLITICO found that almost half (47 percent) have joined the influence industry: 84 as registered lobbyists and 80 others as policy advisers, strategic consultants, trade association chiefs, corporate government relations executives, affiliates of agenda-driven research institutes and leaders of political action committees or pressure groups. Taken as a whole, more former lawmakers are influencing policy and public opinion now than before the reform was enacted: in a six-year period before the law, watchdog group Public Citizen found 43 percent of former lawmakers became lobbyists.
There is less transparency because some former lawmakers don’t need to register because lobbying is just one slice of how special interests shape laws in Washington today. Efforts to influence federal policy increasingly resemble campaigns with communications, social media, research, polling and mobilizing constituents. Each of those elements cost money, and create demand for former members’ expertise, but only lobbying is publicly disclosed.
Other times, it’s hard to tell the difference between the job descriptions of former members who are registered to lobby and those who aren’t. That’s because the reform law provided weak rules and even weaker enforcement. It added criminal penalties but made them so hard to prosecute they’ve never been tried.
The revolving-door rules were made so porous that members could go directly to lobby firms and nurture their relationships with former colleagues — as long as they didn't talk business for at least a year. Rep. Steve Southerland (R-Fla.), who joined a lobbying firm five months after losing in 2014, said he preferred to keep up with old colleagues in the privacy of the Capitol Hill Club, knowing reporters might relish spotting him leaving a congressional office. (Southerland said he fully complied with the one-year lobbying ban and registered to lobby when it expired.)
“I never went away, I just went invisible, and probably became more effective,” Southerland told POLITICO. “I’ve enjoyed being off the grid.”
This is not another story about best intentions and unforeseen consequences. The 2007 law was deliberately watered down by lawmakers concerned about their own job prospects, POLITICO has learned from dozens of interviews with former legislators and staffers. Those lawmakers made sure that their departing colleagues could secretly negotiate lucrative new jobs and orchestrate lobbying from behind the scenes without fear of detection or punishment. Many of the lawmakers who shaped the bill — including Sens. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), the late Bob Bennett (R-Utah), Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), and Jim DeMint (R-S.C), and Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.) — then went on to join the influence economy themselves.
The revolving door is about to enter peak season. Already 42 members of Congress have resigned, lost or announced plans to leave by January, and some are already talking with prospective future employers — all perfectly permissible and confidential, thanks to weaknesses engineered into the post-Abramoff reform law. These members know they can command a premium — $100,000 more than other lobbyists, according to a new study — from an industry that values the access they can provide to the halls of power.
“They have succeeded in poking various holes,” said Craig Holman, a lobbyist at Public Citizen and one of the bill’s leading proponents, “so that even though we were phenomenally successful at first, we have gone back a big step.”
***
“Today we govern, and we start with S. 1,” Harry Reid said as he introduced the lobbying reform bill on Jan. 8, 2007. That designation carried symbolic importance, he said: Not only was it the chamber’s first order of business, but it had an unlikely cosponsor — Mitch McConnell, the Senate’s minority leader. It marked the first time in 32 years that the leadership of both parties agreed to cooperate on the Senate’s momentous first bill.
The lobbying legislation came first, Reid proclaimed, because voters demanded it. “Americans want us to purge the government of undue influence,” he said, “and they want us to eliminate the conditions that led to the scandal-making headlines of last year and 2005: headlines about officials being flown to Scotland for rounds of golf; headlines about committee chairmen negotiating lucrative lobbying jobs with the industries they were to oversee while working on legislation important to those industries; and, of course, headlines about pay-to-play schemes such as the infamous K Street Project, where jobs and campaign donations were traded for legislation and other official acts.”
In Reid’s telling, the bill before the Senate would outlaw paid travel like Abramoff’s infamous junkets; increase the frequency of lobbying disclosures; impose “stiff new penalties”; make it harder to sneak in pork-barrel spending; and, critically, “slow the revolving door” by requiring members of Congress to publicly reveal their job negotiations and lose floor privileges if they were to become lobbyists. The bill also proposed a cooling-off period that would prohibit lawmakers and top staff from becoming lobbyists for two years instead of one.
Graphic by Christina Animashaun
Lobbying is as old as the Republic; the term is widely (though falsely) attributed to the businessmen who angled to catch President Ulysses S. Grant in the lobby of the Willard Hotel. But it wasn’t until after World War II, when the legislative branch underwent a sweeping modernization, that lobbyists had to register officially. That original disclosure law effectively let lobbyists decide for themselves whether they needed to register. In the 1970s, as the expansion of federal regulation touched more private interests, the lobbying industry surged. Power in Congress, once held closely by committee chairs, was shared more broadly among rank-and-file members, giving interest groups more openings for influence. And the rise of earmarks provided a host of valuable objectives. By the 1990s, the disclosure rules were so obviously outdated, arcane, ineffective and widely flouted that Congress recognized the need for an overhaul, including a more precise definition of what exactly constituted lobbying.
In 1995, the job of fixing a formal definition fell to the staff of Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who was championing the Lobbying Disclosure Act. They were focused on finding a meaningful definition that did not unfairly burden the occasional petitioner, such as a CEO making one phone call, according to Linda J. Gustitus, who worked for Levin. Ultimately, the law stipulated that people needed to register only if they contacted more than one government official and if lobbying amounted to at least 20 percent of the time they spent on an individual client.
Levin, knowing how susceptible to abuse this standard could be, proposed an enforcement office that could go after people skirting the rules, but the Senate scrapped that because too many members (and lobbyists) objected. “To set up another organization with more people being employed at the Justice Department really is just not called for,” said Lott, then the Senate majority whip.
By the time Reid rose to present the 2007 reform bill, the flaws in the definition had become the subject of insider ridicule. After his 2004 upset, ex-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) joined the law and lobbying firm Alston & Bird as a “special policy adviser,” earning as much as $2.1 million a year, but he never registered as a lobbyist. Many started calling the 20 percent threshold the “Daschle loophole.” (Daschle always maintained he wasn’t lobbying because he didn’t directly contact officials.)
Despite the flaw, reformers in 2007 knew picking a fight over the definition of a lobbyist was a fight they would lose. Opponents in Congress and on K Street would call it an administrative burden and an assault on the First Amendment freedom of petition, derailing the entire bill. So even before the process got started, one of the key weaknesses of the existing law already had been placed off-limits. The draft never touched the definition, and there was never so much as a proposed amendment on the issue. “We knew the problem was there. We just couldn’t do anything about it,” recalled Fred Wertheimer, founder of Democracy 21 and a key proponent of the bill. “Let’s keep in mind who wrote these bills: These were members of Congress. I don’t think they’re going to go out of their way to make sure they’re covered.”
Once the debate started, the bipartisan fanfare for the bill ran into heavy skepticism from prominent members of the chamber. Bob Bennett, ranking member on the Rules Committee, warned, “There might be a temptation to overreact.” Bennett, the son of a former senator, already had been through the revolving door four times: from a congressional aide to lobbying for J.C. Penney, to serving in Nixon’s Transportation Department, back to lobbying, and then to the Senate. “The idea of the revolving door is vastly overrated,” Bennett said during the debate on the Senate floor.
Bennett won an amendment to the travel ban that made an exception for nonprofits, ostensibly for educational purposes. But in reality, this carve-out, instantly known as the “AIPAC loophole,” made way for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee as well as countries and companies to fund trips through front groups and shell entities. (AIPAC had 10 lobbyists on staff in 2007 and spent almost $1 million on lobbying that year, including on the lobbying reform law. The organization didn’t respond to requests for comment.) The loophole caused a scandal five years later when former N.Y. Sen. Al D’Amato’s Park Strategies lobbying firm used a Taiwanese university to mount a $20,000 first-class trip for Rep. Bill Owens (D-N.Y.).
Bennett also managed to strike a provision that would lift the veil on “astroturf” campaigns, in which lobbyists drum up the appearance of authentic grass-roots support by surreptitiously mustering people to call their representatives or write boilerplate letters to the editor.
The other senator treading lightly was Trent Lott, by then the minority leader. “Let's do this in a responsible, nonpartisan way that is good for the institution and good for America,” said the Mississippi Republican, who by that point had served in Congress for more than three decades. “But, please, let's not turn it into feckless positioning to make it look good when, in fact, the result could be very counterproductive.”
Lott supported Judd Gregg’s effort to attach a poison-pill rider giving the president power to veto individual budget items—a pet project meant to rein in earmarks and wasteful spending, but a nonstarter with Democrats. In a late-night tirade, Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) called it “nothing more than legislative blackmail.”
Though the bill was slowly being whittled away, some reform-oriented Democrats still hoped that the reform package would deliver on its crucial promise to curtail the revolving door. To keep former members from trading on contacts inside the chamber to benefit their new clients, the bill proposed doubling the cooling-off period to two years during which former members could not lobby. An amendment from Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), sought to apply the ban to all lobbying “activity,” including prep time and strategizing, not just “contacts” (meetings, phone calls and emails).
“They must refrain from running the show behind the scenes,” Feingold said. “Members who have just left Congress should not be capitalizing on the clout, access and experience they gained here to lobby their colleagues, whether they are doing the lobbying themselves or instructing others.”
That amendment passed — at least for the time being — but others didn’t. Feingold also tried to create an independent enforcement office as Levin had done more than a decade before him, but senior Democrats — Ethics Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Rules Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) — objected. “We must make sure this does not simply become a new tool used by political opponents who would seek to manipulate the political process by filing false claims,” Feinstein said.
The bill that had started with such a display of unity was beset by an onslaught of amendments from both parties. Fearing they were losing control over the process, leaders of both parties decided to hurry the bill off the floor and fix it in conference, Bennett said in an interview with POLITICO before he died. “This legislation has been extremely difficult to deal with,” Reid conceded as the bill passed the chamber 96-2 (only Tom Coburn and Orrin Hatch voted against). “It is difficult because it directly affects our lives.”
The bill faced an even rougher road in the House. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her deputies struggled to rally Democrats to make good on the ethics reform they had promised voters. One staffer compared it to “herding cats.”
In meetings, the rank and file objected loudly to the two-year cooling-off period, ostensibly because it would impede the livelihoods of staffers who face losing their jobs every two years. “It was always couched as, ‘I’m sticking up for my staff,’” the House staffer said, “but not everyone found that to be completely plausible.”
One of the few public and candid acknowledgments of members’ interest in their own future earnings came from Rep. Mike Capuano (D-Mass.): “What makes two years a magical number?” he said to one reporter. “I’m sorry, but I’m not a millionaire.”
So when the bill reached the House Judiciary Committee, Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) had to implement the leadership’s read on what would fly in the full chamber. “I have discussed this issue with numerous members on both sides of the aisle, both on and off the committee, who have expressed concerns about the potential unintended consequences on the ability of the members and committees to attract and retain top-flight staff,” he said. Under a manager’s amendment — a composite settled by both sides in advance — he summarily cut back the cooling-off period to one year.
The new text also rejected Feingold’s broadening of the prohibition to lobbying “activity” instead of the more limited lobbying “contacts.” So, not only would the ban last just one year for members of the House — in other words, no change from the current law — it wouldn’t be much of a ban at all.
At the same time, Conyers’ amendment also changed the requirement for disclosing job talks: Instead of making the negotiations public, members would merely have to notify the Ethics Committee, which would keep them confidential. Conyers said he was fixing “a drafting error” — that the negotiations were never meant to be made public.
It was not an error. The whole purpose of the measure was to make the negotiations public, according to the person who drafted it: Craig Holman, the lobbyist for Public Citizen, the nonprofit whose research on the revolving door helped make the case for reform. But Conyers made the change so swiftly that Holman said he didn’t realize the consequences. He thought it was a minor concession to salvage the rest of the measure. “I didn’t catch what that meant,” Holman recalled.
Conyers’ spokeswoman didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment.
Once the declawed bill passed the House, the next step should have been for a conference committee to hash out differences between it and the Senate version, like the cooling-off period, for example. But McConnell wouldn’t allow it. Though nominally a co-sponsor, he sabotaged his own bill by refusing to appoint senators to the conference committee. As BNA reported at the time, McConnell was holding the bill hostage because he wanted to loosen some campaign-finance restrictions (which remains a pet cause of his to this day).
After a few days, McConnell relented. But then, DeMint stepped in with the same blocking maneuver. He refused to let the bill move ahead without the earmark reform that the Senate contemplated and the House omitted. The Senate’s only option was to accept the watered-down House version. It passed on Aug. 2, with a vote of 80-17.
In eight months, Congress had turned a core campaign pledge and top legislative priority into a neutered bill that fundamentally changed nothing. No public disclosure for job negotiations while in office. No disclosure for backroom consultants or grass-roots organizing. No ban on lobbying activity — only on lobbying contacts. A two-year ban in the Senate but still only one year in the House. No revision to the infamous 20 percent loophole. A ban on paid travel, but with a sprawling exemption for nonprofits. No dedicated enforcement mechanism.
“What is before us this morning is the single most sweeping congressional reform bill since Watergate,” Feinstein told her colleagues when the bill returned to the Senate floor. “I support its passage despite the fact that I do not like everything that is in this bill. It is a strong bill. I am sure it is too strong for some and it is too weak for others, but … it is, in effect, to some degree a compromise.”
***
Jack Abramoff sat in his prison cell and read the text that President George W. Bush signed into law in September 2007. To the man who once entertained officials at his own sushi restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue, treated lawmakers to courtside Wizards tickets and a deluxe skybox at FedEx Field, and flew Rep. Bob Ney and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on golfing trips to Scotland—the man whose many misdeeds had brought about the new rules—it was immediately apparent all the ways that lobbyists could and would sidestep them.
Lobbyists could no longer pick up the tab for meals or give officials complimentary sports tickets. So they found new ways to entertain: fundraisers.
“Is corruption in Washington really ended by forbidding representatives from accepting free meals and, instead, permitting them to gorge to their heart’s content, as long as it’s at a fundraising event—where they’ll also pocket thousands of dollars in contributions?” Abramoff wrote in his memoir, Capitol Punishment. “This is the kind of reform Congress proposes, passes, and then congratulates itself about?”
Abramoff’s foresight was perfect: Last December alone, Reps. Ted Poe (R-Texas), Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) and Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) held events at the Verizon Center, inviting lobbyists and the PACs they control to pay for the event, contribute to reelection campaigns, and enjoy privileged access while watching the Capitals beat the Detroit Red Wings and the Wizards lose to the Houston Rockets. This April, Tim Walz (D-Minn.), John Garamendi (D-Calif.), Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.) and Don Beyer (D-Va.) had fundraisers at Nationals Park. Garamendi booked a Lincoln Suite, which holds 24 people and goes for more than $4,300 a night. The Nats lost to the Phillies.
It wasn’t long before key lawmakers started benefiting from the provisions they themselves helped weaken. Bennett, the ranking Republican on the Senate Rules Committee who added the AIPAC loophole and killed the grass-roots disclosure, went right back through the revolving door — for the fifth time — to become a lobbyist at Arent Fox. Though he registered, he told POLITICO that he knew colleagues who avoid it by passing work off to others when they approach the 20 percent mark.
DeMint, whose blocking maneuver forced the Senate to accept the House’s weakened version, became president of The Heritage Foundation, the influential conservative think tank. He landed the job while still in office, and kept those negotiations confidential, thanks to the weakened House provision he forced the Senate to accept.
On the key House committees that reviewed the bill, a majority of those who since left Congress are now lobbyists or professional influencers: eight of the 15 members who left the Judiciary Committee, and four of seven from the Rules Committee. They include Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.), who started his own firm; Howard Berman (D-Calif.), who went to Covington & Burling; and Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.), who became a lobbyist with Foley & Lardner. Cardoza, who was not present for the Judiciary markup, told POLITICO that considerations of his own future didn’t affect his views on the bill, and he didn’t think about his post-congressional career until he left Congress. But, in fact, he was negotiating his job for weeks before he left office. “Many of my clients are people who in the past I was very involved in their issues,” he said.
Lott resigned on Dec. 18, 2007, a few days before the reform law took effect, which would have subjected him to the Senate’s two-year cooling-off period. (Lott said he decided to retire years earlier but stayed to help with the recovery from Hurricane Katrina. He voted against the final version of the bill.) He started a lobbying firm with his colleague, former Sen. John Breaux (D-La.), who had retired in 2005. Their shop was absorbed later by the international law firm Squire Patton Boggs, and the group they co-chair reaped $24.9 million in lobbying income last year. Lott and Breaux are among the highest-grossing former members, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics for POLITICO. Their biggest clients include Nissan, Airlines for America, Goldman Sachs and SpaceX.
“I couldn’t do a divorce case now, let alone try a case,” Lott told POLITICO, “so I’m doing what I know how to do.”
The weakness of the lobbying ban (one year for House members, two years for senators) was underscored when Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) lost her 2014 reelection campaign and instantly became a hot target for K Street headhunters during the lame-duck session. Landrieu downplayed reports of a “bidding war” but acknowledged having a handful of suitors. She chose Van Ness Feldman because she liked working with them while in office. The firm represented TransCanada, the company behind the Keystone XL pipeline, which the senator from the oil-rich state went to great lengths to support. But Landrieu said she never worked for that client. She did, however, swiftly register to lobby for a Louisiana university and a moribund “clean coal” project. Landrieu can’t lobby Congress during her two-year cooling-off period, but she can and does lobby the administration, namely the Energy Department and Office of Management and Budget. She also started advising oil companies Shell and Noble.
The only impediment that the 2007 reform placed for Landrieu and other lawmakers-turned-lobbyists was that they lost access to the Senate floor, private gym and parking lot. But those were places in which they were already forbidden from lobbying; while some did use the spaces to corner former colleagues, it was generally treated as taboo.
Plus, there was a simple way for former members to retain all their privileges: not register to lobby. Whereas before there had been no downside to registering, now it carried a host of complex rules and obligations (not to mention stigma). Not registering was a way to avoid all that —with no fear of repercussions because there was no real threat of prosecution.
Since the reform law went into effect, former members have been named on lobbying contracts worth $2.1 billion, according the Center for Responsive Politics’ analysis. They draw a premium of more than $100,000 above any other type of former official, according to a separate unpublished study by professor Tim LaPira of James Madison University, which has not yet been peer-reviewed. Former members make up just 1 percent of the capital's lobbyists but are tied to 8 percent of total lobbying spending — almost $245 million last year, the nonprofit CRP’s analysis showed. It’s impossible to know precisely how many millions more remain invisible because so many former members aren’t registered.
“What we don’t have now is members turning into lobbyists explicitly very shortly after their tenure,” said John Wonderlich, policy director of the government transparency watchdog group the Sunlight Foundation. “What we have now is members turning into public affairs consultants or strategic advisers. The law got rid of the most unseemly parts of how wealth is able to buy access, but it didn’t fix them.”
Those who are scrupulous about avoiding registration may use time-tracking software, such as an Outlook calendar or a spreadsheet, to make sure they don’t cross the 20 percent threshold. At large law firms, compliance officers will make sure everyone who needs to register does. But not everyone is so scrupulous because federal investigators almost certainly won’t check.
The more common way for former members to avoid registering, even while spending unlimited time lobbying, is to have someone else contact officials in their stead. Bob Dole, who worked part-time at Alston & Bird after retiring from the Senate, once left the room when a current senator joined a conference call so that he wouldn’t notch a lobbying contact, according to another person who was there. An aide to Dole said he doesn't recall the incident and does register for clients when required.
Political law experts disagree whether a colleague can invoke a former member’s name to get a meeting without that counting as a lobbying contact for that former member. Some say it doesn’t count as a lobbying contact if it’s the current member who reaches out to the former lawmaker.
Daschle became the poster child for not registering while at Alston & Bird, DLA Piper and eventually his own shop within Baker Donelson. Former colleagues said Daschle avoided registering in case he decided to return to public office, where a lobbying job would be considered a liability. Only in March, after it became clear that a return to government wasn’t likely, did Daschle register as a lobbyist for the first time, to represent health insurer Aetna.
Judd Gregg, after trying to kill the reform bill with his line-item veto rider and retiring in 2011, bristles at being called a lobbyist and never registered as one, but he did become head of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. The Wall Street trade group known as SIFMA spent more than $5 million a year on lobbying with Gregg at the helm, and he took home $1.7 million. Gregg said he oversaw the organization’s lobbyists but never directly contacted any officials. Today, he advocates for atomic power for the industry-funded group Nuclear Matters and advises Edelman, the PR powerhouse with a major political portfolio.
Obama gave the influence industry another perverse incentive to avoid registering when he barred lobbyists from joining his administration and required those who did to pledge not to become lobbyists afterward. Ray LaHood, Obama’s first transportation secretary and a former congressman from Illinois, is now a senior policy adviser at DLA Piper, helping clients including Hyundai and Accenture come up with game plans, but he leaves the calls and meetings to others.
Similarly, former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) now works in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Washington National Tax Services group, whose lobbying clients include Business Roundtable, Tyco International (an Irish company that recently merged with an American rival to slash their combined tax bill) and the Master Limited Partnership Association (defender of a massive business tax loophole). A spokeswoman says Camp has no plans to lobby.
As Duke Energy’s senior vice president of government affairs, former Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) oversees the power company’s lobbyists but doesn’t go to the Hill himself, a spokesman said. “I don’t do much lobbying,” said former Rep. Bill Owens (D-N.Y), a senior adviser in the public policy and regulation practice at the law firm Dentons.
Newt Gingrich is in the same position. The former speaker took heat during his presidential campaign in 2012 for consulting work he did for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae; after leaving office, his consultancy signed a $25,000-per-month contract with Freddie Mac. Gingrich insisted he was never a lobbyist, and technically he was right, but only because he anticipated the future political liability and hired a lawyer named Tom Susman to work with his schedulers to make sure he stayed under the 20 percent threshold.
Susman, now a lobbyist with the American Bar Association, suggested former lawmakers shouldn’t enjoy the same leeway as business leaders who occasionally call an official — they should have to register for any lobbying.
“The public interest is not on the corporate executive who flies into town for one meeting, but we do care about the former transportation appropriations subcommittee chair spending 19 percent of his or her time lobbying and not having to register,” Susman said. “Because we know they have better access.”
Susman and Public Citizen’s Holman have been trying to introduce a rule to require disclosure of all support staff, which would reveal the people “running the show behind the scenes,” as Feingold tried unsuccessfully to do. But they’re stalled on finding a Republican cosponsor.
***
No one has ever been punished for lobbying without registering. The only risk of consequences is for registered lobbyists who mess up their paperwork, and even that risk is remote.
When both chambers rejected the proposal to create an independent investigator, they made the House clerk and Senate secretary responsible for collecting lobbying disclosures and notifying the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia about any missing paperwork. Pursuing those referrals falls to a team of five attorneys, one investigator and one auditor who also juggle 100 active cases trying to recover damages from people suspected of defrauding the government in benefits or contracts.
“We have a lot to do here — we’re prosecuting major crimes, major frauds, we’re defending the government in major challenges to government programs, dealing with Freedom of Information Act requests, and on the criminal side everything from misdemeanors to homicides,” said Keith Morgan, the deputy chief of the civil division who oversees lobbying enforcement.
Since 2008, Morgan’s group has brought six civil cases against lobbyists, winning $480,000 from five settlements and one default judgment. All the fines were for registered lobbyists who were sloppy with their filings. The USAO has also gotten referrals about people lobbying without registering — from rival lobbyists, political opponents or government agencies. Prosecutors considered the cases but ran up against the Daschle loophole and declined to proceed.
“A lot of times, it is true somebody is lobbying and not registered, but we have not been able to establish that its been more than 20 percent of their time,” Morgan said. Doing so would probably require a whistle-blower who can show billing records and time logs from the inside, he said. Short of that, prosecutors probably couldn’t justify opening an investigation or issuing subpoenas.
Criminal charges are even harder. The 2007 reform law added criminal penalties of up to five years in prison, but they’ve never been applied — the language of the statute requires proving beyond a reasonable doubt that someone broke the rules “knowingly and corruptly.”
“When you have a requirement to report 20 percent of your time, and you have language that says ‘corruptly,’ it’s very difficult to bring criminal prosecutions,” said Vincent H. Cohen Jr., a former acting U.S. attorney in Washington, who now works at the law firm Dechert.
When the bill was in markup in 2007, the House Judiciary Committee considered making criminal offenses even harder to pursue. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) said he feared overzealous prosecutors eager “to have the scalps of members of Congress.” He wanted them to have to prove “intent to evade the law.” Conyers, the chairman, fended him off, suggesting the burden of proof was already high enough.
Gohmert was probably overreacting. None of the six lobbying cases to date have involved former members of Congress.
“I have to deal with what the statute says and the resources that we have,” said Morgan, the deputy chief. “I can’t speak to how the laws are written. That’s up to Congress.”hard decisions made easy [Marc-Gregor Campredon]
One-and-done has been an ongoing farce since its implementation for various reasons, but it seems like it may finally, finally, finally not be long for this world. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has bashed the current state of NBA draft eligibility in two separate forums over the past week. One was an interview with Colin Cowherd:
“It may surprise you, but I’m rethinking our position. "Our historical position since we raised the age from 18 to 19 was that we want to go from 19 to 20, and the union’s position is they want to go from 19 to 18. … "…. These young men, they’re followed so closely from the time they’re 13 or 14 on. They’re at the major shoe companies’ summer camps. They’re being watched closely by the league, by the college scouts. And so when they get to [college], now they’re in a unique situation. Talk about resting in the NBA, all of a sudden now they realize, even though they can buy insurance, their biggest concern, unfortunately, becomes not whether they can win the NCAA tournament, but whether they drop in the NBA Draft. So then they have to be worried about how their skills are showcased, how many minutes they get, whether they get injured. It’s not a great dynamic.”
Silver re-iterated that take in front of the press yesterday, stating that one and done was "not working for anyone."
Now, this sort of thing has been going on for years and years. Here's Mark Cuban complaining about one and done in 2012:
Stern said Tuesday that he'd like to add a year to the rule. Cuban wants to take it a step further, requiring players to wait three years after their high school class graduates to become draft-eligible. "I just think there's every good reason to do it, which is obviously why we didn't do it," Cuban said sarcastically, adding that Kentucky fans were the only people who like the one-and-done concept.
There is a shift in tone here. Over the last five years the commissioner of the NBA has gone from supporting more restrictions to supporting fewer. Whether this is a push for the D-League to become relevant (not bloody likely) or a belated realization that restricting the economic freedom of guys who would be lottery picks out of high school doesn't help anyone isn't relevant. The NBA draft model is seemingly set to change.
When changes to the NBA draft come up, a lot of people mention baseball's zero-or-at-least-three model, but that's the wrong league to take your cues from. I wrote about this in 2012: the NBA should look to the NHL. The NHL auto-enrolls anyone vaguely draftable at age 18, which allows NCAA players to retain their eligibility despite the fact that they went to Phoenix in the third round. Players then negotiate with their clubs as to when they'll turn pro. This prevents players from burning their NCAA eligibility on a pipe dream, which is the whole reason one-and-done came into existence in the first place.
There are three main flaws with the current NHL system: the entry-level contract is based on when you sign and not how old you are, teams lose their rights a few months after a senior graduates, and teams can sign kids without committing a big-league roster spot to them. This results in guys signing early to get their ELC out of the way and NHL teams signing them so that they don't lose their rights*. The NHL teams can shove them into the AHL anyway.
*[An example of what NHL teams strive to avoid: Panthers draft pick Zach Hyman graduated from Michigan as a Hobey Baker finalist and announced his intent to become a free agent. He wanted to join Toronto and the Panthers traded for him for pennies on the dollar.]
An ideal NBA draft system is in that 2012 post. In a nutshell:
Everyone relevant is auto-entered in the draft at 18, and 19 and 20 if they are passed over.
The NBA team retains the drafted player's rights until one year after his college eligibility expires.
A drafted player can be signed at any time. The contract lasts until the player is 23 and the NBA team in question commits to carrying that player on their roster for the duration of that contract. Graduated seniors are an exception to the roster rule.
The NCAA and NBA come to some sort of agreement where the NBA team can have him in summer league and maybe sign him to some sort of pre-contract that gives the kid some spending money.
Lebron can go to the league and guys only leave college at the point where their NBA team thinks they're worthy of a big-league roster spot. That would seem to be the most sensible arrangement for everyone.Aug 30, 2013
Final Stats | Photo Gallery
GAMECOCK MEN'S SOCCER Coach Berson Highlights
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Sophomore midfielder Jeffrey Torda gave South Carolina (1-0-0) a 1-0 season-opening victory over East Tennessee State (0-1-0) on Friday night at Stone Stadium.
"I was really pleased. East Tennessee State is a good team, and they have a lot of talent. They are an older, experienced team while we have a younger group, so for the first game of the year, it's a big test to play against a team like them. We did well though. We got the goal and we had a couple other opportunities that we weren't able to finish. Overall, it was a very good win against a very good team." South Carolina head coach Mark Berson said of the home win.
The Gamecocks edged the Buccaneers 9-6 in shots. South Carolina put five of their strikes on frame, with just one ETSU shot logged on goal. East Tennessee State was awarded three corner kicks to the Gamecocks' two. South Carolina's sophomore keeper Robert Beebe kicked off the season with a shutout, posting one save on the night, while Buccaneer netminder Ryan Coulter was saddled with the loss despite saving four Gamecock shots.
Carolina's first scoring threat of the night came just four minutes into the match. Freshman midfielder Kurtis Turner hit a one-time volley from just outside the 18-yard box, which ETSU's Coulter blocked, but directly into the path of Torda. The sophomore placed an attempt to the left side of frame, but Coulter scrambled to hold his line and make the diving save.
After an ETSU foul with 22 minutes left in the opening half, sophomore midfielder Ryan Arambula nearly scored on the ensuing free kick. Arambula sent a high shot towards frame, which Coulter just got a hand on to send the strike into the crossbar. Off the rebound, senior forward J.P. Rafferty looked for the far post, but Coulter once again held his line and the Gamecocks were awarded a corner kick |
heads played football with, and in a particularly gruesome AAH video, multiple heads were carried by a crowd of militiamen who then beat the heads while chanting sectarian slogans.
On March 3, a barbaric video showed the Shi’ite militias shooting a teenage boy after accusing him of being ISIS. Even one of the militiamen tried standing in front of the boy and asking, “What’s wrong with you?”
Facebook pages—yes Iran proxies have a social media presence and they are “more advanced than ISIS” in using it to recruit foreign fighters—of Iran proxy militias have shown prisoners being beaten, hacked at with axes, mass-killings, and the desecration of corpses.
This major upsurge in the dissemination of brutal images from the Shi’ite militias started last autumn. One infamous tactic adopted at that time is the “killing zones” in the Sunni farmlands around Baghdad, where, the militias/ISF say: “There are no civilians. Everyone in these killing zones we consider Islamic State.” Similar rhetoric of “no civilians” was heard as the militias headed into Tikrit.
The claim that the militias will allow people to return to a “normal” life, while life can never be normal under ISIS, didn’t eventuate in Jurf al-Sakhar, which was conquered by Shi’ite militias with American air support in October; Sunnis still are not allowed back.
Amnesty International has documented the “widespread killings by paramilitary Shi’a militias,” and this finally reached the Western press in a major way with a report by ABC on Wednesday, which highlighted the fact that these militias do this with American weapons and de facto American support—something that ISIS is not failing to translate into its propaganda.
The Special Groupies’ response is to say that while individual atrocities occur in battle, the PMU leadership condemns such behaviour, thus any equivalence between Iran’s proxy militias and ISIS is unwarranted. This is nonsense on particularly elevated stilts. For one thing, the atrocity videos and pictures are put out on the official platforms of the PMUs. “Usually when forces commit such crimes they try to hide them,” Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East Executive Director at Human Rights Watch said. “What we are seeing here is a brazen, proud display of these terrible crimes.”
The Shi’ite militias want this material disseminated, just as ISIS does with its gruesome material, to attempt to terrorise ISIS—and Sunnis generally—into submission, and a message to Shi’ites that the PMUs have the stomach for this fight and can protect the Shi’ites. That Iran’s proxies add in occasional condemnations of this material only emphasises the sophistication of Iran’s messaging—and this has been going on for years, starting in Syria.
Pro-Baghdad media openly says the PMUs in Tikrit are led by Ameri, Muhandis, Qais al-Khazali—Iranian agents to a man—and Iranian commanders, all of whom have long records of committing terrorism and atrocities. It is a weak argument to say that because Iran’s proxies haven’t been caught on video making exterminationist threats they are superior to ISIS.
This argument reached its logical conclusion after the hateful statement of Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman that disloyal Israeli Arabs should be beheaded: the Special Groupies seriously maintained that since this was a matter of policy from a senior Israeli—the absence of danger to Israeli Arabs notwithstanding—it was worse than the savage conduct and uncountable beheadings by the Shi’ite militias.
Ameri speaks to Western journalists and runs Diyala like Iran or Hizballah-controlled areas of Lebanon, as a durable theocratic dictatorship rather than the crazed pseudo-State of ISIS, and for this Ameri and the Shi’ite militias are said to be morally superior to ISIS. That this speaks to Iran’s superior propaganda capabilities and more realistic attempt to erase the region’s borders and consolidate an Islamist Imperium is studiously ignored by the apologists. Because of the backing for the Shi’ite jihadists by oil-rich States, they can run areas better than ISIS. But the anti-Western animus, fanaticism, willingness to use terrorism, sectarianism, and cruelty toward Iran’s opponents is at least comparable to ISIS, and in the case of Syria has notably exceeded ISIS in both scope and scale.
Conclusion
American actions have been profoundly unhelpful to the stated goal of destroying ISIS. While the U.S. has not backed the Tikrit offensive with airstrikes, the U.S. has been acting as the air force for these Iran-controlled forces in Iraq, and making Iraq an American-Iranian condominium. The Obama administration’s rapprochement with Iran, which has entailed a de facto alliance with Iran from Yemen to Syria, is pushing the Sunni moderates needed for a lasting solution to the ISIS problem into the ISIS camp.
A major argument for not supporting the Syrian rebellion these last four years is that the weapons might end up in the hands of forces that will kill and ethnically cleanse minorities. This logic is not holding in Iraq, where American weapons are flowing to brutal sectarian militias like Badr and actual designated terrorist groups like KH, who are killing and dispossessing Iraq’s Sunni minority. These inconsistencies are part of what ISIS feeds on.
Instead of marginalising these merciless, sectarian, anti-Western, Iran proxy militias, American officials have “regularly participated in joint operation meetings in Baghdad that include representatives of Shiite militias.” Indeed, U.S. ambassador Stuart Jones personally offered Ameri, a fanatically anti-Western murderer and terrorist, the U.S. air force.
Ameri has said—stood next to Muhandis on the frontlines in Tikrit—that while these Iranian proxies wage “jihad” to defeat ISIS and defend the homeland, the notoriously work-shy Iraqi MPs in Baghdad are drawing a salary and doing nothing. This populist appeal, with its element of truth, within the greater narrative of Iran and its tributaries having come to the rescue while anti-Iran elements in Baghdad either did nothing or supported ISIS, is the political victory Iran is securing in Iraq. The Shi’ite militias are going to part of Iraq’s political landscape for a long time to come, and through them Iran is not just securing power on the ground but legitimacy.
This is not just a problem for the Sunnis. The failure of the U.S. to give the Iraqi Shi’a another option leaves them dependent on Iran against ISIS—and knowing that this war and the heightened sectarian tensions create Shi’ite dependency, Iran has every interest in perpetuating the war and consolidating sectarian identities. Many Shi’a do not define their faith via the Iranian revolution, but what resistance have they if the Americans hand them over to men like Ameri, who believes that “Khamenei … is the leader not only for Iranians but the Islamic nation,” and has the troops to back it up?
This heightened sectarianism is among many reasons Iran’s influence in Iraq hostile to Western interests.
Michael Flynn, former DIA director, has noted that “groups like the Badr Corps represent enemies of a stable, secure, and inclusive Iraq. As soon as we get done helping them with ISIS, they will very likely turn on us.” This consideration is now among the things preventing American action against Assad. Obama has already given Assad a security guarantee and a loan of the U.S. air force. In exchange, Iran is holding its forces off the Americans in Iraq. But Iran’s forbearance is “contingent on that support continuing“; if the U.S. “infringe[s] on what Iran sees as its long-term interest [in Syria] … those Shia militias could turn” on American troops. Iran has a long history of hostage-taking; the West acquiescing to it is a recent development.
Other than the amount of Western blood these Shi’ite militias have spilled, Iran’s dominance of Iraq is a recipe for further chaos and killing. In mid-2007, David Petraeus assessed Iran’s proxy militias as being “more of a hindrance to long-term security in Iraq than [ISIS],” and this remains true now. If Sunnis’ only alternative to ISIS is the Iran-backed sectarian governments that sparked the war across the Fertile Crescent in the first place, they are not going to rebel against ISIS. Put simply: if the Shi’ite militias march on Mosul, the Sunnis will resist, and ISIS will again make itself the vanguard of this resistance; rather than splitting the Sunnis and ISIS, this will unify them.
Moreover, Iran simply cannot rule from Tehran to Beirut over something like twenty million Sunnis; whatever the attempt brings it won’t be stability.
Iran leading this offensive is “brilliant” for ISIS: “it … plays into their narrative that the Iranians are leading a Shiite conspiracy to take over the Middle East and that the U.S. is complicit in this plot”. The tragedy is, “What began as Mideast conspiracy theory now has the distinction of being an aspirational presidential legacy.”
Obama’s support for the Hizballahization of Syria and Iraq—the Iranian revolutionary model where Iran’s proxies operate alongside the formal State structures, especially the security services, but also within them, and direct them—is weakening the Western ability to contain Iran’s ambition for nuclear weapons:
[B]ecause the central [Obama] policy wasn’t Iran’s disarmament but Iran’s cooperation in (allegedly) stabilising the Middle East, what the U.S. really wanted was a nuclear deal that could get them past this thorny issue and to more pleasant pastures like fighting the Islamic State. This meant the U.S. threw away the “or else” [in the nuclear negotiations]: the process was the interest, which allowed Iran to turn the tables; now Iran could threaten to walk away from the negotiations if it didn’t get what it wanted. Iran gained sanctions relief, and every six months Iran can now say, “Pay up, or we leave”.
Obama’s Iran détente is allowing Tehran to build a Jihadist Empire that is making Iran immune to Western pressure. For example, with its control of the Iraqi government, Iran takes a share of oil revenue to fund the Quds Force, rendering Iran’s global terrorist apparatus invulnerable to Western sanctions. A “common trope” in Shi’a Iraq is that America and/or Israel are behind ISIS. Both Hizballah and the Iraqi Shi’ite jihadist militias therefore see attacking the West as a key component of the anti-ISIS fight. With Iran’s long record of anti-Western global terrorism, what are the chances that, with a beachhead on NATO’s doorstep in Syria, Iran does not help one of these deluded Shi’ite radicals, who believe America sent ISIS to destroy the Shi’a, attack the West?
While America acquiescing in the Islamist regime in Iran taking over Iraq will eventuate in bloodshed at home, it entails extraordinary damage to the forces of moderation in the region and the chances for defeating ISIS in the here-and-now.
Correction: The post initially said ISIS had “taken” Fallujah in January 2014. In fact ISIS did not become wholly dominant in the city until after the June 2014 invasion of Iraq.In a survival story his doctors call extraordinary, a 22-month-old Pennsylvania boy whose lifeless body was pulled from an icy creek was revived after an hour and 41 minutes of CPR and has suffered virtually no lingering effects.
Gardell Martin came home from the hospital on Sunday, and his doctors said Thursday he has made a full recovery.
"It's not only extraordinarily rare that we got the kid back, but what's even more extraordinary is the rate at which he recovered and the completeness of his recovery," said Dr. Frank Maffei, director of the pediatric intensive care unit at Geisinger's Janet Weis Children's Hospital in Danville. "The stars and moon aligned, and he had an angel on his shoulder."
Gardell and two of his brothers had gone outside to play on March 11 when he fell into the stream that runs through their 5-acre property near Mifflinburg and was swept away by the fast-moving current.
(Google Maps )
His 7-year-old brother, Greg, ran into the house and screamed that he couldn't find Gardell.
Their mother, Rose Martin, did a quick search of the property before realizing her young son had likely fallen into the creek, which was swollen because of melting snow. She called 911 while her two teenage daughters began walking downstream in a frantic search for the toddler.
A neighbour found Gardell caught up in a tree branch and water gushing around him.
An ambulance crew arrived moments later, found no pulse and began CPR. Resuscitation would continue, unbroken, for 101 minutes — in the ambulance, at a community hospital, aboard a medical helicopter and, finally, in the emergency room of Janet Weis, the pediatric wing of Geisinger Medical Center, where a team of some 30 doctors and nurses sprang into action.
'Right people in the right place'
Gardell's body temperature was25 C degrees when he arrived. Normal body temperature is 37 C. In this case, the boy's profound hypothermia worked to his advantage, dramatically slowing his metabolism and giving his organs "some degree of protection from cardiac arrest," Maffei said.
Knowing that, Maffei ordered CPR to continue while the team slowly warmed his body. At just short of 28 C, they detected a pulse.
Then his heart restarted.
Hours later, Gardell regained consciousness — and his brain function was normal, stunning doctors.
"It was an act of God," said his grateful mother, Rose Martin. "There is no doubt in my mind it's a miracle. God had the right people in the right place at the right time and they all did a wonderful job."
Dr. Richard Lambert, the attending physician in the pediatric intensive care unit, said Gardell belonged in a "rare, rare, extreme category for recovery."
A week later, the medical team is still on a high.
It "provides us with a smile on our face, knowing you were part of something this wonderful and amazing," Lambert said.
Back at home, Gardell is walking — though he still needs to regain a bit of balance — and chattering away.
But not about his ordeal.
"It's hard to tell how much he remembers or knows about what happened," his mother said. "He can't really tell us in that way."An entire US department program is to be suspended in order to fix vulnerabilities discovered during a security audit.
An entire US government program is to be suspended in order to fix vulnerabilities discovered during a security audit.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced that the program, used to complete background investigations, was reviewed following a high-profile data breach in another department according to Reuters. OPM said it would take e-QIP offline for 4-6 weeks until security can be enhanced, and that there was no evidence that the flaw had been exploited by attackers.
In a security review, a vulnerability was discovered in the vetting program, called Electronic Questionnaires for Investigations Processing (e-QIP).
“The actions OPM has taken are not the direct result of malicious activity on this network, and there is no evidence that the vulnerability in question has been exploited,” the agency said, calling the decision to take E-QIP offline a proactive measure to ensure ‘the ongoing security of its network”, the OPM said, according to PC World.
“The security of OPM’s networks remains my top priority as we continue the work outlined in my IT Strategic Plan, including the continuing implementation of modern security controls,” OPM Director Archuleta said to the Washington Post.
“This proactive, temporary suspension of the e-QIP system will ensure our network is as secure as possible for the sensitive data with which OPM is entrusted”.
The OPM has been hit by at least two major breaches in recent months, one which may have resulted in the theft of personnel records of millions of current and former government employees, and another targeted attack on a 120-page questionnaire used by people seeking national security clearance.New Oregon coach
has hit the ground running with
. When hired a week ago, the Ducks had 13 commitments in their class of 2013. With their latest commitment on Monday night, the total now stands at 16 with national signing day just more than a week away.
Announced for the Ducks on Friday after a Wednesday offer. A blazing fast wide receiver, Allen had previously been offered a scholarship by the Oregon track program.
"With Oregon football, Coach Frost says they just need some speed guys," Allen said. "They have De'Anthony Thomas, but he's in the backfield a lot of the time. They want some speed guys on the outside that can really break open the field."
Athletic Las Vegas-area offensive lineman committedto Oregon on Sunday during his official visit.
"I felt like it was the right fit," George told the Las Vegas Sun. "It's just the people up there. They were all nice."
Williams announced his commitment on local television Monday night. He is categorized as an athlete because he was recruited on both offense and defense equally by different schools.
"Oregon isn't exactly sure how they want to use me, but I know they have a great offense and they play aggressive on defense, too," Williams said.
In the final week before signing day, the Ducks hope to gain the commitments from several more recruits for a total class size of about 20. They likely are still hoping to add a quarterback, a linebacker, a defensive end and an offensive lineman.
-- A.J. Jacobson, publisher,If you think the worst of us are behind bars, consider what you can be accused of doing and not face so much as a minute in jail:
You and your family can run four cancer charities that raise $187 million on false pretenses in the name of kids with cancer and women with breast cancer and the terminally ill of all ages—but spend less than 3 percent of that money on cancer victims.
Meanwhile, you can pay yourself and your relatives big salaries and over-generous bonuses while using donated funds to pay for cars, Disney World trips, jet ski outings, luxury travel, and college tuitions.
And you can use company credit cards for personal expenses, including meals at Hooters, gas, car washes, cellphone apps and games, iTunes songs, and dating website subscriptions, as well as tickets to concerts, sporting events, and movies.
“This is as about as bad as it can get: taking money away from cancer victims,” Jessica Rich, chief of the Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection, told reporters on Tuesday as her agency and the attorneys general of all 50 states brought a complaint against Cancer Fund of America, Cancer Support Services, the Breast Cancer Society, and the Children’s Cancer Fund of America.
To make matters even worse, one of the charities allegedly used some of what little it did spend on cancer victims to furnish sick kids with expired antibiotics that are in fact contraindicated for children.
Another of the charities provided breast cancer victims with drugs that, in the words of a federal complaint, “are not typically used for the treatment of breast cancer and, in some instances, are not recommended for use by persons who have had cancer.”
“Some have even been associated with an increased risk of cancer,” notes the complaint.
The charities are said to have passed along as “direct patient aid” such donated items as adult diapers, sample-size toiletries, and Little Debbie snack cakes.
“They make people happy,” James Reynolds Sr., patriarch of the extended Tennessee family that runs the four charities, is quoted as saying in the complaint of the cakes.
Reynolds then switched to Moon Pies.
“They make you happier,” Reynolds supposedly said.
And, even though the clan managed to get the Little Debbie snack cakes, the Moon Pies, the adult diapers, and the rest for next to nothing, the charities are said to have claimed the retail amount in financial filings. The idea, apparently, was to make it look like they devoted more of the donations to cancer patients than what little they did.
All the while, the charities are said to have raised ever more money with false and misleading claims, passing themselves off as being “on the forefront for the fight against cancer” and “on the forefront of actually helping needy children with cancer.”
In an alleged effort to squeeze more money out of unsuspecting donors, the charities scripted such telemarketing pitches as, “I understand [your hesitation to give]; however, we never want to have to tell a family that is stretching their finances to the breaking point that, ‘We’re sorry, but the CANCER FUND has fallen short of its fundraising goal, so we won’t be able to provide you with a wig for your child to cover the hair loss due to chemotherapy.’”
Never mind that these charities did not have a program to provide wigs to sick children.
The charities also claimed: “We help cancer patients anywhere in the United States. Men, women, and children with over 240 types of cancer.”
And although they seem not to provide hospice care of any kind, they still claimed: “We also do the hospice care for the terminally ill…We’re the ones that do the hospice care for the cancer patients afflicted with cancer from infants to adults…One hundred percent of our proceeds go to hospice care.”
The complaint notes that in fact “100% of the donations do not go to hospice care.”
On top of all this, the companies allegedly claimed millions of dollars in tax deductions for items delivered to cancer patients—even though the charities actually purchased nothing, only served as a conduit, if the goods existed at all.
And James Reynolds Sr. awarded plum jobs not only to his son, wife, sister-in-law, and mother-in-law, but also to his ex-wife, his stepson, and even a step-nephew.
One of the supposed charities, the Breast Cancer Society, was run by Reynolds’s son, James Jr.; the Children’s Cancer Fund of America was run by Reynolds’s ex-wife, Rose Perkins. Both James Jr. and Perkins have agreed not to contest the complaint and to shut those two charities down.
Under the deal they cut with the feds, the son officially faces a judgment of $65 million, but that will be suspended after he pays just $75,000. Perkins is hit with a $30 million judgment, but that will be suspended without her paying a penny due to her supposed lack of funds.
In the meantime, the son is insisting on the Breast Cancer Society’s website that he has not admitted guilt to anything:
“While the organization, its officers and directors have not been found guilty of any allegations of wrongdoing, and the government has not proven otherwise, our Board of Directors has decided that it does not help those who we seek to serve, and those who remain in need, for us to engage in a highly publicized, expensive, and distracting legal battle around our fundraising practices.”
And the patriarch, James Reynolds Sr., is promising to fight the allegations against himself and the other two charities, Cancer Fund of America and Cancer Support Services.
The feds and the combined attorneys general are resolved to press their civil case against him.
But the most Reynolds Sr. presently risks is a monetary judgment that he may escape paying the same way his son and his ex-wife did.
He faces not a minute behind bars, where the very worst of us supposedly reside.
One should never wish anybody to fall terminally ill, but if Reynolds Sr. does, let him eat Little Debbie snack cakes.
Or, better yet, Moon Pies.Recently someone who follows my Instagram posted this question on one of my photos:
"What is the first thing you notice in a man?"
I thought about it for a moment. Did I notice eyes? Hair? Smile? Shoulders? None of these answers seemed to fit. When I was younger, I tended to like men who were tall, thin, and dark-haired. But now, at 52, I don't really have a "type." At least, not a physical type. I gravitate towards men with a palpable sexiness. But just what, I asked myself, makes a man so sexy you can feel it emanating from him when he walks in the room?
I let my mind wander over images of men throughout my life who have made my breath catch, and my skin tingle, just by being in their presence. Sometimes I remembered how a t-shirt clung to one man's shoulders, or how another held my gaze unabashedly over a glass of wine. But mostly I reflected on the intangibles -- qualities, values, character traits -- a man must possess so that I want to send plates flying as I crawl across the dinner table and lower myself onto his lap.
These are 11 things I came up with:
1. Strength -- I don't mean how much a man can bench press, although a nice set of pecs doesn't hurt. I'm talking about internal-fortitude strength. Firmly-planted, I-know-who-I-am strength. There is nothing sexier than a man who's grounded, who's in command of the impulses and anger that may have derailed him when he was younger, whose quiet confidence telegraphs, without a hint of arrogance, that he has nothing to prove.
2. Vulnerability -- A man isn't strong unless he is also vulnerable. This means he can tell you what he wants, when he's afraid, how you make him feel, what he did that he's made amends for, what he's overcome, what brings him to his knees. Without transparency, there can be no genuine intimacy, that ingredient that makes sex remain sexy when the initial high of infatuation dissipates.
3. Integrity -- This ingredient separates the boys from the men. While they may dazzle in the beginning, womanizers, scoundrels, and narcissists use lies, cheap tricks, and smoke and mirrors for personal gain. There is nothing sexy about a man who pretends to be something he's not, who lacks any depth of feeling, and who doesn't care how much blood he leaves on the tracks. If you gave me a choice between bedding Don Draper and Atticus Finch, I'd choose that soft-spoken lawyer any day.
4. Intellect -- A beautiful mind is sexy. IQ points are great, but that's just a piece of smart. Critical thinking, an unquenchable thirst for learning, and a gift for distinctive self-expression create, for me, a kind of male siren's song. I don't care how gorgeous a man is; if he can't entice me with his mind, the sexual chemistry won't be there.
5. Sense of humor -- A man who lacks a sense of humor is like a cold shower on legs. It's impossible for me to connect with someone who's ultra-literal, hyper-serious, and rarely laughs. For me, intellect and humor are inseparable bedfellows. Smart people read nuances and see the humor in situations. And the brand of humor is critical. Even if a guy is hot, if his version of funny doesn't sync with mine, the sexy won't stay sexy for long.
6. Warmth -- It's exhausting trying to connect with someone behind walls. Compassion, empathy, a ready smile, an easy laugh -- these traits and actions are disarming in the best sense of the word. Kind is sexy. It just is.
7. Generosity -- Stinginess is a turn-off. Not only stingy with money, but also stingy with feelings. While squandering one's money and emotions indicate a lack of control or self-worth, counting pennies and withholding genuine contact suggest a preference for things over people. I've also found that stingy men aren't as good lovers as their more generous counterparts. It's not sexy to sleep with someone who holds back physically or emotionally in bed.
8. Affectionate -- Affection is warmth in action. A soft kiss on the back of my neck as he walks by. A palm reaching through the hole in my jeans to squeeze my knee. Laying his head on my chest because it's one of his favorite places to be. A man who loves touch for the sake of touch, whether or not it leads to sex, is sexy.
9. Mindfulness -- Not that long ago, I was attracted to men so ambitious that they appeared to be driven by motors. What I've learned is that that kind of "ambition" often masks insecurity, avarice, and aggression, qualities which are not remotely appealing. Mindfulness -- the ability to be aware and present in the moment, even if that moment is painful -- is the ultimate form of ambition because it requires a commitment to personal growth that is not for the faint of heart. A man who radiates quiet confidence, who is able to remain calm and centered in the face of challenges, makes me weak in the knees.
10. Partnership -- The only place I want to be dominated is in the bedroom, and that still requires my consent. In all other contexts I want a man who doesn't try to dominate me, who understands the need for compromise, reciprocity, communication, and respect. I have no time or patience for men who play games and control women in order to feel like men.
11. Sexual confidence -- True sexual confidence has nothing to do with penis size, smooth moves, and bedpost notches. It's an ambience distilled from quiet authority, an ability to read my body and my breath, a sensual lingering in the moment that may or may not involve gazing in my eyes, but always requires a desire to be vulnerable and present. A sexually charged man who is in command of his urges and firmly situated in his sexual expression will turn me into a breathless, perpetually aroused Alpha Submissive in no time flat.
Many of these 11 things didn't appear on the checklist I had when I was in my 20s. Back then I was seduced by slick businessmen with snazzy cars who traveled in packs. There's nothing wrong with someone who fits that description -- but razzle-dazzle wears thin quickly without substance to back it up. One benefit to being 52 is that I've finally learned what to look for in a man.
Earlier on Huff/Post50:As the operator of an orphanage in Haiti’s touristy seaside city of Jacmel, Daniel Pye provided orphaned and underprivileged Haitian children with a roof over their heads, schooling and a view of the outside world through movie night and internet access.
But Pye also had a darker side, several former residents of the missionary-supported orphanage testified in Miami federal court this week. He is accused of making multiple trips to the southern Haitian city from 2008 to 2011 to sexually abuse minor girls.
The case illustrates the difficulty of bringing Haiti cases to U.S. courts — a federal agent testified that Haiti’s 2015 presidential elections crisis had forced investigators to wait a year between interviews, and when they arrived in Haiti they were unable to travel to Jacmel because the U.S. Embassy advised them “it wasn’t safe to travel.” Yet it also reflects the determination of the United States to prosecute such allegations from a country where justice is often elusive.
Pye is being tried here because he traveled through Miami to commit the alleged underage sex abuse in Haiti.
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Though Pye is accused of sexually assaulting at least four minors in his care, the case centers on a 15-year-old girl who said she was 6 when the sexual abuse started. Through Creole translators, the teen described how Pye forced her to perform oral sex on him under bedsheets, and forced her to put a condom on him. She also recalled how his wife, Leann, walked in on them while she was in his bedroom underneath a sheet.
Other witnesses also testified about inappropriate sexual conduct. One young lady recalled how Pye touched her breasts and told her she had “a big butt” after pulling down her underwear. She also testified that she heard the Pyes getting into an argument after Leann Pye found the 6-year-old underneath the sheet with her husband.
Leann, who testified on behalf of her husband, denied the incidents happened, as did Pye.
“He tried to have sex with me,” the 15-year-old testified during questioning by a federal prosecutor.
“When I was in the orphanage I took Danny as a father; I appreciated him a lot,” the girl said. She never told anyone of the abuse because, she said, “He told me not to tell anybody.”
Pye, during questioning by his attorney, said while he routinely took the kids to the beach and had movie nights where the children watched films while lying on foam mattresses, nothing inappropriate ever happened.
“I tried to be a dad,” he said, as he detailed what a typical week at the orphanage was like, including Saturday trips to the beach. But one victim said he moved her bikini aside and tried to stick his finger in her vagina. “I swam with the kids … I taught many of them how to swim. I taught many of them how to float.”
Raised in Bradenton, Pye, 36, regularly traveled from South Florida to Haiti, which he first visited in 2003. He was arrested in late February in his hometown of Ashtown, Arkansas.
His involvement with the Jacmel orphanage began in 2005, he and his wife testified, after meeting its Canadian operator at a gas station.
The couple spent about seven to eight years in Haiti before calling it quits in 2012. The orphanage’s operations were eventually transferred to Builders Without Borders, a Texas-based nonprofit, after the Pyes got into a land title dispute with another couple. The dispute landed Daniel Pye in a Haitian jail for five months before a judge dismissed the charges, he said.
The federal charges against Pye were filed following a lengthy investigation that included investigators making two trips to Haiti to interview victims after authorities received a tip on a hotline.
During cross examination of the government’s witnesses — including a young man who said he had witnessed the inappropriate relationship between Pye and the 6-year-old — defense attorney Joel DeFabio tried to raise reasonable doubt and show inconsistencies in witnesses’ testimonies.
For one, he sought to demonstrate that witnesses couldn’t pinpoint exactly where the alleged abuse took place during Pye’s tenure at the orphanage, which was located in three different locations in Jacmel. DeFabio later presented as evidence two sketches — one drawn by Leann Pye and another completed by her after her husband started it — to show discrepancies in the witnesses’ descriptions of the orphanages’ layout.
But on cross examination, a prosecutor showed Pye had wrongly located a bathroom in one of the drawings.
Before presenting his first witness, LeAnne Pye, DeFabio asked the judge for an acquittal, saying the government had not proved that Pye traveled back and forth between the United States and Haiti to engage in sex tourism with minors. He also said there were “numerous inconsistencies in these witnesses’ statements.”
The judge dismissed the request, as well as another one by DeFabio seeking a mistrial based on a witness statement that he had not come forward about the abuse because he was afraid. Daniel Pye is scheduled to resume his testimony on Thursday. The jury could begin deliberation as early as Monday when closing arguments are expected. He faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.Scientific dating of the age of the Earth
The age of the Earth is 4.54 ± 0.05 billion years (4.54 × 109 years ± 1%).[1][2][3][4] This age may represent the age of the Earth's accretion, of core formation, or of the material from which the Earth formed.[2] This dating is based on evidence from radiometric age-dating of meteorite[5] material and is consistent with the radiometric ages of the oldest-known terrestrial and lunar samples.
Following the development of radiometric age-dating in the early 20th century, measurements of lead in uranium-rich minerals showed that some were in excess of a billion years old.[6] The oldest such minerals analyzed to date—small crystals of zircon from the Jack Hills of Western Australia—are at least 4.404 billion years old.[7][8][9] Calcium–aluminium-rich inclusions—the oldest known solid constituents within meteorites that are formed within the Solar System—are 4.567 billion years old,[10][11] giving a lower limit for the age of the solar system.
It is hypothesised that the accretion of Earth began soon after the formation of the calcium-aluminium-rich inclusions and the meteorites. Because the exact amount of time this accretion process took is not yet known, and the predictions from different accretion models range from a few million up to about 100 million years, the exact age of Earth is difficult to determine. It is also difficult to determine the exact age of the oldest rocks on Earth, exposed at the surface, as they are aggregates of minerals of possibly different ages.
Development of modern geologic concepts
Studies of strata, the layering of rocks and earth, gave naturalists an appreciation that Earth may have been through many changes during its existence. These layers often contained fossilized remains of unknown creatures, leading some to interpret a progression of organisms from layer to layer.[12][13]
Nicolas Steno in the 17th century was one of the first naturalists to appreciate the connection between fossil remains and strata.[13] His observations led him to formulate important stratigraphic concepts (i.e., the "law of superposition" and the "principle of original horizontality").[14] In the 1790s, William Smith hypothesized that if two layers of rock at widely differing locations contained similar fossils, then it was very plausible that the layers were the same age.[15] William Smith's nephew and student, John Phillips, later calculated by such means that Earth was about 96 million years old.[16]
In the mid-18th century, the naturalist Mikhail Lomonosov suggested that Earth had been created separately from, and several hundred thousand years before, the rest of the universe. Lomonosov's ideas were mostly speculative. In 1779 the Comte du Buffon tried to obtain a value for the age of Earth using an experiment: He created a small globe that resembled Earth in composition and then measured its rate of cooling. This led him to estimate that Earth was about 75,000 years old.
Other naturalists used these hypotheses to construct a history of Earth, though their timelines were inexact as they did not know how long it took to lay down stratigraphic layers.[14] In 1830, geologist Charles Lyell, developing ideas found in James Hutton's works, popularized the concept that the features of Earth were in perpetual change, eroding and reforming continuously, and the rate of this change was roughly constant. This was a challenge to the traditional view, which saw the history of Earth as static,[citation needed] with changes brought about by intermittent catastrophes. Many naturalists were influenced by Lyell to become "uniformitarians" who believed that changes were constant and uniform.[citation needed]
Early calculations
In 1862, the physicist William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin published calculations that fixed the age of Earth at between 20 million and 400 million years.[17][18] He assumed that Earth had formed as a completely molten object, and determined the amount of time |
get the mount before maxing out other areas of your character.
We can only hope this is just a sign of a bigger change in the mount gameplay. People have been asking for an inventory for mounts and the devs stated they won’t bother unless it makes sense collecting them. Passives that you can switch out depending on your build and the situation might warrant such a stable. It also wouldn’t be as bad if they updated all existing mounts and adopted a companion-like system where lower qualities grant the same ability with diminished efficiency. That would also make sense on the business side of things, because mount upgrades from the Wondrous Bazaar suddenly would become more attractive.
With mounts of such magnitude you could go as far as an universal change to BtA. Or maybe even an account stable in which you can unlock the mounts similar to the ZEN store and reclaim it with any character. It’s probably more likely that China will top the Press Freedom Index though, but one can always dream.
Although players ask to stop the insanity, history shows this will be pushed through. Right now you can only hope that this is just a glimpse of a much bigger change and that such powerful passives won’t be as exclusive as it currently appears to be.Linux 2.6.34 has been released on 16 May, 2010.
Summary: This version adds two new filesystem, the distributed filesystem Ceph and LogFS, a filesystem for flash devices. Other features are a driver for almost-native KVM network performance, the VMware ballon driver, the "kprobes jump" optimization for dynamic probes, new perf features (the "perf lock" tool, cross-platform analysis support), support for GPU switching, several Btrfs improvements, RCU lockdep, Generalized TTL Security Mechanism (RFC 5082) and private VLAN proxy arp (RFC 3069) support, asynchronous suspend/resume, several new drivers and many other small improvements.
1. Prominent features (the cool stuff)
1.1. Ceph filesystem
Linux-mag article: Ceph: The Distributed File System Creature from the Object Lagoon
IBM Developerworks article: Ceph: A Linux petabyte-scale distributed file system
LWN article: The Ceph filesystem
Ceph is a distributed network filesystem. It is built from the ground up to seamlessly and gracefully scale from gigabytes to petabytes and beyond. Scalability is considered in terms of workload as well as total storage. Ceph is designed to handle workloads in which tens thousands of clients or more simultaneously access the same file, or write to the same directory–usage scenarios that bring typical enterprise storage systems to their knees.
Some of the key features that make Ceph different from existing file systems:
Seamless scaling: A Ceph filesystem can be seamlessly expanded by simply adding storage nodes (OSDs), and proactively migrates data onto new devices in order to maintain a balanced distribution of data.
Strong reliability and fast recovery: All data in Ceph is replicated across multiple OSDs. If any OSD fails, data is automatically re-replicated to other devices.
Adaptive MDS: The Ceph metadata server (MDS) is designed to dynamically adapt its behavior to the current workload. As the size and popularity of the file system hierarchy changes over time, that hierarchy is dynamically redistributed among available metadata servers in order to balance load and most effectively use server resources. Similarly, if thousands of clients suddenly access a single file or directory, that metadata is dynamically replicated across multiple servers to distribute the workload.
Project web site: ceph.newdream.net
Code: (code)
1.2. LogFS
Recommended LWN article: LogFS
LogFS is a filesystem designed for storage devices based on flash memory (SDD hard disks, USB sticks, etc). It is aimed to scale efficiently to large devices. In comparison to JFFS2, it offers significantly faster mount times and potentially less RAM usage. In its current state it is still experimental.
Project web site: www.logfs.org
Code: (commit)
1.3. Vhost net: fast KVM networking
vhost net is a kernel-level backend for virtio networking. The main motivation for vhost is to reduce virtualization overhead for virtio-net by moving the task of converting virtio descriptors to skbs and back from qemu userspace to the vhost net driver. For virtio-net this means removing up to 4 system calls per packet: vm exit for kick, reentry for kick, iothread wakeup for packet, interrupt injection for packet. This was shown to reduce latency by a factor of 5, and improve bandwidth to almost-native performance. Existing virtio net code is used in guests without modification.
Project web site: http://www.linux-kvm.org/page/VhostNet
Code: (commit)
In this version, Btrfs has the ability to change which subvolume or snapshot is mounted by default. For a while, Btrfs had a "mount -o subvol" option, which mounts into a subvolume instead of using the default root. The new ioctl allows you to set this once with "btrfs subvolume set-default" and have it used as the new default for every mount (without any mount options), until you change it again. This feature is part of snapshot assisted distro upgrades, where you can take a snapshot of your distro, update it to a beta version, and revert back the default root to the old tree if you want to go back to the old, stable version. Support for such functionality has already been added to the Yum package manager when the "yum-plugin-fs-snapshot" package is installed. This plugin takes snapshots and modifies the GRUB configuration files to show different boot options for each snapshot (note that recent versions of LVM also support changing which snapshot is the default root, so you also can use this feature in LVM/Ext4 systems) But the ioctl also sets an incompat bit on the super block because the developers ended up doing it differently than they had planned in the disk format. People would end up with a big surprise if they mounted with 2.6.33 and got one directory tree but mounted with 2.6.32 and got another, so an incompat bit is flip when the ioctl is run. The incompat bit is only set if you run the set-default ioctl. Code: (commit), (commit), (commit)
This feature is part of snapshot assisted distro upgrades, where you can take a snapshot of your distro, update it to a beta version, and revert back the default root to the old tree if you want to go back to the old, stable version. Support for such functionality has already been added to the Yum package manager when the "yum-plugin-fs-snapshot" package is installed. This plugin takes snapshots and modifies the GRUB configuration files to show different boot options for each snapshot (note that recent versions of LVM also support changing which snapshot is the default root, so you also can use this feature in LVM/Ext4 systems) A new userspace utility has been created, it's a command called "btrfs". This tool replaces the old utilities.
A ioctl has been added to list all the subvolumes on the filesystem (command "btrfs subvolume list"). This makes use of a new interface that runs tree searches from userland, which will be used for incremental backups in later btrfs-progs releases. There's a userspace utility to list files recently modified (command "btrfs subvolume find-new") Ioctl code: (commit)
The math for df has been changed a little to better reflect space available for data, and factors in duplication for raid and single spindle dup. Also, a a space info ioctl has been added, which shows (command "btrfs filesystem df") how much space is tied up in metadata, and shows the raid level used for metadata/data. Code: (commit), (commit)
The defrag code has added the ability to compress a single file on demand and defrag only a range of bytes in the file. Code: (commit)
When snapshots are taken, Btrfs now waits for all the delayed allocation extents to hit the disk first.
1.5. Kprobes jump optimization
Recommended LWN article: Minimizing instrumentation impacts
Kprobes is an old feature (merged in 2004) that allows to gather information from any routine in the kernel at runtime. It is the internal system that Systemtap uses to insert probes at a random point of the kernel. The current system used to implement Kprobes (in x86) is a a breakpoint. At the instruction address, a "int 3" instruction is inserted, and when the code path hits it, the exception handler is called and kprobes recollects all the information needed.
This system works very well and it's quite efficient, but it can be improved. This version adds an experimental feature to improve it. In 2.6.34, a probe can use optionally in many (but not all, and no preempt support for now) places a simple jump, which is much faster. Usually, a kprobe hit takes 0.5 to 1.0 microseconds to process. On the other hand, a jump optimized probe hit takes less than 0.1 microseconds.
Code: (commit 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
1.6. perf improvements, perf lock
The perf tool and the tracing subsystem adds
perf lock: analyzes lock statistics Code: (commit)
Cross platform analysis support. The data recollected by perf can be analyzed in another system in a different architecture. A command has been added (command "perf archive") to archive in a.tar.bz2 file all the object files needed to do an analysis of a perf record, so an user can send it to someone who can interpret the data correctly. Code: (commit 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
Add new "perf buildid-cache" command to manage build-id cache Code: (commit)
Python scripting engine, allow to process trace data with a Python script (commit), (commit), (commit)
1.7. RCU lockdep
Recommended LWN article: Lockdep-RCU
RCU is a scalable locking scheme used in many parts of the Linux tree. Its use is extending all over the tree, but its correct use needs manual checking. This version brings lockdep-style checking to rcu_dereference()
Code: (commit)
1.8. Generalized TTL Security Mechanism and private VLAN proxy arp support
Linux adds router denial-of-service prevention
This version adds support for Generalized TTL Security Mechanism (GTSM), RFC 5082. It is a lightweight security measure against forged packets causing DoS attacks using BGP packets (commit)
This version also adds support for private VLAN proxy arp support (RFC 3069) (commit)
1.9. Asynchronous suspend/resume
Recommended LWN article: Redesigning asynchronous suspend/resume
The power management code has been modified to allow asynchronous suspend/resume, allowing drivers to do device suspend/resume in parallel, which improves the time used to suspend/resume devices quite a lot. In this version, PCI, USB and SCSI devices do asynchronous suspend/resume by default.
Code: (commit 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
1.10. GPU switching
Some laptops have two GPUs, a low-power and inefficient GPU and a high-power and powerful GPU. Users should be able to switch to one or another at runtime. In this version, Linux adds support for this feature. You need to restart X, though.
Code: (commit)
1.11. Preliminary Radeon Evergreen (Radeon HD 5xxx)
This version adds preliminary support for Radeon Evergreen (Radeon HD 5xxx). It isn't ready for users (no acceleration at all), but it's progressing.
Code: (commit)
1.12. VMware ballon driver
This is a standalone version of VMware Balloon driver. Ballooning is a technique that allows hypervisor dynamically limit the amount of memory available to the guest (with guest cooperation). This driver will only activate if host is VMware.
Code: (commit)
2. Various core changes
vmscan: Factor out page reference checks (help workloads with large amounts of shortly used file mappings, like rtorrent hashing a file or git when dealing with loose objects) (commit)
Change anon_vma linking to fix multi-process server scalability issue (commit)
Count swap usage in /proc/PID/smaps (commit)
Add NOFOLLOW flag to umount(2) (commit)
ptrace: Add support for generic PTRACE_GETREGSET/PTRACE_SETREGSET (commit)
readahead: introduce FMODE_RANDOM for POSIX_FADV_RANDOM (commit)
PM: Add sysfs switch for disabling device run-time PM (commit)
PCI: support for PCI PME wake-up (commit), PCIe PME root port service driver (commit)
memory-hotplug: create /sys/firmware/memmap entry for new memory (commit)
elf coredump: add extended numbering support (commit)
failslab: add ability to filter slab caches (commit)
CPUFREQ: Processor Clocking Control interface driver (commit)
3. Filesystems
XFS Use scalable vmap API (commit), (commit) Implement optimized fdatasync (commit) Otimize log flushing in xfs_fsync (commit)
Exofs Define on-disk per-inode optional layout attribute (commit) Groups support, (commit), (commit) RAID0 support (commit)
GFS2 Metadata address space clean up (commit) Ordered writes are backwards (commit)
Squashfs Add support for lzma and lzo compression (commit), (commit)
FAT Add support for large disks (commit)
4. Networking
Add a mac-vlan based tap driver (commit)
SCTP Transport Loadbalancing Support (commit)
TCP: thin dupack (commit), thin linear timeouts (commit)
tun: socket filter support (commit), (commit)
packet: Add GSO/csum offload support. (commit), kill CONFIG_PACKET_MMAP. (commit)
9p: Add multi channel support. (commit), add 9P2000.u and 9P2010.L protocol support (commit), (commit), (commit)
xfrm: Introduce basic mark infrastructure (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit)
Phonet: zero-copy aligned GPRS RX (commit), zero-copy GPRS TX (commit)
Add MSG_WAITFORONE flag to recvmmsg (commit)
llc: add support for LLC_OPT_PKTINFO (commit), add support for SO_BINDTODEVICE (commit)
ethtool: Introduce n-tuple filter programming support (commit)
bridge: add core IGMP snooping support (commit)
Netfilter nf_conntrack_sip: add T.38 FAX support (commit), add TCP support (commit) nf_conntrack: support conntrack templates (commit), add support for "conntrack zones" (commit) nf_nat_sip: add TCP support (commit) ctnetlink: add zone support (commit) ebtables: add CONFIG_COMPAT support (commit) xtables: add CT target (commit)
WiFi cfg80211: add remain-on-channel command (commit) mac80211 add debugfs interface for U-APSD queue configuration (commit) add U-APSD client support (commit) mac80211/cfg80211: add station events (commit) mac80211: enable spatial multiplexing powersave (commit) mac80211: support remain-on-channel command (commit) Remove CONFIG_WIRELESS_OLD_REGULATORY (commit) Support internal statically compiled regulatory database (commit)= Security = nl80211: add power save commands (commit), new command for setting TX rate mask for rate control (commit)
5. Cgroups
Make cgroup subsystems loadable modules (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit)
Implement eventfd-based generic API for notifications about changing status of a cgroup (commit), (commit)
memcg: add interface to move charge at task migration (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit),
memcg: implement memory thresholds and send notifications when it crosses using the new notification api (commit)
6. Tracing/Profiling
Add lazy line matching support (commit)
Use elfutils-libdw for analyzing debuginfo (commit)
Add multiple event support (commit)
Support tracepoint glob matching (commit)
Enable Nehalem-EX support (commit)
AMD event scheduling (commit)
Implement intel core solo/duo support (commit)
Implement Intel Westmere support (commit)
7. Crypto
gcm - Add RFC4543 wrapper for GCM (commit)
pcrypt - Add pcrypt crypto parallelization wrapper (commit)
8. Virtualization
Initial HYPER-V emulation (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit)
Bump maximum vcpu count to 64 (commit)
Enable PCI multiple-segments for pass-through device (commit)
PPC: Add support for FPU/Altivec/VSX (commit)
VMX: Enable EPT 1GB page support (commit)
x86 emulator: Add Virtual-8086 mode of emulation (commit)
virtio: Add memory statistics reporting to the balloon driver (V4) (commit), add block topology support (commit)
9. Block
drbd: --dry-run option for drbdsetup net ( drbdadm -- --dry-run connect <res> ) (commit)
Added in stricter no merge semantics for I/O (improves performance a tiny bit) (commit)
cfq-iosched: rethink seeky detection for SSDs (commit), rework seeky detection (commit)
10. Security
SElinux: allow MLS->non-MLS and vice versa upon policy reload (commit)
TOMOYO: Add garbage collector. (commit)
11. Architecture-specific changes
x86 Support native xadd rwsem implementation (+300% speedup in threaded page faults) (commit) numa: Remove configurable node size support for numa emulation (commit), (commit), Moorestown PCI support (commit) * ARM
ARM Enable perf support (commit), (commit), (commit) Add support for Samsung S5P6440 board (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit),(commit) Add Samsung S5P6442 board support(commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit) Add Samsung S5PV210/S5PC110 board support (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit) AT91: Add support for Atmel AT572D940HF processor (commit), (commit) Add support for Nuvoton NUC93X(commit) Add Renesas SH-Mobile ARM platforms (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit) mx31moboard: support for the smartbot baseboard (commit) mxc: Add support for the Babbage board (i.MX5) (commit), (commit), (commit) SMDK6410: Add initial support for WM1192-EV1 PMIC board (commit) Use generic infrastructure for early params (commit) OMAP4: Add L2 Cache support (commit) Add support for EP9315 based Snapper CL15 board (commit) Kirkwood: add LaCie Internet Space v2 support (commit), combine support for openrd base/client support (commit) ep93xx: Add support for Simplemachines Sim.One board (commit) mmp: add support for Marvell MMP2 (commit), support jasper development board (commit) MV78xx0: Support for Buffalo WXL (Terastation Duo) (commit) Orion: Add Buffalo Linkstation LS-HGL support (commit) pxa: add support for Embedian MXM-8x10 (commit), add platform support (commit) S3C64XX: Add I2S resources in platform code (commit), add S3C64XX RTC platform driver (commit), add S3C64XX support to the generic Samsung ADC driver (commit) SAMSUNG: Add core clock implementation for clksrc based clocks (commit) mx25: add NAND support (commit) Add COH 901 318 DMA driver platform config for U300 (commit) OMAP3: Add support for flash on 3430SDP board (commit), add support for flash on IGEP v2 board (commit), introduce 3630 DPLL4 HSDivider changes (commit), introduce DPLL4 Jtype (commit), cm-t35: add DSS2 display support (commit) OMAP: DSS2: Add Sharp LQ043T1DG01 panel driver (commit), add Toppoly TDO35S panel (commit), (commit), add TPO TD043MTEA1 panel (commit) NUC900 LCD Controller Driver (commit) Add support for Devkit8000 (commit), (commit) davinci: add power management support (commit)
PowerPC Add timer, performance monitor and machine check counts to /proc/interrupts (commit) booke: Add support for advanced debug registers (commit), (commit), (commit) Extended ptrace interface (commit) e500 perf support (commit)
SH Abstracted SH-4A UBC support on hw-breakpoint core. (commit) Add support for LZO-compressed kernels. (commit) Definitions for 3-level page table layout (commit) kmemleak support. (commit) mach-sdk7786: heartbeat support. (commit) Move over to dynamically allocated FPU context. (commit) Preliminary SDK7786 board support. (commit) Support PCI domains. (commit)
Blackfin Add support for cpufreq on SMP systems (commit) Initial XIP support (commit) SMP: add PM/CPU hotplug support (commit) SMP: make core timers per-cpu clock events for HRT (commit) Initial regset support (commit) Initial tracehook support (commit) tcm-bf518: new board port (commit) bf527-ezkit: add support for V2.1 boards (commit)
S390 qeth: HiperSockets Network Traffic Analyzer (commit) Add support for compressed kernels (commit) dasd: automatic recognition of read-only devices (commit) zfcpdump: remove cross arch dump support (commit)
SPARC Add function graph tracer support. (commit) Add very basic XVR-1000 framebuffer driver. (commit) Support kmemleak. (commit)
Microblaze Add support from PREEMPT (commit) Enable PCI (commit) Support DMA (commit) Enable memory leak detector (commit)
MIPS Two-level pagetables for 64-bit kernels with 64KB pages. (commit) Preliminary VDSO (commit) Optimize spinlocks. (commit) Implement Read Inhibit/eXecute Inhibit (commit) Alchemy: Extended DB1200 board support. (commit), XXS1500 PCMCIA driver rewrite (commit) BCM63xx: Add DWVS0 board (commit), add the RTA1025W-16 BCM6348-based board to supported boards. (commit) Add driver for Cavium OCTEON I2C ports. (commit) PCMCIA: New socket driver for Au1000 demoboards. (commit) Alchemy: DB1200 AC97+I2S audio support. (commit)
M68k Add NPTL support (commit), (commit) pmac-zilog: add platform driver (commit)
IA64: Remove COMPAT_IA32 support (commit)
12. Drivers
12.1. Graphics
i915 Add dynamic performance control support for Ironlake (commit) Add initial bits for VGA modesetting bringup on Sandybridge. (commit) Enable memory self refresh on 9xx (commit)
Nouveau new userspace interface, needs new userspace driver (commit) nv50: Implement ctxprog/state generation. (commit)
Radeon Add asic hook for dma copy to r200 cards. (commit) Add new RS880 pci id (commit) Add support for hw i2c on r1xx-r5xx (commit) Add support for square microtiles on r3xx-r5xx (commit) r600/r700 command stream checker (commit) Add dynamic engine reclocking (commit) Enable ACPI powermanagement mode on radeon gpus. (commit)
agp/intel: Add support for Sandybridge. (commit)
vgaarb: Add user selectability of the number of GPUS in a system (commit)
viafb: support color depth 15 and 30 (commit)
12.2. Storage
SATA/PATA pata_atiixp: enable parallel scan (commit) pata_efar: Enable parallel scanning (commit) pata_via: Add VIA VX900 support (commit) ata_piix: IDE Mode SATA patch for Intel Cougar Point DeviceIDs (commit) via82cxxx: add support for VT6415 PCIE PATA IDE Host Controller (commit), add support for vt8261 and future chips (commit) ahci: AHCI and RAID mode SATA patch for Intel Cougar Point DeviceIDs (commit), implement SATA AHCI FIS-based switching support (commit)
SCSI be2iscsi: Adding support for BE3 (commit) hpsa: Allow multiple command completions per interrupt. (commit), add pci ids for storageworks 1210m, remove p400, p800, p700m (commit) ipr: adds PCI ID definitions for new adapters (commit) lpfc: Added management for LP21000 through BSG. (commit), SLI enhancements to support new hardware. (commit), restore MSI-X/MSI support (commit) mpt2sas: Added raid transport support (commit) qla2xxx: Add BSG support for FC ELS/CT passthrough and vendor commands. (commit), add firmware ETS burst support. (commit), enhance EEH support and enable AER support. (commit)
12.3. Network
Intel(R) 82599 Virtual Function Ethernet support (commit), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
Add cxgb4 driver for Chelsio T4-based gigabit and 10Gb Ethernet devices (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit), (commit)
qlcnic: Qlogic ethernet driver for CNA devices (commit)
Add Aeroflex Gaisler 10/100/1G Ethernet MAC driver (commit)
Add Micrel KSZ8841/2 PCI Ethernet driver (commit)
smsc75xx: SMSC LAN75xx USB gigabit ethernet adapter driver (commit)
ixgbe: Add SR-IOV support (commit 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, add support for the new ethtool n-tuple programming interface (commit)
mwl8k: basic AP interface support (commit), enable multi-BSS AP operation (commit), implement AP firmware station database maintenance (commit), add a pci-id (commit)
igb: Add support for 82576 ET2 Quad Port Server Adapter (commit), add support for device reset interrupt (commit), add support for wake-on-link (commit), support for VF configuration tools (commit)
sh_sir: Add SuperH IrDA driver (commit)
IGEPv2: Added WIFI support (commit)
wl1251: add U-APSD support (commit), implement WMM (commit), (commit)
wl1271: Add rudimentary ad-hoc support (commit), implement WMM (commit), implement chipset boot retry (commit), add testmode support (commit)
iwlwifi: add continuous uCode event log capability (commit)
rt73usb: add WLI-U2-H54HP (commit)
libertas: add Station and AdHoc mode support (commit), make mesh configurable (commit)
be2net: implements ethtool function to read eeprom data. (commit)
enic: feature add: add ethtool -c/C support (commit)
fs_enet: Add support for MPC512x to fs_enet driver (commit)
MCS7830 USB-Ether: add Rx error support (commit)
qlge: Add watchdog timer. (commit)
Delete isa-skeleton net driver (commit)
RDMA: cxgb3: Doorbell overflow avoidance and recovery (commit), nes: Add support for KR device id 0x0110 (commit)
ar9170usb: add Sphairon Homelink 1202 USB ID (commit)
ath9k: add support for 802.11n bonded out AR2427 (commit)
atl1c: Add support for Atheros AR8152 and AR8152 (commit)
can: add support for CAN interface cards based on the PLX90xx PCI bridge (commit), add support for the MPC512x processor (commit)
CAPI: Dynamically register minor devices (commit)
12.4. Input
Add driver for TWL4030 vibrator device (commit)
Add imx-keypad driver to support the IMX Keypad Port (commit)
usbtouchscreen: add NEXIO (or iNexio) support (commit)
Add support for ADP5587 devices (commit)
ads7846: add support for AD7843 parts (commit)
gamecon: add rumble support for N64 pads (commit)
Mac button emulation - implement as an input filter (commit)
Implement input filters (commit)
gpio-keys: add support for disabling gpios through sysfs (commit)
12.5. USB
Implement autosuspend (commit)
cdc_acm: Add support for pbLua console port (commit)
convert to the runtime PM framework (commit)
cp210x: Add 81E8 (Zephyr Bioharness) (commit)
ehci-fsl: Add power management support (commit)
gadget: introduce g_nokia gadget driver (commit)
musb: Add context save and restore support (commit)
MXC: Add i.MX21 specific USB host controller driver. (commit)
OHCI: DA8xx/OMAP-L1x glue layer (commit)
option: add Longcheer/Longsung vendor ID (commit)
pl2303: initial TIOCGSERIAL support (commit)
qcaux: driver for auxiliary serial ports on Qualcomm devices (commit)
serial: add support for serial port on the moschip 7715 (commit), add support for ViVOtech ViVOpay devices. (commit)
vstusb.c: removal of driver for Vernier Software & Technology, Inc., devices and spectrometers (commit)
Remove the berry_charge driver (commit)
Remove unsupported usb gadget drivers (commit)
12.6. Sound
HDA: Add ALC269VB support (commit),add ALC670 codec support (commit), add/fix ALC269 FSC and Quanta models (commit), add Macmini 3,1 support (commit), add support for IDT 92HD88 family codecs (commit), add support for Lenovo IdeaPad U150 (commit), add support for Medion WIM2160 (commit), add support for more the 8 streams (commit), add support for Toshiba Satellite M300 (commit), add support of ALC665 (commit), configure XO-1.5 microphones at capture time (commit), new Intel HDA controller (commit), support NVIDIA MCP89 and GT21x hdmi audio (commit), support OLPC XO-1.5 DC input (commit)
Add Edirol UA-101 support (commit)
virtuoso: add Xonar DS support (commit)
Add support for Macbook Air 2,1 internal speaker (commit)
USB MIDI support for Access Music VirusTI (commit)
jazz16: Add support for Media Vision Jazz16 chipset (commit)
ua101: add Edirol UA-1000 support (commit)
dt019x: merge into the als100 driver (commit)
ASoC AC97: S3C2443: Remove unused driver (commit) AC97: S3C: Add controller driver (commit) AC97: SMDK: Add wm9713 machine driver (commit) Add a new imx-ssi sound driver (commit) add a WM8978 codec driver (commit) Add DA7210 codec device support for ALSA (commit) add DAI and platform / DMA drivers for SH SIU (commit) Add FSI-DA7210 sound support for SuperH (commit) Add initial WM8955 CODEC driver (commit) add support for the sh7722 Migo-R board (commit) Add WM2000 driver (commit) Add WM8912 DAC support (commit) Add WM8994 CODEC driver (commit) Initial WM8904 CODEC driver (commit) OMAP4: Add McPDM platform driver (commit) OMAP4: Add support for McPDM (commit) pandora: Add DAC regulator support (commit) Remove old i.MX driver code (commit)
12.7. V4L/DVB
Add Prof 7500 DVB-S2 USB card (commit)
gspca - benq: New subdriver for camera 04a5:3035. (commit)
gspca_sn9c2028: New gspca subdriver (commit)
gspca_cpai1: New gspca subdriver for CPIA CPiA version 1 cams (commit)
Add driver for Telegent tlg2300 (commit)
AZ6027: Initial import of the driver (commit)
gspca - sonixj: Add sensor adcm1700 and webcam 0c45:614a. (commit)
em28xx: add PAL support for VBI (commit)
Add Support for DVBWorld DVB-S2 PCI 2004D card (commit)
Add support for SMT7020 to cx88 (commit)
af9015: support for DigitalNow TinyTwin v2 (commit), support for Leadtek WinFast DTV2000DS (commit)
cx18: add cx18-alsa module to Makefile (commit)
cx23885: Add support for LEADTEK WinFast PxTV1200 (commit)
em28xx: add Dikom DK300 hybrid USB tuner (commit)
gspca_mr97310a: add support for the Sakar 1638x CyberPix (commit)
m920x: Add support for Pinnacle PCTV310e card (commit)
mfd: Add support for the timberdale FPGA (commit)
ngene: Initial check-in (commit)
radio: Add radio-timb (commit)
radio: add support for SAA7706H Car Radio DSP (commit)
TVP7002 driver for DM365 (commit), (commit)
vpfe ISIF HW module(commit)
12.8. Staging
Add Broadcom Crystal HD driver (commit)
Add dt3155 driver (commit)
udlfb: add dynamic modeset support (commit), improved rendering performance (commit)
vme: add ca91cx42 dma support (commit), add ca91cx42 rmw support (commit), add location monitor support for ca91cx42 (commit), enable drivers to handle more than one bridge (commit), VMIVME-7805 board support (commit)
sm7xx: remove the buggy 2D acceleration support (commit)
Octeon Ethernet: Convert to NAPI. (commit)
p9auth: remove driver from tree (commit)
altpciechdma: remove driver (commit)
mimio: remove the mimio driver (commit)
remove the b3dfg driver (commit)
12.9. HWMON
Add driver for ADT7411 voltage and temperature sensor (commit)
Driver for Andigilog aSC7621 family monitoring chips (commit)
applesmc: Add iMac9,1 and MacBookPro2,2 support (commit)
it87: Add support for beep on alarm (commit), add support for old automatic fan speed control (commit)
lm90: Add SMBus alert support (commit), add support for the Winbond/Nuvoton W83L771AWG/ASG (commit)
w83793: Add watchdog functionality (commit)
Remove the deprecated adt7473 driver (commit)
12.10. HID
Add a device driver for the Apple Magic Mouse. (commit)
Add driver for the Logitech Flight System G940 (commit)
Add pressure support for the Stantum multitouch panel (commit)
Add RGT Clutch Wheel clutch device id (commit)
Add support for Acer T230H multitouch (commit)
Add support for Ortek WKB-2000 (commit)
Add support for Pixart Imaging Optical Touch Screen (commit)
Add support for Stantum multitouch panel (commit)
Enable Sixaxis controller over Bluetooth (commit)
Support for 3M multitouch panel (commit)
Support for MosArt multitouch panel (commit)
Use multi input quirk for TouchPack touchscreen (commit)
12.11. RTC
Add MPC5121 Real time clock driver (commit)
Enable rtc in max8925 (commit)
AM3517: Enable RTC driver support for AM3517EVM (commit)
12.12. Serial
8250_pci: add support for MCS9865 / SYBA 6x Serial Port Card (commit)
Add support for Korenix JetCard (commit)
12.13. I2C
Add SMBus alert support (commit)
Add support for Ux500/Nomadik I2C controller (commit)
Add support for Xilinx XPS IIC Bus Interface (commit)
i2c-i801: Add Intel Cougar Point device IDs (commit)
i2c-mpc: add support for the MPC512x processors from Freescale (commit)
i2c-parport: Add SMBus alert support (commit)
i2c-parport-light: Add SMBus alert support (commit)
12.14. Various
UIO: Add a driver for Hilscher netX-based fieldbus cards (commit)
UIO: Remove SMX Cryptengine driver (commit)
spi: Add Freescale/Motorola Coldfire QSPI driver (commit)
spi: Add SPI master driver for DaVinci/DA8xx (commit)
Regulator: Add max8925 support (commit), add voltage selection capability to mc13783 regulators v2. (commit), add WM8994 regulator support (commit), enable max8649 regulator driver (commit)
pps: LinuxPPS clients support (commit), serial clients support (commit)
power_supply: bq27x00: add BQ27500 support (commit), enable power supply of max8925 (commit)
mfd: Add HTCPLD driver (commit)
mfd: Add initial WM8994 support (commit)
mfd: Add WM8994 register definitions (commit)
mfd: Initial max8925 |
to redo the feel of Transformers. That’s why I wanted to start with a new cast. You want it to feel fresh, and you want to make it feel different than the other three.” —Maxim, April 2013
On working with Transformers, which (reminder) aren’t real
“It’s a bitch working with robots. Ten thousand moving parts and you have to make them fucking emote.” —Details, May 2007
On studio difficulties during the production of Pain and Gain
“Well, there were times that the studio tried to shut me down. ‘Why do you need those two days?’ ‘Because it’s called a fucking ending. We need the fucking ending. We either shoot it now or shoot it later, alright? Go ahead! Shut me down! Come on down to Florida!’” —Moviefone, April 2013
On Transformers 2
“The real fault with [Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen] is that it ran into a mystical world. When I look back at it, that was crap.” —Empire, March 2011
On Transformers 2 (redux)
“It was kind of a mess, wasn’t it?” —Hero Complex, January 2011
On shooting Transformers 4 in Texas
“I wanted to go back to more down-home. They wanted me not to go to Texas, and I said, ‘Fuck it. I’m going to Texas.’ There’s a shot of Texas because there’s no more down-home place, you know what I’m saying?” —SlashFilm, June 2014
On his college experience
“Wesleyan was very cliquey. They all wore dark clothing, and they were always uggghhhhh.” —GQ, July 2011
On internet critics
“There are only about 50 people on the Internet. If you look at their names, same people, same names. They don’t seem like they really get into movies. A couple of them are smart, but some are just they seem like they hate the world.” —L.A. Times, May 2001
On his first film
“I was 24 years old. Playboy approached me to do a centerfold video. I was so shy, I could barely ask [Kerri] Kendall to take her top off. But by Sunday I was like, ‘No! Do it in the leopard G-string!’” —Newsweek, April 2013
On shooting a Victoria’s Secret ad
“They bring in tons of heels, and I walk in there knowing nothing about fashion. I just go from a guy’s perspective. I say, ‘Those suck. What are those effin’ chunky heels? Get ’em out of here.’ And they’re like, ‘But these are in style!’ ‘I don’t care. They’re gonna be out of style in a week. Guys don’t like chunky heels. Get rid of ’em.’ —Maxim, April 2013
On filming women
“Films make everything too beautiful. That’s not real life. Honestly, doing Victoria’s Secret is the most nonsexual job in the world. I don’t pick up anybody I work with. It’s kind of bizarre, but I could be shooting a glazed donut. There have only been a couple of moments where I actually went, ‘Wow!’” —Maxim, April 2013
On dating
“It’s like, you know, I had a reporter here who said, ‘Would you ever date a girl who didn’t like your movies?’ I’m like, Yeah. Yeah. Um. Yee-aah. That’s, you know, you don’t have to like what I do. You know? It’s just something I like doing.” —Esquire, July 2001
On dealing with difficult actors
“Some directors will cower, but I don’t take shit.” —Movieline, May 2001
On working with Martin Lawrence on Bad Boys
“By week two, Martin was being a dick to me. And I was like, ‘What is this attitude?’ He didn’t trust the white man. That was the deal… [Eventually] I took him aside and said, ‘Dude, what’s your deal? I’m busting my ass to make you look good, make you look funny. And you just keep belittling me.’ And then here’s the speech, almost like it was ready to come out. He says, ‘I’m a black man that made it from nothing!’ And I said, ‘You know what? I’m a white guy who made it from nothing, too. I grew up in the fuckin’ Valley.’ Instant respect.” —GQ, July 2011
On directing Sean Connery
“He kept calling me ‘boy.’ And one time he called me a ‘cock.’ [In Connery accent] ‘You cocksucker!’ It was his last day of the shoot, and he didn’t like holding his breath underwater. I had United States SEALs holding him down because there was a fireball going over the water, and if he came up, he would burn his face off. So whatever, he called me names.” —GQ, July 2011
On Megan Fox calling him Hitler (part one)
“I wasn’t hurt, because I know that’s just Megan. Megan loves to get a response. And she does it in kind of the wrong way. I’m sorry, Megan. I’m sorry I made you work twelve hours. I’m sorry that I’m making you show up on time. Movies are not always warm and fuzzy.” —GQ, July 2011
On Megan Fox calling him Hitler (part two)
“P.S. Megan Fox, welcome back. I promise no alien robots will harm you in any way during the production of this motion picture. Please consult your Physician when working under my direction because some side effects can occur, such as mild dizziness, intense nausea, suicidal tendencies, depression, minor chest hair growth, random internal hemorrhaging and inability to sleep. As some directors may be hazardous to your health, please consult your Doctor to determine if this is right for you.” —Shoot for the Edit, October 2009
On Schindler’s List
“Okay, people, like, critics especially, they take movies too seriously. I mean, how are you going to compare Armageddon to Schindler’s List? You’ve got, like, an opera against rock ‘n’ roll music. And you’ve got the reviewer from the classical section reviewing Armageddon. It’s like, dude, wake up!” —Esquire, July 2001
On Schindler’s List, again
“I made Bad Boys because I thought, I’m not going to go out there and be arrogant and make a Schindler’s List. I’m going out there to make a movie that could be entertaining. That’s what I was good at.”—Entertainment Weekly, July 1998
On people pissed that he was chosen to direct a film about Pearl Harbor
“Shame on those people. Like, I see these people on the Internet saying, ‘Oh, it’s a travesty that Michael Bay is doing this story.’ ‘Oh, why’s he doing it?’ ‘Oh, he’s going to wreck it.’ It’s like, shame on those people, you know? Shame on them!” —Esquire, July 2001
On people pissed that he was chosen to direct the first Transformers
“I’ve heard so many people say, ‘Michael Bay, you’ve destroyed my childhood.’ … I knew there were fans. I didn’t know there were people who’d hunt you down. I urge them to watch the 1986 animated movie, go watch the cartoon. You’ll want to shoot yourself.” —Wired, June 2007
On being made fun of for owning two Ferarris
“I breed my devil spawn in the trunk.” —L.A. Times, August 1998
On the difficulties of making Pearl Harbor
“But I must tell you the hardest thing about doing this movie was getting 12 women in period lipstick. It was much harder than blowing up six ships and having 14 planes in the year. Waiting for period lipstick — that’s where I go crazy! I don’t know why period lipstick takes so long, but it just took them forever.” —The Hollywood Reporter, April 2001
On being a baller
“The scene where Martin shoots the guy out of the plane. I said to the line producer, ‘This is where the audience claps. This is the end of the movie.’ He was like, ‘I don’t care. We’re not doing the shot.’ He was just a studio flunky. I was literally going to punch him out … They used to watch dailies where you do the clap with the slate. So just to screw with them, I put the check [on the slate and wrote] TO COLUMBIA PICTURES, FROM MICHAEL BAY, $25,000.” —GQ, July 2011
On anatomically correct vajayjays
“We bought $75,000 worth of sex toys to stock the sex-toy warehouse. I could have filmed the crew coming in that day because they’d stop and see these things—anatomically correct vajayjays and this butt (everyone would touch the butt because it felt real)—and it was hysterical. We were going to return all the sex toys to get three-quarters of our money back, but they started disappearing. We were like, ‘Who is taking the sex toys?’” —Newsweek, April 2013
On 3-D
“Wow, I read these morons on the internet who think they are in the know. ‘We have problems with our 3D????’ Really? Come into my edit room and I will show you beautiful 3D. There has never been a live action show that has pushed the boundaries of 3D like Transformers 3.” —MichaelBay.com, November 2011
On meeting Steven Spielberg years after working on the storyboards for Raiders of the Lost Ark
“The first thing I ever said to Steven [Spielberg] was, ‘I really thought Raiders of the Lost Ark was going to suck.” —GQ, July 2011
On criticism of product placement in Transformers
”That saved me $3 million on the budget It’s not whoring the movie out.” —Entertainment Weekly, July 2007
On Hugo Weaving’s complaints about doing voice work for Transformers
“Do you ever get sick of actors that make $15 million a picture, or even $200,000 for voiceover work that took a brisk one hour and 43 minutes to complete, and then complain about their jobs? With all the problems facing our world today, do these grumbling thespians really think people reading the news actually care about trivial complaints that their job wasn’t ‘artistic enough’ or ‘fulfilling enough’? … What happened to people who had integrity, who did a job, got paid for their hard work, and just smiled afterward? Be happy you even have a job—let alone a job that pays you more than 98% of the people in America. I have a wonderful idea for all those whiners: They can give their ‘unhappy job money’ to a wonderful Elephant Rescue. It’s the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Africa. I will match the funds they donate.” —MichaelBay.com, October 2012
On being attacked by air-conditioning-wielding men on the set of Transformers 4 in Hong Kong
“Yes, some drugged up guys were being belligerent asses to my crew for hours in the morning of our first shoot day in Hong Kong. One guy rolled metal carts into some of my actors trying to shake us down for thousands of dollars to not play his loud music or hit us with bricks.
“Every vendor where we shot got paid a fair price for our inconvenience, but he wanted four times that amount. I personally told this man and his friends to forget it we were not going to let him extort us. He didn’t like that answer. So an hour later he came by my crew as we were shooting, carrying a long air conditioner unit. He walked right up to me and tried to smack my face, but I ducked, threw the air unit on the floor and pushed him away. That’s when the security jumped on him. But it took seven big guys to subdue him. It was like a Zombie in Brad Pitt’s movie World War Z—he lifted seven guys up and tried to bite them. He actually bit into one of the guards Nike shoe, insane. Thank god it was an Air Max, the bubble popped, but the toe was saved.
“Then it took fifteen Hong Kong cops in riot gear to deal with these punks. In all, four guys were arrested for assaulting the officers.
“After that, we had a great day shooting here in Hong Kong. The place couldn’t be better.” —MichaelBay.com, October 2013
On his penchant for interior design
“I read home décor magazines all the time. It’s the way to stay hip and it helps me when I think of sets.” —New York Times, July 2003– Complete multiplatform coverage of both series set to begin this weekend on Sportsnet and CBC –
Join the conversation: #DontMissAMoment
Media Interviews: Sportsnet’s insiders, commentators and writers are available to discuss all things Stanley Cup Playoffs
TORONTO (May 11, 2017) It’s down to four – and with one Canadian team still vying to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup, Sportsnet has the country covered with its 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs Conference Finals broadcast schedule. As the Ottawa Senators take on the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final and the Nashville Predators square off against the Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference Final, fans will be treated to multiplatform coverage of all the action.
Coverage kicks off Friday, May 12 as the Predators face-off against the Ducks at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT on CBC. The Senators vs. Penguins series will begin Saturday, May 13 at 7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT on Sportsnet and CBC. The Conference Finals games will be available on TV on Sportsnet and CBC, and via live stream on Sportsnet NOW and Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVE. (Full broadcast schedule below)
As the home of hockey’s brightest stars, Sportsnet’s world-class roster of analysts, reporters and hosts will continue to deliver the most up-to-date news and stories throughout the Conference Finals:
Fans can also catch up on the latest NHL post-season news, highlights and analysis with Tim & Sid (weekdays at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT) and nightly editions of Sportsnet Central on Sportsnet and Sportsnet NOW.
Broadcast Schedule
All game broadcasts available on Sportsnet NOW and Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVE
EASTERN CONFERENCE:
Ottawa Senators vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Play-by-play: Jim Hughson, Game Analyst: Craig Simpson, Reporter: Scott Oake
G1 Sat., May 13 Ottawa @ Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT Sportsnet / CBC / OMNI G2 Mon., May 15 Ottawa @ Pittsburgh, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT CBC / OMNI G3 Wed., May 17 Pittsburgh @ Ottawa, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT CBC / OMNI G4 Fri., May 19 Pittsburgh @ Ottawa, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT CBC / OMNI G5* Sun., May 21 Ottawa @ Pittsburgh, 3 p.m. ET / Noon PT CBC / OMNI G6* Tues., May 23 Pittsburgh @ Ottawa, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT CBC / OMNI G7* Thurs., May 25 Ottawa @ Pittsburgh, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT CBC / OMNI
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Nashville Predators vs. Anaheim Ducks
Play-by-play: Paul Romanuk, Game Analyst: Gary Galley, Reporter: Christine Simpson
G1 Fri., May 12 Nashville @ Anaheim, 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT CBC G2 Sun., May 14 Nashville @ Anaheim, 7:30 p.m. ET/ 4:30 p.m. PT Sportsnet G3 Tues., May 16 Anaheim @ Nashville, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT Sportsnet / CBC G4 Thurs., May 18 Anaheim @ Nashville, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT CBC G5* Sat., May 20 Nashville @ Anaheim, 7:15 p.m. ET/ 4:15 p.m. PT CBC G6* Mon., May 22 Anaheim @ Nashville, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT CBC G7* Wed., May 24 Nashville @ Anaheim, 9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT CBC
*if necessary
As the home of hockey’s brightest stars, Sportsnet delivers world-class hockey content across its national television, radio and digital platforms. As the official Canadian NHL national multimedia rights holder and the regional television broadcast rights holder for five Canadian NHL teams, Sportsnet delivers more than 300 national games across three marquee nights: Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey, Hockey Night in Canada and Rogers Hometown Hockey. Sportsnet also provides coverage of the entire Stanley Cup Playoffs. Complete with a star-studded roster of hockey broadcasters, reporters and producers, Sportsnet remains dedicated to bringing fans closer to the games and stories they love in compelling and innovative ways.
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Sportsnet is Canada’s #1 sports media brand, connecting Canadian sports fans to their favourite teams and athletes. Delivering storytelling on a local, regional, national and global level, the multiplatform brand consists of Sportsnet, sportsnet.ca, Sportsnet 590 The FAN, Sportsnet 960 The FAN, Sportsnet NOW, and the Sportsnet app. Sportsnet consists of four regional channels (Sportsnet East, Ontario, West and Pacific), and the nationally-distributed Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet 360, and Sportsnet World. Sportsnet is the official Canadian NHL national multimedia rights holder, and is also the official regional television broadcast rights holder for the Calgary Flames (including radio rights on Sportsnet 960 The FAN), Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs (including radio rights on Sportsnet 590 The FAN), Vancouver Canucks and Montreal Canadiens. Sportsnet also has exclusive TV & radio coverage of all 162 Blue Jays games, as well as other MLB games, Toronto Raptors, NBA, Grand Slam of Curling, Rogers Cup, CHL, IndyCar, and extensive soccer programming including Premier League, Bundesliga, FA Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup European Qualifiers.Photograph by Josh Meister
March 10 2010
For Brooke Melton, the day began with a voicemail from her father, wishing her a happy 29th birthday. She drove to her shift as a nurse at West Atlanta Pediatrics. After work she climbed into her white 2005 Chevy Cobalt and threw her bag onto the passenger seat. A cautious driver—she’d never once gotten a speeding ticket and always wore her seatbelt—Brooke was headed to her boyfriend’s place to celebrate over a birthday dinner.
Darkness had already descended when Brooke pulled onto Hiram Acworth Highway. Driving north on the lonesome two-lane road, past the strip malls and convenience stores, she came to a half-mile downhill straightaway, a stretch of asphalt bordered by Georgia pines and utility poles. Where the road leveled, rainwater pooled on the blacktop. Suddenly Brooke lost control of the Cobalt, hydroplaning across the center line. An oncoming Ford Focus slammed into Brooke’s rear passenger side, violently reversing the car’s counterclockwise rotation. The Cobalt spun off the road, over the shoulder, and 15 feet down into the surging waters of Picketts Mill Creek. It was just before 7:30 p.m.
Nineteen minutes later, after a passerby called 911, the first responders arrived on the scene and pulled Brooke from her half-submerged vehicle. Roughly nine minutes after they placed her gurney in an ambulance, she arrived at WellStar Paulding Hospital in Hiram, six miles from the crash site. Doctors put her on a ventilator, but the prognosis was grim. She was transferred to the better-equipped WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, 16 miles away.
Around 10 p.m., the phone rang at her parents’ home in Kennesaw. The call went to voicemail. Brooke’s mother got out of bed and hit play: It was the hospital, requesting she come immediately. A frantic call back and finally the news: Blunt force trauma from the crash had broken Brooke’s neck. I’m sorry, the doctor said. We couldn’t save her. Brooke was the oldest daughter of Beth and Ken Melton. Her parents gave permission for her organs to be donated. It’s what she would have wanted.
On the drive to the hospital, Ken prayed the doctors were wrong. But no. Inside the ICU, he kissed his daughter’s cold forehead and made a vow: that her death would not be in vain. Even then, wrestling with the first waves of a grief that would consume him, he suspected the fault lay not with Brooke but with her car.
In the months that followed, Beth and Ken both sought refuge in different ways: Beth through her faith and therapy, Ken through poring over every detail of the accident and the days leading up to it. A week before she was killed, Brooke had called him to say something strange was going on with her car. Sometimes it would simply shut off while she was driving it, and she’d have to pull over to the side and restart it. Get it serviced, Ken told her. The weekend before the accident, she dropped off the car at Thornton Chevrolet in Lithia Springs. The mechanic cleaned her fuel injectors, changed her oil, replaced her fuel filter. All fixed, she later told Ken over the phone.
Now Ken spent evenings scrolling through online discussion boards. Other drivers had reported problems with the Cobalt—problems similar to the one Brooke had complained about. On one forum, a father posted that he refused to let his daughter drive her Cobalt after it stalled. Ken even found testimonials from people like him, family members who had lost a loved one in a crash involving a Cobalt. With each new revelation, he grew more angry. His behavior worried Beth, who believed the accident simply happened. He’d call her over to share new bits of information, compounding her own grief. She pleaded with him to stop. Ken wanted General Motors, the manufacturer of the Cobalt, to examine the wreckage. It took months, but finally GM scheduled an inspection for February 2011, almost a year after Brooke’s death. Ken wasn’t the only party interested in the findings; a lawyer for the driver of the Focus wanted to know, too. Ken and Beth realized they needed their own attorney. Their insurance adjuster gave them a name—Lance Cooper.
Photograph by Josh Meister
February 9, 2011
Lance Cooper was an odd recommendation. The Meltons appeared to be in the market for a defense attorney, but Cooper was a plaintiff’s lawyer. Cooper, a 52-year-old California transplant who’s lived in the South long enough to affect a slight drawl, didn’t know if he could help but invited them to his Marietta office anyway.
Cooper plopped into his leather rolling chair. From across his mahogany desk, strewn with yellow legal pads, the Meltons talked about their daughter: Her stellar driving record. The problem with the Cobalt. Her visit to the mechanic the weekend before the accident.
Cooper had seen this kind of case before. His job was to look beyond the grief and the anger. What lay beneath the emotions—the cold facts of the case—often pointed to nothing but the obvious. He glanced at the accident report. The details seemed straightforward: A rainy night. Speed too fast for conditions. A hydroplaning car. An oncoming vehicle. The police report concluded that Brooke had been at fault; Cooper saw little reason to doubt it.
But that visit to Thornton Chevrolet the weekend before the crash—it gave Cooper pause. The timing was peculiar. What were the odds of someone picking up their car from the shop only to die in a crash the next day? The lawyer had three choices: Take the case, decline it, or poke around a bit before making a final decision. He chose the latter. He told the Meltons he would follow the facts, wherever they led.
First Cooper needed the evidence. For $548, he bought the remains of Brooke’s white Cobalt, contorted almost unrecognizably. The Cobalt was loaded onto a flatbed truck and moved to a private testing facility 15 minutes from Cooper’s office. Doreen Lundrigan, Cooper’s paralegal for the past 15 years, began to search federal databases, state government records, and resources like the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety for details of other Cobalt accidents.
There was something else. Nine days before her death, General Motors had announced a recall of 1.3 million vehicles, including the Cobalt, due to a power steering issue. Ken found the recall notice in his daughter’s mail after her death. He told Cooper, who felt it gave their investigation added momentum.
On June 24, 2011, four months after first meeting with the Meltons, Cooper filed a lawsuit against General Motors and against Thornton Chevrolet. (Bill Heard Chevrolet, the Kennesaw dealer that sold Brooke the Cobalt, had gone bankrupt and shuttered.) Cooper alleged that GM had failed to adequately and promptly warn Brooke, other Cobalt owners, and the public about the defective design of the electronic power steering system. By not taking proper action, the lawsuit claimed negligence on the part of GM—for its role in “designing, inspecting, testing, manufacturing, assembling, marketing, selling, and providing warnings for the Cobalt”—and Thornton Chevrolet, which “knew or should have known that not performing the recall work would make the vehicle unsafe.” The Meltons asked for a jury to decide on an amount.
Product liability cases are won and lost not in the courtroom, but in the long slog of the discovery process—the establishment of facts, the boxes of documents, the endless depositions. As a young lawyer out of Emory’s law school in the early 1990s, one of Cooper’s first jobs was working for Jean Johnson, a Marietta attorney specializing in personal injury cases. Johnson threw him a case that was an uphill battle for a small firm against a carmaker with a deep bench of lawyers. In August 1992, Gary Stanger, a 36-year-old father of three boys, was driving his 1988 Ford Bronco II on a stretch of I-75 in Tennessee when the Bronco’s left rear tire tread separated from its belt. The Bronco smashed into a guardrail and flipped three times, ejecting Stanger, who was killed. His widow sued the Ford Motor Company and the dealer, alleging that the Bronco II’s design was “unstable and unfit for highway use,” and General Tire, claiming that the tire was “defectively designed and manufactured.”
What Cooper lacked in experience, he made up for in persistence, meticulously assembling the Stanger case from the ground up. He examined how the tire made it to market, despite an improper adhesion between its steel belts. His diligence paid off: After General Tire’s executives claimed potentially damning documents had been destroyed, Cooper tracked down copies from another source, according to court documents. The case was settled in December 1993.
For Cooper, the Stanger case was also an education on the automobile industry’s ignominious history of sacrificing passenger safety for profits. Ralph Nader’s landmark 1965 book, Unsafe at Any Speed, scrutinized the Chevrolet Corvair’s faulty suspension and helped establish federal oversight of motor vehicles. In 1977 journalist Mark Dowie revealed that defective gas tanks in early 1970s Ford Pintos were causing fiery wrecks; his story in Mother Jones led to a recall of 1.5 million subcompacts. In the early 1990s, Jim Butler, a Georgia-based trial lawyer, sued General Motors over the design of its mid-1980s GMC Sierra pickup truck, which contained a “sidesaddle” gas tank that could explode upon impact. The case resulted in a $105 million civil judgment in 1993.
Today few industries operate with more federal oversight than automobile manufacturers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requires that carmakers abide by a strict set of safety standards. The agency conducts major investigations when failures persist. What were once optional safety features—three-point seat belts, antilock brakes, airbags—are now mandatory in vehicles sold in America. A motorist is five times less likely to die in a car accident today than 50 years ago.
Despite—or perhaps because of—all the safety enhancements, the number of defective cars on the road has reached an all-time high. In 2014 NHTSA recorded 63.9 million vehicle recalls—roughly one out of every four cars in the U.S.—breaking the federal agency’s single-year record. That year Toyota admitted to producing floor pedals and mats that caused unintended acceleration, taking at least five lives and triggering the recall of 9.3 million cars worldwide. Takata, a Japanese airbag supplier, is currently fixing more than 30 million cars in the U.S. after eight people died from exploding airbags that sent metal shards into some drivers’ faces and necks. Most recently, the world’s largest car corporation, Volkswagen, began recalling 11 million vehicles worldwide after acknowledging its diesel models contained “defeat devices” designed to cheat emissions tests.
In 1998 Cooper and a colleague opened their own firm, focusing on automobile defects. (Cooper went solo in 2006.) Over the course of his career, Cooper estimates he’s won somewhere around $500 million for his clients, much of it from judgments and settlements with carmakers: $6.7 million for a minivan’s broken liftgate, $8 million for a sedan that burst into flames after a rear-end collision, $10 million for another case involving a tread separating from a car’s tire.
Ultimately, Cooper sees each case like a product—a product he must sell to a jury. Go before them with a flawed product, and it’s a waste of everyone’s time and money. “You have to recognize what facts you need to prove, but also what the jury is going to think about the evidence you present,” he says. “You have to pin it to what’s going to be important to the jury—not just what’s important to you.” Cooper’s focus on the jury is now almost as intense as the discipline he brings to discovery. Occasionally, he will even convene focus groups of residents in the jurisdiction where a case is scheduled for trial, attempting to gauge the reaction to the evidence he plans to present.
Over the years, as he’s represented victims and survivors of horrific car accidents, Cooper has come to believe that federal regulations can do only so much. Corrupt corporate execs and engineers, he’s concluded, will always find ways to game the system. “You have to have some regulation,” says Cooper, who describes himself as an economic conservative. “But more often than not, regulations don’t work to protect people. That’s why you need the jury trial.” Not surprisingly for a liability attorney, Cooper sees the threat of seven- and eight-figure awards as the biggest incentive for car companies to do the right thing. Fear of litigation trumps fear of the federal government.
Depending on the case, Cooper’s firm keeps anywhere from 10 to 40 percent of his clients’ awarded damages. A father of five, he and his wife own a 12,600-square-foot home on a 40-acre horse farm in Powder Springs. As for what he drives, it’s a blue Range Rover with a keyless ignition. “I don’t agonize over buying a car,” Cooper says. “You almost have to distance yourself from the tragedies you deal with. You start thinking about your kids and what’s going to happen to them. It can become a little overwhelming.”
January 6, 2012
After seven months of motions and countermotions, GM finally agreed to send a team to inspect Brooke’s Cobalt. Cooper had put off his own inspection until it could be done simultaneously with GM’s. To perform it, he hired Charlie Miller, a former hot rod racer who runs a repair shop in Merigold, Mississippi. Over the past 20 years, Miller has become an expert witness in auto liability cases, working for insurance companies as well as for plaintiffs’ lawyers.
Modern automobiles are essentially rolling computers, so any evaluation of them is as much electronic as it is mechanical. On the day of the inspection, with GM’s representatives looking on, Miller attached a diagnostic computer to the Cobalt. He examined the car’s wires to see if any happened to be cut during the crash. He checked the engine control module, the small on-board computer that manages the car’s complex operations from the moment the car starts to when the key is removed. He ran tests on the body control module, the computer connected to the car’s electronic parts (power windows, air-conditioning, and door locks); the antilock brakes; and the front airbags, which hadn’t deployed given that the collision occurred on the right side of a vehicle with no side airbags. He checked the power steering.
Everything was normal.
Miller moved on to the Cobalt’s sensing and diagnostic module (SDM), a data recorder not unlike an airplane’s black box. In 1994 GM led the way in installing tamper-proof data recorders in its cars. The device acts as a sort of internal monitor, recording data—a vehicle’s speed, RPMs, pressure applied to brakes—that are essential to better understanding the final seconds before a crash. As of September 2014, all new vehicles sold in the U.S. must be equipped with an event data recorder, which tracks 15 different variables.
When Miller downloaded data from the Cobalt’s SDM, he was flummoxed. The reading showed that between three and four seconds before the crash, the speed of Brooke’s Cobalt had dropped from 58 miles per hour to a standstill—an impossible scenario given the facts in the police report, the reconstruction of the crash, and the laws of physics.
“It looks funny to me,” Miller told Cooper. “I don’t understand it. I’ve done this long enough to know that GM knows something, and they’re not telling you.”
The position of Brooke’s key proved equally perplexing. At impact, the key was not in the on position but the accessory position—where you can turn on your lights or radio, but the engine itself isn’t running. Were the mysterious deceleration and the key position related? A few weeks later, Miller called Cooper with something else: In December 2005 GM had issued what’s known as a “Technical Service Bulletin,” an internal memo that updates dealers on potential problems. The bulletin warned of a stalling engine issue with select Cobalts; this was a problem potentially related to the car’s ignition switch, a deceptively simple part that allows a driver to insert the key, twist the fob clockwise, and start the engine. It appeared that, in some cases, a car engine was shutting down simply because the key was slipping from its on position. The question was, why?
Cooper began narrowing his focus on the ignition switch, requesting more documents from GM, which led to more motions and countermotions. At the same time, Miller purchased a used ignition switch from a salvaged 2005 Cobalt, as well as a brand-new one from a GM dealer. Both had the same part number, yet to his surprise, when he turned a key in each, the older ignition switch was easier to turn from the on to off position.
Starting a Cobalt is much like starting any other gas-powered vehicle: The driver inserts a key into a lock cylinder and exerts enough force to rotate it clockwise. When that level of force—which engineers measure in units of torque—is applied, a plastic plate with notches on its edge turns inside the ignition switch. The notches, which keep a key in the on, accessory, or off position, are held in place by something called a detent plunger, a tiny metal pin affixed with a spring. The plunger provides enough tension to keep the key in position.
To learn more about Brooke’s switch—and why it seemed to require less torque than the switch found in newer Cobalts, even though it was supposedly the same part—Miller jerry-rigged a test by connecting a fish scale to a screwdriver that gave him a rudimentary reading on how much force was needed to turn each key. His conclusion? The older ignition switch required just half the force of the newer switch.
Fish scales don’t hold up in court, so Cooper contacted McSwain Engineering, a Florida engineering firm. Using a torque screwdriver, Mark Hood, one of McSwain’s materials engineers at the time, fabricated an adapter to fit on top of Brooke’s key in order to capture data regarding the rotation of the key and the force needed to turn it. Testing it again and again, he confirmed Miller’s initial findings: The old switch in Brooke’s car required only half as much force as the new switch. The next step was to dismantle the two switches to see why they behaved so differently.
Hood measured the detent plunger inside Brooke’s ignition switch: 10.6 millimeters long. By contrast, in the Cobalts that came out after 2007, the detent plunger was 12.2 millimeters long. As Cooper learned from Hood, the 1.6 millimeter difference, about the thickness of a quarter, meant the key Brooke used in her Cob |
said Tuesday that cases had also been confirmed in Brooklyn.
The Health Department refused to say where in Brooklyn the cases were confirmed, but stressed that the outbreak is concentrated in northern Manhattan.
Measles Outbreak Reported in NYC; Vaccinations Urged
Health officials are investigating a measles outbreak in Manhattan and the Bronx after nine children and seven adults have tested positive for the highly contagious virus. Rob Schmitt reports. (Published Friday, March 7, 2014)
Authorities are working to identify the source of the outbreak, and are urging vaccinations for those who haven't had them. The first case was reported in February.
Four of the affected children were too young to have been vaccinated; three who had been vaccinated were 13 to 15 months old and two others had not been vaccinated by parental choice, the Health Department said. The affected adults range in age from 22 to 63 years.
Weird News Photos: Man Shoves Snake in Pants
Measles is a viral infection characterized by a generalized rash and high fever, accompanied by cough, red eyes and runny nose, lasting five to six days. The illness typically begins with a rash on the face and then moves down the body, and may include the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.
People who contract the measles virus can spread the infection for four days before developing a rash, and for four days after that. Measles can spread easily through the air to unprotected individuals, and the Health Department is urging all New Yorkers to make sure they and their families are vaccinated.
The Health Department said it is working with city hospitals to prevent additional exposure to the virus in emergency departments. It's also asking pediatric facilities to vaccinate any children who haven't already been vaccinated. Children should normally get a second dose of the vaccine between the ages of 4 and 6, but the Health Department says those who live in the affected communities should get their second dose immediately, regardless of whether they fall within that age range.
As many as one in three people with measles develop complications, which can be serious and may include pneumonia, miscarriage, brain inflammation, hospitalization and death. Infants, people who have a weakened immune system and non-immune pregnant women are at highest risk of severe illness and complications.Cannabis is illegal in Albania, and all cannabis-related activities, including possession, cultivation, transport, and sales, are prohibited. However, despite its illegal status, cannabis is still widely cultivated here. In fact, Albania is a major marijuana-growing country and has even risen up the ranks to become known as Europe’s largest outdoor producer of cannabis.
Law enforcement
Despite Albania’s anti-cannabis laws, police enforcement is very lacking. Police officers do not seek cannabis smokers and small bribes can set caught offenders free.
The possession of a small quantity of cannabis for personal use is not punishable. However, for more serious offenses, the penalties can be severe. The sale, distribution, possession, and production of cannabis – in amounts the court deems too large to be for personal use – could land offenders between five and ten years in jail. For trafficking, offenders can spend seven to 15 years in prison, or even more if a link to organized crime is established.
In the last few years, the police has intensified its efforts in seizing cannabis and arresting offenders. In 2012, authorities seized 21.2 metric tons of cannabis, which is almost twice the amount they seized in 2011. Meanwhile, in 2016, police identified 5,204 fields and destroyed more than two million cannabis plants. Now, the police are concentrating on confiscating cannabis as it is prepared to be transported outside of Albania.
Although seizures have increased in the past few years, Albania has an inefficient judicial system, which means that only a few arrests made by the police had resulted in convictions.
Cannabis cultivation and trafficking in Albania
The cultivation of cannabis was initially concentrated in Albania’s mountainous southern region, which comprises rugged terrain that makes it difficult for the Albanian State Police (ASP) to patrol effectively. In addition, the region’s Mediterranean climate is also conducive for growing cannabis.
Throughout the years, the cannabis plant has achieved great importance in the Albanian rural economy. And because production was way more than sufficient to meet domestic demand, there was also enough to export to other countries.
By the mid-2000s, majority of the cannabis used in Italy came from Albania. Also, a huge chunk of the cannabis travelling from Albania to Western Europe was smuggled through the Italian mafia, which has strong links to the country’s organized criminal networks. The Italian financial police estimates that Albania produces a total of around 900 tons of cannabis worth €4.5 billion annually.
What happened in Lazarat
For many years that followed, Albania outranked all other countries in Europe in terms of cannabis production, but it had remained relatively unknown in the global scene. However, in 2013, Albania was put on the cannabis world map and made global headlines when police forces tried to shut down operations in Lazarat, which is where most of Albanian cannabis was grown. It is said that this small mountain village in the southern region produces up to 500 tons of cannabis annually, thanks to over 60 acres of very fertile hillside that is ideal for growing the plants. Moreover, 90% of the people in Lazarat are involved in cannabis trade in one way or another.
The ASP entered Lazarat a few days before the EU was going to decide on the country’s status as an accession candidate. As an aspiring EU member, Albania needed to convince other member states that it has a decisive and cohesive national drug strategy. However, the villagers mounted a three-day armed resistance against the ASP, putting the police force in a difficult predicament. Instead of facing an all-out war, the ASP decided to just leave Lazarat to go on with its multi-billion dollar operation.
As a result of the Lazarat incident, cannabis cultivation and trade spread out.OAKLAND — Al Attles had to pause.
“Aw, man,” he said.
Attles coached the Golden State Warriors to the NBA title in 1975. He also cherishes a close friendship with Willie Mays, cultivated over the decades. This is why, if you should ask Attles to select his second-favorite Bay Area pro sports team, he quickly names the Giants.
But when you ask Attles the next question, it’s tougher. Let’s say he had to pay money to see just one team in one particular season — and it either had to be one of those great Giants rosters of the 1960s with Mays in center field, or the current Warriors. Which would it be?
“This might make Willie mad,” Attles said. “But I’m going to go watch the Warriors.”
Who wouldn’t, the way they are playing? Thus far, the Warriors are giving us a basketball season that at times seems more like a gauzy dream.
Every night, every game, impossible new things happen. Did shooting guard Klay Thompson really score 37 points in one quarter? He did. Did Stephen Curry really receive more All-Star votes then LeBron James? Yes. Are the Warriors a threat to finish with one of the top-five winning percentages in NBA history? They are.
With a 40-9 record, the Warriors’ pace puts them on track for a 67-15 season. They certainly will surpass the Golden State franchise record of 59 victories — and the players aren’t even pretending to be too cool and blasé about that possibility.
“If we do break it, it will definitely mean something,” Thompson said recently. “We’ve been through some dark times here.”
Those dark times, of course, are part of why this season glows like the Las Vegas Strip. It is so spectacular that perspective becomes difficult.
To this point, we are definitely seeing the best regular season of pro basketball in Bay Area history. But could we be seeing the best regular season of any Bay Area team, in any sport, ever?
We might. That’s what led to Attles facing the question about which team he would rather pony up money to witness. And why he winced while answering.
“Once you start comparisons, you start down a road I’d rather not go,” Attles said. “I just try to give teams and players credit for what they’re doing right now and try not to get caught up in comparisons. And I am really just enjoying watching this. We all should. “
Acknowledged. Nevertheless, it’s certainly worth having the discussion about where the 2014-15 Warriors fit into the Bay Area pantheon of greatness, even if it’s just a fun argument over a beer at the local sports bar.
You can posit, for example, that this Warriors season is better than the A’s impressive 104-victory performance of 1988 or the Giants’ 103 victories in 1993. Also, this Warriors winter is arguably superior to the Sharks’ winter of 2008-09, which earned them the NHL Presidents’ Trophy for the league’s best record.
Football is the harsh mountain to climb. The standard for regular-season sports excellence in the Bay Area is the 15-1 record by the 49ers in 1984. Directly behind is the Raiders’ 13-1 record of 1976. You might even call it a tie for the top spot. It wasn’t the 1976 Raiders’ fault that the NFL played two fewer games before 1978.
Beyond those football high marks, however, the Warriors can make the case that they are giving us the best regularly scheduled athletic show ever witnessed within our 10 area codes. Attles gives credit to Warriors coach Steve Kerr but especially to the players.
“I know how difficult it is to get people on the same page,” Attles said. “And they all seem to be on the same page. You don’t see any nonsensical things going on. It’s a pleasure to watch. If they can stay healthy, they can do great things.”
Ah, there you go. That can be the dark side of teams that post great regular seasons. Far too frequently, they are followed by soul-crushing playoff disappointment — except in football, it seems. Those 49ers of 1984 and Raiders of 1976 did go on to win Super Bowls. But every other Bay Area team’s best regular season has been followed by postseason failure. A key injury or one stinker performance can change everything in a short series.
You can ask the Sharks about that. Their 2008-09 dominance that clinched them a No. 1 playoff seed was followed by a shocking first-round playoff loss to eighth-seeded Anaheim. What would be their advice to the Warriors of today?
“It’s all how you’re playing going into the playoffs,” Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic said. “It doesn’t matter what you did in the months before. It’s the last five or 10 games, how you’re playing.”
So pay attention to that, Warriors watchers. In the Sharks’ best season, they won only two of their final five games and needed an overtime shootout for one of those victories. They also had several banged-up players who might have returned too quickly from their injuries in the final few weeks, assuring them the Presidents’ Trophy but hampering them in the postseason.
“Everyone wants to finish first or as high as possible,” Vlasic said. “We wouldn’t have changed anything. But you know, that’s just how it is. The Warriors could go 66-16 and then lose in four games. No one likes to hear that. But it could happen.”
True. That is the potential reality. That is also three months away, if it should occur. Attles is right. Until then, we should continue to enjoy the dream taking place in front of our wide-open eyes. Willie Mays will surely forgive Attles for wanting to float through that dream with the rest of us as the regular season spins out. Because it’s a pretty damn amazing dream. The best one in more than 30 years.
Read Mark Purdy’s blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/purdy. Contact him at mpurdy@mercurynews.com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/MercPurdy.Proton Competition and Gulf Racing have become the second and third teams to choose Dunlop for a WEC GTE campaign, both confirming to DSC that they will race on the British brand’s rubber with their GTE Am Porsche 911 RSRs this season.
The Proton team made its decision following its test earlier this month on the full 2017-spec Dunlop GTE tyre at Aragon in Spain (below). Prior to that Proton also trialled Dunlop rubber at last year’s post-season Rookie Test in Bahrain.
“We tested the Dunlops at Bahrain and Aragon, and I must admit they’ve done a very good job with them for the Porsche in such a short period of time,” team owner Christian Reid said to DSC.
“Of course in the ELMS it’s a spec-tyre and whilst it is a different Dunlop for the WEC, there are definitely advantages for us to work with the same people, the same engineers and the same supply chain.”
Proton has also confirmed to DSC that both its single-car GTE Am entry and two-car ELMS effort will utilise 2015-spec Porsches, in preference to the interim car raced in GTE Pro last year. Reid explained that the older car was easier to drive for amateur drivers and that with multiple 2015 cars available to the team, there were significant economies of scale over upgrading its existing cars to the 2016 package.
For this season, Proton Competition has switched to racing in only the GTE Am class after competing in both GTE categories last year with Porsche.
Gulf Racing meanwhile made its decision based on Dunlop’s work with the ELMS tyre too. The team will race with a fresh lineup featuring Australian GT up-and-comer Nick Foster together with the returning duo of Mike Wainwright and Ben Barker in its 2015-spec 911 RSR.
“We are pleased that two experienced Porsche motorsport teams have chosen Dunlop as a technical partner,” said Xavier Fraipont, managing director of Dunlop Motorsport Europe.
“Following our successes in winning titles with Aston Martin in LMGTE last year, the selection of Dunlop after comparative testing is a strong endorsement of our performance.”Please don't give Capcom any money for its official Mega Man Android ports. The company hasn't earned any. You'd think that almost 30-year-old games, designed to run on a console with less computational power than the average DVD player, could be ported to Android with relative ease. You would be wrong. All six of the original Nintendo Entertainment System Mega Man games are now on the Play Store for two bucks a pop, and they're just as good as that trailer indicated they would be. So, they suck.
The problem stems from a piss-poor framerate, which is a death sentence for a twitchy skill-based platformer like Mega Man. Throw in some awful virtual controls and stuttering, janky graphics (even compared to the extremely basic 8-bit original), and you have a series of games that aren't even worth the tiny amount of money Capcom is asking for. There's been speculation among dedicated Mega Man fans that these Android ports are based on Japanese mobile versions of the game from the mid-2000s, which had dialed-back framerates to make them functional on more primitive phones, instead of the original NES code. There's no way to confirm that, but it's as good an explanation as any as to why these games run so horribly on modern Android hardware.
Observe: the trailer for the Android versions of the first six Mega Man games, which matches the performance I'm seeing on my Nexus 6...
...and the original NES version of Mega Man 2, running as it was intended. Notice the smooth animation of Mega Man's jumps and blaster shots, and how the stage scrolling does not resemble a slideshow.
No, the Android versions of Mega Man don't support Bluetooth controllers. No, they aren't available for Android TV. Aside from a few token options for the virtual button locations, they're as lazy and cynical as a port of a classic video game could possibly be. Hell, Capcom still hasn't even bothered to translate its company name into English for the US version of the Play Store.
Seriously, 株式会社カプコン?
It's a faux pas for a game journalist to recommend that readers play games on an emulator. I'm going to do it anyway. Download an NES emulator for your phone, grab a copy of the original Mega Man ROMs, and play them in their full 8-bit glory. Pair a Bluetooth controller or play them on your TV - most of the emulators on the Play Store are fine for both. Buy some of the original NES cartridges if you need to ease your conscience on the whole fuzzy question of emulator legality. Maybe even track down one of those NES Classic toys from Nintendo, which come with a perfectly-emulated version of Mega Man 2. But whatever you do, don't pay Capcom for these soulless, no-effort game ports."Someday Mars will have its own Laura Ingalls Wilder to tell the tale of growing up on the new frontier. But with 'Generation One: Children of Mars,' we can experience some of that story now. It's going to be great."
—Dr. Robert Zubrin, Mars Society President and author of "The Case for Mars"
In 2051 AD, when a war between the United States and China plunges two peaceful Martian colonies into a miniature cold war, it's up to the first generation of children born on Mars to restore peace to their planet and set a positive example for Earth.
(It's all very serious.)
Gen One is a 3-issue limited comic series created with the goal of getting kids and young adults excited about the possibility of Mars colonization. We're really hoping to show how:
1) Mars colonists might live happy, productive lives full of meaning without ever setting foot on Earth,
2) humanity can avoid making the same mistakes on Mars as it has on Earth, and
3) Mars is an interesting place worth discovering!
The story tears down the artificial barriers of race/nationality and encourages people from all countries and backgrounds to work together in the pursuit of a positive future for humanity in space.
The amount of content we produce will will vary a lot depending on what stretch goals we meet. Whatever the length of the book, we want to leave you feeling satisfied, like you've experienced a complete story with all its ups and downs.
As with everything we do, our primary goal is to tell a great story full of humor and tension and characters the reader can care about. If you don't laugh or cry or stay up too late, we haven't done our jobs!
Because we care about transparency, here's a quick breakdown of where the money goes:
(This estimate is based on 500 backers. It does not include taxes, accounting or incorporation fees.)
Be aware, each stretch goal we meet will add some time to the estimated delivery date. (Learn more in this update.)
We have lots of great reward levels for backers who want to own the comic. Whether you go with the PDF, the standard paperback, or an official signed and numbered edition, you'll be getting the complete story, including any content unlocked in our stretch goals. There are some good ones, so scroll up and check them out if you haven't already!
There are also lots of goodies to be had in the various reward levels. Take a look!
(These designs are early mock-ups. While the actual product may vary, we promise to move exclusively in the direction of "more awesome." Thank you.)
Some of our backer levels also include a digital download of the song heard in the Kickstarter video; this theme (written by Tim Stewart and Josh Howard) will be expanded and mastered for maximum Mars-related daydreaming.
Become a Colonist - [This reward level is no longer available.]
Have you ever wished you could be a Mars colonist yourself? Do you think you have what it takes to face the harsh realities of life on a distant planet? Well, either way, you can be in our comic! Our artist, Tim, will work closely with you to design a comic book version of you; he'll even let you help design your suit by choosing your color and a personal touch of your choice! Picus has his woodpecker emblem. Xiao has his punk-rock spikes. What's on your suit that defines you?
You'll receive a print of the full-color illustration of you as a colonist, as well as an official certificate from the Martian powers-that-be proving that you are, in fact, a resident of Mars. We'll also work you into the comic as an extra where you'll be a small but permanent part of the Gen One universe!
You'll receive a signed, numbered copy of the comic book, as well as all previous extras. (Unfortunately, this doesn't include signed original concept art.)
Adopting Ada - [This reward level is no longer available. Rest assured, she found a wonderful home.]
This is my favorite reward level. I'm dead serious, this is awesome. You and your spouse/partner can be drawn into the comic as Ada's parents! You'll even have a handful of speaking lines in the comic, and you'll have the privilege of becoming a Mars Colonist and a permanent resident of the Gen One universe!
If you're lucky enough to grab up this reward level while it's still available, you'll have this to look forward to:
1) Our artist and writer will personally work with you to develop a comic-book version of you and your significant other.
2) We'll subtly tailor Ada's appearance and situation to match your own. All ethnicities and sexual preferences are welcome. Single parents are fine too. We can tweak the story and designs to make literally anything work!
3) You'll receive a signed, numbered copy of the comic book, as well as all previous extras. (Unfortunately, this doesn't include signed original concept art or a colonist photo/certificate.)
4) You'll receive an official adoption certificate, legal under current Mars law. ;) You'll even get to choose Ada's last name!
5) You'll receive a one-of-a-kind print of an illustrated family photo featuring you and Ada. We'll work closely with you to make sure the picture is as "you" as possible.
6) Finally, you'll have the joy of knowing Ada is yours. Yours! She's your daughter! No matter what she does or where she goes in her life, no matter what adventures she undertakes in the Gen One universe, you'll always be her parents. And if she happens to visit her parents in future comics, guess what?! It'll still be you! I think that is super cool.
(Note: We will need your permission to use your likeness. We hope that's cool.)
(Other note: Heart below not included. Anywhere. Ever. Ew.)
Spooky gray blobs are not good parents.
Here's a look at the brand-spankin'-new Chinese Base Poster!
"If war should devour Earth, we are China." —Ji
To add an add-on to your Kickstarter pledge, follow these steps:
Go to the Gen One Kickstarter page and press the Manage Your Pledge Button. (If you have not pledged yet it will say Back this Project.) Increase your pledge in the Pledge Amount box by the total of the add-ons you want to add.
Do not change the tier you are currently pledged at, unless you also want to change it while you are on this screen. You will then need to add the total of your add-ons onto the amount of the new tier you chose.
After the end of the Kickstarter campaign you will receive a survey that will allow to explain how you would like the add-on money assigned, the size of T-shirts, etc.
Note: All add-ons require a $20 pledge level or above.
Steven R. Stewart grew up listening to his dad's ghost stories and never recovered. His fiction has appeared in pro-rated magazines; his nonfiction has been featured by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
Tim Stewart grew up drawing instead of sleeping. When the other kids in school put down their pencils, he didn't quite know how. Gen One is his second comic.
Josh Howard is a designer, photographer, and musician who dabbles in whateverthehell.
Lynna Stewart is a web-savvy designer who spends her free time chasing two barbarian children while her husband makes stuff up in the back room. She deserves a vacation, a Nobel Peace Prize, and ice cream.♣ INTP ♣
“Your honesty is rather refreshing, even if we don’t always show appreciation for it. You truly want to achieve a deeper understanding of the world around you, to a level that we are often incapable of.”
– personalitygrowth.com
Males were highest on “obliviousness index” (relatively unaware of spouse’s dissatisfaction with the relationship).
On personality trait measures, score as Candid, Ingenious, Complicated, Independent and Rebellious
Highly represented among college students taking foreign languages.
Lowest of all types in liking work environments with “Clear structures & responsibilities,” “Employee loyalty & job security,” and “Working as part of a team”.
1 of 3 highest types liking work environments with “International opportunities” and “Advancement/pay but not job security”.
Great Analysts and Abstract Thinkers.
Honest and Straightforward.
In school, have lower grades than would be predicted from aptitude scores.
Value the succinct, correct expression of ideas and facts.
Will not tailor what they believe to be the truth while expressing it to others.
Independent, unconventional and original.
Often brave and pioneering.
Unlikely to strive for traditional goals such as popularity or security.
Usually complex individuals.
Extremely imaginative, creative and ingenious.
Observant and calm.
Not likely to be a trend follower. Would gladly choose a flip phone over the latest iphone or Samsung Galaxy.
Uses smartphones more for information gathering than for communication.
Generally laid-back and easy-going.
Usually go-getters.
The love and affection they feel for those close to them is often childlike in its purity.
Enthusiastic in their approach to things that interest them.
Not personally threatened by conflict or criticism.
Not demanding, have simple needs.
One of types least likely to believe in a higher spiritual power.
Interested in how things can be improved or what they can be turned into.
Great at analyzing problems, identifying patterns, and coming up with logical explanations/solutions.
Live primarily inside their minds.
Always seeking a higher understanding.
Your thoughts are perfectly constructed inside your head, but you struggle to express them verbally to others.
Value knowledge above all else.
Minds are constantly active, working to generate new theories or disprove existing ones.
Are questioning and skeptical of existing “rules” and popular opinions and define their own approaches.
Analytical, objective and theoretical.
Love new ideas and theories and discussing concepts with others.
Have no desire to control others.
Very tolerant and flexible in most situation.
Sometimes you feel like people do not understand or appreciate your sense of humor.
Sometimes you try to make logical explanations for your emotions.
more about INTP: 25 Interesting INTP Statistics FactsRedbirds Stay Undefeated On Road, Beat Indiana State 17-10
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - No. 15 Illinois State (8-2, 5-2 MVFC) jumped out to a 17-0 lead and held off a late Indiana State (7-3, 5-2 MVFC) surge, as the Redbirds topped the No. 14 ranked Sycamores, 17-10, in front of 6,008 at Memorial Stadium Saturday afternoon in Terre Haute, Ind. The victory secured a perfect road record for Illinois State, which finished the regular season 5-0 away from Hancock Stadium.
For the second-consecutive week, the Illinois State defense forced multiple takeaways, as Ben Ericksen and Shelby Harris each recorded an interception. The Redbirds now have 15 interceptions this year, the most for an Illinois State team since 1993. Mike Banks registered a career-high 10 tackles to lead the Redbirds, while Evan Frierson and Austin Davis each had a sack. Indiana State senior running back Shakir Bell, who came into the contest averaging over 145 yards-per-game, was limited to just 115 yards on 22 carries and did not score.
Matt Brown paced the Illinois State offense, completing 12-of-23 passes for 179 yards and one touchdown. Tyrone Walker led all receivers with seven receptions for 120 yards and caught the lone touchdown pass from Brown. His third-quarter scoring reception gave the senior wide out 29 in his career, which tied him with Laurént Robinson for the most career touchdown receptions in Illinois State football history.
After a scoreless, penalty-free opening half by both teams, Illinois State scored first on a 36-yard field goal from Nick Aussieker midway through the third quarter. It capped a 12-play, 56-yard drive that was set up by a seven-yard dash from Brown on third-and-long. After the field goal, the Illinois State defense responded with a quick three-and-out, giving the offense the ball first-and-ten from their own 35-yard line. Brown's first pass attempt went 11 yards to Lechein Neblett, before he found Walker for a 34-yard reception down the right sideline. Five plays later, Brown connected with Walker on a four-yard touchdown reception, giving the Redbirds a 10-0 lead with 4:01 to play in the third quarter.
Indiana State's next two possessions would end in sacks, before Perish was intercepted by Ericksen at midfield. After Illinois State was forced to punt, the Sycamores' first play was intercepted by Shelby Harris, the first career interception for the junior defensive lineman. The Redbirds needed just two plays to find the end zone, as Darrelynn Dunn covered 16 yards on the first play before scoring on a three-yard dash, making it 17-0 Illinois State. The senior running back finished the game with 100 yards on 30 carries, marking the fifth time this season he has tallied 100-plus yards in a game.
Indiana State got on the board after a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended in a six-yard touchdown pass from Perish to Michael Mardis. The Sycamores benefitted from a 15-yard roughing the punter penalty before finding the endzone, making it 17-7 Illinois State. After recovering the onside kick, Tanner Fritschle netted a 35-yard field goal, making it 17-10 Illinois State. The Sycamores attempted another onside kick, but committed an offside penalty on the ensuing kickoff, allowing Brown to kneel out the victory.
Illinois State will have a bye week next weekend and then return to play Saturday, Nov. 17, for the regular season finale versus Missouri Valley Football Conference foe and defending FCS national champion No. 1 North Dakota State. Kickoff is slated for noon at Hancock Stadium.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.The European Qualifier for the Intel Extreme Masters: gamescom will allow 3 players to qualify directly into the group stage.
Information [ edit ]
Players must be located in Europe or Africa at the time of either Stage 1 or Stage 2 to be eligible to compete in the qualifiers.
Players must be at least 16 years of age by August 5th 2015.
Hotel and flight cost are paid for in full by ESL for the winners.
Format [ edit ]
Two stages:
Stage 1: Played on July 11th. Single-elimination bracket. Top eight players advance to stage 2.
Stage 2: Played on July 12th. Double-elimination bracket of 16 players consisting of the eight stage 1 winners and eight invites. Top three players are qualified for IEM Season X - gamescom.
Qualified Players [ edit ]
Results [ edit ]
Stage 1 [ edit ]
Notable Participants [ edit ]
Bracket [ edit ]
Click [show] on the right to view the Bracket Stage 1 Complete bracket: http://play.eslgaming.com/starcraft/global/sc2/major/masters/season-10-gamescom-eu-africa-qualifier-day1/rankings/ Bracket A [ edit ] Round of 64 TargA 2 HolyHit 0 Vincent 1 ArT 2 Verdi 2 Silvano 0 Scam 0 CoolTea 2 Round of 32 TargA 2 ArT 0 Verdi 0 CoolTea 2 Round of 16 TargA 0 CoolTea 2 Bracket B [ edit ] Round of 64 Beastyqt 2 Grets 0 Storm 0 GoOdy 2 Vader 1 Theo 2 Patotu 1 Bly 2 Round of 32 Beastyqt 2 GoOdy 0 Theo 0 Bly 2 Round of 16 Beastyqt 2 Bly 1 Bracket C [ edit ] Round of 64 Elazer 2 Bubbas 0 imData 2 Romulus 1 Botvinnik 2 White 0 Jona 1 DmC 2 Round of 32 Elazer 2 imData 0 Botvinnik 1 DmC 2 Round of 16 Elazer 2 DmC 0 Bracket D [ edit ] Round of 64 Revolver 2 OneSpeed 1 ElFabadas 0 Basior 2 Kimo 2 msrm 0 Snuffe 0 Kas 2 Round of 32 Revolver 2 Basior 1 Kimo 0 Kas 2 Round of 16 Revolver 2 Kas 0 Bracket E [ edit ] Round of 64 Happy 2 Raynbg 0 Kratoss 2 Couguar 1 Strange 2 BadBorz 0 ZeRoX 0 TomikuS 2 Round of 32 Happy 2 Kratoss 0 Strange 2 TomikuS 0 Round of 16 Happy 2 Strange 1 Bracket F [ edit ] Round of 64 ZhuGeLiang W Kotimex - bazz 0 Jade 2 Quent 2 RedPanDa 0 clarA 0 Nerchio 2 Round of 32 ZhuGeLiang 0 Jade 2 Quent 0 Nerchio 2 Round of 16 Jade 0 Nerchio 2 Bracket G [ edit ] Round of 64 HeRoMaRinE 2 ChubZ 1 Hinoipl 0 Namshar 2 Rodzyn 2 Mazi 1 TheFlash 0 StrinterN 2 Round of 32 HeRoMaRinE 0 Namshar 2 Rodzyn 0 StrinterN 2 Round of 16 Namshar 2 StrinterN 1 Bracket H [ edit ] Round of 64 Guru 2 Gerald 0 kauP 1 kAnJi 2 frozz 2 ShaDoWn 0 Mekar 0 elfi 2 Round of 32 Guru 2 kAnJi 0 frozz 2 elfi 0 Round of 16 Guru 2 frozz 0
Stage 2 [ edit ]
Participants [ edit ]
Bracket [ edit ]
Round of 16 Lilbow 0 Namshar 2 Happy 2 Welmu 0 Ret 2 Beastyqt 0 Revolver 0 MaNa 2 ShoWTimE 0 Guru 2 Nerchio 2 GunGFuBanDa 1 uThermal 1 Elazer 2 CoolTea 0 ForGG 2 Quarterfinals Namshar 0 Happy 2 Ret 1 MaNa 2 Guru 0 Nerchio 2 Elazer 2 ForGG 0 Semifinals Happy 2 MaNa 0 Nerchio 2 Elazer 1 Qualified Happy Nerchio Losers' Round 1 GunGFuBanDa 0 ShoWTimE 2 CoolTea 2 uThermal 0 Welmu 0 Lilbow 2 Revolver 2 Beastyqt 0 Losers' Round 2 Ret 0 ShoWTimE 2 Namshar 1 CoolTea 2 ForGG 1 Lilbow 2 Guru 0 Revolver 2 Losers' Round 3 ShoWTimE 2 CoolTea 1 Lilbow W Revolver - Losers' Round 4 Elazer 2 ShoWTimE 0 MaNa 0 Lilbow 2 Losers' Finals Elazer 0 Lilbow 2 Qualified Lilbow
View Games [ edit ]
Streams [ edit ]
VODs [ edit ]What’s up RotoBallers. As always, we are here to help with pitcher matchups every week of the season and help win some leagues. Below are all of the projected starting pitching matchups for Week 14, including our recommendation on whether to start or sit them for your fantasy baseball teams. Next to each matchup below, we also have a link to our Premium Starting Pitcher Daily Matchups, Streamers & DFS Tool. For those who aren't aware, our in-house tool analyzes SP matchups based on a variety of stats/metrics, and recommends whether start, sit, or stream any pitcher for seasonal and DFS leagues. It's pretty cool.
For every week of the fantasy baseball season, we look to analyze all of the projected starting pitcher matchups and put together our optimal lineups. Here at RotoBaller, we believe that it’s key to analyze every SP matchup, each and every week, to help determine which SPs to start/sit and to hopefully find some hidden gems to bolster your teams.
This weekly piece considers the pitcher’s opponents, their career stats against the opponent, some ballpark factors and historical splits. With all of this information, we then provide our start/sit recommendations for each starting pitcher matchup for the approaching week of fantasy baseball.
SP Matchups & Start/Sit Recommendations
Editor's Note: RotoBaller has the best Premium MLB Subscription for only $1.99 per week. We have all the tools to help win your seasonal and daily leagues: Hitter & Pitcher Streamers, Matchup Ratings for every player, Sleeper Surgers for AVG, HR, Ks, PLUS Daily DFS Cheat Sheets, Lineup Picks, Expert Lineups, Stacks and Avoids.
Note that MLB teams usually shuffle their rotations, so I’ll be updating the matchups throughout the day and week. This is based on 10-14 team league sizes:
PROBABLE PITCHERS - MONDAY (7/4/16) GAME VISITING STARTER START/SIT HOME STARTER START/SIT MIL@WAS Junior Guerra RP | MIL START Max Scherzer SP | WAS START NYY@CHW CC Sabathia SP | NYY START James Shields SP | CHW START KC@TOR Edinson Volquez SP | KC SIT Aaron Sanchez RP | TOR START BAL@LAD Yovani Gallardo SP | BAL SIT Julio Urias SP | LAD START DET@CLE Daniel Norris SP | DET SIT Danny Salazar SP |
languages, "Cornysshe" and "Englysshe", but that "there may be many men and women" in Cornwall who could not understand English.[90] While the Norman language was in use by much of the English aristocracy, Cornish was used as a lingua franca, particularly in the remote far west of Cornwall.[97] Many Cornish landed gentry chose mottos in the Cornish language for their coat of arms, highlighting its socially high status.[98] However, in 1549 and following the English Reformation, King Edward VI of England commanded that the Book of Common Prayer, an Anglican liturgical text in the English language, should be introduced to all churches in his kingdom, meaning that Latin and Celtic customs and services should be discontinued.[62] The Prayer Book Rebellion was a militant revolt in Cornwall and parts of neighbouring Devon against the Act of Uniformity 1549, which outlawed all languages from church services apart from English,[99] and is specified as a testament to the affection and loyalty the Cornish people held for the Cornish language.[98] In the rebellion, separate risings occurred simultaneously in Bodmin in Corwall, and Sampford Courtenay in Devon—which would both converge at Exeter, laying siege to the region's largest Protestant city.[100] However, the rebellion was suppressed, thanks largely to the aid of foreign mercenaries in a series of battles in which "hundreds were killed",[27] effectively ending Cornish as the common language of the Cornish people.[62][90] The Anglicanism of the Reformation served as a vehicle for Anglicisation in Cornwall; Protestantism had a lasting cultural effect upon the Cornish by way of linking Cornwall more closely with England, while lessening political and linguistic ties with the Bretons of Brittany.[101]
The English Civil War, a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists, polarised the populations of England and Wales. However, Cornwall in the English Civil War was a staunchly Royalist enclave, an "important focus of support for the Royalist cause".[102] Cornish soldiers were used as scouts and spies during the war, for their language was not understood by English Parliamentarians.[102] The peace that followed the close of the war led to a further shift to the English language by the Cornish people, which encouraged an influx of English people to Cornwall. By the mid-17th century the use of the Cornish language had retreated far enough west to prompt concern and investigation by antiquarians, such as William Scawen.[101][102] As the Cornish language diminished the people of Cornwall underwent a process of English enculturation and assimilation,[103] becoming "absorbed into the mainstream of English life".[36]
Industry, revival and the modern period [ edit ]
The Industrial Revolution had a major impact upon the Cornish people.[103][105] Cornwall's economy was fully integrated into England's,[103] and mining in Cornwall, always an important source of employment and stability of the Cornish, experienced a process of industrialisation resulting in 30 per cent of Cornwall's adult population being employed by its mines.[105] During this period, efforts were made by Cornish engineers to design steam engines with which to power water pumps for Cornish mines thus aiding the extraction of mineral ore.[106] Industrial scale tin and copper mining operations in Cornwall melded Cornish identity with engines and heavy industry,[105] and Cornwall's leading mining engineer, Richard Trevithick, became "as much a part of Cornwall's heritage as any legendary giant from its Celtic past".[107] Trevithick's most significant success was a high-pressure steam engine used to pump water and refuse from mines, but he was also the builder of the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive.[108] On 21 February 1804, the world's first locomotive-hauled railway journey took place as Trevithick's unnamed steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren ironworks, near Merthyr Tydfil in Wales.[108]
The construction of the Great Western Railway during the Victorian era allowed for an influx of tourists to Cornwall from across Great Britain. Well into the Edwardian era and interwar period, Cornwall was branded as a rural retreat, a "primitive land of magic and romance", and as an "earlier incarnation of Englishness, a place more English than an England ravaged by modernity".[109] Cornwall, the United Kingdom's only region with a subtropical-like climate,[110] became a centre for English tourism, its coastline dominated by resort towns increasingly composed of bungalows and villas.[109] Tourists visiting Cornwall are called emmets by locals, a Cornish language word for insects, referring to the creatures that the visitors resemble when swarming Cornwall's resorts.[110] John Nichols Thom, or Mad Tom, (1799 – 31 May 1838) was a Cornishman self-declared messiah who, in the 19th century led the last battle to be fought on English soil, known as the Battle of Bossenden Wood. While not akin to the Cornish rebellions of the past, he did attract some Cornish support as well as mostly Kentish labourers, although his support was primarily of religious followers.
In the latter half of the 19th century Cornwall experienced rapid deindustrialisation,[111] with the closure of mines in particular considered by the Cornish to be both an economic and cultural disaster.[110] This, coupled with the rise of Romantic nationalism in Europe inspired and influenced a Celtic Revival in Cornwall,[111] a social, linguistic and artistic movement interested in Cornish medieval ethnology. This Revivalist upsurge investigated Cornwall's pre-industrial culture, using the Cornish language as the "principal badge of [Cornish] nationality and ethnic kinship”.[111] The first effective revival of Cornish began in 1904 when Henry Jenner, a Celtic language enthusiast, published his book Handbook of the Cornish Language.[112] His orthography, Unified Cornish, was based on Cornish as it was spoken in the 18th century, although his pupil Robert Morton Nance later steered the revival more towards the Middle Cornish that had been used in the 16th century, before the language became influenced by English.[113]
The visit of King George IV to Scotland in 1822 reinvigorated Scottish national identity, melding it with romanticist notions of tartan, kilts and the Scottish Highlands.[114] As Pan-Celticism gathered pace in the early 20th century, Cornishman L. C. R. Duncombe-Jewell and the Cowethas Kelto-Kernuak (a Cornish language interest group) asserted the use of Cornish kilts and tartans as a "national dress... common to all Celtic countries".[114][115] In 1924 the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies was formed to facilitate, preserve and maintain Celticity in Cornwall,[116] followed by the similar Gorseth Kernow in 1928,[117] and the formation of the Cornish nationalist political party Mebyon Kernow in 1951.[118] Increased interest and communication across the Celtic nations in Celtic languages and culture during the 1960s and 1970s spurred on the popularisation of the Cornish self-government movement.[110] Since devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, enthusiasts for Cornish culture have pressed for the Cornish language to be taught formally in Cornish schools, while Cornish nationalists have demanded greater political autonomy for Cornwall, for example that it be constituted as the United Kingdom's fifth consistuent country with its own Cornish Assembly.[110]
Geographic distribution [ edit ]
The Cornish people are concentrated in Cornwall, but after the Age of Discovery in the early modern period were involved in the British colonisation of the Americas and other transcontinental and transatlantic migrations. Initially, the number of migrants was comparatively small, with those who left Cornwall typically settling in North America or else amongst the ports and plantations of the Caribbean.[10]
In the first half of the 19th century, the Cornish people were leaders in tin and copper smelting, while mining in Cornwall was the people's major occupation.[23] Increased competition from Australia, British Malaya and Bolivia, coupled with the depletion of mineral deposits brought about an economic decline for Cornish mining lasting half a century, and prompting mass human migration from Cornwall.[10][23] In each decade from 1861 to 1901, "around 20% of the Cornish male population migrated abroad"—three times that of the average of England and Wales—and totalling over a quarter of a million people lost to emigration between 1841 and 1901.[10] There was a displacement of skilled Cornish engineers, farmers, merchants, miners and tradesmen, but their commercial and occupational expertise, particularly in hard rock mining, was highly valued by the communities they met.[10][23] Within Great Britain, Cornish families were attracted from Cornwall to North East England—particularly on Teesside—to partake in coal mining as a means to earn wealth by using their mining skill. This has resulted in a concentration of Cornish names on and around Teesside that persists into the 21st century.[119]
Large numbers of the 19th century Cornish emigrants eventually returned to Cornwall, whilst the rate of emigration from Cornwall declined after World War I.[120] However, the global connections of the remaining Cornish diaspora, which is concentrated in English-speaking countries such as Australia, Canada, South Africa and the United States, are "very strong".[9][10][17][121] Their outreach has contributed to the international spread of Methodism, a movement within Protestant Christianity that was popular with the Cornish people at the time of their mass migration.[122] "Cousin Jacks" is a nickname for the overseas Cornish, thought to derive from the practice of Cornishmen asking if job vacancies could be filled by their cousin named Jack in Cornwall.[34][123]
Australia [ edit ]
From the beginning of Australia's colonial period until after the Second World War, people from the United Kingdom made up a large majority of people coming to Australia, meaning that many Australian-born people can trace their origins to Britain.[124] The Cornish people in particular were actively encouraged to emigrate to Australia following the demise of Cornish mining in the 19th century. A "vigorous recruiting campaign" was launched to encourage the Cornish to aid with mining in Australia because of their experience and expertise.[125] Free passage to South Australia in particular was granted to hundreds of Cornish miners and their families,[125] so much so, that a large Cornish community gathered in Australia's Copper Coast, and South Australia's Yorke Peninsula became known as "Little Cornwall”.[9] It has been estimated between 1837 and 1840, 15 per cent of all assisted migrants to South Australia were Cornish.[125]
Cornish settlement impacted upon social, cultural and religious life throughout the history of South Australia. Cornish identity was embraced strongly in the Yorke Peninsula, but also in the more outlying mining towns of Kapunda and Burra, where Cornish miners constituted a sizeable community.[126] Methodism, was the main form of religious practice for the Cornish. Methodist sensibilities were held with strong conviction by the migrant Cornish in a direct rivalry with Catholic Irish people in Australia.[126] The Kernewek Lowender is the largest Cornish festival in the world, held in the Kadina, Moonta and Wallaroo towns on the Yorke Peninsula, which attracts tens of thousands of visitors bi-annually.[121][123]
Canada [ edit ]
European fishing ventures in and around Newfoundland during the 16th century were the earliest Cornish activity in what was to become Canada. However, permanent settlement by the Cornish across the Atlantic Ocean was rare until at least the 19th century.[23] The British colonisation of the Americas encouraged additional migration of the Cornish to the Canadas, particularly by those who served in Great Britain's Royal Navy.[23] The creation of the colony of British North America spurred more people from Cornwall to settle in North America; they were registered as English migrants.[23] Many Cornish (and other West Country) immigrants who had been agricultural labourers settled in an area of what is now South Central Ontario in what were the counties of Northumberland, Durham and Ontario, ranging from the towns of Port Hope and Cobourg in the east, to Whitby in the west and to the north ends of those counties.[127]
Mexico [ edit ]
In 1825 a band of 60 Cornishmen left Falmouth for Mineral del Monte in central Mexico with 1,500 tonnes (1,500 long tons; 1,700 short tons) of mining machinery with which to apply their mining skill and technologies to resuscitate Mexico's ailing silver mining industry after the neglect caused by the Mexican War of Independence.[14] Following their sea voyage they attempted to dock at Veracruz but were forced away by the Spanish to a beach at Mocambo from where they hauled their machinery through jungle and swamp to Santa Fe.[14] During this haul through the jungle, the Cornishmen and their Mexican helpers fell victim to yellow fever, resulting in 30 Cornish and 100 Mexican fatalities.[14] The fever forced the survivors to abandon their equipment and head inland up into the mountains to Xalapa to try and escape the mosquitos for three months, until the end of the rainy season. Once the rainy season closed the Cornish and Mexican miners continued their 250-mile (402 km) "Great Trek" to Mineral del Monte, transporting their machinery to an altitude of 10,000 feet (3,048 m) above sea level and arriving at their destination on 1 May 1826.[14] Following their arrival, the Cornish community flourished and stayed in central Mexico until the Mexican Revolution in 1910. Although the Cornish community in Mexico broadly returned to Cornwall, they left a cultural legacy; Cornish pasties, Cornish mining museums and a Cornish Mexican Cultural Society are all part of the local heritage and tradition in and around Mineral del Monte.[14]
South Africa [ edit ]
The Witwatersrand Gold Rush of 1886 encouraged large numbers of Cornish miners to migrate to the South African Republic.[128] Although an international gold rush, the Cornish overwhelmingly formed the skilled labour force in the Witwatersrand, until the outbreak of the Second Boer War prompted a retreat.[128]
United States [ edit ]
The discovery of lead ore and copper in North America prompted an influx of Cornish miners to the continent, particularly around the Upper Mississippi River.[23] By the early 19th century Cornish people were present in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan—particularly the mining town of Ishpeming.[129][130] Additional waves of Cornish migrants followed the California Gold Rush of the mid-19th century;[23] in the 1890s it was estimated that in California's Grass Valley, over 60 per cent of the population was Cornish.[9] It has a tradition of carols stemming from the Cornish who settled the area as gold miners in the 19th century. The carols have become "the identity of the town", some of the members of the Grass Valley Cornish Carol Choir are descendants of the original Cornish settlers.[121]
Most migratory Cornish to the United States were classified as English or British, meaning that the precise number of Cornish Americans is difficult to estimate. The aggregate number of immigrants from Cornwall to the United States before World War I is suggested to be around 100,000.[34]
Culture [ edit ]
The survival of a distinct Cornish culture has been attributed to Cornwall's geographic isolation.[17][131] Contemporaneously, the underlying notion of Cornish culture is that it is distinct from the culture of England, despite its anglicisation, and that it is instead part of a Celtic tradition.[23] According to American academic Paul Robert Magocsi, modern-day Cornish activists have claimed several Victorian era inventions including the Cornish engine, Christmas carols, rugby football and brass bands as part of this Cornish tradition.[23] Cornish cultural tradition is most strongly associated with the people's most historical occupation, mining,[132] an aspect of Cornish history and culture that has influenced its cuisine, symbols and identity.
Cornwall has its own tradition of Christian saints, derived from Celtic extraction, that have given rise to localised dedications.[78] Saint Piran is the 5th century Christian abbot, supposedly of Irish origin, who is patron saint of both tin miners and Cornwall.[133] According to popular mythology, Piran, an Irish scholar who studied Christianity in Ancient Rome was to be drowned in the Irish Sea by the High Kings of Ireland, but instead floated across to Perranporth in Cornwall by the will of God to preach the ministry of Jesus.[133] Saint Piran's Flag, a centred white cross on a black field,[134] was described as the "Standard of Cornwall" in 1838 and was re-introduced by Celtic Revivalists thereafter as a county flag of Cornwall.[134] It has been seized upon by the Cornish people as a symbol of their identity, displayed on cars and flying from buildings including those of Cornwall Council.[33][111] St Piran's Day is an annual patronal fête, and the pre-eminent Cornish festival celebrating Cornish culture and history on 5 March.[133]
Language [ edit ]
The Cornish language is derived from the Brythonic branch of the Insular Celtic languages. It is closely related to the Breton language, and to a lesser extent shares commonalities with the Welsh language,[135] although they are not mutually intelligible.[136] The language functioned as a community language in Cornwall until a language shift to the English language was completed during the late 18th century. The demise of the Cornish language is attributed to English cultural influence, particularly the political and religious dominance of the English Reformation and the Act of Uniformity 1549 which outlawed all church services within the Kingdom of England that were not in English.[99] The exact date of the death of using the Cornish language is unclear and disputed, but popularly it is claimed that the last monolingual Cornish speaker was Dolly Pentreath, a Mousehole resident who died in 1777.[137][138]
The revival of Cornish began in 1904 when Henry Jenner, a Celtic language enthusiast, published his book Handbook of the Cornish Language.[112] He based his work on Cornish as it was spoken in the 18th century, although his pupil Robert Morton Nance, with his orthography, Unified Cornish, later steered the revival more towards the Middle Cornish that had been used in the 16th century, before the language became more heavily influenced by English.[113] This set the tone for the next few decades; as the revival gained pace, learners of the language disagreed on which style of Cornish to use, and a number of competing orthographies—Unified Cornish, Unified Cornish Revised, Modern Cornish, Kernewek Kemmyn—were in use by the end of the 20th century. A standard written form was agreed in 2008.[139]
Cornish is a restored and living modern language, but most of its speakers are enthusiasts, persons who have learned the language through private study.[140] Cornish speakers are geographically dispersed, meaning there is no part of Cornwall where it is spoken as a community language.[140] As of 2009, it is taught in fifty primary schools,[33] although regular broadcast in Cornish is limited to a weekly bilingual programme on BBC Radio Cornwall.[140] Daily life in Cornwall therefore is conducted in the English language, albeit with some regional peculiarities.[34]
Legends of the Fall, a novella by American author Jim Harrison, detailing the lives of a Cornish American family in the early 20th century, contains several Cornish language terms. These were also included in the Academy Award winning film of the same name starring Anthony Hopkins as Col. William Ludlow and Brad Pitt as Tristan Ludlow.[141]
Literature and folklore [ edit ]
Early medieval Cornwall was associated with the Matter of Britain, a national myth recounting a legendary Celtic history of Brittonic warriors, including King Arthur.[17][29] The Matter of Britain was supported by texts such as the Historia Regum Britanniae, a pseudohistorical account of the history of the ancient Britons, written in the mid-12th century by Geoffrey of Monmouth.[142] The Historia Regum Britanniae chronicled the lives of legendary kings of the Britons in a narrative spanning a time of two thousand years, beginning with the Trojans founding the ancient British nation and continuing until the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain in the 5th century forced the Celtic Britons to the west coast, namely Wales and Cornwall.[142][143] Although broadly thought of as a work of fiction, Geoffrey of Monmouth's work had a lasting effect upon the identity of the Cornish.[144] His "historical construct" characterised the ancient Britons as heroes, which later helped Celtic revivalists to redefine Cornishness as an identity closely related to ancient heroic Celtic folklore.[144]
Another strand of Cornish folklore is derived from tales of seafaring pirates and smugglers who thrived in and around Cornwall from the early modern period through to the 19th century.[29] Cornish pirates exploited both their knowledge of the Cornish coastline as well as its sheltered creeks and hidden anchorages.[29] For many fishing villages, loot and contraband provided by pirates supported a strong and secretive underground economy in Cornwall.[29]
Legendary creatures that appear in Cornish folklore include buccas, knockers and piskies.[145] Tales of these creatures are thought to have developed as supernatural explanations for the frequent and deadly cave-ins that occurred during 18th-century Cornish tin mining, or else a creation of the oxygen-starved minds of exhausted miners who returned from the underground.[145]
Performing and visual arts [ edit ]
Celtic crosses, many dating from between the 7th and 15th centuries, are found in Cornwall and have been used as inspiration in modern and contemporary Cornish visual arts.[146][147] In the 1780s, John Opie was the first Cornish-born painter to gain widespread attention; his work was exhibited at the Royal Academy and he was described by Joshua Reynolds as "like Caravaggio and Velázquez in one".[148] Artists who appreciated the quality of Cornwall's natural light, such as J. M. W. Turner, began to visit, with more following after the opening of the Great Western Railway, including Whistler and Sickert. Stanhope Forbes and Frank Bramley settled in Cornwall in the 1880s, establishing the Newlyn School of painting en plein air. By the 1920s, the ceramicist Bernard Leach was established at St Ives, and the St Ives School for abstract artists formed there, influenced by naive painters such as Alfred Wallis, and involving the work of Ben Nicholson, his wife Barbara Hepworth, Naum Gabo and Patrick Heron.
Religion [ edit ]
Anciently, the religion of the Cornish Britons was Celtic polytheism, a pagan, animistic faith, assumed to be led by Druids in full or in part.[149] Early Christianity is thought to have existed in Cornwall during the 1st century, but limited to individual travellers and visitors, possibly including Priscillian, a Galician theologian who may have been exiled to the Isles of Scilly.[89] Celtic Christianity was introduced to Cornwall in the year 520 by Saint Petroc,[27] a Brython from the kingdom of Glywysing, and other missionaries from Wales, as well as by Gaelic monks and holy women from Ireland;[29] this "formative period" has left a legacy of granite high cross monuments throughout Cornwall.[29] Dedications to many different Cornish saints can also be traced to this period.[29] In the Middle Ages, Roman Catholicism was dominant in Cornwall,[17] and even in the 17th century the Cornish were "fervently Roman Catholic", slow to accept the Protestant Reformation, according to some scholars.[110] The adoption of Anglicanism was, eventually, near-universal in Cornwall and facilitated the anglicisation of the Cornish people.[101] A variety of dissenting congregations such as the Quakers and Baptists were to be found in certain districts. Through a combination of tours of Cornwall by John Wesley, rural isolation and compatibility with Cornish tastes and sensibilities,[122] Methodism, an evangelical revival movement within the Church of England,[150][151] became the form of Christianity practised by the majority of the population all over Cornwall during the 19th century.[17][122][152] During this time other kinds of Methodist churches appeared such as the Bible Christians and there were also Evangelical and Anglo-Catholic revivals within the Church of England.
Cuisine [ edit ]
Cornish cuisine is a regional variety of British cuisine, strongly rooted in a tradition of using local produce,[153] which is used to create relatively simple dishes.[154] Most prominent in Cornish cuisine is the pasty (sometimes known as the Cornish pasty) made from diced beef, potato, onion and swede (commonly called 'turnip' by the Cornish), enclosed within a pastry crust and then baked.[155] One idea of its origins suggests that it evolved as a portable lunch for Cornish miners, the crust serving as a disposable handle that could be held by a miner's hand without soiling the filling.[154] Fish was an important element of the Cornish diet, but international commercial fishing was also well established by the 16th century, and tons of pilchards were exported from Cornwall to France, Italy and Spain every year.[153] Stargazy pie is an occasional festive Cornish dish with the heads of fish standing on their tails, originally pilchards, piercing a pastry crust.[154][155] The saffron bun, also known as the tea treat bun, is a sweet bread with its origins in Cornwall.[126]
Sport [ edit ]
Cornish wrestling is a contact sport, a style of folk martial arts, that has its origins in Cornwall
With its comparatively small, rural population, major contribution by the Cornish to national sport in the United Kingdom has been limited.[156] There are no teams affiliated to the Cornwall County Football Association that play in the Football League of England and Wales, and the Cornwall County Cricket Club plays as one of the minor counties of English cricket.[156] Viewed as an "important identifier of ethnic affiliation", rugby union has become a sport strongly tied with notions of Cornishness,[157] and since the 20th century, rugby union in Cornwall has emerged as one of the most popular spectator and team sports in Cornwall, with professional Cornish rugby footballers being described as a "formidable force",[156] "naturally independent, both in thought and deed, yet paradoxically staunch English patriots whose top players have represented England with pride and passion".[158] In 1985, sports journalist Alan Gibson made a direct connection between love of rugby in Cornwall and the ancient parish games of hurling and wrestling that existed for centuries before rugby officially began.[158]
Cornish wrestling (also known as Wrasslin')[157] is a regional, folk style of grappling or martial arts. The Cornish Wrestling Association was formed in 1923, to standardise the rules of the sport and to promote Cornish wrestling throughout Cornwall and the world.[159] Together with Cornish hurling (a localised form of medieval football), Wrasslin' has been promoted as a distinctly Celtic game, tied closely with Cornish identity.[157]
Surfing was popularised in Cornwall during the late 20th century, and has since become readily associated with Cornishness.[157][160] The waves around the Cornish coastline are created by low pressure systems from the Atlantic Ocean which unleash powerful swells eastwards creating multiple, excellent surfing conditions in some parts of the coast of Cornwall.[160] Newquay, one of Britain's "premier surfing towns", regularly hosts world championship surfing events.[157][160]
Institutions and politics [ edit ]
Duchy Palace in The surviving part of the formerin Lostwithiel, the former administrative seat of the Duke of Cornwall from c.1265 to 1874.
The politics of Cornwall take place within a wider national political framework of a constitutional monarchy, in which the United Kingdom's monarch is head of state and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government, and the supranational framework of the European Union. Cornish politics are marked by a long tradition of Liberalism.[23][161]
Important historical institutions were the Duchy of Cornwall and the Cornish Stannary Courts and Parliaments.[77] The Stannary court administered equity, through special laws and legal exemptions, for all matters relating to the tin mines and tin trade in Cornwall. Cornish miners were effectively exempt from the jurisdiction of the law courts at Westminster, except "in such cases as should affect land, life or limb".[77] The ancient privileges of the Stannary Courts and Parliaments were confirmed by successive Royal Charters in the Middle Ages, including those administered by Kings John, Edward I and Edward III of England.[77] As the tin mines of Cornwall lost their economic importance during the 18th and 19th centuries, so the Stannary institutions lost political power. The last Stannary parliament was held at Truro in 1752, and continued, by adjournments, until 11 September 1753.[77]
As in the rest of Great Britain, the Liberal Party dominated Cornish politics during the 19th century,[162] although Socialism gained limited support in western Cornwall,[163] and the Labour Party won preference after World War I.[164] Nationalism (or regionalism)[165] in Cornwall traces its roots to the Irish Home Rule bills of the late 19th century,[161] and is represented by the Cornish self-government movement, a political action group that is predominantly organised to promote Cornwall as the national homeland of the Cornish, campaign for devolution, and win it the status as a fifth country within the UK rather than outright separatism.[166] More "militant" variants of Cornish nationalism however claim that because of historical constitutional peculiarities regarding the status of Cornwall, the law of the European Union does or should not have jurisdiction over Cornwall until Cornish sovereignty is recognised.[166] Popularisation of Cornish nationalism is attributed to a Celtic cultural revival in Cornwall which itself began with a newed interested in the Cornish language in the 1920s.[166] The revival of the Cornish language encouraged a parallel revival of Celtic traditions, which by the 1970s had spurred on Cornish nationalism.[166] The United Kingdom's entry into the European Economic Community in 1973 prompted claims that the Cornish should be granted their own devolved national assembly—the Cornish Assembly—comparable to that of the National Assembly for Wales.[165][166] Mebyon Kernow is a left-wing political party based in Cornwall, founded in 1951.[118] Its main objective is attaining greater autonomy for Cornwall through the establishment of a legislative Cornish Assembly.[167] As at 2009 Mebyon Kernow has no Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, and in the United Kingdom local elections, 2009 received 4 per cent of votes to elect councillors to Cornwall Council, behind the Conservative Party (34 per cent), Liberal Democrats (28 per cent), and Independents (23 per cent)[168] Since the 2009 structural changes to local government in England, Cornwall Council has been a unitary authority,[169][170] serving as the sole executive, deliberative, and legislative body responsible for local policy, setting council tax, and allocating budgets.
Following the Cornwall Council election in May 2013, the council remained as "no overall control", with the Independent politicians becoming the largest grouping on the council through a modest gain of councillors from the previous election. The Liberal Democrats remained the second largest party after losing 2 councillors and the Conservatives slipped to third after losing over a third of their councillors. The Labour Party (+8), UKIP (+6), and the Green Party (+1) all gained seats, with UKIP and the Greens entering Cornwall Council for the first time. Mebyon Kernow had 6 councilors prior to the election, having added 2 since the 2009 election, their total following the election was reduced to 4.[171]
In the 2015 general election all Cornish seats were won by the Conservatives. This was repeated in the 2017 general election.
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Bibliography [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]
Miles, Sibella Original Cornish Ballads: chiefly founded on stories humorously told by Mr. Tregellas in his popular lectures on "Peculiarities" : to which are appended some drafts of kindred character from the portfolio of the editress: the whole prefixed by an introductory essay on the peculiar characteristics of the Cornish peasantry. London: Simpkin, Marshall, 1846.John F. Kennedy would be 100 years old on Monday, were he still alive. The 35th president of the United States was killed in 1963, midway through his term in office, but he is revered today as one of the most towering figures in modern American politics.
Before he was a giant of history, though, Kennedy was a young man in a hurry. In 1953, seven years before he sought the presidency, he was a newly-elected Massachusetts senator and a newly-married man. Just one month after their marriage, Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, were interviewed remotely from their Boston apartment by CBS News journalist Edward R. Murrow as part of the network's "Person to Person" conversation series.
Murrow, cigarette dangling from his fingers in his studio, asked Mrs. Kennedy how they'd met.
"We met at the house of a friend about two years ago," she replied.
Murrow noted her background as a reporter -- she'd worked for a short time for the now-defunct Washington Times-Herald -- and asked whether she first met the senator when she interviewed him.
"I interviewed him shortly after I met him," Mrs. Kennedy explained.
Which was more difficult, Murrow wondered -- interviewing a senator, or being married to one?
Uncovering the history of JFK
Mrs. Kennedy laughed politely before her husband stepped in to save her. "Being married to one, I'd guess," he quipped.
Murrow asked the senator to show viewers around the apartment. Kennedy directed the journalist to a photo of himself with all eight of his siblings, taken in 1939 when their father was the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom.
"Almost the last time we were all taken together," Kennedy noted. "Brings back happy memories."
Kennedy's oldest brother, Joe Kennedy, was killed in 1944 fighting in World War II.
Watch the video above for more of Murrow's 1953 chat with the Kennedys. And tune into Face the Nation this Sunday for the latest political news and analysis.The Conservative Party will kick off its biennial convention Thursday. With the media microscope focused squarely on the Senate scandal and the frayed integrity of the Prime Minister’s Office, Canadians aren’t likely to pay much attention to what transpires on the convention floor. They ought to. The policy resolutions that pass provide as good an indication as any of how Prime Minister Stephen Harper will go about deflecting the heat and shoring up support for his government among the party’s base.
This week's Conservative Party convention will demonstrate yet again that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has not abandoned the far-right leanings of his Reform roots. ( CHRIS WATTIE / REUTERS )
There is a persistent view that Harper has pragmatically governed in the centre, in a way that, if anything, has alienated the hard-right of the party. Under this interpretation, Harper has moderated his Reform ways and largely kept his “base” in check. Wacky resolutions at Conservative conventions are therefore so much meaningless hot air. Harper’s record, however, tells a different story. Though the list of right-wing “accomplishments” is long, several demonstrate how out of touch Harper is with mainstream Canadian values: brazen attacks on labour groups and collective bargaining rights; tax cuts that benefit the wealthy; the erosion of public programs and cuts to services; the dismantling of environmental regulations for resource extraction; evidence-averse “tough on crime” policies such as building more prisons and instituting mandatory minimum sentences.
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Harper has incrementally but methodically shifted Canada’s politics towards the hard-right of his party, breaking with Canada’s strong and cross-partisan tradition of progressivism in the process. Little wonder many former Progressive Conservatives deplore this government's record on the environment, its attack on evidence-based policy making, and as former prime minister Joe Clark recently argued in the Star, its near complete disregard for the norms of international co-operation. For clues about Harper’s next steps, let’s look at some of the policy proposals and amendments up for debate at the convention: Guns One resolution calls on the government to “resist any domestic or international pressure” that threatens the “legitimacy of private ownership of firearms.”
History suggests we ought to take this resolution seriously. During the 2005 convention, the Tories voted to repeal the long-gun registry should they ever be able to do so. Seven years later, the program is dead. Meanwhile, the government has still yet to sign a UN Arms Trade Treaty even the gun-loving Americans have endorsed. All of this reflects the disturbing and growing influence of the gun lobby on party policy. CBC
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Another resolution calls for the “elimination of all public funding” from the CBC. Full stop. We’ve already seen this government impose substantial cuts to the public broadcaster and introduce new and unprecedented policies to directly control its internal management. It’s not a trend that inspires trust for those worried about further cuts and censorship, let alone the end of the CBC. Pensions A third resolution calls for a commitment to “bring public sector pensions in-line with Canadian norms by switching to a defined contribution pension model.” Defined contribution models, preferred by the private sector, tend to yield less for retirees than do defined benefit plans. It seems it wasn’t enough for the government to cut public pensions by stealth in the 2012 budget — party activists now want to further erode Canadians’ retirement income security. Taxes Incredibly, one proposal states explicitly that the Conservative party should advocate for a “less progressive tax system.” The rich, in other words, should pay less of their share. This is precisely what the Conservatives’ proposed income-splitting tax scheme will do: transfer more of the tax burden onto single-parent, and lower- and middle-income families. Further eroding the tax base would mean less money for new federal programs or for critical investments in infrastructure, health care |
of caffeine, so no matter what, they’re probably taking 4 or 5 in order for them to pick you up!’ And that was the whole thing with the boys. It wasn’t like you being the guinea pig, it was just like [everyone’s hands up, pop some and fly].
[I don’t remember what the Phenobarbitals felt like.] When you have so much other shit in you, it was like rainbow stew! I don’t know, it was just one of those things.”
Related: DRUGS IN WRESTLING: The Destructive Truth About Steroid Use in the WWE and Beyond
Doing It For the 16 Guys in the Back
“I remember another time, Kid just vanished. He worked his match, he vanished, he’d get on the bus and sleep. It was like, ‘Dude, what are you doing?’
He was like, ‘Don’t smart anybody up, but I found a doctor in London who gave me some liquid Codeine.’
I was like, ‘How’s that?’
He picks up his shirt and he’s got abs. He’s got like a six pack of abs and he goes, ‘All I’ve been drinking is water!’ (laughs)
He goes to the ring that night, he’s halfway down and he takes his fucking gimmicks off his fucking shoulders, rolls his fucking shirt down and [flexes his muscles], and he turns [towards us] because we’re all at the curtain watching him. And that was the thing. Fuck 12,000 people! You’re only entertaining those 16 guys back there. That’s what we always made references to when we were in the nWo. 4 people got it! I mean, we didn’t give a fuck. It was just those 4 people at home laughing and going, ‘Oh, I get that!’
Other people would be going, ‘What does that mean?'”
SOURCE: Kayfabe Commentaries interview with Kevin Nash. See the video of this interview here.
Editor’s note: Whether or not the incident described by Nash in this story played a role in Savio leaving WWE is up for debate. Savio Vega has since shot back and reached out to us on Twitter wanting us to share his side of the story. Read what Vega had to say about Nash’s accusations here!
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Be sure to also read one of these recommended articles from our site:GANGS carrying guns, samurai swords and knives are terrorising doctors and nurses at a suburban hospital.
Conflicts between the heavily armed migrant gangs are spilling from the streets into the emergency ward at Sunshine Hospital.
A whistleblower said staff feared for their lives and were demanding 24-hour security in the casualty ward.
Warring Asian, Sudanese, Somali and Pacific islander gangs had taken their battles into the emergency department.
The whistleblower said incidents included:
ASIAN gangs threatening to throw chairs at each other when two groups arrived at emergency seeking treatment for separate stab victims.
A GUNSHOT victim forcing the evacuation of the hospital's emergency department after a security guard took him inside, despite fears he had a gun.
POLICE being regularly called to disperse gangs who were milling out the front of the hospital waiting for one of their members to be treated.
AT least one gang member a month presenting at the hospital with stab wounds.
Insiders estimated that about 70 "code grey" security alerts, where staff and patient safety is put at risk, occurred at the hospital each week.
The whistleblower, who is related to a hospital worker, said more needed to be done to protect staff.
He feared that sooner or later, a staff member would be seriously injured or even killed at work.
"People come into the emergency department with samurai swords, gangs turn up with bullet wounds, and nurses and doctors go to work and put up with those things because they are dedicated," the whistleblower said.
"You would think the hospital would be prepared to provide a security guard to give them some sense of safety."
A Western Health spokeswoman said the security of staff in the emergency department was taken "extremely seriously".
"From time to time, there are incidents that can be very frightening for staff," she said.
"But this is a constant challenge for emergency departments across Australia and the world.
"We are examining security and working with staff on additional safety measures."
Originally published as Casualty a gang battlegroundWildrose Alliance Leader Danielle Smith, left, says her party isn't likely to return to the Progressive Conservative fold, even if Ted Morton, right, becomes leader. ((Kevin McIntosh/Canadian Press))
Ted Morton's appeal to supporters of the Wildrose Alliance could lead to split loyalties for the province's federal Tories.
The province's former finance minister, who resigned from cabinet in order to seek the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party, said he plans to bring Wildrose Alliance members back into the Progressive Conservative fold.
The Wildrose Alliance saw its membership and profile increase during Ed Stelmach's term as premier, as some considered his government to be too liberal. Stelmach announced Tuesday that he will resign as premier and party leader at the end of the legislative session and will not run again.
Morton, seen as a fiscal hawk, was the first PC MLA to announce that he intends to seek the leadership. He doesn't see a need for two right-of-centre political parties, he says.
"I have concerns about vote splitting and my goal has been... to bring the two parties back together," Morton said this week. "I think the mothership is the Progressive Conservative Association of Canada."
Divided right
But Wildrose Alliance Leader Danielle Smith disputes that claim.
"There isn't going to be any chance at all that the Wildrose is simply going to fold into the PC Party," Smith said in an interview broadcast Saturday on CBC Radio's The House. "People, myself included, were very hopeful that Ted would be able to lead a movement from within the PC Party to get them back on track. And I think that what we've seen is he's not been effective doing that."
I have not wanted to create any difficulty for my friends in the federal party. I know that there's a split in the support in their own caucus.
This could spell trouble for federal Tories in the province, some of whom have been quietly supporting Wildrose to the detriment of the provincial PCs. But now that Morton hopes to lead the PC Party, those federal Conservatives may have to pick a side.
Federal Conservative supporters — including MPs — are already divided, Smith says.
"I have not wanted to create any difficulty for my friends in the federal party," she said on The House. "I know that there's a split in the support in their own caucus."
But, she added, she's not going to enter the fray.
"I'm not interested in fanning those flames," she said.
The House airs Saturday mornings at 9 a.m. on CBC Radio One and at 7 a.m. on Sirius 137.It seems creationists in Texas have resorted to bullying and lying in an attempt to force evolution out of the classroom.
In November 2013 the Texas State Board of Education adopted new science standards for its textbooks that will bring evolution into the Texas public school classroom.
All eyes were on Texas as the SBOE voted on the new proposed changes to the science curriculum that would change textbooks around the US.
Texas is the largest purchaser of public school textbooks. Because publishers do not want to publish different textbooks around the US, they look toward Texas for what they will be including in the new books each year. As goes Texas, goes the nation.
This can be bad news if special interest groups such as the misleadingly named group, Educational Research Analysts (ERA), get their way. ERA is a creationist lobbying group that stood firmly against the 2013 decision to introduce evolution into Texas classrooms.
Neil Frey, acting on behalf of ERA, has been aggressively lobbying since the decision to change much of the wording in the textbooks. Frey’s complaint, filed with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) alleges that Pearson Education’s high school biology textbook is wrong in explaining the close similarities between chimpanzee and human DNA. The textbook states that scientific evidence shows that chimpanzees are the closest living genetic relatives of humans.
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Chimpanzees are in fact the closest living relative to humans, but creationists do not like that, so they file complaints. Pearson responded to these claims, disputing Frey’s complaints, stating that making these changes would be misleading to students' education.
Now Frey has convinced an SBOE board member, Barbara Cargill, that his claims are valid. This comes as no real surprise as Cargill was a board member who opposed the standards change from the beginning.
In an email between Cargill and a TEA staff member, obtained under the state's open records law by the Texas Freedom Network, Cargill tries to pressure TEA into siding with Frey and forcing all the publishers to update their texts or risk massive fines.
Cargill writes in her email:
“Pearson has been very hard-nosed during this adoption, so I hope staff at least agrees that these 3 items must be changed, especially knowing that 3 other publishers agreed to the changes. If the science experts at McGraw, Houghton, and STEMscopes agreed with Neal, that says a lot. Neal does his homework, and I looked into it too, just to be sure. The research is solid, accurate and current.”
But did three other publishers agree to make these changes, as Cargill states? It does not appear so. None of the publishers have shown any signs that they are agreeing to the changes and STEMscopes have said outright that they are not.
Cargill also doesn’t seem to have gotten board approval or worked with any other SBOE board members before emailing TEA and attempting to pressure them into making Frey’s changes. Her colleagues voted in favor of the changes and it would seem odd they would then back up her mission to undo them.
To claim that both Frey and Cargill have “done their homework” on these claims is blatantly dishonest as the claims made in the textbooks are fully in line with scientific evidence and consensus on human and chimpanzee DNA.
This action seems to be a new low, even for creationists in an effort to undermine scientific education. Groups like ERA know that if they can change textbooks in Texas, it is a nationwide victory. They will stop at nothing to perpetrate their myth at the expense of American students.
Below is the email from Barbara Cargill:
[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_large”,”fid”:”580010″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”height”:”480″,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”,”width”:”371″}}]]A biology professor at Purdue University argued last week that pro-lifers who show images of unborn babies are basically showing “child pornography.”
David Sanders, an associated professor of biology at Purdue, made the argument April 24 during a debate with Seth Drayer of the pro-life group Created Equal, Campus Reform reports. The debate question was “Is abortion a moral injustice?”.
The debate was recorded and posted on YouTube, something Sanders has complained about. The pro-life student club Boilermakers for Life hosted the event on campus.
In the video, Sanders’ remarks about “child pornography” begin around the 38-minute mark.
“He thinks fetuses are children, and he belongs to an organization that likes to show images of fetuses,” Sanders said of Drayer.
“What would you call the public display of a butt naked body of a child?” Sanders asked. “I would call it child pornography. Do they have their permission? Do they have the permission of the fetus? Obviously not.”
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When someone in the audience pointed out that Sanders basically admitted that an unborn baby is a child, he responded by denying the accusation.
“I didn’t admit it. I’m using his language. He thinks it’s a child. I do not,” Sanders responded. Later, he added, “If you want to enforce and protect First Amendment rights to allow you to show child pornography, have at it.”
Here’s more from the report:
Drayer, responding to Sanders’ argument, told The Liberty Conservative that “the claim that displaying abortion victim images in public is equal to child pornography is absurd (and laughable based on the reaction from the crowd gathered for the debate),” pointing out that the issue has already been decided by the courts. “Federal law defines child pornography as ‘any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor.’ By all accounts, images of abortion victims do not even come close to meeting that definition,” he explained. “The displaying of images of dismembered preborn children in public have long been considered protected political speech by federal courts where displaying child pornography is a criminal act punishable with up to 30 years’ maximum in prison.” Sanders, however, contested Drayer’s interpretation of the relevant statutes, telling Campus Reform that he “has misrepresented federal law.”
During the debate, Sanders also argued that the Bible does not condemn abortion, and that, according to pro-lifer’s view of unborn babies, the high number of miscarriages would make “God the greatest abortionist.”
He also claimed science does not back up the pro-life position, and said Drayer “doesn’t even believe in science.” Sanders claimed pro-lifers are just imposing religious beliefs on women.
On the issue of the video recording, Created Equal said Sanders did not express his opposition to the recording of the debate until he arrived a minute late for the event.
The pro-life group wrote online: “Dr. Sanders threatened to walk out, and was told that it would be filmed whether he chose to stay or not, and that if he didn’t want to be on camera he would not be forced to participate in the debate. Dr. Sanders choice to participate was his own.
“While Created Equal believes that no wrong was done on the part of the sponsors in regards to the legality of live streaming and filming, we would note that Created Equal was not involved in the negotiation of the terms for the debate with Dr. Sanders,” it continued.AUGUSTA — A bipartisan group of state lawmakers continues to hone its focus on reforming the Maine Clean Election Act in an effort to keep those running for state office from forming and managing political action committees.
The system is ripe for corruption and fraught with ethical pitfalls because candidates accept donations for their leadership PACs from individuals, private businesses and even industry lobbyists, according to lawmakers seeking the reforms.
The Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee on Tuesday heard two bills looking to outlaw the practice of lawmakers forming so-called “leadership PACs,” which some have described as a “glaring loophole” in a law that was aimed at limiting the influence of money in state politics.
State Sen. Eric Brakey, R-Auburn, said his bill, LD 532, would prohibit those who accept clean election funds from forming PACs that in recent years have collected millions of dollars from private donors and corporate interests for campaigns.
“Something is terribly broken with the Maine clean elections system,” Brakey told the committee.
He said in 2014, one state senator, whom Brakey didn’t name but campaign finance records show is state Sen. Justin Alfond, D-Portland, signed up to be a clean election candidate and collected $20,000 in state funds for his campaign, and then operated a leadership PAC that collected more than $205,000 in private donations.
State law prohibits candidates who accept clean election funds from also collecting private donations for their own campaigns, but it doesn’t prevent them from operating PACs to raise money for other PACs or a political party’s PAC, which in turn spends the money in support of, or in opposition to, other candidates.
Often, candidates such as Alfond, deemed to be in so-called “safe districts,” where they do not face competitive races, or those in key leadership positions in the Legislature, set up the PACs to help their parties win seats and power. Donors to the PACs include individuals, companies, trade associations and often even the lobbyists who work for them, campaign finance records show.
The donors to Alfond’s PAC in 2014 included Walmart; Poland Spring’s parent company, Nestle Waters; the Maine Brewers’ Guild; Anheuser Busch; and the Law Offices of Joe Bornstein.
“If a candidate claims to be a clean candidate taking taxpayer money to be uninfluenced by the donations of private interests, should that candidate actually be prohibited from receiving private-interest dollars?” Brakey asked.
He said his bill prohibits publicly funded candidates from being the primary officers or decision-makers of PACs.
While it may be difficult to prove any direct connections between donations and policy decisions or votes, the practice doesn’t pass the “straight-face test,” Brakey said.
“There are many other purposes for this money, which violates the intent of the (clean election) law,” Brakey said. “There’s also nothing stopping candidates from donating PAC money to other groups, including political parties with a wink and a nod about where that money should be spent. Perhaps it should be spent on their own race?”
Compounding the problem is the migration of legislative caucus staff members, many of whom leave their State House jobs during the campaign season to work for the party or a party committee on campaigns.
For example, campaign finance records for 2014 show Alfond donated much of the money that his Alfond Business, Community and Democracy PAC raised to the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, another PAC of which Alfond was also an officer.
That second PAC either spent money in support of Democratic candidates or in opposition to Republican candidates or in other cases passed the money on to yet another PAC run by the party, the Maine Democratic State Committee.
Alfond on Tuesday defended the practice, saying it isn’t illegal under Maine law. He suggested it was actually a more transparent way to raise campaign funds because the public can trace where the PAC money originates and which lawmaker was responsible for collecting the donations.
Brakey’s proposal and another, LD 619, offered by state Rep. Justin Chenette, D-Saco, that outlaws PACs for any candidate running for the Legislature, regardless of whether they take public funding or are traditionally financed with private donations, actually decrease transparency in the system because donors would simply give straight to party PACs with no indication of whom asked for the donation in the first place.
“People in my position, going forward, will continue to raise money into the caucus operations, and you will have no idea how much money they raise, where it comes from or how to track any of it; it will be all underground,” Alfond said. “You will have no idea how to track any money in the state of Maine, other than how the Democratic Party or the Republican Party or the caucus operations spend the money. You will have no idea how it gets inputted.”
Alfond said that who gave money and how money is spent by PACs would still be available in campaign finance disclosures, but there would be no indication of which lawmaker was responsible, and no way to match any legislative actions to the donations in question.
“I have Republicans that give to me, I have Democrats that give to me, I have unenrolleds that give to me and most of the money is coming from within the state of Maine because people want our state to move in a certain direction, the direction they see me and my colleagues moving it,” Alfond said. “It’s a completely transparent process. I report every (fiscal) quarter everyone who gives to me, and I think it is a pretty solid system.”
Alfond said if the Legislature were to change the system, he and others would abide by the change, but without first reviewing both bills, he would not say whether he would support the measures.
But Chenette, the Saco Democrat, pointed to the case of former state Sen. John Tuttle, a Democrat from Sanford who ran a PAC that collected donations from entities subject to the jurisdiction of the committee he co-chaired, Veterans and Legal Affairs — which also has jurisdiction over campaign finance law — to show how ripe Maine’s system is for corruption.
An October 2014 investigation by the nonprofit Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting revealed Tuttle used at least $17,000 from his PAC to buy automobile tires, pay for car repairs, reimburse himself for travel and to pay his wife and daughter for computer services and keeping his books.
The report also disclosed that many of Tuttle’s PAC donations came from gambling and liquor industry lobbyists or companies, most of which were working for or against legislation before Tuttle’s committee.
“This is precisely the kind of perception problem I am seeking to avoid,” Chenette told the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee on Monday. “Imagine having to decide public policy … on this committee through a cloud of political contributions from the very industries you are supposed to be regulating.”
While none of Tuttle’s actions were illegal under Maine law, his practices did raise eyebrows and concerns about the way lawmakers use and disburse money from the PACs they create. After serving 28 years in the Legislature, Tuttle lost his re-election bid in 2014 to Robert Woodsome, a Waterboro Republican who won nearly 60 percent of the vote.
Chenette said even if a lawmaker’s voting record doesn’t indicate bias toward the entities that donate to his or her PAC, the perception remains.
“Your constituents deserve to know without a shadow of a doubt that you have their interests at heart and not the interests of the lobbyist with the largest checkbook,” Chenette said. “Our government should set the example, not be the ones the public looks down upon with utter disgust because of the way we are conducting business behind the scenes.”
John Brautigam, a former state lawmaker and a lawyer who works with Maine Citizens for Clean Elections, said his organization supports the bills being offered by both Brakey and Chenette, although it favors Chenette’s bill more.
Brautigam said he believes allowing candidates to support their respective caucus PACs without having their own PACs is a more simple and transparent system.
“You can participate in campaigns in a variety of ways,” he said. Also, privately financed candidates are already allowed under state law to spend their funds in support of other candidates and that wouldn’t change under either bill.
He said that process involves plenty of reporting and involves contribution limits for donors that fit in with the campaign finance laws Maine already has on the books.
Committee member John Bear, a nonvoting tribal representative for the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, asked Brautigam if the bills were basically an attempt at “speaking truth to power.”
“I definitely agree with that,” Brautigam said. “I think, sometimes, people who are in power came from a place where they are very familiar with what the day-to-day truth was and they kind of get to a different place and a little reminder is a very helpful thing to do.”
No opposition to either bill was presented to the committee Monday.
The committee will continue to review the bills in an upcoming work session. The measures could be folded into one bill or amended before the committee votes on a recommendation for the full Legislature.
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filed under:VeloUK talks to British Women’s Road Race Champion Sharon Laws about her season and her goals for 2013
Our thanks to Sharon Laws for answering our questions by email from her base in South Africa where she is enjoying warmer and drying training weather! During the year, Sharon was in the form of her life but was not selected for the Olympics due to the decision of one selector within the GB Cycling team.
Sharon, one of the nicest people you could possibly meet and one of the worlds top riders, is held in high esteem by her peers as you will see. Like this from Lizzie Armitstead about Sharon signing for Lotto: “I’m really pleased for Sharon (Laws) that she is with a team like Lotto. I think she will get opportunities there and I see her producing similar results to what Emma did as she was always her domestique.”
Sharon Laws (centre) in her champions jersey with Emma Pooley and Lizzie Armitstead
Question and Answers with Sharon Laws
VeloUK: For 2013, with the champion’s jersey on your back, you have signed for Lotto. In a press release they say they wanted to make the team stronger around you and others? How does that feel as a rider to have that respect?
Sharon Laws: I have always ridden on teams with big rosters and with Olympic and World Champions. I wanted to do something a bit different for 2013 and riding with Lotto Bellisol is the perfect opportunity to combine riding for a smaller team but one that is still well recognised in Europe. I think it is the team that has shown the greatest stability over a number of years. I was approached by them, jointly with Momentum Toyota, early – in the middle of the year – and so to be a priority to both teams makes me feel particularly valued and immediately boosts my confidence and enthusiasm to ride next year.
VeloUK: Looking back at 2012, what were the highlights for you?
Sharon Laws: I had a run of success in May and June and that period was a highlight for me; 3rd overall at Gracia Orlova, 2nd at Goik-Geraardsbergen-Goik, 1st in a Dutch criterium, 3rd in the Valkenburg Hills Classic, 4th overall at Bira, 2nd in a stage at Trentino and then the win at the National Championships. My form was good and my performances improved with the confidence that being on the podium provides. I was on a real high up until the Olympic selection.
Becoming National Champion was of course the biggest highlight of the year. It was something I never thought I would achieve and was a big surprise. Now I have it, it means so much more than I expected. The Worlds Team Time Trial bronze medal was another highlight. I was a late call up to the team and was extremely nervous as I hadn’t had the chance to practice with the team as I only arrived the day before! Being an integral part of the team to achieve that podium place and finishing off a great year with AA drinks was a very special feeling.
My last month in South Africa has been a real highlight – winning the 94.7 which is the World’s second largest timed event was incredible. There was so much media attention, TV interviews and people recognising me. This was followed by a win at a 200km team event which I did with 10 other girls – a lot of fun and a win this weekend at a race in my new home town in Stellensbosch. Sport is so huge in South Africa and the number of people that take part in the races is just outstanding and so when you win in front of so many people, it’s such a great feeling!
Sharon on her way to the British title in North Yorkshire.
VeloUK: … and the disappointments?
Sharon Laws: Not being selected for the Olympics was obviously the biggest low of my season. I really believed I raised my level this year and deserved the place. My results helped to qualify the 4th spot and I was the 4th ranked UCI British rider. I wish I’d been a swimmer or a runner and then the selection would have been based on taking the strongest athlete. Unfortunately, so many riders in the peloton believed, and said to me, that I must be selected that I also began thinking I had a real chance – so the blow of not making the team was even worse. I remember waking up the following morning, after I had the information, and the reality hit that my Olympic dreams were over. I just had such a sick, empty feeling in my stomach.
I could have accepted the decision in the previous years when my results hadn’t been particularly outstanding but to put all the hard work, get the results and then not be selected was just devastating. The Road World’s was a big disappointment for me too. I was in good shape but I think I lost my head in the race. I saw my confidence fall away with a small comment someone made before the start and it’s not the kind of race you can go into and do well unless you are 100% focused. It’s the first World Championships I’ve finished feeling that I wasn’t able to give of my best and I think that is worse than feeling you’ve given your best and coming last.
VeloUK: How did such a huge disappointment such as the Olympics affect your moral for the rest of the season?
Sharon Laws: It was hard not to hit a low. I took a break when the Olympics was on and headed to the mountains with a tent and no internet or mobile phone reception and then spent a few days at a friend’s house with numerous children and that helped put things in perspective.
I had many conversations and messages from riders and others highlighting their surprise at the decision and sympathising with it. This coming from top riders such as Marianne Vos, Ina Teutenburg and Judith Ardnt to name a few, helped me feel slightly better about the situation.
The situation also affected my enthusiasm to ride as I had no real, clear goal anymore. Fortunately, my new contract with Momentum Toyota (South Africa) and Lotto Bellisol (Europe) and a new focus for next year has renewed my motivation. This has additionally been helped by some wins here in South Africa which has definitely boosted my confidence.
VeloUK: What have you learnt in 2012 that you feel you can take forward to 2013 to help you be even more successful.
Sharon Laws: I worked with a new coach from South Africa, Ian Rodgers, in 2012 and his approach really works for me. I’ve done a lot of higher intensity work, sprint training and tapering before races. Hopefully continuing with the same kind of training will help me improve further next year.
A delighted Sharon Laws wins the British RR Championship for women.
VeloUK: There has been a lot of talk about in-equality between male pros and women pros. Is a rider as highly ranked in the world as you and British champion no less, able to make a living as a professional or is it a struggle?
Sharon Laws: Unfortunately, I don’t receive any funding or support from British cycling so I only get the salary paid to me by the team. Each year to date, I have undertaken a block of consultancy work in the ‘off season’ to supplement my income.
This isn’t ideal in terms of being able to rest effectively or spend time with friends or family, when you are finally not travelling to races, but is necessary. Being older makes a bit of a difference as I don’t want to live like a student again as I did that many years ago and it’s also not feasible to live with family when you are 38! I took around a 50% salary cut when I gave up my career (which wasn’t particularly highly paid either!) to became a cyclist. I do however know that I am still one of the fortunate ones – many of the girls in the peloton receive very little or no salary at all.
VeloUK: Have you met with the team for 2013 and will it be strange to be the only Brit in the team (that I am aware of) after years of being with Emma and Lizzie?
Sharon Laws: No, we haven’t all met yet but hope to early in 2013. I’ve really enjoyed the time I’ve spent riding with Emma and Lizzie and so will miss them. I’ve learnt so much from both of them in different respects and it will be very strange not being on the same team.
VeloUK: You mention you have a busy winter getting in the kilometres. Describe a typical week for you, how kilometres and hours would you do and is it just easy or is there some intensity in there and what are you preparing for first in 2013?
Sharon Laws: I haven’t yet had a typical week as I’ve been doing some local races while I’ve been here so I’ve been doing more intensity than normal for this time of year. After a short break, I will start with some base training and move into intensity work in January. Again, I won’t really have a typical week (purposely) until I move into more structured training in January. I have a few excursions planned around the riding firstly to the Cederberg mountains with my Cape Epic partner and then from Boxing Day, I will be riding from Stellenbosch to Knysna with Ashleigh Moolman and others. It’s about 700-800km over 6 days which I’m really looking forward to.
VeloUK: You are spending the winter in South Africa. Is that where you will remain for your winter training? Do you train alone there or are there others who join you to make those long hours more sociable on the bike and what’s the terrain like
Sharon Laws: I will be in South Africa for 5 months and only return to Europe after doing the ABSA Cape Epic mountain bike race at the end of March. So far, I’ve been doing specific training for the recent races which means training alone but I hope to mainly be riding with other people once I start again after a short break.
The area around here is generally rolling but there are some nice climbs, beautiful mountains to gaze at and vineyards everywhere! The roads aren’t as quiet as they are in Spain and the drivers less conscientious but the weather is of course better at this time of year.
Sharon in winning form recently in the Momentum  94.7 Challenge for Women
VeloUK: We’ve seen the likes of Bradley Wiggins and other Sky riders take losing weight to extreme levels to be the best they can, do you think that is something that those in the women’s side are taking on board. You looked very lean this year!!!
Sharon Laws: I think it varies among individuals – with women there are always issues around weight particularly when sport is involved. There are some riders who have taken it to extreme levels but I know that it isn’t good for you in the long term and I like food too much! I generally eat a healthy, balanced diet that is as natural and unprocessed as possible but only because these are the foods I prefer. I could definitely be leaner but life is a bit short and dark chocolate and Emma’s chocolate brownies taste too good!
VeloUK: You were born in Kenya, like another famous cyclist and have lived in different countries. So where in the world is home to you?
Sharon Laws: That is always a difficult question! I’ve lived in Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Australia, Spain and the UK – I travelled a lot in my previous career and so generally home is where my bag is. I love living in Girona, Spain and do feel at home there but South Africa is also a very special place and its wonderful coming back to old friends.
I grew up in the UK in the Cotswolds. It’s a very beautiful part of England and is where my Mum lives so I do feel like it is home as well …. it’s just the weather in the UK that I can’t live with! Sometimes I love my nomadic lifestyle but other times I crave just having a proper home with all my friends and family around me – I don’t think I will ever achieve this as now I’ve met so many lovely people on my travels and they are scattered all over the world. Thank goodness for skype.
VeloUK: Finally, you won a major race recently wearing the champions jersey — how has it felt wearing the champions stripes since June? Are you very conscious of them when racing for example.
Sharon Laws: It’s wonderful! It has been fantastic winning in the stripes and I think it means a lot more to people in South Africa when they see I am a National Champion …. I definitely get a lot more recognition. In the Giro, it was great as all the National champions line up on the start line at the front which was a real honour. I think wearing the National stripes increases your confidence when you race as you know that win was a real achievement.
My thanks to Sharon for that wonderful interview and wish her all the best in 2013…
Other Results on VeloUK (including reports containing results)
Other News on VeloUKImage copyright OUP Image caption More than 10,000 people used the service on Thursday
A search for the most-hated word in the English language has been halted after an online survey was bombarded with offensive language.
Oxford Dictionaries launched a service on its website so people could vote for their least favourite words, but it was shut down after "severe misuse".
Oxford University Press said a mixture of swear words and "religiously offensive vocabulary" were to blame.
On Thursday, "moist" became the early front-runner for most-hated word.
'Negative behaviour'
Oxford University Press said in a statement the OneWorldMap initiative "was intended as a way to encourage a positive engagement with language".
It added: "Unfortunately, and despite our attempts to prevent negative behaviour on this site, we have had to take down the site.
"Whilst this is disappointing, we strongly believe in the importance of engaging with the wider community to enhance our understanding of the English language, and will continue to investigate ways of doing so."
More than 10,000 people had responded to the survey.
Before the service was removed, Dan Braddock, from Oxford University Press, said they were "not entirely sure what to expect" from the experiment.In a surprise announcement, Entertainment Weekly and McFarlane Toys have announced a new series of Construction Sets based on HBO’s massive hit; Game of Thrones! The first set to be released will be the Throne Room with the Iron Throne. The set will include King Joffrey, Tyrion Lannister, members of the Kingsguard and Lannister Guards. Assorted sets will sell for $14.99 to $49.99 and there will be individual minifigures (likely blind bagged). Those will include and alternate version of Tyrion, Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, Grey Worm, Ghost, Rhaegal, an Unsullied, a Crow, a Wildling and a Wight. They will sell for $3.99 each.
As a big fan of their Walking Dead Construction Sets, I think Game of Thrones and brick fans are in for a real treat here. Read on to check out the images.About
As stated in the video, The Adventures of Hot Carl and Dirty Sanchez is about a dog turd and a human turd that become best of friends and go on crazy adventures. They try not to die by getting stepped on, lawn mowed over, or rained on. Anything that can kill a turd they |
ence listed the most common explanations that have been offered. Some correspondences may be universal. The connection between high-pitched sounds and sweet tastes is likely based on their shared oral configuration: an infant’s tongue moves outward and upward in response to sweet foods, as does an adult’s when he is singing falsetto. In other cases, the relationship might be culturally dependent, based on similar words being used across sensory modes—edges can look and feel sharp, but Cheddar can be described that way, too. The account that Spence frequently offers in his public lectures and media appearances is, at heart, a statistical one: cross-sensory correspondences can be attributed to the internalization of environmental patterns. Sweet, ripe fruit is often red; fresh foods usually make a louder crunch; and spiky salad leaves are frequently more bitter than their rounded counterparts. Nonetheless, Spence’s own contributions as a scientist undoubtedly lie more in designing experiments than in analyzing the neuroscience behind his findings. One reason that the senses have almost always been studied in isolation is that it is remarkably difficult to disentangle them sufficiently to observe the effect that one might be having on another. Spence has managed to study them together by, as McGlone put it, “slipping in through the perceptual windows” created by sensory illusions. His Pringles experiment is a telling example of this methodology. In designing it, Spence drew on an audio-tactile phenomenon known as the “parchment-skin illusion.” Described, in 1998, by the Finnish neuroscientist Veikko Jousmäki, the illusion can be experienced if you write on a chalkboard or rub sandpaper on wood, first with earplugs and then without. As the brain glues together the acoustic input and the tactile input from the hand holding the chalk or the sandpaper, it gives priority to the information from the ear. As a result, the same chalkboard or wood surface feels smoother when you wear earplugs to muffle the sound. By transposing illusions from one sense to another, Spence has begun to trace the hidden rules governing the interactions between them.Share Tweet Google Plus reddit Messenger Share Email Print
One of the longer standing arguments in the field of strength training has to do with the definition of intensity with various camps essentially defining intensity in their own way and everybody talking past one another when they have debates about it.
In my opinion, most of the arguments are simply an example of people using the same words to describe different concepts and I don’t see any real reason for there to only be a single definition of intensity that can be valuable in the weight room. In fact, by using various definitions, I think that training can be more accurately described.
Intensity of load
Arguably the first definition of intensity came from sports scientists and coaches (especially Olympic lifting coaches) trying to define and measure things relevant to them. In this case it meant defining intensity as the percentage of maximum load that was being used.
In this scheme, a 75% load (e.g. if you can use 100 lbs maximum and are lifting 75 pounds), is a lower intensity than a 95% load (you’re using 95 pounds of your 100 pound maximum).
The pros of this method are that it’s fairly easy to measure and makes concrete comparisons simpler: the guy lifting 95% of his maximum is working at a higher intensity than the guy lifting at 85% or 75% of maximum. This is especially true in research where it’s relatively easy to test someone’s maximum and then determine what percentage of maximum they are working at based on what weight is on the bar.
Unfortunately, only looking at the percentage of maximum tends to miss some crucial aspects of the training load. In both Olympic lifting and powerlifting, it’s not uncommon for lifters to perform a sub-maximal number of repetitions at a given load. That is, in theory, a load that is 85% of maximum will allow a lifter to get 5 repetitions although it will be pretty grindy at the end.
Many lifters, and this is especially true in Olympic lifting would be more likely to do repeat sets of doubles at that same 85% of maximum to ensure that technique and bar speed stay high; some powerlifters train this way as well.
It should be obvious that performing 2 repetitions at 85% of maximum and 5 repetitions at 85% of maximum are going to be a very different level of effort/difficulty even though the intensity of load is identical.
There is an additional problem in that true maximum strength can be variable on a day to day basis. Basing training around percentages can get misleading when what should be a 90% maximum load is actually lower or higher due to changes in fitness or fatigue state.
Which brings me to the second most common definition of intensity.
Intensity of effort
Groups that are usually associated with the HIT (high intensity of training) theory tend to define intensity in their own way which has to do with relative closeness to failure or simply the effort expended during the set. You might simply look at this definition of intensity in terms of ‘difficultly’. The harder the set is to complete, the higher the intensity and vice versa.
A set taken to the point of concentric failure is generally defined as 100% intensity and while individuals in this camp usually argue that anything less than 100% intensity can’t be reliably measured, others will use methods like rating of perceived exertion (RPE) or simply reps short of failure to gauge intensity of effort.
Clearly an all out set to the lifter’s absolute limits would be 100% intensity and an RPE of 10 (on a 10 point scale) with no reps left to failure. A lifter who stopped 1 rep short of true failure might be at an RPE of 9 and 90% of maximum intensity, a set done at an RPE of 8 might leave the lifter with 2-4 reps short of failure, etc.
I’d note that knowing how close one is to failure often necessitates a period of training where true failure is achieved. With practice, most lifters will know if they had one or two or four more repetitions in the tank. Beginners who have no conception of what true muscular failure is will not. I’d also mention that a good coach can usually tell by watching things like bar speed and effort how close a lifter is to failure; again this takes some practice and experience to do well.
Complicating things even more we might examine the issue of speed work as often done by athletes and powerlifters. Typically a load of 30-60% of maximum (low intensity of load) might be lifted for very sub maximal numbers of repetitions. But the focus on lifting the weight as fast as possible/pushing as hard as possible might actually make the intensity of effort quite high.
A Mid-Article Summary
Frankly, with only the two above definitions of intensity, intensity of load and intensity of effort, I think that training can be more accurately described than with either one alone. So while a set of 12 to failure might only be a 75% load intensity but 100% effort intensity (RPE of 10), a set of 2-3 at 85% of maximum might be an 85% load intensity but only a 50-60% effort intensity (RPE of 6-8).
In this vein, I’d note that a recent book by IPF powerlifter Mike Tuscherer called The Reactive Training Manual has a lot of very good information on the above approach to training, using RPE, fatigue cutoffs, etc. to autoregulate powerlifting training. Anyone interested in the topic would be recommended to pick up a copy.
Other Aspects of Intensity
Of course, I also think that other definitions of intensity can be useful or at least descriptive in looking at training. Nobody would argue that both a 1 repetition max (100% load intensity/100% effort intensity) and a 20 rep set of squats (perhaps 70% load intensity but 100% effort intensity) are intense but they tend to be intense in a different way. A set of 8 to 1 rep short of failure on the bench press (80% load intensity, 90% effort intensity) might also be intense but in a different way than either of the other two examples.
Given the general belief that training can have varying effects on either neural, muscular or metabolic effects of intensity, I don’t see it as too far fetched to look at training in terms of the neural, muscular or metabolic intensity. So sets of 1-3 are going to be more neurally intense than sets of 6-10 (more muscularly intensive) and sets of 20 or more might be primarily metabolically intensive (although the muscular effort is often still quite high).
For completeness, and having watched too many bodybuilders train, I might even go so far as to suggest another definition of intense in terms of focus and concentration. It’s not uncommon to watch bodybuilders using what are apparently fairly light loads focusing extremely intensely on every repetition, using slow movement speed and attempting to generate maximal muscular tension during all aspects of the movement. While the intensity of load may actually be fairly low, the intensity of effort (and concentration) certainly are both high. While impossible to quantify, I see that as certainly another potentially useful definition of intensity here.
Summing Up
Invariably when I see arguments about training intensity, the problem is usually that people are talking across each other, using different definitions that each thinks is the only correct definition. Rather, I think a more useful approach is to recognize that intensity in training can have different meanings all of which can have utility or value at different time points.
Alternately, as mentioned above, there are clearly cases where taking different definitions into account at the same time may give more valuable information about training than focusing on one or the other.
Similar Posts:“Haight Street was not a good place to be,” Mitch Maycox, a San Francisco college student in 1967, says about the Summer of Love. “The police were stretched so thin, because of the influx: the crime, the drugs, all of that stuff. A lot of things slipped through the cracks because so much was going on.”
For many, the Summer of Love inspires visions of hippies laughing as they strolled arm-in-arm through Haight-Ashbury, flowers in their hair, joints in hand, Jefferson Airplane playing in the background. Such activities certainly took place, but 1967 saw more than just love and peace. Police clashed with the community, city officials condemned the hippie movement, STDs were rampant, and drug overdoses and murders were not uncommon.
At the time, the newspaper, TV and radio reporters happily covered politicians’ outrage and the social carnage, but present-day media has largely chosen to focus on the shiny, happier sides of the hippie gathering. To dive into the complexities of the rampant addiction, sexual diseases, murders, and authorities’ crackdowns on the hippie movement would mar S.F.’s role in the colorful historic summer. It’s much easier and less controversial to publish stories celebrating the Beat poets, musicians, and anti-Vietnam war activists of the era than it is to track the violent police responses to demonstrators, the overdosing runaway teenagers, and a police force that couldn’t control the chaos.
The Summer of Love has been tidied up and neatly wrapped in a tie-dye package. But ask anyone who was there, and they’ll more than likely have a story of the era’s dark underbelly.
Maycox was one of them. In 1967, he spent much of his time in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood, where students from S.F. State or the University of San Francisco rented out whole blocks of houses with their friends.
“People bought up properties because it was a blighted neighborhood,” he says. “Rents were cheap. It was all artists, musicians, social activists. Most of the people were activists.”
But that changed with the influx of hippies. On Jan. 14, 1967, 30,000 people took over Golden Gate Park’s Polo Fields for the Human Be-In, fueling a nationwide impression that the hippie movement’s home was San Francisco.
The Department of Public Health took a stance on the situation just two months later, when authorities estimated that there were “4,000 hippies” in the city. A team of health inspectors was deployed to the neighborhood. Clinics were full of people suffering from STDs, the result of a general lack of public sex education among teenagers who’d fled their middle-class homes, and the frequent use of drugs.
“There was a lot of drug use, group sex, communal sex,” says Dr. David Smith, founder of the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic. “It would be an understatement to say there was a spike in STDs. That’s like saying a hurricane is a strong wind.”
In a March 1967 interview with the Chronicle, the city’s health director, Dr. Ellis Sox, did not mince words, comparing the influx of hippies to an apocalypse: “These people are creating the slums they live in,” he said. “Most poor people forced to live in poor housing at least try to keep clean, but here we have young people of good education and background who are creating a slum. When water is shut off from failure to pay the bill, toilets are not being used. Garbage is thrown around, and this attracts flies and rats. Bubonic plague is carried by rats on fleas, and it is not impossible there might be an outbreak of epidemic meningitis.”
By June, the number of people visiting the Haight was predicted to be close to 100,000. For context — that’s more than an entire day’s worth of Outside Lands attendees, squished into one neighborhood. Every spare couch was filled, runaways huddled in doorways at night, and school buses converted into mobile homes lined the Panhandle along Oak and Fell streets. “They were living on the streets, or renting a place, half a dozen people to a room,” Maycox remembers. “That’s when it really changed.”
A New York Times employee who went by the name “Ms. Elizabeth” also recalled that the tone evolved throughout the summer. “At first, it was really very happy,” she said. “There were so many ‘be-ins’ and marches and free music. Organized crime got the Hell’s Angels involved. There was an influx of young runaways, many from well-to-do families. They were expecting a city of love and found a city like any other city, and a lot of them ended up being prostitutes.”
Maycox confirms this. “Some people came here just to prey on the younger folks,” he says. “They’d rob them. A lot of young girls would end up as prostitutes. Some of the pimps from the Fillmore would come recruit people These were young kids; 15, 16, 17. What surprised me was how fast that happened.”
Runaway teens drew cops to the neighborhood, as frantic parents across the country tried to track them down. Soon, even the Diggers, a radical activist group, were rejecting people under 18 from their community houses, out of fear cops would raid them and find drugs. Signs went up in windows saying the underage weren’t welcome.
Running away was a crime, and those who were caught were tossed in the Youth Guidance Center, a juvenile-delinquent center on Twin Peaks with bars on the windows. It quickly reached capacity, with cots filled up and teenagers forced to sleep on the floor.
Deveron, a 13-year-old girl, described the scene in a September 1967 letter to Reverend Larry Beggs, the founder of Huckleberry Home for Runaways.
“The rooms are steaming hot 24-hours a day,” she said. “The windows are half an inch thick and through the tiny crack at the top you can maybe see a few lights at night outside the barbed wire. There are no people there. Only animals. If it wasn’t time to be let out they had to wet their floors. The only sounds are ‘Be quiet!’ and the sound of rattling trays and doors and keys.”
Amid the plethora of sexually transmitted diseases, prostitution, and city-supported child abuse, hospitals were overloaded with hippies overdosing on drugs. In his city-history book Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love, David Talbot writes that “when high-flying kids were brought to General Hospital … they were dumped across the street at Mission Emergency Hospital, where they were thrown in with alcoholics or gunshot victims, or locked in padded isolation cells. What began as a mildly bad trip could erupt into full-blown psychosis by the time a hallucinating patient made his way through the city’s harrowing public-health labyrinth.”
By October, tens of thousands of hippies who’d migrated to San Francisco for the summer had left. Many returned to college to finish their degrees, others were drafted into the Vietnam War. A “funeral” marking the death of the hippie movement was held to signify the official end of the summer. “We wanted to signal that this was the end of it, to stay where you are, bring the revolution to where you live and don’t come here, because it’s over and done with,” organizer Mary Kasper said in a public statement after the funeral took place.
But while the masses vacated, the neighborhood retained some of the damage the Summer of Love had inflicted. Veterans returning from the war became hooked on hard drugs, which were readily available on street corners. Janis Joplin, who’d become well-known after an appearance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, drank herself to death only three years later. And as the haze of pot smoke left the Haight, Charles Manson packed his family into a bus and proceeded to murder at least seven people.
It’s easier to memorialize the fun, peace-loving, happy Summer of Love than its darker partner. But remember: That which glitters is not always gold.
Check out more stories from this week’s cover story here:
Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll ’67: The Hippie Temptation
Fifty years ago this month, Harry Reasoner and CBS tried to scare kids away from drugs. It didn’t quite work.
Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll ’67: The Bad End of the Summer of Love
By Labor Day 1967, a pair of horrifying drug dealer murders made the Haight too violent for even Charles Manson.Hockey fans, the wait is finally over! The NHL season begins today, and it's time to celebrate. Enjoy the games by following our tips for streaming NHL hockey, and fill the rest of your day with great hockey movies. Here are the five best ones that are available on the major streaming services.
Goon
Available on: Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video Slap Shot
isn't available to stream anywhere right now, but you can still get your hockey comedy fix from Goon. This 2011 film stars Seann William Scott as a nice guy who ends up as an enforcer on a minor league hockey team.
30 for 30: King's Ransom
Available on: Netflix
Some of the best sports documentaries available right now are coming from ESPN and their 30 for 30 series. Kings Ransom is the first of two great 30 for 30 films that we're including on this list. It examines the shocking trade of Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings. Gretzky is the greatest hockey player of all time, and the trade shook the hockey world.
30 for 30: Of Miracles and Men
Available on: Netflix
We all know the story of the Miracle on Ice, when the US Hockey team beat the heavily favored Russians for the gold medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. This documentary offers a new perspective on the story, showing how the critical loss affected the Russian hockey team. The film is a part of ESPN's popular 30 for 30 documentary series.
Pond Hockey
Available on: Hulu
Hockey used to be a game that was primarily played outdoors on frozen ponds and lakes. Now, it's played in indoor rinks that are sheltered from the elements. This smart documentary examines the cultural shift that's happened in amateur hockey.
Road to the NHL Winter Classic / Road to the NHL Stadium Series
Available on: Amazon Prime Instant Video
These two series from Epix follow two NHL teams as they prepare for the Winter Classic or Stadium Series each year. The Stadium Series and Winter Classic games are the NHL's annual outdoor games, and they're big events with lots of pressure. The hour-long episodes of these four-part series really take you behind the scenes, and they're must-see TV for die-hard hockey fans.
Bonus: 3 Movies That Are Worth Paying For
We wish these classics were available to stream for free, but they aren't. You'll have to shell out some cash for these, but trust us: they belong in your digital collection.
The Mighty Ducks
Available on: Amazon, Disney Movies Anywhere, iTunes, Google Play
The Disney classic about an upstart youth hockey team.
Miracle
Available on: Amazon, Disney Movies Anywhere, iTunes, Google Play
Perhaps the best hockey drama ever made, this film tells the uplifting true story of the underdog U.S. men's hockey team and their incredible upset win over the Russian team at the 1980 Winter Olympics.
Slap Shot
Available on: Amazon, iTunes, Google Play
Slap Shot is, of course, the best hockey movie of all time. This hilarious sports comedy follows the exploits of the fictional Charlestown Chiefs, a minor league hockey team with some real characters on the roster.What Happens When the Stock Market Crashes?
The stock market is holding up the economic recovery. A crash will end it.
Real Estate News
“Things derive their being and nature by mutual dependence and are nothing in themselves.” – Nagarjuna, Indian Buddhist Philosopher
A Stock Market Crash Would End the Housing and Economic Recovery
The two pillars of the current economic ‘recovery’ are the stock and real estate markets. That is how the Fed engineered it with their multi-year, multi-trillion dollar quantitative easing (QE) programs. QE has been particularly effective in pushing the stock and real estate markets higher. Rising stock and real estate markets are often cited as evidence of overall economic recovery. This foolish assertion can be rejected easily by referring to the declining labor participation rate and lack of wage growth. Measured by job and wage growth, the current recovery is worse than the recession from which the economy supposedly emerged.
Since the economic recovery rests its support on rising stock and real estate prices, a crash of the stock market would devastate the other pillar of the economic recovery, the real estate market, and put an end to the economic recovery altogether.
It’s Easier to Pump up the Stock Market than the Real Estate Market
The Fed has been very successful in proving that you can reheat a soufflé. The current stock market bubble now exceeds its pre-2008 crash levels. Stock market bubbles are easier to blow up as there is no limit to how high stock prices can go. Once the market accepts thin air valuations for non profitable companies that are untethered to dividend yields and traditional valuations, beyond the sky is the limit. Homes may become too expensive to afford but no stock becomes too expensive or unaffordable; anyone can buy any stock, albeit in smaller amounts. Stock prices, unlike home prices do not have their upward trajectories limited by availability of credit, loan to value ratios, employment history, affordability and income levels.
With interest rates on bonds and bank certificates of deposit artificially low and near zero, money seeking higher returns flows into the stock market pushing prices higher. Companies can create further demand and give the illusion of higher profitability by buying back their shares with cheaply borrowed cash.
The flip side to these advantages is the stock market can also crash in an instant and with it take away all the economic “gains” of the past few years.
The False Housing Recoveries of 2013 and 2014
The housing recoveries of 2013 and 2014 were characterized by low inventory, low sales and higher prices ginned up by QE that drove down interest rates making home purchases more attractive for investors who had access to the cheap capital.
Home prices have risen over the past two years even though employment rates and wages have not increased. Indeed, the disconnect between the housing and labor market is clear- the labor participation rate shows a decrease in the percentage of people employed in the United States and wages lower today than they were in 2009 at the end of the recession.
Pushing home prices higher by manipulating interest rates lower is more difficult than driving stock prices higher by using the same means. When the housing bubble burst in 2007-08 many homeowners either were forced into foreclosure or saw the values of their homes drop below the amount owed on their mortgages.
Last year, in Real Estate’s Underwater Downside Sticky Catch-22, we noted that the large percentage of underwater home owners was helping to keep housing inventories low.
Further adding to the housing inventory shortage are:
– home owners, encouraged by the recent increases in home prices, who may not have underwater mortgages, are waiting for higher home prices before they sell;
– lower than historic averages of new home building; and
– the slow release of foreclosed properties by banks.
Against a back drop of a housing inventory shortage (not a shortage of housing), low interest rates have boosted demand for investors who can fund home purchases with cash, qualify for mortgages or obtain independent financing.
While home sales ticked higher last year, they are still far off their 2003-2007 levels and when one considers that last year’s sales were boosted by all cash buyers who constituted 40%+ of all transactions, the number of homes purchased by traditional retail buyers is still at multi-year lows.
When the Stock Market Crashes
A stock market crash can occur for any number of reasons: events in China, Germany, emerging markets turmoil, the Fed’s tapering, rising interest rates, war or a terrorist attack.
Crashes happen and the current stock market is ripe for one.
A stock market crash would most likely lead to even fewer potential qualified home buyers. After a stock market crash, layoffs are common. Since employment is normally a prerequisite for non cash purchasers to buy homes, layoffs will drive down demand for housing. For example, rents and housing prices in the Bay Area have risen to stratospheric levels. After a crash, investors normally reevaluate the prospects of the companies they own especially ones with no earnings. Companies generally respond to falling stock prices by laying off workers in an attempt to reduce their losses. Layoffs in the Bay Area would reduce the number of qualified buyers from the market and take some of the froth off the record high San Francisco home prices. A dynamic of reduced employment and employment prospects caused by a stock market crash would have a similar impact on housing demand and prices across the country.
Investors and all cash buyers who make up well over 40% of national home sales, (in some markets over 60%) will also exit the real estate market after a stock market crash as their coffers of investible capital and collateral are drained.
Who Will Buy Homes when Investors Can’t or Won’t?
Hint: It Won’t Be Millennials
First time home buyers are largely absent from the current housing market. Millennials have not been forming households at rates like predecessor generations and have been shut out of the market due to rising home prices, poor job prospects and crushing student loan debt.
Unless the economic prospects of millennials improve and home prices come down, they can’t be counted on to provide a meaningful pipeline of new home buyers to sustain the high priced housing recovery. We also can’t expect the the long term unemployed or the newly unemployed to purchases homes.
Midde innings of A Multi-Year Housing Recovery?
The health of the housing market is constantly made in reference to the price of housing, not the number of homes sold and their affordability. Many real estate observers like to refer to a housing (price) recovery as in its early stages as if it were a preordained event. Recently, Zillow’s Chief Economist noted “the housing recovery is entering the middle innings.”
After a stock market crash, a more apt analogy may be intermission at the Gong Show.
We would only be in the middle innings of a housing (price) recovery if the Fed decided to make QE a ten year program. Since the Fed is now on a course of ending the QE program without an alternative buyer, (other than perhaps mandating US citizens to buy US Treasuries for their retirement accounts) the prospects of rising home prices are dim. Lower home prices, however, are a good thing as lower prices will make homes affordable.
Janet Yellen: QE – It’s Not Just for Rich People!
In a recent Time magazine interview, Janet Yellen, incoming Chair Woman of the Federal Reserve, defended QE as being not just for rich people. “You know, a lot of people say, this is just helping rich people. But it’s not true. Our policy is aimed at holding down long-term interest rates, which supports the recovery by encouraging spending. And part of it comes through higher house and stock prices, which causes people with homes and stocks to spend more, which causes jobs to be created throughout the economy and income to go up throughout the economy.”
Ms. Yellen outlined all that is wrong with QE and the Keynesian approach to central planning of an economy. We will focus on just one of the flaws of such approach here. The converse of Ms. Yellen’s statement is also true. When QE ends and home and stock prices drop we will have less spending which will weaken the recovery. Thus, “Live by QE, die by QE.”
But What About Escape Velocity?
The Fed will soon learn that printing nearly $5 trillion out of thin air in order to buy U.S. Treasuries and mortgage backed securities from the too big to fail banks in order to drive down interest rates creates distortions in the economy and comes with consequences. Yet, the Fed believes that the economy can achieve escape velocity that will allow them to begin to step away from the money printing Frankenstein they have created and have begun the communication offensive to convince the markets that they did the right thing in printing nearly $5 trillion out of thin air and that they are doing the right thing to starting to slow the dollar printing press. They have also assured us that “tapering is not tightening” (it is) and that they will continue to hold interest rates low in the absence of QE.
What Will You Do If the Market Crashes? Take our Poll
If the stock market corrects more than 20% will you:
End of the Road
QE has been described as papering over fundamental economic structural problems, bailonomics, and kicking the can down the road. The road is a dead end and we may be approaching the final mile.
Measuring the success of an economy by the value of the homes in it is misguided. Pursuing monetary policy to drive the prices of those homes higher is even more misguided. Rising real estate prices and home prices should not be counted on to drive the economy, but rather should be reflective of the health of the economy.
Higher home prices don’t reflect any improvements in the underlying economy, any added productivity, job or wage gains that allow people to afford more expensive better homes. Home prices have risen largely because QE has made it easier for a relative few to speculate on housing. QE has encouraged greater borrowing and spending of money people didn’t have and didn’t earn but rather received as a function of their home prices or stock portfolios rising.
Since the current recovery we have been hearing about in the media is based on rising stock and real estate markets, a collapse in them will put an end to the economic “recovery”.UPDATE: Bob Christy’s calculation of a projected landing time of 02:03 GMT June 29 (10:03 pm tonight EDT) and the undocking time for Shenzhou-9 have been added.
China’s three-person Shenzhou-9 crew is preparing to return to Earth about 10:00 pm tonight, June 28, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), which will be 10:00 am June 29 Beijing time (or 02:00 GMT June 29).
The crew was launched on June 16 and this is the longest of China’s human space flight missions to date.
China’s space program takes place at a measured pace. The first Chinese astronaut, or taikonaut, was launched in 2003 on Shenzhou-5. Two years later China launched Shenzhou-6 with two astronauts. The third mission, Shenzhou-7, took place three years after that, in 2008, with a three-person crew and the first Chinese spacewalk. The current mission is the fourth to carry a crew. Five other Shenzhou spacecraft have been launched without crews as test flights (Shenzhou 1-4, Shenzhou-8). Shenzhou-6 was the longest mission until now, lasting five days.
Shenzhou-9 already has undocked from the Tiangong-1 space station module. Liu Wang conducted a manual undocking according to China’s Xinhua news service (in English). One mission objective was to demonstrate manual docking and undocking as a test should automated systems fail. The crew was launched on June 16 and docked with Tiangong-1 in automated mode two days later. After spending several days adjusting to weightlessness, Liu Wang and mission commander Jing Haipeng reentered Shenzhou-9 and conducted preliminary tests in preparation for Liu Wang to perform a manual re-docking. The third crew-member, Liu Yang, China’s first woman astronaut, remained in Tiangong-1 during this exercise. She has been in charge of biological and medical experiments. Later, all three entered Shenzhou-9, undocked, and manually redocked.
Xinhua did not announce the time that Shenzhou-9 undocked from Tiangong-1, but said the crew had reentered the capsule at 6:00 am Beijing Time June 28 (6:00 pm June 27 EDT). Bob Christy at zarya.info said undocking was at 9:22 am Beijing time June 28 (01:22 GMT; 9:22 pm June 27 EDT) and calculates that landing will be at 02:03 GMT June 29 (10:03 pm tonight EDT).
Tiangong-1 will be boosted to a higher orbit until China is ready to launch the next crew, expected next year.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that one of the three crew remained on Tiangong-1 during the manual docking exercise, but all three were in Shenzhou-9 when the spacecraft separated from and then redocked with Tiangong-1. It was during a preliminary test that two were in Shenzhou-9 and one remained in Tiangong-1; the two vehicles remained docked together during that test.Ask Bob Odenkirk and The Birthday Boys Anything on Reddit This Friday Posted by Melissa Locker on December 4th
Clear your calendar because this Friday from 10 – 12 PT (that’s 1-3 ET for the math challenged among us) The Birthday Boys and Bob Odenkirk will be taking your questions on Reddit (during their The History of Sketch on TV AMA).
If this AMA is anything like what happened during the AMA that Bob, David Cross and Brian Posehn did for Mr. Show, it’s going to be epic.
At a loss for questions? Go ahead and ask them what it’s like to have ten dads:
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The Birthday Boys airs on IFC on Fridays at 10:30/9:30cLow Carbing
If you’ve been reading my posts, you know that I’ve been low-carb paleo for a while now. Well, while I feel great! The scale hasn’t reflected the changes I had hoped for. After talking with some other paleo bloggers that I love and respect, the consensus was that I needed to shock my body. That I needed a carb load day! So yesterday I ate #allthecarbs and it was glorious. Jicama, butternut squash, banana… it was glorious. Today, back to low carb business per usual. We’ll see if these carbs up days work. If they do, I’m all for it! Until them, I’m all about these collard green wraps.
New Traditions
Anyway… I bought some giant collard greens to make wraps last week, and for some reason, I hadn’t gotten around to it, the leaves were beginning to yellow so it was “do or die today. I had bacon, lots of bacon, haha my pals over at Pederson’s Natural Farms sent me a little care package! PS. Their bacon, the Whole30, sugar free one, is AIP COMPLIANT! Not to mention, freaking delish! I had avocado… oh and shrimp! I like making AIP recipes on Monday’s so I have a new one to share to the AIP Roundtable on Wednesday. It’s become a great little habit of mine.
About These Collard Green Wraps Wraps
I’m calling the breakfast wraps because I made them for breakfast, but you can obvs eat them whenever. Also, one skillet. Multi-step. But no hard at all. Seriously. So good. Also… easily made even simpler, but having all the components ready to go. If you want to meal prep these… cut your carrots and scallion in bulk. Blanch a few leaves, pat dry and store layered with paper towel. Cook your bacon and shrimp. Make your sauce. Store it all in the fridge like a ready to wrap station!The Government wants a mixed governance structure for Environment Canterbury (ECan), with some members elected and others appointed, it has announced.
Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith and Associate Local Government Minister Louise Upston released a discussion document on the proposal on Wednesday.
"We are proposing a mixed governance model... with seven members elected across Canterbury at the local elections in October 2016 and six appointed by Government," Smith said.
"[It] enables a majority of elected representatives while ensuring continued momentum on the Canterbury Water Management Strategy and earthquake recovery work," he said.
"We considered other options of a fully elected council and alternatives that involved substantive changes to council functions.
"Our preliminary view is that these carry too many risks given the critical stage of work on the Canterbury Water Management Strategy and the earthquake recovery.
"It may be appropriate to consider these options beyond 2019."
Green MP Eugenie Sage, the party's Christchurch spokeswoman, said the Government had "broken its 2010 promise to restore regional democracy by 2013".
The mixed model proposal was "a significant wind back of local democracy", Sage said.
"We need |
Russians in their quest to throw the election to Donald Trump,” he wrote. “Don’t have time to figure out which docs are real and which are faked.” He added that the organization’s claim on its website that he owns the Podesta Group, a lobbying firm headed by his brother, Tony, was “completely false.”
Some of the documents in the most recent WikiLeaks release are similar in their design to documents released in recent days by DCLeaks.com, another entity that the U.S. intelligence community says has published documents stolen by the Russian government. The documents have proven difficult to authenticate.
In the two years between her time at the State Department and her presidential campaign, Mrs. Clinton earned millions on the paid speech circuit, including $4.1 million from financial institutions, according to financial disclosures. This became an issue during Mrs. Clinton’s Democratic primary campaign when Sen. Bernie Sanders called for her to release the speech transcripts, particularly for speeches she gave to major financial firms. At the time, Mrs. Clinton said she would “look into” releasing the transcripts but hasn’t provided them.
This past January, the WikiLeaks documents suggest, Clinton campaign research director Tony Carrk emailed excerpts of Mrs. Clinton’s speeches to senior campaign officials, including Mr. Podesta and communications director Jennifer Palmieri, calling them the “flags from HRC’s paid speeches.”
Mr. Carrk said he had obtained the transcripts from “HWA,” an apparent reference to the Harry Walker Agency, which arranged Mrs. Clinton’s paid speeches after she left the State Department in 2013.
“I put some highlights below,” Mr. Carrk wrote. “There is a lot of policy positions that we should give an extra scrub with Policy.”
The more than 80 pages of transcript excerpts appear to have been broken down by a campaign official into sections titled “Awkward,” “Benghazi,” “Email,” and “Helping Corporations,” among others.
The excerpts appear to show Mrs. Clinton taking a more friendly attitude toward financial firms than she does on the campaign trail. At a 2013 speech at a Goldman Sachs GS 1.60 % event, she is shown lamenting that in Washington, “There is such a bias against people who have led successful and/or complicated lives.” In another speech at a Goldman event, she told the room, “You are the smartest people.”
, she said that some element of financial reform “really has to come from the industry itself.” At another Goldman Sachs speech, discussing how to avoid another financial crisis, she said the “politicizing” of the financial crisis could have been avoided with greater transparency, and told the bankers, “You guys help us figure it out and let’s make sure that we do it right this time.” A year later, at a speech paid for by Deutsche Bank DB 0.81 % she said that some element of financial reform “really has to come from the industry itself.”
On the campaign trail, Mrs. Clinton has issued a suite of proposals aimed at curbing some Wall Street risk-taking and holding more individuals accountable for misconduct.
In a 2014 speech, the excerpts show, Mrs. Clinton said that as a U.S. senator from 2001 to 2009, she had won support from Wall Street but still supported regulations that were tough on the industry, including closing a loophole that allows carried interest to be taxed at a lower rate.
Mrs. Clinton also expressed strong support for free trade in a 2013 speech paid for by a Brazilian bank. While she endorsed negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact during her tenure as secretary of state, Mrs. Clinton has since opposed the trade pact, saying it does not do enough to produce new jobs and raise wages.
“My dream is a hemispheric common market, with open trade and open borders,” she said in 2013, according to the transcript. “We have to resist protectionism, other kinds of barriers to market access and to trade.”
Mrs. Clinton also acknowledged the security concerns surrounding BlackBerry BBRY -1.01 % devices, an issue that has taken on increased political significance since reports last year that she used a private email server as secretary of state. A Federal Bureau of Investigation probe found no evidence that Mrs. Clinton’s server, which contained emails with classified information, was hacked during her tenure.
Co. global meeting. “And that was true across the U.S. government.” “At the State Department we were attacked every hour, more than once an hour, by incoming efforts to penetrate everything we had,” Mrs. Clinton is shown saying at a 2014 speech at a General Electric GE -0.65 % global meeting. “And that was true across the U.S. government.”
At the same event, Mrs. Clinton is shown lamenting that when she arrived at the State Department, employees were “not mostly permitted to have handheld devices.” She added, “I mean, so you’re thinking how do we operate in this new environment dominated by technology, globalizing forces? We have to change, and I can’t expect people to change if I don’t try to model it and lead it.”
Another excerpt shows Mrs. Clinton saying that when it comes to politics, there is a need for “both a public and a private position,” because “backroom discussions” make “people get a little nervous.”
“You just have to sort of figure out how to … balance the public and the private efforts that are necessary to be successful, politically,” she is shown to have said at a 2013 speech said to be paid for by the National Multi-Housing Council.
—Damian Paletta and Peter Nicholas contributed to this article.The following article first published eleven years in June 2004 pertains to Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, the legendary leader and alleged founder of Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI).
The name of this mysterious jihadist organization was later renamed the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) and in 2013 it became the Islamic State of the Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), largely involved in terrorist attacks inside Syria.
In June 2014, the ISIL became The Islamic State (IS). The present leader and cleric of the Islamic State’s Caliphate is another mysterious figure called Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, formerly also known as Dr. Ibrahim and Abu Du’a
Both Al-Zarqawi and Al-Bagdhadi are fabricated bogeymen.
While Al Qaeda leaders are routinely presented to World public opinion as “terrorist masterminds” threatening the “Free World”, what the media invariably fails to mention is that they were recruited and trained by the CIA, Mossad, Britain’s MI6 and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) acting in liaison with its Western counterparts.
Al Zarqawi had been recruited by the CIA to fight in the Afghan war. This was confirmed by Secretary of State Colin Powell in his historic presentation to the UN Security Council on 5 February 2003.
Our concern is not just about these illicit weapons [WMDs]; it’s the way that these illicit weapons can be connected to terrorists and terrorist organizations… But what I want to bring to your attention today is the potentially much more sinister nexus between Iraq and the Al Qaeda terrorist network, a nexus that combines classic terrorist organizations and modern methods of murder. Iraq today harbors a deadly terrorist network, headed by Abu Musaab al-Zarqawi, an associate and collaborator of Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda lieutenants. Zarqawi, a Palestinian born in Jordan, fought in the Afghan War more than a decade ago [recruited by the CIA]. Returning to Afghanistan in 2000, he oversaw a terrorist training camp. One of his specialties and one of the specialties of this camp is poisons. When our coalition ousted the Taliban, the Zarqawi network helped establish another poison and explosive training center camp, and this camp is located in Northeastern Iraq. You see a picture of this camp. Graphic, above. [there were no WMDS at this camp according to ABC report, see below] Colin Powell, UN Security Council, February 5, 20o3)
And now a new legendary terrorist leader of the Islamic State has emerged: Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.
Let us be under no illusions, the Islamic State is a CIA-Mossad creation. It is an intelligence asset.
The incursion of IS brigades into Iraq in June was part of a carefully planned military-intelligence operation supported covertly by the US, NATO and Israel. In Syria, the ISIL is said to be part of “opposition” fighting government forces. The Israeli military is directly supporting the ISIL out of bases in the occupied Golan Heights.
It is worth noting that the same strategy of using jihadist death squads to destabilize and foment violence in Iraq (including the numerous suicide attacks) was implemented by Washington from the outset of the US led occupation.
George W. Bush (June 2004 press Conference) candidly admits that the purpose of Al-Zarqawi’s “operational plan” was to sow “cold blooded killing”:
You know, I hate to predict violence, but I just understand the nature of the killers. This guy, Zarqawi, an al Qaeda associate — who was in Baghdad, by the way, prior to the removal of Saddam Hussein — is still at large in Iraq. And as you might remember, part of his operational plan was to sow violence and discord amongst the various groups in Iraq by cold- blooded killing. And we need to help find Zarqawi so that the people of Iraq can have a more bright — bright future. (George W. Bush, Press Conference, 1 June 2004, emphasis added)
What GWB does not mention is that Al Zarqawi is not “this guy”, he is “our guy”.
Paraphrasing president Bush, “[our] guy Zarqawi, [a CIA sponsored intelligence asset]… his operational plan, [acting on our behalf], was to sow violence and discord amongst the various groups in Iraq by cold- blooded killing.”
In 2004, the aggressor nations, namely the US and Britain “came to the rescue of the people of Iraq” “so that they can have a brighter future” under a counter-terrorism mandate at “the request” of the Iraqi interim government, in an agreement sanctioned by the UN. What is rarely mentioned by the media is that the US led military alliance has been supporting the Al Qaeda affiliated terrorists.
Washington’s unspoken objective remains “to sow violence and discord by cold blooded killing”.
And in late June 2014, the same scenario has emerged: the Islamic State (IS) has “invaded Iraq” and America –which is covertly supporting the Islamic State– is called to rescue.
The Islamic State rebels are America’s foot soldiers, generously funded by Qatar and Saudi Arabia:
The “War on Terrorism” consists in creating Al Qaeda terrorist entities as part of an intelligence operation, as well as also coming to the rescue of governments which are the target of the terrorist insurgency. This process is carried out under the banner of counter-terrorism. It creates the pretext to intervene. ISIS is a caliphate project of creating a Sunni Islamist state. It is not a project of the Sunni population of Iraq which is broadly committed to secular forms of government. The caliphate project is part of a US intelligence agenda. In response to the advance of the ISIS rebels, Washington is envisaging the use of aerial bombings as well as drone attacks in support of the Baghdad government as part of a counter-terrorism operation. It is all for a good cause: to fight the terrorists, without of course acknowledging that these terrorists are the “foot soldiers” of the Western military alliance. Michel Chossudovsky, The Engineered Destruction and Political Fragmentation of Iraq, Global Research, July 01, 2014
Al Qaeda is “Made in America” … lest we forget with the support of Israel. And this includes the entire network of Al Qaeda affiliates in a large number of countries.
The alleged links of Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi to the Mossad, not to mention the overt support of ISIL by the Israeli military and the Netanyahu government should serve to refute the absurd proposition that Al Qaeda (including its ISIS affiliate) is an “independent entity” which threatens America and the Western World.
A revised version of the June 2004 article below was incorporated as a chapter in my book, America’s War on Terrorism, Global Research, 2005.
Michel Chossudovsky, July 17, 2014, minor update October 18, 2015
Who is Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi?
by Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, June 11, 2004
The US intelligence apparatus has created it own terrorist organizations. And at the same time, it creates its own terrorist warnings concerning the terrorist organizations which it has itself created. In turn, it has developed a cohesive multibillion dollar counterterrorism program “to go after” these terrorist organizations.
Counterterrorism and war propaganda are intertwined. The propaganda apparatus feeds disinformation into the news chain. The terror warnings must appear to be “genuine”. The objective is to present the terror groups as “enemies of America.”
The underlying objective is to galvanize public opinion in support of America’s war agenda.
The “war on terrorism” requires a humanitarian mandate. The war on terrorism is presented as a “Just War”, which is to be fought on moral grounds “to redress a wrong suffered.”
The Just War theory defines “good” and “evil.” It concretely portrays and personifies the terrorist leaders as “evil individuals”.
Several prominent American intellectuals and antiwar activists, who stand firmly opposed to the Bush administration, are nonetheless supporters of the Just War theory: “We are against war in all its forms but we support the campaign against international terrorism.”
To reach its foreign policy objectives, the images of terrorism must remain vivid in the minds of the citizens, who are constantly reminded of the terrorist threat.
The propaganda campaign presents the portraits of the leaders behind the terror network. In other words, at the level of what constitutes an “advertising” campaign, “it gives a face to terror.” The “war on terrorism” rests on the creation of one or more evil bogeymen, the terror leaders, Osama bin Laden, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, et al, whose names and photos are presented ad nauseam in daily news reports.
Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi is presented to World public opinion, as the upcoming terrorist mastermind, overshadowing “Enemy Number One”, Osama bin Laden.
The U.S. State Department has increased the reward for his arrest from $10 million to $25 million, which puts his “market value” at par with that of Osama. Ironically, Al Zarqawi is not on the FBI most wanted fugitives list. (http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/topten/fugitives/fugitives.htm )
Al Zarqawi’s Links to Al Qaeda
Al Zarqawi is often described as an “Osama associate”, the bogyman, allegedly responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in several countries. In other reports, often emanating from the same sources, it is stated that he has no links to Al Qaeda and operates quite independently. He is often presented as an individual who is challenging the leadership of bin Laden.
His name crops up on numerous occasions in press reports and official statements. Since early 2004, he is in the news almost on a daily basis.
Osama belongs to the powerful bin Laden family, which historically had business ties to the Bushes and prominent members of the Texas oil establishment. Bin Laden was recruited by the CIA during the Soviet-Afghan war and fought as a Mujahideen. In other words, there is a longstanding documented history of bin Laden-CIA and bin Laden-Bush family links, which are an obvious source of embarrassment to the US government.
In contrast to bin Laden, Al-Zarqawi has no family history. He comes from an impoverished Palestinian family in Jordan. His parents are dead. He emerges out of the blue.
He is described by CNN as “a lone wolf” who is said to act quite independently of the Al Qaeda network. Yet surprisingly, this lone wolf is present in several countries, in Iraq, which is now his base, but also in Western Europe. He is also suspected of preparing a terrorist attack on American soil.
He seems to be in several places at the same time. He is described as “the chief U.S. enemy”, “a master of disguise and bogus identification papers”. We are led to believe that this “lone wolf” manages to outwit the most astute US intelligence operatives.
According to The Weekly Standard –which is known to have a close relationship to the Neocons in the Bush administration:
“Abu Musab al Zarqawi is hot right now. He masterminded not only Berg’s murder but also the Madrid carnage on March 11, the bombardment of Shia worshippers in Iraq the same month, and the April 24 suicide attack on the port of Basra. But he is far from a newcomer to slaughter. Well before 9/11, he had already concocted a plot to kill Israeli and American tourists in Jordan. His label is on terrorist groups and attacks on four continents.” (Weekly Standard, 24 May 2004)
Al-Zarqawi’s profile “is mounting a challenge to bin Laden’s leadership of the global jihad.”
In Iraq, he is said to be determined to “ignite a civil war between Sunnis and Shiites”. But is that not precisely what US intelligence is aiming at ( “divide and rule”) as confirmed by several analysts of the US led war? Pitting one group against the other with a view to weakening the resistance movement. (See Michel Collon, http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/COL312A.html, See also http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/RAD308A.html )
The CIA, with its $30 billion plus budget, pleads ignorance: they say they know nothing about him, they have a photograph, but, according to the Weekly Standard (24 May 2004), they apparently do not know his weight or height.
There is an aura of mystery surrounding this individual which is part of the propaganda ploy. Zarqawi is described as “so secretive even some operatives who work with him do not know his identity.”
Consistent Pattern
What is the role of this new mastermind in the Pentagon’s disinformation campaign, in which CNN seems to be playing a central role?
In previous propaganda ploys, the CIA hired PR firms to organize core disinformation campaigns, including the Rendon Group. The latter worked closely with its British partner Hill and Knowlton, which was responsible for the 1990 Kuwaiti incubator media scam, where Kuwaiti babies were allegedly removed from incubators in a totally fabricated news story, which was then used to get Congressional approval for the 1991 Gulf War.
What is the pattern?
Almost immediately in the wake of a terrorist event or warning, CNN announces (in substance): we think this mysterious individual Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi is behind it, invariably without supporting evidence and prior to the conduct of an investigation by the relevant police and intelligence authorities.
In some cases, upon the immediate occurrence of the terrorist event, there is an initial report which mentions Al-Zarqawi as the possible mastermind. The report will often say (in substance): yes we think he did it, but it is not yet confirmed and there is some doubt on the identity of those behind the attack. One or two days later, CNN may come up with a definitive statement, quoting official police, military and/or intelligence sources.
Often the CNN report is based on information published on an Islamic website or a mysterious Video or Audio tape. The authenticity of the website and/or the tapes is not the object of discussion or detailed investigation.
Bear in mind that the news reports never mention that Al Qaeda is a creation of the CIA and that Al Zarqawi had been recruited to fight in the Soviet-Afghan war (This is in fact confirmed by Sec. Colin Powell in his presentation to the UN Security Council on 5 February 2003) (see details below). Both Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi are creations of the US intelligence apparatus. The recruitment of foreign fighters was under the auspices of the CIA.
The press usually present the terrorist warnings emanating from the CIA as genuine, without acknowledging the fact that US intelligence, has provided covert support to the Islamic militant network consistently for more than 20 years.
Amply documented, the training camps in Afghanistan established during the Reagan Administration had been set up with the support of the CIA. In fact, several members of the current Bush administration including Richard Armitage and Colin Powell were directly involved in channeling support to Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, where bin Laden and Al Zarqawi received specialized training. (See Michel Chossudovsky, http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO109C.html and http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO303D.html )
History of Al Zarqawi
The first time Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi’s name is mentioned was in relation to the thwarted attack on the Radisson SAS Hotel in Amman, Jordan, during the millennium celebrations (December 1999). According to press reports, he had previously gone under another name: Ahmed Fadil Al-Khalayleh, (apparently among other aliases).
According to the New York Times, Al Zarqawi fled Afghanistan to Iran in late 2001, following the entry of US troops. Official US reports suggest that he was protected at the highest levels of the Tehran government.
“United States intelligence officials say they are increasingly concerned by the mounting evidence of Tehran’s renewed interest in terrorism [and support to Al Zarqawi], including covert surveillance by Iranian agents of possible American targets abroad. American officials said Iran appeared to view terrorism as deterrent against possible attack by the United States. Since the surprise election of reformer Mohammad Khatami as president of Iran in 1997 and his wide public support, Washington has been counting on a new moderate political majority to emerge. But the hard-line faction has maintained its grip on Iran’s security apparatus, frustrating American efforts to ease tensions with Tehran. Now, Iranian actions to destabilize the new interim government in Afghanistan, its willingness to assist Al Qaeda members and its fueling of the Palestinian uprising are prompting a reassessment in Washington, officials say.” (NYT, 24 March 2002)
In 2002, his presence in Tehran, allegedly “collaborating with hardliners” in the Iranian military and intelligence apparatus, is part of an evolving disinformation campaign which consists in presenting Iran as a sponsor of the “Islamic terror network”:
In February 2002, he was allegedly involved in planning terror attacks inside Israel.
Colin Powell’s Address to the UN Security Council
In the months leading up to the war on Iraq, Al Zarqawi’s name reemerges, this time almost on daily basis, with reports focusing on his sinister relationship to Saddam Hussein.
A major turning point in the propaganda campaign occurs on February 5, 2003. Al-Zarqawi was in the spot light following Colin Powell’s flopped WMD report to the UN Security Council. Powell’s speech presented “documentation” on the ties between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda, while focusing on the central role of Al-Zarqawi: (emphasis added):
Our concern is not just about these illicit weapons; it’s the way that these illicit weapons can be connected to terrorists and terrorist organizations… But what I want to bring to your attention today is the potentially much more sinister nexus between Iraq and the Al Qaeda terrorist network, a nexus that combines classic terrorist organizations and modern methods of murder. Iraq today harbors a deadly terrorist network, headed by Abu Musaab al-Zarqawi, an associate and collaborator of Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda lieutenants. Zarqawi, a Palestinian born in Jordan, fought in the Afghan War more than a decade ago. Returning to Afghanistan in 2000, he oversaw a terrorist training camp. One of his specialties and one of the specialties of this camp is poisons. When our coalition ousted the Taliban, the Zarqawi network helped establish another poison and explosive training center camp, and this camp is located in Northeastern Iraq. You see a picture of this camp. Graphic, above. [there were no WMDS at this camp according to ABC report, see below] The network is teaching its operative how to produce ricin and other poisons. Let me remind you how ricin works. Less than a pinch — imagine a pinch of salt — less than a pinch of ricin, eating just this amount in your food would cause shock, followed by circulatory failure. Death comes within 72 hours and there is no antidote. There is no cure. It is fatal. Those helping to run this camp are Zarqawi lieutenants operating in northern Kurdish areas outside Saddam Hussein’s controlled Iraq, but Baghdad has an agent in the most senior levels of the radical organization Ansar al-Islam, that controls this corner of Iraq. In 2000, this agent offered Al Qaeda safe haven in the region. After we swept Al Qaeda from Afghanistan, some of its members accepted this safe haven. They remain there today. …. We know these affiliates are connected to Zarqawi because they remain, even today, in regular contact with his direct subordinates, including the poison cell plotters. And they are involved in moving more than money and materiel. Last year, two suspected Al Qaeda operatives were arrested crossing from Iraq into Saudi Arabia. They were linked to associates of the Baghdad cell, and one of them received training in Afghanistan on how to use cyanide. From his terrorist network in Iraq, Zarqawi can direct his network in the Middle East and beyond. [Note he is present in several countries at the same time] …. According to detainees, Abu Atiya, who graduated from Zarqawi’s terrorist camp in Afghanistan, tasked at least nine North African extremists in 2001 to travel to Europe to conduct poison and explosive attacks. Since last year, members of this network have been apprehended in France, Britain, Spain and Italy. By our last count, 116 operatives connected to this global web have been arrested. The chart you are seeing shows the network in Europe. We know about this European network, and we know about its links to Zarqawi, because the detainee who provided the information about the targets also provided the names of members of the network. … We also know that Zarqawi’s colleagues have been active in the Pankisi Gorge, Georgia, and in Chechnya, Russia. The plotting to which they are linked is not mere chatter. Members of Zarqawi’s network say their goal was to kill Russians with toxins. We are not surprised that Iraq is harboring Zarqawi and his subordinates. This understanding builds on decades-long experience with respect to ties between Iraq and al Qaeda. …. As I said at the outset, none of this should come as a surprise to any of us. Terrorism has been a tool used by Saddam for decades. Saddam was a supporter of terrorism long before these terrorist networks had a name, and this support continues. The nexus of poisons and terror is new; the nexus of Iraq and terror is old. The combination is lethal. With this track record, Iraqi denials of supporting terrorism take their place alongside the other Iraqi denials of weapons of mass destruction. It is all a web of lies. When we confront a regime that harbors ambitions for regional domination, hides weapons of mass destruction, and provides haven and active support for terrorists, we are not confronting the past, we are confronting the present. And unless we act, we are confronting an even more frightening future.” (US Secretary of State Colin Powell to the UN Security Council, Excerpts, 5 February 2003)
The statement of Secretary Powell regarding Al-Zarqawi consisted in linking the secular Baathist regime to the “Islamic terror network,” with a view to justifying the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
The Alleged Al-Zarqawi Sponsored Chemical and Biological Attacks
Powell’s UN statement with regard to Al Zarqawi rested on the existence of a chemical-biological weapons plant in Northern Iraq producing ricin, sarin and other biological weapons, allegedly to be used in terror attacks on the US and Western Europe.
With reference to the North Iraqi facility where the ricin was allegedly produced, The London Observer’s correspondent in Northern Iraq (9 February 2003) blatantly refutes Colin Powell’s statement:
” There is no sign of chemical weapons anywhere – only the smell of paraffin and vegetable butter used for cooking. In the kitchen, I discovered some chopped up tomatoes but not much else. The cook had left his Kalashnikov propped neatly against the wall. Ansar al-Islam – the Islamic group that uses the compound identified as a military HQ by Powell – yesterday invited me and several other foreign journalists into their territory for the first time. ‘We are just a group of Muslims trying to do our duty,’ Mohammad Hasan, spokes-man for Ansar al-Islam, explained. ‘We don’t have any drugs for our fighters. We don’t even have any aspirin. How can we produce any chemicals or weapons of mass destruction?'”
Barely a few weeks later, at the height of the military campaign, US Special Forces, together with their “embedded” journalists, entered the alleged chemical biological weapons facility in Northern Iraq:
“What they found was a camp devastated by cruise missile strikes during the first days of the war. A specialized biochemical team scoured the rubble for samples. They wore protective masks as they entered a building they suspected was a weapons lab. Inside they found mortar shells, medical supplies, and grim prison cells, but no immediate proof of chemical or biological agents. For this unit, such evidence would have been a so-called smoking gun, proof that it has banned weapons. But instead, this was a disappointing day for these troops on the front line of the hunt for weapons of mass destruction here. Jim Sciutto, ABC News, with US Special Forces in Northern Iraq ” (ABC News, 29 March 2003)
The Ricin Threat
On February 8th 2003, three days after Colin Powell’s UN speech, the ricin threat remerges this time in the US. Al Zaqwari was said to be responsible for “the suspicious white powder found in a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist which contained the [same] deadly poison ricin.”
In a CIA report which was apparently “leaked” to Newsweek, a group of CIA analysts predicted that there was
“a 59 percent probability that an attack on the U.S. homeland involving WMD would occur before 31 March 2003″… It all seems so precise and frightening: a better than 90 percent chance that Saddam will succeed in hitting America with a weapon spewing radiation, germs or poison. But it is important to remember that the odds are determined by averaging a bunch of guesses, informed perhaps, but from experts whose careers can only be ruined by underestimating the threat.” (Newsweek, 24 February 2003, http://newsmine.org/archive/propoganda/terror-threats/2003/terror-alert-assumptions-hints.txt) The picture of Al Zarqawi, the mastermind is featured prominently in the Newsweek feature article.
In the National Review (February 18, 2003), Al Zarqawi was described as Al Qaeda’s “chief biochemical engineer”:
“It is widely known [from where, what evidence] that Zarqawi, al Qaeda’s chief biochemical engineer, was at the safe house in Afghanistan where traces of Ricin and other poisons were originally found. What is not widely known-but was briefly alluded to in Sec. Powell’s U.N. address-is that starting in the mid-1990s, Iraq’s embassy in Islamabad routinely played host to Saddam’s biochemical scientists, some of whom interacted with al Qaeda operatives, including Zarqawi and his lab technicians, under the diplomatic cover of the Taliban embassy nearby to teach them the art of mixing poisons from home grown and readily available raw materials.”
Radioactive Dirty Bombs
There were rumors of attacks within the US also using ricin, sarin and other poisonous gases. In the immediate aftermath of Powell’s speech, there was an orange code alert. Official statements also pointed to the dangers of a dirty radioactive bomb attack in the US.
Again Al Zarqawi was identified as the number one suspect.
The various ricin and dirty bomb terror alerts proved to be fabricated. A fabricated story emanating from the CIA on so-called ‘radioactive dirty bombs’ had been planted in the news chain (ABC News, 13 Feb 2003). A few days following his address to the UN, Sec. Powell warned that:
“it would be easy for terrorists to cook up radioactive ‘dirty’ bombs to explode inside the U.S. … ‘How likely it is, I can’t say… But I think it is wise for us to at least let the American people know of this possibility.’”(ABC This Week quoted in Daily News (New York), 10 Feb. 2003).
Meanwhile, network TV had warned that “American hotels, shopping malls or apartment buildings could be al Qaeda’s targets as soon as next week…”. Following the announcement, tens of thousands of Americans rushed to purchase duct tape, plastic sheets and gas-masks.
It later transpired that the terrorist alert was fabricated by the CIA, in all likelihood in consultation with the State Department (ABC News, 13 Feb. 2003). The FBI, for the first time had pointed its finger at the CIA. While tacitly acknowledging that the alert was a fake, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge decided to maintain the ‘Orange Code’ alert:
“Despite the fabricated report, there are no plans to change the threat level. Officials said other intelligence has been validated and that the high level of precautions is fully warranted.” ( ABC News, 13 Feb. 2003 ).
A few days later, in another failed propaganda initiative, a mysterious Osama bin Laden audio tape was presented by Sec. Colin Powell to the US Congress as ‘evidence’ that the Islamic terrorists “are making common cause with a brutal dictator”. (US official quoted in The Toronto Star, 12 Feb. 2003). Curiously, the audio tape was in Colin Powell’s possession prior to its broadcast by the Al Jazeera TV Network. (Ibid.)
Meanwhile, Al Zarqawi had been identified as the mastermind behind the (thwarted) ricin attacks in several European countries including Britain and Spain.
In London, in January 2003, there was a ricin terror alert, which had apparently also been ordered by Al Zarqawi. The ricin had allegedly been discovered in a London apartment. It was to be used in a terror attack in the London subway.
British press reports, quoting official statements claimed that the terrorists had learnt to produce the ricin at the camp in Northern Iraq. Yet when US Special Forces in March 2003 raided the camp in Northern Iraq, nothing resembling biological or chemical weapons was found (see ABC report quoted above).
It is worth mentioning, in this regard, that news stories on the chemical weapons plant in Northern Iraq, have continued to be churned out, despite the fact that US Forces said that it did not exist. In a recent story in the Washington Times:
Zarqawi stands as stark evidence of a link between Saddam Hussein’s autocratic regime and bin Laden’s al Qaeda terror network. Zarqawi, 38, operated a terrorist camp in northern Iraq that specialized in developing poisons and chemical weapons.(Washington Times, 8 June 2004)
The Spanish Connection
Meanwhile in Spain, Bush’s coalition partner, Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar had initiated his own disinformation campaign, no doubt in liaison with US officials.
Perfect timing! While Colin Powell was presenting the Al-Zarqawi dossier to the UN, on the very same day, February 5, 2003, Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar was busy briefing the Spanish parliament on an alleged chemical terror attack in Spain.
According to Aznar, Al Zarqawi was apparently linked to a number of European Islamic “collaborators” including Merouane Ben Ahmed, “an expert in chemistry and explosives who visited Barcelona” (reported in El Pais, February 6 2003).
Prime Minister Aznar’s speech to the Chamber of Deputies (Camera de diputados) intimated that the 16 alleged Al Qaeda suspects, who apparently were in possession of explosives and lethal chemicals, had been working hand in glove with Al Zarqawi.
The information had been fabricated. The Spanish Ministry of Defense report confirmed that the “lethal chemicals” turned out to be “harmless and some were household detergent… ” (quoted in Irish News, 27 February 2003, emphasis added):
A defence ministry lab outside Madrid tested the substances – a bag containing more than half a pound of powder and several bottles or containers with liquids or residues- for the easy-to-make biological poison ricin…The Spanish defence ministry, which carried out the tests, and the lab itself declined to comment ” (Ibid)
The Link to Ansar al-Islam
Following Powell’s February 2003 presentation to the UNSC, Al-Zarqawi immediately gained in public notoriety.
Since early 2004, his name appears almost daily in CNN reports. All in all, his name is linked to some 25 “terrorist attacks” in Iraq, not to mention numerous terrorist warnings, threats or alerts. Already before the war in Iraq, he was presented in media reports as an ally of Saddam Hussein.
The press reports, which quoted Colin Powell’s UNSC 5 Feb 2003 speech, confirmed that Al Zarqawi was back in Iraq, working hand in glove with Ansar Al-Islam, which was held responsible for the attack on the UN in Baghdad. In August 2003, Zarqawi was identified, without supporting evidence, as having played a role in the attack on the UN, which led to the death of the UN head of mission and 24 other people.
Bear in mind Ansar was also said to be behind the alleged ricin plant in Northern Iraq, which was confirmed to be a fake.
It is useful to recall that Ansar al-Islam, which constituted a pre-existing Islamist group, developed into a paramilitary organisation, only after the 9/11 attacks. Ironically, it was allowed to develop in a region of Iraq, which was already under US military control, namely Kurdish held Northern Iraq. Ansar was largely involved in terrorist attacks directed against the secular institutions of the Kurdish regional governments. It was also involved in assassinations of members of the Kurdish PUK. And the US military and intelligence were present in the region. In other words, prior to the war, Northern Iraq -which was in “the no fly zone”– was already a US protectorate. According to one report «Al Qaida affiliates coordinating the movement of people, money and supplies for Ansar al-Islam have been operating freely in the [regional] capital.” (Midland Independent, 6 February 2003). Responding to Colin Powell’s February 2003 UN address, an Iraqi foreign ministry spokesman had stated at the time that: “the Iraqi government helped the [PUK] Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani against the Ansar al-Islam group. He [the spokesman] accused Ans |
00 p.m. EST (subject to change).
The club will travel to the Dynamo’s Robertson Stadium on Thursday, November 3 for the second leg of the Conference Semifinals, tentatively slated to kick off at 8:30 p.m. EST. The team scoring the most total goals over the two games will advance to the Eastern Conference Championship.
Both legs will be broadcast on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, and online on ESPN3.com.
"We've worked very hard all season to get to the playoffs and we are very excited for this new challenge but our job is not over yet," said Union manager Peter Nowak. “This is the first conference semifinal for many of our players but we do know that Houston will come out strong and we need to be ready for it."
Individual tickets for Sunday’s match are available HERE or by calling comcastTIX at 800-298-4200. To purchase discounted group tickets (15 or more), call 877-21-UNION (877-218-6466).
The Union (11-8-15) are 2-0-2 all-time against Houston, having tied both games at PPL Park and won both at Robertson Stadium.
To view all 2011 MLS Cup Playoff matchups, CLICK HERE.Photo
Phil Mickelson, the famed golfer, did not trade in the shares of Clorox just as the billionaire investor Carl C. Icahn was mounting an unsolicited takeover bid for the company in 2011, say four people briefed on the matter.
Recent reports in The New York Times and other news organizations said that Clorox was among the stocks that federal authorities were examining as part of a two-year investigation into well-timed trades made by Mr. Mickelson and the sports gambler William T. Walters. Initially, some investigators pursued a theory that Mr. Icahn shared private details of his Clorox bid with Mr. Walters, who then traded on the information and passed on the tip to Mr. Mickelson.
Although Mr. Icahn and Mr. Walters remain under investigation over Clorox, the F.B.I. and the Securities and Exchange Commission have found no evidence that Mr. Mickelson traded Clorox shares. The overstated scope of the investigation came from information provided to The Times by other people briefed on the matter who have since acknowledged making a mistake.
The F.B.I. is pursuing a criminal investigation, while the S.E.C. is running a parallel civil inquiry.
Mr. Mickelson and Mr. Walters, as previously reported, still face an investigation over separate well-timed trades they made in Dean Foods in 2012 just before the company’s stock soared. Those trades generated more than $15 million in proceeds for Mr. Walters and nearly $1 million for Mr. Mickelson, one of the four people briefed on the matter said. Mr. Mickelson has denied any wrongdoing.
Mr. Mickelson, a three-time winner of the Masters golf tournament who is set to compete on Thursday at the United States Open, received some assurances from the government itself. An F.B.I. agent, two of the people briefed on the matter said, has informed Mr. Mickelson that the government is seeking information from him about Mr. Walters and has no plans to criminally charge him. That did not stop the government, which has not accused anyone of wrongdoing in the investigation and ultimately might not file either a criminal or a civil case, from making a pitch to secure Mr. Mickelson’s cooperation. F.B.I. agents have twice approached him out of the blue, the people said, once at an airport and once on a golf course at a tournament.
The new details, provided in the interviews with the people briefed on the matter, indicate that Mr. Mickelson’s ties to the investigation are weaker than previously reported. The details may also raise questions about the government’s decision to deploy what appear to be unusually aggressive tactics in the investigation, particularly when the F.B.I. agents publicly approached Mr. Mickelson even though he is known to have a lawyer and a sports agent.
At the airport in September, one of the people said, Mr. Mickelson had little to offer. He pledged to cooperate but explained that he did not know Mr. Icahn and had no clue that any stock tip he received from Mr. Walters might have been improper.
When confronted at a golf tournament in Ohio last month, Mr. Mickelson instructed F.B.I. agents to “speak to my lawyers,” according to a nearby observer.
Mr. Mickelson has hired Gregory B. Craig, a partner at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom who was previously White House counsel under President Obama.
Several former federal prosecutors who worked on insider trading investigations, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid antagonizing law enforcement officials, questioned the decision to approach Mr. Mickelson after he finished a round of golf at the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio. The former prosecutors speculated that the government wanted to embarrass him into cooperating against Mr. Walters.
“If this were the only effort they made at that time to contact him, having it be so public could be seen as an aggressive move,” said Daniel C. Richman, a criminal law professor at the Columbia University School of Law.
Mr. Mickelson, Mr. Icahn and Mr. Walters have issued statements denying any wrongdoing. Mr. Mickelson, who said he has “done absolutely nothing wrong,” added “I’ll cooperate as much as I can with the F.B.I.” In an interview. Mr. Icahn said, “I don’t give out inside information,” adding that “for 50 years I have had an unblemished record.”
Richard Wright, a lawyer for Mr. Walters, said his client had not had any contact with the authorities about his trading activity. Mr. Wright said no one from the F.B.I., the S.E.C. or the Justice Department had reached out to Mr. Walters, who is known to be an active stock trader, either before or after the investigation became public.
Mr. Icahn similarly has not received any subpoenas from the authorities, a person briefed on the matter said.
The lack of subpoenas struck some former prosecutors as odd. Once the investigation became public, the former prosecutors said, they would have anticipated authorities sending out subpoenas seeking access to emails and other records. Such documents would most likely be needed to help establish that Mr. Walters and Mr. Mickelson had traded stocks while in possession of inside information.
And even if Mr. Icahn did share secret information about his firm’s Clorox intentions, he may have done so legally. It would be illegal if he breached a duty of confidentiality to his own investors.
Any suspicion that the three — Mr. Mickelson, Mr. Icahn and Mr. Walters — formed a triangle of insider trading has failed to materialize. Nothing in the public record suggests Mr. Icahn and Mr. Mickelson even know each other. Mr. Icahn and Mr. Walters both have acknowledged knowing each other — people who know them say the two men have wagered on sporting events together. But both Mr. Icahn and Mr. Walters insist they have never shared inside information.
Mr. Mickelson and Mr. Walters have participated in golf tournaments together. And outside the world of sports gambling, Mr. Walters, better known as Billy, is a prominent Las Vegas figure as the owner of popular golf courses.
It is unclear why federal authorities initially suspected that Mr. Mickelson may have played a role in the Clorox trades. The S.E.C. began the inquiry into Clorox trading after finding suspicious trades in the stock just days before Mr. Icahn’s unsolicited bid.
Although Mr. Mickelson is not connected to the Clorox trades, he is not in the clear on Dean Foods.
The F.B.I., federal prosecutors in Manhattan and the S.E.C. continue to investigate well-timed trades made by Mr. Mickelson and Mr. Walters in shares of Dean Foods in the summer of 2012, the people briefed on the matter said.
The authorities are pursuing a theory that a source inside Dean Foods gave Mr. Walters a heads-up about the company’s plan to spin off its WhiteWave Foods subsidiary in an initial public offering, though it is unclear what exactly prompted Mr. Walters and Mr. Mickelson to trade.
Shares of Dean Foods surged 41 percent on Aug. 8, 2012, the day after the company officially announced the spinoff in a news release.
The trading in Dean Foods has no apparent connection to Mr. Icahn.This article is about the agricultural process. For the bird feeding behaviour, see Gleaning (birds)
"Glean" redirects here. For the album by They Might Be Giants, see Glean (album)
Gleaning is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest. It is a practice described in the Hebrew Bible that became a legally enforced entitlement of the poor in a number of Christian kingdoms.[1][2]
Bible [ edit ]
According to the Book of Deuteronomy and Leviticus, farmers should leave corners of their fields unharvested (pe'ah), should not pick up that which was dropped (gleanings), and should not harvest any over-looked produce that had been forgotten when they harvested the majority of a field.[3][4][5] On one of the two occasions that this is stated in Leviticus, it adds that in vineyards, some grapes should be left ungathered,[6] a statement also found in Deuteronomy.[7]
These verses additionally command that olive trees should not be beaten on multiple occasions, and whatever remains from the first set of beatings should be left.[8] According to Leviticus, these things should be left for the poor and for strangers,[4][6] and Deuteronomy commands that it should be left for widows, strangers, and paternal orphans.[5][7][8] The Book of Ruth tells of gleaning by the widow Ruth to provide for herself and her mother-in-law, Naomi, who was also a widow.[9]
Rabbinical views [ edit ]
In classical rabbinic literature, it was argued that the biblical regulations concerning left-overs only applied to grain fields, orchards, and vineyards, and not to kitchen gardens;[10] the classical rabbinical writers were much stricter in regard to who could receive the remains. It was stated that the farmer was not permitted to benefit from the gleanings, and was not permitted to discriminate among the poor, nor try to frighten them away with dogs or lions;[11][12][13] the farmer was not even allowed to help one of the poor to gather the left-overs.[11][12][13] However, it was also argued that the law was only applicable in Canaan,[14] although many classical rabbinic writers, who were based in Babylon, applied the laws there too;[15][16] it was also seen as only applying to Jewish paupers, but poor non-Jews were sometimes allowed to benefit for the sake of civil peace.[17]
Historic European practice [ edit ]
In many parts of Europe, including England and France, the Biblically-derived right to glean the fields was reserved for the poor; a right, enforceable by law, that continued in parts of Europe into modern times.[1][18]
In 18th century England, gleaning was a legal right for cottagers, the term used to describe landless residents. In a small village the sexton would often ring a church bell at eight o'clock in the morning and again at seven in the evening to tell the gleaners when to begin and end work.[19] This legal right effectively ended after the Steel v Houghton decision in 1788.
Modern times [ edit ]
Impoverished Germans gleaning in 1956
The Shulchan Aruch argues that Jewish farmers are no longer obliged to obey the biblical rule.[20] Nevertheless, in modern Israel, rabbis of Orthodox Judaism insist that Jews allow gleanings to be consumed by the poor and by strangers during Sabbatical years.[21]
In the modern world, gleaning is practised by humanitarian groups[22] which distribute the gleaned food to the poor and hungry; in a modern context, this can include the collection of food from supermarkets at the end of the day that would otherwise be thrown away. There are a number of organizations that practice gleaning to resolve issues of societal hunger; the Society of St. Andrew, for example, is dedicated to the role.
When people glean and distribute food, they may be bringing themselves legal risk; in the Soviet Union, the Law of Spikelets (sometimes translated "law on gleaning")[23] criminalised gleaning, under penalty of death, or 20 years of forced labour in exceptional circumstances.[24] In the US, the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act of 1996 limited the liability of donors to instances of gross negligence or intentional misconduct, alleviating gleaning from much of the risk that was allegedly hampering the delivery of surplus food from restaurants and dining facilities to emergency food centers. The law preempts state Good Samaritan Acts, that provide less protection.[25]
Gleaning in art [ edit ]
Gleaning was a popular subject in art, especially in the nineteenth century. Gleaning in rural France has been represented in the paintings Des Glaneuses (1857) by Jean-François Millet and Le rappel des glaneuses (1859) by Jules Breton (image), and explored in a 2000 documentary/experimental film, The Gleaners and I, by Agnès Varda.[26]
Vincent van Gogh's sketch of a Peasant Woman Gleaning in Nuenen, The Netherlands (1885) is in the Charles Clore collection.[27]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]According to data recently released by the Office of Refugee Settlement, the Obama administration dumped another 4,097 illegal alien kids into U.S. communities during the month of May, adding on to the 29,250 kids the government had shipped to sponsors in the United States between October and March.
Broken down, this means the federal government sent about 132 illegal alien children per day to live in American neighborhoods during the month of May.
While this might not seem like a shockingly high number, here’s another way of looking at it. Based on 2015-16 enrollment data, the average Washington, D.C. middle school holds about 550 students. So in other words, the number of illegal alien kids the federal government processed and released in May alone would max out seven Washington, D.C. middle schools.
These children are usually placed with family members already living in the U.S., regardless of the relative's immigration status.
The 33,347 kids released to U.S.-based sponsors so far this fiscal year is on track to top FY2014 levels, when 53,515 unaccompanied alien minors who’d crossed the U.S. border illegally were processed as “refugees” and allowed to stay in the United States. Over the last two and a half years, 114,702 kids have been processed and sent to U.S.-based sponsors.
It’s a rotating door into the United States that first opens at the Southwest U.S. border. In May, border agents reported apprehending another 5,669 unaccompanied minors at the U.S.-Mexico border, bringing the total number of UACs apprehended since Oct. 1 to an alarming 38,621.
So far, the total number of this year’s UAC apprehensions reflects a 69 percent increase over the number of illegal alien children apprehended during the same time frame in FY2015 (22,832 apprehensions).
** Due to an error on ORR's website, an earlier version of this story stated that ORR's most recent data ran through the month of April. This information has since been corrected to reflect the correct time frame.Abortion clinics in the State of Maine are reporting a marked increase in the number of New Brunswick women seeking their services since the Morgentaler clinic in Fredericton closed about two months ago.
One clinic in Bangor says New Brunswick women accounted for about half of its dozen abortion appointments last week.
The American providers say they are happy to fill the gap in services and will even provide financial assistance for any New Brunswick women who can't afford the $500 fee, either by dipping into their national network funding or through local donations.
But they are urging premier-designate Brian Gallant to ensure access to abortion services in New Brunswick.
"Abortion is part of a woman's reproductive rights," said Kate Gawler, director of abortion services at the Maine Family Planning clinic in Augusta.
"Certainly it's an extra hardship to drive the four-and-a-half hours or five hours," she said of the round trip.
"The passport issue is another barrier."
The Maine Family Planning clinic used to get the occasional phone call from Canada, but now it's routinely getting about one or two calls a week from New Brunswick women, said Gawler.
"It doesn't surprise me that women are coming to Maine, because they have to go somewhere," she said.
Morgentaler clinic closed in July
The Morgentaler clinic in Fredericton was the only private abortion clinic in the Maritimes.
Kate Gawler, the director of abortion services at the Maine Family Planning clinic, said New Brunswick women are facing several hardships if they need to travel to Maine for an abortion. (CBC) but announced in April it would be closing at the end of July over a lack of government funding. It performed about 600 abortions a year — about 60 per cent of all abortions performed in New Brunswick,
Under Regulation 84-20 of the New Brunswick Medical Services Payment Act, abortions are paid for only if they are performed in one of two approved hospitals after being deemed medically necessary by two physicians.
Gawler said she has many concerns about how the New Brunswick system is set up.
"First of all, this is a decision that a woman must be able to make for herself. She is the only one who can really understand everything involved. And it is not an equal situation, if she has to get permission from other people or if she has to plead her case. I mean, what does'medically necessary' mean? That's a pretty high hurdle," she said.
"Why does it have to be medically necessary if it is a pregnancy that she cannot continue? With every fibre of her being, she is saying, 'I simply cannot do this right now. I know this.' To me, to ask her to get two doctors to write a paper that says it's medically necessary, it's demeaning, it's partronizing and it certainly doesn't foster the equality of women. It actually puts up a big barrier in her ability to be the moral agent for her own life."
Pending review
Premier-designate Brian Gallant has promised a review of what he considers unconstitutional restrictions on access to abortions in New Brunswick.
Ruth Lockhart, the co-founder of the Mabel Wadsworth Women's Health Center in Bangor, said her organization has seen a "spike" in the number of women coming from New Brunswick in recent months. (CBC) Gallant has said he will convene a group of experts, either those inside the new Liberal government and perhaps some from outside, to identify the barriers to abortion.
Reproductive Justice New Brunswick says it plans to launch a "Days of Inaction Timer" on Tuesday after Gallant's government is sworn in.
Gallant "has the opportunity to create real change, but every day without access the lives of New Brunswickers are put further at risk," Jessi Taylor, a spokesperson for the organization, said in statement.
Ruth Lockhart, co-founder of the Mabel Wadsworth Women's Health Center in Bangor, and chair of the reproductive rights coalition, said she also worries about the New Brunswick women in need of services.
"We are seeing a spike in the number of women from New Brunswick," she said.
"So far, and we're new into this piece of it, it's the women with resources who are able to make it here," Lockhart said.
"So my concern is always the women without resources who don't come, who aren't able to come."
'State-by-state battle'
George Hill, the chief executive officer of the Maine Family Planning clinic, said he is "angry, quite frankly" about the situation in New Brunswick.
George Hill, the chief executive officer of the Maine Family Planning clinic, said he is "angry" about the situation regarding access to abortion services in New Brunswick. (CBC) "I thought Morgentaler was a giant in his field. He was brave, persistent. This was his legacy and I think it deserves to continue," said Hill.
But Maine abortion providers are also busy dealing with their own battles.
Although the state legislature is pro-choice, the current governor, Republican Paul LePage, who is seeking re-election next month, is anti-abortion.
Planned Parenthood is trying to make reproductive rights an issue in the gubernatorial election, endorsing Democratic candidate Michael Michaud with an "I Like Mike" TV ad campaign.
Hill says opponents to abortion are getting smarter, targeting pieces of state legislation to get what they want.
"It's a state-by-state battle," he said.
In Texas, for example, the law changed, requiring abortion providers in clinics to also have hospital privileges. Since then, the number of clinics has dropped to seven from 40.
Maine Gov. Paul LePage is campaigning for re-election and is anti-abortion. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court also struck down a buffer zone law in Massachusetts that stipulated people could not protest within 35 feet of abortion clinic entrances.
That law was enacted in 2007 in response to the killing of two receptionists in a shooting in Brookline, near Boston.
The opponents to reproductive rights are being very clever, very strategic. They're taking one law at a time, one procedure at time. And they're working it, very, very cleverly," said Hill.
"And on our side of the fence, we have to be thoroughly and completely vigilant. We cannot allow people who oppose what we do to gain traction with some of their hare-brained ideas," he said.
In the meantime, the abortion clinics in Maine operate in a state of high vigilance for people who might operate outside the law.
They have bulletproof glass, gated driveways and multiple locking doors throughout.
They do not advertise and do not use doctors' names.There have been seven Māori electorates in each of the 2008, 2011, 2014, and 2017 general elections.
In New Zealand politics, Māori electorates, colloquially known as the Māori seats, are a special category of electorate that gives reserved positions to representatives of Māori in the New Zealand Parliament. Every area in New Zealand is covered by both a general and a Māori electorate; there are currently seven Māori electorates. Since 1967 candidates in Māori electorates have not needed to be Māori themselves, but to register as a voter in the Māori electorates people need to declare they are of Māori descent.[citation needed]
The Māori electorates were introduced in 1867 under the Māori Representation Act.[1] They were created in order to give Māori a more direct say in parliament. The first Māori elections were held in the following year during the term of the 4th New Zealand Parliament. The electorates were intended as a temporary measure lasting five years but were extended in 1872 and made permanent in 1876.[2] Despite numerous attempts to disestablish Māori electorates, they continue to form a distinct part of the New Zealand political landscape.[3]
Organisation [ edit ]
Māori electorates operate much as do general electorates, but have as electors people who are Māori or of Māori descent, and who choose to place their names on a separate electoral roll rather than on the "general roll".
There are two features of the Māori electorates that make them distinct from the general electorates. First, there are a number of skills that are essential for candidates to have in order to engage with their constituencies and ensure a clear line of accountability to representing the 'Māori voice'. This includes proficiency in Te Reo Māori, knowledge of tikanga Māori, whakawhanaungatanga skills and confidence on the marae. Second, the geographical size of the Māori electoral boundaries vary significantly from the general electorates. Five to 18 general electorates into any one Māori electorate.[4]
Māori electoral boundaries are superimposed over the electoral boundaries used for general electorates; thus every part of New Zealand simultaneously belongs both in a general seat and in a Māori seat. Shortly after each census all registered Māori electors have the opportunity to choose whether they are included on the Māori or General electorate rolls.[5] Each five-yearly Māori Electoral Option determines the number of Māori electorates for the next one or two elections.
Establishment [ edit ]
The establishment of Māori electorates came about in 1867 during the term of the 4th Parliament with the Māori Representation Act, drafted by Napier member of parliament Donald McLean.[3] Parliament passed the Act only after lengthy debate, it was passed during a period of warfare between the Government and several North Island Māori tribes, and was seen as a way to reduce conflict between the races in future.[6] The act originally agreed to set up four electorates specially for Māori three in the North Island and one covering the whole South Island.[7] The four seats were a fairly modest concession on per capita basis at the time.[8]
Many conservative MPs, most of whom considered Māori "unfit" to participate in government, opposed Māori representation in Parliament, while some MPs from the other end of the spectrum (such as James FitzGerald, who had proposed allocating a third of Parliament to Māori) regarded the concessions given to Māori as insufficient. In the end the setting up of Māori electorates separate from existing electorates assuaged conservative opposition to the bill – conservatives had previously feared that Māori would gain the right to vote in general electorates, thereby forcing all MPs (rather than just four Māori MPs) to take notice of Māori opinion.
Before this law came into effect, no direct prohibition on Māori voting existed, but other indirect prohibitions made it extremely difficult for Māori to exercise their theoretical electoral rights. The most significant problem involved the property qualification – to vote, one needed to possess a certain value of land.[4] Māori owned a great deal of land, but they held it in common, not under individual title, and under the law, only land held under individual title could count towards the property qualification.[9] Donald McLean explicitly intended his bill as a temporary measure, giving specific representation to Māori until they adopted European customs of land ownership. However, the Māori electorates lasted far longer than the intended five years, and remain in place today, despite the property qualification for voting being removed in 1879.
The first four Māori members of parliament elected in 1868 were Tāreha te Moananui (Eastern Maori), Frederick Nene Russell (Northern Maori) and John Patterson (Southern Maori), who all retired in 1870; and Mete Kīngi Te Rangi Paetahi (Western Maori) who was defeated in 1871. These four persons were the first New Zealand-born members of the New Zealand Parliament.[10] The second four members were Karaitiana Takamoana (Eastern Maori); Wi Katene (Northern Maori); Hori Kerei Taiaroa (Southern Maori); and Wiremu Parata (Western Maori).[11]
The first Māori woman MP was Iriaka Ratana who represented the enormous Western Māori electorate. Like Elizabeth McCombs, New Zealand's first women MP, Ratana won the seat in a hotly contested by-election caused by the death of her husband Matiu in 1949.[12]
Elections [ edit ]
Currently Māori elections are held as part of New Zealand general elections but in the past such elections took place separately, on different days (usually the day before the vote for general electorates) and under different rules. Historically, less organisation went into holding Māori elections than general elections, and the process received fewer resources. Māori electorates at first did not require registration for voting, which was later introduced. New practices such as paper ballots (as opposed to casting one's vote verbally) and secret ballots also came later to elections for Māori electorates than to general electorates.
The authorities frequently delayed or overlooked reforms of the Māori electoral system, with Parliament considering the Māori electorates as largely unimportant. The gradual improvement of Māori elections owes much to long-serving Māori MP Eruera Tirikatene, who himself experienced problems in his own election. From the election of 1951 onwards, the voting for Māori and general electorates was held on the same day.
Confusion around the Māori electorates during the 2017 general election was revealed in a number of complaints to the Electoral Commission. Complaints included Electoral Commission staff at polling booths being unaware of the Māori roll and insisting electors were unregistered when their names did not appear on the general roll; Electoral Commission staff giving incorrect information about the Māori electorates; electors being given incorrect voting forms and electors being told they were unable to vote for the Māori Party unless they were on the Māori roll.[14]
Calls for abolition [ edit ]
Periodically there have been calls for the abolition of the Maori seats. The electorates aroused controversy even at the time of their origin, and given their intended temporary nature, there were a number of attempts to abolish them. The reasoning behind these attempts has varied – some have seen the electorates as an unfair or unnecessary advantage for Māori, while others have seen them as discriminatory and offensive.
In 1902, a consolidation of electoral law prompted considerable discussion of the Māori electorates, and some MPs proposed their abolition. Many of the proposals came from members of the opposition, and possibly had political motivations – in general, the Māori MPs had supported the governing Liberal Party, which had held power since 1891. Many MPs alleged frequent cases of corruption in elections for the Māori electorates. Other MPs, however, supported the abolition of Māori electorates for different reasons – Frederick Pirani, a member of the Liberal Party, said that the absence of Māori voters from general electorates prevented "pākehā members of the House from taking that interest in Māori matters that they ought to take". The Māori MPs, however, mounted a strong defence of the electorates, with Wi Pere depicting guaranteed representation in Parliament as one of the few rights Māori possessed not "filched from them by the Europeans". The electorates continued in existence.
Just a short time later, in 1905, another re-arrangement of electoral law caused the debate to flare up again. The Minister of Māori Affairs, James Carroll, supported proposals for the abolition of Māori electorates, pointing to the fact that he himself had won the general electorate of Waiapu. Other Māori MPs, such as Hone Heke Ngapua, remained opposed, however. In the end, the proposals for the abolition or reform of Māori electorates did not proceed.
Considerably later, in 1953, the first ever major re-alignment of Māori electoral boundaries occurred, addressing inequalities in voter numbers. Again, the focus on Māori electorates prompted further debate about their existence. The government of the day, the National Party, had at the time a commitment to the assimilation of Māori, and had no Māori MPs, and so many believed that they would abolish the electorates. However, the government had other matters to attend to, and the issue of the Māori electorates gradually faded from view without any changes. Regardless, the possible abolition of the Māori electorates appeared indicated when they did not appear among the electoral provisions entrenched against future modification.
In the 1950s the practice of reserving electorates for Māori was described by some politicians "as a form of 'apartheid', like in South Africa".[15]
In 1967, the electoral system whereby four electorate seats were reserved for representatives who were specifically Māori ended. Following the Electoral Amendment Act of 1967, the 100-year-old disqualification preventing Europeans from standing as candidates in Māori seats was removed. (The same Act allowed Māori to stand in European electorates.)
Since 1967, therefore, there has not been any electoral guarantee of representation by candidates who have Māori descent. While this still means that those elected to represent Māori electors in the Māori electorates are directly accountable to those voters[clarification needed], those representatives are not required to themselves be Māori.[16]
In 1976, Māori gained the right for the first time to decide on which electoral roll they preferred to enrol. Surprisingly, only 40% of the potential population registered on the Māori roll. This reduced the number of calls for the abolition of Māori electorates, as many presumed that Māori would eventually abandon the Māori electorates of their own accord.[citation needed]
However the 1977 electoral redistribution has been described as the most overtly political since the Representation Commission was established (through an amendment to the Representation Act in 1886); the option to decide which roll to go on was introduced by Muldoon's National Government. As part of the 1976 census, a large number of people failed to fill out an electoral re-registration card, and census staff had not been given the authority to insist on the card being completed. This had little practical effect for people on the general roll, but it transferred Māori to the general roll if the card was not handed in.
When a Royal Commission proposed the adoption of the MMP electoral system in 1986, it also proposed that if the country adopted the new system, it should abolish the Māori electorates. The Commission argued that under MMP, all parties would have to pay attention to Māori voters, and that the existence of separate Māori electorates marginalised Māori concerns. Following a referendum, Parliament drafted an Electoral Reform Bill, incorporating the abolition of the Māori electorates. Both the National Party and Geoffrey Palmer, Labour's leading reformist, supported abolition; but most Māori strongly opposed it. Eventually, the provision did not become law. The Māori electorates came closer than ever to abolition, but survived.
The ACT Party and the National Party have each advocated abolition of the separate electorates. New Zealand First also advocates abolition of the separate electorates but says that the Māori voters should make the decision. National announced in 2008 it would abolish the electorates when all historic Treaty settlements have been resolved, which it aimed to complete by 2014.[18] While it remains National Party policy to abolish the electorates, Prime Minister John Key ruled it out as recently as August 2014, saying he would not do it even if he had the numbers to do so as there would be "hikois from hell".[19]
During the 2017 election campaign, the New Zealand First leader Winston Peters announced that if elected his party would hold two binding referendums on whether Maori electorates should be abolished and whether the number of MPs should be reduced to 100.[20] The lobby group Hobson's Pledge advocates abolishing the allocated Māori seats, seeing them as outdated.[21] During post-election negotiations with the Labour Party, Peters indicated that he would consider dropping his call for a referendum on the Māori seats due to the defeat of the Māori Party at the 2017 election.[22] In return for forming a government with the Labor Party, NZ First agreed to drop its demand for referenda on abolishing the Māori electorates.[23][24]
Number of electorates [ edit ]
From 1868 to 1996, four Māori electorates existed (out of a total that slowly changed from 76 to 99).[25] They comprised:[26]
With the introduction of the MMP electoral system after 1993, the rules regarding the Māori electorates changed. Today, the number of electorates floats, meaning that the electoral population of a Māori seat can remain roughly equivalent to that of a general seat. In the first MMP vote (the 1996 election), the Electoral Commission defined five Māori electorates:
For the second MMP election (1999), six Māori electorates existed:
The 2002 and 2005 elections had seven:
The 2008, 2011, 2014 and 2017 general elections also had seven:
While seven out of 70 (10%) does not nearly reflect the proportion of New Zealanders who identify as being of Māori descent (about 18%), many Māori choose to enroll in general electorates, so the proportion reflects the proportion of voters on the Māori roll.
For maps showing broad electoral boundaries, see selected links to individual elections at New Zealand elections.
Former Māori Party co-leader Pita Sharples proposed the creation of an additional electorate, for Māori living in Australia, where there are between 115,000 and 125,000 Māori, the majority living in Queensland.[27]
Party politics [ edit ]
As Māori electorates originated before the development of political parties in New Zealand, all early Māori MPs functioned as independents. When the Liberal Party formed, however, Māori MPs began to align themselves with the new organisation, with either Liberal candidates or Liberal sympathisers as representatives. Māori MPs in the Liberal Party included James Carroll, Āpirana Ngata and Te Rangi Hīroa. There were also Māori MPs in the more conservative and rural Reform Party; Maui Pomare, Taurekareka Henare and Taite Te Tomo.
Since the Labour Party first came to power in 1935, however, it has dominated the Māori electorates. For a long period this dominance owed much to Labour's alliance with the Ratana Church, although the Ratana influence has diminished in recent times. In the 1993 election, however, the new New Zealand First party, |
ar – Americans who have fought to see that the lives of our children are better than our own. Our troops are the steel in our ship of state. And though our nation may be travelling through rough waters, they give us confidence that our course is true, and that beyond the pre-dawn darkness, better days lie ahead.”
Compare what Obama actually said with what Sarah Palin assumed that he would say on her Facebook page, “Later today, President Obama will speak to the American people about Iraq. No doubt he will laud the “end of major combat operations” by the date he randomly selected some 18 months ago. His press secretary Robert Gibbs also gave us a glimpse of what else he might say, telling the Today Show this morning that “What is certainly not up for question is that President Obama, then-candidate Obama, said that adding those 20,000 troops into Iraq would, indeed, improve the security situation, and it did.”
Palin assumed that Obama would be taking a victory lap tonight, but she could not have been more wrong, she assumed that Obama would be dishonest and not give Bush or the troops credit. Palin assumed that Obama would behave like, well, Sarah Palin, “The more honest you are about the past, the more likely it is you will gain the support of the American people for your Iraq policy in the future. We need to be able to trust the White House war strategy, as our children’s future depends on it. Being honest with us tonight is a good starting point in building trust.”
By launching a preemptive strike against Obama’s speech tonight, Republicans left themselves wide open to be made fools of, which is exactly what the president did. Did Sarah Palin or John Boehner speak to George W. Bush today and give him credit for his contributions? Nope. In stunning contrast to Obama’s actual speech, Palin spent most of her Facebook post attacking the president instead of thanking the troops.
The Republicans thought that they could shape the message by speaking first, which might have been a great plan, if they would have delivered the correct message. Instead, we got another edition of Republicans guessing and getting it totally wrong. The GOP is so deep into their Obama hate that they have lost all touch with reality. Obama did not take credit for anything, except keeping a campaign promise. Instead of a “mission accomplished” victory lap, Barack Obama attempted to provide closure to the long and divisive political conflict over the Iraq invasion. Obama spoke as the nation’s leader, while Sarah Palin brought more sour grapes.
Full Transcript of Obama’s Iraq Speech
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:In this undated photo posted on a militant website that frequently carries official statements from the Islamic State extremist group, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, smoke and debris go up in the air as Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque explodes in Mosul, Iraq. Images posted online show that Islamic extremists have destroyed at least 10 ancient shrines and Shiite mosques in territory - the city of Mosul and the town of Tal Afar - they have seized in northern Iraq in recent weeks. (AP Photo)
The ISIS militant group is further advancing its extreme religious agenda by destroying Shiite mosques and Islamic shrines around the ancient Iraqi city of Mosul, which they captured last month. Al-Arabiya reported that the damage extends to at least four shrines to Sunni or Sufi figures, and six Shiite mosques in the northern province of Nineveh.
Pictures surfacing on social media this weekend showed the destruction, accomplished with bulldozers and explosives. They appeared on a militant website verified by the Associated Press as an outlet for official ISIS statements. The photos were posted under the headline, “Demolishing shrines and idols in the state of Nineveh," according to RT.
The gains made by ISIS have highlighted the sectarian divides that have long contributed to the instability of Iraq as a country. Last month, the Shiite Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, one of Iraq's most influential religious figures, issued a call for Iraqis to join the government forces in fighting against ISIS.
ISIS is an extremist Sunni group which recently declared the re-establishment of the Islamic Caliphate, exhorting Muslims all over the world to join their cause. Their invitation does not extend to the Shiite sect, seen as heretical by some Sunnis.
Kenneth M. Pollack of the Brookings Institution sees the rise of ISIS as disastrous for the future of Iraq. He told The Washington Post, "This is the start of the Iraqi civil war that was so obviously going to break out after we washed our hands of it."
See photos here:Certainly, the US election is a dizzying spectacle-- but who's producing the show and for what purpose exactly?
Americans are so polarized that they see the opposing candidate as the Devil incarnate.
For many, the US election is a traumatic experience similar to 9-11, Sandy Hook or Orlando.
Trauma is used for brainwashing. Are they engineering consent?
The secret, Edward Bernays said, was 'engineering the consent' of people in order to 'control and regiment [them] according to our will without their knowing about it.'
by Hamish
(henrymakow.com)
The American presidential election campaign is a worldwide lightning rod. Society is polarized by schisms evoked by numerous 'thesis-antithesis' issues. T he two candidates are palpably compromised offerings as they alternately trigger social justice warriors and arouse the 'alt-right'. Well, French philosopher Joseph de Maistre said: Every nation gets the government it deserves.
In discerning the spectacle, let's put on our 'Michael Hoffman lens' that focuses on the machinations behind the scenes. Recently, the Boston Globe published an article titled: 'Vote all you want. The secret government won't change.' with the subtitle: 'The people we elect aren't the ones calling the shots.' In essence, it is the superclass that is over-lording society: the Illuminati.
In his book Secret Societies and Psychological Warfare, Michael Hoffman suggests that their purpose lies in capturing our consent. But, our personal consent to what exactly? Frankly, it is the assent to their persistent, illicit, vicious onslaught against decency and truth. On one level, they want us to know their sleaze and misconducts against us. It's called: Revelation of the Method.
CONSENT IS CRUCIAL TO THEIR METHOD
Hoffman: "The alchemical principle of the Revelation of the Method has as its chief component, a clown-like, grinning mockery of the victim(s) as a show of power and macabre arrogance. When this is performed in a veiled manner, accompanied by certain occult signs and symbolic words and elicits no meaningful response of opposition or resistance from the target(s), it is one of the most efficacious techniques of psychological warfare and mind-rape.
The ceremonial nose-thumbing, this perverse jesting and clowning is taken to the highest level of intensity which ultimately hinges upon the issue of consent. It is one thing for the media, the police, the judiciary and the criminals themselves to commit terrible acts without our knowledge or consent. It is quite another matter, with grave repercussions in the realm of psychodrama, public ritual and advanced mind control, when these crimes are committed with our consent. It is an ancient rule of both the moral and common law that silence connotes consent--silence and a lack of meaningful action constitute consent in the face of these crimes.
They brag to us about what they've gotten away with and we're thrilled by it. That's our only significant response, that and the anticipation of the next thrill. This is what simplistic researchers miss: the function of macabre arrogance thumbing its nose at us while we do nothing except spread the tale of their immunity and invincibility further. That is the game plan operant here. To the belief system of the modern man it sounds too crazy. Why would the perpetrators want their secrets revealed after the fact--even if it is years later? This question can only be definitively answered if one has an understanding of the zeitgeist which overseers in the Cryptocracy have partly manufactured and partly tailored their own operations to coincide with.
Secrets were rarely revealed in the past because traditional people had not yet completed the alchemical processing. To make such perverse, modern revelations to an unprocessed, healthy, and vigorous population possessed of will, memory, and adherence to their deepest inner intuition and intense interest in their own salvation, would not have been a good thing for the Cryptocracy. It would have proved fatal to them.
But to reveal these after-the-act secrets in our modern time, to a people who have no memory, no will-power and no interest in their own fate except in so far as it may serve as momentary titillation and entertainment actually strengthens the enslavement of such a people.
THE UNVEILING MEME
Hoffman continues: "The American people are forced to confront a scary alternative reality, the reality of a shadow government over which they have neither control nor knowledge. The shepherding process is thus accelerated with a vengeance. Avant-garde advertising, music, politics, and news depict (especially in the electronic media)--sometimes fleetingly, sometimes openly--a'shadow side' of reality, an underground, amoral 'funhouse' current associated with extreme sex, extreme violence and extreme speed.
The static images of the suit-and-tie talking heads of establishment religion, government, politics and business are subtly shown to be subordinate to the Shadow State, which the American people are gradually getting a bigger glimpse of, out of the corner of their collective eye. The interesting function of this phenomenon is that it simultaneously produces both terror and adulation and undercuts any offensive against it among its percipients, which does not possess the same jump-cut speed and funhouse ambiance.
There is a sense of existing in a palace of marvels manipulated by beautiful but Satanic princes possessed of so much knowledge, power, experience as to be vastly superior to the rest of humanity. They have been everywhere. They have done everything. They run the show which mesmerizes us. We are determined to watch it. We are transfixed and desperate to see their newest production, their latest thrilling revelation, even when the thrills are solely based upon the further confirmation of our dehumanization. The role assigned to us is that of zombies called upon by our shadow masters to perform bit parts and act as stock characters in their spectacular show. This mesmerizing process produces a demoralized, cynical, double-mind."
CONCLUSION
The takeaway from Hoffman's insight is twofold: firstly, realizing that the American presidential elections campaign is a circus of vampirism that siphons our energy.
If we withdraw our attention and refocus it in our own sphere of influence (family, friends, neighbors, etc) then a decrease in the potency and prestige of the spectacular hypnosis follows.
(Hidden in plain view)
And secondly, that the consensual act of voting is a transaction of permission so choose carefully in your convictions. The Shadow State will shape the outcome to suit their proclivities regardless of the 'will of the people'.
If you think that selecting Mr. Trump is the appropriate deal then do so. If you feel that selecting Mrs. Clinton is the appropriate message then do so.While the New Orleans Saints dropped their second preseason game to the New England Patriots 26-24, there was still plenty to take away from the game.
One thing? Brandin Cooks looks poised to do big things in 2015.
As Evan Woodbery of NOLA.com reports, Cooks received rave reviews after catching four balls for 117 yards and a touchdown. The one person who may have given the most praise was Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
Article continues below...
"I’m glad we don’t have to play him twice a year and he’s not in our division," Belichick told NOLA.com after the Patriots’ win. "He’s a really good player."
Obviously, having an opposing coach say something like this is impressive, but when it’s Belichick, that sort of takes it to another level.
(h/t NOLA.com)Continued quality issues in BD's Extra. See p/3969413 for more details. A lot of the same issues still exists, especially in concerns to the forced gameplay Unintuitive gameplay in Kuron's Banana. There are issues concerning flow and overdone patterns throughout the difficulty. Odd patterns that can be improved in Gerawak's Insane. The issues that are present here are awkward when taken into the overarching structure and design of the beatmap.
00:06:558 (1,2,3,4,5) - The spacing change here is not very intuitive. There isn't enough momentum from 00:06:558 (1,2,3) - to carry onwards into the spacing change found at 00:06:904 (4,5,6) - 00:07:020 (5,6,7,8,9,10) - Poor flow due to the speed of the pattern and the arrangement of the objects. The lack of momentum from the previous pattern plus the back-and-forth movements create a unnatural feeling for the gameplay. 00:24:096 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) - Overdone pattern. This plays very poorly due to the various changes in direction and flow breaks. There are more overdone patterns as the map goes on.
00:06:558 (1,2,3,4) - Really awkward movement here, also inconsistent with previous and future 1/4 patterns. This requires a lot of momentum to be done successfully, which isn't supplied unfortunately. 00:31:020 (1,2,3,4,5) - Confusing pattern. This is due to the amount of heavy overlapping plus the up and down movements. 00:32:173 (6,1) - Awkward change in direction. The flow from 00:31:943 (5) - is immediately broken by 00:32:173 (6) - and then further supplemented by 00:32:404 (1) -.
Greetings Nhawak, on behalf of the QAT I must disqualify this beatmap for the following reasons:The QAT has found that there is improvement to be had in some of the difficulties. Below are some examples found with the issues listed above. Please take everything into consideration before going on to rerank. Note that these are examples, and more issues can be found. Go through the difficulties and iron out any similar issues.[Kuron's Banana][Gerawak's Insane]The BNG will handle the requalification of this mapset. Good luck!###MOver a lifetime of reading comics, Senior Writer Chris Sims has developed an inexhaustible arsenal of facts and opinions. That's why each and every week, we turn to you, to put his comics culture knowledge to the test as he responds to your reader questions!
Q: How important is continuity? Should stories strive to maintain the timeline or is it okay if not everything lines up? -- @drawesome86
A: It seems like I get some variation on this question a lot, and not surprisingly, it's one that I've given a lot of thought to over the years. Continuity as a concept is both extremely important and extremely polarizing in the world of superhero comics. There are people who think of it as something to be embraced and revered, and those who see it as a set of shackles that we all need to get past for the sake of new stories, and to be honest, I don't think either extreme is entirely wrong.
Because here's the thing: As a friend of mine put it, continuity is just a big word that means "sh** makes sense." That's really all there is to it, and because of that, the idea of a "continuity-free" story is a myth. It doesn't exist, because the moment you have a second issue that follows from the first, or a second page, or a second panel, you have continuity. All it means is that things move logically in a sequence of events.
So in that respect, the part of your question about "maintaining the timeline" is one that I definitely think is important. It all comes down to internal consistency: No matter how fantastical your story is, consistency within the logic presented by the world around your characters is the only thing that really makes it possible to become invested in it as a reader. You have to be able to believe that things matter and that these conflicts have consequences. If things don't have some kind of logic, if they change from panel to panel or page to page for no discernible reason, or because someone changed their mind halfway through a script, then you don't have any reason to believe the consequence of the hero losing would be any different than a win. Things without a solid continuity -- a solid internal logic -- don't feel like they matter.
That's not always true, of course -- Axe Cop is incredibly enjoyable, and it's based entirely on subverting your expectations by throwing any semblance of logic right out the window. That's where the comedy comes from, distilling it down to the form of a story, but with events that play out on a scale of sheer weirdness that you get with a hero who kills every bad guy on the planet with poison in one night. Then again, Axe Cop is not a character that it's really easy to sympathize with and relate to, and most superhero stories aren't exactly structured like Axe Cop. If nothing else, most mainstream comics writers don't have the excuse of being seven years old.
The point is, all continuity is just a fancier term for that logical consistency. But at the same time, that's not really the capital-C Continuity that people tend to mean when they talk about comics. That Continuity is the seventy years of stories that form the basis of modern superhero comics, full of minutiae and details that have been obsessively catalogued by fans who write blistering reviews on the Internet (and before that, to letters pages) about how this issue is a fail because, um, actually? The Thing and Ghost Rider met in Marvel Two-In-One #8, so maybe you should get your facts straight or die in a fire.
That's the Continuity people tend to not like.
But when you get right down to it, it's really the exact same thing, just on a much larger scale. That's where the problems come in, but in all honesty, the fans aren't the ones to blame for it, because they're not the ones who decided to put numbers on the covers and assure people that these things were meant to be read in sequence as part of a larger, cohesive universe. It's the companies that did that, and if that universe is going to be a selling point -- which it is, because otherwise they wouldn't be able to tout stories that were going to Change The Universe Forever -- then making sure it feels like a universe, with consistent logic across the board, is part of the responsibility that goes along with that.
I've yammered on and on about the illusion of fiction before, but the short version is that continuity is what allows you to suspend your disbelief and believe in what you're reading. The more cracks you have, the easier it is to see through that illusion. Once you've done that, you just don't care.
It's one of the reasons I've been having such a hard time caring about most DC comics lately, even the ones I liked when we read the entire line last year. DC as a company has ditched their continuity so many times over the course of their publishing that smacking that reset button has become their go-to move every time they start lagging behind Marvel in sales. If the people who publish and sell the comics are willing to just throw everything under the bus as stuff that no longer matters, then why should I bother when they tell me this stuff does? And what's to stop them from declaring that their current line is equally pointless whenever the next regime rolls in with a mandate to boost sales? I'm sure that there's the potential for everything to shake out and give us some great stories, just like the DC Universe that I fell in love with when I was younger that came out of Crisis and Zero Hour, but right now, we're still too close to it for me to see it as anything but an annoyance.
Also, it doesn't really help that their flagship title is hot garbage.
Don't get me wrong: I'm usually of the mind that the creators should be the main draw, and there are a few current DC comics that I like in spite of the company seeming to be dead set on making me forget that I ever liked their stuff, because those creators are doing genuinely good work that's engaging and exciting. But character and setting are extremely important elements in any story, and when the characters feel like retreads and the setting is a universe that's muddled and confused, you've got an uphill climb to create an appealing project.
And that's one of the biggest problems with that Capital-C continuity. It's not just a matter of facts, it's a matter of taste. For something that's been created and enjoyed by so many different people over the years, the idea of continuity is something that's weirdly personal. The decisions about what counts and what doesn't are so closely tied into a specific person's taste on every level. Creators write stories that they think are good, editors suggest changes to get rid of the stuff they don't think works, and even we the fans form our own mental lists of what matters to us.
We all construct a personal continuity that doesn't always match up with the official version. A few days ago, someone asked me if I was reading every current Batman title, because -- as you may have heard -- I like Batman a lot. The answer is no, I'm really just reading Batman and Batman Incorporated. Those are the two I like, and the others don't really interest me, so as far as I'm concerned, they don't really count. For me, the specific details of Batman in a given month matter a lot less to me than the way overarching themes shake out over the long term, and how specific issues add to and reinforce those things. But that's just me.
Because there are so many stories that approach things from different angles by different people living decades apart, there are conflicts of all sizes in the Continuity. With contradictions, everything can't count, so everyone tends to build their own personal continuity, and a lot of the conflict between readers and creators arises from the fact that everyone'sis different. Batman throwing a car battery at a guy matters a lot to me because it was in my favorite comic when I was six, but there's a pretty good chance that nobody else actually cares. If you write a Batman comic that contradicts Batman's battery-chucking ways, I guarantee you I will write a pretty angry review.
Also, let's be honest, if you write a Batman comic that somehow manages to contradict his battery-throwing ways, you're probably doing it just to piss me off.
Another example: Kelly Sue DeConnick, who actually said the phrase "Continuity is the devil" when she was a guest on War Rocket Ajax, has also said that in her run on Captain Marvel she's going to pretend like that whole crazy nonsense with Marcus never happened. I am 100% okay with this, but comics being what they are, I'm sure some dude is sitting around reading Captain Marvel and wondering why they haven't gotten around to talking about that weird-ass baby that Carol Danvers gave birth to and then space-married.
And it gets even more complex because the same kind of elements that seem important for one character might not be for another. Just look at Captain America: Anyone who says that it's not important for Cap to be rooted in World War II is wrong. There's no other event that would shape him the same way, nothing else that would match the poetry of a super-soldier created to face the greatest threat the world had ever seen, who vanished and then re-emerged at the dawn of the modern Marvel universe when his country needed him the most. There are themes there that this specific piece of his origin reinforces; Joe Simon and Jack Kirby defined that guy with the very first image of him, where he's punching Hitler right in the face.
But what about the Punisher? Is it as necessary for him to be rooted in the Vietnam war? There are a lot of stories -- a lot of good stories -- that have unambiguously placed him as a soldier during Vietnam, but there are plenty of other stories -- also good -- that violate that by showing him as being far too young to have served in that war. So does it matter more that he served in Vietnam specifically, and that he's now pushing 70? Or does it matter more that he served in a war, and came back to find the peaceful life he fought for taken away from him by unchecked violence?
Greg Rucka would say the latter. I've never spoken to him about it, but judging by his work on the character, Garth Ennis might say the former. But both of them have written good comics about the character, and what's more, Frank Castle himself still feels like the same person across both. There's a consistency and a logic to what he does, even when the details might not match. Both writers may have started from different premises, but they were able to synthesize what they felt mattered about the character, and omit the stuff they didn't think worked, and because they're working with a pretty high level of skill and talented collaborators, they end up with good comics.
You can't ignore Continuity in superhero comics. If you do, all you're doing is creating a new Continuity that someone else is going to have to decide whether to ignore or not, and you also run the risk of just telling the same story over and over and over again, like all the endless permutations on Claremont and Byrne's X-Men that have cropped up since, or how everyone who writes Superman seems to want to do a General Zod story, even if it has nothing to do with the one that just happened two years before. But at the same time, it's not a set of shackles. It's a foundation to build on.
Of the two options you presented, I tend to fall somewhere in the middle. Nothing's ever going to line up exactly if you're working on a character on the scale of Superman or Batman or Spider-Man, but it's every bit as important to make sure that you're doing something that makes sense, both for the characters themselves and for the universe in which they live. Sometimes, that means addressing the fact that they've done things in the past, and sometimes it means not getting bogged down by it, heaping so much pointless minutiae into the story that you lose sight of what that story actually is.
In the end, that's what continuity really is: Not messing it up. And that can be a lot harder than it sounds.
That's all we have for this week, but if you've got a question you'd like to see Chris tackle in a future column, just send it to @theisb on Twitter with the hashtag #AskChris, or send an email to chris@comicsalliance.com with [Ask Chris] in the subject line!DENISON, Texas -- For the fourth time in its history, water topped the Lake Texoma Spillway on Sunday morning at 640 feet above sea level.
The Denison Dam, which was built during World War II by German prisoners of war housed in Oklahoma and Texas, was finished in 1944. It's role was to control flooding along the Red River. It has topped the spillway in 1957, 1990, 2007, and 2015.
To get above the spillway, water must be 640 feet above sea level. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates the dam, the flood control pool for the lake is considered full at 617.34 feet above sea level.
Water made its way over the top at approximately 4 a.m. Sunday. Col. Richard Pratt of the Army Corps of Engineers said at the time the water topped the spillway, water was flowing into Lake Texoma at 300,000 cubic feet per second.
"Our estimates, based upon what is on the ground is the lake will top out at 642 feet," Pratt said. "I think it will be higher, though because of all the rain.
Pratt said water flows over the spillway and takes a path back into the Red River, so it is not a danger to those living in Denison.Sydney Thunder chief executive Nick Cummins confirmed the success-starved franchise has commenced preliminary discussions with Jacques Kallis's management to try and lure the champion South African all-rounder for next season's T20 Big Bash League.
Kallis, 38, recently retired from Test cricket with a batting average of 55.37 and 32.65 with the ball. He was identified by the Thunder, who finished with the wooden spoon in each of the three Big Bash League seasons, as the calibre of player needed to help propel the team among the competition's heavyweights.
"We've been talking to his management, but I know a few teams are," Cummins said on Tuesday.
Cummins said it was impossible to do anything more than talk to Kallis's manager until the middle of May because Cricket Australia had an embargo on Big Bash League teams signing players until a yet-to-be-confirmed date in May.
"We can't formalise agreements with anyone until then," Cummins said. "We hope to put together an inducement that would get him across the line because he'd be a great addition for us.(CNN) France is taunting the US on the Paris Agreement -- again.
This time, French officials remade a White House video by editing captions that explain why the Paris climate accord was a "bad deal" for the US.
The video, posted on Twitter by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, is France's latest challenge of President Donald Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the United Nations-brokered deal, which seeks to limit global temperature rises by 2100 to 2 degrees Celsius above levels recorded before industrialization.
We've seen the @WhiteHouse video about the #ParisAccord. We disagree -- so we've changed it. #MakeThePlanetGreatAgain. pic.twitter.com/8A92MBwe6c
In the original 40-second US video, the first slide reads, "The Paris Accord is a bad deal for America." The new French version tweaks that line to read, "Leaving the Paris Accord is a bad deal for America and the world."
The French video goes on to refute the main arguments in the US video using new slides with text edits. For example, the US version asserts that the climate deal "undermines US competitiveness and jobs."
JUST WATCHED CEOs to Trump: You're wrong on climate change Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH CEOs to Trump: You're wrong on climate change 01:43
The French video adds: "Major US companies from all sectors such as Exxon Mobil, Schneider Electric or Microsoft, disagree."
Where the White House video claims the United States set up a $3 billion UN "slush fund," the French video points out that the US financial commitment to the "green climate" fund is less, per capita, than that of many other countries, including Germany and France.
Other edits include swapping "badly negotiated" for "comprehensively negotiated."
Macron takes on Trump
France's new President, Emmanuel Macron, has led the international charge against the US decision to become one of just three countries -- along with Syria and Nicaragua -- not to abide by the Paris accord.
JUST WATCHED Macron to US: Make our planet great again Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Macron to US: Make our planet great again 01:01
He repeatedly has said the Paris deal will "make the planet great again," a play on Trump's campaign slogan. And Macron on Thursday released a video address to the American people asserting that Trump is an outlier against American greatness, despite his own political mantra.
In their latest video, the French also point out a White House line that some US researchers say Trump twisted to support his own priorities.
The White House video states that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology believes the impact of the Paris accord "would be negligible." The French video says the deal was "a step in the right direction."
MIT agrees with France
In fact, the President misinterpreted MIT's data, showing "a complete misunderstanding of the climate problem," said John Reilly, the co-director of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change and one of the study's authors.
JUST WATCHED Trump pulls US from Paris accord (full speech) Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Trump pulls US from Paris accord (full speech) 27:43
Trump in announcing his decision Thursday to pull out of the deal said, "Even if the Paris Agreement were implemented in full with total compliance from all nations, it is estimated it would only produce a two-tenths-of-one-degree-Celsius reduction in global temperature by the year 2100."
"The whole statement seemed to suggest a complete misunderstanding of the climate problem," Reilly said. "I think Paris was a very good deal for the United States, contrary to what they are claiming," Reilly told CNN.
"This one small step with Paris is a necessary step," he added. "It is an incredibly important step. If we don't take the step, then we aren't prepared to take the next step."The world needs more Jerry Seinfelds. A Buzzfeed interviewer recently took the comedic genius to task for having mostly white men as guests on his show “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.” Seinfeld didn’t buy it: “People think it’s the Census or something... I mean, this has gotta represent the actual pie chart of America? Who cares? Funny is the world that I live in. You’re funny, I’m interested. You’re not funny, I’m not interested. And I have no interest in gender or race or anything like that.”
If you want to know what a post-racial society would look like, it would be filled with people like Jerry Seinfeld, going about their business, doing what they do best, without the slightest concern for the color of another person’s skin. It would be filled with people who walk into offices, schools and social events without doing a racial headcount to make sure every group was proportionately represented.
Sadly, it seems, we’re moving further and further away from that ideal. Last week, California’s Legislature voted to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November to overturn Proposition 209, which in 1996 banned the use of racial, ethnic and gender preferences in admissions to the state’s public colleges and universities.
Of course, those institutions of higher education have worked to avoid complying ever since Prop 209 passed, using all sorts of shenanigans to make sure that their freshman classes still look like a rainbow coalition. (You know, don’t check off a race box, just hint at your racial background in your admissions essay.)
Like their peers across the country, these college administrators assume that if there is not a perfect representation of all races in all schools (or businesses or comedy shows, for that matter) it must be the result of discrimination. And that must be remedied by whatever means necessary.
It hardly matters to proponents of these policies that they wind up passing over more qualified candidates and discriminating against groups like Asian-Americans, or even that the “beneficiaries” of their policies are often unable to meet the requirements necessary for graduation.
The same motives were behind last week’s rebuke of President Obama by the Congressional Black Caucus for a lack of diversity in his judicial nominees. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton of DC slammed “the appalling lack of African-American representation”... in a justice system run by a black attorney general who reports to a black president.
Worse than all of this political bullying and higher-education discrimination is how people wind up internalizing this thinking — everyone scrutinizing his or her life to see if it passes the diversity test.
The perfect embodiment of this absurdity is the much-noted essay last month on the Web site XOJane, by a white woman who notices that there’s only one black woman in her yoga class, feels bad about her privileged life and goes home to cry. Instead of going over to greet a new woman in her class, the author retreats into some kind of existential crisis. This is where the constant drumbeat about diversity and too many college courses on structural racism gets us.
But who can blame this woman? Maybe she was worried that a picture of her family or her friends or her yoga class would end up being mocked on MSNBC. Because, while families across the country (like Mitt Romney’s) are adopting children without regard to their skin color, the cable channel’s host Melissa Harris-Perry is laughing as her guests point out which face “doesn’t belong.”
Parents I know regularly worry about how their kids will handle the real (multiracial) world when they have been raised in a mostly white, “privileged” environment. Could it just be as simple as teaching your children to treat everyone with respect and to make as many good friends as you can regardless of their skin color?
Maybe you think this sounds naïve? On our first date, almost 14 years ago, my now-husband asked me what my family would think of him. I laughed and told him everything would be fine as long as we raised our children Jewish.
He looked at me, puzzled, probably assuming I was kidding. It turned out he really wanted to know how my family would feel about my dating someone black. The question hadn’t occurred to me.
To paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld, “You’re handsome, kind, smart and funny, I’m interested.”LONDON (Reuters) - In a small, semi-detached house overlooking a park in the unlovely south London suburb of Croydon, Jorge Salgado-Reyes sits at a glass-topped desk in his living room plying his trade as a private eye.
A newspaper vendor poses with a copy of The Times, featuring an apology from News Corp chairman and chief executive officer Rupert Murdoch at a news stand in London July 16, 2011. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett
In the corner, a goldfish glides around a water tank. A flat screen television hangs from the wall alongside replica samurai swords and photographs of landscapes. Black leather sofas line two of the walls.
The phone rings. Salgado-Reyes answers it, jots down a few notes and consults his screen. “A non-molestation order,” he says, referring to a court order he is being asked to monitor.
Charging up to 75 pounds ($120) an hour, the dapper, goateed gumshoe takes on cases that range from the banal to the tragic — tracing missing people, serving court orders, monitoring “anti-social behavior” such as vandalism or noisy neighbors, checking cases of benefit fraud, or simply carrying out checks for people who are convinced, rightly or wrongly, that their house is bugged.
Salgado-Reyes is the acceptable face of private investigation |
experience could benefit outlier academic stars. Would the University of Everywhere be good for nonprodigies? If so, how?
A. The word "unbundle" only appears twice in the book, and in the second instance it is immediately followed by the word "reassemble." The idea of an atomized, postinstitutional higher education is really not the framework I've employed.
Some critics have focused on the narrative device of my journey through an edX genetics course. I make no claims of representing anyone other than myself in that respect. I'm a college graduate with no experience in or particular aptitude for science, and the course worked for me. Take that as you will. The important thing isn't that I took the course -- it's that tens of thousands of other people took the course, representing almost every dimension of diversity imaginable. And that M.I.T. was able to almost perfectly replicate the course it requires its own students to take and provide it online at zero marginal cost. That strikes me as a pretty amazing fact in terms of what's already possible, today.
Will some people need different levels of support to succeed in a demanding classes? Of course they will. That's why the future contemplated in the book explicitly involves peers, mentors and support. The book says that purely online learning "isn't the ideal learning environment for many, and it's simply untenable for some." It says, "The future of higher education is not one in which everyone sits by herself in her pajamas, pallid and goggle-eyed, being taught by a machine. Indeed, many people -- particularly those who we now think of as college age -- will live and learn together under the auspices of organizations specifically and solely dedicated to their education."
One might conclude from some criticism that my attitude toward nonprodigies is "Let them eat MOOCs." I think that's a misreading of what the book clearly says.
Q. The book makes a strong case for how a democratized, no-frills form of online-enhanced higher education could reduce costs and increase student access. But a substantial number of students and their families want amenities -- libraries, campus greens and even lazy rivers -- and are willing and able to pay for them. Why would that change, even if the stripped-down version became widely available? And why aren't existing options like Western Governors University more popular?
A. Consumer demand isn't independent of signaling and supply. When I was choosing a college in the late 1980s, nobody said they wanted a lazy river. Why? Because there weren't any lazy rivers. Nobody thought to ask for a dorm suite with hotel-like amenities, because there weren't any of those either (at least not at public universities). In the way they decide to market themselves, colleges teach naïve students what to desire. It may be a kind of collective action problem, but it's not an excuse. I think I'm on safe ground in assuming that people in their late teens and early 20s who aren't in college don't normally choose to spend huge amounts of money on memberships in Olympic-caliber gymnasiums.
Q. Likewise, wealthy Americans enjoy plenty of influence with the gatekeepers of higher education. Will they fight changes that bring on the more meritocratic form of college you predict, where gaming the admissions system and coasting with a "gentleman's C" are no longer possible? Do the powerful really want better measures of what their offspring do or don't learn in college?
A. The higher education system that I criticize confers enormous benefits on the privileged and powerful. As Rick Kahlenberg of the Century Foundation likes to note, the American Revolution "was fought in large measure to rid ourselves of aristocracy and inherited privilege." Yet those ideas and systems continue to corrupt college admissions over two centuries later. More broadly, higher education as we know it today systematically provides more resources to wealthy students with an abundance of cultural capital and fewer resources to first-generation students, low-income students and students of color.
The people who benefit from this unfair system will undoubtedly try to preserve it. But that's the nature of all fights worth having.
Q. As you note, colleges are more resilient and longer lasting than tech companies. And the Googles and Microsofts often manage to compete with open-source disrupters like Mozilla (Chrome and Explorer have more users than Firefox). Isn't it possible that while some incumbent colleges will fail, many others will adapt and absorb the market for online and adaptive learning?
A. I think it's not just possible, it's almost certain in some way. The question is, how many others? And how much will they have to transform themselves in order to survive? They may have the same names, but they won't be the same kinds of organizations. (I'm pretty sure Microsoft isn't going to be making tens of billions of dollars from a near-monopoly share of the market for desktop PC operating systems in 2030.) And of course, this has happened in higher education before. Educationally speaking, the Harvard of 2015 looks substantially like the Harvard of 1915, but almost nothing like the Harvard of 1815. Same buildings, same name, different institution.
Q. You discuss how colleges will need to become more like cathedrals, where students will return throughout their lifetimes to work on the "never-ending project of learning." What might that relationship with alma mater look like for a midcareer worker?
A. I think it might look a lot like that midcareer worker's relationship with his or her organization of faith: a lifelong affinity that involves an ongoing commitment to shared values and ideas about learning, including regular meetings with fellow students in the local community. A commitment of time and money that's not insignificant, but not so great that it's incompatible with having a job and a family. I think that would be a better relationship than one based on youthful nostalgia, tribal loyalty, exploitative semiprofessional sports franchises and periodic begging for money, which is what we have today.
Q. The book is nuanced, complex and features an impressive amount of research. But some of your framing, quotes in interviews and published excerpts have had a less sober tone -- like the apocalyptic title. Why? And doesn't that increase the risk of misinterpretation by careless readers, similar to your description of how MOOC hype helped influence the University of Virginia's board to fire its president?
A. The working title of the book was Higher Education Is Likely to Change Somewhat in the Future, Although Exactly How Is Not Yet Clear, but my publisher felt that might not reach the same audience. Plus it was hard to fit on the cover in the font we liked.
Seriously, though: I genuinely believe that major changes are coming in the next generation, of a kind and magnitude that exceed the expectations of almost everyone currently employed by a traditional college or university. I also believe that the chronic neglect of undergraduate education is morally unsupportable and a detriment to society. I've been in too many meetings in my career where, after the doors are closed, higher education professors and administrators readily admit that the system all but obligates professors to neglect teaching in favor of research, and that colleges don't systematically concern themselves with the quality of the teaching and learning they provide in exchange for large amounts of money. Nobody is ever embarrassed to say this. It's socially acceptable -- even required, in a way, like insider knowledge that signals membership in a club. This makes me angry. Some of the language in the book reflects that feeling.
Writing defensively to ward off careless misinterpretation is a mug's game. Careful readers have by and large responded positively to the book, even if they don't agree with all of its predictions and conclusions. As a writer, that's all you can hope for.
Q. Your book offers an intriguing alternative to traditional higher education. Yet some champions of "reform" are more interested in cutting support for colleges, including ones that serve low-income students. Do you worry about providing intellectual cover for people who are primarily interested in spending less, not finding new ways for more access?
A. I do worry about that. I think it's a genuine concern. The last thing I want is for someone like Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to justify arbitrary and damaging cuts to public higher education with a thoughtless appeal to technology. I've supported robust and equitable public funding for education for my entire career. At the same time, we can't put the conversation about using technology to build more effective and efficient higher education organizations on hold until the American political economy somehow heals itself.
In the long run, the case for higher education as a public good will be stronger if higher education organizations make the best possible use of public dollars, in a way that's strongly aligned with the average citizen's intense desire to provide an affordable, high quality learning experience for his or her children. Information technology will undoubtedly be an important part of achieving that goal.I needed to parse the routing tables, therefore I needed to parse the command route which gives an output similar to something like this.
Kernel IP routing table Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface default 172.17.0.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0 172.17.0.0 * 255.255.0.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
To get the output of the command we will use subprocess. So our python code will look like this.
import subprocess p = subprocess. run ( "route", stdout = subprocess. PIPE ) lines = p. stdout. decode ( "utf8" ). splitlines () headers = lines [ 1 ]. split ()
But how to create a nice datastructure to hold routes? The answer is namedtuple.
Route = namedtuple ( "Route", headers ) routes = [ Route ( * line. split ()) for line in lines [ 2 :]] route = routes [ 0 ] print ( route ) print ( "as a tuple % s" % route [ 0 ]) print ( "as a class like structure" % route. Destination ) print ( "as a dictionary % s" % route. _asdict ())
The output is.
Route ( Destination = 'default', Gateway = '172.17.0.1', Genmask = '0.0.0.0', Flags = 'UG', Metric = '0', Ref = '0', Use = '0', Iface = 'eth0' ) as a tuple : default as a class like structure : default as a dictionary : OrderedDict ([( 'Destination', 'default' ), ( 'Gateway', '172.17.0.1' ), ( 'Genmask', '0.0.0.0' ), ( 'Flags', 'UG' ), ( 'Metric', '0' ), ( 'Ref', '0' ), ( 'Use', '0' ), ( 'Iface', 'eth0' )])
The flexibility of python never ceases to amaze me, and I am always finding hidden gems and quicker ways to do things.The Rise and Fall of Juan Rangel, the Patrón of Chicago’s UNO Charter Schools One man turned a small activist group into the nation’s biggest Hispanic charter school operator. And then the trouble started.
Above: UNO Soccer Academy Elementary Photo: Tom Rossiter/Courtesy of Ghafari Associates and JGMA
Five weeks before he abruptly resigned from the top job at the United Neighborhood Organization, Juan Rangel met me for an interview. He picked the day (Halloween) and the spot (UNO’s Soccer Academy High).
It was easy to see why Rangel wanted to meet at the new high school. Designed by Colombian-born architect Juan Gabriel Moreno and unveiled the month before, the building had been plopped like a futuristic glass-and-steel spaceship onto an otherwise unremarkable industrial stretch of 51st Street. Lush green fields surrounded it, marked off for student soccer games. Inside, only a few students sported Halloween costumes. Most were dressed head to toe in crisp five-piece uniforms, topped off with navy blazers and ties.
Dressed much like his students, in a dark suit and striped tie, the 48-year-old Rangel strode into the glass-walled lobby right on time, with his crisis manager in tow. Over the high-decibel screech of a buzz saw that signaled ongoing construction, he launched into a tour, detailing his favorite architectural elements with energy and charm.
But once we made our way to a second-floor conference room for questions, his guard went up. Asked if it had been hard to admit to a crowd of reporters last spring that he had “failed,” he slumped a little in his seat, and his face reddened. “Of course!” the head of the nation’s largest Hispanic charter school operator replied testily. “[But] sometimes you make mistakes, and you have to acknowledge them.”
Rangel has made so many that it’s hard to know where to begin. 2013 was his year from hell. A torrent of bad publicity about insider contracts, nepotistic hires, and political cronyism at UNO. Millions in grant money yanked from the organization and its network of 16 charter schools. A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into one of the bond deals that helped drive UNO’s rapid expansion. And, of course, Rangel’s December departure from the juggernaut he had built—a deep humiliation for the quintessential Mexican American boy made good, a man whom this magazine last March ranked No. 32 on its list of the most powerful people in Chicago. Unfortunately for him, 2014 looks to be shaping up no better: At presstime, Miguel d’Escoto, his former deputy and close friend, had just filed a lawsuit claiming Rangel forced him to resign “against his will” to try and stop the spiral. The suit charges both UNO and Rangel personally with fraud.
How did Rangel and his organization grow so fast and fall so hard, and what does their fate mean for the future of charter schools? To find out, I conducted an investigation with the nonprofit, nonpartisan Better Government Association. We interviewed roughly 50 sources, among them several former top UNO insiders, and scoured budgets and other documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests.
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What emerged is a cautionary tale about the intersection of ambition and opportunity. UNO and its CEO thrived mainly because of gaping loopholes in the charter school system. While UNO has received a staggering $280 million in public money over the past five years to spend on education, neither Chicago Public Schools nor the Illinois State Board of Education provided enough oversight. Without that, insiders say, UNO developed a free-wheeling culture that was ripe for abuse. It collected lots of money, and Rangel amassed lots of power. But he didn’t always use them for the benefit of the thousands of kids in his charter schools.
Ultimately, says a former UNO employee who requested anonymity, Rangel’s Achilles’ heel may have been that he “thought charter schools don’t have to play by the same rules as public schools.” The most troubling part: For several years, at least, they didn’t.
Juan Rangel Photo: Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune
Thirty years ago, a former Jesuit priest named Greg Galluzzo noticed that many immigrants in Chicago’s fast-growing Mexican American community were struggling. With his wife, Mary Gonzales, he founded a nonprofit group in 1984 called the United Neighborhood Organization. Its goal: to help these new Chicagoans find housing and become U.S. citizens.
A young activist named Danny Solis, himself the son of Mexican immigrants, soon joined the fledgling group. Solis had grown up at 21st and Paulina and watched his father work three jobs to pay his Catholic school tuition. Influenced by the teachings of the legendary South Side community organizer Saul Alinsky, he believed that change occurred by flexing muscle from the inside, not by throwing stones from the outside.
When Galluzzo left UNO after two years (he went on to mentor a young Barack Obama), Solis became UNO’s executive director. His vision was far broader than his predecessor’s. Solis latched UNO on to the city’s burgeoning school reform efforts, organizing mass protests in Springfield, agitating for new schools running UNO-backed candidates for seats on local school councils. One of those candidates was Juan Rangel.
‘I always say, Don’t underestimate our community.’ Juan Rangel
Born in Brownsville, Texas, one of seven children of undocumented Mexican immigrants, Rangel had moved with his family to Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood when he was four. His father worked construction and owned a neighborhood tavern. “He would never subscribe to being a victim of this country,” Rangel told me in October. “This is a place where my mom, with a third-grade education, is now an Avon lady!... I always say, Don’t underestimate our community.”
A shy child with a talent for drawing, Rangel attended the American Academy of Art in the Loop. While working as an illustrator, the young man began attending evening meetings for UNO volunteers. In 1989, with UNO’s backing, Rangel ran for a school council seat at his alma mater, Gary Elementary. He won—but was booted two years later after he voted to fire a principal who had been clashing with the council. “All of a sudden I realized that my little grammar school was a power center in my neighborhood,” recalls Rangel. “It was a rude awakening.”
Rangel went on to head UNO’s Little Village chapter. Solis was busy steering the group’s agenda into alignment with City Hall’s. That was true even on issues that seemed oddly counter to the group’s agitator roots. In 1993, for example, Little Village activists were fighting the city’s plan to build a new elementary school at 31st and Millard, across the street from a drum-recycling factory that incinerated thousands of gallons of toxic waste a year. As a parade of outside environmental consultants reported increasingly disturbing results, the issue grew embarrassing for Mayor Richard Daley. UNO sided with the mayor. “I think it’s an appropriate site for a school,” Rangel told the Reader at the time. “I lived near that site for years, and I’m fine.” (The city ultimately decided not to build there.)
In 1995, the politically ambitious Rangel ran for 22nd Ward alderman, losing to Ricardo Munoz. Solis fared better. A year later, his loyalty to City Hall was rewarded when Daley handpicked him to fill the vacant 25th Ward aldermanic seat.
Solis kept one foot in UNO’s door, however: His high-school buddy Phil Mullins, a London-born college activist who networked with Latinos through various Chicago soccer leagues, stayed on as the organization’s chief strategist. But the director job had to go to someone Hispanic, and Mullins was not. Rangel got the nod.
If the Solis era was about making UNO a political player, Rangel’s was about connecting the dots that would make it a force to be reckoned with.
Rangel could see that Chicago’s booming Latino population was having a staggering effect on the city’s public schools. (By the 2011–12 school year, Latinos would constitute 44 percent of the CPS student population.) And that public officials were eager to find educational alternatives to crowded public schools—many of which were in Hispanic neighborhoods—and to underachieving ones.
Not long before Rangel took over UNO, Chicago’s mayor took over its public schools. Daley’s plan included opening charters: public schools run by private managers that receive considerable leeway in curriculum, financing, and hiring. Remove the bloat of bureaucracy and give principals free rein to fire bad teachers, the thinking went, and performance will improve.
UNO Schools
Daley charged his schools chief, Paul Vallas (now running for Illinois lieutenant governor on Pat Quinn’s ticket), with ushering “school choice” into the district. CPS began rounding up community groups—including UNO—and selling them on the idea. “Chicago was the first big-city school system to ask people to start charter schools,” says Greg Richmond, one of Vallas’s deputies, who eventually oversaw the program (and since 2005 has run the Chicago-based National Association of Charter School Authorizers).
In Rangel, CPS found an eager audience. “In society, there is a politically correct version of our community that wants to see us as poor, downtrodden brown people that can’t fend for themselves,” Rangel told me in October, his voice rising as if he were preaching on a Sunday. “That is a caricature. Instead of using poverty to rationalize failure, [we wanted to] set up a more ambitious expectation of our kids and our families.”
In 1997, UNO made its first charter school proposal to the city, for two campuses in heavily Hispanic Little Village. Anticipating concerns about a politically active organization opening schools, Rangel pledged that a separate management company (Advantage, a for-profit charter operator out of Boston) would handle day-to-day operations. He got the green light. “We didn’t set out to build a network,” Rangel says now. “We just wanted to prove something about what was possible.”
The next year, UNO and Advantage cut the ribbon on an elementary school and a junior high, both called Octavio Paz, in buildings on West 23rd Street and Congress Parkway leased from the Archdiocese of Chicago. It didn’t take long for the light bulb to flip on inside UNO headquarters: The education business had major perks. Schools come with cafeterias and gymnasiums where community groups could assemble. They offer built-in armies of foot soldiers: parents who could vote, move petitions, or gather in large numbers to rally on the issues of the day. And they bring in money.
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Do they ever. CPS, like many authorizing districts around the country, gives charter operators a guaranteed base allotment per student—in Chicago, that amount currently ranges from $4,140 to $5,130. On top of that, charters get additional public funds for facility rent and maintenance and even more if they teach large numbers of kids who are poor or are learning English (as UNO schools do). And that’s not all: there is a blend of local, state, and federal monies dedicated for lunch programs, special education, teacher training, and long menu of services.
Charters also attract serious dough from certain foundations. The Dell Foundation has given UNO at least $1.5 million, and the Walton Family Foundation has forked over more than $3 million.
Fast forward to 2005. Daley’s army of Hispanic foot soldiers, the Hispanic Democratic Organization—run by one of Daley’s top political aides, Victor Reyes—was falling apart after a city hiring scandal involving HDO patronage workers. His administration began looking to shore up its relationships with Latino influencers. That same year, Vallas’s successor, the Daley protégé Arne Duncan, called Rangel, who had been nosing around for other UNO locations. A Catholic school at 51st and California was closing. Wouldn’t its building make a fine UNO school?
“We jumped at it,” recalls Rangel. That very fall, UNO opened a new grammar school, Rufino Tamayo, where Duncan had suggested.
New UNO school openings came quickly after that: Bartolome de las Casas in Pilsen and Carlos Fuentes in Avondale in 2006; one or two additional schools in each subsequent year, mostly in Hispanic neighborhoods on the South and Southwest Sides. “It was a really aggressive schedule,” Rangel says, looking back. “But there was a need. And no one else was giving a voice to what Hispanic parents want.”
To drum up students, UNO ran ads on Spanish-language radio stations and undertook door-to-door campaigns. The sell: Traditional public schools were setting the bar laughably low for Latino students. UNO schools were safe, and tuition-free. Teachers would visit homes regularly and involve parents. And, hey, if a parent needed English classes or computer training or even a little part-time work to help pay the rent, UNO could probably arrange for that, too.
That pitch resonated with parents who, like Brighton Park resident Chiqui Gonzalez, “never really trusted public schools.” After witnessing a fight outside her neighborhood junior high, she enrolled her granddaughter at UNO Rufino Tamayo. Many UNO parents were pleased with the extra attention. “When I came to UNO [from CPS], a lot of things changed,” says Monica Hernandez, an UNO Fuentes parent. “I started getting text messages about my kids.”
Juan Rangel and Phil Mullins, his No. 2 at UNO, have always made an odd couple. Rangel has overcome his early shyness to become an affable, well-dressed schmoozer; until the scandal, he drove a sports car with vanity plates reading “Patron 2” (Spanish for “boss”). Mullins is a brooding professor type, prone to eloquent lectures about understanding clout and self-interest. But they shared some of the same views, including the importance of building a professional Latino middle class.
With that express purpose, in 2001, the pair launched the Metropolitan Leadership Institute, or MLI. Each year they chose 30 or so professionals, mostly Latinos, and taught them how to land roles on important boards and commissions and network with those who had.
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From the beginning, Rangel operated on the notion that charters were exempt from the school district’s nepotism rules (they are allowed to write their own ethics policies) and from the so-called Shakman Decree, a consent decree put into place in 1983 to curb the patronage practices of Chicago pols (it applies to CPS but not to charter operators). As the UNO organization grew, it created plenty of jobs: teachers’ assistants, IT consultants, central office administrators, and community relations officers that Rangel and Mullins filled as they pleased.
“It was always this dog-and-pony show about how we needed to have relationships and how these relationships would bring good things to UNO,” recalls one former management official. “It was nothing about doing a job, or doing a good job. It was the ‘who you know’ type of thing.” Says another insider: “That was a constant theme. Juan and Phil decide who’s going to get special treatment and who’s not.”
At least two of Rangel’s nephews and a niece began working at UNO, including Juan (“John”) Rangel, an IT specialist; Carlos Jaramillo, who worked as deputy chief of staff; and Araceli Estrada, an apprentice teacher. Other relatives handled immigration services for the central office.
The jobs extended to powerful people in Rangel’s circle. Danny Solis’s wife, Mary Jane, landed a job teaching third grade in 2007 (she left in July 2012). So did Solis’s sister, Grace Perales, UNO’s longtime office manager. Carolina Cardenas, the ex-wife of 12th Ward alderman George Cardenas, works as a supply chain coordinator in the central office. (Cardenas has two UNO schools in his ward.)
As UNO grew, Rangel and Mullins engineered an increasingly complicated organizational structure that allowed the parent nonprofit—let’s just call it the UNO mothership—to reap financial benefits from the schools and spin off for-profit companies on the side.
Here’s how the relationship between the parent company and the charter schools worked. Technically, UNO’s charter school network, UCSN, was separate from UNO. But the two entities shared the same CEO (Rangel, who made $250,000 a year) and COO (Mullins, who made $190,000) and even the same board members—a situation fraught with potential conflicts of interest.
Remember Advantage, the outside firm to which Rangel had turned over the day-to-day management of the schools? UNO dismissed the firm around 2000 after Octavio Paz posted poor academic results. “We felt we were terminated capriciously,” says Steven Wilson, the founder of the now-defunct Advantage. “They wanted to self-manage.”
UNO did just that—and began paying itself a “management fee” of $1 of every $10 it received from local, state, and federal sources. (Some years UCSN kicked up more. In 2012, those fees totaled $5 million.) Under Rangel and Mullins, UNO had control over how that cash was spent.
A third of the nation’s charter schools pay fees to management companies—a head-scratching arrangement when you consider that charters were created as a way to eliminate bureaucracy, not create it. Few rules govern these arrangements, according to Gary Miron, a professor of education at Western Michigan University who has studied charter financing (though not UNO’s specifically). Once the charter manager collects the fee, the funds go under “the veil,” says Miron. “Basically, all of this money ends up getting paid to the management company, but we don’t know how much goes into their pockets or how much they spend on administrators, or administrators’ nephews or uncles.”
No wonder the Chicago Teachers Union charges that, despite promises to the contrary, charter school operators are not held as accountable as their traditional public school counterparts. “It’s the Wild West,” says Jesse Sharkey, vice president of the union.
With all those kids and all those crayons, schools are messy places that require constant cleanup. By establishing a for-profit janitorial arm, Rangel realized, UNO could set its own fees to clean its own schools—the profits would stay in-house—and he could offer jobs to whomever he wanted. Voilà: In 2008 arrived UNO Janitorial and Maintenance Service, known as UNO JAMS. Two of Rangel’s family members were hired to help oversee it.
As UNO’s schools have grown, so have UNO JAMS’s fortunes. In 2009, the company’s revenues were just $633,000; they now exceed $2.6 million. Still, those numbers are relatively small compared with the potential gold mine that is Rangel and Mullins’s other for-profit idea: senior housing. In 2007, UNO partnered with the Chicago-based group Senior Lifestyle Corporation to build or repurpose five senior housing developments in and near the city. Construction on two of the developments is still underway, but when they are completed, the total number of units will top 380.
UNO and Senior Lifestyle have received $22 million in taxpayer-backed loans and grants—more than $9 million of that from Mayor Emanuel’s administration—as well as no-strings-attached low-income-housing tax credits from the city and the Illinois Housing Development Authority worth $56 million, financial records show. Not much of this money has trickled down to UNO’s bottom line—yet. According to financial records, UNO earned $254,000 in development fees in 2011 and 2012.
“There is still a question of whether senior housing is attractive to Hispanics,” Rangel says. “We’re a traditional community—grandmothers and grandpas live with us—but if there is an opportunity for folks in our community, why not? UNO knows the Latino community better than anyone!”
In the summer of 2007, UNO embarked on its biggest project yet: the gut rehab of an abandoned industrial bakery near 47th and Pulaski—a campus that UNO would later name Veterans Memorial. Sure, says Rangel, the graffitied eyesore could have been improved on the cheap, with some new windows and a fresh coat of paint. But nothing quite spells success in Chicago like a multimillion-dollar feat of modern architecture.
UNO hired the Near North firm UrbanWorks, which designed a curtain wall of acoustically enhanced panes of glass to block out the noise from Midway Airport. “Why settle?” Rangel remembers thinking. “Why not do something that puts a mark on a community?” (“Juan is really just a frustrated architect,” says one insider.) For Rangel, a major construction project was a twofer: It also brought the power to dole out tens of millions in contracts.
Halfway through construction, however, UNO began gasping for cash. Rangel reached out to some powerful political allies with a concentration of UNO schools in their districts. One was Illinois House speaker Michael Madigan, who had been working to tack facilities funding for charters onto the state budget. But the speaker was squabbling with Governor Rod Blagojevich, who in the summer of 2007 slashed a slew of Madigan-supported “add-ons” from the budget, including a $3.5 million grant that would have helped UNO.
It got worse. The credit markets were tightening. CPS, meanwhile, was no help. The school system was refusing to increase its per-pupil allotments, funding that UNO was counting on to help secure construction financing. The lead contractor, F.H. Paschen, threatened to pull its crews.
Desperate, Rangel tried political lifeline No. 2: Southwest Side alderman Ed Burke (whose daughter-in-law was later hired at UNO). In June 2008, Burke convened a team of bankers, LaSalle Street lawyers, and politicos, including his brother, Daniel, a state rep, and Daley’s chief of staff, Lori Healey. The group helped UNO secure a $65 million low-interest loan from a consortium of banks led by Cole Taylor Bank and MB Financial Bank and quietly guaranteed by City Hall.
This being Chicago, few were surprised when Rangel subsequently threw his support behind Dan Burke in his hotly contested reelection race for the Illinois House in 2010. The fact that Burke’s opponent was a Mexican American in a predominantly Hispanic district didn’t stop Rangel. To critics, it was further proof that UNO’s Latino-empowerment principles could be readily abandoned when self- interest was on the line.
In June 2009, the state legislature awarded UNO a $98 million grant for school construction. Even charter advocates were shocked by such a staggering sum handed out to a single operator. “Very few, if any, charters [nationwide], except UNO, get that kind of state money to build schools,” says Andrew Broy, the president of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, a lobbying and resource group.
Anticharter parents’ groups and unions immediately cried foul. “What on earth was the state thinking?” says Julie Woestehoff, the executive director of Parents United for a Responsible Education, a Chicago advocacy organization. “We have this huge budget crisis. To be giving UNO $98 million—it’s preposterous. It throws into enormous relief the political nature of this organization, the clout they have.”
‘They were playing the ‘Kumbaya’ chord that this was for the betterment of Latino families. But it was the wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing.’ State Senator William Delgado
By this point, no one could argue that. UNO’s coup was the result of a classic one-two punch. The cousin of Miguel d’Escoto, Rangel’s chief organizer at the time, had bused hundreds of parents in matching T-shirts to Springfield to rally for weeks in front of the Capitol and the TV cameras. Behind the scenes, Rangel had worked Republican lawmakers— many of them charter fans—from Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno on down. To reinforce the message, he had hired a cadre of powerhouse lobbyists, including Victor Reyes and Michael Noonan, a former Madigan aide.
“They were playing the ‘Kumbaya’ chord that this was for the betterment of Latino families,” recalls Senator William Delgado, a Chicago Democrat who chairs the Senate Education Committee and voted for the grant—a decision he says he now regrets. “But it was the wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing. These guys [at UNO] weren’t responsible enough to get that much money.”
With that $98 million, UNO began scrambling to build new schools, Rangel’s two-campus Soccer Academy complex among them. No one inside the organization, it seems, bothered to read the grant agreement’s fine print. It specified that UNO “must immediately notify the [Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, which administered the grant] in writing of any actual or potential conflicts of interest.”
As the Sun-Times would reveal in February 2013, a long line of contractors, plumbers, electricians, security firms, and consultants tied to many of the VIPs on UNO’s organizational chart got a piece of the action. Rangel spelled out in tax documents and in later bond disclosures that the construction firm d’Escoto Inc.—owned by former UNO board member Federico d’Escoto, the brother of Miguel d’Escoto—was the owner’s representative on three projects funded by the grant. Another d’Escoto brother, Rodrigo, was paid $10 million for glass subcontracts for UNO’s two Soccer Academies and a third school in the Northwest Side neighborhood of Galewood.
The vendor lists were peppered with other familiar names: a $101,000 plumbing contract awarded to the sister of Victor Reyes, UNO’s lobbyist, who helped secure the state grant; a $1.7 million electrical contract given to a firm co-owned by one of Ed Burke’s precinct captains; tens of thousands in security contracts to Citywide Security, a firm that had given money to Danny Solis, and to Aguila Security, managed by the brother of Rep. Edward Acevedo, who voted for the $98 million for UNO.
Meanwhile, the school network was handing out its own contracts to more familiar names. Monterrey Security, a firm that was previously co-owned by Danny Solis’s brother Santiago, won a $75,000 security contract. Phil Mullins’s wife, Mary Quinn, came away with an HR contract; so did firms that had contributed to Burke and Madigan. Says an UNO insider who spoke on the condition of anonymity: “There was a point where I began to wonder, Is it about the schools? Or are the schools the means to another end?”
UNO never notified the state of these potential conflicts. “They wanted to get the schools built ASAP, and maybe shortcuts were done,” says George Cardenas, the 12th Ward alderman. “When you grow exponentially, you tend to take an eye off the controls.”
“Things caught up with us,” admits Rangel. “There are checks and balances we didn’t have.”
Each time UNO unveiled a new campus, Rangel outdid himself in the dazzle department. To fete the opening of the Veterans Memorial campus in 2008, UNO blocked off part of 47th Street so the crowd could watch a fit-for-Broadway reveal: a plush scarlet curtain sliding off the three-story glass curtain wall as the soundtrack to 2001: A Space Odyssey played. The price tag for the school: $42 million, according to bond documents. In the fall of 2011, at the massive celebration for the first Soccer Academy (price tag: $27 million), UNO spent $75,000 for fireworks, DJs, and a laser light display.
According to records, UN |
in risking his men to pick off stragglers. Even if a dozen elves were slain, the loss of one of his dwarves would not be worth it.The Somma were doomed. What had once been a mighty kingdom now lay in ashes. A dozen scattered settlements was all that was left of them. Most of these were insignificant hamlets, little more than huts shaped out of the trees.Cacames vengeance was nearing its zenith. The utter destruction of the people who had taken his wife from him, who had devoured her body all because she had been born into a village conquered by dwarves.He peered out into the flames which licked the roots of the tree city. In the three sweeps since he had been woken from his fugue by the so-called gods, he had expanded the borders of Dobar Odkish nearly three-fold. Much of it had been won in wars against the humans and goblins who had dared to encroach upon his territory. Once hed regained what had been lost, however, he turned his eyes on his true foe.In those first assaults, his vigor had seemed infinite. With each elf slain, it waned and waned. He knew his destiny was to be the last elf. But the satisfaction he sought was so far missing. Perhaps it merely would not come until the stroke he watched the next-to-last elf choke out his final breath.He could see the face of that elf in his mind and it was the face of Amoya Themarifa, the elv who had murdered Cacames wife. Of course, Amoya was long dead at the hands of another and nothing would bring him back.My liege, a dwarf said, breaking his kings reverie. Cacame looked down at the dwarf, who knelt in the muck of gory mud. His cuirass was dented and shattered in places. A gash was opened over his left eye, though the blood had ceased to pour from it.Speak, Cacame said to him. He was Duke Okir Eshonerir, the leader of the vanguard. He had been one of the first dwarves to enter combat against the Somma forces. In this hundred sweeps Cacame had been sleeping, the dukes family had become a powerful one in the kingdom.The flames, lord, Okir said, rising from his knee. Shall we have them doused?Cacame turned back to stare at them once again. The flames. This land was technically part of the Kingdom of Dobar Odkish now. The lumber would be useful to craftsmen. The animals that called it home a plentiful source of food for his people. The herbs turned into medicines.But his people already had lumber, food, and medicines aplenty. What need had he of a few more scraps of forest?Let it burn, Cacame said before turning and walking back toward his command tent.Were it not for his sweeps living among the dwarves, beneath the earth in the cavernous fortress of Gamildodók, Cacame may never have felt the quivering of the earth below him. It was slight, almost gentle. Like a light breeze upon his cheek.He shifted to the side just as the great serpent burst from the ground beneath him. Shouts of alarm went up from every soldier near enough to see it. Its dagger-filled mouth had missed Cacames leg by a few bare spans, but still the force of its exit from the earth had sent him tumbling to the ground.It let out a sound that sounded akin to a frogs croak, albeit one deep and reverberating, and lunged for him. Cacame rolled to his right, unfortunately away from the warhammer that had been lost in the wyrms narrowly-avoided first strike. Its snout smashed into the dirt a split second after Cacame had rolled aside.It turned to him and was about to strike again when a silver flash crashed into its side. The creature let out a quivering shriek, the spiked fin which circled its head and ran down its back flaring in anger. Run, my lord! Okir shouted as the beast whipped its sinuous neck around and bashed the duke aside.A squad of dwarves quickly replaced him, circling the beast and lunging at it with spears. The beast thrashed back and forth for a moment, snapping at them. But at each strike, the well-trained target would jump deftly back, even in heavy mail, while his comrades took the opportunity to thrust. The beast was not stupid, however. It quickly realized it could not win this fight. With astounding speed, it retreated back into the tunnel from which it had emerged.Cacame walked over and looked down into the darkness. Straining, he could hear the scrape of the creatures scales through the tunnel.Shall we pursue? one of the dwarves asked.The tunnel was just wide enough for the dwarves to head down it single-file. His men were experienced in fighting in cramped tunnels, having often dealt with great beasts that lived in natural underground caverns. But this was no ordinary animal or singular monstrosity.It was a finscale, one of the so-called chosen beasts of Íle. In the time when Cacame had been young, they were mostly myths... occasional marauding monsters in the densest forests. Cunning ambush predators which had ravaged settlements of goblin, elf, and dwarf alike. Now the Somma venerated them as embodiments of Íle.No, Cacame said, as one of the dwarves recovered his warhammer. Let it go. He squeezed the metal haft of his weapon. Its just an animal. No need to lose lives hunting it.The dwarves saluted him and immediately broke away to return to whatever it was they had been doing. Cacame resumed his walk back to his command tent. As he walked, he passed a priest swathed in white, kneeling beside a dying soldier. The crimson on the soldiers lips was a stark contrast to the pale flesh. His eyes were wide and blank, but his chest spasmed, sending little flecks of blood splashing from his mouth.The priest had a wide, deep hood so that his face could not be seen. All souls go to Vucar. We are born under Vucars grace. We fight for his glory.Cacame couldnt help but snort, though it was too soft for the priest to hear. The cult of Vucar had been a minor one when Cacame first came to power, but its influence had grown over the sweeps while the other gods were increasingly marginalized. Many of the rituals and chants the priests used were the same as once used for a god named Nethgön, a foreign god of death and blight.We join him in death, the priest continued to the dying dwarf. Your soul will be consumed by him if you were unworthy, returned to glory if you served him properly. The dwarfs sporadic breathing had ceased. The priest spread a pinch of rust over the dwarfs face and shut his eyes, then stood and shuffled over to the next of the dying.As Cacame walked away, thoughts of his encounter with the two gods beneath the mountain entered unbidden. When he had been young, before his wife had been slain and devoured, Cacame had once worshiped Íle as many of his subjects now worshiped Vucar. He had even stood inside Íles sacred grove. But never had he felt the divine awesomeness that he felt when facing those two gods, one of light, one of dark. Optierus and Galvetrus.They had called the other gods false. Vucar, Íle, Nethgön... Just demons, those two gods said. Cacame shook his head to drive the thoughts out of his mind. Even if they were demons, they were the ones receiving the worship, while none had ever heard of those two.Cacames command tent was a spartan affair. It had been set up in a clearing about a half-league behind the battlefield; far enough away so he wouldnt be in danger from the flames, but close enough that he could give orders should it be required. He sat cross-legged upon the mat inside and pulled the flaps shut, casting the interior into gloom. Only the dimmest of brown light leaked through the canvas.Since hed awoken from his century-long fugue, Cacame achieved little sleep. A few hours every few strokes was all he could manage. While did not feel the exhaustion he should, neither did he ever feel rested. Though he had been fighting all stroke, he did not feel sleepy. He was physically tired, but knew he would find no slumber.Often, he would think of his lost Nemo. The way he would run his hands through her thick, black hair. The twinkle in her eyes, greener than the freshest spring leaves. The way her thin-lipped smile caused her button nose to turn even more upward.His thoughts of her this night were only fleeting, driven out by the distant chants of the priests as they performed last rites on the dead and dying.Deep in the night, the only sounds that broke the darkness were the occasional calls from the sentries at the changing of the watch. The priests must have found all the dead, as normally they would work straight through until dawn. Dwarves saw perfectly in the darkness, much better than they saw in the light. Cacames dark vision was strong thanks to his decades underground, though he still needed some light to see.Unlike human armies, Cacames forces could march whenever they pleased. But unlike him, his dwarves needed rest, especially after a hard battle. Sweeps earlier he may have begrudged them the rest in his quest for vengeance. But hed allowed that flame to blaze into an inferno which quickly guttered out. Now he was content to let it smolder.As Cacame sat, the soft drone of wetas slowly filled the air. Occasionally, a croak from a chough penetrated the harmony. It seemed Cacame had not heard one of the sentry calls in quite some time.Something rustled outside his tent. Cacame shifted slightly; his sentries were sharp-eyed. Nothing dangerous could sneak into the camp undetected. Not the most skulking kobold or stealthiest predator. Then someone took the edge of the tent flap and opened it up.The bright light that filled the tent momentarily blinded Cacame. He raised a hand to shield his eyes. It had not seemed to him that the sun should have risen already. His men were to have risen before daybreak regardless.Before he could reprimand the soldier for having waited so long to awake him, Cacame realized it was not a dwarf at all. The figure, cloaked in shadows because of the heavy backlight, was too tall, too slender.Cacame lunged for his warhammer, but the intruder merely laughed and let the flap fall back into place, casting the interior into darkness again. Cacame snatched up his weapon and leapt to his feet.When he threw the tent flap aside, it was still night and no source of light was visible, though spots still danced in his vision. He blinked his eyes heavily and looked around. There, several strides off, stood the figure. It was taller than Cacame and more slender as well, with a long cloak pulled over its body.Intruders! Cacame shouted, his voice piercing the night like the crack of a whip. Raise the alarm!He expected an immediate response from his dwarves, the sounds of soldiers rising from their sleep and grabbing weapons, voices echoing his own, transmitting his cry around the camp. Instead there was nothing but silence still. Intruders! Rise, raise the alarm! he cried out again.The only sound answering him was a laugh from the intruder. It was not a mocking sound, but merely mirthful and lilting; feminine. Cacame rushed toward the intruder, who merely turned and bounded off, almost like some sort of fey creature.Cacame continued to pursue, though he knew he might be walking into some sort of trap. Intruders! Cacame repeated. Rise, raise the alarm! Then, to the fleeing figure, Stop!They were heading toward the forest, Cacame realized, as the fading embers of the fires still filled the air with a haunting glow. No, it was not merely embers. The entire forest was consumed in an inferno.To enter the forest would be utter madness. Yet the figure rushed for it. It would not have been the first time someone fled Cacame for another doom, but the laughs of the pursued were louder even that the crackle of flame.About ten strides from the wall of flame, Cacame ceased his chase. The figure ran a few steps further, then spun, the flames licking the edges of her cloak. Who are you? Cacame asked in between heavy breaths. How did the smoke not affect her breathing, he wondered.The figure reached up and slowly removed the hood from her head. In the light of the flame, Cacame could make out features clearly. Slender ears, long blond hair, sharp features, pale blue eyes, a mouth turned up in a slight smirk.Amoya! Cacame screamed. The elv who had killed and devoured his wife. The elv who was supposed to be dead, over a century before. Cacame had dug up her grave with his own hands, had seen the corpse crumble to dust in the waters of Íle stream.Amoya! Cacame shrieked, lunging forward as the elv laughed again and leapt backward into the flames. Cacame nearly dove in after her, but strong hands grasped him and pulled him to a stop.Cacame spun wildly, brutally swinging his hammer at whoever dared hamper his pursuit. A sickening crack splintered the air and a dwarven voice cried out in surprised pain. Another hand grabbed him and Cacame smashed at it, but it was replaced with two more and each of them was replaced by three when he dashed them.Amoya! Cacame cried out as he was pulled down by the strong hands and pinned to the ground. Amoya! He let the last syllable extend into an animalistic howl.King Cacame! Duke Okirs stern voice cut through his rage. The red glow of the ablaze forest vanished, while the crackle of flames and hum of the weta ceased suddenly, to be replaced with the pained moans of the injured and panicked cries of dwarves hurrying to ready themselves for combat.What... Cacame muttered. His left hand ached. He tried to relax it, but it was locked like a claw around his war hammer. He took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. He finally released his grip on the weapon.The dwarves who were pinning him down were each champions, the veterans of many campaigns, relaxed their holds, though not completely. Several lay sprawled on the ground with various wounds. A doctor was already scampering forward to attend to them.Are you well, majesty? Okir asked stiffly.Cacame sat up. Amoya... he muttered.Yes, Okir answered. You were saying the name before you nearly rushed into the forest.Pursue her Cacame said. Bring her in to me alive! The champions who still restrained him did not move. That is an order!At his severe command, they freed him and, along with other soldiers who had arrived, quickly paired off and dashed into the night forest. Cacame retrieved his warhammer and stood. Finding his legs strangely weak, he planted the butt of his weapon into the ground and leaned on it like a staff.Why didnt anyone answer my alarm? Cacame said to Okir.The duke furrowed his brow. We did, your majesty. As soon as you began your call, it was echoed through the camp. I myself was rushing toward your tent when I saw you running this way. I followed until you stopped and started shouting... that name.Cacame turned slowly to look at the forest. There was no fire. There were not even embers left. They had all burned themselves out. There were only blackened husks of trees, the ashes on the ground kicked into the air by the pursuing soldiers.Did you see her? Cacame asked the duke, his voice low and gruff.No, your majesty. I saw no one. Nor did anyone else.Cacame shook his head. Some sort of waking dream? What watch is it? he asked.Half seventh, the duke said. Two hours until dawn.In an hour, put out the call for the search parties to return, Cacame said flatly. If anyone is found, inform me immediately. Otherwise, wake me once everyone is ready to leave.Okir raised his right fist to the center of his chest and bowed forward slightly. Yes, your majesty.Cacame walked by himself back toward his tent. As he did he looked up into the empty sky. A dream or a vision? he muttered. Have one of you returned Amoya to torment me for failing to chose you?A sudden chill wind swept over him.Cacame was awoken by Duke Okir himself; it was a literal awakening, a rare thing. Cacames sleep had been deep and empty. As always, he was left weary and stiff. The rays of the morning sun did little to help him. If anything, it seemed to sap the warmth away.Amoya had not been found. Several of the scout teams had not returned. None of the others reported any sort of disturbance. If the missing had been killed by the elves, the ambushes had been well planned.The army marched at dawn. Originally, they had expected a three-stroke march to the next elven settlement, Arimarali. Cacame had altered those plans. Now, they were cutting directly through the forest, a route which would put them in much more danger.The dwarves can handle it, Cacame said.Duke Okir nodded sternly. Of course they can, he agreed. But should they? Were not used to marching through trees, your majesty. Ever since we began this campaign, weve been traveling through open land. You yourself advised it.Weve fought in the forest dozens of times.Once again, the duke nodded. His bushy eyebrows, gray with only the barest hints of his once-red hair, furrowed together so they were touching. Yes, lord, fought. Rarely marched, except for a few leagues. And those times it was the last few leagues before we reached the field of battle. High alert for a few leagues is doable. High alert for an entire stroke is difficult, draining. Well either lose men to ambushes along the way or have an army that is fatigued once we arrive. Either way, we suffer.Will the army refuse my orders? Cacame asked.No, your majesty, Okir said with a firm shake of his head. Neither will I. Were not stupid. While you ruled, the kingdom won great victories. While you slumbered, our borders shrank. Now that youve awoken again, weve reconquered the lands we lost and several duchies beyond. If you say we march through Minafe, we do. I just want to remind you of the risks before we chase down your vengeance.Cacame couldnt help but smirk. This entire war has been my vengeance.No, Duke Okir answered flatly, it hasnt. Not until Amoya showed up.So you do believe shes alive? That she was here?I dont put much stock in belief, my lord. I leave that for the priests.There was a reason Cacame had put Duke Okir in charge of the vanguard. Most nobles were craven, sniveling fools, more eager to fill their vaults with knick-knacks crafted from their favorite materials than lead an army. Even among those who had a heart for the front had raised Cacame to a virtual god himself. Images of him were engraved on cavern walls across the kingdom and more than one supplicant had come before him almost worshipfully.Okir was one of the very few who could be counted on to do something beside simply accede to Cacames wishes. But he also knew that no matter what, he was not the final authority on any matter. We march through the forest. Whatever consequences we face, so be it.With a curt nod, Okir said, Very well, your majesty. That had been the end of it.By the time the army called its midstroke halt, two watches into the march, nearly a hundred dwarves had been lost to ambushes. Only twenty elves had been killed in return. They hadnt even reached the densest part yet, but the thick trees were perfect for ambushes. Plus, three different finscales had attacked the army. All three had been slain, but not before they killed multitudes of dwarves.The last one had attacked right before Cacame called a halt to the march. An hour to rest, he told Duke Okir. Have the sentries take three twenty-minute shifts. The butchers should get to work on that finscale. Well dine on it outside the walls of Arimarali.One of the few luxuries Cacame allowed himself was food. The normal army rations were good enough for the soldiers, but their king ate from a well-stocked larder of salted meats, eggs, fruits, and vegetables. After marching for so many hours, his stomach gnawed at him with hunger. He ate quickly, but deliberately, savoring the tastes and chewing thoroughly, but moving between bites with haste.He finished just as Duke Okir entered his tent with a series of reports. In addition to the lost troops, a dozen wagons had been destroyed and twenty-three chalcos had been killed or ran off. At least some of the chalcos had been butchered for their meat, though the dwarves wouldnt appreciate it. Morale overall was still high in the camp, though the soldiers were on edge because of the ambushes.After delivering the reports, Okir stood waiting. Did you even have time to eat and rest? Cacame asked him. Okir shook his head.I can eat from chalcoback, he explained. Unless you wish to use it for yourself.Once again, Cacame shook his head. You need it more than I do. In a sense, this was true. Though Okir, in his early 70s, was still a century younger than Cacame, he was middle-aged for a dwarf, while Cacame was immortal unless killed. Cacame had never taken to riding the huge, subterranean beetles favored by the dwarves as mounts and beasts of burden.In truth, he missed his wyvern, which had escaped during his fugue.So it is, my lord, Okir said sternly. We are ready to march at your pleasure.Then we march, Cacame said, rising from the ground and emerging from his tent behind Okir. The Duke signaled to the hornsdwarf, who blew a blast. Almost immediately, dwarves who had been sitting and talking hopped to their feet and began quickly and efficiently preparing for departure.It was only a few minutes before they were moving. Cacame walked silently along in the center of the column, safe from any attempted ambushes. Scouts ranged ahead of the army, seeking out ambushes and other dangers. The trees were still thick and the elves masters of stealth in the wood.Cacame kept his eyes coolly on the canopy, but he could tell his men were beginning to get on edge. Several had their eyes flicking back and forth nervously and at the merest flex of a branch under the weight of an asio, their hands went to their weapons.Over the course of an hour, the ordered columns gradually broke down as the trees became thicker and the overgrowth more difficult to maneuver through. The trailblazers did their best to hack and cut a clear path, but frequently trees were packed so tightly a single dwarf could not squeeze through, much less three or four shoulder-to-shoulder.A cry of pain jolted everyone to attention and weapons were drawn, including Cacames. But it was no enemy. Instead a dwarf had been bitten by a swaying naja. The serpent possessed a deadly venom and, though the dwarf had been wearing sturdy leather travel armor, its fangs had pierced his boot and flesh.The head of the snake had been removed, but it was too late for the soldier. He had fallen to the ground immediately after screaming, his muscles seizing and his face pulling into a rictus grin. His eyes darted back and forth to his fellows, who tried their best to comfort him as he struggled for breath.A priest was called and Cacame resumed marching before one could arrive. The dwarf would be gone before the rear of the army would reach this point. His body would be wrapped in a shroud and placed in a wagon with the rest of the deceased, until he could be returned to his home and properly memorialized.Soon after, another soldier was bitten by a naja. Then reports reached Cacame that five others had been struck down. Twelve snakes had struck but failed to pierce their victims armor. The order was given to watch both the ground and the trees. Dwarves were paired, one set to watch above, one below. The snake attacks ceased.Thirty minutes later, a dwarfess opened her mouth to shout a warning when an arrow down the throat silenced her. Another arrow landed a few joints away from Cacame, who dropped down into a battle crouch. Tall as he was, he made an easy target for the Somma snipers to pick out.Crossbows! Cacame ordered, pointing into the trees with his hammerhead. Almost immediately, the Somma began releasing war cries, ululations which sounded like the angry shrieks of birds and snarls of lizards. His own dwarves answered with brave cries of their own as they raised shields to ward off arrows or aimed crossbows.The flickering shadows and light of the canopy cast confusing images, even for Cacame. He watched as bolts flew skyward, only to skewer groups of leaves or swaying branches instead of the sniping elves.The elven arrows continued to rain down around him, cutting into his dwarves but always missing him. How many were there in the trees above? Dozens? Hundreds? A cacophony was being raised all about him, so he could not tell how much of the army was being hit.Follow my aim! he shouted, hoping his voice would carry over the whooping shouts of the ambushers. He pointed at an elf and said, There! Fire!A dozen bolts streamed right where he pointed, perforating the elf, who tumbled to the ground. Cacame found his next target and repeated the order with similar results. He did this thrice more, but despite the success, it was far too slow. Far more dwarves were sent to the grave than elves.When it seemed the defenders would be overwhelmed by the ambush, it suddenly ceased. The rustle of leaves, snap of twigs, and creak of branches followed the elves as they retreated from their attack. Cacame was about to order his dwarves to pursue, when he saw one figure lingering behind in the trees.When the figure let out a laugh that cut through the cries of the dying and the barked orders of commanders, Cacame knew. Amoya! he shouted. He aimed his hammer at the elv and shouted. Fire! Bolts darted through the air, directly at Amoya. The elv swayed back and forth, almost as if she were part of the trees. The bolts missed her completely.Amoya leapt backward through the trees, her mouth twisted in a smirk like a laceration. Cacames finger followed her and he ran after, giving the order to fire again and again. Bolts continued to fly through the air but miss the mark. The cackles continued to echo through the air, louder even than the twangs of the crossbow strings.Cacame grabbed a long hanging branch and leapt up, pulling himself into the trees. He hadnt climbed in the trees like this since he was a child. His feet, in thick, heavy dwarven boots, slipped and shifted. Amoya grinned at him wider and called out, Returning to your roots? she asked.Before he could leap after, a strong hand grabbed his foot and yanked. Cacame tumbled from the trees and landed flat on his back, the breath being knocked out of him. Despite having to gasp for air, Cacame sat up, clutching his warhammer. Eyes burning with fury, he pushed himself to his feet to chase after Amoya. But his nemesis was already gone.Instead, Cacame turned to find whoever had stopped his pursuit. He saw a cadre of champions, heavily armed and armored, led by Duke Okir. Who laid their hands on me? Cacame wheezed. Who stopped me?Duke Okir crossed his arms and said, You were chasing no one, my lord.It was Amoya! Cacame tried to shout, but only managed to get halfway through the name.No one saw her, my lord. They say they were shooting at nothing. He waved his hand at the ground behind him, where several dwarves lay with bolts sticking from them. The bolts were hitting our own troops.Cacame finally sucked in a breath and shouted, They couldnt see her! He shook his head and his voice dropped. They couldnt see any of the ambushers until I spotted for them.So it is, my lord, Duke Okir said. But you chasing her into the trees would be pointless. We cannot risk losing you.I would never Cacame began, before biting his tongue. He relaxed his hand, which once again ached from having squeezed his warhammer too tightly. We will stop for thirty minutes to tend to the wounded. Then we march again.Duke Okir bowed and said, As you order, my lord, then turned to his champions to give further orders. Cacame walked off without listening to them.By the time they reached Arimarali, over five hundred dwarves had been lost due to the ambushes. That was nearly a tenth of the size of the army. The soldiers were tired, hungry, and miserable. It was nearing nightfall and though the dwarves would have preferred to fight in the darkness, they were in no condition to do so.The elven tree village was ringed by a tall thicket of brambles. In some ways, this was even more impenetrable than the stone walls surrounding Gamildodók, because it could not be easily climbed with a ladder or rope. Instead, his soldiers would have to either scale the trees and attempt to navigate the treacherous branches or burn the entire wall down.They made camp roughly half a league from the city itself. As had become tradition at this point, the woodcutters went to work on the trees around the perimeter camp, felling them in order to prevent any ambushes. For the most part, the trees were left where they lay. If Cacame had been ready to settle into a siege, he may have ordered them to use the logs to set up a defensive wall. With his plans for an assault and the fatigue of his dwarves, that was out of the question.Instead, his weary soldiers merely stood guard over the logging operation for about two hours as the sky darkened as the sun vanished in the north. The thwack of axes into tree trunks filled the air with a constant drumming. Every few minutes, the loud crash of a falling tree would overpower everything.Cacame sat in his tent. Eventually, the sounds died out as the last of the trees were brought down. There would be three watches of rest, enough time for every dwarf to get a full eight hour of sleep, along with time for meals. Once the twelve hours were up, they would ready themselves for battle.Even though he was physically exhausted, Cacame once again found sleep eluded him. Even his normal semi-meditation was restless. He could not manage to get comfortable, no matter how he shifted. After an hour of such difficulty, he stood and walked out of his tent.Several dim cooking fires flickered around the camp, but the section Cacame walked through was relatively unlit. He could hear the loud snores of several of his soldiers in nearby tents. They deserved their sleep, most certainly.Cacame walked deeper toward the center of the camp, where the trees were thickest. Despite the destruction he often had wrought upon trees as well as their association with elves Cacame found he did not hate them. Some primal part of him, he supposed, was still comforted by them, though he also felt no sorrow when they were cut down or burned.Some of his soldiers had camped among them as well. He walked silently between tents and past campfires. If any noticed him, they said nothing. Finally, he reached an area where the trees were too thick to properly camp.Looking up into the blackness of the sky, he considered the battle that would rage tomorrow. His soldiers would fire flaming bolts into the bramble wall, aiming to set it ablaze. The defenders would struggle to put them out, but would fail. The walls would go up in a blaze and, eventually, a segment would be breached by his army.The breach would be flooded with attackers. The elves would make a defense, for a while, taking down as many dwarves as possible while minimizing their own casualties. But while the elves were skilled ambushers, in the heat of proper war, their prowess was limited. They still wielded wooden arms and armor that, while tempered with druidic magic, was still of less quality than dwarven steel.It would eventually turn into a one-sided slaughter. Arimarali was a village of over ten-thousand, hundreds of them refugees. Many of them would be hemmed in by the fires and perish. Others would be run down by the dwarven army. A few would manage to escape and flee into the forest, to the next settlement on Cacames march of conquest.Over half the Somma lands had been conquered by now. They were the last great elven nation. During his slumber, Ethonarena had finally fallen. The remnants of his nation of birth had been absorbed into the Somma. Far to the east, the Jörða had been destroyed by goblins. In the north, stories claimed the Belwrid had been decimated in a war with the mysterious dranomyr, then had their lands overrun by gibberlings.Soon, the Somma would enter the annals of history along with the others. Once they did... Cacame knew not. The majority of his waking life had been consumed with the destruction of all elves. Once their kingdoms had been ground into dust, perhaps he would dedicate time to hunting down every last survivor. Though it would be difficult for a king to spend so much time away from the throne.Returning to your roots? a voice asked.Cacame did not turn to face Amoya, instead continuing to stare up at the empty night sky. You asked that before. What do you mean by it?Not going to try to kill me now, I suppose? she asked. She was behind him. For a moment, he considered wheeling on her, grabbing her, throwing her down to the ground, and wringing the life from her with his bare hands. You know you wont catch me.Cacame smiled. Youre right, he said. Youre simply a figment of my imagination regardless. How can I crush the throat of a phantasm?How do you know Im not actually a ghost? she asked. Her voice was high and soft. Unlike what he had imagined it.If you are, you haunt the wrong person, he said. It wasnt I who killed you.For my people, maybe? she offered. Im haunting you in the name of all those you slaughtered in exchange for me. I am here to curse you with madness.The sky was utterly empty. Maybe, if he looked hard enough at the horizon to the south, he could discern a blot darker than the rest of the night sky. An anti-sun of sorts. There were stories told by some that a body hung in that area, a disc of fuligin that moved in opposition to the orb of the sun.If thats so, Cacame said, youve failed. I reject you as a spook of any sort. If I cant kill you, what do you matter to me? You are intangible. A nothingness. You mean nothing to me now.She laughed again. It stung his ears. For someone who means nothing, you sure did make an effort to get to me earlier. For a minute, she was silent. Dont you wonder how I returned?No, Cacame said. Its meaningless to me.All this death and destruction youve caused, the elv explained, has driven the Somma to panic. They feed more and more to Íle. He grows in power with every sacrifice they |
ley Flynn's more prosaic and passive definition as "the withdrawal of efficiency," IWW organizers pushed sabotage even after it unleashed a torrent of criticism from within labor and socialist circles. I would suggest that the vehemence of the criticism of IWW strategy and tactics from reformist and even socialist labor leaders is in part a question of contending definitions of what it means to be a man inside and outside the workplace. For the Wobblies, the fight against efficiency and discipline meant, at least at the discursive level, a total rejection of bourgeois standards of order, bearing, and self-development, all intimately connected with gender identity. The will-to-power of "virile" syndicalism preached by the IWW in their advocacy of sabotage not only riled capitalist bosses and labor bureaucrats but also was intended, in the words of Wobbly propagandist Walker Smith, "to show that the workers should rid their minds of the last remnant of bourgeois cant and hypocrisy and by its use [i.e., sabotage] develop courage and individual initiative."
While I am prepared to argue that the IWW promotion of sabotage represents a kind of masculine posturing which directly challenged the individualizing techniques of power mobilized by industrial capitalism, it would be particularly undialectical to suggest that only men fought and fretted over industrial discipline or that industrial discipline was isolated from the general social institutionalization of discipline that was part of the modern world. Certainly, the IWW experience, more especially in the United States than anywhere else, grew out of preexisting ethnic and gender networks that empowered members of the working class at particular historical moments of social protest. However, Wobbly references, usually by IWW men, to Paul Lafarge's pamphlet, The Right to Be Lazy, and to the refrain, "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum," from the song of the same name, reflect a transvalued gendered response to the preeminent masculine ideal of hard work and self-discipline. Thus, the discourse and dramatic activities of the IWW not only illustrate the struggle over defending and extending working-class rights and privileges but also manifest a fight over what it means to be a working-class man in a particular historical situation.
In attempting to define the gender identity that circumscribed the "virile" syndicalism of the IWW, there are several fundamental points about gender and masculinity that must be emphasized. First of all, gender, like class, is never fixed for all time; rather, it remains both dynamic and problematic. Moreover, while a particular version of masculinity may be hegemonic in any society, that hegemony is not without its internal contradictions, complexities, and even challenges at certain historical moments. In fact, I will argue that the contested terrain upon which a variety of definitions of masculinity contended during the early twentieth century industrial world helps to explain both the attraction of the IWW to certain categories of men and the revulsion and near hysteria of others to the IWW. Thus, the IWW's masculine identity incorporated features of working-class solidarity and protest that resonated both in Joe Hill's lyrics and the community of discourse that enveloped the Wobblies' commitment to a form of oppositional masculinism through "virile" syndicalism.
The IWW in Comparative Perspective
Comparative history, particularly at crucial moments of world-historical change, offers the possibility of identifying underlying connections and opening up more inclusive perspectives on continuity, crisis, and change. As James T. Kloppenberg argues in his comparative study of social democracy and progressivism in European and American thought between 1870 and 1920:
"Although the parallels never be exact because of individual idiosyncrasies, distinctive cultural traditions, and the inevitable complications arising from problems of translation, comparative analysis can kindle new insights from ideas grown stale in conventional classifications."
In locating the contours of Australian and US comparative history, numerous commentators have acknowledged the similarities underlying both societies as white settler democracies with continental frontiers and mass immigration. Critical differences that influenced the history of labor in both countries were connected to a less interventionist state in the United States, especially when it came to mitigating economic and social inequities, and a more active state in Australia, especially in the institutionalization of mediation and arbitration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Finally, a more organized labor movement and the rise of the Labor party in Australia in the late nineteenth century and its electoral successes at state and federal levels in the early twentieth century provided a vehicle for working-class aspirations, albeit flawed, as will be discussed below.
In order to explore the comparative nature of oppositional masculinism and virile syndicalism, I want to examine the role of the IWW in the United States and Australia in the period 1914-1917, a period when the IWW achieved influence as a consequence of contesting power at the point of production and beyond. Especially evident in such challenges was a gender discourse that gained even more prominence during the heated debates concerning World War One and conscription. While the IWW in Australia played a more seminal role in opposing World War One than did the US IWW, both national formations of Wobblies attacked all forms of servility, especially those related to the overheated patriotism of the time.
Another crucial factor in comparing the "virile" syndicalism of the US and Australian IWW is the much greater role that racial/ethnic segmentation and conflict played in the United States. While both Australian and American Wobblies espoused antiracist positions through their emphasis on working-class solidarity, such antiracism often presented itself, especially in the United States, as an effort to transcode notions of masculinity. An example of this is an organizing campaign among timber workers in Louisiana. When Wobbly organizer Ed Lehman confronted a white worker concerning whether there were any "niggers" in the IWW-affiliated Brotherhood of Timber Workers, Lehman defended a fellow worker who happened to be black against racist accusations by charging:
"He is a man, a union man, an IWW--a MAN!... and he has proven it by his action, [which is] more than you have done in all your boss-sucking life."
While achieving a modicum of success in this organizing instance, contesting racial/ethnic and class conflict among workers often made it difficult for the US IWW to expand its form of oppositional masculinism and "virile" syndicalism.
On the other hand, the Australian IWW involvement in spreading "virile" syndicalism reveals much about the discursive terrain and social conditions out of which working-class discontent was articulated. The IWW there came to prominence on a wave of working-class mobilization and discontent over the harshness of industrial capitalism, the betrayal of labor politicians, and the disruption caused by World War One. Although never larger than several thousand members and without the formal organizational structure that developed in the American IWW, the Australian Wobblies were able to capitalize on a militant community of discourse and preexisting radical working-class networks, particularly in mining towns like Broken Hill, that embodied syndicalist sentiments and produced forms of social protest such as anticonscription demonstrations and strikes during this period.
While the IWW in the United States was a much larger organization, mobilizing tens of thousands of workers in massive strikes such as Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Paterson, New Jersey, in the pre-1914 period, the start of the war found the IWW moving away from the large factories of the East, where men and women often worked in nearly equal numbers, to the Midwest wheat fields, the mines of the West and Southwest, and the timber ranges of the Northwest where men predominated. The sense of gendered solidarity in these mining and migratory camps has been described in the following manner:
"Working together a thousand feet below the ground, living together in crowded bunkhouses, and drinking, gambling, and whoring together far from the ties of conventional society, the miners developed bonds that most men never know, a brotherhood forged in blood."
The IWW fulfilled a significant social function that not only established brotherly bonds of solidarity but also provided opportunities to experience a form of cultural empowerment that signaled to many wandering men that they were more than hired hands or mere cogs in a machine. John Reed, the American radical journalist, noted this cultural component when he commented:
"Whenever, in the West, there is an IWW local, you will find an intellectual center--a place were men read philosophy, economics, the latest plays: where art and poetry are discussed and international politics."
One could also find this gendered solidarity "down under." Tom Barker, an IWW organizer and propagandist in Auckland and Sydney, recounted the function of the IWW locals in Australia:
"Migratory people looked for support when they came to a new place and if they found an IWW branch they knew they were amongst friends, and that created a spirit of solidarity that was something more than words."
That something more than words was, according to Direct Action, the voice of the Australian IWW, a desire "to seize the growing discontent and organize it for revolutionary purposes." Although the IWW in Australia and the United States used its gendered communal base to "fan the flames of discontent,,' as American Wobbly leader "Big Bill" Haywood noted in a letter to Direct Action:
"Your country is situated [so] that capitalism has not yet got a strangle hold upon the workers such as it has in this country, and the workers should take more readily to the agitation."
Partly as a consequence of the legalization of trade unions in Australia through the establishment of the Arbitration Court and the success of a Labor party at both the state and federal level, the IWW in Australia did not have to worry about organizing for recognition as a trade union as it did in the United States. The focus, instead, became the interventionist state and the reconstitution of power and authority over workers as employees and citizens. In claiming that "the Australian IWW were the first revolutionary trade union movement who saw their main enemy as state paternalism, democracy in its 'enlightened' aspects, and set themselves to oppose security in the name of initiative and job control," historian Ian Bedford apprehends the syndicalist thrust of the IWW message. At the same time, however, he neglects how that message incorporated a gendered discourse. As we will see, the revolutionary agitation of the IWW in Australia evoked traditional concepts of manhood under siege by new forms of power and authority while promoting an oppositional masculinism represented in its own "message of virility, strength, and unconquerable optimism."
Understanding the kind of labor militancy and oppositional masculinism articulated and practiced by the Australian IWW requires acknowledging both the hegemonic meaning of what Australian feminist scholars Rosemary Pringle and Sophie Watson call "the fraternal state" and the transvaluation of notions of bourgeois manhood into the specific posturing of "virile" syndicalism. Emerging from within the fraternal state at this time was a recognition by working-class revolutionaries, such as those in the IWW, that the thrust of the state was in the direction of servility. In an article appearing under the byline of "Ajax," the Australian Wobbly paper attacked the contemporary idolatry of the state, claiming that such "deification of the State leads to the servile State." According to Ajax, only "when the psychology of the mass becomes virile" will the state and all its institutions of authority wither away.
Posing the working-class militancy and "virile" syndicalism of the IWW against groveling before an increasingly intrusive and "emasculating" state, the Wobbly paper and its writers hammered home the empowering gendered message of direct action. According to Ajax:
"Direct action implies that a group or class refuse to abide by the rules of their alleged superiors... [and instead] have the intelligence to rely on themselves, knowing what they want and the correct method to obtain it."
This emphasis on direct action against the state in effect turned into a fraternal civil war over the proper role of power and authority and contending versions of masculinity.
A major battleground over masculinity materialized within the ranks of labor. The IWW leadership in Australia, much like that in the United States, denounced and parodied reform labor leaders. In Australia, however, reform labor leaders such as William Holman and William Hughes went on to become political rulers who in turn viciously attacked the IWW. The vision of power and authority held by Holman and Hughes and their own commitment to forms of self-discipline and respectability provide an insight into contending versions of masculinity that appeared in labor circles during this period. Holman, who was the Labor party premier of New South Wales at the time of the rise of the Australian IWW, had earlier expressed a perception of the deportment of socialists in industrial relations that conveys his sense of how proper and civilized men should conduct themselves. "The Socialist worker," Holman argued, "would have to obey his overseer in the short, daily working period in the same way as the present worker; but with this difference, that the Socialist overseer would be a man chosen as such for his superiority and fitness, not a brutal individual whom accident has made into a tyrant; he would be a gentleman ruling over gentleman." This commitment to deference and respectability, evoked in Holman's vision, was, of course, anathema to the IWW.
Just as the IWW mocked such attitudes as capitulation to bourgeois order and its attendant character structures (often parodied in the Wobbly press through the cartoon figure of Mr. Block), so politicians like Holman and Hughes sought to use the IWW as a whipping boy for their imposition of conscription. Using the repressive apparatus of the state, Hughes initiated legislation in late 1916 to outlaw the IWW. Hughes's rhetoric at the time betrays not only an opportunistic effort to mobilize support for this repression, but also a hegemonic masculinist and nationalist version of moral panic. "I say deliberately that the organization [the IWW] holds a dagger at the heart of society," Hughes dramatically dissembled, "and we should be recreant to the social order if we do not accept the challenge it holds out to us. As it seeks to destroy us, we must in self-defence destroy it."
The fight over passage of conscription in Australia took on the components of a moral crusade for both sides. While the IWW was not the only nor even the most important working-class organization that mobilized against conscription (thereby helping to defeat the conscription referenda of 1916 and 1917), it articulated the most radical and uncompromising denunciation of conscription.
Conscription is a devouring monster, which, when established in a country spreads disease, crime, and pestilence wherever it sets its filthy paw. It is a dangerous enemy to the working class, and will set back progress for many years; it will mean the shattering of many working class organizations, and the silencing of labour agitators; it will mean the suppression of many liberties we now enjoy which members of our class have fought and bled and died for.
The image of conscription as a beast not only embodies a conventional metaphor for that which engenders moral degradation and pollution but also implies that proponents of conscription are less than men. According to IWW propaganda, the real desecrators of manhood are those who would lead "unthinking slaves" into the abyss of war while saving "their cowardly carcasses." Direct Action editorialized that "[c]onscription denies man's ownership of his body. It violates the integrity of his soul."
Such a metaphysical allusion to the soul might suggest that the Australian IWW was engaged in religious combat. While some may read such apocryphal language as indicative of Wobbly religiosity, I want to suggest that it represents more of a historically situated sensibility of masculine identity. Thus, the reference to ownership of one's body and protection of one's dignity in the previous paragraph reveals more about the problematic of manhood than the problematic of the soul. Against the backdrop of the dehumanizing tendencies of industrial society and the interventionist state, the IWW attacks such tendencies and says that salvation and dignity lie in joining the IWW. A kind of oppositional masculinity and a brotherhood of working-class solidarity are called for. Direct Action asserts that the "IWW is the most virile labour union in existence." It says, "Fellow worker if you want to be a man and not a slave get into the IWW and do your share in the Fight for Freedom." It recalls the lyrics of "There is Power in a Union" and proclaims that the struggle to be a man requires contesting power at every level of society, starting with control over one's body.
Nowhere did the struggle over the microphysics of power and control of the body create more immediate responses with more profound implications for the very character structure of the worker than in the reconstitution of the nature and pace of work. Combating these new oppressive routines by embracing sabotage was not only a necessary challenge to the power and authority of the capitalist but also a ritualistic test by which one could claim one's own manhood. By posing the choice of "sabotage or slavery," an article in Direct Action asks: "Will you keep private property and public property, master class morals and working class misery, capitalism and crime--or will you arise in your outraged manhood and take a stand for sabotage, solidarity and a new social order in which there will be neither master nor slave?" Contesting in particular the coming of scientific management led one Australian Wobbly to the following insights about the character-structure repercussions of such methods:
The more the workers become slaves to'scientific methods of work' the less use there will be for slave drivers. The latter were only essential as long as the worker had some human instincts left, the instinct of revolt... and the instinct to differentiate himself from a cog in the mammoth capitalist machine.
That the IWW often took the lead in appealing to the primordial instincts of working men against the assault of the new individualizing techniques of power embedded in scientific management and other changes in industrial capitalism put them in the forefront of direct action campaigns in Australia and the United States. While such "virile" syndicalism might have temporary appeals to more conservative unionists, the IWW trumpeted its revolutionary message against those who would control workers either at the point of production or through the authority of the state. "If in their stress on direct action and workers' control the Wobblies resembled the skilled workers in the craft unions of the AFL [American Federation of Labor]," argues historian Melvyn Dubofsky, "they distinguished themselves from their more respectable brothers and sisters in the labour movement by a disdain for 'bourgeois law' and a total commitment to revolution." As a reflection of this attitude, one of the American Wobbly newspapers boldly proclaimed: "The IWW is more than a labor organization. It is a revolutionary union and the very word revolutionary supposes something radically different from former concepts of what constitutes labor unions."
In its efforts to project a revolutionary syndicalism, the IWW faced unbelievable resistance and repression, especially once World War One ensued. The war exacerbated tendencies both in the state and the IWW that, to some extent, reconstituted the terrain on which such political antagonism was played out. For the IWW, the war had a dual effect of providing both opportunities and perils. The opportunities can be attributed to the labor shortage and the increased production of food, lumber, and copper--all in areas where the IWW rose to the occasion to organize. In the aftermath of the US declaration of war in 1917, one member from the state of Washington wrote: "I hope this damn war business is not going to set us back, as the prospect for the IWW looks very bright." According to Wobbly leader Ralph Chaplin, "In the early spring of 1917 harvest stiffs were joining the IWW Agricultural Workers Organization at the rate of five thousand a month."
By 1917, however, preparations for war brought into sharper focus a much more pointed Wobbly discourse on class and gender issues. Soon after Ralph Chaplin took over the editorship of Solidarity, the leading IWW newspaper of the time, he penned an editorial on "Preparedness" that spelled out the IWW's explicit commitment to class war and revealed their implicit oppositional masculinist orientation. "If you are seeking preparedness," the editorial opined, "'Join the IWW.' You will never have a better chance than Now. Take your place with your fellow workers in the trenches of the industrial warYour war--and show that you are made of the stuff that men are made Of " The IWW emphasis on manhood as an expression of a militant working-class sensibility was further reflected in the Wobbly slogan, "Don't Be a Soldier! Be a Man!" After conscription was passed into law in the United States in May of 1917, Solidarity published an article by J. Stephen Dodd entitled "Soldiers Are Wanted" that proclaimed: "The IWW is the army of the militant working class," and urged members "to enlist for the terms of the war."
Anticipating possible persecution because of its militancy, the IWW leadership tried to tone down its discussion of sabotage and antiwar activity. Although Haywood insisted that World War One was "of small importance compared to the great class war," he went on to assert that the IWW "shall continue to fight for the emancipation of the working class, despite all other circumstances." It was the continuance of that fight, especially through the discourse of "virile" and revolutionary syndicalism, that resulted in the IWW bearing the full brunt of repression. As noted by historian William Preston:
"In the wartime hysteria of 1917, Americans were in no mood to accept reasonable interpretations of the inflammatory and incendiary prose by which the IWW had lived.... By emphasizing the continuing war with the master class and by refusing to abandon the right to strike, the IWW retained the very concepts that were to ensure its suppression."
The repression meted out against the IWW was both legal and extralegal. The most egregious and massive vigilante action during World War One against the Wobblies took place in Bisbee, Arizona, where on an early morning in July 1917 over 2,000 vigilantes rounded up 1,200 suspected Wobblies (killing several in the process) and deported them in cramped boxcars to the desert of neighboring New Mexico. In the IWW written response to the massive deportation found in the pages of Solidarity, there is a coming together of the discursive currents that defined the Wobbly sensibility and its oppositional politics during the war. In an article entitled "The Iron Heel at Work" and in a subsequent editorial, Solidarity issued the following declamatory broadside:
Yes, workers of America, these machine guns used by the mob of scabs, gunmen, businessmen, and professional Christians, belonged to the State of Arizona. They were confiscated by the copper corporations, who said, "we are the state,': and they proved it, proved it by overriding every law ever placed upon the statute books of the state.... Most clearly than anything that has happened in decades, this act of lawless thuggery shows that the big business interests of the US feel justified in setting aside the laws of the nation at will.... It is a piece of Prussian frightfulness brought home to the workers of America by their industrial overlords. The cherished traditions of 'American manhood' and Anglo-Saxon fair play have been shattered to bits. The fundamental rights of American citizens have been revoked by the plug-uglies of a great corporation. And these things have been done under the mask of loyalty and with the convenient excuse of patriotism.
Solidarity's denunciation of the Bisbee deportation indicates several ways in which the war environment reinforced tendencies within the IWW that ultimately undermined its potential as an inclusive social movement. In its emphasis on reclaiming manhood and protecting working-class masculinity, the IWW attempted to counter the state-sponsored machismo of militarism and patriotism. By transcoding what manhood meant to a militant and solidaristic working class, the IWW tried to carve out an alternative or oppositional masculinism. However, in the process, the IWW downplayed the critical role that women performed in sustaining any social movement and, in particular, in promoting the communal interests so necessary to the IWW's success as a social movement.
Both in the United States and Australia, the IWW, especially in the period from 1914 to 1917, pitched its propaganda and engendered its identity on the basis of "virile" syndicalism. Such a discourse and identity compelled the IWW to engage in rituals of manhood through the rhetoric of sabotage and direct action campaigns. Engaging in struggles at the level of the microphysics of power, the IWW represented an important militant fraction of the wave of social protest and revolutionary syndicalism that swept over the industrial world around the time of World War One. And as a consequence of the passions and policies unleashed by the war, the IWW in the United States and Australia suffered tremendous repression, including the imprisonment of its top leadership and the outlawing of the organization. As a result, the IWW in the United States and Australia did not survive as a vibrant and virile movement.
Originally appeared in International Labor and Working-Class History / Volume 56 / October 1999A natural gas station in Ghana’s capital, Accra, has exploded, killing an unknown number of people, a government official said.
“Unfortunately there are some fatalities and we are working to have the numbers,” the deputy information minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, told a local radio station. “There are quite a number also injured.” He said the initial blaze was largely under control and that about 200 police officers had been sent to the scene.
The explosion at about 7.30pm local time (1930 GMT) began at a state-owned GOIL liquefied natural gas station and spread to a Total petrol station across the street at the Atomic Junction, a Reuters witness said.
Frightened residents ran from the explosion, which sent a giant fireball high into the sky above the city, and at least six fire engines and several ambulances responded to the blast. A police spokeswoman, Efia Tenge, told AFP it was a gas explosion, and added: “I am in Legon [in north-easy Accra] and I heard two explosions. My whole building was shaking.”
The Accra city authorities warned people to avoid the area, which is also home to the University of Ghana campus.
Dozens killed in Ghana petrol station explosion Read more
The blasts will revive memories of 4 June 2015, when more than 150 people were killed as they sought shelter from seasonal rains and flooding at a petrol station. Leaked fuel floating on top of rising waters had caught fire, burning down buildings and the filling station, trapping people in vehicles as the pumps exploded.
Kobby Boateng, a computer programmer, said he had returned to the university campus with his girlfriend on Saturday when the blast happened. “All of a sudden, we heard a boom and the flash of an explosion, which made the building just shake and the lights went out,” he said.
“People were rushing out of their rooms. Some of them were naked and the heat that was coming from that blast – my God, it was unbearable.”
An AFP correspondent said the area had been cordoned off. Fire crews and ambulances were at the scene.I was on a date with a guy I’d met online. Over tapas and wine, I told him I was a fashion executive who had her MBA, that I was not religious and that I had a teeny-tiny PlayStation addiction. He said he loved horror movies and held up two tickets to the multiplex’s current screamfest as if we’d won the lottery.
I stiffened and silently debated whether or not to tell him my secret.
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“You don’t like horror?” he asked, his smile wilting in my silence.
I remembered reading that you should never talk about mental health issues on the first date. “I get really scared,” I said, which was easier than telling him the real story: I watched my mother die when I was a kid, and now I live my life avoiding things that trigger that memory and the severe anxiety that comes with it.
“That’s cute,” he said, but he raised a brow and gave me that look: You’re a 30-something woman. Grow up.
So I decided to go with him. I told myself it was just a movie. But I spent the entire film looking away from the screen, darting my eyes from ceiling to floor and wincing every time I heard that shrill, piercing scream that reminded me of my mother’s.
I was quiet when we left the theater, hoping he didn’t notice my sweaty pits or that I was still trying to catch my breath. My body was so tense I could barely look him in the eye. When he reached for me, I flinched. I needed to get away. After we parted, I went to a Lower East Side dive bar not far from my apartment. There was too much darkness back home waiting to scare the bejeezus out of me, and I was out of vodka, so I took a seat among the drunk men sitting alone around the bar, happy to be insulated from the dangers of my imagination for a while. It was a sad way to end a romantic evening, but it was a relief to me.
Later, I told my therapist about the whole ordeal. “That doesn’t sound safe,” she said. I’d been seeing her for over three years.
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“It felt safe to me.” I shrugged. “I nursed one drink. I just didn’t want to go home. I didn’t want to see him.” I meant the Shadow Man, the figure that has haunted me since I was 5 years old.
“And did you?” she asked.
I nodded. “I had to sleep with the light on.”
I grew up in a violent household, a two-bedroom apartment in Pennsylvania where safety came with a side of danger. My earliest memories are of the tumultuous relationship between my mother and her boyfriend, whom I’ll call Juan. "Cougar" was not a term in the 1980s, but that’s what my mother was. She was 37, slim, dark-haired and beautiful. Juan was 21. Every day his lean frame would swagger through our door, sweaty from basketball, his deep voice accompanied by a smile that took over his young face. He wore cutoff shorts with no shirt and he left a pick in his afro. He liked to order me around, like when he’d put his head in my tiny lap and make me pick out his hair while he watched TV. “Tease it out, li’l girl,” he’d say.
I hated him.
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I’d watch from the other end of the couch as my mother and Juan snuggled. I’d play on the floor while they laughed and kissed in the kitchen. Their passion was tangible, especially when they fought. I stayed in the background while their voices rose so loud they drowned out the television. I’d jump when Juan lunged at my mother, grabbing her arm and jerking her around the room. And I’d run when her hairbrushes whizzed past Juan’s head, smacking against the living room wall.
Looking back, who knows why they fought. Maybe it was because of their age difference. Maybe it was because she was white and he was Puerto Rican (probably more taboo than their age gap). Or maybe it was because my mother worked a graveyard shift while Juan was illegal and unemployed. They had issues, and they took them out on each other. One night, I was playing in my pink bedroom when I heard Juan’s voice boom down the hall. My mother’s high-pitched shout followed. On tiptoes I chased their angry voices into our living room where they stood facing each other. What happened next was a blur. I didn’t see exactly how it happened. But my small body froze by the wall as Juan sank a 9-inch kitchen knife into my mother’s chest.
I knelt down beside her and called her name, staring at the red stain on her nightie as she slipped away.
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My father didn’t want me, so I was taken in by my grandmother. My mother’s mother. The first night in my new bedroom, I stared into the dark and saw the Shadow Man’s large form fill the doorway. He stalked toward me, a familiar knife in his hand. I pulled the covers over my nose and lay still. Closing my eyes didn’t make his image go away, but when I blinked a second later, he was gone. Jumping to the floor, I ran to Gram’s room and crawled in her bed, hiding.
We didn’t know about grief and trauma then -- we didn’t know the term “PTSD” -- so when I crawled in her bed night after night, my grandmother assumed that I’d just grow out of it. The priest she consulted told her I’d forget my mother’s death eventually. The sweeping under the rug was swift, but I didn’t forget. I slept with my grandmother until I was 13. The Shadow Man came every night.
By my sophomore year in college, I was sure I was crazy. My nightly visions came like clockwork, but I had another problem. I wanted a boyfriend, but between the murder of my mother and my father’s abandonment, I had developed an underlying rage toward the entire male species. (I even refused to have male pets.) It wasn’t just anger I felt, it was fear. I liked boys, but I got nervous when they liked me back. Most of my relationships didn’t last a month.
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Counseling sessions with grad students from the psych department were free. “And what does this Shadow Man do?” asked one of them.
“He kills me,” I said.
“Every night?”
“Yep. Some nights he slashes at me. Other nights it’s a clean stab. I don’t sleep much.”
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Forty minutes flew by until the grad student stopped me, looking overwhelmed, and handed me a pamphlet with the heading “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,” a type of anxiety disorder that can occur after you've seen or experienced a traumatic event that involves the threat of injury or death. Recognizing eight of the 10 listed symptoms, including flashback episodes and emotional avoidance, I sagged with relief. My problem had a name.
Since then, there have been several therapists who have listened and nodded, but still, I struggle. “Did you at least enjoy dinner?” my current therapist asked about my date.
I shrugged. She knew I’d avoid that guy. Over the years, we had sifted through my dating past to find a distinct pattern. If the guy was too aggressive, too physically strong, or too attractive, I’d shut down. Maybe that’s why I jumped into a relationship at 22. He was passive, skinny and medium-cute. We were both 30 when we married. We laughed a lot, but we were terrible lovers. There was no chemistry. It was a passionless, sexless marriage, but I felt safe. Safe from becoming my mother, at least.
But safe doesn’t make a marriage. We divorced two years later. I spent the next four years on a therapist’s couch.
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Somewhere in my brain lies a belief that if I’m not in danger of falling in love, then I’m not in danger of dying. I want love, but to my subconscious, love equals death. “Which makes dating sort of like suicide,” I said with a laugh during one of our sessions. She didn’t think that was funny.
She asked me if I was afraid of my date at any time in the night.
“I wouldn’t call it afraid. More like wary. His build, his confidence. He seemed …”
“Dominant?” she asked.
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I nodded.
“Like Juan,” she said.
“Yes.”
The minute I said it, I felt ridiculous. He wasn’t Juan. I never heard from Juan again after he went to jail. And any chance of him finding me lessened when I moved to New York after college. There is comfort in being one of 8 million, but no real closure. And how can you convince your mind of something your body decides on its own? I knew there was no danger, but my muscles still twitched with the pain of that memory. I worry that I will stay stranded in this place forever, longing to be close to a man but haunted by the horror of my past.
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So I decided to invite my date to a jazz brunch. I was determined to get through a date no matter what. When he smiled at me, I smiled back. He slid his chair next to mine so he could better see the band, and maybe it was the music, or maybe it was the daylight, but I didn’t flinch when he leaned over to whisper in my ear. When his hand brushed my arm, I refused to pull away. He emailed a few days later to tell me he wanted to see me again, and though it was a small triumph, it still felt sweet.
Therapy has helped me loosen the grip of my fear. I know my triggers now. I know how to stay calm. There’s no cure, just understanding. My heart will always race, the flashbacks will always be tough, but I manage. I’ve learned to greet my demons, not run from them. My sleeping has gotten easier, too. I have a French bulldog, Maximus, and while he might not be tough, he is all ears. The way he can detect someone minutes before they knock is freaky.
One night, Maximus and I went to bed late. I plopped his cushion on the floor next to him and then burrowed under my covers before switching off the light. The lamp I left on in the living room cut the darkness with a soft glow, and I watched Maximus circle his little bed before folding into a comfy position. My eyes darted to the open bedroom door. All was clear, but as my lids drifted closed, a dark figure filled the doorway and stood at the threshold, waiting. It was time to face my Shadow Man.
“Stay,” I said aloud, giving me a small surge of power. Maximus lifted his head to give me a quizzical look. “Good boy,” I said.This morning in London Mr Justice Birss will listen to a case in Court 11 at the Royal Courts of Justice, to decide whether or not to put Lotus F1 Team Ltd into administration. The case, between the team and the Commissioners for HMRC (the British tax authorities) will either lead to an administration order or to a stay of a week or so if someone turns up offering money to solve the problems.
Renault is poised to try to take over the team, but they do not appear to have the cash to do it – buying F1 teams is not considered such a smart idea by big publicly-owned car companies, with advisory boards and institutional investors, and I am hearing that the plan to use historical payments from |
prevent what is customarily described as catastrophic global warming.
Now, there are at least two major problems with this.
The first, as more and more eminent scientists are finding the courage to point out (the most recent being the distinguished physicist Professor William Happer of Princeton University), is that it is far from clear that there is a serious problem — let alone a catastrophic one — of global warming at all.
My think-tank, the Global Warming Policy Foundation, has just published a devastating analysis by the former Head of the Civil Service, Lord Turnbull, demanding that politicians ‘stop frightening us and our children’ about the threat of global warming. He calls on Whitehall and ministers to consider the damaging economic impact of blindly following the ‘climate-change agenda’.
While it is scientifically established that increased emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from the use of carbon-based energy, such as coal, oil and gas, can be expected to warm the planet, it is uncertain how great any such warming would be, and how much harm, if any, it would do.
The former Head of the Civil Service, Lord Turnbull, has demanded that politicians ¿stop frightening us and our children¿ about the threat of global warming
The second major problem with the British Government’s policy is that even if it were thought to be desirable to cut back drastically on carbon emissions, this can have an effect only if it is done globally.
For the UK, responsible for 2 per cent of global emissions, to go it alone is futile folly.
And the complete failure of the UN-sponsored environment jamborees — in Cancun last year and Copenhagen the year before — to achieve a global decarbonisation agreement clearly shows that this is not happening and, in my judgment, is not going to happen.
China, the biggest global emitter, has made it clear that it will not accept any restraint on its use of carbon-based energy, as has India. (The annual increase in China’s emissions, incidentally, is greater than the UK’s total emissions.) And the U.S., the second-largest emitter, has made it clear that without China and India on board, there is no prospect of the U.S. signing up to anything.
The plain fact is that the world relies on carbon-based energy simply because it is by far the cheapest available source of energy and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.
The major developing countries, in particular, are understandably unwilling to hold back their development and condemn their people to avoidable poverty, by moving from relatively cheap energy to relatively expensive energy.
Yet this is precisely what the present UK Government is committed to.
Alone in the world, we have on our statute book a Climate Change Act. This commits us, unilaterally, to a legally binding process which is already well under way. And eventually — by 2050 — we will have near-total decarbonisation, by switching to an ever more expensive mix of ‘green’ energy sources.
To achieve this, the Government has introduced a range of measures, notably the renewables obligation, which requires electricity suppliers to buy a proportion of their power from renewable sources, chiefly wind power, at huge cost, which is then loaded onto all electricity bills.
Then there are the so-called feed-in tariffs, under which a greatly inflated price is paid to wind-farm owners and others who supply renewable energy to the grid — and again loaded onto our electricity bills.
China, the biggest global emitter and home to this coal-fired power plant, has made it clear that it will not accept any restraint on its use of carbon-based energy
On top of this, there are a number of other price-inflating measures, such as the so-called ‘carbon floor price’ (a commitment to ensure that the price of conventional energy stays high and goes higher, by means of a government levy on firms generating electricity based on the amount of CO2 they produce), which are yet to take effect.
What is doubly unacceptable, however, is that the public is being made to pay for this by stealth. This is why, in the cause of proper transparency, our electricity suppliers should be made to reveal in our utility bills the extent of this hidden tax element, which is costing families an average of £200 more a year.
This price increase would be economically damaging at the best of times; and these are not the best of times. And the damage is all the more serious when other countries are not doing the same.
In recent weeks, spokesmen for both the Engineering Employers’ Federation and the Energy Intensive Users’ Group have warned of investment and jobs going overseas, where energy costs are lower.
They have been joined by spokesmen for the chemical industry and the UK head of Tata Steel (Britain’s largest steelmaker, the former British Steel), which has already announced substantial lay-offs in the UK, partly for this reason. And this week the CBI, at long last, voiced its deep concern.
Stealth: A hidden tax element in electricity bills is costing families an average of £200 more a year
It is curious, to say the least, that a government that came to power saying it wished to rebalance the economy to rely less on financial services and more on manufacturing should be determined to impose the most anti-manufacturing energy policy of any government in British history.
This policy, incidentally, will also greatly exacerbate the problem of ‘fuel poverty’ (officially defined as the number of people who are obliged to spend more than 10 per cent of their household income on fuel), as the charity Age UK has pointed out.
The Government needs all the political support it can get to carry through its economic policies. Its disastrous ‘green’ energy policy can only undermine that support.
The Coalition likes to boast, as did its Labour predecessor which initiated this damaging policy, that the UK is the only country in the world to impose severe and legally binding carbon reduction requirements on its economy.
While this claim is well-founded, ministers might do well to ask themselves why the UK is the only country to do this. The answer, of course, is that no other country has the slightest intention of incurring such pointless and self-inflicted economic harm.
If there is one crumb of comfort, it is that this unilateralism could at last be partially modified.
The Government is reviewing its emissions policy in early 2014 relative to the rest of Europe - but the rest of the world matters too
When the latest set of carbon reduction commitments were announced, the Government conceded, at the insistence of an increasingly worried Treasury, that the matter would be reviewed in early 2014 in the light of what the rest of Europe is doing on this front.
But as the CBI this week pointed out, that is not good enough. First, because a great deal of damage can be done to our still-fragile economy between now and 2014; and, second, because it is not just the rest of Europe that matters but the rest of the world — notably China, the U.S. and India.
The only sensible course would be to suspend this damaging policy, here and now, until such time as a legally binding global agreement has been secured. Meanwhile, as opinion polls show the British people becoming increasingly sceptical of climate-change alarmism, ministers have started to advance two other justifications for this highly damaging policy, both of them entirely bogus.
They claim, first, that policies to promote the replacement of carbon-based energy by (substantially more expensive) renewable energy, notably wind power, will bring great benefit to the British economy and in particular create millions of so-called ‘green jobs’.
This is economic illiteracy of the worst order. As the great 19th-century French economist Frédéric Bastiat pointed out, if jobs are your yardstick, you might as well go round breaking windows so as to create jobs for glaziers.
The former energy secretary says it is time that David Cameron's Government "grows up"
All the Government is doing is creating uneconomic jobs that require an ever-increasing subsidy at the expense of genuinely productive jobs requiring no subsidy at all.
To engineer, at great cost, a switch from the production of relatively cheap carbon-based energy to very much more expensive renewable energy, may arguably be justified (although I disagree) on climate-change grounds. But it cannot possibly be justified on either employment or broader economic grounds.
The second additional justification the Government gives for abandoning carbon-based energy is ‘energy security’, either on the grounds that the world is fast running out of fossil fuels, or that it would be strategically unwise to depend on an unstable Middle East or an unreliable Russia for our energy needs.
Both these reasons are baseless, and always have been; but this has never been clearer than it is today. I remember when I was Energy Secretary, 30 years ago, being solemnly told by the bosses of Shell and BP that there were only 40 years of commercially extractable oil left in the world.
Yet, 30 years on, we are still being told that there are only 40 years of commercially extractable oil left. There always are, as that is the industry’s planning horizon.
The new development, however — and it is the biggest technological breakthrough to have occurred in the energy sector since the advances that enabled oil and gas to be extracted from the North Sea — concerns the extraction of gas from shale.
Shale is a rock formation which occurs throughout the world and has always been known to contain vast reserves of oil and gas, but extracting it was uneconomic.
So far as shale gas is concerned, that technological problem has been cracked; as a result, the world is now awash with commercially extractable gas — and no longer over-dependent on the Middle East or Russia for its energy supply.
Indeed, the only ‘energy security’ problem we have is caused by the Government’s determination to make us heavily dependent on that most antiquated of energy sources, wind power.
Not only is there the inherently unreliable nature of wind, which sometimes blows and sometimes does not, but it is doubtful if it is practically possible to build and install wind turbines on the massive scale required to meet our energy needs, quite apart from the heavy economic and environmental costs of doing so.
The plain fact is that the Government’s highly damaging decarbonisation policy, enshrined in the absurd Climate Change Act, does not have a leg to stand on.
It is intended, at massive cost, to be symbolic: to make good David Cameron’s ambition to make his administration ‘the greenest government ever’. My dictionary defines green as ‘unripe, immature, undeveloped’. It is time this government grew up.Audio brought to you by Curio, a Lapham’s Quarterly partner
Isaac Newton had a peculiar notion of time. He saw it as a sort of cosmic grandfather clock, one that hovered over the rest of nature in blithe autonomy. And he believed that time advanced at a smooth and constant rate from past to future. “Absolute, true, mathematical time, of itself, and from its own nature, flows equably without relation to anything external,” Newton declared at the beginning of his Principia. To those caught up in the temporal flux of daily life, this seems like arrant nonsense. Time does not strike us as transcendent and mathematical; rather, it is something intimate and subjective. Nor does it proceed at a stately and unvarying pace. We know that time has different tempos. In the run-up to New Year’s Eve, for instance, time positively flies. Then, in January and February, it slows to a miserable crawl. Moreover, time moves faster for some of us than for others. Old people are being rushed forward into the future at a cruelly rapid clip. When you’re an adult, as Fran Lebowitz once observed, Christmas seems to come every five minutes. For little children, however, time goes quite slowly. Owing to the endless novelty of a child’s experience, a single summer can stretch out into an eternity.
One way researchers have tried to measure the subjective flow of time is by asking people of different ages to estimate when a certain amount of time has gone by. People in their early twenties tend to be quite accurate in judging when three minutes had elapsed, typically being off by no more than three seconds. Those in their sixties, by contrast, overshot the mark by forty seconds; in other words, what was actually three minutes and forty seconds seemed like only three minutes to them. Seniors are internally slow tickers, so for them actual clocks seem to tick too fast. This can have its advantages: at a John Cage concert, it is the old people who are relieved that the composition 4'33" is over so soon.
The river of time may have its rapids and its calmer stretches, but one thing would seem to be certain: it carries all of us, willy-nilly, in its flow. Irresistibly, irreversibly, we are being borne toward our deaths at the stark rate of one second per second. As the past slips out of existence behind us, the future, once unknown and mysterious, assumes its banal reality before us as it yields to the ever-hurrying “now.”
But this sense of flow is a monstrous illusion—so says contemporary physics. And Newton was as much a victim of this illusion as the rest of us are. It was
Albert Einstein who initiated the revolution in our understanding of time. In 1905, Einstein proved that time, as it had been understood by physicist and plain man alike, was a fiction. Our idea of time, Einstein realized, is abstracted from our experience with rhythmic phenomena: heartbeats, planetary rotations and revolutions, the swinging of pendulums, the ticking of clocks. Time judgments always come down to judgments of what happens at the same time—of simultaneity. “If, for instance, I say, ‘That train arrives here at seven o’clock,’ I mean something like this: ‘The pointing of the small hand of my watch to seven and the arrival of the train are simultaneous events,’” Einstein wrote. If the events in question are distant from each other, judgments of simultaneity can be made only by sending light signals back and forth. Einstein proved that whether an observer deems two events at different locations to be happening “at the same time” depends on his state of motion. Suppose, for example, that Jones is walking uptown on Fifth Avenue and Smith is walking downtown. Their relative motion results in a discrepancy of several days in what they would judge to be happening “now” in the Andromeda galaxy at the moment they pass each other on the sidewalk. For Smith, the space fleet launched to destroy life on earth is already on its way; for Jones, the Andromedan council of tyrants has not even decided whether to send the fleet.
Time Smoking a Picture (detail), by William Hogarth, 1761. Satirical comment on art connoisseurs who only value paintings for their age. Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College.
What Einstein had shown was that there is no universal “now.” Whether two events are simultaneous is relative to the observer. And once simultaneity goes by the board, the very division of moments into “past,” “present,” and “future” becomes meaningless. Events judged to be in the past by one observer may still lie in the future of another; therefore, past and present must be equally definite, equally “real.” In place of the fleeting present, we are left with a vast frozen timescape—a four-dimensional “block universe.” Over here, you are being born; over there, you are celebrating the turn of the millennium; and over yonder, you’ve been dead for a while. Nothing is “flowing” from one event to another. As the mathematician Hermann Weyl memorably put it, “The objective world simply is; it does not happen.”
Einstein, through his theory of relativity, furnished a scientific justification for a philosophical view of time that goes back to Spinoza, to St. Augustine, even to Parmenides—one that has been dubbed “eternalism.” Time, according to this view, belongs to the realm of appearance, not reality. The only objective way to see the universe is as God sees it: sub specie aeternitatis. We should all be like William Blake and say, “I see the past, present, and future, existing all at once/Before me.”
The revolution in our understanding of time that Einstein initiated was pushed to a more radical extreme by his close friend (and fellow eccentric) Kurt Gödel. Gödel is often considered the greatest logician of the twentieth century. He is most famous for his “incompleteness theorems,” which showed that arithmetic was, in an interesting sense, beyond the reach of logical provability; but he also dabbled in theoretical physics. Both Gödel and Einstein left Europe because of the Nazis (although Gödel was not Jewish), and both ended up at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. The two men liked nothing better than to stroll around Princeton together trading ideas. In 1949, on the occasion of Einstein’s seventieth birthday, Gödel presented him with an unexpected gift: a proof of the nonexistence of time. And this was not a mere verbal proof, of the sort that philosophers like Parmenides, Immanuel Kant, and J.M.E. McTaggart had come up with over the centuries; it was a rigorous mathematical proof. Playing with Einstein’s own equations of general relativity, Gödel found a novel solution that corresponded to a universe with closed timelike loops. A resident of such a universe, by taking a sufficiently long round trip in a rocket ship, could travel back into his own past. Einstein was not entirely pleased with Gödel’s hypothetical universe; indeed, he admitted to being “disturbed” that his equations of relativity permitted something as Alice in Wonderland–like as spatial paths that looped backward in time. Gödel himself was delighted by his discovery, since he found the whole idea of time to be painfully mysterious. If time travel is possible, he submitted, then time itself is impossible. A past that can be revisited has not really passed. So, Gödel concluded, time does not exist.
The best way to fill time is to waste it. —Marguerite Duras, 1987
Unlike Gödel, Einstein could never quite liberate himself from the grip of time. “To those of us who believe in physics,” he wrote in 1955 to the family of a friend who had recently died, “this separation between past, present, and future is only an illusion, if a stubborn one.” When his own turn came, a few weeks later, Einstein said, “It is time to go.”
Over the decades since Einstein’s death, physics has subjected our everyday notion of time to still more radical dislocations. The frozen timescape of relativity theory has been revealed to have gaping holes in it: black holes. That is because time is “warped” by gravity. The stronger the gravitational field, the slower the clock hands creep. If you live in a ground-floor apartment, you age a trifle less rapidly than your neighbor in the penthouse. The effect would be a lot more noticeable if you got sucked into a black hole, where the gravitational warpage of time is infinite. Quite literally, black holes are gateways to the end of time: to Nowhen.
If time behaves dodgily around black holes, it may vanish altogether at the tiniest of scales, where the fabric of space-time dissolves into a “quantum foam” in which events have no determinate temporal order. Temporal matters are even stranger if we look back at the Big Bang, the cataclysmic event that ushered our universe into existence—and not just the universe, but also its space-time container. We all want to ask: What the heck was going on just before the Big Bang? But that question is nonsensical. So, at any rate, we are told by
Stephen Hawking in A Brief History of Time. Invoking what he calls “imaginary time”—a notion that has been known to puzzle even his fellow physicists—Hawking says that asking what came before the Big Bang is as silly as asking what’s north of the North Pole. The answer, of course, is nothing.
Does time have a future? Yes, but how much of a future depends on what the ultimate fate of the cosmos turns out to be. The possibilities come down to Robert Frost’s choice: fire or ice? Ever since its birth in the Big Bang, some 13.82 billion years ago, the universe has been expanding. If this expansion continues forever, the universe will end in ice, at least metaphorically speaking. The stars will burn out; black holes will evaporate; atoms and their subatomic constituents will decay. In the deep future, the remaining particles (mainly photons and neutrinos) will spread out into the void, becoming so distant from one another that they will cease to interact. Space will become empty except for the merest hint of “vacuum energy.” Yet in this future wasteland of near nothingness, time will go on; random events will continue to occur; things will “fluctuate” into existence, thanks to the magic of quantum uncertainty, only to disappear again into the void. Most of these future ephemera will be single particles, like electrons and protons. But every once in a while—a very great while—more complicated structures will spontaneously wink into being; say, a human brain. Indeed, in the fullness of time, quantum physics could allow for an infinite number of such disembodied brains, stocked with (false) memories, that will appear and disappear. In the scientific literature, these sad and evanescent entities are called “Boltzmann brains” (after Ludwig Boltzmann, one of the pioneers of modern thermodynamics). One such deep-future Boltzmann brain would be identical to your own brain as it is constituted at this very moment. Thus, in some inconceivably distant epoch, your current state of consciousness would be recreated out of the void, only to be extinguished an instant later—not, perhaps, the kind of resurrection you were hoping for.
All that could be true (says current physics) provided the universe continues to expand eternally, growing ever emptier and darker and colder: a scenario that might be called the Big Chill. But there is another possible cosmic fate. By and by, at some point in the far future, the expansion that the universe is currently undergoing might be arrested—maybe by gravity, maybe by some force that is currently unknown. Then all the hundreds of billions of galaxies will begin to collapse back on themselves, eventually coming together in a fiery all-annihilating implosion: the Big Crunch. Just as the Big Bang brought time into existence, the Big Crunch would bring it to an end. Or would it? Some cosmic optimists have argued that in the final moments before such a Big Crunch an infinite amount of energy would be released. This energy, the optimists say, could be harnessed by our deep-future descendants to power an infinite amount of computation, giving rise to an infinite number of thoughts. Since these thoughts would unfold at a faster and faster pace, subjective time would seem to go on forever, even though objective time was about to come to an end. The split second before the Big Crunch would thus be like a child’s endless summer: a virtual eternity.
Virtual eternity, gateways to Nowhen, the unreality of time…Do any of these lotus-eater ideas really hit us where we live, in the lifeworld? Probably not. Like Einstein himself, we are stubbornly in thrall to our temporal illusions. We cannot help feeling ourselves to be slaves to one part of the timescape (the past) and hostages to another part (the future). Nor can we help feeling that we are quite literally running out of time. Arthur Eddington, one of the first physicists to grasp Einstein’s relativity theory, declared that our intuitive sense of time’s passage is so powerful that it must correspond to something in the objective world. If science cannot get a purchase on it, one might say: Well, so much the worse for science!
Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, England. De Agostini Picture Library, G. Cappelli, Bridgeman Images.
What science can tell us something about is the psychology of time’s passage. Our conscious now—what William James dubbed the “specious present”—is actually an interval of about three seconds. That is the span over which our brains knit up arriving sense data into a unified experience. It is also pretty clear that the nature of memory has something to do with the feeling that we are moving in time. The past and the future might be equally real, but—for reasons traceable, oddly enough, to the second law of thermodynamics—we cannot “remember” events in the future, only ones in the past. Memories accumulate in one temporal direction and not in the other. This seems to explain the psychological arrow of time. It does not, unfortunately, explain why that arrow seems to fly.
If all of this leaves you utterly bewildered about time, you are in eminent company. John Archibald Wheeler, one of the great physicists of the twentieth century, took to quoting this in a scientific paper: “Time is nature’s way to keep everything from happening all at once.” In a footnote, Wheeler writes that he discovered this quote among graffiti in the men’s room at the Pecan Street Café in Austin, Texas. That such an eminent thinker would resort to quoting from a men’s-room wall isn’t surprising if you consider the contemporary free-for-all among physicists and philosophers and philosophers of physics over the nature of time. Some maintain that time is a basic ingredient of the universe; others say, no, it emerges from deeper features of physical reality. Some insist that time has a built-in direction; others deny this. (Stephen Hawking once claimed that time could eventually reverse itself and run backward, only to realize later that there had been a mistake in his calculations.) Most physicists and philosophers today agree with Einstein that time’s passage is an illusion; they are eternalists. But a minority—who call themselves “presentists”—think that now is a special moment that really advances, like a little light moving along the line of history; this would still be true, they believe, even if there were no observers like us in the universe.
If there is one proposition about time that all scientifically inclined thinkers can agree on, it might be one due to the nonscientist Hector Berlioz, who is reputed to have quipped, “Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils.”
Portions of this essay previously appeared in “Time Passages: How Long Does It Take for a Second to Go By?” from Lingua Franca, July–August 1999.Tashawn Manning
Tashawn Manning at Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium during the 2015 season. (247Sports)
Tashawn Manning continues to receive chemotherapy treatment five days a week, but that hasn't stopped the big guy from keeping busy this summer.
The Auburn defensive line signee from Apopka, Florida, enrolled in two classes at nearby Valencia Community College in May and has also taken a part-time job with the city of Orlando's recreation department.
"I'm doing pretty good," Manning told AL.com. "I pretty much got used to (the treatment) and I'm pushing through classes and work, trying to stay busy. It feels real good. It feels like I have purpose. It's something that keeps me going."
Manning was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia on Thanksgiving Day last November, less than two months before he expected to enroll at Auburn in time for spring practices. He immediately began treatment and lost approximately 45 pounds in the first four weeks, but has since put the weight back on his 6-foot-4, 285-pound frame.
Manning is hopeful his determination and fight will soon pay off -- he signed with the Tigers in February and plans to enroll in classes at Auburn in January 2017.
"I set my mind to it and I feel like I'll accomplish that," Manning said. "Right now (my doctors) said my health is back to normal. After that I'll just have bi-weekly visits back and forth. There's still a lot to be done. I still need to pick up my workouts and continue with my work (in the classroom) but it feels relieving. Not being able to do stuff before, now I can continue with my normal life. It feels good."
Cancer-stricken Auburn commit Tashawn Manning upbeat, making progress Manning was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia in November.
Manning is currently in the final stage of his chemotherapy treatment, according to his father, but will continue to receive medication and regular breathing check-ups for the next six or seven months. If all goes well his doctors will grant him a release to begin working out again, and Auburn's team doctors will then evaluate him and closely monitor his progress. A date for a possible return to the football field has not been set.
"There's zero cancer in the bone marrow and his daily cell count numbers are way up," Buck Manning said. "Everything's working just like we prayed for it. Tashawn is ready to get back into it. Every day he's looking at stuff on the computer about Auburn, keeping up with the headlines... I'd say his spirits are up considering what he's going through."
Manning is looking forward to visiting Auburn July 23 for a recruit barbecue held by the coaches. He hasn't been to the campus since the Tigers fell to Georgia Nov. 14.
"It's been a while since I've been up there so it will probably feel good to get back," he said. "I talked with Coach (Gus) Malzahn and Coach (Scott) Fountain the other week and they've been waiting on me."
"Tashawn has done nothing but fight in his battle with leukemia," Fountain said in a video on OrlandoSentinel.com. "We are so proud of what he's done with that and where he's headed. He fights like an Auburn man. 'Work, hard work' is our motto, and that's what he does."
Manning is one of three players who signed with Auburn's 2016 class who have yet to enroll. The other two -- safety Marlon Character Jr. and defensive lineman Nick Coe -- still have academic work to do and hope to be on the Plains July 31. Offensive lineman Brodarious Hamm, who is battling Hodgkin's lymphoma, enrolled at Auburn in the last week of June with quarterback Woody Barrett.
"I know as soon as I get there, my No. 1 goal will be to get back in the mix and fight for a spot," Manning said.An independent review of the Site C hydro dam was pegged as the solution to a long and bitter battle over the fate of the $9 billion project championed by B.C.’s former Liberal government.
The bombshell review gave the new NDP government plenty of new ammunition to terminate Site C, which would flood the traditional homeland of Treaty 8 First Nations in the Peace River Valley and destroy dozens of designated heritage and archeological sites, including indigenous burial grounds.
But at the eleventh hour, with a final Site C decision expected as early as next week, the government seems poised to green light the project in the face of pressure from unlikely bedfellows that include construction trade unions, NDP party insiders, Liberal MLAs and BC Hydro.
Dozens of Peace valley families wait on tenterhooks to find out before Christmas if they will lose homes, property and up to 12,500 hectares of valley farmland to the dam’s reservoir, which would flood 83 kilometres of the heritage Peace River and 45 kilometres of its tributary rivers and creeks.
“It’s tense,” said Ken Boon, president of the Peace Valley Landowner Association, which has been fighting Site C since 2010, when the former Liberal government announced it would proceed with the dam, then billed as a $6.6 billion project.
“Everybody’s trying to read the tea leaves.”
The independent review by the watchdog B.C. Utilities Commission revealed in November that Site C is already behind schedule and over budget, troubled by financial and legal issues with its major civil works contractor, and beset with unresolved geotechnical problems — only two years into a nine- year construction timeline.
The review also disclosed that BC Hydro customers could receive a Site C bill for more than $10 billion to produce electricity that could be generated more cheaply by other clean energy sources such as wind and geothermal.
“To me, it’s a slam dunk,” former BC Hydro CEO and President Marc Eliesen told DeSmog Canada.
“What the commission has come forward with in terms of their recommendations are such that no sensible, rational person could take any other decision than to terminate Site C,” said Eliesen, who is also the former Chair and CEO of Ontario Hydro and the former Chair of Manitoba Hydro.
Eliesen said he watched recent efforts by the Allied Hydro Council and others to discredit some of the BCUC findings with considerable dismay.
“I’ll be totally frank with you, and I hope I’m 100 per cent wrong, but I don’t think so.
I believe the fix is in and the government will continue the construction of Site C.”
A Political Bargaining Chip for the Greens?
How much the B.C. Green Party — whose three MLAs could tip the balance of power in a minority government — is willing to risk its political future to bring down the government over Site C is now a multi- billion- dollar question.
Veteran political observer Martyn Brown, who was former Premier Gordon Campbell’s chief of staff, said the Greens won’t topple the government over Site C because they have their eye on the big prize of proportional representation to replace B.C.’s first-past-the-post political system.
Site C does not require legislative approval to proceed, but the Greens could threaten to bring down the government on a vote of non-confidence on the next provincial budget if the NDP supports the project.
“I don’t think there’s a snowball’s chance in hell that they’d vote against the NDP if the NDP goes forward with Site C,” Brown said in an interview.
“They’re banking on the fact that, if the NDP approves Site C, they will campaign in the next provincial election in 2021 saying we’re the only ones that will stand up for the environment and we’re the only ones that opposed Site C. It gives them a wedge issue in 2021.”
Site C Approval ‘Beginning of the End’ for NDP/Greens, Says First Nations Leader
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs (UBCIC), warned that allowing Site C to proceed would reap serious political consequences not just for the NDP but also for the Greens.
“In the event that the NDP caves into pressure from the trade union movement it will do irreparable damage to their political credibility and will pretty much represent the beginning of the end of future support for the NDP in the province of British Columbia,” Phillip said in an interview.
The UBCIC launched an “Anyone But Christy” campaign during the provincial election last spring, urging people to vote for the NDP or the Green Party and pointing to what it called former Premier Christy Clark’s “obsessive pursuit” of large scale resource development projects that are environmentally damaging and harmful to First Nations.
The Assembly of First Nations and B.C.’s First Nations Summit also oppose Site C on the grounds that it is unconstitutional and violates Canada’s commitment to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Calling the impending Site C decision a “watershed moment” for the province, Phillip emphasized that Site C is a “much broader issue than indigenous peoples’ rights and interests and the application of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”
The majority of British Columbians supported the NDP and the Greens in the last provincial election hoping to stop “both the Site C dam and the Kinder Morgan TransMountain pipeline project,” Phillip said.
“Clearly the BCUC report revealed that this BC Liberal sponsored Site C dam project is indeed a colossal boondoggle in terms of its viability.”
Phillip also cautioned that the question of whether Site C violates treaty rights has not yet been tested in the courts.
Two Treaty 8 First Nations, the West Moberly First Nations and the Prophet River First Nations, warned the NDP government recently that it will face a billion dollar lawsuit over treaty violations if Site C proceeds.
The Blueberry River First Nations has already launched a lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court suing the Province for breaching Treaty 8 due to rampant industrial development, including Site C, that means members can no longer practice their traditional way of life.
Asked about Phillip’s comments, BC Green Party leader Andrew Weaver said in a written statement that his party continues “to do everything we can to push the NDP government to cancel Site C,” noting that the BCUC review “presents ample evidence that shows that cancelling Site C is the right decision for British Columbians.”
A former BC Hydro chair says “the fix is in” on #SiteC https://t.co/NpW4az7OPx — DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) December 1, 2017
Nature of the Attacks on the BCUC Report
Questions about the credibility of the BCUC report centre largely on two issues — the need for Site C’s electricity and how $2 billion in sunk costs and an estimated $1.8 billion in remediation costs would affect hydro rates.
Most of the sunk costs were amassed as former Premier Christy Clark attempted to push Site C “past the point of return,” a move questioned by Crown corporation experts who suggested the relationship between BC Hydro and the former Premier’s office was too cosy for good governance.
Eliesen and other energy experts, including U.S. energy economist Robert McCullough, said Site C’s sunk costs could be amortized over many decades to avoid the ten per cent rate hike brandished by project supporters as a primary reason to continue with Site C, which Eliesen called “utter nonsense.”
Rate hikes will be considerably higher if Site C proceeds because most of its rising cost is not yet on hydro’s books, the experts warn, pointing to the Muskrat Falls dam as an example.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, huge cost overruns at the $12.7 billion Muskrat Falls dam will add an average $1,800 to the annual hydro bill of every household even though the dam’s electricity is not needed in the province.
The Allied Hydro Council, representing construction trade unions that have donated generously to the NDP, claimed that Site C’s electricity will be needed to fuel electric vehicles, among other uses.
The same assertion was also made by Clark in her post-election flip-flop about the need for Site C’s power, which the BC Liberals first said would go to California, then to LNG plants, and then possibly to Alberta to offset coal-fired power.
But Eliesen dismissed the electric vehicle claim outright, pointing out that the BCUC considered future energy needs in its deliberations, including from electric vehicles, after receiving testimony from dozens of energy experts.
Eliesen also observed that an energy expert who came out swinging for Site C last week on behalf of construction trade unions did not present testimony to the BCUC for scrutiny, choosing instead to present his views directly to the media at a well-attended press conference.
At the press conference, energy expert and lawyer Jim Quail said that Site C would be needed to “keep the lights on” in B.C., a claim also made by Clark during the spring election campaign and debunk |
move research forward.
"By removing politics from science, President Obama has freed researchers to explore these remarkable stem cells, learn from them and possibly develop effective therapies using them."
Bush barred federal funding from supporting work on new lines of stem cells derived from human embryos in 2001, allowing research only on a small number of embryonic stem cell lines that existed at the time.
The former president argued that using human embryos for scientific research -- which often involves their destruction -- crossed a moral barrier and urged scientists to consider alternatives.
Remarks of President Barack Obama - As Prepared for Delivery
Signing of Stem Cell Executive Order and Scientific Integrity Presidential Memorandum:
####
Today, with the Executive Order I am about to sign, we will bring the change that so many scientists and researchers; doctors and innovators; patients and loved ones have hoped for, and fought for, these past eight years: we will lift the ban on federal funding for promising embryonic stem cell research. We will vigorously support scientists who pursue this research. And we will aim for America to lead the world in the discoveries it one day may yield.
At this moment, the full promise of stem cell research remains unknown, and it should not be overstated. But scientists believe these tiny cells may have the potential to help us understand, and possibly cure, some of our most devastating diseases and conditions. To regenerate a severed spinal cord and lift someone from a wheelchair. To spur insulin production and spare a child from a lifetime of needles. To treat Parkinson's, cancer, heart disease and others that affect millions of Americans and the people who love them.
But that potential will not reveal itself on its own. Medical miracles do not happen simply by accident. They result from painstaking and costly research - from years of lonely trial and error, much of which never bears fruit - and from a government willing to support that work. From life-saving vaccines, to pioneering cancer treatments, to the sequencing of the human genome - that is the story of scientific progress in America. When government fails to make these investments, opportunities are missed. Promising avenues go unexplored. Some of our best scientists leave for other countries that will sponsor their work. And those countries may surge ahead of ours in the advances that transform our lives.
But in recent years, when it comes to stem cell research, rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values. In this case, I believe the two are not inconsistent. As a person of faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering. I believe we have been given the capacity and will to pursue this research - and the humanity and conscience to do so responsibly.
It is a difficult and delicate balance. Many thoughtful and decent people are conflicted about, or strongly oppose, this research. I understand their concerns, and we must respect their point of view.
But after much discussion, debate and reflection, the proper course has become clear. The majority of Americans - from across the political spectrum, and of all backgrounds and beliefs - have come to a consensus that we should pursue this research. That the potential it offers is great, and with proper guidelines and strict oversight, the perils can be avoided.
That is a conclusion with which I agree. That is why I am signing this Executive Order, and why I hope Congress will act on a bi-partisan basis to provide further support for this research. We are joined today by many leaders who have reached across the aisle to champion this cause, and I commend them for that work.
Ultimately, I cannot guarantee that we will find the treatments and cures we seek. No President can promise that. But I can promise that we will seek them - actively, responsibly, and with the urgency required to make up for lost ground. Not just by opening up this new frontier of research today, but by supporting promising research of all kinds, including groundbreaking work to convert ordinary human cells into ones that resemble embryonic stem cells.
I can also promise that we will never undertake this research lightly. We will support it only when it is both scientifically worthy and responsibly conducted. We will develop strict guidelines, which we will rigorously enforce, because we cannot ever tolerate misuse or abuse. And we will ensure that our government never opens the door to the use of cloning for human reproduction. It is dangerous, profoundly wrong, and has no place in our society, or any society.
This Order is an important step in advancing the cause of science in America. But let's be clear: promoting science isn't just about providing resources - it is also about protecting free and open inquiry. It is about letting scientists like those here today do their jobs, free from manipulation or coercion, and listening to what they tell us, even when it's inconvenient - especially when it's inconvenient. It is about ensuring that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda - and that we make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology.
By doing this, we will ensure America's continued global leadership in scientific discoveries and technological breakthroughs. That is essential not only for our economic prosperity, but for the progress of all humanity.
That is why today, I am also signing a Presidential Memorandum directing the head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to develop a strategy for restoring scientific integrity to government decision making.. To ensure that in this new Administration, we base our public policies on the soundest science; that we appoint scientific advisors based on their credentials and experience, not their politics or ideology; and that we are open and honest with the American people about the science behind our decisions. That is how we will harness the power of science to achieve our goals - to preserve our environment and protect our national security; to create the jobs of the future, and live longer, healthier lives.
As we restore our commitment to science, and resume funding for promising stem cell research, we owe a debt of gratitude to so many tireless advocates, some of whom are with us today, many of whom are not. Today, we honor all those whose names we don't know, who organized, and raised awareness, and kept on fighting - even when it was too late for them, or for the people they love. And we honor those we know, who used their influence to help others and bring attention to this cause - people like Christopher and Dana Reeve, who we wish could be here to see this moment.
One of Christopher's friends recalled that he hung a sign on the wall of the exercise room where he did his grueling regimen of physical therapy. It read: "For everyone who thought I couldn't do it. For everyone who thought I shouldn't do it. For everyone who said, 'It's impossible.' See you at the finish line."
Christopher once told a reporter who was interviewing him: "If you came back here in ten years, I expect that I'd walk to the door to greet you."
Christopher did not get that chance. But if we pursue this research, maybe one day - maybe not in our lifetime, or even in our children's lifetime - but maybe one day, others like him might.
There is no finish line in the work of science. The race is always with us - the urgent work of giving substance to hope and answering those many bedside prayers, of seeking a day when words like "terminal" and "incurable" are finally retired from our vocabulary.
Today, using every resource at our disposal, with renewed determination to lead the world in the discoveries of this new century, we rededicate ourselves to this work.
Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless America.
####
(with wire reports)
Get Raw exclusives as they break -- Email & mobile Email - Never spam:This month the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) updated its offender handbook (PDF) to stipulate that inmates are not allowed to have social media accounts. While blog posts are still permitted, a spokesperson for the TDCJ told Ars that the rule was developed to get social media platforms to comply with the corrections department’s takedown requests more readily.
Since Texas inmates are not allowed Internet access, this rule applies to social media accounts managed by friends or family. As Fusion explains, "Prisoners write posts, send them to a friend or family member through snail mail, and ask the friend to post them on Facebook.” If an inmate is caught having a friend or family member update an account for them, they’re charged with a "level three violation,” which TDCJ characterizes as the lowest level of violation in the Texas prison system.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), however, says that level three violations can result in loss of privileges, extra work duty, or confinement to an inmate’s cell for up to 45 days. The EFF objects to the new rules in Texas, arguing that "a person does not lose all of their rights to participate in public discourse when they are incarcerated… This policy would not only prohibit the prisoners’ exercise of their First Amendment rights, but also prevent the public from exercising their First Amendment rights to gather information about the criminal justice system from those most affected by it.” The TDCJ had no response to the EFF’s argument.
In an e-mail to Ars, TDCJ spokesperson Jason Clark noted that the new rules did not apply to blog posts written by inmates. “The rule is specific to active social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc," he wrote. “Those companies have mechanisms in place that allow us to request that the pages be deactivated. Private Web pages don’t have a mechanism to request they be taken down and we cannot force them to comply.”
Clark clarified for Ars that the rule was put in place in part to appease social media companies that balked at the idea of taking down a social media account without a rule in place to force their hand in compliance. “Recently when we have asked that accounts be deactivated, increasingly we have found that the social media company would come back and indicate they would not do so because the agency did not have a rule prohibiting offenders from having social media accounts.” With a rule in place, however, social media companies are more willing to meet the correctional system’s demand.
Last June, the EFF obtained e-mails sent between prisons and Facebook that suggested that the social media site routinely took down accounts managed by inmates or in the name of inmates, despite asserting to the EFF that Facebook was not interested in being responsible for "enforcing prison regulations that ban inmates from having social media profiles or accessing the Internet.” When Ars contacted the company today, Facebook declined to comment. Ars also contacted Twitter for a response as to whether the site would remove a Twitter account on behalf of a prison’s request, even if the account isn’t abusive or threatening. Twitter declined to comment.
The TDCJ has maintained that “Offenders have used social media accounts to sell items over the Internet based on the notoriety of their crime, harass victims or victim’s families, and continue their criminal activity.” Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter already forbid harassment as part of their terms and conditions.
Other states have similar bans on social media. Alabama, for example, prohibits inmates from using any site that allows users to create personal profile pages or “offers a mechanism for communication among users, such as a forum, chat room, electronic mail, or instant messaging.” According to Fusion, inmates in Maine aren’t allowed to keep personal blogs, and South Carolina inmates are punished with solitary confinement if they’re caught using Facebook.
Update: Ars added that Facebook declined to comment on this story after publication.INDIVIDUAL MANDATE:
Obamacare: Those who don’t obtain health insurance are penalized
GOP’s Plan: Those who don’t obtain impeccable health are penalized
PREEXISTING CONDITIONS:
Obamacare: Americans covered regardless of preexisting conditions
GOP’s Plan: Insurers no longer forced to cover Americans stricken with condition of poverty
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Obamacare: Yes
GOP’s Plan: Yes
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GOP’s Plan: Ruinous
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Obamacare: Worst law in the history of the United States
GOP’s Plan: Slightly worse than thatThe dementia ward, where people grieve the living
Updated
Just hours after Val Caulfield placed her husband Roy into an aged care facility, tradesmen found him walking on a busy highway six kilometres away. She now insists on waiting until she finds a place that she can trust with her husband's life.
"You adjust the rules for the mood," Val says as she deals their last hand of Uno before lunch.
"Have you got a blue? What about a seven?" she asks Roy patiently.
Sometimes you lose track of time in here. Val
There are 11 people sitting in the communal dining room but it's strangely silent, except for the distant clatter coming from the kitchen.
This is the secure geriatric evaluation and management (GEM) ward at Sunshine Hospital, located in Melbourne's western suburbs.
Almost all of the people here have advanced dementia.
Roy has been here for eight weeks, and Val has been up to visit every day except one.
"Sometimes you lose track of time in here," she says.
A former truck driver of 38 years, the 82-year-old has a doting dependence on his wife that is both heartwarming and heartbreaking to witness.
As Val gets up to heat up her own soup, his eyes dart around as though he's a lost little boy.
"Where's she going?" he says panicked as she disappears into the kitchen.
Like many of the other patients in the ward, Roy's dementia has reached the point where his family can no longer care for him at home.
The waiting room
Many of the patients have been admitted to hospital but need a higher level of care than can be provided on the standard ward.
This is a transitional ward.
Patients stay here until their families or friends can find a suitable care option.
All the while they're grieving the loss of their loved one, someone who is standing right in front of them.
I wasn't going to leave him with anybody else that didn't love him and look after him like we did. Val
After 62 years of marriage, Val's decision to relinquish Roy's care was a difficult one.
It was made even more challenging after he went missing from a local facility within an hour of being placed into respite care.
When tradesmen found him walking on the freeway towards Geelong, he told them that he needed help with his truck.
"I was horrified," Val says.
In addition, their daughter Leanne received several calls in the middle of the night from staff saying they weren't able to settle Roy.
This prompted Val's quest to find somewhere in the region that she felt confident could adequately care for her husband.
"It's very hard for me to let go," she says.
"I wasn't going to hand him over to just anyone.
"I wasn't going to leave him with anybody else that didn't love him and look after him like we did."
Dementia's 'biggest enemy'
While security was one of the key considerations, Val was also unwilling to sacrifice his quality of life.
Roy is currently on a waiting list for a place 20 minutes away from their home; a facility Val found to be clean, friendly and that valued stimulation.
"It took a long time for me to even think, 'well, that's a place good enough for Roy'," she says.
"[The staff] are under pressure.
"They need more colour, a lot more facilities that they can relate to.
"They need to get used to the same staff, and get to recognise the faces.
"They also need a lot more occupational therapists and not be taking the nurses away from their medical duties to just sit and stimulate.
"I find boredom is one of the biggest enemies of people with dementia. They have to be stimulated, and this is why I like to come here, and try and keep Roy a little bit stimulated."
In the meantime Val says she can relax knowing that Roy is in the hands of hospital staff who are specialised in handling complex behaviours that come with different types of dementia.
Roy, who is usually placid, can get terribly distressed.
He can also become aggressive, a common symptom of dementia and one of the major challenges that the ward's nurses face.
"The main skill is not to agitate them any more," clinical coordinator Jackie Taugofie says.
For some, she says, it's about giving them a sense of purpose, and for others it can be something relatively simple that helps calm them.
"Sometimes a doll or a teddy bear is their comfort," she says.
"We once had a former matron who always wanted to come into the nurses' station and look at the patients' notes, so we gave her her own clipboard.
"Arguing with them is not actually helping them. We tend to agree with what they say, we follow what they're thinking and just keep them away from danger, and work them that way."
'It's like Pentridge in here'
One woman in the ward is known to hit and push other patients if they try to come into the common living area.
"Everybody out, this is my house," she yells as she closes the doors.
Dorothy wants to go in there to watch her favourite show, The Bold and The Beautiful.
"I won't go in there if she's in there," she says.
"It's like Pentridge in here," Dorothy, 88, whispers.
"It's like a cage, you can't get out."
One of the other common symptoms in the ward is paranoia, and that only gets worse as the day goes on.
Dorothy believes the Government has brought her in here.
"Everyone else in here is here because of mental reasons," she whispers as she points to her head.
"But I'm only in here because I fractured my ribs, and they won't let me out.
"Don't let them see me talking to you because I'll get into trouble."
Grief and guilt
Shortly after, her son Colin arrives on his way home from work.
One of the first things she asks is when he's going to get her out of here.
"I'm trying Mum," he says.
Up until recently Colin had never thought about putting his mother into care.
He had always thought that one day she would just pass away in her sleep.
But after Dorothy tripped and broke a couple of ribs, he knew she wasn't able to go home by herself.
He's spent the last few weeks visiting nearby facilities, putting her name down onto waiting lists and filling out the complex forms.
He will have to sell her home to come up with the bond, and give up the dog she loves more than anything.
Colin is riddled with guilt.
"I just feel guilty," he says, as his voice breaks and he tries to fight back tears.
"But I'm doing the best for her. I don't want to go around and find her on the floor, or that she's burnt the house down.
"Seeing her go the way she is, it's hard, it's just like I'm losing my Mum."
By 2050, it is estimated 1 million people will be living with dementia in Australia.
That means there'll be millions of Australian family members demanding quality alternatives that they can trust with their loved ones' final years.
Topics: aged-care, alzheimers-and-dementia, grief, sunshine-3020, melbourne-3000
First postedWhy Is The Eiffel Tower Famous?
Advertisements Eiffel Tower is the symbol of Paris and France. It is one of the most recognized structures in the world and since its construction in 1889, over 200,000,000 people have visited it, making the tower the most visited monument in the world. The Eiffel Tower was erected for the Paris Exposition and it was inaugurated by the Prince of Wales who went on to become King Edward VII later on. The tower was entrance arch into the exhibition and it was the most visited site during the Exposition. Seven hundred proposals were submitted in a design competition but it was the radical design of French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel that was unanimously chosen. Eiffel was assisted in the design by two engineers, Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nougier, and architect Stephen Sauvestre. However, all was not okay for the winning design. Some 300 people signed a petition to prevent the city government from constructing the tower. Some famous personalities like Guy de Maupassant, Emile Zola and Charles Garnier also signed the petition. They felt that the Eiffel Tower would be useless and monstrous, and it endangered French art and history. The tower was ultimately built and it was given out for a 20-year lease. However, when the lease expired in 1909, it was nearly torn down but its antenna saved it as it was used for telegraphy. The tower also played an important role in capturing the infamous spy Mata Hari during World War I. After this, it gained acceptance among the French. Beginning of 1910, it became a part of the International Time Service and the French Radio has been using the tower since 1918. The French Television started using the height of the tower from 1957. The controversy surrounding its construction and the use of the Eiffel Tower has made it extremely famous. Today this fantastic structure of iron and rivets is iconic symbol of Paris and people from all over the world come to Paris just to marvel at this man-made wonder. More Articles :Tom Brady and the Patriots open the NFL season Thursday night by hosting the Chiefs. (Reinhold Matay/USA Today)
The NFL season begins Thursday night in Foxborough, Mass., with what is supposed to be a dual commemoration of the on-field prowess of the New England Patriots. They and their fans are to celebrate last season’s fifth Super Bowl triumph during the reign of Coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady. Then the Patriots will embark on what some believe could be the first 19-0 season in NFL history.
And, oh yeah, the Kansas City Chiefs are scheduled to be on hand at Gillette Stadium, also. It’s pretty much a requirement for an NFL game that an opponent is present.
[Preseason NFL Rankings: The Patriots have lapped the field]
But is there any realistic chance that the Chiefs could spoil the Patriots’ opening night party?
Actually, there is.
Can the Chiefs’ pass rush get to Tom Brady on Thursday night? (Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
“It’s a big game and it’s an important one,” Brady said during his weekly meeting with reporters. “You know, we’re playing one of the best teams in the AFC. Last year, they were the second seed [in the AFC playoffs]. They try to make this game big. They get good teams playing, and we know we’re going to have to play a great game in order to win.”
The Chiefs have some history of providing early-season misery for Brady and the Patriots.
In 2008, Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury on a hit by Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard on opening day. In 2014, Brady threw two interceptions and was replaced by backup Jimmy Garoppolo in an ugly 41-14 defeat at Kansas City in a Monday night game that dropped the Patriots’ record to 2-2 and prompted speculation that the beginning of the end of Brady’s tenure as an all-time-great might be at hand.
That was two Super Bowl victories ago for Brady and the Patriots. Brady has pretty much ended all debate as to which quarterback is the best ever. It’s him. That is virtually indisputable at this point.
[Does Julian Edelman’s season-ending knee injury give the rest of the NFL a chance against the Patriots?]
Yet, even at age 40 and with all those accomplishments piled so high, there will be opening night jitters Thursday, Brady said this week.
“I think everybody does,” Brady said. “Everyone works hard, and it’s very unpredictable. You never know what’s going to happen. We as players feel like that, too. We’re prepared. We’re confident. But you’ve still got to go out there and do it. And you’ve got to do it against a team that you’ve studied but not much this year … Yeah, there will definitely be nerves and being anxious. But that’s part of football. And once you get out there and start going, those things calm down.”
The key to having a chance to beat the Patriots, as always, is having pass rushers who can bother Brady — hit him regularly, disrupt his rhythm and put him on the move. The Chiefs have that in Justin Houston and Dee Ford. They also have standout players in their secondary in cornerback Marcus Peters and safety Eric Berry.
“They’re very explosive and really force the ball out of your hands quick because they get a good rush,” Brady said. “And then their playmakers in the secondary have eyes on the quarterback and they’re trying to make plays, too … They’ve got a lot of playmakers. That’s why they’ve forced that many turnovers. That’s why they’re so complementary as a team. You know, they get the turnovers. They score points. They get a lead. They rush the quarterback — strip sacks, turnovers — and it just keeps going. Hopefully we can get off to a fast start like we always talk about. But it’s a very challenging team.”
The primary objective on offense for the Chiefs could be for quarterback Alex Smith to find ways to get the football into the hands of second-year wide receiver Tyreek Hill. The speedster had a dozen touchdowns last season as a rookie — six on catches, three on rushing attempts, two on punt returns and one on a kickoff return.
“He’s a tough guy to defend,” Belichick said at a news conference this week. “Tackling is an issue when he gets the ball. Sometimes they throw it to him. Sometimes they hand it to him. Sometimes he gets it on a kick return. He can get it in a lot of different ways, and it involves a lot of different players that might have to deal with him in one way or another. It’s a lot of stress on your team. It’s not like you just match up one guy on him. Every guy on the team basically in the kicking game or on defense might have to deal with this player. Yeah, he’s fast. He’s quick and he’s a big playmaker.”
[Tom Brady and the Patriots could recreate 2007, with Brandin Cooks playing the role of Randy Moss]
Can the Patriots make this 2007 all over again and threaten a perfect season? That remains to be seen. For now, what matters is their bid to be 1-0.
“It’s great that we’re here,” Brady said. “I think all the players look forward to this [opening] weekend. It’s a long offseason. It’s a lot of preparation and it’s for this game. When the schedule comes out, you’ve got this first game is the only one you’re really looking at and all the preparation — everything’s building for this week. It goes for both sides. I’m sure they’re looking forward to it, too. I’m excited for this year and to see if all the hard work we put in could amount to something.”
With the Patriots, it usually does.
More on the NFL:
The NFL’s best defensive player may sit out indefinitely, and no one is talking about it
Poll: Nine in 10 sports fans say NFL brain injuries are a problem
Kaepernick remains unemployed, and that’s a bad look for the NFL
NFL and NFLPA dispute Gisele’s diagnosis that Brady had a concussion in 2016
The best and worst fantasy football matchups for NFL Week 1Tests by ComplainTV, a researched group funded by the EU, have run some tests and found out that while Samsung TVs do a good job at reducing power consumption during efficiency tests, those results don't really hold up in the real world.
According to The Guardian, the issue has to do with Samsung TVs' "motion lighting" feature, which is designed to reduce screen brightness when there's a lot of motion on screen, saving power. Evidently, it activates during power efficiency tests much more often than it does in real life. The European commission is set to investigate whether this is intentional.
Obviously, there are comparisons to be drawn with VW which was recently discovered to be cheating emissions tests with nearly half a million of its diesel-powered cars. Samsung insists this situation is different because motion lighting is a standard, public feature and just happens to activate a lot during testing. A Samsung spokesperson put it this way in a statement to The Guardian:
There is no comparison. This is not a setting that only activates during compliance testing. On the contrary, it is an 'out of the box' setting, which reduces power whenever video motion is detected. Not only that, the content used for testing energy consumption has been designed by the international electrotechnical commission to best model actual average picture level internationally.
Whether motion lighting is specifically designed to cheat power efficiency tests or not, the discrepancy at least proves that the tests aren't accurate. And the more this happens, the more you have to wonder if any of them are.
Source: The Guardian via GizmodoIt's been more than seven days since the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and what a week it's been! We've had #SadAffleck, compelling box office reports, and arguments aplenty about the future of the DC Films Universe. However, we've also been subjected to a lot of rather annoying complaints about how this movie panned out, many of which are as dumb as they are nonsensical. Now, I'm not denying that Batman v Superman didn't have issues, but these weren't among them!
That's why I've decided to take a closer look at some of the worst Batman v Superman nitpicks from those who either just had it in for the movie or seemingly couldn't understand what director Zack Snyder was going for. A box office hit and critical flop, this is one release which people will be talking about for a long time to come (to call it even more divisive than Man of Steel would be an understatement), but what you'll find here are the biggest complaints which don't need addressing.
5. "MAAAAARTHA!"
One of the most baffling claims about Batman v Superman is that the two heroes only stopped fighting because their mothers share the same name. That's not it at all, especially as Snyder spends the whole movie toying with Bruce's feelings about his parents; with that in mind, why wouldn't he recoil at the mention of someone he's been having nightmares and visions about?
Still, it apparently just doesn't make sense that Clark would say "Martha", even though he's trying to give Batman crucial information about the woman Lex Luthor is holding hostage, something shouting, "Mommy!" wouldn't acheive. Learning that the alien he's about to kill is as human as he is, Batman sees the error of his ways and spares Superman, but this has frustratingly gone over the heads of most.
Next
4. "Superman Is A Murderer...Batman Too!"
This version of Batman is a killer, but it's fairly obvious that he only takes down those trying to end his or other people's lives, something pretty much every big screen version of the character - including Christopher Nolan's - has done. One of the worst questions being asked is if Batman kills his enemies, why hasn't he murdered The Joker? Who gives a f**k!
More interesting though is Superman. While this isn't the flag waving goody two shoes many would have preferred, Cavill's Man of Steel is a far more interesting character, but also another killer, right? Wrong. While the scene in which he plows a terrorist through a wall is being widely discussed, we never see him do the deed, but if he did, does it matter? His "victim" was a was moments away from adding Lois to his long list of victims.
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3. "It's No Fun!"
I can' help but think that one of the main reasons Batman v Superman received such poor reviews is that the past few years of Marvel movies have conditioned critics into thinking that those are what a superhero movie should be. Ant-Man, Iron Man 3, and Guardians of the Galaxy are all action comedies with some serious bits thrown in, and while I liked/loved them, there's nothing wrong with sticking to a more serious tone as Batman v Superman does.
For starters, it's something new, but nope, it's apparently joyless and just not fun at all. How anyone could find a movie featuring these two icons fighting not "fun" is beyond me, while it's worth noting that Terrio throws in some great one liners and moments of wit throughout courtesy of characters like Alfred Pennyworth and Perry White.
Back Next
2. "Lex Luthor's Plan Makes No Sense!"
Lex Luthor has been one of Batman v Superman's biggest talking points this week, and while I can appreciate that Jesse Eisenberg's take on the character isn't to everyone's liking, what's so hard to understand about his plan?
I'm not denying that it feels like a tad too much of it ended up on the cutting room floor, but we really didn't need scenes dedicated to showing how he learned Batman and Superman's secret identities, especially when it's obvious in the latter's case and he's had twenty years to work out who the former really is. As for Doomsday, that creation if clearly unleashed as a last resort by Luthor, and while I've seen write ups pointing to it not making any sense that Lex would unleash him on Metropolis, Lex is nuts and just wants Superman dead at this stage, so it mostly works.
Back NextImage copyright Beds Police Image caption Michael Grimes pleaded guilty to 17 counts of child sexual abuse over a 40-year period
A 70-year-old child abuser whose crimes were labelled "vile, despicable, and perverted" has been jailed for more than 20 years.
Michael Grimes, of Croft Green, Dunstable, pleaded guilty to 17 counts of child sexual abuse over a 40-year period.
Luton Crown Court heard his offending including making images of babies being abused.
He will serve 23 years in prison and put on a sexual harm prevention order.
Image copyright Beds Police Image caption Police found a number of recording devices when they raided Grimes' home
His home was raided by police in July 2016 and officers found a number of devices including a miniature covert recording device.
These devices were found to contain more than 4,600 indecent images of children and babies - including almost 1,000 of the most severe category.
Police dealt with four of those abused during their investigation.
Sentencing Grimes, Judge Michael Kay QC said his actions were not only "vile, despicable, and perverted" but went "beyond normal human comprehension".
Image copyright Beds Police Image caption Paul Baddeley, of Bedfordshire Police, said the investigation involved "one of the worst cases of child sexual abuse" he had "ever dealt with"
Paul Baddeley, of Bedfordshire Police, said: "This is one of the worst cases of child sexual abuse that I have ever dealt with.
"Grimes sexually abused four young girls on multiple occasions.
"His abusing then evolved with the digital age with the viewing and creating of horrific indecent images of children and babies."
The NSPCC said: "Grimes' horrific campaign of abuse will have left untold suffering on his victims who have showed tremendous courage in speaking out and helping to put him behind bars."
He admitted 12 counts of inciting a girl under the age of 14 to commit an act of gross indecency, two counts of assaulting a girl under the age of 13 by touching and three counts of making indecent images of children.American fugitive Paul Jackson was arrested in Mexico on Monday, 25 years after he was indicted for rape and kidnapping in Oregon.
He was was arrested Monday in Mexico by Mexican authorities and the U.S. Marshals Service, reports CBS affiliate KOIN in Portland.
Jackson had been living in Mexico under the name Paul Bennett Hamilton, U.S. Marshals spokesman Eric Wahlstrom said, and his arrest was the result of a tip received by authorities after CNN aired an episode of the crime show "The Hunt" with John Walsh that highlighted his case.
"It's what started this," Wahlstrom told CNN. "It was a specific tip that came in right after (the episode) aired that led authorities to him in Guadalajara."
According to police, Jackson and his brother, Vance Roberts, kidnapped women off the streets of Portland and kept them in chains and sexually assaulted them in Roberts' home for days. Though police believe there may be more victims, they know of Michaelle Dierich, kidnapped at age 20 in 1988, and Andrea Hood, kidnapped at age 17 in 1990.
"The house was like a house of horrors, it was like a dungeon," victim Andrea Hood told KOIN in a 1990 interview. "They kept me chained to the bed, my hands handcuffed to each corner, they had guns laying around."
In the interview, Hood recalled having a pillowcase thrown over her head before she was shoved in a van and driven to the house.
"They had bars on the windows, they kept telling me if I screamed nobody would hear me," she previously said.
Roberts surrendered in 2006 and was convicted in 2007. He is serving a 108-year prison sentence.
Hood escaped the brothers after 36 hours of repeated sexual assaults, The Oregonian newspaper reports, and, soon after, police searched Roberts' home to find items including chains and a soundproofing project underway in the bedroom. They also found the restraints and photos of other girls in bondage. A Portland police officer recognized one of the photos of a prostitute who had reported being kidnapped in 1988. After she was held and assaulted for a week, the men dropped her off in northeast Portland.
The brothers were arrested in 1990, but according to The Oregonian, they vanished after their mother bailed them out of jail while awaiting trial in 1991.
"There was always that hope in the back of my mind that he'll get caught," Hood told The Oregonian after news of Jackson's arrest. "I think there will be some definite healing that's able to happen now."Caught in the middle now is the |
can be picked up to restore 25-65 mana and reduce his cool downs by one second.
H29 Evolution Turrets
* Remade: Turrets now have both a short range machine gun attack and a long range skillshot energy blast attack. Turrets require ammo to function and can be recharged by standing near them.
* Turret health rescaled to 100 ( +0.15 AP) from 260 + 15 per heimerdinger level.
* Turrets now gain 3 armor and MR per Heimerdinger level.
* Turret placement range increased to 450 from 250.
* Turret base damage reduced to 24/30/36/42/48 (+.015 ap )
* Turret attack speed reduced to.9 from 1.
* Turret sight radius decreased by 33%
* Turret Range reduced to 450 from 550.
* Mana cost fixed to 80 from 70/80/90/100/110
* Maximum parts are 1/1/2/2/3 from 2/2/2/2/2
* Part Recharge Timer is 26/22/18/14/10 from 20
* Turrets now have an alternate attack : Energy Blast that fires every 9 seconds ( reducable by CDR )
* Energy Blasts do 72/90/108/126/144(+.45) with 200 AoE and have 850 range.
* Placed Turrets have 80% of the energy blast charge.
* Turrets now have ammo which is reduced every shot. Ammo can be recharged by standing near turrets.
* Turret maximum increased to 3.
* Turret AI overhauled.
Hextech Starburst Rockets
* Remade: Now fires a circle of 10 rockets that fly towards your cursor. Units can be hit by more than one rocket
* Rockets now do 40/65/90/115/140(+.3) from 40/60/80/100/120(+.4)
* Rockets now have 40% damage fall off, down from 50%
* Rockets Minimum damage is now 20% up from 15%
* Mana Cost now 80/90/100/110/120 from 60/70/80/90/100
CH-2 Electron Burst Grenade
* Missle Speed increased to 1000 from 800.
* Stun Radius increased to 200 from 190.
* Total Radius increased to 350 from 40.
* Now no longer blinds, instead it slows by 40%
* Durrection oc CC effect now 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2
* Evolution Turret within 450 range of the blast zone are healed for damage grenade would deal, get full ammo, and gain 80% of energy blast charge.
* Mana cost now 80/90/100/110/120 from 60/70/80/90/100
OVERTIME!!!
* Remade: Now Overtime!!! makes your next spell free and greatly increases the effectiveness of that spell
* Passive still grants 10/15/20% Cooldown reduction based on level.
* Mana cost is now 150/125/100
* Cooldown is now 100/80/60
* Makes Next spell free
* Greatly magnifies the effect of your next spell.
* H-29 Turrets: Places 3 turrets in a fan pattern.
* Starburst Rockets : Launches 3 waves of 10 missles each.
* Ch-2 Electron Burst Grenade: Launches 5 grenades in a cross pattern.
Xypherous
Nothing
I get lots of emails every day. A few of them tell me how cool the blog is, others tell me about emerging news, and the rest of them usually tell me about the legions of typos that plague my blog posts. Sometimes though, I get aemails. I happened to receive a special email yesterday containing some information on a rework forBefore I get too far into this, I'd like to explain a little known place within the League of Legends community -, orfor short..is, according to the League of Legends wiki, "a private server where tentative and experimental changes are tested and iterated on. It was originally called the Private Test Realm (PTR)". You can visit it yourself but you will not be able to delve any deeper than the landing page. To access it, you need to be either a Riot Games employee or a hand picked member of the community ( estimated to only be around 40-50 members at any given time ). I don't have access, odds are you don't have access, and the vast majority of players do not have access. We don't really know much about whats in there, save for very, VERY scarce mentions on the forums ; for example,when talking about play testing the upcomingrework a few months ago.Myemail was from someone inside, someone with access to all of this delicious work in progress information and someone who decided to share it.While all those forum topics and QoL threads are interesting, they are not the main focus of this particular blog post. That honor is reserved for a screen cap of a specific post, a post that happens to contain information on the longawaitedrework!Here is a recap of the image's contents:We've knownandbeen chugging away at arework for months and if you search for "" in these EUW and EUNE posts, you can see small inklings about the planned changes - smarter turrets turrets and his ult being the primary focus of the remake, and changes to all of his abilities, yet no completely new ones. All of these posts mesh with the above rework, but my source assures me that they are only about midway through tweaking his kit ( numbers, ratios, ranges, whatever ). For the millionth time, I'd also utilize this time to remind you these changes are not final or concrete in anyway. As evidence of how dramatically prototype information can change, I submit the difference Shurelia's Evelynn prototype, a game designer who has since left Riot, and the actual Evelynn rework that was recently revealed.So what should the community do with this new, very hush hush knowledge?! You should enjoy it for what it is and hope that it survives testing long enough to make it to live. If you took the time to read the beginning of the post, you saw that I mentioned thatwas a place forandchanges. Anything and everything couldbetween now and whenever Riot feels comfortable releasing details about the new kit.So, if this information is, why even bother to share it? I'm sharing it because I think it's cool. I think it's really cool. It's probably one of the most interesting remakes we've seen yet. They took, a notoriously hard to balance and certainly underplayed champion, and made him more awesome while retaining the same flavor and play style he currently has. The new ultimate alone gives him a ludicrous amount of viability and utility - sustained damage, burst damage, or an AoE CC.On the morality of the secretive PTR being cracked open, I generally feel leaks can be fun and they can show whats coming down the pipeline, instilling hope and renewing the interest of the community. I've never been reserved about posting them before, but I did mull over releasing this one for a while. In the end I came to the decision to post it because it's what I would like to read about as a player.The French television program toco toco began streaming its interview with veteran animator Manabu Oohashi (Ashita no Joe, Unico in the Island of Magic, Robot Carnival) on Tuesday. In video, Oohashi takes viewers to Laputa Cinema, a theater that specializes in classic films and the Laputa Art Animation School where Oohashi teaches courses to beginners.
Oohashi began working for Toei Animation immediately after junior high and has been in the industry for over half a century.
One of his works include the 1992 film Chibi Neko Tom no Daibōken, which was never released after the production and distribution company involved with the film went bankrupt. Staff members included the late director Ryutaro Nakamura ( Serial Experiments Lain ), art director Hiromasa Ogura, sound director Shigeharu Shiba, composer Kenji Kawai with cast members Toshiko Fujita, Masako Nozawa, and Minami Takayama. Oohashi served as animation director for the project.
The staff launched a crowdfunding campaign in March to raise 1,000,000 yen (US$8,096) to create a 35mm remaster and ultimately release it on Blu-ray. The campaign was ultimately successful, raising nearly three times its goal for a total of 2,927,000 yen (US$23,698).
toco toco also interviewed award-winning anime art director Shichiro Kobayashi and Urotsukidoji creator Toshio Maeda.Gagauzia, small autonomous territory in southern Moldova, three cities, dozen of villages and no more than two hundred thousand inhabitants. Fields, meadows, garbage and fallow lands. What is interesting about Gagauzia? Can it offer anything for an average tourist? Monuments of nature, centuries-old sights? Not really. The reason for this region’s uniqueness is its geopolitical situation. It is one of the arenas where the powers of East and West collide and recently its the East who is taking the lead.
Way to autonomy
Gagauz are the small, strongly pro-Russian oriendted, nation whose culture and history we wanted to learn about. Their political choices can soon change the balance of power in Europe. But let’s start from the beginning.
Gagauz came to Bessarabia at the end of 18th century from Dobruja, a historic region by the Black Sea. Where did they come from? Historians have different opinions, main hypothesis indicates their Turkish roots but on the other hand they cannot exclude their Slavic origins. One thing is sure – in 14th and 15th centuries on their original lands there was an Oghuz Turks state, which hallmark was a grey wolf, recognized today as one of the symbols of Gagauzia. The country disappeared from world maps conquered by the Ottoman Empire. After arriving to Bessarabia Gagauz, despite many attempts, did not set up their own country. Most important events took place in relation to Russian revolution of 1905 and in 1906 the Republic of Comrat was proclaimed. Although uprising lasted only for 5 days, it is the basic event for Gagauz identity until today.
Further history of Gagauzia was a constant connection with USSR and the next turining point happened in 1988. They established a discussion club “Gagauz People” which later on turned into a political movement. Next it went really quickly and in 1990 they proclaimed the Republic of Gagauzia, still as a part of USSR but an independent of Moldovan SSR. After the Soviet Union collapsed Gagauz stayed within the borders of the Republic of Moldova but already in 1994 they created the Autonomous Territory of Gagauzia. Final shape was given to the region a year later, on the basis of the decision taken in referendum of Comrat being a capital city of this new formation.
Gagauzia today
Today we can easily reach Gagauzia. Road from Chisinau is full of craters, sometimes asphalt is missing at all, but in general the road is passable. Formal border does not exist and if you miss the sign, you might not even realise that you just entered the territory of Gagauzia.
Finally we reached the capital city – Comrat. Here is located the Parliament of the autonomy and the Governor of Gagauzia has his seat. We have no idea how it happened but instead at the main street of the city we ended up near located aside Comrat State University. Quite sybmolic. The University is the pride of Gagauzia but although it is an important element of their identity, teaching language is Russian. Why not Gagauz? The reason for it is long-term russification during USSR era and the fact that the history of written Gagauz is very short. Until the end of 19th century Gagauz was only a spoken language. It changed in the 50’s of 20th century when Cyryllic was adapted for writing it and it’s teaching at schools started. Very quickly they came back to Russian. In 1993 Moldovan Parliament adopted for Gagauz new orthography based on Latin alphabet and currently Gagauz is obligatory in primary schools. Despite the fact that it is used by such small community, the language has two dialects.
Coming back to university – the building and in particular its campus is very impressive what is due to Turks who financially support its development and operation and send their students to learn in Comrat. Why Turks? Because the are the closest related nation to them. Although the fact that Gagauz are Orthodox Christians and Turks represent the Islam world the dialog between two nations is continued. After the collapse of USSR, when Gagauz were building the fundaments of their statehood, Turkey supported them not only politically but also in the matter of culture. Nevertheless the greatest sympathy of Gagauz is directed towards Russian Federation and Transnistria.
In the center of Comrat
Central point of the city is the building of Parliament which actually did not impress us too much. The only thing that attracted our attention was located right next to it the monument of Vladimir Lenin. After a short stay in Bessarabia we were already aware that there are still many outward signs of this area’s previous belonging to USSR block. The seat of Parliament and Governor of Gagauzia office, are the center of statehood of the nation being in continuous conflict with Chisinau. Key decisions for autonomy were taken here in 2014. In opposition to the central government Gagauzia run the voting in which most of people decided that their land should aim for independence, integration within the Eurasian Union and separation from Moldova if it looses its full independence. Chisinau does not accept neither the fact of referendum nor its reslult. Situation is also strategically used by Russians – after Chisinau signed Associacion Agreement with EU Russia banned import of their fruits and wines excluding the ones from Gagauzia territory. It surely strengthen Gagauz relation with RF and their desire to secede from Moldova.
Our next steeps we turned to St. John’s Church, in fact the only historic sight in Comrat. Yellow structure is well visible in mostly grey colour of the city. It supposedly is richly decorated insight but since it was closed we did not get to see it.
It is worth to see also a nearby Historical – Ethnographic Museum. Because Ola first saw a great playground right next to the church and after intense play and some games with a new Gagauz friend she became hungry we decided to look for some place with regional food. We gave it up quickly as we haven’t fount anything like that in the city center and ended up in one of restaurants in the Central Park of Comrat. It is quite common for developing countries that it is easier to get there some pizza or a hot-dog than something of local food. Our waiter did not have any idea which of their wines were produced in Gagauzia. Finally we reached for some Transnistrian brandy and a fruit coctail. But the most important thing was to feed Ola. It is completely clear that hungry Ola is mad Ola and mad Ola is the worst thing that can happen to us not only in Comrat but in every other place in the world. Thankfully, despite the fact that they had no high chair and nothing in menu suitable for one-year-old baby, Ola left the place with full stomach. Somewhere deep in our bags we always have a baby dinner in the jar that lets us survive any situation. Actually this always is our first choice. Whole park makes a nice impression: unfortunate but at least even Baum type brick, new playgroung for kids, working fountain and few european style restaurants. All that and especially the playground was loved by our daughter.
And the city itself? We had mixed feelings – provincial town, shopping centers contrasting with surrounding poverty. Right next Gagauz flags you can see Russian ones, in their cars people tie black and orange St. George’s bands, here and there posters of Vladimir Putin. Nothing tells that this area still belongs to Moldova. In the restaurant we ate we heard important sentense, probably true one, that even the wine does not unite Comrat and Chisinau any more. The date of one of the major Moldovan holidays, the Wine Festival, was changed in Comrat for the week later than in Chisinau.
Walk through the streets of the city was not easy, beside main arteries sidewalks tend to fall apart. Landscape of the city are shopping centers contrasting disintegrating wooden houses. Streets names and stores signs are in Russian. Except for official signs it’s hard to find Moldovan language. In fact not even Moldovan but Romanian because in 2013 Constitutional Court of Moldova decided that country’s official language will be Romanian and the name “Moldovan language” will be used to describe Romanian language spoken in Moldova. Even Wikipedia closed Moldovan wersion and supports one for both Romania and Moldova. As our Russian-speaking waiter said Gagauz have their own Wikipedia in their national language! We seemed to hear only Russian on the streets of the city but they say that Gagauz is still being used in the country.
Gagauz country
We haven’t found too many signs of Gagauzia in Comrat and counting to meet some in always more conservative country we left the city and headed to the country. First thing we noticed leaving Comrat was garbage everywhere. It’s on the fields, along the roads, sometimes when driving down a country we seemed to be going throug garbage dump. The trashes are contrasted by fields beautifully green in the summer. Of course the majority of them are wineries.
Outside the capital you won’t miss the poverty which is not so intense in the city. Farming is not well equipped in machines. They are replaced by great inventiveness of local people – we kept on finding strange tractors and other altered machines. Today it is probably the last place in Europe where we can find horse and donkey carts still in use. The most characteristic for all villages are beautifully decorated wells, roadside chapels and modest but with traditional ornaments houses. What is interesting, many villages are sewered but because of high cost people still use water form the wells. It is difficult to understand that even though each house is equipped in telephone, TV and gas, only half of them use running water.
Life focuses around shops and churches. Temples from the outside do not impress that much but all of them are richly decorated inside. We paid attention to those as Orthodox religion is the thing that unites Gagauz people. Today this religion is very popular in Eastern Europe, in the Ottoman era it was an element of national identity. This tradition was not even destroyed by Soviet Union. Currently the state helps to rebuild Orthodox churches what results in many newly renovated temples.
We went to one of Gagauz villages in the south – Avadarma. Complete silence was interrupted only by the bell. Although the church looked really impressive there were only few prayers inside atending the service. It seems that religion is here more like an element of cultural identity than attachement to religion. It is confirmed by researches – more Gagauz declare themselves as Orthodox than as believers. Right next to the church there is a newly-built Memorial of Nazi occupation victims. There are plenty of memorials in whole Gagauzia, some are dedicated to war heroes, people murdered during war or to the glory of the Red Army. In fact not all of them are from USSR times. Some are from earlier period, for example in Vulcanesti there is a big monument commemorating the victory of Russian Empire over the Turks. Monuments can be easily found almost everywhere and make us realize how important is the memory of ancestors and how strong the tradition of building the monuments is in Gagauzia.
Memorials are well cared for, somebody has just changed the flowers. It’s quite strange that in the country which never had its army there are so many monuments to fallen soldiers. Majority of them died during Second World War and the Afghan War. Situation with the army can change very quickly as recently Gagauz parliament decided to create a National Guard, which might be the beginning of such formation. We might only assume what kind of conseqences that could bring. Similar situation took place in 1991 when Gagauz organized a substitute for armed forces, battalion “Budzak” formed of hundreds of volounteers. Moldova threatened to deal with it by force and in reaction to that threat Cremlin representatives with the offer of military support immediately showed up in Comrat. That situation was solved peacefully but in next power struggle in this area Moscow might not give up the possibility of demonstrating its power.
Quo vadis Gagauzia?
What happens next to Gagauzia? It’s hard to say. Only one day after we left the situation changed dramatically. Few days ago there was a change in the position of Comrat mayor. Unexpectedly the election was won by Serghei Anastasov representing pro-Russiand “Our Party” who defeated long-term mayor Nicolai Dudoglo supported among others by “Our Gagauzia”. It seems that voters set the bill to “Our Gagauzia” for joining pro-European Democratic Party of Moldova.
Nicolai Dudoglo also lost election for the Governor of Gagauzia. The post was taken over by supported by Moscow Irina Vlah who sees the future of the region woth close relation with Russia.
Do those events mean the change of Gagauz attitude towards Chisinau? This is what politicians declare but we have to notice that there are also changes taking place in Chisinau. Bescause of allegations of false education Prime Minister of Moldova Chiril Gaburici resigned. Forming the new government by pro-European parties might be difficult and new elections might bring different results. “Our Party” mentioned before, was not allowed to take part in last parliamentary election due to allegations of funding from Moscow but it gets high results in the polls and has just won the mayor’s officein Bielice and Comrat. In relation to recent goverment crisis and banking scandal support for pro-European parties is dropping.
New elections may bring different results, pro-Russian parties success can make Comrat and Chisinau closer but opposite outcome will probably make Gagauz pursue to their independence. So it is definitely worth to visit Moldova soon and remember about Gagauzia because you might hit that moment when the history will change right before your eyes.Photographer Jill Peters has travelled to the remote mountain villages of Albania to capture the extraordinary lives of “Burnesha” – women forced to live their entire lives as men. The result is a fascinating series of portraits of some of the last remaining protagonists of this centuries-old custom
The phenomena of “Sworn Virgins” (Burnesha), women forced to live their lives as men in confinement to their traditional society’s rules dates back to the 15th century Kanun – a set of laws and conduct practices codified by Leke Dukagjini, Albanian prince who fought the Ottoman Empire.
According to the Kanun, women are treated like family property, stripped of the majority of their human rights: they can’t vote in the local elections, can’t buy land and there is a number of jobs for which they’re not allowed to apply for as well as certain village premises where they’re banned from entering. Likewise, under the Kanun, women are not allowed to smoke, drink, drive or wear a watch.
If a woman wishes to be granted all the rights and privileges of the male population, she must effectively become a man, cropping her hair, wearing male clothes and adopting masculine gestures.
The practice of sworn virginhood was first reported by missionaries and anthropologists who travelled to Albanian mountains in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Although very few Burnesha remain, the custom is still practiced in certain remote parts of Albania and Montenegro. According to some reports, Stana Cerovic is the last remaining Sworn Virgin in Montenegro:
For a fictional account of this phenomena, check out Srdjan Karanovic’s Virgina (1991), taking place in an isolated Balkan village by the Adriatic sea:
The photographer Jill Peters explains the motives behind her fascinating project The Sworn Virgins of Albania:
“As a photographer with an interest in subjects that innately speak to the diversity of the human experience I was fascinated with this story. I wanted to capture their portraits before they were gone forever. I travelled to the mountain villages of northern Albania and what I found was a small collection of extraordinary people. I learned that the Burnesha are well respected within their communities. They possess an indescribable amount of strength and pride, and value their family honor above all else. Their absolute transition is wholly accepted, posited and taken without question by the people among whom they live. But most surprising, is they have very few regrets for the great deal they have sacrificed.”Copyright 2019 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Eyewitness News has received the affidavit of probable cause for Terrence Roach.
"I, Detective Brent A. Melton, believe that on or about July 17, 2016, at 403 E. Iowa in Evansville, Indiana, find that the defendant Terrence Roach did commit the crimes of:
Murder
Burglary
Kidnapping
Criminal Confinement
Abuse of Corpse
On July 17, 2017 at approximately 9:15, Central Dispatch received a 911 call from the Beckerle residence at 403 E. Iowa reporting that Aleah Beckerle had been abducted from the residence.
Aleah Beckerle was a 19 year old female that was handicapped and in a wheelchair, unable to walk and only able to utter few words, like "mom".
Aleah was completely dependent upon other's care, requiring to be fed, bathed and needed specific medications for seizures.
Information was provided that she was placed in her bed as usual after being fed on Saturday night, July 16, 2016.
The following morning, the Beckerle family awoke to find her missing and her mother, Cara Beckerle, called 911.
An intense investigation began including a massive crime scene effort and multiple search warrants being issued over the months that followed. The investigation was a massive effort on the part of multiple organizations besides the EPD and FBI.
Searches were completed on well over a hundred locations including vacant homes in the city, creeks, lakes, areas along the Ohio River as well as island between the land of Kentucky and Indiana on the river with the assistance of the Ohio Valley Search and Rescue dog teams.
Ultimately, on Monday, March 27, 2017, a badly decomposed body was found inside of a vacant house at 1628 S. Bedford. This came from information developed after a citizen searching for abandoned property came across the corpse.
An autopsy was completed at the Vanderburgh County Coroners Office on Wednesday, March 29, 2017 by Forensic Pathologist, Dr. Jacobi which was able to confirm that the identity of the corpse was that of Aleah D. Beckerle.
A search warrant was executed on the residence of 1628 S. Bedford, where Aleah was located, by the Evansville Police Crime Scene Unit, who processed and collected evidence on the scene.
The investigation then led to speaking with neighbors around the Bedford residence, which provided the information that Terrence W. Roach had lived next door to the 1628 S. Bedford residence.
Roach was found to be a half brother of a younger sister living in the Beckerle residence with Aleah, which developed him as a person of interest.
On Friday, March 31, 2017, Roach was located and voluntarily came to EPQ headquarters for an interview.
Roach was read his Miranda Rights verbally, which he stated that he understood.
Roach ultimately confessed to the crime, stating that after smoking "Katie" (K2 - synthetic marijuana) that the idea of going and taking Aleah just "popped in his head."
Roach admitted to breaking and entering into a side window of the bedroom belonging to Aleah.
Roach explained that he did this so he "wouldn't wake up his other sisters".
Roach stated that he then picked up Aleah, explaining how he exactly carried her and the advised he put her back out the same window, before picking her back up and placing her into his truck.
Roach admitted to intentionally taking Aleah and then driving her to the vacant house at 1628 S. Bedford, where he intentionally confined her inside.
During this time period, after using duct tape on the victim, Roack reported that Aleah died while in the residence.
Roach then advised that after Aleah had died, he then had sexual intercourse with the corpse.
Detective Thiry assisted with the interview and multiple facts were clarified and confirmed by Roach providing details of his crimes.
Roach was then arrested and then transported and booked into the Vanderburgh County Jail on the listed charges.
A complete Case File will be forwarded to the Vanderburgh County Prosecutors Office at a later time."A top North Korean official has made the first public confirmation that the son of leader Kim Jong Il will succeed his father and become the third generation of his family to lead the nation.
Yang Hyong Sop, a top official in North Korea's ruling party, made the comments to broadcaster APTN in an exclusive interview Friday in the North Korean capital.
Kim Jong Un made his public debut last week after being promoted to four-star general and vice chairman of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea's central military commission. That confirmed analyst speculation that he had been chosen to succeed his ailing father as eventual ruler of the impoverished authoritarian regime that pursues active nuclear and missile programs.
North Korea's succession is being closely watched because of concerns over Kim Jong Il's health. The 68-year-old is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008 and regional powers are concerned about possible instability in the country were he to die without having a firm succession plan in place.
Kim Jong Il took over as North Korea's leader in 1994 when his father, national founder Kim Il Sung, died of heart failure in what became the first hereditary succession in the communist world.
Tuesday's Korean-language report did not specify exactly when the visit took place. Also attending the event were top military officers and other ruling party officials including Jang Song Thaek and his wife, Kim Kyong Hui, who is Kim Jong Il's younger sister.
Jang and Kim Kyong Hui are considered close to Kim Jong Il and are expected to play a key role in ensuring the succession process goes smoothly.
Kim Jong Un was only mentioned in the report as being among the accompanying officials. He was listed third after North Korean Premier Choe Yong Rim and Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army Ri Yong Ho.
Kim Jong Il expressed "great satisfaction over the fact that all the units are fully prepared to beat back in time any surprise enemy invasion and defend the socialist homeland as firm as a rock," KCNA said in a later English-language version of the report.
He also had a photo session with participating army commanders and members of the unit, identified by its numerical designation of 851, KCNA said. The drill was held to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the ruling party, which is to be marked Sunday.
Late Tuesday, North Korean state television broadcast still photos of the drills and of Kim Jong Il shown with others who accompanied him. Kim Jong Un was visible in one of the photos standing two people away from his father in a group picture.
The world got its first glimpse of Kim Jong Un last Thursday, two days after North Korea held its biggest Workers' Party gathering in 30 years. The younger Kim, believed to be in his late 20s, was shown in several group photos taken with his father and other party and military officials and published in the country's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper.
He also was seen Thursday in video footage of the party meeting broadcast on state television in which he was shown applauding with other delegates during a speech lauding his father.
Separately, the South Korean military is preparing to immediately resume full-scale propaganda activities against North Korea in the event of "any new provocations" by the country, Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said Tuesday.
"We plan to put our preparations into action when a political judgment sees the need for us to further pressure the North," he told lawmakers. He spoke a day after saying that Pyongyang may launch provocative acts as it carries out its leadership succession plan and to disrupt a summit of the Group of 20 nations next month in Seoul.
Kim's comments also came after North Korea said last week it might fire artillery at sites in the South from where leaflets criticizing the country are launched by civilian activists using balloon across the heavily fortified border.
In 2004, the rival Koreas ended decades of propaganda campaigns as relations warmed following a landmark summit in 2000. South Korea, however, installed a dozen propaganda loudspeakers along the border as a part of punitive steps taken against the North over the March sinking of a South Korean warship in which 46 sailors died. They have yet to start broadcasting from the speakers.
A multinational investigation led by Seoul concluded in May that a torpedo fired from a North Korean submarine sank the 1,200-ton warship. North Korea has denied involvement.According to multiple reports, the Denver Broncos have showed at least some interest in potential first round quarterback, Paxton Lynch. Back in November, the Broncos were among three teams to contact Lynch's former High School coach to talk about the quarterback.
Paxton Lynch's HS coach says he's received calls from three NFL teams.
--> https://t.co/y3HQGW89Vh pic.twitter.com/RwTJwP0SzC — CollegeFootball 24/7 (@NFL_CFB) November 5, 2015
Lynch's high school coach, Allen Johnson told the Daytona News-Journal that the Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans, and the Denver Broncos have called him up to talk about Lynch.
"The scouts that call me want to know about his character and what type of kid he was," Johnson said. "They're doing their due diligence."
The Broncos have done their due diligence on the incoming quarterback prospects each season under General Manager Elway, so it makes sense that they are continuing that this season. What makes this noteworthy is the potential need at the quarterback position for the Broncos next season.
Peyton Manning is nearing the age of 40 and coming off a Super Bowl victory. It's likely that Manning rides off into the sunset. If not? The Broncos will probably be forced to part ways with the future Hall Of Famer. Either way, he's unlikely to return to the Broncos(Archie agrees with me).
So it makes sense that General Manager John Elway would be doing his homework on the top quarterback prospects in this year's draft.
Lynch's draft stock has been as high as a top five pick to as a low as a late first to early second round selection. So there is a chance that the Broncos could have a chance to draft Lynch at 31 or trade up a handful of spots to get him if needed.
So who is Paxton Lynch?
Quarterback Paxton Lynch, Memphis
Name: Paxton Lynch
Position: Quarterback
Height: 6'7" Weight: 245lbs
Age: 22 Experience: R
College: Memphis
He is a 6'7", 245lb quarterback out of the University of Memphis.
He played three seasons at the University Of Memphis and put up some impressive numbers while there.
He totaled 8,865 yards passing with 59 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. He also added 687 yards rushing with 17 rushing touchdowns.
This past season Lynch played rather well. He threw for 3,778 yards with 28 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. He completed an impressive 67% of his passes. He added 239 yards rushing with 2 more touchdowns.
These numbers are one of the reasons why Lynch is considered a potential first-round prospect in this year's NFL Draft. The other reason is his natural skill set.
Lynch has the size and body type you look for in an NFL quarterback. He has a strong arm, he's athletic, and doesn't make too many mistakes(sacks and interceptions).
With all that said, he probably isn't a day one starter in the NFL. He is a bit of project, and could use some time on the sideline to improve his mechanics and other things.
Strengths:
Very tall, athletic body with the ability to scan over the top. Elite foot quickness for a tall quarterback. Can maneuver quickly out of a busy pocket and away from trouble, but desires to keep passing option alive. Sets up in the pocket quickly and generally keeps feet "throw ready". More functional scrambler than "tuck and run" quarterback. Sacked just 15 times over 477 drop backs. Able to win with his feet when he needs to. Has a quick release to overcome his slight wind-up. Has enough arm to drive the ball into restricted windows. Has enough arm to attack downfield while on the move. Makes good decisions. Rarely takes the cheese when cornerbacks try and bait him. Displays qualities of a field leader and isn't easy to rattle. Yards per attempt have exploded over his last two years. Can gain chunk yards as a zone-read quarterback and will appeal to boot-action teams. Will be challenging to defend in the red area. Took better care of the football cutting turnovers down from 16 last season to just four this year. Completed 54.6 percent on intermediate throws (1120) and 44.9 percent on deep balls (21-plus yards) including 19 touchdowns and just two interceptions.
Weaknesses:
Needs to improve ball placement for catch-and-run throws. Inability to throw with the desired accuracy on the move forced him to leave yards and plays on the field. Must learn to better anticipate routes and stay ahead in the rep. Doesn't quite have the quickness through progressions that he will need in the pros. Has to learn to move defenders around with his eyes to open throwing lanes. At times, crowds targets against the sideline. Needs to stop babying play-action passes and cut them loose. The consistency of arm strength has been overstated. Inconsistent weight transfer in delivery forces him to muscle some throws. Perimeter throws lack velocity and will nosedive on him. His ball comes out with wobble and isn’t always the most catchable. Touch throws over inside linebackers |
2001 to 2009. While many expected the Obama administration to adopt a security policy toward Africa that would be far less militaristic and unilateral than that pursued by his predecessor, the facts show that he is in fact essentially following the same policy that has guided US military involvement in Africa for more than a decade.
The clearest indication of President Obama’s intentions for AFRICOM (United States African Command) and for America’s military involvement in Africa is provided by the budget requests for the 2010 financial year submitted by the Departments of State and Defense to Congress in May 2009. The State Department budget request – which includes funding for all US arms sales, military training, and other security assistance programmes – proposes major increases in funding for US arms sales to a number of African countries through the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programme. The budget proposes to increase FMF funding for sub-Saharan African counties more than 300 per cent, from just over US$8.2 million to more than US$25.5 million, with additional increases in funding for Maghrebi countries. Major recipients slated for increases include Chad (US$500,000), the Democratic Republic of Congo (US$2.5 million), Djibouti (US$2.5 million), Ethiopia (US$3 million), Kenya (US$1 million), Liberia (US$9 million), Morocco (US$9 million), Nigeria (US$1.4 million), South Africa (US$800,000) and the Africa Regional Program (US$2.8 million).
The same trend is evident in the Obama administration's request for funding for the International Military Education and Training (IMET) programme. The budget request for the IMET programme proposes to increase funding for African countries by nearly 17 per cent, from just under US$14 million to more than US$16 million, with additional increases for Maghrebi countries. Major recipients slated for increases include Algeria (US$950,000), Chad (US$400,000), the Democratic Republic of Congo (US$500,000), Djibouti (US$350,000), Ethiopia (US$775,000), Equatorial Guinea (US$40,000), Ghana (US$850,000), Liberia (US$525,000), Libya (US$250,000), Mali (US$350,000), Morocco (US$1.9 million), Niger (US$250,000), Nigeria (US$1.1 million), Rwanda (US$500,000), Senegal (US$1.1 million), South Africa (US$900,000) and Uganda (US$550,000).
The Obama administration also proposes major new funding for security assistance provided through the Peacekeeping Operations programme. The 2010 financial year budget proposes to increase funding for the Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Partnership – from US$15 million in the 2009 financial year to US$20 million in 2010 – and for the East Africa Regional Strategic Initiative from US$5 million in the 2009 financial year to US$10 million in the 2010 financial year.
It also includes US$42 million to continue operations in support of the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Accords (CPAs) in southern Sudan, US$10 million to help create a professional 2,000-member armed force in Liberia, US$21 million to continue operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo to reform the military (including the creation of rapid reaction force for the eastern Congo and the rehabilitation of the military base at Kisangani), and US$3.6 million for the Africa Conflict Stabilization and Border Security Program, which will be used to support monitoring teams, advisory assistance, training, infrastructure enhancements, and equipment in the Great Lakes region, the Mano River region, the Horn of Africa, Chad and the Central African Republic.
And it includes US$67 million to support the African Union mission in Somalia, along with a request for US$96.8 million for the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI). The request for the GPOI includes funding for the African Contingency Operations and Training Assistance Program (ACOTA) – which provides training and equipment to a number of African military forces to enhance their peacekeeping capabilities – and the Obama administration has requested US$96.8 million for ACOTA activities in the 2010 financial year.
Furthermore, the Obama administration’s budget request for International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE) programmes contains US$24 million for Sudan to support the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Accords in southern Sudan and to assist programmes to stabilise Darfur by providing technical assistance and training for southern Sudan’s criminal justice sector and law enforcement institutions as well as contributing to UN civilian police and formed police units in southern Sudan and Darfur. It also includes funds for police reforms in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); for training, infrastructure, and equipment for police units in Liberia; to operate the American-run International Law Academy in Gaborone, Botswana; and to create a Regional Security Training Center for West, Central and North Africa.
And the Obama administration is also asking for funding to be provided through the INCLE programs for the first time to provide security assistance to countries participating in the Trans-Saharan Counter-Terrorism Partnership: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Chad, and Nigeria. Major recipients slated for increases include Algeria (US$970,000), Cape Verde (US$2 million), the Democratic Republic of Congo (US$1.7 million), Ethiopia (US$500,000), Gambia (US$450,00), Ghana (US$500,000), Guinea-Bissau (US$3 million), Liberia (US$8 million), Morocco (US$2 million), Nigeria (US$2 million), Sierre Leone (US$250,000), Sudan (US$24 million), Uganda (US$385,000), and the Africa Regional Program (US$4.5 million).
The Obama administration also proposes to increase funding for counterterrorism programmes. These include the Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program – which provides training to countries throughout the world – the Terrorist Interdiction Program/Personal Identification, Secure Comparison, and Evaluation System Program – which supports identification and watch listing systems to 18 countries (including Kenya) – the Counterterrorism Financing Program, which helps partner countries throughout the world stop the flow of money to terrorists – and the Counterterrorism Engagement Program, which is intended to strengthen ties with key political leaders throughout the world and 'build political will at senior levels in partner nations for shared counterterrorism challenges'. The Obama administration’s budget request requests increased funding for Kenya (from US$5 million in the 2009 financial year to US$8 million in the 2010 financial year), for South Africa (a new programme for US$1 million), and the Africa Regional programme (from almost US$15 million in the 2009 financial year to more than US$20 million in the 2010 financial year).
The Obama administration proposed 2010 budget for the Department of Defense requests US$278 million in operation and maintenance funds to cover the cost of AFRICOM operations and Operation Enduring Freedom-Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Partnership operations at the AFRICOM headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. The administration is also requesting US$263 million to provide additional manpower, airlift and communications support to AFRICOM. In addition, the administration is requesting US$60 million to fund CJTF-HOA operations in the 2010 financial year and US$249 million to pay for the operation of the 500-acre base at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti and for facilities modifications, along with US$41.8 for major base improvement construction projects.
The administration has requested some US$400 million for Global Train and Equip (Section 1206) programmes, some US$200 million for Security and Stabilization Assistance (Section 1207) programmes, and some US$1 million for the Combatant Commander’s Initiative Fund. This money will be used primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan to pay for emergency training and equipment, the services of personnel from the State Department and humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi and Afghani armed forces, but it will be available for the use of AFRICOM as well.
The administration’s budget request also contains US$1.9 billion to buy three littoral combat ships and another US$373 million to buy two joint high speed vessels, ships that will play a crucial role in US Navy operations off the coast of Africa. In addition, the administration has requested US$10.5 million to pay for naval deployments in west and central Africa in the 2010 financial year and another US$10 million for naval operations in east Africa.
When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton travelled to Nigeria during her tour of Africa in August 2009, she met with Ojo Maduekwe, the foreign minister, and Godwin Abbe, the new minister of defence. In her remarks after the meeting, she was asked what the US government intended to do to help the Nigerian government establish stability and security in the Niger Delta. 'Well, the defence minister was present at the second larger meeting that the foreign minister convened,' she said, 'and he had some very specific suggestions as to how the United States could assist the Nigerian government in their efforts, which we think are very promising, to try to bring peace and stability to the Niger Delta. We will be following up on those. There is nothing that has been decided. But we have a very good working relationship between our two militaries. So I will be talking with my counterpart, the secretary of defense, and we will, through our joint efforts, through our bi-national commission mechanism, determine what Nigeria would want from us for help, because we know this is an internal matter, we know this is up to the Nigerian people and their government to resolve, and then look to see how we would offer that assistance.' Thus, in addition to the security assistance programmes in the budget request for the 2010 financial year, the Obama administration is now considering providing even more military support to the Nigerian government for use in the Niger Delta if the current amnesty programme collapses, as many analysts expect, and the government resumes military operations against insurgent forces in this vital oil-producing region (which produces 10 per cent of America’s total oil imports).
Another indication of the Obama administration’s intentions are provided by its decision to expand US military involvement in Somalia as well as its decision to continue the Bush administration’s policy of unilateral military attacks against alleged al-Qaeda operatives in that country. In June 2009, a senior State Department official (presumed to have been Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson) revealed that the Obama administration had initiated a programme of indirect military support for the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia (the internationally recognised government of the country, although it only exercises control over a small part of the capital, Mogadishu) and a few other towns in the southern part of the country).
According to the official, the US government was providing funding to the TFG to finance weapons purchases and had also asked the governments of Uganda and Burundi, which have deployed troops to Mogadishu under an African Union mandate to protect the TFG, to transfer weaponry from their own stockpiles to the armed forces of the TFG in exchange for promises that the US government would reimburse them. In addition, the US government made its base in Djibouti available to other governments for them to provide military training to the armed forces of the TFG.
During her visit to Kenya in August 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the US government would 'continue to provide equipment and training to the TFG', stating'very early in the administration, I made the decision, which the president supported, to accelerate and provide aid to the TFG'. She went on to declare that al-Shabaab, the Islamist insurgent group fighting to overthrow the TFG, was 'a terrorist group with links to al-Qaeda and other foreign military networks' and that they'see Somalia as a future haven for global terrorism'. 'There is no doubt', Secretary Clinton stated 'that al-Shabaab wants to obtain control over Somalia to use it as a base from which to influence and even infiltrate surrounding countries and launch attacks against countries far and near.' Thus, 'if al-Shabaab were to obtain a haven in Somalia, which would then attract al-Qaeda and other terrorist actors, it would be a threat to the United States.'
The US government arranged for the delivery of an initial supply of approximately 40 tonnes of small arms and ammunition worth approximately US$10 million to the TFG between May and August of 2009 from the stockpiles of the African Union peacekeeping force, along with between US$1 million and US$2 million in cash to the TFG to finance its own arms purchase, and the delivery of another 40 tonnes of small arms and ammunition over the following months. A number of other governments – including Kenya, Uganda, Burundi and France – are also reported to have sent military personnel to the US base in Djibouti to provide military training to TFG troops.
According to a report by the Associated Press, American officials'say the US military is not conducting the training and will not put any forces in Somalia'. Other countries were conducting the training, the Associated Press reported, because 'the [Obama] administration is making a concerted effort to avoid putting any American footprint in Somalia, which would risk alienating allies and add to charges by Islamic extremists of a Western takeover.' However, it has since become clear that most of the arms and training has been transferred to al-Shabaab, either by Islamic militants who had infiltrated the TFG military forces or as a result of the sale of the weapons and ammunition on the black market.
Then, in August, US Special Forces troops attacked and killed Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, an alleged al-Qaeda operative who was accused of being involved in the bombing of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998 as well as other al-Qaeda operations in east Africa. The US Special Forces troops carried out the attack from onboard several helicopters that had been launched from a US Navy warship off the Somali coast, using machine guns and automatic assault rifles to strafe a convoy of four-wheel drive vehicles carrying Nabhan and his retinue. Following the initial assault, the helicopters landed so that their troops could seize Nabhan’s body for positive identification. It is likely that the Obama administration will conduct further military operations in Somalia since, in the words of Vice Admiral Robert Moeller, the deputy commander of AFRICOM, 'the threat posed by al-Shabaab is something that we pay very, very close attention to.'
And in October 2009, the Obama administration announced a major new security assistance package for Mali that was delivered on 20 October 2009. The package – valued at US$4.5 to US$5 million (2.3 billion CFA) and which includes 37 Land Cruiser pickup trucks, communication equipment, replacement parts, clothing and other individual equipment – is intended to enhance Mali's ability to transport and communicate with internal security (counter-insurgency) units throughout the country and control its borders. The security assistance package is officially known as the 'Counter Terrorism Train and Equip' (CTTE) programme. Although ostensibly intended to help Mali deal with potential threats from AQIM (al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb), it is more likely to be used against Tuareg insurgent forces.
In addition, between April and June of 2009, 300 US Special Forces personnel were deployed to Mali to train Malian military forces at three local bases and, according to Lt Col Louis Sombora, deputy commander of Mali's 33rd Parachute Regiment (which was the recipient of the new US military aid package), more than 95 per cent of his soldiers have received US military training. And in early November 2009, US Air Force Brigadier General Michael W. Callan, vice commander of the US Air Force Africa (the Air Force contingent based in Europe and dedicated to AFRICOM), visited Mali along with other US military personnel in order to inspect local military forces (including the 33rd Parachute Regiment) and tour local military facilities. According to Lt Col Marshall Mantiply, defense attaché at the US Embassy in Bamako, 'we are working with the Mali ministry of defence on a ten-year plan' to enhance the country's military capabilities.
The aid package to Mali is just the latest instance of America’s growing military involvement in the Sahel region. In his testimony before the Senate subcommittee on Africa hearing on 'Counter-terrorism in the Sahel' on 17 November 2009, Secretary of State for Africa Johnnie Carson identified Mali – along with Algeria and Mauritania – as one of the 'key countries' in the region for the US counterterrorism strategy. 'We believe that our work with Mali to support more professional units capable of improving the security environment in the country will have future benefits if they are sustained', he stated.
It is clear, therefore, that President Barack Obama has decided to follow the path marked out for AFRICOM by the Clinton and Bush administrations, based on the use of military force to ensure that America can satisfy its continuing addiction to oil and to deal with the threat posed by al-Qaeda and other Islamist extremist groups, rather than to chart a new path passed on a partnership with the people of Africa and other countries that have a stake on the continent (including China) to promote sustainable economic development, democracy and human rights in Africa and a global energy order based on the use of clean, safe and renewable resources.
This is the consequence of two factors. To begin with, President Obama genuinely believes in the strategy of the global 'War on Terror' and thinks that Africa must be a central battlefield in America’s military campaign against al-Qaeda and other Islamist extremist groups. Many analysts believe that terrorism does not constitute a significant threat to America’s national security interests and that it would be far more effective to treat terrorism as a crime and to reduce the threat of terrorism by employing traditional law enforcement techniques. But, as demonstrated by the president’s decision to escalate US military operations in Afghanistan, Somalia and Mali, the Obama administration is determined to use military force instead, despite the fact that – as US military analysts argue – this only helps to strengthen terrorist groups and jeopardises other US security interests.
And with regard to America’s growing dependence on African oil supplies, President Obama understands the danger of relying upon the importation of a vital resource from unstable countries ruled by repressive, undemocratic regimes and the necessity of reducing America’s reliance on the use of oil and other non-renewable sources of energy. But, for understandable reasons, he has concluded that there is simply very little that he can do to achieve this goal during the limited time that he will be in office. He knows that it will take at least several decades to make the radical changes that will be necessary to develop alternative sources of energy, particularly to fuel cars and other means of transportation (if this is even technically feasible). And he knows that – in the meantime – public support for his presidency and for his party depends on the continued supply of reliable and relatively inexpensive supplies of gas and other petroleum-based energy to the American people, more than any other single factor. In the event of a substantial disruption in the supply of oil from Nigeria or any other major African supplier, he realises that he will be under irresistible political pressure to employ the only instrument that he has at his disposal – US military forces – to try to keep Africa’s oil flowing.
Professional military officers also know that the repressive, undemocratic regimes upon which the United States relies to maintain oil production are likely to fail and that they are almost certain to find themselves sent into combat in Africa – whether they like it or not – if this leads to a major disruption of oil exports, and are already working on plans for direct military intervention in Africa. Thus, in May 2008, the Army Training and Doctrine Command, the Special Operations Command, and the Joint Forces Command conducted a war game scenario for Nigeria during war game exercise that it conducts each year at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
The scenario – set in the hypothetical year 2013 – was designed to test the ability of the United States to respond to a crisis in Nigeria in which the Nigerian government fragments and rival factions within the Nigerian military begin fighting for control of the Niger Delta, creating so much violence and chaos that it would be impossible to continue oil production. The participants concluded that there was little the United States could do to bring about a peaceful resolution of the conflict and that, in the end, they would probably be ordered to send up to 20,000 American troops into the Niger Delta in what the participants clearly recognised would be a futile attempt to get the oil flowing again. The fact that the participants in the Nigerian war games decided to go public with this information suggests that they believe that this scenario is likely to become a reality in the near future and that their only hope of avoiding this is to tell the public in the hope that this will prevent the order from being issued.
But the professional military officers who would actually have to lead their troops into Africa are not the only people who understand that America’s reliance on the military to solve the energy dilemma and the threat of terrorism is a dangerous mistake. Members of the US Congress are also increasingly sceptical about this strategy and are beginning to give AFRICOM the critical scrutiny it deserves. Moreover, a number of concerned organisations and individuals in the United States and in Africa came together in August 2006 to create the Resist AFRICOM campaign in order to educate the American people about AFRICOM and to mobilise public and congressional opposition to the new command. The Resist AFRICOM campaign will continue to press the Obama administration to abandon its plan for AFRICOM and to pursue a policy toward Africa based on a genuine partnership with the people of Africa, international cooperation, democracy, human rights and sustainable economic development.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS
* Daniel Volman is the director of the Association of Concerned Africa Scholars. He is a specialist on US military policy in Africa and African security issues and has been conducting research and writing on these issues for more than 30 years.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at Pambazuka News.London's iconic Selfridges Oxford Street department store, known for revolutionizing fashion that left lasting impacts on British society, is set to stock its shelves with unisex clothing.
The high-end store is nixing its separate men and women's departments and will instead have three floors of unisex clothing, according to The Daily Mail. Some of the brands featured will include KTZ, Trapstar and Hood By Air.
Selfridges isn't stopping at clothing. The store will also say farewell to its current mannequins and revamp its beauty products and accessories.
"We want to take our customers on a journey where they can shop and dress without limitations or stereotypes," Selfridges told The Times Of London. "A space where clothing is no longer imbued with directive gender values, enabling fashion to exist as a purer expression of'self.'''
Bravo, Selfridges!Deal4Today Deal4Today
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log in To use Wish Lists, please Print this PageWikiLeaks has revealed secret Saudi Arabian influence in Arabic media and Islamic religious groups in Australia as well as covert monitoring of Saudi students studying at Australian universities.
More than 61,000 leaked Saudi diplomatic documents have been released by WikiLeaks in what the international transparency group says will be the first instalment of the publication of more than half a million secret papers in batches over coming weeks.
"The Saudi Cables lift the lid on an increasingly erratic and secretive dictatorship": Julian Assange. Credit:AFP
"The Saudi Cables lift the lid on an increasingly erratic and secretive dictatorship that has not only celebrated its 100th beheading this year, but which has also become a menace to its neighbours and itself," WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange said in a statement released on Saturday.
The leaked Saudi government documents include extensive correspondence between the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Kingdom's embassy in Canberra that reveals sustained Saudi efforts to influence political and religious opinion within Australia's Arabic and Islamic communities.A NASA-led team has found evidence that the oversized exoplanet WASP-18b is wrapped in a smothering stratosphere loaded with carbon monoxide and devoid of water. The findings come from a new analysis of observations made by the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes.
The formation of a stratosphere layer in a planet's atmosphere is attributed to "sunscreen"-like molecules, which absorb ultraviolet (UV) and visible radiation coming from the star and then release that energy as heat. The new study suggests that the "hot Jupiter" WASP-18b, a massive planet that orbits very close to its host star, has an unusual composition, and the formation of this world might have been quite different from that of Jupiter and gas giants in other planetary systems.
"The composition of WASP-18b defies all expectations," said Kyle Sheppard of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, lead author of the paper published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. "We don't know of any other extrasolar planet where carbon monoxide so completely dominates the upper atmosphere."
Quick Facts:
Planet: WASP-18b
Mass: 10 times the mass of Jupiter
Distance from Earth: 325 light-years
Orbital period: 23 hours
On Earth, ozone absorbs UV in the stratosphere, protecting our world from a lot of the Sun's harmful radiation. For the handful of exoplanets with stratospheres, the absorber is typically thought to be a molecule such as titanium oxide, a close relative of titanium dioxide, used on Earth as a paint pigment and sunscreen ingredient.
The researchers looked at data collected for WASP-18b, located 325 light-years from Earth, as part of a survey to find exoplanets with stratospheres. The heavyweight planet, which has the mass of 10 Jupiters, has been observed repeatedly, allowing astronomers to accumulate a relatively large trove of data. This study analyzed five eclipses from archived Hubble data and two from Spitzer.
From the light emitted by the planet's atmosphere at infrared wavelengths, beyond the visible region, it's possible to identify the spectral fingerprints of water and some other important molecules. The analysis revealed WASP-18b's peculiar fingerprint, which doesn't resemble any exoplanet examined so far. To determine which molecules were most likely to match it, the team carried out extensive computer modeling.
"The only consistent explanation for the data is an overabundance of carbon monoxide and very little water vapor in the atmosphere of WASP-18b, in addition to the presence of a stratosphere," said Nikku Madhusudhan a co-author of the study from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. "This rare combination of factors opens a new window into our understanding of physical and chemical processes in exoplanetary atmospheres."
The findings indicate that WASP-18b has hot carbon monoxide in the stratosphere and cooler carbon monoxide in the layer of the atmosphere below, called the troposphere. The team determined this by detecting two types of carbon monoxide signatures, an absorption signature at a wavelength of about 1.6 micrometers and an emission signature at about 4.5 micrometers. This is the first time researchers have detected both types of fingerprints for a single type of molecule in an exoplanet's atmosphere.
In theory, another possible fit for the observations is carbon dioxide, which has a similar fingerprint. The researchers ruled this out because if there were enough oxygen available to form carbon dioxide, the atmosphere also should have some water vapor.
To produce the spectral fingerprints seen by the team, the upper atmosphere of WASP-18b would have to be loaded with carbon monoxide. Compared to other hot Jupiters, this planet's atmosphere likely would contain 300 times more "metals," or elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. This extremely high metallicity would indicate WASP-18b might have accumulated greater amounts of solid ices during its formation than Jupiter, suggesting it may not have formed the way other hot Jupiters did.
"The expected launch of the James Webb Space Telescope and other future space-based observatories will give us the opportunity to follow up with even more powerful instruments and to continue exploring the amazing array of exoplanets out there," said Avi Mandell, an exoplanet scientist at Goddard and the second author of the paper.
For more information about NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/hubble
For more information about NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/spitzer
News Media Contact
Elizabeth LandauJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California818-354-6425elizabeth.landau@jpl.nasa.govWritten by Elizabeth Zubritsky, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center2017-307Saturday night was always going to be a challenge against one of the greatest in the world, Boca Juniors, in the first ever International Community Cup. What was expected were two teams really going after the match, in front of a crowd of over 11k at EverBank Field and two hundred thousand viewers on the Boca Juniors stream, plus who knows how many more worldwide. Indeed, a fast and fiery contest is what was presented to the spectators and the action started quickly in the early stages of the match.
Boca Juniors were one of the quickest teams that Armada has ever faced, easily. It took time for Jacksonville to settle into the match because of the Argentine club’s tenacity in the midfield and the amount of possession the team had in the opening minutes. The scoring started in the 8th minute on what would be a high scoring affair.
Armada lost the ball in the center of the park in what sparked a ferocious counter attack by Boca Juniors. A cutting edge ball was sent to the right side of the field where Sebastian Palacios picked it up and whipped in a great cross to find Jonathan Calleri at the near post who tapped in past Gallardo to send the visitors up 1-0. Though the cross was pinpoint sharp, both Fabricio Ortiz and Lucas Trejo were right on top of the attacker and fell asleep on the play, in what could have been an aggressive yet clutch clearance. Attacks kept on hitting the Armada defense and Palacios nearly picked out another teammate on a cross three minutes later but Jacksonville goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo was equal to the task and saved. After the cheaply given up goal, Lucas Trejo appeared to be a rock at the back heading out any and all danger, also coming up with huge tackles to end any Boca Juniors opportunities. Finally after a dominant display by the Argentine giants, Jacksonville found a breakthrough.
Armada pressed Boca Juniors deep into their defending third, eventually taking control of the ball where Lucas Scaglia found Marcos Flores on a beautifully timed run and an equally brilliant ball. Flores controlled on his first touch and on the second smashed the left post. On the rebound, Flores sent a ball in the air where Boca Juniors defender Daniel Diaz came crashing into target Alhassane Keita and a penalty was awarded to Armada in the 23rd minute. Strangely enough, Lucas Trejo was the one to step up and take the spot kick and he slotted it right under goalkeeper Agustin Orion to draw the home team level. Boca Juniors looked to go ahead just three minutes later from a free kick but the attempt went just over the bar.
It took a little longer than it should have, but Jacksonville finally appeared to find themselves in the match after 30 minutes. James Johnson made a darting run down the left flank and fed the ball to Jaime Castrillon in the box but the Colombian could not get a shot off at the most crucial moment. The match started to get a little chippy as Boca Juniors received two yellow cards in quick succession, the second which was a horrible two-footed tackle from behind Lucas Trejo. Defenses held firm as Boca Juniors had plenty of chances in attack, and Armada had a few decent opportunities including a Bochy Hoyos rip that produced a diving save from the opposition’s goalkeeper. Defender Lisandro Magallan crept inside the Armada box and looked poised to shoot on goal in the 43rd minute but Armada defender Matt Bahner sought out the player’s ambition and heroically made a huge slide tackle to knock the ball away. A minute later a Boca Juniors cross came in and an effort was chipped just over the crossbar. Though Jacksonville played to a 1-1 draw in the first half, Goliath(Boca Juniors) had a firm grip on the match, taking the best chances and controlling a good percentage of the possession.
The second half whistle blew and substitutions were made all over the field. Boca Juniors subbed out all eleven of their starters while Jacksonville also made a few additions to the team that took the pitch in the second 45 minute period. Play on the field was very even in the second half but there were not as many great attacking chances among the substitutes. Boca Juniors finally broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute.
Jordan Gafa headed out a cross from the Boca Juniors right side but his header was delivered straight to midfielder Marcelo Meli, 25 yards out. After one touch, Meli decided to have a crack from distance and smashed the half volley past Armada substitute keeper David Sierra to put the score at 2-1. Twelve minutes later the lead was increased by Boca Juniors.
A fantastic switch of play from the right to left side of the pitch found midfielder Franco Cristaldo and on a great first touch he took the ball around Ramak Safi and chipped past David Sierra to put the team up 3-1 in the 74th minute. Ironically enough, seven Armada players surrounded the man on the ball and every one of them had eyes on the one man. At the same time, two were left unseen on the back end of the play, one being Cristaldo, and he took advantage on a defense that was not heads up. Salt was rubbed into the wounds when Boca Juniors went up 4-1 in the 82nd minute. On a counter attack the ball was sprayed wide to Andres Chavez and with the smallest pocket of space, he advanced with the ball around Nico Perea and fantastically curled one past another Armada goalkeeper, Sebastian Evers.
The game was not finished for Jacksonville, and they still had another goal in them, no matter how much the attack may have lacked in the second half. It was #ChaimTime. Perea received the ball in the midfield who passed to 16-year old Chaim Roserie and from there was absolute class. Roserie brilliantly back heeled the ball to Ramak Safi on his first touch, which resulted in Safi shooting a laser into the bottom corner from about 25 yards out. At 4-2 the game finished and Boca Juniors went on to claim the International Community Cup, but there was nothing for Armada to hang their heads about.
Though the result was not in favor of the home team, losing out 4-2, they proved that they could play with a massive club like Boca Juniors. The first team for Armada held the opposition to only one goal and went into half time tied at one a piece. Sure, many efforts went Boca Juniors way and they controlled a good portion of the game, but what was great to watch was the fierceness of Jacksonville and the ability not to put themselves down after going down to a good team like Boca. The back line played superbly in the first half, eliminating any chances the opponent may have had in front of goal and stopping attacks coming down the field. Lucas Trejo, Matt Bahner, and Lucas Scaglia were an electrifying implant into the play of Jacksonville.
In the second half things did not go as well due to three goals being given up, but it just shows the depth of Boca Juniors squad. They rotated their whole starting eleven after the half time whistle and still played with the same swagger thatwas shown in the first half by the actual starters. Jacksonville Armada were faced with a huge task and fell short but gave the Argentine team a good run for their money in what was a high tempo and great match played between two teams with major connections and similar play styles.
Must it be said, by myself and for many other Armada fans, we are pumped for Chaim Roserie and what he can do for this team. Though it is still a developmental process for the young player, he is energetic and a quick player never lacking in effort while playing for his side. The twenty minutes we saw from him were great and when is he going to get his license to play because I want to see him in more matches, other than friendlies!
Also, the star striker Alhassane Keita is back in action! It seems so long ago that we last saw him play and finally he is back in action and put in a full 90 minutes for Jacksonville. It will take a week or two for the Guinean to find his form again but seeing him play the full time against Boca Juniors shows that he is fit and ready to go which is fascinating to hear as the Armada attack has been lackluster as of late.
At the end of the day, Jacksonville did not look bad at all. Possession favored Boca Juniors 52-48 which was a surprise honestly. They had seven shots on goal in comparison to Armada with three shots on goal. It is important for Armada to start putting shots on frame! Boca Juniors were only forced into one measly save, the diving effort on Bochy Hoyos’ shot. Too many times we sky balls over the bar and that is not good enough. Anything can happen if shots are put on goal.
Next up for Jacksonville is a date with Ottawa Fury in the first match of the Fall Season and the first chance to start their push for the playoffs. Kick-off is set for 3:00pm local time(EST) on Sunday, July 5th in a rematch from just under a month ago where the two teams drew 0-0 at Community First Park in Jacksonville, Florida. |
yet?
Many years ago, when the Internet was still just hobbyist bulletin boards in a handful of homes, I went backpacking with a friend across Mexico. Like everyone did back then, we carried a Bible-worn copy of Let’s Go: Mexico, which represented pretty much our entire universe. Its recommendations were usually decent but were based largely on one college student’s legwork. Who knows if he actually looked at the room or just hurriedly scanned the lobby? What was her standard for “clean”? The first night in Mexico City, our hotel had small creatures in the walls, unmentioned by the guide. Asking around, we eventually landed in a cheap and obscure place. That’s how it worked: We were in an information-poor environment. We gleaned recommendations from the gringo grapevine. You never quite knew what to expect, but wasn’t that why you were traveling?
Barbara Messing, TripAdvisor’s chief marketing officer, remembers those days, too. “There was that community of travelers in East Africa or South America who were circling the hotels in Lonely Planet that were really good or telling you what was closed or had good breakfast,” she recalls to me by phone from the company’s headquarters, near Boston. “That entire offline community got imported onto TripAdvisor.”
And how. The site now has reviews of hotels, restaurants, and attractions in more than 45 countries, with contributors (all unpaid) adding their comments at a rate of 115 per minute. Some 890,000 hotels are listed on the site, and TripAdvisor boasts one of the largest collections of user-contributed travel photographs in the world. (The collection of shower-drain photos alone could fill a museum.) On its myriad forums, even the most banal query (e.g., “Does this resort have 110v plugs in its rooms?”) seems to excite a flurry of replies, often within 24 hours. Though the site sometimes seems like a place people go to air complaints, as Messing tells me, “In general, our reviewers are a happy bunch.” For hotels the average rating is above four bubbles. Because people use the site to plan their trips, she says, the ratings can be as much about “thanking the community for pointing them in the right direction.” In other words, reviews of TripAdvisor itself.
These days, you can hardly visit a restaurant in a beach town without seeing the TripAdvisor owl in the window or finish a bike tour without being implored, via follow-up e-mail, to leave your feedback on the site. “It hasn’t changed travel like jets changed travel,” says Henry Harteveldt, an industry analyst with Atmosphere Research Group. But “it has changed the satisfaction we can get from a trip and the ability to better understand the destinations.” Where travel is concerned, Harteveldt says, “information becomes instantly static and stale. With TripAdvisor, you know if a hotel that a few years ago was fresh and wonderful is still fresh and wonderful—or has become tired.” More important, he says, it “has empowered the consumer by making hotels and other related businesses far more transparent.” Sure, guests always had the ability to complain to the front desk or on one of the comment cards left on the nightstand, but that information went no further than the management. (As Heads in Beds author and former hotel employee Jacob Tomsky notes, “We used to confidently toss comment cards in the trash”—or, as they also referred to it, the “t-file.”) Now one’s smallest observation—the ecstasies of the rainfall showerhead, the disappointments of the room-service toast—has a global audience.
Mount McKinley, Alaska (5 bubbles) "An excellent mountain. Beautiful and majestic."
"Loved the pure beauty, the surrounding glaciers, mountain ranges and heaps of snow. Nothing to dislike unless you do not like snow or beauty." (3 bubbles) "Denali Park big disappointment."
"I was expecting animals running around everywhere.... Not going to happen. When you do see them you will usually need binoculars.... You can sit in your home and see much more on a TV screen [than] you will ever see there."
Those reviews carry demonstrable weight. A study by Cornell University’s Center for Hospitality Research found that for every percentage point a hotel improves its online reputation, its “RevPAR” (revenue per available room) goes up by 1.4 percent; for every point its reputation improves on a five-point scale, a hotel can raise prices by 11 percent without seeing bookings fall off. This has been a boon for smaller, midpriced, independently owned hotels. “Twenty years ago, the brands owned the sense of quality,” says Bjorn Hanson, a professor at New York University’s Tisch Center for Hospitality and Tourism. “If I stayed at a big-name hotel, I knew what I was getting.” That sense of confidence in quality, argues Hanson, has been supplanted by TripAdvisor. Not only can there be variation within a brand, but suddenly that quirky hotel that was once the obscure favorite of a single guidebook gets lifted to market prominence. Thanks to TripAdvisor, a formerly sleepy spot like the Magic Castle Hotel in Los Angeles—ranked number one in the city—is, says Hanson, “able to generate rates and occupancy levels that from a hotel-analyst point of view are quite extraordinary.”
Social media officially took over travel in 2010—or so the scientists say. That is the year, according to the Cornell study, that “guest experience mentioned in customer reviews” became the factor most frequently cited by consumers in surveys about the process of choosing a hotel.
For hotel owners, this meant that a luxury brand or pictures of nice-looking rooms on a website were no longer enough. Instead, believes TripAdvisor’s Messing, service became paramount. “That is why the number-one hotel in a major market is often not the hotel you would expect.” TripAdvisor’s ranking system, she says, operates like a value index: “For what I paid, how delighted was I?” The company closely guards its algorithm, but it’s engineered to emphasize the quality, frequency, and freshness of reviews.
If rankings were based only on the number of reviews, says Messing, “It would be purely a popularity contest or a size contest—the big hotels would always win.”
The impact of the so-called TripAdvisor effect can be enormous. When a group of researchers at Ireland’s University College Dublin examined hotel reviews in the Las Vegas market between 2007 and 2009, and compared the data with reviews in the Irish market (where, they noted, TripAdvisor was a more “recent phenomenon”), they found that while ratings in Las Vegas remained more or less constant during that period, in Ireland they rose from 3.6 to 3.8 bubbles. Their takeaway: as Irish managers scrambled to respond to the novelty that was TripAdvisor, hotels actually got better. Additionally, responses to customer reviews more than tripled over the two years of the study.
Adam Medros, who heads TripAdvisor’s global product division, told me that hotel owners have started thinking of the site as a marketing platform and are “embracing the feedback, even if it’s negative.” A recent internal TripAdvisor study found that owners who respond more frequently to comments are over 20 percent more likely to get booking inquiries. “Saying sorry is important,” says Medros, “but it’s not enough to say sorry you didn’t like the carpet.” Instead, the reply should be: “Here’s our plan for fixing that.”
Indeed, NYU’s Hanson says that TripAdvisor reviews now factor into the “capex,” or capital-expenditure, decisions companies make. “A general manager can go to the owner and say, ‘Look at the comments we’re getting about furnishings or parking lots compared with our competitors,’ ” Hanson says. “Instead of ‘I think we should do something,’ it’s ‘The reviews are costing us occupancy and average daily rate.’ ” TripAdvisor now goes “way beyond the individual traveler making decisions,” he says. “It’s influencing owners and brands. Even lenders will ask, ‘Are we putting our capital into a hotel that’s at risk because it’s getting poor reviews?’ ”
All this is a remarkable turn of events for a site that, back when it was founded in 2000, considered consumer reviews an afterthought. TripAdvisor was conceived as a meta-aggregator of travel information. Cofounder Stephen Kaufer, a Harvard-trained computer scientist who has served as the CEO and president from the beginning, directed employees to link to travel articles around the Web. But the site also let users post their own comments. Very quickly, TripAdvisor realized that the user reviews were getting all the traffic. As the Harvard Business Review described the situation in 2012, “They adjusted to focus on user reviews, such that fresh, authentic content was always available and didn’t cost the company any money to produce.”
In 2004, TripAdvisor was purchased by Barry Diller’s media conglomerate IAC for $212 million and was soon put into a group of travel brands under the Expedia umbrella. Over the next few years, it grew from a startup with $23 million in annual revenue into a multibillion-dollar global brand. In 2011, TripAdvisor was spun off as its own company again. In recent years, Kaufer has orchestrated a series of aggressive if rather quiet acquisitions, from booking company Viator to restaurant-reservations app La Fourchette to airline seating guide SeatGuru to VacationHomeRentals.com. Last year saw the introduction of a battery of new TripAdvisor products, including city travel guides you can use offline on your smartphone and a feature that lets you book an Uber ride to the restaurant whose TripAdvisor reviews you were just reading. The trajectory points toward the brand becoming a kind of always-there digital concierge.
While the big booking companies like Expedia and Booking.com also let users post reviews, no one matches the volume or weight of TripAdvisor, Hanson says. “If it were retail, we’d be calling it the category killer.” Those reviews have become part of a self-perpetuating, incredibly profitable cycle. Visitors go to the site to read reviews written by travelers, book a hotel based on those reviews (with a small percentage going to TripAdvisor), then write reviews of their own, and so on. As Inc. columnist Jeff Bussgang put it, describing TripAdvisor’s 98 percent gross margins, “For every dollar of revenue, the company is able to drop nearly half to the bottom line. I’m not sure the mafia could do better.” Perhaps not surprisingly, TripAdvisor is greatly expanding its headquarters outside Boston, and last year Kaufer took a 510 percent raise, to $39 million, making him the country’s fourth-highest-paid CEO. (Somewhat ironic for a site based on the promise of democratization and transparency, my requests to speak to Kaufer, and to visit the company headquarters, were turned down.)
Of course, when you are becoming a kind of middleman in the affairs of virtually every hotel in the world, there are bound to be complications. TripAdvisor has been the subject of numerous lawsuits that question the veracity of its reviews. When a hotel in Tennessee made a 2011 TripAdvisor list of the dirtiest hotels in America, the owner filed a $10 million defamation suit. Christopher Bavitz, the managing director of Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic, which filed a brief in support of TripAdvisor, notes that federal law “essentially says that a website is not to be treated as the publisher or speaker.” It is a case, he says, of what is called “Internet exceptionalism,” and it dates back to the early days of the online world. As he explained it, “If CompuServe were held liable for every crackpot thing that someone said in a message board, the entire thing might grind to a halt.” The court ultimately ruled that calling the place the dirtiest hotel in the country wasn’t defamatory because people understood that it was hyperbolic.
This is not to say that an individual can’t be sued for defamation for a review he or she writes on TripAdvisor. But early precedent seems to go against such lawsuits succeeding: In December, the Ashley Inn, a hotel in Lincoln City, Oregon, dropped a suit it had filed against an anonymous reviewer (“12Kelly”) who’d said the hotel’s “rooms are nasty.” The reviewer, the judge ruled, was protected by media shield laws.
Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Oregon (5 bubbles) "A Thousand Kinds of Beauty!"
"I have lived and traveled around the world—but few things I have seen can even come close to the infinte variety and beauty of the Columbia Gorge." (2 bubbles) "Not sure I understand the attraction."
"Another thing I don't get. It's a river. It's not the Mississippi which is a huge awe inspiring river, it's not the Chicago River which flows backwards and flows between gorgeous, towering [skyscrapers]."
European officials have had a different take. In 2012, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority decreed that TripAdvisor could not use phrases like “reviews you can trust,” because it couldn’t prove that its reviews were truthful—or had even been written by actual guests. Last December, Italian regulators fined the company more than $600,000 for, as The New York Times reported, “not doing enough to prevent false reviews.”
Indeed, bogus comments are a central challenge for TripAdvisor. The company has cautioned resorts that have tried to game the system by offering incentives to write positive reviews and notes that every single review goes through a tracking system, which maps where, when, and how (desktop, mobile, tablet) each was written. Automated tools designed to sense “algorithmic signals” of suspicious activity are backed up by a 250-person content-integrity team helmed by Medros and made up of staffers with fraud-detection backgrounds in police and intelligence agencies. (TripAdvisor declined my requests to speak to any of them.) If the team determines that manipulation is going on, a hotel could end up with the ultimate mark of TripAdvisor scorn: a red badge that warns users not to trust what they read.
But a more prevalent defense is crowdsourcing. The sheer scale of TripAdvisor creates, Medros argues, a kind of self-enforcing equilibrium: you would have to write a lot of fawning posts to sway the bubbles of the 13,000-review Bellagio. Even then, he says, you will only draw more people expecting that enhanced experience. “Even if you could beat the system, it’s like Sisyphus—the rock is going to roll down the hill.” Users, Medros insists, can “suss out” the outlier in a sea of positive or negative reviews. This speaks to what may be an even greater problem than fake comments: too many.
It begins with a simple message—“Plan and Book Your Perfect Trip”—and a search box. In the background beckons, at least on this day, a perfect coastal village in Greece. I was a few keystrokes away from paradise.
A number of months ago, I was looking for an easy winter getaway for my family. My wife and I wanted something to satisfy us (i.e., not Disney World) and our daughter (i.e., anywhere with a pool or ocean). I decided to plan the whole thing on TripAdvisor.
We eventually settled on Tulum, Mexico, the once ultra-bohemian outpost down-coast from Cancún that has become a kind of gentrified Brooklyn South, both for its East Coast proximity and its shared cultural vibe (read: beards, bike paths, yoga, organic everything). But with copious archaeological sites, spectrally lit underground freshwater pools, known as cenotes, and the sprawling Sian Ka’an biosphere reserve just to the south, it still seemed a worthy adventure.
As I came to understand while planning the trip, the more you hand yourself over to TripAdvisor, the more you get wrapped up in its worldview. I began to see Tulum less as a place unto itself than as a vast Gringolandia construct of projected desires and flummoxed expectations, worried last-minute inquiries about federales and narcos, a galaxy of unsmiling concierges and complimentary upgrades. I wondered how such a colossal gulf could exist between two humans having, at least on paper, the same experience. How can one place be “almost the perfect dream” and also a “horrible experience that no one should go through”? The language of the reviews started to affect me. I closed my eyes and saw phrases like “exceeded my expectations!!!!” silhouetted on my eyelids. In a vision quest of user-generated feedback, I reworked reviews into haiku:
The ruins of Tulum
They are so boring and hot
Where is the damn beach?
And just when I thought I’d found a hotel, after I’d digested dozens of raves, I would come across that one review—the cockroach in the salad bar. Behavioral economists call this the Volvo problem, after a thought experiment in which a prospective car buyer, having read in bona fide sources like Consumer Reports how great a car is, hears from a neighbor that his is always in the shop. Suddenly, that aggregate of rational, emotionally distant information is overwhelmed by a much more narratively powerful, personally relevant source.
And TripAdvisor reviews are nothing if not narratives, often bursting with details that stray far beyond thread counts and shower sizes—a roster of travelers’ previous trips, the fact that a couple was celebrating their 16th wedding anniversary, or the reflection, offered by one reviewer, that “sometimes I stay up late playing my guitar.” They also, as TripAdvisor’s Messing noted, tend to present things on the sunny side. Camilla Vásquez, an applied linguist at the University of South Florida and author of The Discourse of Online Consumer Reviews, has thoroughly analyzed a corpus of TripAdvisor comments. She notes that, within a “categorically negative review,” there will usually be “an effort to work toward some feature of the hotel that’s positive.” Even in the most withering one-bubble critique, 30 percent of her sample included “some kind of positive statement.” As Vásquez explains, “We all know those people who will complain no matter what, and reviewers work hard to present themselves as not that person.”
Slickrock Bike Trail, Moab, Utah (3 bubbles) "Only for the hardcore on bikes."
"It is stunning scenery and could almost be described as fun, but it is very difficult, particularly in 98 degree heat." (3 bubbles) "Seems to be designed for the masses of beginners."
"We were so frustrated by it's lack of flow and low reward for the work. It seems it's designed to purposely slow you down and keep the hoards of tourists/beginners from ending up in the hospital."
As I read up on Tulum, it became more a game of parsing reviewers themselves (are they like me?) and trying to decode the more cryptic comments (“Found the owners to be quite French”). This is why, according to Philippe Brown, of the luxury tour operator Brown and Hudson, TripAdvisor has not necessarily proved the lethal threat to travel agents that it was first assumed to be. “There’s too much info, and so many hidden agendas, like national or regional biases,” says Brown. Visit TripAdvisor, he says, and “you’ve probably learned that a hotel is filthy, according to Italian people, but people from England think it’s great.” There is, he says, “loads of info, but no insight.”
TripAdvisor claims that it’s trying to solve the information-glut problem: instead of giving you 12,000 reviews of the Bellagio, how can it provide, in the first page or two, the half-dozen that are most relevant to you? When I spoke to Medros, he explained that the company was busily beta-testing a number of personalization algorithms. “Some are based largely on past behavior. We had one case of a user who had written tons of reviews of Best Westerns,” says Medros. “When that person looks at a new city, and the first hotel we show them isn’t a Best Western, that’s just wrong.” Medros envisions a kind of Pandora-style travel genome—if you like hotel X, you will love hotel Y. Of course, this works only if the reasoning makes sense: early on in my research, before I had selected a destination, when I looked at one property—“#33 of 48 hotels in Managua”—I was told that I had been sent there because I “researched similar hotels in Captiva Island.” Really? How similar are hotels in an upscale Gulf Coast enclave and a gritty Central American city?
TripAdvisor has also rolled out Facebook integration. Suddenly, those reviews from Facebook friends, and friends of Facebook friends, pop up first (if you’ve given permission). I found that this helped, but only to a point: my family’s TripAdvisor account was linked to my wife’s Facebook page, and often the reviews would note that some “friend” had stayed at a particular hotel—the only problem being that we had no idea who the person was and if we should trust them any more than Bob from Saskatoon. But Medros calls it a “starting point.” “Even if my friends are idiots,” he says, “I still want to know what they thought of it.”
Driving down the dusty, mangrove-lined track to Hotel Jashita, in Soliman Bay, Mexico, I passed a man on foot who, as I’d learn a few moments later at the reception desk, was the property’s co-owner, a dapper Italian named Tommaso Marchiorello. While we talked, a fragment of one of the hotel’s TripAdvisor reviews floated into my consciousness. “Lots of smiles,” it said, “but he came across as … stand-offish.” I actually wasn’t getting that vibe, but it raised the question: How much can one person’s experience match my own?
Quite a lot, in fact, at least on more cut-and-dried matters. On our second night, my five-year-old daughter, settling in for bed, spied a lizard on the ceiling. As this proved altogether too novel, I was implored to dispatch the hapless creature. Deciding to outsource, I made a motion to call the front desk. Then I remembered, from a TripAdvisor review, that there were no phones in the rooms! I suddenly realized that I was reliving someone else’s inferior service experience. Then it occurred to me that I actually like the absence of phones (not to mention televisions) in rooms. And that lizard? It evaded the best efforts of the night man. My daughter, naming it “Lizzie,” made her peace. The subjectivity of travel, like life itself, balances on a knife’s edge: I could just as easily have disparaged the creature-infested, amenity-lacking room as rhapsodized about its Zen-like simplicity and proximity to nature.
In fact, TripAdvisor looms so large in the hotel’s success that when Jashita, which formerly had occupied the number-one spot for Tulum, was grouped into a new category for Soliman Bay, which is about five miles north of Tulum, Marchiorello’s business plummeted. “From one day to the other—boom!—all the reservations and the e-mail dropped,” he said. So he started working with agencies like iEscape to publicize the hotel. While his bookings and ratings have recovered—Jashita showed up as TripAdvisor’s number two in the whole Riviera Maya region when I was there—he pointed out that “Nothing would bring us the business that used to be brought from TripAdvisor when we were number one in Tulum.”
After a few days, we traded our private plunge pool for a more affordable hotel, Don Diego de la Selva, in Tulum proper, which, like Jashita, was a TripAdvisor Traveler’s Choice. Charles Galligani, who moved to Tulum ten years ago from Paris, opened Don Diego just as TripAdvisor was gaining steam. “We followed the revolution,” he told me. For Galligani, the reviews are a testament to the vagaries of taste and a way to fine-tune amenities. “The beds are a bit too firm for the Americans and, on the contrary, for the Europeans they are not firm enough,” he says. (He has added a few softer beds.) “South Americans prefer the upper floor,” he said. “They say, ‘I don’t want to stay in this jungle, it’s too dangerous!’ ”
How did TripAdvisor perform outside of hotel reviews? We had a delightful dinner at El Asadero, an Argentinean-style steak place in Tulum that was ranked number four of all restaurants. Restaurare (number nine), a vegetarian spot on the beach, was tasty if a little rustic—the generator-supplied power blinked out briefly, although bonus points went to the hostess, who gave us homemade mosquito repellent. The taqueria Antojitos La Chiapaneca came highly recommended, but that may have had more to do with price and location than anything else—frankly, I’ve had better tacos in Queens. Some of the best food we had—the grilled boquinete at the beach shack Chamico’s in Soliman, the zesty enchiladas verdes at the Loncheria El Aguacate—were recommended by people we’d met but were many pages down on TripAdvisor, so who knows whether we’d have ever found them.
Angkor Wat, Cambodia (5 bubbles) "Wow!!"
"Could not believe how intricate and magnificent the ancient builders [were]. Must see to believe your eyes and take in the glory!" (1 bubble) "BORING!!!"
"It's just a bunch of fancy rocks on top of other fancy rocks, inside a hot Jungle."
Wherever I go, one of my highest priorities is getting on a bike, and a TripAdvisor forum pointed me to iBike Tulum, located just off the cycling path on the way to the beach. The owner, Arturo Ramirez, not only hooked me up with a Specialized mountain bike, but also turned me onto a feisty Sunday-morning group ride (replete with stranded tourist rescue and crocodile sighting) into Sian Ka’an. The next day, we visited the lagoons of Sian Ka’an on a Yucatan Outdoors kayaking adventure, which was ranked number five of Tulum activities—and, it should be said, deserves its five-bubble rating. In between showing us boat-billed herons and offering my daughter tasty bananitos, owner Antonio Arsuaga told me that TripAdvisor is essential to his business. “It helps us to be more stable,” he said. Hotel employees who might normally recommend his outfit come and go, Arsuaga said, “but in the virtual world it stays.”
Leaving the cave tour at the cenote-and-zip-line complex Aktun Chen, where the guide’s joke-filled patter was as smooth and gently worn by time as the stalactites, we saw a huge sign, decorated in TripAdvisor green, with the brand’s signature owl, imploring visitors to post reviews. Spotting the owl became a game for my daughter: at the palateria in town, on the gate at Don Diego. By the time we were at the Cancún airport, passing by a small room that a TripAdvisor sign claimed was the best “fish spa” in Mexico (the fish nibble at your feet, offering a unique sort of pedicure), I began to feel a rash desire to partake in some activity that was not on TripAdvisor, an experience that had not already been mediated by the leveling winds of mass opinion—a rathole restaurant or fleabag hotel where I didn’t already know the front-desk clerk’s name. I wanted to have no expectations, either exceeded or unmet.
But all this was my young backpacker self speaking; as a harried dad, I needed some assurance that things would work out. I’d been wise to give in to the crowd.
Contributing editor Tom Vanderbilt (@tomvanderbilt) wrote about wearable fitness technology last April.Webb launches 2016 committee
Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb became the first well-known Democrat to launch an exploratory committee to run for president on Wednesday night, saying the nation is at a “serious crossroads.”
“I have decided to launch an Exploratory Committee to examine whether I should run for President in 2016,” Webb said in a four-page letter on his website, Webb2016.
Story Continued Below
“I made this decision after reflecting on numerous political commentaries and listening to many knowledgeable people. I look forward to listening and talking with more people in the coming months as I decide whether or not to run.”
( VIDEO: Jim Webb announces Exploratory Committee for 2016)
The Vietnam veteran added, “A strong majority of Americans agree that we are at a serious crossroads. In my view the solutions are not simply political, but those of leadership. I learned long ago on the battlefields of Vietnam that in a crisis, there is no substitute for clear-eyed leadership.”
Webb, who was Ronald Reagan’s Navy secretary and who has held centrist views on a number of issues, has been bolstered by progressive news outlet The Nation as a potential challenge from the left to Hillary Clinton, the dominant front-runner who hasn’t yet said if she will launch a second national campaign.
“With enough financial support to conduct a first-class campaign, I have no doubt that we can put these issues squarely before the American people and gain their support,” said Webb, acknowledging his underdog status against a likely Clinton fundraising juggernaut.
( Also on POLITICO: Ready for Hillary: Too much?)
“The 2016 election is two years away, but serious campaigning will begin very soon. The first primaries are about a year away. Your early support will be crucial as I evaluate whether we might overcome what many commentators see as nearly impossible odds.”
He did not mention Clinton’s name in the letter.PESHAWAR: The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), which had raised global concerns over frequent cases of polio a couple of years ago, has been freed from the virus of the crippling disease during the past one year.
“Fata completed one year without any polio case on July 27, 2017 as the last polio case from the region was reported on July 27, 2016. Not a single case is reported from any part of the area so far whereas only two polio cases were reported in 2016,” said an official statement issued in connection with World Polio Day.
The polio day was observed in Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and functions were organised in this regard. A function was held at Fata Secretariat’s Emergency Operation Centre (ECO) and Secretary Social Sector Yousaf Rahim vaccinated a child.
The wild poliovirus is now only endemic in three countries i.e. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. Pakistan has made a strong commitment to achieve the goal of polio eradication which remained a top national priority.
Several fieldworkers and officials involved in the anti-polio drive in Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were killed and wounded in attacks by militants.
The statement said that polio programme in Fata was achieving a high level of performance with no case reported so far in 2017. It said that fieldworkers had achieved National Emergency Action Plan’s (NEAP) 95 per cent target for 2016-17 in at least three anti-polio campaigns.
Speaking on the occasion, Yousaf Rahim reemphasised to focus on high risk mobile population, reaching the missed children and ensuring vaccination of every child in every campaign.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak said that collective efforts at all tiers of health governance led to the near accomplishment of total eradication of polio from the province. A statement said that he was addressing certificates distribution ceremony to mark the day. He said that government made efforts to secure the coming generation and ensuring the province polio-free.
He said that the province had registered 68 polio cases but in the current year only a single case of polio was reported. He termed it a big achievement. He appreciated the role of polio workers in the eradication of the crippling disease.
Mr Khattak said that government took concrete measures including establishment of emergency operation centres at provincial level for the polio eradication. In 2017, the single polio case did not affect the child because the team reached him, he said.
Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2017This week, we had an unusual television moment: BJP President Nitin Gadkari in our studios allowing himself to be grilled on questionable financial dealings and conflict of interest.
The background to his appearance was straightforward. Since team Kejriwal had dropped enough hints that Mr Gadkari and his businesses was their next target, our Mumbai and Nagpur reporting teams began to revisit those areas. As it turned out, the IAC press conference was disappointing, a rehash of mainly old facts. But our team had stumbled upon some serious questions about how Mr Gadkari had financed his company.
Mr Gadkari likes to call himself a social entrepreneur, and his company, Purti Sugar Ltd. s sort of cooperative that is owned by the farmers it was meant to benefit. It’s true that the list of shareholders is long, about 10,000 names, that carry the flavour of rural Maharashtra. But farmers (if they are, indeed, farmers) own only 10% of Purti. Mr Gadkari himself owns only 200 shares.
The bulk of Purti is owned by just 18 companies. These companies invested about Rs 2-4 crore each, to form the bulk of Purti’s paid up capital of Rs 68 crore. This, essentially, was Purti’s start up money.
So who are these companies that financed Purti, and as a result, own it? Their balance sheets on the website of the ministry of company affairs offer very little detail. When our reporters paid them a visit at their registered addresses, they (surprise, surprise) hit a dead end. Two of the firms — Swiftsol India and Earnwell Traders — are registered at a chawl in the Mumbai suburb of Malad, surprising for companies which have invested about Rs 4 crore in Purti. None of the residents at the given addresses had heard of Swiftsol or Earnwell. The same dead end at the addresses of Chariot Investrade, Regency Equifin, Leverage Fintrade, etc scattered across suburban Mumbai and Kolkata.
The Congress alleged that Mr Gadkari had used shell companies to “channel his ill-gotten wealth”. Mr Gadkari naturally denied this, but beyond that developed amnesia. He said he can’t remember all his 10,000 shareholders, a weak claim given that we were only asking him to reveal the identities of 18 entities that own his company. He said addresses change, an unconvincing claim, given that many of the people our team met had been living at those addresses for 20 years, much before Purti was formed.
There is one investor whose identity is known. Ideal Road Builders purchased shares worth Rs 1.85 crore in Purti in 2001, just over a year after Mr Gadkari demitted office as Maharashtra’s public works department minister. During his tenure, Ideal was awarded a number of contracts by the PWD department, which eventually led to it becoming one of Maharashtra’s leading toll road companies.
DP Mhaiskar, founder of Ideal Road Builders, also bought shares worth about Rs 2 crore in Purti. Together, IRB and Mr Mhaiskar control about 8% of Purti Group. Should a toll road company, which has received contracts under Mr Gadkari’s tenure, invest in a venture set up by him, that too so soon after his demitting office? Even if the tendering process was above board? Why not, says Mr. Gadkari. Why can’t contractors and ex-PWD ministers be friends? Or business partners?
Why not, indeed. In 2010, Purti Group received a secure loan of Rs 165 crore from a company called Global Safety Vision, which has DP Mhaiskar as its director. With this one loan, Purti was able to repay all its outstanding debt. Surprisingly, in its last regulatory filings, Global Safety Vision had only Rs 1 lakh paid up capital. Mr Mhaiskar refused to comment. But Mr Gadkari said he was happy to explain. He said Mr Mhaiskar and he are close friends. So close that Mr Mhaiskar and his family put up a large chunk of their shares as collateral to raise loans for a new power project. They gave about a fourth of that loan to Purti. Where is this power project coming up? Bang next to Purti’s factory. On the land sold to the Mhaiskars by Mr Gadkari.
It says something about Mr Gadkari that he sees no qualms in admitting to such intense proximity with contractors. Or feigning amnesia about the ownership of his company. On live television.
Whatever the motives that made him offer to come to our studio (confidence, anxiety, naiveté?) it was a sporting step by a politician of his seniority. But at a time when crony politics is under such intense scrutiny, and when his second term as BJP president is about to be clinched, just turning up on TV and trying to bluster one’s way out may not be enough.
Sreenivasan Jain is Managing Editor, NDTV. He anchors the ground reportage show, Truth vs Hype, on NDTV 24x7Bug fixes:
Fixed endgame error that could happen for spectators
Fixed an issue where players couldn’t play constructed games until level 8 (there is now no level requirements at all, whether it is for casual or for ranked mode)
Fixed creatures that could move on non-allowed locations after playing Huntmaster when there was no available room to teleport the creature
You won’t be able to try to send a chat message to someone who appears in your friendlist but is not (yet) a friend of yours (like a suggestion)
Fixed French localisation of Annoying Gnat (“Invoquez cette créature sur un terrain aléatoire” -> “Invoquez cette créature sur un espace aléatoire”)
Tiki Piper has finally let go of his extra forest cost and now correctly costs only 1.
Battle Chest bundle pricing has changed (read below)
Battle Chest Pricing Changes Update
In our patch notes Friday, we announced some pricing changes we’d be making in an effort to align Faeria’s pricing model with our upcoming iOS and Android launches. As mentioned in an addendum to that post, these platforms do not allow us to set pricing manually for anything other than $USD, and even $USD pricing must be based on a pre-defined pricing matrix.
After further analyzing the changes we made, we discovered we may not have hit the mark correctly on the first try. This is our fault, and we want to be open in communicating the next changes we’ll be making and why we’re making them.
###Battle Chest value
Our intention is to provide more “value” when purchasing larger amounts of Battle Chests at once. Another way of saying this is that we’d like players to get more for their purchase when buying chests in bulk. With the changes we made yesterday, we’ve lost sight of this basic shop model |
adds that any reasonable interpretation of the data would conclude that the possibility of a four-to-one benefit-to-cost ratio was too valuable to discard because of a 12 percent risk of being wrong. The correct course of action, contend Professors McCloskey and Ziliak, would have been to continue the wage subsidy while conducting empirical research to determine the other factors that might have influenced a drop in unemployment spending. The misuse of significance testing extends into other realms, like medicine, with sometimes devastating costs. Epidemiologists blame the test for the abandonment of such treatments as flutamide, which has shown promise for patients with advanced prostate cancer. A controversial National Institutes of Health study on women’s health concluded that eating a low-fat diet does not reduce cancer risk even though subjects who avoided fat clearly showed a 9 percent lower risk of contracting breast cancer; critics of the study point out that the finding was dismissed because the results just missed the threshold of statistical significance — not because the low-fat diet was ineffective. “If more women had been studied or the study had gone on just a little longer, the data very likely would have been statistically meaningful and announced as such,” one biostatistician said in a February 2006 article in the Wall Street Journal. — A.G.
Reprint No. 06211
Author Profile:
Andrea Gabor (aagabor@aol.com) is the author of several books, including The Capitalist Philosophers: The Geniuses of Modern Business — Their Lives, Times, and Ideas (Three Rivers Press, 2002). She is a professor of business journalism at Baruch College/CUNY.Website Delivery Policy
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10% OFF ON YARD, FIELD & FENCE DAYS - 1ST MARCH 2018
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Download an excerpt from this book here.
By Donald C. Williams; Photographs by Narayan Nayar
In a space of just 10” x 39” x 19-1/2”, H.O. Studley managed to arrange – with perfection – more than 250 of his tools into a dovetailed mahogany cabinet that has captivated tens of thousands of woodworkers since it was first unveiled in 1988 on the back cover of Fine Woodworking with a single shocking photograph.
After a brief stay at the Smithsonian, the cabinet was sold to a private collector and hasn’t been seen by the public for well over a decade. Studley’s workbench has never been on public view.
For the last four years, Donald Williams and a team of supporting characters have been researching, documenting and photographing both the cabinet and Studley’s equally amazing workbench to create “Virtuoso: The Tool Cabinet and Workbench of Henry O. Studley.”
This book is the first in-depth examination of one of the most beautiful woodworking tool chests ever constructed and presents the first-ever biography of Studley (1838-1925), a piano and organ builder in Quincy, Mass. In this book, Williams uses original research to answer the questions that flash through the minds of everyone who views the cabinet:
How did he build it?
How does it work?
And why would anyone construct such a monument to his tools?
In this book you will find measurements, details and photographs of all the tools in the cabinet. Every swinging frame, hinged panel and nook of this three-dimensional, multi-layered sculpture has been analyzed so you can understand how it folds in on itself like a giant piece of mahogany origami.
You will meet the man himself, H.O. Studley, and get a glimpse into the trade of high-end organ and piano makers in 19th- and 20th-century New England.
But most of all, you will see the cabinet in a way that only a handful of privileged people ever have. And you will realize that the magazine photograph that electrified the woodworking world in 1988 only scratches the surface of the cabinet’s complete magnificence.
“Virtuoso” is produced and printed in the United States. The interior paper is an #80 coated matte paper. The signatures are sewn, affixed with a cloth tape and glued to the cover boards to create a strong hinge. The cloth-covered boards are wrapped in a #100 super-matte dust jacket. 216 pages.
A companion documentary on the tool cabinet is available in our store here.
About the Author
Don Williams says his love of learning was probably fostered by the fact that his father was going through seminary when he was a child. Don grew up in a household without television. Instead, his family listened to classical music and read.
“But much to my parents’ dismay, I veered off into jazz as my primary interest, so they were pretty much convinced in my teenage years that they had picked up the wrong kid in the hospital,” he says.
Don maintains a love of jazz.
Jazz can loosely be defined as a combination of polyphony, syncopation and improvisation — simultaneous but independent melodic lines playing at the same time with unexpected and off-beat rhythms achieved extemporaneously. For Williams, jazz is not only what he listens to, still to this day, but serves as an outline for how he lives his life.
A self-proclaimed conservator, educator, scholar and all-around inquisitive guy, Don was a curious child who delved deep into varying topics – some unexpected – and from a young age, found connections.
Read more about Don Williams in this full profile.Michigan Gov. George Romney had a very specific mission when he arrived at the 1964 Republican National Convention in San Francisco. He did not aim to scuttle the impending nomination of Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, who was beloved by much of the GOP base and reviled by some party elders. But he did aim to alter the Republican Party platform to affirm that some extremist groups who viewed Goldwater as an ally - the John Birch Society and the Ku Klux Klan, to name a couple - had no place in the GOP.
Below is a portion of the speech Romney delivered to GOP delegates at the 1964 convention:
Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, Congressman Lair, fellow delegates and fellow Republicans. I am here at this convention because I profoundly believe that present basic trends and perils are rushing us towards a national crisis. And I believe to avoid or survive that crisis, the Republican Party must promote the programs and provide the leadership that will capture the interest, respect, and support of a majority of Americans. I think the future of this nation depends on that.
I want to make it perfectly clear: I am not here to aid any candidate speaking at this time, and I am not here to detract from any candidate. And I appear to seek your open-minded consideration of a still stronger and complete platform that will meet our needs as a party and as a nation. We have a good platform. I'm not here to criticize this platform. I'm here to improve it.
Political Playback: Before ‘Never Trump’, there was ‘Stop Goldwater’
I make this urgent plea for your open minds and hearts for the purpose of giving the candidate to be selected by this convention a better opportunity to win this fall.
The strongest personality on earth cannot deal with the problems of this nation except upon the basis of correct principles. Our party was founded at a time of grave national crisis. It was our mission, on our birth under Lincoln, to preserve this nation, established by divine providence with a divine destiny. The nation and its destinies were in peril, not only by the irreconcilable conflict between slavery and freedom, but also by the extremism of that time. And the extremism and lily-white Protestantism destroyed the Whig Party and brought the Republican party in to being.
The extremists of that day called themselves the Sacred Cult of the Star Spangled Banner officially. They were known popularly as the know-nothings. While their political leaders [took] refuge in silence, while other political leaders did, Lincoln spoke out as forcefully against the know-nothing extremists of his day as he did about slavery. He attacked both as a violation of the source of freedom and greatness. He attacked both slavery and the know nothing extremism as a violation of the principle of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of all mankind
And had Lincoln ignored the know-nothing extremists of his day, he would not have been president of the United States and saved the nation. In 1854 Lincoln said, quote, "As a nation we began by declaring that all men are created equal. We know practically read that all men are created equal except Negroes. When the know nothings get control it will read, all men are created equal except Negroes and foreigners and Catholics. When it comes to this I shall prefer immigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty. To Russia for example, where despotism can be taken pure and without the fake alloy of democracy." Those are Lincoln's own words.
Face the Nation will kick off CBS News' coverage of the 2016 Republican Convention on Sunday with a broadcast live from the floor of the convention hall in Cleveland. Don't miss it! Check your local listings for airtimes.LINCOLN COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- It seems like everyone is working to stop the growing drug problem across our region, and local schools are even joining the fight.
Starting this year, some students at Lincoln County High School could be randomly selected for drug testing.
"This is the first year we've started our random drug testing policy," Assistant Superintendent Bill Linville said.
Before this policy, students only faced consequences if they were under the influence or in possession of a drug at school.
Not all students are in the pool for random selection.
A student could get selected if they participate in an extracurricular activity, drive their own car to school, or their parent opts them into the program.
One Lincoln County woman disagrees with the policy.
"If you're going to do drug testing, I think it should be for everybody," Beulah Taylor, a Lincoln County grandparent, said.
But Assistant Superintendent Bill Linville said that since the school is a free public institution. they cannot make every student participate in random testing.
They can only randomly test students who utilize certain privileges the school gives like driving to school and participating in extracurricular activities.
School officials think this policy could offer students a reason to turn down drugs.
"They could look at their peer and say, 'No, I drive to school, or I play in the band, or I play football and I don't want to lose that privilege,' " Linville said.
Linville also said this new policy was put into place to help students.
"We're going to offer them help. That's what we're here for to help students," Linville said.
If a student tests positive for drugs upon their random selection, the student must receive drug conciliating and submit three additional drug screenings throughout the academic year.
If a student is selected for a drug test and the student refuses to participate, they will not be eligible for extracurricular and parking at school.At approximately 14:35hrs on 13 January the regional traffic police confirmed to the SMM that a Grad rocket struck close to a civilian bus when it stopped at a Ukrainian Armed Forces checkpoint approximately 2km north of Volnovakha (35km south-west of Donetsk).
The SMM arrived at the location of the incident at 17:45hrs and witnessed the removal of two of the dead passengers from the bus. The bus had shrapnel damage consistent with a nearby rocket impact, estimated by the SMM to be 12-15 meters from the side of the bus. The SMM visited the Volnovakha hospital where the staff confirmed that ten persons on the bus were killed instantly, while two died later in the hospital. Another 17 passengers were injured.
Following a proposal from the SMM, the Ukrainian Major-General and Head of the Ukrainian side to the JCCC and the Russian Federation Major-General, representative of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) and the “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DPR) leadership have agreed to conduct a joint investigation led by the JCCC. In parallel, the SMM will continue its observations and establish its own findings regarding the incident.Yahoo today announced that the huge data breach in August 2013 affected every user on its service — that’s all three billion user accounts and up from the initial one billion figure Yahoo initially reported. Since disclosing the hack, Yahoo continued to add more numbers of accounts compromised, but today’s announcement makes it clear that if you had a Yahoo email account, you were part of the breach.
if you had a Yahoo email account, you were part of the breach
The hack exposed user account information, which includes name, email address, hashed passwords, birthdays, phone numbers, and, in some cases, “encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers,” the company said back in 2016. Yahoo did confirm that passwords were not stolen in clear text, and hackers did not obtain bank or credit card information tied to the Yahoo accounts.
In the months following the announcement, the US Department of Justice charged Russian officials for “state-sponsored” crime relating to a separate Yahoo hack in 2014, with more lawsuits approved by a US District judge in San Jose, CA potentially forthcoming.
The news today comes four months after Yahoo was acquired by Verizon Communications (under a new division named Oath) for $4.48 billion — down $350 million from the initial offer due to the severity of the hacks.When complete, the windfarm will deliver up to 1,800 megawatts of low carbon electricity to around 1.8 million UK homes.
The windfarm would create up to 1,960 construction jobs and 580 operational and maintenance jobs. If built to the full capacity, the investment would total around £6bn providing a great opportunity for economic growth in the Humber region and beyond.
Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark said:
The UK’s offshore wind industry has grown at an extraordinary rate over the last few years, and is a fundamental part of our plans to build a clean, affordable, secure energy system.
Britain is a global leader in offshore wind, and we’re determined to be one of the leading destinations for investment in renewable energy, which means jobs and economic growth right across the country.
Located approximately 89km off the Yorkshire coast, the windfarm will comprise up to 300 wind turbines and will connect to the grid at North Killingholme in North Lincolnshire.
The Government is making £730m of financial support available for renewable electricity generation this Parliament, sending a clear signal that the UK is open for business. We expect 10GW of offshore wind installed by the end of this decade and could see up to 10GW of new offshore wind in the 2020s as costs come down.
The decision was made on the merits of the scheme based on a report and recommendation from the Planning Inspectorate which is being published today.The Art of Fielding, by Chad Harbach
I had purchased a copy of Chad Harbach’s The Art of Fielding a few years ago, but never actually got around to sitting down to read it. In spite of my intentions, I often find that my myriad interests and short attention span prevent me from ever proceeding through my reading list the way that I promise myself to do. And the sheer size of this novel — well over 500 pages — certainly didn’t help in convincing me to crack it open and focus on it.
A couple years ago I discovered, much to my own surprise, that audiobooks are a pretty wonderful thing. I can check out audiobook CDs from the public library and keep them in the car. That way, when I’m commuting to and from work or running whatever errands, I can still use that time productively and “read” while I drive. A couple weeks ago, I found a copy of The Art of Fielding on CD at the library and realized this might be my best option for getting through the massive tome.
Overall, my personal reaction to the book is pretty mixed. On one hand, there’s nothing groundbreakingly special about it. The skeleton of the story revolves around Henry Skrimshander, a highly-talented and much-sought-after shortstop at Westish College who one day makes an errant throw that completely rocks his confidence. His performance on the field struggles as he tries in vain to return to his former self, but it’s not until his whole world seemingly blows up in his face that he is finally able to recover. There are a couple love stories, a love triangle, substance abuse and mental health issues, and, of course, some good baseball moments.
On the other hand, in spite of the familiar plot structure, I found myself eager to keep diving back into the story. Harbach’s characters are delightfully vivid and believable, and he weaves backstories for them that makes me want to know more and more about them. If I had to choose, I would have to say that my favorite character is Mike Schwartz, the big, burly catcher who “discovers” Henry Skrimshander and takes him under his wing, all while battling his own injuries and burning the midnight oil to try to get into law school. I found myself rooting for Schwartz even more than I was rooting for Henry.
When I audited the Baseball in Literature course a couple years ago, the professor mentioned that some of the more, ah, intimate moments of the book could sometimes be a bit much, and I have to agree with this particular criticism. I have to also confess, however, that I am a sucker for characters in literature who, themselves, love books and literature, and there is plenty of that here. This is one of those books that makes me want to read all the books mentioned within the book, which only exacerbates my inability to get to the other books on my reading list in a timely manner. It sounds confusing (not to mention frustrating), but that’s a problem I actually enjoy having.
The Art of Fielding is far more than just a baseball book. Yes, there is definitely baseball, and the baseball scenes are well-written. The descriptions early on of Henry’s performance as a shortstop are particularly captivating, enough so to make me jealous of the fact that I could never perform that smoothly as a middle infielder. But the novel extends well beyond the diamond to explore the complications of being a human being having relationships with other human beings. While I do feel like it could have been about a hundred pages shorter, I still find myself thinking that this is one that I may have to read (or listen to) again some day.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Thursday voted to remove key roadblocks to increased consolidation among media companies, potentially unleashing new deals among TV, radio and newspaper owners as they seek to better compete with online media.
A couple of people ride the subway as they read newspapers as the train pulls into the Times Square stop in Manhattan, New York, U.S. February 17, 2017. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
The Republican-led FCC voted 3-2 to eliminate the 42-year-old ban on cross-ownership of a newspaper and TV station in a major market. It also voted to make it easier for media companies to buy additional TV stations in the same market, and for local stations to jointly sell advertising time and for companies to buy additional radio stations in some markets.
Big media companies including Tegna Inc, CBS Corp and Nexstar Media Group Inc have cited the expected rule change as motivation for considering expansion opportunities.
“This is really about helping large media companies grow even bigger,” said Democratic FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, adding that Republicans were “more intent on granting the industry’s holiday wish list early rather than looking out for the public interest.”
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai defended the rule change, saying it was “utter nonsense” that rules banning cross ownership of a newspaper and broadcast station were still in place after massive changes in media over the last four decades.
The decision could also allow Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc, which is seeking approval for its proposed $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media Co, to avoid some divestitures in order to gain approval of the deal.
Moody’s said on Thursday the move was credit-positive for TV broadcasters. “Under the revised FCC rules, U.S. television broadcasters will benefit from the ability to consolidate local market ownership through acquisitions and station swaps,” said Jason Cuomo, author of the Moody’s report. “Broadcasters that increase their scale in local markets will attract more advertising, improve their negotiating leverage and bring down their costs.”
A federal appeals court, which has been grappling with the FCC’s media ownership rules for more than a decade, is expected to hear challenges to the new rules.
U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, said the vote “will pave the way for massive broadcast conglomerates to increasingly provide local viewers with nationalized cookie-cutter news and corporate propaganda that’s produced elsewhere.”
But the National Association of Broadcasters said the rules were “not only irrational in today’s media environment, but they have also weakened the newspaper industry, cost journalism jobs and forced local broadcast stations onto unequal footing with our national pay-TV and radio competitors.”
Pai is also expected to call for an initial vote in December to rescind rules prohibiting one company from owning stations that serve more than 39 percent of U.S. television households, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing two people briefed on the matter.
In April, the FCC voted to reverse a 2016 decision that limits the number of television stations some broadcasters could buy.Rune Evensen/European Pressphoto Agency Rune Evensen/European Pressphoto Agency
Being downsized stinks, as the millions of Americans who’ve been canned in the past year know. My own employment debacle involved getting laid off, getting another gig, losing that one, then getting and losing another and another as each company I found employment with went out of business in the tanking economy, almost on cue as I arrived. It seemed like a sick joke. But I wasn’t laughing.
I’m a musician and writer and haven’t had a “real job” since 1988, though in lean times I did paint apartments and once sang “Blue Suede Shoes” dressed as the ’68 Elvis at a Korean birthday party. Gigs weren’t too hard to get when I wanted them because I play a few instruments and know the words and music to something like 3,000 songs comprised of blues, jazz, classic rock, rockabilly, standards, Broadway, television commercials, novelty music and my own stuff. Rap’s O.K. with me; ditto hip-hop and salsa. The only music I never really got into was metal. That is, until my personal economy collapsed.
As a lifelong gun-for-hire, I had been used to, and O.K. with, not knowing what tomorrow would bring. I could live creatively on little dough if necessary and managed to get to India, Bali, Maui, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Central Park Summerstage and anywhere else adventure, fun or a story or gig awaited. But I had also gotten used to the steady, healthy paycheck of the daily columnist’s job I’d accepted at a newspaper in 2006.
Though I was still technically a freelancer, without benefits, vacation or a contract, the assignment afforded me perks galore, massively amped my writing chops and paid me quadruple what I’d been used to making in a year. I had, I thought, arrived, six years after deciding to make a living with words and music.
I opened a Roth I.R.A., banked half my paycheck each week, bought my wife an iPod for Valentine’s day, fixed my front teeth, finished the album I’d been recording since 2004 and recorded another disc in 2008 with a producer and eight musicians. If I met a homeless person whose tale of woe moved me, I might give him a ten after talking to them. That’s how good things were.
But in September 2008, a supervisor at the paper sat me down and said, “The company is hemorrhaging money. We can’t afford to pay you anymore.” They couldn’t afford to pay another 50 people in the newsroom, either. Two weeks later, I cleared out my desk and pocketed a letter of reference from the deputy publisher. At least I hadn’t been fired for incompetence, I told myself. And I’d saved more than six months’ salary, as the experts said you should.
But it was still a monumental shock, the end of a very exciting period of life, and it shook me like a death. My father, also a writer, had died suddenly almost exactly two years before. Losing my job felt familiar to that life-shattering event; disbelief, panic, grief, and immediate action required. I told no one except my immediate family what had happened.
Two weeks later, I secured a writing job with another company, for less work and better money. Way to go, I thought — that’s hittin’ ‘em, kid.
That company folded within a month, laying off dozens. As winter rolled on, three magazines I used to write for went out of business, and each first of the month brought a gasp and gulp as I saw the numbers in my bank account plunge.
I fought back, of course. I hadn’t spent five months meditating in an Indian ashram for nothing. I talked, wrote, baked, yelled, bawled, laughed, shared and kept on e-mailing, calling, networking and seeking paying work of any kind.
But I’m not a winter guy. No matter what else is going on in my life, if the sun is out and it’s 70 degrees, the possibilities are endless. During the freezing days and nights of January, February and March of 2009, I began waking up before dawn, nauseated. Soon, fear, doubt, self-pity and resistance to facts boiled down into a ball of almost-constant frustration and anger.
I found a therapist, thankfully covered by my wife’s insurance, and tore a rotator cuff smashing a giant cloth cube with a bat in the doctor’s office. The shoulder healed but I felt no better mentally and emotionally after two months of weekly sessions, so I quit. What I wanted was paying work. Without that, there wasn’t anything to talk about. I started taking it personally. My situation seemed no less than a betrayal from God or Zeus or Yahweh or whoever takes care of what can’t be seen to by human efforts.
One freezing day in March, Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s version of Alberto Ginastera’s “Toccata” came on my iPod. I hadn’t listened to this song since I was a teen. For some reason, “Toccata” compelled me as never before, especially the intense, frenetic, pounding ending.
Intense. Frenetic. Pounding.
I sent a drummer friend an e-mail: “What is, in your opinion, the absolute heaviest, banging-est, most insane, loudest, stupidest music of all time?”
“What a great question,” he replied. “My answer for you is the 1986 classic album by Slayer “Reign in Blood.” It’s the greatest album ever made. If you need any more help, let me know. 666.”
I downloaded “Reign in Blood” and waited to listen until I could give the album my complete attention later that day. The first song was “Angel of Death.”
I was carried off into a boiling sonic river of brutal, obscene, blasphemous noise that blasted me like a cannon out of my depressed cave and directly into the fury I was experiencing each waking day. For the next three weeks, all other music disappeared from my world. I listened to “Piece by Piece” as I dropped off to sleep at night, and the first thing I did in the morning, en route to the john, was cue up “Angel of Death.” Any gap of spare time during the day, no matter how small, was filled with “Post Mortem,” “Epidemic,” “Jesus Saves” and especially “Raining Blood.” Every other type of music seemed silly, trivial, light and useless.I didn’t bother listening very closely to the lyrics, either, despite my lifelong Ira Gershwin obsession. In fact, the less I could understand, the better. All I connected with were the screams.
After 30 days of Slayer saturation, I downloaded a blizzard of Death Metal onto a single iPod; 171 songs. Pantera. Anthrax. Venom. Cannibal Corpse. Devil Driver. If I previewed a band at iTunes and there wasn’t a WARNING: EXPLICIT label there or the tempo wasn’t insanely fast, I wasn’t interested.
Something was happening beyond the mind, the emotions and the circumstances. Music, for the first time in my life, was penetrating my body and shaking it. The force of Death Metal moved me out of my mind and into my arms, legs, head and belly. It compelled me to pull over in the car and bang the steering wheel, to run faster and farther in the freezing cold, to lift more weights and smash the heavy bag at the gym with renewed ferocity, and massively upped the intensity in everything I said, did and felt.
It also made me feel powerful enough to fight back against the injustice the world had delivered to me, to meet and embrace that inner demon who had always been told, since I was a little boy, “Smile.” “Be nice.” “Look at the bright side.” “Be reasonable.” “Don’t be angry.” Death Metal didn’t smile, wasn’t nice and there was no bright side to it. By going into my fear and anger via music, I didn’t damage myself or anyone else, and I was able to face each day again. I kept jabbing and punching furiously back at the world, at depression and rage and that low-down, no-good, rotten son of a bitch, Unemployment. Finally, the S.O.B. fell.
Spring came, and I got a licensing deal from a music publishing company for the disc I’d completed in 2007, then another, similar deal for the other CD with another publishing company. Things started loosening up: a job here, a job there. Finally, I was able to make the monthly bills from new checks instead of once again hemorrhaging savings, and I got to go to Paris to write a travel article for a new magazine in July. On my first day there, I rose at dawn, walked to the Eiffel Tower, stood directly under it, cued up “Angel of Death” on my iPod and pictured Nazi tanks rolling through. A nightmare that didn’t last, I thought. Like mine. Two weeks ago, I accepted a year’s contract writing for a media organization.
Zeus hadn’t dropped me, I finally figured out. He’d just handed me off to the devil for a few months.
.In fact, when President Obama famously stated that marijuana is no more dangerous than drinking alcohol, Jeff Sessions had a notoriously insane meltdown, claiming "It's a mistake. We have seen this experiment before. Lives are at risk." He continues to propagate the demonstrably untrue claim that marijuana is a gateway drug and linked the declining US murder rate to the War on Marijuana. His opinions on marijuana have nothing to do with science, research, or evidence, bur rather reefer madness propaganda of the early 20th century. He is completely backwards and out-of-touch with reality.
Regardless of your opinion of the Obama Administration, he has allowed states to experiment with legal and medical marijuana free of federal interference. Marijuana is illegal according to the US Government and scheduled with heroin and cocaine and LSD as the most dangerous substances on earth with zero noted medical value (a preposterous statement). He has the power to interfere with states that have experimented with legal and medical cannabis, but he hasn't. He has chosen NOT to enforce federal laws banning cannabis and instead respected states' rights, a hallmark of conservatism and the Republican party. The incoming President and his cabinet can reverse this trajectory and enforce federal laws on legal marijuana ventures. They will try to destroy any remnant of legal and medical marijuana that the United States has erected. However, in the absence of strict federal enforcement, states have flourished upon legalization.A group of graduates has won a class-action suit against George Brown College for a course description that promised three credentials it was not qualified to deliver.
Of 118 students represented in the case, two-thirds came from other countries and paid $11,000 in tuition each for the eight-month International Business Program, which delivered none of the three added industry qualifications — international trade, custom services and international freight forwarding — promised in the course calendar.
It was these specialized industry designations that attracted |
on his bike.
"I was scared because I'd been told that I look younger than I really am — that people would just see a young kid at night," he says. "And there are always scary people out at night, so I just thought if I ride fast enough, they won't catch me."
The Look
Not that long ago, Los Angeles' Skid Row was home to Kimberly McKenzie. She spent a year navigating its chaotic sidewalks and surviving.
The 29-year-old former New Yorker had worked all her life, and by her early 20s had a job at a bank in Manhattan. So what happened in McKenzie's life that took her from that job to homelessness — first on the streets of New York and then Los Angeles?
"All my life, I struggled with my identity, finding who I really was and being comfortable in expressing myself," she says.
So five years ago, at the age of 24, McKenzie made the decision to transition from male to female. She began by wearing makeup and then started hormone therapy.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Gloria Hillard for NPR Gloria Hillard for NPR
"I finally felt, like, this is it. This is the beginning — this is the beginning of my life, of me being in control of it," she says.
Her life did change, dramatically. "It just went total 360. I lost everything," she says.
McKenzie lost her job, along with many friends. Family members just didn't understand.
As for society, "I was humiliated. I lost, like, my dignity," she says. "It's like you're an alien; it's like you're not even real. People stare at you, and they don't realize that they're staring at you. But you take it all in. You take the whole world in."
Even though she was on the streets, she kept herself together. She started volunteering at Lamp Community, an organization that assists the homeless.
Today, McKenzie is the administrative assistant at the nonprofit. She's perfect for the job, she says, because she has great organizational skills and she's been there, walked in the shoes of the people she now helps.
Yes, she still encounters the whispers and stares. But every once in a while, McKenzie says, "people just look at me and smile." That, she says, gives her hope for the future.I. FRIVOLOUS TAX ARGUMENTS IN GENERAL A. The Voluntary Nature of the Federal Income Tax System 1. Contention: The filing of a tax return is voluntary. Some taxpayers assert that they are not required to file federal tax returns because the filing of a tax return is voluntary. Proponents of this contention point to the fact that the IRS tells taxpayers in the Form 1040 instruction book that the tax system is voluntary. Additionally, these taxpayers frequently quote Flora v. United States, 362 U.S. 145, 176 (1960), for the proposition that "[o]ur system of taxation is based upon voluntary assessment and payment, not upon distraint." The Law: The word “voluntary,” as used in Flora and in IRS publications, refers to our system of allowing taxpayers initially to determine the correct amount of tax and complete the appropriate returns, rather than have the government determine tax for them from the outset. The requirement to file an income tax return is not voluntary and is clearly set forth in sections 6011(a), 6012(a), et seq., and 6072(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. See also Treas. Reg. § 1.6011-1(a). Any taxpayer who has received more than a statutorily determined amount of gross income in a given tax year is obligated to file a return for that tax year. Failure to file a tax return could subject the non-compliant individual to civil and/or criminal penalties, including fines and imprisonment. In United States v. Tedder, 787 F.2d 540, 542 (10th Cir. 1986), the court stated that, “although Treasury regulations establish voluntary compliance as the general method of income tax collection, Congress gave the Secretary of the Treasury the power to enforce the income tax laws through involuntary collection.... The IRS’ efforts to obtain compliance with the tax laws are entirely proper.” The IRS warned taxpayers of the consequences of making this frivolous argument in Rev. Rul. 2007-20, 2007-1 C.B. 863 and in Notice 2010-33, 2010-17 I.R.B. 609. Relevant Case Law: Helvering v. Mitchell, 303 U.S. 391, 399 (1938) – the Supreme Court stated that “[i]n assessing income taxes, the Government relies primarily upon the disclosure by the taxpayer of the relevant facts... in his annual return. To ensure full and honest disclosure, to discourage fraudulent attempts to evade the tax, Congress imposes [either criminal or civil] sanctions.” United States v. Tedder, 787 F.2d 540 (10th Cir. 1986) – the 10th Circuit upheld a conviction for willfully failing to file a return, stating that the premise “that the tax system is somehow ‘voluntary’... is incorrect.” United States v. Richards, 723 F.2d 646 (8th Cir. 1983) – the 8th Circuit upheld a conviction and fines imposed for willfully failing to file tax returns, stating that the claim that filing a tax return is voluntary “was rejected in United States v. Drefke, 707 F.2d 978, 981 (8th Cir. 1983).” United States v. Hartman, 915 F.Supp. 1227, 1230 (M.D. Fla. 1996) – the court held that, “The assertion that the filing of an income tax return is voluntary is, likewise, frivolous.” The court noted that I.R.C. § 6012(a)(1)(A), “requires that every individual who earns a threshold level of income must file a tax return” and that “failure to file an income tax return subjects an individual to criminal penalty.” Other Cases: United States v. Drefke, 707 F.2d 978 (8th Cir. 1983); United States v. Schulz, 529 F. Supp. 2d 341 (N.D.N.Y. 2007); Foryan v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2015-114, 109 T.C.M. (CCH) 1591 (2015); Jones v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2014-101, 107 T.C.M. (CCH) 1495 (2014). 2. Contention: Payment of federal income tax is voluntary. In a similar vein, some argue that they are not required to pay federal taxes because the payment of federal taxes is voluntary. Proponents of this position argue that our system of taxation is based upon voluntary assessment and payment. They frequently claim that there is no provision in the Internal Revenue Code or any other federal statute that requires them to pay or makes them liable for income taxes, and they demand that the IRS show them the law that imposes tax on their income. They argue that, until the IRS can prove to these taxpayers’ satisfaction the existence and applicability of the income tax laws, they will not report or pay income taxes. These individuals or groups reflexively dismiss any attempt by the IRS to identify the laws, thereby continuing the cycle. The IRS discussed this frivolous position at length and warned taxpayers of the consequences of asserting it in Rev. Rul. 2007-20, 2007-1 C.B. 863 and in Notice 2010-33, 2010-17 I.R.B. 609. The Law: The requirement to pay taxes is not voluntary. Section 1 of the Internal Revenue Code clearly imposes a tax on the taxable income of individuals, estates, and trusts, as determined by the tables set forth in that section. (Section 11 imposes a tax on corporations’ taxable income.) Furthermore, the obligation to pay tax is described in section 6151, which requires taxpayers to submit payment with their tax returns. Failure to pay taxes could subject the non-complying individual to criminal penalties, including fines and imprisonment, as well as civil penalties. In United States v. Drefke, 707 F.2d 978, 981 (8th Cir. 1983), the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals stated, in discussing section 6151, that “when a tax return is required to be filed, the person so required ‘shall’ pay such taxes to the internal revenue officer with whom the return is filed at the fixed time and place. The sections of the Internal Revenue Code imposed a duty on Drefke to file tax returns and pay the appropriate rate of income tax, a duty which he chose to ignore.” Although courts, in rare instances, have waived civil penalties because they have found that a taxpayer relied on an IRS misstatement or wrongful misleading silence with respect to a factual matter, there have been no cases in which the IRS’s lack of response to a taxpayer’s inquiry has relieved the taxpayer of the duty to pay tax due under the law. Such an estoppel argument does not, however, apply to a legal matter such as whether there is legal authority to collect taxes. See, e.g., McKay v. Commissioner, 102 T.C. 465 (1994). Relevant Case Law: United States v. Schiff, 379 F.3d 621 (9th Cir. 2004); see also http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv04551.htm. – the court affirmed a federal district court’s preliminary injunction barring Irwin Schiff, Cynthia Neun, and Lawrence N. Cohen from selling a tax scheme that fraudulently claimed that payment of federal income tax is voluntary. In subsequent criminal trials, these three were convicted of violating several criminal laws relating to their scheme. See 2005 TNT 206-18. Schiff received a sentence of more than 12 years in prison and was ordered to pay more than $4.2 million in restitution to the IRS; Neun received a sentence of nearly 6 years and was ordered to pay $1.1 million in restitution to the IRS; and Cohen received a sentence of nearly 3 years and was ordered to pay $480,000 in restitution to the IRS. See http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2006/February/06_tax_098.html. Keenan v. Commissioner, 233 F. App’x 719, 720 (9th Cir. 2007) – the 9th Circuit stated that “assertions that the tax system is voluntary” are frivolous. Banat v. Commissioner, 80 F. App’x 705 (2d Cir. 2003) – The 2nd Circuit upheld $2,000 in sanctions against a taxpayer because his argument that “the payment of income taxes was voluntary” was “contrary to well-established law and thus was frivolous.” United States v. Gerads, 999 F.2d 1255 (8th Cir. 1993) – the court stated that the “[taxpayers’] claim that payment of federal income tax is voluntary clearly lacks substance” and imposed sanctions in the amount of $1,500 “for bringing this frivolous appeal based on discredited, tax-protester arguments.” Wilcox v. Commissioner, 848 F.2d 1007 (9th Cir. 1988) – the court rejected Wilcox’s argument that payment of taxes is voluntary for American citizens and imposed a $1,500 penalty against Wilcox for raising frivolous claims. United States v. Schulz, 529 F.Supp.2d 341 (N.D.N.Y. 2007) – the court permanently barred Robert Schulz and his organizations, We the People Congress and We the People Foundation, from promoting a tax scheme that helped employers and employees improperly stop tax withholding from wages on the false premise that federal income taxation is voluntary. Jones v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2014-101, 107 T.C.M. (CCH) 1495 (2014) – the court imposed several sanctions of $25,000 against a taxpayer who argued, amongst other frivolous arguments, that “the Internal Revenue Code does not establish any liability for the payment of Federal income tax.” Other Cases: Schiff v. United States, 919 F.2d 830 (2d Cir. 1990); United States v. Berryman, 112 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2013-6282 (D. Colo. 2013); United States v. Sieloff, 104 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2009-5067 (M.D. Fla. 2009); United States v. Melone, 111 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2013-1369 (D. Mass. 2013); Foryan v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2015-114, 109 T.C.M. (CCH) 1591(2015); Jones v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2014-101, 107 T.C.M. (CCH) 1495 (2014); Horowitz v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2006-91, 91 T.C.M. (CCH) 1120 (2006). 3. Contention: Taxpayers can reduce their federal income tax liability by filing a “zero return”. Some taxpayers attempt to reduce their federal income tax liability by filing a tax return that reports no income and no tax liability (a “zero return”) even though they have taxable income. Many of these taxpayers also request a refund of any taxes withheld by an employer. These individuals typically attach to the zero return a “corrected” Form W-2 or another information return that reports income and income tax withholding, reling on one or more of the frivolous arguments discussed throughout this outline to support their position. The Law: A taxpayer that has taxable income cannot legally avoid income tax by filing a zero return. Section 61 provides that gross income includes all income from whatever source derived, including compensation for services. Courts have repeatedly penalized taxpayers for making the frivolous argument that the filing of a zero return can allow a taxpayer to avoid income tax liability or permit a refund of tax withheld by an employer. Courts have also imposed the frivolous return and failure to file penalties because these forms do not evidence an honest and reasonable attempt to satisfy the tax laws or contain sufficient data to calculate the tax liability, which are necessary elements of a valid tax return. See Beard v. Commissioner, 82 T.C. 766, 777-79 (1984). Furthermore, including the phrase “nunc pro tunc” or other legal phrase has no legal effect and does not serve to validate a zero return. See Rev. Rul. 2006- 17, 2006-1 C.B. 748; Notice 2010-33, 2010-17 I.R.B. 609. The IRS warned taxpayers of the consequences of making this frivolous argument in Rev. Rul. 2004-34, 2004-1 C.B. 619. Relevant Case Law: Kelly v. United States, 789 F.2d 94 (1st Cir. 1986) – the 1st Circuit found that the taxpayer’s failure to report any income from wages, the “unexplained designation of his Form W-2 as ‘Incorrect’, and his attempt to deduct as a cost of labor expense on Schedule C an amount almost identical to the amount of wages on Form W-2” established that his position (that compensation for his labor was not “wages” or taxable income) was both incorrect and frivolous. Sisemore v. United States, 797 F.2d 268 (6th Cir. 1986) – the 6th Circuit upheld the assessment of a frivolous-return penalty on taxpayers because “their amended return [showing no income] on its face clearly showed that their assessment of their taxes was substantially incorrect and that their position on the matter [that their wages were zero because received in equal exchange for their labor] was frivolous.” Olson v. United States, 760 F.2d 1003 (9th Cir. 1985) – the 9th Circuit held that the district court properly found the taxpayer was liable for a penalty for filing a frivolous tax return because he listed his wages as zero and attempted “to escape tax by deducting his wages as ‘cost of labor’ and by claiming that he had obtained no privilege from a governmental agency.” Davis v. United States Government, 742 F.2d 171 (5th Cir. 1984) – the 5th Circuit held as clearly frivolous the taxpayers’ reasons (“rejected... time and time again”) for reporting no wages and no gross income, when they had received over $60,000 in earnings or other compensation as evidenced by the Forms W-2 attached to their Form 1040. United States v. Melone, 111 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2013-1369 (D. Mass. 2013) – the court held that the taxpayer, who filed “zero returns,” falsely asserting he made no income, was liable for civil penalties. United States v. Ballard, 101 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1241, (N.D. Tex. 2008) – the court permanently enjoined a tax return preparer from engaging in further tax return preparation or tax advice because he prepared federal income tax returns for customers that falsely showed nothing but zeroes. Bonaccorso v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2005-278, 90 T.C.M. (CCH) 554 (2005) – the taxpayer filed zero returns based on the argument that he found no Code section that made him liable for any income tax. The court held that the petitioner’s argument was frivolous, citing to section 1 (imposes an income tax), section 63 (defines taxable income as gross income minus deductions), and section 61 (defines gross income). The court also imposed a $10,000 sanction under section 6673 for making frivolous arguments. Other Cases: United States v. Schiff, 544 F. App’x 729 (9th Cir. 2013); United States v. Conces, 507 F.3d 1028 (6th Cir. 2007); United States v. Schiff, 379 F.3d 621 (9th Cir. 2004); United States v. Nichols, 115 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2015-1971 (D. Wash. 2015); United States v. Hill, 97 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2006-548 (D. Ariz. 2005); Little v. United States, 96 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2005-7086 (M.D.N.C. 2005); Schultz v. United States, 95 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2005-1977 (W.D. Mich. 2005); Waltner v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2015-146, T.C.M. (RIA) 2015- 146 (2015); Hill v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2014-101, 108 T.C.M. (CCH) 12 (2014); Shirley v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2014-10, 107 T.C.M. (CCH) 1057 (2014); Waltner v. United States, 98 Fed. Cl. 737 (2011); Oman v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2010-276, 100 T.C.M. (CCH) 548 (2010); Blaga v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2010-170, 100 T.C.M. (CCH) 91 (2010). 4. Contention: The IRS must prepare federal tax returns for a person who fails to file. Proponents of this argument contend that section 6020(b) obligates the IRS to prepare and sign under penalties of perjury a federal tax return for a person who does not file a return. Those who subscribe to this contention claim that they are not required to file a return for themselves. The Law: Section 6020(b) merely provides the IRS with a mechanism for determining the tax liability of a taxpayer who has failed to file a return. Section 6020(b) does not require the IRS to prepare or sign under penalties of perjury tax returns for persons who do not file, and it does not excuse the taxpayer from civil penalties or criminal liability for failure to file. Relevant Case Law: Jahn v. Commissioner, 431 F. App’x 210 (3d Cir. 2011) – the 3rd Circuit held that even if the IRS prepares a return under section 6020(b), this “does not relieve the nonfiling taxpayer of his duty to file and does not equate to a filed return unless signed by the taxpayer.” The court found arguments to the contrary frivolous. United States v. Cheek, 3 F.3d 1057 (7th Cir. 1993) – the 7th Circuit upheld the district court’s instruction to the jury that the defendant’s belief that section 6020 permitted the Secretary of the Treasury to prepare a tax return for a person did not negate “in any way” the defendant’s obligation to file a tax return. In re Bergstrom, 949 F.2d 341 (10th Cir. 1991) – the 10th Circuit recognized that “[c]ourts have held that 26 U.S.C. § 6020(b) provides the IRS with some recourse if a taxpayer fails to file a return as required under 26 U.S.C. § 6012, but that it does not excuse a taxpayer from the filing requirement.” Schiff v. United States, 919 F.2d 830 (2d Cir. 1990) – the 2nd Circuit rejected the taxpayer’s argument that the IRS must prepare a substitute return pursuant to section 6020(b) before assessing deficient taxes, stating “[t]here is no requirement that the IRS complete a substitute return.” Moore v. Commissioner, 722 F.2d 193 (5th Cir. 1984) – the 9th Circuit stated that “section [6020(b)] provides the Secretary with some recourse should a taxpayer fail to fulfill his statutory obligation to file a return, and does not supplant the taxpayer’s original obligation to file established by 26 U.S.C. § 6012.” Jagos v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2017-022, 114 T.C.M. (CCH) 424 (2017) – the court found that the IRS was not required to prepare a substitute for return under section 6020 when the petitioner had already filed a return for the year at issue. Stewart v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2005-212, 90 T.C.M. (CCH) 269 (2005) – the court found that the IRS need not prepare a substitute return in order to determine a deficiency when the petitioner has not filed a return for the year at issue. Other Cases: United States v. Barnett, 945 F.2d 1296 (5th Cir. 1991); United States v. Lacy, 658 F.2d 396 (5th Cir. 1981). 5. Contention: Compliance with an administrative summons issued by the IRS is voluntary. Some summoned parties may assert that they are not required to respond to or comply with an administrative summons issued by the IRS. Proponents of this position argue that a summons thus can be ignored. The Second Circuit’s opinion in Schulz v. IRS, 413 F.3d 297 (2d Cir. 2005) (“ Schulz II ”), discussed below, is often inappropriately cited to support this proposition. The Law: A summons is an administrative device with which the IRS can summon persons to appear, testify, and produce documents. The IRS is statutorily authorized to inquire about any person who may be liable to pay any internal revenue tax, and to summon a witness to testify or to produce books, papers, records, or other data that may be relevant or material to an investigation. I.R.C. § 7602; United States v. Arthur Young & Co., 465 U.S. 805, 816 (1984); United States v. Powell, 379 U.S. 48 (1964). Sections 7402(b) and 7604(a) of the Internal Revenue Code grant jurisdiction to district courts to enforce a summons, and section 7604(b) governs the general enforcement of summonses by the IRS. Section 7604(b) allows courts to issue attachments, consistent with the law of contempt, to ensure attendance at an enforcement hearing "[i]f the taxpayer has contumaciously refused to comply with the administrative summons and the [IRS] fears he may flee the jurisdiction." Powell, 379 U.S. at 58 n.18; see also Reisman v. Caplin, 375 U.S. 440, 448-49 (1964) (noting that section 7604(b) actions are in the nature of contempt proceedings against persons who “wholly made default or contumaciously refused to comply” with an administrative summons issued by the IRS). Under section 7604(b), the courts may also impose contempt sanctions for disobedience of an IRS summons. Failure to comply with an IRS administrative summons also could subject the non-complying individual to criminal penalties, including fines and imprisonment. I.R.C. § 7210. While the Second Circuit held in Schulz II that, for due process reasons, the government must first seek judicial review and enforcement of the underlying summons and to provide an intervening opportunity to comply with a court order of enforcement before seeking sanctions for noncompliance, the court’s opinion did not foreclose the availability of prosecution under section 7210. Relevant Case Law: Schulz v. IRS, 413 F.3d 297 (2d Cir. 2005) (“ Schulz II ”) – the 2nd Circuit upheld its prior per curiam opinion, reported at Schulz v. IRS, 395 F.3d 463 (2d Cir. 2005) (“ Schulz I ”), and held that, based upon constitutional due process concerns, an indictment under section 7210 shall not lie and contempt sanctions under section 7604(b) shall not be levied based on disobedience of an IRS summons until that summons has been enforced by a federal court order and the summoned party, after having been given a reasonable opportunity to comply with the court’s order, has refused. The court noted that “[n]either this opinion nor Schulz I prohibits the issuance of pre-hearing attachments consistent with due process and the law of contempts.” United States v. Becker, 58-1 U.S.T.C. ¶ 9403 (S.D.N.Y. 1958) – when Becker failed to produce certain books and records specified in an IRS summons, claiming that they had been destroyed by fire, the court found, based upon the evidence (including the fact that some of the specified books were subsequently produced in compliance with a grand jury subpoena), that Becker willfully and knowingly neglected to produce information called for by a summons in violation of section 7210. Other Cases: United States v. Sanders, 110 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2012-5910 (S.D. Ill. 2011). B. The Meaning of Income: Taxable Income and Gross Income 1. Contention: Wages, tips, and other compensation received for personal services are not income. This argument asserts that wages, tips, and other compensation received for personal services are not income, arguing there is no taxable gain when a person “exchanges” labor for money. Under this theory, wages are not taxable income because people have basis in their labor equal to the fair market value of the wages they receive; thus, there is no gain to be taxed. A variation of this argument misconstrues section 1341—which deals with computations of tax where a taxpayer restores a substantial amount held under claim of right— to claim a deduction for personal services rendered. Another similar argument asserts that wages are not subject to taxation where individuals have obtained funds in exchange for their time. Under this theory, wages are not taxable because the Code does not specifically tax “timereimbursement transactions.” Some individuals or groups argue that the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution did not authorize a tax on wages and salaries, but only on gain or profit. The Law: For federal income tax purposes, “gross income” means all income from whatever source derived and includes compensation for services. I.R.C. § 61. Any income, from whatever source, is presumed to be income under section 61, unless the taxpayer can establish that it is specifically exempted or excluded. See Reese v. United States, 24 F.3d 228, 231 (Fed. Cir. 1994) (“an abiding principle of federal tax law is that, absent an enumerated exception, gross income means all income from whatever source derived.”). In Rev. Rul. 2007-19, 2007-1 C.B. 843, and in Notice 2010-33, 2010-17 I.R.B. 609, the IRS advised taxpayers that wages and other compensation received in exchange for personal services are taxable income and warned of the consequences of making frivolous arguments to the contrary. Section 1341 and the court opinions interpreting it require taxpayers to return funds previously reported as income before they can claim a deduction under claim of right. To have the right to a deduction, the taxpayer should appear to have had an unrestricted right to the income in question, but had to return the money. See Dominion Resources, Inc. v. United States, 219 F.3d 359 (4th Cir. 2000). The IRS, in Rev. Rul. 2004-29, 2004-1 C.B. 627, warned taxpayers of the consequences of frivolously claiming the section 1341 deduction when the taxpayer has not repaid an amount previously reported as income. All compensation for personal services, no matter what the form of payment, must be included in gross income. This includes salary or wages paid in cash, as well as the value of property and other economic benefits received because of services performed or to be performed in the future. Criminal and civil penalties have been imposed against individuals who rely upon this frivolous argument. Though a handful of taxpayers who were criminally charged with violations of the internal revenue laws have avoided conviction, taxpayers should not mistake those few cases as indicative that frivolous positions that fail to yield criminal convictions are legitimate or that because one taxpayer escaped conviction, taxpayers are protected from sanctions resulting from noncompliance. While a few defendants have prevailed, the vast majority are convicted. Furthermore, even if a taxpayer is acquitted of criminal charges of noncompliance with federal tax laws, the IRS may pursue any underlying tax liability and is not barred from determining civil penalties. See Helvering v. Mitchell, 303 U.S. 391 (1938); Price v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1996-204, 71 T.C.M. (CCH) 2884 (1996). Relevant Case Law: Cheek v. United States, 498 U.S. 192 (1991) – Solely on the basis of erroneous jury instructions, the Supreme Court reversed and remanded Cheek’s conviction of willfully failing to file federal income tax returns and willfully attempting to evade income taxes. The Court noted, however, that Cheek’s argument that he should be acquitted because he believed in good faith that the income tax law is unconstitutional “is unsound, not because Cheek’s constitutional arguments are not objectively reasonable or frivolous, which they surely are, but because the [law regarding willfulness in criminal cases] does not support such a position.” Id. On remand, Cheek was convicted on all counts and sentenced to jail for a year and a day. Cheek v. United States, 3 F.3d 1057 (7th Cir. 1993). Commissioner v. Kowalski, 434 U.S. 77 (1977) – the Supreme Court found that payments are considered income where the payments are undeniably accessions to wealth, clearly realized, and over which a taxpayer has complete dominion. Commissioner v. Glenshaw Glass Co., 348 U.S. 426, 429-30 (1955) – referring to the statute’s words “income derived from any source whatever,” the Supreme Court stated, “this language was used by Congress to exert in this field ‘the full measure of its taxing power.’... And the Court has given a liberal construction to this broad phraseology in recognition of the intention of Congress to tax all gains except those specifically exempted.” Richmond v. Commissioner, 474 F. App’x 754 (10th Cir. 2012) – the 10th Circuit noted that “it is well-settled that wages and interest payments constitute taxable income” and rejected the petitioner’s argument to the contrary as “completely lacking in legal merit and patently frivolous.” Callahan v. Commissioner, 334 F. App’x 754 (7th Cir. 2009) – the 7th Circuit rejected the petitioner’s argument that only “the gain from wages” (not wages themselves) is taxable, characterizing the argument as “beyond frivolous.” United States v. Sloan, 939 F.2d 499, 500 (7th Cir. 1991) – in rejecting the taxpayer’s argument that the United States’ revenue laws do not impose a tax on income, the 7th Circuit stated that the “Internal Revenue Code imposes a tax on all income.” United States v. Connor, 898 F.2d 942, 943-44 (3d Cir. 1990) – the 3rd Circuit stated that “[e]very court which has ever considered the issue has unequivocally rejected the argument that wages are not income.” Stelly v. Commissioner, 761 F.2d 1113 (5th Cir. 1985) – the 5th Circuit imposed double costs and attorney’s fees on the taxpayers for bringing a frivolous appeal and rejected their argument that taxing wage and salary income is a violation of the constitution because compensation for labor is an exchange rather than gain. United States v. Richards, 723 F.2d 646 (8th Cir. 1983) – the 8th Circuit upheld conviction and fines imposed for willfully failing to file tax returns, stating that the taxpayer’s contention that wages and salaries are not income within the meaning of the Sixteenth Amendment is “totally lacking in merit.” Lonsdale v. Commissioner, 661 F.2d 71, 72 (5th Cir. 1981) – the 5th Circuit rejected as “meritless” the taxpayer’s contention that the “exchange of services for money is a zero-sum transaction....” United States v. Romero, 640 F.2d 1014 (9th Cir. 1981) – the 9th Circuit affirmed Romero’s conviction for willfully failing to file tax returns, stating that “[his] proclaimed belief that he was not a ‘person’ and that the wages he earned as a carpenter were not ‘income’ is fatuous as well as obviously incorrect.” Sumter v. United States, 61 Fed. Cl. 517 (2004) – the court found Ms. Sumter’s “claim of right” argument “devoid of any merit” stating that section 1341 only applies to situations in which the claimant is compelled to return the taxed item because of a mistaken presumption that the right held was unrestricted and, thus, the item was previously reported, erroneously, as taxable income. Section 1341 was inapplicable here because she had a continuing, unrestricted claim of right to her salary income and had not been compelled to repay that income in a later tax year. Carskadon v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2003-237, 86 T.C.M. (CCH) 234, 236 (2003) – the court rejected the taxpayer’s frivolous argument that “wages are not taxable because the Code, which states what is taxable, does not specifically state that ‘time reimbursement transactions,’ a term of art coined by [taxpayers], are taxable.” The court imposed a $2,000 penalty against the taxpayers for raising “only frivolous arguments which can be characterized as tax protester rhetoric.” Other Cases: Jacobsen v. Commissioner, 551 F. App’x 950 (10th Cir. 2014); Garber v. Commissioner, 500 F. App’x 540 (7th Cir. 2013); United States v. Becker, 965 F.2d 383 (7th Cir. 1992); United States v. White, 769 F. 2d 511 (8th Cir. 1985); United States v. Bigley, No. 2:14-CV-0729-HRH, 2017 WL 2417911, at *5 (D. Ariz. May 10, 2017); United States v. Jones, No. 14-CV-0227, 2015 WL 6942071, at *1 (D. Minn. Nov. 10, 2015); United States v. Hopkins, 927 F. Supp. 2d 1120 (D. N.M. 2013); United States v. Reading, 110 A.F.T.R.2d 2012-5965 (D. Ariz. 2012); Abdo v. United States, 234 F.Supp.2d 553 (M.D.N.C. 2002); Green v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2016-67, 111 T.C.M. (CCH) 1299 (2016); Leyshon v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2015-104, 109 T.C.M. (CCH) 1535 (2015); Shakir v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2015-147, 110 T.C.M. (CCH |
and faster to stay in the same place.
Taken at face value, the economic numbers suggest that the notion of breathtaking and across-the-board progress is far from the mark. If one believes the economic data, then one must reject the optimism of the scientific establishment. Indeed, if one shares the widely held view that the U.S. government may have understated the true rate of inflation — perhaps by ignoring the runaway inflation in government itself, notably in education and health care (where much higher spending has yielded no improvement in the former and only modest improvement in the latter) — then one may be inclined to take gold prices seriously and conclude that real incomes have fared even worse than the official data indicate.
This dismal and straightforward conclusion tends to be obscured by a range of secondary issues, which are important but do not really change the larger point about trends since 1973:
‐Mean incomes outperformed median incomes (inflation-adjusted in both cases), and there was a trend towards greater inequality. Median incomes rose by only 10 percent. Mean incomes rose by 29 percent, which works out to a glacial pace of only about 0.7 percent per year — much slower than in the preceding four decades.
‐Non-wage benefits, mostly health care, increased by about $2,600 per worker, for an additional 0.2 percent per year since 1973. So if the U.S. government has underestimated inflation by only 0.9 percentage points per year, then mean wages and benefits have been completely stagnant.
‐Corporate profits increased from 9 percent to 12 percent of GDP — again, a significant but easily exaggerated shift.
‐Women were hired in the 1980s and men were fired in the 2000s.
‐College graduates did better, and high-school graduates did worse. But both became worse off in the years after 2000, especially when one includes the rapidly escalating costs of college.
‐The era of globalization improved living standards by making labor and goods cheaper, but also hurt living standards through increased competition for limited resources. Free-trade advocates tend to think that the first effect dominates the second.
‐Economic progress may lag behind scientific and technological achievement, but 38 years seems like an awfully long time.
The economic future looked very different in the 1960s. In his 1967 bestseller The American Challenge, Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber argued that accelerating technological progress would widen the gap between the United States and the rest of the world, and that by 2000, “the post-industrial societies will be, in this order: the United States, Japan, Canada, Sweden. That is all.” According to Servan-Schreiber, the difference between the United States and the rest of Europe would grow from a difference of degree into a difference of kind, comparable to the difference between Europe and Egypt or Nigeria. As a result of this steady divergence, Americans would face less pressure to compete:
In 30 years America will be a post-industrial society.... There will be only four work days a week of seven hours per day. The year will be comprised of 39 work weeks and 13 weeks of vacation. With weekends and holidays this makes 147 work days a year and 218 free days a year. All this within a single generation.
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We need to resist the temptation to dismiss Servan-Schreiber’s space-age optimism so that we can better understand how the consensus he represented could have been so terribly wrong — and how, instead, for many Americans, the Fourth Commandment (“Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy”) has been effectively forgotten. #page#
V.
Like technology, credit also makes claims on the future. “I will gladly pay you a dollar on Tuesday for a hamburger today” works only if a dollar gets earned by Tuesday. A credit crisis happens when earnings disappoint and the present does not live up to past expectations of the future.
The current crisis of housing and financial leverage contains many hidden links to broader questions concerning long-term progress in science and technology. On one hand, the lack of easy progress makes leverage more dangerous, because when something goes wrong, macroeconomic growth cannot offer a salve; time will not cure liquidity or solvency problems in a world where little grows or improves with time. On the other hand, the lack of easy progress also makes leverage far more tempting, as unleveraged real returns fall below the expectations of pension funds and other investors.
This analysis suggests an explanation for the strange way the technology bubble of the 1990s gave rise to the real-estate bubble of the 2000s. After betting heavily on technology growth that did not materialize, investors tried to achieve the needed double-digit returns through massive leverage in seemingly safe real-estate investments. This did not work either, because a major reason for the bubble in real estate turned out to be the same as the reason for the bubble in technology: a mistaken but nearly universal background assumption about easy progress. Without fundamental gains in productivity (presumably driven by technology), real-estate values could not go up forever. Leverage is not a substitute for scientific progress.
VI.
The technology slowdown threatens not just our financial markets, but the entire modern political order, which is predicated on easy and relentless growth. The give-and-take of Western democracies depends on the idea that we can craft political solutions that enable most people to win most of the time. But in a world without growth, we can expect a loser for every winner. Many will suspect that the winners are involved in some sort of racket, so we can expect an increasingly nasty edge to our politics. We may be witnessing the beginnings of such a zero-sum system in politics in the U.S. and Western Europe, as the risks shift from winning less to losing more, and as our leaders desperately cast about for macroeconomic solutions to problems that have not been primarily about economics for a long time.
The most common name for a misplaced emphasis on macroeconomic policy is “Keynesianism.” Despite his brilliance, John Maynard Keynes was always a bit of a fraud, and there is always a bit of clever trickery in massive fiscal stimulus and the related printing of paper money. But we must acknowledge that this fraud strangely seemed to work for many decades. (The great scientific and technological tailwind of the 20th century powered many economically delusional ideas.) Even during the Great Depression of the 1930s, innovation expanded new and emerging fields as divergent as radio, movies, aeronautics, household appliances, polymer chemistry, and secondary oil recovery. In spite of their many mistakes, the New Dealers pushed technological innovation very hard.
The New Deal deficits, however misguided, were easily repaid by the growth of subsequent decades. During the Great Recession of the 2010s, by contrast, our policy leaders narrowly debate fiscal and monetary questions with much greater erudition, but have adopted a cargo-cult mentality with respect to the question of future innovation. As the years pass and the cargo fails to arrive, we eventually may doubt whether it will ever return. The age of monetary bubbles naturally ends in real austerity.
On the political right, we are seeing a quiet shift from the optimism of Jack Kemp to the pessimism of Ron Paul, from supply-side economics to the Tea Party, and from the idea that we can combine tax cuts with more spending to the idea that money is either hard or fake. A mischievous person might even ask whether “supply-side economics” really was just a sort of code word for “Keynesianism.” For now it suffices to acknowledge that lower marginal tax rates might not happen and would not substitute for the much-needed construction of hundreds of new nuclear reactors. #page#
VII.
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We have seen that even the simple question of whether a technology slowdown has occurred is far from straightforward. The critical question of why such a slowdown seems to have occurred is harder still, and we do not have the space to tackle it fully here. Let us end with the related question of what can now be done. Most narrowly, can our government restart the stalled innovation engine?
The state can successfully push science; there is no sense denying it. The Manhattan Project and the Apollo program remind us of this possibility. Free markets may not fund as much basic research as needed. On the day after Hiroshima, the New York Times could with some reason pontificate about the superiority of centralized planning in matters scientific: “End result: An invention [the nuclear bomb] was given to the world in three years which it would have taken perhaps half a century to develop if we had to rely on prima donna research scientists who work alone.”
But in practice, we all sense that such gloating belongs to a very different time. Most of our political leaders are not engineers or scientists and do not listen to engineers or scientists. Today a letter from Einstein would get lost in the White House mail room, and the Manhattan Project would not even get started; it certainly could never be completed in three years. I am not aware of a single political leader in the U.S., either Democrat or Republican, who would cut health-care spending in order to free up money for biotechnology research — or, more generally, who would make serious cuts to the welfare state in order to free up serious money for major engineering projects. Robert Moses, the great builder of New York City in the 1950s and 1960s, or Oscar Niemeyer, the great architect of Brasilia, belong to a past when people still had concrete ideas about the future. Voters today prefer Victorian houses. Science fiction has collapsed as a literary genre. Men reached the moon in July 1969, and Woodstock began three weeks later. With the benefit of hindsight, we can see that this was when the hippies took over the country, and when the true cultural war over Progress was lost.
Today’s aged hippies no longer understand that there is a difference between the election of a black president and the creation of cheap solar energy; in their minds, the movement towards greater civil rights parallels general progress everywhere. Because of these ideological conflations and commitments, the 1960s Progressive Left cannot ask whether things actually might be getting worse. I wonder whether the endless fake cultural wars around identity politics are the main reason we have been able to ignore the tech slowdown for so long.
However that may be, after 40 years of wandering, it is not easy to find a path back to the future. If there is to be a future, we would do well to reflect about it more. The first and the hardest step is to see that we now find ourselves in a desert, and not in an enchanted forest.
— Peter Thiel, the founding CEO of PayPal, is an American entrepreneur and venture capitalist. As an undergraduate he founded the Stanford Review, a conservative/libertarian newspaper at Stanford University. The Hertog/Simon Fund for Policy Analysis provided funding for this article.You know why. The girl at the pool who said she was lying. What people are doing in response is posting this story because only right-wing websites reported on this story while liberal websites suppressed it.
The fact is there is evidence that both governments and media outlets are actively covering up information in the name of the 'greater good'. This article serves as a reminder to people that both the German government, the police, and liberal media outlets have been lying constantly about sexual assaults by refugees and thus cannot be trusted. At this point believing a liberal media outlet on this issue is like believing a pathological liar.
Ultimately what this does is call into question whether the girl at the pool might have been pressured by the police themselves to say she was lying. Lets be real here...we know a girl reported a sexual assault. We know that she was stuck in an interrogation room with police who're likely under orders from their government to suppress this stuff. After being in interrogation the girl said she was lying. Considering the fact that girls are made to feel like perpetrators every single day for being raped it wouldn't surprise me for a second to find out the German police are calling girls liar and threatening them in order to get them to rescind their accusations.
By reminding people of this story...they are reminding everybody about the constant lies, the refusal to investigate, or the refusal to even cover the news by liberal media outlets while also reminding them that liberals are so warped in the head they are apologizing to rapists out of fear or being viewed as racists.On Tuesday, we learned quite a bit from Evan Drellich's latest report on the Astros nascent managerial search. Though it's been 24 days since Houston fired Bo Porter, the Astros do not appear to be in a rush to hire his replacement.
Interim manager Tom Lawless has gone 10-10 since taking over for the deposed Bo Porter. He's likely still a candidate but remains a long shot for the permanent job. Instead, Drellich brings up four names, none of them new, but with each of them sounding like potential finalists for the job.
In this report, Drellich mentions the Astros have done background work on A's bench coach Chip Hale and may have requested an interview with Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo. In addition to those two, Drellich indicates that former manager and current Royals bench coach Don Wakamatsu and former manager Manny Acta are also expected to be candidates for the job.
With a little firmer idea on who the names are, does it seem weird that the Astros haven't progressed to interviews yet? Let's take a look at the timing of Jeff Luhnow's last managerial search to gauge the pace they're on now.
In 2012, Bo Porter was hired on Sept. 27, 47 days after Brad Mills was fired late in the evening on Aug. 11. Judging by that timetable, Houston has until Oct. 17 before they take longer than the last search.
The Astros interviewed Dave Martinez on Sept. 11, 2012, Bo Porter on Sept. 14 and Larry Bowa on Sept. 15. The team also interviewed then-interim manager Tony DiFrancesco and Tim Bogar the week following the first three. At the time, Porter was reportedly the first candidate interviewed, but the timeline shows Martinez came in on his off-day, a Monday.
What does that mean? The names we've been hearing are likely from the Astros going through the vetting process. They're being discussed within the Astros organization, but no finalists have been named. As we previously discussed, most of the sources for the names thrown out so far haven't come from the Astros.
Drellich's report is different. He's connected to the front office and likely knows which names are legimitate. The fact that he's circled back on Chip Hale, Torey Lovullo and the two previous managers, Don Wakamatsu and Manny Acta, indicate they're more than just in the conversation.
That all four fit the criteria laid out by Jeff Luhnow for his ideal candidate also helps verify their candidacy.
But, it may not exclude someone like Dave Martinez, who interviewed last time around and could be an attractive candidate this time, too. Maybe the lack of mentions of his name is a product of the vetting process itself. Houston already knows what he brings, having interviewed him before. If they're serious about adding him to the finalist list, they won't bring him up until those begin.
What may slow the Astros process down some is the playoffs. Going off last time's timetable, interviews could begin as early as next week. Yet, it will be more difficult for the Astros to line up interviews with Hale and Wakamatsu if the A's and Royals, respectively, make the playoffs.
Acta isn't currently coaching in baseball this year while Martinez and Lovullo both coach for teams who are out of the playoff picture.
Both Oakland and Kansas City sit in the two Wild Card spots, meaning that as of right now, the two will play on Sept. 30 in the AL Wild Card game. The divisional series will then begin on Oct. 2 and run through Oct. 8 at the latest. The ALCS is then scheduled to run from Oct. 10-18 with the World Series from Oct. 21-29.
If the A's or the Royals make a run, it'd present plenty of problems. Would the Astros wait until Oct. 30 to interview either candidate? What if their other choices go elsewhere in the meantime? Can they afford to wait?
That makes next week a fascinating time in the managerial search. We should know more about the Astros' plans starting then.In the last two years, approximately 50 cybersecurity-related bills have been introduced in Congress. In May the White House released its own cybersecurity legislative proposal. The Federal Communications Commission and the Commerce Department have each proposed cybersecurity regulations of their own. Last year, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) even declared that cyberattacks might approach “weapons of mass destruction in their effects.” A rough Beltway consensus has emerged that the United States is facing a grave and immediate threat that can only be addressed by more public spending and tighter controls on private network security practices.
But there is little clear, publicly verified evidence that cyber attacks are a serious threat. What we are witnessing may be a different sort of danger: the rise of a cybersecurity-industrial complex, much like the military-industrial complex of the Cold War, that not only produces expensive weapons to combat the alleged menace but whips up demand for its services by wildly exaggerating our vulnerability.
The Regulatory Urge
The proposals on the table run the gamut from simple requests for more research funding to serious interventions in the business practices of online infrastructure providers. The advocates of these plans rarely consider their costs or consequences.
At one end of the spectrum, there have been calls to scrap the Internet as we know it. In a 2010 Washington Post op-ed, Mike McConnell, former National Security Agency chief and current Booz Allen Hamilton vice president, suggested that “we need to reengineer the Internet to make attribution, geolocation, intelligence analysis and impact assessment—who did it, from where, why and what was the result—more manageable.” Former presidential cybersecurity adviser Richard Clarke has recommended the same. “Instead of spending money on security solutions,” he said at a London security conference last year, “maybe we need to seriously think of redesigning network architecture, giving money for research into the next protocols, maybe even think about another, more secure Internet.”
A re-engineered, more secure Internet is likely to be a very different Internet than the open, innovative network we know today. A government that controls information flows is a government that will attack anonymity and constrict free speech. After all, the ability to attribute malicious behavior to individuals would require users to identify themselves (or be identifiable to authorities) when logging on. And a capability to track and attribute malicious activities could just as easily be employed to track and control any other type of activity.
Many current and former officials, from Clarke to FBI Director Robert Mueller, have proposed requiring private networks to engage in deep packet inspection of Internet traffic, the online equivalent of screening passengers’ luggage, to filter out malicious data and flag suspicious activity. The federal government already engages in deep packet inspection on its own networks through the Department of Homeland Security’s “Einstein” program. Mandating the same type of monitoring by the Internet’s private backbone operators—essentially giving them not just a license but a directive to eavesdrop—would jeopardize user privacy.
There have also been proposals at the FCC and in Congress for the certification or licensing of network security professionals, as well as calls for mandating security standards. While certification may seem harmless, occupational licensing mandates should never be taken lightly; they routinely restrict entry, reduce competition, and hamper innovation. Politicians have also called for substantial new government subsidies, including the creation of regional cybersecurity centers across the country to help medium-sized businesses protect their networks.
Many of the bills would mandate a new cybersecurity bureaucracy within either the Department of Homeland Security or the Defense Department. Many would also create new reporting requirements. For example, the administration’s proposed legislation requires that private firms deemed by the head of Homeland Security to be “critical infrastructure” must develop cybersecurity plans and have those plans audited by federally accredited third parties.
With proposals as intrusive and expensive as these, you might think the case for federal intervention is overwhelming. But it isn’t. Again and again, the regulators’ argument boils down to “trust us.”
The CSIS Commission
One of the most widely cited arguments for more federal involvement in online security was made by the Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency, which unveiled its report in December 2008. The commission, assembled by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a foreign policy think tank, in February 2008, served as a sort of cybersecurity transition team whoever the new president turned out to be. It was chaired by two members of Congress and composed of security consultants, academics, former government officials, and representatives of the information technology industry. Their report concluded that “cybersecurity is now a major national security problem for the United States” and urged the feds to “regulate cyberspace” by enforcing security standards for private networks.
Yet the commission offers little evidence to support those conclusions. There is a brief discussion of cyberespionage attacks on government computer systems, but the report does not explain how these particular breaches demonstrate a national security crisis, let alone one that “we are losing.”
The report notes, for example, that Defense Department computers are “probed hundreds of thousands of times each day.” Yet it fails to mention that probing and scanning networks are the digital equivalent of trying doorknobs to see if they are unlocked—a maneuver available to even the most unsophisticated would-be hackers. The number of times a computer network is probed is not evidence of a breach, an attack, or even a problem.
More ominously, the report warns: “Porous information systems have allowed opponents to map our vulnerabilities and plan their attacks. Depriving Americans of electricity, communications, and financial services may not be enough to provide the margin of victory in a conflict, but it could damage our ability to respond and our will to resist. We should expect that exploiting vulnerabilities in cyber infrastructure will be part of any future conflict.”
An enemy able to take down our electric, communications, and financial networks at will would indeed be a serious threat. And it may well be the case that the state of security in government and private networks is deplorable. But the CSIS report cites no reviewable evidence to substantiate this supposed danger. There is no support for the claim that opponents have “mapped vulnerabilities” and “planned attacks.” Neither the probing of Pentagon computers nor the cited cases of cyberespionage—for instance, the hacking of a secretary of defense’s unclassified email—have any bearing on the probability of a successful attack on the electrical grid.
Nevertheless, the commission concludes that tighter regulation is the only way toward greater security. It is “undeniable,” the report claims, that “market forces alone will never provide the level of security necessary to achieve national security objectives.” But without any verifiable evidence of a threat, how are we to know what exactly the “appropriate level of cybersecurity” is and whether market forces are providing it? With at least some security threats, such as industrial espionage and sabotage, private industry has a strong incentive to protect itself. If there is a market failure here, the burden of proof is on those who favor regulation. So far they have not delivered.The Great Cosby Experiment 09 [Jun. 21st, 2009|12:52 am] Nedroid Comics and Art Hello friends. Because of a shared magical experience, Emmy and I are conducting an experiment and we need your help. It is an experiment about Bill Cosby. Here is how you can participate.
1. Draw a picture of Bill Cosby. You may use reference material.
2. Post it in reply to this entry.
3. Do not post it anywhere else or show anyone else until after the experiment is over. This is very important! In fact, it is best if you do not discuss it with others at all except to ask them to participate.
All comments to this entry are screened and will remain so until the experiment is over on Friday, June 26. Please tell your friends about this because the more people who participate, the more scientific our findings will be.
Thank you!
EDIT: SHOW'S OVER! Read about the experiment results here.The editor of an Ohio newspaper was fired this week after she questioned her publisher about the paper's refusal to run an editorial that was critical of the National Rifle Association.
Jan Larson McLaughlin, a 31-year veteran of The Sentinel-Tribune in Bowling Green, Ohio, says she had written the editorial, sought input from her staff and planned to run it a week ago when Publisher Karmen Concannon killed it.
"I have written editorials before that have not been positive about the NRA, and those have gotten through," McLaughlin told Media Matters on Wednesday. "For some reason our publisher felt it was insubordination for me to have our news staff read the editorial. I always have our news staff read the editorials and that has never been the issue before."
McLaughlin said she was fired on Monday after seeking to discuss the rejected editorial last week. She said Concannon told her that her termination was due to "insubordination."
"She said it was for allowing the staff to read the editorial before she approved it," McLaughlin recalls. "But I submit my editorials to her each time and at least 95 or more percent of the time I never hear anything from her, pro or con. I have the staff read them because that is the next process."
The Toledo Blade first reported on McLaughlin's firing and noted that there has been backlash to the decision within the Bowling Green community.
McLaughlin, who has been at the afternoon paper for 31 years and served as editor since 2013, said she wrote the editorial on Dec. 7 and submitted it to the publisher for approval on Dec. 8, with plans to run it on Dec. 9.
The editorial raised the issue of NRA influence on gun-related legislation and specifically a bill in the Ohio legislature that would allow loaded guns to be carried on college campuses.
Home to the 16,000-student Bowling Green State University, the community has been very mixed on the gun proposal, newsroom staffers said.
The editorial stated, in part: "The NRA has not always been the paranoid 'pry the gun from my cold dead hands' organization that it is now. It was formerly an association aimed at serving its membership by providing safety classes, marksmanship training and even gun control support. But somewhere it got hijacked from its real purpose to its fanatical presence. It's time for reasonable gun owners to say enough is enough."
But it never made it to print.
McLaughlin said Concannon informed her via email on Dec. 8 that the editorial could not run. She said when the Dec. 9 edition was published and some of her staff saw the editorial had been spiked, they approached Concannon with a joint letter urging her to reconsider.
"When the news staff saw it was not in the next day's paper, everyone wrote a letter to the publisher asking her to reconsider, to look at the editorial again and reconsider it because they felt it was worth publishing," McLaughlin said. "All I know is that she told the reporter that gave it to her that she would not read it."
The letter, which was obtained by Media Matters, praises McLaughlin for having "more Associated Press honors and news awards than all of us put together." It added, "If the reason for not publishing the editorial is to avoid what clearly is a controversial issue, we worry that doing so calls into question our ability to report news that some people might not like."
McLaughlin said she approached the publisher on Dec. 10 and asked to discuss why the editorial did not run since her past editorials are nearly always approved.
"She said she didn't have to give me a reason and I said, 'alright, but I need to know further direction for where I go from here,'" McLaughlin said. "She said she wasn't required to talk to me about it."
On the morning of Dec. 14, after that day's edition was published, McLaughlin said she was called into the publisher's office and given a termination letter. She adds that she was offered a $5,000 severance package if she agreed not to discuss the issue outside of the newspaper. She said she could not agree to that.
"I said, 'it's unfortunate that you can't listen to opinions that are different from yours.' It's just not good management."
Concannon, whose family has owned the newspaper for decades, did not respond to requests for comment. She also did not respond to the Blade's request for comment.
McLaughlin's supporters in and out of the newspaper have been up in arms about the firing.
"There has been an uproar because she is very widely respected," said Frances Brent, a former Sentinel-Tribune columnist who currently freelances for the paper. Brent noted the seriousness of the gun issue in town: "There was great concern on campus about the legislature allowing guns everywhere."
David Dupont, who worked at the Sentinel-Tribune for 20 years until he quit last month, said McLaughlin's firing was just the latest in a string of problematic moves by the paper's management.
"Just the total lack of support in the newsroom," he said of the publisher. "A real lack of respect for what the newsroom does. It was a constant decelerating lack of support, disrespect."
McLaughlin called the firing "surreal" given her time at the paper and her love of the job: "I have lived for that paper for 31 years. I'm a big believer in talking things over and listening to disagreements."Location: Effort, Pennsylvania, USA
My friend came over this Sunday and saw this adorable tiny guy on my porch. He ran away from her and she came to get me. I said, “Hi, Kitten,” and blew him kisses and he ran right over to me! That’s why I’ve temporarily named him Kiss-Kiss. It broke my heart to feel how skinny he was (he’s so fluffy that you can’t tell by looking at him). He’s truly skin and bones, but luckily he seems completely healthy and happy besides that. He’s already gained some weight in the couple of days I’ve had him. I’ve been feeding him half dry kitten food, and half out of a baby animal bottle. It’s so cute to watch him use the bottle. After asking around, I found a couple of loving potential homes for him. I have four cats of my own, but I’m enjoying fostering him in the meantime! He is very cuddly, and he loves people and other animals.Pin 2 775 Shares
(ZHE) In hopes of promoting the narrative of a US housing recovery, one recurring thesis has been that as Millennials get older and start families, they will eventually leave their parents’ basement and buy a house or shift from renting to owning. So far the facts have refused to corroborate this, and according to the latest “Housing Vacancies and Homeownership” report released on Thursday, the dream of owning a home just became even more distant. The reason: after staging a feeble rebound in late 2015, the US homeownership rate just tumbled from 63.5% to 62.9%, tied for the lowest print going back more than 50 years, to 1965.
As even the traditionally overoptimistic NAR has observed in recent months, as a result of soaring average home prices which have grown at a far faster pace than income or inflation, priced out first-time buyers have been struggling to find affordable properties despite low mortgage rates amid a tight supply of listings. As reported yesterday, home prices across the nation rose 5.2% in May from a year earlier per Case Shiller.
Cited by Bloomberg, Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina said that “one of the biggest hurdles now is affordability. Home prices are rising so much faster than incomes, so it’s hard for buyers to save for a down payment.”
One could almost call it a bubble, although not if one is the Fed.
And speaking of another confirmed bubble, namely rent, it appears to have finally popped, because according to the same Census report, after rising for the past three consecutive quarters, the median asking rent posted a surprising decline, sliding by 2.6% in Q2 to $847…
… driven by decline in all regions except the Northeast.
But before anyone concludes that renting is suddenly affordable, a chart showing the annual increase in the 4-qtr blended average shows that rents have a long way to go from here before there is an influx of renters, something which EQR complained about yesterday when it cut its guidance for the third time this year.
This article (US Homeownership Rate Crashes To Lowest in Over 50 Years) by Tyler Durden originally appeared on ZeroHedge.com and was used with permission. Tune in! Anti-Media Radio airs Monday through Friday @ 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Help us fix our typos: edits@theantimedia.org.
Pin 2 775 SharesBaddie – Student loans, AM I RIGHT?
Lesson – Surgeons are, and always will be, terrifying.
If you like mid-week horror news in 140 characters or less, or want little hints to what my review will be, follow me on the Twitter!
I think I’ve said it before – but most of the movies I review for this column are available on Netflix. This works for my theme (weird/terrible/sometimes fantastic horror & scifi movies) because there are a ton of movies on Netflix that are underrated. I think that American Mary is one of those movies.
Picture a med student struggling her way through school. She’s somewhat of a prodigy, fascinated with surgery and anatomy, but like many students, she’s strapped for cash. Desperate to stay in school and achieve her dream, she prowls ads until finding one for dancers and decides to audition. During the audition, someone bursts into the room and an emergency is happening. The owner takes a gamble, having lucked out that his current audition is training to be a surgeon, and asks her to help out a man on the table who’s about to die. Mary agrees, for cash, and thus begins her spiral into the body modding community.
The biggest issue I had with this movie initially is that, y’know, I -am- a starving grad student, and my apartment is hell of a lot smaller, and I can’t afford fancy lingerie (or other fancy garments), that’s for sure. After finishing the movie, the biggest issue I had is that there are a lot of partially developed plots. The fact that the strip club owner tortures people in his basement occasionally, or the revenge plot on her doctor mentors, or her relationship with the strip club owner, or the eventual issue that leads to the end of the film.
I’m also going to get on my little soapbox for a half a second, because there’s a part of this movie that doesn’t quite sit well with me, having to do with one of those partially developed plots. Bear with me for a second –
There’s been a lot of literature about proponents of rape culture in American mainstream media. Most recently, I wrote about the sexualization of a lesbian character in the Riddick movie (a view backed up by The Mary Sue, which is a blog you should be reading) in a movie that had no need for that kind of victimization. So when Mary gets date-raped by her professor at a party, I was confused. Mostly because the movie purely did not need that sort of villainizing – we already know the professor is a bad guy, but also, the revenge plot is tired and superfluous. Sure, the main professor is a little bit…abrasive, even for the ‘tough professor’ trope, but here the motivation is that Mary drops out of med school. For this, the rape scene works, I won’t pretend it doesn’t do it’s ‘job’. I’m just saying that the scenario depicted is a frazzled med student who gets addicted to playing God with other people’s bodies for large sums of money. The revenge thing isn’t necessary. (Note: This film was written and directed by women, by the by.)
Now to the good parts. This movie is a prosthetic artist’s dream. It’s a film about body modding, right? So, there are tonsssss of makeups to be done (and possibly some real mods? Who knows), and those makeups are often somewhat complicated. There is only one marked instance of ‘poor’ prosthetics, and it’s simply that a character is hanging by his back by hooks. The hooks are clearly inserted into (well painted) latex skin that appears to have been molded into that shape. As a result, the physical practicality isn’t there, but the skin doesn’t rebound when the hooks are released.
My favorite part of the movie is probably Katherine Isabelle, who plays Mary, because she moves through the movie with a pretty decent range of emotions like a total boss. Also because she manages to rock lingerie and a black apron, or a sick black coat and pencil skirt, or red scrubs. I’m also pretty convinced she’s the child of Zooey Deschanel and Tara Reid? She kinda talks like Tara Reid, but I don’t hate it.
If you’re in the mood for a tiny bit gory but not entirely ‘scary’ horror flick, I highly recommend American Mary. It’s billed as a slasher-flick, but I wouldn’t say that it’s under that category. It’s more like a psychological thriller like Hard Candy or even Teeth. It’s a bit fun though, like Repo! The Genetic Opera.
Feel free to tweet me any questions, recommendations, comments, compliments, whatever! Really, I just like the attention.Cheat Sheet for Building a Tech Team
Kechit Goyal Blocked Unblock Follow Following Oct 17, 2017
Startups are all about execution and hiring the right team is one of the most important aspects of getting execution right. I get a lot of questions from CXO’s with non-technical backgrounds who are looking to set up their tech team. Most of these questions revolve around:
How do you judge someone when you have zero technical knowledge?
What are the skill sets, languages, frameworks, and scale required to build a product?
What is the time it takes to launch an MVP?
What is the number of people and experience required to launch it within a time frame?
There are no simple answers to the above questions. Most of them depend on the nature of your product and the funds at your disposal. In this article, we will focus on the first question and look at how the hiring patterns are correlated to the various stages of the product lifecycle. This article will also serve as a guide for the candidates who are looking to join startups.
Stages of Product & Development
There are 5 major stages of a product lifecycle:
Research Stage
Introduction Stage
Growth Stage
Maturity Stage
Decline Stage
Research Stage: Jack of all Trades
As the name suggests, this stage mostly involves research about the product, the market, and the requirements. From the product perspective, this |
Trayvon Martin family lawyer Natalie Jackson and several black female Sanders staffers, like Tezlyn Figaro. No one shaped my thinking more than Erica Garner. She’s the daughter of Eric Garner, an unarmed African American who died after being put in a choke hold by an NYPD officer in 2014.
During our conversation, she argued that Sanders’s push for economic equality is just as important for black people as fighting abusive policing. Listening to Garner explain how she feels Sanders will help ease her financial hardships struck a chord. Women make, on average, just 79 cents for every dollar a man makes. Black women earn just 60 cents on the dollar; Latinas make 55 cents on the dollar. For Garner, it doesn’t matter how many cops are thrown behind bars for killing black people if she can’t afford to pay her rent or afford child care for her 6-year-old daughter Alyssa.
Similarly, black people have always experienced higher rates of unemployment than whites and struggle more to find jobs after college than their white peers. Black children are nearly four times as likely as white children to live in poverty.
Of course, I worry that I’ll suffer the same fate as Garner’s father whenever I walk the streets of New York. But I’m also concerned about finding a job and creating wealth for myself and my future family. I was fortunate to attend college for free, but most of my friends are strapped with tens of thousands of dollars of debt. Black students borrow far more to earn a college degree than white students, even at public institutions. That is why Sanders’s call for free tuition at public universities around the country appeals to me as a black voter. And I actually would like to vote for a president whose campaign fundraising isn’t predicated on rubbing elbows with Wall Street, the same structure that lead to predatory lending that has bankrupted millions of Americans. A 2010 study found that black people were disproportionately targeted during the housing crisis.
Hearing these arguments made by Garner and other African Americans is very different than listening to a bunch of white liberals explain why Sanders is good for black people. And there’s a lot of that. Left-wing writer Matt Bruenig wrote a condescending post in July titled “Haha what?” simplifying the grievances protester Tia Oso had with Sanders during her disruption of his speech at Netroots Nation. David Atkins, a political strategist who present during the interruption, tweeted this: “The biggest lesson learned: if you want your issue noticed, don’t use hashtags. Just bring a big crowd and yell.”
My Twitter mentions also were filled with hundreds of tweets from white progressives who lectured me on Sanders’s civil rights record when I questioned the Vermont senator’s commitment to black voters. Many of my black friends complain that this is still going on in their mentions as well. Given that black people use Twitter to push for social change, I was disappointed that his digital staff didn’t notice this early on and challenge these white progressives’ rudeness.
But the Sanders campaign assured me that they finally understand this problem, and are looking at how they can communicate better to black people about Sanders without sounding condescending. As a black person, I needed to hear this.
Of course, some believe that Sanders’s policies are unrealistic. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said as much Wednesday. Jamil Smith echoed that concern more broadly in The New Republic, writing that Hillary Clinton has made clear “she has the best chance to get things done as president — a case that Sanders has not yet made effectively.”
I understand these concerns. But they are a typical response to someone who is aiming for revolutionary change, something Clinton isn’t calling for and black people need. I think that is why so many people feel more comfortable with Clinton; she won’t rock the boat too much. That reminds me of the same arguments made against voting for Obama. Yet we elected him and the country hasn’t fallen apart. And many people don’t think it’s realistic to expect an end to police brutality against black people. So, why is marching in hope for better policing realistic, but believing in Sanders’ economic policies isn’t?
That’s why I feel black people should give Sanders a closer look.
This isn’t an endorsement — I’m a reporter covering the 2016 race, and I’m keeping an open mind. But after hearing black women like Garner explain the intersection of economic racism and police brutality, I’m willing to think of Sanders as an advocate for black people, someone I should cover seriously.
This doesn’t mean Sanders couldn’t do a better job of drawing these parallels himself. He still has a lot of work to do to earn the black vote, but let’s not pretend he hasn’t improved his message at all since Netroots Nation. He has.Available for download HERE ( If you have any issues downloading, I'll put up a mirror )
For those that don't have an Amiga CD32, you can play the Super Cars Collection through an emulator called WinUAE
If you don't have an Amiga CD32 or WinUAE, you can also play the PC portable edition which runs through a single exe, HERE
We are now onto game number 4 and it's none other than the brilliant Super Cars collection of 1 and 2, two brilliant top down arcade racers for the Amiga published by Gremlin in 1990/91. Unlike the original Amiga version, this is the Amiga CD32 Earok port that can be played on any Amiga CD32 console or through WinUAE. For those of you who haven't played Super Cars, you are seriously missing out on two of the best arcade racing games ever released. There's just so many awesome top down levels of two player, car blasting action you'll be entertained for hours.Gremlin GraphicsUses: WHDLoad by Wepl, Slaves by Codetapper ( 1 Cover : SteveISO Master: EarokThe Dutch have voted ‘no’ in a referendum on the EU’s treaty with Ukraine, with 32% of the electorate taking part, according to an exit poll by broadcaster Nos.
The referendum turnout has to beat the 30% mark for the results to have any legal weight and the Nos poll has a 3% margin of error. The vote is considered to be a test of Dutch public opinion on the EU.
Of those who did vote, 64% voted against the treaty and 36% were for. Opinion polls had consistently forecast a ‘no’ vote. The Nos said their poll has a 5% margin of error in terms of the actual results.
A more definitive prognosis of the result is expected by 22.00, when many rural votes will have been counted.
The referendum is purely advisory and more than 30% have to vote for the results to have any weight. Then the government will be forced to take the results into account when deciding whether or not to ratify the treaty.
Big cities
During the day, it was touch and go as to whether the target would be met, in the big cities in particular.
Revelations that the backers of the referendum are uninterested in Ukraine and saw the vote as a way to stimulate anti-EU sentiment among the Dutch had led to growing calls for a boycott.
Ahead of the vote, ministers refused to say what they will do if a majority vote ‘no’. However, a majority of political parties said the government must accept the results of the referendum if more than 30% of voters have their say.
RTL news commentator Frits Wester said ahead of the vote that if the 30% target is reached, the government will have to refuse to ratify the treaty.
‘Opposition parties who support the treaty have also said the government will have to accept the results,’ he said. ‘Together with the opponents of the treaty, such as the SP and PVV, they have a majority in the upper house of parliament.’
Thierry Baudet of the Forum voor Democratie, which was one of the initiators of the referendum, said the results cannot be ignored. ‘This is the start of a discussion about a different EU,’ he said.
More to followIn 1886, Ella was the star of W. H. Harris’s Nickel Plate Circus, often appearing accompanied by a camel when presented to audiences and she was a feature in the newspapers of every town the circus visited. Those newspapers touted Ella as ‘the most wonderful freak of nature since the creation of the world’ and that her ‘counterpart never did exist’.
The back of Ella’s 1886 pitch card is far more modest in its information:
I am called the camel girl because my knees turn backward. I can walk best on my hands and feet as you see me in the picture. I have traveled considerably in the show business for the past four years and now, this is 1886 and I intend to quit the show business and go to school and fit myself for another occupation.
It appears that Ella did indeed move on to other ventures, and her $200 a week salary likely opened many doors for her. For quite some time no further information was available on Ella following 1886, but recently a genealogist managed to not only trace Ella’s family tree, but also provide some information regarding her life after sideshow.
On 28 June 1905 Ella Harper married a man named Robert L. Savely. Savely was a school teacher and later a bookkeeper for a photo supplies company. A 1910 Census shows Ella and her husband living in Nashville, Tennessee with Ella’s mother and it also revealed that Ella and her husband had adopted a 3 month old child, but that the child passed away only 18 days later.
We also now know that Ella died of colon cancer on 19 December 1921 in Nashville, Tennessee and that she buried at Spring Hill Cemetery in Nashville. A simple gravestone marks her plot, but she is surrounded by family.
image: 1. Ella Harper’s 1886 Nickle Plate Circus Pitch Card from the author’s collection.
2. From the book We Who Are Not As Others.
3. An excellent genealogical odyssey of Ell’s life that is certainly worth reading: http://bit.ly/1FRoilZRita, please introduce yourself…
I have been building and launching consumer technology solutions internationally for 15 years.
Before starting SQUAR, I worked with the co-founders of VNG, Vietnam’s premiere digital platform and mig33, a leading social network in Asia with over 70m users in developing markets such as Nepal, Syria and Bangladesh.
How did you get the idea of creating SQUAR?
The concept for SQUAR came about incredibly fast. I came to Yangon for the 2013 Barcamp (tech conference) and was absolutely blown away by the level of interest and energy that people have for tech here.
Barcamp conferences are held all over the world, and the biggest one on record was in Myanmar, a country that has internet penetration rates similar to Cuba and North Korea. That’s mind blowing.
It was a no brainer that we should do something here. And there was any number of options. In the end we settled on the social media because there was nothing here that was really built for Myanmar people – no place for them to organise themselves socially or start building their digital footprint.
Of course there’s Facebook here, but it’s not particularly well suited for Myanmar’s situation. And it’s not just the language – the kids here haven’t already got the extensive online networks that we take for granted in other places.
In developed countries our online experiences are extensions of our offline lives, whereas here that’s not the way things work. Because of that, SQUAR has a very open and simple interface. You can accumulate and make friends and chat based around common interests.
SQUAR came together because it’s a great way of combining the immense passion for tech here with the huge market gap in social networking.
It’s a very unique and exciting situation.
What’s exciting about starting a startup in Myanmar?
There’s a lot of reasons why we are starting in Myanmar right now, a lot of it has to do with good timing. The country is on the edge of massive social and technological change and there is really no online destination that is specifically targeted toward the people here – as explained above.
What are the primary challenges of running a SQUAR in Myanmar?
It depends on how you think about it. It’s everyone’s first reflex to blame the shaky infrastructure here. But once you get on the ground, you begin to realise that’s a marginal issue.
The infrastructure will come, it’s inevitable. It’s just a matter of time, and there’s other people working on that.
For us, the bigger challenge is thinking of helpful ways to insert tech into the lives of people who have lived without it up until now.
Developing the technology sector is vital not just from a business point of view but from a development angle as well. And we need to get really creative about how to engage with our audience.
There is nothing habitual about the way people use technology here – and there are mountains of opportunities to show people how they can take this very basic technology and use it to drastically improve their way-of-life.
So in terms of challenges, that’s a bigger concern for us than infrastructure, and it’s why we have a big team of community managers who know how the country thinks, it’s very important.
What strategies are you using to gain users/traction?
Up until now we have been doing a lot of work on branding and marketing around Yangon. It’s been really successful.
For example we ran a youth festival last month that had almost ten thousand people come along. Which is jaw-dropping when you think about the changes in Myanmar over the past 2 years.
We have been partnering with some of the big consumer companies coming in such as Coca-Cola, HTC and Ooredoo to help.
Moving forward, we want to engage with the community more. We really want to start bringing our product into people’s lives here. We are working on all levels of government and civil society to put together some great socially responsible initiatives.
We don’t just want to drop ourselves onto the market, we want to help vitalise the tech sector and promote Myanmar content. That’s why we are putting together plans for a tech incubator starting in the first half of next year.
It’s going to nurture tech start-ups that focus on women in Myanmar. We are also putting together programs around education, health and civil society.
In terms of traction and users, it’s really just about finding creative ways to make our platform useful to the people here.
What advice can you share with entrepreneurs wanting to start or expand their business into Myanmar?
Just do it. The same basic challenges exist with any tech start up and yet, this is a market where it’s incredibly easy to meet other business leaders and develop partnerships.
While there is certainly change coming to the connected base, doing anything in technology here means you have to be realistic about the challenges of reaching your marketing.
In Myanmar, the issue is not interest, it’s awareness and how you get your message out there.
What’s the best way to become a part of the local business community in Myanmar?
Just get here and start. Before I came to Myanmar, I did a bunch of research on LinkedIn and added several business leaders in Yangon and asked them to meet.
It was incredibly easy to get some time with these people. Everyone here is here to do business and that’s really obvious when you’re here.
Beside social media, what opportunities do you see emerging in Myanmar right now?
It’s really like shooting fish in a barrel here right now. Technology is an especially good choice because there are so many gaps in the market and for the first time, there is some serious overhaul of the infrastructure happening.
It’s exciting to think that over the next year or so, many people in Myanmar will be using this technology for the first time, and we want to be on the forefront, showing them all the great ways they can use it.
Exciting. What’s next for Squar?
There is a lot of exciting things coming out of the woodwork for us. One of the really cool things we have just started with is gaming.
We released our first game last week and its had a great reception. It’s a trivia game, which asks trivia-style questions about Myanmar in Burmese language and the kids can level up and challenge their friends.
It’s a great thing because up until now they’ve had to play games in foreign languages, which for some games takes out most of the functionality.
The foreign games are also made in places that have no interest in the Myanmar market. It’s going to be a really cool thing to see kids playing games that are made for them in their language.
I explained above about our social initiatives, but that will also be a big focus for us. We are also working on a lite version of our app that can be used on feature phones. This is important because we can’t really expect people in rural Myanmar to have smart phones, but it’s a market that we’d really like to work with.Why a blog?
I decided to start a blog. I am not new to writing things - just this time I want to have my place for it. (Very likely I will continue to do cuckoo-style blog posting.)
Why Jekyll?
Jekyll is a static page generator. It’s supported by GitHub, so there is no extra effort in starting or maintaining it. And:
I like Markdown.
I like GitHub.
I like simplicity. (And I don’t need fancy features.)
Yet, I want to configure some stuff.
I use LaTeX and I want to be able to use any HTML code (SVG diagrams, D3.js visualizations…).
I am concerned about archiving things in plain formats.
I want to avoid distractions. (By editing in a text editor - Atom.)
Git commits gamify my efforts. (Seriously!)
My site migdal.wikidot.com is probably staying (at least - for some time). But for the further texts I prefer something cleaner, simpler.
See also:
What’s going there?
I have in mind some entires on data science, academia and education. Also, I want to:
blogify emails I am resending over and over (book reviews, collections of links, pieces of advice),
I am resending over and over (book reviews, collections of links, pieces of advice), archive my post scattered over various places,
my post scattered over various places, translate some Polish posts into English.
How often do I want to post?
I make no claims. But expect more of a “once a few months” than anything more frequent.
I see typoes and erorrs
So, raise an issue or even submit a pull request. In general, code for posts is here.Vladimir Putin defends Russia's stance on homosexuals, hails Elton John, after calls to boycott Sochi Winter Olympics
Updated
Russian president Vladimir Putin has defended his country's position on homosexuality, saying Russians love British musician Elton John "despite his orientation".
His comments follow calls for a boycott of next month's Winter Olympics in Sochi over legislation which makes it a crime to provide information about homosexuality to anyone under the age of 18.
Mr Putin says he is not prejudiced against gay people and he does not care about a person's sexual orientation.
"I myself know some people who are gay. We are on friendly terms," he told the BBC.
But Mr Putin says there is no danger for people of what he referred to as "non-traditional sexual orientation" in coming to the Winter Olympics as participants or spectators.
By way of example, he praised Sir Elton, who is openly gay, as "an outstanding person [and] outstanding musician".
"Millions of our people sincerely love him despite his orientation," Mr Putin said.
Sir Elton himself has spoken out against Russia's crackdown on so-called "gay propaganda".
"I am deeply saddened and shocked over the current legislation that is now in place against the [homosexual] community here in Russia," he said at a sold-out concert in Moscow last month.
"In my opinion, it is inhumane and it is isolating. Harmony is what makes a happy family and a strong society."
The 66-year-old Briton has a long history of performances in Russia, beginning with a groundbreaking concert in 1979 that made him a household name in the then-Soviet Union.
He ignored calls to cancel his December concerts in the wake of the "gay propaganda" law, saying Russia's gays and lesbians would feel abandoned if big-name performers did not come for visits and offer them support.
Mr Putin says the law "does not offend anyone".
"People with non-traditional sexual orientation cannot feel like they are second-rate because they are in no way discriminated against: not professionally, not career-wise, not when it comes to recognition by society," he said.
Mr Putin has also downplayed planned no-shows at the Olympics by Western leaders including US president Barack Obama and French president Francois Hollande.
ABC/AFP
Topics: world-politics, sexuality, bands-and-artists, music, russian-federation
First postedNICE, France -- The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, on Saturday claimed the Tunisian man who barreled his truck into a crowd in the French resort city of Nice was a "soldier" of the group, the first claim of credit for an attack that has claimed 84 lives and wounded more than 200 people.
The claim - circulated on social media by a news outlet affiliated with the group - didn't name Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, the 31-year-old Tunisian who authorities say was behind the wheel as his truck crashed into a crowd of revelers at a fireworks display on Thursday. But the statement quoting a security member of the group said the man was following calls from ISIS to target nationals of countries fighting it.
The nature and scope of Bouhlel's relationship with ISIS hasn't been established. It's also unclear whether or not he was acting alone. The Paris prosecutor's office said Saturday that five people are in custody following the attack.
CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reports that Bouhlel was employed as a truck driver and was known to the police. He had a history of violence, but the police said they never saw any indication that he'd been radicalized.
Seeds of Terror: Analyzing extremism in France
His neighbor, Yasmine, agreed.
"He stank of alcohol, even during Ramadan," she told Palmer, referring to the Muslim holy month. "It was his eyes, they scared me."
The identities of most of those brought into custody were not clear. But his estranged wife had been taken away from the Nice neighborhood where Bouhlel used to live by police on Friday.
The claim of responsibility came as French security chiefs met in Paris as Nice's seaside boulevard partially reopened to traffic.
Video shows truck plowing into crowd in Nice, France
President Francois Hollande extended for three months a state of emergency that stretched back to the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and was claimed by ISIS. It had been set to end July 26.
The government tapped its operational reserve of 25,000 - composed mainly of ex-military or former gendarmes - to relieve its tired officers and bolster border security.
Nice's famed Promenade des Anglais, at the heart of city life - and the killing path of the truck - became a place of grieving with bouquets of flowers piling up as residents, some with candles, paid tribute to the dead.
Witnesses describe escaping the Nice attack
Hollande said the attack was "undeniably terrorist in nature," but prosecutors said the 31-year-old driver, a Tunisian who lived in Nice, wasn't known to intelligence services.
On Thursday night, tourists and locals fanned out to enjoy nighttime street artists, arcade games and food stalls or strolls to their hotels beside the Mediterranean. Then Bouhlel used his truck to turn a celebration into a dash for survival.
Cyril Croisy said he saw the truck accelerate into the first crowds outside Nice's landmark Negresco Hotel, aiming straight for a stand selling candy to children.
He said he tried to help the wounded, including a woman with catastrophic injuries.
Father and son killed in Nice remembered
"I was there when her heart stopped," said Croisy, his eyes welling with tears. The 40-year-old Parisian suffered a broken arm while fleeing and jumping from the Promenade to the beach below.
Ten of the 84 dead were children. Of the 202 injured, 52 were critically hurt.
Among the dead were immigrants and tourists from many nations, including Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Switzerland and the United States. Two Scots were among the dozens listed as missing.
Rise in hate speech to blame for recent violence?
French prosecutor Francois Molins said Bouhlel had a loaded handgun, three replica weapons and an empty grenade in the truck, which he had rented three days earlier. Police considered him a petty criminal suspected since 2010 of various threats and acts of theft, vandalism and violent conduct, he said.
In March, he was convicted for a road-rage crime when he struck another motorist with a wooden pallet but received a suspended six-month sentence because it was his first proven offense.
Molins said Bouhlel was "totally unknown to intelligence services... and was never placed on a watch list for radicalization."
Bouhlel, from the Tunisian town of Msaken, in the center-east, was a resident of Nice, married to a Tunisian with dual nationality, Tunisia's ambassador to France, Mohamed Ali Chihi, told The Associated Press.
Bouhlel's father, interviewed in Tunisia by France's BFM TV, said his son was a depressed man who, in Tunisia, took prescription medication to calm fits of anger. He was not religious, neither praying nor fasting during Ramadan and was "always alone."
Mohamed Mondher Lahouaiej Bouhlel said his son had not been home in four years.
Hollande's government, whose popularity is plumbing record lows in polls, has been buffeted by allegations that France's intelligence services have failed to get a handle on the country's jihadist threat. France has known for years that it is a top ISIS target, and France also is the biggest source for European recruits for ISIS, with more than 1,000 fighting in Syria or Iraq.
Hollande, who flew to Nice visit the injured in Pasteur Hospital, declared three days of national mourning from Saturday.
He was booed by angry members of the public as his motorcade passed the scene of the slaughter.
"Why Nice?" Hollande asked in a television address. "Because it is a city that is known worldwide, one of the most beautiful cities on the planet. Why on the 14th of July? Because it is a celebration of freedom."
It's unclear how quickly the volunteers and part-time professionals will be on the job after their callup. Interior Ministry officials declined to comment on the timing of the deployment.
Bouhlel's attack was stopped thanks to a handful of police who pursued the truck on foot and, possibly, by motorcycle as he plowed through the first crowds outside the imposing Negrescol.
German tourist Richard Gutjahr filmed the truck from his hotel balcony as an apparent police motorcyclist mounted a curb and tried to open the driver's door, only to tumble to the pavement and barely miss being crushed by the wheels. The video showed the unseated motorcyclist continue pursuit on foot, briefly climbing on the side of the accelerating truck, as two officers fired shots from handguns into the truck cabin.
The truck tore into a pedestrian area as the crowd scattered, many leaping to the beach below. The truck bore down toward English tourist Simon Coates, who had just lost his wife Amanda in the chaos.
"Within a few seconds it was almost upon me," Coates told the BBC. "I looked to my left and there was an old man, perhaps a grandfather, and a young boy of about 10. The truck aimed straight for them. I leapt one way. The little boy, I don't know how, but he managed to get away from the truck by inches."
Coates said he reluctantly turned to follow the truck to find his wife - and searched among dozens of crushed bodies seeking to identify her from her bicycle or an article of clothing. He couldn't find her before reaching the point where police finally shot to death the driver barely 20 yards (meters) in front of him.
"The police were screaming to get away. They thought there was a bomb, so I turned around as quickly as I could. The ground was very slippery with what was left of some people," Coates said. "I saw some dreadful things. It was like a chamber of horrors. Every person seemed to have died in an increasingly grotesque way."
Egyptian tourist Nader El Shafei said he tried imploring Bouhlel in Arabic through the attacker's open window to stop what he was doing. Instead, he said, he saw the truck smash into a girl and drag many bodies wedged in its undercarriage.
When police closed in, handguns drawn, El Shafei said Bouhlel opened fire.
"I saw the gun in his hand and I saw him shooting through the window," he said. "The police surrounded the car and they kept shooting him until they were sure he's dead."
Watching from his hotel window, English tourist Paul Gordon said he saw the truck bouncing over the bodies of the dead and wounded. "I saw people being knocked over like skittles," said Gordon, who had just left the promenade with his wife and 18-month-old daughter.
Stephane Erbs said he was heading back to his car with his wife, Rachel, and their two children when he saw the truck bearing down on them. He told the AP that his first instinct was to throw his 7-year-old son, Celion, out of harm's way, while his wife pushed their daughter, 12-year-old Noemi, to safety.
"I threw him in the direction of the wall" next to the beach, said Erbs, who broke seven ribs as he tried to get out of the way. His children were unharmed but his wife remained missing Friday.
Coates said he found his unhurt wife, Amanda, after a frantic search of bodies on the path back to his hotel "that was the longest 20 minutes of my life." He said as horrible as the slaughter had been, the placement of a sidewalk-blocking gazebo and the bravery of a handful of armed officers had reduced the potential death toll.
Police gunfire kept the attacker from reaching much larger crowds where "hundreds of people could have been killed," he said. "It could have been incalculably worse."
As France and the rest of the world mourned, the Eiffel Tower was bathed in the red, white and blue of the French tricolor - just as it was after the November attacks.
President Obama condemned the attack and, noting it occurred on Bastille Day, praised "the extraordinary resilience and democratic values that have made France an inspiration to the entire world."
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he was "shocked by the violence and exceptional cynicism" of the attack and pledged to work closely with France and other countries to fight terrorism that is "devoid of any human moral."
The 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation - the world's largest Islamic bloc - denounced the violence as barbaric, shocking and brutal.Posted by Steven Shafarman on September 09, 2015 at 2:44 PM
The presidential candidates are talking, and talking, and talking, although they haven’t said anything about basic income. Not yet.
Americans are angry, and a major reason is income insecurity. We’re struggling with stagnant wages, student loan debts, and lack of opportunities, while jobs are outsourced or executed by robots and computers. Precarious times call for boldness and courage. But many candidates are offering mostly stale or hollow rhetoric, dividing and distracting us, further polarizing and paralyzing our political system, providing more reasons to be angry.
Basic income is bold, though here’s the irony: moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans supported similar ideas in the 1960s and early ’70s. Democrats called it “guaranteed income,” and Lyndon Johnson appointed a national commission that unanimously endorsed it; proponents also included Martin Luther King Jr., Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and George McGovern. Republicans preferred the term “negative income tax,” and the leading advocate was economist Milton Friedman. Richard Nixon’s Family Assistance Plan passed the House of Representatives with two-thirds of the votes, and public opinion polls showed majority support, but the Senate Finance Committee blocked it.
Basic income is simple. Every adult American gets a monthly payment from government, independent of a job or other income, the same amount for everyone. It is a floor, more solid and stable than any safety net, providing money for food, clothes, shelter, and other basic necessities. It might be $800 or $1,000 or $1,400 a month. Cities and states can supplement it, and we’ll adjust the amount when necessary to prevent recessions and promote economic stability.
Basic income puts everyone on the field and in the game, able to participate in markets and politics, free to choose what’s best for ourselves and our families. Everyone will have money to stay in or go back to school, change jobs or careers, start businesses, choose to be full-time parents, save and invest for retirement. The funds will come from cutting government programs that become superfluous – welfare, corporate welfare, and so on, federal, state, and local – and from reforming the tax code to eliminate loopholes and deductions that benefit special interests.
The 2016 elections are an opportunity to highlight basic income. At all levels, because cities and states can enact programs without waiting for the federal government. Alaskans already have a small basic income, the Permanent Fund Dividend, and they love it.
Bold ideas require mass movements. The Progressive and Populist movements in the late 1800s were sparked by regular folks seeking economic security. In the 1930s, two huge groups campaigned for guaranteed income, and generated the political will to enact Social Security. Mass movements in the 1960s brought momentous breakthroughs in civil rights and women’s rights, leading recently to marriage equality. Today, Black Lives Matter is demanding long-overdue reforms in the criminal justice system, and we’re already seeing real gains.
Our movement for basic income has the power to unite poor and rich, women and men, old and young, urban and rural, black and brown and white, Americans of all backgrounds and identities. We have to make politicians listen to us. Then get them talking about basic income. Then force our elected representatives to take action.
Steven Shafarman is program director and a co-founder of Basic Income Action, and author of The Basic Income Imperative: for peace, justice, liberty, and personal dignity (forthcoming; interested publishers are invited to contact Steven at sshafarman@gmail.com).× President Trump tweets about ‘Travel Ban’ after terrorist attack at London Bridge
President Donald Trump appeared to weigh-in on the situation in London Saturday evening as police responded to several attacks now being called “terrorist incidents”
Witnesses report a van struck pedestrians at London Bridge, and there was a stabbing reported a short distance away. There were also reports of a third incident in the area, but that other stabbing was later confirmed to be unrelated to the two attacks.
President Trump tweeted at 5:17 p.m. MDT that “We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!”
Minutes later he followed that statement up with a second tweet offering support for London: “Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the U. K., we will be there – WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS!”
We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2017
Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the U. K., we will be there – WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2017
British Prime Minister Theresa May said the incident in London is being treated as a “potential act of terrorism.” London Metropolitan Police later said the incidents at London Bridge and Borough Market have been declared “terrorist incidents”. They also confirmed a third stabbing reported at Vauxhall was not connected to the two “terrorist incidents.”
CNN reports President Trump has been briefed by a national security team after the incident.
Click here for more information on the developing situation in London.Flickr/PhilandPam Everyone has dealt with frustratingly slow internet speeds, but you may be surprised to learn just how far behind the U.S. is in terms of of internet access when compared to the rest of the world.
With an average download rate of 20 megabits per second (Mbps), the United States ranked in last place when compared alongside Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Japan Switzerland, South Korea, Romania, Singapore, and Hong Kong, according to charts published by The Daily Dot.
To put that 20 Mbps in perspective, Hong Kong's average internet speeds range between 70 and 80 Mbps, placing it in the number one spot when compared to the countries listed above.
Although the U.S. is lagging behind when it comes to average internet speeds, it still charges high rates for internet access compared to areas with faster network speeds. The average cost per megabit in the U.S. is between $3 and $4, while South Korea and Japan charge around $1.
The data included in The Daily Dot's charts is based on data from Net Index, which used Ookla's speed test to determine the average download and upload speeds in a given area. The information regarding cost-per-megabit was first published by the New America Foundation.
The United States is ranked No. 29 in worldwide broadband speeds, according to Net Index's findings.
Check out the charts below.
The Daily Dot The Daily DotPWC's London office requirement for female workers to wear high heels has been labelled discriminatory.
OPINION: Nicola Thorpe was employed as a temp worker by PWC's London office in reception.
When she arrived on her first day, she was told she had to wear shoes with a 5cm to 13cm heel as a matter of policy. Thorpe refused arguing that the demand was discriminatory. She was sent home without pay after refusing to buy a pair of heels.
Thorpe was clearly incensed and she argued that the height of her heels had no impact on her work.
Since the parting she launched a petition calling for the law to be changed so companies could no longer force woman to wear high heels to work. A recent report said she already had over 11,000 signatures.
READ MORE: Woman forced to wear high heels at work under 'female grooming policy'
Portico, the temping agency Nicola was employed through, says they are reviewing their guidelines in consultation with their clients and staff. A bit too late for Nicola Thorpe however.
We can all think of examples of employees required to wear uniforms. We see them every day about us.
Obvious examples are police officers and air hostesses, but corporate offices also impose dress standards.
Employers are entitled to set a dress |
space you have to work with when there is an obstruction in your path. That pipe would make it hard to run down the corridor, especially in heavy armor with swords and axes sticking out every which way. Now think about that being a party member and you realize how generous being able to move through a friendly creatures square is in combat.
Last we look at a realistic small room. This is 10 x 15 with a 12 foot ceiling. This is the sort of space in which we might see a dungeon crawl encounter take place. The space would fill up quickly with only a few Orks and the party.
There you have it, a visual guide to the 5 foot square and what it really looks like.New Delhi, August 11: The Indian Army has denied reports of having ordered the evacuation of villages near Doklam amidst the continuing stand-off with China. According to latest reports, while there have been additional troops and tanks along with artillery and air defence units in the Tibet Military District by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), there is no major or unusual movement along the Line of Actual Control. A Times of India report quoted government sources as saying, “No village has been evacuated. Neither does the Army propose to get any evacuated. Unnecessary panic should not be spread.”
This came after reports emerged on Thursday that at least 100 villagers in areas near Doklam have been moved out to safer places. Some reports indicated that nearly 100 residents of Nathang village have been asked to vacate their houses immediately by Indian Army. The Nathang village is located 35 km away from Doklam in Sikkim sector.
However, reports indicate that the Indian Army is taking no chances and has deployed enough troops along the border. “With China being belligerent and showing its teeth to make India buckle down, the Indian Army has taken counter-measures as a precaution,” said a sources as quoted by TOI.
While the Indian Army has reportedly increased troops, China says that only 53 Indian soldiers remained in Doklam and asked India to pull them back.
For the past two months, China has been insisting that India withdraws its troops from Doklam. But India is for a simultaneous withdrawal from Doklam. India has stated to China that Doklam belongs to its other neighbour Bhutan. On Thursday, the Bhutanese administration also made it clear to China that Doklam belongs to them. Reports also say that India is also looking at diplomatic channels to find a solution to the Doklam stand-off.
The India-China stand-off began in mid-June when the Indian Army prevented Chinese troops from building a road in Doklam.Announcing Ember's First LTS Release
Currently, Ember uses release channels to help users balance between a desire for new features (canary or beta channels) with stability (the release channel). While semver guarantees mean that upgrades are quite straightforward, some users aren't able to upgrade every six weeks. To address these needs, we are announcing a new LTS release channel.
Ember 2.4 will be the first LTS release of the core framework, and will continue every four releases thereafter. Additionally, we've updated the emberjs.com/builds page with better guidance about when and how to use each of the channels.
For our users, LTS releases allow you to upgrade less frequently while still getting support from the Ember project and the wider ecosystem.
For addon authors, LTS releases allow you to know which versions of Ember to focus effort on.
As a project, Ember will provide security and critical bugfixes for the most recent LTS release, in addition to the most recent release (as we do today). We will also avoid breaking heavily used private APIs without first deprecating them in a previous LTS release.
You can read more about the problems we tried to solve and details about how it works in RFC #56.
The LTS Release Process
The existing release channels allow you to make a tradeoff. On canary, you get features as quickly as they land, but get no guarantees about those features. On the stable release channel, you have to wait 12 weeks for features to stabilize and make their way through the beta process, but you are rewarded with semver guarantees.
While this provides all the flexibility you need to make stability vs. features tradeoff, there is another orthogonal dimension: how often you can schedule time to upgrade. LTS releases give the community an alternative, sanctioned schedule that works better for users who prefer a slower pace.
By synchronizing the timing that these users upgrade, the community can decide to focus energy on specific versions, rather than a scattershot attempt to support every possible combination. This should result in more consistent support and easier upgrades for users on the LTS channel.
The Ember 2.4 branch will be moved into the LTS release channel six weeks after Ember 2.4.0. In other words, Ember 2.4 LTS will ship at the same time as Ember 2.5.0. This means that features begin on Canary, spend six weeks on beta before making it into the stable channel, and spend another six weeks on the stable channel before making it into the LTS release channel.
This same process repeats every four releases, meaning that the next release on the LTS channel will be Ember 2.8 LTS, which will ship at the same time as Ember 2.9.0.
For example, the expected release of Ember 2.4 stable (currently in beta) is on February 26th. To give you a sense for the cadence of our release channels, the projected release timeline is as follows.
LTS releases will receive critical bugfixes for 6 release cycles (36 weeks). This means we will support Ember 2.4 LTS with critical bugfixes until Ember 2.10.0 is released, around November 4, 2016.
LTS releases will receive security patches for 10 release cycles (60 weeks). This means we will support Ember 2.4 LTS with security patches at least until Ember 2.14.0 is released, around April 21, 2017.
As you can see in the above diagram, Ember 2.8 LTS is projected to ship around September 23, 2016. This gives you plenty of time to complete the migration to the next LTS release once it comes out. As always, because Ember 2.8 is semver compatible with Ember 2.4, the upgrade should be relatively smooth.
By the time 2.8 rolls around in roughly six months, any addons that make use of the private view APIs should have had a chance to update.
The LTS Guarantees
What makes an LTS release different than a stable Ember release? LTS releases come with guarantees about API stability and security:
Because each LTS release will receive security fixes for 60 weeks, we will backport them to at least the two most recent LTS releases. Read more about Ember's security policy.
Release notes for each LTS will contain a summary of features and deprecations added since the previous LTS. This will likely consist of a number of links to documentation, guides, and release notes for stable releases.
Addons and applications should constrain themselves to using Ember's public APIs. However, in practice we recognize that experimentation and use of "intimate" APIs is a reality. To ensure addons and apps using these intimate APIs have a migration path forward, any change to a heavily used private APIs will receive a deprecation warning in at least one LTS release. This gives LTS users and the addon community about six months to migrate away. For example, the view APIs (private in Ember 2.x) will be marked as deprecated in Ember 2.4 LTS, and removed before Ember 2.8 LTS.
We encourage addon authors to maintain support for the latest LTS release, in addition to tracking changes in the stable releases.
In practice, since these releases still abide by semantic versioning, upgrading from LTS release to LTS release should not be significantly more work than upgrading along the six-week release cycle.
Upgrading less frequently will mean, of course, that a developer will wait longer to take advantage of new features. Additionally, it means the changes in best practices between releases (and in the number of deprecations) may feel more significant.
Legacy View and Controller Addons
Ember has provided the ember-legacy-views and ember-legacy-controllers addons since Ember 1.13. For large codebases, these addons provide a slower off-ramp for legacy view and controller features. Big apps can move to Ember 2.0 without the complete removal of views.
These addons rely on several private APIs expected to undergo significant refactoring in Ember 2.5 or 2.6. Therefore, the Ember 2.4 LTS will likely be the last LTS to support these addons. They will become unsupported in September or October with the release of Ember 2.8 LTS.
See You Soon
LTS releases are just one of the many things we've been working on; the core team has had a long couple of months and we're excited to share everything. There will be more announcements and plans shared at EmberConf (March 29-30 in Portland), looking forward to seeing so many of you there!Episode 156 is all about Augustynolophus, the official state dinosaur of California.
Thank you so much dinosaur patrons! We continue to make I Know Dino because of you! For all the dinosaur enthusiasts out there, check out our Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/iknowdino
You can listen to our free podcast, with all our episodes, on iTunes at:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-know-dino/id960976813?mt=2
In this episode, we discuss:
News:
The dinosaur of the day: Augustynolophus
Saurolophine hadrosaur that lived in the Cretaceous in what is now California (Moreno Formation)
Name means Augustyn’s crest
Named for Gretchen Augustyn, to honor the Augustyn family, who helped support the Dinosaur Institute of the Natural History Museum in L.A., and the fact that it’s related to Saurolophus
Type species is Augustynolophus morrisi
Species name is in honor of paleontologist William Morris, to honor his contributions to understanding hadrosaurids
Originally thought to be Saurolophus morrisi (described in 2013), but a more detailed examination found that its skull was very different, especially compared to Saurolophus osborni and Saurolophus angusti
Named in 2014 by Albert Prieto-Márquez, Jonathan R. Wagner, Phil R. Bell, and Luis M. Chiappe
Two specimens have been found
Juvenile specimen was found in 1939 (parts of the skull and limbs), much smaller than the holotype
The holotype was found in 1943 (most of the skull, vertebrae, and limb and hand bones)
Had a solid nasal crest, similar to Saurolophus
Not much known about Augustynolophus
Herbivorous and chewed its food
Adult skull was about 3 ft (1 m) long, so may have been a pretty big dinosaur
May have been 26 ft (8 m) long and weighed 3 tons
Augustynolophus is a sister taxon to Saurolophus. Augustynolophus, Saurolophus, and Prosaurolophus are part of Saurolophini
Augustynolophus shows there was more hadrosaur diversity than previously thought in North America in the Late Cretaceous
Augustynolophus specimens have only been found in California so far
Became the official state dinosaur of California in September 2017
Augustynolophus has a Twitter account. The bio reads: Native Californian, Los Angeles resident, older than Jerry Brown (barely), vegetarian, firm believer in science.
Can see Augustynolophus at the Dinosaur Hall at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (has both specimens)
Fun Fact:
Cope’s Rule (the hypothesis that animal lineages tend to grow in body size over evolutionary time) wasn’t created by Edward Drinker Cope, and it’s wrong. Therefore, Cope’s Rule is neither Cope’s, nor a rule.
From information in “Cope’s rule and the adaptive landscape of dinosaur body size evolution” by Roger B. J. Benson, Gene Hunt, Matthew T. Carrano, Nicolás Campione
Sponsor:
This episode is brought to you in part by TRX Dinosaurs, which makes beautiful and realistic dinosaur sculptures, puppets, and exhibits. You can see some amazing examples and works in progress on Instagram @trxdinosaurs
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EmailSANTA CLARA – While the 49ers enter Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins on a franchise-worst-tying nine-game losing streak with first-year coach Chip Kelly, the Dolphins are riding a five-game win streak with their first-year coach.
Does the name Adam Gase sound familiar?
It should. The 49ers narrowed their list after the "mutual parting" of coach Jim Harbaugh to two finalists in January of 2015. And for a while on the eve of when the decision was made, all signs pointed to Gase.
General manager Trent Baalke spent 8 ½ hours with Gase in the Denver area for a second interview with the then-Broncos offensive coordinator. Then, Baalke had an hours-long dinner with then-Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, who gave Gase a resounding recommendation.
Gase received a midnight phone call from Jed York, a source told CSNBayArea.com. Neither Baalke nor York made a job offer or any promises, but Gase had every reason to feel good about his chances of becoming the 49ers’ next head coach based on the tenor of those conversations, according to sources.
But the next morning, Gase got a return phone call from Baalke, who informed him the 49ers had decided to hire Jim Tomsula.
Gase, 38, speaking on a conference call with Bay Area reporters on Wednesday, took the high road when discussing the coaching interviews with the 49ers. Gase worked for the 49ers in 2008 as an offensive assistant under then-offensive coordinator Mike Martz.
“I know it was a great experience for me, as far as going through that process and getting to spend the time with all of those guys,” Gase said. “It was a really beneficial learning experience for me, as far as going through not just the initial interview but that follow-up interview. Spending all that time with Trent was a really, really valuable experience for me and extremely helpful for me when I went through that next round of interviews -- just the dos and don’ts of what to do, the expectations.
“I owe those guys a lot just for the fact they did give me that second interview. And the amount of time I spent with Trent was very valuable because nobody else gave me that second interview that interviewed me the first time. It made it so much easier for myself when I went through that next round the year afterward to know what to expect and understand the process of the second interview.”
After the 49ers passed on Gase for the head-coaching job, Tomsula put the full-court press on him to join his staff as the offensive coordinator, Gase confirmed what CSNBayArea.com originally reported last year. Tomsula met Gase at the Denver airport before Gase’s flight to Chicago to meet with John Fox.
Gase ended up following Fox, the former Denver coach, to the Bears. Tomsula settled for promoting Geep Chryst to offensive coordinator for his first and only season.
Gase said Tomsula was always good to him when they worked together on the 49ers’ staff in 2008. He said the decision to go to the Bears was not as easy as it appeared.
“It was very tough for me, as far as deciding to go to Chicago because I thought that was the best move for me at the time,” Gase said. “I have a lot of friends in that (49ers) building. And I have a lot of people I respect. And, obviously, my respect for the York family is very, very high. I want the best for those guys all the time.
“That was a tough decision for me because any time I can help Jed York win games, that’s why that was a very hard decision, as far as even not getting the head-coaching job, just saying I’m going to do something else, as far as a coordinator’s job. That was a tougher decision than what most people realize because of the respect factor I have for those people and that organization.”
It certainly worked out well for Gase – not so well for the 49ers.
Tomsula was fired after a 5-11 season. Kelly is 1-9 after winning the season opener against the Los Angeles Rams.
The Dolphins hired Gase one year after the 49ers passed on him. After a 1-4 start, the Dolphins are 6-4 and in the thick of the AFC playoffs race with one of the bright young offensive minds – and head coaches – in the NFL.My dad was a rye-bread kind of guy, which I noticed during a half-dozen childhood summers spent tagging along to his business meetings at Jewish delis throughout L.A. Most of the time I would sit silently, eating my half of a pastrami on rye (or reuben on rye or corned beef on rye or turkey on rye) as he had adult conversations with C-level Hollywood players, trying to cut D-level movie deals.
It never occurred to me that these Jewish delis — like Izzy's in Santa Monica, Canter's on Fairfax and Art’s in Studio City — were products of the entrenched cultural power of the very people having meetings in them. Or that the eating habits of my Hungarian-Jewish grandfather, who moved to L.A. from the East Coast in the 1940s to be an entertainment lawyer but never took his children to a synagogue, gave rise to the neighborhood eateries serving piled-high sandwiches and matzo ball soup.
My father never questioned his love of rye. Nor did he seem to notice that sometime in the last 15 years he started ordering less of it. He moved his wheeling and dealing to Starbucks and the Coffee Bean to accommodate the faster-paced lifestyles of the gentile power people now far younger than he. And it hasn’t yet registered with him that those Jewish delis (where early talks for movies such as Watermelon Man, Tulips and Chuck Norris’ Forced Vengeance took place) are now closing in droves, the result of the city’s changing tastes and a recession that damaged the genre.According to a new Omaha World-Herald poll, Democrat Bob Kerrey is now within striking distance of his Republican opponent Deb Fischer in the race for Nebraska’s open Senate seat.
The poll shows Fischer leading Kerrey by a 48 to 45 percent margin, within the plus or minus 3.5 percent margin of error. This represents a startling comeback for Kerrey; in the World-Herald‘s previous poll, conducted from September 17th to September 20th, Fischer was ahead by 10 points.
Among likely voters, Fischer leads Kerrey 49 percent to 46 percent, significantly down from her 16 percent lead in the September poll.
The poll, which was conducted by Wiese Research Associates of Omaha on October 23rd through October 25th, sampled 800 registered voters across the state.
This is the second recent survey to suggest that Kerrey has significantly cut into Fischer’s lead; a recent Pharos Research Group survey showed Fischer ahead of Kerrey by just 2.5 percent.
Kerrey, who served as Governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and as a United States Senator from 1989 to 2001, attracted a good deal of media attention when he entered the race in February. Since then he has failed to gain traction in conservative Nebraska; Fischer has held consistent double digit leads in most polls, and most observers considered Nebraska’s open Senate seat — which is currently held by retiring Democrat Ben Nelson — as a safe Republican pickup. These new polls call that outcome into question.
If Kerrey is able to complete his comeback, it will have huge national implications; without Nebraska, it would be virtually impossible for the Republican Party to claim a majority in the Senate.
Photo credit: AP/Nati Harnik, FileOur second to last stop on our trip was Salzburg, the little city and UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its charming old city center and the expansive fortress looming high above town. It was a really neat place to see. Salzburg stands in contrast to Vienna (the city we were coming from). In Salzburg, nearly everything seems super old, whereas in Vienna the city is relatively "new" since it was basically rebuilt in the 1800s. In Salzburg it was not uncommon for me to see buildings with an inscription saying it was built in the 1300s. Also unlike Vienna, (and every other city we visited) Salzburg did not have a subway or tram network. Just buses. But then again, it was also the smallest city we saw, with a population of only about 150,000. Because the old town is so compact, it is very easy to get anywhere you want by foot. A nice bonus was that we got to see the Alps! Salzburg was the only city we visited that wasn't located on flat land (with the exception of Prague, maybe, which is pretty hilly).1 The old city center with its castle looming in the background. The name Salzburg actually literally translates to "Salt Castle" in German... I think it sounds a lot better in German than it does English!2 A view from the gardens of the Mirabell Palace, across the river from the castle and city center4 Walking away from Mirabell Palace, to Linzer Gasse, the main drag on the north side of the river5 an old church6 Linzer Gasse7 One thing we quickly noticed was how every shop had a cool sign hanging outside of it9 Climbing up a big hill to get a nice view of the city10 looking out over Linzer Gasse1112 That wall is actually part of the old fortifications around the city1314 We go back down the hill and find a cool old cemetery to wander around.15 I am pretty sure those are all tombstones on the left; people are actually buried under the floor here16171819 the church:20 off the beaten track:21 a cool old ancient alley near the river:222324 Now on the other side of the river, or the "main" side as I think of it - this is where mostly everything is, including, yes, Mozart's Birth House:2526 It was raining27 The tower in the back is the City Hall28 The "Residenzgalerie"29303132 The Salzburg Cathedral - the cities largest, and grandest church...33 inside...34353637383940 now, on our way up to the castle:41 no, we won't WALK all the way up there...42...we'll take the funicular!43 The first of many great viewpoints we'll see at the castle:444546 Salzburg, a long time ago47 Part of the King's Quarters inside the castle:48 The gold buttons on the ceilings are supposed to resemble stars:49 I loved these giant wood beams!50 a cool little model showing how they built the fortress:51 This hulking thing was used to heat the room. Hey, if you're gonna have something so huge and imposing, might as well make it beautiful, right?52 watch out for these guys:53 This was interesting - these are Roman ruins discovered underneath the castle during restoration work in the '90s.54 cannons... coool5556 like I said - mountains!57 I didn't notice this until after I took the picture, but I think its cool how the gables in the roof mimic the peaks of the mountains, kinda. I wonder if thats what they had in mind when they were building it so many hundreds of years ago? Probably not, but perhaps.585960 castle-y61 This place was like a smaller Prague Castle - smaller and less extravagant.6263646566 Salzburg has the best of both worlds - a great city and the great outdoors just a short car ride away6768 Taking the funicular back down!6970 craziness back in town:71 um, huh?72 We find some solitude in another old cemetery. This one is obviously a pretty big tourist attraction, since all the graves are meticulously maintained:73747576 The "Franziskanerkirche"777879 The "Salzburger Residenz" again8081 The city hall again, on a less rainy day:82 inside some quirky shop. They had swords:83 haha, get it?848586 Houses built into the cliffs!87 traffic jam:8889 Fancy hotel on the north side of the river:909192 signs!9394 Lastly is Hellbrunn Palace, just 30 minutes out of the city by bus. It is known for its "Wasserspiele",or trick fountains. Warning - If you take the tour, you WILL get wet!9596 It was actually a pretty modest palace - most rooms were just painted white. This is one of only 3 rooms that were elaborately painted:97 To me, the grounds and the Wasserspiele were more impressive than the palace itself. I didn't get any pictures of the Wasserspiele because I was afraid of my camera getting wet:9899 We took a small hike up to that yellow house on the hill (which is actually a small museum)...100 Unfortunately, the museum was closed... but there were some great views!101102103 After a grueling bus ride during rush hour and filled past capacity (due to the fact that the bus only runs once every 20 minutes or so and there were a lot of people waiting for it at Helbrunn) we finally arrive back in town!104 The city at sunset:105106 And that's Salzburg!Next (and last): München (Munich)!The U.N. refugee agency reports a multi-million-dollar appeal begun early this year on behalf of tens of thousands of refugees and migrants in Greece and along the Balkan route is outdated and needs to be revised upwards.
The U.N. refugee agency and 60 partner organizations appealed for about $555 million in January. The money was supposed to be enough to carry out Greek and Balkan aid operations until the end of the year.
Since the appeal was launched, however, radical changes have occurred. UNHCR spokesman William Spindler said the so-called regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan has been revised to take into account the new circumstances; namely, border closures along the western Balkans route and the enactment of the EU-Turkey agreement.
“The financial requirements to implement the plan have been adjusted to reflect the change in circumstances, he said. "They currently stand at almost $670 million for 2016, of which contributions of $328.8 million have been received.”
That, said Spindler, leaves a gap of more than $340 million. The UNHCR reports a significant drop in refugees and migrants arriving in Greece. That has resulted in a decrease in the number of people along the western Balkans route and an increase in the number of people remaining in Greece.
Spindler said more than 57,000 refugees and migrants currently are spread across the country. As a consequence, he said the UNHCR and partners will focus their aid operations on the static population in Greece and on protecting people in the western Balkans.
“Unmet needs remain significant," he added, "as living conditions in the sites in Greece, both on the islands and in the mainland, have deteriorated as a result of congestion and the rapid nature in which sites were established on the mainland.”
Spindler said there are many people with specific needs, such as unaccompanied or separated children, pregnant or lactating women, the elderly and disabled.
Given the conditions under which these people are forced to live, he warned many are likely to rely on smuggling and trafficking networks, exposing themselves to greater risks.Anonymous Indictment Raises Serious Question: Is It Really A CFAA Violation To DDoS A Website?
from the questions dept
... knowingly causes the transmission of a program, information, code, or command, and as a result of such conduct, intentionally causes damage without authorization, to a protected computer;
Way back in the fall of 2010, we wrote about how it was a really dumb idea for people associating themselves with Anonymous to run a series of DDoS attacks, under the name "Operation Payback," focused on the RIAA, MPAA, US Copyright Office and other websites. The attacks were protesting attempts to take down The Pirate Bay, as well as a variety of other complaints about general acts of copyright maximalism and copyright trolling. As we noted, such attacks do a lot more harm than good. Either way, the feds have finally gotten around to indicting thirteen individuals for somehow participating in that fall spree of DDoS attacks. While the indictment tries to make it out like this is a big conspiracy, it's unclear how connected some of the various attacks are, as it appears (as is frequently the case with Anonymous) that some individuals simply chose some sites to DDoS on their own and announced they were doing it as Anonymous. It's difficult to see a conspiracy when there's no real connection.That said, there's a much bigger question here. While DDoS attacks can be a nuisance, are they really criminal? In the midst of these attacks, we questioned if they were really criminal acts or more like the equivalent of a sit-in, in which people were disrupting a business for the sake of public protest. In fact, some people arrested for DDoS attacks have been making this claim in court -- and there was even a White House petition asking it to recognize DDoSing as a valid form of protest Instead, as the indictment shows, the feds are hitting these thirteen individuals with CFAA violations -- the broad, troubling anti-hacking law that is regularly abused by the feds for any crime that involves a computer. In this case, the focus is on 1030(a)(5)(A) which targets people who:But is a DDoS really "damage"? I can see how there's a reasonable argument both for and against that. But I have trouble seeing how, as the feds claim, these DDoS attacks did more than $5,000 in damage to the various sites they took down. Furthermore, you can make an argument that these weren't done "without authorization," because all a DDoS does is point a ton of traffic at a website. If that web server is open to the public, then isn't there authorization? It's just that the web server gets flooded.Again, I'll make clear that I think DDoS attacks are dumb, counterproductive and immature. But I have trouble seeing how they'reacts, that could lead to five years in jail.Also, there's some oddities, in that one of the lawyers for one of the accused folks claims that he had been working out a settlement, which has now been "scuttled" by the indictment. I imagine that most of the accused will eventually come to some sort of plea bargain deal. The DOJ stacks the deck so that you're often crazyto plea your way out of these deals. And it's unlikely that any of the individuals will appear particularly sympathetic for their alleged actions here. But I'm still quite troubled by the idea that these actions add up to that much in damage, and a computer hacking crime deserving of significant jail time.
Filed Under: anonymous, cfaa, ddos, protest, sit-inPlay Facebook
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MELBOURNE, Fla. — Donald Trump, all day Tuesday, maintained he won a debate that most pundits, and many polls, said he lost.
“Last night was very exciting, and nearly every single poll had us winning against Hillary Clinton, big league,” he said.
A number of online polls showed him to be the winner, but there’s some question over how accurate they were and whether they may have been manipulated by Trump supporters. For all his public bluster, Trump seemed aware of this fact, spending nearly the entire rally re-litigating the debate, this time with the help of a teleprompter.
“For 90 minutes... I watched her. She was stuck in the past. For 90 minutes, on issue after issue Hillary Clinton defended the terrible status quo, while I laid out our plan, all of us together, to bring jobs, security and prosperity back to the American people,” he said, sticking to his prepared text.
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Later, veering off, Trump explained away a performance even Republicans said was reactive and lacking substance as a planned strategy of “holding back.”
“I didn’t want to do anything to embarass her,” he said.
Trump also repeated a number of falsehoods from the debate, asking the crowd: “Does everybody believe me, I was against going to Iraq?” though his initial support is well-documented; and “I explained last night stop and frisk was constitutional,” he said, though it was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge in 2013.
Related: What You Missed From the First Presidential Debate
The rally seemed geared entirely towards reframing the debate as a win. “We won almost every single poll,” Trump said again, midway through his speech. “That was a great honor.”
Trump supporters saw flaws
But his supporters at the rally painted a far less rosy picture of his performance, with most acknowledging it wasn’t his best. At the very least, the nominee could’ve been more prepared — at worst, he needlessly lost his cool and failed to hit Clinton hard enough to make a dent.
“He had a lot of missed opportunities, where he really could’ve gotten on Hillary Clinton for the email scandal and for Benghazi,” said Karin Sells, a sales assistant at a financial firm. “I don’t think he totally blew it, but he really does have to go after her stronger.”
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A number of supporters acknowledged that Trump’s failure to keep his cool negatively impacted him on the stage.
Asked what Trump should do differently at the next debate, Jean Detwiler, an Air Force veteran, said the candidate should be more aware of “the way he carries himself when he’s supposedly off-camera, which he really isn’t.”
“He shows too many feelings in his face,” Detwiler said.
He also said Trump “should just wait his turn. I mean he’s got plenty of ammunition, he doesn’t have to break into the conversation.”
Related: Russian Papers Call Debate Win for Clinton
For a candidate who can typically do no wrong among the ardent followers that pack his rallies nationwide, Trump’s debate performance marked a rare incident where his fans acknowledged flaws in their candidate. Throughout the course of the campaign, Trump’s supporters have easily explained away everything from his attack on Sen. John McCain for being a POW to his sexist comments on and off the stump, and his support has stayed steady.
It’s unlikely the debate performance will lose him any fans among the diehards crowding a hot and sticky airplane hangar in Florida Tuesday night, or at any of the other rallies that fans wait hours to attend.
“He impressed me," Sharlene Dutton, a Florida resident, said of Trump’s performance. “He made it so easy for me to understand."
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But the overall skeptical reaction does hint at the possible toll another poor debate performance could take on Trump. If his diehard supporters can find fault in their candidate as a result, it’s not hard to see undecided voters tuning him out entirely.
Indeed, some of Trump’s fans at his rally Tuesday night seemed to uneasily acknowledge the possibility.
And Barbara Jackson, a retiree from Jensen Beach, Fla., said she “hoped” Trump’s debate performance hadn’t hurt him with undecideds — but acknowledged the possibility.
“I think undecided voters are really questionable right now, and every move is important,” she said.
But ever the Trump supporter, she was certain her candidate would figure it out in the end.
“I think in the second debate he’ll do much better,” she said.There's more to college life than having a good football team. You need a good campus, too.
As the Ducks and Beavers count down to the Nov. 24 Civil War, we're looking for some help to determine which has the best campus. Send us your photos, tell us your favorites.
Travel reporter Terry Richard will be visiting the University of Oregon this week and Oregon State University next week, Wednesday through Friday each time.
But he needs some help. Because he went to college in Pullman, of all places, he barely knows which campus has Hayward Field and which has the Linus Pauling Institute.
He's looking for tips about what to see and do on both campuses for a general visitor not connected to either university. Each must have museums, art galleries, trophy cases and historic buildings. And the campus neighborhoods in Eugene and Corvallis must have coffee shops, restaurants, watering holes and entertainment parlors. And which is the best bike campus?
Send him your tips by posting a comment on one of his reports at oregonlive.com/travel, or by email at trichard@oregonian.com.
You can also tweet him your tips and photos -- and see what others are suggesting -- using #Ocivilwar on twitter.com.
We also encourage alums to go to oregonlive.com/travel to submit photos from their college days. Students, faculty and staff can take photos of themselves in their favorite places on or near campus and send them in. There is also an opportunity to name your favorite bar, burger joint, pizza parlor, breakfast nook, campus art and place to get away.
These submission forms are coming next on this blog post.
Then join the discussion online as Richard files reports on OregonLive. Stories about the campuses also will appear in The Sunday Oregonian on Nov. 11 and 18.
Look at this as an attempt to stir the juices for a Civil War that already has the makings of a classic.
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Fill out my online formRepublican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus answers questions about the face-to-face meeting between Donald Trump and Paul Ryan on May 13, 2016. | AP Photo Priebus calls for ' |
2007. In 2011 the divorce proceedings were withdrawn but in October 2012 White and Conejero separated again.[citation needed]
For several years, White dated actress Emilia Fox till their split in 2016 [46]
White is a supporter of the Conservative Party[47] and of Manchester City F.C..[48]
See also [ edit ]They acted accordingly and managed to remain in a pretty strong position indeed. All the moves of the past years indicate that the optimal streaming scenario from the major labels’ perspective looks somewhat like this:
However, if you now assume that our class of contenders must be on a path to success, hold your thought. While user and subscriber numbers grow along with revenue, profitability is still a stretch goal for any streaming service. The main reason for this: the aforementioned contract structure and advanced payments in particular.
While the exact percentages likely fluctuate quarter-to-quarter (as these numbers from MIDiA Research suggest, according to which Universal had the highest streaming market share in 2016), the general tendency is clear: Streaming is responsible for more than a third of the labels’ overall recorded music revenue.
For the labels, streaming has turned into a significant source of revenue in their recorded music branches. I looked at the big three’s Q4 2016 figures to find out how much streaming revenue contributed to their overall recorded music revenue:
2016 had been quite a year for streaming. All services combined crossed the 100 million subscribers milestone. According to Nielsen data, from its 2016 U.S. Music Year End report, on-demand audio streams grew 76% year-over-year in the United States. In absolute numbers this amounts to 250 billion audio streams. Add to this another 180 billion music video streams and this renders streaming the dominant way how people consume music (at a 38% consumption share).
That tranlates to: A bunch of streaming services which are hardly differentiated, each has a decent, none a dominant market share and all are reliant upon the labels’ catalogues (and goodwill). Optimal conditions for the reigning major labels indeed.
While competition for Spotify has recently intensified — mainly because the type of competitors has changed from other startups to big tech companies —the Swedish service has still managed to outgrow competition. With 50 million paying subscribers it should now be approaching 50% market share in streaming.⁴
A Struggle for Power
That tilts the balance of power into Spotify’s direction (though the starting point was totally tilted in the labels’ favor). Assuming that the revenue Spotify generates for the labels is roughly proportional to its just-below-50% market share, it would contribute a significant chunk to the labels’ streaming revenue: In Q4 2016 alone, the big three reported a combined streaming revenue of $1.1 billion in total. Streaming thereby is the most important driver for the just rediscovered growth in recorded music.⁵ This kind of money is really hard to forgo if you are a record label.
Still, the labels own the most important asset in music: the music. Therefore, it remains true that streaming services aren’t highly differentiated. They try to convince users with things like specific usability touches, better discovery functionality, or other features on the software side. Yet, what users really care about is the catalogue. Do I find all the music I wanna listen to on your service? If so: great! Otherwise: Not so much. Because the big three’s catalogue amounts to 85–90% of the music on streaming services, having access to it is mandatory for any. It’s quite literally a matter of life and death.
What we are currently witnessing, thus, is a delicate balancing act. Both sides try to leverage their assets in order to create an advantage over the other. At the same time, they are so intertwined (including, again, an 18% equity stake the labels own in Spotify) and depending on one another, that pushing the other one down the rope is no option. Still, let’s see what it would look like.
The labels theoretical push is straight-forward: Shutting down their catalogues. But in the case of streaming services? Their move would be to turn into a “label”: working with artists directly in order to own the music and its distribution — without the labels participating at all. Let’s call this doing the Netflix, as the famous video-streaming platform has done exactly that.
Creating exclusive, even fully-owned content is great. Not only can you differentiate your service that way, but it also ends your dependence on licensors and is a much better business model in the long-run. However, streaming platforms have by and large shied away from attempting this. Spotify is even famously opposed to the concept (while that philosophy is certainly the most fan-friendly, I leave it to you to decide how much of that is PR rhetoric and/or the need to nurture the relation with its most important supplier and minority shareholder).
We have seen singular incidences of artists trying the streaming-only path — e.g. Chance The Rapper or Frank Ocean — but no full-blown efforts by the platforms to own exclusive music. Note that the latter would go way further than the marketing practice of (temporarily) having exclusive streaming rights. And labels even despise that! Likely because they regard the practice as a door-opener for more radical approaches.
So it’s obvious why streaming companies don’t force the issue: the labels would likely judge it as an attempted coup d’etat. Which no service would currently risk because catalogue! The labels only need to whisper the magic word and any service — barring suicidal tendencies — will stop thinking about it. However, there might be a tipping point: Once (and if) a streaming service manages to gain such a significant number of subscribers that the revenue it contributes is existential to the labels. That would cause the labels to at least think twice about cutting ties.
The counterargument goes like this: The lack of differentiation between streamers results in low switching-costs. That means, if Streamer A no longer offers your preferred music, you just use Streamer B. Presumably that’s generally true. But platform lock-in is likely higher in music streaming than in video. First, music is more of a social activity you share with friends (thus, btw, network effects). Second, creating playlists, building your collection etc. is key to the experience — and users invest their precious time in it. They would at least be offended if any label decided to pull its catalog off their service-of-choice. Is that enough to stop a label from doing so if push comes to shove? That’s certainly up for debate.
One final variable to consider when observing the current streaming wars is best summarized by the expression pick your poison. Assume users love streaming so much that even the labels recognize it ought to exist. Also assume that streaming is a winner-takes-all (or most) market. Which player would you rather see succeed if you are in the labels’ shoes: A tech giant with a stuffed warchest or a startup you even have a stake in?Watch the Psych Reunion Live from New York Comic Con
Miss the live-stream? See the best moments from Psych: The Movie at New York Comic Con here!
The Psych: The Movie New York Comic Con panel starts Saturday at 4:15 p.m. EST! (Note: The first 20 minutes of the stream will be preempted while NYCC screens a sneak peek of the movie. The panel itself will begin at 4:35 p.m. EST)
Can't make it to New York Comic Con this year? No problem. Live-stream the Psych: The Movie panel, featuring James Roday (Shawn Spencer), Kirsten Nelson (Karen Vick), Corbin Bernsen (Henry Spencer), Maggie Lawson (Juliet O’Hara), creator Steve Franks, and executive producer Chris Henze!
The Psych panel takes place on the NYCC Main Stage. Here's the full schedule for Saturday, Oct. 7:
11:00 a.m. to noon DreamWorks' Voltron Legendary Defender
12:45 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. An Hour with Adam Savage
2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Twisted Toonz
4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. Psych Reunion and Movie Sneak Peek
8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. NYCC Eastern Championships of Cosplay
Psych: The Movie will air on USA Network this December!When Naruto showed up at the training field with the three big logs buried in the middle vertically, Shikamaru and Choji were already there. But that wasn't all that was there.
"It sure is foggy today!" Naruto said as he walked towards the meeting place. Shikamaru gave a significant look to Choji right as Naruto approached and his friend immediately hit something in his pocket.
Naruto's orange getup was bright enough that he was easy to spot through the fog as he approached
"Also, what's that noise? Huh?" Naruto said, approaching the logs.
"It's called a stereo," Shikamaru said, straining his voice through the fog to reach Naruto. He had it playing some generic pop tune.
"Oh, OK, whatever." Naruto said. "Where's our teacher anyway? I want to start this already."
Kakashi had sent word that they weren't to eat lunch this morning, and that they should show up here at this time. Kabuto had said that normally you met with your Jonin ninja leader before your first mission, but it seems like this Kakashi had decided not to do it that way for some reason. Maybe because Kakashi had apparently failed every other scout-class, Genin Ninja that had ever come to him. Why meet with academy graduates if you're probably just going to fail them?
Shikamaru turned his attention back to Naruto.
"I think you've gotten a bad rap in this village," Shikamaru told Naruto straight out when he got close enough. "My understanding is that there's no particular reason to find you dangerous just because you have a demon fox sealed in you. But everyone treats you badly because they associate you with the great calamity that happened a decade ago. This is irrational."
Naruto was quiet during this speech, which was strange.
Kid was a loudmouth in class half the time, Shikamaru thought. It was certainly interesting that he was quiet now.
"It happens in part because of a bad type of thinking called 'Appeal to Tradition.' Basically this means that an old way of thinking is just accepted as correct because it's part of some tradition. So, in your case, the adults all thought that everything connected to the Nine Tails fox demon was bad, because it had just almost destroyed their village, but also because it had often been seen that way traditionally. Appeal to traditional fallacy means that not only do you think that something is true just because it's a tradition that people have always said was true, but you also believe that some traditional thing is true no matter what changes."
"Huh?" Naruto said. "What are you talking about Shikamaru? You talk way too much. Get to the point already."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to call Naruto an idiot. That would be counterproductive because it would go against the entire point of this whole thing. He really didn't want to have to go through it all again. That would be a serious pain in the ass.
"The point is, that's why everyone is so cruel to you," He blurted out.
Naruto's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything. His mannerisms were back to docile and quiet again.
It bothers him a lot but he refuses to admit it, Shikamaru thought. Made sense, what could you say to people who lost parents and friends 10 years ago due to a monster that was now sealed inside you?
"The older folks around here can't help but hate you because of what they associate you with, or because of the traditional idea that the Nine Tails is evil. Their kids accept that there's something wrong with you because of that traditional view passed down to them from their parents. Any traditional piece of information or ideas that's handed down to you when you're young is going to stick in the back of your head without your knowledge if you aren't careful."
Shikamaru sighed as he sense the blur approaching that was undoubtedly Kakashi.
Finally.
"This is true of anything you're new to, by the way, whether it's a story, a skill, a piece of technology or anything. You tend to just accept initial traditional information about that thing without realizing it," Shikamaru said. For some odd reason those eyes he saw earlier, the red with the tear drops popped into his head. Why? Odd. He'd have to think on that more later.
Shikamaru was pitching his voice loud enough so that anyone with the means to witness this scene, like Kakashi or anyone else really, could hear what he had to say clearly.
"I don't care if they hate me," Naruto said. He stuck out his lip when he said it though, making Shikamaru suspicious.
"I'll just make them see how great I am, you'll see Shikamaru!" He said.
"I already see," Shikamaru said lightly. "You have a power far more powerful than anyone here realizes," He said. "And the nine tails is only a tiny part of it. The three of us," he said, waving his hand to include Choji who was sitting down behind one of the logs currently," could unlock a power that makes us more powerful than all other shinier combined. And it's all because of you. I will need you to follow the plan I have though," He added, nonchalantly.
This last seemed to stun Naruto a bit. At least, he was silent for several long seconds as saccharine pop music blared out cheerfully.
Finally, he doubled over and burst out laughing.
Shikamaru let himself sigh and roll his eyes as Naruto continued letting out long bouts of pealing laughter. He dropped to his knees and pounded the rocks with his fist.
"Me, follow you! Hah! That's a good one Shikamaru! You should follow me! I'm way stronger than weaklings like you two!"
What a troublesome pain in the ass, Shimakaru thought. After explaining all of that and now Naruto wasn't taking him seriously at all. If this had all been for nothing, Shikamaru was going to quit on the spot and watch clouds for the next 6 weeks.
At least his response wasn't unexpected, he thought. Although, he hadn't expected Naruto to laugh quite that hard. Annoying.
"It's what you want isn't it? To show everyone how powerful you are? TO have people acknowledge you? Well, I already do. That's what I'm telling you. And I can get everyone else to do it too."
"How did you know that? Naruto said sharply.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes.
"You only loudly tell everyone you meet," He said. Naruto was starting to open his mouth and point fingers again, which prompted Shikamaru to hold up a hand. "OK already, yes I know you don't care about what I have to say since I'm so weak. So, here's what we can do."
He gestured vaguely in the direction where he knew Kakashi was hiding and listening in before making his entrance to make sure it wasn't obvious that he knew Kakashi was there.
"Pretty soon, Kakashi is going to come over here and offer us a test. Instead of working together, Choji will sit out, and you and I will see who can pass it faster, and by how much. If one of us passes it first by a little, then that person is better than the other, but they are still mostly equal."
Naruto got up from where he'd been rolling on the ground laughing and said,
"And if they win by a lot, then they are much better!"
"Correct," Shikamaru said.
"OK!" Naruto said. "I got it. You'll see how much better I am!"
"What's all this?" Kakashi said, finally deciding he had heard enough. The fog was really rolling in now. He stopped, cocking an ear to the loud pop music coming from the forest.
"What's that enchanting music?" Kakashi asked. "It's like it's speaking directly to me."
He then looked around at the fog rolling in from the forest and drifting over the lake on one side of the training grounds.
"That's not right, either," He said. "There isn't any major source of water in nearby in that part of the forest. Fog should roll out from the lake, not the other way around."
Shikamaru swallowed. Kabuto had been right about Kakashi's level of intelligence. He had to put all of his hopes squarely on the logical fallacy that he was betting existed at the heart of most every Konoha shinobi currently.
"You're late!" Naruto said, pointing at Kakashi. The man had a shock of white hair sticking out over his forehead protector with the Konoha symbol on it. The protector was pulled down over one of his eyes. The rest of his face was hidden behind a blue mask.
"I heard you talking over that strangely interesting music," Kakashi said finally.
"You knew that the mission would be a test, how?"
"The ancient post that's been here for like a hundred years? That has a picture of one person tied to it and two other people holding bells in a bunch of different homes in Konoha? Wow yeah, I can't imagine how I figured it out."
Although actually, Kabuto told me, Shikamaru thought. But the logic still holds since that's how he knew. But really, if the test is that important they should really be more careful at keeping the info secret.
"I see," Kakashi, said, looking around. "Were you also anything additional about why the test was made in this particular way?"
Yes, of course, Shikamaru said, though out loud he said-
"No."
"Well, OK then," Kakashi said, rubbing at his spiky white hair sheepishly.
"We can still do the test then," Kakashi said with a relieved sigh. "We probably should be more careful to let you academy students see pictures of the test lying around everywhere. "
"A test?" Naruto said, perking up. "What test?"
"The one I just told you about," Shikamaru said patiently. "You have to get a bell from the teacher. Whoever gets it first is the most impressive. The better than they do than the other, the more impressive they are."
Naruto gave Shikamaru an obviously disdainful look up and down.
"You're on!" Naruto said. "I'll have no problem beating a loser like you."
Shikamaru gestured magnanimously to Naruto.
"You can go first," He said.
"Hey, wait a second," Kakashi said, scratching his head again. "You're going to try to get a bell one at a time? You know that there's only two, right? What about the third member? Choji?" He pointed over at Choji who was sitting on the other side of a post, not looking in their direction at all.
"I trust Shikamaru!" Choji said good-naturedly, and in a suspiciously muffled way.
Shikamaru felt a chill go through hi as Kakashi spent a few seconds staring in that direction. He had heard enough about Kakashi from Kabuto to know that he had no chance against beating him with Ninjutsu, the sort of ninja magic he was only just learning, no chance beating him hand to hand which he was also a bit too lazy to be very good at yet, and probably no chance in outsmarting him conventionally.
I can see the gears turning in his head already, Shikamaru thought as he saw Kakashi looking at the fog, listening to the music, watching Choji sitting behind a post and asking himself questions about what they all might mean if he took them all together instead of as random separate events.
He's going to see right through this if I don't keep distracting him, Shikamaru thought.
"What's the hold up?" Shikamaru said, making his voice as annoying as possible. He scratched at his neck and walked away from Naruto for a few paces as if he were too boring to pay attention to in general. "Didn't you say something about how easy it was going to be to get a bell and much of a loser I am compared to you?" Shikamaru said.
It was definitely a bit mean to goad someone like Naruto that way, but desperate times.
Predictably, Naruto saw red and immediately rushed Kakashi.
"Yeah, that's right. I'll show you right now!"
Kakashi gave Shikamaru a look that he could tell was full of suspicion, even with that mask on.
"Now hold on," Kakashi said as Naruto started just running right at him. "You'll never get anywhere unless you work together-"
Naruto wasn't listening anymore though. He was already punching and kicking at Kakashi with a vengeance.
Kakashi sighed as he blocked everything Naruto dished out. There was a flurry of movement, and it ended with Kakashi sitting on the loudly complaining Naruto.
"Lesson One, Taijutsu, or Hand to Hand Combat" Kakashi said lightly. He let Naruto struggle free after a second.
Naruto scrabbled away on his hands and feet and soon enough, he was up and coming at Kakashi again.
"Ninja Arts Lesson Two, Genjutsu," Kakashi said. He made a series of combined hand signs much faster than Shikamaru had ever seen before since he was a rank beginner at it. Shikamaru remembered when his father had explained what was going on-that the hand signs were basically a kind of mnemonic to help you shape your inner life energy, or Chakra.
Apparently somehow that made magic powers happen. Shikamaru had informed his dad about how that was pure nonsense with the complete assurance of a student of the very decidedly non-magical Fire University.
His dad had then made his own shadow dance around the room, pick up various objects, and hand them to Shikamaru.
Lesson learned, the world is really weird, Shikamaru thought. Never be too sure about anything.
After Kakashi finished his hand signs, Naruto began acting really weird, and proceeded to run off and start punching one of the posts in the training field. Choji said something to Naruto to stop bothering him that still sounded muffled.
After that wore off, Naruto looked really pissed, especially when Kakashi pulled a book out of one of the many packs he wore as part of his standard military uniform that looked suspiciously like a romance novel.
"Fine, I'll show you what I can do!" He said. He then made a new hand sign that Shikamaru wasn't familiar with. It seemed to involve forming two fingers on either hand, and then making a cross between them.
Suddenly, there were a lot more Narutos in the field.
"Kage Bunshin," Kakashi said. "Shadow clones, and not just illusions, real bodies. So the rumors are true," He said.
Thank God, Shikamaru thought. So far his plan was working, but the real hard part was just coming up.
Even without the extra information Kabuto had provided about this secret technique that Naruto had somehow learned, the technique was insanely useful. It wasn't just the normal kind of 'Bunshin' where you made an illusion that looked like you but that couldn't really do anything but dance around, it was a real second body.
All the new Narutos then ran at Kakashi again.
"Third Ninja Lesson-Ninjutsu," Kakashi said. He formed more seals with his hands, and then blew a huge ball of fire at Naruto that caused all of the extra bodies to dissipate with a cloud of smoke, with the real Naruto falling backwards and splashing into the lake to avoid it.
Kakashi turned his gaze back on Shikamaru and Choji. He'd pulled up his headband now, and was using that special red eye of his to look around.
Wow I am so screwed, Shikamaru thought. Not only is he good at fighting and full of magic, but he's also figuring it out. Kakashi was already letting his gaze sweep in the direction of some of Shikamarus hidden surprises with a thoughtful look on his face.
He thinks so fast. He's too experienced, Shikamaru thought. Even with all my effort, he's still smarter than me.
Shikamaru took a beat, took a breath.
But that's the thing about the Logical Fallacies, Shikamaru thought. It doesn't matter how fast you think or how much general or specific knowledge you have. If you weren't used to specifically looking out for the fallacies, you would fall to them every time.
Even people like me and Choji, with one lame trick that took us all of yesterday to setup can bring someone like Kakashi down.
Or well, steal bells tied to his waist anyway, I mean, Shikamaru thought.
Ninja Art Lesson Four: The Logical Fallacies, he thought to himself, and got ready for his wild shot in the dark.
Note-If you like my stuff, try out my website:
Reality-zero
(Also-I'm trying to make it a bit more accessible to people new to Naruto which is why things are a bit redundant. Figured I might as well try.)Austin Google Fiber Sign Ups Go Live
Last week Google unveiled pricing for Google Fiber in Austin, and this week the company began taking the first sign ups for neighborhood deployments, as their "fiberhood" process gets underway. According to a Google blog post, interested Austinites in the South and Southeast areas of the city can head here to plug in their information and support their neighborhood as an initial build candidate. The company today also opened a "fiber space" in downtown Austin (201 Colorado St.) where users can also visit to get more details.
"This is just the beginning," states Google. "We’ll be opening new areas of the city for signups on an ongoing basis, and we hope to bring Fiber to every neighborhood in Austin that wants it."
As noted last week, residential users have three pricing options: a 5 Mbps tier that costs $300 up front but will then be free for ten years, a symmetrical 1 Gbps tier for $70 a month, or a symmetrical 1 Gbps and cable TV bundle that will run you $130.
Similarly, small businesses in Austin can now sign up for Google Fiber's new Google Fiber business-class service, which will cost local businesses $100 a month as part of the company's early access program.TV Reviews All of our TV reviews in one convenient place.
"Sons And Daughters” (season 6, episode 3; originally aired 10/13/1997)
In which Alexander returns, and it’s not so bad…
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(Available on Netflix and Amazon.)
The last time we saw Worf’s son Alexander, he was—um… Hold on a sec, (Consults the Internet.) It’s the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Firstborn,” which had an Alexander from the future travel to the present in order to force his younger self into following the path of the warrior, because in the future, Worf would be murdered, and Alexander would blame himself. Really? And I reviewed it, even. I guess I sort of remember it. What a silly plot. But then, it’s not like the writers of TNG ever really got a handle on the character, or even that there was much of a character to get a handle on. Giving ensemble members children is a risky scenario at best, given that parenting is a restrictive lifestyle; you can’t have someone throwing themselves into adventure when they have a mouth to feed back home. But it’s possible to manage it, and one of DS9’s best relationships is the father and son bond between Sisko and Jake. Worf and Alexander were never that lucky. After TNG ended, it seemed safe to assume that Alexander was gone for good, shuffled off to grow up with his grandparents. There didn’t seem to be any pressing need to bring him back, not even when Worf returned. Yes, in terms of “realism,” Worf was pretty fucking horrible for basically ditching his kid and never looking back, but isn’t that what we all secretly wanted anyway? Isn’t it better to downplay, and eventually write-off, a plotline that isn’t working, rather than try and keep it going for continuity’s sake?
Generally, I’d say yes, but “Sons And Daughters” does a reasonable, if imperfect, job of showing how someone like Alexander can still be a valuable presence, even if he’s not particularly interesting in his own right. While on a fictional, meta level, the character’s disappearance was a relief; I’m sure there were a few fans who noted his absence and were disappointed by it, but he was never that vital on TNG, and seeming to leave him behind completely on DS9 didn’t leave that many questions unanswered. (As some of you noted, Worf said he has “no family” after his brother gets a new life in “Sons Of Mogh,” which, if intentional and not just a writerly lapse, is awful cold, even for Worf.) But on a story level, where we pretend these are all real people—which is totally cool—that is some fucked up shit, right? After an awkward year or two together aboard the Enterprise, Worf sends his son off to leave with his adoptive parents, and then never mentions the kid again. In theory, he could’ve been talking with Alexander regularly, even making trips home, without us knowing about it, but that’s not the impression you get from “Sons And Daughters,” and that doesn’t reflect well on Worf at all.
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That’s something the episode does its best to deal with, and while it’s probably impossible to make a unintentional multi-year absence into a strength, writers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle do their best. The crux of the hour’s main plot is that since we last saw him, Alexander and his father have grown even further apart, and he’s decided, out of self-loathing and a deeply buried need to prove himself worthy and earn Worf’s respect, to enlist in the Klingon army. He shows up on Martok’s ship one day as one of the replacements sent to fill in for the general’s fallen crew-members, and wastes very little time in proving to everyone that he’s not very good at his job. That’s the most surprisingly aspect of the episode: despite his determination to prove his father wrong, Alexander keeps making mistakes, and not just the obvious ones. The other crewmembers pick on him (in fine Klingon tradition), and when he gets into a fight with the most obvious bully, only Worf’s last minute intervention stops him from getting some knife wounds. (Martok later assures Worf the wounds wouldn’t’ve been fatal, but still.) Even worse, Alexander is a failure on the job, failing to wipe a simulation program out of the system and throwing the entire ship into an unnecessary red alert.
He’s a joke, really, which goes over with Worf about as well as you’d expect. Marc Worden’s performance is sullen, awkward, and more than a little stiff, which is a good fit for the character; you get a clear sense of his resentment and self-loathing, as well as his undeniable connection to Worf. (Both men seem like they’d be no damn fun at parties.) It’s fascinating to watch just how utterly unsuited he is to the role he’s chosen, and between this episode and the his final appearance on TNG, the franchise seems at once trying to establish how inept Alexander is as a traditional Klingon, while still forcing him to take up that mantle. The arc of his plot in “Sons And Daughters” is, in a general way, a positive one. He’s a putz, and he shames himself repeatedly, but Worf finally remembers his duty as a father; and we all know how much Worf loves duty. The episode ends with Alexander being brought into Martok’s family, and Worf’s promise that he’ll give Alexander the instruction he needs to become a true warrior.
This is presented as a happy conclusion, and in many ways, it is. The two have found a way to repair the bonds between them, and hopefully, with Worf’s help, Alexander won’t be locking himself into anymore vents. Yet the assumption than any Klingon can be a good-to-great warrior, and that being a warrior is the only value a Klingon should aspire to, is disappointingly simplistic, especially for a show that thrives on outcasts. Yes, there’s that whole plot from TNG about Worf getting murdered and Alexander needing to be a warrior to stop it, but that’s one of those crazy, final season style twists that’s best left forgotten. One of the few ways Alexander was legitimately interesting was his rejection of many of the values Worf held dear. This came partly from his mother (and Worf’s brusque summary of their relationship to Martok is pretty harsh), and partly from his time on the Enterprise, and it also forced Worf into yet another painful crisis; with all his conviction and beliefs about the Klingon ideal, the child he’d tried to raise was choosing a different path. Here, whatever personality Alexander might once have had is gone, subsumed in paternal resentment, and when that resentment is gone, there’s nothing much left. It’s good to see him happy at the end, because the ending does feel earned (Worf’s warm response after Alexander locks himself behind an emergency door is the most I’ve liked Worf in ages), but it comes at the sacrifice of character. Not a well-drawn character, or a particularly likable one, but still.
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Events back on the station are more unambiguously satisfying, even if they do require enduring more of Dukat’s deeply creepy sexual advances on Kira. The Gul brings his daughter, Ziyal, back to the station, and Kira’s happy to see her—until Ziyal invites Kira over to dinner with her and her father. The crux of the subplot is that Ziyal wants everyone along, and that includes forcing Dukat (who’s into it) and Kira (who isn’t) to spend time together. It’s a fine, noble motivation put to an ignoble cause. Because she’s young, and because she loves her father, Ziyal doesn’t understand both the nature of Dukats disturbing attachment the major, and Kira’s fundamental distrust and contempt for Dukat. To her, because she cares for them both, they should both care for each other. (And given that Ziyal’s mother was Bajoran, she might not even be that bothered at the idea of a Dukat/Kira pairing oh it is just gross even to type that.) But regardless of the nobility of her intentions, she’s in the wrong, and it takes Kira, who clearly cares a great deal about Ziyal, to finally draw the line.
Once again, the writers are exploring the potential seductiveness of evil. As with the first two episodes of the season, which had Kira struggling to raise an objection to an invasion cloaked by courtesy, she’s once again put in a position where she has to make noise, where she has to be the “rude” one to protect herself and her sanity. Dukat is, like most great villains, a complicated creature. There’s no question that his love of his daughter is sincere; the fact that he and Kira share this fondness makes it that much harder for her to be openly defiant. Evil that is openly combative, that carries a gun (or a phaser) and tries to push its needs on you with brute force, inspires a simple response: fight or flight. But smiles and warm chuckles and pleasantries put you in a position of doubt. It’s a position many women have been in before, I think—go along with it, and make things easier for everyone. Don’t be the one who ruins it all. Don’t shout, don’t curse, don’t make a scene. Don’t struggle. Just accept that he knows what’s best, and everything will be fine.
It’s horrifying, and it’s impressive that the franchise, which has often had difficulties accurately representing such dynamics in the past, handles this one with such direct honesty. Dukat sends Kira a dress, which is an intimate gift, as well as an attempt to exert a level control over her body, and she realizes she’s gone as far as she’s willing to go. Ziyal confronts her in a hallway, and Kira is open about the situation; and when Ziyal begs Kira not to ask her to choose between Dukat and the major, Kira says, “I’m not. He’s your father.” While it’s sad that this will most likely hinder, or even end, their friendship, it’s the only response she could’ve given. Trying to convince Ziyal that Dukat was a monster, or trying to justify her decision based on their past, would’ve done no good, and it also would’ve put her back in the position of having to defend her right to define her feelings. Sometimes nuance is important. And sometimes, it’s just a way to let someone else tell you what they want to hear.
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Stray observations:
The episode starts with Worf and Dax making out, and it looks like Michael Dorn is trying to devour Terry Farrell’s soul.
“I tell you, Worf, war is much more fun when you’re winning!” -General Martok
When Kira rejects the dress Dukat sends her, Dukat regifts it to his daughter. That is some uncomfortable subtext right there. (In that Dukat seems to view the women in his life as possessions, regardless of the specific nature of their relationship.)
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“Behind The Lines” (season 6, episode 4; originally aired 10/20/1997)
In which Odo crosses one…
(Available on Netflix and Amazon.)
Why does Odo stay on Deep Space Nine? I suppose the question is moot for the moment; with the wormhole mined, there’s no place left for him to go. But assume the mines aren’t there. They weren’t there for most of last season, and they won’t be there again soon, I’m guessing. What keeps him from rejoining his people in the Great Link? He loves Kira. That’s not a bad place to start; he loves Kira, and even if she doesn’t return his feelings, that doesn’t change how much she, and their friendship, means to them. But it would have to be more than that, wouldn’t it? This isn’t just not wanting to move back home |
) - The United States said on Tuesday it was deploying a new force of special operations troops to Iraq to conduct raids against Islamic State there and in neighboring Syria, a ratcheting up of Washington's campaign against the group that was quickly rejected by Iraq's government.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the deployment of such a force was not acceptable without Iraq's approval, raising questions over how closely Washington coordinated the plan with Baghdad. Powerful Shi'ite Muslim armed groups pledged to fight any new deployment of U.S. forces to the country.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the deployment of the new "specialized expeditionary targeting force" was being carried out in coordination with Iraq's government and would aid Iraqi government security forces and Kurdish peshmerga forces.
"These special operators will over time be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence and capture ISIL leaders," Carter told the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, using an acronym for Islamic State.
"This force will also be in a position to conduct unilateral operations into Syria."
© REUTERS/Mushtaq Muhammed A Shi'ite fighter walks with his weapon in Baiji, north of Baghdad, July 2, 2015. While the force is expected to number only about 200, its creation marks the latest stepping up of U.S. military pressure on Islamic State while also exposing American forces to greater risk, something President Barack Obama has done only sparingly.
The force is separate from a previously announced deployment of up to 50 U.S. special operations troops in Syria to coordinate on the ground with U.S.-backed rebels fighting in a civil war raging since 2011.
"The Iraqi government stresses that any military operation or the deployment of any foreign forces - special or not - in any place in Iraq cannot happen without its approval and coordination and full respect of Iraqi sovereignty," Abadi said in a statement.
Carter offered few details on the new group, whose mission promises a more regular operational role for U.S. special forces than seen since the return of American troops to Iraq last year following their withdrawal in 2011 after nearly nine years of war.
During the congressional testimony in which he disclosed the creation of the force, Carter declined to say how many U.S. troops would be deployed. One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the force may number around 200 troops including support personnel, with only several dozen likely to conduct operations.
'A PRIMARY TARGET'
Jafaar Hussaini, a spokesman for Kata'ib Hezbollah, one of the main Shi'ite militant groups, said that any such U.S. force would become a "primary target for our group."
"We fought them before and we are ready to resume fighting," he said.
Obama in August 2014 authorized the first U.S. air strikes in Iraq since the 2011 U.S. troop withdrawal and has deployed more than 3,000 American military forces to train and advise Iraqi and Kurdish forces to fight Islamic State.
Obama is under pressure to accelerate a U.S.-led coalition's efforts to combat Islamic State, in particular after the Nov. 13 Paris attacks that killed 130 people. He has been reluctant to commit large numbers of U.S. ground troops, instead deploying limited numbers of advisers and elite forces.
His critics, including Republicans in Congress, accuse Obama of moving too slowly against Islamic State, which controls large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria and claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks.
Republican U.S. Senator John McCain said on Tuesday the new force represented more "incrementalism" in the Obama administration's approach toward Islamic State.
"It also indicates we don't have a strategy," McCain told MSNBC, accusing Obama of simply reacting to the Paris attacks.
Referring to Islamic State attacks outside Syria and Iraq, McCain said: "They are metastasizing, and time is not on our side."
The top U.S. military officer, Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, said the new force would greatly accelerate the collection of intelligence, which "will make our operations much more effective."
"We're fighting a campaign across Iraq and Syria so we're going to go where the enemy is, and we're going to conduct operations where they most effectively degrade the capabilities of the enemy," Dunford testified.
Carter said all coalition members must do more and singled out Turkey, saying it should become more active in the air war against Islamic State, secure its border and go after the militant group's facilitators who "intrude" into the country.After a tragic few years, Decapitated are finally taking steps to reclaim their crown as one of the best death metal bands around. If you weren’t aware, they were involved in a truly horrible bus crash in 2007 which resulted in the hospitalisation of former singer Covan and the unfortunate death of drummer Vitek, who was an amazing talent taken way before his time. With guitarist Vogg being the only remaining member from before the incident, it’s easy to see why people would be worried about the Decapitated legacy, but I’m familiar with Vogg’s Midas touch, so I’m sure it will be another welcome addition.
According to an update on the bands facebook page, the new album is complete and while I can’t find any release information, I assume it will easily be out in the next few months. In the meantime, you can help me! Check out this video and tell me what you think, it claims to be a video of a new Decapitated song live and it does look like them but it doesn’t quite sound like them to me.
Nearly 90% sure that’s the right logo but as there’s no reference to this anywhere else, you can see why I’m skeptical.
-DL
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RedditMarket up due to Obama's lack of influence 11:57 AM ET Mon, 11 Nov 2013
Democrats counting on President Barack Obama simply to pass the torch to Hillary Clinton in 2016 may be in for a letdown, if one Washington political expert's analysis is correct.
With the commander-in-chief's approval rating below 40 percent, voters may not be so quick to embrace the former first lady and secretary of state, considered in many circles to be the presumptive Democratic nominee in the next presidential election.
That's according to Greg Valliere, chief political strategist at Potomac Research and a respected voice in analyzing what happens at the intersection of Wall Street and Washington.
He sees Democrats viewing Clinton as not only the likely nominee when Obama's term expires but also his anointed successor, an impression he believes is mistaken.The Tea Party's most recent antics, which have forced the Speaker of the House to retire and prevented a new one from being chosen, demonstrate once again that its members don't know much about American democracy, just as the name they chose for themselves demonstrates that the don't know much about American history.
Apparently, they thought that they Boston Tea Party was some sort of protest against what they really hate, which is government regulation. The original Tea Partiers' disparaging depiction of Native Americans, which would be completely unacceptable at present, apparently didn't deter them from making use of this event, but the fact of the matter is that they didn't understand it. The tea that was destroyed in Boston Harbor belonged to a private firm, the East India Company. That company had been authorized by the British government to sell tea to the American colonies at a cheaper price than its American competitors; in other words, it got the sort of privilege that people like the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson are hoping to get from a Republican president.
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What the original Tea Partiers wanted was a return to the system of government regulation that had prevailed before the privilege was granted. Of course, the people behind the Tea Party didn't like paying the taxes that were part of that regulatory system (mainly because the colonies had no representation in Parliament). But what really got them angry was Parliament's displacement of government regulation by special privileges granted to a private company.
The current Tea Party's more serious misunderstanding involves the nature of democratic government, specifically the idea of a loyal opposition. When historians and political scientists began investigating the Nazi regime after its defeat, they were surprised to discover that it had been much less efficient in mobilizing for war than its democratic opponents. They expected that such an aggressive, totalitarian regime, although monstrously unjust, would also be ruthlessly efficient. What they realized, however, is that dictatorships, in any form, don't work very well because the leader's subordinates can never be sure where they stand, who will be the next leader, and what will happen if they lose a battle for succession. The result is that they withdraw their resources from the general government and try to build up separate, independent power bases that they can use to seize power or protect themselves if they should fail.
One of the reasons democracy works well because it avoids this problem. Politicians compete by trying to prove that they are better leaders, that they can do a better job for their constituents. They may have different views about what this means, but they are all trying to contribute to the government's success. And they have no reason to build independent power bases because they have nothing to fear if they lose out in this competition. Not only won't they be punished, but they often return to their companies, law firms or universities in more prestigious and remunerative positions. The result is that politicians who oppose the party in power constitute a loyal opposition, and that's a major reason for democracy's success.
The Tea Party doesn't understand this. Instead of showing that they have a better way to govern, they are trying to stop the existing government from functioning. They want it to fail. They hated the effort to rescue the American economy after the 2008 recession and only intensified their dislike when that effort succeeded. They oppose any regulatory program to combat global warming, but rather than favoring market-based alternatives or technological remedies, they simply refuse to deal with the issue by declaring it a hoax. They don't like the regulatory aspects of Obamacare, but they have no alternative to offer. When they couldn't overturn the program by constitutional means, their solution was to try to block passage of the entire federal budget, which not only would have created administrative chaos in the country, but wrecked our national credit and our public finance system.
Now they have demonstrated that they even don't want their own political party to govern. They don't want the Republicans to be in a position where they can advance constructive alternatives to Democratic policies. They don't want it to be able to propose legislation that will carry out its program. If the Republicans won't commit themselves to the Tea Party program, which is to stop American government from functioning, then the Tea Party will try to stop the Republican Party from functioning. In other words, they are a disloyal opposition. They don't understand what American democracy is all about and what has made it work so well. That's the real reason why the name the chose for themselves is the wrong one. The original Tea Partiers were American patriots; the current Tea Party is the opposite.CTVNews.ca Staff
The world is drowning in plastic water bottles, but a biodegradable, edible water “blob” that’s making big waves in the start-up scene could offer a solution.
Invented by three British industrial design students, the Ooho! water container uses brown algae to create an squishy but strong gel-like container.
The inventors say their blobs are a “sustainable packaging alternative” that can hold any kind of beverage, from water to liquor. The bubbles can be torn open and poured out, or simply eaten whole, they say, and they can be produced cheaper and faster than plastic bottles, the creators say.
After winning several design awards, the Ooho! inventors launched a company, Skipping Rocks Lab, and have been selling the blobs at pop-up shops around the U.K., and offering them as samples at marathons and music festivals.
Earlier this week, they began raising funds to expand operations through the crowdfunding website, Crowdcube.
Within hours, the investment offers began pouring in and now, Skipping Rocks has managed to raise close to 800,000 British pounds in just three days (C$1.3 million)– double their target of 400,000 British pounds (C$660,000).
The company says on their crowdfunding page that they plan to use half the money to develop Skipping Rocks Lab machinery, and the other half to further research the material and “to facilitate a faster path to commerciality.”Google Investing $94 Million More in Solar Power
December 20th, 2011 by Zachary Shahan
Google has been a clean energy leader for a long time (see my post on 7 of Google’s top clean energy investments from earlier this year for more on that). While it dropped a major solar R&D initiative recently, it seemed it did so in order to put more of its resources into clean energy deployment projects. That theory is holding true with an announcement today that it has invested $94 million into four solar photovoltaic (PV) projects currently being built close to Sacramento, California by Recurrent Energy.
Google’s Total Clean Energy Investments
In total, Google announced that its portfolio of clean energy investments has now reached $915 million. “We’ve already committed to providing funding this year to help more than 10,000 homeowners install solar PV panels on their rooftops,” Google noted. “But this investment represents our first investment in the U.S. in larger scale solar PV power plants that generate energy for the grid—instead of on individual rooftops.”
In total, Google’s new investments have a total installed power capacity of 88 megawatts (MW), “equivalent to the electricity consumed by more than 13,000 homes.”
Google really got into clean energy projects this year, investing $880 million into them since January. Aside from solar, it is a clear wind energy leader and has invested a ton of money into an offshore transmission project, or superhighway, for offshore wind (see the post linked at the top for more on that).
Google Investing in Solar Because It’s a Good Investment
Other than Google, Recurrent Energy and KKR are investing in these projects.
As we’ve noted soooo many times here on CleanTechnica, investment in solar isn’t just an environmentally friendly gesture any more — it’s a clear economic and financial winner.
“We believe investing in the renewable energy sector makes business sense and hope clean energy projects continue to attract new sources of capital to help the world move towards a more sustainable energy future,” Axel Martinez, Assistant Treasurer of Google Treasury, noted in the announcement.
Guess What Sacramento Municipal Utility District Has?
The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is where the projects are being built. Any guess what it has going for it?
If you guessed “a feed-in tariff,” you got it!
“SMUD recently created a feed-in tariff program (FIT) to help green the grid for Sacramento-area residents. We’re excited that these projects are the first to be built under the program,” Martinez made sure to mention, hopefully stimulating more such programs across the country.
I’m 100% sure Google isn’t done investing in clean energy, and I’m actually curious to see if its 2012 investments end up trumping its 2011 investments. Kudos to Google! And keep the news coming.
Google Going Solar photo via H2SO4I just got back home from my first trip to the post office to ship out the Bardus preorders. Thank you to the 7 people who preordered, your initial purchases completely covered what I paid for the new Wolf Beach logo. I hope you guys enjoy the tapes and please email me any grievances you have to help me learn how this label game works.
To celebrate the first week that Wolf Beach Tapes is actually an up and running label, I am going to mark down the Bardus tapes to 3 dollars. This will help to fund the Mover//Shaker tapes, which I will begin dubbing as soon as the tapes arrive at my door this week, and a third release which will be announced this Friday.
It’s been a really fun (sometimes stressful) first month of running Wolf Beach Tapes but it’s only made me hungrier to find more music to put out.1.1 stable release
Date: 2014-05-14
We are pleased to announce the 1.1 stable release of the CMF. This follows a series of RCs released over the past weeks that helped us iron out details. It also gave us time to work on the documentation and so from now on you can find the documentation for the 1.1 release on symfony.com.
You can find details about the changes and improvements in the announcement news for the first RC. In short we have done a lot of work in simplifying the use of the CMF especially in terms of configuration and debugging. We have also improved performance in a few places and added various useful features. We also have a new Bundle for SEO optimizations.
Looking ahead the main areas to work on are further speed up performance (especially with the menu system) and improvements to the media managament. We also plan to finish the RoutingAutoBundle to make it easier to generate routes automatically for content. We also did initial work on integrating the CMF with the prismic.io content repository as a service provider which we hope to mature over the coming months to a viable alternative to our other storage options.
While the bulk of the work is done by a few regular contributors, we would like to thank everyone who has submitted improvements small or large. The fact that so many developers work on the CMF on some level validates the goals of the CMF, bringing together the entire Symfony eco-system to collaborate on CMS functionality. This is probably best highlighted by the fact of how many projects reference the CMF routing component and accompanying RoutingBundle. Again thank you all for your investment into a stronger community.Weeks after a Haryana BJP leader encouraged violence against Padmavati director-star duo Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Deepika Padukone, an ABVP member has offered a bounty of Rs 1 lakh against the director of a controversial film, Game of Ayodhya.
The Times of India reports that Aligarh-based ABVP activist, Amit Goswami offered a Rs 1 lakh bounty to anyone who could chop off the arms of the movie’s director, Sunil Singh.
Game of Ayodhya was cleared for a December 8 release by the Film Certificate Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) after being refused certification by the Central Board of Film Certification. The movie traces a Hindu-Muslim romance set against the backdrop of the Babri Masjid demolition.
Talking to TOI, the ABVP activist claimed that the film wrongly shows that a statue of Lord Rama was ‘deceitfully’ installed at the mosque by Hindus. He said, “if this movie is released in the cinema halls then the administration and government will be responsible for any untoward incident that happens”. He offered the bounty because he says that the constitution does not allow anyone to hurt the sentiments of any religion.
“I will kill him (director Singh) if I see him anywhere. He is trying to hurt our sentiments through the movie,” said Goswami.
Follow @htshowbiz for more
First Published: Nov 30, 2017 11:01 ISTRaising chicks is relatively simple and simply requires you to provide three key things for your chicks.
1. Warm clean housing
2. Plenty of food and water
3. Lots of love and attention.
About 24 hours after your chicks hatch or when they first arrive the first place they will call home is the brooder. The brooder is basically the equivalent of the nest in the case where the chicks are being cared for by a hen. It can be as simple as a box, enclosure or even a cat carry box.
The brooder should be lined with soft materials such as towels or blankets for the first few weeks (be careful of loose threads that small feet can get tangled in) and then changed for straw or pine shavings. Do not use slippery surfaces such as newspaper to line the brooder as it can result in the chicks having malformed legs.
It is very important to keep the chicks warm as they will require temperatures between 95 and 100 deg F. This can be achieved by using a heat lamp or a purpose designed radiant brooder (our recommendation).
Heat lamps are a low cost option but they do come with some safety risks of burns and also risk of fire if located inappropriately hence why our recommendation is to use a radiant panel style of brooder similar to the Brinsea Ecoglow brooder panel shown in the photo above. The heat source should be located down one end of the brooder to allow the chicks to move about and experience a range of temperatures.
Now that we have housing and warmth sorted we need to think about food and water.
You will need a good quality chick starter crumble (see our post on what to feed your chicken for more details) and something to feed them in such as a chick feeder or just a simple bowl that the chicks cannot tip over. Same for water.
At around 6 weeks of age they can move onto a pullet ration that has a slightly lower protein content until they are around 22 weeks of age or until they begin laying eggs.
With housing, warmth, food and water under control we need to think about some other practical issues.
At about 4 weeks of age you can introduce a low perch so the chicks can start to practice roosting.
Some chicks will also start to want to practice having dirt baths (a critical skill for managing parasites) so if you have space introduce a tray of dirt or sand and watch the chicks having fun.
Cleanliness is important to keep you chicks healthy so make sure you do regular housekeeping. Change their bedding regularly (at least daily) and make sure they always have clean food and water.
Last but not least, enjoy the experience and delight in watching your chicks grow. They grow very fast so enjoy it while it lasts because in no time you will be feeling that empty nest syndrome – but hey, to overcome the grief of your chicks growing up at least you have fresh eggs to look forward to (around week 22 for most breeds).By Staff
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office has arrested and charged Pazuzu Illah Algarad and his wife Amber Burch with murder in connection with the deaths of two currently unidentified individuals.
Before these charges, the 35 year old Algarad had been arrested for assault on a female and grand larceny. He was given suspended sentences in both crimes. In 2010, he was arrested and charged with accessory after the fact in the involuntary manslaughter death of Emmrick Chandler of Clemmons, who was found dead on June 7, 2010, at the Yadkin River access off N.C. 67. In that matter, Nicholas Pasquale Rizzi of Lewisville was charged with involuntary manslaughter.
On Sunday, the FCSO, assisted by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the North Carolina State University Forensic Anthropology Unit. and the Medical Examiner’s Office from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, executed a search warrant at 2749 Knob Hill Drive, in Clemmons. During the search of the property, the skeletal remains of two individuals were located buried in shallow graves in the backyard of the property. The remains of both individuals have been transported to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center for further examination and identification.
As a result of the investigation, the FCSO charged Pazuzu with one count of Murder and one count of Accessory After the Fact to Murder. He is presently confined to the Forsyth County Detention Center with No Bond Allowed. His wife has been charged with one count of Murder and one count of Accessory After the Fact to Murder. She is presently confined to the Forsyth County Detention Center with No Bond Allowed.
Pazuzu, which is the name of an Assyrian and Babylonian demon, is his legal name. According to one source, Pazuzu claims his mother was a “Satanist” and gave him this name. Pazuzu is the name of the main demon in the books and film “The Exorcist”, who is the king of the demons of the wind.
The same source states Pazuzu is of Greek and Iraqi heritage, but the state of North Carolina list him as “Nordic/Scandinavian” on his arrest records.
On Facebook, Pazuzu has a cover photo with the word “antichrist” in large letters with bloody, upside down crosses, and a demon as his profile photo.
Amber, who is 24 years old, is originally from Rock Hill, South Carolina. She and Pazuzu have been married for almost 5 years. According to information obtained by CCD, she went back home to South Carolina in 2013 with the intention of leaving Pazuzu, but returned to him following a brief separation. She, too, has a previous record with two Mecklenburg County charges for Driving While Impaired and driving after consuming in 2009.
CCD found one description of the home authorities now say is a crime scene. The description was posted online in March of 2013 and read:
“His house is disgusting, his dogs piss all over the floor, drunk people piss on the floor, they poor beer all over the place and don’t clean it up…it’s crazy, as soon as you walk in it smells like rank old dog piss, body odor, and feet. It looks so normal from the outside…except for the front door. Even from a distance, especially from the road, the jet-black-painted door seems like nothing but a void or a black hole. It doesn’t even look like there’s a door there, just a menacing hole left there to suck passersby in. Once you walk in, you immediately sense a very different kind of energy; it’s certainly dark, but not necessarily evil (IMO). Simply a very free, chaotic kind of liberating vibe–the kind of chaotic freedom that people not entirely in control can get carried away with, if anyone can possibly understand my meaning.”
You can read CCD’s follow up HERE.
Authorities have identified the skeletal remains. You can read about that HERE.
You can meet one of Lawson’s alleged victims HERE.New York Review of Books Classics has re-printed Simon Leys’ The Hall of Uselessness: Selected Essays. This makes him the first Sinologist to crack the NYRB Classics list as one of the masters of world literature, this despite the fact that the original book of these essays only came out in 2011. Leys write about all sorts of things, from Orwell to Cervantes to Zhou Enlai, but his chief claim to fame, at least for me, was his caustic criticism of westerners who had been taken in by the Maoist myth.
Why read this book? Well, he writes well, both in the sense of being able to describe things and in the sense of knowing exactly when to stick the knife in. From the piece on Zhou En-lai
Alone among the Maoist leaders, Zhou Enlai had cosmopolitan sophistication, charm, wit and style. He certainly was one of the greatest and most successful comedians of our century. He had a talent for telling blatant lies with angelic suavity….Everyone loved him. He repeatedly and literally got away with murder. No wonder politicians from all over the world unanimously worshipped him…..no interlocutors ever appeared to small, too dim or too irrelevant not to warrant a special effort on his part to charm them, to wow, them..He was..the ultimate Zelig of politics, showing tolerance, urbanity and a spirit of compromise to urbane Western liberals, eating fire and spitting hatred to suit the taste of embittered Third World leaders; displaying culture and refinement with artists; being pragmatic with pragmatists, philosophical with philosophers, and Kissingerian with Kissinger.
Most China scholars don’t write like that, but Leyes is not a China scholar, he is a Sinologist, and while he is certainly a scholar he is rightly sceptical about the modern academic world. You can see this pretty clearly the essay on Said’s Orientalism. In this essay Leys was trying to figure out if Said’s work had any relevance for China folk. This is a topic that has been hashed out a bit. Said did not make it clear what the “east” was for him, and while ome East Asia folk use and talk about the idea others don’t. What is Leys’ take?
Edward Said’s main contention is that “no production of knowledge in the human sciences can ever ignore or disclaim the author’s involvement as a human subject in his own circumstances.” Translated into plain English, this would seem to mean simply that no scholar can escape his original condition: his own national, cultural, political and social prejudices are bound to be reflected in his work. Such a common-sense statement hardly warrants debate. Actually Said’s own book is an excellent case it point: Orientalism could obviously have been written by no one but a Palestinian scholar with a huge chip on his shoulder and a very dim understanding of the European academic tradition (here perceived through the distorted prism of a certain type of American university, with its brutish hyper-specialization, non-humanistic approach, and close, unhealthy links with government.)
In general East Asia folk seems to be less afraid of getting the Orientalist cooties than Middle East people, and and Leys helps explain why. Part of Orientalism is worrying that you are essentializing the “timeless East” and while Leys has no patience with anyone foolish enough to lump everything from Syria to Shandong into an “East” he points out that ”Western sinology in its entirety is a mere footnote appended to the huge sinological corpus that Chinese intellectuals have been building for centuries to this day.” Although Leys does not point it out, if you want essentialization of Chinese culture 漢學 is a good place to look, and if you want to understand China Chinese scholars are the first people you should talk to.
For Leys the study of China is not part of euro-american empire or ‘othering’, but part of humanistic education. “Chinese should be taught in Western countries as a fundamental discipline of the humanities at the secondary-school level, in conjunction with, or as an alternative to, Latin and Greek.” Actually, if we wanted to put good old fashioned Classical Studies back in American High Schools I would guess making them Chinese classical studies would be the way to do it. More likely to be useful in Shenzhen.
While I like reading Leys his flavor of Sinology sometimes leaves me cold. In his essay on Confucius he claims that the Analects was written withing 75 years of Confucius’s death and shows a single voice. He compares those who claim that the text was compiled over a much longer period to those scholars who question the Gospels, and here he enlists the novelist Julien Gracq.
Gracq first acknowledged the impressive learning of one of these scholars as well as a devastating logic of his reasoning; but he confessed that, in the end, he still found himself left with one fundamental objection: for all his formidable erudition, the scholar in question simply had no ear-he could not hear what should be so obvious to any sensitive reader-that, underlying the text of the Gospels, there is a masterly and powerful unity of style which derives from one unique and inimitable voice.
I think he is wrong there, both about Jesus and about Confucius, but far worse is the footnote to his claim that in the Analects “there are very few stylistic anachronisms: the language and syntax of most of the fragments is coherent and pertains to the same period.” The note reads “On these problems of chronology and textual analysis, see E. Bruce Brooks, The Original Analects (Columbia University Press, 1998)” This is a pretty serious failure of scholarly courtesy, first in erasing Brooks’ co-author, but more importantly enlisting him in support of the claim that Analects is a coherent text. What’s the point in reading books and citing them if you are just going to make up things about what is in them? I would like to think it is possible to be both a scholar and a sensitive reader, but Leys is not helping me here.
This goes farther than just sloppy scholarship. Leys wants to uncover the real Confucius under the distortions of “Imperial Confucianism [which] only extolled those statements from the Master that prescribed submission to the established authorities.” This seems wrong to me and more importantly leaves you uninterested in the period from the Han to the present when the ru were always intertwined with the state. Leys’ condemnations of the dupes of Maoism are always fun to read, and lord knows he was fighting the good fight when he took them on. While he has some real insights on the period, he is not a very good guide to the Mao era, which for him was grotesque and alien. Grotesque certainly; In “The China Experts” he skewers Edward Friedman, Han Suyin and Ross Terrill.
Perhaps we should not be too harsh on the these experts; the fraternity recently suffered a traumatic experience and is still in a state of shock. Should fish suddenly start to talk, I suppose that ichthyology would also have to undergo a dramatic revision of its basic approach. A certain type of “instant sinology” was indeed based on the assumption that the Chinese people were as different from us in their fundimental aspirations, and as unable to communicate with us, as the inhabitants of the oceanic depths; and when they eventually rose to the surface and began to cry out sufficiently loudly for their message to get through to the general public there was much consternation among the China pundits.
Leys gives us lots of examples of China pundits (mostly Terrill) swallowing the most absurd nonsense about how the Chinese loved Chairman Mao. The problem of course, is that the Chinese did love Chairman Mao. You can’t start a Cultural Revolution memoir without explaining your youthful loyalty to the red, red sun of Chairman Mao, and you can’t treat Mao period as something alien to China. How can you write about people becoming disillusioned unless you can explain how they became believers in the first place? Leys’ China is as much a place to find Simon Leys as a place to find Chinese people, (just like Europeans used to do with Greece and Rome) and while I like reading him on Said or Terrill, I suspect he would not be as helpful for reading Mark Edward Lewis or Elizabeth Perry.According to a statement issued by the FBI on December 19, which was then echoed by President Obama during his year-end press conference, “the North Korean government is responsible” for hacking Sony’s servers, leaking sensitive company data online, threatening movie theaters that choose to exhibit the satire The Interview, and ultimately succeeding in getting the Kim Jong Un assassination comedy’s release pulled.
The FBI presented the following as evidence:
“Technical analysis of the data deletion malware used in this attack revealed links to other malware that the FBI knows North Korean actors previously developed. For example, there were similarities in specific lines of code, encryption algorithms, data deletion methods, and compromised networks.
The FBI also observed significant overlap between the infrastructure used in this attack and other malicious cyber activity the U.S. government has previously linked directly to North Korea. For example, the FBI discovered that several Internet protocol (IP) addresses associated with known North Korean infrastructure communicated with IP addresses that were hardcoded into the data deletion malware used in this attack.
Separately, the tools used in the SPE attack have similarities to a cyber attack in March of last year against South Korean banks and media outlets, which was carried out by North Korea.”
Meanwhile, North Korea has maintained their stance that they weren’t involved in the crippling cyber-attack, and have proposed a joint investigation with the U.S. authorities in finding the culprits, warning of “grave consequences” if America continues to blame the Hermit Kingdom for the hacking.
On Saturday afternoon, Guardians of Peace, the hacking group that’s so far claimed responsibility for wreaking havoc on Sony, posted a message online mocking the FBI’s investigation.
It is as follows:
“By GOP
The result of investigation by FBI is so excellent that you might have seen what we were doing with your own eyes.
We congratulate you success.
FBI is the BEST in the world.
You will find the gift for FBI at the following address.”
Then, they included a link to the following video titled “you are an idiot!”—essentially Rickrolling the FBI. The video opens with some words in Japanese, before cutting to a series of gyrating animated bodies shrieking, "You are an idiot!"
While the FBI, President Obama, and George Clooney seem thoroughly convinced that the Guardians of Peace are the work of Pyongyang—the name “Guardians of Peace” comes from a quote used by former President Richard Nixon describing South Korea—many hackers online have questioned the allocation of blame from Day One, including former Lulzsec hacker turned government information Sabu, who maintains they “don’t have the technical capabilities,” and Anonymous, who wrote, “we all know the hacks didn't come from North Korea,” and threatened to launch further hacks against Sony if they don't release the film online. Some of the world’s leading cybersecurity experts have also questioned whether North Korea is responsible for hacking Sony, claiming a decided lack of evidence or that it came from a group posing as North Korea as misdirection, such as Brett Thomas, chief technology officer of Redwood City, California-based online services company Vindicia:
President Obama, meanwhile, seems quite adamant in believing the narrative that North Korea and its leader, Kim Jong Un, were so offended by the satire The Interview, a Seth Rogen and James Franco flick which portrays the Dear Leader being assassinated, that they launched a cyber-attack on Sony as retribution, and threatened a “proportional” response by the U.S.
“The FBI announced today and we can confirm that North Korea engaged in this attack,” President Obama announced during his year-end presser on Friday. “I think it says something interesting about North Korea that they decided to have the state mount an all-out assault on a movie studio because of a satirical movie starring Seth Rogen and James Flacco [Franco]. I love Seth and I love James, but the notion that that was a threat to them I think gives you some sense of the kind of regime we’re talking about here.”
He added, “They caused a lot of damage, and we will respond. We will respond proportionally, and we’ll respond in a place and time and manner that we choose. It’s not something that I will announce here today at a press conference.”The new year often brings great optimism about the 12 months ahead, but when it comes to money, too much optimism can cost you.
To be succesful financially, tap into the power of negative thinking. It's prudent to lower your money-related expectations or you may find yourself in a financial hole, says Mark Foster, director of education for Credit Counseling of Arkansas, a nonprofit credit counseling agency based in Fayetteville, Ark.
Here are six situations in which optimistic thinking can hurt you and why it pays to be pessimistic.
1. You believe you can pay your debts off faster than you planned. For many people, this is the year they plan to finally become debt free. There's nothing wrong with getting that credit card balance down to zero, but there |
How can you love the cloister and learning if you only know Irish‘ 4
By the early 13th century the Normans controlled most of the bishoprics on the East and South Coast where they had had taken large tracts of land. Taking control of the church in regions like Glendalough where there was limited Norman influence was not as easy. Invasion of church lands was out of the question but if Glendalough could not controlled by sword it could be by the pen or in this case the quill.
It was no great surprise then that in 1216 vast swathes of territory of the bishopric of Glendalough was annexed to the archbishopric of Dublin by the papacy a move that had been in motion since at least the 1190’s.
The merging of the two diocese not only changed the spiritual centre of the church in the region to Dublin but it also brought large sections of land in the region under Norman control. The archbishops of Dublin were all Anglo-Norman after 1181. These bishops of the enlarged archbishopric of Dublin were among the greatest feudal lords in the Ireland possessing tens of thousands of acres5 and administering their lands like any other secular feudal lord. In the aftermath Glendalough was demoted in status to an arch-deaconry and the various ecclesiastical settlements were now ruled by priors appointed in Christchurch rather than the more independent and powerful Abbots. However the area was not completely abandoned by the archbishops – there is evidence of continued building at the site after the transfer of the area under the control of the see of Dublin.
To administer his possesions the archbishop divided his lands into farms or manors* like other Norman lords. At his remote isolated possessions at Glendalough the first archbishop of the enlarged diocese, Henry of London, built a fortified settlement at Castlekevin, four miles north-west of Glendalough. It was here Norman economic and political life in the region would be located.
The rise of Norman Wicklow and Castlekevin.
The earliest construction at Castlekevin most likely took the form of a motte and bailey castle. A motte was a large conical man-made earthen mound (like the example above from St Mullins). It was topped with a fortification and defended by a wooden palisade. The structure was almost certainly made entirely of wood, as the Archbishop wouldn’t have needed to invest the significant sums that a stone fortification would cost as the east Wicklow region was relatively peaceful during the first half of the 13th century.
In this field to the east of the motte, a large bailey or defended settlement was built. Although a quiet field today, seven hundred years ago this would have been filled with streets, houses, presumably a church and a mill in what would have been a bustling settlement. This would also have been defended by wooden palisade. It was from this settlement at Castlekevin that the archbishop’s officials administered his lands in the region which stretched south into the valleys of Glenmalure, west into Glendalough and east towards the coast.
Visit this amazing landscape on the upcoming tour
In the years after its construction Castlekevin became the key focus of life in the locality – in 1225 the archbishop secured rights to hold a weekly fair Castlekevin each Thursday6 shifting economic and administrative life the region away from Glendalough to Castlekevin.
As the Norman presence in the region increased, evidenced by the presence of settlers like ‘David the Clerk’ who rented lands in the neighbouring town land of Lickeen, they began to transform the landscape. In the 1220’s the substantial forests that covered neighbouring districts of Saufkevin, Fertir, and Coillac were cut down and the timber was sold. The newly created farmland which was granted to the church in 1229 further increasing the episcopal possessions in the vicinity.
Nevertheless the arrival of Anglo-Normans in the area did not mean an end to the Gaelic Irish presence. The Archbishop’s manors like many Norman manors across medieval Ireland were multi-ethnic communities with Gaelic Irish tenants living alongside Norman settlers. After the conquest large numbers of Gaelic Irish peasants remained on the newly conquered lands often as betaghs – unfree serfs while some were free tenants. Indeed at the relatively isolated Castlekevin there appears to have been large numbers of Gaelic Irish tenants – it may have hard to attract Normans into what was a comparatively inhospitable environment. In the mid-thirteenth century nine of twenty seven jurors listed at Castlekevin were Gaelic Irish while a certain Elias O Toole was named as a sergeant7 Indeed in some areas entire Gaelic families held vast tracts of territory. Under the reign of Archbishop Fulk de Sanford (1256-71) the grant of Glenmalure to the O Tooles as tenants was reaffirmed8.
Early life at Castlekevin and the surrounding mountain valleys seems to have been relatively peaceful. While there had been tensions in the early 13th century; on Easter Monday 1209 the O Tooles massacred a large number of Dubliners at Cullenswood south of the city, this appears to have been an isolated incident. Indeed what little upheaval there was in the first half of the 13th century was mainly caused by Norman infighting9. The Gaelic Irish by and large appear not to have resisted the changes taking place around them and as the evidence from Castlekevin suggests a certain amount embraced Norman society and its institutions.
[googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=215892765875907379884.0004ccdd0f3700f7a03e8&ie=UTF8&ll=52.829081,-6.27182&spn=0.477092,0.460052&t=h&output=embed&w=425&h=350]
However this relative peace was deceptive and in 1270 the peace Castlekevin had enjoyed was shattered unleashing what would be decades of violent struggle between the Gaelic Irish and the Normans, fuelled by famine and underlying resentments among the Gaelic Irish. This would transform the once peaceful settlement into the war torn outpost under constant threat of attack.
The revolt of the 1270s.
It appears the spark that pushed the Gaelic Irish into revolt was a heavy snow fall in January of 127010. This seems to have been followed by a poor harvest resulting in‘Great famine and scarcity in all Erinn’ later in the year11.
Even in the best of times, medieval Ireland lived on the precipice of starvation surviving from one harvest to the next. It was not an unusual occurrence for medieval villages to experience hunger in Spring as the previous harvest began to run out.
In this context years of bad weather and poor harvest could easily result in a devastating famine. For the Gaelic Irish living in the mountains and the valleys of Glendalough and Glenmalure the heavy snows and food shortage of 1270 would undoubtedly have pushed them into a crisis relatively quickly. Fertile land was sparse and even the valley floors were 140 metres above sea level. Situated to their east were the richer manors on the coastal plain and it was only a matter of time before raids on these lands began and Castlekevin was in the direct line of attack.
As early as 1270 the archbishop of Dublin Fulk de Sanford faced what was called ‘malicious rebellion‘12 on his lands in east Wicklow and needed the help of the Justiciar (the kings representative) James D’Audleyto keep control13. Castlekevin was for the first time referred to as being on ‘the frontier of the whole march14‘, the march being the medieval term that described a frontier between Gaelic Irish and Norman areas.15
With tensions already beginning to boil over in 1270, further bad weather aggravated the situation. The Annals reported a dramatically worsening situation in 1271 with ‘very bad weather in that year.’16 As the harvest faltered the outcome was all too predictable and ‘a great famine so that multitudes of poor people died of cold and hunger and the rich suffered hardship.’17. That the rich suffered was indicative of an acute shortage – normally they would be take what little food was available.
As the area grappled with severe food shortages the Archbishop of Dublin Fulk de Sandford died at this crucial moment. He was not replaced until 1279 and in this vacuum the archbishops lands were administered by the crown. The arrival of royal officials in the region appear to have exacerbated tensions in an already fraught region. By 1271 attacks on Norman settlements in the region seem to have been well under way as Castlekevin was garrisoned and provisioned. The garrison attempted to ensure their safety by taking hostages from the O Tooles, O Byrnes and the Harolds and holding them at Castlekevin. Situated close to the Gaelic Irish in the Glendalough and Glenmalure valleys they hoped this might offset the dangers posed by their isolated position.
This failed and among the vast amounts of money the Normans spent on military campaigns across Ireland that year we find the Justiciar James D’Audley being compensated 25 marks for the loss of a horse in Glendalough in 127218.
In 1273 more hostages were taken but the situation appears to have been getting seriously out of hand in Ireland and particularly east Wicklow. Income from Castlekevin was almost non existent indicating that farmlands had been ravaged and destroyed. In desperation king Edward I sent Geoffrey de Geneville, Lord Of Trim, who had fought in the ninth crusade directly back from the Middle East to Ireland. Arriving in Ireland in 1273 he faced the difficult problem in that he would have to penetrate deep into the Wicklow Mountains away from the security of Dublin and supplies to find the O Toole rebels. This warfare could not be further away from the battles he had fought in the eastern Mediterranean.
In 1274 de Geneville made his first decisive attempt to resolve the escalating situation and alleviate settlements like Castlekevin. The military order of the Knights Hospitaller19 (who had extensive territory in Kilmainham) lead by their grand master William Fitzroger joined an army raised from across Norman Ireland. Their strategy was to attack the secluded valley of Glenmalure south-west of Castlekevin where the O Tooles had settled on the lands the Archbishop. Deep in the mountains Glenmalure was eight kilometre long valley but only around a kilometre wide with steep sides. Fighting in unfamiliar terrain where heavily cavalry had a limited impact the colonists suffered heavy casualties and the Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller and the Sheriff of Limerick20 were taken prisoner only to be released later in a prisoner exchange.
Book your place on the upcoming tour on saturday Dec 1st
This defeat was disastrous for Castlekevin ensuring the raids would continue unhindered. The area was devastated; crops were stolen or burnt while villages were ransacked. Between 1271 and 1277 the lands around Castlekevin yielded only £8, 14s. 10½d. This was down from the £56 recorded for the year 1229 alone. Although there are no surviving accounts of specific attacks on Castlekevin records survive from the Norman settlement of Saggart thirty-five kilometres to the north-west where the Gaelic Irish swept down on unsuspecting peasants of Saggart in broad daylight killing forty people as they worked in the fields21. Unsurprisingly the tenants at Saggart fled their homes after attacks which had killed relatives and did not for years. The raiders took everything they had – 3,000 sheep, 200 cattle, 100 heifers, 200 pigs, silver and even clothes were listed by the people of Saggart in an inventory of goods stolen. The experience of Castlekevin must have been similar.
Although the famine subsided as the decade progressed Castlekevin, Glendalough and Glenmalure were still years away from peace. The continued revolt after the famine had abated indicated these raids were an expression of deeper resentments and alienation suffered by the Gaelic Irish since the Anglo-Norman invasion.
Indeed in 1274 the situation worsened when the Mc Murroughs the traditional leaders of the Gaelic Irish in the Wicklow region joined the rebellion due to concern that their dominant position over the other gaelic families in the region would be usurped by the O Byrnes.22
The siege of Glenmalure.
As the situation deteriorated the people at Castlekevin had little respite when another campaign in 1275 ended in failure. By 1276 the justiciar Geoffrey de Geneville was now under severe pressure from the King Edward I in England to resolve the situation. He had been sent to Ireland to crush the rebellion but it had only gotten worse. Not only was the Castlekevin area under attack but a vast swathe of the colony from Carlow to Dublin was vulnerable.
In 1276 De Geneville organised another major mission. Bringing 2,000 vassals23 from his own lands alone, he was joined by the other magnates from across Norman Ireland including Thomas de Clare from Thomond. The fact they choose Newcastle as a base may indicate that Castlekevin was under heavy attack and not secure. Newcastle however was unsuitable as it was twelve miles east of Castlekevin and at least a days march from their target – the mountain pass at Glenmalure.
When de Geneville lead through the hills surrounding Castlekevin and toward Glenmalure disaster awaited them again. They were not only defeated but this time the army was trapped in the pass by the Gaelic Irish. They were reduced to dire straights and forced to eat their horses24 while being picked off by an enemy in hostile territory. Some would escape including de Geneville although he was heavily wounded25.
Castlekevin Transformed.
Unsurprisingly de Geneville was replaced as justiciar by Ralph D’Ufford who launched yet another major campaign in 1277. This time Castlekevin was used as the base of operations. Situated far closer to Glenmalure D’Ufford was finally successful in driving the main O Toole force from the valley but he admitted that the problem was not completely resolved
‘The affairs of the latter in Ireland are much improved. The thieves who were in Glendelory26 have departed, many of them have gone to another strong place‘ 27
During this successful campaign of 1277 the settlement of Castlekevin was transformed into a military fortress. Having been attacked and laid to waste it was clear that in the lands south of the settlement Anglo-Norman authority was crumbling. To shore up Norman control in the area the Motte and Bailey was converted into a major fortification. The enormous sum £500 pounds was spent on wages, provisions and supplies of workmen and Castlekevin was ‘constructed anew‘.
During these works it appears that the pre-existing conical motte that supported a fortifaction was converted into a square platform eight metres in height and thirty metres square. The sides of the platform were almost vertical and lined with stone.
This raised platform appears to have been defended by four corner towers and a gatehouse on the eastern side leading to the bailey settlement.
In the aftermath of D’Ufford’s successful campaign of 1277 the region was pacified and revenues from Castlekevin between January 1278 and January 1279 soared to £118 3s 2d over ten times the amount that had been collected over the previous six years. However by April 1279 war had broken out again and the Castlekevin area bore the brunt of the renewed attacks. No money was received for the first 3 months and the tenants had again fled their lands. A royal official reported the lands as ‘waste‘ and the tenants had left ‘on account of war with the Irish‘.28 In 1281 no taxes were returned from Castlekevin again along with the manors of Kilmacberne and Kilmastan further north due ‘war with the Irish’29. For people trying to survive in Castlekevin life during this period life can only have been unbearable. Many must have simply given up their lands and moved to safer areas further north.
For those who had managed to survive and stay in the area eventually peace would return. By1282 what been over a decade of war, raids, death and destruction eventually subsided and the area returned to relative peace. This was partially due to the fact that the royal authorities had assassinated two brothers Muirchertach and Art Mc Murrough leaders of the revolt since 1274 on July 21st, 1282. Five years later in 1287 a report from Ireland stated the country
‘was so pacified these days that in no part of the land is there anyone at war or wishing to go to war, as is known for sure30‘.
While this was undoubtedly an exaggeration, life at Castlekevin improved. There was no famine, raids or burned farms and life returned to some semblance of normality.
However the future was far from certain, none of the underlying resentments or tensions had been resolved and in 1295 the area exploded in violence again as Norman Ireland witnessed the worst crises of the 13th century, a period known as the ‘Time of Disturbance’. Similarly to the 1270’s life at Castlekevin was torn apart in 1295.
The Crisis of 1295 War, Famine and Cannibalism.
Tensions had surfaced as early as the summer of 1294 when as reported by the Fransican John Clyn
‘there was lightning and the flashing destroyed the grain and, as a result, there was a great scarcity and many died from hunger.’ The famine that followed was so severe according that by 1295 reports at Dublin said the poor were reduced to eating the executed bodies hanging in gibbets31.
The situation deteriorated in December 1294 when an intense rivalry that had existed between two of the most powerful norman families in Ireland the de Burgh and the Fitzgeralds broke out into open warfare. These factors spurred on the Gaelic Irish to attack what was a weakened colony and soon Castlekevin was engulfed by warfare. In 1295 the fortification of Newcastle McKinegan twelve miles to the east of Castlekevin was burned. The Norman responded with another campaign and again Castlekevin was used as the base of operations as the Normans raided the neighbouring valley of Glenmalure. After a successful campaign the Normans were victorious bringing the Gaelic Irish leaders to Castlekevin to submit.
On July 19th, 1295 the people of Castlekevin witnessed a treaty of sorts that saw the most powerful gaelic leader in the region Muiris McMurrough arrive at Castlekevin and submit to Thomas Fitzgerald the Justiciar of Normans Ireland32. No doubt to their relief Muiris not only paid a fine of six hundred cows paid but McMurrough pledged to force the O Tooles and O Byrnes back to peace if they broke the agreement. Hostages were also handed over.33
However the area would never truly return to peace after the upheaval of 1295. Within six years all three major Gaelic Irish families in Wicklow – the O Byrnes, O Tooles and Mc Murrough’s were in revolt and Castlekevin was yet again on high alert. In 1301 Wicklow and Rathdrum were sacked and although there is no mention of Castlekevin it seems unlikely it could have escaped.
In the following years east Wicklow slipped in to a state of almost perpetual war and Norman control over the region began to ebb away. Castlekevin was in a most precarious position due to its isolation and proximity to Glenmalure and Glendalough. Life was dominated by assassinations and raids in an ever increasingly brutal struggle. In late 1305 four leading McMurroughs were assassinated at Ferns in North Wexford by John Hay and Henry de la Roche; a few months later the seneschal of Wexford was assassinated in retaliation. On St Patrick’s day 1306 three O Tooles were executed in Newcastle Mc Kineagan which can only have served to seriously heighten tensions at nearby Castlekevin. The following winter famine broke out yet again and predictably widespread violence across South Leinster followed in its wake.
Norman control was clearly diminishing, so much so that Carlow once a safe town west of the mountains, was besieged by the Gaelic Irish. It was only a matter of time before Castlekevin was decimated. Inevitably on May 12th, 1308 the settlement was burned. The Normans lashed out with a punitive raid on Glenmalure lead by the Justiciar John de Wogan but they suffered yet another defeat in the valley in July. Late in the summer the leader of the attack on Castlekevin William Mac Kinaghan was captured and hung, drawn and quartered34.
This was followed up by yet another raid into the mountains – this time lead by William ‘Liath’ de Burgh, cousin of the Earl of Ulster. This achieved little and a few weeks later in the closing weeks of the 1308 Castlekevin was burned for the second time in the six months. There can only have been a sense that at some stage Castlekevin would be completely overrun; Glenmalure had already fallen from control of the Normans. For anyone living in the region by this stage its scarcely feasible that they could not have lost direct relatives from war or famine.
While the Gaelic Irish in Wicklow frequently acted in concert during these raids they were by no means internally unified. The O Tooles and O Byrnes resented the overlord ship of the Mc Murroughs. Their opposition to Norman overlord-ship was not a proto-nationalist uprising of a unified people with a common goal but rather attempts by these individual families to extend their power and influence. This sometimes found them in alliance with Norman families when it suited their interest and this made life in the region incredibly complex. The complexity of these shifting alliances was clearly illustrated in 1309 when the O Byrnes would join Maurice de Caunteton a former seneschal of Wexford in rebellion against the king. During this rebellion they raided the Mc Murrough’s lands. De Caunteton was captured and executed in 1309 by the deputy Justiciar William ‘Liath’ de Burgh aided by the Gaelic Irish O Nolan’s amongst others.
1309 saw yet another army arrive at Castlekevin to quell the raids that had seen Castlekevin burned twice in 1308. During this campaign, lead by Piers de Gaveston, saw Castlekevin refortified however the fact that de Gaveston had to cut a path to access Glendalough illustrated that Norman society was breaking down in the area35. If communications between Castlekevin and Glendalough scarcely 4 miles apart could not be maintained it would only be a matter of time before Norman society in the area collapsed.
For the Gaelic Irish living in colonial settlements their loyalties during these revolts were often conflicted. Many belonged to the extended O Toole or O Byrne families carrying out the raids. However they nonetheless also suffered in raids. In 1295 Muiris O Toole had to compensate the Gaelic Irish betaghs who had suffered in his raids. This did not stop some aiding the rebels. In the early 14th century a Gratagh le Devenys (nee O Toole) was hung for spying in Kildare.
In the following years after de Gaveston’s campaign in 1309, raids and counter-raids continued in the Castlekevin area. The Normans were defeated yet again at Glenmalure in 1311 but the following year the Justiciar Edmund Butler enjoyed what was a rare victory in the valley. None of these activities could stem the tide of the expansion of Gaelic power and influence in Wicklow and from 1315 the power of the Anglo-Normans in east Wicklow went into rapid decline.
That year the entire island of Ireland was convulsed when Edward Bruce extended his brother Robert’s war against Edward II by invading Ireland. Bruce aimed to attack and undermine the norman colony in Ireland which had been supporting and funding Edwards Wars in Scotland. Unsurprisingly he was able to find support among some of the Gaelic Irish kings in Ulster most notably Domnall O Neill.
The Final Fall of Castlekevin.
To make matters worse, 1315 also witnessed the start of the worst famine in medieval European history which would last until 1318. Food shortages and general chaos caused by the Bruce invasion soon saw raids break out in Wicklow and several settlements surrounding Castlekevin were burned. While there is no mention of the site itself its very difficult to imagine it could have emerged unscathed. Norman control eastern Wicklow was now hanging by a thread. In 1316 one of the major Normans Landowners in the area Hugh Lawless described life in Eastern Wicklow as being
‘in a confined and narrow part of the country, namely between Newcastle Mc Kynegan and Wicklow, where they have the sea between Wales and Ireland for a wall on one side, and the mountains of Leinster and divers other wooded and desert places on the other where the said Irish felons live‘36
While the immediate danger would subside when Robert and Edward Bruce failed in an attempt to take Dublin in early 1317 and Edward was killed the following year at the battle of Faughart, Norman Wicklow was in an irreversible decline.
In 1322 Glendalough paid its taxes to Dublin for the last time – after this it was beyond the reach of the Normans. Four years later its fall from Norman control was confirmed when it was not mentioned at all in a list of the lands of the archbishop of Dublin. Habitation at Glendalough would continue for several centuries but it was no longer under the ambit of Norman Dublin. While Castlekevin did not fall immediately it was an increasingly isolated outpost in the face of expanding Gaelic territory and control.
In 1328 Donal Art Mc Murrough was recognised as overlord by the O Tooles and O Byrnes and as king of Leinster. On assuming the kingship he had his banner placed scarcely two leagues (seven miles) from Dublin illustrating how vulnerable the colony had become. In 1329 the land route to Dublin from eastern Wicklow and Castlekevin may have been cut off, as the Justiciar was supplied by sea during a campaign against the O Tooles37. Maintaining Norman control over life at Castlekevin under these conditions was impossible.
By 1337 Castlekevin was in a state of disrepair and the Archbishop of Dublin was ordered to rebuild the site. In 1343, Castlekevin was attacked and destroyed and although it was repaired the following year this was the last mention of the site under Norman control. It appears over the following years perhaps after another attack, maintenance of the site was impossible, as the surrounding territory fell under Gaelic control. In 1349 Normans Ireland were severely weakened by the Black Death which killed 30-50% of the population of Norman towns. Any idea of reconquest was out of the question, indeed the very survival of the entire Norman colony was in the balance.
The collapse of Norman control over the area did not mean life in Castlekevin came to an end, far from it. The Gaelic Irish betaghs or serfs remained behind just like they had during when the Normans took control of the region in the early thirteenth century. The power politics between the O Tooles and the Normans had little material impact on their lives regardless of who emerged victorious. Some Normans may well have remained behind as well. Through the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century they had started to adopt Gaelic custom so a transition to a world ruled by Gaelic chieftains may not have been as stark as we might imagine. In 1395 Henry le Taloun is recorded of having acknowledged the overlord ship Art Mór Mc Murrough. Life at Castlekevin after the 1340’s is relatively obscure. There are almost no gaelic documentation surviving form the period.
Gaelic expansion over eastern Wicklow continued and by 1405 the O Byrnes captured and held Newcastle Mc Kineagan38 while in the early 15th century Art Mc Murrough was extracting black rents from Norman towns in east Wicklow39
In 1419 Castlekevin was destroyed yet again but this time it was the citizens of Dublin who lead the raid on the castle as a response to the Gaelic raid that taken 400 cattle. Whether the site was reoccupied by the O Tooles after this is uncertain. A branch of the family did inhabit the area but all records specific to the Castle record it in a state of disrepair.
The expansion of the gaelic families control over Wicklow was halted in the later 1500’s when the rise in power of the Fitzgerald earls of Kildare saw a reassertion of English power in the region. Having solidified control over Western Wicklow and the Midlands by the early 16th century they began to turn their attention to eastern Wicklow.
Through the 16th century the area around Castlekevin became a war zone yet again as the English authorities based in Dublin began to reconquer the vast territories they had lost through the later medieval period. However Castlekevin was not the key site it had been the in 13th and 14th centuries. In 1540 when the Lord Deputy invaded the region to force submission from the O Tooles he found
‘an olde broken castell ther, apperteyning to the Archebishop of Dublin,being clerely desolate, and the countrey clere waste’ [sic]
In 1543 the O Tooles were still living in the vicinity of the castle as they received the lands in a surrender and regrant policy which saw royal authorities acknowledge Gaelic ownership of land in return for accepting English authority. The following decades saw a bitter and complex series of wars not only between new English settlers and the Gaelic Irish but also internal Gaelic struggles.
The complexity of this period was seen in 1591 Aedh O Donnell a Gaelic Irish noble escaped from captivity in Dublin castle and fled south to Wicklow attempting to make his way to the lands of Fiach McHugh O Byrne. Having reached Castlekevin he was deceived by the O Tooles and handed back to the English.
Although O Tooles would live in the region for centuries the site of Castlekevin had lost its importance centuries earlier and its doubtful if it was ever occupied after the 15th century. By the mid seventeenth century Gaelic Ireland had been destroyed by a series of war lasting from 1540 to the Cromwellian invasion of 1649.
Over the following centuries Castlekevin was stripped of its stone presumably used in neighbouring areas as a construction material. Across the road from the castle the gate post above is one such reuse of the carved stone.
It appears that in last few decades the site has declined rapidly. The photo above was taken in the early years of the 20th century by the historian Goddard Orpen. A similar shot today (below) reveals how much the site has been overgrown. This shot is taken from the bank on the left of the 1908 picture above. Whilst Castlekevin is now a ruin and indeed at its current rate of decline it will soon be completely inaccessible it nonetheless a very important site in terms of the story it tells of late medieval Irish history.
The 14th century is the subject of an upcoming book I am writing on the societal crisis Ireland faced in the 14th century when famine war and plague brought Ireland to the brink. You can read more about this here. The book will be released in 2013.
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13 On the Frontier: Carrickmines Castle and Gaelic LeinsterNot to be confused with Mariolatry
Mariology is the theological study of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mariology methodically relates teachings about her to other parts of the faith, such as teachings about Jesus, redemption and grace. Christian Mariology aims to connect scripture, tradition and the teachings of the Church on Mary.[3][4][5] In the context of social history, Mariology may be broadly defined as the study of devotion to and thinking about Mary throughout the history of Christianity.[6]
There exist a variety of Christian views on Mary ranging from the focus on the veneration of Mary in Roman Catholic Mariology to Protestant objections (Mariolatry), with Anglican Marian theology in between. As a field of theology, in recent centuries the most substantial developments in Mariology (and the founding of specific centers devoted to its study) have taken place within Roman Catholic Mariology. Eastern Orthodox concepts of Mary have been mostly expressed in liturgy and are not subject to a central dogmatic teaching office.
A significant number of Marian publications were written in the 20th century, with theologists Raimondo Spiazzi and Gabriel Roschini achieving 2500 and 900 publications respectively. In terms of popular following, membership in Roman Catholic Marian Movements and Societies has grown significantly. Ecumenical differences continue to exist in substance and style but are more easily understood because of the existence of Mariology. The Pontifical Academy of Mary and the Pontifical Theological Faculty Marianum are key Mariological centers.
Diversity of Marian views [ edit ]
A wide range of views on Mary exist at multiple levels of differentiation within distinct Christian belief systems. In many cases, the views held at any point in history have continued to be challenged and transformed. Over the centuries, Roman Catholic Mariology has been shaped by varying forces ranging from sensus fidelium to Marian apparitions to the writings of the saints to reflection by theologians and papal encyclicals.
Anglican Marian theology varies greatly, from the Anglo-Catholic (very close to Roman Catholic views) to the more typically Protestant Evangelical views. The Anglican Church formally celebrates six Marian feasts, Annunciation (March 25), Visitation (May 31), Day of Saint Mary (Assumption or dormition) (August 15), Nativity of Mary (September 8), Our Lady of Walsingham (October 15) and Mary's Conception (December 8).[7][8] Anglicans generally share some of the fundamental Marian beliefs such as divine maternity and the virgin birth of Jesus, although there is no systematic agreed upon Mariology among the diverse parts of the Anglican Communion. However, the role of Mary as a mediator is accepted by some groups of modern Anglican theologians.[9]
Eastern Orthodox theology calls Mary the Theotokos, which means God-bearer. This term emphasizes Mary's status as the mother of God incarnate in Jesus but not the mother of God from eternity. The virginal motherhood of Mary stands at the center of Orthodox Mariology, in which the title Ever Virgin is often used. The Orthodox Mariological approach emphasizes the sublime holiness of Mary, her share in redemption and her role as a mediator of grace.[10][11]
Orthodox Marilogical thought dates as far back as Saint John Damascene who in the 8th century wrote on the mediative role of Mary and on the Dormition of the Mother of God.[12][13] In the 14th century, Orthodox Mariology began to flourish among Byzantine theologians who held a cosmic view of Mariology, placing Jesus and Mary together at the center of the cosmos and saw them as the goal of world history.[10] More recently Orthodox Mariology achieved a renewal among 20th century theologians in Russia, for whom Mary is the heart of the Church and the center of creation.[10] However, unlike the Catholic approach, Orthodox Mariology does not support the Immaculate Conception of Mary.[10] Prior to the 20th century, Orthodox Mariology was almost entirely liturgical, and had no systematic presentation similar to Roman Catholic Mariology. However, 20th century theologians such as Sergei Bulgakov began the development of a detailed systematic Orthodox Mariology.[14][15][16] Bulgakov's Mariological formulation emphasizes the close link between Mary and the Holy Spirit in the mystery of the Incarnation.[11]
Protestant views on Mary vary from denomination to denomination. They focus generally on interpretations of Mary in the Bible, the "Apostles' Creed", (which professes the Virgin Birth), and the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus, in 431, which called Mary the Mother of God. While some early Protestants created Marian art and allowed limited forms of Marian veneration,[17] Protestants today do not share the veneration of Mary practiced by Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox.[5] Martin Luther's views on Mary, John Calvin's views on Mary, Karl Barth's views on Mary and others have all contributed to modern Protestant views.
A better mutual understanding among different Christian groups regarding their Mariology has been sought in a number of ecumenical meetings which produced common documents.
Outside Christianity, the Islamic view of the Virgin Mary, known as Maryam in Arabic, is that she was an extremely pious and chaste woman who miraculously gave birth while still a virgin to the prophet Jesus, known in Arabic as Isa. Mary is the only woman specifically named in the Qur'an. The nineteenth chapter of the Qur'an, which is named after her, begins with two narrations of "miraculous birth".
Development [ edit ]
Malta Statue of Santa Maria Assunta, in Attard
The First Council of Ephesus in 431 formally approved devotion to the Virgin as Theotokos, which most accurately translated means God-bearer;[18][19] its use implies that Jesus, to whom Mary gave birth, is God. Nestorians preferred Christotokos meaning "Christ-bearer" or "Mother of the Messiah" not because they denied Jesus' divinity, but because they believed that God the Son or Logos existed before time and before Mary, and that Jesus took divinity from God the Father and humanity from his mother, so calling her "Mother of God" was confusing and potentially heretical. Others at the council believed that denying the Theotokos title would carry with it the implication that Jesus was not divine.
The council of Ephesus also approved the creation of icons bearing the images of the Virgin and Child. Devotion to Mary was, however, already widespread before this point, reflected in the fresco depictions of Mother and Child in the Roman catacombs. The early Church Fathers saw Mary as the "new Eve" who said "yes" to God as Eve had said no.[20] Mary, as the first Christian Saint and Mother of Jesus, was deemed to be a compassionate mediator between suffering mankind and her son, Jesus, who was seen as King and Judge.
In the East, devotion to Mary blossomed in the sixth century under official patronage and imperial promotion at the Court of Constantinople.[21] The popularity of Mary as |
Watt of law firm Browne Jacobson, who has represented many street artists. He says BA cannot shrug off responsibility for actions taken in its name: “The obligation to check and obtain the rights is BA’s.”
Dave Stuart, a guide at Shoreditch Street Art Tours, says London’s street art, first made famous by Banksy, is now a staple of advertisers wanting to give their brands cachet. But too often artists only learn of it after the ad is made and end up having to fight for payment.
Shoreditch’s Ben Eine, one of whose pieces David Cameron gave to Barack Obama when the pair were leaders, says he too is battling a major multinational for unauthorised use of his art.
Eine adds: “A lot of companies, even though they know they shouldn’t rip us off, do it anyway because they think they can get away with it. They’re often right. We’re artists: we’re not that wealthy and we’re all idiots about this sort of stuff. We like painting in the streets, not talking to attorneys.”
McDonald’s has faced several lawsuits over use of graffiti “tags” in restaurants, including in Brixton. In December, the estate of cult New York street artist Dash Snow, who died aged 27 in 2009, filed a legal action against the burger chain for copyright infringement, claiming it used his tag in its decor.
Separately, New York artists sued over a promotional video in Holland which they said shows their murals without their consent. They claimed the use of their work by McDonald’s harmed their reputations as the burger giant had been bad for their community. McDonald’s declined to comment.
Joseph Tierney, known as Rime, took action against Moschino over art he says was copied on catwalk designs modelled by Katy Perry. He too claimed his street cred was damaged.
Tim Maxwell, a lawyer at Boodle Hatfield, says: “Companies wouldn’t dream of just copying art from a gallery but some assume street art is public property to be used freely. It is not.”
Some companies opposing artists’ legal claims have said the works are not covered by copyright because they are criminal vandalism.
However, increasingly, owners of buildings actively encourage artists to work on their walls. The Shoreditch works reproduced by BA were all done with permission of the landlords. Besides, a judge in one of Maxwell’s cases regarding a Banksy mural accepted the artist owned the intellectual property even if it was done without permission.
Another strategy for the companies has been to say the art is not permanent and therefore not covered by copyright.
The argument uses a bizarre case in which Adam Ant’s famous white nose stripe was deemed exempt because his facepaint was too temporary. Browne Jacobson’s Watt calls this defence “nonsense”.
Most lawsuits have been settled out of court so the legal position is largely untested. What little precedent exists leaves corporates wiggle room.
Featuring artwork incidentally, perhaps on a wall behind a model in a fashion shoot, could be exempt from copyright under “freedom of panorama” rules. If such an exemption did not exist, most of London would be off limits to film-makers and photographers.
The rising number of cases is not only due to the increased use of street art in advertising. Street art has become increasingly collectable and artists have become more aware of their value.
Some, like Banksy, have become wealthy, just as the gallery-exhibiting Britartists of Damien Hirst’s generation did. American Shepard Fairey, creator of the Obey Giant logo and the Obama Hope campaign poster, has turned his art into a multi-million-pound clothing empire.
As such, street artists are savvy about the financial value of their work and unwilling to stand by while being, in their view, ripped off.
Shoreditch artist Jim Vision says: “We have witnessed the positive side of commercialisation of the culture; payments for our art have funded incredible events and experiences and we need responsible clients more than ever to support this burgeoning art scene.”
But corporates must co-operate with the artists to make it work. “BA are trying to communicate to a hip East London crowd using street art as their medium but have failed to connect with the artist community,” he warns.
The result of ham-fisted approaches to marketing is damaging headlines being read by the very people it wants to win over.Illustrations by James Burgess
This article originally appeared on VICE UK.
Around ten years ago I went to see the now defunct Aussie beer-rockers Jet at the UK's also now defunct Oxford Zodiac. The gig still resonates with me today. Not because the band or any of their music is particularly memorable, but because, since that show, I've been permanently tormented by what sounds like a jet engine being fired directly into my ears.
I played drums as a teenager and went to college during the mini-movement dubbed the "New Rock Revolution" by NME—a time so musically exciting that going to fewer than three gigs a week wasn't really an option. I was used to my ears ringing for a few days after seeing the Libertines, or Interpol, or Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but after that Jet show, it just stayed.
My ears roaring, Google (it was probably Yahoo back then, actually) told me that I had tinnitus: the internal perception, often permanent, of sound when no external sound is present. I was livid that I'd been changed like this by doing nothing more than what I assumed were common activities: playing a musical instrument and going to shows.
It is thought that around 10 percent of the UK population has tinnitus—so that's about 6.5 million members of the Screaming Ears Club being recognized over the next seven days for Tinnitus Awareness Week. Each of these sufferer's afflictions is different: Sometimes it's a high-pitched ringing; sometimes it's another sound, such as irregular clicking; sometimes it's just in one ear; sometimes it's in both. People can get it after activities such as scuba diving or following an ear infection, but for young people the most frequent cause is noise exposure.
Unsurprisingly, the condition is widespread among musicians. Hearing damage can occur when sound volume exceeds 80 decibels, and with a loud gig clocking in at around 115 decibels, a whole tour's worth of loud gigs is a pretty surefire way to do your ears in.
"Without a doubt I have tinnitus," Liam Gallagher has said. "You're not a proper rock 'n' roll star if you don't." Will.i.am left himself exposed to an association with chronically annoying noises when he revealed that he had it badly, and Chris Martin's affliction has made headlines. There are countless more examples.
Despite these high-profile sufferers talking about tinnitus—and despite an annual Tinnitus Awareness Week—public awareness of the risks of getting the condition is pitifully low. Speak to any gig-goers who have it and they'll almost always say they hadn't heard the T-word until they'd already been sentenced to a lifetime of "BEEEEEEEEEEP."
Dominic Ganderton, singer in Britpoppy Birmingham four-piece Superfood, says that age is a big factor for this lack of awareness. "I used to go to rock clubs when I was thirteen, go up to speakers, and put my ear by them when good songs came on," he says. "Now I think, What the fuck was I doing? It's a communication problem. No one told me."
Dominic continues: "I'm 23 now, and I must have been about 19 when I was first going to bed and listening, going, Shit, I can really hear something here. I've been playing in bands since I was 11. I've been to so many practice rooms, but I never saw a poster explaining it, or was told that loud music can damage your ears, even though that sounds like such an obvious statement."
Another person angry about the lack of awareness of tinnitus risk is Eddy Temple-Morris, MTV presenter in the 1990s and current host of XFM's The Remix show. His ears first got mutilated by a Van Halen gig in the 70s, and he's since become an ambassador for the British Tinnitus Association, campaigning to make more people aware of the condition. He's become a sort of kindly uncle figure for kids with fucked ears, spending plenty of time chatting to new tinnitus sufferers on email and Twitter.
"I find it offensive that the UK government has spent millions letting us know that we might burn our finger on a fucking firework on the fifth of November," he says. "How many public health ads have you seen for that? One in ten people have tinnitus, yet the government spends nothing on telling people that they might be getting what is essentially brain damage."
As people like Dominic, Eddy, and myself realized too late—and as is the case for any preventable ailment—prevention is better than cure. That's particularly true for tinnitus, of course, because there isn't actually any cure.
Currently the most effective treatments for hearing loss and tinnitus are largely limited to hearing aids and surgery to have implants related to the cochlea—a tiny part of the inner ear. It is thought that when hair cells in the cochlea get damaged by loud noise, tinnitus can follow.
These treatments are either highly invasive or not exactly fashionable, unless you happen to be Morrissey in the late 80s. According to Dr. Ralph Holme, head of biomedical research at UK research-funding charity Action on Hearing Loss, "They are great treatments, but they are just a sticky plaster on the problem. We need to understand the causes to be able to develop treatments."
Everyone with tinnitus yearns for a magic pill to banish the screeching, in the same way that painkillers end a headache. I'd cut off at least three of my fingers for one, no question. But while such a pill is unlikely to be a reality any time soon, Holme is still excited by drug research in the area.
There is good recent evidence suggesting that as well as damage to hair cells in the cochlea causing tinnitus, connections between those cells and the brain could also become damaged by noise exposure. Based on this, research at the University of Western Australia has suggested that the medicine Furosemide could be effective in repairing this damage.
"The research suggests there may be a narrow window [where treatment could work] after the noise exposure," says Holme. "For animals, it might be around eight weeks, then the tinnitus enters a second phase and becomes established in the brain."
Various clinical trials involving drugs containing Furosemide are taking place, and it may not be too long before they hit the market. But don't get too excited—it might sound like a sort of morning after-pill for the ears is on its way, but Holme has warned against anyone getting their hopes up quite yet. "We don't know how effective the drugs will be yet," he says. "Tinnitus isn't one condition, it's a symptom of lots of different things. We might need a whole battery of drugs to treat different types of it."
After ten years of having tinnitus, I've learned to accept it simply because there is no other option. The ringing in my ears went from "pretty annoying" to "power-drill annoying" in 2010, after watching Guns 'N' Roses' Leeds Festival set—a medical indignity even worse than the Jet incident.
It was a hellish time. I'd get up at 2 AM and walk for hours around London alone to tire myself out so I could sleep; it affected relationships and made me constantly scared of noise (not ideal, considering I was features editor of NME at the time). I mention this not for comment-box sympathy but to prove that you do return from the lowest depths. I still sleep very little and find my tinnitus highly annoying, but I got used to it. The brain adjusts, you notice it less, and you accept you've just got to get on with living with tinnitus rather than being mentally dominated by it.
Current research into treatments is exciting. But with researchers mainly relying on money from under-funded charities such as Action on Hearing Loss and the American Tinnitus Association in the US, that one magic pill is unlikely to hit stores in our lifetimes.
As such, it can all seem a bit hopeless. But now, if you've got tinnitus already, understand that however bad it seems it will get easier if you look after yourself and follow tips like the ones listed below. And if you haven't got tinnitus, then do everything you can from now on to ensure you stay that way. (If you need any more inspiration, lie down next to a speaker playing "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" at top volume and see how long it takes you to get to sleep.)
ANTI-TINNITUS TIPS
Get Professional-Level Earplugs, Now
To stop yourself from getting tinnitus in the first place—or to stop it getting worse—buy some professional-style molded earplugs. Advanced Communications Solutions make brilliant plugs that you can barely feel or see, and that retain sound quality. They cost around $200 to $300, but you can get decent off-the-rack plugs for about $30 that are better than nothing. Dr. Ralph Holme added: "Always take breaks from music, too—the damage is caused by length of time listening as well as volume."
Talk to Others in the Tinnitus Club
Having tinnitus can make you feel like you're alone. You're not—millions of people have it. Superfood singer Dominic Ganderton: "I have a friend who has it just like I do. It's a real comfort, and when we're at parties we talk about the 'tinnitus club.'"
Lay Off the Cocaine
Caffeine and alcohol are thought to aggravate tinnitus. Eddy Temple-Morris: "Any uppers are bad. Cocaine: terrible. Speed... anything like that makes it rage."
Don't Go into Denial
A huge part of living with tinnitus is learning to be OK with it. Dominic: "Pretending to block it out can be a bad tactic, and it can make you manic, feeling like you always have to be talking or moving. Accept that you have it, and there's more chance your brain will accept the pattern."
Cook in Your Head
Masking tinnitus with music or a white noise app works well, and so does keeping your brain occupied with active thoughts. Eddy: "I had terrible insomnia, so now I watch a cooking show before I go to bed, then do the recipe in my head in real time—chopping the onions and everything. I'm asleep before I finish the meal."
Masturbate
Eddy: "Anything that takes your mind off tinnitus is good. Have sex. Masturbate. I said this on TV and got a lot of messages about it."
If you suffer from tinnitus—or if you just want to find out more about the condition—visit the American Tinnitus Association.
Follow Jamie on Twitter or at his website.Virat Kohli celebrates with Rohit Sharma after the latter completed a superb catch to dismiss Colin Munro © BCCI
We used to joke some years ago that if India made 250 in a one-day game, the opposition only had to chase 225. And that if they made 250, India would have to chase down 275. Maybe that was stretching it just a bit but the larger point was valid; that India began a limited overs game with a handicap in the field.
Over the last month and a half, India have played limited overs games against teams that defined fielding standards. Australia, New Zealand and South Africa were always the benchmark, the energy they brought to the field made them a delight to watch and they often gave you the feeling that they were playing with twelve players.
And so it delights me no end to see that India aren't just competitive in the field but have effectively out-fielded both visitors so far. And this with virtually no contribution from Jadeja, who can lay claim to be among the top five Indian fielders of all time, or Rahane or Raina. The captain has set the pace, he has been outstanding, but the newer entrants like Manish Pandey and Hardik Pandya have been breathtaking. And it has now become mandatory for young players to be athletes. In fact, young Kuldeep Yadav who is such a fine talent with the ball but not the quickest in the field, actually draws attention to himself where in another era he might have merged well with the rest.
Given the standards they have set, India slipped in Rajkot and it cost them the match. But in Thiruvananthapuram, having set only a modest target, India pulled the match their way with the catch that Rohit Sharma took off Munro and Pandya's direct hit run out of Williamson. I have long argued that the direct hit opportunity be given the same status as a catch; that a miss be regarded as a dropped catch. Currently a missed run-out leads to a grimace, a throwing up of arms but rarely draws the same reaction that a dropped catch does. I hope that is the next benchmark this team wants to set.
That fielders should give you two wickets every innings is now an accepted part of our game. In top fielding sides, the fielding unit functions as the sixth bowler, but I believe they should also start thinking of themselves as the eighth batsman (on the assumption that a team plays seven). Four boundaries cut off inside the circle is sixteen runs saved, another five can come from the boundary and maybe three or four more from the strength of the throwing arm. That is twenty five and you would happily take that from number eight every day.
As a ground fielding unit, India is unrecognisable today (though the fielding coach might want to expect more from Chahal, Yadav, Bumrah and Jadhav) but I am not yet convinced that similar advances have been made as a catching unit. Maybe that is the next target and while there is much talk of 2019, I think it is pretty safe to say that the team that wins it will either be, or be close to being, the best fielding side.
© Cricbuzz"They’re going to wish they weren’t alive after I’m done with them"
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Charles Dharapak / AP Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein walks with Georgina Chapman as they arrive at the Booksellers area of the White House in Washington before a State Dinner, March 14, 2012.
Film executive Harvey Weinstein said Wednesday he plans to make an anti-gun movie starring Meryl Streep that will take a direct shot at the National Rifle Association.
“We’re going to take this issue head on, and they’re going to wish they weren’t alive after I’m done with them,” Weinstein said on Howard Stern’s radio show.
The movie mogul was on Stern’s show discussing a forthcoming project based on a novel about a Holocaust uprising, Mediaite reports.
“It’s not a Holocaust story as much as it’s Jews with guns. It’s my whole philosophy,” Weinstein said. “It’s the idea that when injustice is so great you can’t just march into the camps.”
Stern asked the Django Unchained producer if he owns a gun.
“I never want to have a gun,” Weinstein said. “I don’t think we need guns in this country, and I hate it, and I think the NRA is a disaster area.”
The film executive said the film will be “a big movie, like ‘Mr. Smith goes to Washington,” that will hurt stocks of gun manufacturers.
“It’s going to be like crash and burn,” he said.
[Mediaite]Published on by Aarong222 300 Comments
The sides just keep getting better and better with no less than twelve 85+ rated players to get excited for!
Last week’s score 17/23 Formation - 3-4-1-2 Squad link: http://www.futhead.com/17/squads/5008904/
Goalkeeper
Artur Boruc - GK - 76 OVR Bournemouth managed to halt United’s progression to finally climb out of 6th position with a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford. A big part of that game down to their Polish stopper in Boruc after he made a total of six saves of which included an Ibra penalty while playing the second half with only 10 men.
Defenders
Bernat - LB - 79 OVR For once there were several defenders which stood out and one of those was Bernat. The Spanish LB was involved in two Munich goals, with a goal and an assist, alongside helping them to keep a clean sheet in their 3-0 win.
Hector Moreno - CB - 80 OVR For the second time this season Moreno has scored twice, this time he kept a clean sheet rather than conceding three though and thus should be included. There is reason to doubt him though after a mediocre match rating. We saw the same happen with Jetro the other week though.
Javi Martinez - CB - 85 OVR I can't recall a time when two defenders from the same game have received an IF and it may not happen this time either but as far as chances go this is a good one. Martinez picked up MOTM for the opening goal in Bayern's previously mentioned 3-0 win with a perfect 1 mark from Kicker.
Midfielders
Ivan Perisic - LM - 84 OVR Inter cruised their way to a 5-1 away win over Cagliarli this week and it was their Croatian winger who stood out. Perisic scored two of the goals which saw him pick up MOTM with an impressive match rating of 8/10.
Lionel Messi - RW - 93 OVR Believe it or not Messi has been snubbed a few times already this year with the speculation of EA snubbing him due to the breakdown of contracts increasingly growing. Although that is all halfhearted talk there really will be talk if he misses out this time. The Argentine both scored and assisted two goals in another Barca romp.
Ousmane Dembele - RW - 80 OVR Although Dembele was more part of an impressive team performance than anything else with the additional incentive of a OTW item I can see him getting the nod here. The Frenchman scored one and assisted another as Dortmund recorded a 6-2 home win over Leverkusen.
Marko Arnautovic - RM - 82 OVR The Austrian has been very quiet this season so far but despite that he is now in line for his TIF after he scored another brace for Stoke. This time it came as they won 2-0 at home to Middlesbrough.
Forwards
Antoine Griezmann - ST - 88 OVR Griezmann has not quite hit the heights of last year’s astonishing season which is by no means an easy feat. The Frenchman netted twice this weekend though during a 3-0 win at home to Valencia which could well see him pick up his first IF.
Karim Benzema - ST - 87 OVR Usually we are racking up a fourth or fifth special Benzema item by now but it's not worked out that way this season. The Frenchman will be picking up his first however after scoring two and assisting another during Madrid's 4-1 away win over Eibar.
Dries Mertens - ST - 85 OVR There gets a point when the items are just getting ridiculous for certain players and I think Mertens can now fall into that category should be pick up another IF on Wednesday. The Belgian continued his amazing form since being moved to ST with another two goals, this time away at Roma in a vital 2-1 win. He picked up another 8/10 from Gazzetta and looks to be one of the most in-form players worldwide right now.
Substitutes
Sebastian Rudy - CDM - 78 OVR Hoffenheim recorded an impressive 5-2 win over Ingolstadt which gives them a 4-point gap ahead of 5th position in their quest for a Champions league spot. Rudy was involved in both the first and second goals with a goal and an assist which saw him pick up a 1.5 from Kicker.
Fabian Johnson - LM - 79 OVR This week’s Kicker POTW was awarded to Johnson of whom scored twice for Gladbach in a 4-2 win over Schalke. In general, it was a high scoring week in Germany which resulted in multiple options being available, Johnson is one who is nailed on though.
Florian Thauvin - RW - 81 OVR Ligue 1 offered next to nothing in terms of IF options but there will be at least one included that’s for sure. Thauvin is the only stand out option for that spot after the winger scored one and assisted another two in Marseilles 4-1 away win.
Jese - LW - 80 OVR Jese put in two good performances this week but specifically the one against Osasuna is what I have included him for. The Spaniard has started off life at Las Palmas well after failing to break into the PSG side. He scored twice during their 5-2 home win claiming MOTM in the process.
Andrea Belotti ST - 80 OVR If there was one player which I had to point out for a transfer in the summer that player without a doubt is Belotti. The young Italian has carried Torino into 9th position with no less than 22 goals in the 24 games he has played. That is some tally for a mid-table side for a 22-year-old.
Llorente - ST - 79 OVR Llorente is slowly becoming to Swansea of what Michu was to them a few seasons ago. The Spaniard scored another two goals to take his tally to 11 for the season during their 3-2 win at home to Burnley. The striker also hit the woodwork which would have confirmed his spot but I still feel that two goals is enough for him.
Marcus Berg - ST - 80 OVR With the influx of golds, it is becoming increasingly easy for "lesser" league golds to be included. Although on paper Berg scored a hat trick two of those goals did come from the spot which has often ruled players out. Panathinaikos won the game by a convincing 5-0 score line and with the extra gold slots I highly doubt Berg misses out.
Reserves
Timofey Kalachev - RB - 74 OVR Rostov came away with an impressive opening day win of which there were a couple of standout players from. I have gone with Kalachev for his three assists. He may well miss out due to Azmoun having the gold advantage however with three assists and a clean sheet to his name he becomes very difficult to ignore.
Ricky Holmes - RM - 66 OVR There are quite a few reasons as to why Holmes is a doubt but with a hat trick from midfield, in my eyes that’s enough for anyone to be included. The doubts come as; one, Charlton lost 4-3 and two, the game was played on a Tuesday. Should EA cover the game and stick to previous strategies than come Wednesday we will see an IF Holmes though.
Josh Koroma - CAM - 47 OVR Despite being up for the award of worst IF in the history of FIFA Koroma deserves his spot in the side after finding the back of the net three times for Orient in their 4-0 away win over Newport.
Nathan Redmond - RM - 75 OVR There were only a few possibilities from the BPL and two of those came from Southampton with both Redmond and Tadic performing to a high standard. I have opted for Redmond who scored twice however Tadic with one goal and two assists is also very viable.
Samuel Di Carmine - ST - 66 OVR Serie B has not received much love in terms of IF's this FIFA but when a striker gets a hat trick that’s often a good indicator that they will be getting an IF. Di Carmine did just that scoring three of Perugia's five goals in their 5-0 winAn event meant to celebrate game monsters became a venue for uproar.
This past Sunday saw Monster Fest, a special event celebrating the popular Japanese mobile game Monster Strike, occur at Makuhari Messe. However, discontent rang throughout the convention center due to a severe shortage of general staff and any employment present being largely inexperienced, creating an unpleasant convention experience for the many attendees. There was nary even an employee over the loudspeaker attempting to quell the civil unrest among the con-goers, and those that did try to update the guests could hardly be heard.
"There's no staff here," one attendee complained.
"We're not happy with the lazy staff," another said.
Sign: "Souvenir Shop Entrance. Estimated Wait Time: 330 Minutes", Tweet: "Well, that's just a lie."
Twitter was abuzz on the day of the convention, many Tweets complaining about the lack of staff and the various troubles around the center.
Tweet: "Someone might have had a heart attack!?"
A heat wave spreading throughout the center simply compounded onto the many complaints already resounding among the guests, yet there was reportedly no staff to attend to those matters either. Allegedly, over 11 people suffered from heat stroke at the center and had to be hospitalized.
Furthermore, violence broke out among angry guests that resulted in police intervention. Con security was nowhere to be found before the fights occurred.
Tweet: "Monster Fest took no measures against trash, and people are forgoing culture with this trash everywhere."
Trash could be seen strewn about the center, indicating disregard for the law when it came to Monster Fest.
Mixi, the Japanese networking service behind Monster Fest, has yet to issue a formal statement on the debacle.
Monster Strike is a mobile action role-playing game. It has a 3DS version in production and has since launched an English version on iTunes and Google Play. An anime series will premiere worldwide via YouTube on October 10.
[Via Daily News Japan]When the world’s watching, which Hearthstone nation will prove they’re the greatest on the globe? Prepare to find out as the Hearthstone Global Games draws to its epic conclusion from August 25-26 at gamescom in Cologne, Germany!
With national pride on the line, as well as a share of the $332,000 USD prize pool, we’ll see which of the final four teams will step up when it matters most.
Livestream Details
Unable to attend in person? No problem! The event will be livestreamed on the official Hearthstone Twitch channel in English. Streams will also be available in several other languages:
Stream Times
Friday, August 25 – Starting at 15:00 CEST
Saturday, August 26 – Starting at 16:00 CEST
The Teams
Some of the game’s top competitors, as well as fan-favorite players selected by the card-slinging community, were offered the chance to represent their country in Hearthstone’s first-ever Global Games. Now we’re down to the final four teams, including two from Europe:
Ukraine
With some of the most recognizable names in Hearthstone representing Ukraine, it’s hard not to get excited about watching them throw down at gamescom. Aleksandr 'Kolento' Malsh and Eugene 'Neirea' Shumilin have consistently proven themselves at the top level, while Artem 'DrHippi' Kravets demonstrated his skills by reaching the Hearthstone World Championship finals last year. Along with Hunter specialist Mykola 'NickChipper' Velychko, Ukraine has beaten some top teams—including early favorites the Netherlands—on their way to the final four.
Czech Republic
Led by innovative deck-builder Stanislav 'StanCifka' Cifka, the Czech Republic has brought some fantastic play to the game board and had fun along the way—who doesn’t enjoy a mid-game snack live on stream? Former Hearthstone Championship Tour competitor Mikuláš 'Pokrovac' Dio will bring valuable high-level tournament experience to the semi-finals, while Jaromír 'JáraVyskočil' Vyskočil and Petr 'CzechCloud' Žalud have already shown that they know a thing or two about competitive play.
United States
Since its roster was unveiled, the United States has been among the favorites to lift the HGG trophy. Former Hearthstone World Champion James 'Firebat' Kostesich lines up beside William 'Amnesiac' Barton, David 'Dog' Caero, and Edwin 'HotMEOWTH' Cook—all top-eight finishers at recent major events. In addition to strong tournament performances, each player regularly shows off their abilities via livestream, climbing the ranks and building their strong fan bases along the way.
South Korea
South Korea arrives at gamescom following a convincing 3-0 victory over Mexico in the quarter-finals. Back-to-back winner of the 2016 Asia-Pacific Spring and Summer Championships Ilmook 'handsomeguy' Kang will be aiming to keep the good form going at gamescom, along with Hakjun 'Kranich' Baek—the only player to earn consecutive top-eight finishes in the World Championship. And skilled players Sanghyeon 'DDaHyoNi' Baek and Cho 'Flurry' Hyun Soo have already secured some vital wins during the tournament.
Check out the official Hearthstone Global Games hub for team lineups and to review all the results so far.
Format
Teams need to bring one deck for each of the nine Hearthstone classes, with two assigned to each team member and one reserved as an “Ace Deck”. Matches will be played in a best-of-seven format, with the first team to win four games taking victory. Players must first decide their team's order of play, but they’ll be able to choose between either of the two decks assigned to them once they've seen their opponents line-up.
Should a match reach game seven, the designated “Ace Players” from each team will face off using either an unused deck or the reserved “Ace Deck”.
Casters
Simon “Sottle” Welch
Alexander “Raven” Baguley
Daniel Falcone
Daniel Gaskin
Prize Pool
Only one team can fly the flag of their homeland in victory, but everyone will take home some prize money.GOOSE CREEK, S.C.–According to Goose Creek investigators, investigators have made four arrests in connection with the August 21st murder of 19-year-0ld Kyle Shirlin.
Shirlin was shot during a party at 122 Westerfield Drive in Goose Creek a few weeks ago.
Jamal White, Michael Smith, Riccardo Jenkins and Ali Smalls have been arrested by Goose Creek police and now face murder charges for the death of Kyle Shirlin of Charleston.
All defendants have been booked into the Berkeley County Detention Center pending bond hearing proceedings.
“This has been an exhaustive investigation to-date and much work remains to be done,” stated Major John Grainger with the Goose Creek Police Department. “We anticipate the possibility of additional arrest(s) and additional charge(s) being placed against those already in custody. We will not comment further on details of the ongoing investigation at this time.”
Shirlin was shot during a party in Goose Creek.
He is originally from Hendersonville, North Carolina.
Prior Story:The Irish Times in 2015 named a Tipperary pub, which only opens one night a week, as the best pub in Ireland. The column Barfly reviewed 51 pubs, in 19 counties, in 2015 and Jim O’ the Mill, in Upperchurch, Tipperary was dubbed the best based on “readership and social sharing.” The pub with only one beer tap, live music, and a homely feel certainly sounds like the very embodiment of a quintessential Irish pub.
The Times passionate review of the country pub goes so far as calling this the “best pub in the world” and the “beating heart of Ireland.”
Jim O’ the Mill opens only on Thursday nights with a trad session from 9 pm, including fiddles, boxes, and bodhráns brought along by the locals. Run by Jim and Kae Ryan and their five daughters the pub is built into a flag-stoned kitchen and the parlor.
Sean Laffey in Irish Music Magazine described it thus: "A corrugated Church kind of sets the tone for Jim O'The Mills. Homemade, improvised, agrarian, pragmatic. Finding the pub is easy if you know where it is.
"If you are new to the country you will need a local guide. Jim O'The Mills sits anonymously in plain clothes dressed as a small farmhouse, nestled in a dip in the road. Just ask for the metal bridge and you'll be in the right vicinity. There are no Guinness or Harp signs, no fancy sun umbrellas, no cheerful boards proclaiming Ceol agus Craic. You wouldn't suspect it of being a drinking house so blended is it into the rural community".
It’s no wonder reviewers fell in love with the place. Here’s a video of one of their famous sessions:
Here are the top ten pubs in Ireland according to the Irish Times:
1. Jim O’ the Mill, Upperchurch, Tipperary
2. J O’Connells, Skryne, County Meath
3. The Long Hall, Georges St, Dublin
4. Sean’s Bar, Athlone, County Westmeath
5. Nora Murphy’s Bar, Brandon, County Kerry
6. John Kavanagh’s (The Gravediggers), Glasnevin, Dublin
7. Kehoe’s, South Anne Street, Dublin 2
8. Grogan’s Castle Lounge, 15 William St South, Dublin 2
9. The Cobblestone in Dublin’s Smithfield
10. The Hanged Man’s pub, Milltown, County Kildare
* Originally published in January 2016.The University of Kentucky Wildcats are good this season — real good.
If you’re filling out an NCAA March Madness bracket, chances are that you picked them to win it all. That’s because they haven’t lost yet this year — coach John Calipari’s squad has followed a balanced attack of Tyler Ulis, Willie Cauley-Stein, Karl-Anthony Towns and the rest to a 34-0 record.
Washington Wizards All-Star point guard and Kentucky alum John Wall is impressed — but not that impressed. He remains convinced that his 2009-10 squad (also featuring fellow All-Star DeMarcus Cousins of the Sacramento Kings) was superior.
When asked whether the current Wildcats are better than his, Wall bristled. ”Well, they got the better record, but I wouldn't say that,” he told CSNWashington.com. “We were a better team, but we didn't win … They’re going to have the leverage because they went 40-0 and got a national championship to back it up.”
Cousins echoed his buddy’s sentiment. "I mean, yeah. [John is] right. They would be considered the best, but we all |
(23.1 PPG) as a junior at Eastern Washington a year ago, was Orlando’s No. 51 overall pick in June’s 2015 NBA Draft. He is one of six draft picks being stashed in the NBA D-League this season through the NBA Draft Rights player rule.
After Tuesday’s incredible outburst, Harvey is averaging 11.9 points in 24.8 minutes per game while shooting 37% from beyond the arc.Hannity Tweets Another Cryptic Message – Teases “Major” Battle On “3 Different Fronts”
On Wednesday evening, FOX News host Sean Hannity tweeted yet another cryptic message to his over 2.7 million followers. This is the third cryptic tweet in the recent weeks.
Hannity asked his followers to “Stay tuned. Major, multiple Tick Tocks. 3 different fronts–MAJOR!!Patience, pieces are all falling in place.”
https://twitter.com/seanhannity/status/897979895430742016
Conservative radio and TV host Sean Hannity reportedly had dinner with president Donald Trump at the White House back on July 26th. Kimberly Guilfoyle, Anthony Scaramucci and former FOX News co-president Bill Shine joined Sean at the president’s dinner.
Last Monday Sean Hannity posted an ominous warning.
Something is going down….
https://twitter.com/seanhannity/status/894554073302781952?ref_src=twsrc% 5Etfw&ref_url=http% 3A% 2F% 2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com% 2F2017% 2F08% 2Fsean-hannity-posts-ominous-tweet-thursday-something-going-two-battlefronts% 2F
Sean later tweeted The Gateway Pundit that he has hired 4 of the best attorneys in the country to represent him.
https://twitter.com/seanhannity/status/894731581469859842?ref_src=twsrc% 5Etfw&ref_url=http% 3A% 2F% 2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com% 2F2017% 2F08% 2Fsean-hannity-posts-ominous-tweet-thursday-something-going-two-battlefronts% 2F
On Thursday Sean said his announcement is coming soon.
https://twitter.com/seanhannity/status/895803595504984064?ref_src=twsrc% 5Etfw&ref_url=http% 3A% 2F% 2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com% 2F2017% 2F08% 2Fsean-hannity-posts-ominous-tweet-thursday-something-going-two-battlefronts% 2FThe White House denied Thursday that President Trump has ordered Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsTrump says he hasn't spoken to Barr about Mueller report Ex-Trump aide: Can’t imagine Mueller not giving House a ‘roadmap’ to impeachment Rosenstein: My time at DOJ is 'coming to an end' MORE to investigate Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonSanders: 'I fully expect' fair treatment by DNC in 2020 after 'not quite even handed' 2016 primary Sanders: 'Damn right' I'll make the large corporations pay 'fair share of taxes' Former Sanders campaign spokesman: Clinton staff are 'biggest a--holes in American politics' MORE or other Democrats despite telling reporters earlier this month that “they should be looking at the Democrats.”
“The president hasn’t directed any investigation or the appointment of a special counsel,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during Thursday’s press briefing, the administration’s first since Trump returned from his 12-day trip to Asia.
“In fact, he said publicly that he hasn’t been involved with that and that’s entirely up to the Department of Justice,” she said.
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Trump has repeatedly called for investigations into various aspects of the former Democratic presidential nominee’s foundation and tenure at the State Department.
“Hopefully they are doing something. At some point maybe we’re going to all have it out,” Trump said regarding Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations of Clinton during an interview this month on WMAL.
"The saddest thing is, because I'm the president of the United States, I am not supposed to be involved in the Justice Department. I am not supposed to be involved in the FBI. I'm not supposed to be doing the kind of things that I would love to be doing, and I'm very frustrated by it," he added.
Shortly before his Asia trip, Trump blasted the Justice Department for not looking into Clinton and the Democratic Party amid recent news stories about issues including a uranium deal approved by the Obama administration that has been a recent source of conservative suspicion and frustration.
Everybody is asking why the Justice Department (and FBI) isn't looking into all of the dishonesty going on with Crooked Hillary & the Dems.. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017
...New Donna B book says she paid for and stole the Dem Primary. What about the deleted E-mails, Uranium, Podesta, the Server, plus, plus... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017
....People are angry. At some point the Justice Department, and the FBI, must do what is right and proper. The American public deserves it! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017
Trump made similar comments to reporters outside the White House that same day.
"I’m really not involved with the Justice Department. I’d like to let it run itself, but honestly, they should be looking at the Democrats," he said.
Critics pointed to those tweets and remarks to accuse Trump of attempting to influence the agency.
On Wednesday, Clinton responded, saying it would be “such an abuse of power” for a president to direct the DOJ to investigate one of his political opponents.
"I regret if they do it because it will be such a disastrous step into politicizing the justice system," she said during an interview with Mother Jones. "If they send a signal that we’re going to be like some dictatorship, like some authoritarian regime, where political opponents are going to be unfairly, fraudulently investigated, that rips at the fabric of the contract we have, that we can trust our justice system."
During an appearance on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions pushed back on calls for a special counsel probe, saying that while the DOJ has asked prosecutors to look into various allegations against Clinton, it would take “a factual basis that meets the standard of a special counsel” for him to support one.
Sanders also addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most recent denial of any meddling in the 2016 presidential election, made to Trump during a meeting in Vietnam.
“The president still firmly believes there was collusion with Democrats during this election process but again, he’s not going to get into the back and forth with a world leader he needs to work with and wants to work with,” Sanders said.April 9, 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 9, 2017 – Acting Peace Corps Director Sheila Crowley is saddened to confirm the death of Peace Corps volunteer Cody Oser of Broomfield, Colorado. Cody, 24, passed away in the Comarca Ngäbe Bugle region of Panama on April 8, 2017.
“Cody’s enthusiasm for helping others and knack for problem solving were remarkable and are a few of the many reasons he was so well-liked among fellow volunteers and in his community,” Acting Director Crowley said. “His impressive engineering skills made him stand out as a volunteer because he dedicated himself to working with communities around the world to find solutions to their technological needs. His passing is a profound loss for the Peace Corps community as we mourn along with his family and friends.”
Cody was a bright aspiring civil engineer and was excited to use his skills to find unconventional ways to bring technology to communities around the world. Before starting his Peace Corps service, Cody spent time in Kenya and El Salvador, working on engineering projects to help communities build potable water structures and solar-powered irrigation systems. When he applied to Peace Corps, Cody expressed a desire to help communities navigate their engineering challenges and planned to do so with an open mind. “I know that for most rural communities, the challenges of obtaining proper materials, tools and financing are common but that there is never a shortage of clever solutions when you collaborate with the people in your host community,” he said in his aspiration statement. Peace Corps staff were impressed early on that Cody’s passion for engineering was equal only to his enthusiasm for service and helping others. Cody was very enthusiastic about his future projects with the community of Cerro Gavilan focused on latrine construction and formation and legalization of the water committee.
Cody graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and received minors in Business Administration and International Development in 2015. Cody relished in using his talents to help others and served as an Engineering Intern for SunCulture Solar Agriculture in Kenya and as a Project Leader for Engineers Without Borders in El Salvador and Pine Ridge, South Dakota before leaving for service. He was excited about learning languages and had studied Spanish, French and Swahili. In his free time, he loved exploring new topics, talking politics, learning instruments, reading, drawing, running, martial arts, hiking, camping and traveling.
He is survived by his parents, Lynnette and Steven Oser, his brother and sister-in-law Gabriel and Joanna Oser and his sister and brother-in-law Abbe and Jamie Gilroy.
###
Share this:If you’re interested in creative code, the crypto world can be a real buzzkill.
Figured out a new way to exchange keys? Sorry, you’re better off using this protocol from the ‘70s. At least we know it works! Got a cool idea for a random number generator? Doesn’t matter; you’re not supposed to roll your own. Every new idea is a new chance to screw things up, and nobody will ever trust that you’ve gotten it right. Even if you do everything perfectly, someone will still accuse you of working for the CIA.
After enough times through the wringer, it’s easy to roll your eyes at the whole thing. There are so many hoops to jump through, from auditing to bug disclosure. Even if you get the crypto world on your side the way Signal has, there are countless design choices and compromises that will get you in trouble. Nobody gets away entirely clean. So what does it matter if you skip a few code audits?
But it does matter, because if you ignore it entirely, something like this will happen.
Confide has been offering a self-destructing message for years, gaining credence recently amid rumors that White House staffers are using it to gossip about Trump. But the app has never been embraced by crypto experts, for the simple reason that it’s never invited third-party experts to audit its code. Now, the security firm IOActive has dug into the code, and according to a Cyberscoop report, the result is several critical vulnerabilities, which have been sitting undiscovered for the past three years.
Even given that news, it can be hard to appreciate how bad this is. Bugs happen all the time, and the bug itself usually isn’t as important as how quickly it’s found and fixed. But three years is a long time, and finding this many bugs this quickly suggests the lack of an audit was covering up some serious errors. If anyone had wanted to target a particular Confide user — like, say, an FBI leak investigation — those errors could have serious consequences.
The lesson is simple enough: audits matter. And the next time you see crypto folks tearing their hair out over an unaudited messaging app, take heed.First Wonder Woman got a makeover, and now the Man of Steel is debuting a new look of his own.
The redrawing will appear in“Superman: Earth One," a new graphic novel retelling of the origin of the super hero which DC Comics says is “Superman for the 21st century."
Does the modern Superman look a little familiar to you Twi-hards? As the New York Post points out, he bears “more of a resemblance to Robert Pattinson from the ‘Twilight’ movies than Christopher Reeve from the Superman films.”
The new Superman still has the inky black hair and buff bod – six pack and all – but features more of a brooding look than the super hero's past clean-cut appearance.
The book is written by J. Michael Straczynski, known for writing Superman, Wonder Woman and Babylon 5 and drawn by artist Shane Davis who has previously worked on Green Lantern and the Superman/Batman series.
The new graphic novel series does not replace the original Superman comics, but is merely a reinterpretation of his younger years. The book goes on sale next Tuesday.
What do you think of the new Superman?To restate the obvious, the US has a huge amount of infrastructure catch-up it needs to do. Infrastructure spending provides an estimated $3 of economic growth for every $1 of spending. That means debt worry-warts need not fear, since deficit spending on infrastructure would lower the Federal debt to GDP ratio would fall.
But since the balanced budget types can’t get out of their own way and embrace MMT, budget hawks and ideologues who prefer private sector profiteering to government provision of services both tout the idea of “public private partnerships” as a scheme for what amounts to privatization of public services. These schemes are a transfer from local citizens, who wind up paying users’ fees, to financiers, design and construction firms, and investors, the overwhelming majority of which are not part of the community. So they are net transfers out….once you ignore political donations.
So as opposed to adding to local growth, these privatizations amount to new taxes in the form of users’ fees, but paid to private owners. Even worse, the deals are very one sided, with “gotcha” clauses like requiring payments if the public amenity is taken out of service for pressing reasons, like an emergency.
These infrastructure deals are also a lousy way to stimulate growth, since where the promoters want to do their projects is routinely not where the real economy payoff is greatest. And the process for selecting the consortium to handle the project, negotiating the deal, and for the promoters to get the funding is much more time consuming than having the government do it itself, making a mockery of the claim that the private sector is more nimble.
But on top of these issues is that certain types of projects, most notably toll roads, have a record of consistent failure that the press chooses to ignore. The Wall Street Journal today, for instance, treats a toll road deal that failed under then-Governor Pence as if it were mere bad luck, as opposed to precisely what you’d expect if you knew the terrain. From the Journal:
The project, a partnership between the state and private investors, was signed by Vice President Mike Pence in 2014 when he was the state’s governor. It is two years behind schedule and only 60% built. The state is in the process of taking it over and will have to issue debt to finish it… The southern Indiana project near Bloomington had a raft of setbacks early on. The state selected a consortium that included a Spanish construction company, Grupo Isolux Corsán S.A., that hadn’t worked on a road project in the U.S. Its $325 million winning bid was nearly $75 million below the next-lowest one. The company quickly ran into unrelated legal difficulties in Europe that hurt its finances…. There have been some notable public-private failures. Toll-road partnerships in Alabama, Texas and California declared bankruptcy in recent years after revenue from tolls used to finance these projects fell short of projections. Indiana’s first major public-private partnership, a deal with Ferrovial S.A.’s subsidiary Cintra to operate the Indiana Toll Road, fell into bankruptcy after revenue missed targets. It has since been bought by new owners.
The article depicts this Indiana deal as a mere “black eye” and presents another Indiana project as a success:
Indiana has another public-private partnership for a bridge over the Ohio River that was recently completed ahead of schedule and $200 million below the state’s estimated cost.
However, mere completion is not the metric for whether these ventures have worked out. Consider the grim findings of this 2014 story in Thinking Highways by Randy Salzman:
Beginning with the contracting stage, the evidence suggests toll operating public private partnerships are transportation shell companies for international financiers and contractors who blueprint future bankruptcies. Because Uncle Sam generally guarantees the bonds – by far the largest chunk of “private” money – if and when the private toll road or tunnel partner goes bankrupt, taxpayers are forced to pay off the bonds while absorbing all loans the state and federal governments gave the private shell company and any accumulated depreciation. Yet the shell company’s parent firms get to keep years of actual toll income, on top of millions in design-build cost overruns…. Of course, no executive comes forward and says, “We’re planning to go bankrupt,” but an analysis of the data is shocking. There do not appear to be any American private toll firms still in operation under the same management 15 years after construction closed. The original toll firms seem consistently to have gone bankrupt or “zeroed their assets” and walked away, leaving taxpayers a highway now needing repair and having to pay off the bonds and absorb the loans and the depreciation. The list of bankrupt firms is staggering, from Virginia’s Pocahontas Parkway to Presidio Parkway in San Francisco to Canada’s “Sea to Sky Highway” to Orange County’s Riverside Freeway to Detroit’s Windsor Tunnel to Brisbane, Australia’s Airport Link to South Carolina’s Connector 2000 to San Diego’s South Bay Expressway to Austin’s Cintra SH 130 to a couple dozen other toll facilities. We cannot find any American private toll companies, furthermore, meeting their pre-construction traffic projections. Even those shell companies not in bankruptcy court usually produce half the income they projected to bondholders and federal and state officials prior to construction.
I strongly encourage you to read this article in full.
A big reason these deals do poorly is that infrastructure firms have copied the model of the creator and leader in that business, Sydney’s Macquarie Bank. It’s also a world leader in rent extraction. From another 2014 article:
Jim Chanos, president of the hedge fund Kynikos Associates and another famous early doubter of Enron, has been Macquarie’s most outspoken critic. In 2007, Chanos told [Fortune Magazine’s Bethany] McLean that Macquarie had ”perverse incentive to serially overpay for assets,” and compared the company to a Ponzi scheme. McLean explained: “That’s because the assets are owned not by the bank itself but by the shareholders in its funds. The shareholders pay Macquarie management fees that are based on the size of the fund, meaning that Macquarie has an incentive to add to its collection.” That’s why Macquarie had every reason to bid a full billion dollars more than the second-place bidder for the Indiana Toll Road: Every additional dollar earned fatter fees for its bankers. As an investment bank, Macquarie also earns money from transaction fees, which its infrastructure funds pay every time its banking arm rearranges investments into new corporate structures, or refinances a loan, or closes a deal. Chanos pointed out that 84 percent of the deals Macquarie advises involve its own entities. Shareholders ultimately eat the cost of these self-dealing fees. Macquarie also pays itself handsome annual fees to manage its numerous satellite entities, in an “externally managed” arrangement criticized by corporate governance advocates. McLean called the funds “fee factories” for the company, noting they generate hundreds of millions of dollars each year for the firm. Even though Atlas is just a holding company with little of its own overhead, it paid Macquarie $36.7 million in fees in 2013 — millions more than it paid out to its shareholders. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Alan Kohler shares Chanos’ skepticism. In a 2004 editorial, he wrote, “The Macquarie model is justly famous around the world. It is quite possibly the most efficient method of legally relieving investors of their money ever conceived.”
In other words, privately funded infrastructure investments and privatizations should be viewed with prejudice, yet clever PR has meant they are incorrectly seen as a good deal for governments, as opposed to a good deal for everyone but governments and their constituents. As Salzman put it:GARMA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqis who fled Islamic State-held Falluja as government and allied forces advanced on the city said they had survived on stale dates and the militants were using food to enlist fighters whose relatives were going hungry.
Civilians who fled their homes due to clashes gather at the Iraqi army's Camp Tariq, south Falluja, Iraq, June 3, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer
The ultra-hardline Sunni fighters have kept a close guard on food storage in the besieged city near Baghdad that they captured in January 2014, six months before they declared a caliphate across large parts of Iraq and Syria.
The militants visited families regularly after food ran short with offers of supplies for those who enlisted, said 23-year-old Hanaa Mahdi Fayadh from Sijir on the northeastern outskirts of Falluja.
“They told our neighbor they would give him a sack of flour if his son joined them; he refused and when they had gone, he fled with his family,” she said.
“We left because there was no food or wood to make fires, besides, the shelling was very close to our house.”
She and others interviewed in a school transformed into a refugee center in Garma, a town under government control east of Falluja, said they had no money to buy food from the group.
The Iraqi government stopped paying the salaries of employees there and in other cities under Islamic State control a year ago to stop the group seizing the funds.
Fayadh escaped Sijir on May 27, four days after the government offensive on Falluja began, with a group of 15 relatives and neighbors, walking through farmland brandishing white flags.
Most of the 1,500 displaced people who found refuge in the school in Garma were women and children, because the army takes men for screening over possible ties with Islamic State. Fayadh said she was waiting for news of her two brothers who were being investigated.
HUMAN SHIELDS
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said last week the offensive had slowed to protect tens of thousands of civilians trapped in Falluja with limited access to water, food and electricity.
Fayadh said the situation in the city was very difficult. “The only thing remaining in the few shops open was dates, old, stale dates and even those were very expensive,” she said.
Azhar Nazar Hadi, 45, said the militants had asked her family to move from Sijir into Falluja itself, a clear attempt to use them as human shields.
“We hid,” she said. “There was shooting, mortars and clashes, we stayed hidden until the forces came in” and escorted them out to the refugee center.
The militants took hundreds of people, along with their cattle, with them into Falluja, Hadi said.
“Life was difficult, very hard, especially when we stopped receiving salaries and retirement pensions.
“The last seven months we ran out of everything and had to survive on dates, and water,” she said. “Flour, rice and cooking oil were no longer available at an affordable price.”
A 50 kg (110 lb) sack of flour cost 500,000 dinars ($428.45), almost half an average Iraqi employee’s month salary.
Abadi ordered the offensive on Falluja, which lies 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, after a series of bombings claimed by Islamic State hit Shi’ite districts of the capital, causing the worst death toll this year.
Between 500 and 700 militants are in Falluja, according to a U.S. military estimate. The Iranian-backed Shi’ite militia coalition that is supporting the Iraqi army offensive on the city says the number of IS fighters there is closer to 2,500.
Iraqi security forces personnel walk with their weapons as they inspect a house south of Falluja, Iraq, June 6, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer
The United Nations says about 50,000 civilians remain trapped in Falluja, which has been under siege since December, when the Iraqi army recaptured Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province to the west.
When Hadi was asked what Islamic State militants had been telling civilians in Falluja, it was her six-year old child who answered, reciting the Koranic verse: “Be patient, God is with those who are patient.”There’s almost too much to love about Parks and Recreation, which kicks off its seventh (and final—sniff!) season tonight on NBC. That’s largely because Parks isn’t just a show about a ragtag group of quirky local government employees. Instead, it’s a series that takes place in a kooky, self-contained comic universe, one filled to bursting with secondary, tertiary, and even quaternary characters—many of whom are comic heavyweights on par with the show’s main cast. (Just call Pawnee, Indiana the live-action Springfield, State TK.)
Which made compiling the following a real challenge. How do you pare down the list to include just 25 characters, let alone pick a number one? After deciding on our criteria (recurring characters who have appeared in three make that two or more episodes only—which means favorites like Parker Posey’s Lindsay Carlisle Shay were unfortunately out) and scientifically averaging the contents of eight separate staffer rankings, here’s what we came up with. Spoiler: The competition was so fierce that Councilman Jamm didn’t even make the finals.
25. Barney Varmn
Played by: John Balma
Money quote: “And that concludes a quick look at QuickBook…s Pro.”
Ben Wyatt doesn’t “get” him—but everyone else in Pawnee does. The dearly departed quadruped was so much more than just a cute horse—he was the town’s mascot, an icon, a symbol of all that is pure and good and soooo cuuuuuute. He had an honorary degree from Notre Dame, for Pete’s sake! And, of course, he also gets bonus points for inspiring “5000 Candles in the Wind,” the best damn song MouseRat ever unleashed. Sniff. We still miss you, li’l buddy. —Hillary Busis
1. Jean-Ralphio
Played by: Ben Schwartz
Money quote: “Hope you brought a change of clothes, ’cause your eyes are about to piss tears.”
Buzzfeed / NBC
Tom’s best buddy and business partner was designed to be the most irritating man in the universe—but his hair’s so swag, his rhymes are so sick, and his entire persona is so awesomely pathetic (or pathetically awesome?) that we always want more of him (and of course, to dance up on him). He’s number one, even if technically, he’s homeless. —Hillary BusisIn the tradition of the Perl Advent Calendar, I have decided to write an Advent Calendar for C::Blocks, which is in pre-Beta. My plan is to release a new treat each day about the C::Blocks library. Today we will begin with the basics: what it is and how it works.
It is very easy to inject regular expressions into Perl code. This is one of the reasons Perl is commonly used for text processing. One of the aims of C::Blocks is to make it equally easy to inject C code into your Perl code.
Check out the following simple program, a minor modification from the SYNOPSIS:
use strict; use warnings; use C::Blocks; use C::Blocks::PerlAPI; # for printf print "Merry Christmas world! from Perl
"; cblock { printf("Merry Christmas world! from C::Blocks
"); } print "... and a happy new year!
";
If you run that, you will get:
$ perl merry-christmas-world.pl Merry Christmas world! from Perl Merry Christmas world! from C::Blocks... and a happy new year!
The interesting bit here is the code within the cblock. That is real C code. It calls the well-known C function printf to produce its message. That code gets compiled into a little function that is inserted into your Perl’s OP tree at that precise location so that when your Perl script runs, it executes your C code exactly where you had it in your file.
Let’s take a look at a more interesting example. In C, a string is just an array of chars, and an array is mostly interchangeable with a pointer. So, I can build a collection of greetings as an array of char *. Since zero is a valid pointer, and since no real data will ever live at that location, I can terminate a list in an array with a null pointer to signal the end. Here’s an example that uses this:
use strict; use warnings; use C::Blocks; use C::Blocks::PerlAPI; # for printf print "Merry Christmas world! from Perl
"; cblock { char * greetings[] = { "Merry Christmas", "Froehliche Weihnachten", "Joyeux Noel", "Buon Natale", "Feliz Navidad", "Kuwa na Krismasi njema", "Bada Din Mubarak Ho", 0 }; for (char ** phrase = greetings; *phrase; phrase++) { printf("%s world! from C::Blocks
", *phrase); } } print "... and a happy new year!
";
When run, this produces:
$ perl merry-christmas-world.pl Merry Christmas world! from Perl Merry Christmas world! from C::Blocks Froehliche Weihnachten world! from C::Blocks Joyeux Noel world! from C::Blocks Buon Natale world! from C::Blocks Feliz Navidad world! from C::Blocks Kuwa na Krismasi njema world! from C::Blocks Bada Din Mubarak Ho world! from C::Blocks... and a happy new year!
Furthermore, If you run it, you will notice that it runs “instantly”, almost as instantly as any other Perl script. This is because C::Blocks utilizes a very fast compiler which can produce executable machine code in RAM without writing to the file system. The compilation is so fast that you don’t notice it, which is one of the redeeming qualities of a good scripting language.
So, C::Blocks lets you “script” in C by simply weaving in little blocks of C code within your Perl. It does a whole lot more, but we’ll get to that as Advent progresses.
CAVEATS
Why did I include C::Blocks::PerlAPI in these scripts? C by itself does not have printf, you have to incorporate stdio.h into your code to get it. Perl’s C API includes the main parts of the standard C library, including stdio.h and printf, so I haven’t had a pressing need to implement C::Blocks::stdio.
C::Blocks Advent Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13The images show the revolutionary design of the robot, including one of its highly versatile surgical bio-mimicking arms.
The release of the photographs marks a major milestone for CMR, which aims to make minimal access surgery available to all the estimated six million people a year who could benefit and make it easier for laparoscopic surgeons to learn and perform the technique.
Versius was designed to be lightweight and easy to set up. The robotic arms measure their position and force thousands of times a second, making them safe to be around and easy to manoeuvre even during surgery.
The arms and wristed instruments give maximum flexibility to surgeons during a procedure. This ground-breaking design allows them to work in a way that reduces physical and mental effort for the surgeon whilst giving them the ability to undertake more procedures on patients.
Versius – as its name suggests – has been designed to be inherently versatile, with the capability to operate across all four surgical quadrants, allowing it to be used in gynaecology, urology, upper GI and colorectal surgery.
“We’ve designed Versius with surgeons in mind. By equipping them with a remarkable tool, fit for their demanding job, we can change the way surgery is delivered. Having operated in stealth mode for the past three years, I am delighted to be able to show what our amazing team has managed to develop in such a short period of time.” said Martin Frost, CEO of CMR.
Ends
Notes to Editors:
A full range of available images can be found in the ‘Press kit‘
About CMR Surgical
CMR Surgical is a private company developing the next-generation universal robotic system for minimal access (or “keyhole”) surgery.
The vision behind CMR is to make minimal access surgery universally accessible and affordable by significantly expanding the range of procedures that can be performed robotically. This will transform the existing market for surgical robotics.
Global annual revenues for robot-assisted minimal access surgery are presently approximately $4 billion and are anticipated to reach $20 billion by 2025.[1]
CMR Surgical was formed in 2014 and has its headquarters in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The company achieved the registration of its Quality Management System to ISO 13485:2003 by Underwriters Laboratories LLC® (‘UL’), and the status as a UL Registered Firm, in September 2015.
Investors in CMR Surgical include ABB Technology Ventures, LGT Global, Cambridge Innovation Capital and Escala Capital.
For further information, please visit: www.cmrsurgical.com
References
[1] Industry Forecast, Accuray ResearchPrisen for rusen
Et samfunnsregnskap for skadevirkningene knyttet til rusbruk kan gjøre det enklere å legitimere gode politiske tiltak.
Publisert: Publisert 23. april 2011 07:31 Oppdatert: 23. april 2011 09:06
I DAG ER DET INGEN som vet hvor mye offentlige budsjetter belastes av ruskriminalitet. Justisdepartementet tror årsaken er at det er «vanskelig» å beregne samfunnskostnadene ved narkotikabruk i Norge. At ingen har kunnskap og oversikt om de økonomiske skadevirkningene ved narkotikaproblemet er en svakhet i grunnlaget for den nasjonale ruspolitikken.
På bakgrunn av kjent statistikk har BT regnet seg frem til at selve narkokriminaliteten koster politi, rettsvesen og fengselsvesen 3,8 milliarder kroner i året. Til dette tallet kan man legge belastningene på helsevesenet, tollvesenet, utgifter til advokater, materielle skader og mye annet. Trolig er samfunnskostnadene på mange milliarder kroner.
REGJERINGEN LANSERTE sin «Opptrappingsplan for rusfeltet» i 2006. Inkludert økte bevilgninger til det kommunale tjenestetilbudet, til spesialisthelsetjenesten, rusakutter og rusmestringssentre, har bevilgningsnivået økt med en milliard kroner bare de siste seks årene.
Senere i år kommer regjeringen med en egen stortingsmelding om ruspolitikk, der Stoltenberg-rapporten og samhandlingsreformen legger en del av premissene. Den samlede prislappen er foreløpig ukjent, men meldingen bør inneholde konkrete tall som identifiserer omfanget, også i rene kroner.
DET Å LAGE regnskap for narkotikaproblemene i Norge er samtidig problematisk. Utregningen i seg selv er svært komplisert, fordi det statistiske underlaget er uoversiktlig.
I tillegg er eksperter svært uenige i hvordan et slikt regnskap skal settes opp. Vi vet at mange brukere finansierer rusen sin ved kriminelle handlinger, men vi vet lite om når kriminelle handlinger er motivert av rus eller ikke.
Dessuten bør omgang med slike størrelser foregå med forsiktighet. Et samfunnsregnskap kan bli banalisert, brukt og misbrukt til politiske formål – for å oppnå raske og lettvinte tiltak som kanskje appellerer til velgerne og gir et skinn av handlekraft, men som i realiteten har liten eller ingen effekt.
POENGET med et rusregnskap må først og fremst være å skaffe seg bedre kunnskap og oversikt, og samordne og registrere all rusforskning og relevant statistikk bedre. Det vil gi helsesektoren, politietaten og politikerne bedre grunnlag for å treffe virkningsfulle og kloke tiltak – gjerne i tett samarbeid. Tiden for dyre eksperimenter uten dyp kunnskap og solid faglig begrunnelse bør være over.
Hva trengs i kampen mot narkotikaproblemene?SSL certificates can be intimidating but Heroku and DNSimple make the process easy. The following steps should take us less than 15 minutes.
Buy a wildcard certificate from DNSimple. The wildcard ( * ) lets us use the same certificate on staging, production, and any other future subdomains (api, etc.).
Follow the wildcard certificate instructions to get.pem,.crt, and.key files prepared.
Follow these instructions to complete.key preparation, provision the SSL addon from Heroku, and add the certificate to Heroku:
heroku certs:add server.crt server.key
Replace it with:
heroku certs:add *.{pem,crt,key}
Otherwise, we might see an error like:
Updating SSL Endpoint myapp.herokussl.com for [heroku-app]... failed! Internal server error.
Run:
heroku certs
This provides us the correct end point for the SSL enabled domain. This is a domain that looks like tokyo-2121.herokussl.com.
Next, go to our DNSimple dashboard and update/add the CNAME record for the SSL enabled domain to point to (e.g.) tokyo-2121.herokussl.com.
Make a one-line configuration change in our staging and production environment config files within our Rails app:
# config/environments/{staging,production}.rb config.force_ssl = true
Deploy that change.
Now, if users type “ourdomain.com”, |
facet of higher intelligence has evolved in animals more than once. The study was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.
Top image VogueHouse/Shutterstock.com. Inset image Arbeitsgemeinschaft Papageienschutz.While they've adorned skin since time immemorial as exotic emblems of beauty, rebellion or even criminality, if I start talking about tattoos, I can tell that lots of you of a certain age will react simply by sighing deeply or clucking your tongues in disapproval.
Sorry, Mom and Dad: we're long past the time when just sailors, soldiers, performers in burlesque acts or gangsters got inked. An estimated 45 million Americans have tattoos, and that number is quickly rising. Although the practice seemingly is becoming, along with piercings, ubiquitous among certain younger or youthful-minded folk across the country, the ink that tattoo artists inject remains unregulated. And while many potential risks are well known, others -- including long-term aesthetic and health concerns -- are less certain.
The focus of fears by most public health officials about body inking once concerned properly sterilized needles, spreading infections and unsanitary conditions at tattoo parlors. Scientists now are saying attention needs to be diverted to the very ink inside a tattoo needle.
As the market for tattoos has expanded wildly, so, too, have the types of materials employed, including UV inks that glow in the dark and permanent makeup. How toxic are their components, especially over the long run?
Not All Inks Are Equal
One recent study examined black ink, common in nearly every tattoo, as the skin designs often are dark or entirely black. Black tattoo inks are based on soot and iron oxide, they are unregulated and many contain hazardous chemicals that potentially can stay in the skin for a lifetime, absorb UV radiation and may affect skin integrity, researchers say.
Tattooing can require injections of substantial amounts of black ink, meaning large amounts of chemicals shot into and under the skin; many of these chemicals -- such as benzo(a)pyrene, a carcinogen found to cause skin cancer in animal tests -- are toxic, so some advocates have called for further scrutiny and oversight of tattoo inks. The study also suggests that the substances in black tattoo inks -- materials known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) -- migrate into subjects' lymph nodes, which aid an individual's body in filtering out disease-causing organisms.
The FDA's National Center for Toxicological Research is investigating tattoo inks and whether their movement in the body has health consequences. Tattoo pigments are subject to U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulation, but the agency's website says that, "because of other public health priorities and a previous lack of evidence of safety concerns, FDA has not traditionally regulated tattoo inks or the pigments used in them."
While some tattoo inks contain pigments that are FDA-approved, others use materials more typically associated with automotive and industrial paints. A study in the Archives of Dermatology examined samples of 30 tattoo inks and identified aluminum, oxygen, titanium and carbon as the most common elements in them, with researchers concluding components vary vastly.
The FDA has received reports of adverse tattoo reactions, prompting investigators to further study the safety of inks, especially their long-term effects and how they interact with light or metabolize in the body.
The agency's experts say there's an absence of "systematic" studies and little information is available about how the pigments break down, though they note that tattoos tend to fade over time or when exposed to sunlight. They cite the color yellow, particularly when "Pigment Yellow 74" is involved in the tattoo ink, as susceptible to fading and disappearing
In the meantime, those wanting to get inked up should beware: regulators say those multiple reports of bad reactions they have received have come both immediately and even for years after from those getting tattoos. Again, some of the itching and inflammation appears to occur after tattooed folks expose themselves to the summer sun.
The well-known risks associated with tattoos include: infection, as unsterilized needles can carry infections including HIV-AIDS and hepatitis; allergies from various ink pigments; unwanted scar tissue, which can appear after a new tattoo, or after the removal of a tattoo; small knots or bumps known as granulomas, which may form around materials the body finds abnormal (in this case tattoo pigments).
In rare cases, some people experience temporary swelling or burning on their tattooed skin while undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). An unidentified pro football player suffered such an injury, prompting experts to publish a warning in a sports medicine journal about the prevalence among athletes of both tattoos and the need for MRI tests for injuries; they said caregivers should be wary of tattoos laden with black ink and pigments containing iron oxide, which may be more likely to react electromagnetically with the imagining technology and cause burns.
What Are They Thinking?
I know that those of us of a certain age may need to count to 10 and control our judgmental selves as more people around us display "tats." However, such personal decorations may have been as common in history as they are now, with archeological findings suggesting that as long as 5,000 years ago, Oetzi, a well-preserved "Iceman," had 57 tattoos on his body. In ancient Egypt, tattoos were familiar and in the South Pacific, they are widespread and marks of societal significance, while in Japan, as, frankly, in parts of Southern California, inking is a critical part of life in criminal gangs. There certainly are scholarly publications indicating that those with tattoos can evidence higher levels of mental disturbance or, among teenagers, a greater likelihood of maturity and adjustment issues than those without tattoos.
In Los Angeles in the 21st century, of course, tattoos need not mean anything more than do a pair of stylish shoes or a bright-colored jacket. But just because they're seemingly everywhere in our entertainment-industry driven metropolis doesn't mean that they won't pose quandaries, say for parents of young people who announce their desire for ink. Yes, they adorn people of all levels of education, income, race and color and women get half of the inkings these days. But pragmatism and the cosmetic surgery practitioners who are busy trying to erase skin designs testify that, no matter how fashionable, tattoos may be -- yes, Mom and Dad -- an adornment that must be carefully considered.
Unwanted Ink
If your tattoo's been around for years and your work or personal circumstances shift so that your impulse inking doesn't seem so hot, lasers offer a reliable removable tool. They're an improvement over what was available, including bleaches or wearing long-sleeves or other disguising clothes. The lasers break up the pigment in the tattoo with a high-intensity light beam. But if you're considering this process, research the options with care; choose a qualified dermatologist or health care professional to perform your tattoo removal. Inks respond differently to lasers, so some tattoos may require multiple procedures with different types of lasers to produce the results that will satisfy you. Black often is the easiest color to remove since it absorbs all laser wavelengths.
Most patients do not require anesthesia while undergoing tattoo removal, though a topical anesthesia or pain injections may be used. While laser tattoo removal is relatively safe and effective, infection and scarring still are risks. You also may experience hypo- or hyper-pigmentation, where patches of your skin may appear lighter or darker than surrounding areas.The ICO has fined Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance PLC (RSA) £150,000 following the loss of the personal information of nearly 60,000 customers.
An ICO investigation looked at the theft of a hard drive device containing 59,592 customers’ names, addresses and bank account details including account numbers and sort codes. The device also held limited credit card details of 20,000 customers, although CVC numbers and expiry dates were not affected.
ICO enforcement officers found that RSA did not have the appropriate measures in place to protect financial information by preventing the theft at its offices in West Sussex from happening. The device was stolen from company premises either by a member of staff or a contractor, the information on it was not encrypted and the device has never been recovered.
Steve Eckersley, ICO Head of Enforcement said:
“Customers put their trust in companies to keep their information safe, particularly financial information. “When we looked at this case we discovered an organisation that simply didn’t take adequate precautions to protect customer information. Its failure to do so has caused anxiety for its customers not to mention potential fraud issues.”
Mr Eckersley added:
“There are simple steps companies should take when using this type of equipment including using encryption, making sure the device is secure and routine monitoring of equipment. RSA did not do any of this and that’s why we’ve issued this fine.”
Notes to Editors
The Information Commissioner’s Office upholds information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals.
The ICO has specific responsibilities set out in the Data Protection Act 1998, the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003.
The ICO can take action to change the behaviour of organisations and individuals that collect, use and keep personal information. This includes criminal prosecution, non-criminal enforcement and audit. The ICO has the power to impose a monetary penalty on a data controller of up to £500,000.
Anyone who processes personal information must comply with eight principles of the Data Protection Act, which make sure that personal information is:
fairly and lawfully processed;
processed for limited purposes;
adequate, relevant and not excessive;
accurate and up to date;
not kept for longer than is necessary;
processed in line with your rights;
secure; and
not transferred to other countries without adequate protection.
Civil Monetary Penalties (CMPs) are subject to a right of appeal to the (First-tier Tribunal) General Regulatory Chamber against the imposition of the monetary penalty and/or the amount of the penalty specified in the monetary penalty notice.
Any monetary penalty is paid into the Treasury’s Consolidated Fund and is not kept by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).NEW YORK—Abortion is exactly the kind of debate Democrats don’t want right now: visceral, internally divisive, and more about hypotheticals than any actual candidate or race.
And, as with just about every other issue for a party in frantic panic over ever being in power again, it’s about whether the way to win is to proudly and unequivocally take a stand, or to decide they’ve already veered too far toward ideological purity and correct course.
Story Continued Below
The latest round of infighting was inadvertently kicked off by Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Rep. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, who said in an interview at the beginning of the month that abortion wouldn’t be a “litmus test” in backing candidates for next year’s existential battle for the House majority.
Abortion rights activists erupted, and Cecile Richards, the president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund, couldn’t be clearer on how wrong she thinks Luján is. “It’s a shocking sort of misunderstanding of actually where the country is … which is overwhelmingly supportive of abortion rights and also, who are the ground troops that kind of fuel the election of candidates,” Richards told me in an interview at her office in Lower Manhattan.
Democrats like Luján argue that to win back the conservative areas it has lost, the party will need to be flexible and let candidates break with liberal orthodoxy—including on hot-button national issues like abortion—in order to win. To Richards, that isn’t just wrong on principle, it’s dense on politics.
“Fundamentally, perhaps [what] he’s missing is, people can distinguish between their own personal feelings and what they believe government or politicians should do. And people even in some of the most conservative areas of the country who may themselves personally say, ‘I would never choose to have an abortion,’ or, ‘That’s not something that’s right for me,’ also, absolutely do not believe politicians should be making decisions about pregnancy for women,” Richards argues. “I think he’s totally wrong, and I’ll use every opportunity to convince him of that.”
Abortion keeps flaring up for Democrats. It overtook the unity tour that Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) did in April, after they backed a candidate for mayor of Omaha, Nebraska, who’d co-sponsored several abortion restriction bills in the state legislature. Now the DNC says there’s no question about the party’s position—“our party is pro-choice, it’s written into our platform, we believe that reproductive rights are economic rights,” says new DNC CEO Jess O’Connell—but in May, Perez hosted anti-choice Democrats at the party headquarters.
“There are going to be instances where not every one of our candidates will lead on every plank of our platform, but we’re not the ones trying to roll back reproductive rights,” O’Connell explains.
Perez also hosted frustrated representatives from several dozen women’s groups in May, though a Democratic official says what they were mostly complaining about was including Sanders in a unity tour at all.
Richards was much more conciliatory toward Sanders. She’s had “many conversations” with the Vermont senator since his comments in the spring, she says, adding, “it’s rare to see a candidate these days be successful because they oppose access to safe and legal abortion," and, in fact, candidates are “usually elected despite that fact, not because of it.”
Click here to subscribe to the full episode, to hear Richards discuss what she sees as the future of the Obamacare fight, whether she feels safe when people recognize her on the street, and what happened when she was called to the Obama White House immediately after Merrick Garland was nominated to the Supreme Court.
Democratic strategists and old party hands disagree. Winning, they say, requires reaching out to voters who’ve turned against them, many of whom view the abortion issue very differently. They see several of their wins in the 2006 wave, for example, as the result of being willing to have a tent big enough for abortion opponents, like former Rep. Jason Altmire from Trump-friendly Western Pennsylvania, or Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, hoping to win reelection next year in a state that swung hard for the president.
Luján—who has a perfect voting record by Planned Parenthood scoring, and was touted for it during the House deliberations on Obamacare repeal—declined an interview, but he provided a statement he asked me to print in full in the hopes of calming his critics. He’s called Richards several times since his initial comment but so far hasn’t connected.
“My record of protecting a woman’s health care, her right to choose and her economic security is consistent with the fundamental tenets of the Democratic Party, and those values are at risk each day that Republicans control Washington. We must take back the House so that Democrats can legislate on the principles that our party holds dear,” he wrote. “Primary voters will ask candidates where they stand on the issues and elect their Democratic nominees, and everyone must decide whether to support that Democrat over the Republican in the general election. The DCCC will fight every day to defeat as many Republicans as possible and take back the House.”
That’s old thinking, say some of the party’s new leaders—who agree with Richards that Democrats would demoralize more voters than they’d pick up if they fudged the abortion issues, and do better even with voters who don’t agree with them by clearly articulating themselves.
But Democrats are also in no mood to compromise on what they see as their core values.
“We’re not going back to the days of being lukewarm on choice,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said to cheers Saturday at the Netroots Nation gathering of progressives in Atlanta.
O’Connell says she hopes the white supremacists and neo-Nazis marching in Charlottesville over the weekend have clarified the stakes for the party, to push them away from these internal fights. “Those torches were lit, but they were lit months and weeks ago with the rhetoric coming out of Republicans—and I would much rather be talking about the economy, jobs, but also standing up for the values we support as Democrats.”
Richards’ larger point is that the Washington debate on abortion is out of date and out of touch with the rest of the country, with polls showing a trend toward higher support for abortion rights and against restrictions among most groups of voters. “Once you have a right for more than 40 years, people begin to assume that that’s actually established law,” she says, referring to the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision.
But it’s Washington and officials in state capitals that have her worried: She “absolutely” thinks the high court could overturn Roe if President Donald Trump gets more conservative justices confirmed, and, in the meantime, she fears the march of state laws like a Texas bill to require women to pay an extra insurance premium for abortion coverage.
That’s happening in an environment where every already politically charged issue is supercharged, and where Planned Parenthood’s federal funds have become a consistently central fight in Congress and on the campaign trail.
Richards’ response has been to turn Planned Parenthood, and herself as its leader, into an ever bigger political player. She said security has been stepped up at Planned Parenthood clinics. She sees a direct connection between some of the Republican rhetoric in Congress and the shooting at a clinic over Thanksgiving weekend in 2015.
Richards campaigned hard against Trump, but she says the first six months have been “much worse” than she expected. His comments in support of Planned Parenthood during the campaign gave her hope that he’d have an open mind, she says. So did outreach from Ivanka Trump. “She seemed to be very sympathetic. I don’t know if she’s ever been a Planned Parenthood patient, but clearly, she knew women who had been and she knew the great care that we provided,” Richards says.
They had one meeting, before the president’s daughter became a senior adviser in the White House. Richards hasn’t been pleased with what’s happened since, and Trump hasn’t called her again, nor did she call Trump after the president kicked off his term by reinstituting the global “gag order” on funding for nonprofits that deal with abortion, or when the president backed Obamacare repeal bills that included stripping funding.
“I guess I could. I feel like talk is cheap, right? It’s actually what are the actions we’re seeing and what we’ve seen out of this administration from Day One have had both barrels aimed at women,” Richards says.
The solution in her mind is to have more women in Congress—and to “absolutely” have a woman on the Democratic ticket in 2020.
“I don’t know who, but I think there’s a number of qualified women, and it would help,” Richards says. “I know the difference it makes.”Obstruction And How The Press Helped Punch The GOP's Midterm Ticket Five Years Of Enabling Radical Gridlock November 7, 2014 11:22 AM EST ››› Blog ›››››› ERIC BOEHLERT
In the days after the midterm elections, the New York Times has been a cornucopia of campaign commentary. Lots of attention is being paid to the issue of gridlock, which has defined Washington, D.C. since President Obama was first inaugurated. Lamenting America's "broken politics," Times columnist Nicholas Kristof opted for the both-sides-are-to-blame model, suggesting that, "Critics are right that [Obama] should try harder to schmooze with legislators." Across from Kristof on the Times opinion page, Republican pollster Frank Luntz urged Obama to find a way to create "common-sense solutions" with his Republican counterparts. (This, despite the fact that Luntz in 2009 helped Republicans craft their trademark strategy of obstructing Obama at every turn.) And the same day, while reviewing Chuck Todd's new book on Obama, which stressed that the president "wanted to soar above partisanship" though his two terms will likely "be remembered as a nadir of partisan relations," the Times book critic stressed Obama's "reluctance to reach out to Congress and members of both parties to engage in the sort of forceful horse trading (like Lyndon B. Johnson's) and dogged retail politics (like Bill Clinton's) that might have helped forge more legislative deals and build public consensus." So after six years of radical, blanketed reticence from the GOP, we're still repeatedly reading in the New York Times that while Republicans have put up road blocks, if Obama would just try harder, Republicans might cooperate with him. You can almost hear the frustration seeping through the pages of the Times: 'What is wrong with this guy? Bipartisanship is so simple. Republicans say they want to work with the White House, so why doesn't Obama just do it?' Indeed, cooperation is simple if you purposefully ignore reality--if you downplay the fact the Republican Party is acting in a way that defies all historic norms. If you adopt that fantasy version of Beltway politics today (i.e. the GOP is filled with honest brokers just waiting to work with the White House), then it's easy to dissect the problems, and it's easy to file both-sides-are-to-blame columns that urge bipartisan cooperation. What's trickier, apparently, is speaking truth to power and accurately portraying what has happened to American politics and noting without equivocation that the sabotage that has occurred is designed to ensure the federal government doesn't function as designed, and that it cannot efficiently address the problems of the nation. And this week, it all paid off for Republicans. "Obstruction has just been rewarded, in a huge way," wrote Michael Tomasky at The Daily Beast. Led by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Republicans vowed in 2009 to oppose every political move Obama made, not matter how sweeping or how minor. "To prevent Obama from becoming the hero who fixed Washington, McConnell decided to break it. And it worked," wrote Matthew Yglesias at Vox, in the wake of the midterm election results. New York's Jonathan Chait made a similar observation about McConnell: "His single strategic insight is that voters do not blame Congress for gridlock, they blame the president, and therefore reward the opposition." But why? Why don't voters blame Congress for gridlock? Why would the president, who's had virtually his entire agenda categorically obstructed, be blamed and not the politicians who purposefully plot the gridlock? Because the press has given Republicans a pass. For more than five years, too many Beltway pundits and reporters have treated the spectacular stalemate as if it were everyday politics; just more "partisan combat." It's not. It's extraordinary. (See here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.)
Note the press complaint Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) logged four years ago. It was about how timid the news media were in covering Republican obstructionism. Her critique still applies today:
You guys don't write about [it], and this is what they do. I don't see it, and I take five newspapers. I don't see it on the tube, and I don't see it anywhere. It's obstruction. It's obfuscation. It's bringing the body to a halt and it's been done dozens of times. And this is one more of those times... and they haven't gotten much criticism for it clearly or they would have stopped it.
On paper, the GOP's desperate maneuver in 2009 looked risky: Just gum up the works of Congress and stand in the way of every proposal from the new president who was just swept into office with a public mandate for change? Wouldn't commentators clobber the GOP for blind partisanship and hollow obstruction?
Looking back though, there was very little risk involved. There was no element of chance because within days of Obama being sworn into office, the Beltway press sent out clarion call: If Republicans don't cooperate with the new, wildly popular president, it's the president's fault.
And that press judgment hasn't budged since 2009.
If you think I'm exaggerating about this phenomenon taking root within days of Obama's first term, just go back to the White House's January 23, 2009 press conference. That's when NBC's Chuck Todd asked the new president if he would veto his own party's stimulus bill if not enough Republicans voted in support of it.
Todd's weird query highlighted the unheard-of double standard constructed almost overnight by the press with regard to the pressing issue of bipartisanship: If there was little or no bipartisan support for Obama's stimulus package, then it was Obama's fault, his fault alone, and the bill itself must be a P.R. failure.
Sure, the legislation might help save the collapsing economy at the time. (Fact: It did.) But in terms of optics and how it looked, the emergency stimulus bill was a loser. Why? Republicans didn't like it. The party that had just been pushed out of office didn't support the bill, so the press declared it to be an Obama failure and a key Republican victory.
"Republicans find their voice," cheered Politico after the GOP snubbed Obama weeks into his first term. The Los Angeles Times reported in January 2009, "[I]t was clear that [Obama's] efforts so far had not delivered the post-partisan era that he called for in his inauguration address." Meaning, nine days after being sworn in, Obama still hadn't ushered in a "post-partisan era."
Five years later the simple question remains: If Republicans emphatically do not want to cooperate in any meaningful way with Democrats, is there anything Obama can do to change that? Answer: No, not really. But according to the press, Obama is supposed to change that equation, or else he loses. He takes all of the blame.
That's how the game has been played since early 2009. And that's the dynamic Republicans just rode to midterm victory.Advertisement Profiles of Democrats running for US Senate in Pennsylvania Share Shares Copy Link Copy
The candidates running in Pennsylvania's April 26 primary for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate:JOHN FETTERMANPERSONAL: Fetterman, 46, is the mayor of Braddock, a tiny and dying steel town of barely 2,000 people just 10 miles east of Pittsburgh. Fetterman, 46, grew up in York, the child of an insurance broker. He has a master's degree in business from the University of Connecticut and a master's in public policy from Harvard University. He was first elected mayor of Braddock in 2005. His wife is a child of Brazilian immigrants. They have three young children.PROFESSIONAL: As Fetterman tells it, he was sleepwalking through life - "When I was growing up, I didn't really think about how lucky I was," he says - when, at 23, a friend of his who was on his way to pick him up was killed in a car accident. The event motivated him. He began mentoring children - including an 8-year-old AIDS orphan - and joined Americorps in Pittsburgh's predominantly black and poor Hill District, where he taught literacy classes to adults and high-school dropouts. After getting his degree from Harvard, he went to Braddock to start a GED program. A couple years into it, two of his students were gunned down in separate incidents several weeks apart. It prompted him to run for mayor and, in 2005, he won by one vote.As mayor, Fetterman has become a national media darling for his unusual appearance - He's 6'8", tattooed with a shaved head and tattoos - and his irreverent and unconventional efforts to help Braddock. Those efforts include starting youth and sustainable farming programs, and luring artists and edgy new businesses to town. He has raised money for college scholarships for Braddock public school students and a culinary training program for residents who work at a new eatery started in town by an award-winning Pittsburgh chef.PITCH: Fetterman says he is the most progressive candidate in the race and the one who has dealt most directly with core Democratic Party issues of battling inequality and gun violence. He has endorsed presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and he touts liberal credentials that include performing same-sex marriages in 2013, while Pennsylvania's law banning recognition of such marriage was still in force.___KATIE MCGINTYPERSONAL: McGinty, 52, has a long professional resume in state and federal government, a degree in chemistry from St. Joseph's University and a law degree from Columbia University. The ninth of 10 children, she grew up in Philadelphia, the child of a police officer, and became the first in her family to go to college. She lives in Wayne, Chester County, with her husband and three teenage daughters, two of whom she adopted as orphans in India while she was there for a year as an energy-research fellow.PROFESSIONAL: McGinty got her start in Washington, D.C., as first a congressional research fellow and then a legislative assistant to then-U.S. Sen. Al Gore, D-Tenn. After Gore became vice president, she joined the Clinton administration as chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and then became an environmental adviser to Gore's presidential campaign.Between stints in the private energy sector, she served five years as then-Gov. Ed Rendell's secretary for the Department of Environmental Protection. In that job, she fought to rein in mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants, impose tougher vehicle emission rules, strengthen safety measures in coal mines, secure taxpayer funding to underwrite clean energy projects, require cleaner sources of electric power and engage the private sector in cleaning up waste coal and acid mine drainage poisoning Pennsylvania's rivers.Later, she ran unsuccessfully for governor, losing to Tom Wolf in the 2014 Democratic primary. Still, Wolf tapped her to head a political action committee that he started to support Democrats in that fall's elections and then hired her as his chief of staff.PITCH: McGinty is the candidate who is supported by the Democratic Party's heavy-hitters, including U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Rendell, Wolf and major labor unions. She focuses her message on fighting for the middle class. She has endorsed Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Party's presidential primary race.___JOE SESTAKPERSONAL: Sestak, 64, retired Jan. 1, 2006, from a 31-year career in the Navy and became the highest-ranking military officer to serve in Congress when he was elected to represent suburban Philadelphia's 7th Congressional District. Sestak grew up in Delaware County, the third of eight children and the son of a Czechoslovakian immigrant father who was a sailor in World War II and later an engineer for Boeing, and his math teacher mother at Cardinal O'Hara High School. Sestak went to the U.S. Naval Academy and graduated second in his class. Before leaving the Navy, Sestak earned a master's degree and a Ph.D. from Harvard University. Sestak and his wife, Susan, live in Edgmont, Delaware County, with his teenage daughter. He often cites his daughter's successful battle with brain cancer as an inspiration to run for office.PROFESSIONAL: Sestak's Naval career included the war-time command of an aircraft carrier battle group in 2002, a stint in the Clinton White House as a defense policy adviser and starting Deep Blue, the Navy's counterterrorism strategy office. He reached the rank of vice admiral before retiring in 2006. That year, he was elected to the U.S. House, and served two terms, before declining to run again in favor of seeking then-Sen. Arlen Specter's seat.The party had approached him about challenging the then-Republican Specter in the 2010 election. But when Specter switched his registration to Democrat to avoid a bruising GOP primary challenge from Pat Toomey, Sestak lost the party's support. He ran anyway, and beat Specter, but lost to Toomey by 2 percentage points in the general election.PITCH: Sestak announced his candidacy in March, although he had been saying since 2013 that he was seriously considering another run. For his campaign kickoff, he walked across Pennsylvania - albeit in sections - and says he is running to restore voters' trust in government.___JOE VODVARKAPERSONAL: Vodvarka, 72, is the son of a former union president at a Pittsburgh-area spring manufacturing shop, Duer Spring, and went on to start his own spring manufacturing shop, which he runs with his wife and grown son. He lives in Clinton, Allegheny County.PROFESSIONAL: Vodvarka is a political unknown who nevertheless is making his third run for U.S. Senate. In 2010, Sestak mounted a successful court challenge to Vodvarka's nominating petitions and succeeded in getting him barred from the ballot. In 2012, Vodvarka's nominating petitions went unchallenged and he won 19 percent of the primary vote, losing to U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.PITCH: Vodvarka says he wants to return the Democratic Party to its roots as the "working man's party" and he opposes free trade. He promotes the idea of imposing tariffs on manufactured imports as a way to force American manufacturers to reverse the flow of factories, and jobs, out of the United States. Says Vodvarka, "I want to bring the jobs back."Royal Bank of Scotland has suffered another IT fiasco after admitting it could take until the weekend for customers to receive 600,000 payments that failed to enter accounts overnight.
RBS said the affected payments to and from customers’ accounts would be made by Saturday at the latest, as account holders bombarded the bank with complaints overmissing transactions including wages, tax credits and disability allowances.
The embarrassment comes seven months after RBS was fined £56m for an IT meltdown in 2012 that left 6.5 million customers locked out their accounts for days. Customers missing their payments on Wednesday included account holders at NatWest and Ulster Bank, which are both owned by RBS. Clients of RBS’s elite Coutts bank, where the Queen is reputed to have an account, were also affected.
The problem became evident when the RBS Help account tweeted: “Some customer payments are missing this morning – we are investigating this issue as a matter of urgency.” The bank told affected customers who needed funds urgently to get in touch.
Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury select committee, said delaying the delivery of some payments until Saturday was “unacceptable.” Warning that the bank was not acting quickly enough, he said: “RBS is suggesting that the delayed payments will be processed ‘no later than Saturday’. This looks unacceptable. Restoration of payments should be a top priority. It is crucial for those in the greatest financial need and also those who find it difficult to go to a branch.”
One customer affected by Wednesday’s glitch said she had not received hundreds of pounds in benefits. Lynne Kenny, 52, an RBS customer for 30 years, said the bank’s failure meant she did not receive her widow’s pension and working tax credit totalling about £500.
“I called my branch in Derby and they said I would have to come in to sort it out but my father passed away on Sunday and I’m in the middle of funeral arrangements. They said I would have to ring the complaints number. When I did, they said they didn’t expect to be able to put that money into my account today but I said I need money for food so they paid in £50.”
RBS Help (@RBS_Help) Some Customer payments are missing this morning – we are investigating this issue as a matter of urgency. 1/2
Other customers told the bank via Twitter they were worried about important payments not being made.
Joanna Lawson (@jolawson73) @RBS_Help My monthly Asda delivery has been cancelled due to no funds in account, I was relying on it.
Dr Sharon Connor (@SharonConnor3) @RBS_Help DWP payment not due today has not been received.
Jack Admans, 20, was stuck in Ashford Station after his account at thinkmoney, which uses RBS systems, failed to deposit his monthly wage. “Caught a train from Reading to Kent today at 8am for a job interview at 12. I was relying on my wages to be able to pay for the train journey. I’m stuck at the train station in Kent with no money and I am not allowed to leave the station without paying.
“I have missed my job interview. This was a once in a lifetime overseas job that I was interviewing for. It was a selection day and now I have missed out. I’m gutted.” Thinkmoney said it expected delayed payments to be come through by Friday at the latest.
A spokeswoman for RBS said the payments were not missing but were delayed. She said the computer problem that caused the delays had been fixed and that customers would not lose money as a result of the glitch.
The bank said: “We have fixed the underlying issue, we apologise for the inconvenience caused and we are working flat out to get these payments updated for our customers no later than Saturday.”
“To any customers concerned about the implications of this issue we advise them to come into a branch or get in touch with our call centres.
Wednesday’s episode is the latest system failure to hit the taxpayer-owned bank after an incident that left millions of customers shut out of their accounts in June 2012. The bank was fined by the City regulator last year over that incident and has since pledged to spend £750m to prevent a similar incident occurring.
Tyrie said he would write to RBS’s chief executive, Ross McEwan, and banking regulators calling on them to make sure there was an end to such failures. RBS’s previous chief executive, Stephen Hester was forced to forfeit his annual bonus over the IT failure in 2012.
The Financial Conduct Authority’s RBS team spent Wednesday checking on how RBS was dealing with the problem.
The regulator said: “The FCA is in contact with RBS. We will be working closely with RBS as it resolves the problem and to ensure there are steps in place to help consumers who are affected.”
The regulator told banks to make sure their computers are able to support millions of their customers’ accounts after RBS’s earlier failure highlighted the antiquated state of many of their systems.
Lloyds and Nationwide are among lenders to have had problems since, with the latter’s customers hit by online payment delays this week.
Have you been affected by RBS’s IT glitch? Share your experiences using the form below. We’ll use a selection in our reporting.You will have heard, I am sure, of the Google driverless car. In fact, if you're a regular reader you will be thoroughly familiar with the vehicle if only because this columnist seems to be always going on about it. The justification for this obsession is that the success of the autonomous vehicle project should serve as a wake-up call to anyone who is complacent about the superiority of humans to machines.
That said, there was something oddly reassuring about the original driverless cars. For one thing, they were regular Toyota and Lexus saloons equipped with $250,000 worth of computers |
Ohio State University campus and community,” after a student drove a car into a crowd of pedestrians and then stabbed people with a butcher knife.
According to former colleagues, Ivanka takes her role seriously and sees herself as a steadying hand in her father’s gonzo and divided orbit.
It’s a big adjustment for a new first daughter who has devoted her life to becoming a one-name international fashion and lifestyle brand. But one thing she has in her favor: Most of her potential mistakes are likely to be self-inflicted. She keeps such a tightly guarded circle of work and family that there are few channels privy to anything other than her carefully curated public persona. Even her licensing deals are kept close to the vest. She licenses her shoe line through Marc Fisher — a tenant of Trump Tower.
Before the election, Ivanka spent hours with consultants discussing how to expand her personal brand to include books, home decor, luxury accessories. That plan is now on hold.
Instead, she will be in uncharted territory. “Margaret Truman sometimes took her mother’s place at ceremonial events,” said Jellison. “Pat Nixon’s younger daughter, Julie, would fill in for her sometimes. But here in the last century, we haven’t seen something like this where the first lady wants to live in an entirely different city and let the first daughter take that larger role.”
For now, Ivanka plans to focus on making a positive case about issues she wants to make her own and stay silent on all the rest — she sees herself as a distinct, sometimes liberal voice, in her father’s orbit. It remains to be seen how long she can keep it up. In Aspen, it took a bloodless professional comic to cut through the gauze of bonhomie.
"My only problem with your dad," said Hasan Minhaj of "The Daily Show," an Indian-American, during an awkward public roast before a room of a few hundred high-powered business leaders and former government officials, in the recollection of two attendees, "is that he wants to send my dad out of the country." It was a moment somewhat reminiscent of the Donald Trump's more public 2011 skewering by President Barack Obama at the White House Correspondents dinner, where Trump grimaced through the jokes on his behalf.
But the Republican nominee's daughter was unruffled - she smiled graciously and took the hit.The Red Cross uses advertising to promote awareness about the needs of the world and the needs of your local area. They work to stress the importance of volunteers, of donating blood and donating financially to the causes that really matter. Here are my picks for some of their best :
1. Know What To Do - Canada
In order to ask guests "would you know what to do?" the Red Cross placed these stickers in public areas.
Source: luon.blog
2. Snow Globe - Pakistan
In order to ask for donations to help those in need during the winter, a local Red Cross in Pakistan used these ads.
Source:
3. Copycat - South Africa
Because of the success of the Amnesty International campaign, Red Cross has taken the same idea to say "It's not happening here but it's happening now."
Source: Daily Awesome
4. Before and After Corneal Surgery - Mexico
This ad was for the transplant center looking for corneal donations. It was used on postcards, outdoor posters, posters in hospitals and inserts in the local media.
Source: Ads of the World
5. Donors Wanted - India
What a moving campaign...these empty colorless objects shown without their normal life and color pull on the heart strings of those viewing the print ads created for the Indian Red Cross.
Source: Ads of the World
6. Outdoor Ads - Mexico
This series of cartoon/stick figure outdoor ads ran throughout Mexico this past year.
Source: Elzr
7. Empty - South Africa
In one thought provoking campaign, the Red Cross passed out empty water bottles that read, "Try living on this for three days."
Source: Wired
8. Earthquake Alarm System - San Fransisco, USA
Fake Earthquake Early Warning System alarms (a riff on the Tsunami early warning systems that have been implemented in the Pacific) were installed to promote being aware of earthquakes.
Source: Wired
9. Bag Your Blood - China
In attempt to get more volunteers to donate blood, these bags were used to represent actual blood bags connected to your arm.
Source: Ads of the World
What do you think?
Amy Gifford
Featured Blogger
InventorSpot.comOne of Germany’s most senior constitutional judges has said Angela Merkel’s government is violating the country’s constitution by failing to protect its borders.
In a report commissioned by Mrs Merkel’s partners, the Christian Social Union (CSU), Udo di Fabio says the federal government is constitutionally obliged to take control of border security when European institutions are impaired.
Mr. di Fabio, himself from an immigrant family, adds that the overwhelming migrant influx, and the subsequent suspension of the Dublin Convention, means that the German government is therefore obliged to step in, but has so far failed to do so adequately. In doing so, they committed a “historic breach of law”, N-TV reports.
Taking a shot at Merkel’s appeals to keep the borders open due to compassion for refugees fleeing war and persecution, he adds:
“The Basic Law does not guarantee the protection of all people worldwide through de facto or legal entry permits.”
The report will be of particular concern to the German authorities since article 20(4) of the German constitution says citizens have a right to “resist” any person seeking to violate the country’s constitutional order, “if no other remedy is available”.
It reads: “All Germans shall have the right to resist any person seeking to abolish this constitutional order, if no other remedy is available”.
Breitbart London reported in October on a group of citizens who are already trying to bring criminal charges against Angela Merkel for her open borders policies. Federal Prosecutors in Karlsruhe received over 400 letters calling them to open a formal investigation into whether the German Chancellor had committed high treason.
The letters argued that under German law, anyone who attempts to change the German republic by force or threat of force is guilty of treason, and that letting in hundreds of thousands of migrants satisfies this condition since it is changing the very makeup of the republic.
Citing article 20(4), the pro-forma letter states that to “safeguard our identity” their goal is “the overthrow of the chancellor”.
Mr di Fabio’s report was commissioned by the Bavarian Christian Social Union, which is in permanent coalition with Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats. Tensions have been rising between the region and federal government over the handling of the migrant crisis, with Bavarian president Horst Seehofer calling for a much tougher line.
Earlier this month, he called for an upper limit of 200,000 asylum seekers a year after over a million entered the country in 2015.
“Limiting the number of migrants must be the main objective in 2016,” he said.
“This figure (of 200,000) is tolerable and, in that case, integration would also work properly. For me, anything above that is excessive.”iTunes 11.3 includes all-new iTunes Extras for HD movies. iTunes Extras can include behind-the-scenes videos, short films, high-resolution image galleries, director's commentary, scenes, and more. These immersive iTunes Extras can also be enjoyed on Apple TV with Software Update 6.2 now, and will be available on iOS 8 this fall.
New iTunes Extras will be automatically added to your previously purchased HD movies as they become available - at no additional charge.
Apple today released iTunes 11.3, including several improvements to iTunes Extras, including new features for HD movies. This new content will be added automatically to previously purchased iTunes movies for free.Alongside the launch of iTunes 11.3, Apple has also announced that the Apple TV is finally supporting iTunes Extras with the 6.2 software update released late last month. The first-generation Apple TV supported iTunes Extras, but the feature was lost when Apple revamped the Apple TV back in 2010.Finally, Apple has also announced that iTunes Extras will be coming to iOS with the public release of iOS 8, which is slated for this fall.iTunes 11.3 can be downloaded from the software update tool in the Mac App Store or Apple's iTunes web page : Apple has added a feature page [ iTunes Store ] to the iTunes Store highlighting iTunes Extras and compatible movies. The page also includes a promotional video for iTunes Extras.Philosophy in Public Forum Debate By Danny Rego
There are many things that a debater can do to change the course of a round in their favor. Providing analysis can be the easiest way to do this but unfortunately, debaters have a tendency to rely on arguments with numbers behind them, and will sacrifice solid analytical argumentation for a simple figure. This is an ever-growing problem in the community that limits the quality of argumentation to the black and white world of statistics rather than the colorful world of critical thinking. Some stigmas exist for a reason but in debate, restricting yourself because of a stigma will be the difference between being good and being great. Breaking this stigma is easy; all that debaters need to do is start thinking about why the statistic matters, not just that it exists. I'd like to talk about two different types of argumentation that I believe can be truly compelling in rounds and can bridge this gap between statistics, warrants, and analysis: philosophy and meta-debate. When Public Forum debaters hear the word "philosophy," they tend to get chills down their spine as a reaction to something they are either scared of or don't believe in utilizing. Philosophy, though, is not as complex as most people think; all that it requires is some critical thinking to connect one thought to another. The full thought-process begs the question "why" rather that "what." For example, think of the Social Contract, the most commonly used and one of the easiest philosophic arguments. This rational idea, pioneered by Thomas Hobbes and fully explained by Jean-Jaques Rousseau, postulates that the reason that people choose to leave a state of chaos and allow their actions to be regulated by a government is for protection of themselves and their property. While this is an abridged version of the theory, the idea is simple and easily applicable to a variety of arguments; it is up to the debater to make a minor logical step to link this thought to an assertion. Why should the United States take action against a country that has nuclear weapons? -- Because nuclear weapons threaten the safety of U.S. citizens and it is the government's responsibility to protect its citizens. Why does the government have an obligation to protect its citizens? -- Because the citizens have sacrificed total freedom in exchange for protection. While my example may be overly simplified, it took just two questions to construct and support the assertion that the U.S. government should take action to protect its citizens because of the Social Contract. The difference between a statistics-based argument and this type of argument is analyzing not what the cause and effect are but why the cause led to the effect. The two main philosophical theories that are applicable to most resolutions are utilitarianism and deontology. These two allow the thinker to modify the cost-benefit comparison, which is vital to proving or disproving most debate topics. Utilitarianism is the idea that an action is just if it maximizes happiness and minimizes suffering; if the ends justify the means, the action is permissible. Deontology, on the other hand, is the idea that actions must follow accepted rules and norms; the means to an end cannot be justified if the means break the law. Utilizing these two theories is the challenge, though it is not a difficult one. In recent years, more debaters have been including "observations" or "frameworks" in their cases without even realizing that these modifications almost always boil down to either utilitarianism or deontology. I believe that the addition of these "observations" has contributed to an improvement in argumentation but they approach the key concepts of philosophy implicitly rather than explicitly. Addressing philosophical modifications explicitly is what will take the aggregate quality of arguments to the next level. The use of explicit modifications to the round itself is referred to as "meta-debate." Meta-debate arguments are those that ask why certain perspectives or arguments should or should not be used to evaluate arguments. Most of these arguments deal with the educational value, fairness, or quality of debate of certain framework mechanisms and why they should be used over others. The only way that the educational goal of the Speech and Debate activity can be upheld is to ensure that the debate environment is optimally fair to all participants; it is when this is not achieved that meta-debate comes into play. Theory in Lincoln-Douglas debate is the prime example of using meta-debate as a tool, but it is not the only way to address these concepts. In Public Forum debate, students are generally hesitant about referring to anything but the resolution itself in their argumentation when they really could address the reasons why argumentation is valid to upholding the goal of the activity. For example, a common argument in Public Forum is that real evidence of a past situation should always take priority over theoretical situations. This, though, is not the best or most efficient way of examining a topic. Therefore, a debater can argue that their opponents' claim that the tangible trumps the hypothetical is unreasonable because it limits the analysis of possibilities to what has already happened rather than what might happen in the future. These type of arguments are appealing to lay judges, who might have children competing in the tournament, because they want the debate activity to be the most educational experience for all students competing. These types of arguments also appeal to coaches and flow judges because they are strong logical arguments that are treated as regular arguments on the flow but that shape how the rest of the round is evaluated. Meta-debate arguments can be a powerful tool to expand the base of potential arguments and tip the debate in your favor. Philosophy is severely underutilized in debate, which is why the Champion Briefs staff decided to focus on philosophical perspectives in the October Public Forum Brief. We believe that providing an in-depth analysis of the topic based on different moral and logical approaches will provide readers with a better understanding of not only the topic, but also the debate event itself. Regardless of your interest in our October Brief, I hope that you will take the initiative to learn how to debate on a deeper level. I know that doing so will help you win more rounds and will improve the quality of debate across the board.Israeli Arabs who are disloyal to the State of Israel should have their heads chopped off, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said at an elections conference at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya this week.
"Whoever's with us should get everything – up to half the kingdom," Lieberman said Sunday, in a reference to King Ahaseurus' pledge to Queen Esther as described in the Book of Esther, which tells the story of the Purim holiday celebrated last week.
But Israeli Arabs who are disloyal to the state deserve a different fate, the chairman of Yisrael Beiteinu said at the "Voting for Democracy – 2015 Elections" election conference, Channel 2 News reported.
"Those who are against us, there's nothing to be done – we need to pick up an ax and cut off his head," Lieberman said. "Otherwise we won't survive here."
Prominent Israeli Arab MK Ahmad Tibi, who is No. 4 on the Arab parties' Joint List ticket, suggested a situation like that described by Lieberman would result in a Jewish version of the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
Joint List "will remove racists' and fascists' heads only through democratic means – bringing as many [Knesset] seats as possible and active participation in the election," The Jerusalem Post quoted Tibi as saying Monday. "The stronger we are, the weaker the Jewish Islamic State will be."
Lieberman also reiterated his position advocating the transfer of at least some of Israel's Arab citizens.
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"There is no reason for Umm al-Fahm to be part of the State of Israel," Lieberman said about a northern Israeli town populated by Arab citizens of Israel, according to the Channel 2 report. "Citizens of the State of Israel who raise a black flag on Nakba Day – from my perspective, they can leave, and I'm very happily willing to donate them to Abu Mazen," he said, referring to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.Each summer, Vivint dispatches a few thousand college students, mostly from universities in Utah, to sell alarm systems door to door. Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images and Shutterstock.
Dispatching clean-cut kids to peddle expensive solar panel systems door to door—it may sound like a concept for a Simpsons episode, or for a 21st century update of The Music Man.
But it has proved to be a path to riches for at least one American firm. In 2011, Vivint, an alarm company based in Utah, decided to get into the solar business. It deployed a mobile sales force, attracted a big investment from the private equity giant Blackstone Group in 2012, and quickly built its subsidiary, Vivint Solar, into the second-largest panel installer in the country, behind Elon Musk’s SolarCity. Last Wednesday, it staged an initial public offering that raised $330 million and valued Vivint Solar at $1.3 billion.
Vivint’s rapid success—it has convinced nearly 22,000 homeowners to go solar—highlights a recurring theme. When it comes to energy, resources matter, such as having lots of natural gas or animal manure. And technological breakthroughs matter, too, like substituting aluminum for steel in pick-up trucks. But what’s really helping America catch up to the rest of the world in renewable energy and reducing emissions is innovation in business models, marketing, finance, and selling. The greatest advances happen when good, old-fashioned, earnest American hucksterism meets the massive consuming force of the American people.
Solar power has grown rapidly in the U.S. in recent years, partly because the cost of panels has come down significantly and partly because of new methods of piecing together and selling those panels. On the wholesale level, we’ve seen the construction of giant solar farms in the southwest, some with the capacity of up to 250 megawatts or more—the first of their kind built in the world. At first constructed only with government backing, these solar farms are now attracting private capital.
On a retail level—selling systems to homes—the innovation has come in the marketing and sales of the systems. For years, the high upfront cost of solar systems acted as a barrier to adoption. In response, SolarCity pioneered the solar lease. With leases, homeowners don’t own the panels, but they do get to use the electricity produced by them without putting much money down. Vivint Solar relies on a simpler model: a power purchase agreement. Under a PPA, Vivint Solar owns the panels, while homeowners put no money down and agree to buy the output of the panels for 20 years, generally at a fixed price that is 15 to 30 percent below what they are currently paying. In states where regulations permit so-called “net-metering,” the homeowner gets the credit when the panels produce more than the house uses. That’s part of the reason Vivint Solar operates only in states where net metering is allowed and where the combination of solar resources and high utility prices make a PPA appealing. (Vivint Solar is active in seven states: Arizona, California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.)
Created in 2011, Vivint Solar was spun out of Vivint, a 15-year-old company based in Provo, Utah, with a distinct business model. Each summer, Vivint dispatches a few thousand college students, mostly from universities in Utah, to sell alarm systems door to door, on commission, in every state; the Vivint Solar subsidiary taps into the same labor force. Many of the salespeople already have experience as Mormon missionaries—about one-half of Vivint Solar’s sales force is Mormon—so they’re comfortable peddling new ideas to complete strangers and dealing with rejection. (A Reuters reporter who embedded with Vivint salespeople captured the strange phenomenon of door-to-door power plant sales.)
Another wrinkle in Vivint Solar’s business model: It directly employs the people who design, install, and maintain the systems. Marrying one-stop service to a simple power purchase agreement “takes all the complexity out of solar,” says Greg Butterfield, chief executive officer of Vivint Solar. This is a retail business that depends heavily on personal salesmanship and an ability to convince people to purchase a complex service. The big idea is not simply to recruit converts to solar, but for the converts to then function as evangelists. Butterfield says that salespeople typically return to a home on the day a system goes live. Why? “All the neighbors come around and talk,” he says. Later, when the first bill arrives—and the customer can see the savings for the first time—the salesperson returns again and asks for referrals.
This model works, but it takes a lot of effort and cash, with heavily front-loaded costs. Vivint Solar has to hire and train its workers, build offices, and install the systems before it starts collecting monthly payments. It’s shown impressive growth so far, especially considering that the company hasn’t relied on acquisitions—as data in the company’s prospectus shows, the company sold 2,669 systems in 2012, 10,521 systems in 2013, and another 8,625 in the first half of 2014. All told, the company has placed panels on about 21,900 houses in less than four years, with a collective capacity of 129.7 megawatts.
Vivint’s methods may be a pretty labor-intensive way of building the equivalent of a small power plant. But the company’s innovation—and value—lies precisely in the way it is turning electricity production into a door-to-door sales business., Married January 2010
after trav sent me a message on pof i was chatting to him on line and gave him my number we was texting and calling non stop for about a week then trav called me and asked if i wanted him to come see me in forster witch is the place i was living at the time and i said yes that would be great so trav came up we chatted got to no one and other and when trav left the next day i was like a part of me went away i felt the happyest i have ever been when trav was with me so then every weekend trav would come up and see me then in november trav got down on one knee and asked me to marry him and i said yes then in december i moved to newcastle to be with trav and we are living together and planning our wedding and we are both so happy Thanks pof for helping my sole mate find meSTRAVA integration with Polar Flow
16.12.2015
The wait is over! We are so happy to let you know that we have now finalized the Strava integration with Polar Flow. This means you can now automatically transfer your training sessions to Strava from the Flow web service.
Here’s how it works:
Log in to your Polar Flow account Go to settings in Flow Choose to ‘connect’ with Strava Accept the terms from the pop-up Strava opens up automatically after accepting the term. Sign in to your Strava account and authorize the connection from Strava as well You’re ready to roll!
After you have connected your Flow account to Strava, your training sessions are transferred automatically to Strava from that day onwards. If you want to transfer your earlier sessions from Flow to Strava, you can use the export function in our Flow service.
Just a heads up: Privacy settings differ slightly in Strava compared to our Flow web service;
If the privacy setting of your training sessions in Polar Flow is “Followers" or "Private", they will be private in Strava.
If you’ve set the privacy of your training sessions as "Public" in Polar Flow your training sessions will be synced as public to Strava as well.
Check out more practicalities of the Strava connection from our support document.
-Team PolarWe were treated to a guerilla demo of indie project GNOSIS at VR Connects London earlier this year and it made a lasting impression on us. The way it presents information to the user – and how it allows them to navigate it – is unlike anything we’d seen before.
Here, lone developer Robert Bogucki recounts the journey of creating an award-nominated data-rich VR artefact borne out of a passion for graphics and data, and reflects on what it means to do VR technology justice.
I’m a marine hydrographer by trade and a VJ /creative coder by passion; those disciplines are not as unrelated as they might seem. Hydrographic surveying involves a mix of earth sciences, IT, multi-sensor data fusion (GPS, inertial, sonar) and data processing. Working with the huge sea floor mapping datasets for charting or subsea construction would simply not be possible to the scale and accuracy required today without the advances in graphics processors brought about by the games industry.
Growing up as a gamer, I was always fascinated by how hardware capabilities and limitations unleash creativity.
Growing up as a gamer, I was always fascinated by how hardware capabilities and limitations unleash creativity; architectures of graphics and sound chips bringing about new artistic styles. My passion for graphics led me to ocean mapping and an MSc at the University of New Hampshire, where I created an Augmented Reality system using the open-source Ogre3D game engine, ARToolKit and OpenCV libraries.
Fusion of datastreams also features heavily in typical set-ups used by interactive media artists for installations/live performances; these often quite complex systems interface software and hardware via MIDI, OSC protocols, the DMX standard and video texture sharing.
Hydrographers usually work five weeks on, five off – leaving me time to engage in passion projects, which included Machineparanoia using Ogre3D game engine, Resolume and Spout. We progressed this by adding a Kinect sensor to allow festivalgoers to mix their dance moves into the projected VJ-mix for a German installation. This led to using Kinects to capture dance performances which became the basis of the project I’ve been working on ever since...
Gnosis Launch Trailer from VJ Rybyk on Vimeo.
List of topics covered in this article:He would later become one of the most hardline, conservative preachers in all of Islam but Abu Hamza was seduced on his arrival in the West by Britain’s most lascivious hotspots and a married woman.
Allowed into Britain from Egypt on a student visa, Hamza signed up for engineering classes in Brighton, the biggest party town in the country. He soon graduated from the drug-and-alcohol fueled beach party scene to London’s most sinful neighborhood.
He picked up work as a bouncer for a peep show in Soho, London’s red-light district, where prostitutes and drug-dealers in the late 1970s plied their trades in a network of narrow streets at the heart of the city. In among the gay bars and risqué bookshops, Hamza started working on the fringes of the sex industry. He told a court in New York on Wednesday, where he is on trial on terrorism-related charges, that he was later promoted to “co-manager of a strip club.”
He admitted that he had “looked forward to a Western life, American-style” as he had seen in the Hollywood movies before travelling to Britain as a 21-year-old student. He grew up in Alexandria on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast near Italy where foreigners were common, but Islamic restrictions were still commonplace.
Hamza, 56, who wears a hook on one hand, is currently on trial in New York accused of providing material support to al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, trying to set up a jihadi training camp in Oregon and conspiring to take Western hostages in Yemen, an incident that claimed the lives of three Britons.
When he touched down in Britain on July 13, 1979, he was known as Mustafa Kamel Mustafa. He was a good-looking man with broad shoulders who was described by friends as “a womanizer.” He soon met an Englishwoman named Valerie Traverso, who was already pregnant with a child by her husband, Michael Macias.
The husband and wife had recently separated but not divorced. Despite the legal impediment, Hamza convinced Traverso to marry him. It was a bigamous wedding but one that convinced the British immigration authorities that Hamza should be allowed to stay in the country. A decision the government would come to bitterly regret over the coming decades.
By 2003, the Labour government was desperately trying to revoke his citizenship and send him back to Egypt after a string of reprehensible statements that included celebrating 9/11 in his position as preacher at a London mosque.
In 2004, he was found guilty in the British courts on 11 counts related to the possession of a terrorist handbook and his radical sermons. In the same year, the U.S. requested his extradition for the offenses that he is now facing a decade later.
Before the more serious allegations came to light, Hamza was already one of the most hated men in Britain after tirelessly expressing his ultra-conservative views.
The depth of his hypocrisy emerged before a jury for the first time yesterday, as he attempted to blame Valerie Traverso for his lurch towards radical Islam. He said she had persuaded him to study Islam because she was interested in the religion. “She was persistent,” he said. “She pushed too hard.”
In the years after he became a British citizen in 1986, British women who converted to Islam were one of the many targets of his hate speech. “When they accept Islam, they think it’s a fashion, they become covered, become veiled and next day they have the bikini again,” he said.
Gays were another favorite target of sermons he gave while head of the radical Finsbury Park mosque in North London. He claimed Allah was responsible for HIV: “They have a common punishment amongst them and they have the virus to run after them wherever they go.”
And what of his first employers in London? They should be attacked, he has said. “Every place of iniquity, every brothel, every video shop which is selling naked, for the victorious party is a target,” he told his followers.
He told the New York jury this week that it is “painful” every time he sees written evidence of his hypocrisy. It must be difficult to miss.While the Red Ranger’s Power Sword will make its way to the Power Rangers Movie, evidently, any remaining weapons from the original TV show will not.
Per reports out of Brazil Comic-Con, the Power Rangers Movie cast confirmed in a live chat on-site that only the Red Ranger’s Power Sword will make its way into the feature film. This would confirm the exclusion of the remaining Power Weapons, as well as the Blade Blasters.
In the original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers TV show, each Ranger carried two weapons: a Blade Blaster which could convert from a blaster to a sword, and a specialized weapon that when combined with the other four, formed the mighty Power Blaster (seen below):
Power Sword (weilded by the Red Ranger)
Power Axe (weilded by the Black Ranger)
Power Lance (weilded by the Blue Ranger)
Power Daggers (weilded by the Yellow Ranger)
Power Bow (weilded by the Pink Ranger)
In October, the film’s re-imagined Power Sword was revealed by Saban Brands (seen below). But skepticism for fans set in when images of the remaining weapons never followed. On Friday, the first images of the Power Rangers Movie action figures were revealed, and once again, all weapons minus the Power Sword were nowhere to be seen.
While dedicated Power Rangers fans will find this as yet another deviation from the source material, perhaps Lionsgate is simply looking to take weaponry in a new direction. On the TV show, Rangers were often granted specialized weapons like clockwork, and sometimes, without purpose. In this film, the weapons could stand for something more significant, something more powerful, or perhaps something more difficult to earn.
The Power Rangers Movie hits theaters on March 24, 2017. Be sure to stay with Power Rangers NOW for all the latest updates on the upcoming feature film.
AdvertisementsOfficer Nicole Rhodes was having a hard time seeing Demouria Hogg when she shot him through his car's windshield, according to an Alameda County District Attorney investigation that was recently obtained through a Public Records Act request. But the shooting did not violate Oakland police policies and was determined by a DA investigator to be justified.
Rhodes and more than a dozen other Oakland police officers had been trying to wake Hogg for over an hour after they found him unconscious behind the wheel of a BMW on June 6 last year. Rhodes' sergeant had placed her at the front bumper of the car, looking straight at Hogg, to provide lethal cover while other officers broke out the driver's side window and hit him with a Taser. Rhodes said she was having a difficult time seeing Hogg through the glare of the windshield, but she told investigators that she saw him lean back and reach with his left hand toward the passenger seat, where she knew there was a gun.
A department rookie who had just graduated from the city's police academy six months earlier, Rhodes suddenly found herself anonymously embroiled in the escalating national controversy over police shootings. Hogg's death was the first fatal shooting incident by an Oakland police officer in more than two years. And like others nationwide, the incident sparked protests in Oakland, as many demanded answers that were slow to come.
Rhodes' name, and what exactly caused her to fire two shots into the BMW, are now public following the release of a February 8 report by Deputy District Attorney Briggitte Lowe clearing Rhodes of any criminal charges. The police department's internal review board also found no fault with her actions, according to officer Rhodes' attorney Stephen Betz.
The Oakland Police Department refused to name Rhodes for months, claiming there were credible and specific threats that had been made against her. Under a 2014 state Supreme Court decision, departments can withhold the names of officers involved in shootings only in cases where there are specific threats against the officer. Where there are no specific threats, the names must be made public. But even after Rhodes' name became a public record through the district attorney's office, Oakland police still refused multiple requests to release it. In an email, Oakland police spokeswoman Officer Johnna Watson cited "creditable threats and officer safety concerns in connection with this shooting." She declined to elaborate, however.
Rhodes' attorney Betz said he wasn't aware of any specific threats against her. "I do believe the department was concerned about her safety at first because this shooting gained some controversy in the community, but I am unaware of anything specifically directed at her," Betz said. "If there was something more concrete than general concern, it was never shared with me."
Attorney John Burris, who is representing Hogg's family in one of two lawsuits, said he hasn't received any information about threats against Rhodes either. "We haven't had any cases in recent memory where there's been any real threat," Burris said. "That typically doesn't happen here in Oakland, other than the one case we had with Oscar Grant. There hasn't been a highly charged case since then causing protests on a sustained basis."
While the district attorney's report sheds new light on the moments leading up to the shooting, some details provided by the multiple officers who witnessed the shooting appear to be inconsistent. The officers were told not to talk to each other immediately afterward, and were interviewed separately, as is standard procedure, according to the DA's report.
On Saturday, June 6, last year, Oakland firefighters came upon a gray four-door BMW 520i at about 7:30 a.m. as it was parked, still running, in a traffic lane on Lake Park Avenue near Lakeshore Avenue, essentially an off-ramp for the 580 freeway. The ramp sends drivers into a bustling commercial district full of bars, restaurants and stores. A 76 gas station is to the right of where Hogg was parked, and a Trader Joe's grocery store is beyond that. Lake Merritt is a few blocks to the left, and straight ahead Oakland's biggest farmers market was just getting underway, with farmers setting up booths and customers slowly arriving.
The firefighters peeked through the darkly tinted windows of the BMW and saw a gun on the passenger seat, so they retreated and radioed the police. Once police officers arrived, they set up a perimeter hundreds of feet from the car, pushing back the people in the farmer's market, blocking the freeway off-ramp and shutting down pedestrian traffic on Lakeshore.
Oakland police tried for over an hour to wake Hogg. They placed spike strips around all the car's wheels so if Hogg awoke and tried to escape by driving away his tires would flatten. They made commands over a loudspeaker and blasted their sirens. They fired beanbag rounds at his car, shattering a tail light, and they tried to break the windows with beanbag rounds also, but were unable to. Two officers then approached the car and broke the passenger windows with a hook.
Some of the officers reported that they heard Hogg talk as they broke his windows, saying either "Hey, what are you doing?" or "What's going on?" or "What the hell?" or "What the fuck?" After he went back to not moving and appeared to be asleep. Some officers thought they might have seen his hands move despite their difficulty seeing into the car. After breaking the windows, the officers retreated and announced more commands over a loudspeaker. But according to the DA's report, they received no response from Hogg.
During the standoff, they checked the car's license plates and learned it was reported in connection to a burglary in San Francisco the night before and had been involved in a police chase.
Sergeant Wilson Lau then came up with a plan for two officers to distract Hogg through the broken passenger side window while another officer broke the driver's side window with a crowbar. Rhodes was to provide lethal cover from the front of the car, pointing her gun at Hogg through the windshield. Officer Daniel Cornejo-Valdivia was assigned to hit Hogg with a Taser as soon as the window was shattered. Cornejo-Valdivia yelled "Taser, Taser" and fired after the window was broken, but he didn't realize Hogg had been shot by Rhodes until after they pulled him through the broken window.
There were differing accounts among the officers as to whether Hogg had actually been hit with the Taser as he was shot by Rhodes. Rhodes told investigators that Taser prongs were still in Hogg as the other officers pulled him through the broken driver's side window. But Cornejo-Valdivia, the officer who fired the Taser, was unsure whether he hit H |
for seeing how easy it is to drive a headphone is our voltage required to get 90dB measurement.
Isolation Measurement
What it means: This is a measure of a headphone's ability to isolate the listener from external ambient noise. If there is no attenuation the line will be flat. If the headphone attenuates outside sound, the graphed data will begin to get lower, which represents a reduction of sound level at those frequencies.
How we measure: In this case, we measure the Head Acoustics response to pink noise generated by a speaker mounted about one meter from the head. Then we simply put the headphones on the head and measure the spectrum of sound the head “hears”. We then calculate the difference between the two measurements to calculate how much noise attenuation the headphones are providing over the entire audible frequency range.
Even open headphones cut out a moderate amount of noise above 3kHz. Most sealed headphones will provide significant amounts of attenuation down to a few hundred Hertz. Noise-canceling headphones will sometimes extend this attenuation down just below 100Hz. In-ear headphones, and particularly Shure and Etymotic, have the best isolation by far.
500 Hz Square Wave Response
What it means: Square waves are signals that have many frequency components; the rising and falling edges are fast, and the flat top and bottom are slow. This is a bit of an oversimplification. In fact, square waves can be shown to be made of an infinite series of sine waves at the fundamental square wave frequency and all the odd harmonics in a very specific amplitude and time (phase) relationship.
How to interpret the line:
While frequency response graphs will tell you about the amplitude response of headphones at various frequencies, it doesn't tell you about the ability of the headphones to keep all differing frequency components lined up in time. For an audio signal to sound coherent and natural the high-speed edges of the signal need to travel through the system at the same speed as the low-frequency components.
When phase is smeared, the square wave starts to look quite ragged as all its components become misaligned. For the upper mid and treble frequencies, the 500 Hz square wave is very sensitive to phase errors.
50 Hz Square Wave Test
What it means: The principles are very similar to the high-frequency test, but the lower 50Hz square wave test tells you more about bass and low-mids performance.
How to interpret the line: The headphone's ability to maintain a constant pressure for the length of the flat top and bottom is a measure of how well it can reproduce low-frequency notes. This is very difficult as the driver is small with a limited excursion and the earcup is fairly leaky and lets pressure out easily. In no case we've observed has a headphone been able to keep a truly flat line; ear canal headphones can come the closest as they only have a small, sealed volume of air in the ear canal to compress. But the ability for the headphones to create a straight line at the top and bottom, even if it's tilted will indicate coherent performance in the lows. The noise at the edges is less important on this graph as it is more observable with the 500Hz square wave test.Fionn Profile Joined October 2009 United States 3012 Posts Last Edited: 2016-01-19 01:50:44 May 15 2013 04:00 GMT #1 Photo: Daily eSports (데일리e스포츠)
Welcome to the last preview for the Quarterfinals. This write-up contains the review of the match KT B vs. MVP Ozone and we are trying to hype you up for the upcoming Quarterfinals CJ Blaze vs. SKT T1 #1 and CJ Frost vs. Najin Sword.
As always, I hope you enjoy it and join us on
Signing off,
Chexx
Welcome to the last preview for the Quarterfinals. This write-up contains the review of the match KT B vs. MVP Ozone and we are trying to hype you up for the upcoming Quarterfinals CJ Blaze vs. SKT T1 #1 and CJ Frost vs. Najin Sword.As always, I hope you enjoy it and join us on Teamliquid
Table of Contents
Quarterfinal #2 recap
Interview
Quarterfinal #3 Preview
Quarterfinal #4 Preview
KT Rolster B vs. MVP Ozone
By: Chexx
Introduction
The last game KT B played in OGN was anticlimactic, as they failed to take their match against CJ Frost seriously, hoping to face a ‘weaker’ team in the Quarterfinals. With many fans in Korea angry about KT B’s actions, MVP Ozone went into this series buoyed by the anti-KT sentiment.
Game one:
KT B picked an aggressive Bottom lane with Caitlyn and Fiddlesticks, who took their tower at 6 minutes into the game and immediately switched to midlane to try for a second early tower kill. Imp and Mata followed them to deny the quick second tower but in the meantime InSec secured the first dragon for KT B. At the 12 minute mark, Score and Mafa destroyed the second tower in mid, then immediately went to top lane and took MVP’s last outer turret quickly after. By 15 minutes into the game, KT B was already nearly 4k gold ahead without any teamfight. MVP Ozone finally made their first move when Dade teleported in with homeguard boots and caught InSec in a rune prison. This was followed up by a nice absolute zero from Homme and a very good chain of corruption by Imp. Mafa channeled Crowstorm but DanDy showed a quick reaction and kicked him out of the MVP Ozone camp. In the end MVP won the first big fight, although they were still behind in gold. Dragon respawned and KT B secured it for another ~1k gold. This time however, MVP was able to gain two additional kills.
This trend continued - KT B tried to gain an advantage through global objectives while MVP Ozone tried to gain its advantage through kills. KT B is famous for doing fast and early Baron’s and this game was not different at 17 minutes KT B nearly snuck a Baron but MVP Ozone caught them right as they finished. The result was Baron for KT B, but two kills for MVP Ozone. When Baron respawned KT B tried to sneak it again but this time MVP reacted faster but they could not steal Baron from KT B. MVP pick up 3 kills this time, but they were still behind in gold.
KT B finally managed to win a teamfight after they caught Homme out of position and ssumday got a perfect empowered QE combination from Jayce on MVP off which allowed them to win the team fight and gain their first inhib. Baron the third was the next big objective on the list of both teams. MVP misused their Teleport-Homeguard Ryze, which allowed KT B to take the Baron because MVP was left with no means to engage on them. KT B took their third Baron and wiped the floor with MVP in the following teamfight, taking the first win.
As the Monte and DoA pointed out, KT B used the PvE approach and only did PvP after they farmed their items.
MVP: Ssumday on Jayce (5/0/3)
Ssumday played phenomenally on Jayce. He nearly hit every empowered Q and forced MVP back before they could even deal any damage to KT B. In addition he had the best KDA rating on his team and participated in 89% of the kills.
Game two:
Dade did not have a good start in this game. He gave First Blood to Ryu and a few minutes later he died again thanks to a lack of wards against InSec’s Zac. In addition the first dragon of the game went to KT B. It looked like that KT B was in full control of the second game and looked to lock up their second win of the night. At around ~ 13 minutes two fights broke out simultaneously. In the toplane ssumday challenged Imp to a 1v1 while in midlane a teamfight broke out with both teams getting two kills out of it. In the following minutes KT B showed what not to do against MVP Ozone. A low health Ryu attempted to stop the split-pushing Imp, but Imp sought the 1v1 under the enemy tower, killed Ryu, and got away scott free.
After respawning, MVP secured their first dragon but the crafty Imp stayed behind, waiting for the prey he knew would come. Ryu once again was caught and slain. Shortly afterwards, ssumday challenged Imp but perfect kiting from Imp secured him his fourth kill. Now, 16 minutes into the game, Imp’s Vayne was 4/0. From this point on MVP was the dominant team on the map and they rode their advantage, pressuring the map. While MVP was sieging KT B’s second tier towers, KT B decided to engage on MVP. InSec jumped into the midst of MVP but was Condemned immediately and lost half his hp before ssumday could dive on Imp. In the meantime Homme used Slicing Maelstrom to zone the three other members of KT B out of the fight. This allowed MVP to easily roll KT B and gain four kills and two towers. MVP Ozone tried to further extend their lead by taking Baron but InSec managed to pull off one of the most stylish Baron steal with Zac - he bounced in, Smited Baron and then flashed out. Sadly, he was still hunted down by Imp. The last teamfight was at the Inhibitor of KT B. Zac jumped in and knocked Imp out of the fight but Homme was once again able to zone the entire whole enemy team and opened space for Vayne to operate. Only ssumday was able to stick to Vayne but only a minor speedbump for Imp. MVP destroyed KT B and forced the surrender, tying up the series 1:1.
MVP: Imp on Vayne (7/0/4)
Imp managed to bring his team back into the game after they were early behind with four solo kills. He not only carried his team on his back, but also struck fear into the hearts of KT B.
Game three:
MVP Ozone invaded KT B blue right after Mafa and ssumday came back from placing their ward in the tribrush. Mafa checked the brush at Blue, did not hit anybody, and walked right into his death. Several minutes later, ssumday backed to base while InSec showed himself in the toplane, allowing MVP Ozone to take a two man dragon. However Imp and Dade’s attempts to defend their bottom tower went to waste as their dead corpses watched the tower crumble. 15 minutes into the game MVP Ozone tried to take the second dragon of the game but this time KT B was prepared and fought MVP while they were attacking dragon. Already weakened by Dragon, MVP found themselves helpless against the combo of InSec’s Curse of the Sad Mummy which was overlapped with a Bullet Time from Score. KT B swept the fight three kills to one and then followed up by taking the mid tower as well.
When all players had respawned, both teams faced off again at Dragon but MVP once again were struck by the Amumu-MF combo and KT B once again won the fight three kills to two. Third time was the charm however on MVP’s third attempt, killing the Dragon before KT B could even react. 20 minutes into the game, KT B was up 2 towers and 4 kills, but only had 2k gold.
Momentum began to shift away from KT B as they began sieging the second tier mid tower of MVP Ozone. InSec once again went in with Amumu and tried to start up the Curse of the Sad Bullet Time. However, KT B discovered that when “Press R to Win” team compositions whiff their Ultimates, they are screwed.
+ Show Spoiler +
With InSec only hitting 2 people Score’s Bullet Time was lackluster, with Imp not even being touched at all. As both Ultimates faded from the battlefield, Imp’s Vayne tumbled in and cleaned up winning the battle five kills to three for MVP. MVP continued to close the gold lead, and six minutes later from that teamfight went for Baron. InSec once again attempted the Hail Mary steal but Homme’s Slicing Maelstrom zoned him away, taking 50% of InSec’s health for good measure. When InSec finally managed to engage on MVP, a quick Condemn forced him back out of the Baron Pit and ensured his Curse of the Sad Mummy once again only hit two people. With Score’s Bullet Time late as well the Baron’ed up MVP easily wiped the floor with KT B, acing them five for zero, taking a 4k gold lead and destroying many of KT’s towers. The following two teamfights followed a similar story as the past two, with poor Ultimates by KT B, Homme protecting Vayne with his Slicing Maelstorm and impecable positioning by Imp resulting in KT B losing fight after fight. Even in the last teamfight, when it finally seemed that KT B had managed to catch Dade out of position, he simply used his living shadow to escape over a wall, leaving KT B out of position as MVP Ozone came in to roll over them all. The third game MVP Ozone as they went into match point two games to one.
MVP: Imp on Vayne (13/2/4)
With 13 kills Imp contributed more than 50% of the kills to his team. Additionally his superior positioning and his mechanics secured him his second MVP Award of the day.
Game four:
In the draft phase Imp finally received a respect ban on Vayne, but KT B still left Kennen open for Homme. The game started with a quick First Blood for KT B but MVP immediately retaliated, picking up two kills of their own. The next highlight moment was when DanDy decided to engage alone on three KT B members as his tower was being destroyed, knowing Imp and Mata were on their way to back him up. While the tower still fell, MVP pulled ahead with a four for two trade in their favor. Two minutes later MVP Ozone start killing Dragon. InSec tried to come in and make the Smite steal plays Lee Sin, but failed to do so. Despite trying to make a valiant escape through the dragon pit, he could not escape the death grip of Imp and Homme who followed him and slayed him lie they did the Dragon.
InSec soon redeemed himself however, making on of the best Lee Sin
After this fight MVP Ozone were too much ahead in items and KT B stood no chance, especially with InSec getting caught out of position again. Homme continued to make incredible plays on Kennen, performing an impeccable job protecting Imp and zoning the enemy out with his ultimate and stuns.
+ Show Spoiler +
Here he is zoning out three KT B members, preventing them from engaging onto MVP Ozone as InSec is isolated and picked off.
Despite being criticised as one the weakest link on MVP, Homme he completely stepped it up this series on Kennen. Before the match he sat down asked his team which Champions they want him to play and just practiced like a maniac.
MVP: Mata on Zyra (3/2/18)
Mata had perfect roots every time which allowed MVP Ozone to catch InSec’s slippery Lee Sin multiple times to gain advantages in teamfight and the global objective control. In addition, he participated in 84% of the kills of MVP Ozone and made DoA proud when he scored a double kill.
Final Thoughts:
KT B thought they had the easier opponent but MVP Ozone demonstrated that in the Round of 8 of the OGN, there are no easy opponents left anymore. KT B also underestimated Homme’s Kennen, which was a massive playmaker.. He knew when to dive the enemy team and when to use Maelstrom to stop them on engaging on Imp. Additionally, MVP Ozone managed to keep up with KT B in global objectives, a weakness they had in the past due to a lack of a distinct game plan. While normally it would be Imp carrying MvP Ozone to victory, this victory in the Quaterfinals was a team product where every player pulled their own weight.
The last game KT B played in OGN was anticlimactic, as they failed to take their match against CJ Frost seriously, hoping to face a ‘weaker’ team in the Quarterfinals. With many fans in Korea angry about KT B’s actions, MVP Ozone went into this series buoyed by the anti-KT sentiment.KT B picked an aggressive Bottom lane with Caitlyn and Fiddlesticks, who took their tower at 6 minutes into the game and immediately switched to midlane to try for a second early tower kill. Imp and Mata followed them to deny the quick second tower but in the meantime InSec secured the first dragon for KT B. At the 12 minute mark, Score and Mafa destroyed the second tower in mid, then immediately went to top lane and took MVP’s last outer turret quickly after. By 15 minutes into the game, KT B was already nearly 4k gold ahead without any teamfight. MVP Ozone finally made their first move when Dade teleported in with homeguard boots and caught InSec in a rune prison. This was followed up by a nice absolute zero from Homme and a very good chain of corruption by Imp. Mafa channeled Crowstorm but DanDy showed a quick reaction and kicked him out of the MVP Ozone camp. In the end MVP won the first big fight, although they were still behind in gold. Dragon respawned and KT B secured it for another ~1k gold. This time however, MVP was able to gain two additional kills.This trend continued - KT B tried to gain an advantage through global objectives while MVP Ozone tried to gain its advantage through kills. KT B is famous for doing fast and early Baron’s and this game was not different at 17 minutes KT B nearly snuck a Baron but MVP Ozone caught them right as they finished. The result was Baron for KT B, but two kills for MVP Ozone. When Baron respawned KT B tried to sneak it again but this time MVP reacted faster but they could not steal Baron from KT B. MVP pick up 3 kills this time, but they were still behind in gold.KT B finally managed to win a teamfight after they caught Homme out of position and ssumday got a perfect empowered QE combination from Jayce on MVP off which allowed them to win the team fight and gain their first inhib. Baron the third was the next big objective on the list of both teams. MVP misused their Teleport-Homeguard Ryze, which allowed KT B to take the Baron because MVP was left with no means to engage on them. KT B took their third Baron and wiped the floor with MVP in the following teamfight, taking the first win.As the Monte and DoA pointed out, KT B used the PvE approach and only did PvP after they farmed their items.Ssumday played phenomenally on Jayce. He nearly hit every empowered Q and forced MVP back before they could even deal any damage to KT B. In addition he had the best KDA rating on his team and participated in 89% of the kills.Dade did not have a good start in this game. He gave First Blood to Ryu and a few minutes later he died again thanks to a lack of wards against InSec’s Zac. In addition the first dragon of the game went to KT B. It looked like that KT B was in full control of the second game and looked to lock up their second win of the night. At around ~ 13 minutes two fights broke out simultaneously. In the toplane ssumday challenged Imp to a 1v1 while in midlane a teamfight broke out with both teams getting two kills out of it. In the following minutes KT B showed what not to do against MVP Ozone. A low health Ryu attempted to stop the split-pushing Imp, but Imp sought the 1v1 under the enemy tower, killed Ryu, and got away scott free.After respawning, MVP secured their first dragon but the crafty Imp stayed behind, waiting for the prey he knew would come. Ryu once again was caught and slain. Shortly afterwards, ssumday challenged Imp but perfect kiting from Imp secured him his fourth kill. Now, 16 minutes into the game, Imp’s Vayne was 4/0. From this point on MVP was the dominant team on the map and they rode their advantage, pressuring the map. While MVP was sieging KT B’s second tier towers, KT B decided to engage on MVP. InSec jumped into the midst of MVP but was Condemned immediately and lost half his hp before ssumday could dive on Imp. In the meantime Homme used Slicing Maelstrom to zone the three other members of KT B out of the fight. This allowed MVP to easily roll KT B and gain four kills and two towers. MVP Ozone tried to further extend their lead by taking Baron but InSec managed to pull off one of the most stylish Baron steal with Zac - he bounced in, Smited Baron and then flashed out. Sadly, he was still hunted down by Imp. The last teamfight was at the Inhibitor of KT B. Zac jumped in and knocked Imp out of the fight but Homme was once again able to zone the entire whole enemy team and opened space for Vayne to operate. Only ssumday was able to stick to Vayne but only a minor speedbump for Imp. MVP destroyed KT B and forced the surrender, tying up the series 1:1.Imp managed to bring his team back into the game after they were early behind with four solo kills. He not only carried his team on his back, but also struck fear into the hearts of KT B.MVP Ozone invaded KT B blue right after Mafa and ssumday came back from placing their ward in the tribrush. Mafa checked the brush at Blue, did not hit anybody, and walked right into his death. Several minutes later, ssumday backed to base while InSec showed himself in the toplane, allowing MVP Ozone to take a two man dragon. However Imp and Dade’s attempts to defend their bottom tower went to waste as their dead corpses watched the tower crumble. 15 minutes into the game MVP Ozone tried to take the second dragon of the game but this time KT B was prepared and fought MVP while they were attacking dragon. Already weakened by Dragon, MVP found themselves helpless against the combo of InSec’s Curse of the Sad Mummy which was overlapped with a Bullet Time from Score. KT B swept the fight three kills to one and then followed up by taking the mid tower as well.When all players had respawned, both teams faced off again at Dragon but MVP once again were struck by the Amumu-MF combo and KT B once again won the fight three kills to two. Third time was the charm however on MVP’s third attempt, killing the Dragon before KT B could even react. 20 minutes into the game, KT B was up 2 towers and 4 kills, but only had 2k gold.Momentum began to shift away from KT B as they began sieging the second tier mid tower of MVP Ozone. InSec once again went in with Amumu and tried to start up the Curse of the Sad Bullet Time. However, KT B discovered that when “Press R to Win” team compositions whiff their Ultimates, they are screwed.With InSec only hitting 2 people Score’s Bullet Time was lackluster, with Imp not even being touched at all. As both Ultimates faded from the battlefield, Imp’s Vayne tumbled in and cleaned up winning the battle five kills to three for MVP. MVP continued to close the gold lead, and six minutes later from that teamfight went for Baron. InSec once again attempted the Hail Mary steal but Homme’s Slicing Maelstrom zoned him away, taking 50% of InSec’s health for good measure. When InSec finally managed to engage on MVP, a quick Condemn forced him back out of the Baron Pit and ensured his Curse of the Sad Mummy once again only hit two people. With Score’s Bullet Time late as well the Baron’ed up MVP easily wiped the floor with KT B, acing them five for zero, taking a 4k gold lead and destroying many of KT’s towers. The following two teamfights followed a similar story as the past two, with poor Ultimates by KT B, Homme protecting Vayne with his Slicing Maelstorm and impecable positioning by Imp resulting in KT B losing fight after fight. Even in the last teamfight, when it finally seemed that KT B had managed to catch Dade out of position, he simply used his living shadow to escape over a wall, leaving KT B out of position as MVP Ozone came in to roll over them all. The third game MVP Ozone as they went into match point two games to one.With 13 kills Imp contributed more than 50% of the kills to his team. Additionally his superior positioning and his mechanics secured him his second MVP Award of the day.In the draft phase Imp finally received a respect ban on Vayne, but KT B still left Kennen open for Homme. The game started with a quick First Blood for KT B but MVP immediately retaliated, picking up two kills of their own. The next highlight moment was when DanDy decided to engage alone on three KT B members as his tower was being destroyed, knowing Imp and Mata were on their way to back him up. While the tower still fell, MVP pulled ahead with a four for two trade in their favor. Two minutes later MVP Ozone start killing Dragon. InSec tried to come in and make the Smite steal plays Lee Sin, but failed to do so. Despite trying to make a valiant escape through the dragon pit, he could not escape the death grip of Imp and Homme who followed him and slayed him lie they did the Dragon.InSec soon redeemed himself however, making on of the best Lee Sin initiations seen in the OGN. Using his Resonating Strike, InSec jumped onto Mata before placing a ward behind Imp, leaping to the ward and then kicking Imp right into the waiting maw of the KT B line up and a tower. Having lost Imp so early, MVP stood no chance against KT B, allowing them to take the advantage. But it seemed that after such a beautiful play InSec was out of fuel. Indeed, DoA’s opening words in Game 4 came to haunt KT as Sona’s music from KT B simply caused MVP’s Zyra’s plants to grow better with Mata’s Grasping Roots snaring Lee Sin and killing him right as the next teamfight started. With one member already dead KT B was in the same situation MVP was in the previous fight, and MVP Ozone took the fight four for one. While the following teamfight KT B took an early lead three kills to two, Dade’s Jayce quickly turned the tide and one Quadrakill later KT B were Aced.After this fight MVP Ozone were too much ahead in items and KT B stood no chance, especially with InSec getting caught out of position again. Homme continued to make incredible plays on Kennen, performing an impeccable job protecting Imp and zoning the enemy out with his ultimate and stuns.Here he is zoning out three KT B members, preventing them from engaging onto MVP Ozone as InSec is isolated and picked off.Despite being criticised as one the weakest link on MVP, Homme he completely stepped it up this series on Kennen. Before the match he sat down asked his team which Champions they want him to play and just practiced like a maniac.Mata had perfect roots every time which allowed MVP Ozone to catch InSec’s slippery Lee Sin multiple times to gain advantages in teamfight and the global objective control. In addition, he participated in 84% of the kills of MVP Ozone and made DoA proud when he scored a double kill.KT B thought they had the easier opponent but MVP Ozone demonstrated that in the Round of 8 of the OGN, there are no easy opponents left anymore. KT B also underestimated Homme’s Kennen, which was a massive playmaker.. He knew when to dive the enemy team and when to use Maelstrom to stop them on engaging on Imp. Additionally, MVP Ozone managed to keep up with KT B in global objectives, a weakness they had in the past due to a lack of a distinct game plan. While normally it would be Imp carrying MvP Ozone to victory, this victory in the Quaterfinals was a team product where every player pulled their own weight.
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Winner Interview
By: Mafia & Chexx
Q: You reached the Semifinals. How do you feel?
‘Imp’: It’s our first time being in the semifinals. It feels really good and I want to win the tournament.
‘Mata’: I did not think that I will reach the Semifinal in my progamer debut season. Before the season started, our goal was to be in the Semifinals. Now that we reached our goal I am feeling very happy.
‘Imp’: Mata achieved in his debut a win in Club Masters and is in the Semifinals of OGN Spring Season (laughs).
Q: Many people anticipated a win from KTB. What did you think?
‘Imp’: It definitely didn’t feel good. I wasn’t scared of KT B but I was a little bit worried. But our team played really well today.
‘Mata’: I had similar thoughts. As a pro if we battled, I thought we could be disadvantaged. But we felt unbeatable last couple days. Insec and Ssumday both joined teams during the off-season. We thought we were superior in every area except jungle. Today, Insec showed disappointing plays which led us to winning a bit easily.
Q: You lost first match in game objectives. Were you nervous at all?
‘Imp’: We weren’t nervous. As long as we didn’t go overboard on certain plays, we felt we would win the game.
Q: In the second match the early phase was not good. When you made the solokills did you think we can win this?
‘Imp’: I thought I can carry us. Also score lost a lot of cs. Thats why I carried the game.
Q: Excluding Vayne, which champion do you have the most confidence?
‘Imp’: If I was stuck with one Champion I can only play that champion. In the past I played Ezreal and Caitlyn as mains. Now I am stuck with Vayne. In fact, I didn’t want to play Vayne today. But we lost our first match, so I picked a hyper carry in Vayne.
Q: When you picked Vayne. Did the team have rejections?
‘Imp’: They objected. Recently in practice I didn’t play Vayne. I practiced Varus and Caitlyn.
‘Mata’: Last week he only practiced Tristana (laughs). In tournaments he needs to play his confident, best champions.
‘Imp’: In Club Masters I only practiced Caitlyn but I was very good on Ezreal (laughs).
Q: How did you feel about the Vayne ban?
‘Imp’: It felt great. Even favorites KT Rolster B was aware of my Vayne so I felt my Vayne is really strong.
Q: You did really well with Zyra. When you played Zyra you reminded us of Lasha from LG-IM?
'Mata': Even though Lasha plays well, I also play a good Zyra so I was disappointed when there were no mentions of it. It’s hard to hit Zyra’s grasping roots, but in teamfights I’m confident in hitting grasping roots. Zyra is really good when we have one big teamfight. The trend nowadays is ranged carry for top and team composition is based around poking. There is a lot of teams that run poke comp so Zyra is perfect counter for a poking strategy.
Q: In the Semifinals you face SKT T1 #2 are you confident enough to win?
‘Imp’: We’re confident and not scared at all. SKT T1 #2 is similar to our team.
‘Mata’: Our head to head record is 4 to 1 in our favor(laughs).
Q: Last things you want to say?
‘Mata’: I want to thank 갓윤기,불켜보니타릭쨔응,Catastrophi, and Bengi behalf of today’s win. And I have some sort of rivalry with Bengi. This is our first season debut and we joked about who can place higher but our time has arrived. If I beat Bengi, I feel like I can win the tournament.
‘Imp’: I want to thank all the community for supporting us. From now on we will practice hard and play friendly games(laughs).
Source:
‘Imp’: It’s our first time being in the semifinals. It feels really good and I want to win the tournament.‘Mata’: I did not think that I will reach the Semifinal in my progamer debut season. Before the season started, our goal was to be in the Semifinals. Now that we reached our goal I am feeling very happy.‘Imp’: Mata achieved in his debut a win in Club Masters and is in the Semifinals of OGN Spring Season (laughs).‘Imp’: It definitely didn’t feel good. I wasn’t scared of KT B but I was a little bit worried. But our team played really well today.‘Mata’: I had similar thoughts. As a pro if we battled, I thought we could be disadvantaged. But we felt unbeatable last couple days. Insec and Ssumday both joined teams during the off-season. We thought we were superior in every area except jungle. Today, Insec showed disappointing plays which led us to winning a bit easily.‘Imp’: We weren’t nervous. As long as we didn’t go overboard on certain plays, we felt we would win the game.‘Imp’: I thought I can carry us. Also score lost a lot of cs. Thats why I carried the game.‘Imp’: If I was stuck with one Champion I can only play that champion. In the past I played Ezreal and Caitlyn as mains. Now I am stuck with Vayne. In fact, I didn’t want to play Vayne today. But we lost our first match, so I picked a hyper carry in Vayne.‘Imp’: They objected. Recently in practice I didn’t play Vayne. I practiced Varus and Caitlyn.‘Mata’: Last week he only practiced Tristana (laughs). In tournaments he needs to play his confident, best champions.‘Imp’: In Club Masters I only practiced Caitlyn but I was very good on Ezreal (laughs).‘Imp’: It felt great. Even favorites KT Rolster B was aware of my Vayne so I felt my Vayne is really strong.'Mata': Even though Lasha plays well, I also play a good Zyra so I was disappointed when there were no mentions of it. It’s hard to hit Zyra’s grasping roots, but in teamfights I’m confident in hitting grasping roots. Zyra is really good when we have one big teamfight. The trend nowadays is ranged carry for top and team composition is based around poking. There is a lot of teams that run poke comp so Zyra is perfect counter for a poking strategy.‘Imp’: We’re confident and not scared at all. SKT T1 #2 is similar to our team.‘Mata’: Our head to head record is 4 to 1 in our favor(laughs).‘Mata’: I want to thank 갓윤기,불켜보니타릭쨔응,Catastrophi, and Bengi behalf of today’s win. And I have some sort of rivalry with Bengi. This is our first season debut and we joked about who can place higher but our time has arrived. If I beat Bengi, I feel like I can win the tournament.‘Imp’: I want to thank all the community for supporting us. From now on we will practice hard and play friendly games(laughs).Source: Inven
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CJ Entus Blaze vs. SKT T1 #1
By: Fionn
Reaping What You Sow
Being ousted as the top laner of the only team he had ever known, Reapered, along with his upstart Eat Sleep Game team impressed enough during IEM Cologne qualifiers to be picked up by the telecommunication organization and e-sports dynasty, SK Telecom T1. As with any new team, their inexperienced was easy to spot at IEM Cologne, looking shaky except for Reapered. Luckily for SKT, Reapered was able to stuff every single one of his teammates in his backpack and carry them to a championship. Impressive, yes, but criticism of the team outside of Reapered surrounded the team.
Reapered (bottom left) during his time on Blaze
Needing to change things, SKT pointed out their weak point in the mid-lane, taking Mightily off the team and replacing him with the equally inexperienced SuNo. The IEM world championships came and the first test to see how strong SKT could be with a team house and more time to practice together. While they didn't win, losing to their rivals Blaze in the semifinals, the improvement was clear. SuNo gave some stability to the mid position that Mightily failed at bringing, and the bottom lane of StarLast and Raven also looked much improved from their games in Germany.
OGN Champions has let us get to know more about the SKT team and see that StarLast is actually a very strong support, and that Raven is probably in the conversation for the top half of AD carries in Korea, but the reason why this team will win or lose will always fall upon the heavy shoulders of Reapered. This is his team and no one else. If he were to quit tomorrow and decided that he wanted to become a chef, SKT would have to clone Faker as a top laner or absolve the team.
In their five wins this season, Reapered won the MVP award in four of those games. With a record of 5-5, SKT were able to take a game off everyone in Group B, but weren't strong enough to take an outright victory against anyone. Seeing how the knockout rounds have progressed so far, the already conceived notion that Group A was much stronger than Group B is gaining more and more confirmation. KT Rolster B and Najin Shield are already out of the tournament, giving Group B an abysmal score of 1-6 so far against their Group A rivals.
It's harsh to say and might be overlooking the promise of their bot lane duo, but if SKT have any chance of winning, Reapered will have to once again be their Superman. He has time and time again come up in big moments for his team, willing them into the playoffs, but he will have to have his most heroic performance to date if they want to survive this duel with Blaze.
The Phoenix |
bright'
"Why would he live the next 30 years in these situations? So yes I think he would attempt to commit suicide again."
Mr Sandford travelled to the US around a year ago.
His mother said she "desperately" tried to stop him from leaving the UK, but despite support from medical professionals was unable to do so.
"We were basically told because he's 18 unless you have him declared mentally incompetent, there's nothing you can do," he said.
"And because he is very articulate, very bright, we could not stop him."
Image caption Lynne Sandford described her son growing up as a "sweet, sensitive and calm" person with a "wacky sense of humour" and loving to his family
His mother said she would go from hearing nothing at all to receiving 10 calls a day from him. He would refuse to answer questions about what he had been doing or his lifestyle, she added.
'World fell apart'
"Next thing I knew, on 18 June, I was woken at midnight by a call from the Foreign Office - it shocked me," Ms Sandford explained.
"They said he had been arrested. My world fell apart, I was shaking head-to-foot and burst into tears. I couldn't believe it."
"I need to know what happened to him in the last year in America. Who put these ideas in his head?"
Image copyright Reuters
According to court documents, Mr Sandford told the secret service that he had driven to the rally in Las Vegas from California in order to kill Mr Trump and he had been to a gun range the day before to practise shooting.
He also said he expected to die in the attempt, which he had been planning for a year.
Ms Sandford said her son "had never mentioned politics in any way in his entire life and never taken an interest in politics."
The Foreign Office said in a statement: "We have offered advice and information to the family in this case and will continue to do so. We remain in contact with Mr Sandford's legal representatives and have submitted a request to visit him."
The Federal Bureau of Prisons says it works to provide education to staff and inmates on suicide prevention.
The Victoria Derbyshire programme is broadcast on weekdays from 09:00-11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News Channel.PHILADELPHIA - The family of a 22-year-old Philadelphia man who was caught on video apparently being beaten by police says he has asthma and was afraid he was going to die like Eric Garner.
Nancy Carroll says her grandson Tyree "was treated like a dog" when he was arrested in April. The family says he was stopped for riding his bicycle the wrong way down a one-way street, but according to a statement issued Thursday afternoon by Philadelphia police, Carroll was stopped on a "narcotics violation."
In video captured by a witness and uploaded to YouTube Wednesday by Los Angeles blogger Jasmyne Cannick, several officers appear to punch and kick Carroll repeatedly as he screams for his grandmother.
Carroll family spokeswoman Margaret Prescod told 48 Hours' Crimesider that Carroll told her he bit one of the officers during the arrest. The family says that Carroll is asthmatic and said that police had him in a chokehold and were pressing on his chest, making it difficult to breathe.
Philly police caught on video apparently beating 22-year-old black man
"He was thinking about Eric Garner," said Prescod. "He was terrified he was going to die."
Eric Garner was the asthmatic New York City man who died after being arrested on Staten Island last year.
Philadelphia police say they have opened an investigation into the incident and that "strikes and control holds" were employed during the arrest, but not a Taser, despite one officer saying "here comes the Taser."
According to police, Carroll began to fight as police tried to arrest him and bit two officers who had to be treated for "bleeding bite wounds." Police also say that Carroll was "transported to the hospital after intentionally striking his own head against the protective shield located in the police vehicle."
According to family spokeswoman Margaret Prescod, Carroll has been charged with simple and aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and a drug charge. Police say that Carroll had 5.3 grams of crack cocaine on him at the time of his arrest.
Carroll's family says he has a swollen ankle and leg and back pain stemming from the arrest. He told them that he was taken to the hospital that night but that medical personnel didn't tend to his injuries, they only looked at his pupils and checked his heart rate.
Nancy Carroll says that she is concerned for her grandson's health behind bars.
"There's no air conditioning in there," she said. "I'm worried about him being able to breathe."
Carroll has been in jail since the incident and is scheduled for a hearing on July 21. His family says they only recently learned that a witness had recorded the arrest and are pleased it's gone public.LONDON Olympians Patty Mills, Joe Ingles, David Andersen, Matthew Dellavedova, Adam Gibson and David Barlow headline Australias team for this weeks two-match Oceania Series against New Zealand.
Burgeoning young stars Dante Exum, Cameron Bairstow, Ben Simmons and Ryan Broekhoff also have made the cut for Andrej Lemanis’ Boomers team to face the Tall Blacks in Auckland on Wednesday and Canberra on Sunday.
Rounding out the 12-man rotation is Adelaide 36ers warhorse power forward Anthony Petrie and former Townsville Crocs centre Luke Nevill.
San Antonio Spurs forward Aron Baynes (hamstring) and Sydney Kings marquee signing AJ Ogilvy (groin) were ruled out by injury.
“This is a good opportunity for us to start to grow together as a group, to establish a style of play and establish who we are going to be on the international stage over the next four years,” Lemanis said.
The Tall Blacks come into the series, which determines seedings at next year’s FIBA World Championship in Spain, off an eight-game tour of China.
They expect Breakers centre Alex Pledger to face Australia, along with fellow NBL championship teammates Mika Vukona, Tom Abercrombie and Çorey Webster.
Jack Salt, a 209cm teenage sensation, also is expected to debut, along with Adelaide 36ers forward and NZ NBL All Star Five selection BJ AnthonyBe sure to help us spread the word by reblogging!
The zine features full-page illustrations and stories from 40+ participants, including both artists and writers. A full list of participants can be found below.
Art for the cover was done by @artemiashrimp
Paypal is now working! So now you can order your bundles with either Stripe or Paypal!
This is a Charity zine. All proceeds not used in the manufacturing of this zine and its merchandise will be donated to The Trevor Project, a suicide intervention service for LGBT+ youth.
Stretch Goal merchandise will be included with every physical order as the goals are met!
Participating Artists and Writers:
Mods
TheCafeMouse // E Moss
Guests
Scribs/Cryptidw00rm // Soraouu // SaintNightShade // Ry // Ryan // CarpeDM// Kat K // Elsa Strickland
Writers
Jack Flash // Elliot/RosyAbomination // Lily A // Campbell Victoria // Amuk // Mary // Ren // Savannah Green // Nychole // Dan Morales/Youngdemigods // Annie/AchievingElysium // Karyn Hale // Zodiac River // WonderTwinC // T.J. Mitchell
Artists
Paigyloli (merch) // Rutopa // Zambetta // Alexis May Lambert // Giulia // Mango// Tara Spruit/Taratjah // Jey Pawlik // Tangmo Cecchini // Jay Bailey // WDracaena // Jess // Mavilez // Aqua/Suseonhwa // Nath Vodopivic // Ryna // Tape // Catallari// Li-az // AlexGV // Aejooart // Cass Chanel // Linipik // Gshnlng/Ellen // Artjimena// Cat Saavy // Cielly/Cielly-art // Blurryfeather // Rie// Faiza // Yu Nyx // C.Harrington // Ace-Artemis // Frauke // Naranshil // Kaya
Preorders close on the 10th of September!
@fandomzines @zineappsCBN's Pat Robertson (screen grab)
Responding to a mother who was concerned after her son “came out of the closet,” only to announce that he is now becoming an atheist, television evangelist Pat Robertson told the woman she needs to stop enabling her son and treat him as if he was a “drug addict.”
In her email, the woman wrote, “Dear Pat, not so long ago my son ‘came out of the closet’ and about a year later he told us he was becoming an atheist. I want him to follow the path of Christ, but it’s so hard. What can I do about it?”
Robertson counseled love, but warned her to not enable his lifestyle choices.
“You cannot go along and say, ‘I agree with your lifestyle,’” he explained. “So don’t be an enabler, any more if he’s a drug addict, you don’t enable people to continue in their drug habits. But you let him know you love him, let him know God loves him.”
“It’s a very difficult relationship. You don’t want to shame, you want to have love, but you’ve got to let him know you don’t approve of the things he’s doing.”
Robertson added, “You just let him know there’s always a welcome, you’re always there, that you’re his mother, and you’ll look after him because there is a bond there that has not been severed.”
Watch the video below, uploaded to YouTube by Right Wing Watch:SecTools.Org: Top 125 Network Security Tools
For more than a decade, the Nmap Project has been cataloguing the network security community's favorite tools. In 2011 this site became much more dynamic, offering ratings, reviews, searching, sorting, and a new tool suggestion form. This site allows open source and commercial tools on any platform, except those tools that we maintain (such as the Nmap Security Scanner, Ncat network connector, and Nping packet manipulator).
We're very impressed by the collective smarts of the security community and we highly recommend reading the whole list and investigating any tools you are unfamiliar with. Click any tool name for more details on that particular application, including the chance to read (and write) reviews. Many site elements are explained by tool tips if you hover your mouse over them. Enjoy!
popularity rating release date Sort by:
12 tools
Aircrack is a suite of tools for 802.11a/b/g WEP and WPA cracking. It implements the best known cracking algorithms to recover wireless keys once enough encrypted packets have been gathered.. The suite comprises over a dozen discrete tools, including airodump (an 802.11 packet capture program), aireplay (an 802.11 packet injection program), aircrack (static WEP and WPA-PSK cracking), and airdecap (decrypts WEP/WPA capture files). Read 28 reviews.
Latest release: version 1.1 on April 24, 2010 (8 years, 10 months ago).
UNIX users often smugly assert that the best free security tools support their platform first, and Windows ports are often an afterthought. They are usually right, but Cain & Abel is a glaring exception. This Windows-only password recovery tool handles an enormous variety of tasks. It can recover passwords by sniffing the network, cracking encrypted passwords using dictionary, brute-force and cryptanalysis attacks, recording VoIP conversations, decoding scrambled passwords, revealing password boxes, uncovering cached passwords and analyzing routing protocols. It is also well documented. Read 17 reviews.
Latest release: version 4.9.56 on April 7, 2014 (4 years, 10 months ago).
John the Ripper is a fast password cracker for UNIX/Linux and Mac OS X.. Its primary purpose is to detect weak Unix passwords, though it supports hashes for many other platforms as well. There is an official free version, a community-enhanced version (with many contributed patches but not as much quality assurance), and an inexpensive pro version. You will probably want to start with some wordlists, which you can find here, here, or here. Read 14 reviews.
Latest release: version 1.8.0 on May 30, 2013 (5 years, 9 months ago).
When you need to brute force crack a remote authentication service, Hydra is often the tool of choice. It can perform rapid dictionary attacks against more than 50 protocols, including telnet, ftp, http, https, smb, several databases, and much more. Like THC Amap this release is from the fine folks at THC. Other online crackers are Medusa and Ncrack. The Nmap Security Scanner also contains many online brute force password cracking modules. Read 53 reviews.
Latest release: version 8.2 on June 16, 2016 (2 years, 8 months ago).
Ophcrack is a free rainbow-table based cracker for Windows passwords (though the tool itself runs on Linux, Windows, and Mac). Features include LM and NTLM hash cracking, a GUI, the ability to load hashes from encrypted SAM recovered from a Windows partition, and a Live CD version. Some tables are provided as a free download but larger ones have to be bought from Objectif Sécurité. Read 10 reviews.
Latest release: version 3.6.0 on June 4, 2013 (5 years, 8 months ago).
Medusa is intended to be a speedy, massively parallel, modular, login brute-forcer. It supports many protocols: AFP, CVS, FTP, HTTP, IMAP, rlogin, SSH, Subversion, and VNC to name a few. Other online crackers are THC Hydra and Ncrack. Read 2 reviews.
Latest release: version 2.0 on Feb. 9, 2010 (9 years ago).
fgdump is a newer version of the pwdump tool for extracting NTLM and LanMan password hashes from Windows. It is also capable of displaying password histories if they are available. It outputs the data in L0phtCrack-compatible form, and can write to an output file. fgdump attempts to disable antivirus software before running. It then runs pwdump, cachedump (cached credentials dump), and pstgdump (protected storage dump). Read 2 reviews.
Latest release: version 2.1.0 on Sept. 18, 2008 (10 years, 5 months ago).
L0phtCrack attempts to crack Windows passwords from hashes which it can obtain (given proper access) from stand-alone Windows workstations, networked servers, primary domain controllers, or Active Directory. In some cases it can sniff the hashes off the wire. It also has numerous methods of generating password guesses (dictionary, brute force, etc). LC5 was discontinued by Symantec in 2006, then re-acquired by the original L0pht guys and reborn as LC6 in 2009. For free alternatives, consider ophcrack, Cain and Abel, or John the Ripper. Read 5 reviews.
Latest release: version 6.0.11 on Jan. 9, 2011 (8 years, 1 month ago).
no rating SolarWinds (#62, 16 16
SolarWinds has created and sells dozens of special-purpose tools targeted at systems administrators. Security-related tools include many network discovery scanners, an SNMP brute-force cracker, router password decryption, a TCP connection reset program, one of the fastest and easiest router config download/upload applications available and more. Read 1 review.
The RainbowCrack tool is a hash cracker that makes use of a large-scale time-memory trade-off. A traditional brute force cracker tries all possible plaintexts one by one, which can be time consuming for complex passwords. RainbowCrack uses a time-memory trade-off to do all the cracking-time computation in advance and store the results in so-called "rainbow tables". It does take a long time to precompute the tables but RainbowCrack can be hundreds of times faster than a brute force cracker once the precomputation is finished. Read 2 reviews.
Latest release: version 1.61 on April 25, 2015 (3 years, 10 months ago).
Wfuzz is a tool for bruteforcing Web Applications, it can be used for finding resources not linked (directories, servlets, scripts, etc), bruteforcing GET and POST parameters for different kinds of injections (SQL, XSS, LDAP, etc.), bruteforcing form parameters (user/password), fuzzing, and more. Review this tool.
Latest release: version 2.0 on Aug. 4, 2011 (7 years, 6 months ago).
This Windows-only cracker bangs against network services of remote systems trying to guess passwords by using a dictionary and permutations thereof. It supports HTTP, POP3, FTP, SMB, TELNET, IMAP, NNTP, and more. No source code is available. UNIX users should take a look at THC Hydra. Read 6 reviews.
Latest release: version AET2 on Jan. 28, 2000 (19 years, 1 month ago).
12 tools
CategoriesPhoto: Courtesy of AMC
Mad Men loves a loop, an echo. This final chapter of the show has hammered home this repetition, with many of our characters reliving and redoing processes we’ve seen before. Last night’s “Time & Life,” during which Don insisted we were at “a beginning,” brought back one of the most important threads of the show: the bond between Peggy and Pete.
Peggy bravely told Stan about the baby she placed for adoption (and Stan was chastened and compassionate in response), but of course the real callback was the scene with Peggy and Pete sitting on the couch in Pete’s office — notably, right after Pete sees a gleeful child wrap her arms around Peggy. Peggy and Pete — those two sit on the couch together. They’ve had sex on the couch in Pete’s office, back in the old space in season one, but sex on Mad Men is not intimacy. Secrets are intimacy. “Time & Life” conjured two important Pete and Peggy encounters from years past, moments where the two revealed things to one another.
In season one’s “Red in the Face,” Pete returns a chip-and-dip wedding gift and exchanges it for a gun, which he brings back to his office. Because he’s a man, see. Peggy approaches him to look at some of her work (plus flirt), and they sit down on his couch while he waxes on about the thrills of hunting.
Photo: AMC
You have to be very quiet. Take it down with the first shot, or you scare it away. Then sometimes, you have to go up and finish it off. Then you tie it to the bumper and you go home. But you know what I’ve always wanted to do? I would pick it up, throw its back legs over my shoulder, and I would drag it through the snow to this little cabin. And there, I’d hang it up between a couple of trees. Cut it open. Drain it. Dress it. And then I’d take my big hunting knife, and I’d cut this loin. Right out of the side. Then I’d go into the cabin and there’d be this woman, waiting for me, standing by one of those old stoves with the big black pipe, and I’d hand it to her. And she put it in a cast-iron skillet, and then I’d sit at the table and she’d bring it to me. And I’d wipe my knife on my knee, and then I would eat it while she watches.
Photo: AMC
That’s foreplay, Pete Campbell style. And it works, kind of; Peggy’s pretty into Pete in season one, even as he’s a callous jerk to her (plus, he’s married). The whole monologue is an admission of Pete’s crisis of masculinity, and Peggy’s the one person he thinks he can seem like a “real man” in front of. Maybe he’s right.
Peggy carries around her big secret for all of season two. We know Don knows that she placed a child for adoption, but it’s never made clear if Don knows who the father was. (Peggy tells him years later that her mother believes Don was the father.) We see Peggy move on — just as Don told her to, and pretty effectively — until the season finale “Meditations in an Emergency.” Pete confesses his love, and Peggy rebuffs him. “I could have had you in my life forever if I wanted to,” she says almost dreamily. “I could have had you. I could have shamed you into being with me. But I didn’t want to.”
“I had your baby, and I gave it away,” she tells him. “I wanted other things.” Pete’s stunned and a little bit sad. “Why would you tell me that?” he asks.
Photo: AMC
Because of secrets. That’s the primary bonding agent on Mad Men, not love or devotion or anything else. You can bang a string of intrigued brunettes, but the person you’re closest to in the world is the widow of the guy whose identity you stole. “Time & Life” found person after person learning a secret, because that’s what bonds characters together on this show, a performance of trustworthiness no one quite deserves. The McCann secret spilled out early. Dawn and Shirley told Meredith. Pete told Peggy. Peggy told Stan. Roger finally told Don about Marie. Yes, Don confesses, California holds a special place in my heart. And so we get one more — and maybe one last? — secret couch exchange between Pete and Peggy. They know each other, and they weirdly understand each other, at least a little, or at least a little more than other people do.According to many physicists, the primary goal of physics today is the grand unified theory. it is supposed to describe the four forces as different aspects of a same force.
the four forces, gravity, electromagnetic force, strong nuclear force, weak nuclear force have to be established as single form at some point(energy level) that get branched later on in the evolution process(cooling of earth) after big bang
scientists,indeed,successfully combined three of the forces other than gravity.the first two forces that got unified were electromagnetic force and weak nuclear force in the year 1967 by Abdus Salam and Steven Weinberg.
They suggested that there were other massive particles along with photon(EM force carrier) having same spin,that carry weak nuclear force, collectively called as massive vector bosons(W+,W-,Z0), and the way they got divided is explained by a property called spontaneous symmetry breaking,which means that,what ever appear to be a number of completely different particles at low energies are in fact found to be all the same type of particle,only in different states.all these particles behaves similarly at higher energies(around 100's of Gev) and the symmetry get broken at lower particle energies to form massive W+,W- and Z0 along with photons.
later it was found that the strong nuclear force which was carried by gluons get weaker at higher energies making quarks and gluons act freely.
It creates a new hope,that there must be some energy level where gluons, photons and bosons all behave the same & they predicted that it must be around thousand million million Gev and it can't be proved as there are no such oscillators till date.
they also predicted that quarks and electrons would behave the same at that grand unified energy level.
Now the process of unifying gravity along with the other three is going on...
hope they will find answers soon.
check this videoMy colleague Jason Porrit recently wrote about loading and processing files with Ember.js. Today, I’ll cover two techniques for going in the opposite direction: generating files with JavaScript in the browser. I used these techniques while working with Jason on an Ember.js app, so my examples are geared toward Ember.js, but the techniques themselves can be used with any JavaScript framework (or no framework at all).
In a typical web app, files are generated on a server and then downloaded by the browser (or other client). We decided to turn that idea on its head, shifting the responsibility to the browser. This was a clear win in the case of our Ember.js app because we already had nearly all of our presentation logic in the client-side JavaScript code. Our server is merely responsible for providing data upon request. It’s the responsibility of the client-side code to present that data to the user, whether in a web page or as a downloadable file.
Saving Files via Data URIs
Our first approach to saving the file was to use data URIs, a type of Uniform Resource Identifier that contains embedded file data, ready to be used without any additional fetching from a server. One common use for data URIs is to “in-line” small images in HTML and CSS, to avoid the networking overhead of downloading the images individually. For our purposes, though, we want to make use of the fact that in many modern browsers (with the notable exception of Internet Explorer), you can also use a data URI as the href in an HTML <a> tag to make a download link.
Even better, using HTML5’s download attribute in our <a> tag, we can suggest a default name for the file to be saved as. (Not all browsers pay attention to the download attribute, but it’s safe to use anyway.) As an example, this HTML tag creates a link that — in browsers with full support, such as recent versions of Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome — will prompt the user to save a file named “hello.txt” with the contents “Hello, File!”:
<a download="hello.txt" href="data:text/plain;charset=UTF-8,Hello%2C%20File!"> Download Greeting </a> <a download="hello.txt" href="data:text/plain;charset=UTF-8,Hello%2C%20File!"> Download Greeting </a>
(Try it out: Download Greeting)
That example shows a statically generated (actually, hand-written) data URI link, which will always have the same file contents and name. But we can also create data URIs on the fly in JavaScript to save whatever file contents we want. It’s a simple matter of formatting your data as a string, encoding it with the browser’s built-in encodeURIComponent function, and prefixing it with some data URI boilerplate and metadata. We can easily generate the suggested filename on the fly, too.
Here’s an example of a simple Ember.js controller that facilitates downloading its model as a file. In our app, we used this technique to generate CSV and XML files, but to keep the example simple, let’s just generate a JSON file using the browser’s built-in JSON.stringify function:
App. IndexController = Ember. ObjectController. extend ( { suggestedFilename : function ( ) { return this. get ( "model.title" ). toLowerCase ( ). replace ( / \W +/ g, "_" ) + ".json" ; }. property ( "model.title" ), dataURI : function ( ) { return ( "data:application/json;charset=UTF-8," + encodeURIComponent ( JSON. stringify ( this. get ( "model" ) ) ) ) ; }. property ( "model" ) } ) ; App.IndexController = Ember.ObjectController.extend({ suggestedFilename: function() { return this.get("model.title").toLowerCase().replace(/\W+/g, "_") + ".json"; }.property("model.title"), dataURI: function() { return ( "data:application/json;charset=UTF-8," + encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify(this.get("model"))) ); }.property("model") });
Here’s the corresponding Handlebars.js template. It creates the <a> element and binds its attributes to the suggestedFilename and dataURI properties of the controller:
<a {{bind-attr download="suggestedFilename"}} {{bind-attr href="dataURI"}}> Download </a> <a {{bind-attr download="suggestedFilename"}} {{bind-attr href="dataURI"}}> Download </a>
Although this simple technique works well for small amounts of data, we soon realized it wouldn’t be a sustainable solution as our data grew in size and complexity. The way it’s programmed above, the controller will always generate the data URI string when the page loads, even if the user never clicks the link. And what’s more, it stores that string (which can become quite long for large data sets) indefinitely as a property on the controller. These issues can make the site feel sluggish to load and increase the amount of memory used.
A Better Solution: FileSaver.js
Fortunately, we can solve those problems and support more browsers by using the FileSaver.js library. Instead of creating a link with a data URI, our link will have a click action that generates the file contents string on demand and passes it to FileSaver.js to do the actual saving. To make automated testing easier (see below), I wrapped the FileSaver.js functionality in a simple Ember.js class:
App. FileSaver = Ember. Object. extend ( { save : function ( fileContents, mimeType, filename ) { window. saveAs ( new Blob ( [ fileContents ], { type : mimeType } ), filename ) ; } } ) ; App. register ( 'lib:fileSaver', App. FileSaver ) ; App.FileSaver = Ember.Object.extend({ save: function(fileContents, mimeType, filename) { window.saveAs(new Blob([fileContents], {type: mimeType}), filename); } }); App.register('lib:fileSaver', App.FileSaver);
Then we define a downloadFile action in our controller to generate and save the file on demand. Note the last line, where we use Ember.js’s dependency injection framework to inject an App.FileSaver instance into the controller:
App. IndexController = Ember. ObjectController. extend ( { suggestedFilename : function ( ) { return this. get ( "model.title" ). toLowerCase ( ). replace ( /\W+/g, "_" ) + ".json" ; }. property ( "model.title" ), actions : { downloadFile : function ( ) { return this. fileSaver. save ( JSON. stringify ( this. get ( "model" ) ), "application/json", this. get ( "suggestedFilename" ) ) ; } } } ) ; App. inject ( 'controller:index', 'fileSaver', 'lib:fileSaver' ) ; App.IndexController = Ember.ObjectController.extend({ suggestedFilename: function() { return this.get("model.title").toLowerCase().replace(/\W+/g, "_") + ".json"; }.property("model.title"), actions: { downloadFile: function() { return this.fileSaver.save( JSON.stringify(this.get("model")), "application/json", this.get("suggestedFilename") ); } } }); App.inject('controller:index', 'fileSaver', 'lib:fileSaver');
Finally, we’ll update our template to trigger the downloadFile action when the link is clicked:
<a id="download" {{action downloadFile on="click"}} href="">Download</a> <a id="download" {{action downloadFile on="click"}} href="">Download</a>
That’s all there is to it! The FileSaver.js library will handle the hard stuff for you in the background, selecting the best method of saving files to suit the user’s browser. Be aware that FileSaver.js supports Internet Explorer 10 and up, but if you need to support earlier versions of IE, you’ll need another solution, such as the Flash-based Downloadify library.
Automated Testing
If you’re a diligent programmer who writes automated tests (and you are, aren’t you??), you might be wondering how we can test that our code generates files with the correct file contents, name, and MIME type. Fortunately, it’s easy and straightforward to write integration tests for both of the techniques I’ve described.
For the data URI technique, the strategy is to look at the <a> element we generated, extract its href and download attributes, and perform tests on them. The href should be a data URI, which can be verified and deconstructed using regular expressions. The body of the data URI (everything after the comma) can be decoded with decodeURIComponent, then either verified directly as a string or parsed and verified as another data structure. Take a look at the tests in the sample app below for an example of all this.
For the FileSaver.js technique, the strategy is also simple, but not quite as obvious. Assuming we are confident that the FileSaver.js library works as advertised, we don’t need to verify its inner workings; we only need to verify that we’re passing the right stuff to its interface. But, how do we do that?
This is one place where dependency injection shines. If our controller was directly calling the saveAs function provided by FileSaver.js, we would have to do some sneaksy tricks to intercept calls to it. But since we wrapped FileSaver.js in a simple FileSaver class and used Ember.js’s dependency injection framework to inject a FileSaver instance into our controller, all we have to do is swap out that instance with a mock object, then verify that the mock object was called with the expected parameters!
If you’re using a library like Sinon.js, you could construct a mock object using that. But our FileSaver class is so simple (one method with three simple parameters), it’s also easy to create our own mock class and use an instance of it, like so:
// Define the MockFileSaver class. App. MockFileSaver = Ember. Object. extend ( { savedFiles : [ ], save : function ( fileContents, mimeType, filename ) { // Store the parameter values for verification later. this. savedFiles. addObject ( { fileContents : fileContents, mimeType : mimeType, filename : filename } ) ; } } ) ; // Inject a MockFileSaver into the IndexController. var mockFileSaver = new App. MockFileSaver ( ) ; App.__container__. lookup ( "controller:index" ). fileSaver = mockFileSaver ; // Simulate visiting the page and clicking on the download link. visit ( "/" ) ; click ( "a#download" ) ; // Verify the file contents are what we expect. expectedFileContents = { foo : "bar" } ; actualFileContents = JSON. parse ( mockFileSaver. savedFiles [ 0 ]. fileContents ) deepEqual ( actualFileContents, expectedFileContents ) ; // Define the MockFileSaver class. App.MockFileSaver = Ember.Object.extend({ savedFiles: [], save: function(fileContents, mimeType, filename) { // Store the parameter values for verification later. this.savedFiles.addObject({ fileContents: fileContents, mimeType: mimeType, filename: filename }); } }); // Inject a MockFileSaver into the IndexController. var mockFileSaver = new App.MockFileSaver(); App.__container__.lookup("controller:index").fileSaver = mockFileSaver; // Simulate visiting the page and clicking on the download link. visit("/"); click("a#download"); // Verify the file contents are what we expect. expectedFileContents = { foo: "bar" }; actualFileContents = JSON.parse(mockFileSaver.savedFiles[0].fileContents) deepEqual(actualFileContents, expectedFileContents);
Download the Sample App
I’ve put together a complete sample Ember.js app to demonstrate the use of both data URIs and FileSaver.js. It includes a small test suite to show how you can write integration tests for either technique, to verify that the files are generated with the expected file contents, name, and MIME type.Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova and Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov agreed to simplify tourist visa procedures for citizens of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Georgia.
The measure is aimed at boosting visitor numbers from traditional markets such as Russia and Ukraine, according to the press office of Bulgaria’s Tourism Ministry.
It is also part of a campaign aimed at countering the downward tend in early bookings from these countries for the 2015 summer season.
The new regime envisages the issuance of short-term double-entry and multiple-entry visas for organized trips.
This type of visa has a validity period of up to one year and is available to citizens who have already used Bulgarian visas.
Owners of real estate from these countries will also have the opportunity to take advantage of the simplification of visa requirements. People in this category who have not visited Bulgaria before will be entitled to short-term double-entry or multiple-entry visas for purposes of private visits with a validity period of up to one year, while those who have used Bulgarian visas before will be entitled to visas with a validity period of up to 3 years.
Minors from these countries will also be able to take advantage of the simplified visa requirements. If they wish to visit Bulgaria for the purpose of a tourist trip or an organized youth camp, they will be issued short-term multiple-entry visas with a validity period of up to 5 years.
Double-entry and multiple-entry visas with a validity period of up to one year will also be issued to people with disabilities.
The validity period of all of these visas will match the validity period of the travel documents of the visitors.
Bulgaria adopted similar measures to boost the number of Turkish visitors in the winter season.Police warn against 'vigilante' dash cam use as motorists turn to social media to shame bad drivers
Updated
The increasing number of motorists using dashboard cameras and social media to catch bad drivers has prompted a warning from police against "vigilante" behaviour.
The cameras capture everything the driver sees out of the front windscreen, including accidents, near-misses and bad behaviour on the roads.
The footage has become wildly popular on the internet.
The Facebook page Dash Cam Owners Australia has more than 250,000 followers. Its YouTube videos attract tens of thousands of views.
Road Policing Command Inspector Simon Humphrey said the footage had proved useful in the past for police.
"If people do have footage that can help police then we encourage them to provide it to us," he said.
In one of the most extreme cases, a man was captured on dash cam speeding through a red light and killing three people at Oakleigh, in Melbourne's south-east, in January last year.
This video was not posted online but was handed over to a Melbourne news organisation who shared the vision with police.
It was described as one of the "worst examples of driving in Victoria's legal history" by prosecutors, who successfully used the footage in the case against the driver.
Inspector Humphrey said although this case had highlighted the benefits of the cameras, he was not entirely comfortable with the camera's "vigilante" nature.
"Ideally we'd just prefer if people just concentrated on the |
falling to 160,524 the following year, when Chevrolet introduced the new subcompact Chevette.
By that time, Chevrolet had at least mitigated many of the Vega’s more serious problems. By 1974, the major recall campaigns were over and rust protection had progressively improved. The four-speed manual transmission belatedly became standard for 1976 along with an updated “Dura-Built 140” engine featuring improved cooling and oil circulation, a new coolant expansion tank with low-coolant warning light, a stronger head gasket, new valve stem seals, hydraulic valve lash adjusters, and iron-coated aluminum pistons. Chevrolet even offered a five-year, 60,000-mile (96,600-km) engine warranty in an expensive attempt to regain consumer confidence.
Still, sales fell to 78,402 for 1977, the Vega’s final year. The derivative H-bodies survived through 1980, but in their last three years, the previously standard Vega four was replaced by Pontiac’s 151 cu. in. (2,471 cc) “Iron Duke” engine.
The 1975 Chevrolet Cosworth Vega was available only in this black-and-gold livery (although this car lacks the original gold-painted aluminum wheels), although there was a choice of black or white vinyl upholstery. In 1976, Cosworth Vegas were available in any standard Vega color. The three-slat grille, added in 1974, was one of the only notable styling changes during the Vega’s lifespan; it was revised a bit in 1976. Either way, we find it decidedly less attractive than the original eggcrate grille.
Stillborn — perhaps mercifully so — was Ed Cole’s last great ambition: the GM Rotary Combustion Engine. The two-rotor RC2-206 version of the rotary engine, developed at staggering expense (including at least $50 million in patent licensing fees), was intended as the sole engine for the H-body cars and by some accounts was originally supposed to debut on the 1974 Vega. However, the GM RCE program had an extremely troubled development and in September 1974, Cole announced that the rotary engine had been shelved, essentially admitting defeat.
POSTMORTEM
As with the Corvair, any statements about the Vega’s failure have to be carefully qualified. Chevrolet sold more than 2 million Vegas during its seven-year lifespan, which is excellent by any standards. During the difficult period of the OPEC embargo — which briefly made big cars almost unsaleable — Chevrolet sold all the Vegas they could build. We’re not sure if the division actually made a profit on the Vega itself, particularly considering its high warranty costs, but if we factor in the sales of the derivative H-body Monza, they probably came out ahead. What it cost the division in customer good will is harder to measure.
The Chevrolet Vega story is eerily reminiscent of the Corvair’s history in many respects. Like the Corvair, it walked an uneasy line between high-tech sophistication and cheap-and-cheerful basic transportation. Like the Corvair, it embodied a number of perfectly sound concepts that were tarnished by clumsy execution. And like the Corvair, it had significant flaws that probably wouldn’t have been insurmountable had it not been for short-sighted, last-minute cost-cutting.
The 1975 Chevrolet Cosworth Vega introduced a new rear suspension that was subsequently adopted for all 1976-77 Vegas. Instead of four trailing links, it located the live axle with two trailing arms, a single torque arm, and a Panhard rod. All Vegas had front-disc/rear-drum brakes, although Cosworths had heavy-duty semi-metallic pads. Note the simpler one-piece tail lamps, added for 1976. In contrast to the front end, we find them more attractive than the original shape, looking more European and less like a Ford Maverick.
As of this writing, GM is preparing to launch the Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in hybrid intended to demonstrate GM’s engineering mojo and trump the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight. If you’ve followed the Volt’s somewhat torturous development, there are disconcerting echoes of the Corvair and Vega: cutting-edge technology, grand promises, and significant cost and weight overruns, all married with a curious sense of executive ambivalence. (Product czar Bob Lutz, at whose behest the Volt show car is being transformed into a production vehicle, has made no secret of his preference for thirsty V8 muscle cars and has publicly declared his disbelief in global warming.) The Volt is of undoubted technical interest, but given GM’s track record in this area, we only hope that its story has a happier ending.
# # #
NOTES ON SOURCES
Our sources for the story of Vega’s troubled development history included “A reminder on auto recalls,” Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Vol. 26, No. 8 (August 1972), pp. 14–16; the Auto Editors of Consumer Guide, Encyclopedia of American Cars: Over 65 Years of Automotive History (Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International, 1996); “Bye-Bye, Rotary Vega — Hello, V-8,” Motor Trend Vol. 26, No. 4 (April 1974), p. 24; Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Corporation, “Chevy’s New Little Car Is Open for Business” [brochure 1102], ca. September 1970; “1976 Vega: Built to take it” [brochure 3317], September 1975; “’74 Vega” [brochure 2677-Rev], January 1974; “The Little Car That Does Everything Well” [brochure 1619], September 1971; “The Little Car That Does Everything Well” [brochure 2229], September 1972; and “Vega 2300: Why and How It Came About” [dealer brochure], 1970; “Comparison Test Super Coupes ’74: Mazda RX-2, Open Manta Rallye, Toyota Celica GT, Capri 2800, Vega GT, Mustang II Mach I,” Car and Driver Vol. 19, No. 11 (May 1974), pp. 58–69, 86; Robert Cumberford, “Who Killed the Corvair?” Car and Driver Vol. 15, No. 2 (August 1969) pp. 34-35, 73; “Cole, Edward N.” (n.d., GM Heritage Center, history. gmheritagecenter. com, accessed 27 August 2009); Corvette Museum, “2011 Corvette Hall of Fame Clare MacKichan,” YouTube, https://youtu.be/KNkDFmTzUBo, uploaded 17 November 2011, accessed 8 April 2012; Mike Covello, Standard Catalog of Imported Cars 1946-2002, Second Ed. (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2001); Jim Dunne, “Detroit Report…” Popular Science Vol. 193, No. 6 (December 1968), p. 30; “Detroit Report…” Popular Science Vol. 194, No. 2 (February 1969), p. 48; “Detroit Report…” Popular Science Vol. 194, No. 5 (May 1969), p. 48; “Detroit Report…” Popular Science Vol. 195, No. 4 (October 1969), p. 26; and “Detroit Report…” Popular Science Vol. 196, No. 1 (January 1970), p. 36; Robert F. Freeland, The Struggle for the Control of the Modern Corporation: Organizational Change at General Motors, 1924–1970 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001); John Gunnell, ed., Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975 Revised 4th Edition (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2002); David Halberstam, The Reckoning (New York: William Morrow and Company, 1986); H-Body FAQ, n.d., h-body. org/library/hbodyfaq/hbodyfaq-1.html, accessed 27-28 August 2009; John B. Hege, The Wankel Rotary Engine: A History (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2001); “Inside Detroit,” Motor Trend Vol. 21, No. 5 (May 1969), pp. 11-12; Michael Lamm, “Martyr,” Special Interest Autos #22 (May 1974), reprinted in Corvair Performance Portfolio 1959-1969, ed. R.M. Clarke (Cobham, England: Brooklands Books Ltd., ca. 1998), pp. 132-140; Richard Langworth, “Corvairs for the ’70s: What Chevy Might Have Built,” Special Interest Autos #68 (April 1982), pp. 20-27; Karl Ludvigsen, “GM’s Wankel: The $700 Million Miscalculation,” Motor Trend Vol. 27, No. 3 (March 1975), p. 53; Hirokazu Nakamura, Hikoichi Motoyama, Tadahiko Ito, and Seizo Iwasa, assignors to Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Motors Corporation), U.S. Patent No. 3,995,610A, “Four Cylinder Straight-Type Engine with Secondary Balancer System,” filed 27 September 1974, issued 7 December 1976; Jan P. Norbye and Jim Dunne, Pontiac 1946-1978: The Classic Postwar Years (Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International, 1979); the Old Car Manual Project Old Car Brochures website, oldcarbrochures.org; Ken Polsson, “Chronology of Chevrolet Corvettes,” 4 April 2012, kpolsson. com/vettehis/, accessed 18 April 2012; Arthur Pound, The Turning Wheel: The Story of General Motors Through Twenty-Five Years 1908–1933 (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co., Inc., 1934); Joe Sherman, In the Rings of Saturn (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994); Alfred P. Sloan with John McDonald, My Years with General Motors (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1964); Robert Spinello, “Complete Vega History 1970-1977,” H-body.org, n.d., www.h-body. org/library/ vegabob/vega-history-complete.html, accessed 27 August 2009; Daniel Strohl, “Might Mouse: The diminutive, but sporty, 1969 Opel GT 1.1L,” Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car #7 (March 2006); “Vega,” Sol Station, 2012, www.solstation. com/ stars/ vega.htm, accessed 14 June 2015; Mark Wan, “AutoZine Technical School: Engine Smoothness,” AutoZine.org, 1998–2000, www.autozine. org/technical_school/ engine/smooth1.htm; Joseph White and Paul Ingrassia, Comeback: The Fall & Rise of the American Automobile Industry (New York: Simon & Schuster: 1995); J. Patrick Wright, On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors: John Z. DeLorean’s Look Inside the Automotive Giant (Chicago, IL: Avon Books, 1980); and Wally Wyss, “Vega Rotary: Ford’s New Mustang II forces GM to debut its Wankel a year early,” Motor Trend Vol. 25, No. 7 (July 1973), pp. 50–52, 123.
We also consulted the following period articles: “Ford Pinto and Chevrolet Vega 2300: Detroit’s Compact Commitment,” Car and Driver Vol. 16, No. 3 (September 1970), pp. 25-30; “A Small World to Conquer: Six-Car Comparison Test: AM Gremlin, Chevrolet Vega 2300, Ford Pinto, Simca 1204, Toyota Corolla, Volkswagen Super Beetle,” Car and Driver Vol. 16, No. 7 (January 1971), pp. 20-29; “Road & Track Owner Survey: Vegas 2300,” Road & Track Vol. 24, No. 10 (June 1973), pp. 87-90; “Super Coupe Comparison Test,” Car and Driver Vol. 16, No. 6 (December 1971), pp. 25–32, 68–70; “1973 Chevrolet Vega,” Road & Track Vol. 24, No. 10 (June 1973), pp. 90-91; and John DeLorean, “Vega 2300”; Bill Sanders, “Vega: 2300”; Jim Brokaw, “Basic Sedan”; Bill Sanders, “GT Coupe”; and Jim Brokaw, “Wagon” all from Motor Trend Vol. 22, No. 8 (August 1970).
Additional information on the Cosworth Vega came from Arch Brown, “1975 Chevrolet Cosworth Vega: Twin-Cam, Quad-Valve Pace-Setter,” Special Interest Autos #129 (May-June 1992), pp. 38-45; Chevrolet Merchandising Department, Passenger Cars, “Chevrolet Introduces the Cosworth Twin Cam” [launch brochure], March 1975, and “Cosworth. One Vega for the Price of Two” [advertisement, ca. 1975]; Mike Cook, “Passing of a Pioneer,” Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car #20 (April 2007); John Dinkel, “Cosworth Vega for the Road,” Road & Track Vol. 24, No. 12 (August 1973), pp. 30–34; Don Sherman, “How to Hatch an Engine, Car and Driver Vol. 21, No. 4 (October 1975), pp. 73–83; Jeremy Walton, Escort Mk 1, 2 & 3: The Development & Competition History (Sparkford, England: Haynes Publishing Group, 1985); and “A Cosworth Vega History,” CosworthVega.com, n.d., www.cosworthvega. com/ cosworth_vega_history.html, accessed 28 August 2009.
The derogatory attitude of one Chevrolet executive toward import buyers — perhaps the most pointed expression we’ve ever heard of Detroit’s attitude towards imports during that period — was mentioned in Eric Dahlquist, “Declutching the BUG,” Motor Trend Vol. 20, No. 7 (July 1968), pp. 70-73. Bob Lutz’s comments about global warming were originally reported by Glenn Hunter, D Magazine 30 January 2008, frontburner.dmagazine. com; we originally read it in Frank Williams, “Lutz on Global Warming: ‘It’s a crock of shit,'” The Truth About Cars, 12 February 2008, www.thetruthaboutcars. com, accessed 12 February 2008.
>93-year-old held on charges of aiding and abetting mass murder of prisoners at Nazi death camp
German police have arrested a former Nazi medic who served at the Auschwitz death camp on multiple charges of aiding and abetting murder.
The 93-year-old, who was arrested at his home near Neubrandenburg, north of Berlin, underwent a medical checkup before he faced a judge and was then taken into pre-trial detention.
The former SS member allegedly assisted in the mass murder of prisoners who arrived on eight transports from Germany, Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Slovenia in September 1944.
Of the arrivals, 1,721 were killed in gas chambers after they were deemed unfit for forced labour at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp in Oswiecim, southern Poland, prosecutors said.
Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, praised German authorities for "not relenting in the pursuit of those who murdered, or aided in murdering, thousands of people" during the second world war.
"The prosecution of those who participated in terrible crimes sends a clear message that justice must be done, no matter how late the hour," he said.
The arrest followed a recommendation from the German office investigating Nazi war crimes to bring charges. It was the latest in a series of arrests since Germany launched a renewed drive to bring to justice the last surviving perpetrators of the Holocaust.
For more than 60 years German courts prosecuted Nazi war criminals only if evidence showed they had personally committed atrocities. But in 2011 a Munich court sentenced John Demjanjuk to five years in prison for complicity in the extermination of Jews at the Sobibor camp, establishing that all former camp guards could be tried.
"There cannot be a statute of limitation for crimes against humanity, and mass murderers must continue to live in fear of the long arm of the law," Lauder said.
Auschwitz has become an enduring symbol of Nazi Germany's genocide of European Jews, of whom one million were killed there from 1940 to 1945. More than 100,000 non-Jewish Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, gay people and anti-Nazi partisans also died at the camp in occupied Poland before it was liberated by Russian forces on 27 January 1945.Feb 7 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc is about to announce a Web video deal with Viacom Inc in what sources said was one of the last steps in a plan to launch a standalone subscription service to compete with Netflix Inc.
The online retailer will unveil the deal as soon as this week, according to two people familiar with the discussons.
Viacom, which owns TV shows and movies from MTV Networks, Nickelodeon and Paramount Studios, would be the latest of several partners Amazon has made deals with for its Prime Instant Video service. So far, major studios such as CBS Corp, Time Warner Inc’s Warner Bros, News Corp’s Fox, Sony Corp, Comcast Corp’s NBC Universal and Walt Disney Co have licensed programming to the retailer.
Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman told Wall Street analysts last week the company would be announcing a new online video deal this week, but did not name the partner. A Viacom spokesman declined to comment further.
To date, Amazon’s Prime Instant Video has primarily been an add-on feature for Amazon Prime members, who pay $79 a year for free shipping in the United States for most of what they buy.
But Amazon is keen to open up its licensed library of TV programs and movies as a standalone service for non-Prime members, and to use it to boost its Kindle Fire tablet, according to people who have spoken with Amazon executives. An Amazon spokeswoman did not respond to telephone calls seeking a comment.
Analysts estimate that Amazon sold about 5 million Kindle Fire tablets in the fourth quarter and the company may sell more than double that in 2012.
An essential part of Amazon’s strategy is to have lots of content, including video, music and apps, for its tablet users. The Android-based Fire comes with one free month of the Prime service, but it is not clear how many owners paid beyond the first month.
Amazon is negotiating with Hollywood studios to expand its existing rights beyond Prime, as well as bulking up its library, according to several sources.
In addition to Prime Instant, it also has an Amazon Instant Video download and rental service similar Apple Inc’s iTunes digital media store.
The retailer said last month the number of videos purchased or rented from Amazon Instant Video, as well as the number of customers, more than doubled in the fourth quarter from the year before. It also said the number of Prime Instant Video streams rose nearly 300 percent during the quarter.
The Web video market, currently dominated by Netflix, is set to become increasingly competitive over the next year as major players such as Amazon, Google Inc and Verizon Communications Inc launch so-called over-the-top services.
This week, Verizon said it formed a joint venture with Coinstar Inc’s Redbox video kiosk rental service that will offer video streaming and DVD rentals by the second half of the year [ID: nL4E8D672O].Nawaz Sharif "should not be a part of political and personal victimisation in the garb of accountability" nor should he appear before accountability courts, his daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, said in a tweet on Tuesday.
Maryam was responding to a tweet from journalist Iftikhar Ahmed, who asked: "Will Nawaz Sharif appear before NAB [National Accountability Bureau] court?"
"He should not. Must not [...] It's a FARCE," Maryam responded.
An accountability court had summoned former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his children Maryam, Hussain and Hassan Nawaz, son-in-law retired Captain Mohammad Safdar and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday in connection with three references, filed on the directions of the Supreme Court.
However, none of the respondents appeared before the accountability court. PML-N leader Asif Kirmani, who appeared on the Sharifs' behalf, said that the family was not present as they had all gone to be with Kulsoom Nawaz who is recovering from surgery.
Kirmani also told the court that Kulsoom is scheduled to undergo another surgery in the next couple of days, therefore an exact date for the family's return cannot be ascertained.
The court then issued another summons for Sharif and the others to appear on Sept 26. Sources close to the family continue to claim that they will continue to skip all proceedings of the court.We like "best" things, too. Vote now in our 2015 "Best of L.A." Readers' Choice poll.
The 20 Worst Hipster Bands
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What makes a terrible band? Is it being prepared to do the wrong thing, whatever the price? That and a pair of testicles. Only, some of the below groups possess testicles only in the symbolic sense. Because, even if you're composed of ladies, it takes balls to make music that is simultaneously pretentious and dopey, derivative and uniquely craptastic. And so in that spirit we present the worst bands of all time. As with our top 20 greatest musicians of all time and top 20 hair metal albums of all time lists, we take this shit very seriously, even enlisting objective third party analysts to review our findings for accuracy. -Ben Westhoff
20. Spin Doctors
Did you know that Blues Traveler's John Popper used to be a member of this damn group? That may explain why a Spin Doctors song is a bit like herpes. You get infected at a young age when you don't know any better. When you think it's finally gone, it rears its ugly head again. The mere mention of tracks like "Two Princes" create an earworm so powerful that you're going to need to see an ENT doctor. Forget Chris Barron's scraggly beard; the real problem with the Spin Doctors is their enduring lightweight retro "jam" song legacy on crappy corporate radio. Just when you thought you were out, they pull you back in. -Nicholas Pell
19. The Raconteurs
Formed in the late aughts, The Raconteurs consist of Jack White and some other guys. They call themselves "a new band made from old friends," but it's more accurate to call them "slumming dudes attempting to trick fans of the White Stripes into liking their boring, awful, music." Track "Consoler of the Lonely" repeats the phrase "I am bored to tears" six times, which is only a small fraction of how often everyone else was saying it. -Gabrielle Canon
18. Oasis
Why is Oasis among the worst? Because Liam Gallagher only plays tambourine and possesses the single most nasal voice in pop. Because "Wonderwall" is pure nonsense. Because they combine simple composition with over-the-top production and pretentious length. "Champagne Supernova," anyone? Because they've been caught ripping off other artists' songs, including Stevie Wonder, The New Seekers, and Neil Innes. Because their backstage altercations always boiled down to sibling rivalry. What's next, hair-pulling and time-outs? But mainly because courting comparisons to the Beatles is always lame, no exceptions. -Anna Westhoff
See also: Liam Gallagher On His Brother Noel: "I'd Rather Eat My Own Shit Than Be In A Band With Him Again"
17. Phish
Phish is supposed to be the next generation's Grateful Dead, right? But with the Dead, one at least enjoyed a fighting chance of enjoying them sober. Also, there's the fact that the Dead never composed these lyrics: "Down with disease/ Up before the dawn/ A thousand barefoot children outside dancing on my lawn." -Elano Pizzicarola
See also: Can an Intelligent Person Like Phish?
16. 4 Non Blondes
We can be thankful that 4 Non Blondes only made one album— 1992's Bigger, Better, Faster, More! — but it's a doozy, a mess of classic rock wails and faux bluesiness. Consider yourself lucky if you don't remember lyrics like "Oh please Mr. President, will you lend me a future." Their hit "What's Up?" meanwhile combines the worst of what Ani DiFranco and grunge had to offer, all of it dressed up in thrift store clothing that probably smelled funny. The quartet has disappeared, but the band's dubious legacy lives on through member Linda Perry, writer and producer of some of the most boring radio songs imaginable, including Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" and Pink's "Get the Party Started." -Liz Ohanesian
15. Pretty Ricky
Emerging with their mid-aughts hit "Grind With Me," Pretty Ricky somehow managed to lower the bar when it came to heartthrob groups with baby-oil-smeared chests. It's excellent that they've got great abs, and they certainly have the right to wear their shiny jackets wide open. But their musical sensibilities are questionable; someone in the group seems to have decided that New Jack Swing was too subtle. Pretty Ricky's rap-R&B hybrid is so tasteless and tacky, even, that it could make Mariah Carey blush. The point here is seduction, but it's hard to be seduced when you're nauseous. -Ben Westhoff
14. Foreigner
Where Journey was a hit factory, Foreigner are the sweatshop equivalent, churning out shoddy products full of lead paint. "Juke Box Hero" is no "Pinball Wizard"; "I Want To Know What Love Is" will make you wish you didn't; "Feels Like The First Time" will hopefully be your last; "Head Games" is not about oral sex; "Urgent" is not that; "Hot Blooded,""Double Vision" and "Cold As Ice" will send you to the doctor. "Waiting For A Girl Like You"? Maybe, but if you've got Foreigner on the playlist, she won't be waiting for you. -Ben Westhoff
13. Wings
With the exception of the song "Band On the Run" — which sounds like a forgotten White Album b-side — and the bass breakdown on "Live and Let Die," there are no greater offenders of '70s schlock than Wings. Born the year after the death of the Beatles, the group — consisting of Paul McCartney, his wife Linda and a revolving door of drummers and guitar players — solidified every argument that John was better than Paul. Using the spoils of the Beatles, Wings built a castle out of cheese. -Nikki Darling
See also: Top Three Beatles Who Got a Star on the Walk of Fame Before Paul McCartney
12. Fleet Foxes
A good band should be like Frosted Mini-Wheats, a substantive cereal loaded with fiber and whole grains made edible by delicious sugary coating. Fleet Foxes, unfortunately, are more like Weetabix, a healthful, bowel-movement-inducing breakfast option that skimps on taste. There's undoubtedly genuine musicianship behind this Seattle outfit, it's just wholly unpalatable, lacking even the most basic hooks and melodies necessary to sustain most listeners. Of course, white people aren't like most listeners, and will tolerate almost anything they're told is good for them; hence the group's popularity. Unlike Weetabix, however, there's not a shred of evidence suggesting Fleet Foxes prevent colorectal cancer. -Ben Westhoff
11. Red Hot Chili Peppers
Funk metal is a bad idea. We love funk, we love metal, but we also love peanut butter and veggie burgers, just not together. And what about Anthony Kiedis's rapping? The "Give It Away" video could be called "Anthony and the Hand Jive," and it's even more ridiculous when he starts doing duck lips. The sex rhymes on Bloodsugarsexmagik would be forgettable if they weren't so awful — "She stuck my butt with her big black stick / I said 'What's up? Now suck my dick.'" On the plus side, however, we do thoroughly back the legit bromance between Messrs. Kiedis and Flea. -Nicholas Pell
10. Pussycat Dolls
The Pussycat Dolls may seem like an easy target, but they're actually a quite difficult one, considering they're less band than brand. There's their reality show and various line-up shifts, of course, but the details of those are too depressing to go into. Getting angry with the Pussycat Dolls is like getting angry with Bank of America or Walmart. That said, fuck Walmart. -Kai Flanders
9. Rush
You realize that Jason Segel's character's obsession with Rush in I Love You Man is tongue in cheek, right? It's often said that people either love Rush or hate them, but a more accurate statement is that most people hate Rush, while a scattered few really love them. Sort of like anchovies; in fact, it's quite fair to call Rush the anchovies of rock music. Then there's the fact that "drummer Neil Peart generally consents only to speak to the drum press," a pantheon that includes in its entirety Modern Drummer and Not So Modern Drummer, if we're not mistaken. -Kai Flanders
8. Hootie & The Blowfish
What do white people have to complain about, George Carlin once posited. "Did Banana Republic run out of khakis? Are Hootie & the Blowish breaking up?" If only. Though their leader Darius Rucker is black, Hootie could not be more vanilla. What's worse is that, while good bands struggle to make decent money, Hootie seemingly siphoned off all of it in their '90s heyday, going more platinum than Sandra Dee. If only Hootie were Sandra Dee. -Kai Flanders
7. Pearl Jam
Boring, tepid, rehashed classic rock with a thin veneer of alt. As noted in our piece on how Pearl Jam are the most boring band in 20 years, grunting, dumb hats and Z-grade attempts at Who's Next do not a great rock and roll band make. The act took moronic-faux-concern-trolling to heights even U2 couldn't achieve. Also, Eddie Vedder thinks this is a lyric: "Hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo oooooooowhoaaaaaaaaooooooooo ohhhhhhh ohhhhhhh ohhhhhhh oooooooowhoaaaaaaaaooooooooo hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiyiiiiyiiiiyiiiiyiiiiiiiiii yeah uhhh huh uhhh huh uhhh huh yeahah uhhh huh uhhh huh uhhh huh uhhhhh huh." -Nicholas Pell
6. Black Eyed Peas
The common rap on Black Eyed Peas is that they deteriorated after adding Fergie on 2003's Elephunk, trading their funky soul for kitschy dance-pop. Well, in this case the common rap happens to be true. "My Humps" was bad, but who would have figured the group could get worse? Last year's Super Bowl halftime show — where they sung out of sync and trampled "Sweet Child O' Mine" — made Madonna's version look brilliant. -Elano Pizzicarola
5. Animal Collective
I really wanted to like Merriweather Post Pavilion, even going far out of my way to appreciate the record as it was surely intended: super-stoned, miles from civilization in the northern California woods. Still, no dice. The problem is that Animal Collective are a special kind of unlistenable; their albums don't reward active engagement, but they don't make good background music, either. Their brand of twee is cloying and grating like an attention-starved, sugar-crashing eight-year-old who wants you to admire his finger painting, while you're trying to wash the dishes. -Ben Westhoff
4. Sex Pistols
Touted as the originators of punk, the Sex Pistols were really just a third-rate Faces rip off with a low-rent Richard Hell on vocals. Paul Cook and Steve Jones are great, but were held back by the larger-than-life personalities of Sid Vicious and John Lydon (or Rotten or whatever). Sloppy, derivative and obsessed with shock value for its own sake, the Pistols set the template for British punk rock bands trying too hard. Plus, how much of a dick is Lydon, allegedly punching women in the face, running around with racist goons and slamming Duffy against a wall? Bollocks. -Nicholas Pell
3. LCD Soundsystem
If LCD Soundsystem were only responsible for three albums that are half-filler and a "workout mix" made by people who clearly don't go to the gym — for people who don't go to the gym themselves — they wouldn't be on this list. No, they deserve special mention for the critical crusade to pass James Murphy off as indie rock's preeminent male role model in spite of, nay, because of his worldview which remains as rigid and obnoxious as Toby Keith's. It is, roughly, that music achieved perfection in 1977, no one outside of New York City is important, and your interaction with credibility and its overseers is a bigger concern than learning how not to be an insufferable, self-obsessed jerk. In other words, LCD Soundsystem fans are the type of people who think buying their 10-year old kid a Public Image Ltd. record for his birthday is an example of good parenting. -Ian Cohen
2. Eagles
The all-mighty arbiter of SoCal cool, Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski was famously willing to be thrown out of a cab because he hated the fucking Eagles, and you should be too. Soporific Laurel Canyon coke rock whose chief existential lament seems to be "What toppings should I get on my burrito?" the Eagles are the quintessential band for a decade whose favorite barbiturate was the Quaalude. -Jeff Weiss
See also: The Eagles' "Hotel California": Why This Song Sucks
1. Dave Matthews Band
"Once upon a time/When the world was just a pancake/Fears would arise/That if you went too far you'd fall/But with the passage of time/It all became more of a ball." -Some Dave Matthews lyrics
You want a real American Horror story? Sit in the back of an SUV with off-key sorority house members singing along to Dave Matthews Band. "Dave" is a jam act with no jams. They make Perrier seem vibrant and ethnic. Dave Matthews croons like Kermit with a hangover, for a presumed intended audience of trustafarians and frat bros bonding via hacky sack and horseshoes. Them, and folks whose favorite book is The Da Vinci Code and favorite TV show is Two and a Half Men. They are permanently beige, the sonic instantiation of Ambercrombie & Fitch cargo shorts, South Carolina Gamecocks hats, and flip-flops flailing. -Jeff Weiss
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The 20 Worst Hipster Bands
Top 20 Musicians of All Time, in Any Genre
Top 20 Sexiest Female Musicians
Top Ten Awkward Coachella Dance Move GIFsBorderlands 2 is the hungrily awaited sequel to the innovative game Borderlands, released in 2009. Developed by Gearbox Software for release on the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, Borderlands 2 carries on the ingenious tradition of the prequel in combining the first-person shooter genre with the best elements of the role-playing genre, making for exhilarating, non-stop action, and progressive gameplay.
Borderlands 2 Come And Get Me
Set five years after the original Borderlands, a power-hungry villain by the name of Handsome Jack is taking credit for the heroism of the four previous vault hunters' actions, and in turn seizing control of the planet Pandora. The game introduces four new ferocious Vault Hunters to the fray who set out to stop the evil mastermind, and also the CEO of the Hyperion Corporation, from opening a vault and letting loose an ancient evil: an alien known as "the Warrior". In order to achieve and succeed in this deadly and dangerous mission, you will need the help of the original four...
Borderlands 2 makes full use of its signature gameplay style of role-playing shooter, with you playing as one of the four vault hunters. The classes of the characters range from Axton (Commando), Maya (Siren), Salvador (Gunzerker), and Zer0 (Assassin), each having their own unique special skill set and weapon proficiencies, such as Salvador possessing the ability to dual-wield guns and go on a berserk rampage. The weapon options are bursting at the seams due to the help of the new gun system that expands on customisation, along with the variety of style of guns, meaning millions, if not endless possibilities. Alongside the almost limitless multitude of guns, there are grenades, procedurally generated shields, Alien Artifacts, and class mods to get your hands on, to name but a few. Prepare to shoot and loot your way through Pandora as one of these colourful characters.
Quests will be assigned via non-player characters or from bounty boards, and the rewards can vary from experience points, to money, and everything inbetween. Killing enemies and completing in-game challenges will also |
one of the consequences of love. /
Possession: the whole of the law.
Possessions: we only possess what we renounce; what we do not renounce escapes us.
Poverty: a great wealth, provided one is also short of a wife and family. /
Praise: when you praise someone you call yourself his equal.
Pray: to ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a single petitioner confessedly unworthy.
Prayer: the most odious of concealed narcissisms.
Preacher: a man who advises others concerning things about which he knows nothing.
Predicament: the wage of consistency.
Pre-existence: an unnoted factor in creation.
Prejudice: a raft onto which the shipwrecked mind clambers and paddles to safety.
Preposterous: the idea that murder is a crime.
Present, the: elastic, to embrace infinity.
Presentable: hideously appareled after the manner of the time and place.
Press, the: a method of educating people to approach printed matter with distrust.
Price: value, plus a reasonable sum for the wear and tear of conscience in demanding it.
Priest: one who speaks what all fools feel. /
Principles: another thing no woman can understand. /
Printing: (1) a multiplication of mind. (2) an as yet unrecognized contributor to overpopulation and noise pollution. / (3) a way in which a fool can inflict mortal wounds to innocent children on a global basis even long after he is dead. / (4) something wise men cannot afford, and cannot find anyone to pay for it.
Prison: a monument to neglected youth.
Professors: those who go to college and never get out.
Progress: (1) in antiquity... the appearance of great men; in modern times... the appearance of great inventions. (2) life means progress, and progress means suffering.
Propaganda: the diminution of the love of truth by the falsehoods which interest dictates.
Property: (1) theft. (2) a sacred trust expressly granted by God, the Bible, and the Recorder's Office.
Prosperity: (1) the consequence of rapidly spending the planet's irreplaceable capital. (2) the best protector of principle. (3) the surest breeder of insolence.
Psychiatrist: one who lets you see why you are unhappy.
Psychiatry: the art of teaching people how to stand on their own feet while reclining on couches.
Psychoanalysis: the disease it claims to cure.
Psychology: (1) the science that tells you what you already know in words you don't understand. (2) as unnecessary as directions for using a poison. (3) nothing. /
Public opinion: the people's tyranny.
Public: the monkeys outside the cage.
Pun: puns are to words what wit is to ideas.
Punishment: (1) the justice that the guilty deal out to those that are caught. (2) having wisdom forced upon you by your own intelligence. /
Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.
Queen: a woman by whom the realm is ruled when there is a king, and through whom it is ruled when there is not.
Question: something that fools raise which wise men answered a thousand years ago.
Rabble: the greater part of the masses, omnipotent on condition that it do nothing.
Racism: is the snobbery of the poor.
Racist: a fraction of whose ideas about other races are true. /
Radical: one who wants to tackle evil at the root.
Rattlesnake: Our prostrate brother.
Realism: the art of depicting nature as it is seen by toads.
Reality: what truths should take account of. /
Reason: (1) the arithmetic of the emotions. (2) the greatest enemy that faith has.
Reconsider: to seek a justification for a decision already made.
Recreation: a particular kind of dejection to relieve a general fatigue.
Redemption: deliverance of sinners from the penalty of their sin, through their murder of the deity against whom they sinned.
Reform: (1) to reform a grown man, you must begin with his grandmother. (2) a thing that mostly satisfies reformers opposed to reformation.
Refusal: denial of something desired. Refusals are graded in a descending scale of finality thus: the refusal absolute, the refusal conditional, the refusal tentative and the refusal feminine. The last is called by some casuists the refusal assentive.
Recognition: what one desires from people who are more concerned with what they are doing than with what you have done. /
Reformer: (1) a man who rides through a sewer in a glass-bottomed boat. (2) one who educates the people to appreciate the things they need.
Regret: the beginning of a new life.
Religion: (1) hope and fear, explaining to Ignorance the nature of the unknowable. (2) something that is upheld because it is good enough for children. (3) that which women and children should be protected from. / (4) a speculative hypothesis with no supporting evidence that reason proves invalid. / (5) the art of having faith in God without knowing what God is, or even if He is possible. / (6) a consciously accepted system of make-believe. (7) a monumental chapter in the history of human egotism. (8) the best armour in the world, but the worst cloak. (9) ritual and the truth of dogma. (10) a set of things which the average man thinks he believes and wishes he were certain. (11) the fashionable substitute for belief. (12) induced insanity. (13) the opiate of the masses.
Reporter: a writer who guesses his way to the truth and dispels it with a tempest of words.
Reputation: what you seem to be like.
Resident: unable to leave.
Respectable: rich. Decent means poor.
Respectability: The offspring of a liaison between a bald head and a bank account.
Responsibility: (1) the way of doing the right thing - and of shortening life. (2) a detachable burden easily shifted to the shoulders of God, Fate, Fortune, Luck or one's neighbor.
Revenge: biting a dog because the dog bit you.
Revolution: a successful effort to get rid of a bad government and set up a worse.
Riches: (1) the savings of many in the hands of one. (2) the reward of toil and virtue.
Rite: a religious or semi-religious ceremony fixed by law, precept or custom, with the essential oil of sincerity carefully squeezed out of it.
Ritual, religious: the most effective form of thought prevention ever developed. /
River: an aspect of Nature which lies behind the cottages and billboards.
Road: a strip of land along which one may pass from where it is too tiresome to be to where it is futile to go.
Robber: a candid man of affairs.
Romance: a self-induced state of hallucination that leaves one finally unromantic.
Rostrum: in Latin, the beak of a bird or the prow of a ship. In American, a place from which a candidate for office energetically expounds the wisdom, virtue and power of the rabble.
Rubbish: worthless matter, such as the religions, philosophies, literatures, arts and sciences of the tribes infesting the regions lying due south from Boreaplas.
Ruin: to destroy. Specifically, to destroy a maid's belief in the virtue of maids.
Ruins: our monuments.
Sabbath: a weekly festival having its origin in the fact that God made the world in six days and was arrested on the seventh.
Safety: never to feel secure.
Sanity: a cozy lie.
Satire: an obsolete kind of literary composition in which the vices and follies of the author's enemies were expounded with imperfect tenderness. Satire requires wit, so it has been largely replaced by humour, which is tolerant and sympathetic.
Satirist: (1) a being with an eye in the back of his head who fills up with straw and sawdust all illusions. (2) a man who discovers unpleasant things about himself and then says them about other people.
Savage: (1) the most conservative of human beings. (2) those who are content to be what they are.
Scriptures: the sacred books of our holy religion, as distinguished from the false and profane writings on which all other faiths are based.
Seducer: a man whom women have trained to please women - man made mirror. /
Seduction: for men, being in the right place at the right time; for women, beauty. /
Self-esteem: an erroneous appraisement.
Selfishness: (1) devoid of consideration for the selfishness of others. (2) seeking your own good at the world's cost. (3) the only real atheism.
Self-sacrifice: the effect of prudence on rascality.
Semantics: the art of telling someone they agree with you when they don't. /
Seminar: a place where you can learn in two hours what it takes a professor three months to teach.
Sentimentality: sentiment that rubs you up the wrong way.
Sex: the castration of man. /
Sexism: maintaining that the sexes are equal. /
Sexual Revolution: conquest of the last frontier, involving the efficient management and manipulation of reproductive organs for the purpose of establishing the New Puritanism.
Shyness: egotism out of its depth.
Silence: (1) having nothing to say and saying it. (2) the door of consent.
Silk: a material which enables women to go naked in clothes.
Sin: ignorance.
Sincerity: what a woman likes in a man, as opposed to honesty. /
Skepticism: unbelief in cause and effect.
Sleep: an eight-hour peep show of infantile erotica.
Society: a cage for idiots.
Sociologist: a scientist who blames crime on everything and everyone, except the person who commits it.
Soft: untrue. /
Song: that which is not worth saying is sung.
Sophistication: the ability to yawn without opening your mouth.
Sorcery: the ancient prototype and forerunner of political influence.
Sorrow: the future tense of love.
Soul: nothing apart from the senses.
Speech: the small change of silence.
Spiritual: (1) anything enjoyable that is not easily or comfortably explained. / (2) golf. /
Spring: spring has come when you can put your foot on three daisies at once.
Statistics: figures used as arguments.
Style: (1) the man himself. (2) a noble manner in an easy manner. (3) the physiognomy of the mind, and a safer index to character than the face. (4) the best style is truth. (5) knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.
Suburbia: (1) the projection of dormitory life into adulthood. (2) where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then
names the streets after them.
Success: (1) consuming more irreplaceable resources than others. / (2) having something to offer that morons regard as valuable. / (3) earning more money than your wife can spend, or, for women, finding such a man. (4) go with the crowd.
Suicide: what every gentleman promises to do if he breaks his vow to his beloved.
Superior man: an uneasy obligation.
Superstition: (1) a premature explanation that overstays its time. (2) the belief that all stage kisses give no satisfaction to the actor or actresses.
Suspicion: a coward's virtue.
Sweater: a garment worn by a child when its mother feels chilly.
Tabloids: fast reading for the slow thinking.
Tact: (1) tongue in check. (2) the ability to describe others as they see themselves. (3) the art of not saying what everyone else is thinking. (4) to lie about others as you would have them lie about you.
Take: to acquire, frequently by force but preferably by stealth.
Talk: to commit an indiscretion without temptation, from an impulse without purpose.
Teacher: (1) the vanity of teaching often tempts a man to forget he is a blockhead. (2) one who in his youth, admired teachers. (3) one whose mission it should be not to make his pupils think, but to make them think right. (4) one who frees his students from extreme modernity.
Telephone: an invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance.
Telescope: a device having a relation to the eye similar to that of the telephone to the ear, enabling distant objects to plague us with a multitude of needless details. Luckily it is unprovided with a bell summoning us to the sacrifice.
Theology: (1) obsolete psychology. (2) the intent of which is not to tell the truth but to satisfy the questioner. (3) an effort to explain the unknowable in terms of the not worth knowing... it is not only opposed to the scientific spirit; it is opposed to every other form of rational thinking.
Theosophy: an ancient faith having all the certitude of religion and all the mystery of science.
Thinker: a person who aims where your head ought to be.
Thinking: often only a flash between two long nights, but this flash is everything.
Thoughts: what you are today, what you will be tomorrow.
Time: (1) the press-agent of genius. (2) the most valuable thing a person can spend.
Today: yesterday's effect and tomorrow's cause.
Tolerance: indifference.
Tradition: (1) the democracy of the dead. (2) that part of history which has proven to be of
value for the present age.
Tragedy: (1) that there should one man die ignorant who had the capacity for knowledge. (2) the utter impossibility of changing what you have done.
Translation: (1) commentary that is sometimes better than the source. / (2) the safest translation is word-for-word.
Travel: (1) too often, instead of broadening the mind it only lengthens the conversation. (2) a fools paradise. A childish delight in being somewhere else. (3) a traveller must have the back of an ass to bear all, a tongue like the tail of a dog to flatter all, the mouth of a hog to eat what is set before him, and the ear of a merchant to hear all and say nothing. (4) life in a brothel.
Treaty: an agreement which ceases to be when the parties come into conflict.
Trial: a formal inquiry designed to prove and put upon record the blameless characters of judges, advocates and jurors.
Trouble: mistaking love for beauty, success for brains, and television for civilization. /
True love: an old-fashioned sentiment.
Truth: (1) the object of philosophy, but not of philosophers. (2) stranger than fiction but not as popular. (3) what keeps honest men poor. (4) what is true is possible. (5) a flower in whose neighbourhood others must wither. (6) often the refuge of those too cowardly to lie. / (7) truth should not be spoken, but communicated. / (8) realized by faith, once it has been arrived at by reason. / (9) an ingenious compound of desirability and appearance.
T.V: (1) chewing gum for the eyes. (2) automated day-dreaming. (3) the glass teat. (4) the plug-in drug. (5) the crystal bucket. (6) remote control death. (7) democracy at its ugliest. (8) the bland leading the bland. (9) that which enables you to be entertained in your living room by people you wouldn't have in your home.
Ugliness: a gift of the gods to certain women, entailing virtue without humility.
Unconscious, the: a realm of potential hell.
Universe: anonymous.
University: a place where pebbles are polished and diamonds are dimmed.
Useless: remembering how many days there are in a year. /
Vacation: two weeks when you learn where to stay away from next year.
Vagabond: when rich, is called a tourist.
Verse: a special illness of the ear.
Vice: a creature of such hideous mien that the more you see it, the better you like it.
Virtue: (1) a quality which has never been as respectable as money. (2) insufficient temptation. (3) an inexpensive vice. (4) revenge
Vituperation: satire, as understood by dunces and all such as suffer from an impediment in their wit.
Vulgarity: concealment of truth, or affectation.
War: (1) the only sport that has any intelligible use. (2) a by-product of the arts of peace.
Wealth: (1) any income that is at least one hundred dollars more a year than the income of one's wife's sister's husband. (2) difficult to dignify. /
Whole: that which has a beginning, a middle and an end.
Wise: a reputation that is built by agreeing with everybody.
Wit: (1) the epitaph of an emotion. (2) a form of sex display; a flexing of the superior muscles. / (3) the only weapon with which it is possible to stab oneself in one's own back. (4) the terse intrusion into an atmosphere of serene mental habit of some uncompromising truth. (5) so shining a quality that everybody admires it; most people aim at it, all people fear it, and few love it except in themselves. (6) cultured insolence. (7) the salt with which the humorist spoils his intellectual cookery by leaving it out.
Witticism: a sharp and clever remark; what the Philistine is pleased to call a "joke".
Woman: (1) an animal usually living in the vicinity of Man, and having a rudimentary susceptibility to domestication. (2) a temple built upon a sewer. (3) a promise that cannot be kept.
Women: the maintenance class.
Women's rights: men's duties.
Wonder: the effect of novelty on ignorance.
Word: a word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged; it is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in colour and content according to the circumstances and time in which it is used.
Words: (1) things to kill time until our emotions make us inarticulate. (2) the most powerful drug used by mankind.
Work: (1) two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth's surface relative to other such matter; second, telling other people to do so. The first kind is unpleasant and ill paid; the second is pleasant and highly paid. (2) what you do so that some time you won't have to do it any more. (3) only one kind: discovering the truth about life and death and then living in accordance with it... all else is folly. /
World: the prophecy of worlds to come.
Writing: (1) giving the reader the most knowledge in the least time. (2) the art of putting black words on white paper in succession until the impression is created that something has been said. (3) the hardest way of earning a living, with the possible exception of wrestling alligators. (4) a real writer is someone who has something genuinely important to say to others, and not merely to himself. /
X: in the algebra of psychology "x" stands for Woman's mind.
Xerox: A trademark for a photocopying device that can make rapid reproductions of human error, perfectly.
Yawn: a pertinent remark.
Yesterday: the tomorrow that got away.
Youth: life as yet untouched by tragedy.
Zoo: (1) a place which prevents people from getting at the animals. (2) an excellent place to study the habits of human beings.Quote from: Whatsifsowhatsit
May I inquire which categories of reputation there are exactly?
Will singing songs of defeated foes mid-battle be interpreted as a taunt and/or cause opponents to re-evaluate how much of a threat you are (in either direction), or is there no such understanding currently?
Quote from: Vattic
How much, if any, control do you plan to give the player over caps like [army invader numbers]? I only ask because we have editable pop caps and the like so players can adjust depending on how good a PC they have and how few FPS they can handle.
Quote from: Amperzand
Is there any intention of bringing some equivalent to the pre-DF2014 quest menu back?
I liked having a list of things people asked me to do and where they were, without having to search submenus for relevant site-names.
Quote from: Pootis
Will artists or otherwise copy other's performances without the original performer explicitly teaching them? Can performances or stories be circulated independent from the original performer?
Quote from: Bumber
Do you have any new kinds of divine retribution in mind? Inflicting a random FB syndrome seems like low-hanging fruit, although maybe it doesn't work as well for world gen desecration events.
Quote from: Inarius
About vampires, will the creature (after they are transformed) stay in the fortress, even if being caught (and are seen as ennemy)? In legends mode, usually, they flee from their location just after being discovered to save their life, which is quite coherent with their goal (immortal life).
Quote from: Robsoie
In current version, there are 2 curses, one in worldgen that can make a npc into a vampire when he offend a deity and one at gameplay time when you attract the sight of a mummy in a tomb.
None of those curses can be currently dispelled/removed in any ways out of death, so assuming there may be some more curses type in the future, will there be additionally some way to dispell/remove them?
Quote from: Japa
Will enough temple desecrations result in your fortress showing symptoms of an evil biome? Dead rising, raining blood, etc?
Quote from: Robsoie
Will there be guards or anything to protect temples from desecration and give a challenge to adventurer looking for vampirification? (especially as vampire curse is more like a big bonus instead of an actual curse in adventure mode)
Quote from: LordBaal
will the kind of courses be specific to the gods? I mean, the god of death would make vampires and zombies, the one of hunting werebeast, the one of health/sickness perhaps FB syndromes or something else (if is planned to have different that kind of things as courses), and so on?
Quote from: Zavvnao
Would temple desecration in destroyed towns still cause curses? And how will animal men/women populations interact with destroyed sites in future or current interactions?
Quote from: Capsicum
What are your plans (if any) to present legends mode information to players in a more organic (in-game) way?
Quote from: golemgunk
Will regular creatures with the building destroyer tag be cursed from toppling statues?
Will temple defilers be cursed 100% of the time?
Quote from: Robsoie
Speaking of temples, are every deities going to have temples in a worldgen?
And will they be built in random odd place or will there be some checks to have them in more appropriate locations (difficult to imagine death-based deities temples being tolerated in a city ruled by a lord that is worshipping life-based deities, or good-based deities temples being built in evil regions)
Quote
Quote from: Dirst Toady, are you getting close enough to hint at what might make the cut in myth generation for the upcoming release?
Also, are there any raw changes that are firm enough that you feel comfortable discussing them yet? (And hopefully at least part of the myth generator is in the raws...)
Quote from: Shonai_Dweller The upcoming release is part 1 of the taverns arc, which will be followed by part 2 (Presumably? Toady might be bored of fun and games by now). Then the artifact arc is due to begin. So it's going to be quite a while (years?) before we see the myth generator.
Quote from: TheCheeseMaker
In the next version humans can live with the dwarves. Will we be able to make armor that would fit them? Or would they be forced to use the armor bought off the human merchants?
Related, will human merchants sell armor and clothing dwarf sized, or will they still bring sizes completely useless for a dwarf?
Quote from: Neonivek
Will History ever have events that are less solo-fights and wars and more like... A group of people teaming up on a monster? or is the solo meant to reflect that he is the "leader"?
I know that the old "How the HECK did that dwarf kill the Bronze Colossus" thing is odd... but I am always kind of incredulous that basically in this world where Godzilla roams the earth that instead of armies, teams, or groups of people trying to take it down... People just decide to do it solo all the time.
And
How much longer are we going to be stuck with oddly fragile megabeasts? or to rephrase: At what point are you going to work on fixing up relative strengths in world gen?
Quote from: Zavvnao
If you ever hae the game to the point where dwarves can be impaled in fortress mode, will the dwarves both be depressed yet have good thoughts from being impaled on their favorite wood?
Quote from: Buttery_Mess
I'm guessing that kobolds won't be able to take part in poetry and written traditions. But, will they be able to play music and therefore participate in other cultures that way? Could a kobold develop a new musical style or dance style, to which a poetic form might become attached? As I understand it, there's some cross pollination between poetic forms, music and dance.
Quote from: Urist_McDagger
Will you be able to lie about achievements, like persuading a demon you that it was you(ergo, not you) who wiped out the entire Murderfurnace civilization single-handedly?
Quote from: Daniel the Finlander
Will there be an easy way to view the values of a civilization aside from reading the profiles of fortress residents?
Quote from: Shonai_Dweller
In the example master-apprentice situation you described, would the apprentice Dwarves actual medical skills increase as they study, or just the abstract 'knowledge of medicine'. I mean, how much of a real-game impact does this have at the moment?
Quote from: Sefzaps
Will scholars be attracted to your fortress based on what literature you have? As in, if you have a lot of books related to medicine will you get visitors with medical skills looking to study there? Perhaps we'd finally have a reliable way to train doctors.
Quote from: Robsoie
Seeing at how the worst murdering rampages/crimes can be done in complete impunity in adventure mode, will there be something done about it in next version that is more appropriate than those "spits" or calling one a murderer without any more consequence?
Will there be real consequence to a NPC/player actions making himself "enemy" to a civ? And with civs getting different ethics than an entity, will the enemity propagate toward other allied civs or will it stay local only?
Will we see in the future the justice system of the fortress mode taking effect in adventure mode too with some kind of guard/hammerer/assassins squads dispatched by location leaders to bringing people to justice for minor crimes or trying to put a lethal end to their murder spree?
Quote from: Spish
when can we expect to see smaller entities (bandits and criminal organizations, animal men tribes, rebels) and roaming encounters (*) interacting with our fortresses directly? Is that type of thing covered with the whole visitation dealie?
Quote from: KingMurdoc
Is the current difficulty of the living dead (particularly zombies raised in worldgen) intended? For that matter, are goblins/etc supposed to be as weak as they are currently?
Quote from: Novel Scoops
When will better conversation be on the cards?
Quote from: Devin
For those of us who miss DF Talk and would like to hear from you about all the recent development in new episodes, can we volunteer to help somehow? We could collect a list of good questions for you to discuss in an episode and do the audio editing from the raw take to make it sound nice, for instance. That would probably reduce the work involved for you to pretty much just the time you were talking on mic.
Quote from: Malrone
So, to the Toady One, I ask a Big question and a Small question.
Big:
Right now, dwarves are traumatized by the idea of dead goblins, even after centuries of violence between these peoples. Will the emotions system draw more on family and politics in the future to correct for this, or perhaps will ethics draw more granular distinctions between species and not just all sentience? The current method of managing this reaction, of systematically traumatizing dwarves until their personality is nothing but the emotional equivalent of scar tissue, is somewhat distressing.
Small:
As libraries, books, scholars, and the various forms of "hard" knowledge are added to the game, will the player be able to influence what ideas are generated or spread? Could propaganda be manufactured and cultural education eventually be implemented?
Quote from: FearfulJesuit
You've hinted before that the current dev cycle may lay the groundwork for a future reworking of technology during gameplay- technologies that you will or won't have access to depending on research, with the ability to advance your fortress's knowledge by investing in research. If so, do you also envision- whether in fort mode or simply in worldgen- situations where a civilization would lose access to a technology they once had?
Quote from: DarkwingUK
I noticed that there is a menu in the units lists dedicated to dead dwarves. Is there a reason why we cannot see any information about them after they are dead (in the live units list we can see their thoughts, preferences, and relationships. In the latest version especially, because slabs seem much less likely to indicate who killed them (usually just says bled to death), the dwarves very much disappear when they are dead.
Now that there are songs, dances, and books with topics, do you plan some way of designating a person to be memorialised through art, similarly to how it was possible by engraving slabs?
Thanks to vjmdhzgr, Inarius, MrWiggles, Button, falcc, Knight Otu, NJW2000, Rockphed, Miuramir, Dirst, WordsandChaos, Alfrodo, Mr S and anybody I missed for helping to answer questions this time!We have hero, buddy, grudge, animal training partner, violent brawler (instigating non-lethal attacks on non-hostiles), psychopath (instigating lethal attacks on non-hostiles), trade partner, friendly, killer, murderer, adventuring companion, member of respected group, member of hated group, enemy fighter, friendly fighter, bully, brigand, loyal soldier, monster, storyteller, poet, bard and dancer -- these can be tracked variously at the individual-individual or individual-entity level, first through active rumors and then more abstractly, though not all of them are saved over the long haul and only occur when rumors are active.There are lots of numbers that could afford to come out at this point. Not really sure when it'd happen.There are some problems with storing goals the way they were done before, in that we don't want the original giver to be centralized (except for certain things like squad tasks or kidnap relatives) and we need to handle imperfect information and so on, but we do need to add a way to promote and remember and see the rumors/tasks you are working on in their own space. There might need to be some sort of prompt in the conversation to let you flag something, since you can get a lot of information dumped on you at once to the point where you wouldn't be able to flag what you want easily in the log screen after even one conversation (especially with all the starting home town data in your mind), but in-conversation meta-prompts have the issue of being anti-immersive. Perhaps there's an in-between solution that isn't too obscure. Universal remember button? Classified recommendations from log screen? There's too much data for the ubiquitous date or faction/storyline ordered journal/quest-list to really work by itself now.Yeah, they can pick up the knowledge by being spectators, but this doesn't mean they'll be talented. There are practical experience measures for each form as well as general skills -- if the copying artist doesn't have practical experience, they can still use their skills to make an effort during their first performance, and they'll build up experience over time. Abstract knowledge of forms and specific works can also be learned from books, which'll allow the reader to attempt them. It's a little generous in that you can pick up a form without a lot of specific examples -- in real life, you wouldn't get all the nuances from a few examples, even if you were skilled, but it's kind of a cpu issue to be too fussy with the checks.Nothing in mind for this release. It seems like future temple desecrations will all be in-game now, and not just part of world gen, so perhaps it's best if those are inflicted upon the unsuspecting player as they arise.Ideally we'd have all the world gen complications transferred over, including the suspicion that slowly builds as they fail to age, but it isn't in there yet.Yeah, I imagine it'll happen as an expansion to the interaction system over time. I'm not sure precisely when -- we may or may not get to it in the next round that comes with the myth/artifact stuff, but there's a lot on the table for that one.The evil biomes from pre-history aren't related to desecrations, so it didn't come up. One of the targets for the myth generator is to explain why those places are the way they are, and that'll involve relating it to some mechanic or another. I'm not sure what that'll mean for temple desecration.There's nothing like that now.It would be better to keep everything in character -- we've had such a small curse menu for the gods to choose from up until now that we didn't bother. As we get more options, I think divisions will happen naturally.Yeah, the gods don't care about having active worshippers at a site, so toppling statues in ruined temples would not be recommended. I'm not sure what the second question means -- like will they move in and have little animal person ruin-warming parties at the temples? Or something about the current outcast groups? I don't remember if they still get cursed after the main civ gets chased out or how that works.The only legends mode presentations in fort/adv mode are organic (engravings, rumors, etc.). What's missing is a more systematic way of doing it, and the issues there are with game-spoiling information about e.g. invasion forces heading for your fort that you shouldn't know about, etc. I don't recall if there are also technical issues with loading up a legends-type mode while the fort is active... I don't think so.Yeah, I think a strategic temple might be bad for an invasion force. This mechanic will certainly need to be updated as we go along, at least in terms of consecrating the temple so it can't be placed instantly through the interface as if that somehow communicates with the gods directly.I haven't changed which deities have temples in world gen from the current release. Ideally there'd be hidden temples in cities and isolated temples in the wilds later on.Nope! I won't know what's in or out until we're into the bug-fixing cycle when we update the dev pages (and even after that it'll be subject to change of course). I expect large swaths of the myth generator to make it into world gen params, but I don't have any idea what kind of raw/objects changes to expect.The gambling/games/price-setting/rent/etc. part of the tavern release was made problematic by the lack of economy, and we might wait on that until the value of things is more natural and coins are floating around again (or whatever ends up happening). The myth generator goes in with the artifact release (there might be one release there or we might find a good split point).Handling the non-dwarf clothing production problem is one of the remaining issues. It'll be handled before release (I think with some new workshop options). I'm not sure I'll get to merchants though. I think there are some archaic issues with that code which would need to be handled.World gen doesn't have any respect for parties/companions/whatever in world gen that are used in adventure mode or in dwarf mode squads -- it would be good to have these things.I'm not sure when we'll next be looking at world gen combat in terms of survivability etc.If they were alive, it would probably work that way now, though I don't remember if "upright weapon" buildings are admire-able.Yeah, they currently have some music, but the difficulty would be getting it to pass around, since kobolds don't integrate into other societies well. If somebody else observed a kobold musical form in secret (which effectively limits it to you and your friends)... hmmm, I don't think they'd set words to it, since we only have poetic forms or specific poems associated to musical forms at the time of the forms creation, and new poetic forms don't consider music. You'd need to have a derived music form that has the kobold form as its ancestor, but we haven't done direct evolution of forms of the same kind yet. Specific musical compositions can have attached poetic forms, but that might require the parent musical form to have an associated poetic form as well. In any case, there are some avenues but I don't think it gets all the way there yet.We haven't gotten into false rumors yet... it is kind of a can of worms. The current rumor system would support you saying whatever, and people would believe it and pass it around and reputations would change, but there aren't any detections/reality checks/etc. for them to use, so it would be too powerful. If non-players can do it there would be lots of bug reports.We don't currently have anything like that for next time, though you |
...I am now.
Bradley (smiling): - Should I ask whom you made the bargain with?
Dylan (nervously smiling and stuttering) - With...with...with...yeah, with the Chief...eh...the Chief Commander...
Bradley: - Of this Earth??? (which is the Devil)
Dylan: - Uhum...of...of this Earth and the world we can't see (Dylan's smile and nervous laughter is shifting back to the melancholy sadness that has been his only expression throughout the whole interview up until Bradley asks about the Devil).
Update, April 28, 2020: I found this video clip on YouTube, so here is the real excerpt from the interview:
It's also known, thanks to former Illuminati programmed slaves who have succeeded to escape, that the Illuminati can pick a child, check for his/her talents, use that part for programming and create geniuses. This is the way NASA works. Their computer programs are so extremely advanced and difficult to learn, that the computer programmers and users must have a photographic memory to be able to remember the programs and programming. This is done by scarring the brain stem of the victim, an action which is known to create photographic memory. If the operation is successful that is, otherwise the victim may die. Those people, who have had their brain stem scarred, are then taught by NASA how to control the computers.
There are also other methods to create geniuses out of talents, and the Programmers use them all the time within the arts, military, science etc.
For those who want to research further into the origins of rock music, here is a starter:
"Since the launching of the Beatles as an international project via TV in 1963, "rock" has been the most influential recruiter to Satanism. Rock was created, and is still coordinated by Crowley’s followers and by the OTO network, in cooperation with WICCA. It is, not so incidentally, also the Satanist’s biggest money-maker, and believed to provide the chief logistical support for deployments and other activities of the OTO-WICCA efforts world-wide.
There is nothing spontaneous or accidental about "rock." It is a product of classical studies of the ancient Phrygian terrorist cult of Satan-Dionysos, the model for the Roman Bacchic cults of similar characteristics. Crowley’s control of the "rock industry" has been documented by a team of [private] investigators, who have also noted, that in addition to the Satanist lyrics, Satanist messages embedded sublimely in rock recordings are a key feature of this subversive operation.
The "rock rhythm" itself is copied from the old Dionysian-Bacchic cults. Even without the drugs and sexual orgies which are characteristic features of hard-core rock affairs, repeated, frequent, hours-long exposure to constant repetition of "rock rhythms" produces lasting, drug-like effects on the mind of the victim. Reducing sexual practices to the level of bestiality, is a crucial feature of Satanism in all historical periods studied, from Phrygian Cybele-Dionysos cult-period onward."[1]
Another typical thing, which is related to fine arts: A few years ago there was a documentary on Swedish Television about a famous young New York "painter", who sat bragging over his art, drinking whiskey like water. Then he showed the reporter his art gallery. Well in there, you could see about twenty painters creating paintings like if it was in a factory. Ten, maybe twenty unfinished canvases were lined up against the wall, and the painters walked from painting to paining, back and forth and added something new to each one. Our famous, bragging "painter phenomenon" with the whisky glass looked at the finished ones and accepted or rejected them. Then he put HIS signature on the paintings, though he never himself created anything on them. Later he sold one of them for around $800,000.00. The real painters, who had created his work were nothing more than slave labor and were poorly paid.
This is an effect of the OTO-connected Andy Warhol, who finally destroyed fine art in the 60's with his so called pop-art. He said in an interview something to the effect that "fine art is dead - this is the art of the New Era" (referring to his own art). An act of rebellion or an act with a purpose to degrade art like they've done with music? Warhol was a big puppet for the Illuminati Elite. By degrading the art they also degrade the human population.
Picasso once said that to be able to create a good "alternative" art form, you basically must be an excellent painter in a traditional way first. He was so right, and if you look at his early work, you can see he was mastering traditional painting as well. But his wise words seem to be forgotten and buried, unfortunately...
The Illuminati Elite have a great understanding of the brain and the mind, and it's scary to see how they use their knowledge...
For more information, please read the following article and watch the video, which confirms much of what is presented in this article: "Sold Their Souls to Rock-n-Roll".
Still in doubt? Please read and download (by right-clicking on the link and click "save target as") the following.pdf file: "Satanic Drummers". This may also kill the myth that Black Sabbath was excellent Christian music. [2]
Gavin Baddeley, head of Church of Satan in Great Britain, and the cover of his book,
"Lucifer Rising: Sin, Devil Worship, and Rock'n'Roll"
A lso, the book, "Lucifer Rising: Sin, Devil Worship, and Rock'n'Roll" by Gavin Baddeley is an excellent resource if you want to know what is going on in the music industry. Baddeley is the head of Church of Satan in Great Britain, and he is interviewing artists that are openly satanic, many of them also admitted to being members of the Church of Satan, which makes shocking reading. I recommend this book to anybody who is not afraid to know the truth, and it kills the myth that occultism and satanism in rock music is just a gimmick. The information in this book comes directly from the horse's mouth.
Footnote:
[1] http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/esp_sociopol_lucytrust03.htm
[2] www.phoenixsourcedistributors.com/html/phoenix_journal_summary_9.html
[3] More interesting information regarding Elvis being a mind controlled multiple, please see the article, "Elvis and the Rosicrucian Brethren" (saved version here).
More resources:
Savage Drumbeats: http://foundersamerica30.blogspot.com/ (This article may come out as Anti-Semitic in the way it is written, and I hesitated to link it up. However, with this in mind, there is still some valuable information in it).
Make your success certain by using our incredible E20-591 study packages. We are providing the best 1z0-054 Certification dumps and testking 642-262 solutions for preparations. You can also get secured 1z0-451 training guide along with testking ST0-91W training dumps from our website.BRUCE and Ian Kamau fell in love with soccer while watching the 1998 World Cup huddled around a TV in Kenya.
Inspired by the exploits of their heroes, the brothers would take to Nairobi’s streets to play scratch matches with mates into the night.
“That was how I was introduced to football,” Ian, of Athelstone, said. “Every day we would round up everyone we could and have a kick.”
The brothers migrated to Australia with their parents a year later and have since been creating their own soccer headlines.
Ian, now 22, has returned from his second season playing for Oakleigh Cannons in the Victorian Premier League.
Bruce, now 19, has burst into Adelaide United’s unbeaten first team this season.
“I’m ecstatic to have made my debut with the senior team and to be playing with them, especially after the great start to the season we’ve had,” Bruce, a winger, said.
“Josep (Gombau) is a very good coach and he’s got a lot of belief in young players, so hopefully I can pay him back for the opportunities he has given me.”
The brothers attended Rostrevor College and began their soccer careers at NAB, now Eastern United, before playing at Campbelltown City and Adelaide City.
“We settled in to life in Australia quite easily... it was just a big adventure for us,” said Ian, an attacking midfielder.
“Our parents were simply searching for a better life for us and they happened to choose Australia.”
Bruce, who made his State League senior debut for Adelaide Olympic in 2012, remembers one-on-one games with his brother.
“We’d usually have a kick out the back of the house or down the local park and it was good because we could always learn things from each other.
“He used to beat me but I don’t know if he would now.”
Bruce last represented SA at under-12 level and hopes his promising form can earn him a call-up to the Australian under-23 side for the Rio 2016 Olympic qualifiers.
Ian is eyeing a path back to professional ranks after playing for Adelaide United’s youth team in 2012.
“It’s all about trying to attract the attention of an A-League club and playing in the best environment to display what I can do,” Ian said.
“The goal is to play for Adelaide United. To do that with Bruce would be a dream.”Jamie Grainger sat on a beehive in a rural community in New Zealand for a £500 bet (Picture: Mercury)
A beekeeper has insisted that no bees were harmed during the making of this video of him sitting on their hive.
Jamie Granger was challenged to sit on the hive with a bare backside for NZ$1,000 – £550.
Naked man rescued from 'bijoux parlour' after fire broke out
Another colleague had failed the 30-second challenge, managing just 19 seconds on the swarm.
So Jamie, 27, dropped his trousers on the farm in Rural Matamata after being goaded by friend Aurel Braguta.
Jamie Grainger, from Tauranga, New Zealand, said: ‘Was it painful? Well, it was just as you can imagine.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
‘It wasn’t pleasant but it was certainly amusing. As you can imagine your a**e swells up.
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‘It was just a spur of the moment thing and he offered me a thousand bucks – I was like ‘well a thousand bucks’, that sounds good.
Poor puppy got stuck in watering can after watching owner tend to plants 🙁
‘When my partner Lauren found out we both had a bit of a laugh. And when she found out I’d got a thousand bucks she said to me – ‘well that could pay for the wedding.’ But she was just cracking up.
‘One thousand bucks for 30 seconds is the easiest money I’ve ever earned.
‘Aurel is an arrogant bastard and makes bets on the spur of the moment. Like he once gave me 500 bucks to eat a slug.
‘Naturally when bees sting you they die. But it’s near the end of the season and a lot die off anyway.
Needless to say it was pretty painful for him (Picture: Mercury)
‘There is no harm in what we do – we care about the bees and the job is important to us.’
Dad-of-two Aurel was keen to stress that even though the video was a ‘laugh’ it should not be tried at home.
Could this be the worst passenger to get stuck next to on a flight?
Aurel said: ‘It was just for a bit of a laugh really, As a team we are prepared to do pretty much anything – it’s not insane or crazy at all.
‘Although, he was quite badly stung when he got up – I think it was quite painful for him.
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‘I suppose it’s a bit like the TV show “Fear Factor”. It’s about overcoming your fears and being brave.
‘We were just having a bit of fun. It’s just a group of beekeepers having a laugh while at work. We’re a professional company doing what we do.
Jamie ran away after he couldn’t take it any more (Picture: Mercury)
‘But they sting, they always sting. I’ve worked in bees for years now and we get stung every day.
‘You can never prevent being stung. It hurts every time and you don’t get used to it. You just learn to expect it.
First class row after homeowner asks for postbox to be moved
‘Not everyone can try to do that – especially not if you’re allegic to bee stings. Your butt may swell and you can’t go to the toilet afterwards.
‘I challenged Shane to do a whole minute and he barely made 19 seconds. So I told Jamie he’d get 1,000 New Zealand dollars if he sat in the bees for just 30 seconds.
‘What you don’t see in the video is that Shane did it first but failed the challenge – so I offered the 30 second challenge for 1,000 dollars – I guess that’s about 700 Euros in exchange.
‘I’ll admit it’s quite a lot of money. We always do weird challenges. We do all kinds of things – like eating slugs. Once we even ate pig’s testicles for a laugh.
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‘We were out fishing once and Shaun caught a big fish. He just asked me to eat its eyes. He said if I ate its eyes I could have the whole fish – so I did it.
‘There are things they won’t do, though. Like, for example, we once challenged each other to eat a dead rat and the boys just said no.
‘They’re a great team and we’re a professional company who work with bees on a daily basis. It’s about challenging yourself and facing your fears.
‘You shouldn’t do this if you’re not used to bees and working with them on a regular basis.’Jay-Z has announced two shows at Carnegie Hall in New York, which will benefit the United Way of New York City and the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation. The concerts take place February 6th-7th, with private tickets ranging from $500 to $2500. That money will be donated to both charitable foundations to help low-income students pursue an education in college.
This also marks just the second time hip hop has found its way into Carnegie Hall. Hov will join Wyclef Jean (who played there in 2001) as the only two hip hop artists to ever perform at the legendary concert hall.
“It’s every artist’s dream to play a venue as legendary as Carnegie Hall […] The fact that I can use the arts and my talent to benefit the education of the next generation of artists, entrepreneurs, and great thinkers makes for a legendary night. I’m proud to be a part of the continuing work of United Way of New York City and expanding the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation.”
Private tickets for the benefit shows go on sale December 12th, with a limited number of tickets open to the public on January 30th at 11 a.m. EST. Visit the Shawn Carter Foundation for ticketing options and more info on the events.Glass fell from the 51st storey of a downtown Calgary highrise Sunday morning after a window washing crew accidentally smashed a panel while working at Brookfield Place.
Fire crews responded to 225 6 Ave. S.W. about 11:30 a.m. where they found the fallen glass. The streets and sidewalks around the building were shut down so crews could assess safety and allow for cleanup.
Sixth Avenue between Centre and Second Streets S.W. was closed for several hours along with First Street between Fifth and Seventh Avenues S.W.
"A wind gust carried the swing stage out and it smashed into the building and broke some glass," said Batt. Chief Al Magwood.
"They were moving it around the corner… when it got away from them so there was nobody on the swing stage at the time."
A swing stage is the platform window washing crews work from, which is suspended with ropes or cables on the outside of the building.
No injuries were reported.Coconut
Coconut is a functional programming language that compiles to Python. Since all valid Python is valid Coconut, using Coconut will only extend and enhance what you're already capable of in Python.
Why use Coconut? Coconut is built to be useful. Coconut enhances the repertoire of Python programmers to include the tools of modern functional programming, in such a way that those tools are easy to use and immensely powerful; that is, Coconut does to functional programming what Python did to imperative programming. And Coconut code runs the same on any Python version, making the Python 2/3 split a thing of the past.
Installing Coconut is as easy as
installing Python, opening a command-line prompt, and entering:
pip install coconut
which will give you access to all the features of Coconut, which adds to Python built-in, syntactical support for:
pipeline-style programming
"hello, world!" |> print
prettier lambdas
x -> x ** 2
partial application
range ( 10 ) |> map $ ( pow $ (?, 2 )) |> list
pattern-matching
match [ head ] + tail in [ 0, 1, 2, 3 ]: print ( head, tail )
destructuring assignment
{ "list" : [ 0 ] + rest } = { "list" : [ 0, 1, 2, 3 ]}
infix notation
5 ` mod ` 3 == 2
operator functions
product = reduce $ ( * )
function composition
( f.. g.. h )( x, y, z )
lazy lists
( | first_elem () | ) :: rest_elems ()
parallel programming
range ( 100 ) |> parallel_map $ ( pow $ ( 2 )) |> list
tail call optimization
def factorial ( n, acc = 1 ): case n : match 0 : return acc match _ is int if n > 0 : return factorial ( n - 1, acc * n )
algebraic data types
data Empty () data Leaf ( n ) data Node ( l, r ) def size ( Empty ()) = 0 @ addpattern ( size ) def size ( Leaf ( n )) = 1 @ addpattern ( size ) def size ( Node ( l, r )) = size ( l ) + size ( r )
and much more!
Like what you see? Don't forget to star Coconut on GitHub!
Star
Ready to get started? Here are some links to help you out:Feeling chipper, the little wood ant caught bringing science to life
Quite what this industrious little wood ant is planning to do with this microchip is not known, but how appropriate it is that he appears to have a scientific interest.
Because the insect features in a stunning new book featuring the art of the coloured scanning electron micrograph - in the case of this chap magnified 22 times.
Microcosmos takes readers into a secret world of extreme close-ups. Some subjects have been magnified by as much as 22million times.
Detailed descriptions of the subjets are contained within. The wood ant, for example, is a social creature, and acts as a slave for the blood-red ant Formica sanguinea.
Holding steady: The wood or heathland ant holding a microchip in its toothed (serrated) mandibles. The wood ant is social, and acts as a slave for the blood-red ant Formica sanguine
Inseminated females of the blood-red ant invade wood ant nests, steal the pupae, and the ants that hatch are made to work for the strange queen.
Compiled by London-based science author Brandon Broll, Microcosmos takes a piercing look at the everyday in six sections including Zoology, The Human Body and Botanics.
Another fantastic picture is the piece of small household dust below.
It has been magnified 115 times, but it contains long hairs such as cat fur, twisted synthetic and woollen fibres, a pollen grain, plant and insects.
Colourful clutter: Magnified 22million times, this microscopic photo is of household dust containing long hairs such as cat fur, twisted synthetic and woollen fibres, a pollen grain, plant, serrated insect scales and insect remains. It comes from Microcosmos, a new book which takes readers into a world of extreme close-ups
Taken by over 30'microscopists' using a variety of powerful microscopes, the book charters a voyage through a miniature world showing the unlikeliest parts of our lives in minuscule detail.
Readers can view extreme close-ups of items including ladies' tights, the surface of the human tongue and the beautiful scales on butterfly wings.
Also included in this weird and wonderful selection of images are a rusty nail and cut human hair on a razor blade.
Close encounter: Nylon hooks and loops interweave to form the material more commonly known as Velcro
Electronic wizardry: This photo - or, more precisely, scanning electron micrograph (SEM) - is of the surface of a silicon microchip
The spectacular visuals were captured using a variety of traditional light-based microscopes, powerful scanning electron microscopes which bombard the subject with electrons and build the image using a computer and transmission electro microscopes.
South African Broll, who specialises in science and health writing, said: 'The book will show readers the beauty of what is too small to see with the naked eye.
'The majority of the 203 images are from scanning electron microscopes, and this is the reason the book is so visually stunning.
Cosmic: What may look like a filmmaker's vision of an apocalyptic world is actually a cigarette paper. The blue crystals are additives that keep the lit cigarette burning by producing oxygen
'Light microscopes and transmission electron microscopes require that materials be sliced thinly, or trapped under glass before being examined.
'In contrast, the scanning electron microscope reveals a world familiar to the way we naturally see things, a world with outer surfaces and in three dimensions.'
The other three sections,'minerals', 'technology', and'micro-organisms' delve deeper into the tiny world existing under our noses.
Microcosmos is published by Firefly Books later this month.
Magnified seed: Perhaps not as surprising as some of the photos, this microscopic shot is of human sperm
Enlarged 21 times: This colourful flower is actually of fimbriae, a fringe of tissue, of a Fallopian tube
Raised eyebrow: Eyelash hairs growing from the surface of human skin.... magnified 50 times
Another world: A clutch of butterfly eggs sits on a raspberry plant
The weave of ladies' nylon stocking tights (left) and the scales from the wing of a peacock butterfly (right)
You wouldn't want to meet a mosquito that looked like this. Fortunately, the insect's head has here been magnified 160 timesImage copyright Reuters Image caption "An event where people wanted to party, dance, have fun, turned into a terrible tragedy" - chief prosecutor Horst Bien
Ten people have been charged over the deaths of 21 people in a stampede at Germany's Love Parade music festival.
The crush happened when hundreds of thousands of people tried to squeeze through a narrow tunnel that served as the only access to the grounds in 2010.
Four staff of the music festival organiser Lopavent and six members of the administration in the western city of Duisburg have been charged.
They are accused of negligent manslaughter and causing bodily harm.
More than 500 people were injured during the 24 July 2010 tragedy.
"An event where people wanted to party, dance and have fun, turned into a terrible tragedy," Duisburg's chief prosecutor Horst Bien told a press conference. "Twenty-one people had to die, hundreds were injured."
"The victims, their relatives and the bereaved are still suffering today because of the traumatic events," he added.
The state of North Rhine-Westphalia had initially investigated 16 suspects, mostly city officials and staff of the festival organisers, over claims that bad planning and poor crowd management were to blame.
Proceedings against six of them were dropped because there was not enough evidence for charges, said Mr Bien.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption The position of one of the victims is marked on the street where they died
Image copyright Reuters Image caption A placard attached to the tunnel wall reads "Saturday 24 July 2010 Love-Parade = Death-Parade"
Image copyright AFP Image caption The tragedy's victims are remembered in a memorial in the tunnel where it happened
Image copyright Reuters Image caption In the years since, many have returned to remember the victims
Image copyright AFP Image caption The vast crowd was funnelled through a single tunnel into and out of the festival site
The then mayor of Duisburg, Adolf Sauerland, was forced to step down after a 2012 city referendum, accused of having ignored warnings that the venue was too small.
An interim police report listed a catalogue of crowd management and planning mistakes.
The grounds opened nearly two hours later than promised, leading to an initial blockage in the tunnel, and there were no loudspeakers to control the crowd, the report said.
The victims - 13 women and eight men - were aged 18 to 38 and included seven foreigners: from Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, China, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Spain.
The Love Parade started as an impromptu party on Berlin's main shopping street in 1989, before becoming an annual pilgrimage for millions of techno fans from around the world.
But, accorded the status of a political demonstration, the city authorities were landed with the clean-up costs and, as attendance exploded, friction with local residents increased.
Commercial pressures grew too, with the festival founder, Dr Motte disassociating himself from the event in later years, because of its increasing commercialisation.
In the wake of the tragedy in 2010, he blamed festival organisers for lacking concern for partygoers.
In recent years the festival had been held outside Berlin, due to problems getting permission to hold the event in the capital.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption The Love Parade began in Berlin but in later years was held in other cities, after increasing friction with local residents and accusations it had lost touch with its non-commercial, political rootsIn the November 12 episode of Fox’s Family Guy, titled “The D in Apartment 23,” when Brian, the Griffin family dog, and Stewie visit the Quahog University Library, they see a student protest on campus so they stop by. Mocking Millennials perfectly, a student tells Brian that they have gathered to demand the university president be fired. His offense? He didn’t overreact when the word “weird” was discovered written on the transgender bathroom.
–
A crowd gathers outside the movie theater and chases Brian home. Once there, the Griffin family is waiting for him. “It’s not 2005. You can’t just go online and say whatever you want,” Lois says. Brian deletes the tweet but, as we all know, the Internet is forever. All the members of the family experience the public’s wrath as they try to go about their lives. One kid at the high school doesn’t accept Chris’ explanation that Brian’s tweet was a joke. He says, “We live in a post-joke world.” Isn’t that the truth!
The crowd of protesters will not leave the lawn of the Griffin’s house so Brian is finally convinced to just step outside and apologize. Naturally, no one is willing to listen. The crowd is angry and the perfect line is uttered by one angry man – “Anything that makes me uncomfortable in 2017 should be illegal.”Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign feared backlash from labor groups, particularly the AFL-CIO, following President Barack Obama’s decision to improve Malaysia’s human rights standing in order to help push the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Clinton Labor Outreach Director Nikki Budzinski warned fellow senior campaign staff in July 2015 that AFL-CIO leader Richard Trumka would be mobilizing the union against the move and that Clinton should be ready to answer labor questions about TPP and Malaysia’s human rights record, according to emails Wikileaks made public on Monday.
“Obama just readjusted Malaysia’s tier on the human rights list in order to move TPP thru with Malaysia attached. Trumka will likely be putting out a statement today blasting this,” Budzinski wrote. “I have heard that we will soon be asked to weigh in given the Secretary’s role at State and as a Presidential candidate. Wanted to provide this heads up. Let me know if I can help or you have questions.”
Budzinski referred her query to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta – from whose email account the message was retrieved – in addition to National Political Director Amanda Renteria and Campaign Manager Robby Mook, among others.
In a separate email referring to various potential discussion topics from labor groups, Budzinski once again warned that Malaysia’s human rights record and TPP would be an issue. “I think we should be prepared that several EC [Executive Council of AFL-CIO] members will want to press the Secretary to be specific on trade,” she wrote. “The new twist on TPP with the WH/State Department adjusting Malaysia’s human trafficking standard to clear a path for inclusion of Malaysia in TPP, will most definitely come up.”
Budzinski suggested that Clinton use the chance “to provide a specific example of something that would be a no-go for her with trade.”
Budzinski referred more generally to the Malaysia question in another email, noting that she had previously addressed it in more detail.
Malaysia is one of the most prominent nations for human trafficking in Asia, for which it had earned a place on the State Department’s Trafficking in Person report. President Obama’s decision to improve its standing on that list in order to make Malaysia eligible to be part of the TPP deal alarmed an array of voices on the left. Publicly, the New York Times editorial board complained the claim that Malaysia had improved its situation so dramatically “strains credulity,given how little Malaysia has done to address the problem.” The Wikileaks email release proves Podesta was receiving multiple emails from leftist advocacy groups calling for louder opposition to TPP in relation to the Malaysia story.
In private, Podesta was also fielding questions from some of the most prominent global elites regarding doing business with Malaysia. Shortly before a scheduled meeting with magnate George Soros, a Soros aide sent Podesta a memorandum arguing that President Obama’s attempts to strengthen ties with Malaysia had serious human rights implications.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, the Soros memo read, has created “a Malay-Islamic state in which Sunni Islam’s supremacy is indivisible from the political and legal supremacy of the Malay race.” Najib’s tenure has been marked by unprecedented corruption, an increase in the popularity of the Islamic State, and a variety of human rights violations that include human trafficking but extend to punishments for violations of Sharia law that violate international human rights norms.
Soros’ aide told Podesta that the Malaysia/TPP issue would likely come up in any one-on-one conversations with him.
The latest Wikileaks emails mentioning Trumka are not the first revealing friction between the Clinton campaign and labor organizations. In an email chain released earlier this month and sent in September 2015, policy advisor Ann O’Leary referred to Trumka as “annoying” for complimenting Vice President Joe Biden. Budzinski replied, “I agree. He is annoying.”About
On the run from a killer, James Sheridan pursues a controversial political candidate connected to his mother's abduction.
The first 25 minutes are available for viewing at www.markoftheveil.com. Here's what folks are saying...
"It's a solid piece of work. Congrats!" - Cody
"I've been watching it again online and it's still really dang good even on my piece of crap PC." - Nick
"Truly enjoyed the first 30 minutes, very intense, very well done. Kudos to everyone." - Anne
"Excellent job Brandon! The edits were perfect and it was very polished. Kudos to you and your fine cast and crew--can't wait to see more!" - Linda
"I thought Brandon had talent when we did his first feature 'The Broken Quiet'. I told him then that people would want to work with him. I was really blown away by what I saw tonight. Kudos to everybody!" - Dave
"Great preview---went beyond my expectations! I will be looking forward to the rest of the story." - Nancy
"Pretty sweet! All I got to say!" - Bryce
"Original, intriguing and intentional!" - David
"The preview or whatever, beat my expectation[s], was really good!" - Hannah
"Great 25 minutes. I have at least 20 questions I NEED answered. Therefore you must finish." - Damian
"The film is great!" - Mikael'Allan
MARK OF THE VEIL is the start of a story that's been with writer/director Brandon Freeman for 14 years. It's the story of a young man's destiny to become a powerful world figure. His quest to learn the truth of his origins. His strife when he realizes what those origins mean. His ultimate question, "Is this all I am? Is there nothing else?", which will resonate with an entire generation of movie viewers.
MARK OF THE VEIL is the start of a four part feature film series. We've been blessed to find ourselves surrounded by over 30 cast and crew members excited to be part of the project. We've got the screenplay, the talent, the passion - all we need is your help to get to the finish line! In March we shot the first 25 minutes of the film, the first act of the screenplay. It was a labor of love from all parties involved, and we did it just for you, so you could see, in depth, what this story is all about.
The first 25 minutes were shot in March with no budget - we taxed the director's credit card to get what we needed, and everybody went the extra mile to make the piece shine. We're extremely proud of it, but the story only gets bigger from here, and we can't do the rest of it on Brandon's credit card! It'll require community support, social media buzz, and pledges to this Kickstarter campaign.
The money we're raising here will have to stretch to meet all of our needs: cast and crew compensation (because people are IMPORTANT), production expenses and gear, craft services (because food is REALLY IMPORTANT), location expenses, vehicles (both on camera and for transportation), post-production (special effects, sound mastering) and film festival submissions/self-distribution expenses.
$50,000 honestly is the absolute bare minimum for what's required, so we're hoping to push past our goal, but even if all we get from this run is the bare minimum, a $50,000 success warrants a level of publicity that will push us into that much needed spotlight.
We're going to keep this campaign popping with fresh content, especially for those who can pledge $50 or more.
MARK OF THE VEIL is going to launch several very deserving folks into the public eye. How cool would it be to tell folks in ten years, when the last sequel to MARK OF THE VEIL wraps, "I was a part of the beginning"?In my last post I introduced the Computational Theory of Laws (CTL) as a successor to the Best System Analysis (BSA) of Mill, Ramsey and Lewis. In this post I want to briefly reprise that theory in a less mathematically technical way and put it to philosophical work.
The Best System Analysis
The Best System Analysis says that the Laws of Nature are the general statements that figure in the best deductive axiomatization of all the truths about the world.
The theory assumes that there is some set of sentences that express the complete truth about the world. (The relevant standard of "completeness" being one of the questions we shall discuss below.) Any set of sentences is guaranteed to be deducible from some set of "axioms" -- if only that set of sentences itself. But Best System theorists expect that insofar as the world displays regularity-- and this regularity is reflected in its description-- then its complete description can be deduced from smaller sets of axioms which capture those regularities by generalizing over them. Many axiom sets might do this but some will be, in some sense, simpler than others and candidate axiom sets may differ in strength -- that is, in the number of truths that can be deduced from them. The demands of simplicity and strength may compete. The "Best System", Lewis said, is the axiomatization that achieves "the best balance of simplicity and strength". 1
The central problem for the BSA is the want of a clear account of "simplicity" and "balance". If simplicity is in the eye of the beholder, then what systems are best and what generalizations are laws will turn out to be a subjective matter. Alternatively, if simplicity is just a matter of the shortness of sentences, then what axioms are simplest will depend upon what language we happen to speak. In either case what makes the best system "best" does not seem to be an objective feature of the world. Then, too, however we measure simplicity, how are we to "balance" it against strength? If, as BSA theorists sometimes suggest, this balancing is a matter of aesthetics, then this too seems to subvert the objectivity of laws.
The Best Program Theory
CTL can be thought of as a version of the Best Systems approach which replaces Euclid’s deductive conception of “system” with Turing’s. The Computational theory says that the laws of nature are those truths which are constant given the optimal source coding of all the truths about the world. Inevitably, I expect, the Computational Theory will come to be called "The Best Program Theory, so be it. 2
The theory begins with the observation that the set of sentences that completely describes the world must be generable as the output of some computer program or other --if only the program "print the following sentences...". However if the world is orderly or systematic and this orderliness is reflected in its description, then there must be programs that generate those sentences that are simpler than that set of sentences themselves. The Best Program is the simplest program that captures all that orderliness.
The optimal encoding describes the world algorithmically. Its programmatic part expresses a function which captures the systematic, orderly features of our world. Given different inputs, that program might describe different possible worlds. Each of these will be a nomologically possible world with respect to our world; it will be a world that shares the same system as our own. Any proposition true at every nomologically possible world is a law of nature.
The central merit of the Computational Theory is that, thanks to the advent of Algorithmic Information Theory, it is possible to say precisely what "systematic " and "simple" mean here.
By "orderliness" or “systematicity” I mean "computability |
family. The guys in the firehouse know me better than my wife.
Hairstylist: "The Man Who Wasn't There" (2001)
Jane Bruner, barber at Hell's Bottom barber shop
It's the Coen brothers — it's got Frances McDormand and Billy Bob Thornton. It did a good job showing the relationships between the people you are working next to, and how that can change the scope of your day. As a barber, you spend a lot of time listening to your co-workers' stories, hearing them sharpen what they want to say. Because they have to be able to do it 12 to 16 times a day.
Inventor: "Joy" (2015)
Jennifer Lawrence. (�20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection/�20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Elizabeth Dougherty, senior adviser to the undersecretary of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
I was really on the fence, and almost chose "Back to the Future." But "Joy," which is about Joy Mangano's dream to invent a better mop — it really reflects the real-life struggles of a lot of kitchen-table inventors. We always think of Thomas Edison, Nicola Tesla. But 94 percent of patents are for improvements on objects that already exist. Where would we be without people making better hairbrushes, or toothbrushes or mops?
Law enforcement: "Donnie Brasco" (1997)
Peter Newsham, D.C. chief of police
So, I give all new hires the same speech. I say: "I'm going to give you some advice. Everything you've seen on movies about police — forget it. Those police all shoot up, beat up or blow up the bad guy. None of that is real police. Policing is a service profession." That being said, the one I love is "Donnie Brasco," about an undercover agent who gains the trust of one of the biggest crime bosses in New York. It's based on fact, and I just think it's incredible, what this guy was able to accomplish. At the end, Brasco is going to die, and the FBI comes running up, and — I'm spoiling the ending. You should see the movie.
Librarian: "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946)
Carla Hayden, librarian of Congress
There's this scene, toward the end, [when Jimmy Stewart sees how miserable his town would be if he didn't exist]. So, for his wife, what's the fate worse than death? She has ugly glasses, and an ugly fedora, and she's... A LIBRARIAN. I use that scene when I talk about the false stereotypes of librarians. But you know what? It's loving. She definitely would have been okay being a librarian. And the stereotype helps us, too, because it helps people really see us as trustworthy.
Magician: "The Dark Knight" (2008)
Christian Bale as Batman. (Rights Managed/WARNER BROS / DC COMICS )
Penn Jillette, magician
You have to be careful when you use the word "magic." The word has two very strong meanings. The meaning I don't care about is anything to do with the supernatural — so I don't care for movies like "The Illusionist," or "The Prestige," or "Harry Potter." The magic I think is beautiful is the magic of trickery. What I love about Batman is he doesn't have any supernatural powers.
In "The Dark Knight," with the Joker and Batman, you really have two magicians running scams. I love the intellectual interest of the boat scene [where there are two boats laden with explosives, and a philosophical debate about who should survive]. When you talk about modern American magic, it's not supernatural, it's the playful study of epistemology. It's how we attain information, and how we attain what is true. In the boat scene, it's: How people perceive morality, coupled with an impossible trick.
The ultimate American magician is Batman.
Military: "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946)
Myrna Loy, left, and Fredric March. (Courtesy Everett Collection/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Joe Davis, director of public affairs for Veterans of Foreign Wars
I'm a Desert Storm/Somalia veteran, and I came home thinking nobody understood. Well, this movie depicts World War II vets coming home, trying to reimmerse themselves in a civilian society that largely did not understand. There's parallels in every generation of servicemen or women who've gone overseas and come back home. This movie came out in 1946, but it's so true today.
Miner: "Matewan" (1987)
Phil Smith, director of government affairs for United Mine Workers of America
The story is about miners who decided to organize... the real life and death struggle it took to make improvements in their lives. My favorite scene is a meeting scene. James Earl Jones stands up with that voice, and makes an argument about how they should be working together and working toward the same goal. Sometimes the most thrilling part of a movie can still just be a speech.
Musician: "The Breath Courses Through Us" (2013)
Luke Stewart, D.C. musician
It's a documentary about the New York Art Quartet. There's a really beautiful part with [drummer] Milford Graves, and how all the other aspects of his life add to the potency of his music. How, to be a complete artist — he talks about this in the film — [means] being very connected to history and various traditions, but also staunchly supporting your own originality.
Nun: "The Trouble with Angels" (1966)
Sister Rachel Terry of the order Immaculate Heart of Mary, who is a music teacher at Little Flower School in Bethesda, Md.
It took place in a Catholic girls boarding school; Hayley Mills played a firebrand troublemaker, and Rosalind Russell was the mother superior. It doesn't really reflect what my life looks like — I don't wear a habit, and they do, and they're all living in this huge institution, and I don't — but the way the sisters interact in that movie is one of the most accurate depictions of how we try to be for mission and with one another. The Hayley Mills character gets a glimpse into the humanity of the sisters, and sees their humanity, their passion, and how they enjoy one another. You see each sister as an individual with a distinct personality.
Politician: "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939)
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.)
Look, politics isn't as easy as it looks. It's not as glamorous as some people think. It's just work, and it's work you don't always see the benefit of. But if you want to stick to it, and be diligent, you can get things done. This movie is about that, how it's never too late to get something done. My favorite scene isn't even the filibuster scene. It's the scene where Jimmy Stewart says: "It's not too late, because this country is bigger than the Taylors, or you, or me, or anything else. Great principles don't get lost once they come to light. They're right here, you just have to see them again."
Schoolteacher: "The Emperors Club" (2002)
Casey Bethel, Georgia's 2017 Teacher of the Year
The common thread in a lot of teacher movies — "Mr. Holland's Opus," "Lean on Me," "Freedom Writers" — is that they end triumphantly. "The Emperors Club" doesn't, really. Kevin Kline plays a veteran teacher at an all-boys school who never gives up on one particular student, but he also never gets through to him. To me, it gives a realistic sense of the balance of being a teacher. Do you do what's best for the whole class, or do you adjust, hoping to save one student? How do you handle those moments when you've tried everything we can, and it still didn't work?
Trucker: "Smokey and the Bandit" (1977)
Greg Alden, Brotherhood of Teamsters, freight division
I started driving in 1973, when you didn't have interstate highways. You got to go on back roads, through small towns; you got to meet people and eat at Ma and Pa cafes. "Smokey and the Bandit" is about that time in truck driving. Especially the Jerry Reed character — he reminds me a lot of my older colleagues: He's happy-go-lucky, everything is kind of a joke, and there's nothing he can't do in his big truck.
Union Rep: "Hoffa" (1992)
Danny DeVito, left, and Jack Nicholson. (�20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection/�20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Jose Arroyo, United Steelworkers Union representative
You get to see all the grass roots of collective bargaining — the ways Hoffa would garner support with members, and his bargaining strategies to increase their economic livelihood. But with Hoffa, there was also the yang to the yin, the violence and abuse of power. The entire scope of this movie is near and dear to our heart: how to organize people. But also the lessons about what to keep away from.
Zookeeper: "Jaws" (1975)
Brandie Smith, associate director for animal care sciences, Smithsonian's National Zoo
The best character in "Jaws" is the scientist, Matt Hooper, played by Richard Dreyfuss. All the other people, who are running around like crazy and trying to shoot the sharks? They end up dying. But Matt Hooper approaches everything calmly and scientifically. He gathers data. He uses reasoning. When the hunters say, "Hey, we caught the shark," Matt Hooper says: "Look at these bite wounds. That's not the right shark." In the end, he's the badass who actually goes into the water with the shark, and he's the one who lives.Share. James T. Kirk comes aboard once again. James T. Kirk comes aboard once again.
The first "official" Star Trek cruise will have William Shatner as the host.
Shatner, who of course played Captain James T. Kirk, said that he is "excited to be the host of Star Trek: The Cruise," according to the official announcement.
Exit Theatre Mode
“When I was told that this was the first authorized Star Trek cruise and part of the 50th anniversary celebration, I just knew that my participation would be something that our fans would enjoy. It should be a lot of fun," Shatner said.
He will be joining other former Star Trek actors Marina Sirtis, John De Lancie, Robert Picardo, Denise Crosby, and Jonathan Frakes. The cruise sets sail on January 9, 2017.
Matt Porter is a freelance writer based in London. Make sure to visit what he thinks is the best website in the world, but is actually just his Twitter page.Toyota will only introduce autonomous driving functions when it is certain that they are safe, meaning the brand is unlikely to ever have the most advanced systems on sale, according to executive vice-president Didier Leroy.
While highlighting the huge resources Toyota is putting in to develop autonomous and artifically intelligent technology, Leroy conceded that, despite its technical prowess, Toyota must bring the technology to production cautiously.
“We don’t want to be the first - we cannot take the risk,” said Leroy. “When people buy our cars, they want them to be extremely safe. If the technology is not safe, then the consequences for the reputation of the brand could be terrible.”
Leroy outlined the challenges such a stance is likely to bring, especially during the transition from partial to full autonomy. “Let’s say we develop a car without a steering wheel,” he said. “I tell you that the technology in the car will reduce road deaths by five times - but that there will still be some road deaths as a result of system failures. Would you get in that car?
“It is a fact that most people think they are better-than-average drivers, which is of course impossible. It is completely unacceptable to say that there is a risk attached to the technology. What we introduce must provide assistance above what we already have.”
Related stories:
Toyota Prius review
Toyota Auris review
Toyota Mirai reviewBecause even if you live in a nice, happy bubble, board a boat with the rest of America and you’ll realize some people are still really, ridiculously racist.
Michelle Tea is the author of five memoirs, including most recently How To Grow Up.
After coming of age north of Boston, in an urban jungle where white people talked smack about people of color on the daily, I have made my adult home across the country in imperfect but aspiring San Francisco, surrounded by sensitive people who have a consciousness of social justice. They, too, were the kids who got picked on at school for being different, who challenged their family’s ignorance in their angry teens. I’ve been in this cozy, self-created bubble for so long I sort of forgot how full of unchecked racism the rest of the world is. And then I went on my honeymoon.
Because there was a possibility I’d be pregnant on our honeymoon, my husband-wife and I figured a good way to cover a lot of terrain, while keeping it easy on my bod, would be a cruise. We put together a honeymoon registry, and our friends and families helped us fund a Caribbean trip on a small craft — big for a yacht, with only 150 guests, but small for a commercial cruise, where bigger ships can top out at 5,000 passengers.
Sure, we thought it might be uncomfortable to be the big lezzes on board a cruise — not specifically denoted for GAY PEOPLE — but being queer, we’re used to navigating situations, skilled at not letting homophobia ruin our fun lives. At first we were sort of pleasantly surprised to find all the normal, upper-middle-class straight white Americans being so nice to us — wow, gay PR has really worked! But slowly we started wishing they were homophobic, so they would stay away from us: ’Cause these white folks were hella racist.
It was a decision I made again and again on our honeymoon — to fight or not to fight?
It started on Day One while chatting with a Massachusetts couple who had met on Millionaire Matchmaker. (Not joking.) The sullen gentleman half of the couple collected assault rifles and wore T-shirts that expressed his opinions, such as the wordy Ted Kennedy’s Car Killed More People Than My Assault Rifle. The female half was the garrulous one, and she opened that evening with the dreaded phrase, “I know this is going to sound terrible, but …” If you really and truly know something is going to sound terrible, please shut up. Don’t pretend to have an actual consciousness about the crap you’re about to jabber, which in this case was, “I just wish they could do something about the staff all looking alike; I can’t tell them apart!”
Was this woman truly suggesting that the cruise line fund plastic surgery for the Indonesian workers, perhaps making them a bit more Caucasian in feature and therefore more ”recognizable” to these Massholes (Masshole = People from Massachusetts who are assholes)? I stood there, shocked, feeling that angry flush rise up through my body, a mixture of anxiety and fury that renders me trembling and speechless. The feeling of being 15 years old. The other white people — a gay male couple among them — rushed in and assured the lady that she wasn’t terrible; they, too, had a hard time distinguishing each totally unique, name-tag-wearing Indonesian crew member from the other! Me and my Husband-Wife picked up soda waters and slid away before I got in a fight.
We live in a culture in denial about white supremacy — a culture set up by white people to benefit white people.
It was a decision I made again and again on our honeymoon — to fight or not to fight? After spending so much time as a young person engaged in such arguments, I didn’t have the illusion that I would enlighten these racists. I would simply sicken myself with hate while on my honeymoon — a trip that was doing double time as a recovery period for a recent miscarriage. This was supposed to be our time to bond and love and heal, not fight with gay men who believed that the city of Miami had been “ruined” by Haitian immigrants, or with the stylish, elderly Jewish woman who looked forward to our trip to St. Barts because the island had “less Blacks.” I would simply grit my teeth and move out of earshot when I heard them passionately query why the Middle East “hates us.” (“It’s because we let our woman vote!” the Masshole proclaimed before an intelligent Californian piped in with a Cliffs Notes version of the legacy of European colonization in the region.)
I once heard racism likened to alcoholism — a disease, one you are never cured of, though a plan of action can grant you a ”daily reprieve” from its insidious toxicity.
Growing up in a culture built on white supremacy, of course white people are racist. I guess the difference between the people I surround myself with now and the people I avoided on my honeymoon is we don’t want to be racist. When racist thoughts occur to us, as they will, it trips an alarm system we’ve spent some time installing. We think about it, correct it, let it go. Sometimes I get pissed at myself, but mostly I have compassion. I don’t want to have such thoughts; I don’t want to have been conditioned by 40-something years as a white woman in America, but here I am.
We live in a culture that remains in denial about the intensity of white supremacy — a culture set up by white people to benefit white people. We haven’t really healed from the trauma of slavery, not to mention the violence of the civil rights movement. With an honest, nationwide reckoning with racism nowhere in sight, it’s up to me to heal the disease in myself —investigating my ideas, putting the lesser thoughts to bed and praying for more intelligent thoughts to replace them. And it happens. Consciousness grows, racism fades. As long as you stay engaged with the process, every single day.
Some months later, I don’t know what to think of the white people on my cruise. Though in the moment I wanted to bottle them and toss them overboard, now I just feel sad. The way you’d feel bad for a drunk spewing crazy in the street. Racism is insane — it makes people sound bonkers, and I believe that being raised around racist rhetoric, indoctrinated, is a form of child abuse. But the only difference between this here Masshole and the one I met on the boat is that I don’t want to be that person. Maybe someday she won’t either.Three societies tasked with protecting the intellectual property rights of musicians, writers and other content creators have joined forces to build a blockchain solution to prevent piracy.
Powered by Hyperledger‘s open-source Fabric distributed ledger, and managed by IBM, the nascent platform is being designed to create a tangible connection between the time content is created and the time it is consumed.
Founded by the American Society for Composers, Authors and Publishers; the Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music; and PRS for Music, the joint project has the potential to help prevent online piracy by tracking more sophisticated data about music content on the blockchain.
In the face of generations-old concerns for the compensation of musicians and composers, however, it is worth noting that the blockchain solution currently being developed only has potential to help artists according to the rights granted by their contracting companies.
The chief executive of PRS for Music, Robert Ashcroft, explained in a statement how real-time reporting of data about the digital consumption of content could empower a diverse set of stakeholders and lead to new business models.
Ashcroft said:
“If blockchain can help us achieve this, it will unlock opportunities for developers of new digital applications, increase accuracy of royalty payments and release value for rightsholders.”
Similar to blockchain consortia in other industries, the goal of this joint music initiative is to create and adopt a shared, decentralized database that streamlines the flow of data.
Unlike those consortia, however, the information the group wants to track is metadata about artistic works with real-time updates and more advanced tracking capabilities.
Although still in the early stages of development, the improved ability to track the ownership of legally protected creative works could eventually help confirm the legal owner of a work, and the origin of disputed works.
Boosting artists
The formation of the joint initiative is the largest movement yet by what might be considered members of the legacy creative infrastructure providers.
Since 2006, earnings for the US music industry alone have declined by about $5bn, largely due to the shift to the online streaming of music, according to The New York Times.
Of the total industry revenue, musicians earn on average about 20%, and one study found that 77% of the recorded music revenue went to just 1% of musicians.
To help even that disparity, a number of blockchain startups have already responded to calls for a shared, distributed ledger to track artists’ intellectual property, and give them more control over their creations.
Startups like dotBlockchain Music (dotBC), Mycelia, MusicChain and Ujo Music have all, in their own way, set their sights not just on preventing piracy, but cutting out unnecessary middlemen.
Growing interest
However, based on today’s announcement, it would appear the music industry has come along way since the early days of blockchain adoption.
Once considered to be largely resistant to the transparency afforded by blockchain development, industry firms are now openly exploring the technology.
In April of last year, PRS for Music hosted a debate about blockchain technology, and two months later, SACEM was one of several legacy music companies to join the Open Music Initiative – aimed specifically at using blockchain to better serve musicians.
The least active of the three partners appears to be the historically litigious ASCAP, which has an online presence mostly limited to linking to articles about blockchain’s dubious potential.
Back in March, though, the group’s newly appointed CEO made a provocative statement first intimating at a potential change in tone.
Describing her interest to increase international collaboration on technological solutions, Elizabeth Mathews concluded:
“If we work on these proof of concepts in areas like blockchain technology and others, the benefit will far outweigh the status quo.”
Drums image via ShutterstockIf you want a reminder of how little some things change in American politics, look no further than the modern discussion about gun control. On this day, Sept. 15, all the way back in 1967, President Johnson released a letter to Congress urging both houses to take quick action on gun control. Comparing Johnson’s letter to a more recent presidential text with the same topic — President Obama’s speech last April after Congress failed to pass the post-Sandy Hook gun control bill — reveals how much has stayed the same in how politicians talk about guns during the past five decades.
The most obvious similarity may be, to modern observers, the most surprising. Mass school shootings, like the one that took place in Newtown, Conn., in December of 2012, are often discussed as a tragedy of our time. Video games are blamed, for example, and few accounts refer to events earlier than 1999’s Columbine massacre. But they’re not actually a 21st-century tragedy: on Aug. 1, 1966, Charles Whitman — who appeared on the cover of TIME two weeks later — brought several guns with him to the observation deck of a 307-foot tower at the University of Texas, where he was a student. He killed 13 people and wounded 31 before being shot by police; later, police discovered the bodies of his wife and mother, whom he had killed before coming to campus. The Whitman shooting was the context for Johnson’s urgency when writing to Congress, and that’s the information with which he began his letter.
Then Johnson, like Obama would decades later, clarified that the people the bill in question would affect are people whom nobody wants armed. “There is no excuse,” Johnson wrote, for selling guns to “hardened criminals” and “mental defectives.” Likewise, “we’re talking about convicted felons, people convicted of domestic violence, people with severe mental illness,” Obama said.
Furthermore, both stressed that the bill wouldn’t even change all that much. Here’s Johnson in 1967: “[The bill’s] basic approach is to limit out-of-state purchases and interstate mail order sales of firearms.” Here’s Obama in 2013, with a modern take on mail-order problems: “All [the bill] did was extend the same background check rules that already apply to guns purchased from a dealer to guns purchased at gun shows or over the Internet.” (There was one big change here: while both are concerned with gun-buying by mail, Johnson’s bill was much stricter and would have stopped interstate mail order sales altogether.)
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Then, both appeal to the law-abiding gun owners. “The measure now before Congress is aimed solely at keeping deadly weapons out of the wrong hands. It interferes neither with sportsmen nor law-abiding citizens with a legitimate need. This legislation will impose no real inconvenience on gun buyers,” in 1967, and “Nobody could honestly claim that [the bill] infringed on our Second Amendment rights,” in 2013.
Finally, both end with an appeal to the safety of “the American people” and a call for Congress to act. And for Johnson, at least, it worked: a Gun Control Act passed in 1968.
Read TIME’s 1968 cover story about guns here, in the archive: The Gun in America
Write to Lily Rothman at lily.rothman@time.com.My "career" (ie current job) centers around improving the experience of life for some of society's most vulnerable people. I work hard and carefully. I'm often in the company of very caring people. Through my work, I've developed patience and greater insight to our common human struggles. Additionally, I can't get through an episode of Chopped on Food Network without tearing up. For many people and animals, for art and music, my heart constantly breaks: for our triumphs and our losses, for our frailties and insecurities. I feel so much love and tenderness---AND YET. The degree to which I don't give a shit, sometimes, is a bit shameful and appalling to me. I'm OK living with duality, and I'm not aiming to be the perfect, most wonderful caring human, but I really would appreciate an enlightened perspective to bring me out of the cold shadows a bit.
Common advice here on the green might speak to establishing and enforcing one's boundaries, cutting toxic people from one's life, and recognizing other people's responses as their trip, their problem, not mine. I've benefited from this type of advice, and then maybe I've taken it a bit far? Or, despite the fact that I'm the common denominator in my life, maybe I'm surrounded by assholes??--I wouldn't like to think so.
I walk around with a dopey grin because (A) life is beautiful, (B) I'd rather radiate happiness than chronic resting bitchface, (C) who cares if people think I'm an idiot for my dopey grin? But good lord I have a dark sense of humor, can be really flip and insensitive, and can have such frigid indifference to people I find annoying.
Things that have helped me tone down some undesirable characteristics: (1) Not overthinking them all the time. (2) Experiencing nature, eg a morning walk through the woods. (3) Thich Nhat Hanh's writings, and some others'. (4) Volunteering and the aforementioned career. (5) Psychedelics--- Years ago. We're all connected! (6) Mantras. (7) Role models. (8) Exercise and proper self-care go a long way but there are still off days.
As an introverted person, sometimes I feel like I don't even have the energy to deal with people. So, I don't smile at the cute baby, but smile at inappropriate times, or I ignore people asking questions that are meant to be answered but are actually rhetorical. Ignoring people is mean. I want to be a better, kinder person, and I think I can inch my way there.
Sorry for the length. I want to paint a picture of my situation. I'm not a sociopath, but maybe I didn't experience being loved and accepted in my formative years. Maybe I root for the underdog, having always felt like one, but also expect people to be as tough as I feel I am? I'm sure a good number of you can relate. What do you read for inspiration of the kind I seek? (Please don't say Jesus.) Thanks!
Would love suggested reading on the subject of compassion or the oneness of humankind or... anything that comes to mind when you read on. Please inspire me!A new document has surfaced on the SEC website which creates some confusion. The file mentions how the Bats BZX Exchange withdraws a proposed rule change. As most people know, there is a rule change proposal pertaining to the Bitcoin ETF listing. However, this particular document has nothing to do with the Bitcoin ETF whatsoever. Instead, the document talks about the exchange’s fees for listed securities.
SEC Document has Nothing To Do With Bitcoin ETF
A lot of Bitcoin users were concerned because of this document on the SEC website. Since we are awaiting the institution’s decision regarding the Bitcoin ETF, a lot of people keep a close eye on their website. When this document surfaced, people assumed the Bats exchange withdrew their ETF proposal. That is not the case, though, as it pertains to something else entirely.
It appears the Bats BZX Exchange filed a second proposal that has nothing to do with the Bitcoin ETF. Instead, they want to propose a rule change to amend fees for securities listed on the platform. Said proposal was submitted at the end of September 2016. It now appears the company has officially withdrawn this request. The reason for this sudden decision remains unknown at this time, though.
It did not take long for someone to post on Reddit how the BTC ETF proposal was withdrawn. This goes to show there is a lot of anxiety regarding this decision. That anxiety seems unwarranted, though, as the SEC is likely to reject the rule change again. Nothing has changed since the previous rejection. This means there is no real reason for the SEC to suddenly turn around and approve this proposal.
In the end, it is important to remember the Bitcoin ETF decision is not affected by this withdrawal. The SEC has yet to render a verdict, although no one knows for sure when that will happen. No one should get their hopes up for a positive outcome, though. Financial institutions will continue to oppose Bitcoin from going mainstream for as long as they can.Following on from our successful Kickstarter last year; Pewter Ponies, we thought it would be fitting for them to have evil counterparts as adversaries. We'd also asked every backer what they wanted to see next and Evil Ponies came out on top. So here it is!
There is a fair bit of variety here so to introduce the various ne'er do wells on offer we've compiled some of the more applicable adventures of Doctor Pones who investigates and introduces the darker side of pony kind to us.
Backers that took the 'Stare into the Abyss' reward (or who's funds are £74 or over) will receive both Roquefort and the pony of shadows.
Any backers below that level will receive one of the free figures, at random. However if you're one of these backers and want both figures just add £3 to your pledge.
Below is a list of all the rewards on offer. Don't forget to look further below the rewards and learn more about the individual sets of figures.
You can add individual packs of figures to your chosen pledge.
If you wish to add packs of figures to your pledge check the prices below and add the appropriate amount to your pledge. When it comes time to deliver your rewards we'll ask you what packs are required.
Please keep in mind the rewards are intended to give you the better value.
You may also add appropriate funds to take more than one reward.
Swarm princesses can be assembled with either claws or wings.
Swarm princess includes the following;
1 Swarm Princess
1 Set of wings
1 Set of claws
1 40mm plastic base
Swarm Warriors includes the following;
3 Different Swarm Warriors
3 Different Swarm Warriors claw sets
3 40mm plastic bases
Swarm Drones can be assembled with either feral or spitter heads and claws or wings.
Swarm Drones includes;
6 Different Drone bodies
6 Different Drone claw sets
6 Different Drone wing sets
6 Different Drone feral heads
6 Different Drone spitter heads.
6 30mm plastic bases.
Necromancer includes;
1 Necromancer
1 30mm plastic base
Witches includes;
3 Different witches
3 30mm plastic bases
Ponies of the occult includes;
6 Different skeleton ponies
6 30mm plastic bases
Ponies of the Apocalypse includes;
1 Death pony
1 War pony
1 Famine pony
1 Pestilence pony
4 30mm plastic bases
If you didn't manage to join in on the Pewter Ponies Kickstarter, you can on this one!
Below are the different sets you can add funds to acquire them along with your chosen pledge.
Don't forget to check the rewards though! We've added a specific Pewter ponies reward, STABLE MASTER and and a joint reward, THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE CUTE.
All of the Pewter Ponies come on their own integral base, however some of the wings require assembly.
I'd just like to point out that the Ancillaries set includes the custom ponies from the Pewter Ponies Kickstarter;
Lysnoi Pozhar the top hatted fire sorcerer. Ripper the bat winged unicorn faerie berserker and the Princess of the Night.
So while the scale sheet is there to give you an idea as to the size of the miniatures the figures will certainly have some of that 'chunky' charm that drawings just don't get across. At least not mine.
The Kickstarter exclusive miniature is Doctor Pones. A more suitable adventuring type for unearthing the occult I couldn't conceive of!
Free ponies to be had!
With the variety of miniatures available we hope there is something to suit everyone. Gamer, painter and collector alike.
If we haven't covered a question of yours here don't forget to check the FAQ, you may just find the answer you're looking for. However please feel free to ask a question via the comments section or by personal message on Kickstarter.
Thanks and kind regards
StuPosted in Buzzkill by Buzzkill at Sunday, November 11, 2012, 19:31
I’ve been discussing this whole Zor’lok “not being dead for 14 minutes, omg it must be so monstrously hard” thing the other day with Starym and it got me thinking about boss difficulty in general, not only in WoW or in MMO’s, but in all genres of gaming. What does make an encounter difficult, and what are the criteria for it? How did WoW handle boss opener challenge in the past and is it even prudent to have such bosses in the first place? And if they do happen to be harder than planned, should they be nerfed immediately? I’m really interested as to what people think about this specific situation, so much has changed in the WoW landscape since I stopped raiding, let’s just say I don’t have a finger on the pulse of the WoW raiding scene anymore, if I ever had.
Player quality factor
Before we talk about any encounter difficulty examples, it’s important to note that the level of absolutely any challenge put into a game is firstly dependent on a player’s skill and his willingness to commit to a problem. Place a hard multi-layered puzzle in a simple adventure game or even a slightly non-basic boss in an MMO in front of a few dozen morons and you’re not going to have the greatest results. And even though I might or might not have called the WoW player base worse things than semi-organized groups of morons in the past, they are not all completely incompetent when it comes to killing stuff. I also might or might not be tempted to place a Method joke around here somewhere. So, if you want to discuss challenge and difficulty of any encounter you have to have in mind the demographic for which the encounter was designed originally. And cut the bulls**t “everyone should do the content”, it’s very obvious that Zor’lok, Firefighter or Vael weren’t designed with St. Mary’s school for disabled children and head trauma survivors in mind (after a few nerfs though, St. Mary’s got that s**t handled easy…). That’s why a group of players that encounters a fight that is theoretically on their skill level and totally in their reach of killing always has to cover for the less competent in a herd. This is the player factor when it comes to beating content. There’s always a group of people more skilled and knowledgeable about the task at hand than the others. In other words, there’s good player’s and there’s s**tters. Inherent difficulty of a task in a game is so much harder when facing it with more chromosomes than a normal group would have, this is what becomes very apparent to anyone that joined a better guild or a clan in his gaming career and noticed how suddenly everything is easier and how content just flies by, without any hitches your more horrible of co-players would provide. The quality of a guild is something that developers can’t influence, but the leadership can, so obviously improving the quality of players is the easiest way of making stuff easier for you.
New mechanics and approaches
But when the guild is decent and it should be beating content quite easily, the biggest enemy in the past was unseen new mechanics and innovation in a gameplay sense. My knowledge of bosses doesn’t extend past Cataclysm, so feel free to add any examples of new mechanics that were added thus making a boss difficult to beat for an average guild. For the era I’m more familiar with, pretty much every instance offered something new when it came to mechanics and styles required to beat it. Molten Core was a pretty straightforward decurse / tank’n’spank / control adds kind of an instance, but already with the next wave of content raiders of all skill levels got their lesson in humility, for apart from the few select top guilds, pretty much everyone ate serious feces on the first two encounters at least, if not more. Razorgore and Vaelstrazs, the latter also popularly (and quite truthfully) dubbed “The guild destroyer” offered so many new things that for a lot of players it was so overwhelming that they rather ran back |
as Olam said before Shema, we ask Hashem to have mercy on us, to help us listen, learn, teach, safeguard, observe and fulfill all the words of Your Torah. Each level represents a higher level of service of Hashem. The highest level is “observe and fulfill”. That is Daf HaYomi B’Halacha. It is the highest level of Torah learning because it is practical halacha l’maaseh.”
Chazarah – a Segulah Not to Transgress Any Halacha
The unprecedented numbers of people at the testing site in Shikun Skver merited hearing words of bracha from the Skverer Dayan, HaGaon HaRav Yosef Yisroel Eisenberg, shlita. He related that aside from the intrinsic value of chazarah, reviewing also represents a segulah that one should not transgress any halacha. He hailed Dirshu as the organization that has returned the crown of halacha to its rightful place by ensuring that there is “Halacha Berurah and Mishnah Berurah everywhere.” Rabbi Shmiel Greenfeld of Shikun Skver related that he overheard a test taker – an accountant by profession – tell a fellow test taker that he had somehow found four hours each day to put away simply to review all of the material upon which the test was given.
At one of the sites, one person who takes the test, candidly related, “Dirshu has made me into a Ben Torah.” The Chiddushei Harim says that a ben Torah means he is child of Torah. Just like a child is always running after his mother and can’t separate himself from his mother, so too a ben Torah is constantly running after Torah and can’t separate himself from it. That is the secret of Torah. It makes Torah inseparable from those who learn it.
The Quietest Revolution
Rabbi Gobioff concluded, “It was the quietest revolution that one could find. In every city, Lakewood, Brooklyn, Monsey, Houston, Texas and of course Yerushalayim, Bnei Brak, London, Paris, Johannesburg and so many others, thousands upon thousands were sitting with their pens, brows furrowed, quietly writing answers to the questions on halacha and mussar that they learned over the past month. Who knows, it is very likely that when we will finally be zoche to that ultimate day for which we are all waiting, those tens of thousands of quiet test takers and the aggregate millions of halachos learned, implemented and practiced will have had an instrumental role in finally bringing the geulah!”
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)The Wunderlich S1000 RR “MadMax” is a totally reworked and apocalypse-ified BMW S1000 RR designed by Nicholas Petit and built by world renowned BMW experts, Wunderlich. The build was commissioned by tire manufacturer Continental to show off their new meaty off road tire, the Continental TKC 80.
Designer Nicholas Petit went for a very clear post-apolcalyptic theme with the S1000 RR, all the original front fairing was removed, new custom mini-fairings have been fitted with carbon fibre being the flavour of the day.
The bike retains its 200hp output, making this one of the most balls-to-the-wall off road bikes in the world and giving me the impression that very few people who aren’t a member of Red Bull’s stunt team could actually take this bike off road without imbedding themselves face first into an oak.
Via WunderlichAn investigation is underway after a group of teen girls were caught on video attacking a woman on a SEPTA train Tuesday afternoon.
Police say the incident took place on a southbound Broad Street Line train between the Girard and City Hall stations around 3:30 p.m.
Megan Milligan, a Temple University student and Havertown native, told NBC10 she witnessed a group of about 10 teen girls bully a group of younger girls on the train. When Milligan stepped in to defend the younger girls, the older teens began attacking her.
An investigation is underway after a group of teens attacked a woman on a SEPTA train Tuesday. NBC10 obtained video from a witness. (Published Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017)
"There were two girls who hit me in the face and at least three girls at the exit who hit me in the back of the head," Milligan said.
Around 20 passengers on the train watched as the group attacked her, according to Milligan. The girls then stole her iPhone 7 before getting off the train at City Hall.
Megan Milligan says she was attacked by a group of teen girls after she tried to stop them from bullying a group of younger girls on a SEPTA bus Tuesday afternoon. NBC10
Despite the theft and the facial and head injuries she suffered, Milligan said she would still step in if she had to do it again. She just wishes others had done the same.
"It's not okay to let somebody stand by and be attacked and bullied," she said. "We're supposed to be the city of brotherly love but people are getting beat up on the streets and people are recording on cellphones. We really need to come together and stand up for people more."
Milligan also said however there was one woman who helped get her to safety following the attack and she hopes to reconnect with her in order to thank her.
SEPTA police told NBC10 they are working to identify several of the attackers and arrests are expected soon. If you have any information on the incident, please call SEPTA Police at 215-580-8111.Photo
I just found out that my daughter was accepted to my top-choice preschool, but I don’t know whether she will be able to go. Why? Because the annual tuition is three times what I spent for college, and without financial aid, there’s no way I can afford it. While I would likely qualify on my own, her father’s income may take us out of the running — but right now, I’m solely responsible for her expenses. The aid application process is ill-equipped to deal with nontraditional families like ours.
The Internet is full of stories about the preschool admissions process in big cities (like Chicago, where we live), from first-person accounts of parents who wait anxiously for acceptance letters, to tips from admissions coaches who are ready to charge you a pretty penny just to advise you on the process. But getting in is only a small part of the equation. The bigger issue for most parents is figuring out how to pay for it.
Since I’m a working mother, my child needs a full-day program. Those aren’t easy to find, and wherever she goes, it’s going to be expensive. Even the Chicago Public School full-day preschool is similar to private institutions, with its $13,000 per school year price tag and limited openings. But the public schools don’t offer scholarships or tuition discounts. I don’t qualify for free options like Head Start or for any voucher or reduced-admission programs offered by the City of Chicago or the State of Illinois. I make too much money to qualify for that kind of help, but too little to manage the tuition for any of the kinds of programs we need without making some big sacrifices.
So when it was time to apply for schools, I decided it was worth the $80 application fee to see what would happen with my top-choice private school. I was hopeful that we could get enough assistance to bridge the gap between what I could afford to pay and what the school costs. I thought that as a single mother with above-average expenses, I would be almost guaranteed a shot at a significant aid package. I may have miscalculated.
If I were applying with just my income information, I would definitely qualify for consideration. But even though I’m raising my child alone, schools assess need based on the income of both parents, and my child’s father makes twice what I do.
I had friends in high school who had to chase down absentee parents to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for college and received fewer grants and scholarships because of the assumption that both of their parents would contribute, regardless of their realities. I never thought this was a problem my child would face (and certainly not in nursery school). But when I submitted the application without her father’s information, the financial aid office told me that unless I could prove I was solely responsible for my child’s educational expenses, I would have to provide her father’s financial information. I can tell them I am solely responsible, but her father is not dead, deployed or otherwise unable to contribute. The school wants to know what he can pay.
My daughter’s father and I are in the middle of complicated litigation over financial matters. Schools try to be understanding, but without a written determination of child care contribution, they have only my word that he is not involved in either this decision or the funding of her education. So far, it seems my word is not enough. While I did receive an acceptance letter, it was not accompanied by a financial aid award notice.
I am the first to admit that it is ridiculous to spend this much to send a 3-year-old to school where, if the program is developmentally appropriate, she will play most of the day. It is equivalent to the cost of buying a new car every year. But competition is fierce for openings at the best schools. This school has 100 openings for about 500 applicants in “nursery three.” But by “nursery four,” attrition is so low that there are only about 15 slots available for the same number of applicants.
I want to invest in my daughter’s early education, because I believe you must have a good foundation to learn more complex concepts. I’m willing to sacrifice so that in a couple of years, as the achievement gap widens, my child is getting the best education available. I want to make sure that she can have her pick of programs down the line. The reality, though, is that even if I think this school is the best fit for my child, it may be out of our reach. If I’m honest with myself, paying for any full-day preschool without help is going to be tough.
For some families, getting in to preschool is the hard part. For most of us, it’s paying for it.If you grow up in America, it's pretty rare if you don't love money. One of the first things I ever remember being punished for was stealing money. Five dollars, off my father's dresser. I was so little, I don't think I even knew it was wrong to take something that wasn't specifically mine -- I recall this being my introduction to the concept of "larceny is bad." But somehow, I knew it was good to have cash.
After I left my middle class household at 18, standard of living took a real tumble for a while. At Cornell, I had no money, and boy did I look it. They called where I lived the last three years Collegetown, but Collegetown was really slums in a rural setting. Landlords did not have to work that hard in Ithaca, N.Y. -- every year, there was fresh supply of eager tenants among the students who didn't want to live in a sorority or fraternity. It was a sweet market for a slumlord.
But even that looked good compared to what was waiting for me as I began my illustrious career as a standup comedian in New York City in 1979. First year I lived on 99th Street in Spanish Harlem, a five-floor walk up, toilet down the hall. No shower -- a tub that sat in the kitchen with a snake-like attachment that hooked up to the kitchen sink. Walked home every night from the comedy clubs on the tony Upper East Side, watching the neighborhoods become poorer and scarier as I made my way north, and I'm sure the only reason I was never robbed was, they took one look at me and knew it wasn't worth the trouble. Sometimes, freedom really is just another word for nothing left to lose.
And yet, in a short 33 years, things had turned around enough so that I was able to give a million dollars to the super PAC of a certain mixed-race president who, I would like to remind all my overconfident progressive friends, does NOT have this election in the bag. And a lot of people this last week have said the same thing to me: "You're not picking up the drinks tonight?"
The great thing about having been poor is how liberated it makes you if you eventually become rich. There's nothing like the knowledge that you don't need money to survive. That the money cushion you lie on every night doesn't have to be three feet thick, and you can still get to sleep.
Other people seemed surprised I had a million dollars, which amused me. I've had a television show since 1993; television pays well -- I may even have another million lying around somewhere. Every year when I visit my accountant in December to see how the year went, he always says I'm the best saver of all his clients, which amazes me, because I feel like I deprive myself of absolutely nothing. I once asked him, what do your other clients spend their money on? Because I know who some of his other clients are, and I know they make WAY more than I do. He said that what they spend their money on is always changing, and that's not even the point -- the point is, however much money they make that year, they always spend all of it! That's how they think: have money, spend it, because the real tragedy would be to die and have money left over.More than 10 years later, I can still recall my brother Sean's face. It was bright red. Furious. Not one given to fits of temper, Sean was in an uproar. He was a father, and he had just heard that Iraqi soldiers had taken scores of babies out of incubators in Kuwait City and left them to die. The Iraqis had shipped the incubators back to Baghdad. A pacifist by nature, my brother was not in a peaceful mood that day. "We've got to go and get Saddam Hussein. Now," he said passionately.
I completely understood his feelings. Although I had no family of my own then, who could countenance such brutality? The news of the slaughter had come at a key moment in the deliberations about whether the US would invade Iraq. Those who watched the non-stop debates on TV saw that many of those who had previously wavered on the issue had been turned into warriors by this shocking incident.
Too bad it never happened. The babies in the incubator story is a classic example of how easy it is for the public and legislators to be mislead during moments of high tension. It's also a vivid example of how the media can be manipulated if we do not keep our guards up.
The invented story eventually broke apart and was exposed. (I first saw it reported in December of 1992 on CBC-TV's Fifth Estate Canada's "60 Minutes" in a program called "Selling the War." The show later won an international Emmy.) But it's been 10 years since it happened, and we again find ourselves facing dramatic decisions about war. It is instructive to look back at what happened, in order that we do not find ourselves deceived again, by either side in the issue.
Iraq invaded Kuwait in August of 1990. As the BBC reported: "The country's ruler, Sheik Jaber al-Ahmed al-Sabah, fled into exile in his armour plated Mercedes, across the desert to neighbouring Saudi Arabia."
The Kuwait government had to find a way to "sell the war" to the American public, who were interested, but not deeply involved. So under the auspices of a group called Citizen for a Free Kuwait, which was really the Kuwait government in exile (the group received almost $12 million from the Kuwaiti government, and only $17,000 from others, according to author John R. MacArthur) the American PR firm Hill & Knowlton was hired for $10.7 million to devise a campaign to win American support for the war. Craig Fuller, the firm's president and COO, had been then-President George Bush's chief of staff when the senior Bush has served as vice president under Ronald Reagan. The move made a lot of sense after all, access to power is everything in Washington and the Hill & Knowlton people had lots of that.
It's wasn't an easy sell. After all, Kuwait was hardly a "freedom-loving land." Only a few weeks before the invasion, Amnesty International accused the Kuwaiti government of jailing dozens of dissidents and torturing them without trial. In an effort to spruce up the Kuwait image, the company organized Kuwait Information Day on 20 college campuses, a national day of prayer for Kuwait, distributed thousands of "Free Kuwait" bumper stickers, and other similar traditional PR ventures. But none of it was working very well. American public support remained lukewarm the first two months.
According to MacArthur's book "Second Front," the first mention of babies being removed from incubators appeared in the Sept. 5 edition of the London Daily Telegraph. The paper ran a claim by the exiled Kuwait housing minister that, "babies in the premature unit of one of the hospitals had been removed from their incubators, so that these, too, could be carried off." Two days later, the LA Times carried a Reuter's story that quoted an American (first name only) who said, among other things, that babies were being taken from incubators, although she herself had not seen it happen.
From there it began to pick up steam, as one media unit after another started repeating the story without checking it. Sensing an opening, the Hill & Knowlton people jumped on the story.
The key moment occurred on October 10, when a young woman named Nayirah appeared in front of a congressional committee. She told the committee, "I saw the Iraqi soldiers come into the hospital with guns, and go into the room where 15 babies were in incubators. They took the babies out of the incubators, took the incubators and left the babies on the cold floor to die."
Hill & Knowlton immediately faxed details of her speech to newsrooms across the country, according to CBC's Fifth Estate's documentary. The effect was electric. The babies in incubator stories became a lead item in newspapers, and on radio and TV all over the US.
It is interesting that no one not the congressmen in the hearing, or any journalist present bothered to find out the identity of the young woman. She was the daughter of Kuwait's ambassador to the United States, and actually hadn't seen the "atrocities" she described take place. (When later confronted with the lack of evidence for her claims, the young woman said that she hadn't been in the hospital herself, but that a friend who had been there had told her about it. )
Similar unsubstantiated stories appeared at the UN a few weeks later, where a team of "witnesses," coached by Hill & Knowlton, gave "testimony" (although no oath was ever taken) about atrocities in Iraq. It was later learned that the seven witnesses used false names and even identities in one case. In an unprecedented move, the US was allowed to present a video created by Hill & Knowlton to the entire security council.
But no journalist bothered to look into these witnesses' claims. As Susan B. Trento wrote in her book, "The Power House," an in-depth look at Hill & Knowlton, "The diplomats, the congressmen, and the senators wanted something to support their positions. The media wanted visual, interesting stories."
On November 29, 1990, the UN authorized use of "all means necessary" to eject Iraq from Kuwait. On January 12, 1991, Congress authorized the use of force.
The story was later discredited by organizations like Middle East Watch, Amnesty International, and various other groups and media organizations
As Trento comments in her book, whether or not Hill & Knowlton's efforts were effective, or even needed, is open to debate. The US government had already launched a huge campaign to convince the American people to support war against Iraq. But the PR campaign definitely made an impact.
It's a different media world today than the one of 1992. Back then, CNN and the regular broadcast channels, as well as newspapers, were reporting the news. Today, there are many more TV and cable news channels, as well as the Internet, all demanding to be fed 24x7. It would be, in fact, much easier for someone to get a fabricated story circulated even faster. And it would be just as easy for the Iraqis to do it in the Arab world, as it would be for those that oppose them to do it in the West.
In his excellent book on war reporting "The First Casualty (of War is the Truth)," British journalist Phillip Knightly shows how important it is for the media to remain vigilant. While war with Iraq may truly be inevitable, it serves us all well if we make sure the reasons we go are legitimate ones, and not ones cooked up by richly funded public relation firms.Jungle situation
There are two reasons why I'm personally giving Mask a second chance. The first of which is he sounded very sincere and it really seemed like his experience on nV changed him and he looks at things. The second of which is because at any point in time we can go out there and get a challenger cup player and develop him. I'm confident I can do that with a lot a people and I know I can do that because I've done that many times. Now what you always can't do is a get a raw, top two talent like a woony or andinster...or in this case mask and take the chance on him. Worst case scenario things don't work out and we end up not making top 3. Best case scenario we literally destroy every single team like I know we can and like we did to LG game 1 (except for that phoenix push and the skeeledon ult into tower xd). The most likely best case scenario with Skeele however is when barely edge into top 3 and he hits peak and develops into a top 4 jungler. Worst case we continue to struggle in the jungle and struggle in closing out games and finish horribly this split. For my money I'm taking the chance on Suharab Askarzada.
That being said David Dough man is one of the most enjoyable players I've ever worked with. The man brings a great atmosphere to any team, works harder than most players I know, and has improved so much over the last 4 weeks. The guy is a great personality and any team he goes to will be better with him.
I'm not proof-reading any of this so if it reads like a mess you can suck my oby.
Reply · Report PostOn North Korean TV last month a middle-aged woman told viewers that she was happy to be back home in the North from South Korea, which she described as “a heartless society” full of "homeless people and violent crime.”
The woman, named Choi Kye-soon, told of having fled to South Korea in 2011 in what she now says was a misguided decision. Ms. Choi and another recently returned refugee wore brightly colored traditional Korean costumes and spoke with overstated emotion as they told viewers that South Korea is a selfish, overly competitive society where North Koreans are treated poorly.
There is no way of knowing if Choi really believes what she said in front of the camera on that day, but a few things are clear. Since early 2012 when Kim Jong-un took power in North Korea, significantly fewer North Koreans fleeing the country are making it to Seoul. Some who have escaped are returning, where instead of being persecuted some, like Choi, are put to use for domestic propaganda.
South Korean government data show that in 2012, the first year of Kim Jong-un’s rule, the number of refugees who arrived in Seoul dropped to 1,509, down more than 40 percent from the 2,706 who arrived in 2011. South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, its body for relations with the North, recently announced that a similar number (1,516) arrived in 2013.
Around 25,000 North Koreans have settled in South Korea, most of whom flee through China to a third country where they are then taken to South Korea. For the regime in North Korea, keeping the population isolated from foreign sources of information is important and preventing defection is part of that strategy.
Propaganda campaign
Under the rule of former leader Kim Jong-il – the current leader’s father – refugees were generally hidden from public view and depicted as traitors, but Kim Jong-un appears to be trying a different tactic. Reuters reported last August that North Korean families were being told by security agents that their relatives in the South would be welcomed back if they chose to return.
This type of endorsement by returned refugees like Choi who have experienced life in the South then chose to leave it contributes to an important propaganda goal for the regime, analysts say.
“The legitimacy of the Kim Jong-un regime depends on this impression of people wanting to live there, of it being more desirable than the South,” says Chris Green, manager of international affairs for Daily NK, an online media outlet with sources in North Korea.
But the Seoul-based human rights groups that work with and on behalf of North Korean refugees say that the testimonies of Ms. Choi and others like her generally aren’t convincing to the average North Korean.
“The people who see that on TV can tell that it’s a lie,” says Lee Young-seok, director of external relations for the NGO Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, who works with recent refugees and those living in Seoul who are in contact with their families in the North. “They just look at those people and say ‘Oh, at least it looks like they got to eat well while in the South.’ "
South Korea's Ministry of Unification says that only 13 refugees have ever gone back to North Korea, three of whom then later came back to the South. Returned defectors appeared on North Korean television five times last year, the most recent of which was on Dec. 20.
A tightened border is bad for business
Over the past two years, North Korea has reportedly stepped up security along the border with China. Along with preventing escapees, a key reason for the strengthened security is to shut down the country’s renegade entrepreneurs. Much of the commercial activity that takes place in North Korea relies on being able to traverse the border with China, acquiring goods then bringing them back for sale in North Korea.
Some North Koreans use money earned via illicit means to bring their standard of living up to a more tolerable level. North Korea’s socialist constitution guarantees basics like employment, food, and health care, but access to these ends is not uniform and hunger and poverty are believed to be widespread. A report released last August by the United Nations World Food Programme found that around 80 percent of North Koreans suffered food shortages in 2013.
But now with stricter security along the border, less back-and-forth traffic means less business and less ability for North Koreans to use their own initiative to fill holes in what the state provides them. A 2012 study by Seoul National University found that 70 percent of North Korean refugees interviewed had some kind of business experience, which is illegal in North Korea.
Professor Kim Byung-yeon, who led the study, says that traders with their own money and networks could pose a threat to the regime’s control and could create a more assertive middle class. “Being involved in business can affect North Korean people’s consciousness and markets may bring people out of the government’s control. If people start to earn money in the market, they can challenge the government’s power,” says Prof. Kim.
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Observers say that defection inevitably acts as a vote of no confidence in the North Korean regime and undermines the propaganda that returned refugees like Ms. Choi are being used to create.
“Now more than ever before, North Koreans know they should question what their government tells them,” says Mr. Lee. “Defection itself is an expression of distrust in the regime, and it disproves the government’s false image of a population living happily under the general.”The man decided to poo at the post box. He just smirked when the farmer told him it was disgusting.
The man decided to poo at the post box. He just smirked when the farmer told him it was disgusting. Photo/Þorkell Daníel Eiríksson
Farmer Þorkell Daníel Eiríksson in Fljótsdalur, South Iceland, was less than pleased at the sight of a tourist with his pants down doing a number two at the farm's post box in the driveway. He has had enough of tourists pooping wherever they please in Iceland.
In fact, Eiríksson was so upset that he took photos of the occurance and shared them on his Facebook page. The post has gone viral in Iceland. "I've had it up to here with tourists doing this and it's only getting worse," he wrote.
"This shithead decided to do a shit just by our home, he almost shat into the post box itself," said Eiríksson speaking to mbl.is.
He adds that the man had parked his car next to the post box and then proceeded to go to the toilet. The man then walked on skis up to the farm where Eiriksson stopped him in his tracks and asked him where he was going. "I told him this was not a parking lot and certainly not a toilet,and he just replied, "so" and started arguing. I asked him whether he did this kind of thing at home and how he would feel if I did the same thing in his home, and he just answered "yes." I told him I thought this was disgusting and he just gave a smirk."
Fljótsdalur is the innermost farm in the lush Fljótshlíð valley and Eiriksson says that plenty of tourists stop there to go to the toilet. "It's certainly not a good experience. And sometimes when you take the dog out for a walk and he rolls around in something and you start wondering, is that from a sheep, a horse, or a human?"
He has suggested to the district council that a public toilet should be put up in the area. "But then the question is why should the county put money towards people that leave nothing behind." Well- that is to say, nothing but poo.After he was fired for sending dozens of racist, homophobic, misogynistic, and pornographic messages from his city email account, Miami Beach Police Lt. Alex Carulo apologized to internal investigators.
"It was foolish, poor judgment on my part, and I accept full responsibility," he said. "It is what it is."
But it turns out Carulo's "acceptance of responsibility" only went so far: After losing an arbitration battle in February, the former police captain is now demanding reinstatement and back pay in a lawsuit against the city.
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"Carulo has suffered harm and will continue to suffer harm unless and until all declaratory relief is provided," his attorney, Eugene Gibbons, wrote in the ex-officer's petition, which was filed last week in Miami-Dade County court.
Police officials discovered the offensive emails in 2013 while looking into an unrelated complaint against Maj. Angel Vazquez, an officer who retired shortly after being implicated in the email scandal. Following the discovery, internal investigators pored over literally a million messages sent from both city and private email accounts.
The probe ultimately turned up 138 emails containing inappropriate content sent by Carulo, including 12 that were blatantly racist. Among them was a meme of "Black Monopoly" in which every square had an instruction to "go to jail," and a photo of a black child in a KFC bucket with the caption "Rare photo of Obama in his bassinet."
An image of a "Black Monopoly" game was among the content of racist emails sent by two Miami Beach Police officers. Miami Beach Police Department
Three-quarters of the offensive emails Carulo sent contained sexual commentary, pornographic images, or nudity. The investigation revealed he also paid a $24.99 monthly fee to a porn site called Dancing Bear using his official police department email.
Police Chief Dan Oates demoted Carulo from captain to lieutenant shortly after Oates took office in the summer of 2014. The chief announced Carulo's firing at a high-profile news conference in May 2015 where he blasted him for sending the emails.
"I can't do enough to say how much we condemn it," Oates told reporters.
Soon after, Carulo appealed his firing and the case went into arbitration, where the former officer argued he was "simply joking" when sending the emails. (He also pulled the I-have-a-black-friend card, saying his wife is black and Hispanic and his daughter is openly gay.) The argument didn't work: In February, an arbiter sided with the city, calling Carulo's actions "shameful and disgraceful."
Following the news, Oates sent a celebratory, department-wide email praising the arbiter's decision: "The Carulo matter was a disgrace to this great agency. It embarrassed all of us," the chief said. "Racism will not be tolerated here. It will be repudiated."
Whether Carulo will get his job back basically depends upon how a judge does math. In his new petition, the ex-lieutenant argues that Florida's Law Enforcement Bill of Rights says officers can't be disciplined if an agency drags its feet longer than 180 days. That means the legality of Carulo's firing now comes down to exactly when the clock started and stopped as investigators looked into the offensive emails.
The city has not yet officially responded in court. Miami Beach spokeswoman Melissa Berthier declined to comment, citing the city's standard policy when it comes to pending litigation.MORE than 10 people have died in China's commercial hub Shanghai, a local health official says, as the city grapples with its highest temperatures in at least 140 years.
Much of China is in the grip of a summer heatwave, and the China Meteorological Association issued a high temperature warning for several eastern and central provinces, saying temperatures could reach 41C on Wednesday.
Leng Guangming, a spokesman at the Shanghai Municipal Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said there had been at least 10 victims of heat stroke up to last Friday in the city. He declined to give a more precise or more recent number.
City forecasters said temperatures were "rising rapidly" and could reach 40C in People's Square on Wednesday.
Experts blame a subtropical high pressure system and a lack of rain for the record-breaking heatwave, according to state media.
Pictures have shown people sheltering from the heat in air-conditioned shops or subways, and trying to cool off in swimming pools and rivers.
Footage of a slice of pork cooked through in 10 minutes on outdoor stone slab, taken by a Shanghai TV station, has gone viral online.
"It turns out that the only difference between me and roast meat is a pinch of cumin," joked one user of the Twitter-like microblog Sina Weibo.
Tuesday was the eighth consecutive day with temperatures above 38C in Shanghai, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing the local weather bureau.
The temperature reached 40.6C last Friday, topping a previous high of 40.2C in 1934 and the highest since records began in 1873, Xinhua said earlier.Portrait by Shaniqwa Jarvis
This story appears in the May issue of VICE magazine. Click HERE to subscribe.
Not a day goes by that Jahvaris Fulton doesn't think about his younger brother, Trayvon Martin. Whether it's a guy at church who looks like him at a glance, or someone around Harlem who walks like Trayvon, the memory is inescapable. Even so, Fulton wears a black bracelet on his right wrist. On one side it reads, I AM TRAYVON MARTIN; on the other, YOU ARE TRAYVON MARTIN. It's the second of its kind that he has worn since a neighborhood-watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida, killed his brother in 2012. The first bracelet snapped after years of daily wear. "It's a reminder of him," the 26-year-old told me, looking down at his arm. "Not to say I'll forget."
In the five years since his brother's murder, Fulton has transformed from a quiet son who stayed largely out of the public eye to a rising force in New York City's local government scene and a voice inspiring young men of color to become involved in their communities. In his job as a special assistant to the NYC Young Men's Initiative (YMI), a public-private partnership with the mayor's office that launched in 2011 to help improve the lives of black and Latino men in the city, Fulton, who is also an active member of the Trayvon Martin Foundation, is focused on juvenile justice, health, education, and employment.
When we met earlier this year, he said that, despite being perhaps the most reserved member of the Martin-Fulton family, he has come to recognize the platform he has to tell his story, as well as those of others whose lives have been altered by violence.
"I never would have seen him as a public speaker or as a person who would speak out against things prior to his brother's death," his mother, Sybrina Fulton, told me. "It's the passion and the love he has for his brother that's made him feel compelled to speak out."
Today he feels it's his responsibility "because there are people that aren't given the same opportunity." And, he said, it's a weight he's happy to carry.
Portrait by Shaniqwa Jarvis
One evening this past March, after leaving work around 5 PM, Fulton took the train to Harlem, and we met at a bar, though he told me he had given up alcohol for Lent. He sipped water, and we sat in a corner and talked while Ray Charles classics played in the background.
Fulton is a private person, and the public doesn't know much about him. As we spoke, he told me that he loves swimming and reading, and he's not like he used to be; his emotions flow differently now, and he cries at even the slightest hint of sadness. He's unsure of whether he considers himself an activist; he's someone who just wants to help. Fulton admitted that, before the events of February 26, 2012, he didn't process stories of racism or race-related crimes the same way he does now. He described the past five years as "a complete 180" on how he reacts to these tragedies, understanding that they are not stories but people's lives.
"I, too, was guilty of treating it all as a story," he told me. "It's not until it happens to |
Are you there? I'm right here. You need to talk to me. You have to talk to me. I'm still here. Are you there? Talk to me please. Are you there? Sir, are you there? We need to talk.
We need to try to resolve this peacefully. I don't want to see you or anybody else get injured. Please help us. So you say there's a vehicle outside with a bomb. Is there more than one vehicle? Are there other shooters? Tell me what's going on, please. Tell me what's going on. I'm here. I'm listening. I'm here, I'm listening.
******
NEGOTIATOR: I'm still here. I'm trying to help you. Okay? I need some help from you. We need to get this resolved peacefully. And we need your help to do that. I know you want to get this resolved peacefully. I'm listening, but you need to talk to me. I need you to talk to me. This is a serious matter and I want to take it seriously and I want to listen to what you have to say, but I can't do that if it's a one-sided conversation. Are you there?
(End)
NEGOTIATION 2
NEGOTIATOR: Hello.
SUSPECT: Hello.
NEGOTIATOR: Hi there, this is Orlando Police calling you back.
SUSPECT: (Inaudible)
NEGOTIATOR: I'm sorry, again, my name is Andy, what's yours?
SUSPECT: Andy.
NEGOTIATOR: Okay. Tell me what's going on there right now, because I'm not there. I'm trying to help you. Okay? I'm trying to help you. Tell me what's going on right now. I don't want to see anybody get injured including you.So let's start. Are you injured? Sir, are you injured? I'm trying to help you. I don't want to see this go further. Please let us peacefully resolve it with your assistance. Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Hello? Can you hear me? This is Andy from Orlando Police. Are you there?
******
(Ringing) Please leave your message for...
(Ringing) Please leave your message for...
(Ringing) Please leave your message for...
(Ringing) Please leave your message...
(Ringing)
SUSPECT: Hello.
NEGOTIATOR: Hello, Omar. This is Andy from Orlando Police.
SUSPECT: Mm-hmm.
NEGOTIATOR: Tell me what's going on right now, Omar.
SUSPECT: Yo, the air strike that killed Abu Wahid a few weeks ago --
NEGOTIATOR: Okay.
SUSPECT: That's what triggered it, okay?
NEGOTIATOR: Okay.
SUSPECT: They should have not bombed and killed Abu Wahid.
NEGOTIATOR: I understand.
SUSPECT: Do your f***ing homework and figure out who Abu Wahid is, okay?
NEGOTIATOR: I understand that. What I need to find out is are you injured? Omar?
SUSPECT: That's none of your business.
NEGOTIATOR: Well, I understand that, but if you're injured I want to get you some help.
SUSPECT: No.
NEGOTIATOR: Okay. Do you have somebody with you?
SUSPECT: That's none of your business.
NEGOTIATOR: Okay. Tell me what you want me to pass along. Because I can't sit here and do research. I want to pass along 'Tell them to stop bombing in Syria.'
SUSPECT: Yes. The air strikes need to stop and stop collaborating with Russia. Okay?
NEGOTIATOR: Okay. I can pass that along.
SUSPECT: And let it be known, let it be known in the next few days you're going to see more of this type of action going on, okay?
NEGOTIATOR: Okay. I understand that. I can pass that along. Where is that going to happen?
SUSPECT: It's none of your business. Just let it be known it's going to be done in the name of the Islamic State, even though it's not f***ing air strikes, it's f***ing strikes here, okay?
NEGOTIATOR: I understand that. I understand that. So tell me what happened tonight? How did this go down for you?
SUSPECT: This went down, a lot of innocent women and children are getting killed in Syria and Iraq and Afghanistan, okay?
NEGOTIATOR: I understand that. You're upset about the bombing in Syria and Afghanistan and you want the bombing and the killing to stop. I understand your concern. I share that concern. I want to pass your message along. Tell me what else you'd like me to pass along, please.
SUSPECT: To stop, tell them to stop.
NEGOTIATOR: I will do that. I will do that. So can you tell me how we can peacefully resolve this tonight? I'd like to see you come out, I'd like to talk to you some more.
SUSPECT: Tell - tell the f***ing - the air strikes need to stop.
NEGOTIATOR: I'm doing that. I'm passing that message along, immediately.
SUSPECT: You see, now you feel, now you feel how it is, now you feel how it is.
NEGOTIATOR: I understand your concern, Omar. Do you have somebody that you brought with you that we need to check on and make sure they are not injured?
SUSPECT: No. No. No. No. No. No, Mr. Hostage Negotiator, don't try your bulls*** with me.
NEGOTIATOR: Well, I'm trying to help you.And you don't want people to get injured, I presume that means if you brought somebody with you, you don't want them hurt. Is that correct?
SUSPECT: None of your business, homeboy.
NEGOTIATOR: Okay. Omar, can I get you to come outside and talk to my people there at the scene so we can peacefully resolve this?
SUSPECT: No.
NEGOTIATOR: Okay. Because I'm not there, but I have people there that would love to talk to you. Can you put down your weapon and come down outside and talk to them, please?
SUSPECT: You want to know what type of weapon I have too?
NEGOTIATOR: If you want to tell me.
SUSPECT: Or you want to know how many weapons I have?
NEGOTIATOR: I can take that too. I'm all ears, Omar. I have no agenda other than to help you pass along this message.
SUSPECT: So what year - so what year did you graduate from the police academy?
NEGOTIATOR: I'm sorry?
SUSPECT: What year did you graduate from the police academy?
NEGOTIATOR: Sir, this is about you, okay? I'm here to help you. I'm here to pass along your information. Okay? You don't want to know ancient history about me. Tell me how I can help you.You asked me do I want to know about weapons? Sure, tell me about your weapons. Omar? I'm trying to help you. I can't do that if you won't give me something to pass along to the people that are in power which is I presume what you want to happen out of all of this. I don't want to see you or any of your associates get hurt, I don't want to see anybody else get hurt in the United States or anywhere else around the world. So tell me how you and I can work together to get this peacefully resolved now. Omar? Omar, you get to talk to me. Omar?
Listen to me, I don't want to see you get injured. Omar, can you hear me? Are you there? Omar? You and I have to talk. We have to work together. Omar, I need to pass along what your concerns are. Omar?
******
(Ringing) Please leave your message for...
(Ringing) Please leave your message for...
(Ringing)
SUSPECT: Hello?
NEGOTIATOR: Omar? Listen, this is Andy from the police again. I don't want to mess up your message. You come out and you can tell it yourself. I'll arrange media or whatever you want. It's got to be a first step.
SUSPECT: Look, you're annoying me with a lot of your phone calls. I call you (inaudible).
NEGOTIATOR: Well, I understand that, but obviously, you know, it's my job, I need to be in contact with you. I'm your communication lifeline to everyone that's outside. I'm trying to pass along your message and I don't want to screw that message up. You tell me you don't want people to get hurt, I presume that includes you. Tell me your message and I will pass that along. You don't want the bombings. Tell me about it. I'll write it down. Omar? Omar, please talk to me. I want to get your message out. I want to pass along what you have to say. I can't do that if you won't talk to me.
(End)
NEGOTIATION 3
NEGOTIATOR: Omar.
SUSPECT: Yeah?
NEGOTIATOR: What's going on? I couldn't get ahold of you for a while.
SUSPECT: You're annoying me with these phone calls and I don't really appreciate it.
NEGOTIATOR: Well, I understand that, but the fact that you appreciate it or not doesn't matter at this point. We need to talk and we need to stay -
SUSPECT: Don't say things likes that, no. No. No. No. No. No. No.
NEGOTIATOR: No, I'm treating you like an adult. We need to stay in constant contact.
SUSPECT: No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
NEGOTIATOR: Tell me what's going on now, Omar?
SUSPECT: What's going on is that the air strikes need to stop.
NEGOTIATOR: Yes.
SUSPECT: They need to stop.
NEGOTIATOR: The air strikes need to stop.
SUSPECT: They need to stop killing people.
NEGOTIATOR: I've heard that and I want you to come outside and tell us that yourself so the message rings true from you without me passing along your message. I'm doing that, but I need you to come outside with no weapons.
Omar?
********
(End)The DNC-approved Black Lives Matter crowd is not happy that the terrorist attacks in Paris that killed over 100 people — including one American — grabbed most of the media attention away from them.
So they did what leftists always do. After throwing a temper tantrum, the crybullies started a new hashtag to show their anger: #FuckParis.
Breitbart.com’s Lee Stranahan reported:
Resentful black activists and their comrades started a backlash against the huge public sympathy for the Parisian victims of the Islamist terror war. On Sunday, they used Twitter’s hashtag #FuckParis to reveal their emotional reaction to their loss of attention.
Breitbart News’ Milo Yiannopoulos reported, the social media backlash began almost immediately by Black Lives Matters activists upset about how the historic terror attack by ISIS that left over 120 dead had stolen the media spotlight overnight on Friday.
A small sampling of the tweets show no sympathy towards the killed and wounded in Paris. Instead, the left-wing activists described the slaughter in France as retribution for the Western colonialist, imperialist, racist, and white culture. The tweets cited included France’s long history with Haiti and Africa, as well as France’s popular ban on Muslim’s Afghan-style face-covering ‘niqab’ cloaks.
Here’s just a couple of their tweets:
You really expect us to support a Country that still taxes Afrika for Colonial expansionism? Yeah, #FuckParis pic.twitter.com/MaJF4nDEDP — Neo Fawkes – III – (@iiiogical420) November 15, 2015
Here’s a screen capture of one tweet posted over at Weasel Zippers:
You get the idea. Needless to say, it didn’t go over very well:
https://twitter.com/ViceAnonNews/status/665968150597541890
Young skulls full of mush and #BlackLivesMatter created a hashtag: #FuckParis.
Take a look and bring a barf bag.
Civilization is doomed. — Harriet Baldwin 🎄 (@HarrietBaldwin) November 15, 2015
That’s an understatement.
I can't believe #FuckParis is an actual tag. Like a bunch of butthurt children's made-up problems are more important than terror victims! — Doctor Jim (@Hrankta1) November 15, 2015
https://twitter.com/Sargon_of_Akkad/status/665997939941236736
No, it’s not a joke, but it is sick. Naturally, the Democratic Party supports these idiots. Call this another reason to soundly defeat every single Democrat running for office in the country.
Related:
If you haven’t checked out and liked our Facebook page, please go here and do so.Getting Started with Linux Gamedev and Steam Runtime
Table of Contents
Purpose
I wanted to start a new project using C++ and SDL2, and I wanted to learn how to make a proper Linux build of the game from scratch. My day job for the past 20 years or so has been professional game development, but somehow I just never got around to doing this before.
This guide is written for other DIY-friendly cross-platform game programmers who like the idea of using Linux as a main development OS for whatever reason, but are used to Windows or OSX and can’t or won’t spend the time to figure out how to set up a productive environment.
I had 7 goals:
Ship an SDL2 C/C++ game on Linux, Windows, and OSX. Be sure that the Linux build will run on any Linux machine that runs Steam. Dedicate a computer to Linux. Set up a gamedev environment from scratch and understand it. Write and debug code entirely in Linux, but build for each platform with its native tools. Minimize workflow disruptions. Work with a proper C/C++ IDE.
This is the guide I wanted a couple of weeks ago. It’s the short version of what actually happened. I have a longer version of this that goes into more detail and rationale, but it’s not finished.
The TL;DR Version
The Software Used
Premake 5
Premake is a meta-project tool that makes cross-platform development easier. You describe your project using a simple Lua program, and then use premake to run it. That produces a sln/vcxproj, makefile, or xcodeproj.
It lets you easily customize every aspect of the resulting project files together or individually for each platform so that you don’t even have to keep your IDE project files in source control.
Then you can sync that exact same project to a Windows or OSX machine and build it using the exact same tools and process, except using the native IDE and build tools (MSVC, Xcode) in their full glory without any hacky shim libraries like mingw.
Since it builds with full-featured Lua scripts, you can also use premake to cook and deploy assets to the build folder.
I tried using CMake first, but quickly lost patience with its unreasonable documentation.
Sublime Text 3 (optional)
I use Sublime Text 3 for editing anything except code, like the markdown for this guide. I own a license. I don’t have to constantly fight muscle memory like I do in Vim and Emacs.
It’s also generally one of the best programs I’ve ever used. Everything I’ve ever wanted to do has been easy and worked perfectly the first time, like an embedded Clojure REPL, a color scheme browser, or sorting selected lines of text.
There’s a lot of built-in functionality, so just hit Ctrl-Shift-P to search all commands and type what you want to do. For everything else, there’s Sublime Package Control.
Qt Creator
Qt Creator is a decent C/C++ IDE and Visual Studio replacement that stays out of my way and works roughly just like VS does on Windows.
You don’t have to (and shouldn’t) install or use the Qt libraries to use Qt Creator. With this setup, Qt Creator won’t even directly compile your project. It’ll just run make for you.
Steam Runtime
The Steam Runtime is a build environment that makes portable Linux builds possible with no hassle. There are other, more painful ways. Making fully statically-linked builds has potential showstopper issues with conflicting symbols, memory management, standard library versions, etc. Doing your own dynamic library packaging requires some hacking of environment variables and is an annoying process.
Many of the existing Steam Runtime guides I could find are outdated.
“Portable” here means you can drop your Linux build on any machine, regardless of which distro or which other packages might be installed there, and it’ll run perfectly every time. Doing this properly is surprisingly annoying because of Linux’s (justifiably) pervasive use of dynamic libraries.
There are more details about Steam Runtime after the install process.
SDL
I’m using SDL 2 just as a springboard that will handle the basic cross-platform boilerplate for me.
How to Install Everything
Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for anything that might go wrong. Some of these tools can be accidentally misused, and I might have gotten something wrong. I assume you know what you’re doing.
If you already have some kind of computer running some type of Debian (Ubuntu, etc), then skip the next two lines. If you do, I have no idea what kinds of things might go wrong for you.
Acquire a computer you can dedicate to Linux (or use VirtualBox/VmWare if you have to).
WARNING: If you’re doing this in a VM, you might get GLX errors when trying to run whatever you’re trying to build. If you build and run using your local system environment (see below) it might work. You might also have problems running Qt Creator or any other program that uses hardware acceleration.
Install Debian stable. For me, stable is version 8, jessie. Debian 3.16.7-ckt11-1+deb8u4 (2015-09-19).
Install compilers and tools available via Debian packages.
sudo apt-get install build-essential gdb clang lldb libsdl2-dev git
Create and cd to development directory (at your discretion). Note: Do not name this directory “dev”, it can cause some OS confusion.
cd mkdir proj cd proj
For all of the following wget calls, feel free to use a browser instead.
Install Premake 5.
wget https://github.com/premake/premake-core/releases/download/v5.0.0-alpha5/premake-5.0.0-alpha5-Linux.tar.gz tar xzf premake-5.0.0-alpha5-Linux.tar.gz sudo mv premake5 /usr/local/bin rm premake-5.0.0-alpha5-Linux.tar.gz
Install Sublime Text 3 (optional), available as /usr/bin/subl.
wget http://c758482.r82.cf2.rackcdn.com/sublime-text_build-3083_amd64.deb sudo dpkg -i sublime-text_build-3083_amd64.deb rm sublime-text_build-3083_amd64.deb
Install Qt Creator (optional).
wget http://download.qt.io/official_releases/qtcreator/3.5/3.5.0/qt-creator-opensource-linux-x86_64-3.5.0.run chmod +x qt-creator-opensource-Linux-x86_64-3.5.0.run./qt-creator-opensource-Linux-x86_64-3.5.0.run [...use installer gui... ] rm qt-creator-opensource-Linux-x86_64-3.5.0.run
Clone the Steam Runtime repository into ~/proj/steam-runtime and download the runtime components.
git clone https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-runtime.git cd steam-runtime./build-runtime.py cd..
Create and cd to your game project root at ~/proj/testgame.
The thirdparty tree and my example premake project are arranged so that you can include things in the normal way if you create the subdirectories correctly ( #include "myfancylib/some_header.h" comes from thirdparty/include/myfancylib/some_header.h ). I haven’t tested this on Linux yet, but I have built this project in Windows with VS2013 and the SDL2 developer package downloaded from their website.
mkdir testgame cd testgame mkdir assets # where uncooked art, sounds, etc will go mkdir build # where the shippable build will go mkdir src # all of your source code mkdir src/linux # all of your os-specific code, if any mkdir src/win # all of your os-specific code, if any mkdir src/osx # all of your os-specific code, if any mkdir thirdparty # for libraries on windows and possibly osx, or custom linux libraries mkdir thirdparty/include mkdir thirdparty/lib mkdir thirdparty/lib/linux64 mkdir thirdparty/lib/macosx64 mkdir thirdparty/lib/win64 # note: stay in this directory
If you want to use git, you can start with my gitignore if you want.
wget https://gitfundibulum.github.io/assets/gitignore mv gitignore.gitignore git init.
Create the chroot build environment. You have to build this into the destination every time, you can’t move/copy it around. You can just sudo rm -Rf the steamrt_scout directory if you want to get rid of it. Packages will be installed to the chroot dir, not your normal system dirs. Don’t panic. The argument to –output-dir must be a valid, fully expanded path. No.. or ~. If something goes wrong here, I have no idea where to even begin fixing it. Sorry.
../steam-runtime/setup_chroot.sh --output-dir $PWD --amd64
Verify that the chroot works. There should be no warnings/errors and Description should be “Ubuntu 12.04 Precise for amd64”.
schroot --chroot steamrt_scout_amd64 -i
Copy my example premake5.lua and main.cpp.
wget https://gitfundibulum.github.io/assets/premake5.lua wget https://gitfundibulum.github.io/assets/main.cpp mv main.cpp src
Generate makefiles. gmake means GNU make. See the premake manual for how to generate other kinds of projects.
premake5 gmake
Compile the “game”.
schroot --chroot steamrt_scout_amd64 -- make config = devel_linux64
Verify that your build works with the steam runtime. This should print 10 lines of text, and the libSDL2 line should have your steam runtime directory next to it.
../steam-runtime/runtime/run.sh ldd build/testgame
Run it! You should get a red window that sleeps for 4 seconds and then quits.
../steam-runtime/runtime/run.sh build/testgame
That’s it! Now draw the rest of the owl!
Command-line Build Process Recap
To recap, you build/run with Steam Runtime builds like this:
$ schroot --chroot steamrt_scout_amd64 -- make config = devel_linux64 $../steam-runtime/runtime/run.sh build/testgame
However, you don’t need to do this all the time (I think). To build and run using your system’s libraries and compilers:
$ make clean $ make config = devel_linux64 $ build/testgame
When you switch between Steam Runtime and local system builds, make sure you make clean first.
And, of course, you can omit the config argument if you’re making a debug build. Running make help will display all of the targets that premake generated. You may need to cd build &&./testgame && cd.. once your game starts loading files.
Any time you add/remove cpp or h files, you need to run “premake5 gmake” to regenerate the makefiles.
You can make premake cook and deploy your assets, too. Dig into the premake docs for that.
Qt Creator Project and Debugging
Note: Qt Creator will build and run using your system tools and libs when set up this way. Make sure you rebuild everything when you switch between Steam Runtime builds and Qt builds! It’s possible to make Qt Creator use schroot, but it doesn’t seem worth the effort. I usually don’t like debugging in an environment that’s drastically different than the target, but in this case there really shouldn’t be any difference.
If you’re like me and you want to use Qt Creator as an IDE and debugger:
Run it and create a new project.
Choose “Import Project”, “Import Existing Project”.
Set project name to “testgame” and location to your testgame path (e.g. /home/you/proj/testgame).
IMPORTANT In the File Selection dialog, make sure you only select the src directory. Completely deselect the steamrt_scout_amd64 directory. There are 32000+ files in there.
In the File Selection dialog, make sure you only select the src directory. Completely deselect the steamrt_scout_amd64 directory. There are 32000+ files in there. Finish
Clean All
F10 to build and run. Or F9 to set a breakpoint and F5 to run. Etc.
A dialog will pop up one time to ask for config
Enter or browse the full path for “build/testgame”
Do the same to set working directory to the “build” directory
Yay, a C++ IDE with autocomplete, parameter info, source navigation, and a debugger!
If you create cpp or h files from inside Qt, don’t forget to re-run premake. This is annoying. Just remember that Qt Creator isn’t calling the compiler itself. It just runs make for you.
Steam Runtime Why and How
Why it exists
The Steam Runtime isn’t actually dependent on Steam in any way as far as I can tell. You could easily use it to make non-steam non-game applications, too.
The main problem when trying to distribute Linux programs as a Steam game or downloadable zip is that there’s no way to guarantee that the user’s system will have the dynamic libraries that your program links to, or that they’ll be the version you linked against. That includes implicit libraries like the C++ standard library.
Each Linux distribution solves this problem it its own way. Most have a package manager that maintains metadata about the dependences for each program and automatically installs everything you need. Some require you to simply build everything from source code.
Steam unofficially promises an “install anywhere and it just works” user experience. But making the Steam client do that kind of dependency management across multiple Linux distributions would be impractically hard.
How it works
The way the Steam Runtime solves this problem is by providing a standardized environment for building and distributing Linux programs through Steam. When you build using the Steam Runtime, you’re linking to a specific set of well-known libraries. Valve can then distribute those same libraries with Steam, or you can distribute them with your program, and you can be sure that the libraries your program needs will be available. Inside the Steam Runtime build environment are many headers, link libraries, and dynamic libraries that you might want.
This is Linux, of course, so the mechanisms behind this process are arcane. But it’s fairly straightforward once you know where to look. And since this is Valve, the process for setting it up and using it is confusing at first, but ultimately pretty simple and powerful.
Evidently, the only (or simplest) way to be absolutely certain that your program doesn’t link to whatever libs happen to be installed on your build machine is to make it literally impossible for the OS to find them. Chroot does that.
Chroot is an ancient utility.
A chroot on Unix operating systems is an operation that changes the apparent root directory for the current running process and its children. A program that is run in such a modified environment cannot name (and therefore normally cannot access) files outside the designated directory tree. The term “chroot” may refer to the chroot(2) system call or the chroot(8) wrapper program. The modified environment is called a “chroot jail”.
There are two aspects to the Steam Runtime, the build environment and the runtime environment. The runtime environment lives in the “runtime” directory of the git repository that you cloned. The build environment is created by setup_chroot.sh.
When you run the setup_chroot.sh script included with Steam Runtime, a build environment chroot jail is created that’s actually a fully functional installation of Ubuntu 12 LTS (as far as I can tell).
First you use the schroot utility to enter the build environment chroot jail and run make inside it, then you use the runtime environment to run your binary.
The Steam Runtime that actually runs the executables is simply a subset of the chroot, as far as I can tell. It’s essentially just a collection of libraries and scripts (yet, somehow still 13k files).
You run programs with the Steam Runtime using a shell script called run.sh. Or, you can make your own that does the same thing. The script simply sets up the process environment before running the game so that the OS will look first in the Steam Runtime when trying to do dynamic linking. Since you are positive that you only linked against the libs that are there, you can be sure that this environment hack will get the job done.
I want to reiterate at this point that I haven’t shipped anything this way, and I don’t know yet how to deal with third-party libraries that aren’t party of Steam Runtime already. Still, I’m confident that it won’t be too hard.
What if what I need isn’t in the Steam Runtime?
Anything you need that’s missing and is available as an Ubuntu package can be installed inside the Steam Runtime environment using chroot magic (details below). I’m just making an educated guess that it works this way since I didn’t find any documentation and I haven’t tested it yet.
Anything custom you need can be included in your own project heirarchy (the thirdparty folder mentioned above). I’m still a little fuzzy on how custom libraries will work because I haven’t had to deal with it yet, but I’m sure there’s a simple way to make it work. Of course, your custom libraries will have to be built inside the same Steam Runtime build environment.You know how it is as a pedestrian, waiting at traffic lights as the little green man lights up, and you look over to the other side, only to see a wall of people heading towards you that you need to navigate your way through.
Busy pedestrian crossing take longer to walk across, because of the inherently chaotic nature of large crowds hurrying to get to the other side of the road.
TfL has come under a bit of fire from some sectors for rephasing traffic lights, seemingly to favour motorists and reduce pedestrian crossing times, but what if a compromise could be found — one that adjusts the traffic lights based on the amount of traffic, and pedestrians who want to use it?
That’s what TfL is about to test — in two locations near tube stations in South London.
Traffic Control
If you watched last year’s series on BBC2 about how TfL monitor buses and road traffic, you’ll know that TfL has a wealth of sensors and cameras to predict where traffic is building up.
What you might not know is that the information is fed into a UK developed software known as SCOOT, and that makes subtle changes to traffic lights to try and ensure a more even flow of road traffic.
However, at the moment, that data is blind to the needs of pedestrians.
But maybe for not very much longer.
In basic terms, a system has been designed that monitors how many pedestrians are waiting at a junction. If there are few, then the pedestrian crossing is left at the default setting. However, if they detect lots of people, and as crowds take longer to cross — add a few seconds to the crossing time.
Two types of sensor will be used during the trials, which will be aware of the number of people waiting at a pedestrian crossing, and depending on how large the crowd is, and depending on the needs of the road traffic, may change how long people have left to cross the road.
The sensors are off-the-shelf equipment that is often used in supermarkets and shopping centres to track shoppers, which have been modified by TfL.
They use stereoscopic vision — essentially 3D viewing — to identify individual “lumps”, which are presumed to be people.
One type monitors crowd density, and can say that the waiting area is a certain percentage full. Another sensor counts numbers of people entering and waiting within the waiting zone.
Three seconds before the crossing light turns green, a decision is taken about the size of the crowd, and either 1, 2, or 3 seconds added to the crossing time.
Note, there is a legal minimum time for pedestrian crossings, so the system would never reduce crossing time, only add to it where needed.
The trial, which starts this summer outside Balham and Tooting Bec Tube stations, will last until the end of the year, and then they will decide if it is a viable technology.
While we already have the push buttons at pedestrian crossings to indicate that someone is waiting there, they have never been able to know how many people are waiting. TfL is thought to be the first organisation to use people tracking technology in this manner to see how many people are waiting to cross the road, and then adjust the crossing time accordingly.
The main uses are expected to be in areas where there can be short lived, unpredictable surges in pedestrians wanting to cross a road — such as outside tube stations, schools or sports venues.
Privacy
Obviously, there will be concerns about yet more CCTVs in London, but for once, the scaremongering will be just that. Scaremongering.
The sensors are deliberately quite low resolution, simply because the tracking software prefers pixilated lumps to high quality video. Also, the video is processed locally within the camera, and the only information that TfL’s central computer gets is the final score when a decision about what to do needs to be taken.
That’s partly for privacy reasons, but also, it is a lot cheaper to only send a simple number score over the backhaul connection than feeding high bandwidth video feeds from traffic junctions everywhere.
The video is also not recorded anywhere, which might disappoint crime prevention sorts, but frankly, the quality of the video we saw wouldn’t be good enough to use anyway.
A test sensor can be seen mounted on this pedestrian crossing outside Southwark tube station
Effect
Essentially, it adds pedestrians into the mix of levers that TfL has control over to try and smooth the flow of traffic across London. Whether the trial is a success, or goes into full production, is something we will have to wait until next year for an answer to.
One day, ever so subtly, how people walk around the city could be as carefully controlled as the trains and buses already are.Two things are obvious about Canada’s election that brought a Liberal government to power. Voter turnout jumped seven per cent to its highest point in a generation. And Liberals won in places they’d lost, gradually and painfully, riding by riding, for most of the last decade. One night reversed years of stubborn decline. Pollsters are already suggesting that even if Justin Trudeau’s team flipped a bunch of votes to gain power, the higher turnout—and all the new or returning votes that came with it—pushed the party over the top.
No one knows yet how many people switched their votes, how many first-timers cast ballots, and how many people turned up after skipping the last election. But we do know that Conservatives, whose percentage of the vote dropped nine points, still won over a similar number of voters—5,835,270 in 2011 vs. 5,600,496 in 2015. That number alone suggests Liberals, whose popular vote jumped by more than four million, got a bunch of apathetic voters to their nearest polling station. The strategy, as Abacus Data’s David Coletto elegantly phrased it in conversation with John Geddes: “If you can’t win in the current market, build a new one.”
If apathy could run and win a Canadian election, the non-voting hordes, as a share of all voters, beat even Jean Chrétien’s landslide win in 1993. They comprised the largest share of the electorate in every election since. This year marked apathy’s slimmest “win,” if you can call it that, since Chrétien took power. Thirty-one per cent of electors didn’t turn out on Oct. 19, edging out the 27 per cent of potential voters who chose Trudeau’s team. Take a look at vote share split between non-voters and each major party since 2004, though. The trend is clear: as non-voters fell away this time around, Liberal support spiked.
The amped-up national turnout appears to have boosted the fortunes of local candidates all over the country. That includes Darshan Kang, the first Liberal to win in Calgary since 1968. On election night, the Conservative share of all potential votes in the riding only dropped 2.73 per cent from the party’s 2011 result. The Greens fell by about half of that, while the NDP increased marginally. But the Liberal vote leapt by 14 per cent. The difference-maker was turnout, which jumped 13 per cent. The result? A comfortable win for Kang.
Look at three ridings where Liberals regained seats they lost in 2011: Honoré-Mercier, a Montreal seat where Pablo Rodríguez prevailed; Mississauga Centre, a GTA riding that elected Omar Alghabra four years after he got the boot; and Surrey-Newton, a suburban Vancouver riding that returned Sukh Dhaliwal. In each case, the Liberal increase in share of potential votes matched a corresponding decline in non-voters and votes for other parties.
The same trend even held in what’s traditionally hostile territory for Liberals, and where they still managed to lose. The NDP’s David Christopherson held his ground in Hamilton Centre, but his share of possible votes declined three per cent. His Liberal challenger, Anne Tennier, lost by 5,000 votes but managed to triple her share of potential votes. In northern Alberta, Tory MP David Yurdiga won easily after a relatively tight by-election first sent him to Ottawa in 2014. But turnout in the riding, which was among the lowest in Canada in 2011, nearly doubled—and Liberal candidate Kyle Harrietha appears, on balance, to have won the largest share of those new votes.
That new voters flocked to the Liberals may be obvious, but a closer look reveals the massive scope of that trend—and its impressive ubiquity across Canada.Esther McVey is aiming to stand in George Osborne’s seat of Tatton Tolga Akmen/Rex |
be an effective way to stimulate a response. Swearing is a way of expressing strength of emotion, and the sliding scale of strength of offensiveness helps indicate the severity of feeling. Swearing can also help people to bond. Breaking language taboos in a social situation can create a sense of community and intimacy.
What is a swear word
It’s surprisingly difficult to agree on what words are really unacceptable for public use. Tempering your choice of language to your audience is an art not a science, but it’s a skill requiring particular sophistication. Many media and broadcasting bodies set their own standards for what is acceptable, at what time and for which particular groups. Schools and sometimes governments institute their own rules.
A number of studies have successfully shown that it’s possible to differentiate between taboo and acceptable words by using autonomic arousal studies to gauge reactions. Another way to determine what is most unacceptable in any particular culture is to see which language is used most often by that small subset of Tourette’s sufferers who present with coprolalia (uncontrollable swearing).
These patients will tend to express the most unacceptable taboo words rather than milder ones, indicating which are most taboo in their particular culture. Yet another way to identify taboos is to examine euphemisms for that word. If there are many euphemisms that are commonly understood to refer to a particular word, it’s likely that it’s because this word is particularly taboo.
Obscenities in advertising
The fact that it’s difficult to know whether your target audience will be offended by certain language doesn’t seem to deter many brands from using obscenities in advertising and marketing campaigns.
Urban Outfitters
An e-mail sent to customers in 2013 from Urban Outfitters, the American multinational clothing corporation, included the message “SORT OUT YOUR SH!T FOR 2013 with NEW AWESOME EVERYTHING …”. Further text stated “WATCH THIS SH!T” next to an image of a cat peering into its litter tray in which “2013” was written in excrement.
The company justified this approach by saying that they were a trendy clothing line with a “street style attitude” brand and that their customers were trend setting, creative individuals with a sense of humour and who liked to experiment. They also said customer surveys had ascertained that their key demographic was between the ages of 18 and 25 years.
The message was sent to their mailing list, which customers had to have signed up for and which they believed were likely to consist entirely of their core demographic. They said, although “SH!T” was a clear reference to the word “SHIT”, it was a less offensive spelling. The phrase “SORT YOU SH!T OUT FOR 2013 WITH NEW AWESOME EVERYTHING! Referred to the common slang phrase “get your shit together” which meant getting yourself organised. They said their core demographic would not find the phrase offensive, because they believed it was commonly used in their everyday language and frequently appeared in other media.
This particular communication didn’t end up being banned by the Advertising Standards Authority. It agreed with Urban Outfitters – whilst the language was distasteful, it was relatively mild and therefore unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence. It also agreed with the brand’s identification of its core demographic, and that the email was therefore unlikely to seriously offend the advertisement’s recipients who had voluntarily signed up to their mailing list.
Amazon
In 2013, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned an internet ad which appeared on the Amazon website for a Christmas card which said: “You’re a c**t. Sorry, I meant to say ‘Merry Christmas’”.
The company that was responsible for selling the cards, SmellYourMum.com,
accepted that some people may have been offended by the card, but stated that this was because they had failed to view it in context. They said that unfortunately Amazon didn’t allow them to list an item in specific ‘adults only’ or ‘over 18’ categories and also didn’t allow them to censor the image.
Amazon itself defended the use of the word c**t in a product image used on its site.
Booking.com
It seems that even implying an obscenity can cause offence and result in a huge number of complaints from viewers.
A 2015 TV ad from the online travel agent Booking.com featured scenes of various people arriving at their holiday destinations and participating in various activities such as horse riding and dancing. The voice-over stated, “Planet Earth’s number one accommodation site. Booking.com. Booking.yeah”.
The ad received over 2000 complaints for its use of the word “booking” as an apparent substitute for the F-word. A number of complainants said the ads were likely to encourage swearing among children, and some reported seeing it during television programmes such as a Harry Potter film.
Despite this, the ASA cleared the ad but instead decided to focus on the company’s claim that it was the “Planet earth’s number one accommodation site”.
These examples show that you can never assume that you will receive the required response from using obscenities or other risky language in advertising and marketing campaigns. This is particularly true when expanding into new markets overseas where consumers could be more sensitive to colourful language or more likely to take offence. As always, research into the preferences of local audiences is key and the advice of native local language and cultural experts is critical to success.China has devalued the Yuan for the third day in a row. For many, this has aroused fears of a currency war. But, as Paul-Martin Foss explains below, its a bit hypocritical of Americans or Europeans to regard the Chinese as mean and nasty and currency warriors because they're letting their currency adjust against a constantly-devaluing dollar and euro. The US has been devaluing the dollar for years, but that's a-ok for Wesrern commetators, apparently. Now, as Frank Hollenbeck has pointed out, devaluing the currency to favor exporters is a bad idea, but that's nevertheless what Europe, the US, and Japan have been doing for years - unofficially. The fact that China is now trying to get in on the game is just the expected outcome of the current global monetary race to the bottom:
Why China Devalued the Yuan
By Paul-Martin Foss
Taking a look at this chart of the Dollar/Yuan exchange rate, you can understand why the Chinese government took the action that it did. The chart is denominated in yuan to dollars. The more yuan per dollar, the weaker the yuan and the stronger the dollar; the fewer yuan per dollar, the stronger the yuan and the weaker the dollar. You can see that the yuan has been continuously strengthening over the past ten years. Remember that as a currency strengthens, exports from that country become more expensive. A good that cost 100 yuan back in 2005 would mean a dollar cost of a little over $12. A 100-yuan good today would cost over $16. That’s why the Chinese government originally tried to keep the yuan pegged to the dollar, so as not to make the exports it relied upon for economic growth more expensive abroad. But after much pressure from the US and other Western countries, the government depegged the yuan, allowing it to trade in a narrow band and appreciate against the dollar.
Remember the dynamic that was going on, too. Chinese firms would export to the United States. US importers would pay Chinese firms in dollars. Those dollars would come back to China, where the exporters wanted to change them into yuan. Now what to do with all those dollars? Well, the Chinese government used them to purchase US Treasury bonds. Of course, the US wanted to take advantage of this, so the Federal Reserve created even more money out of thin air, increasing the money supply, with more and more of those dollars going overseas to purchase Chinese goods. And then the Chinese government would soak up more of the US government’s debt. Cheap goods and our debt is covered? That’s a win-win in any government’s book.
Take a look at the chart of the M2 money supply, the broadest money supply measure the Fed still publishes.
As the M2 money supply increases (devaluing the dollar), it seems that the yuan strengthens against the dollar. If you look at the actual data behind these charts, there’s a -0.91 correlation between M2 and the yuan/dollar exchange rate over the past 10 years. If you strip out the new pegging period from mid-2008 to mid-2010, there’s a -0.96 correlation from mid-2005 to mid-2008, and a -0.85 correlation from mid-2010 to today, which rises again to -0.96 if you remove the data from the interventionist period beginning in early 2014. Yes, correlation doesn’t equal causation, but these numbers aren’t mere coincidence. The US government wanted to take full advantage of the dollar’s position as the world’s reserve currency, exporting dollars to China in exchange for cheap consumer goods, while simultaneously making US exports of capital-intensive goods to China cheaper.
Any American reactions to China’s devaluation moves must be seen as hypocritical. Just as the US government took advantage of the Bretton Woods system to print more dollars than it had gold, it has engaged in a similar beggar-thy-neighbor policy with respect to China, exporting devaluing dollars to China in exchange for Chinese-made goods. It is perfectly understandable that China would rather not have its monetary policy guided by decisions made in Washington. All the hand-wringing in Washington is just for show. American politicians wanted to enjoy the benefits of inflation, getting something for nothing, and they don’t want it to stop. So they try to paint China as the bad guy for reacting to loose American monetary policy. It goes without saying that none of this would be an issue if we could just get government out of the money creation business. But that’s a story for another day.
Via the Carl Menger Center.By Kelly Conroy
The downtown farmer’s market is hardly something new for Sacramento. It runs every Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. all year long and pulls people in from far beyond our grid.
But if you’ve never been, your first time can be intimidating.
There’s a reason we pay extra at restaurants that create menus with local, seasonal, organic produce – it’s hard to do! So many leafy greens, so many vendors, so many food-related buzz words!
So, here are some tips to make your inaugural visit to the bustling market under the freeway a successful (and enjoyable) one.
Bring cash in a mix of smaller bills. On more than one occasion I’ve needed a vendor to break a $20 so that I could buy 50 cents of onions from them. I’m not fluent in farmer’s market etiquette, but that feels like poor form.
Pack a canvas bag or two. There are plastic bags galore at almost every stand if you need them, but you’re already making environmentally conscious decisions by shopping at the market, so why not forgo the plastic while you’re at it?
Leave the dog at home. Even though it’s an outdoor event, dogs are not allowed in the downtown market. I’m sure it has something to do with health code, but I giggle every time I think about all the free samples that would go to our four-legged friends.
Try to avoid driving there. The parking lot and streets leading to the market can get pretty cramped. If you can bike, walk, or use mass transit, it can make your initial entrance into the market a bit easier. If you have to drive and park, just know that the crowds of cars really start to roll in around 10:00.
Immediately find the bread vendor and buy a pretzel croissant. And while you’re devouring that because it’s the best thing you’ve ever tasted, peruse the puff pastries filled with berries and cream cheese in case you need another.
Try all of the samples. It’s a great way to taste a new fruit or veggie and you can be sure you’ll actually eat it after you buy it.
Ask the vendors if you don’t know what you’re looking at. They’re experts when it comes to the product and I promise they are all really nice. I’ve even been given recipe recommendations before!
Remember that it’s not just vegetables. You can buy eggs, fish, beef, chicken, pork and even oysters! Get creative. Maybe you even want to try locally raised rabbit…
Save some money for an extra treat like goat cheese or artisan jam! It’ll be so worth it.
Even if you don’t end up with a cohesive menu of ingredients, the farmer’s market is a great place to try something new. You’ll get a visual for what’s in season throughout the year and you might even find a new favorite vegetable (my farmer’s market discovery was beets!). There will be hipsters and strollers and tiny old ladies with push carts, and while that makes for a serious lack of personal space, it leads to great people watching around great food.
And really, what more could you want on your Sunday morning?Tactics adopted from Scotland form a key part of new guidelines unveiled in the United States to help reduce the number of civilians being shot by police officers.
Representatives from American forces including the New York Police Department (NYPD) visited Scotland last year to find out how their Scottish counterparts de-escalate threats without resorting to “deadly force”.
The factfinding mission helped inform the drafting of 30 “guiding principles”, published last week, which it is hoped will now be adopted by the US’s largest police forces. Drawn up by the Washington-based Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), the guidelines draw together elements of best practice developed from policing on both side of the Atlantic.
American police officers last year described their visit to Police Scotland’s training college at Tulliallan, Fife, as an “epiphany” after learning details of how the Scottish force – where 98 per cent of officers are unarmed – manages to deal with suspects carrying offensive weapons.
Chuck Wexler, PERF’s executive director, said: “Based upon our research, interviews and work done in Scotland and other parts of the UK, we’ve developed these 30 principles on the use of force.
“They relate to different parts of what we think are the major challenges over the last couple of years. The general tenor is to take the standards we have and push them to a higher level.
“It’s important to underscore the sanctity of human life and the recognition that in any kind of encounter you want everybody to be able to walk away safely, whether it’s the officer or the suspect you want to get into custody.”
There is growing anxiety in US policing after a spate of fatal shootings in recent years.
In 2014, the city of Ferguson, Missouri, was gripped by a series of protests after a white officer shot dead Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black man. Just a few months later Tamir Rice, 12, was shot and killed in Cleveland, Ohio, after pointing a toy gun at people in a park.
The US officers’ visit forms part of a new documentary, HARD-WIRE: Law of the Gun, which is being shown on Sky Atlantic and Sky News.In March, Motorola will flip on a new version of Moto Maker, the tool it created to let users design a Moto X to their exact specifications. This time, though, it won't just be for smartphones: Motorola will soon allowing you to customize your own Moto 360 smartwatch.
You'll be able to choose from three watch casings: silver, black, and champagne gold. Then you'll choose a band, which comes in two sizes, in either leather or metal. (Motorola's careful to not designate the sizes "male" and "female," but that's obviously the idea.) Lastly, you can select one of 11 watch faces, picking the one that will appear the first time you turn your watch on. There are a couple of new watch faces, and Motorola finally offers the gorgeous single-link band it teased in its first promo video nearly a year ago.
Motorola's been working towards this moment. When I ask if Moto Maker has always been the plan for the 360, everyone on our video call laughs. Of course it's always been the plan, they tell me, it's just taken a while to get here. In an effort to be present at—or at least near—the birth of Android Wear, Motorola had to tear a few pages off its launch plans. "There's a couple of things here we've been dying to finally get out, for people to buy and wear," says Dickon Isaacs, Motorola's director of design for wearables.
What the announcement means, right now, is that you can simply combine parts however you want. It's not going to convince the naysayers to suddenly buy a smartwatch, but if you've held off on a purchase because it just didn't quite look the way you wanted it to, there's certainly a lot more to try now. During a demo with Motorola execs, I picked out a natural silver case, a dark metal 23mm band, and a gold watch face. It's classy but edgy; it says yeah, I sell insurance and drive a Camry, but I could kill you and get away with it.
What the expanded Moto Maker might mean later is much larger. It might allow Motorola to offer upgrades to its products more quickly, with more customizations. It might allow it to build an Apple Store-like experience online, where you can play with your device before you buy it. It might allow it to flip the upgrade cycle, so that you upgrade each part only as you need to. Most of all, it might show the rest of the tech industry that this is how you sell technology when technology is made to be beautiful. You give people choice, you let them test and try and experiment, and you let them build something they love because it's uniquely theirs.
>Building your own Moto 360 won't change everything, but Moto Maker eventually could
The Moto Maker interface is obvious as ever, a rendering of your chosen timepiece changing in real time to mirror your selections. It's not like with the X, where you pick from dozens of colors, accents, and storage options. Buying a watch is much simpler. There are high-res, detailed images of every part of the watch, designed to be good enough to make you feel like you've touched the device. You can see the textures on the band, the shadows on the face.
"Our research across all categories show that details matter, construction matters, materials matter," Isaacs says. "When people first see an object, it's a visceral reaction, right?" Once you've selected your case, band, and face, the Moto Maker facility in Shenzhen, China makes your device and ships it to you. Don't like the one you picked? Ship it back, on the company's dime, and try again.
I've always loved playing with different combinations for the Moto X—I've spent hours designing dream phones, even though I've never bought one. That fun of shopping is a key part of what Motorola is tapping into.
This is only the beginning, too. Moto Maker is a much larger project at Motorola, one Isaacs says is core to the ethos of the entire company. "We clearly believe in the power of choice, as a brand. And this is really empowering. To be able to design your own watch—it's not an analog watch, it's a highly sophisticated device of the future. To be able to do that at this level, we just think it's going to be incredibly liberating."
Isaacs' stance is surprisingly controversial in the watch world. Apple's design chief Jony Ive made waves last week by attacking an "unnamed" watch company, and though he didn't say the word "Motorola," he all but blinked it in Morse code. He flippantly told The New Yorker that "their value proposition was 'Make it whatever you want. You can choose whatever color you want.' And I believe that's abdicating your responsibility as a designer."
When I mention the quote, Isaacs pauses for a moment before responding. Then he leans close to the microphone. "I just think... we're not dogmatic about our design approach. We want to empower people, and ultimately people are going to be more emotionally connected to their device if they're part of the design process."
John Renaldi, who runs web products and e-commerce at Motorola, likens it to the Ikea Effect, the idea that we place far more value on things we create ourselves, even when our part in the process consists of pushing a piece of wood into a pre-made hole in another piece of wood.
"You don't actually build a table from Ikea, right?" he says. "But when you have a part in that process, actually assembling it yourself… then you're out telling people 'look how great this freaking table is.'" I know the feeling: I've put together an apartment's worth of Ikea furniture, pushing this thing into that other thing, and I'm very proud of myself.
>The Ikea Effect works in Motorola's favor
Offering choices is just good business—Motorola loves creating evangelists, and a few times the execs lovingly mentioned buyers who get their device and immediately Instagram their customized model. Isaacs also happens to be right when he says it's crucial for the Moto 360 to reflect its owners' taste and style as much as their ability to quickly get directions to Starbucks. Motorola wants to guide that style, though. It's intentionally not offering hundreds of wildly varying options to users. There's no plastic model, no Hello Kitty strap; the idea seems to be that you can design anything you want so long as it's pretty. "So of course they can go anywhere," Isaacs says, "but at a high level, when people go into the site for the first time, they're going to see beautiful examples."
Over and over, Isaacs and Renaldi tell me this is just the beginning for Moto 360 and Moto Maker. They won't be specific about what's next, but they lay clues. Isaacs says he's always viewed the watch "as a true collection and portfolio of products," instead of the few options initially available. Moto Maker might soon be a natural place for Motorola to offer new bands and colors for each season and trend, or to offer unique, curated collaborations with designers and brands. Picture it now: Motorola Moto 360 by Marc by Marc Jacobs.
One challenge with the X was the simple mechanics of purchasing. Moto Maker is a website, and most people buy phones in a physical store, with a sales associate who can answer questions about upgrade dates and early termination fees. The Moto 360 doesn't have this problem, but Motorola seems to also be exploring ways to bring Moto Maker to places other than your computer.
On the software side, there might someday be more to customize than just the watch face. Lally Narwal, the company's director of product marketing, won't reveal much, but he says coyly that "the funny thing is, when you go over to the Google campus... they're all wearing 360s." Motorola didn't provide them, he swears. "So they understand that we need to work together. Motorola being the lead OEM when it comes to Android Wear, they're certainly making a collaborative effort to improve the experience." It's not hard to imagine being able to pre-install apps, set up shortcuts, and completely personalize your watch before it ever leaves the factory.
There are a lot of maybes. Hidden behind the glass window in the conference room are the 360 team's desks, which they promise are filled with other things left to show. But one thing, Motorola has made abundantly clear: to them, design isn't about telling me what I want. It's about providing all of the best things it can find, and then letting me mix and match them how I will. That sounds like something even Jony Ive could get behind.DW: Mr. Gahler, has Ukraine definitively lost Crimea?
Gahler: With history, nothing is final. This referendum lacks legitimacy: a foreign occupation, no free media, a dubious electoral authority - and then options which didn't include the status quo, and the nearly Soviet result. That definitely leaves you with some big question marks.
But the facts are what they are. What can be done?
We'll now impose personal sanctions in the form of travel restrictions and bank account freezes. If you can't travel to go shopping anymore in Baden-Baden or Nizza or London, or can't access your accounts, then the pressure builds.
But hadn't Putin already planned on that?
Gahler has been a member of the EU parliament since 1999
Mr. Putin is already personally poorer. The rubel is collapsing, the Moscow stock exchange is crashing. That means he's already suffered personal losses through his stock holdings. And if things keep going that way, the oligarchs will soon come to him and say, "Listen, Vladimir, this isn't what we had in mind." I'm very confident that, even within Russia, pressure on Putin can also be built up.
Would the "red line" for Western military intervention be crossed if NATO countries in the Baltic were affected, for example, or even if eastern Ukraine were invaded?
I think that we would have a very Cold War if the boots of Russian soldiers were to touch Ukraine's mainland. And that's why it's so important that we internationalize this region in the sense that we bring in OSCE observers [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] to also ensure that dialogue gets underway. Up to this point we haven't felt any tension in eastern Ukraine. Previously, the people there lived peacefully with one another. It's also complete nonsense to say that everyone who speaks Russian wants to join Russia. They also know how things in Russia look. I therefore consider the things that take place there as largely staged, and provoked by Moscow.
Did the West make a mistake by working together with dubious members of Ukraine's opposition, among them fascists?
That's nonsense. We, the European People's Party, supported Tymoshenko, Yatsenyuk and Klitschko politically. We did not support Svoboda [a right-wing nationalist party - the ed.]. But people like to swing the fascism hammer. For me, however, the decisive point is: When did they become strong? They first became strong under Yanukovych. That's something which will take care of itself when people have a perspective.
Putin says that if Kosovo, with its Kosovar majority, was allowed to leave Serbia, why not the Russian-speaking majority in Crimea?
That perspective is totally off-base. NATO had to attack at that point to prevent a massacre. That's why there's no parallel. There has been no oppression of the Russian people by Ukrainian authorities. There is no comparison to Kosovo.
The German politician Michael Gahler sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament and is spokesman on security policy for the European People's Party faction, which includes the German Christian Democrats.According to a recent statement by Nintendo, the newly released Nintendo Switch is the fastest selling console in history for the company. Faster than any of the many consoles that Nintendo has launched before, Nintendo managed to sell close to one million units in March according to NPD data. Furthermore, the timing of the release was rather unconventional as most consoles release during the holiday season.
A lot of this success has to be due to the coinciding release of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Nintendo say that they’ve sold over 1.3 million copies of the game across both the Switch and Wii U. Putting this into perspective, Nintendo says they sold roughly 906,000 Nintendo Switch units and 925,000 copies of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. That’s a pretty incredible considering they sold more copies of the game itself than systems.
That said, Breath of the Wild is the fastest selling Nintendo launch game of all time. Nintendo believes that the most ardent collectors double-dipped on Breath of the Wild, buying one game to play and one game for their collections.
Even though sales have been off to a fast start, Nintendo hasn’t been able to keep up with demand for the console. Nintendo says they are working to make sure everyone who wants a Switch is able to buy one and that more shipments of consoles are on the way.
Hopefully so, there are some big Nintendo exclusives due out shortly. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is launching on April 28th, while ARMS and Splatoon 2 are headed to the console this summer.The Chaplain over at An Apostate’s Chapel posted about the latest poll by the Barna Group, which found that 1 in every 8 Americans is an ex-Christian. Meanwhile, about 3% of Americans were raised non-Christian but later converted. The Barna Group’s press release described their finding in these terms: “The study underscores that the spiritual allegiances of childhood are remarkably sustainable in our society… the most common faith journey that people take is to form spiritual commitments as children and teenagers that typically last for the duration of their life.”
While it’s certainly true that most people don’t change their childhood religious beliefs, I think Barna is glossing over the most significant finding in their own survey: people are leaving Christianity at four times the rate they’re being converted into it. Even though Christians still command an absolute majority of Americans, we’ve known for some time that their share of the population is shrinking, and this is probably a large part of the reason why: they’re just not holding onto their members nearly as fast as they’re making new ones.
Part of this, I’m sure, is the low-hanging-fruit issue. When Christianity is virtually the only choice and any other religious belief results in harassment or worse, which was the de facto state of affairs in America for decades, the vast majority will naturally choose the path of least resistance. But with the rise of the atheist movement, Christianity is facing genuine competition in a way it’s never had to deal with before, at least not in this country. Leaving faith altogether is more of a viable option than it ever was, and there are bound to be people who respond to that. For the same reasons, it’s no surprise that Christian evangelism is bearing little fruit. In our society, it’s safe to assume that most people have heard the basics of Christianity already, and anyone who wants to join a church has ample opportunity to do so. They’re selling a product in a market that’s already saturated.
For atheists, the ongoing exodus from religion is validation of our strategy of persuasion. We’ve turned a large number of people into nonbelievers, and opened up the religious landscape for many more doubters, questioners and seekers – the people I described as “soft atheists” in the linked post. Although the majority of people still go through life as Christians, it’s no longer the automatic option, and we’ve made them aware that there are other possibilities.
My question is this: We’ve got half our strategy down – making the arguments and the appeals that convince people to switch religions. But we need to work on the other half – building the secular community that makes nonbelief more “ sticky “, that is, making it a friendlier and more appealing option for people with opened minds. I can think of two things that may not be obvious:
• College scholarships for atheists from religious families. I was thinking of this after reading a comment by Sarah Braasch in the thread on escaping ultra-Orthodox Judaism. Atheism is growing fastest among young people, but many of them are from ultra-religious families who may retaliate against their kids for being honest – cutting them off, kicking them out of the house, etc. A scholarship for young people in this situation, enabling them to escape and to get an education, would be a lifeline.
• Vocational training for former clergy. A similar, but even more extreme, problem is faced by nonbelievers among the clergy, who, for the most part, have no marketable skills outside religion. It would help the atheist movement greatly to have more of these people out of the closet and speaking out, and we can make it possible for them to do so if we could offer job training or some other opportunity to have a life outside their church.
What other suggestions do you have for ways we can expand the secular community and make new atheists feel welcome?Madonna’s latest video for her current single, “Ghosttown,” is getting a lot of attention. Not because it’s arguably her greatest artistic achievement in years, but because upon it’s release certain critics on the internet cried out, “OLD!” (We’re looking at you New York Magazine…)
It’s a low blow because it was unwarranted. A dig for the sake of it, and no one was amused.
“Ghosttown” is not only an exquisitely crafted, bittersweet pop track, but it has a stunning and meaningful video to go with it.
The end is nigh, but the wig is flawless; and the only way to win is to love. Quintessential modern Madonna. It’s exactly what we want from our queen. So why are people hating?
Madonna is 56. She’s doing what she loves. She’s vital and creative. She’s a legend that’s blazed a trail for every other artist who has and will come after her.
We should all be so lucky at ANY age to live a life like her’s.
To joke that she’s “an oldie” or “a granny” has become tired. Unless you are a professional comedian, let’s stop that.
Plus, if you truly think 56 is old you’ll be giving up too soon on life and yours will surely be a sad and boring tale.
Without Madonna’s S.E.X. book, young hoes wouldn’t be able to live so loud and so nude on Instagram without stigma or consequence.
Without Madonna’s hugely successful body of work, younger divas wouldn’t have a chance at headlining an arena and slaying the masses.
Without Madonna’s courage to look however the f*ck she wants to at any f*cking age she is, aging would be just a slow, grey march into time.
Respect Madonna. She’s done a lot for you. She still makes great work. She’s still the Queen. Bow down, bitches.About
Are you like me? Do you find yourself misplacing your wallet? Your Keys? Maybe you misplaced a book you want to pick up again. Whatever the reason, we all misplace things. It is just simple human nature. What if you could quickly find anything you want with the click of a button. What if I told you that all you needed was a cellphone? Introducing NeverLose! A quick sure fire way to find anything you want. All you need to do is is put a simple GPS patch on that wallet. With a click on the app, this device will send pings to your device immediately letting you know its location. I know what you are thinking. Wouldn't it stick out on your wallet, or your book, or keys? No! In fact, there are a variety of colors that will suit any color scheme. It is as easy as just putting on the adhesive patch on the item! Together we can make sure that we aren't late to an important meeting anymore! Together we can make sure we "Never Lose" any important items.
The device requires a phone with bluetooth compatibility. After placing the adhesive patch onto the object you can pair it with the app. There will be two versions of the app. A free one with the basic mechanics as well as a premium $1.99 one with more advanced features and personalization. When you need to look for it you simply click on the paired device though the app. The device will then send pings to your phone. While in the app, you will then be able to locate the item you are looking for. It's as simple as that!Buying Choices
If you haven't got some of Richard Devine's records in your record collection, then chances are he has programmed some of the presets on your synths, or the sounds in the TV ad you just watched or even the sounds of the engine in your electric car!
Over the last year Richard has been focussing his live efforts on building an all eurorack live set. The set uses a 12u or 4 row case, combined with a couple of outboard effects and also a little external eurorack case with his circadian rhythms in it.
Comprised mainly of multifunctional digital modules, the rack seems to be able to create a wide range of textures, from extremely mangled noise to heavy rhythmical structures.
The set that Richard has been working on with this setup tries in his own special way to create 8 different tracks, and focusses heavily on rhythmical structures in a non linear way.
Stay tuned for part 2 where we will dive heavily into the Circadian Rhythms latest firmware and the Devine mode D!
Edd Butterworth
More From: STEKKER
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.Debugging Go Code
Yann Malet Blocked Unblock Follow Following May 19, 2017
Four years ago, I wrote a blog post called Introduction to Go Debugging with GDB. At the time, the only option was the GNU debugger. Even the official Go documentation page on GDB doesn’t set the bar very high:
GDB does not understand Go programs well. The stack management, threading, and runtime contain aspects that differ enough from the execution model GDB expects that they can confuse the debugger, even when the program is compiled with gccgo. As a consequence, although GDB can be useful in some situations, it is not a reliable debugger for Go programs, particularly heavily concurrent ones.
What Are Our Options Today?
Option 1: Godebug
godebug, published by Mailgun, has 2,614 stars on GitHub. They have a pretty impressive demo page where they combine godebug and gopherjs. In this demo, the code gets transformed twice. First, godebug inserted debugging instrumentation. Then gopherjs compiled the result to javascript. The final result is an in-browser interactive demo.
Option 2: Delve
Delve was published by Dereck Parker and has 5,588 stars on GitHub. From a UX perspective, Delve is much more like a traditional debugger, like GDB or PDB, but unlike GDB it has an intimate understanding of the Go specificities. Additionally, Delve has IDE integrations for Visual Studio Code and IntelliJ platforms.
Which One Are You Using?
Typically, I utilize a debugger far less often when I develop in Go than in Python. The reason probably comes down to the fact that for years, there was no compelling option. Println or go-spew became my first line of defense. However, in recent months I have seen myself turning to Delve far more often than I used to.
At the time of writing, Delve’s documentation was a bit scarce. Last year, an article was published on GopherAcadaemy’s blog that’s very helpful and covers a lot of common use cases.
Usage
A recent use case I ran into was debugging github.com/yml/keep. Keep is a command line tool that accepts multiple arguments. The following command line instructions let you retrieve credentials for |
who want to quit their positions must sell to someone else, much like they would a stock. There are opportunities to sell back to the fund company, but only on a few pre-set days each year.
Because all of the fund money is raised during the intense marketing period, investment advisers are enticed to deploy client money through hefty upfront commissions. O'Leary Funds paid 3% commissions—the industry standard—for client money invested in their funds. In about two years, these funds raised $1 billion, which means a whopping $30 million was paid to advisers.
Because early performance from portfolios such as the Global Infrastructure Fund was strong, the company was able to add new funds every two to five months. The offerings got bigger quickly, and each of four funds launched in 2009 raised over $110 million, with distributions that provided investors with annual yields between 6% and 9%. In 2010, O'Leary felt confident enough to float the idea that the company would hit $5 billion in assets within three years—and that it could be taken public. Ecstatic that his funds hit $1 billion in assets under management so quickly, O'Leary celebrated by buying O'Brien a Cartier Roadster watch.
But underlying the success, some questions lurked. Despite their claims that the funds would never touch investors' principal, O'Leary and O'Brien evidently started doing just that. In 2009, Dan Hallett, vice-president of asset management at Highview Financial Group and a highly regarded expert on mutual funds, wrote a report on the performance of the O'Leary Funds up until that point. Hallett noted that while the fund's website said investors are "paid by true portfolio yield," this promise was "over-the-top" given that 81% of the O'Leary Global Equity Income's 2008 distributions were being paid from return of capital—giving investors their own money.
Hallett now says this was too narrow a snapshot to gauge the funds' distribution policy or performance. But he says that although there have been good years and bad, if one examines O'Leary's Global Equity Income Fund (OGE) and its successor mutual fund from 2008 to the present, original investors will have seen their investments decline in value. "One-quarter of OGE's distributions have been return of capital," says Hallett. O'Leary Funds says the real figure is 17%. Hallett's 2009 analysis also showed that most of O'Leary's funds would have a hard time sustaining their distribution rates from returns in the portfolios alone. "[O'Leary's] stated investment philosophy was at odds with what they are doing," says Hallett. "My basic conclusion was there was a lot more marketing than real investment steak." When asked whether he would invest with O'Leary Funds today, Hallett said, "There are no funds they have that really jump out at me."
The returns of capital continue in certain funds today. The Yield Advantaged Convertible Debentures Fund returned $11.1 million of investors' money in 2011 because the fund couldn't generate the promised yield on its investments.
O'Leary admits that his firm has paid distributions out of investors' principal—on occasion. "Nobody wants grind, but it's something you have to do," he says.
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Regardless of the returns of capital, sales of O'Leary funds continued to skyrocket in 2010, adding over $500 million in new closed-end fund assets that year and launching its first set of mutual funds. Such success had Mark McQueen of Wellington Financial, a $500-million Bay Street venture debt fund, scratching his head. McQueen worries that "the bill of goods O'Leary has sold investors is bad for our industry." Not only do O'Leary Funds grind capital, he argues, but the high yields promised by the company are unsustainable in the long run.
Yield is a hot topic in the industry. In June, Barry Allan, one of the most venerable bond managers on Bay Street and someone who advises on over $6 billion of debt assets, announced that he had to cut distributions on his flagship fund. The portfolio, he said on a conference call, was set up in 2009 when high-yield bonds paid 14% annually, making it easy to pay investors a targeted 8%. But with interest rates so low, it simply wasn't possible any more. Allan sounded a warning for the entire market: "People are reaching for yield and taking risks that they don't want to take."
If a dean of the industry admits 8% distributions on a high-yield portfolio are hard to deliver, how can O'Leary Funds generate its distributions? O'Brien says that good yield opportunities exist—it's just a matter of finding them. Asked whether he agrees with Allan's claims, he would neither support nor refute them. Instead, he said it's hard to compare between funds, because "every single portfolio [manager] has a different mandate, a different size, a different reality that they live with."
That answer may not assuage clients who have already spotted oddities in their portfolio mix. Recently, a well-respected adviser noticed that in the Yield Advantaged Convertible Debentures Fund, O'Brien purchased a "convert"—a bond that carries the right to be converted into common shares—for about $160, relative to its starting value of $100. At such a rich premium, these bonds no longer trade like stable investments; they swing like speculative stocks. Back in November, 2010, an industry veteran walked into an O'Leary Funds presentation and heard O'Brien touting his holdings of obscure securities, such as Brazilian bonds that paid 11% interest. Since risk is compensated through yield, a rate of 11% suggests these bonds are very speculative. Asked about these types of investments, O'Brien didn't deny they were made, but says that his exposure in these areas amounts to "very little, very, very little."
Some people aren't buying the official story, including five investment advisers who manage billions of dollars of assets and spoke to Report on Business magazine on the condition of anonymity because they work for Big Six banks that have strict media policies. Worried that O'Brien isn't doing what O'Leary preaches to retail investors, some of them have dialled the dragon directly to relay their fears. One member of this group recalls, "I said to Kevin, 'You're supposed to be the smartest businessman in the world. How'd you end up in this situation?'"
Former employees of O'Leary Funds who have intimate knowledge of operations say that complaints over inappropriate investments aren't the only frustrations voiced by a plethora of advisers who have called in the past year. Performance is an even bigger issue. Two funds launched in the first half of 2011, the Yield Advantage Convertible Debentures Fund and the U.S. Strategic Yield Advantaged Fund, have lost more than 20% each, before distributions. The advisers want to know how O'Leary's supposedly safe funds can lose so much money so quickly.
Their frustrations have hurt sales. The Floating Rate Income Fund sold only $67 million in August, 2011, and the Canadian Diversified Income Fund only $26 million last December—while O'Leary funds launched in 2009 and 2010 easily sold over $100 million each. O'Leary argues that the closed-end market in general has slowed, and that the firm has seen solid success with some mutual funds, such as its Canadian Bond Yield Fund.
But over all, advisers are clearly pulling their money. Earlier this year, McQueen wrote on his blog that redemptions seemed high at O'Leary Funds, based on last year's publicly available financial reports. He was right: It turns out that investors pulled $253 million last year, amounting to about 21% of all assets under management. This trend appears to have continued since January. The firm's assets under management stood at $1.2 billion at the end of 2011. The figure had slipped by early September to a little over $1 billion, even though the market had moved higher in the interim. (That said, assets under management can be a tricky indicator because the number rises when the market does, even though no new money may be coming in from investors.)
Of course, many firms in the fund industry, not just O'Leary, have been hurting. In June and July, giant AGF Management Ltd. reported a 5% drop in assets under management. However, industry money is flowing out of equity funds and into bond and balanced funds. In other words, it's flowing to the kinds of funds that O'Leary sells, yet the firm still has net redemptions. A big-name broker, who was one of the very first investors in O'Leary Funds back in 2008, is so frustrated that he's decided to pull all of his clients' money. Net redemptions in this environment "means they can't focus on making people money," the broker says. "They have to essentially put out fires all day long, and [focus on] raising money when it may not be the best time to be selling to the market."
O'Leary Funds undoubtedly has relationships with hundreds of brokers across the country, and some aren't worried at all. But there are some that O'Leary and O'Brien must now personally reassure—people like David Chellew, who works at Burgeonvest Bick Securities Ltd. in Toronto. Back in 2010, Chellew publicly said he would not recommend O'Leary Funds to his clients, since they lacked a long-term track record. Not long afterward, Chellew and some of his colleagues met with O'Leary, whom they grilled for two hours. Chellew came away from that meeting impressed but still unwilling to invest, taking a wait-and-see position. However, after the redemption issue blew up this year, he became skeptical again.
*********************************
No one is sounding the death knell for O'Leary Funds. But former employees say internal operations need to change if the firm is going to attract talent.
Employee turnover is high—and some of those who have left are disgruntled because, they say, they were promised equity that never materialized. O'Brien says some equity has been issued: "The equity is something that is granted to key employees that have made and continue to make a significant positive contribution to the value of the business." He and O'Leary now own 45% of the business each, he says, since there is an equity pool of 10% for employees.
On the record, O'Leary and O'Brien have downplayed employee turnover rates, arguing they are the norm in any start-up. They have also firmly denied that the firm has been shopped around. But one thing they do not deny is the potential for changing their product mix. The two men started out by exclusively selling closed-end funds, and lately they've been targeting mutual funds, yet several sources noted that O'Leary has been meeting with numerous people in the industry about the prospect of launching exchange traded funds, or ETFs, that charge extremely low fees. "If [investors] want to buy a product like that, we'll be there," O'Leary says.
To some, an emphasis on ETFs would mean the still-young firm would have changed its product mix, and O'Leary his investment philosophy, not once but twice. At the moment, the two partners are simply weighing the option. They know the more pressing concern is returns. Weak results will only encourage more investors to flee. No matter how hard they market the funds, the numbers don't lie. O'Leary knows investors value the cold, hard truth.
"Ultimately, in the end, it's performance. That's it. There's nothing else. It doesn't matter what the marketing is, or anything else. Are you performing? Are you doing what you said you were going to do?"
*********************************
O'Leary and the CBC: made for each other
When the CBC hired Richard Stursberg as vice-president of English Television in 2004 to revive the public broadcaster's anemic ratings, among his remedies was to improve the network's business coverage and shift the perception that it was too dependent on a leftish downtown-Toronto mindset. By putting Kevin O'Leary on the air, Stursberg solved these issues in one fell swoop. "He's very clever, he's quick, he's opinionated, which is always entertaining," says Stursberg, who was let go by the CBC two years ago. "All of that works really well on TV.…The fact that he was relatively right-wing was not a disadvantage."
While CBC programs that were sometimes critical of business—notably Marketplace and the fifth estate—had their budgets cut and seasons curtailed during Stursberg's tenure, O'Leary's on-air time ballooned. First, there was Dragons' Den; then, in 2009, O'Leary and co-host Amanda Lang moved their show over from Business News Network to CBC Newsworld and created The Lang & O'Leary Exchange, which airs every weekday. Finally, this past year brought Redemption Inc., O'Leary's short-lived effort to apply the Dragons' Den concept to former convicts.
O'Leary's presence on the CBC has run up against the network's own standards and practices about the neutrality of on-air staff and how they should conduct themselves professionally. But O'Leary is said to be a different case. "Kevin O'Leary is not a journalist," explains Kirstine Stewart, CBC's executive vice-president of English Services. "He works for us as a commentator. He gives on-air opinion like Don Cherry and Rick Mercer." (Except, one could note, that the only business Cherry and Mercer are in is being entertainers.)
In October, 2011, The Lang & O'Leary Exchange had Pulitzer Prize-winning former New York Times correspondent Chris Hedges on as a guest to speak about the Occupy Wall Street movement. O'Leary called those activists "nothing burgers" who "can't even name the names of the firms they're protesting against." Hedges objected, pointing out the role of Wall Street in causing the credit crisis and the ensuing global recession. In his retort, O'Leary attributed ideas to Hedges that he hadn't bruited himself: "Listen, don't take this the wrong way, but you sound like a left-wing nutbar. If you want to shut down every corporation, every bank, where are you going to get a job? Where are you going to work? Where's the economy going to go?"
O'Leary's remarks inspired complaints to the CBC ombudsman, who put out a report noting that Hedges was issued a private apology by the show's executive producer and that O'Leary was instructed to refrain from name-calling.
O'Leary has also used his CBC forum to attack unions. He's called them a "parasite," and declared, "Here's the right thing to do: Elect me as prime minister for 15 minutes. I will make unions illegal. Anybody who remains a union member will be thrown in jail." The CBC stood by O'Leary's comments and did not reprimand him, with the ombudsman noting that the network "has stationed O'Leary as a contracted commentator somewhat outside the ambit of CBC Journalistic Standards and Practices but kept the program [The Lang & O'Leary Exchange] within that policy."
In 2010, during a discussion with Lang about the implications of the proposed takeover of PotashCorp by Australian-based BHP Billiton, O'Leary opined that shareholders' interests should rank above the desires of Saskatchewan's citizenry. When Lang said some of the province's residents might disagree, O'Leary retorted: "You know, you are an Indian giver with a forked tongue. You sold these rights to somebody who paid hard cash for them. Now you don't like it any more." The CBC agreed that O'Leary's remarks were offensive and violated their policies about the characterization of minorities. O'Leary apologized in a press release after the ombudsman reprimanded him. /Bruce Livesey
From 2001 to 2009, Bruce Livesey was an investigative journalist at CBC programs the fifth estate, CBC News Sunday and The National
Editor's note: This article has been changed to provide further information on distributions of the O'Leary Global Equity Income Fund and to correct the interest rate on Brazilian bonds owned by O'Leary Funds.The federal government on Friday told election officials in 21 states that hackers targeted their systems before last year's presidential election.
The notification came roughly a year after U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials first said states were targeted by hacking efforts possibly connected to Russia. The states that told The Associated Press they had been targeted included some key political battlegrounds, such as Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.
The AP contacted every state election office to determine which ones had been informed that their election systems had been targeted. The others confirming were Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Washington.
Being targeted does not mean that sensitive voter data was manipulated or results were changed. A hacker targeting a system without getting inside is similar to a burglar circling a house checking for unlocked doors and windows.
Even so, the widespread nature of the attempts and the yearlong lag time in notification from Homeland Security raised concerns among some election officials and lawmakers.
For many states, the Friday calls were the first official confirmation of whether their states were on the list — even though state election officials across the country have been calling for months for the federal government to share information about any hacks, as have members of Congress.
"It is completely unacceptable that it has taken DHS over a year to inform our office of Russian scanning of our systems, despite our repeated requests for information," California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, a Democrat, said in a statement. "The practice of withholding critical information from elections officials is a detriment to the security of our elections and our democracy."
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, of Virginia, the top Democrat on a committee that's investigating Russian meddling in last year's election, has been pushing the department for months to reveal the identities of the targeted states. He said states need such information in real time so they can strengthen their cyber defenses.
"We have to do better in the future," he said.
Homeland Security said it recognizes that state and local officials should be kept informed about cybersecurity risks to election infrastructure.
"We are working with them to refine our processes for sharing this information while protecting the integrity of investigations and the confidentiality of system owners," it said in a statement.
The government did not say who was behind the hacking attempts or provide details about what had been sought. But election officials in several states said the attempts were linked to Russia.
The Wisconsin Election Commission, for example, said the state's systems were targeted by "Russian government cyber actors." Alaska Elections Division Director Josie Bahnke said computers in Russia were scanning election systems looking for vulnerabilities.
A spokeswoman for the National Association of Secretaries of State said the group has requested a list of the states where there were hacking efforts. In most cases, states said they were told the systems were not breached.
Federal officials said that in most of the 21 states the targeting was preparatory activity such as scanning computer systems.
The targets included voter registration systems but not vote tallying software. Officials said there were some attempts to compromise networks but most were unsuccessful.
Only Illinois reported that hackers had succeeded in breaching its voter systems.
Other states said their cybersecurity efforts turned back efforts to get to crucial information.
"There are constant attempts by bad actors to hack our systems," Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, a Republican, said in a statement. "But we continue to deflect those attempts."
Colorado said the hacking wasn't quite a breach.
"It's really reconnaissance by a bad guy to try and figure out how we would break into your computer," said Trevor Timmons, a spokesman for the Colorado secretary of state's office. "It's not an attack. I wouldn't call it a probe. It's not a breach, it's not a penetration."
Earlier this year, a leaked National Security Agency report detailed that hackers obtained information from a company that provided software to manage voter registrations in eight states. The May report said hackers sent phishing emails to 122 local election officials just before the November 2016 election in an attempt to break into their systems.
The latest disclosure to the states comes as a special counsel investigates whether there was any coordination during the 2016 presidential campaign between Russia and associates of Donald Trump.
Trump, a Republican who defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, has called the Russia story a hoax. He says Russian President Vladimir Putin "vehemently denied" the conclusions of numerous American intelligence agencies.
For states that were told they were not targets, the news brought relief.
"This is one time we like being at the bottom of the list," said Lisa Strimple, a spokeswoman for Nebraska's secretary of state.
___
Associated Press statehouse reporters around the country contributed to this report.
___
Follow Mulvihill and Pearson at http://www.twitter.com/geoffmulvihill and https://twitter.com/JakePearsonAP[ Updates & News ] [ Poetry & Stories ] [ A Buddhist Web-journal ] [ Theravada Writings ] [ Zen / Ch'an Writings ] [ Buddhist Webrings ] [ Buddhist Links ] [ About this Page ] [ Home ]
Zen teachings of Master Lin-Chi
The following passages are from "The Zen Teachings of Master Lin-Chi" translated by Burton Watson:
The Master instructed the group, saying: "Those who study the Dharma of the buddhas these days should approach it with a true and proper understanding. If you approach it with a true and proper understanding, you won't be affected by considerations of birth and death, you'll be free to go or stay as you please. You don't have to strive for benefits, benefits will come of themselves.
"Followers of the Way, the outstanding teachers from times past have all had ways of drawing people out. What I want myself to impress on you is that you mustn't be led astray by others. If you want to use this thing, then use it and have no doubts or hesitations!
"When students today fail to make progress, where's the fault? The fault lies in the fact that they don't have faith in themselves! If you don't have faith in yourself, then you'll be forever in a hurry trying to keep up with everything around you, you'll be twisted and turned by whatever environment you're in and you can never move freely. But if you can just stop this mind that goes rushing around moment by moment looking for something, then you'll be no different from the patriarchs and buddhas. Do you want to get to know the patriarchs and buddhas? They're none other than you, the people standing in front of me listening to this lecture on the Dharma!"Students don't have enough faith in themselves, and so they rush around looking for something outside themselves. But even if they get something, all it will be is words and phrases, pretty appearances. They'll never get at the living thought of the patriarchs!
"Make no mistake, you followers of Ch'an. If you don't find it in this life, then for a thousand kalpas you'll be born again and again in the three-fold world, you'll be lured off by what you think are favorable environments and be born in the belly of a donkey or a cow!
"Followers of the Way, as I look at it, we're no different from Shakyamuni. In all our various activities each day, is there anything we lack? The wonderful light of the six faculties has never for a moment ceased to shine. If you could just look at it this way, then you'd be the kind of person who has nothing to do for the rest of his life.
"Fellow believers, 'There is no safety in the threefold world; it is like a burning house.' This is no place for you to linger long! The deadly demon of impermanence will be on you in an instant, regardless of whether you're rich or poor, old or young.
"If you want to be no different from the patriarchs and buddhas, then never look for something outside yourselves. The clean pure light in a moment of your mind--that is the Essence-body of the Buddha lodged in you. The undifferentiated light in a moment of your mind~that is the Bliss-body of the Buddha lodged in you. The undiscriminating light in a moment of your mind--that is the Transformtion-body of the Buddha lodged in you. These three types of bodies are you, the person who stands before me now listening to this lecture on the Dharma! And simply because you do not rush around seeking anything outside yourselves, you can command these fine faculties.
"According to the expounders of the sutras and treatises, the threefold body is to be taken as some kind of ultimate goal. But as I see it, that's not so. This threefold body is nothing but mere names. Or they're three types of dependencies. One man of early times said, 'The body depends on doctrine for its definition, and the land is discussed in terms of the reality.' This'body' of the Dharma-realm, or reality, and this'land' of the Dharma-realm we can see clearly are no more than flickering lights.
"Followers of the Way, you should realize that the person who manipulates these flickering lights is the source of the buddhas, the home that all followers of the way should return to. Your physical body made up of the four great elements doesn't know how to preach the Dharma or listen to the Dharma. Your spleen and stomach, your liver and gall, don't know how to preach the Dharma or listen to the Dharma. The empty spaces don't know how to preach the Dharma or listen to the Dharma. What is it, then, that knows how to preach the Dharma or listen to the Dharma? It is you who are right here before my eyes, this lone brightness without fixed shape or form--this is what knows how to preach the Dharma and listen to the Dharma. If you can see it this way, you'll be no different from the patriarchs and the buddhas.
"But never at any time let go of this even for a moment. Everything ~ that meets your eyes is this. But'when feelings arise, wisdom is blocked; when thoughts waver, reality departs,' therefore you keep being reborn again and again in the threefold world and undergoing all kinds of misery. But as I see it, there are none of you incapable of profound understanding, none of you are incapable of emancipation.
"Followers of the Way, this thing called mind has no fixed form; it penetrates all the ten directions. In the eye we call it sight; in the ear we call it hearing; in the nose it detects odors, in the mouth it speaks discourse; in the hand it grasps, in the feet it runs along. Basically it is a single bright essence, but it divides itself into these six functions. And because this single mind has no fixed form, it is everywhere in a state of emancipation. Why do I tell you this? Because you followers of the Way seem to be incapable of stopping this mind that goes rushing around everywhere looking for something. So you get caught up in those idle devices of the men of old.
Someone asked, "What is the Buddha devil?" The Master said, "If you have doubts in your mind for an instant, that's the Buddha devil. But if you can understand that the ten thousand phenomena were never born, that the mind is like a conjurers trick, then not one speck of dust, not one phenomenon will exist. Everywhere will be clean and pure, and this will be Buddha. Buddha and devil just refer to two states, one stained, one pure. "As I see it, there's no Buddha, no living beings, no long ago, no now. If you want to get it, you've already got it--it's not something that requires time. There's no religious practice, no enlightenment, no getting anything, no missing out on anything. At no time is there any other Dharma than this. If anyone claims there is a Dharma superior to this, I say it must be a dream, a phantom. All I have to say to you is simply this. "Followers of the Way, this lone brightness before my eyes now, this person plainly listening to me--this person is unimpeded at any point but penetrates the ten directions, free to do as he pleases in the threefold world. No matter what the environment he may encounter, with its peculiarities and differences, he cannot be swayed or pulled awry. In the space of an instant he makes his way into the Dharma-realm. If he meets a buddha he preaches to the buddha, if he meets a patriarch, he preaches to the patriarch, if he meets an arhat, he preaches to the arhat, if he meets a hungry ghost, he preaches to the hungry ghost. He goes everywhere, wandering through many lands, teaching and converting living beings, yet never becomes separated from his single thought. Every place for him is clean and pure, his light pierces the ten directions, the ten thousand phenomena are a single thusness.
Followers of the Way, the really first-rate person knows right now that from the first theres never been anything that needed doing. Its because you dont have enough faith that you rush around moment by moment looking for something. You throw away your head and hunt for your head, and you cant seem to stop yourselves. You are like the bodhisattva of perfect and immediate enlightenment, who manifests his body in the dharma realm but who, in the midst of the pure land, still hates the state of common mortal and prays to become a sage. People like that have yet to forget about choices; their minds are still occupied with thoughts about purity and impurity. But the Chan school doesnt see things that way. What counts is this present moment; theres nothing that requires a lot of time. Everything I say to you is for the moment only, medicine to cure the disease. Ultimately it has no true reality. If you can see things in this way you will be true people who have left the household, free to spend ten thousand pieces of gold every day.
Followers of the Way, dont let just anyone put their stamp of approval on your face; dont say, I understand Zen; I understand the Way, spouting off like a waterfall. All that sort of thing is karma, leading to hell. If you are a person who honestly wants to learn the Way, dont go looking for the worlds mistakes, but set about as fast as you can looking for true and proper understanding. If you can acquire true and proper understanding thats clear and complete, then you can think about calling it quits.
"Followers of the Way, you take the words that come out of the mouths of a bunch of old teachers to be a description of the true Way. You think, 'This is a most wonderful teacher and friend. I have only the mind of a common mortal, I would never dare to try to fathom such venerableness.' Blind idiots! You go through life with this kind of understanding, betraying your own two eyes, cringing and faltering like a donkey on an icy road, saying, 'I would never dare speak ill of such a good friend, I'd be afraid of making mouth karma!'
"Followers of the Way, the really good friend is someone who dares speak ill of the Buddha, speak ill of the patriarchs, pass judgment on anyone in the world, throw away the Tripitaka, revile those little children, and in the midst of opposition and assent search out the real person. So for the past twelve years, though I've looked for this thing called karma, I've never found so much as a particle of it the size of a mustard seed.
"Those Ch'an masters who are as timid as a new bride are afraid they might be expelled from the monastery or deprived of their meal of rice, worrying and fretting. But from times past the real teachers, wherever they went, were never listened to and were always driven out--that's how you know they were men of worth. If everybody approves of you wherever you go, what use can you be? Hence the saying, let the lion give one roar and the brains of the little foxes will split open.
"Followers of the Way, here and there you hear it said that there is a Way to be practiced, a Dharma to become enlightened to. Will you tell me then just what Dharma there is to be enlightened to, what Way there is to practice? In your present aetivities, what is it you lack, what is it that practice must mend? But those little greenhorn monks don't understand this and immediately put faith in that bunch of wild fox spirits, letting them spout their ideas and tie people in knots, saying, 'When principle and practice match one another and proper precaution is taken with regard to the three types of karma of body, mouth, and mind, only then can one attain Budhahood.' People who go on like that are as plentiful as springtime showers.
"A man of old said, 'If along the road you meet a man who is master of the Way, whatever you do, don't talk to him about the Way.' Therefore it is said, 'If a person practices the way, the Way will never proceed. Instead, ten thousand kinds of mistaken environments will vie in poking up their heads. But if the sword of wisdom comes to cut them all down, then even before the bright signs manifest themselves, the dark signs will have become bright. Therefore a man of old said, 'The everyday mind--that is the Way.' "Fellow believers, what are you looking for? This man of the Way who depends on nothing, here before my eyes now listening to the Dharma--his brightness shines clearly, he has never lacked anything. If you want to be no different from the patriarchs and buddhas, learn to see it this way and -- never give in to doubt or questioning. When your mind moment by moment never differentiates, it may be called the living patriarch. If the mind differentiates, its nature and manifestations become separated from one another. But so long as it does not differentiate, its nature and manifestations do not become separated."
Someone asked, "What do you mean by the true Buddha, the true Dharma, and the true Way? Would you be good enough to explain to us?" The Master said, "Buddha--this is the cleanness and purity of the mind. The Dharma--this is the shining brightness of the mind. The Way--this is the pure light that is never obstructed anywhere. The three are in fact one. All are empty names and have no true reality.
"The true and proper man of the Way from moment to moment never permits any interruption in his mind. When the great teacher Bodhidharma came from the west, he was simply looking for a man who would not be misled by others. Later the Second Patriarch encountered Bodhidharma, and after hearing one word, he understood. Then for the first time he realized that up to then he had been engaged in useless activity and striving.
"My understanding today is no different from that of the patriarchs and buddhas. If you get it with the first phrase, you can be a teacher of the patriarchs and buddhas. If you get it with the second phrase, you can be a teacher of human and heavenly beings. If you get it with the third phrase, you can't even save yourself!"
Someone asked, "What was Bodhidharma's purpose in coming from the west?" The Master said, "If he had had a purpose, he wouldn't have been able to save even himself!"The questioner said, "If he had no purpose, then how did the Second Patriarch manage to get the Dharma?" The Master said, "Getting means not getting." "If it means not getting," said the questioner, "then what do you mean by not getting?"
The Master said, "You can't seem to stop your mind from racing around everywhere seeking something. That's why the patriarch said, 'Hopeless fellows--using their heads to look for their heads!' You must right now turn your light around and shine it on yourselves, not go seeking somewhere else. Then you will understand that in body and mind you are no different
from the patriarchs and the buddhas, and that there is nothing to do. Do that and you may speak of'getting the Dharma.'
"Fellow believers, at this time, having found it impossible to refuse, I have been addressing you, putting forth a lot of trashy talk. But make no mistake! In my view, there are in fact no great number of principles to be grasped. If you want to use the thing, then use it. If you don't want to use it, then let it be.
"Followers of the Way, don't take the Buddha to be some sort of ultimate goal. In my view he's more like the hole in a privy. Bodhisattvas and arhats are so many cangues and chains, things for fettering people. Therefore, Manjushri grasped his sword, ready to kill Gautama, and Angulimala, blade in hand, tried to do injury to Shakyamuni.
"Followers of the Way, there is no Buddha to be gained, and the Three Vehicles, the five natures, the teaching of the perfect and immediate enlightenment are all simply medicines to cure diseases of the moment. None have any true reality. Even if they had, they would still all be mere shams, placards proclaiming superticial matters, so many words lined up, pronouncements of such kind.
"Followers of the Way, there are certain baldheads who turn all their efforts inward, seeking in this way to find some otherworldly truth. But they are completely mistaken! Seek the Buddha and you'll lose the Buddha. Seek the Way and you'll lose the Way. Seek the patriarchs and you'll lose the patriarchs.
"Fellow believers, don't mistake me! I don't care whether you understand the sutras and treatises. I don't care whether you are rulers or great statesmen. I don't care whether you can pour out torrents of eloquence. 1 don't care whether you display brilliant intellects. All I ask is that you have true and proper understanding."
"Fellow believers, do not use your minds in a mistaken manner, but be like the sea which rejects the bodies of the dead. While you continue to carry such dead bodies and go racing around the world with them, you only obstruct your own vision and create obstacles in your mind. When no clouds block the sun, the beautiful light of heaven shines everywhere. When no disease |
condone those type of activities," Westphal said.
The found mail also included direct mail from Republican State Sen. Glenn Grothman, who is running for the 6th Congressional District seat, and messages from a third party in support of Republican Roger Roth, who is vying for the 19th state Senate District seat, Rohrkaste said.
The Grothman campaign was told about the incident and is waiting to hear the results of the investigation, said Andy Post, spokesman for the campaign.
"We're disappointed that Republican mail pieces were trashed before reaching voters, but we're not completely shocked," Post said. "Shenanigans happen in election years and we hope the investigation finds the person responsible for depriving voters of fair information about Glenn Grothman."
Agents don't think this incident was politically motivated.
"So far the investigation has determine that it was just a bad decision involving a postal employee, but nothing that indicates that it was targeted to a specific candidate or political party," Rukes said.
Once the investigation is complete, agents will present their findings to the post office. Investigators can also present a report to a U.S. Attorney or the local district attorney for criminal prosecution, Rukes said.
The standard mail fliers were inventoried and delivered to recipients on Friday, Rukes said. Rohrkaste praised Smoot and a postal supervisor for their quick response.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1tVsCKKThe seeding pots for Thursday's Champions League draw can be confirmed after the final qualifiers were completed.
Lyon's exit to Real Sociedad handed a boost to Juventus, who were set to be in pot three but have moved up into pot two as a result of the Ligue 1 club's failure.
Kevin-Prince Boateng helped fire Milan into the group stage draw on Wednesday night
Lyon were the only one of the five seeded teams in the non-champions route to fail to make the group stage. By beating Dinamo Zagreb, Austria Vienna were the only non-seeds to qualify from the champions route.
Manchester City drop into pot three due to their poor display last season, while last season's runners-up Borussia Dortmund climb into pot three after being among the bottom seeds in 2012-13.
With big-spending Napoli in pot four another group of death seems likely, and City will be eager to avoid that for a third successive season. The nightmare scenario would see City drawn against Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid or Paris Saint-Germain, and Napoli. The holders will also want to avoid such a tough draw.
But Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal are also in danger of getting that group of death, should one of those teams be drawn to play Atletico or PSG, Borussia Dortmund and Napoli.
The worst case for Barcelona and Real Madrid would see one of the Spanish giants face PSG, Man City or Borussia Dortmund, and Napoli.
You can follow the draw for the group stage live on ESPN FC, starting from 16.30 BST on Thursday.
Seeding is calculated on performance in all European competitions over a five-year period.
Pot One: Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Arsenal, FC Porto, Benfica.
Pot Two: Atletico Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, AC Milan, Schalke, Marseille, CSKA Moscow, PSG, Juventus
Pot Three: Zenit, Man City, Ajax, Borussia Dortmund, Basel, Olympiakos, Galatasaray, Leverkusen
Pot Four: FC Copenhagen, Napoli, Anderlecht, Celtic, Steaua Bucuresti, Viktoria Plzen, Real Sociedad, Austria Vienna
- Twitter: @dalejohnsonESPNclick to enlarge Mike Koozmin/S.F. Examiner file photo
More types of businesses were added to the list The City considers formula retail.
San Francisco strengthened its anti-chain store law Tuesday as The City's booming economy has increasingly attracted more interest from well-established brand-name companies from throughout the world.
What was shaping out as a battle and a major overhaul of San Francisco's chain store regulations has in the end come to a harmonious conclusion, with the approval of nine key changes meant to preserve neighborhoods' unique character and level the playing field for independent businesses.
"Our formula-retail controls are working in San Francisco and we did not need a radical overhaul but rather some thoughtful tinkering in order to update and strengthen our existing formula-retail controls," Supervisor Eric Mar said, adding that The City has about 1,250 formula-retail stores.
Among the most significant changes to the law is the definition of formula retail. Existing law defined formula-retail stores as having 11 or more locations in the United States, but the legislation was amended to include businesses with 11 or more locations worldwide.
The types of businesses captured by the restrictions has also expanded to include check cashing, massage parlors, tobacco sales and fitness gyms. Another significant change is that applicants who propose a business of 20,000 square feet or more must hire a consultant to perform an economic analysis of how the business would impact neighboring businesses.
San Francisco's first restrictions on chain stores were enacted in 2004 with an outright ban for Hayes Valley. North Beach followed suit. In 2006, voters approved a ballot measure requiring any chain store to have to obtain a special permit to open in neighborhood commercial corridors through the Planning Commission, which is appealable to the board. The process can take six to nine months.
Supervisor Scott Wiener called the amended law approved Tuesday a "sensible piece of legislation," which is "improving our approach to formula retail."
The legislation also adds the restrictions to the mid-Market Street area between Sixth and 11th streets.
"As mid-Market continues to grow, which is a wonderful thing and commercial vacancy goes down, what we are now seeing is that with rising rents there is more pressure on our small businesses on mid-Market," said Supervisor Jane Kim, whose district includes that area. She added that workers and new residents in the area are in favor of having more unique independent stores.
Some in the real estate industry had complained that the restrictions will lead to less foot traffic and commercial vacancies.
The debate over the issue will continue, as Mar plans to form a working group to figure out the best way to streamline the approval process for more local chain stores like Philz Coffee or the San Francisco Soup Kitchen and discuss how best to restrict subsidiary businesses of chains.Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux are the definition of newlywed bliss.
The happy couple cuddled up together while attending an intimate get-together in New York City this weekend. Aniston leaned in close as her husband lovingly wrapped his arm around her.
Aniston and Theroux were supporting their close friend, tattoo artist Scott Campbell, who collaborated with winemaker Clay Brock to produce a new line of wines named after Campbell’s famous Brooklyn tattoo studio, SAVED.
Campbell, who is married to actress Lake Bell, is a longtime friend of Theroux’s and has inked the actor on numerous occasions. He served as Theroux’s best man at his wedding to Aniston in August.
Aniston, 46, and Theroux, 44, looked casual for the night out. Aniston wore a comfortable black sweater, and accessorized her look with a simple drop chain, gold necklace. Her husband complimented her look, also wearing a black long-sleeve shirt, but kept to his signature edgy style by rocking a brown hat for the night.
The couple helped Campbell celebrate the launch of his wines as well as his one-man installation and performance, “Whole Glory,” which ran over the weekend. For the event, Campbell invited people to sit and get a free tattoo.
But there was a catch – the participants had no idea what Campbell was tattooing on them. People would put their arm through a hole in a wall, and Campbell would sit on the other side.
Campbell said the feeling he gets when he paints in his studio inspired his installation.
“When I work in my studio, it’s just me,” Campbell told the New York Times. “I get to follow whatever whims and curiosities pop up. With tattooing, I have to get permission to be exploratory. So it’s always been this romantic idea: if I could ever tattoo with the same freedom that I draw or paint.”More than $90,000 funneled to state legislative campaigns in 2012
In March of 2012, North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis and ten other state lawmakers flew to Florida on the dime of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina (PEFNC), an organization known for endorsing conservative education reform initiatives, including school vouchers.
In the year that has followed, North Carolina has absorbed a flood of more than $90,000 in campaign contributions to lawmakers friendly to the school choice movement.
The stated intent of last year’s trip was to educate North Carolina lawmakers about Florida’s tax credit scholarship program, which encourages companies to donate scholarship money for low-income children to attend private schools by providing matching state tax dollars. Critics of the Florida program say it’s a thinly-disguised voucher scheme that diverts funds from the public school system to send kids to private institutions that are not held to the same high standards applied to public schools.
The Florida trip, which cost $8,300, was clearly billed as “educational,” rather than “influential,” by PEFNC in an effort to ensure that the trip did not violate NC lobbying laws.
Since the Florida gathering, lawmakers in the North Carolina legislature have introduced more than 20 bills related to school choice. Rep. Marcus Brandon, one of the eleven lawmakers who went to Florida, argues that “it is unconstitutional not to give students a choice” when it comes to their education. He has introduced six bills related to school choice this session, including two bills that would bring vouchers to the state.
Brandon was also one of several lawmakers who, in 2012, received campaign donations from PEFNC’s PAC as well as individual PEFNC funders.
Though not indicative of any apparent unlawful activity or purpose, the story of where this money originated and how it flowed shines a revealing light on a movement that bills itself as a grassroots effort driven by the demands of average families.
American Federation for Children
Earlier this month, a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published a copy of the American Federation for Children’s (AFC) “2012 Election Impact Report.” The report reveals that AFC, a well-known national school choice advocacy organization, funneled more than $90,000 to the 2012 election campaigns of Republican and Democratic North Carolina lawmakers who support school choice, with the help of two local PACs in North Carolina.
So, who is behind the American Federation for Children?
Previously known as Advocates for School Choice, AFC rebranded itself in March 2010 and also joined with the Alliance for School Choice, which was previously known as the Education Reform Council.
Both of these groups have received considerable amounts of funding from the late John Walton, an heir to the Wal-Mart fortune. Their board members include Dick DeVos, heir to the Amway fortune who has poured hundreds of thousands of dollars of seed money into school choice groups, and his wife Betsy DeVos, who actually runs AFC and is known for her conservative Christian right-wing ideology and for having poured millions into promoting voucher programs across the country.
In February, the AFC contributed $800,000 to pro-voucher ad campaigns for two voucher-friendly candidates running for the legislature in Tennessee. In Wisconsin, the AFC has been very active in reaching out to disability groups to garner their support for vouchers, and has also pitched to them the idea of getting disability vouchers into the state budget.
Other key supporters of AFC include William Oberndorf, managing director of an investment firm who has given millions to the school choice movement and is a board member of Alliance for School Choice, and John Kirtley, a venture capitalist and AFC board member.
Kirtley is also on the board of Step Up for Students, which administers Florida’s tax credit scholarship program that allows low-income students to use state funds to attend private institutions in the state. The program is one of the largest in the country of its kind. In 2011, Step Up for Students’ president, Doug Tuthill, received $165,995 from the organization. Most of the other administrators at Step Up for Students also received well north of $100,000 in compensation.
In response to a call to AFC’s national headquarters to ask why they are interested in funding election campaigns for lawmakers in North Carolina, Matt Frendewey, communications director, said via email, “as the nation’s voice for educational choice, AFC and its coalition partners in states such as North Carolina support candidates on a bipartisan basis who believe in strengthening education by giving parents more educational options for their children.”
Following the money
American Federation for Children’s two local allies are the North Carolina Citizens for Freedom in Education Independent Expenditure PAC (herein referred to as “Citizens PAC”), and PEFNC’s PAC, known as Partners for Educational Freedom PAC.
In 2012, the AFC gave $52,900 to the NC Citizens PAC. According to campaign finance records found on the NC State Board of Elections website, that money was used to fund radio ads, newspaper ads, mailers, and GOTV efforts for the campaigns of Representatives Marcus Brandon, William Brisson, Ed Hanes, Evelyn Terry, and Senators Malcolm Graham and Earline Parmon.
The other local ally, Partners for Educational Freedom PAC, raised $36,700 in 2012 and funneled that money to the following campaigns: Rep. Bryan Holloway, Rep. Bert Jones, Rep. Elmer Floyd, Rep. Mike Stone, Rep. Tim Moffitt, Rep. Ed Hanes, Rep. Evelyn Terry, Rep. Marcus Brandon, Rep. Rob Bryan, Rep. Ruth Samuelson, Rep. Tim Moore, Rep. Paul Stam, Rep. Hugh Blackwell, Rep. John Szoka, Rep. Julia Howard, Rep. William Brisson, Rep. Thom Tillis, Sen. Fletcher Hartsell, Sen. Phil Berger, Sen. Bill Rabon, Sen. Bob Rucho, Sen. Malcolm Graham, Sen. Dan Soucek, and Governor Pat McCrory.Photo: Kavya Kopparapu
When 16-year-old Kavya Kopparapu wasn’t attending conferences, giving speeches, presiding over her school’s bioinformatics society, organizing a research symposium, playing piano, and running a non-profit, she worried about what to do with all her free time.
It was June 2016, the summer after her junior year in high school, and Kopparapu was looking for a new project that would use her computer science skills. Her thoughts quickly turned to her grandfather, who lives in a small city on India’s eastern coast.
In 2013 he began showing symptoms of diabetic retinopathy, a complication of diabetes that damages blood vessels in the retina and can lead to blindness. Eventually he was diagnosed and treated, but not before his vision deteriorated. Still, he was lucky: Although treatments such as medication and surgery can stop or even reverse eye damage if the disease is caught early, most patients never receive care.
Image: National Eye Institute Kopparapu's system can distinguish between a healthy retina (left) and one showing signs of diabetic retinopathy (right).
Kopparapu knows the statistics by heart: Of 415 million diabetics worldwide, one-third will develop retinopathy. Fifty percent will be undiagnosed. Of patients with severe forms, half will go blind in five years. Most will be poor.
“The lack of diagnosis is the biggest challenge,” Kopparapu says. “In India, there are programs that send doctors into villages and slums, but there are a lot of patients and only so many ophthalmologists.” What if there were a cheap, easy way for local clinicians to find new cases and refer them to a hospital?
That was the genesis of Eyeagnosis, a smartphone app plus 3D-printed lens that seeks to change the diagnostic procedure from a 2-hour exam requiring a multi-thousand-dollar retinal imager to a quick photo snap with a phone.
Kopparapu and her team—including her 15-year-old brother, Neeyanth, and her high school classmate Justin Zhang—trained an artificial intelligence system to recognize signs of diabetic retinopathy in photos of eyes and offer a preliminary diagnosis. She presented the system at the O’Reilly Artificial Intelligence conference, in New York City, last month.
“The device is ideal for making screening much more efficient and available to a broader population,” says J. Fielding Hejtmancik, an expert in visual diseases at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Other research groups, including Google and Peek Vision, have recently announced similar systems, but Hejtmancik is impressed with the students’ ingenuity. “These kids have put things together in a very nice way that’s a bit cheaper and simpler than most [systems designed by researchers]—who, by the way, all have advanced degrees!”
Image: National Eye Institute People with diabetic retinopathy suffer vision loss due to damaged blood vessels in the retina.
Kopparapu has always had a scientific mind. Growing up in Herndon, Virginia, she and her brother built K’nex creations, watched MythBusters and Cosmos, and read Scientific American together over breakfast. But she didn’t get hooked on computers until she attended a programming workshop run by the National Center for Women and Information Technology. “I went home and taught myself Java, HTML, Python, C,” she says. “My mom had to tear me away from the computer. I’d forget to eat.”
In high school, she took classes on computer science, then computer vision, then artificial intelligence—but she was troubled to realized that in each class, she was one of only a few girls. She resolved to start an organization to empower girls to pursue computer science. “I don’t think the problem is a lack of passion,” she says. “It’s more ‘I don’t feel like I’m good enough.’” She founded the Girls Computing League, wooed sponsors such as Amazon Web Services and the president of Harvey Mudd College, and now puts on coding workshops for underprivileged kids.
Eyeagnosis began as most endeavors do these days. “I googled a lot,” Kopparapu says. She also sent a lot of emails—to ophthalmologists, computational pathologists, biochemists, epidemiologists, neuroscientists, physicists, and experts in machine learning. Then she put together a plan.
First her team worked on the diagnostic AI, choosing to use a machine-learning architecture known as a convolutional neural network (CNN). Neural nets are behind the recent explosion in artificial intelligence, including advances in speech recognition, machine translation, and image captioning. They acquire these skills by parsing vast sets of data (millions of photos of cats, say) and looking for patterns of similarity.
CNNs are especially good at classifying images, so it’s no coincidence that their design resembles the brain’s visual system. Information passes through hierarchical layers of “neurons” called nodes; with each layer, the network recognizes ever more abstract features: Pixels become edges become shapes become objects. “It’s kind of funny that we’re using a system based on how the retinal system works to diagnose a retinal disease,” Kopparapu says.
Rather than build a network from scratch, she chose an off-the-shelf model developed by Microsoft researchers called ResNet-50. But in order to teach the system to recognize an eye disease, she needed training data.
She found that data in the NIH’s EyeGene database, which included 34,000 retinal scans. Many of these images, taken under various conditions with different types of cameras, were blurry or poorly exposed. “But that was actually a good thing,” Kopporapu says. “It’s very representative of the real-world conditions you’d get with using a smartphone.”
Photo: Kavya Kopparapu The Eyeagnosis system uses a 3D-printed lens and an AI-enabled smartphone app to diagnose diabetic retinopathy.
By August 2016, her team had trained ResNet-50 to spot diabetic retinopathy with the accuracy of a human pathologist. By October, she had made arrangements with Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital, in Mumbai, to test the Eyeagnosis app, which not only detects disease but also highlights blood vessels and microaneurysms in an image—a process that normally involves injecting a fluorescent dye into patients’ blood. “We’re trying to make it as easy as possible for an ophthalmologist to look at all that info and say ‘Here’s my final diagnosis.’”
In November, she shipped her first 3D-printed prototype for the system’s lens to the hospital. When fitted onto a smartphone, the lens focuses the phone’s diffuse, off-centered flash to best illuminate a retina. The complete Eyeagnosis system has already been tried on five patients at the hospital, and in each case it made an accurate diagnosis.
Hejtmancik, the NIH expert, notes that there’s a long road to clinical adoption. “What she’s going to need is a lot of clinical data showing that [Eyeagnosis] is reliable under a variety of situations: in eye hospitals, in the countryside, in clinics out in the boonies of India,” he says.
Still, Hejtmancik thinks the system has real commercial potential. The only problem, he says, is that it’s so cheap that big companies might not see the potential for a profit margin. But that affordability “is exactly what you want in medical care, in my opinion,” he says.Conclusion: This review illustrates that while many SMS applications for disease prevention exist, few have been evaluated. The dearth of peer-reviewed studies and the limited evidence found in this systematic review highlight the need for high-quality efficacy studies examining behavioral, social, and economic outcomes of SMS applications and mobile phone interventions aimed to promote health in developing country contexts.
Results: A total of 34 SMS applications were described, among which 5 had findings of an evaluation reported. The majority of SMS applications were pilot projects in various levels of sophistication; nearly all came from gray literature sources. Many applications were initiated by the project with modes of intervention varying between one-way or two-way communication, with or without incentives, and with educative games. Evaluated interventions were well accepted by the beneficiaries. The primary barriers identified were language, timing of messages, mobile network fluctuations, lack of financial incentives, data privacy, and mobile phone turnover.
Background: The last decade has witnessed unprecedented growth in the number of mobile phones in the developing world, thus linking millions of previously unconnected people. The ubiquity of mobile phones, which allow for short message service (SMS), provides new and innovative opportunities for disease prevention efforts.
Introduction
The last decade has seen an unprecedented growth of the development of information and communication technologies (ICT) infrastructure worldwide [ ]. The trend exhibits a clear shift from landline toward mobile phones, whose subscription rates are three times greater than for landlines. The expansion has been most significant in the developing regions, where diffusion reached more than 40% of the population in 2007, thus connecting millions of previously unconnected people. Developing countries not only have the majority of world mobile phone subscribers, but will also account for 80% of the new ones [ ].
Mobile telephones offer short message service (SMS), also known as text messaging. SMS is a communication protocol standardized in the Global System for Mobile communications allowing messages of 160 characters maximum to be interchanged from a mobile phone or a computer to one or many mobile phones simultaneously [ ]. SMS can send information in near-real time to thousands of people as recipients of standardized, bulk messages or even personalized or tailored messages. SMS is available on all cellular phones, including cheap low-end handsets, through the Global System for Mobile communications network.
Recent research has focused largely on the use of SMS for health purposes in developed countries, while compelling studies seem to remain anecdotal in the developing world [ - ]. But text messages could have considerable implications for disease prevention efforts in developing countries where their potential is recognized not only in their communication attributes, such as voice call and text messages, but also in their data transfer capabilities. In addition, the robustness, ease of maintenance, and relative affordability of handsets, compared with computers, make the mobile phone and SMS very attractive in resource-poor areas with little electricity and slow Internet connections. As such, an increasing number of mobile health initiatives are being implemented and tested in the developing world [ ].
Primary and secondary prevention encompass all actions that help in “averting the occurrence of disease” and “halting the progression of a disease from its early unrecognized stage to a more severe one,” respectively [ ]. As declared in the Ottawa Charter, health promotion is “the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. It supports personal and social development through providing information, education for health, and enhancing life skills” [ ]. Today, the World Health Organization recognizes that “advanced information and telecommunication technologies should be employed to their fullest extent wherever possible, in order to create effective and transparent communication channels that will allow interactive sharing and learning among various groups of stakeholders in the society” [ ].
With the rapid expansion of mobile health applications, combined with current and predicted economic and public health challenges, reviews of existing applications and evidence of SMS-supported interventions in developing countries are needed. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine SMS-supported interventions for prevention of communicable and noncommunicable diseases in developing countries. We began with a review of peer-reviewed and gray literature on existing SMS-based interventions. Gray literature is “that which is produced on all levels of government, academics, business, and industry in print and electronic formats but which is not controlled by commercial publishers.” In other words, “grey literature includes documents that have not been formally published in a peer-reviewed format” [ ]. Then, we assessed the effectiveness of SMS-based interventions and identified drivers and inhibitors to adoption. Finally, we present recommendations for future research and practice.
Methods
The data used in this study are part of a larger review aiming to examine SMS-supported interventions for prevention, surveillance, management, and treatment compliance of communicable and noncommunicable diseases in developing countries. We used a subject-based approach to systematically search both peer-reviewed and gray literature published in English, French, and German up to May 2011. The decision to include gray literature was motivated by the fact that public health professionals often use gray literature to inform decision making at the practice, program, and policy levels [ ], and that both gray and scholarly evidence should be included in reviews of new and innovative topics in order to reduce bias and provide good estimates of the effects of interventions [ ].
Data Sources and Search Strategy
Bibliographic database and search engines were PubMed (incorporating Medline), EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, EBSCOhost, ABI/INFORM, Google Scholar, and Google. Synthesis-producing organizations comprised the Cochrane Collaboration, the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, and the Campbell Collaboration.
The search terms were health promotion, public health, preventive health services, disease prevention, population surveillance, patient compliance, patient care management, disease management, self care, HIV, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, tuberculosis, communicable diseases, communicable disease control, chronic disease, noncommunicable disease, cellular phone, mobile phone, cell phone, SMS, MMS, text messag*, picture messag*, developing countries, developing world, Asia, Africa, South America, Latin America, and Europe, Eastern. We used the medical subject headings in Medline and Emtree tools in EMBASE. When necessary, these words were translated into French and German to minimize language bias.
The gray literature search strategy was inspired by a guideline for finding gray literature in public health [ ]. Requests for cases and papers were posted on email lists, through personal connections, and directly to health organizations and SMS providers. Key gray literature sources were the Digital Repository Infrastructure Vision for European Research, the Electronic Theses Online System, the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations, the Directory of Open Access Repositories, DissOnline.de, SUDOC Catalogue, Social Science Research Network, Scirus, and Catholic Media Council Library. Other sources of gray literature comprised proceedings from related conferences, funding and not-for-profit organizations, listservs, blogs, SMS, and mobile phone providers. For identified projects, we contacted the corresponding agency to request documents and white papers that described the application and evaluation results. References of included documents and citation tracking of articles were also searched.
Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria
Following a detailed protocol, an initial reviewer identified and retrieved all eligible documents. The titles and abstracts were first examined to remove obviously irrelevant reports. A second reviewer confirmed eligibility and relevance. The full text of the potentially relevant ones was reviewed to finally select eligible papers.
English-, French-, and German-language documents were included when they were related to interventions using SMS in developing countries for disease prevention. For the purpose of this review, SMS referred to all applications that used SMS or texting for disease prevention purposes. These included applications that automatically shifted between SMS and general packet radio service channels, had live-person components, and connected to the Internet. Developing countries were defined as developing and emerging economies, a World Economic Outlook classification system based on (1) per capita income level, (2) export diversification, and (3) degree of integration into the global financial system [ ]. For this study, we considered countries classified as developing and emerging economies in the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook report in 2008 to be developing countries (eg, Algeria, Brazil, Cambodia, India, Mexico, Poland, and Zambia) [ ].
Documents were excluded if the applications did not use SMS, if they were not used in developing countries, or when they did not focus on the prevention of communicable and noncommunicable diseases. Documents published in languages other than English, French, or German were also excluded.
Data Collection and Management
Eligible articles were reviewed and data extraction was inspired by a template provided in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions [ ]. Applications were given a unique identification number. Disease focus, country or countries of implementation, project objectives, target audience, status (planned, ongoing, or completed), funding source, and contact details were recorded. When an evaluation was reported, the methods used and outcomes measured (health outcome, process of care, relevance, acceptability, and cost effectiveness) were recorded. Each personal communication attempt was documented along with contact information and the outcome of the effort. Finally, SMS-based interventions used for health promotion and disease prevention were extracted from the larger dataset and used for this review.
Results
The first screening identified 4008 citations. We retrieved 38 additional papers by personal communications (n = 21) and by hand searching the reference lists of eligible articles (n = 17). After an initial screening of abstracts and titles, we excluded most because they were related to developed countries or examined harmful effects of mobile phone use. A second selection was done to exclude applications that did not focus on disease prevention (eg, applications for surveillance, disease management, or compliance with a treatment).
We identified 34 different SMS-based prevention applications according to the eligibility criteria ( [ - ]), among which 5 included details about an evaluation ( [,,, -, ]). Most were from gray literature sources. The interventions addressed a variety of topics, with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) being the most common (n = 18), followed by sexual and reproductive health (SRH) (5). Some applications addressed multiple diseases ( ). Although projects extended across regions, SMS initiatives were concentrated in South Africa, Kenya, and India ( ).
Intervention (reference) Country Disease Description Comments It begins with you [ ] 30 African countries HIV/AIDSa SMS voting system on what happened on the show, asked viewers to share what they have done to advance an HIV-free generation, and encouraged all Africans to start by knowing their HIV status. Target: population; status: ended after 1 season Star Project [ ] 6 African countries HIV/AIDS Counterpart to India’s Freedom from HIV project. SMS used for downloading 2 mobile phone games (AIDS Fighter Pilot and AIDS Penalty Shoot Out) to raise HIV/AIDS awareness, deployed on low-end and sophisticated colored devices. Target: population; technology: ZMQ; specificity: developed English and 2 local languages (Kiswahili and Shen) Talk Back [ ] Botswana HIV/AIDS Weekly television program for HIV prevention, broadcasted live, to stimulate interactivity with teachers and viewers through phone lines, SMS, emails, and letters. Target: teachers and students UNICEFb [ ] Central African Republic Measles, malaria, diarrhea Multimedia campaign used SMS to encourage vaccination, use of long-lasting insecticidal nets, and hand-washing. Target: parents of young children Text Me! Flash Me! [, ] Ghana HIV/AIDS Health education and promotion messages sent to mobile phone numbers collected by peer educators and social networks. Clients who text in “HELP” were referred to live helpline counselors, who called back within 24 hours. Target group: most-at-risk populations: men who have sex with men and female sex workers eQuest [ ] Kenya HIV/AIDS Contest engaged youth in discussions about HIV/AIDS. Youth sent SMS answers to questions about HIV/AIDS received on their mobile phone, after checking information in a special eQuest column printed in the newspaper. Target: youth; incentives: airtime, T-shirts, mobile phone, computers, DVD players, and a home theatre system Makutano Junction [, ] Kenya HIV/AIDS Soap opera based in a fictitious Kenyan village supported by SMS. Viewers were invited to text in if they needed more information on a given topic. Target: population Mobile4Good [ ] Kenya HIV/AIDS “My question” allowed customers to anonymously ask HIV/AIDS and breast cancer-related questions and receive answers via SMS. “Health Tips” provided subscribers with useful tips on various pertinent health issues via SMS. Target: population Afriafya [ ] Kenya HIV/AIDS Community resource centers worked with information and communication technology to access various information, including on health, via SMS request or other means of communication. Answer was sent back by email, booklet, or SMS. Target: rural population; technology: telecenter Pariah News [ ] Madagascar HIV/AIDS Citizen media-enabled project that broadcasted HIV/AIDS message via SMS, Internet radio, and blogs. Target: sex workers; technology: Ushahidi platform, open source Health On Line [ ] Mali HIV/AIDS, malaria Social marketing campaign that used bimonthly free SMS with health slogans and reference to an interactive sexual health website. Target: young, urban people (n = 350,000) Learning about Living [, ] Nigeria HIV/AIDS and SRHc Health promotion and prevention was based on HIV/AIDS, SRH, maternal morbidity, and gender violence with (1) MyQuestion: HIV/AIDS-related questions sent by public via SMS, Web, or hotline, answered by trained counselors, (2) MyAnswer: prizes won by texting correct answer to a quiz. Target: young people; incentive: airtime; scaleup: in existing and new states RapidSMS [ ] Nigeria Malaria SMS helped deploy bed nets by (1) tracking commodities from state stores to distribution points by monitoring coupon distribution, (2) sending SMS reminders about distribution times and location for beneficiaries. Target: population; technology: RapidSMS (UNICEF innovation); license: open source Beat It [, ] South Africa HIV/AIDS Free SMS to enter the draw for prizes that motivated people to check results on Beat It television program. Designed to promote positive living, treatment access, and HIV infection prevention. Target: youth; technology: Cell-Life; incentives: mobile phone, airtime Cell-Life [, ] South Africa HIV/AIDS Mass messaging for prevention, linking clinic and patients to peer-to-peer support and counseling at no charge, through a computerized capture of mobile phone number and automatic SMS back with the information. Target: patient; technology: Cell-Life; license: open source; multicomponent project; status: ongoing Project Masiluleke [, ] South Africa HIV/AIDS Project provided several mobile phone-based applications for HIV/AIDS care: “Access Information” and “Get Tested”. Health promotion messages broadcasted in unused space of “Please Call Me,” a free form of SMS widely used in Africa. Target: population; technology: SocialTxt from Praekelt Foundation; license: open source; multicomponent project compliance South African Depression and Anxiety Group [ ] South Africa Mental health National toll-free suicide helpline and SMS for adolescents in crisis. Target: young people; status: ongoing Digital mosquito net vouchers [ ] Tanzania Malaria Implemented long-lasting insecticidal net distribution using SMS voucher system for controlling counterfeited voucher. Target: pregnant women Kimasomaso [, ] 6 African countries SRH Radio program transmitted voices of young people keeping audio diaries, associated with helpline. Also provided SMS to redirect callers and text senders to local support. Target: young people AppLab [ ] Uganda HIV/AIDS, SRH Leveraged existing Village Shared Phone Operators to deliver mobile information services in health and agriculture with (1) SMS-based health tips and searchable database, (2) “Clinic Finder”, to locate nearby health clinics and services. Target: population; technology: AppLab applications Text to Change [ - ] Uganda HIV/AIDS Interactive SMS quiz designed to help resolve key issues around HIV transmission and prevention, in the form of a multiple choice questionnaire that guaranteed free voluntary counseling and testing services to participants who answered correctly. Three quizzes offered weekly in English. Target: population (15,000); incentives: voluntary counseling and testing services, airtime and mobile phone; status: ongoing, plan for Uganda and other African countries UNICEF [ ] Zimbabwe Cholera Nationwide SMS information campaign during larger cholera campaign. Target population China Netcom [ ] China SRH SRH education and awareness campaign with SMS and hotline that gave access to medical experts. Target: population and teenagers SARSd education [, ] China SARS Mobile phone subscribers could call an SMS that alerted them if they were within 1 km of a SARS-infected building, where confirmed cases existed, and about news updates. Target: population; license: proprietary, mobile operator Indonesia: Community Based Avian Influenza Control Project [ ] Indonesia Avian influenza SMS-based contest to encourage travelers in buses to be careful and to test their knowledge on the diseases. Target: population; incentives: airtime Condom Condom Campaign [, ] India HIV/AIDS Condom use promotion and HIV/AIDS awareness campaign among young men with (1) SMS opinion to vote on HIV/AIDS issues, (2) condom-themed mobile phone ringtone using SMS to get a push in reply, from where the user could download the ringtone. Target: men; incentives: mobile phone and free talk time Freedom HIV/AIDS [ ] India HIV/AIDS SMS used for (1) downloading mobile phone games to raise HIV/AIDS awareness, deployed on low-end and sophisticated colored devices, (2) announcement of radio shows on HIV/AIDS, (3) information on the nearest HIV testing center. Target: population; technology: ZMQ; specificity: developed in local languages Heroes Project [, ] India HIV/AIDS Multiple media channels including SMS to get key messages on HIV/AIDS out to the general public. Target: population Indian tuberculosis campaign [ ] India Tuberculosis Public awareness campaigns used SMS for tuberculosis information. Target: population Breast |
and below.
What Reagan achieved in the 1980s was the illusion that by letting the floor fall, the middle could be protected. Unfortunately, too many white workers still have a view of the economy fed by the Reagan framework of government’s role. The unabated concentration of income will make after-tax methods of redistribution more vital so that Americans can have access to housing, education, and health. The Affordable Care Act, a market-based approach to health access, is one example where the fix is inadequate to rising income inequality, and made worse because it naïvely assumed that states would expand public access to address the gap in affordability.
UNDER TRUMP, RACE WILL complicate the effort to devise palliatives to rising inequality until more effective remedies can take effect. His dismantling of anti--discrimination offices within the federal government will create new downward pressures on an already stressed black working class. And the decline in union membership is more dangerous to black workers, who have higher union density than white workers and who rely far more than whites on union bargaining power to get higher wages. Further, black union density is more heavily reliant on public-sector bargaining than is true for whites, and public-sector unions are a target of Trump, who will abet the attack on public-sector unions taking place at the state level.
Under Trump, the gap between the experience of black and white workers will grow. Trump has already changed the political discourse. He has revived a strain of Southern populism that allows for asserting white privilege.
Michael Vadon/Creative Commons Progressive forces in the Democratic Party have been too uncritical of Bernie Sanders’s inability to lay the proper foundation with the party’s African American base ahead of the primary season. Here, Sanders addresses a campaign rally in Conway, New Hampshire.
For Democrats, the problem with language that emphasizes the white working class as a separate problem from rising inequality of income and wealth is that it will racialize the debate rather than emphasizing the common assault on all who are not rich. It evokes the negative part of Bill Clinton’s presidency. Hillary Clinton had a hard time convincing young black workers that welfare reform and mass incarceration weren’t key to the Clinton legacy. The lack of black enthusiasm for Clinton is as much a part of the story of 2016 as the enthusiasm of white voters for Trump.
Further, progressive forces in the Democratic Party have been too uncritical of Bernie Sanders’s inability to lay the proper foundation with the party’s African American base ahead of the primary season. It was curious during the 2016 primary season to see Republicans all hopped up about the “SEC primary” (so-called because the Southern states involved have flagship universities in the Southeastern Conference), but no mention among the Democrats of the SWAC primary (the Southwestern Athletic Conference, a complementary athletic conference of public historically black universities).
So, while in the fall of 2015 Republicans fawned over attending games between the University of Alabama and Auburn, not a peep was heard on the need for Democrats to be at a game between Alabama State and Alabama A&M. Black voters often determine the victor in the Southern Democratic primaries, but spending time in Iowa and New Hampshire would be a likely outcome of a party worried about white working voters.
Democrats need to spend more time developing a frame to combat inequality. They need to do a better job of explaining that income inequality is a threat to economic growth. They need to be spending time helping Americans take the blinders off and see that workers, of all races, are being given the shaft by a system where corporate greed has become an elite “entitlement.” They need to pull the Band-Aid off a false sense there is some white privilege that can spare some workers the wrath of America’s war on working people. They must fess up to their quiet, and sometimes vocal, support of an agenda that attacked America’s workers. They need to stop believing the problem confronting American workers is that they are uneducated or unskilled. They need to stop defining the white working class as the less-educated. Those are the perennial excuses meted out to black workers. Young black workers reacted angrily in 2016 to a perception that their pain was being ignored. They didn’t vote for Trump, but Clinton lost as much because they didn’t vote for her either as Trump won because white voters voted for him.
The Democrats won’t solve their electability issues repeating the debate about white voters that they had in the late 1980s. They need to focus on the urgency of the effect of income inequality on American democracy. They need to sound the alarm. And they need to wake up and see who they are in bed with. The power elite of the party think they have freed themselves of a dependency on union support. But the Wall Street vision of the economy is poison for workers of all races and for Democrats.
When the Republican Party of the 19th century cut its deal to end Reconstruction and concentrate on winning the white vote, it launched the Gilded Age and the unremittent growth of inequality that collapsed in the Great Depression. It was accompanied by a Southern populism that entrenched a harsh racial code. Trump’s victory puts us within reach of repeating that mistake in history. Democrats need to be wary, and shrewd. How they handle this could entrench the dystopia of more Trumps—or create a new multiracial coalition of class uplift.SAN YSIDRO, CA - FEBRUARY 1: Hector Gomez (R) and a brother shake hands using their fingers through a U.S./Mexico border fence at Border State Park February 1, 2003 west of San Ysidro, California. It is the only physical contact the men have had for sixteen years.
Friendship Park at the U.S.-Mexico border will be closing in two weeks because of sequester cuts.
The Border Patrol says they have been forced to downsize their budget, which means they will need to close the park.
The park draws big crowds from the U.S. and Mexico, where people chat through a chain-link fence separating Imperial Beach and Tijuana.
Opponents to the closure say the park is a necessary part of the relationship between the Mexican and American border.
Friendship Park to Close
A meaningful places for families of both sides of the border will close next month. Elena Gomez reports. (Published Friday, March 22, 2013)
“You see families really typical at Friendship Park,” said James Brown with Friendship Park Coalition. “They have families come from many days bus ride in Mexico and even Central America, to visit relatives in the U.S. and the meeting place is Friendship Park.”
Brown said they have worked with the Border Patrol to keep budget low, only opening park on the weekend for a couple hours a day which only requires one border agent.
Customs and Border Patrol issued the following statement to NBC 7 San Diego:
"The automatic budget reductions must be applied to virtually every program, project, and activity that DHS has and will negatively affect the mission readiness and capabilities of the men and women on our front lines.”
Friendship Park Reopens
Friendship Park at the border reopened this weekend after more than three years of restricted access. NBC 7 s Danya Bacchus reports. (Published Monday, Oct. 8, 2012)
The Friendship Park Coalition plans to meet with Border Patrol in the coming weeks to negotiate keeping the park open and supporters said they have hope their park will stay.
It is expected to officially close on April 6.Need further proof that the controversy surrounding Park51 is nothing more than this campaign cycle’s wedge issue, whipped up by the right to distract from a lack of agenda or leadership? Just follow the dollars.
So far backers of the project have raised less than $9000. Park51 lacks an organizational structure and a coherent PR strategy. It’s an idea, a hopeful idea, that has become the center of controversy as Republicans scramble to score cheap political points and hopefully drum up a few votes in the process.
As Asra Q. Nomani reports in The Daily Beast, these initial fundraising challenges are to be expected in any fledgling operation, let alone a project besieged by artificial outrage. But rather than responding to those on the right who are challenging the center’s very right to exist, the group, the developer of the property, Sharif El-Gamal has hired a top New York publicist as part of the group’s efforts to improve its image over fears that these initial stumbles, alongside the heightened media scrutiny, has made the Islamic center effort look “juvenile and amateur”. Of course, in many ways the efforts are juvenile because they are in their initial stages. And there’s no shame in acknowledging that.
The initial money raised has been done so largely through a nonprofit organization called Muslims for Peace, a group started in 2006 by four Muslim moms. The group has since halted its fundraising efforts as it regroups and refocuses its efforts. As Nomani points out in her article, since actual fundraising details have been scarce rumors that the center is a well-funded operation full of cash from Saudi clerics and Iranian Holocaust deniers have become the norm, despite any lack of evidence to support these rumors.
Until cooler heads are able to prevail future fundraising efforts remain in doubt. And that’s a shame because Park51 is imagined as part of a larger multi-cultural initiative and gathering place. A spot where meetings between Muslims and Americans could occur that would be focused on promoting intercultural communication, trust and tolerance. Some of the larger efforts by the parent organization also include plans for a “Cordoba Bread Feast” which would gather Christians, Jews and Muslims together to “break bread and celebrate the sacred significance of the role bread has played in the three Abrahamic cultures.” Another effort includes the “Sharia Project”, a research-backed initiative aimed at demonstrating that “Islamic holy law is compatible with a pluralistic and free democratic society and that peace and tolerance are authentic expressions of Islamic principles”.
As is typical with manufactured outrage campaigns by the right a closer look reveals these efforts as little more than cynical and sad reflections of their own provincialism and intolerance. What is even more outrageous about the Park51 controversy is the continued insistence by its opposition to campaign on the tragic losses of 9/11–a day in this country’s history where, for a brief moment, differences were put aside as we strived for common ground and understanding irrespective of belief or non-belief. Unfortunately as this story unfolds what we are seeing is the common ground of intolerance and hatred shared between religious fundamentalists of both faiths–between those who perpetrated the gruesome attacks on that day and those that now oppose a space of unity–all in the name of religious fidelity.
photo courtesy of David Shankbone via FlickrCopyright by KOIN - All rights reserved Opening statements in the trial of 7 defendants in the Malheur Refuge occupation began September 13, 2016 (For KOIN: Sketch Artist Deborah Marble)
Copyright by KOIN - All rights reserved Opening statements in the trial of 7 defendants in the Malheur Refuge occupation began September 13, 2016 (For KOIN: Sketch Artist Deborah Marble)
KOIN 6 News Staff - PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- The third day of testimony is complete in the trial for the Malheur Wildlife Refuge occupiers.
Four FBI agents took the stand Friday to testify about searching Facebook accounts of the occupiers. Bureau of Land Management officer Jason Curry and the Burns BLM assistant district manager, Jeffrey Rose, also testified.
Rose said he made the call to close his office back in January because his staff got threatening emails in fall 2015. Rose said the militia called for others to come join their protest in Burns and threatened to remove federal agencies by force.
The FBI were called to the stand after digging into the occupiers Facebook accounts. Agents amassed hundreds of thousands of Facebook posts and private messages from the occupiers and presented their findings to the jury.
The FBI's key finding was Ammon Bundy's follow up to one of the messages sent to him by a follower. During the planning stages of the occupation, a supporter was asked Bundy about a call to action, he wrote back "I would never show up to a rally without my arms."
There was also a photo, or meme, which Bundy shared on Facebook and his attorney asked Judge Anna Brown that prosecutors not show it to the jury. Brown declined, saying the photo gave the jury insight into Bundy's mindset leading up to the occupation.
The photo was of a man in combat gear with his face completely masked, kneeling and holding a military assault rifle. The caption read "But they drew first blood. Forgive me Father, for I will sin."
The defense also used Facebook to show that other occupiers had little to no contact with the Bundys prior to the occupation. This was an attempt to show that they did not conspire to impede federal officers.
Also on Friday, Brown denied Ammon Bundy's motion for a mistrial.
Defendants Ryan Bundy, Ammon Bundy, Jeff Banta, Neil Wampler, Kenneth Medenbach, David Fry and Shawna Cox all plead not guilty to charges of impeding federal employees from carrying out their work at the refuge through intimidation, threats or force.
Malheur Wildlife Refuge employees are expected to take the stand when the trial reconvenes on Monday, September 26.iOS 11 introduced ARKit, a new framework for developers designed to shorten development times in terms of building augmented reality experiences for iPhone and iPad.
Because ARKit does most of the heavy lifting in terms of plane detection, super accurate tracking, lighting estimation and more, apps powered by it are unsupported on older devices.
Will your iPhone or iPad support ARKit-driven augmented reality experiences?
According to Apple’s official ARKit resources for developers, ARKit requires high-performance hardware—apps built on it run on the Apple A9 and A10 processors.
The following devices use these processors:
iPhone SE
iPhone 6s
iPhone 6s Plus
iPhone 7
iPhone 7 Plus
9.7-inch iPad (2017 model)
10.5-inch iPad Pro
12.9-inch iPad Pro (2017 model)
9.7-inch iPad Pro (2016 model)
12.9-inch iPad Pro (2016 model)
“These processors deliver breakthrough performance that enables fast scene understanding and lets you build detailed and compelling virtual content on top of real-world scenes,” notes the company.
If you own one of the aforementioned supported devices, you can run ARKit-powered apps on your iPhone and iPad. If not, you’re out of luck unless you buy a supported iOS device.
ARKit does its magic by analyzing the scene presented by the camera view.
It also uses data from onboard sensors. Fusing live camera sensor data with CoreMotion data allows sophisticated algorithms to detect horizontal planes in a room like tables and floors.
ARKit can also track and place objects on smaller feature points and estimate the total amount of light available in a scene to apply the correct amount of lighting to virtual objects.My name is Vince and I need your help.This is the story ofVapoursA few years ago I started a company that sold electronic cigarettes. My goal was to start a small business and focus on high quality control, so vapers didn't have to take risks when buying their e-cigarettes / Personal Vapourisers (PV) as to whether they would work, smell funny, leak etc.The business had been running for almost a year and was doing very well. Warranty rates were declining; we even found a manufacturer in Australia that could make the flavourings that users put in the juice at a very high quality, with a known list of ingredients and persistent quality. We were certainly heading in the right direction, bringing Australian quality control to what is ultimately a product predominately cheaply made (and without oversight) in China.However, the powers that be did not approve. The "Health" Department and Cancer Council would rather see electronic cigarettes banned outright than have traditional cigarette smokers be free to choose.No formal letter, no other contact. A discrete court order for search and seizure was obtained and they arrived at my house in 3 black SUV's. They searched through my house and proceeded to load all of the hardware I had into several black garbage bags.The search and seizure went on for about an hour and half before they decided they had found and taken enough.The whole process was pretty invasive and surreal.They were confusing my humble business with some sort of Columbian drug cartel. The business ran openly, with the website listed on Google's front page, with clear packaging and marketing.What law was I breaking? It must have been serious enough to warrant a surprise search and seizure by force.They alleged at the time that I and my small business had breached section 106a of the Tobacco Products Control Act 2006.See link below for description of 106aApplicable penalty description belowWait, what come again? The law passed to stop milk bars from selling FADS Fun Sticks, once known as FAGS and FADS, which were a brand of candy cigarette to be sold to children. Electronic cigarettes are for adults who want to consume nicotine responsibly without physically burning a roll of tobacco. This is an alternative to smoking for adults, not some toy to get new people addicted to traditional cigarettes.How could I be breaching this law anyway?"TOBACCO PRODUCTS CONTROL ACT 2006 - SECT 106106. Products resembling tobacco products etc. not to be soldA person must not sell any food, toythat is not a tobacco product but is "”(a) designed to resemble a tobacco product or a package; or(b) in packaging that is designed to resemble a tobacco product or a package.Penalty: see section 115.""Or other product". Oh, it's one of those "˜catch-all' pieces of legislation. Surely this discussion should have happened on a legislative level, instead of picking out one small business to take to court to settle this in common law?Well it's off to court we go I guess.The saga had been going on for two years before actually going to court. During this time there was incredible uncertainty regarding whether we could continue to trade. In the event it was found we had indeed breached section 106a then continuing to trade could compound the penalty we would face (first offense $10,000 subsequent offences $20,000).During this time an array of competing companies sprung up selling the exact same products and a range of others through various mediums - websites, retail stalls at markets, shopping centres etc and none of these companies to my knowledge were ever raided or had their products seized. It was hard to understand, here we were a small business trying to do something good for the community. Trying to help people move away from an expensive health destroying habit and the "Health" Department decides to single us out. We had poured all of our savings into the business. At the time of the raid we had just purchased around $5000 of stock paid for - not with profits but our own money. All of this was lost. In the ensuing period of time we had to find another $11,000 to pay for lawyers to represent us and form a defence.On September 11 2013 almost 2 years later we finally had our day in court. The Learned Magistrate J Hawkins reserved her decision to review and weigh the merits of the presented arguments for the defence and prosecution.On the 22 October 2013 the written verdict was presented. The summary of which was that HeavenlyVapours was acquitted of the charges.At this point we breathed a sigh of relief and re-created our website and began to operate again believing the matter to be at a close.How wrong we were.The "Health" Department a few weeks later lodged an appeal to the Supreme Court. We again got in touch with our current lawyer and asked that he represent us in the court of appeals. We now had to pay another $9,000 in legal costs for this representation (legal costs around $20,000 at this point).We appeared in the Supreme Court and we and the prosecution made our various arguments. The Judge J Pritchard adjourned the matter for deliberation.On the 10 of April 2014 we were summoned to receive the judgement.Judge Prichard found in favour of the "Health" Department and in her decision expanded her conclusion to determine that in effect any product E-Cig or otherwise that involves a hand to mouth action and results in the expulsion of vapour does in fact resemble a tobacco product and there for falls under section 106a of the Tobacco Products Control Act of 2006.The prosecution at this time sought that I pay their legal costs, a little over $13,000.Total legal costs now around $33,000. That figure does not include the penalty amount that has yet to be determined but will likely be another $10,000 based on the Acts prescribed penalty for a first offense.Even the Learned Magistrate J Hawkins did not interpret my business as having breached the Act.Supreme Court Verdict found here: Verdict What does this mean?Well in short it means any model of E-Cig irrespective of its design is now illegal by case law precedent to be sold from within WA.If this goes uncontested fewer people will be exposed E-cigs/PVs. This lack of awareness means more people are going to be trapped consuming traditional cigarettes that are known to be deadly and impose a cost on all those around them as they either never get the opportunity to hear about E-cigs/PV's or the obstacle to getting them results in the same outcome - that they remain tobacco users.I feel I have a moral obligation to fight, it's why I have come this far. When all this started my friends and family all said I couldn't afford to fight this and to just give up. I can't do that, it's not me. If I had given up it would have been the first nail in the industry's coffin. I felt based on all of my customer's feedback that I was doing a good thing, that I was changing lives and making a genuine positive difference to so many people. How could I not fight when I didn't believe I had done anything wrong? When giving up would be letting so many others down.I didn't give up, I borrowed money and buried myself in debt believing naively that surely common sense and general good will would prevail. I was initially rewarded for my resolve and was acquitted in the Joondalup Magistrates Court. I believed I had done what needed to be done and we could all move on.Unfortunately I lost on appeal and while my will and conviction to fight on is as strong as ever I simply can't do it alone. This process has financially destroyed me but if we can band together now we can still win this thing.Maybe I'm crazy to think this can work but honestly it's soul destroying to not even try.Common sense and dozens of studies demonstrate that Ejuice consumed through E-Cigs/PV's do not contain the many thousands of deadly chemicals traditional tobacco cigarettes do. We deserve the right to choose an alternative.We need help1. We need funds to cover our existing and future legal costs. We need to form a formidable defence team to appeal this in a higher court, where a more philosophical argument can be made.2. We need media exposure3. We need to promote discussion in the public discourse4. We must pressure our elected officials to enact legislation to specifically address and allow this new technologyPlease everyone join me to help end this madness!Kind regards,Vincent van HeerdenFor Further Information See the W.A. Appeal Section ofIn the present investigation, we report data gathered from a randomized trial testing the hypothesis that memantine would have greater effect than placebo in diminishing symptoms of MDD when used to augment antidepressant treatment.
Animal findings suggest that memantine works synergistically with antidepressant drugs, providing a rationale for appraisal of memantine specifically as an adjunctive therapy. 34 Memantine has fewer side effects than previously investigated NMDA antagonists and is administered orally. 35 Constipation, dizziness, headache and confusion were the most common side effects of memantine that were usually mild and transient and did not result in remarkable dropout rates during clinical trials. 30 Therefore, memantine appears to be a promising candidate to test the hypothesis that glutamatergic tone reduction may have a role in the treatment of depression.
Memantine (1‐amino‐3,5‐dimethyladamantane), a dimethyl derivative of amantadine, a non‐competitive antagonist of the NMDA receptor with low‐affinity and fast dissociating properties, enters the receptor channel preferentially when it is open excessively. 19 It easily crosses the blood–brain barrier. 26 - 29 Memantine has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of moderate‐to‐severe Alzheimer's disease as it enhances cognition and minimizes clinical deterioration. In adults, its effects reach steady state in about 21 days, and memantine may be effective in the treatment of other conditions associated with glutamatergic dysfunction. 28, 30 - 33
Considerable evidence has shown that the glutamatergic system plays an important role in the pathology and treatment of depression via a number of different post‐synaptic ionotropic receptors including the NMDA receptor (NMDAR). 5, 15 - 23 NMDA antagonists were shown to have antidepressant effects in animal models nearly two decades ago. However, significant side effects of most NMDA receptor antagonists such as ketamine have limited their clinical usefulness. 24 A search for glutamatergic agents with better safety profiles seems worthwhile. 25
Patients who do not respond to their first‐line medication are generally treated by either switching to another treatment or with augmentation therapy to achieve favourable response. 10 Combination therapy from start of treatment has been reported to produce quicker and better response and remission rates. However, not all studies have provided supporting evidence. 5, 11 - 14
Treatment of MDD is still far from optimal and drug resistance in MDD is still a serious clinical challenge. 5 - 7 Only about one‐third of patients respond fully to their first antidepressant medication, usually with an approximate lag time of 2 months. This notable lag time for onset of therapeutic efficacy is associated with significant morbidity and suicidal risk. 5, 8 As a result, there is a widely accepted need for faster‐acting antidepressants. 9 Another downside of the currently available treatments is their side effects which are documented in large proportion of patients. 4
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the prominent causes of disability in the world, affecting 15%–20% of people during their lifetime. 1 - 3 Patients commonly experience continuous residual symptoms, functional impairment and diminished health. 4
To compare categorical variables between the two groups, chi‐square test and Fisher's exact test were used. To compare the time needed to respond to treatment between the treatment groups, the Kaplan–Meier estimation with log‐rank test was used. A P ‐value of 0·05 was considered statistically significant.
We used the independent samples t ‐test to compare the reduction in HDRS scores from baseline to each study point between the treatment groups and also we calculated Cohen's d effect sizes by dividing the mean difference of score change in the two groups by their pooled SD at each time point.
To compare HDRS scores between the two groups during the course of the trial, general linear model repeated measure was used. In repeated‐measures testing, whenever Mauchly's test of sphericity was significant, we used Greenhouse–Geisser correction for degrees of freedom.
The patients and the physician who referred the patient, the raters and the statistician were all blinded to treatment allocation.
Allocation concealment was done using sequentially numbered, sealed, opaque and stapled envelopes. An aluminium foil was put inside envelopes to make the content of the envelopes impermeable to intense light. Distinct persons were responsible for randomization and allocation, as well as interviewing. Memantine and placebo capsule were same in their size, shape, colour, texture and odour.
Considering a standard deviation of 3 (based on our pilot study), the assumption of a clinically important mean difference of 3 on the HDRS score between the memantine and the placebo groups, a power of 95% and a two‐tailed significance level of 0·05, 27 patients were required in each group. Assuming a 20% attrition rate, 33 patients were needed in each arm.
All patients underwent a complete physical examination at the beginning of the trial and each subsequent visit. Through open‐ended questioning as well as a complete side effects checklist (a 25‐item checklist), adverse effects were recorded at each session. We requested the patients to immediately inform us about any unexpected unfavourable symptom during the period of the trial.
All patients were evaluated by an academic psychiatrist with previous experience in this field. Participants were evaluated at baseline and weeks 2, 4, 6 after treatment commencement by using HDRS which is a validated 17‐item rating measure (on a three‐point or five‐point scale) that is used to evaluate the intensity of depression‐related symptoms. HDRS has been used to evaluate treatment efficacy and severity of depressive symptoms in a number of trials in Iran. 38 - 41 The primary outcome measure was comparison of efficacy in improvement of depressive symptoms between the two groups using the general linear model repeated measures. Additionally, two groups were compared with respect to their decline in HDRS scores from baseline at each time point, early improvement (≥20% reduction in HDRS score within the first 2 weeks), response to treatment (≥50% reduction in the HDRS score), remission rate (HDRS score ≤7) and the time needed to respond to treatment. 42, 43
All patients, regardless of their assigned group, received 100 mg/day sertraline for the first week and 200 mg/day for the subsequent 5 weeks. The patients randomly received either memantine 20 mg/day (Ebixa, Lundbeck, Valby, Denmark) or placebo (with the same appearance and taste as memantine) for 6 weeks. Memantine was administered half‐dose (10 mg/day) for the first week of the trial. Measurement of adherence to medications was done by comparison of weekly tablet counts with participant reports of medication intake in order to estimate the proportion of dispensed medication that was actually ingested. Participants were not allowed to undergo any behavioural intervention therapy or use any psychotropic drugs or undergo ECT during the course of the trial.
Exclusion criteria included the presence of psychosis, any other mental disorder on the DSM‐V Axis I, use of any psychotropic medication during the last 3 months, any antidepressant use during the last 1 month, a history of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) within 2 months prior to study enrolment, a history of alcohol or drug abuse or dependence within 6 months prior to study enrolment (with the exception of nicotine), suicidal ideation (score >2 on the suicide item of the HDRS, or those who were judged to have active suicidal ideation by the physician), mental retardation (intelligence quotient < 70), existence of serious or life‐threatening medical conditions, the presence of hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, cardiovascular problems, pregnancy and breast feeding, and contraindicated medications which have possible adverse drug interactions with memantine. Sertraline was diagnosed as the drug of choice for the recruited patients regardless of other eligibility criteria.
Adults aged between 18 and 50 years with current diagnosis of major depressive disorder based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM‐V) criteria, a baseline Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score (17‐item) (HDRS) of >21 and a score of 2 or more on item 1 of HDRS were included. 36, 37 Sertraline was the drug of choice for patients regardless of other eligibility criteria
The study design was approved by the TUMS Institutional Review Board and was performed in concordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and its subsequent modifications. Written informed consent was obtained from all qualified participants and/or their legal representatives following complete explanation of study details. Participants were informed that they were free to withdraw from the trial without any negative effect on their therapy. The trial was registered at the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials ( www.irct.ir ; registration number: IRCT201502161556N72).
No serious adverse event and no death occurred. There was no significant difference between the memantine and the placebo group in regard to frequency of adverse events (Table 4 ).
The rate of early improvement was significantly higher in the memantine group than in the placebo group (87·09% vs. 48·38%, P = 0·001), Table 3. The difference in remission rate between the memantine group and the placebo group (19·35% vs. 9·67%) was not statistically significant (Table 3 ). A significantly higher response rate was observed in the memantine group compared to the placebo group at weeks 4 and 6 (Table 3 ). Memantine therapy produced a shorter time to response than the placebo using the Kaplan–Meier estimation ( P < 0·001).
Repeated measures for comparison of the effects of two treatments on Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS). Values represent mean ± standard deviation. P ‐values show the result of the independent t ‐test comparing HDRS scores between the two groups at each time point. NS indicates non‐significant; *, P < 0·05.
Baseline HDRS scores were not significantly different between the memantine and the placebo group (24·29 ± 1·79 vs. 23·93 ± 3·38, respectively [MD (95% CI) = 0·35 (−1·03 to 1·74), t (45·59) = 0·51, P = 0·609]). A significant reduction was observed in HDRS score from baseline to the study endpoint in both the memantine group ( P < 0·001, Cohen's d = 12·71) and the placebo group ( P < 0·001, Cohen's d = 5·13). General linear model repeated measures demonstrated significant effect for time × treatment interaction on the HDRS score between the two treatment groups [F (2·09, 125·67) = 5·09, P = 0·007] (Fig. 2 ). Significantly greater improvement was illustrated with the HDRS scores of the memantine group compared to the placebo group from baseline to weeks 2, 4 and 6 ( P = 0·002, P = 0·011, P = 0·017, respectively) (Table 2 ).
After screening 105 participants for the eligibility criteria, 66 eligible patients were included in the study and were assigned to either memantine plus sertraline ( n = 33) or placebo plus sertraline ( n = 33). Sixty‐two patients completed the study and participated in all follow‐up visits and their data were included in the analysis (Fig. 1 ). All patients entered analysis with their complete data. Baseline characteristics of the participants as well as their baseline HDRS scores showed no significant difference between the treatment groups (Table 1 ).
Discussion
Recent studies have shown that ketamine infusion produced rapid, huge and sustained improvement in depression symptoms. These results have led to increased interest in NMDA antagonists as novel therapy for depression.8, 44 Memantine, another NMDA antagonist with lower affinity than ketamine, has become an attractive candidate for investigation.34, 35, 45
We explored combination therapy of memantine with sertraline for improvement of depression symptoms in this randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled study. Our study showed that memantine is a safe and well‐tolerated adjunct to sertraline in patients with MDD. An interesting finding of our study was the significantly greater early improvement (87·09%) and shorter lag time to the clinical effect onset. It should be emphasized that these results were found with the administration of memantine at its highest approved dosage (20 mg/day).
Previously published studies on this topic have demonstrated controversial findings. In an open‐label, flexible‐dose study of eight patients, 12 weeks of memantine monotherapy showed early onset efficacy in all outcome measures within 1 week of treatment initiation. Dosage in patients was titrated for 4 weeks to 20 mg/day of memantine. Non‐responsive patient dosage was titrated to a higher dose of 30 mg/day at week 8 or 40 mg/day at week 10, provided that no dose limiting side effects were observed. The peak improvement was reached at week 8 and was maintained through all 12 weeks. All memantine doses were well tolerated.46
Contrary to our results, an 8‐week, randomized, placebo‐controlled, flexibly dosed trial showed no statistically significant difference in MADRS score change between two groups of 31 patients in whom memantine or placebo was added to their first antidepressant treatment (P = 0·74). These subjects were selected from patients who were unresponsive to their first medications. Memantine was added to their previous treatment starting from 5 mg/day dosing with all memantine group participants reaching the dose of 20 mg/day. They observed a minimal effect size at week 8 (Cohen's d = 0·19). Response and remission rates were also not significant.34
Zarate et al. reported results of a double‐blind, placebo‐controlled study of memantine on 32 patients with MDD. Subjects with MADRS score of at least 22 were randomly assigned to receive either memantine (5–20 mg/day) or placebo for 8 weeks. Memantine monotherapy showed no treatment effect using the linear mixed models for total MADRS scores (F = 0·01, d.f. = 1·31, P = 0·91).23
These controversial results can be explained by several reasons including lower dose of memantine administration in Zarate et al.'s double‐blind, monotherapy study as opposed to the first above‐mentioned open‐label, monotherapy trial or recruiting patients who were unresponsive to their first medication and continuation of that same drug with adjunctive memantine in Smith et al.'s study. Nevertheless, these are all hypothetical explanations and further evaluations are needed.23, 34, 46
All previously published animal studies have shown the efficacy of memantine in improving the animal model of depression. One experiment, which was aimed to evaluate behavioural and molecular effects of acute and chronic treatment with memantine, demonstrated a dose‐dependent therapeutic effect of the drug using forced swim and open‐field tests in rodents. This dose‐dependent therapeutic effect showed correlation with increased expression of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor which further supports the antidepressant‐like effects of memantine.31 Based on another observation, using chronic, unpredictable stress, one of the animal models of depression, memantine somewhat reduced the deficit of synaptic plasticity.16
Increasing evidence suggests that effective antidepressant treatment should improve plasticity as well as provide classical neurochemical assistance. Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain and is crucial for neuronal plasticity. Glutamate receptors are classified into three subtypes with NMDA as one subtype. NMDA receptor role has been implicated in a variety of neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases. Excessive glutamate and overstimulation of NMDA receptors disturb Ca2+ influx |
, it’s in Australia)!
The comments of Nigel Wood this week regarding England playing matches in North America were a timely reminder of an event that may be the most important in our sport’s history.
A World Cup in North America is to rugby league what the Mars Mission is to humanity. It’s not about our very survival just yet – but in the end it could be.
Yet it’s easy to get the impression that the fact we’re taking a World Cup to North America, to be played in sprawling stadia in famous cities in the world’s biggest media market, just hasn’t sunk in.
Yes, 2025 is a long way off – but not THAT far off. The 2008 World Cup in Oz doesn’t seem that long ago, does it? You remember the final, right? Just like yesterday.
One of the possible issues with having a private promoter, Australian Jason Moore, running the thing is that the various national governing bodies around the world will just leave things up to him. He’s doing taking the risk and handing over a cheque and rugby league is better at few things more than accepting a cheque.
I’m not sure if people realise what an opportunity the 2025 World Cup presents for rugby league.
Someone else is footing the bill for us to do something we’ve been trying to do since the 1950s – crack America. We should be bending over backwards to help him.
To their credit, the RFL identified the potential across the pond in admitting the Toronto Wolfpack, who I think most people would regard as a great success so far.
✨OFFICIAL ATTENDANCE✨
What a way to send off our boys!
A record breaking 7247 TWP fans were in attendance today!#GROWLEAGUE ✨🐺🏉🔥 pic.twitter.com/rsQEm3CBkC — Toronto Wolfpack (@TOwolfpack) July 15, 2017
Forget expansion for the altruistic reasons – spreading the game, broadening horizons, etc. Let’s look at the purely commercial.
In Australia, one of the major terrestrial TV networks is having financial difficulties. That means less competitive tension when the current rights deal is up and, potentially, not much of an increase on the current figure of $A2 billion.
In England, Sky is remodelling the way it sells subscriptions. People don’t want to buy a multi-channel service anymore, they just want to watch their shows at a time convenient to them.
All of this threatens rugby league’s number one source of income. Setting up teams in new markets, with separate media assets, is more important than ever. North America offers new fans, sponsors and broadcasters.
Saturday’s Sydney Daily Telegraph has a fully-sponsored Arsenal wrap-around cover with a transparent panel in the wake of a friendly against Sydney FC that drew a packed house. Premier League clubs have long known the value of spreading the reach of their brand.
Here we have someone else doing the heavy lifting for us and not one NRL or Super League club has made public any plans to play in the US or Canada in the foreseeable future.
Looking this particular gift horse in the mouth will not be judged favourably by those writing the game’s history for future generations.An unexpected rise in claims made by victims of uninsured drivers is being blamed for adding to already high car insurance costs.
Claims against uninsured drivers rose 10pc in the past 12 months, to around 11,000, according to new figures from the Motor Insurers' Bureau, the body responsible for compensating victims.
It is the first time there has been an increase in claims since 2004, when there were around 25,000 a year. The Bureau also pays out to victims of "hit and run" incidents but this is recorded in a separate figure.
Compensation is funded by an annual levy paid by insurance companies and is set each year depending on the level of claims. This year the levy will be £256m, up from £250m in 2016, while 2018's levy has not been set.
Insurers pass on the cost of this levy to their customers through higher annual car insurance premiums.
Ashton West, chief executive of the Motor Insurers' Bureau, said: "In the past year or so, for the first time in a decade or more, we are starting to see the trend of reduction actually change direction, and we have started to see it increase.
He added that further work would be done to work out why these claims are rising.Made for putting together huge spacecraft, NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building (or VAB) is one of the world’s largest buildings. At 525 feet, it’s way taller than the Statue of Liberty (a mere 305 feet), and in terms of volume, it’s equal to 3.75 Empire State Buildings.
Completed in 1966 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the VAB was originally called the Vertical Assembly Building, because its purpose was to allow the Apollo program’s Saturn V rockets to be “stacked,” or put together in an upright position. Those huge rockets needed a huge space: the VAB covers eight acres, or just under eight football fields!
The entrances to the building’s four construction bays are 456 feet high, making them the world’s largest doors. The VAB’s interior space is so massive that, on very humid days, NASA employees have seen rain clouds forming on the ceiling!
The VAB was renamed in the late 1970s, when the space shuttle program began. It was refitted and updated to be used for the construction and assembly of the shuttle orbiters, their fuel tanks, and their solid rocket boosters.
When the space shuttle program ended in 2011, the VAB was modified once more, this time so crews could work on multiple launch vehicles, including the new Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket and Orion spacecraft. They even work on commercial rockets there, because NASA partners with private companies on some projects.
Not surprisingly, this refurbishment was a massive undertaking: Work platforms the size of whole buildings had to be removed from the bays and demolished, and many updates were needed, including modernizing the fire-suppression equipment and other safety systems. To make room for state-of-the-art command and power systems, workers took out more than 150 miles of outdated cables!Escapee married former hospital worker, allegedly threatened to 'blow away the staff' Copyright by KHON - All rights reserved Video
Randall Saito married a woman who had worked at the Hawaii State Hospital in 1990.
That's one of the things we learned while digging through the KHON2 archives and court documents to learn more about Saito's past.
In July 1979, Sandra Yamashiro was found shot and stabbed to death in her parked car at Ala Moana Center.
Police believed she was chosen at random, and initially had no suspect. But four months later, Saito's ex-girlfriend turned him in.
Two years later, in 1981, Saito was acquitted of murder by reason of insanity. Doctors said he was a necrophiliac.
His own attorney said Saito needs to be confined to a psychiatric hospital.
"I think Randall Saito will be in the state mental hospital, or whatever facility, for a long, long time, and by long, long time I'm referring to long after my death," Saito's attorney, David Schutter, said in 1981.
But time passed, and in 1990, Saito got married on the grounds of the Hawaii State Hospital to a woman who had worked at there as a patient advocate.
According to court records, that marriage lasted 10 years.
In 1993, Saito appeared in court, asking a Circuit Court judge to rule that he was no longer mentally ill or dangerous.
"Based on my psychological evaluation of Mr. Saito that the report which I wrote was based on, it was not my opinion at the time that he represented an imminent danger to himself or others," defense psychologist Dr. Marvin Acklin said in 1993.
But other mental health experts testified otherwise.
An FBI criminal behavior expert said Saito was extremely dangerous, going as far as saying he was one of the most dangerous men they'd ever seen. It was in part based on Saito's violent threats.
"He was going to go to California when he got released, buy a gun, return to Hawaii, and blow away the staff," FBI criminal behavior expert Alan Brantley said in 1993.
"Randall Saito is a very disturbed, mentally ill individual, number one. Number two, he's a very dangerous individual with respect to whom all the predictors indicate that if he were to be released, he would kill again," deputy prosecutor Jeff Albert said in 1993.
Over the years, Saito filed numerous motions requesting unescorted off-grounds passes, all of which were denied.
According to court records, in his most recent request in 2015, two of the three doctors who evaluated Saito found him mentally unfit.
The report said "assessments in the past have shown problems with lack of empathy, lack of remorse, and failure to accept responsibility," and that Saito "continues to be superficial in his relationships with others and manipulative."
The doctors assessed Saito in 2015 as a moderate risk of danger to the community unless under strict supervision.The Wall of Sound was an enormous public address system designed specifically for the Grateful Dead's live performances in 1974. It was the creation of audio engineer Owsley "Bear" Stanley. The Wall of Sound fulfilled Owsley's desire for a distortion-free sound system that could also serve as its own monitoring system.[1] The Wall of Sound was the largest concert sound system built at that time.[2]
History [ edit ]
After Stanley got out of prison in late 1972, he, Dan Healy and Mark Raizene of the Grateful Dead's sound crew, in collaboration with Ron Wickersham, Rick Turner, and John Curl of Alembic, combined six independent sound systems using eleven separate channels, in an effort to deliver high-quality sound to audiences. Vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, and piano each had their own channel and set of speakers. Phil Lesh's bass was piped through a quadraphonic encoder that sent signals from each of the four strings to a separate channel and set of speakers for each string. Another channel amplified the bass drum, and two more channels carried the snares, tom-toms, and cymbals. Because each speaker carried just one instrument or vocalist, the sound was exceptionally clear and free of intermodulation distortion.
Several setups have been reported for The Wall of Sound:
89 300-watt solid-state and three 350-watt vacuum tube amplifiers generating a total of 26,400 watts of audio power. 604 speakers total.[3] 586 JBL speakers and 54 Electrovoice tweeters powered by 48 McIntosh MC-2300 Amps (48 × 600 = 28,800 watts of continuous (RMS) power).[4][5]
This system projected high-quality playback at six hundred feet with an acceptable sound projected for a quarter mile, at which point wind interference degraded it. The Wall of Sound was the first large-scale line array used in modern sound reinforcement systems,[6] although it was not called a line array at the time. The Wall of Sound was perhaps the second-largest non-permanent sound system ever built. The Wall of Sound can be seen in The Grateful Dead Movie, a documentation of the series of shows played October 16–20, 1974 at the Winterland Ballroom.
There were multiple sets of staging and scaffolding that toured with the Grateful Dead. In order to accommodate the time needed to set up and tear down the system, the band would perform with one set while another would "leapfrog" to the next show. According to band historian Dennis McNally, there were two sets of scaffolding.[7] According to Stanley, there were three sets.[8] Four semi-trailers and 21 crew members were required to haul and set up the 75-ton Wall.
Though the initial framework and a rudimentary form of the system was unveiled at Stanford University's Roscoe Maples Pavilion on February 9, 1973 (every tweeter blew as the band began their first number), the Grateful Dead did not begin to tour with the full system until a year later. The completed Wall of Sound made its touring debut on March 23, 1974, at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California. A recording of the performance was released in 2002 as Dick's Picks Volume 24.
As Stanley described it,
"The Wall of Sound is the name some people gave to a super powerful, extremely accurate PA system that I designed and supervised the building of in 1973 for the Grateful Dead. It was a massive wall of speaker arrays set behind the musicians, which they themselves controlled without a front of house mixer. It did not need any delay towers to reach a distance of half a mile from the stage without degradation."[9]
Technical challenges [ edit ]
The Wall of Sound acted as its own monitor system, and it was therefore assembled behind the band so the members could hear exactly what their audience was hearing. Because of this, Stanley and Alembic designed a special microphone system to prevent feedback. This placed matched pairs of condenser microphones spaced 60 mm apart and run out of phase. The vocalist sang into the top microphone, and the lower mic picked up whatever other sound was present in the stage environment. The signals were added together using a differential summing amp so that the sound common to both mics (the sound from the Wall) was canceled, and only the vocals were amplified.[10]
The Wall was very efficient for its day, but suffered from more drawbacks than its sheer size. Frequent guest keyboardist Ned Lagin (best known for performing experimental interludes with various permutations of Lesh, Jerry Garcia and drummer Bill Kreutzmann throughout 1974 set breaks) preferred to play through the powerful vocal subsystem (considered to be "the best part of the entire... PA"); however, the group's sound crew often neglected to switch between his quadrophonic input and the vocal input during long sequences, resulting in few of his contributions being recorded.[11] Additionally, as many as two channels of his input would still be lost in the mix when the system was working properly.[12] The Wall's quadraphonic format did not translate well to soundboard tapes made during the period, as the sound was compressed into an unnatural stereo format and suffered from a pronounced tinniness.
Retirement [ edit ]
The rising cost of fuel and personnel, as well as friction among many of the newer crew members and associated hangers-on, contributed to the band's October 1974 "retirement." The Wall of Sound was disassembled, and when the Dead began touring again in 1976, it was replaced with a more logistically practical sound system.
See also [ edit ]January 5, 2013; Orlando FL, USA; Orlando Magic small forward Hedo Turkoglu (15) drives to the basket against the New York Knicks during the second half at Amway Center. New York Knicks defeated the Orlando Magic 114-106. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The Orlando Magic set a deadline for themselves when i came to the future of forward Hedo Turkoglu and the decision the came to was to ultimately cut him on Friday and send him through waivers. But while the team waived their longtime forward, it wasn’t before some eleventh hour wheeling and dealing. According to USA Today, both the Los Angeles Lakers and Atlanta Hawks offered the Magic trade packages to land Turkoglu but neither were appealing enough for Orlando to pull the trigger on a deal.
According to Jeff Zillgitt, the Lakers trade offer would have added salary to the Magic’s books and the offer from the Hawks was pretty much worthless. Both trades would have had to be pretty bad for Orlando to opt to waive Turkoglu and forego receiving anything other than cap relief in return.
Both the Lakers and Hawks are now free to sign Turkoglu to a free agent contract once he clears waivers and that looks like the likely case. Los Angeles is probably the spot Turkoglu will land, simply because a choice between Los Angeles and Atlanta will always favor L.A. no matter what.
Turkoglu isn’t the player he used to be though and it’s surprising that he drew as much interest as he did. Neither the Hawks nor the Lakers are going anywhere this year though so it’s not as if Turkoglu is about turnaround a contenders season.(A open letter of personal conflictions.)
If you religiously scan everything about me on the Internet, you would be a little creepy. And, while there isn’t too much out there to go on, you’ll know I am a university student. I am finishing soon, expecting to graduate within months with a Bachelor’s in Computer Science. As my classes come to a close, I have some important decisions to make.
Most people are asked throughout their student lives the same question: “What will you do when you graduate?”
How do we answer? Often, we don’t know yet. Some people, even after college or university, don’t know exactly what they want to do.
At least, that’s what they say. I think, deep down, everyone knows exactly what they would like to do. The problem is that it may or may not be viable or realistic, or are just too strange for people to be willing to admit. If you have a passion for becoming a Fortune Cookie Writer or Professional Whistler, then great, but that might be a difficult job to obtain, let alone the fear of what your family or friends would think.
Certainly, when I talk about pursuing game development, that’s the sort of thing I think about. It’s an unrealistic pursuit. But in the modern, digital age, we have the luxury of being able to do many things from the comfort of our homes with nothing but a computer. We can do what we want. But one needs money, and needs to get a real job from someone willing to pay you.
So what does one do after graduating from school? Two options usually appear: industry job, or continue school (research).
I’ve had the fortunate opportunity to talk with people from a handful of large companies, both tech companies and AAA game developers. Also with academic researchers and advisors. And this is the impression I got from both:
Most large companies have taken the attitude of hiring people based on how badly they want to work there, and whether or not their personal interests and hobbies fit the company. For example, the first questions I’ve gotten at job interviews are:
“What are you interested in doing?”
“If you worked for us, what would your dream position here be?”
“Why do you want to work for us?”
These companies have learned that productive workers that perform well usually love what they are doing. If a person could make their job feel like a hobby they loved, they’d be perfect. It’s not enough to just say how qualified you are, dedication and passion are just as important, or as some companies have told me, are even more important. Especially in companies that require a creative mindset. But specifically, dedication in the manner that fits the company: if you love designing 2D games, you are automatically disqualified from working on “Assassin’s Creed.”
So compare this with getting a Master’s or Phd degree. This involves research, and the selling point is usually that you are doing what you love, following whatever your academic interests may be. Now, companies can state the same feature. And with secret research opportunities within companies taking place, the enjoyment you get from your work becomes nearly identical on either side. The main difference is that one pays a lot more, and the other gives you a piece of paper for your efforts.
“And what about freedom?”
Continuing school has always used the selling point that you have more freedom as a student to do what you want as research to complete your degree. This is true… to an extent. Most programs require you to be supervised by a professor or researcher, who must agree to the topics you want to study. You are able to negotiate to an extent, but most of my conversations with research supervisors have become “You want to do A? I’ve been working with B, which is somewhat similar to A… would you like to do B?”
Considering this, the topics you work with and research are identical from a job and from school. No, not the same topics, but the same level of freedom you have choosing the topic. Which is unfortunate, but understandable… someone is paying you to do something, they expect to get something of interest out of it.
Students do get a little more freedom. The freedom a student gets is what they do outside of school. As a student, you can do stuff outside of class. You can create a start-up company. You can make an app. You can use what you’ve done with your research to do it. You’ll have more free time to do so. But at companies, it’s a different story. I’ve been told that if you wanted to make something in the same field as the company on the outside, that would be a conflict of interest. Working for a company that makes apps? You can’t make apps outside the company while you are employed. Not to mention, your week is mostly lost to your real job. I’ve been told that I would honestly be better off quitting a job if I wanted to make something outside the company.
I’m sure that’s why so many game developers are leaving large companies to go “indie.” They are sick and tired of being restricted and being told what they can and can’t do. Game development is an art, one of the most creative and challenging things that you can do. It would be great to do it for a living, but to then be restricted on what and how I do it is like telling an artist they can only paint with red paint.
What’s worse, most companies involve making things without knowing what they are doing. From past work experience and conversation, making something requires a lot of communication and thought. A lot of revision. If I really want to do A, but am told to do B, when my boss doesn’t know exactly what B is yet and constantly changes B over years of a production lifespan, it becomes exhausting. This is true for both industry and school. Often, projects that have taken years to finish spend most of that time just thinking about what you’re trying to do in the first place.
Further, both companies and researchers seem to expect me to continue what I do for them for several years. My past bosses may have spent most of their lives towards their projects, and have since become blind to the rest of the world. When I told my research supervisor I wanted to take a break outside of school to finish my own projects, he immediately assumed I would be doing research related to his in my spare time. Perhaps for a few years, but I can’t dedicate myself to continuing someone else’s work for the rest of my life, I just can’t.
“What about becoming your own boss?”
Ah, yes. Making your own company. Going “indie.” The dream. Being able to do exactly what you want, exactly how you want and getting paid for it.
Also called “unemployed.”
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to go indie. I technically am indie for now. But thousands of other indie developers exactly like me struggle to make more than a couple thousand dollars on their work each year, even if they’d call it their life-long dream to make the project exist. It goes back to my earlier comment: you can technically do it in the modern age, but you need someone to pay you somehow. In this case, that’s the community. You. And hopefully indie artists you appreciate make things you are happy to support and buy.
Being indie isn’t about the money, it’s about doing what you love and making enough to get by. The thing is, I think I can do it. But I have nothing to prove it. Not yet.
“What will you do when you graduate?”
Whatever I do at this point, I’m exhausted trying to do what other people want. I feel guilty not completing something as desired and still getting paid an hourly wage. I’ve grown frustrated with people telling me a incomplete description of a project, to tell me after making something to go back and change it, a necessary but inefficient part of project cycles and taking years more work than should be required.
With that in mind, I’m convinced that I need to do what I want. I haven’t come across true freedom yet working for someone else. Money be damned, I need to at least spend a few months or years away from commitments to other people. I know exactly what I want to do, and believe I have what I need to realize my ambitions. But I can’t do it while committed to other jobs.
I’ve had about four or five people ask me to be part of their projects during this summer, some indie, some paid part-time jobs, some actually requiring skills I’ve studied, some requiring skills I’ve only developed as a hobby and am unsuited to use professionally. Some of them I actually want to do, but I can’t, not now. Over-committing to work has not served me well. The truth is that I have projects of my own that I really want to finish; not just one (I currently count six fully-developed ideas for complete games, not including others still dancing in my head, that I swear to finish before I die). I can’t afford to spend too much time making stuff for myself, but want to carry out as many of my ideas as possible within the time I have. Against my better judgment, I’m trying to turn down projects from other people, to allow myself to be selfish and work on my own.
I wish I concentrated on this sooner. Already finishing my undergraduate degree, I wonder if I would be in the same position of questioning my next path had I seriously begun years ago. I now encourage every student, no matter how busy or unprepared you think you are, to chase your dream while you are still in school, just to see how close you get.
And that’s where I stand. I’m biding my time and have been accepted to continue studying at my University towards a Masters degree in Computer Science. I’ve taken a firm stance on having full control on what my research contains, fully intending on using my research outside of school. I start in the Fall, and finish in 2016. For the first time in years, I have four months until I start where I have no commitments, no jobs, no expectations. I plan other long breaks like this in between semesters. I tell people that I’m taking a long deserved break this summer to prepare myself to hit the ground running in September. The truth is, I expect to get more done by August then I’ve ever done in my lifetime. I’ll still be exhausted, but because I truly love it, it isn’t a chore, and I’d have it no other way.
I have until 2016 to finish as much as I can. Let the coding begin…
(To be fair, after some well-received job interviews, most companies politely turned me down and encouraged me to try again years later. I had made this decision weeks earlier, but this feedback from companies did help assure my thoughts, that a proper job just wasn’t available for me yet anyway…)Bryan Habana is one of three South Africans in the Toulon team to play against the Sharks at the Stade Mayol on Thursday.
The Bok wing will be joined by scrumhalf Michael Claassens and flank Gerhard Vosloo in the starting lineup, while Los Pumas trio Juan Martín Hernández, Nicolás Sanchez and Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe all make the run-on side.
Toulon have rested a number of first-choice players, but the match-day squad is still a balanced blend of regular and fringe players.
Toulon – 15 Juan Martín Hernández, 14 Joshua Tuisova, 13 Bryan Habana, 12 Jimmy Yoboo, 11 David Smith, 10 Nicolás Sanchez, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Chris Masoe, 7 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, 6 Gerhard Vosloo, 5 Jocelino Suta, 4 Ali Williams, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Jean-Charles Orioli, 1 Xavier Chiocci.
Subs: 16 Matias Cortese, 17 Florian Fresia, 18 Corentin Braendlin, 19 Steffon Armitage, 20 Virgile Bruni, 21 Ulupano Seuteni, 22 Eric Escande, 23 Karim Bougherara, 24 Andy Cramond, 25 Stephane Munoz.
Sharks team
Photo: David Rogers/Getty ImagesPerhaps, given England's perceived lack of success, it's only natural that we should hark always back to 1990, that we should be forever trying to recapture what made that tournament so compelling.
Yet it is a little odd. It doesn't take much of an examination of England's World Cup record to see how fine the margins sometimes are. In the last eight World Cups, England have reached the last eight (in 1982, the second phase comprised four three-team groups; so for the purposes of this stat I've counted the teams who finished second in those groups as losing quarter-finalists) on five occasions. Put like that, England's World Cup record doesn't sound too bad – in fact, only Brazil and (West) Germany can beat it.
In 1990, they went one stage further. Is that really enough to set that tournament apart? England were seven minutes from going out against Cameroon in the quarter-final. If they had, would we remember that tournament with such fondness? They were a minute from penalties against Belgium – who hit the woodwork three times.
Gary Lineker is tripped by Cameroon's goalkeeper Thomas N'Kono. Photograph: Patrick Hertzog/AFP
If Mark Wright hadn't nudged in a header in an execrable game against Egypt, England would have been left to draw lots with their opponents to determine who went through as best third-place team and who was eliminated.
That's not to say England were terrible or lucky in Italia 90. It's not to say that, for those supporting England, the experience of Italia 90 didn't become an extremely positive one. It is to say that success and failure are often a hair's breadth apart.
Flip two decisions: what if Diego Maradona's Hand of God goal had been given as a foul in 1986 and Gary Lineker had been denied a penalty against Cameroon in 1990? Would we then venerate a side that lost pluckily to Belgium in the 1986 semi-final and shrug ruefully as we remember the team overcome by Roger Milla? Or, imagine another counter-factual: what if David Platt hadn't scored against Belgium and England had gone on to win that game on penalties: would England have developed the hang-up about spot-kicks they subsequently did?
Paul Gascoigne celebrates beating Cameroon. Photograph: Popperfoto
To repeat a line from former Real Sociedad manager Juanma Lillo, "Human beings tend to venerate what finished well, not what was done well. We attack what ended up badly, not what was done badly." The wins over Cameroon and Belgium in 1990 are remembered fondly because England did end up winning. The game against the Dutch is remembered fondly because England did end up going through. That said, England did play very well against both Holland and West Germany (not that they won either game); in that instance the process, perhaps, is venerated – and certainly there was far more to admire about England's general play in both 1986 and 1990 – even 1998 – than the turgid campaigns of 2006 and 2010. But still, there is a large element of chance in the centrality Italia 90 still has to the consciousness of English football.
Belgian goalkeeper Michel Preud'Homme holds off David Platt. Photograph: Bob Thomas/Bob Thomas Sports Photography
It has become fetishised: tropes are actively sought. In the last couple of friendlies before the announcement of the squad, players are forever said to be looking to play their way into the squad, yet really, who has ever done that since Paul Gascoigne against Czechoslovakia in April 1990?
Gascoigne's impact was such that there's always a belief that there's a young player coming through, the form man who will peak at the right time and take the world by surprise. Already Ross Barkley is being fitted for that role, even though the globalised nature of modern football – as Roy Hodgson pointed out on Monday – means that nobody who plays in the Premier League is ever really going to be that surprising to opponents. Yet the comparison isn't really apt anyway: Gascoigne was 23 in 1990; he had a measure of experience far greater than, say Michael Owen in 1998 or Wayne Rooney at Euro 2004, or Barkley.
We spend tournaments looking for the David Platt figure, the player who will hit form at the right time and force himself into the side. Platt had only five caps – and had started only once – for England before Italia 90. Raheem Sterling, perhaps, or Adam Lallana could fulfil that role. But it happens rarely: it might happen, but it's not something we should expect.
Paradoxically, slow starts are permitted – because England had one in 1990 – but it's also considered reasonable to demand a major tactical shift after one game – because England went to a back three in 1990. Never mind that Bobby Robson was sceptical about the shape and ended up employing a back four against Egypt and late on against Cameroon and West Germany, it seems to be seen as reasonable to toss away the previous two years of planning mid-stream, just because that's what happened in 1990.
The problem really is less with Italia 90, or even with the veneration of it felt now, as with the seeming belief that just because something has happened once it must happen again. It's true that certain World Cup stereotypes are comforting, that an ideal World Cup could be constructed from certain key tropes – the dull opening game; the realisation Brazil stopped being the Brazil of myth in 1982; the plucky debutants who become flavour of the month so half a dozen are sold to Premier League clubs in July only to flop dismally; a referee losing the run of himself and flourishing cards like a stage magician; the journeyman striker who hits a purple patch – but those aren't ways to run a team.
Decisions of tactics and personnel, rather, have to be made on their own merit and should be appreciated as such, rather than being measured against a checklist for creating an idealised version of Italia 90. Things happen, and sometimes echoes of those things happen, and to repeat the solutions of the past to problems of the present is no guarantee of success.When I first started digging into climate impacts, I used to think that the northeastern U.S., where I live, was a pretty good place to have landed. I still think so. It’s unlikely we’ll see historic mega-droughts, like those forecast by some for the U.S. Southwest. We’ll see heat that we’re far from prepared for, but it’ll be hotter still in the South. Our forests are expected to change, but they’re not under pressure like those in the Mountain West, nor are they currently experiencing rising risks of wildfire. We have our own problems, to be sure, like coastal vulnerability and trends in extreme precipitation.
But this week in the news there are two new studies that reminded me to expect the unexpected. While we understand the general pathway of change, the shorter-term directions the climate can take along the way can take us by surprise.
Exhibit A: Our winter
As of this writing, 101 inches or about 8 feet of snow has fallen in Boston over a two-month period. As the Washington Post recently summarized: “Boston is on pace for near-record snowfall for Anchorage, and has already eclipsed the 30-day snowfall record for Buffalo — a city known for its intense lake-effect fueled snowstorms.”
Are you one of the poor souls experiencing this winter in the greater Boston area? If so, you’ve done at least two of these three things: (1) stopped thinking about going anywhere, because really, how? (2) taken up wide-eyed head shaking when it comes to the weather, because really, what’s there to say? And (3) lost track of the weeks altogether, because how can spring be coming if it’s always 10 degrees?
Plus this year the groundhog bit a guy. If you’re not one of us, trust us: winter’s been a beast.
But at least it’s a rare event — I’ll probably never see this kind of thing again in my lifetime. Right? Sorry, my weary friends, but not necessarily.
New research tries to make sense of events like the Northeast’s frigid, snowy winter. While we know that not all cold spells are caused by the now nefarious “polar vortex,” this new work suggests that warming temperatures in the Arctic are weakening the boundary between the Arctic north and the warmer mid-latitudes. That weakening, in turn, appears to be slowing the jetstream’s normally speedy west-to-east course, sending it instead on meandering northern and southern waves.
Deep southerly dips of the jet stream allow icy Arctic air to extend southward. And in some instances, these loopy wave patterns hold in place for a week at a time. Or forever; it feels like forever at the moment. We saw this last year across the Midwest and Northeast, minus all the snow. (This year’s snowstorms and record accumulation appears to be attributable to record warm North Atlantic waters meeting our meandering jet stream along the New England coast.) There are plenty of other ideas in the mix, too.
(It’s worth pulling my head out of the Northeast long enough to acknowledge the astounding contrast between our winter and what’s happening on the West Coast and in Alaska, with record high temperatures and record low snowfall. As my colleague, Robert Mera, puts it we have two influential climate patterns at play here, in addition to the Arctic: the Pacific North American Pattern and the North Atlantic Oscillation, both natural patterns, but both in a positive phase, strongly influenced by record warm ocean temperatures, and “acting like bullies” as they escort the Arctic air southward.)
With the Arctic only getting warmer is there reason to think we won’t see this kind of cold and snow again? Hope springs eternal. In Ode to the West Wind, Shelley wrote “O Wind, If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” But weaken that wind and warm our oceans, and yes, spring can feel very far behind.
Exhibit B: Local sea levels
And then there are our seas. If you live in low-lying parts of the Northeast U.S., you know that coastal floods are happening more often during high tides |
ides with a mechanical adjustment or a new approach at the plate, it stands to reason that the power surge would carry over into the next season.
But forget whether it makes sense—this system is foolproof. (Except, of course, for someone who shall not be named hitting.177 last year.) And so, I can say with absolute certainty that the biggest breakout player in baseball this year will be: Jason Castro.
For those who weren't paying close attention to Houston baseball last September (don't worry, you weren't alone), the 25-year-old catcher happened into some serious power in the season's final month. He hit four home runs in 60 plate appearances after September 1 (compared to the same number in 452 career PA through August 31). He slugged.500 (career average on August 31:.333), posted a.269 ISO (.093), and reached an eye-popping 1.167 power factor (.394).
Perhaps most jarringly, it took just 13 fly balls for Castro to collect his four late-season home runs; until September 2012, just four of the 103 MLB flies he'd hit left the yard. Thirteen batted balls is a tiny sample, but consider that only five hitters with at least 50 September plate appearances beat Castro's 31 percent HR/FB rate: Mike Napoli, Giancarlo Stanton, Chris Davis, Michael Morse, and Miguel Cabrera. Those are five of the most powerful sluggers in baseball, and I for one wouldn't have expected Castro to place among their ranks.
Nor is this just a case of Castro reaching his potential. His minor-league résumé is impressive (it's not easy to make Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects list twice), but even at the lower levels he wasn't known for his power. Before September he hadn't slugged.400 or notched an ISO over.100 since his days in High-A. Perhaps some optimistic scouts saw this potential in Castro, but he had never demonstrated anything close to this kind of pop in his professional career.
Admittedly, Castro isn't the perfect fit for this model. Even in a system based entirely on reading too much into small sample sizes, four home runs isn't much. More importantly, Castro is only 25 years old and is already seen as a very talented player. A power surge from a still-maturing former top prospect is hardly the same as it would be from a veteran journeyman who had seemingly plateaued somewhere around replacement level; in that sense, Castro doesn't fit the profile nearly as well as, say, Chris Denorfia. But the greater point—that Castro had no business ranking towards the top of the power leaderboards yet he did—still remains.
So there you have it: guaranteed proof that Jason Castro will be the 2013 breakout player of the year. You're welcome.
Read more of Lewie's work on Wahoo's on First and follow him on Twitter: @LewsOnFirstPosted on //
Discover the Place Where Problems Go to Die…
You have problems. A lot of them. And if you don’t right now, you will soon.
That’s life. One damn problem after another.
They’re built into the mechanism.
Life’s default setting is chaos, disorder, and problems.
And it’s all by design.
But there’s beauty in the problems. There are gifts in there if you just look.
Your problems help you learn.
They help you grow.
They can help you evolve through your fears.
They give you a chance turn to something greater. And to turn into something greater.
And they can help you to discover the one place where problems don’t exist.
Right here. Right now.
The ONLY thing that is. The only thing that’s real. Where freedom lives and problems go to die.
The greater your current pain, challenges, and so-called problems you face, the greater the opportunity to be free.
Your life will always be full of discord. Always full of issues. Always full of problems.
But none of it can truly exist when you come back to now.
They can only live then, there, and in your head.
Not here, now, and in your heart.
When you come back to just this—this single moment—you are free of everything you thought was a problem.
In the clear view of the moment, you can see that your problems are actually no more than thoughts themselves.
Perception, misinterpretation, and stories in your head you’ve created based on fear.
But when you step into the moment completely, you’re able to step out of the storyline and into peace.
Just this. So simple and magical.
Just this.
Make friends with this, and all those giant problems will shrink into oblivion.
At least for a moment.
This moment.
The only moment there is.
And yeah, your story is still full of problems, but you aren’t. And once you’ve figured out a way to arrange the story of your life so that you no longer have the problems you think you have now, some more problems will come in and replace ’em.
And if you’re lucky, they’ll be big enough, and hurt enough, to bring you back to this.
Just this.
Right here. Right now.
Where problems go to die, and life begins.
Talk soon,
Big Chris
If you wanna get more posts like this one, subscribe here and I’ll be sure to send you the new posts as I write ‘em…
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Thanks a ton! (=
Artwork at top of this post by Joshua CoffyAdvertisement
Hillary Clinton's campaign was rocked on Friday after the FBI sensationally reopened their investigation into her secret server after they discovered email exchanges between her and top aide Huma Abedin on her estranged husband Anthony Weiner's laptop.
The emails, which prompted FBI Director James Comey to reexamine the case, were found after Weiner's electronic devices were seized by the FBI during the probe into him sexting a 15-year-old girl.
The FBI swooped in on Weiner in September after DailyMail.com revealed he had sent explicit messages and graphic pictures to the 15-year-old, fully aware she was under-age.
After reviewing the emails, the FBI launched a move which sent shockwaves through both presidential campaigns.
In a letter sent to Congress, Comey said that he had launched an investigation into the 'pertinent' exchanges to determine if any of the emails - which allegedly number more than 1,000 in total - contain classified information and whether any of them are'significant.'
The news broke while Clinton was flying on a plane with no WiFi coverage and was only told of the bombshell when she landed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, just after 1pm, local time.
Finally six hours after carrying on with her scheduled rally as if nothing had happened, she held a brief news conference at 7pm, calling on the bureau to explain the issue in question without any delay and to immediately release whatever information it has about the probe.
Scroll down for video
Huma Abedin and Hillary Clinton spoke on board Clinton's campaign plane just hours before news broke on Friday that the FBI was re-opening its investigation into the presidential nominee's emails after new emails came to light during a separate investigation into Abedin's husband, Anthony Weiner
The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced on Friday that was examining new Hillary Clinton emails it believes to be 'pertinent' to her case
Clinton was in the air, on her way to Iowa (pictured getting off the plane in Iowa), when the news of the re-opened investigation broke
Photographer Annie Leibovitz (right at the top of the steps) followed Clinton off the plane after conducting a photo shoot while in the air
Clinton, pictured getting into a vehicle once arriving in Iowa, had no WiFi coverage when the announcement was made
The FBI's bombshell was prompted by the discovery of 'another device' with emails relevant to the investigation and the stunning link between Clinton, Abedin and Weiner was first exposed by the New York Times.
NBC News national security correspondent Pete Williams reported that during their investigation, the FBI realized that Huma also used Weiner's laptop—which contained email exchanges between Abedin and Clinton.
He added that the FBI wanted to make plain this was not technically a re-opening of the probe, as it had never been shut.
Although Clinton said nothing immediately following the announcement, her campaign chairman John Podesta - whose own emails were published by WikiLeaks – issued a furious denunciation of Comey and suggested he had bowed to Trump's political pressure.
'It is extraordinary that we would see something like this just 11 days out from a presidential election,' the statement said.
'Upon completing this investigation more than three months ago, FBI Director Comey declared no reasonable prosecutor would move forward with a case like this and added that it was not even a close call.'
Six hours after carrying on with her scheduled rally as if nothing had happened, Clinton held a brief news conference at 7pm, calling on the bureau to explain the issue in question without any delay
HILLARY CLINTON GOES TO WAR WITH FBI IN BRIEF PRESS CONFERENCE DEMANDING IT EXPLAINS NEW EMAIL PROBE 'WITHOUT DELAY' In a dramatic turn in the presidential race Hillary Clinton called on the FBI to release whatever information it has about its re-started investigation of her email scandal 'without delay' in a press conference on Friday. She said she didn't know 'what to believe' regard what she called 'rumors' that the new information that came from trusted Aide Huma Abedin's laptop – a device she reportedly shared with disgraced ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner. 'We are 11 days out from perhaps the most important election of our lifetimes,' Clinton told reporters in the surprise press conference inside the choral room of Roosevelt High School in Des Moines. 'The American people deserve to get the full and complete facts immediately.' At the end, she was asked about the reports, in the New York Times and other outlets, that her aide Huma Abedin and Weiner had been the source of the new emails. 'We've heard these rumors,' said Clinton – who sat near Abedin on her campaign on the flight to Des Moines. 'We don't know what to believe and I'm sure there will be even more rumors. That's why it is incumbent upon the FBI to tell us what they're talking about,' she said. 'Because right now your guess is as good as mine and I don't think that's good enough.' Asked if she had been contacted by the FBI or whether she was concerned that the new emails would reveal any classified information, Clinton responded to the first part of the question. 'No – we have not been contacted by anyone. First we knew about it is I assume when you knew about it, when this letter sent to Republican members of the House was released. 'So we don't know the facts, which is why we are calling on the FBI to release all the information that it has. 'Lets get it out,' she said. She observed that FBI director Comey had said that the new information may not be significant. Asked about trust issues leading up to election day, she responed: 'I think people a long time ago made up their minds about the emails. I think that's factored into what people think, and now they're choosing a president.'
'In the months since, Donald Trump and his Republican allies have been baselessly second-guessing the FBI and, in both public and private, browbeating the career officials there to revisit their conclusion in a desperate attempt to harm Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.
'FBI Director Comey should immediately provide the American public more information than is contained in the letter he sent to eight Republican committee chairmen.
'Already, we have seen characterizations that the FBI is'reopening' an investigation but Comey's words do not match that characterization.
'Director Comey's letter refers to emails that have come to light in an unrelated case, but we have no idea what those emails are and the Director himself notes they may not even be significant.'
Donald Trump hailed the move as a chance to right 'a miscarriage of justice' as a crowd of supporters in Manchester, New Hampshire, chanted 'lock her up'.
The sense of a new Clinton crisis came as Clinton, a former secretary of state and the Democratic nominee for the White House, collapsed to four points in the latest nationwide survey polling.
Clinton was pictured leaving her campaign plane after it landed in New York on Friday night after her campaign was rocked by the news of the FBI probe
A downcast Abedin was also pictured leaving Hillary's campaign plane dressed in an orange winter coat and laden with luggage
Comey said that after learning about the emails he advised the bureau to take 'appropriate investigative steps' to review them.
Comey sent the letter to heads of the of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, Judiciary Committees and two Appropriations subcommittees that deal with justice issues, as well as the House's Oversight Committee and the Senate's Homeland Security Committee.
'In connection with an unrelated case,' Comey told them, 'the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation.'
Comey said that after becoming aware of the new information yesterday he 'agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to access their importance to our investigation.
'Although the FBI cannot yet access whether or not this material may be significant, and I cannot predict how long it will take us to complete this additional work, I believe it is important to update your Committees about our efforts,' he wrote.
It was later revealed on Friday that Comey reportedly told bureau staffers in a separate memo that he broke custom in telling Congress about the reopening of the investigation because of its political sensitivity.
In an internal memo obtained by Fox News, Comey said the bureau would not ordinarily communicate with the public about its ongoing investigations, but said he felt he needed to do so as Clinton is seeking presidency.
As he explains his decision, he also notes he felt an 'obligation' to inform lawmakers about the investigation given he had testified repeatedly that their investigation into Clinton's email was completed.
When she made her first public appearance in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, just an hour after news broke, she said nothing about the investigation
The investigation began after devices belonging to Abedin and her estranged husband Anthony Weiner were seized in a separate federal investigation
The FBI swooped on Weiner and Abedin after DailyMail.com revealed that he had sent sexual messages to a 15-year-old girl
In the messages, which were obtained by the Dailymail.com, Weiner repeatedly complimented the girl's body, told her that she made him 'hard'. He also sent the girl a selfie from a hot tub
Weiner and the girl used several anonymous messaging apps, like the one pictured above, where every line of text - and the sender's name - disappear after the message is opened. In one message he told he would 'bust that tight p***y so hard'
The message continues, and Weiner says he would bust that tight p***y so hard and so often that you would leak and limp for a week'. Weiner began talking to the girl in January, after she messaged him on Twitter
The sexting scandal was revealed after it was discovered that Weiner had been sending another woman shirtless selfies with his child in the frame
'Of course we don’t ordinarily tell Congress about ongoing investigations, but here I feel an obligation to do so given that I testified repeatedly in recent months that our investigation was completed,' Comey wrote in the memo.
'I also think it would be misleading to the American people were we not to supplement the record.
'At the same time, however, given that we do not know the significance of this newly discovered collection of emails, I don’t want to create a misleading impression.
'In trying to strike that balance, in a brief letter, and in the middle of an election season, there is significant risk of being misunderstood, but I wanted you to hear directly from me about it.'
Clinton's campaign officials gaggled with reporters earlier in the flight on Friday, but had decamped the press section by the time the FBI investigation news reached 30,000 feet.
ANTHONY WEINER SEXTING SCANDAL The FBI, the New York Police Department, and US attorneys in New York and North Carolina opened investigations into Weiner's conduct in late September, after DailyMail.com exclusively reported on Sept. 21 that the former politician carried on a months-long online relationship with a 15-year-old high school girl. Weiner exchanged flirtatious and sexually-charged messages with the teen for months after the girl struck up a conversation with him on Twitter in January. Weiner told the girl he woke up 'hard' after thinking about her, sent her shirtless photos, and complimented her body. He also encouraged her to talk to him on the video-chat application Skype. The girl alleged that during these Skype conversations, Weiner asked her to get undressed and touch herself. She claimed he also asked her to dress up in school girl outfits and pretend he was her teacher and brought up 'rape fantasies.' Weiner issued a statement to the Dailymail.com apologizing for'repeatedly demonstrate[ing] terrible judgment about the people I have communicated with online and the things I have sent.' In one particularly lewd message, he told the teen: 'I would bust that tight p***y so hard and so often that you would leak and limp for a week.'
After a prolonged delay on the tarmac while her motorcade waited outside her campaign plane, the candidate emerged, followed by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz.
Leibovitz, who was traveling aboard Clinton's campaign plane, was escorted forward in the aircraft to conduct a photo shoot of Clinton while in flight, around the time that word broke of the sudden turnaround by the FBI.
Leibovitz shot photos for a minute or so, at which point Clinton and her top campaign aides moved into a private area to huddle.
Liebovitz was not invited to shoot the high-stakes strategy session.
Clinton waved to reporters and didn't respond to shouted questions about whether she had been informed that the FBI had reopened its investigation.
She then got into her motorcade and headed to her first campaign rally of the day.
Asked to react to the FBI announcement a senior Clinton campaign spokesperson told NBC News: 'No idea.'
While still taking in the news while in Des Moines, Clinton did remark to her supporters about the 'unusual' election this year.
'We’ve got to keep our foot on the gas. Donald Trump says he can still win, and he’s right,' Clinton told supporters at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, to boos from the crowd at mention of her GOP rival.
'You know this has been such an unusual election. I don’t take anything, any place or anyone for granted,' Clinton said.
'I’m gonna work as hard as I can all the way until the end,' she vowed.
Clinton's running mate Tim Kaine was campaigning in Tallahassee, Tennessee, on Friday.
He ducked a reporter's question about the investigation, saying, 'I've got to read more. I've got to read a little more'.
At the top of an early afternoon campaign rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, Trump took a victory lap and congratulated the FBI for deciding to take a second look at the case.
'The FBI has just sent a letter to Congress informing them that they have discovered new emails pertaining to the former secretary of state Hillary Clinton's investigation,' he said, as 1,600 people erupted in a chant of 'Lock her up!'
'And they are reopening the case into her criminal and illegal conduct that threatens the security of the United States of America.'
'Hillary Clinton's corruption is on a scale we have never seen before. We must not let her take her criminal scheme into the Oval Office,' Trump declared.
'I have great respect for the fact that the FBI and the Department of Justice are now willing to have the courage to right the horrible mistake that they made. This was a grave miscarriage of justice that the American people fully understood, and it is everybody's hope that it is about to be corrected.'
He added a moment later: 'With that being said, the rest of my speech is going to be so boring! Should I even make the speech?'
His jubilant crowd screamed: 'Yeah!'
'The news this morning is – this is bigger than Watergate,' Trump said later in his speech.
In Bensalem, Pennsylvania, Trump's running mate Mike Pence was cheered as he told a rally: 'We commend the FBI for having the courage to re-open this case because no-one is above the law.'
FBI Director James Comey said in a letter to Congress that an investigative team is seeking to determine if any of the emails contain classified information
When Clinton (pictured in September) arrived in Iowa, she waved to reporters and didn't respond to shouted questions about whether she had been informed that the FBI had reopened its investigation
Pence also tweeted: 'We call on the FBI to immediately release all emails pertinent to their investigation. Americans have the right to know before Election Day.'
House Speaker Paul Ryan, meanwhile, said in a statement that Clinton 'has nobody but herself to blame' for the re-opened investigation.
'She was entrusted with some of our nation's most important secrets, and she betrayed that trust by carelessly mishandling highly classified information,' he said.
'This decision, long overdue, is the result of her reckless use of a private email server, and her refusal to be forthcoming with federal investigators.
'I renew my call for the Director of National Intelligence to suspend all classified briefings for Secretary Clinton until this matter is fully resolved,' Ryan said.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Ryan's second-in-command, said the FBI's decision to take another look at the Clinton case'showcases her fundamental lack of judgment and disregard for protecting and handling of our nation's highly classified secrets'.
Bombshell: How James Comey started the extraordinary day of drama
McCarthy advised the FBI to conduct its 'investigation expeditiously, and thoroughly brief the American people of its findings in a completely transparent manner'.
An hour after the October surprise became public, President Barack Obama emerged from the White House and boarded Marine Force One.
The sitting president, on his way now to Orlando, Florida, to campaign for Clinton, ignored shouted questions about his former cabinet secretary's email scandal.
As he campaigned for Hillary Clinton in Orlando, Obama urged young voters 'vote up and down the ticket' for Democrats in the run up to the election.
'I understand that right now, the polls show Hillary having a lead,' Obama said during a rally at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, NBC reported.
'Sometimes when you get a lead, whether it's in sports or politics, you start feeling good. You start celebrating too early. You start getting turnovers, you start missing some free throws. Suddenly it gets a little closer.'
'And next thing you know you look up, and you let it slip away,' he added.
At a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, Donald Trump congratulated the FBI for deciding to take a second look at the case
Trump told attendees of a campaign rally that the news of the FBI investigation is 'bigger than Watergate', after saying that Clinton's 'corruption is on a scale we have never seen before'
THE TALE OF HILLARY CLINTON'S PRIVATE SERVER The Clintons' Chappaqua home where the server began life June 2008: An Apple Power Mac server, purchased by Bill Clinton's aide Justin Cooper in 2007, is installed in the basement of the Clintons' home in Chappaqua, New York. It initially handles traffic for Bill Clinton but soon is used by Clinton and her staff as well Fall: Computer equipment from Clinton's presidential campaign is tapped as a replacement - a Dell PowerEdge 2900 Windows Server and Microsoft Exchange and a 1950 running a BlackBerry Enterprise Server. Clinton aide Bryan Pagliano starts work on building the system, believing it will be used by Bill Clinton's staff January 2009: It is decided that the Apple server must be replaced as it is having problems with the volume of traffic March: Pagliano installs the server he has built in a rack in the Chappaqua house basement, with the help of Cooper. Pagliano, who is administrator for the new device, transfers the Apple server emails onto the new device. The new server is backed up once a week onto a Seagate external hard drive. The FBI has never obtained the Apple server for examination January 2013: Clinton's chief of staff, Cheryll Mills, recommends Denver, Colorado-based IT firm Platte River Networks (PRN) to manage the server to help with user limitations and reliability concerns Denver-based Platte held a 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'-themed party while at a conference June 23: A Platte employee removes the server from the Chappaqua home to a data center in Secaucus, New Jersey, run by Equinix, to migrate it to a new server June 30: The Clintons' email accounts are migrated to the Platte server July 18: Platte signs an agreement to manage the new, third server, a Dell PowerEdge R620. Platte subsequently configure a backup device from Datto, Inc, a Connecticut-based company, to take multiple snapshots of the system daily and to store the information for 60 days. The device also takes copies of the Pagliano server between June 24-December 23 December 2013: The Pagliano server is fully decommissioned December 2014: Clinton and Abedin begin using the domain hrcoffice and stop using clintonemail.com October 3, 2015: The Pagliano server is voluntarily handed over to the FBI
Earlier on Friday, Obama spokesman Eric Schultz told reporters riding aboard Marine One that the White House did not coordinate with the FBI on today's bombshell announcement.
'The only notification we've received is the letter that was made public by press reports from Director Comey to Capitol Hill,' Schultz said.
'We had that letter after it was made public, so we did not have advance warning.'
Schultz says the White House heard about the letter through 'press reports'.
He further stated that it is 'the president's expectation is that all FBI efforts follow the facts, wherever they lead…The president believes that decisions made by independent prosecutors must be made independently of politics.'
The White House spokesman said Obama stands firm in his endorsement of his former secretary of state to succeed him in office and is 'proud to support her from now until Election Day.
'I don't think anything has surfaced to change the president's views and opinions of Secretary Clinton,' he said.
Obama is unlikely to discuss the FBI investigation today as he talks Clinton up in the must-win state of Florida.
Instead, Schultz told reporters, 'You can expect a lot of the themes he's hit before, touting why he believes Secy. Clinton is uniquely qualified to be commander in chief.'
House Benghazi Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy spent two years investigating Clinton, famously keeping her in the chair under oath for 11 hours.
Republicans on the committee say the State Department and Clinton hampered their investigation by keeping emails related to the September 11, 2012, attack from them.
Gowdy did not immediately make a statement in response to the FBI's announcement, though.
Neither did House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz. The Republican Congressman said on his Twitter account that Comey told him about the pertinent emails and said 'case reopened', but that was all.
Mark Meadows, a Republican on the oversight committee, couldn't say which FBI investigation Comey was referring to in his letter.
'I can share with you that in discussions some weeks ago that some of the other areas that they were looking at…might have cross over,' he told Fox News on Friday afternoon.
'And so, not speaking specifically with any knowledge of any particular investigation,' he said, 'just the FBI in their normal way of being complete and making sure that everything is buttoned up, it would suggest that, the one criteria that Director Comey mentioned was intent.'
Meadows said he doesn't believe there there has to be intent for Clinton 'to be held criminally liable.
'But it would suggest that, perhaps, they found emails that, that would indicate that there was some intent to cover up or at least dispose of improperly,' Meadows said.
Clinton's lawyers deleted 33,000 emails they deemed personal in nature before she turned over her work product to the State Department.
Her team printed those emails out, roughly 30,000 of them, and put them in bankers boxes it told government officials they could pick up from her lawyer's Washington, DC-area office.
FBI notes from the case revealed that that two of the boxes were missing and did not indicate that they were ever found.
Joseph diGenova, the former US attorney for Washington, DC, said the way the case was reopened signaled that there was significant dissent inside the FBI over how Comey previously handled the investigation.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has released thousands of emails damaging Hillary Clinton
An hour after the news became public, President Barack Obama emerged from the White House and boarded Marine Force One
Comey had publicly defended the Clinton email probe as one of the most thorough investigations of all time, and diGenova said the revelation of unsearched emails undercut the bureau chief.
'I believe that there is an open revolt underway inside the bureau. Not the kind you're going to read about because that's not the way revolts happen in the FBI,' said diGenova. 'They serve [leadership] up publicly with new information. And what they did today was they made the FBI director look like a fool, and he knew it.'
DiGenova said that based on Comey's letter, it sounded like he planned to turn the investigation over to the same team that handled the case previously.
'I think he is sitting on a huge powder keg inside the bureau,' diGenova added.
Congressman Darrell Issa, chairman of the Oversight committee at the time of the Benghazi, attack said in a Friday afternoon tweet: 'FBI reopening investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of private server, it's important we get it right this time.'
Appearing on Fox News later in the afternoon, Issa told Neil Cavuto that he sent Clinton a letter when she was still secretary of state asking about a personal email address. Issa says he reminded her that State must have access to any messages she was sending or receiving that way if they pertained to her government work.
'Had she done what she knew she should have done she wouldn't be in this position,' Issa said on Fox. 'Had she come clean early on, she wouldn't be in this position.'
Had Huma Abedin and Anthony Weiner done what they should have done, they wouldn't be in this position, either, he said.
'This is a major scandal…It's a scandal that didn't have to be,' Issa said. 'All she had to do was obey the law.'
It's not too late for Clinton 'to stop digging a hole', the Republican congressman said.
House Homeland Security Chairman Mike McCaul said Comey's decision was 'overdue and attributable to her egregious use of a private server' and her 'fast and loose handling of classified information'.
'Her actions have likely compromised our national security, American intelligence and the brave men and women who carry out our most important military operations,' McCaul said. 'As a former federal prosecutor, I firmly believe and understand that no one should be above the law.'
Republicans rejoiced on Friday afternoon as a once-shut door swung back open with just enough time for them to keep Clinton out of the White House.
Arkansas Sen Tom Cotton also urged the FBI to 'conduct a speedy review of these new materials so that any conclusions or consequences can be made public before the November 8 election'.
'The American people deserve that clarity before they make their choice of who will serve as our next Commander-in-Chief,' said Cotton, a prospective 2020 candidate.
Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said Comey couldn't have taken the decision to reexamine Clinton lightly.
'This stunning development raises serious questions about what records may not have been turned over and why, and whether they show intent to violate the law,' Priebus said.
'What's indisputable is that Hillary Clinton jeopardized classified information on thousands of occasions in her reckless attempt to hide pay-to-play corruption at her State Department. '
The Republican chief said, 'This alone should be disqualifying for anyone seeking the presidency, a job that is supposed to begin each morning with a top secret intelligence briefing.'Are you willing to exchange your privacy rights for creature comforts and entertainment values?
What are Guestroom Data Packets and Deep Mesh Networks?
Welcome to the 21st century where millennial’s have ushered in the new age of convenience and creature comforts. The new technology age makes even the simplest of tasks more manageable and monitoring requires no more than logging into their handheld smart devices. These technology advancements have brought about significant changes in our everyday lives. Closing the garage door from your office cubicle, turning on the crock pot during your lunch break, having the vacuum cleaner run while you are gone or raising the living room shades are as simple as pressing a button. Alerts when someone walks up to your front door, notification of a motion detector going off, securing the front door lock after leaving the house, opening or closing your security gate for service providers are a few of these “modern” conveniences. Turning the water heater on in time for a hot bath after long day at work and reminders that you are low on milk from your smart refrigerator are managed on these smart systems. Your CO2 will alert you (and others) on your smartphone, from where you can either call 911 or silence the alarm, in case a piece of burnt toast is to blame. But these convenience comforts come at a cost. What about our privacy?
Just as our smart devices uses wifi and hotspots for connectivity, our lives or should I say our lives conveniences are transmitted in bits and bytes over the air waves. Not only do hackers, scanners and criminals intercept this information for nefarious purposes but companies’ data mine and sell this information to market the latest and greatest products to make our lives even easier as well. Have we thought about total strangers knowing when the water level lowers in our toilets, or when the integrated television in our bathroom mirrors isn’t on? Utilities are included as well, are they monitoring the electrical consumption for usage spikes or has the water line developed a leak? Your smart device will receive notifications for that as well.
Are we being watched by the watchers? The security and IT professionals that monitor and use the information sent in these data packets for analysis are licensed, trained professionals right? There is a check and balance in the residential industry of home automation but what about elsewhere? This article started with home security and technology innovations but is morphing into the hospitality industry and our time away from home. We expect the same conveniences in posh hotels as we enjoy in our homes daily and are unwilling to compromise. Vacations used to be the extravagant now there is an expectation to maintain our current level of interaction with automation and technology.
Corporations like MGM Resorts International have embraced this age and are acknowledged as a leader in adopting and deploying hotel guestroom technology. Their properties offer wireless networked electronic locks for security, environmental and thermostat controls for guest comfort, multiple entertainment options, refrigerated minibars for convenience, and other guest controls for thousands of properties with one highly reliable, intelligent communication platform, Honeywell’s INNCOM Deep Mesh Network.
“MGM Resorts International recognized early on that it wanted to interconnect and communicate with each of its thousands of guest rooms to ensure guest safety, convenience and comfort. This required an intelligent device in each room linked to a total-property converged network platform to monitor in-room systems and collect environmental data,” said Kevin J. Fellows, director of enterprise architecture, media and guest technology for MGM.
Fellows explained that INNCOM’s Deep Mesh Network is reliable for MGM Resorts’ large number of rooms and devices because of its built-in intelligence. MGM Resorts utilizes INNCOM in its MGM Grand Las Vegas, The Mirage, Delano, Bellagio; and at MGM Macau in China. INNCOM installation at MGM Resorts’ Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas occurred in 2015.
“The Deep Mesh Network interconnects hundreds of wireless edge routers throughout each property to establish a redundant-process communication web to transmit the guestroom data packets. If a transmission from one room does not instantly reach our server, the network automatically retries through other router pathways. The Deep Mesh Network monitors the health of each room’s guest-facing environmental devices,” said Fellows. “The INNCOM system gathers guestroom environmental device information and notifies property maintenance staff if there is a maintenance issue.”
The systems monitor room environmental data messages and pass the communications across their guestroom network firewalls. The INNCOM thermostats are the communication hub in each guest room. They collect data from the door locks, minibars, and other systems and communicate with the edge routers within each property’s Deep Mesh Network.
This allows MGM Resorts to delivers the total experience: guest comfort, elegant user controls, integrated room automation and energy savings through the use of touch-capacitance glass surfaces. And their clients not only expect but demand these features in their time away from home and companies like INNCOM have accomplished making these the norm rather than the exception by transforming data into actionable information. INNCOM also tracks and reports occupancy status with infrared occupancy sensors that deliver data to guestroom temperature and lighting controls as well as reporting guest status changes to the front desk and the back office, HVAC equipment run-time, guest security alerts and network availability utilizing integrated room automation systems solutions. INNCOM’s INNcontrol™ 3 and its Deep Mesh Network make it possible to integrate many compatible systems so operators can remotely manage all property guestroom systems. INNCOM ASX Analytics Services Reports provide the metrics and analysis on all measurable data on room equipment and utilization to maximize operating efficiency and profitability. Hospitality solutions must be multifaceted simultaneously addressing: guests’ expectations of comfort, safety, and convenience and Honeywell’s INNCOM system does just that with the most collaborative guestroom automation platform in the world.
The future belongs to organizations that harness the information locked in massive data streams!
Now with knowing this information, how can the powers that be NOT know what happened in Room 32-135 on October 1, 2017? The guestroom data packages were transmitting information in redundancy to the front desk, housekeeping and maintenance concerning conditions in that suite. What do the watchers know about that fateful night? And why has the information not been shared with the public?
http://www.wmbfnews.com/clip/13785254/raw-nc-man-stayed-in-same-hotel-room-as-suspected-las-vegas-shooter
Above is a previous guests recording of Room 32-135 amenities.
Contributing Sources: ZigBee, Hospitality Upgrade, Honeywell INNCOM, MandalayBay.comThe Dymaxion car, designed by the visionary US architect and all-round polymath R Buckminster Fuller, may be the rare prototype for which all of these things are true.
“It’s full of unique and different technologies,” says Jeff Lane, director of the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, |
In front of the United Nations, Emma Warson promoted HeForShe with the following statement:
This is the first campaign of its kind at the UN: we want to try and galvanize as many men and boys as possible to be advocates for gender equality. And we don’t just want to talk about it, but make sure it is tangible. I was appointed six months ago and the more I have spoken about feminism the more I have realized that fighting for women’s rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop. For the record, feminism by definition is: “[Insert vague platitude here]
Rather than call out the misandrist notions of feminists and say they must stop, Emma Watson wants us to ignore feminist misandry and pretend it doesn’t exist by trotting out a platitude.
Now read a feminist article by Chelsea Summers titled The Year In Male Tears and decide for yourself if feminism is, or is not, “synonymous with man-hating.”
2014 was the year that misandry became chic. That January began with the reminder from Madeleine Holden, creator of Critique my Dick Pic, that “dick is abundant and low value,” a Tweet that resonated with the power of a 140-character manifesto. The movie release of Gone Girl and Taylor Swift’s video for “Blank Space” made misandry aspirational. Etsy samplers emblazoned with “men are scum” and Café Press mugs reading “male tears” proliferated. The year ended with feminazis opening their 2014 Misandmas presents with glee, finding copies of Bitch Planet and Bad Feminist. Then there were the thinkpieces analyzing the new misandry chic. Amanda Hess claimed that “ironic misandry functions like a stuck-out tongue pointed at a playground bully” in Slate. Jess Zimmerman took up the cry and informed men that they needed to get with misandry jokes because “not everything is about men’s comfort, not anymore.” And Time’s Sara Begley voiced the backlash, telling us, “inherent in this word ‘misandry’ is hatred,” as if that’s a bad look. On the whole, however, 2014’s misandry was flavored with wry bemusement and detached irony. But in 2015, misandry changed and chic got real. Misandry isn’t as simple as hating men. Just as misogyny is less a dislike of women and more a network of practice built on the oppression of women, misandry is a seething rage against patriarchal power, not just a dislike of men. And maybe it was born in irony, but it has hardened with [emoticons]
Emma Watson encourages men to embrace the platitude feminism pretends to be, but ignore the man-hating feminism truly is. As such, HeForShe is a hypocritical fraud. Until Ms. Watson embraces the man-hating that feminism truly is, and ignores the platitude feminism pretends to be, I will never support the movement.
That’s a real shame because if it embraced a little honesty, I think the movement could do some good. Until then, no doubt, it is feminist tears that will continue to flow like the Mississippi.Ranjona Banerji: Tiny cracks emerging in Delhi’s media’s love for Modi govt
16 Dec,2014
By Ranjona Banerji
If you listen to Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien on TV, then almost the entire media and most certainly the Ananda Bazaar Patrika group is against Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress. But if you visit Calcutta and read the The Telegraph, it is clear that the media has no option in the matter. As a matter of course, the media should be anti-establishment and the TMC is the Establishment. The ABP group had earlier supported the TMC against the Left Front.
Of course, the media in Bengal is greatly assisted by the shenanigans of the TMC and not least by the chief minister herself. The Telegraph outdid itself with a couple of front page headlines last week. The first was on December 12, after TMC minister Madan Mitra was arrested by the CBI in connection with Sharada chit fund scam, when the front page punned on “Madan” and “Madam”.
The second was on December 14, when Mamata Banerjee made one more unsavoury reference to a bamboo being inserted into the human body while attacking the BJP for Mitra’s arrest. The headline simply said, “Ouch” and below that was a picture of bamboo with a sharpened point. When a CM stoops to such language, the media cannot be expected to stand back and applaud.
**
However, the same does not necessarily hold true of the rest of the media when it comes to the government at the Centre. We are still in the laudatory stages where every word and action of the prime minister is treated like signs from the Almighty on High, especially on TV.
And yet, when it comes to our Delhi-based intelligentsia and the columnists who tell us what’s what because they know it all, there are a few tiny cracks emerging. Tavleen Singh for the second week in a row is not too happy with the Modi government, Madhu Kishwar has been fire and brimstone ever since Smriti Irani was made HRD minister, Surjit Bhalla’s columns on the economy now find not enough is being done and Ashok Malik has not been gung-ho about the new government’s foreign policy among other things.
All these columnists, among others, had earlier told us that the new Modi government was going to be a magical mystery tour where all our dreams would come true. Instead it’s turned into a bag of conjurer’s tricks with deft sleight of hand and smoke and mirrors being used to deflect attention from the lack of actual work. One supposes that no journalist can ignore the signs for too long. So far however, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being spared and the blame for lack of action and bad decisions is being put on the shoulders of bureaucrats, the RSS, “fringe elements” and just about anyone else.
**
But to see how the fan club continues, it is worth trying to watch an interview of BJP president Amit Shah on Headlines Today. The interviewer is Rahul Kanwal and although he asks tough questions, his dulcet tones can be a lesson to all people who want to learn how to woo and coo. And when Shah refused to answer a single tough question, the matter was taken no further.
Does that hoary old chestnut: “Let’s wait and see” have any traction here? I wonder.As international condemnation grows around Russia's 'homosexual propaganda laws' in the lead up to the Sochi Winter Olympics, it's worth pointing out that Western Australia had almost identical laws just 13 years ago.
WA was the only state in Australia with such laws, ensuring that until 2001, our state had the worst anti-gay laws in the whole of Western and Eastern Europe, with the exception of Romania. All gay males were deemed to be criminals and the penalty for consenting sex in private was 14 years in prison; with or without whipping.
Activists holding placards depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin, participate at a protest against Russia's new law on gays.
Several attempts to repeal these laws were made during the 1970's and 80's, but all were blocked by conservative MPs. The second-last attempt in 1989 was also blocked, however, two Liberal MPs said they would cross the floor and allow reform to pass, provided their amendments were accepted.
The person behind this was Mr Peter Foss MLC, and the subsequent changes become forever known as the 'Foss Amendments'.The world of athletics was hit by controversy tonightafter a female South African athlete who won the 800m final at the world championships was asked to take a gender verification test to prove she is a woman.
Caster Semenya, an 18-year-old who had never competed outside of Africa, before this week aroused suspicions when she posted the fastest 800m time in the world this year, winning gold at the African junior championships.
Tonight she won the gold medal in Berlin in 1 minute 55.45 seconds, the best in the world this year, beating Janeth Jepkosgei, the defending champion, by 2.45 seconds. The British runner Jenny Meadows won the bronze medal.
Semanya, from Polokwane, Limpopo province, possesses an unusually developed muscular frame and a deep voice and has clocked times which belie her youth – tonight's winning time is more than three-quarters of a second faster than Kelly Holmes's career best.
Nick Davies, a spokesman for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), confirmed today that the test was requested after Semenya's run last month amid fears she should not be allowed to run as a woman. "In the case of this athlete, following her breakthrough in the African junior championships, the gossip was starting to build up," said Davies.
Davies described the tests necessary to determine the gender of an athlete as "an extremely complex procedure" involving medics, scientists, gynaecologists and psychologists, the outcome of which is not expected for several weeks. "The situation today is that we do not have any conclusive evidence that she should not be allowed to run," he said.
"It would be wrong today to take a decision to withdraw an athlete. This is a medical condition. It is nothing that she has done. There is a need to make sure rules are followed. We are more concerned for the person and not to make this as something that is humiliating."
The world championships end on Sunday and Davies was unable to say whether any retrospective action could be taken to strip Semenya of her gold medal were she subsequently to be revealed as male. "I can't say that if X happens in the future that we will, for example, retroactively strip results. It's legally very complex," said Davies.
"If there's a problem and it turns out that there's been a fraud, that someone has changed sex, then obviously it would be much easier to strip results. However, if it's a natural thing and the athlete has always thought she's a woman or been a woman, it's not exactly cheating."
Molatelo Malehopo, the general manager of Athletics South Africa, reacted angrily to the rumours. "She is a female," said Malehopo. "We are completely sure about that and we wouldn't have entered her into the female competition if we had any doubts. We have not been absent-minded, we are very sure of her gender. We are aware of the claims that have been made but our aim at the moment is to prepare Caster for the race this evening. We have not started testing and we have no plans to do." Bloggers on some South African websites are condemning the allegations as offensive, and even racist.
Semenya's previous personal best, set in 2008, was almost eight seconds slower than her best time this year. At last year's world junior championships, she failed to progress further than the heats, finishing in seventh place with a time of 2:11.98.On the homepage of Cuba Travel Services, a company that makes travel arrangements to Cuba, a banner proclaims: “YES, American travel to Cuba is still legal!”
In the five months since President Donald Trump appeared in Miami and said he was reversing all of President Barack Obama’s Cuba policies — although he actually didn’t — a devastating hurricane raked Cuba’s north coast, and the U.S. State Department issued a warning against traveling to Cuba. Some people just scratched the island off their list as a potential destination.
“You put it all together and people were scared of Cuba,” said Tom Popper, president of InsightCuba, which provides group tours to Cuba. “Bookings were down; all the metrics were down since the president’s June 16 speech.”
Last week, long-awaited regulations implementing Trump’s new policy on Cuba travel and trade went into effect. Although the new policy imposes some additional restrictions, it has clarified the rules and is helping ease travelers’ doubts about what they can and cannot do.
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Though some travel providers were fearful there would be surprises when the new rules were issued, they pretty much stick to the changes that the White House outlined last June.
“It’s clear [the Trump administration] doesn’t want to encourage travel to Cuba, but our reading is that while there’s been a shift toward more negative rhetoric, travel policies are largely consistent with the previous administration,” said Giancarlo Sopo, founder of the CubaOne Foundation, a Miami-based nonprofit that organizes free trips to the island for young Cuban Americans.
But there are some important changes, including a list of 180 prohibited companies, hotels and stores controlled by the Cuban military. No American citizen, firm, greencard holder or person otherwise under U.S. jurisdiction is allowed to carry out any direct financial transaction with any entity on the list.
“The announcements do not bring much more news than the previous announcement — other than to be very specific about which businesses are now off limits. However, there are still many accommodations, restaurants, bars and shops available to U.S. travelers,” said Charel van Darn, the chief managing officer of Cuba Travel Network.
SHARE COPY LINK President Donald Trump powered into East Little Havana and announced a sweeping change in relations intended to rebuke his predecessor’s opening toward the island.
That includes hotels run by the Ministry of Tourism and private homes and boutique hotels.
Here’s the bottom line on what Americans need to know about traveling to Cuba:
▪ U.S. travelers, airlines and cruise lines can continue to legally visit Cuba. Tour operators can continue to run trips and travelers can still bring home rum and cigars for personal consumption.
Carnival Paradise anchors in Havana harbor. Under new Trump administration rules, cruise ships can still call at Cuban ports. Carnival Cruise Line courtesy
There are, however, a few new restrictions on which hotels and other establishments they can patronize, and new rules that affect three of the 12 permissible travel categories for Cuba.
▪ Americans may no longer carry out direct transactions with 180 companies, including 83 hotels, that are controlled by Cuba’s military.
Many of the hotels on the list are in the cays off Cuba’s north coast and are resorts that Americans generally don’t frequent anyway because the United States bars trips whose only purpose is tourism.
What might impact travelers more is that many hotels and some stores in the historic Old Havana neighborhood are on the prohibited list. That’s because they are Habaguanex establishments. The Habaguanex tourism brand was transferred to the military last year. The other military hotel brand is Gaviota, but not all Gaviota hotels are on the list.
A worker at the new five-star hotel, Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski, in Old Havana, sweeps the rooftop pool deck following a heavy downpour. The Kempinski is one of the Cuban hotels now off-limits for U.S. travelers. Emily Michot emichot@miamiherald.com
Popper said only two hotels in Baracoa and Cayo Santa Maria that InsightCuba used are on the restricted list and the company has shifted upcoming trips to non-military hotels in the vicinity.
The State Department emphasizes the restricted list will be updated. That means every time you travel to Cuba, you should check the list in advance.
U.S. travelers also may not book any excursions through Gaviota Tours or the Crucero del Sol agency. Nine Habaguanex stores in Old Havana that sell everything from toy soldiers to painted fans also are on the list as are Coral Negro jewelry stores, which are often located in hotels. Also off limits: Manzana de Gomez, the only really fancy shopping mall in Havana, and La Maison, which holds fashion shows and sells clothing, jewelry and accessories.
Bring plenty of batteries and other supplies for your camera because all PhotoService shops fall under the Gaviota umbrella and are on the restricted list.
SHARE COPY LINK Stretches of the famed Malecón boulevard are still closed for repairs and seaside businesses show the scars of 30-foot waves that crashed through the seawall during Hurricane Irma. But tourists have returned to the capital, even as areas hit hard
Caney and Varadero rums, as well as several brands of soft drinks, are also on the restricted list, but the U.S. Department of the Treasury, which enforces economic sanctions, has clarified that if you buy these beverages from a third party — a street vendor or at a bar, for example — that’s fine. What is prohibited is purchasing these brands directly from the manufacturer.
Cuba recently said it would welcome U.S. boaters, including Cuban Americans, at Marina Hemingway just outside Havana and at Marina Gaviota Varadero. But the Varadero marina is on the restricted list as are Gaviota marinas in Cabo de San Antonio, Cayo Coco, Cayos de Villa Clara, and the Puerto Vita marina in Holguín.
▪ The new rules don’t affect travel by Cuban Americans, though they also are barred from direct financial transactions with entities on the restricted list. They can still travel to the island as they did under Obama administration rules. Cuba, however, recently changed a few of its own rules, including no longer requiring a habilitación (qualification) stamp for Cuban Americans traveling to the island with Cuban passports.
▪ The regulations no longer allow individual travel to Cuba under the people-to-people category. Now those who want to travel under this category, which is designed to encourage meaningful contacts between Cubans and Americans, must be part of an organized group and a representative from the organizer must accompany them.
There’s an exception, however. If you booked at least one part of a future trip — a flight or hotel — before June 16, you can still travel under the people-to-people category as an individual.
Those traveling to take part in non-academic educational trips also must now travel in groups and be accompanied by a representative of the sponsoring organization.
▪ Individuals can still travel to Cuba but they must qualify under other categories of U.S.-permitted travel such as travel for religious or humanitarian purposes, travel by journalists or family visits.
The new rules also tweak a category of travel called “support for the Cuban people.” Individual travel is allowed in this category. But such travelers “must maintain a full-time schedule of education exchange activities intended to enhance contact with the Cuban people, support civil society in Cuba or promote the Cuban people's independence from Cuban authorities, and that will result in meaningful interaction between the traveler and individuals in Cuba.”
What’s that mean for the average traveler?
Staying at a private bed and breakfast, eating at private restaurants and buying goods and services from those who are self-employed are all activities that count as “support for the Cuban people.” But the regulations require something more, such as helping with a civil society program or having a series of conversations with private entrepreneurs.
Niuris Higueras Martinez gives her daughter, Ysabella Cabeiro Higueras, a big hug at Higueras’ private Havana restaurant Atelier. Emily Michot emichot@miamiherald.com
CubaOne recently organized a humanitarian trip where travelers worked with local churches to distribute hurricane aid, and it is planning three themed trips next year that will focus on religion, the self-employed sector and diplomacy and U.S.-Cuba relations. All the trips will qualify under support for the Cuban people, Sopo said.
Those traveling under this category are required to maintain full-time itineraries so one exchange with a private entrepreneur broken up by hours at a hotel pool wouldn’t qualify, according to lawyers. “What I tell people is you don’t have to cancel your plans, but you need to build an itinerary so you’re not a recluse and you’re out engaging with Cubans,” Sopo said.
▪ Travelers also are supposed to keep records of their travels and qualifying activities for five years, and have them available if questions arise. For those traveling with groups, the organizer is tasked with keeping such records.
▪ The U.S. State Department issued a travel warning on Sept. 29 advising U.S. citizens against travel to Cuba, saying embassy personnel had been targeted in attacks that have taken place at diplomatic residences and “hotels frequented by U.S. citizens.” These so-called acoustic incidents, of unknown origin, have affected the health of 24 diplomats whose symptoms range from hearing loss, headaches and memory problems to mild concussions, ringing in the ears and sleep disorders.
The travel warning is not mandatory, and the incidents specifically affecting diplomats have been reported at only two hotels in Havana — the Hotel Nacional and the Capri. Travelers can choose to stay in them or not.
But InSight Cuba’s Popper said the travel warning “has had a very big dampening effect in the marketplace. So many people took it to mean that they could no longer travel to Cuba.”
In response to the acoustic incidents, the United States withdrew 60 percent of its personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Havana and expelled 15 Cuban diplomats from the Cuban Embassy in Washington. There is only one consular officer left at the Cuban Embassy, which means certain categories of travel that require special visas may take far longer to process.
SHARE COPY LINK The Associated Press has obtained a recording of what some U.S. embassy workers heard in Havana as they were attacked by what investigators initially believed was a sonic weapon.
People traveling under the people-to-people and support for the Cuban people categories can travel using tourist visas and they can get them at the airport or from travel providers.
U.S. travel to the island slowed during September, when Irma struck, and in October, but now with the rules clearer, Popper said interest is picking up. “We had our best week in months [after the regulations came out on Nov. 9],” he said. “Bookings, web traffic and requests for brochures were all up.”In most cities, a plot of land isn’t always occupied by a single building. Large buildings may do this – but a city won’t include many large buildings. So i need to divide some plots and into smaller pieces of land. I looked into many methods to do this and implemented a couple, settling on one in the end. There are three goals it needed to achieve. It must produce decent results that look real enough and produce only rectangles. Again, I kept this simple by avoiding irregular and non convex shapes. It must also do subdivide the plot quickly; in a city of hundreds of buildings, I couldn’t afford this algorithm to take it’s sweet time.
The method of room subdivision in this paper caught my eye. It would be very flexible, ensuring all plots had a road as I could grow the plots only from points where it met a road. It would also produce some nice irregular building shapes (as irregular as rectangles can be). So I set about implementing it to see some results. The hardest part of it was ensuring that the plot grown was a rectangle. This method was geared to creating irregular and concave plots. I realised quite quickly though, that this growing process was very expensive. I stupidly thought I should grow it metre by metre, not thinking that a small 20 by 20 plot would need at least 400 iterations, let alone a 100 by 100 metre plot. I was also never happy with the methods of ensuring it remained a rectangle. I ditched it.
I went back to the drawing board (thinking board?). This is too complex and i need to simplify the problem to get my result. In the end I settled for something far simpler and very quick. I would only divide a plot three times at a maximum and I would basically cut it at a random point through the length in a straight line. It was far simpler and quicker. The algorithm selects a plot big enough to be split and splits it a number of times either horizontally or vertically. I was happy with the results but a key improvement would include ensuring that cuts would not strand plots from roads as we can see in the above example.The Detroit Pistons have reportedly hired Phil Jackson as a consultant to assist Joe Dumars in hiring the team’s next head coach.
According to the Pistons’ home site, the 11-time champion coach was hired to “provide advice and counsel on the coaching search and immediate basketball needs.”
“Phil Jackson is a friend and one of the best minds in the business,” said Piston’s owner Tom Gores. “We are thrilled to have him as an adviser as we make some very important decisions for this franchise. Joe (Dumars) and I discussed this and he and I are in full agreement that this is a great opportunity.
Jackson’s willingness to consult and entertain middle of the road organizations shows that his “itch” to return for a return to basketball only appears to be growing.
This is not will not be a formal position for Jackson in Detroit, his role will be to simply ‘advise’.
“We’re prepared to do what we have to do to move this franchise forward,” said Gore. “Make no doubt about it, we want to win.”
It’s hard not to dream of the day we see the Buss family relinquish the reigns to the likes of Jackson. We can only hope this move by the Pistons will make enough noise to send a few ripples throughout the Lakers organization.This post originally appeared at HuffPost.
Kathleen Hartnett White, President Trump’s pick to chair the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), testified at her Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday, and like many Trump nominees to date, showed herself to be an unqualified, polluter-friendly ideologue who rejects mainstream climate science.
“Your positions are so far out of the mainstream, they are not just outliers, they are outrageous,” Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey exclaimed at one point in clear exasperation. “You have a fringe voice that denies science, economics and reality.”
What Markey failed to note, however, is that White has personally experienced climate change-related extreme weather events in her home state of Texas, and scientists say they are only going to get worse.
Unqualified from the Start
White, who Trump previously considered for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, is a cattle rancher and dog breeder who chaired the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) — the Lone Star State’s version of the EPA — from 2001 to 2007 and was a member of the Environmental Flows Study Commission, the Texas Water Development Board and the Texas Wildlife Association board.
Her qualifications for those positions? None.
White earned her bachelor’s and master’s degree in humanities and religion at Stanford, attended Princeton’s comparative religion doctoral program and completed a year of law school at Texas Tech. It’s not quite the background one would expect for someone serving on environmentally related boards, let alone running the TCEQ. But in Texas, as in Florida and Wisconsin, ideology trumps science credentials, and White holds a politically correct pro-fossil fuels viewpoint.
That bias serves her well in her current job with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a libertarian think tank funded by what Texans for Public Justice characterized as a “Who’s Who of Texas polluters, giant utilities and big insurance companies.” Among TPPF’s benefactors are Chevron, Devon Energy and ExxonMobil; Koch Industries and its family foundations; and Luminant, the largest electric utility in Texas. White, who joined TPPF in January 2008, runs the nonprofit’s energy and environment program and co-heads its Fueling Freedom Project, whose mission is to “push back against the EPA’s onerous regulatory agenda that threatens America’s economy, prosperity and well-being.”
Climate Paranoia Strikes Deep
Recent media coverage of White’s nomination for the CEQ post has shined a light on her lack of scientific understanding — and her paranoia about the rationale for addressing climate change. She falsely claims that climate science is “highly uncertain,” characterizes it as the “dark side of a kind of paganism, the secular elite’s religion,” and argues that the “climate crusade,” if unchecked, would essentially destroy democracy. That’s right. White believes the United Nations and climate scientists are bent on establishing a “one-world state ruled by planetary managers.” Further, she routinely trumpets the benefits of carbon emissions, insisting that carbon dioxide “has none of the characteristics of a pollutant that could harm human health.” Carbon is a good thing, she says, because “the increased atmospheric concentration of man-made CO2 has enhanced plant growth and thus the world’s food supply.” Never mind that farmers and ranchers in her own state have been whipsawed in recent years by devastating heat waves, drought and floods, all linked to climate change.
At her confirmation hearing on Wednesday, White cited reducing ground-level ozone in Houston and Galveston when she chaired the TCEQ as her greatest accomplishment. But according to a recent editorial in the Dallas Morning News, she pushed for weaker ozone standards while she was at the helm of the agency.
“Her record is abominable,” the Oct. 17 editorial stated. “White consistently sided with business interests at the expense of public health as chair of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. She lobbied for lax ozone standards and, at a time when all but the most ardent fossil-fuel apologists understood that coal isn’t the nation’s future, White signed a permit for a lignite-fired power plant, ignoring evidence that emissions from the lignite plant could thwart North Texas’ efforts to meet air quality standards.”
Predictably, White also disparages renewable energy. “In spite of the billions of dollars in subsidies, retail prices for renewables are still far higher than prices for fossil fuels,” she wrote in her 2014 tract, Fossil Fuels: The Moral Case. “At any cost, renewable energy from wind, solar and biomass remains diffuse, unreliable and parasitic….” In fact, fossil fuels have received significantly more in federal tax breaks and subsidies for a much longer time than renewables; new wind power is now cheaper than coal, nuclear and natural gas; and the Department of Energy projects that renewable technologies available today have the potential to meet 80 percent of US electricity demand by 2050.
Ignoring the Evidence
Most of Trump’s nominees for other key science-based positions — notably EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt — agree with White’s twisted take on climate science and renewables. What sets her apart, besides her penchant for calling advocates for combating climate change “pagans,” “Marxists” and “communists,” is her up-close-and-personal experience with climate change-related extreme weather events.
White and her husband, Beau Brite White, live in Bastrop County, an outlying Austin bedroom community, and own a vast cattle ranch of 118,567 acres — more than 185 square miles — in Presidio County, which sits on the state’s southwest border with Mexico.
Bastrop and Presidio counties are both struggling with drought due to low precipitation and high temperatures and, like the rest of Texas, suffered from an especially extreme drought in 2011. Part of a prolonged period of drought stretching from 2010 to 2015, the one in 2011 was the hottest and driest on record and climate change likely played a significant role. A 2012 study published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society found that the high temperatures that contribute to droughts such the one that struck Texas in 2011 are 20 times more probable now than they were 40 to 50 years ago due to human-caused climate change.
The Fourth National Climate Assessment report, released on Nov. 3, agreed. “The absence of moisture during the 2011 Texas/Oklahoma drought and heat wave was found to be an event whose likelihood was enhanced by the La Niña state of the ocean,” the report, authored by scientists at 13 federal agencies, concluded, “but the human interference in the climate system still doubled the chances of reaching such high temperatures [emphasis added].”
The 2011 heat wave was particularly intense in Presidio County. According to Texas State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon, a meteorology professor at Texas A&M University, the county “achieved the triple-triple: at least 100 days reaching at least 100 degrees.”
Bastrop County, meanwhile, has become a tinderbox. Wildfires are happening there with greater frequency and intensity for a variety of reasons, including rising temperatures and worsening drought as well as population growth and development. In 2011, the county experienced the worst wildfire in Texas history, which destroyed more than 1,600 homes and caused $325 million in damage. Two years ago, in October 2015, the Hidden Pines Fire torched 7 square miles in the county and burned down 64 buildings.
White’s Neighbors Know Better
White may refuse to acknowledge what is happening in her own back yard, but most of her neighbors realize that human-caused climate change is indeed a problem, according to polling data released last March by the Yale Program on Climate Communication. The survey, conducted in 2016 in every county nationwide, found that a majority of residents in Bastrop and Presidio counties — 67 percent and 78 percent respectively — understand that global warming is happening, while more than half of the respondents in both counties (52 percent in Bastrop and 62 percent in Presidio) know it is mainly caused by human activity.
Majorities in both counties also want something done about it. More than 70 percent want carbon dioxide regulated as a pollutant and at least 65 percent in both counties want states to require utilities to produce 20 percent of their electricity from renewables.
Given their responses, White’s neighbors in Bastrop and Presidio counties make it clear that if they were polled on whether she should become the next chair of a little-known but powerful White House office that oversees federal environmental and energy policies, a majority would likely say no — and with good reason: Unlike White, for them, seeing is believing.The White House did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
It's normal for presidents to take input from key American executives. But Trump has gone "further than most in formalizing the role and setting up an advisory committee of billionaires and top CEOs," said Darrell West, vice president and director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution.
One of the president's economic advisory councils, chaired by billionaire Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, features the CEOs of JPMorgan Chase, General Motors, Walt Disney and Wal-Mart, as well as McNerney. In recent months, Trump has held listening sessions with executives from the technology, health care and manufacturing industries, among others.
The Ex-Im Bank is just one case in which Trump appeared to take feedback from CEOs into his policy decisions.
West notes that Trump ordered a review of the H-1B visa program used widely at Silicon Valley technology companies, rather than taking more drastic steps that may endanger the program, after he met and discussed immigration with executives from companies such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google parent Alphabet. Trump opposed the program on the campaign trail, saying it hurt American workers in favor of cheaper foreign workers.
After meeting with pharmaceutical executives Trump dropped his support for a plan backed by Democrats that would let Medicare negotiate bulk discounts for prescription drugs.
Trump's administration is in the process of making other major policy choices with corporate executives lobbying one way or another. Trump has yet to announce whether the United States will pull out of the landmark Paris climate agreement, which Trump pledged to "cancel" as a candidate. GE's Immelt and oil behemoth Exxon Mobil have spoken out in favor of upholding the deal.
GE did not comment specifically on what Immelt has discussed with Trump in person. It pointed CNBC to a CNN interview in which Immelt said CEOs should largely "kind of keep their head down" but stand up to the president when they feel it is warranted.
"So, I don't think it's something we should do every day, but I do think we're also stewards of our companies, we're representatives of the people that work with us, and I think we're cowards if we don't take a position occasionally on those things that are really consistent with what our mission is and where our people stand," Immelt said.
Dow Chemical has also urged the Trump administration to "set aside" the findings of a scientific study that said a family of pesticides is harmful to roughly 1,800 threatened or endangered species. Dow CEO Andrew Liveris heads a Trump manufacturing working group, but it is unclear if he brought that issue up with the president personally.
Dow did not respond to a request for comment on Liveris' conversations with Trump. He told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" Thursday that he is "pleased to see" the policy changes Trump has pushed in the White House.
"I am very much involved, of course, for the company in what's going on in the White House," he said. "And I'm very pleased to see the [regulatory] reform agenda; I'm pleased to see what's going on in workforce training and activities there. Both of those I'm heavily involved in with the manufacturing initiative, as are 30 other CEOs."
Brookings' West said meeting with CEOs, who often consider their own companies before consumers, can create problems in economic policy. Trump has included some labor leaders, for example, in his policy meetings, but executives heavily outnumber them.
The president "risks getting a one-sided view of policy" without more input from groups representing consumers or workers, he said.
The White House and a spokesman for an organization where McNerney is a trustee did not respond to requests for comment on this story.
Watch: Trump changes mind on leaving NAFTAMicrosoft is expected to expand OneDrive in the near future to include your music collection in the cloud. Such a move should probably not come as a surprise after all Microsoft has been very generous with storage lately, including bumping it to unlimited for Office 365 subscribers. Now, some new information has come forward to suggest that the transition to enabling this free feature is getting much closer to a release. An anonymous tipster who leaked information about Xbox Music and OneDrive integration back in May to LiveSino, has passed on some more information to Windows Central today.
According to the insider, OneDrive already has some rudimentary support for the Locker, including the creation of a Music folder:
"Going to https://onedrive.live.com/?id=music today will automatically create a "Music" folder on your OneDrive - this will be where you place all your music files to add to your Xbox Music collection for playback across all your devices (Windows Phone 8.1, Windows 8.1 PC or tablet, Xbox, or on the web.)"
Additionally, when this Xbox Music locker launches it will reportedly only be available in the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States. Reasons are unknown for the limited-rollout, but it likely has to do with regional licensing agreements, which could interfere with Microsoft hosting of people's music. Furthermore, Microsoft will allegedly dole out a bonus 20GB of OneDrive storage to |
mistake of commenting on her appearance, her own soldiers cut them down.
"Soldiers from my platoon would look at those attachment soldiers and say, 'That's really irrelevant in this scenario. Keep your comments to yourself - that's our platoon commander.'"
Where do women fight? Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, and Sweden all permit women in all combat units
France, Israel, and the Netherlands permit women in combat positions but they are barred from some units
The US and Brazil are currently looking at how to include women in combat positions, and Australia is already phasing them in
Many other countries including the UK send women to the front line in non-combat roles, or permit women to be fighter pilots Source: UK Ministry of Defence, Australian Government
After her return from Afghanistan, some of her men approached her with a confession.
"They said, 'In the beginning we were wary of you, but now we would follow you anywhere,'" she says. But then, she believes it's natural for soldiers to be wary of a new commander, regardless of the gender. "They always want to feel out your style of leadership."
She describes her own style as compassionate - "I believe in second chances" - and perhaps a little more democratic than some, prepared to listen even to the lowest ranks. But she quickly adds that she is authoritative when she needs to be.
A particular concern to her before her rotation was how she would be received by the Afghan village community - whether her sex would prevent her from establishing vital links with local leaders.
"I thought that they wouldn't even listen to me, I thought that they would poke fun at me," she says. "But they didn't care at all." And this was in Panjwaii district, the Taliban's birthplace.
Throughout October the BBC's 100 Women season is attempting to find out what life is like for women today - and what might happen next. We're planning a unique global event on Friday 25 October. Join in the conversation and tell us what you think on Twitter using #100Women. Full coverage: BBC 100 Women
She was very popular with the village children, especially the girls, who would run after her with gifts of jewellery - but Collette says this was because she was kind, not because she was a woman.
Although the village chiefs accepted the fact of Collette's gender, their wives were incredulous. After she had been in Nakhonay for about a month she was summoned to have tea with them and was quizzed about everything from what she liked best about Afghanistan to when she was going to settle down with a nice Muslim boy.
The occasion was made even more surreal by the fact that her interpreter was not permitted in the room because he was male. Consequently, they were forced to make small talk at the top of their voices, so they could be heard through the walls.
Since her deployment, Collette has married and is currently taking a break from active service to complete an MA in social work. But she has every intention of returning to uniform, as a mental health specialist.
She is passionate that people see her as a soldier, rather than a "woman soldier" and describes the whole debate about whether women can handle a combat job as "null and void".
"In my experience," she says, "there's no reason why a band of brothers cannot be a band of brothers and sisters."
Capt Ashley Collette was interviewed in Women on the Front Line on the BBC World Service. Read more features from the 100 Women season.
Follow @BBCNewsMagazine on Twitter and on FacebookSpace: 1999 occupies a special place in many of our memories — so when we heard that a reboot called Space: 2099 was in development, many people had mixed feelings. How would this show handle the original show's mixture of horror and kitschiness, not to mention the somewhat nonsensical premise?
We spoke to Jace Hall, the producer of Space: 2099, who explained to us a little about how he wants to make this version of the show more "plausible." He also explained a little bit about what went wrong with his last project, the V reboot.
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For many of our readers, Space: 1999 is the show that got them into science fiction. So people are excited at the idea of a new version. How do you deal with the challenge of recapturing fans' rose-tinted memories of a show from 35 years ago?
It's a significant challenge most certainly. When Space: 1999 was released in the 70's there really was nothing quite like it on television, and the bold designs and larger story concepts presented in season one had a tremendous impact on the imaginations of both the young and old. Space: 1999 was released during a time period when the whole world seemed to be excited about looking to the stars, and the aspirations of our human reach into the unknown universe extended without limit. There is real emotion tied to that whole experience, and as you know, emotional experiences like that are very personal and unique to the individual. So part of how we deal with the challenge you describe relates to our understanding and acknowledgment of what Space: 1999 represents and means to the many fans that are out there (which we are part of.)
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The goal of our project is not to "replace" or "alter" Space: 1999 or its original memory – our goal is to wonderfully explore some of the great thought-provoking key axioms and notions that gathered and excited people around the original Space: 1999 in the first place. We are very interested in exploring the human condition through compelling individual characters against a backdrop of an epic situation.
Space: 2099's goal is not to attempt to re-tell the specific story of Space: 1999. We are not trying to make some "dark and gritty" version of Space: 1999. There is no reason to re-tell the Space: 1999 story since we already have Space: 1999! However, through our new story and presentation, Space: 2099 hopes to re-kindle and remind fans of those memories of a show from 35 years ago, but more importantly help bring back to all science fiction fans that sense of awe, fear and incredible spectacle that is the unknown, unexplored universe. It is important that we endeavor to bring something new and exciting to the table.
A lot of people want to know if the Eagles will be back. I see one in the poster, so I'm guessing the answer is yes?
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Please believe me when we say that we want to answer this question, however we are not releasing any content specific information yet. We leave the posters open for interpretation. We can say that everything seen in the posters is there for deliberate reason.
What fun aspect of the original show are you most excited to feature in Space: 2099?
The near future plausibility of it all. Space: 1999 presented a very near future societal depiction where a moonbase had been established, and the show worked to successfully convince us that it was a reasonable vision to have given where the world was in the 70s. In a similar but much more emphasized vein, one of the key elements in our depiction will be as much plausibility as possible. Since we are dealing with a future timeframe of only around 80 years, there will still be plenty of familiar things around – however evolved they happen to be. It is this kind of projected iteration and future evolution that can be fun to depict as well as very thought-provoking. We consciously understand that a future projection must be comprehensive and not just focus on technology. Corporations, governments, social issues and day to day concerns all must be considered. No one was worried about their Facebook wall activity 80 years ago! My, how things change! It is exciting to imagine the various extrapolations from now until 2099.
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The premise of Space: 1999 is one that has a lot of logical flaws. Like the Moon traveling at interstellar speeds without the Moonbase being destroyed. Or the massive amount of devastation that would happen to the Earth if the Moon was gone. Or the fact that the Moon travels fast enough to visit a new planet every week. How can you make this premise more plausible without getting rid of what's great about it?
This is a great question and unfortunately we can't reveal any story content at this time. I would only refer you to my above answer that discusses the importance and focus of our story on plausibility. If something happens in our story, it is very important that the audience feels that it could actually theoretically happen in real life and that situations and characters evolve in ways that make logical sense. This is going to be a consistent and driving force in Space: 2099 and we are doing our homework to support this.
Space: 1999 always felt like it was slightly more horror-focused than Star Trek, especially in its first season. Do you plan to keep the horror aspects front and center?
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We wouldn't use the term "horror" to describe any part of the focus. Instead we would choose "real" as the mainstay, because reality of course can be much more frightening. In reality, things that are unknown tend to induce fear. It is a natural human reaction. The more unknown things are around us, the more anxiety it generates in general – and what could possibly be more unknown to us than the boundless, unexplored, naked universe? True fear in many forms will certainly be present, from immediate threats, all the way to some quiet but appalling cerebral implications that characters must face, because it will be a natural part of the total human experience of the story we want to tell.
Maya, the shape-shifter, doesn't appear in the original show until season two. But she's one of the characters everybody remembers. Will she be back in some form? And would you still wait a year to introduce her?
Love to answer this... but can't yet. Please visit www.space2099theseries.com to stay informed!!!
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Right now seems to be a challenging time for space opera on television — shows like Star Trek and Andromeda have pretty much vanished from our screens. What makes you think Space: 2099 can buck this trend?
It saddens me that science fiction television is so scarce these days. As a fan I am constantly left wanting and jumping at almost any paltry offering only to be disappointed with the lack of real thought behind the story being told. Science fiction may be the greatest story telling platform there is. The sky is the limit and one's imagination can soar! I feel that science fiction can help us see ourselves in critical ways without pointing the finger and that allows us to be open to its message. Science fiction can look at what we are doing TODAY and create a projection of the consequences of collective behavior. It can also give us a vision of a future that we find appealing and create social motivation to decide to work toward it. I could go on and on about this subject, actually.
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Space: 2099 is an endeavor to tell an epic story that carries deeply thoughtful and entertaining insights about the human condition that everyone might find of interest, not just science fiction fans. It is not a show about tech gadgets, or spaceships, or computers – certainly those are present but they are just tools – but rather it is a story with overtones that question things like human entitlement by challenging established conventions regarding what we feel our place in the universe is, what are we doing, and why we think it all matters. Stuff like that!
What do you think you've learned about rebooting classic science fiction shows after doing V?
V, oh my… I've learned a lot actually – the primary thing I learned was that it is important to make sure that the people with the creative passion stay at the command position the project. For Space: 2099 this is not an issue, because we are super passionate about this project and we are in a command position that allows us to execute on the vision.
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As for V, I think there turned out to be some writing challenges after the V pilot and at the time I was not invited to "drive," so my perception was that eventually things got a little derivative as the network and studio worked to find the right showrunner. It is my opinion that you can't buy deep passion, only expertise. I was the person with the deep passion for V – that's why I wanted to bring it back. At the time, my relative newness to television production at that level just couldn't support me being given the authority to see it through from front to back.
Regardless, I learned a tremendous amount through the entire experience and greatly appreciate everything that Warner Bros. and ABC did to make the project work. Everyone worked very hard. It sucks that it didn't get to continue, but I got an invaluable across-the-board education that Space: 2099 is going to be the beneficiary of!We believe in simplicity. We’re on a mission to make the deployment and the application developement easier and safer. That's why months ago, we started to work on Docker support, hand in hand with Docker Inc, to allow “Dockerized” apps on Clever Cloud.
Deploying Docker apps on Clever Cloud is as easy as deploying a regular app: just add a Dockerfile and git push.
Why docker support is important for Clever Cloud users?
We support a lot of languages. But some of our users have specific needs for their applications. Now they can build customs stacks without a specific support on Clever Cloud, thanks to the 13,000+ images available on Docker Hub.
While the PaaS way of deploying apps is awesome for standardised applications, it can become a hurdle when having to deal with customized stacks (I'm looking at you, Haskell). Docker fills the gap between PaaS and IaaS by letting Clever Cloud users manage their software stack while taking advantage of most of Clever Cloud features: push to deploy, autoscalability and zero downtime updates.
Has Docker become Clever Cloud's tech core?
Nope. Docker comes in addition to the other runtimes we are already providing.
How does it work?
Basically, Docker provides tools and standards to manage containers. We're fond of it at Clever Cloud, because it brings a simplicity in management through a solid standard.
Security
Containers bring simplicity at the expense of some isolation: the kernel is shared, network has to be handled more carefully, and so on. While it's a perfectly acceptable tradeoff for architectures where all the applications are trusted, as a hosting company we can't make it.
Clever Cloud runs untrusted third party code (your code) and containers don't offer the level of isolation needed for that, that's why every dockerized app runs in its own Virtual Machine.
The best news is that it's not at the expense of performance.
Performances
Virtual Machines you said? No chance, you'll get no perfs from it, Monsieur.
At Clever Cloud, we handle all the stack, especially the virtualization. First of all, our VMs are based on KVM and Virtio. These technologies allow for a very reduced overhead both on CPU (through specific instructions designed for virtualization), and on networking through Virtio's direct networking access.
In addition to that, since the network isolation is handled by the VM, we can run Docker networking in host mode. By default Docker runs in bridge mode, where all the network interactions happen behind a NAT layer, which has a performance cost.
Finally, both the hypervisors and the guests run finely-tuned, bare-metal OSes, with only what's needed, and nothing more.
All in all, new VMs are up and running in a few seconds' time, and offer excellent runtime performance.
How to get started?
Head up to the doc, your first dockerised application on Clever Cloud is one Dockerfile away. If you want to test it right now, you can fork and deploy to Clever Cloud a small hello world demo we made for the last Human Talks event we've made.
FREE SIGNUP Feel the coding productivity of a brand new project again, at scale. Your e-mail Your password By clicking "Get started" I agree to Clever Cloud's Terms and Conditions* States want EPA to reopen endangerment hearings
* About as many states support EPA’s climate finding
By Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON, March 19 (Reuters) - At least 15 U.S. states have sued the Environmental Protection Agency seeking to stop it from issuing rules controlling greenhouse gas emissions until it reexamines whether the pollution harms human health.
Florida, Indiana, South Carolina and at least nine other states filed the petitions in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, states said.
They joined petitions filed last month by Virginia, Texas and Alabama.
The Obama administration has long said it would attack greenhouse gas emissions with EPA regulation if Congress failed to pass a climate bill.
The EPA is set to issue regulations later this month that would require autos and light trucks to increase energy efficiency. That would trigger rules on large emitters like power plants requiring them to get permits showing they are using the best technology available to reduce emissions [ID:nN17158103].
The state petitions call for the EPA to reopen hearings on the so-called “endangerment finding” the agency issued last year declaring the emissions dangerous to people.
“If EPA doesn’t reopen the hearings we will move forward to try to stop them from regulating greenhouse gases,” said Brian Gottstein, an assistant to Virginia’s Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli.
The states have complained that the EPA relied too heavily from reports by the U.N.’s climate science panel which included information that exaggerated the melting of Himalayan glaciers.
The EPA said it was confident it would withstand legal challenges on the issue. “The question of the science is settled,” spokeswoman Adora Andy said. The science “came from an array of highly respected, peer-reviewed sources from both within the United States and across the globe, and took into consideration hundreds of thousands of comments from members of the public, which were addressed in the finding,” she said.
Allison Wood, a lawyer at Hunton & Williams, said the suits could push some lawmakers to support the climate bill if they oppose EPA regulation and the legislation preempts the agency from taking action.
About the same number of states support the EPA. In January, 16 states including New York and California asked the court for permission to support the EPA in industry lawsuits seeking to stop the agency from regulating the gases from stationary sources like power plants and factories.I'm going to assume that anyone reading the following post is familiar with the novel "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand as well as basic Libertarian concepts. A lot of really foundational Libertarian principles are expressed in this book, and I won't go over them here. Read it for yourself. Or, in lew of that, read my previous articles on "The Nature of Liberty" posted below.
What I did want to do is use Ms. Rand as an example for this discussion, since she is a perfect example of an "Atheist Libertarian" who completely failed to grasp the contradictory implications of her beliefs.
Let me be very clear from the outset, THERE CAN BE NO SUCH THING AS AN ATHEIST LIBERTARIAN; ATHEISM AND LIBERTARIANISM ARE IN FACT COMPLETELY INCOMPATIBLE! I cannot grasp how Rand failed to understand this, as judging by this particular work she was an exceptionally brilliant political philosopher.
Why are atheism and liberty so incompatible? Simply this: The only objective moral reference for an atheist is the natural world, and primarily the animal world of which man is supposedly a part. Rand herself made references to the animal world in her book as an argument against forced charity; the fact that an animal always takes care of itself by instinct, in fact MUST take care of itself, as there is no charity in the animal world. This is indeed a valid example.
But what Rand seemed to completely ignore in making her point is that THERE IS ALSO NO LIBERTY IN THE ANIMAL WORLD! There is no protected private property in the animal world, it's survival of the fittest. If I'm bigger and stronger than you, then I DESERVE to live and you DESERVE to die. In fact, It's MORAL! The political model of nature is FASCISM! (Note: I'm using the term "fascism" in the general sense of "might makes right", not as a reference to the actual Italian Fascist party platform, though they surely would have agreed with this notion;) If this is the only objective reality from which to take your example, how could you ever, on your own, without a religious influence, come to the conclusion that the "animal" called man should live under any system but anarchic defacto-fascism?
The mistake Rand made was that she used survival of the fittest as an example WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF PRIVATE PROPERTY, i.e. the strongest BUSINESS wins. But again, there is no private property in the animal world. So from what objective moral reality does Rand draw the concept of private property? She never gets around to explaining this, which is rather unusual since this is the absolute bedrock foundation of her beliefs.
Isn't it very odd that you can leave all the other "decorative" beliefs of Libertarianism; free market, legal drugs, legal sodomy; but if you take away the lynch-pin of private property, it immediately devolves into it's diametric opposite, fascism? As I've said in previous articles, this is the foundational concept of any politcal philosohpy from which all it's other beliefs must spring; that philosophy's view of private property.
So where can any libertarian draw their foundational concept of private property, if not from nature?
THOU SHALT NOT COVET.
Gee, where does that come from? I think it's some old book, I can't quite remember the name...This commandment not only recognizes that private property exists, but also that covetting property for which you did not work and/or barter is wrong. Coupled with THOU SHALT NOT STEAL, this is the absolute foundation of property-based liberty.
In a future article I'll have to explain how Christianity is in fact the very root of the libertarian concept, but I think I've demonstrated here that any atheist who considers themself a libertarian is not being intellectually consistent. If you're going to be an atheist, fine. But EMBRACE those fascist leanings, dammit! If you beleive in liberty without a higher power then you don't really know WHAT the hell you believe, you're just grasping at straws in the dark.
I'll also have to write an article explaining how and why Ms. Rand could be so completely backwards on this subject. She was of the oppinion that Christianty was diametrically opposed to her views, when in fact, as you have seen, you cannot have liberty without some kind of benevolent god. Rand's mistake, and the harmoniousness of her beliefs with Christianty start to become clear when we start to view them both through the lens of contract law. I'll go into greater detail in the future.
And I'll also explain why the creator god HAS to be the God of Christianity, and why I believe that this conclusion can be arrived at OBJECTIVELY, by which I mean WITHOUT FAITH. I'll save it for later, but I'll leave you with the basic premise: God only wants you to have faith that he will keep his promises, not faith that he exists or that the stories in the Bible are true.The first thing you notice when you arrive in Lawrence, Massachusetts, are the mills — picturesque five- and six-story red brick buildings that stretch into the distance along the Merrimack River.
A century ago, Lawrence was a world center for textile manufacturing. But “by the time 1990 was here, there were really no sewing jobs,” says the mayor of Lawrence, Daniel Rivera. He knows firsthand: His mom was a seamstress here in the 1980s, but then had to leave Massachusetts to find work.
Rivera’s family story is not unique. Last century, hundreds of thousands of textile jobs went abroad to lower-wage countries like Vietnam, Bangladesh and China, where labor is far cheaper. New England's textile jobs may have vanished, but the city of Lawrence didn’t tear down its vacant mills.
“And we’re blessed that we didn’t because we have really good buildings, really good bones and they’re still standing,” says Rivera.
Brenna Schneider is now renting a floor in a small wing of the Everett Mill, built in 1909, to house her new clothing manufacturing company, 99Degrees. “This mill, in particular, is significant because it was the largest cotton mill in the world in 1909,” she says. In 1912, the Lawrence mill was also the site of the Bread and Roses Strike, which helped fuel the labor rights movement in the United States.
The Everett Stone Mill was built in the 1840s. Additional buildings would be added to the mill complex over the next 60 years. Credit: Jason Margolis
Three years ago, Schneider had $7,500 to get started, and “with that seed money, I launched with two sewing machines.”
Today, she has 50 employees, dozens of customers and some really cool, 21st-century sewing machines. She pulls a cloth scrap out of production and holds it up. “So, see this gray seam? That seam is actually ultrasonic welded. So, it’s not sewn, there’s no needle and thread that connects the seam.”
The seam is then reinforced with a special tape, produced by the Massachusetts-based company, Bemis. Schneider says the seams in her clothes are less abrasive and can stretch more. And the quiet, high-tech machines reduce the number of workers she needs.
Schneider does still employ plenty of people sitting at traditional sewing machines, as well, and others working with scissors. But thanks to the latest machinery, her overall workforce is smaller and nimbler — and labor costs are less of a factor for her business model.
Staying local
The new Massachusetts sporting apparel company NoBull calculated the cost of doing business in a place like Bangladesh versus Lawrence when deciding where to manufacture its shorts, sports bras and T-shirts; It chose to stay local, and went with 99Degrees to manufacture its products.
“Literally, we were up there [in Lawrence] yesterday working on development, taking a look at production. And it was an hour-and-15-minute drive,” says Marcus Wilson, a founder of NoBull. “Developing products or producing products in Asia, there’s a lot of time that’s spent with product just going back and forth for review. And here, it’s just a really quick process that moves very, very fast.”
So, for example, if red stretch pants in size medium are hot this week, Wilson can get more to the store shelves quickly.
“We’re a rapidly growing startup and speed to market is critical for us,” says Wilson.
Fancy Faith, an innovation sample maker at 99Degrees, finishes an ultrasonic-welded seam with adhesive tape. Credit: 99Degrees
Bringing back jobs to an old textile center
Folks at MIT were so impressed with 99Degrees’ business model that they awarded the startup the grand prize from the university’s Inclusive Innovation Challenge. That came along with $125,000.
“The purpose of the Inclusive Innovation Challenge is to recognize and reward and encourage companies and individuals that are using technology to create more broadly shared prosperity. In other words, create wealth for the many, not just the few,” says Erik Brynjolfsson, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, which oversees the challenge.
In the case of 99Degrees, high-tech sewing machines are bringing back jobs to an old textile center. But is there an irony in all of this? Technology is creating jobs by eliminating others. Now, few can do the work of many.
Brynjolfsson says this question was also addressed 200 years ago in England.
“The Luddites were a group of textile workers, and they felt that their jobs were threatened by automation. At the time it wasn’t robots, it was simple spinning machines. But those machines were in some cases eliminating jobs of textile workers. And some of them took it upon themselves to smash those machines to try to preserve jobs.”
Brynjolfsson says we shouldn’t try to smash the machines. But we do also need to recognize the legitimate concerns of people who have lost jobs because of technology.
“And it’s not enough to simply say, ‘Oh well, that’s the way it goes.’ Instead, we have to take a proactive approach where we reinvent how the technology is used, so that instead of simply automating and eliminating jobs, we can take those technologies to create new higher-wage, higher-benefit jobs.”
Right now, most of Brenna Schneider’s employees make about $12 an hour sewing clothes. But, they also learn how to operate the high-tech machines, and with higher skills come higher wages.
But Schneider doesn’t call herself a "social entrepreneur."
“I think sometimes that term, it sounds a little soft. We’re focused on building a future factory, right? And we’re focused on infusing that future factory with technologies in order to pay people more. My personal motivation as an entrepreneur is good jobs and a scalable business. And that’s the impact I want to have.”
Schneider says if advanced automation allows her to create 250 higher-wage jobs as opposed to 1,000 lower-wage jobs, she votes for fewer jobs.FAKE NEWS: NY Times Used JEWISH Author’s Breitbart Headline to Smear Bannon as Anti-Semite (VIDEO)
Steve Bannon, President-Elect Donald Trump, Reince Priebus
Conservative writer and founder of Frontpage Magazine, David Horowitz, joined Steve Malzberg on Newsmax TV Wednesday to discuss his piece on Steve Bannon at Breitbart.com, disputing the left’s claim that Steve Bannon is an anti-Semite.
The Alt-Left New York Times is using an article posted on Breitbart.com, “Bill Kristol: Republican Spoiler, Renegade Jew”, to smear Steve Bannon as an anti-Semite.
The article was written by David Horowitz, a Jew and Israel defender.
David Horowitz The New York Times used my quote, my headline against Bannon. They couldn’t find a single thing that he said that was anti-Semitic. But, look Obama’s first act was to go and kiss the rose of the Muslim Brotherhood. His first act as president in foreign policy was to go Cairo and make a speech apologizing for America’s sins and embracing an Islamic world.
Via Newsmax TV:The playoffs wager is on.
The mayors of Vancouver and Calgary are betting on who is going to win the first round of the NHL playoffs between their two home teams.
The Vancouver Canucks face Calgary Flames in Game One of the series at Rogers Arena tonight.
Calgary’s mayor Naheed Nenshi was the first one to throw his hat into the ring this morning.
Thanks for all your suggestions! Here’s the bet between me and @MayorGregor. Canucks/sucks too obvious a rhyme, yeah? pic.twitter.com/EwpXplFJ0Y — Naheed Nenshi (@nenshi) April 15, 2015
Mayor Nenshi also encouraged people to support local establishments by heading out to watch the games.
“Let’s watch the game in our neighbourhoods, so supporting your local establishments in your neighbourhoods,” he told reporters Wednesday.
“Or invite friends over when the weather gets nicer, haul the TV out onto the lawn and have a block party. Or take a tray of your famous nachos over to a local seniors’ residence and watch with them, or invite your Boy Scout and Girl Guide troops over to the church basement to watch, and create community opportunities and family opportunities to watch the games.”
Mayor Robertson has yet to respond to the playoff bet on social media, but his office confirmed the wager.
READ MORE: Canucks-Flames playoff schedule announced
The mayors are not the only ones waging a playoffs battle.
Global’s Morning Show teams in Vancouver and Calgary also squared off this morning.
The bet:
If the Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks, Vancouver Morning Show hosts Sophie Lui and Steve Darling have to ride a mechanical bull while wearing a Flames jersey.
If the Vancouver Canucks beat the Calgary Flames, Calgary hosts Amber Schinkel and Scott Fee have to do hot yoga while wearing a Canucks jersey.
WATCH: Global BC Morning News co-hosts Sophie Lui and Steve Darling join Amber Schinkel and Scott Fee live from Vancouver to make a friendly wager on the Flames vs. Canucks playoff series.
Meanwhile, the leaders of B.C. and Alberta have also gotten into the act.
B.C. Premier Christy Clark says she has set aside a case of craft beer for Alberta Premier Jim Prentice — on the off chance that the Canucks lose to Calgary.
Prentice hasn’t yet said what he would offer if the Canucks douse the flames.
With files from Erika Tucker and The Canadian PressWith approvals from authorities in the U.S. and Europe, Valneva is set to advance its Lyme disease vaccine candidate into clinical testing on both sides of the Atlantic. It's the only candidate against the disease in development, but the U.S. government has specifically pledged to tackle it as expressed in the recently passed 21st Century Cures Act.
The vaccine, dubbed VLA15, targets the Outer Surface Protein A, one of the most dominant proteins expressed by the bacteria in a tick. Preclinical studies on mice showed that the vaccine can provide protection against the majority of Borrelia species.
Lyme disease is caused by the Borrelia bacteria usually transmitted to humans through the bite of ticks. Its early symptoms after infection include a neither itchy nor painful skin rash called erythema migrans, fever and headache, which if left untreated, could evolve into infections in joints, the heart and the nervous system.
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The first and only licensed vaccine used three doses to fight Lyme disease and was made by what’s now GlaxoSmithKline. Even though it showed about 80% effectiveness, LYMErix, licensed in 1998, was voluntarily withdrawn from the market by 2002 because of safety concerns over its possible relationship to autoimmune arthritis. The company also chose to settle a class action lawsuit even though no study has ever corroborated the hypothesis.
VAL15 uses the same basic idea as LYMErix, but is trying to tackle bacteria species not just found in the U.S. but also in Europe, which LYMErix failed to cover. The phase 1 trials will be carried out on 180 individuals at two sites in the U.S. and Belgium.
Another Lyme candidate developed by Pasteur Mérieux Connaught never sought licensure even though phase 3 data were positive. A small market size was cited as a reason to abandon the project.
However, Lyme disease has gained pace in the U.S. and Europe in recent years. In 2009, the CDC listed the disease among the top 10 notifiable conditions in the U.S., together with other vaccine-preventable diseases like varicella and pertussis. That year, Lyme disease reached a peak of 29,959 cases as reported by the CDC. In 2015, 28,453 cases were confirmed.
Based in France, Valneva also has Dukoral, a cholera vaccine acquired in 2015 from Crucell Holland, part of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen, and a Japanese encephalitis vaccine marketed under the trade names Ixiaro and Jespect. Also in its pipeline is a Zika vaccine candidate generated on the Ixiaro platform; the company is seeking a partner to advance the candidate into clinical trials after receiving positive feedback from the European Medicines Agency.Mind you, this is not a big deal, but it's still funny (if L'Equipe's reporting is to be believed):
Jose #Mourinho called his friend Luis Campos for #Djilobodji : "I don't know him... Tell me who he is and what he does." #CFC — Francois Piraux (@F8Piraux) August 31, 2015
As Jose Mourinho, Chelsea fans, and the rest of the footballing world play catch-up with the Chelsea scouting team, let's see what we can learn about 26-year-old Papy Djilobodji.
Born in Senegal, "Djilo" (presuming that's a valid nickname based on his Instagram account) has spent most of his career with FC Nantes, first in Ligue 2 and then, over the last couple seasons, in Ligue 1. He's amassed almost 200 appearances since signing with the club as a 21-year-old in 2009. He's quite obviously tall and strong, fairly quick with a powerful shot. He's popular, as evidenced by the soundtrack that was blasting throughout WAGNH Towers on Transfer Deadline Day. (That song is also helpful if you're at all confused about how to pronounce his name.)
But what about the stuff that really matters? There's a distinct lack of English language coverage about the center back, which is hardly surprising given that he didn't play for one of the big boys of French football. To wit, we have a grand total of 5 pictures in our Getty Images database to use; I think the last time we had a similar dilemma was with Eden Hazard. Though fortunately, the Djilobodji transfer story was over almost before it even began, unlike Hazard's multi-month trolling of Europe's emotions. But I digress.
Here are a few telling passages I've gathered from various corners of the Internet about the center-back who once fancied himself as a defensive midfielder. (That sound you just heard was Mourinho's heartbeat quickening for a minute.) Some old, some new, all more reliable probably than YouTube highlights.
...one of the best Ligue 1 central defenders in 2014... [able to] quickly weigh-up the risk and reward each time he either makes an interception or chooses to merely track his man... In 2014, Djilobodji has proved that he has become a far less reckless defender, most likely due to the increased experience that he has accumulated over the course of Nantes' ascension to Ligue 1 fame. [...] While Nantes are a seemingly ever-improving outfit, their midfield is oftentimes overrun and thus Djilobodji has to pick up the odd tactical yellow card here and there, with five cautions already in the first half of the 2014/15 campaign... -source: GFFN Top 100 of 2014 (#18)
Having to deal with an overrun midfield? He'll fit right in!
...wonderful consistency... no stranger to the tackle... particularly strong in the air... physically imposing and one of the improvements that he has made in the last eighteen |
that provides high-speed options for engaging time-sensitive targets."
"The Air Force is developing technologies for a high speed strike weapon to enable a responsive, long-range strike capability," said Capt. Michael Hertzog, the spokesman.
"These weapons can be employed from fighters and bombers and fly at hypersonic speeds to their intended target on the ground."
The Air Force is developing what it calls a high-speed strike weapon that will travel at hypersonic speeds. The technology involved in the program includes work on explosives with increased effectiveness in the high temperatures produce by hypersonic speed. Other technology involves smaller warheads, advanced materials for lower weight and cost, precision navigation and control, and solid rocket motor technologies to boost performance for air-launched missiles.
The experts on the Air Force study panel included missile specialists from Raytheon, Lockheed, and Boeing, several former Pentagon weapons developers, and Adm. Richard Mies, former commander of the U.S. Strategic Command.Brazil's suspended President Dilma Rousseff has announced through an aide she will not attend the torch ceremony opening the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Tuesday's announcement came a day after Rousseff said in an interview she would not play second fiddle to Michel Temer, the interim president.
Rousseff, who is facing an impeachment trial that could confirm Temer as her successor one month from now, was invited to attend the ceremony in Rio's Maracana stadium, where Temer will declare the Games open on August 5.
"She is not going," the Rousseff aide told Reuters news agency.
Rousseff said in an interview with Radio France Internationale broadcast on Monday that she did not intend to take part in the Olympics in a "secondary position".
A spokesperson for Temer, Rousseff's former vice president who is now running Brazil, said she was welcome to attend the launch of the Games, but not at Temer's side in the VIP balcony.
"She will be in the stands below him," Marcio de Freitas, the spokesperson, said in a message to Reuters.
The presence of both leaders at the ceremony would have been awkward for foreign dignitaries, diplomats said.
Rousseff believes that, impeachment or no impeachment, she deserved to be there.
She told RFI that her government and that of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, her mentor and Workers Party leader, had done most of the work to win the Olympics for Rio de Janeiro and build the infrastructure for the global sports event.
The faulty, unfinished apartments for athletes at the Olympic village were the responsibility of the Rio city government and private builders it contracted, not the federal government, she said in the interview.
Polls of senators show that Brazil's first female president will be convicted of breaking budget laws and definitively removed from office at the end of August, confirming Temer as president for the remainder of her term through 2018.
Rousseff's opponents blame her for leading Brazil into its worst recession since the 1930s and benefiting from the country's biggest-ever corruption scandal at oil company Petrobras.Drake performs at American Airlines Arena in Miami. (Photo11: Ron Elkman, Ron Elkman/USA TODAY Sports)
Phoenix Police recovered $3 million in jewelry that was stolen Tuesday in the city from a tour bus used by Drake and Future.
Police said they tracked down the suspect, Travion Lamar King, 21, to a Maricopa County jail, where he was booked early Wednesday on suspicion of criminal trespassing after Arizona State University police found him on the school's Tempe campus.
Surveillance video helped police identify King as a suspect in the tour-bus burglary. Sgt. Vince Lewis, a Phoenix police spokesman, said King was recognizable because of his previous contract work with local concert venues.
A briefcase containing the jewelry was stolen from a Drake and Future tour bus sometime between 10 and 10:15 p.m. Tuesday. It happened during the concert at Talking Stick Resort Arena in downtown Phoenix.
This Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016, photo released by Maricopa County (Ariz.) Sheriff's Office show suspect Travion King. King, 21, was arrested Wednesday in connection with a theft of $3 million worth of jewelry that was taken from a tour bus being used by the rapper Drake and DJ Future the Prince while they were performing Tuesday. (Photo11: Uncredited, AP)
Police would not say to whom the jewelry belonged, but Lewis confirmed it did not belong to Drake. He said in a statement Wednesday evening that the "property has been recovered as well and officers will be working with the victim to account for the items reported stolen."
Representatives for Drake did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday and a representative for Future the Prince declined to comment on the theft case, the Associated Press reported.
Lewis said King was being re-booked into jail in connection with the burglary.
Drake's Summer Sixteen Tour was expected to resume Wednesday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2c8ZbjhWhite House counselor Kellyanne Conway broke up a fight between two tuxedo-clad men and threw some “mean punches” herself at an inaugural ball Friday evening in Washington, D.C., according to senior Fox Business correspondent Charlie Gasparino.
Mr. Gasparino wrote on Facebook Monday about the alleged encounter at the invite-only Liberty Ball, which took place just hours after President Trump was sworn in.
“[I]nside the ball we see a fight between two guys in tuxes and then suddenly out of nowhere came [T]rump adviser Kellyanne Conway who began throwing some mean punches at one of the guys,” Mr. Gasparino wrote. “Whole thing lasted a few mins no one was hurt except maybe the dude she smacked. Now I know why [T]rump hired her.
“Btw I exaggerate none of this,” he added.
Another ball attendee told the New York Daily News that Mrs. Conway, who serves as President Trump’s senior counselor, stepped between the two men after they started fighting. Mrs. Conway punched one of the men in the face with closed fists at least three times before they finally separated, the attendee alleged.
Mr. Gasparino said that wasn’t the only trouble he ran into at the ball. He said he and actor Scott Baio were accosted outside the event by “a bunch of anarchist thugs” who asked Mr. Baio if he was a “fascist.”
“One made an aggressive move toward us i shoved him away and he said ‘touch me again u little pr—k and I’ll smack u’ my response: ‘GFY asshole’ that’s when my producer Brian Schwartz intervened and crisis was averted,” Mr. Gasparino wrote.
Mrs. Conway, who previously served as Mr. Trump’s campaign manager, has yet to comment on the claim.
She revealed Monday that she has been assigned Secret Service protection after receiving mail containing a suspicious white powder.
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.Update to DreamLeague season 8 format
Yesterday, DreamHack released information about DreamLeague season 8, and due to miscommunication and misinterpretation this format had mistakes in it. We have now done some changes to the format and we hope they will be better received by the community.
With the information released yesterday we announced the biggest change to DreamLeague yet – being the expansion to a Dota 2 Major competition including a new format. The introduction of the new Major and Minor system means a lot for the Dota 2 ecosystem, which DreamHack is excited for, but it does present challenges. There was a misinterpretation of the regional requirements set out by the Majors circuit.
We’d like to thank the community for their enthusiasm and commitment, and to emphasize that our primary goal is to host the best possible Dota 2 tournaments for both the audience and players.
Below is the updated format which will include all regions having representation to the LAN, as well as we have found some key questions, which we have tried to answer below. We will do our best to respond to additional questions on reddit, social media and other community platforms.
Format Summary
Finals Format
The Top 8 teams from online play will advance to the live finals at DreamHack Winter 2017.
The final format is TBD, we are currently looking at double elimination BO3 – we are open to feedback from the community on the format they would like to see.
NA, SA, CN, SEA Format
These regions will all have the same format, which will be repeated 4 times:
3 invited teams
1 team from open qualifier
4 teams compete in double elimination BO3, winner advance to DreamHack Winter
The open qualifier will be single elimination BO1, until the RO16 in which its best of 3
EU and CIS Format
These regions will compete together.
3 invited teams from EU
3 invited teams from CIS
1 team from CIS open qualifier
1 team from EU open qualifier
8 teams compete in round robin BO2, the top 4 teams will advance to DreamHack Winter, however they cannot all be from the same region – if all 4 is from the same region, then the 4th ranking team from that region will not earn a finals slot and it will be awarded to the top team from the other region.
The open qualifier will be single elimination BO1, until the RO16 in which its best of 3.
FAQ
Why is EU and CIS different from the other regions?
DreamLeague has been founded as a league, and we are very keen to continue to offer Dota 2 fans regular content throughout the week, and not only focus on the finals, therefore we have looked to maintain a round robin component to this, with a fair balance to all regions. We also believe that DreamHack is primarily based in Europe, so to cater more heavily to EU and CIS makes sense, while Chinese and American operators will cater more to those regions.
How are both EU and CIS guaranteed slots to the LAN?
The round robin league structure will work by awarding 4 slots to the LAN, in which 1 slot must go to both regions, so it’s impossible for all 4 slots to go one region. For a few quick examples, if the round robin ends with the top 4 teams all being from EU, the 4th place EU team would not earn a LAN slot, and it would go to the top placing CIS team. The same case would apply in vice versa, and in any other situation the top 4 teams will advance to the LAN.
Why don’t you just do the same format for all regions?
As previously said, we want to maintain DreamLeague’s identity as a league, and also focus on the EU / CIS regions, therefore we have opted for a slightly different structure for EU and CIS, while adding support for all other regions.
Why is it not 10+ teams?
As DreamLeague S08 has been planned on an annual basis, we originally planned for the same format as S07, that meant 4 teams to the finals. As DreamHack Winter the location for the finals is a 3 day event, we are able to expand up to 8 teams, but expanding beyond this is not possible with limited planning time. Looking towards 2018 we have aims to host the LAN event with 10 teams or more.
Why is it only one spot for my region?
As we are limited to 8 teams in the finals, we believe this is the best format to plan for the event.
Why are no teams invited to the LAN?
We want to stimulate competition and as such we don’t want any teams a direct invite to the LAN, this may change in the future.
Why do SA, NA, SEA and CN all have equal representation?
As part of the major system, all regions are to be represented and so that is how we operate. With only 8 slots to the LAN, it’s not possible to offer stronger regions more slots – in the future we may look to change this.
Does DreamLeague still award prize money for every league match win?
This component has been removed to line up with the requirements set out by Valve.
Why did you not apologize to CIS?
It was not our intention to single out any region – but the error was greater towards South America since ping difference is not really a question between EU and CIS. But in general, our apologies goes out to the entire Dota community for our mistakes.
Watch DreamLeague live!
DreamLeague is looking out to be our greatest event to date. Don’t miss out on the fun – bring your friends or meet new ones and get the games going! Everybody knows that the best way to make memes and watch esports is live! The only thing you need a DreamHack Winter ticket, and you can find them all here!
Stay Tuned
To keep track on everything related to DreamLeague, follow Social Media:
Facebook: DreamHackDota
Twitter: DreamHackDotaSamsung’s Galaxy Tab S is the company’s best tablet family yet, especially considering the stunning 2K AMOLED displays Galaxy Tab S models pack. But the Galaxy Tab S tablets are still made of plastic, which, while good enough for Samsung, may not be as great for some users because plastic appears to be significantly affected by dissipated heat in some cases. Russian publication hi-tech.mail.ru has posted a gallery of images showing the 8.4-inch version of the tablet and its heat-damaged rear plastic shell.
Apparently, overheating occurs especially while graphics-intensive apps, such as games, are in use, and the fact that the tablet is extremely thin (measuring 6.6mm) may not help either when it comes to heat dissipation.
It’s not clear whether the issue affects multiple tablet versions, but the user who noticed extreme heat and “dimples deformation” on the plastic back was an Exynos 5 Octa model.
Samsung told the publication it’s currently looking into the matter, adding that the faulty tablet can be replaced at one of Samsung’s service centers, without revealing whether other users have returned similarly damaged Galaxy Tab S units. Whether heat was indeed responsible for plastic deformation or not, it’s still something premium tablet buyers should not have to worry about.
Despite facing heavy criticism for its persistence with plastic designs for mobile devices, Samsung is still in denial about its plastic problem (regardless of any overheating issues), trying to convince buyers that plastic is the better choice – at least when it comes to the Galaxy S5’s build choice.
Images showing the damaged plastic back on the Galaxy Tab S follow below, with more available at the source link.The entire Fort Lauderdale Police Department should undergo extra training on how to properly treat transgender people, a city panel has decided.
The suggestion came Monday during a Citizens Police Review Board hearing for a police officer who categorized a transgender woman as male on a citation.
The board, which serves as a watchdog group over police, also decided the officer should receive a written reprimand for the incident.
“I think it’s fair,” said board member Marc Dickerson. “It’s a matter of training and the officers need training.”
Officer James Brinton faced a complaint from Shelby Kendall after he pulled her over in January for reckless driving in a Camaro. Despite Kendall’s driver’s license saying she is female, Brinton changed the traffic citation to list her as male.
Brinton said he thought the information on the driver’s license was a mistake.
The additional training could mean officers are required to watch a 13-minute video from the U.S. Department of Justice and then signing a document acknowledging that they saw the video. Dickerson said it could take a few weeks to get the entire Fort Lauderdale police force to see the video.
But before then, the department has to agree to the training and the city manager’s office still has to sign off on issuing a letter of reprimand to Brinton for the incident.
Kendall, a real estate agent from Fort Lauderdale, said she “couldn’t have asked for more.”
“I just think the city is showing they’re willing to help others and make everyone feel welcome,” Kendall said, adding that she had no “hard feelings” toward Brinton.
Staff writer Andy Reid contributed to this story.
achokey@sun-sentinel.com, 561-243-6531, Twitter: @aric_chokey
Visit our Boca Raton community page at facebook.com/SunSentinelBocaRaton.OTTAWA—At least two more key Conservatives got gold-embossed business cards, contrary to long-standing government rules against fancy stationery. Tony Clement was given his gold cards shortly after being promoted to Treasury Board president in the May 2011 cabinet shuffle, following the election of a Conservative majority.
Tony Clement’s department, the Treasury Board, sets out the rules for all ministers’ stationery, which specify that Canada’s coat of arms on business cards must be in black. ( Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS )
Laurie Hawn, an Edmonton MP appointed temporarily to a cabinet committee looking at cost-cutting, got his own set of gold-embossed cards at the same time. The Canadian coat of arms on both sets of cards was highlighted in gold foil. They join John Baird, whose staff demanded the new foreign affairs minister receive a set of forbidden English-only cards that also violated the rules in several other ways, including having a gold-coloured coat of arms. Baird’s unilingual gold cards were first reported by The Canadian Press, which also obtained documents on business cards for Clement and Hawn, after a request under the Access to Information Act.
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Spokespersons for Clement and Hawn say the gold cards were “ordered in error” and both men wrote personal cheques to reimburse taxpayers after the mistake was discovered. But neither spokesperson answered repeated requests about when the “error” was discovered, the dates of the personal cheques, and the amounts of the reimbursement, among other questions. “The cards were ordered in error by a former staff member,” Clement spokeswoman Heather Domereckyj said in an email. “The minister was unaware of this decision. Once the additional costs were brought to the minister’s attention, he immediately wrote a personal cheque to cover the cost.” Hawn’s special assistant, Jordan Fraser, said: “Mr. Hawn was not aware of the error. Once he became aware of the error, he reimbursed the cost.”
Clement’s department, the Treasury Board, sets out the rules for all ministers’ stationery, which specify that Canada’s coat of arms on business cards must be in black. The only colour permitted is the red of a small Canadian flag above the Canada wordmark. The rules date from 1994, when the Liberal government of Jean Chrétien was starting to impose deficit-cutting austerity in the same way the current Conservative government is slashing jobs and programs to balance the books by 2015.
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Baird has never acknowledged any “error” for his unilingual, gold-embossed cards, raising questions about a double standard, since a fellow minister felt compelled to write a personal cheque to ensure government-wide rules — and taxpayers — were respected. Baird has even joked about the issue in the House of Commons. He defends his unilingual cards by saying he also ordered a second set of bilingual cards that were always available for distribution. Canada’s official languages commissioner, Graham Fraser, issued a report in August slamming Baird for ignoring language policies. He demanded that the English-only cards be dumped. A 2011 invoice for the bilingual Clement-Hawn cards refers to “gold foil business cards” for $715 plus 13 per cent HST, with the quantities blacked out. They were ordered by Mathew Nepssy, Clement’s office manager. Nepssy ordered a second set of gold-foil cards in 2012 for the minister and Hawn at what appears to be the same price as for the 2011 order. Hawn’s cards were current only until Sept. 12, 2012, when he was no longer a member of the Treasury Board committee identified on the gold business card.Arsenal’s week has been a long way off what was expected. After a display of fantastic, free-flowing football against Burnley last Saturday in a 3-0 win, with talisman Alexis Sanchez scoring two and putting in an outstanding display, a Champions League home game against Anderlecht and a visit to the Liberty Stadium looked to be a great opportunity to win two games in quick succession before the international break.
However, as all Premier League followers are well aware, the Gunners could only muster one point from the two games, despite having been 3-0 and 1-0 up in each game with around 30 minutes to play. Twitter exploded after both results, with an alarming number of fans calling for manager Arsene Wenger’s head. Whilst it is easy to blame the manager for the tactical ineptitude shown by the side’s collapses, there is no way that the club’s board would sack him half-way through a season, especially with Wenger having recently signed a new contract.
Instead, Wenger should look at a few basic things his side are doing wrong, and address them before the visit of Manchester United on November 22nd. After all, the Frenchman is no mug, and knows that his side have issues, having said after the Swansea game:
“It’s disappointing to throw a game away like we did. We were 1-0 up and had to be tight defensively and wait for that second chance. We eased off at 1-0 and let them back into the game. Football is down to performances. We are here to produce performances, and didn’t do that right until the end of the game.”
Jefferson Montero played on the left-hand side for Swansea, and was up against Calum Chambers, Arsenal’s utility man at the back. It is well-known that Montero is a speed merchant, and, although his final ball was lacking for large proportions of Sunday’s game, he put in a man-of-the-match display, and set up Bafetimbi Gomis’ winner. Chambers was part of a largely makeshift Arsenal back four; although it has started the last three games together, it is obvious to even the most oblivious onlooker than Nacho Monreal is not a centre-back, and Chambers’ lack of pace was exposed ruthlessly by Montero.
A bright start to his Arsenal career at centre-back saw Chambers win the club’s player of the month award for August, but since moving to right-back to accommodate the injury to Mathieu Debuchy, he has struggled at times, especially defensively, and has already picked up six bookings, despite not accumulating a single one in 22 Southampton appearances. Against the Swans, as can be seen from his heat map below, Chambers got forward almost too often, and Montero ruthlessly exposed his poor positional play. A better player would have created more chances than Montero’s two, and Arsenal must find a solution to this problem before playing Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund at the end of the month, who have Angel di Maria and Marco Reus on the left flank.
A possible solution to this would be to play Hector Bellerin. The 19-year-old did not look out of place on either of his first-team starts, against Dortmund and Hull, and is well-known for his pace; in pre-season training, the Spaniard beat Theo Walcott’s club-record time for the 40-metre sprint. However, the man who really deserves a run in the side is Carl Jenkinson, who was shipped out on loan to West Ham at the start of the season, where he has thrived.
Despite not slotting straight into the first team, Jenkinson has been on fine form in a Hammers shirt since his departure, and was the fans’ man-of-the-match in their shock 2-1 win against Manchester City at Upton Park. As there is no loan fee between the clubs, Arsenal have the option to recall the 22-year-old at any time, and a shock return to the Emirates over the international break should not be ruled out. This would allow Chambers to return to the heart of the defence, where he has thrived, and mean that Monreal would drop out of the side onto the bench.
The other issue that Wenger has overseen is the ineffectual substitutions he has made. Against Anderlecht, he brought on two senior attackers in Lukas Podolski and Tomas Rosicky in the closing stages with a one-goal lead, and in the Swansea game, the Frenchman left it too late before bringing on Jack Wilshere, after the hosts had scored their second goal and eventual winner.
In Premier League games last season, Wenger’s typical substitution when protecting a lead was to take off his left-sided attacking player, often Santi Cazorla or Podolski, with around fifteen minutes remaining, and bring on his second-choice full-back, one of Monreal or Kieran Gibbs. This move helped to strengthen the defence, and often gave assistance to a tiring attack.
However, this year, Wenger has been reluctant to do so, mainly because by playing Monreal and Gibbs in the starting defence, he has no full-backs to bring on other than Bellerin. Even if the Frenchman does not change his first-choice defence any time soon, he must at least think about bringing on a full-back again; Bellerin has the pace and energy to take advantage of tiring wingers and full-backs in attack, and would also help to shield Chambers in the right-back area.
Furthermore, by refusing to bring on a holding player for an attacker, there is a change in personnel in a key defensive area late in the game; for example, even though it was injury-enforced, Flamini replacing Mikel Arteta was a poor substitution in the Anderlecht draw. Wenger must bring on one of his players such as Jack Wilshere, Arteta or Flamini – whichever he leaves out of his starting XI – on for a more attack-minded player if his side holds the lead in one of the upcoming fixtures, as otherwise, they risk throwing away yet another lead.
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Feel free to discuss this and other footy related articles with thousands at r/football.Storylines have driven the inaugural season of the expansion franchise New York City Football Club. On the field, the birth of a rivalry with fellow New York club the Red Bulls has arisen, while off the field, they’ve headlined the Major League Soccer summer transfer window with the arrival of Frank Lampard, one of the best midfielders of the past decade and highly-regarded throughout the world.
Another high-profile signing recently occurred, however, that has NYCFC fans abuzz. Andrea Pirlo, the Italian star who recently signed on as a free transfer, brings more than just his football talents to New York; he brings one of the top personalities in the game today. Over the past 18 years, Pirlo has played for Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus, and his involvement with three of the most storied clubs in Italy has seen him win almost every high-profile tournament world football has to offer.
His arrival has brought a spike in demand for NYCFC tickets. Up next for NYCFC will be a home match against expansion club Orlando City SC. NYCFC tickets on Ticketmaster.com currently start at $25 with the get-in price on the secondary market at $40, so it’s $15 cheaper going directly through the box office. Lampard is currently dealing with a calf strain so it’s possible he may have to miss the match, but if Pirlo can get some time in with his new team and has a clean bill of health, he could make his debut. If that’s the case, expect ticket prices to increase on the secondary market.
The 36-year-old Italian comes to NYCFC a seasoned veteran of the highest level. In this stage of his career, he most likely will be deployed in a deeper-lying midfield role. However, this by no means rules out the potential of seeing him in a more-advanced role, in support of iconic forward David Villa. The arsenal of weapons he brings, such as his mastery on set-pieces, will be relished by NYC alongside his superior technical skill and creativity.
His new club currently sits three points out of the final playoff spot, currently held by Orlando City. His arrival could not be timelier as they prepare for what will be an equally-as-important debut of Lampard. This duo is the realization of what was once just a dream for the fans of NYCFC. United States international Mix Diskerud will also join them in them in a midfield that has the potential to materialize into one of the strongest in all of Major League Soccer.
Pirlo spent the majority of his time in the Serie A at AC Milan, with his accolades including winning two Serie A and two UEFA Champions League titles. The versatile midfielder made 401 appearances and tallied 78 in Champions League play, scoring 41 and 7 goals, respectively.
After a 10-year stay at AC Milan, he moved to fellow top Italian club Juventus. At the Turin-based club, he contributed 38 goals over the course of 164 matches. This total topped his 37 recorded with Milan and earned him a spot in the Serie A Team of the Season for his first three seasons at Juventus, spanning from 2011-14.
The time spent with the Italian national team mirrors his domestic success. A career beginning in 2002, the suave central midfielder has been featured in three consecutive World Cups. The crowning jewel was being a central piece of the team’s 2006 World Cup victory, when he was also named to the 2006 World Cup Team of the Tournament.DeJon Gomes and Markus White (Sarah Kogod)
RGIII tweeted that he was with teammates Adam Gettis and Jordan Bernstine, and people in the airport didn’t know which one of the three was the Redskins new quarterback. DeJon Gomes also has had a few cases of mistaken identity.
“The first time [I got mistaken for RGIII], I did a signing party at the stadium on the last day of the draft,” Gomes said. “It felt kinda weird because they were calling me his name, and I don’t know how to respond. Today, someone thought he was here in the flesh. Unfortunately, it was me. They were saying stuff about the draft and about being excited I’m here. I just smiled and laughed.”
Never mind that they look nothing alike.
Markus White, who was with Gomes, said that while he has never been mistaken for RGIII, he does get called by a certain ex-Redskin’s name.
“I get called LaRon Landry all the time. I got called LaRon yesterday,” he said, shaking his head. “They think he’s bigger than he really is. I said, ‘He plays for the Jets. I go by Markus.’”
Markus admitted that sometimes fans just assume that because of his size, he’s a football player.
“I went to get something to eat for Cinco de Mayo, and someone says ‘Hey, LaRon!’ I said ‘I’m not him; he plays for the Jets,’” Markus said. “They were like, ‘Well who do you play for?’ I didn’t want to tell them, but I said I play for the Redskins. Then they were all, ‘Who are you?’ and then they asked me to sign something.”
As for Gomes, he hasn’t been asked to sign any RGIII stuff, and he’s really hoping it doesn’t come to that. If it happens, though, he has a plan.
“I can’t forge his signature,” Gomes said. “So I’ll just sign my name, flip over the memorabilia and try to walk off pretty fast before they realize.”Former Peruvian Minister Charged With the Killing of a Journalist in 1988
March 2, 2015 By Staff
Top Story — A former minister on track to run for president in Peru has been charged with the murder of a journalist 26 years ago during the country’s internal conflict, according to prosecutor Luis Landa.
Daniel Urresti, a retired general, has been charged with the murder of Hugo Bustios, a correspondent based on the town of Huanta — at the time a major conflict zone in a dirty war between the government and leftist Shining Path rebels. Bustios was probing the human rights abuses perpetrated by both sides of the conflict when he was shot and then targeted with a grenade explosion — the latter killing him — in November 1988. At the time, Urresti operated locally as an army intelligence chief.
Urresti was the minister of the interior under President Ollanta Humala until last month, when he stepped down after a clash between protesters and police left one dead in the Peruvian Amazon.
Two people have already been convicted over their involvement in Bustios’ murder. Both are former soldiers and are serving 15 years for the crime. One of the convicted murderers pointed the finger at Urresti, accusing him of participating in the killing of the journalist.
Urresti has protested the charge on Twitter, calling it politically motivated and asserting his innocence. Humala also insinuated that the charges were politically motivated.
Just Published at the Latin America News Dispatch
Fulbright scholar David Adler, reporting for the Latin America News Dispatch from Mexico City, examines the struggle over the future of affordable housing, centered around efforts to reform the controversial Norma 26, which activists say has been abused by real estate developers seeking windfall profits at the expense of the sprawling capital’s poorest. A major demonstration is planned for March 4, when activists are also due to submit a proposal for an alternative to the policy.
Headlines from the Western Hemisphere
North America
Servando “La Tuta” Gomez, one of Mexico’s most wanted drug lords and leader of the Knights Templar cartel, was arrested in Michoacán state on Friday in a move praised by President Enrique Peña Nieto on his Twitter account, but that experts say will matter little in the broader fight against drug gangs in Mexico.
Former U.S. President George W. Bush and former vice-president Dick Cheney are among the U.S. officials banned from entering Venezuela by President Nicolás Maduro in a series of measures laid out Saturday night, which also included limiting the size of the U.S. embassy in Caracas.
Maduro’s move comes mere hours after the release of four U.S. missionaries in Venezuela, who had been detained by Venezuelan authorities since Wednesday.
The municipal ID program launched in New York, aimed at providing those who lack government-issued identification including some 500,000 immigrants, has proven to be more popular than officials anticipated, with New York residents making over 260,000 appointments in the first month since the ID became available.
Caribbean
Both U.S. and Cuban diplomats say further progress was made as talks to restore diplomatic relations between the two countries continued Friday in Washington, though the issue of opening embassies still remains unresolved.
Meanwhile, officials in the Major League Baseball Association suggested Cuba might soon become a new destination for spring training after the concept was considered but ultimately turned down for this year.
Dominican President Danilo Medina defended his country’s internationally criticized citizenship and immigration laws on Friday, saying that no international organization or foreign country has the right to demand the Dominican Republic “make sacrifices to its migratory system,” in a speech that marked the Dominican Republic’s independence from Haiti.
Central America
A U.S. Department of Labor report released Friday detailed alleged inadequacies of Honduras’ government in enforcing its labor code, noting that the practice of illegal child labor is widespread.
The Presidents of Guatemala and Honduras signed a customs union agreement that makers the first step of a regional development plan that aims to improve economic opportunities in the country and curb immigration to the United States.
Elections were held in El Salvador for new legislators and local officials Sunday, in the first election where voters are able to select candidates from any party rather than be forced to vote for a single party with a set list of candidates, a change that could result in delayed results.
Andes
A top intelligence official and the chief of staff under Former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe have both been convicted of spying on political opponents in 2007 and 2008, a practice Uribe says he was unaware of.
As preliminary peace talks with the government are ongoing, Colombia’s ELN guerrillas have released a mayor they kidnapped in December, a decision a military source says the group made on its own, without any pressure from the government.
Southern Cone
Image: YouTube, screenshot
Subscribe to Today in Latin America by EmailThe rugged Icelandic ponies are not used to being indoors Farmers in southern Iceland have been racing to protect their animals from being poisoned by volcanic dust. The animals are at risk of fluoride poisoning if they inhale or ingest the ash, leading to internal bleeding, long-term bone damage and teeth loss. Sheep, cattle and horses were rushed to shelter after they got lost in a fog of ash in areas near an erupting volcano. Areas south of the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano have been caked in a layer of grey ash some 10cm (four inches) thick. Ponds have turned into pools of cement-like mud and geese have had trouble flying because their wings are heavy with ash, media reports say. 'Contaminated earth' On Sunday, farmers banded together to drive around searching for hundreds of shaggy Icelandic horses, who panicked and got lost in a downpour of ash that turned day into night. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. "The risk is of fluoride poisoning if they breathe or eat too much," Berglind Hilmarsdottir, a dairy farmer from Nupur, told the AP news agency through a protective white dust mask. The fluoride in the ash creates acid in the animals' stomachs, corroding the intestines and causing haemorrhages. It also binds with calcium in the blood stream and after heavy exposure over a period of days makes bones frail, even causing teeth to crumble. "The best we can do is put them in the barn, block all the windows, and bring them clean food and water as long as the earth is contaminated," Ms Hilmarsdottir said. Berglind Hilmarsdottir protects herself as she searches for her cattle
Sveinn Steinarsson, of Iceland's Horse Breeding Association, warned that Iceland's famously resilient ponies would be in danger if the ash contamination continued. "In areas where there's ash fall and horses are outside, the conditions are terrible," Mr Steinarsson told the French news agency, AFP. "They can't survive in this if it carries on too long. The horses have to be fed with hay and have access to running water to avoid them consuming a lot of ash." Conditions on the ground immediately downstream of the volcano remained extremely difficult on Monday, said the BBC's Lorna Gordon in Iceland, and visibility was down to just a few metres. Teams from the country's civil defence department have been visiting the farmers to offer support and advice using specially modified vehicles and armoured personnel carriers, our correspondent said.
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Despite all of the reports about record-high gas and oil prices, we're still nowhere close to record high gas prices adjusted for the growth in per- capita, disposable income.
The chart above shows the cost of 1,000 gallons of gasoline, as a percent of per- capita disposable income in every month from January 1980 to May 2008. During most of 1980 and 1981, it took between 13.50% and 15% of per- capita disposable income ($8,5000 to $10,000 in that period) to purchase 1,000 gallons of gasoline ($1.25 to $1.40 retail price per gallon in that period), which was far greater than the 10.26% that it takes of today's per- capita disposable income of about $37,000 to purchase 1,000 gallons of gas at the May average of $3.76 per gallon.A local video game developing company is moving its operations from south Edmonton to downtown.
BioWare is moving its local offices to the EPCOR Tower.
“EA and BioWare are committed to providing world-class facilities for our employees, and this move will allow us to deliver on that promise,” BioWare’s general manager Casey Hudson said.
“We’re thrilled to be moving into a modern, state-of-the-art facility and live in a space that empowers and inspires us to do our best work every day.”
READ MORE: Edmonton-based BioWare wins Game of the Year award
The company said the building reflected its own interest in sustainability and the environment.
The EPCOR Tower was built in 2011 and has a LEED® Gold Certification and BOMA BEST Gold Mangement.
“We are excited and proud that this iconic local company has chose EPCOR Tower as its home,” Sidney Waskiewich, Qualico Commercial vice president of leasing, said. “BioWare’s tenancy continues our history of supporting Edmonton created businesses.”
BioWare was started in 1995. The company released its first game in 1996 and went on to release six more games over its first decade, including Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire.
READ MORE: Edmonton video game maker BioWare releases ‘Mass Effect: Andromeda’
The studio has gone on to release games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age. It won Game of the Year in 2014 at the Game Awards for Dragon Age: Inquisition.
“BioWare’s announcement to come downtown is a great addition to our innovation corridor,” Mayor Don Iveson said. “Their expansion speaks to Edmonton’s supportive entrepreneurial culture, one where we build it here and expand it to the world.”
BioWare is scheduled to make the move to the EPCOR Tower in late 2018 or early 2019.Welcome back to the 2015-16 Grantland NBA League Pass Rankings. For Part 1 and all the rules, CLICK HERE. Now, back to the rankings:
15. BOSTON CELTICS (33)
The Celtics are like an Oscar-bait indie starring Liev Schreiber: perfect execution, nice settings, maybe some cool clothes, but not the kind of thing you crave when you just want to turn your brain off.
Purists will adore the side-to-side ball movement, dribble handoffs, Kelly Olynyk’s pump-and-go, Amir Johnson sliding a half-step at just the right time to block a driving lane, bulldog defense from Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley, and so much more. But no one has ever said, “You have to change the channel to see how Jae Crowder is driving against closeouts tonight!”
Isaiah Thomas is a League Pass star, all hesitation dribbles and brute-force finishes, but he doesn’t start, and it just feels like we’re going to see too much David Lee and Evan Turner for Boston to reach peak entertainment value. Boston needs their passing, since the perimeter trio of Smart, Bradley, and Crowder doesn’t have quite enough off-the-bounce juice to puncture tough defenses.
But these guys will be fun, and the narration from Mike Gorman and Brian Scalabrine is as good as it gets. Tommy Heinsohn’s whiskey-soaked pipes are an acquired taste, but it’s amazing how homerism is almost charming when it rattles out of an old guy who doesn’t care what anyone outside Boston thinks.
14. MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES (33.5)
The individual parts are so appealing, it doesn’t matter that the sum of them will disappoint again — unless you’re a Wolves fan sick of lottery appearances. Ricky Rubio played just 588 minutes with Andrew Wiggins and 36 with Zach LaVine last season; if Rubio is healthy, he’ll get to fly in transition with two freak athletes and then prod Karl-Anthony Towns’s all-around skill set in the half court.
We get to learn how Nemanja Bjelica will translate as an NBA stretch power forward and whether Shabazz Muhammad’s progress from the block and the arc will prove lasting. Kevin Garnett is here to scream-teach, and we need to cherish every remaining Prof. Andre Miller PhD lob pass, butt-first post-up, and fully extended two-armed pump fake before he takes an emeritus position. Wiggins should stretch his off-the-dribble game in Year 2.
If you crave smart commentary, you can’t do any better than Dave Benz and Jim Petersen. Whenever I hear Petersen toss out a SportVU stat or discuss some nugget he learned watching film the night before, I feel sad that they are not broadcasting for a larger audience. Then again, Petersen, an assistant for the WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx, just got to party with freaking Prince.
13. DALLAS MAVERICKS (34.5)
The Mavs originally came in at no. 10 — too high for a team that could be bad enough for a midseason tank to keep a top-seven-protected pick due Boston via the disastrous Rajon Rondo trade. I retroactively docked them a couple of JaVale McGee comedy points, figuring he can’t possibly add anything new to the repertoire.
Any Dirk Nowitzki–Rick Carlisle team brings a fluid read-and-react system rippling outward from the greatest shooting big man to walk the earth. Dirk’s one-legged turnaround is still the prettiest shot in basketball, especially when the ball pauses to caress the glass and then slides straight down through the net. But Dirk is on an old man’s minutes limit, the stud wing players are coming off massive injuries, and the Mavs don’t have the rim-running center that sets all the drive-and-kick goodness in motion. Jeremy Evans is probably the best pick-and-roll diver on the team, and he’s had an intriguing preseason. Justin Anderson is promising. Samuel Dalembert might need one of those bacon-frying alarm clocks that failed on Shark Tank. Zaza Pachulia’s high-post passing is splendid.
The three-man broadcast crew is fun and feisty, but the rest of the Mavs’ game presentation is mediocre.
12. SAN ANTONIO SPURS (35.5)
San Antonio fans love Sean Elliott’s “we”-infused homerism, and that’s fine. He serves as their TV stand-in. He gets an almost automatic mute button in the Lowe household, and that drops the league’s preeminent beautiful machine out of a top 10 in which they clearly belong. These guys, now and forever, represent everything that is right about basketball — a culture of sharing, hard cuts, fiery defense, and a commitment to the tiny things that add up to winning. They push one another to higher places.
Kawhi Leonard’s crouching, swiping defense is every bit as exciting as a windmill dunk. By March of last season, dribbling within a 10-foot radius of Leonard was like trying to sneak past a shark with chum in your swimsuit. Inexpert dribblers might as well have just handed him the ball. Leonard should grasp an even larger role in the offense, and the mutual adaptation process between the Spurs and LaMarcus Aldridge is a welcome new plot that will evolve in every episode.
Boban Marjanovic is 9 feet tall, Manu Ginobili literally invented basketball things, Tim Duncan blocks shots without jumping, and Gregg Popovich is the king of the furious timeout 10 seconds into a quarter. When Boris Diaw decides to look for his own shot, things can get downright tasty.
11. MIAMI HEAT (36)
The league’s most intriguing team, with a new starting five that glitters on paper but raises issues that will require work and creativity: a lack of shooting on the wing; the awkward meshing of Goran Dragic’s turbo pace with Dwyane Wade’s languid style; Hassan Whiteside, a human question mark; the uncertainty of health and age; and a weird bench of newbies, fogies, and offense-only players.
Erik Spoelstra was ahead of the league’s pace-and-space surge, even if postseason injuries dragged him there, and he’ll be up nights concocting funky ways to make that starting five sing. Chris Bosh, the league’s most underappreciated star, is back to serve as its linchpin — a spot-up ace who sucks defenders from the lane and snaps back into a ball-dominant scoring role when Miami needs it. Bosh and Josh McRoberts showed a promising pass-happy chemistry last season, and Spoelstra can use that duo to juice Miami’s spacing.
I once proposed that the NBA implement a special League Pass Bat Signal for when the Knicks played Amar’e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani together, and I’m renewing that call now for all shared Stoudemire–Gerald Green minutes. Those two can score, but Stoudemire just can’t move, and Green will steal a year from Spoelstra’s life with all of his flake outs on defense.
Tyler Johnson is more fun than you’d expect, and we’ll get the first test of whether Justise Winslow was worth all that draft-day jockeying. The announcing team has grown on me over the years, and the carrot-skinned, buffed-up courtside fans make for good comedy — once they show up seven minutes into the first and third quarters. The Heat lead the league in ridiculous alternate jerseys, for better or worse (usually worse).
10. ATLANTA HAWKS (36.5)
A year ago, they were the secret handshake that revealed a true NBA fan. The secret is out now: These guys are awesome to watch, and if you still think they’re vanilla, you’re probably the same guy who railed on Twitter in 2012 about how boring the Spurs were.
Atlanta has stars, but not the kind of highlight-spitting human volcanoes who demand a channel change. Some nights, all of those gorgeous cuts and screens that usually spring Kyle Korver just don’t work. Al Horford’s midrange jumpers, bounce passes, and sound defensive positioning don’t make you yelp, rewind the DVR, and show your (very patient) wife what in the hell just happened.
In meatier matters, Atlanta faces two challenges that will determine whether the Hawks can push past 55 wins again: the integration of Tiago Splitter, a non-shooting big, into Mike Budenholzer’s all-shooting, all-the-time system; and whether Thabo Sefolosha, Tim Hardaway Jr., Justin Holiday, and Kent Bazemore can Voltron into DeMarre Carroll. I can’t wait for New York fans to throw their remotes at the television when the Hawks turn Hardaway into a real player. (Note: This may take two years, and Jerian Grant looks good.)
Losing the navy-blue border on the court was smart, and I dig the new feather-inspired shading pattern in that sharp red paint.
You can understand why Danny Ferry, a cool analytical type, didn’t enjoy the loud TV stylings of Dominique Wilkins, but damn if I don’t smile every time Nique straight-up cackles at some opposing player’s shortcomings. He clowned Carlos Boozer’s defense for a solid three-minute stretch last season.
9. MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES (37)
Tony Allen is the trump card. He’s exhilarating to watch on defense, turning sideways to dodge picks, darting into passing lanes, and going chin-to-chest with the league’s best scorers. His nonexistent jumper gives opposing coaches license to try out-of-the-box defensive schemes. One Tony Allen dribble, even on an uncontested fast break, presents infinite possibilities.
A full-time T.A. Bench Cam would probably draw better ratings than most Brooklyn games. He leaps after every good Griz play, meanders along the baseline, wanders onto the court, and throws towels in every direction. He once hit an old lady smack in the face with one.
Marc Gasol finds the sublime within Memphis’s grit-and-grind slog — set shots, shoulder shimmies, and backdoor bounce passes he sometimes delivers underhand, as if he’s bowling. Last season, he started running one-man fast breaks, only he wasn’t a tentative dribbler on the edge of catastrophe like most big men playing at point guard. He would sprint-dribble in full flight down the middle, survey the floor, and slap passes to his wingmen.
Marc Gasol is glorious.
The Griz can’t realistically rank higher than this; they play too slowly and they still can’t shoot. But they have Allen and Gasol, Zach Randolph’s buttery hands and feet, Brandan Wright’s go-go-Gadget dunks, Beno Udrih’s 60-to-0 pull-ups, and a dangerous level of collective crazy. The production of a Griz game is solid all around, save for Sean Tuohy’s occasional appearances as a fanboy analyst.
8. CHICAGO BULLS (38)
The Bulls are a rare mix of the familiar and the mysterious, and the mystery emanates from how much longer the familiar elements can hold together. Joakim Noah can enter free agency after this season; Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson can follow after next season. The Pau Gasol–Noah combination played awkwardly on both ends, but it’s too early to declare the pairing untenable; Chicago outscored opponents by 2.8 points per 100 possessions when they played together, and Noah was never healthy. Hell, we don’t even know if Noah is healthy now. Last month, when I visited the P3 training facility in Santa Barbara, California, where Noah trained over the summer, officials raved about his progress. The preseason had been discouraging until Monday night. I guess we’ll see.
If the duo sputters again, does Fred Hoiberg, among the league’s biggest wild cards, have the guts to start Nikola Mirotic? Wonks screamed for Mirotic to start at power forward, or at least play more, since his shooting would open the floor for Rose, Jimmy Butler, and Chicago’s paint-bound bigs. But do we actually know if Mirotic is, like, good? He shot just 31.6 percent from 3-point range last season, and only 28.5 percent on triples that weren’t wide open, per SportVU data. The dude pump fakes at ghosts.
Also: Which fellow big makes for a good match with Mirotic? The Mirotic-Gasol pairing might be suicide on defense. Mirotic and Noah look good in theory, but only if Noah is healthy and mobile protecting the bucket. The Mirotic-Gibson combination managed well, but it’s an undersize front line that did a lot of its damage against backups. And where, exactly, does Bobby Portis fit after a super-encouraging preseason?
The Bulls feel unsteady, and that’s part of the appeal. Hoiberg figures to introduce more passing and 3-point shooting, and he’ll give Doug McDermott a chance. Chicago’s vaunted defense slipped to 11th in points allowed per possession in Tom Thibodeau’s last season, and it will be a struggle to climb the defensive rankings if the Hoiberg Bulls can’t maintain the classic Thibodeau opponent shot selection: no corner 3s, tons of midrange jumpers.
And I will stand, armed to the teeth, in the Neil Funk–Stacey “Burger” King corner. The Bulls needed an expansive soundboard to fit all of King’s catchphrases, and it doesn’t even include some of the goodies King used for former Bulls — the “hot sauce” on Kyle Korver 3s, and “Asik and destroy” for Omer Asik rejections. King spits on the line between corny and funny, and it works.
The uniforms, logo, and court are all awesome, especially since the Bulls ditched the balloony font they used along the baselines for years — the only complaint I lodged in my court design rankings last year.
7. WASHINGTON WIZARDS (38.5)
Otto Porter’s Year 3 development, after a strong showing in the playoffs, is one of the league’s quiet swing issues. If he keeps canning spot-up 3s and hounding multiple positions on defense, the Wizards have a chance to inch up the East standings — and buff their appeal for a certain free agent. Plus, Porter dozed into last season’s best blooper:
The Wiz are leaning toward starting Kris Humphries over Nene, and they’ve given Humphries the green light to chuck 3s around John Wall pick-and-rolls. They’ll also play more small ball, especially when Jared Dudley gets back. Playoff Wittman might be a full-season thing now! Between Wittman Faces and the whiteboard directional struggle, Randy Wittman has to be the reigning unintentional comedy champ among head coaches, right?
Marcin Gortat rips towels, Drew Gooden spasms into double and triple pump fakes for no reason, and Wall racing up the court with shooters flanking him is one of the most exciting snapshot moments in sports. Wall is the rare brilliant passer who has advanced beyond just finding open players — though he’s damn good at that. He coaxes guarded teammates open with dribbles and shoulder fakes designed to trick defenders into shifting just a half-step away from his target. He plays two steps ahead of everyone else.
6. OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (39.5)
The Thunder are the biggest story in the league, and they might be no. 1 here if not for a D-League-level League Pass experience — the nonsense logo, blah court, sneering homer announcing, and ugly uniforms. Billy Donovan is revamping the offense and it will be interesting to see how Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, two killer one-on-one scorers, take to a system heavier on ball movement. Things may not end up looking much different than when Scott Brooks cycled through the same three plays. Still, any stylistic improvement will be welcome.
There is so much TV goodness here:
• Enes Kanter trying to remain upright on defense and becoming the rare max player so awful at one end of the floor that he comes off the bench.
• Dion Waiters calling for Durant and Westbrook to pass him the ball, and then pouting, arms drooping at his sides, when he doesn’t get it.
• Waiters catching the ball open behind the arc, taking one useless dribble into 2-point range, and barfing up 20-foot bricks.
• KEVIN DURANT IS BACK. AND KEVIN DURANT IS ABOUT TO BE A FREE AGENT!
• Nick Collison’s impeccably gelled hair.
• Mitch McGary running like a toddler on a sugar high, knees churning, arms working so hard he almost punches himself in the face.
• Steven Adams pissing off opposing players, then staring at them, stone-faced, as they attack him — and get ejected.
• Kyle Singler’s hair.
• And Russell Westbrook, hurling himself down the court so fast on those furious end-to-end rushes that he almost transforms from human basketball player into a streaking beam of light and sound and anger. There is no better edge-of-your-seat moment in basketball. It carries suspense and a hint of danger; you almost worry that Westbrook is going to hurt himself or some bystander.
5. SACRAMENTO KINGS (40)
I mean … DeMarcus Cousins might be, like, the fifth-craziest person in the franchise now! Just kidding. He’s no. 2 at the absolute lowest. No superstar has ever approached cranky Boogie levels of not giving a crap. Rudy Gay is isolating on the wing again? I should probably crash the offensive glass, but that takes effort, and, oh, Rudy lost his grip on the ball — let me just see how this plays out.
He looked like he might vomit on the court. How do you express displeasure over the team inexplicably firing the only coach you deigned to respect? With defense like this!
This crap gets old, and five years in, we’re still waiting for Cousins to go 10 straight games without loafing in transition defense or humiliating a teammate with a tantrum about some alleged mistake. But when Cousins tries, he is a unique force — one of the league’s last true bullies, capable of bum-rushing dudes with Shaq-like post-ups or face-up drives someone his size shouldn’t be able to pull off. He finishes with artful pivots, killer fakes, and a pillow-soft touch off the glass.
He’s shooting 3s in preseason, and that’s good, since it’s unclear how a starting group featuring exactly one good outside shooter will be able to enter him the ball on the block. Things will get easier when Marco Belinelli comes in, and especially when George Karl shifts Gay or Omri Casspi to power forward. Karl is an offensive savant who defies convention; he’ll use Cousins all over the floor, including as a point center, and squeeze more points from this team than you’d expect.
Not to state the obvious, but: George freaking Karl is coaching a team with Cousins and Rajon Rondo; the Kings are owned by a guy who suggested playing 4-on-5; and Vlade Divac and associated cronies are making basketball decisions. I almost moved to Sacramento just to document this. Even if things implode, rubber-necking will be irresistible.
Also, watch Kosta Koufos on this random pick-and-roll: Is his late leap some baseball-style deke to convince defenders the ball is coming to him? Has anyone ever tried this before?
Embrace this trickery, Kings!
4. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (41.5)
We presumed too much in anointing these guys at no. 1 last season. LeBron James took a two-week vacation, David Blatt didn’t implement much of his motion offense, and Kevin Love spent too many possessions chilling in the corner as a glorified James Jones. Kendrick Perkins appeared just to ugly things up.
An offense featuring only LeBron–Timofey Mozgov pick-and-rolls, with Love and Kyrie Irving spotting up, is still enough to crack the top five here. LeBron is probably the sharpest pick-and-roll passer ever, slinging comets to the corner, and Irving’s catch-and-drive layups are more acrobatic than most dunk contest slams. The Cavs are talking big about unleashing the diversity of Love’s game, and they showed in flashes after January how dynamic they could be mixing in his canny screening, cutting, and passing from the elbows. These guys were 32-3 in the last 35 games that James, Irving, and Love played together. They destroyed people. I want to see that team again.
LeBron is smart to conserve energy, but he can still rev up from standstill to full sprint faster than anyone else. When he hits top gear, he reaches a higher plane of existence:
He’s like Westbrook, only bigger, stronger, smarter, and more under control.
And I have to admit: Austin Carr has won me over. Five years ago, I thought he was just another loudmouthed homer. He is a homer, but he’s a giddy, smiling homer who doesn’t take the Cavs too seriously or pretend that games are part of some good-versus-evil drama. He would never turn on an ex-Cav the way some announcers suddenly notice all of a player’s flaws once he leaves in free agency. His joy radiates through the TV.
3. NEW ORLEANS PELICANS (42.5)
Anthony Davis is limitless.
2. LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (44)
Always the bridesmaid. The Clips have finished third, second, and second in these rankings, despite sporting two of the best and cruelest dunkers in league history. DeAndre Jordan can’t go coast-to-coast for hammer jobs like Blake Griffin, but the dude can catch the ball above the square and plunge it straight down onto some poor sap’s noggin. Any L.A. game is one blink — one extra pass, one steal, one defender rotating a half-step in the wrong direction — away from an all-time highlight.
The appeal here goes way beyond dunks, especially now that the Clips have a bench of stock NBA supporting characters: Paul Pierce, the brash, big-balls shooter who gives L.A. new lineup flexibility; Lance Stephenson, the hothead whose playground dribble moves will produce either highlights or high comedy; Josh Smith, always looking as if he might throw his next diagonal pass five rows into the stands; Pablo Prigioni, King of the Sneaks; and Cole Aldrich, flinging up no-chance hooks that spray across the arena. What a motley crew.
Boil it down, and this is about having two of the league’s best passers playing positions in which they often pass the ball to each other. Griffin and Chris Paul make magic together, and they’re both such dangerous scorers that they draw extra defensive attention when they catch it — extra help that opens up the next pass in some gorgeous L.A. sequence. When they’re humming, the Clips’ half-court offense whirs as fast as San Antonio’s, only with finishes like this:
They might have snagged the no. 1 spot if not for the awful logo, designed by the freaking Miami Heat, and the noisy jerseys and court design it spawned like some cursed Lestrange trinket at Gringotts. Seriously, Heat designers: Fantastic job of team-on-team art sabotage. The Clips never saw it coming and they deserve it for giving up on the job.
1. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (46)
The Warriors falling from no. 1 to no. 3 in last year’s rankings was a colossal mistake — an underestimation of Steve Kerr and an inability to shake the stench of Mark Jackson–era isolations that shackled one of the most creative teams ever. The Warriors don’t have Mozgov-ing high fliers like Griffin and Jordan, but they actually finished with more dunks than the Clippers last season — a tribute to how elite passing, shooting, and spacing can open up lanes wide enough for the ground-bound to fly. The Clippers make it work in tight crevices; the Warriors manipulate defenses into surrendering four-lane highways.
Flinging the ball across the full width of the court, a step ahead of defenders chasing with panic in their eyes, can produce a sort of hyper-creativity that we’ve never seen before. The Warriors did this in preseason:
Preseason! All the nice fringe stuff — the blue-and-yellow goodness, eardrum-bursting crowd, Andrew Bogut arm bars, Klay Thompson–Steph Curry screening ballet, Marreese Speights heat checks, Andre Iguodala defense, everything Draymond Green, repeat trickery, a solid local announcing team — almost doesn’t matter. This is the league’s most watchable team for the second time in three years, and it really should be a three-peat.
Let’s go.DIGG THIS
Certain financial developments of late, commonly treated by the mainstream media as negative, are gladdening my heart. It is sheer delight to read that Carlyle Capital Corp. is unable to meet margin calls. Its stock fell from $12 to $5 in one day. I hope it goes to $0. I am happy because Carlyle is an affiliate of the Carlyle Group, which is a charter member of the corrupt military-political-industrial complex. It is the home, or former home, or palace, or safe deposit box of both Bush presidents and an incredible roster of other once high-placed officials, such as John Major, Frank Carlucci, James Baker III, Richard Darman, Arthur Levitt, and Mack McLarty, to name a few.
Carlyle invested $21.7 billion in mortgage-backed securities issued by two government-sponsored enterprises, namely, the Federal National Mortgage Association (ticker symbol FNM), known as Fannie Mae, and the Federal Home Loan and Mortgage Corporation (ticker symbol FRE), known as Freddie Mac. Carlyle used excessive leverage (issuing debt of its own) to finance these purchases. It borrowed by issuing very short-term debt known as repurchase agreements using the mortgage-backed securities as collateral. When these mortgage-backed securities fell in price, the lenders demanded more capital (margin) from Carlyle. But it had borrowed so much that it could not meet the margin calls. It received a notice of default. Wonderful!
How long the mighty fall before they manipulate the system to bail themselves out is anybody’s guess. In the meantime, it is fun to see even a token victory. Half a loaf of comeuppance is better than none.
The Northern Rock bank in England issued large amounts of mortgage-backed securities, financing them by wholesale sources of short-term funds such as borrowings from other banks. In this respect, it was like Carlyle. When its short-term sources of funds dried up, the bank failed. England nationalized this bank. It should have been allowed to fail. Failures are good when they are deserved. We may not learn from them, but at least they give us the opportunity to learn. And we need to learn a great deal.
Investors who over-reached for yield and over-reached for yield spreads are learning the hard way that this was a risky policy. When yields on short-term money market funds fell drastically, the number of ultra-short bond funds doubled. These bring in extra current yield by, among other things, investing in mortgage and other asset-backed securities. Although they seem like money-market funds, they are not. A fund like Fidelity’s Ultra-Short Bond Fund maintained a $10 value for over 4 years, only suddenly to drop to $8.61. (Some others have fared better, depending on their investments.)
Carlyle Capital bought debt securities of FNM and FRE, but their stocks are also falling. The stock price of Fannie Mae, which almost hit $90 in December of 2000 is down to $22. It fell over 10 percent on March 6 alone. I hope this company goes bankrupt along with Freddie Mac, which is down to $20 after being north of $70 a share. The government has no business butting into the mortgage business, so if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fail, good riddance.
Although I’d enjoy seeing a complete debacle occur in these two government-created monsters, quite possibly the government will prevent or otherwise forestall their bankruptcies should they ever be imminent. The government provides no explicit guarantees to these companies, and the companies state that there are no guarantees. Nevertheless, investors have acted as if the companies had some implicit guarantees. They have good reason. Congress clearly wants these companies around so that they can buy up mortgages. The political fallout from their failures would be severe.
Investors therefore have lent money to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at (low) rates not in accord with their risk. This has allowed these companies to create and dominate a secondary market in mortgages. They bought up mortgages originated by banks, packaged them up, and resold them as the kinds of mortgage-backed securities that Carlyle invested in. How ironic that a company with so many ex-politicos in it might be dented a bit by another government-sponsored enterprise! These securities have been turning sour because the mortgages in them are defaulting. As a result, the yields on these debts are running 3 percent higher than Treasury bond yields, as compared with a more typical 1 percent. And even that premium is not as high as other troubled mortgage-related debts.
What is this secondary market that Fannie Mae deals in? It’s basically a used-item or resale market. A secondary market is a market in which buyers and sellers can trade an item, like a security, after it has been issued. The used-car market is a secondary market. So is the New York Stock Exchange.
If there is no such market or if the market is limited or thin, the security is said to be illiquid, which means that it cannot be sold or sold quickly in significant amounts at a price near to its previous price. When a market is illiquid, there is good reason for it. There may not be enough active buyers and sellers to warrant an exchange. Such a market usually becomes a dealer market.
In the good old days, banks originated mortgages and then generally kept them in house, that is, retained their ownership. They were illiquid loans. The secondary market in home mortgages was very limited.
Some items have secondary markets and others do not. There is no natural financial or economic law that says that every loan or security must have a secondary market, liquid or not. A secondary market develops spontaneously if conditions and circumstances warrant it. Otherwise, it doesn’t.
Farmers used to write illiquid forward contracts to sell their corn production. Later, the futures markets, which provided far more liquidity by standardizing the contract and by other risk-control methods, came to displace the older forward contracts. Put and call markets used to operate as an illiquid dealer market and with ads in Barron’s until the Chicago Board Options Exchange devised standard contracts. On the other hand, there are thousands of bonds that are unstandardized and that have illiquid secondary markets.
Entrepreneurs devise secondary markets if it pays them to. E-bay created or enhanced many secondary markets. There is no need for government to foster or encourage secondary markets where none naturally exist or where they are illiquid. In such cases, there is no secondary market because it does not pay to have one.
When the government steps in, as it did in 1938 when it created Fannie Mae, it does so to benefit some special interest groups. The government draws resources into an uneconomic use and it undermines the primary market in various subtle ways. This happened in the secondary mortgage market.
Banks used to hold mortgages and not resell them. Fannie Mae gave the banks a way to sell their mortgages. Since Fannie Mae borrowed at privileged rates, due to the implicit government guarantee, and bought mortgages from the banks, the banks benefited.
Bank capital is limited, and the amount of mortgages they can carry is therefore limited. But if a bank can originate a mortgage and then sell it to Fannie Mae, then with the same capital it can increase the number of its mortgage originations. Its profits go up. Its incentive and capacity to push mortgage loans rises. This distorts economic activity.
In the good old days when the banks both originated and held the mortgages, they faced several risks, and good bank management required that they manage these risks. They generally borrowed short and lent long. They borrowed by issuing short-term securities such as CDs. They lent by making long-term mortgage loans. The short-term interest rates they paid were usually lower than the long-term rates they received. A liquidity problem arises when the short-term rates exceed the long-term rates. Another problem arises when the long-term rates go up, as this reduces the value of the mortgages. Usually when short-term and long-term interest rates rise, the short-term rate rises more than the long-term rate, and the bank’s position deteriorates.
When mortgage loans were illiquid, the bank had to be careful to maintain alternative sources of funds in case interest rates rose. It had to be careful in managing its mortgage and loan portfolio so that they were diversified. It could not concentrate too heavily in one type of loan, one maturity of loan, or one borrower.
The bank also had to maintain the quality of its mortgages, because if interest rate rises were associated with hard times or brought on hard times, then its bad mortgage loans might rise. The bankers managed these risks partly by knowing their customers. The three C’s of credit were Character, Credit, and Capital. The bank looked into the borrower’s past history, how much credit he could handle, and what his other assets were. The loan officer’s own reputation and prospects of rising within the bank through promotion depended on his being careful in making the loans.
In recent years, the three C’s became a joke. Banks made loans on no character, no credit, and no capital. Why not? They sold these loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, or to some other intermediaries who then repackaged them into pools (called securitization) and resold them to other investors. These included all sorts of institutions including large banks overseas.
The secondary market, combined with the innovations in securitization and the ready pools of money seeking high yields in a low-yield environment, altered the incentive structure in mortgage origination. Mortgage lenders no longer cared as much to whom they lent; and the guidelines for how much they loaned deteriorated.
The stocks of a heap of banks and mortgage companies are now falling in price drastically, the main reason being that they are holding bad loans. Washington Mutual (WM), a bank known for its mortgage loans in overheated markets in California and Florida, is down to $11 from $47. Citibank (C) is down to $21 from $55. They, not I or you or the taxpayer, made these bad loans, and they (and their suppliers of capital) should suffer the consequences. If those who took the loans walk away, and that is their choice, so be it. If the lenders have to deal with the costs of foreclosures, that is how it should be. Why should you or I bail them out? If we do, they will give us a repeat performance (this is called moral hazard).
I’m hoping to see the bankruptcies roll along unimpeded, but realistically what I expect is a roll call of political rhetoric, name-calling, blame-placing, and misguided government attempts to halt the truth of the ticker tape, which is that the boom is over and its excesses are now being liquidated. So I have to take what little enjoyment I can get from watching the stocks of these enterprises collapse.
A good, solid, scary bear market that chastens all concerned is just what we need, that is, if it were allowed to provide its salutary effect, which it won’t. Many more people need to be taught many lessons.
Among our influential leaders, I see no evidence of any truth-telling. Was there ever? I seem to remember at least occasional flashes of truth emanating from an occasional Senator or Representative |
40 models came out when he was a boy. There were originally 305 registered Type 40s, but all the others had been decommissioned and replaced by new, improved models;[25] however, the Doctor's TARDIS had at some point been removed from the registry by the Celestial Intervention Agency on Gallifrey. By the time of The Pirate Planet (1978), the Doctor had been travelling on board in time and space for 523 years, by the time of "The Doctor's Wife" (2011), he had been travelling in it for 700 years, and in "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" (2013) he had been travelling for 900 years.
The appearance of the primary console room has changed over the years, sometimes in minor ways and sometimes drastically when the set has had to be moved or rebuilt. This has often been rationalised in the scripts as redecoration, the ship's own ability to reconfigure or repair itself,[30][31] or even a change of "desktop theme".[32] In "The Doctor's Wife", the TARDIS says she has thirty desktops archived, although the Doctor has only changed it a dozen times "yet".
Exterior [ edit ]
The undisguised appearance of a Type 40 TARDIS' exterior is a silver-grey cylinder only slightly larger than a police box. Its door is recessed and slides to open. This default state has appeared in 2013's "The Name of the Doctor", which depicts the Doctor's original theft of the TARDIS.
A TARDIS prop being dismantled in London in 2006.
Although a TARDIS is supposed to blend inconspicuously into whatever environment it turns up in, the Doctor's TARDIS retains the shape of a police box because of a fault that occurred in the first Doctor Who serial, An Unearthly Child (1963). The ability to alter its appearance was first mentioned in the second episode of the series, where the First Doctor and Susan noted the unit was malfunctioning. ("It's still a police box! Why hasn't it changed?") It was first given a general term of a "camouflage unit" in The Time Meddler (1965). The name "chameleon circuit" was first used in the 1975 Target Books novelisation of The Terror of the Autons, and eventually mentioned on screen in Logopolis (1981). The circuit was called a "cloaking device" by the Eighth Doctor in the television movie Doctor Who (1996), and again a "chameleon circuit" in the 2005 series episode "Boom Town".
The Doctor attempts to repair the circuit in Logopolis, to disastrous results. He tries again in Attack of the Cybermen (1985), but the successful transformations of the TARDIS into the shape of a pipe organ, a painted Welsh dresser, and an elaborate gateway ended with a return to the police box shape. The circuit was also repaired during the Virgin New Adventures novels, but again the TARDIS' shape was eventually restored to a police box shape. In the 1996 television movie, and later in the episode "Boom Town", the Doctor implies that he had stopped trying to fix the circuit quite some time ago because he had become rather fond of the police box shape.
Despite the anachronistic police box shape, the TARDIS' presence is rarely questioned when it materialises in the present-day United Kingdom. In "Boom Town", the Ninth Doctor simply notes that humans do not notice odd things like the TARDIS, echoing a similar sentiment expressed by the Seventh Doctor in Remembrance of the Daleks (1988), that humans have an "amazing capacity for self-deception." Various episodes, notably "The Sound of Drums" (2007), also note that the TARDIS generates a perception filter to reinforce the idea that it is perfectly ordinary.
Cosmetically, the police box exterior of the TARDIS has remained virtually unchanged, although there have been slight modifications over the years. For example, the sign on the door concealing the police telephone has been black letters on a white background (An Unearthly Child), white on blue (The Seeds of Death, 1969)[dubious – discuss] and white on black (The Curse of Peladon, 1972). Other modifications include different wordings on the phone panel; for example, "Urgent Calls" (An Unearthly Child) as opposed to "All Calls" (Castrovalva publicity photos). The POLICE BOX sign was wider from Season 18 (1980) onwards and for the 2005 series, but not for the television movie. From An Unearthly Child to The War Machines (1966), the TARDIS also had a St. John Ambulance badge on the main doors, as did real police boxes;[33] this has been reinstated and the window frame colour has returned to white for Matt Smith's first season as the Doctor, shown in 2010. These various versions are depicted when thirteen incarnations of the Doctor all converge on Gallifrey at the climax of "The Day of the Doctor" (2013).
The telephone cupboard can be opened and the telephone accessed from the exterior. Although originally non-functional, as shown in "The Empty Child" (2005),[34] the TARDIS can be called from across space and time.
When the TARDIS "died" with the Doctor in battle in an alternative timeline, it became his tomb on the grave fields of the planet Trenzalore. Although the tomb retains its police box exterior appearance, its interior volume begins to "leak", growing the exterior to hundreds of feet in height.[29]
Doors [ edit ]
For most of the series' run, the exterior doors of the police box operated separately from the heavier interior doors, although sometimes the two sets could open simultaneously to allow the ship's passengers to look directly outside and vice versa. The revived series' TARDIS features no such secondary doors; the police box doors open directly into the console room.
The Doctor almost always opens the doors inwards, despite the fact that a real police box door opened outwards; in "The Doctor's Wife" (2011), it is revealed that the TARDIS is aware of this and finds it annoying. After crash-landing on its back in Amelia Pond's garden in "The Eleventh Hour" (2010), the doors uncharacteristically open outward, as they had previously done when the TARDIS was also on its back in The Ice Warriors (1967); additionally, the left door opened in tandem with the usual right door in these instances. When hovering against a building in the same 'doors-up' horizontal orientation in "Day of the Moon" (2011), however, the doors opened inward as usual to receive River Song.
The doors are supposed to be closed while materialising; in Planet of Giants (1964), the opening of the doors during a materialisation sequence causes the ship and its occupants to shrink to doll size. In The Enemy of the World (1967), taking off while the doors were still open results in an uncontrolled decompression, causing the villainous Salamander to be blown out of the TARDIS. In the Seventh Doctor audio drama Colditz (2001), a character is killed by being halfway inside the TARDIS when it dematerialises. In Warriors' Gate (1981), the doors open during flight between two universes, admitting a Tharil named Biroc, and allowing the time winds to burn the Doctor's hand and seriously damage K9. In "The Runaway Bride" (2006), "The Stolen Earth" (2008) and subsequent stories, the doors can be opened safely while the ship is in a vacuum, as the TARDIS protects its occupants (see the "Defences" section below); in The Horns of Nimon (1979), the Doctor deliberately extrudes the "defence shield" to dock with a spacecraft. In "The Time of Angels" (2010), River asks the Doctor to provide an "air corridor" to assist in her escape from the Byzantium in deep space.
Lock [ edit ]
The entrance to the TARDIS is capable of being locked and unlocked from the outside with a key, which the Doctor keeps on his person and occasionally gives copies of to his companions. In the 1996 television movie, the Doctor kept a spare key "in a cubbyhole behind the 'P'" (of the POLICE BOX sign). In The Invasion of Time (1978), a Citadel Guard on Gallifrey is initially baffled by the archaic lock when attempting to open the Doctor's TARDIS.
In the 2005 series, the keys are also remotely linked to the TARDIS, capable of signalling its presence or impending arrival by heating up and glowing. The key is also able to repair temporal anomalies and paradoxes, including death aversion, through its link to the TARDIS.[35]
The TARDIS' keys most commonly appear as ordinary Yale keys.[36] However, various designs have been experimented with over the years include ankh-like keys embossed with an alien pattern (identified in Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke's 1972 book The Making of Doctor Who as the constellation of Kasterborous, Gallifrey's home system) and keys featuring the Seal of Rassilon.[37]
The TARDIS' lock's security level has varied from story to story. Originally, it was said to have 21 different "combinations" and would melt if the key was placed in the wrong one (The Daleks, 1963–64). The First Doctor was also able to unlock it with his ring (The Web Planet, 1965) and repair it by using the light of an alien sun refracted through the ring's jewel (The Daleks' Master Plan, 1965–66). In The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964) and "Utopia" (2007), the TARDIS was shown to have an internal deadlock; once thrown, it would prevent entry even for authorised users with authorised keys. In The Dalek Invasion of Earth, this is known as 'double-locking'. In The Sensorites (1964), the entire lock mechanism is removed from the TARDIS' door via a hand-held Sensorite device.
In Spearhead from Space (1970), the Third Doctor said that the lock had a metabolism detector, so that even if an unauthorised person had a key, the doors would remain locked. This security measure was also seen in the New Series Adventures novel Only Human (2005), which called it an "advanced meson recognition system." The Ninth Doctor claims that when the doors were shut, even "the assembled hordes of Genghis Khan" could not enter ("believe me, they've tried") ("Rose", 2005). In "Doomsday" (2006), when the TARDIS is confiscated, the Doctor claims, "You'll never get inside it." Several people have managed to just wander into the TARDIS without any problem over the years, including some who became companions. Despite the TARDIS' apparent infallibility in its security, some of the instruments inside or the interior itself have been breached and remote-controlled. In the serial The War Games (1969), the Time Lords manage to breach the inside of the TARDIS while in mid-flight and landing in order to erect something similar to a force field. In "Utopia" (2007), the Doctor is able to lock the TARDIS to the coordinates it had previously visited from outside using the sonic screwdriver. In the episode "The Rings of Akhaten" (2013), Clara Oswald cannot get into the TARDIS and says, "I don't think it likes me!"
In the 2008 episode "Forest of the Dead" (2008), River Song (a character whose timeline intersects with the Doctor's in non-linear order) says to the Doctor that she knows he would be able to open the TARDIS' doors with a snap of his fingers. Although the Doctor dismisses this as impossible, at the episode's conclusion, he opens and closes the doors by doing just that, eschewing the need for a key. He is later shown doing the same in "The Eleventh Hour" (2010), "Day of the Moon", and "The Caretaker" (2014). In addition, despite the animosity it previously displayed towards her, Clara Oswald is also shown being able to open and shut the TARDIS' doors by snapping her fingers (in "The Day of the Doctor", 2013, and "The Caretaker").
In the 2009 Christmas episode, part one of The End of Time, the Doctor uses a remote locking system to lock the TARDIS, similar to the remote-control locking system used on modern cars. Upon pointing his key fob at the TARDIS, the TARDIS makes a distinctive chirp and the light on top of the TARDIS flashes. Later in the same episode, the key fob, when again used by the Doctor, shifts the TARDIS "just a second out of sync" (one second into the future), rendering it invisible and so hiding it from the Master.
In the 2018 episode, "The Ghost Monument", upon reuniting with the TARDIS, the Doctor explains to it that she lost her key after falling from it in "Twice Upon a Time". The TARDIS responds by opening its doors voluntarily.
Objects are sometimes shown clinging to the outside of the TARDIS and being carried with it as it dematerialises. In Silver Nemesis (1988), an arrow is fired at the TARDIS and is embedded in its door. The arrow remains in the door throughout the serial and through several dematerialisations before being removed at the story's conclusion; this is repeated in "The Shakespeare Code" (2007), and the arrow is removed in the following episode, "Gridlock". "Utopia" presents, for the first time on-screen, a circumstance in which a character travels on the exterior of the TARDIS during a flight, when Jack Harkness grabs hold of the TARDIS as it began to dematerialise and holds on until it reaches its destination; the episode does establish, however, that a normal person would not have survived the trip, as Jack is "killed" by the experience, but due to his immortality, soon revives. This concept was referenced in "The Time of the Doctor" (2013) where Clara also travels with the TARDIS by holding on to its exterior. To prevent Clara from dying, the TARDIS has to extend its force field to protect her, which drastically slows down its time travel and results in it arriving 300 years too late with a visibly aged Doctor. In "Vincent and the Doctor" (2010), some advertisements are attached to the TARDIS. After materialisation, they are shown to be burning. At the conclusion of the 2015 episode "Face the Raven", Rigsy decorates the TARDIS with painted flowers and a chalk drawing of Clara Oswald; when the Doctor dematerialises the retrieved TARDIS at the conclusion of "Hell Bent" (2015), the painted flowers and picture remain for a moment before the picture blows away and the flowers flake and fall to the ground.
Vulnerability [ edit ]
The Time Lords are able to divert the TARDIS' flight path during The Ribos Operation (1978), or have the ability to totally override and recall any TARDIS by the order of the Council in Arc of Infinity (1983). Alien influences have also, for example, trapped the Doctor's TARDIS and drained its power in The Web Planet (1965) and Death to the Daleks (1974), while its course has been diverted in The Keeper of Traken (1981), by the Mandragora Helix in The Masque of Mandragora (1976) and by the Daleks' "time corridor" in Resurrection of the Daleks (1984). In The Mark of the Rani (1985), the Rani uses a Stattenheim remote control to summon her TARDIS. In The Two Doctors (1985), the Second Doctor also uses a portable Stattenheim. The Ninth Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to trigger remotely "Emergency Program One", sending his human companion Rose Tyler to safety, while he stayed behind for a battle against the Daleks ("The Parting of the Ways", 2005). The Tenth Doctor also manipulates the TARDIS by utilising the self-attracting nature of huon particles, causing the TARDIS to materialise around both Donna Noble and himself, in order to escape into the past. However, this trick is used in turn by the Empress of the Racnoss, which pulls the TARDIS from the creation of the Earth to only a few minutes after its initial departure.[38]
In "The Pandorica Opens" (2010), the TARDIS is drawn to a specific date, 26 June 2010, and then caused to explode by an outside influence.
The exterior dimensions can be severed from the interior dimensions under extraordinary circumstances. In Frontios (1984), when the TARDIS is destroyed in a Tractator-induced meteor storm, the interior ends up outside the police box shell with various bits embedded in the surrounding rock. The Fifth Doctor eventually tricks the Gravis, leader of the Tractators, into reassembling the ship. In "Father's Day" (2005), a temporal paradox resulting in a wound in time throws the interior of the ship out of the wound, leaving the TARDIS an empty shell of a police box. The Ninth Doctor attempts to use the TARDIS' key in conjunction with a small electrical charge to recover the ship, but the process is interrupted and the TARDIS was only restored after the paradox was resolved.
In "Turn Left" (2008), the "Police Box" sign and all other text on the TARDIS is shown as replaced with the words "Bad Wolf", as is all text in the universe; this is interpreted by the Doctor as an urgent warning concerning the end of the universe. The words "Bad Wolf" have also been spray-painted on and around the TARDIS in previous episodes.
Interior [ edit ]
The TARDIS wardrobe from "The Christmas Invasion"
The TARDIS interior has an unknown number of rooms and corridors, and the dimensions of the interior have not been specified. In "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" (2013), the Doctor states that the TARDIS is actually infinite in size.[39] Apart from living quarters, the interior includes rooms such as: a swimming pool and bathroom, a sick bay, an ancillary power station disguised as an art gallery, and several brick-walled storage areas (The Invasion of Time, 1978); a "cloister room",[28] an observatory, a library,[39] a greenhouse, a baby room, and several squash courts.[40] Numerous other rooms have been only mentioned in dialogue or in spin-off media. Portions of the TARDIS can also be reconfigured or "deleted"; the Doctor jettisons 25% of the TARDIS's structure in Castrovalva to provide additional "thrust". In "The Doctor's Wife" (2011), a fail-safe transfers any living creatures in "deleted" rooms to the main control room, and old (and future) control rooms can be "archived" by the TARDIS without the Doctor's knowledge. In "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" (2013) the TARDIS is shown to contain the Eye of Harmony, an exploding star in the process of becoming a black hole.
Other rooms seen include living quarters for many of the Doctor's companions. The TARDIS also had a "Zero Room", a chamber that was shielded from the rest of the universe and provided a restful environment for the Fifth Doctor to recover from his regeneration in Castrovalva (which was among the 25% jettisoned). However, the Seventh Doctor spin-off novel Deceit (1993) indicates that the Doctor rebuilt the Zero Room shortly before the events of that novel. In some of[clarification needed] the First Doctor serials, a nearby room contains a machine that dispenses food or nutrition bars to the Doctor and his companions. This machine disappears after the first few[clarification needed] serials, although mention is occasionally made of the TARDIS kitchen.[citation needed] In The One Doctor (2001), Mel mentions that the Doctor used the TARDIS's laundromat.
In Full Circle (1980), Romana states that the weight of the TARDIS is 5 × 106 kilograms in Alzarius's Earth-like gravity (about 5 × 107 Newtons, or the weight of 5,000 tonnes). It has been speculated[41] that this is a mistake by the character and refers to its internal weight, as the external part of the TARDIS is at other times light enough for it to be lifted or otherwise moved with relative ease (although most real police boxes were concrete and hence quite difficult to move): several men lift it up in Marco Polo (1964), it is transported by truck and installed indoors by hand (all off-screen) in Spearhead from Space (1970), it requires a fork-lift truck in Time-Flight and is lifted in the cargo hold of a Concorde in the same serial, a group of small blue maintenance workers on Platform One push it along the ground in "The End of the World" (2005), a quartet of Weeping Angels are able to rock it back and forth in "Blink" (2007), and in "The Day of the Doctor" (2013) it is lifted by a helicopter using a steel cable. The TARDIS floats in Fury from the Deep (1968) but, conversely, remains stationary despite the tides in The Time Meddler (1965). If the solid exterior of the TARDIS is moved or shaken after materialisation, the movement is usually transmitted to its interior[42] ("The Impossible Astronaut", 2011), although there is a manual control to separate the internal gravity from the exterior's orientation (Time-Flight, 1982). The Twelfth Doctor has stated[43] that the TARDIS's weight is always adjusted; if it were not, its weight would shatter the Earth's surface.
In the tie-in novels, the interior of the TARDIS has been known to contain an entire city,[44] encompass an entire parallel Earth,[45] and even dwarf Gallifrey itself when turned inside out.[46]
A distinctive architectural feature of the TARDIS interior is the roundel.[47] In the context of the TARDIS, a roundel is a circular decoration that adorns the walls of the rooms and corridors of the TARDIS, including the console room. Some roundels conceal TARDIS circuitry and devices, as seen in the serials The Wheel in Space (1968), Logopolis, Castrovalva (1981), Arc of Infinity (1983), Terminus (1983), and Attack of the Cybermen (1985), while in "The Husbands of River Song" (2015), one roundel is shown to be used as a bar to store alcoholic drinks in. The design of the roundels has varied throughout the show's history, from a basic circular cut-out with black background to a photographic image printed on wall board, to translucent illuminated discs in later serials. In the secondary console room, most of the roundels were executed in recessed wood panelling, with a few decorative ones in what appeared to be stained glass. In the TARDIS design from 2005–10, the roundels are built into hexagonal recesses in the walls. Ever since the TARDIS was redesigned at the beginning of the 2010 series, there have been a range of different roundel designs around the console room. These include circular holes that are recessed deep into the walls, hexagonal holes that are lit from behind each face, round indents with brass rings around the outside, and a glass centre that is illuminated blue. In "The Day of the Doctor", when the TARDIS' control room briefly appears as the War Doctor's room, the Eleventh Doctor points out to the Tenth Doctor that "the round things" have reappeared, to their mutual delight despite neither one knowing what they're for.
Although the interior corridors seen throughout the original series were not initially seen in the 2005 series, the fact that they still exist was established in "The Unquiet Dead" (2005), when the Doctor gives Rose some very complicated directions to the TARDIS wardrobe. The wardrobe is mentioned several times in the original series and spin-off fiction, and seen in The Androids of Tara (1978), The Twin Dilemma (1984) and Time and the Rani (1987). The redesigned version, from which the Tenth Doctor chooses his new clothes, was seen in "The Christmas Invasion" (2005) as a large multi-levelled room with a helical staircase. The corridors were eventually seen in the episode "The Doctor's Wife". The Doctor also mentions in "The Shakespeare Code" (2007) that the TARDIS has an attic.
In "Boom Town" (2005), a portion of the TARDIS console opens to reveal a luminescent vapour within, described by the Doctor as the "heart of the TARDIS", harking back to the description in The Edge of Destruction (1964). In "The Parting of the Ways" (2005) it was shown that this is connected to the powerful energies of the time vortex.
Console room [ edit ]
The console room from the 1983 20th anniversary special to the 1989 series
It was originally called the "control room", described as such in the stage directions of many scripts, and on air in such stories as The Masque of Mandragora, where the Fourth Doctor said: "Do you know, this is the second control room. You know, I could run the TARDIS just as easily from here as I could from the old one."
The most often-seen room of the TARDIS is its console room, where its flight controls are housed. The console room was designed by Peter Brachacki. It was built on a shoestring budget and a tight schedule, which led to Brachacki leaving the show due to disagreements with the production team and possibly a feeling that he had been given an impossible task.[48] Despite his leaving the show and mixed reactions as to how the set looked (producer Verity Lambert liked it but director Waris Hussein did not), the basic design of the hexagonal console and wall roundels has persisted to the present day.[49]
In the Third Doctor serial The Time Monster (1972), the console room of the TARDIS was dramatically altered, including the wall roundels. This new set, designed by Tim Gleeson, was disliked by producer Barry Letts, who felt that the new roundels resembled washing-up bowls stuck to the wall. However, as fate would have it the set was damaged in storage between production blocks and had to be rebuilt, so this particular design only saw service in the one serial.[citation needed]
The TARDIS has at least two console rooms: the primary one most used throughout the programme's history, and the secondary console room used during Season 14 in 1976/77, which has wood panelling and a more antique feel to it. It had been designed to make shooting more comfortable for the camera crew. Putting the console on a dais meant the cameramen no longer had to crouch for eye-level shots. However the set walls warped after it was put into storage at the end of production and had to be discarded.[citation needed]
In addition, a cavernous, steampunk-inspired[citation needed] console room was used in the television movie Doctor Who (1996) and may have[original research?] been a reconfiguration of either of the previously mentioned console rooms, as first suggested in New Adventures novels, most specifically the Lungbarrow (1997) by Marc Platt, where the TARDIS reconfigures the console room to reflect the interior of the Doctor's former home and later in the Big Finish Productions audio plays.[vague][which?][citation needed]
In the 2005 series, the console room became a dome-shaped chamber with organic-looking support columns, and the interior doors were removed. The change in configuration is explained in "Time Crash" (2007) by the Fifth Doctor as a mere changing of "the desktop theme" to "Coral" (he also indicates that a "Leopard Skin" theme is also available, but he dislikes it). Several episodes of the revived series, such as "Army of Ghosts" (2006) and the end of "The Unicorn and the Wasp" (2008), reveal that there is storage space directly underneath the console room; the Doctor is shown periodically obtaining equipment from this area via a panel in the floor. The 2005 console room was destroyed by the regeneration energy of the Tenth Doctor in the final scene of The End of Time (2009–10) and cold open of "The Eleventh Hour" (2010), although it makes a reappearance in the 2011 episode "The Doctor's Wife" as well as the 50th anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor". This console room has made the most appearances in the revived series, and is the most well known one.[50] The console room is currently[needs update] stored at the Doctor Who experience in Cardiff. A new console room, along with a new police box exterior, made its debut in "The Eleventh Hour". It was revealed in "The Doctor's Wife" that the older TARDIS interior designs are not destroyed or remodelled, but 'archived' off the official schematic without the Doctor's knowledge. The TARDIS reveals that she has around thirty console rooms archived, even those that the Doctor has yet to use. These archived console rooms are still capable of controlling TARDIS functions as shown when Amy and Rory are able to lower the TARDIS shields from an archived control room. The active console room at a given time will be the one connected to the exterior doors for ingress and egress.
A third console room design was unveiled in the 2012 Christmas special "The Snowmen".[51] As opposed to the more open, unpredictable[neutrality is disputed] nature of the previous design, this set echoes[original research?] the machine-like 1980s TARDIS console, but is coloured in the more shadowy blues, greens and purples of the 1996 TV movie. Though the central pillar is still connected to the ceiling – a design element introduced in the 1996 movie, and continued in the 2005 series – it is now joined to three circular connectors marked with Gallifreyan symbols that rotate clockwise and anticlockwise when the TARDIS is in flight.
Showrunner Steven Moffat stated that the new design was meant to be more'scary' and machine-like than the previous bright orange design, which was more 'whimsical' to reflect upon the light-hearted and fairy-tale-like nature of the episodes following its introduction in "The Eleventh Hour".[52] The seventh series' darker, more adult tone necessitated a more menacing and mysterious console – also reflecting the implications that the TARDIS is distrustful of the Doctor's companion, Clara Oswald. For instance, in "Hide" (2013), Clara's statement that the TARDIS actively dislikes her is intercut with footage of its circular connectors spinning from the ceiling. For the eighth series, Peter Capaldi's first as the Doctor, this console was still used but was tweaked and altered slightly, including the addition of a blackboard and bookshelves and the time rotor was changed to an orange colour replacing the blue.
A previously unseen version of the console room made an appearance in "The Day of the Doctor" (2013) and is associated with the War Doctor, portrayed by John Hurt. This console room has walls that are similar in design to those first seen in 1963, with multiple roundels illuminated from behind. The fourth major redesign of the TARDIS in the revived series appeared in the eleventh series. New production designer Arwel Wyn Jones said that the inspiration for the Thirteenth Doctor's TARDIS was based on the 2005-10 model, which he had worked on.[53]
The console room is the "safest place on the ship," and so when its occupants are in danger the TARDIS will reinvent its architecture so as to allow them to enter the console room.[citation needed] This can also result in the TARDIS materialising itself within its own console room when in grave danger, as it did in "Space" and "Time". As seen in "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS", the console room is able to be replicated any number of times to create "echo rooms"; occupants in each of the different echo rooms will be able to feel the presence of the others in the forms of shadows and sounds, as the rooms are together for a brief second, with the rooms rapidly alternating between each other, "like a light switch... flickering at super-infinite speeds."
The Virgin novels introduced a tertiary console room, which was described as resembling a Gothic cathedral (Nightshade, 1992). Another novel (Death and Diplomacy, 1996) suggested that the native configuration is so complex and irrational that most non-Time Lords who witness it are driven mad from the experience.
Throughout the programme's history there have been various attempts at humanising the console room by adding various accoutrements. For example, a hatstand has often[citation needed] been located somewhere in the room, and the first[clarification needed] episodes featured an ormolu clock. In the series from 2005 onwards, the TARDIS console included a bench sitting area for the Doctor and/or his companions to relax during extended flight. In The Androids of Tara (1978) a cupboard containing fishing gear is shown nearby. In "The Rebel Flesh" (2011), a dartboard is seen installed in the console room, and it is revealed in the episode "Vincent and the Doctor" (2010) that the console is capable of playing recorded music. In keeping with the darker and more machine-like setting of the 2012 redesign of the console room, there is no hat-stand or bench; in "Hide", the Doctor and Clara both note that there is no longer anywhere in the room on which to hang Clara's umbrella.
TARDIS console [ edit ]
The main feature of the console rooms, in any of the known configurations, is the TARDIS console that holds the instruments that control the ship's functions. The appearance of the primary TARDIS consoles has varied widely but shares common details: hexagonal pedestals with controls around the periphery, and a moveable column (or time rotor as it has been called in the original series and the 2011 episode "The Doctor's Wife") in the centre that bobs rhythmically up and down when the TARDIS is in flight, like a pump or a piston.
The secondary console was first seen in season 14 (1976–77) of the original series. It had the controls hidden behind wooden panels and had no central column. The 1996 television movie console also appeared to be made of wood and the central column connected to the ceiling of the console room. When the console appeared in 2005 it was circular in shape but still divided into six segments, with both the control panels and the central column glowing green, the latter once again connected to the ceiling.
The 2005 console has a much more thrown-together appearance than previous consoles, with bits of junk from various eras substituting as makeshift controls, including a glass paperweight, a locomotive style water sight glass and protector, a small bell, and a bicycle pump, the latter identified in the Tenth Doctor interactive mini-episode "Attack of the Graske" (2005) as the vortex loop control. Three other controls—the dimensional stabiliser, vector tracker, and the handbrake—were also identified. Although the stabiliser had been mentioned before in the series, the canonicity of the mini-episode is also unclear. As seen in "World War Three" (2005), there is also a working telephone attached to the console. In the 2010 series, the new console includes items such as a washer-fluid bottle from a car and a typewriter keyboard.
Precisely how much control the Doctor has in directing the TARDIS has varied over the course of the series. The First Doctor did not initially seem to be able to steer it accurately, making only one intended landing to the planet Kembel in The Daleks' Master Plan (1965–66) by using the directional unit taken from another TARDIS before the unit burns out. During the Third Doctor's exile on Earth, the TARDIS's course is shown as controlled successfully by the Time Lords, and from the point the Time Lords unblock his memory of time-travel mechanics in The Three Doctors (1972–73), the Doctor seems able to navigate correctly when needed.[54]
Over time, the Doctor seems to be able to pilot the TARDIS with more precision. In The Seeds of Death (1969), the Second Doctor explains to Zoe Heriot that it would be impossible to use the TARDIS to fly from Earth to the Moon because it would likely "overshoot by a few million years, or a few million miles". However, in Logopolis (1981), the Fourth Doctor is able to make a "short hop" to the exact coordinates when he initially lands the TARDIS 1.6 metres off target.
Following The Key to Time season (1978–79), the Doctor installed a randomiser to the console which prevented the Doctor (and by extension the evil and powerful Black Guardian) from knowing where the TARDIS would land next. This device was eventually removed in The Leisure Hive (1980).
In the 2005 and later series, the Doctor is shown piloting the TARDIS at will, although writers continue to use the plot device of having the TARDIS randomly land somewhere, or imply that the TARDIS is "temperamental" in its courses through time and space, such as missing his intended mark by a century (1879 instead of 1979) in "Tooth and Claw" (2006), making the mistake of 12 months instead of 12 hours in "Aliens of London" (2005), getting the correct time but landing on the wrong continent (London instead of New York) in "The Idiot's Lantern" (2006) or even facing the wrong way (blocked by a metal container) in "Fear Her" (2006). He can also choose to "set |
be set up by Congress.
Government officials have claimed that they took this action because they feared the GSEs would start losing money again, with taxpayers still being on the hook. In the months immediately following the momentous switch, however, the GSEs actually booked record profits. As of last November, by which time thousands of Fannie and Freddie investors—led by Fairholme and hedge fund Perry Capital—had filed numerous suits in numerous courts, the GSEs had paid the government about $240 billion in exchange for the $189.5 billion bailout, or nearly $130 billion more than they would have paid under the original 10% coupon agreements.
Lawyers for the investor plaintiffs have speculated that the Treasury and FHFA officials responsible actually knew that the GSEs were healthy in 2012 (and possibly even in 2008) but confiscated their assets for opportunistic budgetary reasons, including, perhaps, the desire to postpone hitting the national debt ceiling at a time when Congress was threatening to shut down the government. They have sought disclosure of Treasury, FHFA, and White House documents in order to try to prove this theory.The Deep, Dark Secret Of R.L. Stine: 'I Never Planned To Be Scary'
Enlarge this image toggle caption Hopper Stone, SMPSP/Courtesy of Columbia Pictures Hopper Stone, SMPSP/Courtesy of Columbia Pictures
If you are — or have ever had or been — a kid, if you like to read and you like to creep yourself out, then you probably know the name R.L. Stine. The prolific author has written hundreds of horror stories for kids, none more popular than his long-running series of frightfests, Goosebumps.
The series has sported iconic neon cover art and memorable titles — like The Beast from the East and The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena. Over 400 million copies of Stine's books are in print. Still, in the more than two decades since Goosebumps got its start, there's at least one thing the series hasn't done: made the leap from the page to the big screen.
Until now: Goosebumps has been adapted into a feature film, starring dozens of monsters and Jack Black as the man himself, R.L. Stine — or, at least, a version of Stine.
"He's not a sinister dude at all," Black says of Stine, in an interview with NPR's Michel Martin. "He's a really sweet, fun guy to hang out, with a really great sense of humor."
So Black took a few liberties, drawing a dark side out of his fictional Stine that he couldn't find in the real one.
Hear The Interviews Movie Interviews In Bringing 'Goosebumps' To The Big Screen, Jack Black Gets His Creepy On In Bringing 'Goosebumps' To The Big Screen, Jack Black Gets His Creepy On Listen · 6:38 6:38 Read The Transcript: Jack Black Movie Interviews Attack Of The Spooky Script! R.L. Stine, In Life And On The Screen Attack Of The Spooky Script! R.L. Stine, In Life And On The Screen Listen · 8:12 8:12 Read The Transcript: R.L. Stine
"It's always fun to play the bad guy," Black tells Martin. "The villain is always sort of the most interesting part of the movie. Case in point: Darth Vader! What good is Star Wars without Darth Vader? Hannibal Lecter? Can't take your eyes off him!"
As for Stine himself? Never mind the fact that he's not a horror — in a separate interview, he tells Martin that he never even meant to become a horror author. He did get an early start writing, though.
"I started when I was 9. I don't know, I was this weird kid. I found a typewriter, I dragged it into my room and I would just stay in my room, typing — typing out funny stories and little comic books," Stine says. "You know, I always wanted to be funny. I never planned to be scary."
Stine says he wrote in humor magazines all through college, later running a humor magazine of his own, called Bananas, for the publisher Scholastic for 10 years.
"That was like my life's dream, and when it ended, I thought I'd just coast the rest of my career," Stine says. "I had no idea what was in store for me."
It wasn't until an editor asked him to write a horror novel for teenagers — she even gave him the title, Blind Date — that he actually got into scary stories. "I didn't know what she was talking about," he says, but he wrote it anyway — and it sold well.
"And I thought, forget the funny stuff, the kids want to be scared!" Stine says. "So I've been scary ever since."
But not too scary. Stine says he's written 125 Goosebumps books, and in each of them he tries to maintain a balance between the scary and the funny.
"You know, they're not just horror novels," he tells Martin. "I don't really want to terrify kids. Whenever I have something that I think is kind of intense, I throw in something funny to lighten it up."
And that's advice he relayed to Jack Black, as well. When they were making the film, Black says Stine recommended, "Don't be too scary. You can thrill, but don't traumatize. Remember, there's a lot of kids in the audience for my books, so let's lean into the comedy and have some fun with it."
Enlarge this image toggle caption Hopper Stone, SMPSP/Courtesy of Columbia Pictures Hopper Stone, SMPSP/Courtesy of Columbia Pictures
That sense of fun wasn't just a guideline for Black in making the film. It remains an inspiration for Stine, even now, as he comes up with ideas for new books.
"I don't ever try to think of ideas. I always just think of titles. And then the title leads me to the story," Stine says. "One day I was walking my dog in the park here in New York, and these words flashed into my mind: 'Little Shop of Hamsters.' Where? Why? I don't know where it came from."
But it got him thinking: "'What could be scary about hamsters? Could maybe there be a thousand of them? Or maybe there'd be a giant hamster?" he says. (Little Shop of Hamsters did actually become a Goosebumps book, by the way.)
He's done so many stories by now that he says that it's getting difficult to come up with new books — "It's always a miracle to me when suddenly I have an idea for a new one" — but he has no plans to stop anytime soon.
"I keep getting new generations to scare. But I really don't understand why it's lasted 23 years. I'm so thrilled by it," he says.
"I always tell kids," Stine says, "I always tell them there's no way to plan your life. You never know where you're going to land. There are always going to be all kinds of surprises."
And a few frights too, of course.Close
There is no point counting those calories or putting all that hard work trying to look slim. A new study reveals that friends and relatives always remember obese people as being overweight, no matter how much weight they lose later on.
The research says that even if someone loses weight considerably after being fat once, friends and relatives continue to see them and label them as lazy and greedy, reports Mail Online.
For the study conducted by Manchester University, the University of Hawaii in Manoa, and Monash University in Melbourne, 273 volunteers were shown pictures of five 31-year-old women and also given notes about them to be read by the volunteers.
Out of the five women, one woman had been slim all her life, one had been overweight, and the other three had been previously overweight but had lost around five stones and looked the normal size in the pictures.
When the volunteers were asked to rate the women in the pictures based on their attractiveness, most of them regarded the woman who had been slim all her life as being more attractive than the ones who were fat but lost weight later.
Also, they even made negative remarks about those who were previously fat. They had certain "fat prejudices" against them.
"Obesity stigma is so powerful and enduring that it may even outlast the obesity itself," Researcher Dr Janet Latner, from the University of Hawaii at Manoa was quoted as saying by Mail Online.
Dr Kerry O'Brien, from Manchester University's School of Psychological Sciences, said that fat people struggle to lose weight in order to escape the social stigma against obese people which is very painful.
"We need to rethink our approaches to and views of weight and obesity. Given the great number of people who may be negatively affected by this prejudice, obesity discrimination needs to be reduced," O'Brien added.
Adults as well as children have the social stigma against obesity. Hence, while adults have certain "fat prejudices" against other obese adults, obese school children often get bullied in school by their classmates or friends.
The NHS(National Health Service in UK)'s controversial weigh-in for schoolchildren only adds up to the misery of pupils by labeling some of them fat and leading to more bullying, MPs warn.
The National Child Measurement Programme, takes the Body Mass Index(BMI) of a child at the age of five and then again at ten. But then the BMI calculation is not always accurate since it does not take muscles into consideration. Hence, instead of the calculation of the BMI, a child's wait size or body fat should be measured, recommend the MPs according to the report.
See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare(As always, for those curious about the criteria for determining these power rankings, feel free to jump to the end of the piece to peruse the methodology.)
In the short tenure of the DKE power rankings, we've never had a set where so few states went totally unheralded for a month. This month, all but five gubernatorial races notched at least one point, under our power rankings rubric.
The only race that dropped out of the top 10, as it happens, is a near lock to return to the fold come next month. That race was the battle up in Wisconsin, where, it is safe to say, things got a little more interesting over the past week. So expect to see Republican Gov. Scott Walker's name a little more often in the very near future.
One of the biggest movers in a forward direction, on the other hand, will probably go back to sleep for a little bit. That race is Nebraska, which rocketed from deep in the field (25th) to a tie for 11th this month. That bump in attention was propelled in May by one of the most competitive primary elections on the gubernatorial calendar, resulting in the nomination of AmeriTrade executive (and Republican) Pete Ricketts. That said, a poll released this week on behalf of Democrat Chuck Hassebrook has it as as a four-point race, so don't assume this is the last you will hear of the Cornhusker State this cycle.
In the top 10, meanwhile, we see a lot of the same names (nine of 10), but a whole lot of movement. Part of this could be owed to the "primary effect" we saw in the Senate power rankings. But part of it is also owed to some changing dynamics that have made the races in the top 10 an extremely intriguing lot.
Finally, because I know that someone is curious, here are the lonely five governors whose races did not merit even a single mention or poll during the ratings period (May 1-31): Robert Bentley (Alabama), Brian Sandoval (Nevada), Mary Fallin (Oklahoma), Peter Shumlin (Vermont) and Matt Mead (Wyoming). Nevada, however, will get off the schneid in next month's power rankings, because who can forget that awesome moment when none of the above won the freaking Democratic gubernatorial primary?
#10—CONNECTICUT (21 points)—DKE Rating: Leans Democratic
(Last month: Unranked)
Connecticut is the lone newcomer to the power rankings, and astute observers on gubernatorial politics may be wondering what took so long. After all, the battle in the Nutmeg State is, in all probability, going to be a rematch of one of the closest gubernatorial battles of the 2010 cycle. Democratic incumbent Gov. Dan Malloy is being challenged by former U.S. Ambassador Tom Foley, who is expected to snag the GOP nomination. The most recent polls have the race in a dead heat. In addition, a real complicating factor for Malloy is developing. The incumbent may well have to deal with the possible presence of former Democratic legislator Jonathan Pelto on the ballot. Pelto has announced an independent candidacy on the theme of education, and he is clearly running to Malloy's left.
#9—MAINE (22 points)—DKE Rating: Leans Democratic
(Last month: 9—tie)
If there is a race on the roster this year that could result in utter frustration for Democrats, it could be Maine. Here at Daily Kos Elections, we still see the race as "Leans Democratic," if only because right-wing GOP Gov. Paul LePage has to be the worst fit for his state of any governor in the nation. However, as was the case when LePage squeaked into office in 2010, split opposition might save his ass yet again. As was the case in 2010, a Democratic-leaning independent (Eliot Cutler) could snare enough support to allow LePage to win with under 40 percent of the vote, as he did four years ago. The Democratic nominee, veteran congressman Mike Michaud, has a pretty sizable resource edge over the incumbent, however. And that, plus the hope that voters in Maine will conclude this time around that a vote for Cutler is an indirect vote for LePage, is why Democrats are at least cautiously optimistic about this one.
#8—ILLINOIS (24 points)—DKE Rating: Tossup
(Last month: 4)
Illinois is kind of a strange race, quite frankly. If one only looks at poll numbers, it would look like our DKE rating of "tossup" would be a bit generous for the incumbent, Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn. But this is Illinois, a traditionally Democratic state that has broken Republican hearts before on occasion. If that sounds like spin to you, leave it to one of the most prolific GOP pollsters in the state to make the argument for me:
“History teaches us to not make strong assumptions from these early polls,” said We Ask America CEO Gregg Durham. “Four years ago, Pat Quinn trailed Bill Brady by 10 points in August and fought his way back to win a close victory. Rauner’s lead in the collar counties and downstate is strong and may hold, but Cook County is the real battle ground.”
Quinn is going to need Cook County to come home to him, and by a country mile, in order to earn a second term. However, he is dealing with a bit of a headwind. There is one recurring theme in a lot of these top races—not every incumbent is reviled, but few of them are beloved, either. Quinn is no exception, and he's going to need to make this race a choice, rather than a referendum.
#7—MICHIGAN (25 points)—DKE Rating: Tossup
(Last month: 3)
One incumbent whose polling numbers are better than Quinn's, but definitely in "meh" territory, is Republican Gov. Rick Snyder. His approval numbers have generally been fair-to-middling, and the open question is whether that will be good enough in a state that, if not a blue state, has a definite tint to it. The old "incumbent under 50 percent" rule has largely been chalked off, but here is a race where one wonders if there is relevance. After all, with as many undecideds as we are seeing in this race (the last five polls in the race have averaged 15 percent undecided), one wonders if Democrat Mark Schauer, who is still considerably less known than Snyder, has enough "upside" to chase down Snyder, whose polling average has been in the mid-40s. Unlike a lot of states we have seen this cycle (particularly at the Senate level), one has to think that the undecideds in this race are a little less GOP-friendly than elsewhere.
#6—IOWA (26 points)—DKE Rating: Likely Republican
(Last month: 9—tie)
Iowa's move up the board is probably the first case we've seen thus far in the power rankings of a state that benefitted from the "primary effect." Iowa held theirs on June 3, and the very intriguing GOP Senate primary led to a little spillover on the gubernatorial side. Incumbent GOP Gov. Terry Branstad had only nuisance opposition in the primary, but since pollsters were already assessing the state of play on the Senate side, a few of them also tossed in a question about Branstad's primary challenge as well. Branstad's position in the race can best be described as leading, but not safe. The handful of most recent polls pegged Branstad's lead as between 7-14 points. Much like Michigan, however, the Democratic challenger (state legislative veteran Jack Hatch) is still in the process of defining himself and may have some upside.
#5—OHIO (27 points)—DKE Rating: Leans Republican
(Last month: 6)
Anyone else starting to see a trend developing here? Those midwestern battlegrounds, which also get a bunch of attention during the presidential election years, are getting a ton of play here. This race, pitting incumbent Republican Gov. John Kasich against Democrat Ed FitzGerald, has been somewhat of a tough one to figure out. At one point, Kasich was mentioned in the same breath as Pennsylvania's Tom Corbett and Florida's Rick Scott—a trio of GOP class of 2010 governors who seemed hugely imperiled. Lately, however, there has been evidence that Kasich has opened something of a gap. One pollster, Quinnipiac, has claimed a 10-point bounce in Kasich's favor since February. To a lesser extent, PPP (polling on behalf of the Ohio Democratic Party) has seen a smaller movement, from a deadlocked race to a modest four-point edge for the incumbent.
#4—ARKANSAS (31 points)—DKE Rating: Tossup
(Last month: 2)
It wasn't long ago that it looked like Democrats were staring at a Senate race in Arkansas that was rapidly getting away from them and a gubernatorial race that looked considerably more promising for them. Over the past six weeks, that perception seems to have changed. All of a sudden, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Ross (the longtime former congressman from the 4th District) is running behind Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor in those polls where both races have been surveyed. In the past week or so, however, Ross might have found a hole in Hutchinson's defense: he has started to hammer Hutchinson on the issue of the minimum wage, amid the prospects of a forthcoming ballot initiative in Arkansas to raise the minimum wage to $8.50 per hour. At present, Arkansas has the lowest minimum wage in the nation.
#3—PENNSYLVANIA (36 points)—DKE Rating: Leans Democratic
(Last month: 5)
Primary season has already come and gone in the Keystone State, with the almost universally expected result: the nomination of Tom Wolf as the Democratic nominee for governor. Speaking of universally expected results, it is becoming harder and harder to see a path to victory for the incumbent Republican, Gov. Tom Corbett. He starts the general election season down roughly 20 points to Wolf, and a variety of power players are not planning to let up on the pressure. One example: teachers, a powerful lobby in a state where Corbett has been slammed for his machinations in the realm of public education. As Politico's Stephanie Simon noted just this week:
"Polls show Republican Gov. Tom Corbett is in trouble - and unions smell blood. The American Federation of Teachers and its local affiliates have been relentless in attacking Corbett all spring and a senior AFT official told us this race is their No. 1 target for the fall. Education polls as a top issue for Pennsylvania voters and unions see it as a huge vulnerability for Corbett. They accuse him of slashing $1 billion in education spending to pay for a tax cut and point to districts across the state that have laid off teachers, increased class sizes, eliminated full-day kindergarten and more.
As in Illinois, Corbett desperately needs this raceto be a referendum on the incumbent. Unlike Illinois, however, Corbett is not trying to dig out of a hole—he is trying to dig out of a freaking chasm.
#2—FLORIDA (38 points)—DKE Rating: Tossup
(Last month: 1)
The good news for Republicans this month: their once uber-endangered Republican governor in Florida, Rick Scott, has pulled back to all-square with his Democratic rival, former Gov. Charlie Crist. Indeed, Scott has actually led in four of the seven polls in the race conducted since May 1. The bad news for Republicans: Scott has already blown a lot of campaign cash (Team Crist estimates it at over $20 million), and all it has gotten him is a race that is still, for all intents and purposes, tied. What's more: Crist hasn't even bothered to try to go tit-for-tat. One assumes that Scott, despite his essentially limitless resources, isn't going to have the airwaves to himself for long. The "what to watch for" statistic is going to be what happens to the polls when the battle is joined. Has Scott's early efforts to redefine Crist paid off, keeping the race close for the duration? Or will Scott's numbers wilt even further once Crist begins to counterpunch?
#1—GEORGIA (49 points)—DKE Rating: Likely Republican
(Last month: 7—tie)
This might be the only month Georgia graces the top spot, but one can feel pretty sure that it won't be the only month that it appears prominently in the power rankings. The race got polled a ridiculous amount during the month of May—nine polls in all! Oddly, though, it is safe to say that neither the primary election for governor, or November's general election pitting incumbent Gov. Nathan Deal and his Democratic rival, state Sen. Jason Carter, had very little to do with the volume of polling in Georgia this month.
For those confused, perhaps an explanation is in order: the marquee race of the primary season, at least in terms of genuine mystery as to its outcome prior to the race, was that Georgia GOP Senate primary. Ergo, that Senate race got polled a ton (and also moved to the top spot in this month's Senate power rankings). A number of those pollsters decided to toss in a question about either the wholly uncompetitive GOP gubernatorial primary (which incumbent Nathan Deal won with ease) or looked ahead to the general.
Those general election polls, for what it is worth, put up a sizable caution sign for Carter. While he remains fairly close to Deal, polls show that Libertarian Andrew Hunt is hanging in at a disturbingly high 7-9 percent of the vote. Remember: Georgia is a state that has general election runoffs if no candidate hits 50 percent of the vote. Therefore, for Carter to avoid a low-turnout post-election runoff, it now looks like not only must he catch and pass the incumbent, he is going to have to do it by a pretty solid margin. Now, of course, historically third-party candidates poll better than they perform. But Carter has to hope that past is prologue, and Hunt's numbers do more than just recede by a few points. Of course, it's only June, Deal is pretty unloved and Carter still has lots of time to make his case.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
With the rankings in the books, here, as promised for those interested, is the statement about the rubric for determining the power rankings:A billboard questioning if convicted former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw is truly guilty of raping 13 women has been taken down by Tyler Media, the company that owns the billboard.
Holtzclaw expressed disappointment in an exclusive interview with Oklahoma’s NewsChannel 4 on Nov. 22.
“I’m aware that the billboard has come down and I’m a little disheartened,” Holtzclaw told reporters. “But I’m encouraged by the ongoing supporters who believe in my innocence.”
Atlanta Black Star previously reported that Holtzclaw was convicted for using his position as a police officer to coerce and rape 13 Black women while on duty. The former officer and college football player was sentenced to 263 years in prison in January after being convicted on 18 of 36 counts, including first-degree rape and forced oral sodomy.
His victims ranged in age from 17 to 57 and all of them were women considered to be on the fringes of society. All had had run-ins with the law prior to encountering Holtzclaw. Court testimonies and documents stated that he took advantage of the women because he didn’t think anyone would believe their accusations against him.
In the news clip, Holtzclaw remained steadfast, claiming that he was innocent and falsely convicted.
Activists and supporters of the victims believe the billboard is an act of disrespect and shows a blatant disregard for their feelings.
“I couldn’t believe that someone would have the gall to put that on this side of the community, on the northeast side of Oklahoma City at I-44 and Kelley,” Grace Franklin of OKC Artists for Justice said in disbelief. “It was so disturbing and such a slap in the face to those survivors.”
But Brian Bates, a member of Holtzclaw’s defense team, said the billboard had no bearing on the case.
“That billboard being up wasn’t going to do anything to prove Daniel was guilty or innocent. The show it’s promoting will help educate an awful lot of people of the facts that have yet to come out until now,” Bates explained.
From prison, Holtzclaw told reporters that he is more concerned with his court appeal than the billboard being removed. There is new evidence claiming that another man’s DNA was on Holtzclaw’s pants.
“I’m very confident in my appellate lawyers, I’m confident in my team and the support that I have,” Holtzclaw said. “I’m confident that all the discovery we have found throughout the trial, I’m pretty positive I’m going to get a retrial,”
Since the billboard backlash, CRTV, the media outlet that is producing the series on the ex-cop, has released a statement: “CRTV supports free speech. We are disappointed that Tyler Media caved in to pressure to take down the billboard.”Avatar director James Cameron, who credits himself with the resurgence in 3D filmmaking over the past few years, says Hollywood isn’t using 3D to its full potential.
Speaking at an event abroad over the weekend, Cameron was asked about where 3D stands in the film industry today. He responded by pointing out that there’s a big difference between shooting in 3D and converting 2D to 3D which is one of the biggest problems with how it’s used. “After Avatar changed everything, good and bad movies, everything had to be in 3D,” he said.
Cameron continued by noting that studios are pressuring directors into shooting 3D whether or not the director is comfortable with using the format. “Managers no longer have control and I think the 3D should be controlled by the director, not studios,” he said. “I know that we have opened the doors to 3D, but there must be quality.”
He wrapped his remarks on 3D by pointing out that recent summer blockbusters did not need to use the format. “Man of Steel and Iron Man and all of those movies should not necessarily be in 3D. If you spend $150 million on visual effects, the film is already going to be spectacular.”
Cameron is reportedly working on a sequel and three-quel to his wildly successful Avatar which holds the box office record for highest earner ever. Release dates have not been set, and Cameron has had no problem admitting he’s taking his time with the project after developing the first story for twenty years.
Thanks, Laverdad.com.Thom Yorke's right hand:
Thom Yorke has a simian line in his right hand (find more 'famous simian line holders': HERE).
His fingers are characterized by a low 2D:4D digit ratio (= short pointer finger + long ring finger) and a long pinky finger. Historically, the long ring finger has been recognized as a typical characteristic
of musicians:'music is in the ring finger'.
(Check out in the next section below Tom's unusually short heart line in his left hand!)
Thom Yorke's left hand:
Thom Yorke appears to have a very short heart line in his left hand - but a study of the details reveals that the small line below his pinky finger likely the second part of a 'broken' heart line.
MORE THOM YORKE THUMBS:Konnan’s run with The Crash has ended. He’s no longer with the Tijuana based promotion after being added as the creative lead and onscreen authority figure just over a year ago. The Crash had been telling people who work for them that Konnan was out for days, but it’s unclear if they told Konnan until now. Konnan’s social media account (which is sometimes managed by others) had still been pushing The Crash on social media thru last night’s show in Ecatepec, though he was not seen in front of the crowd on the Tijuana show. The Crash is not running again until the 15th, so they decided to officially announce the change.
The press release isn’t up in Spanish on Facebook, and 411 Mania had the English version.
The Crash Lucha Libre brand is known for the way we treat people and value each and every single person that works in this company. Bettering the economical and habitual needs. Showing the support for each element and giving opportunity to new talent. In this way, the value and professionalism shown between each of its partners. Not being able to comply to the Crash Lucha Libre code of ethic, is something that we do not tolerate in this company. With that being said, We now announce that Carlos Santiago Espada “Konnan”, will no longer be working with The Crash. We thank him for the time and support and wish him the best in his future endeavors. We will be announcing the dates for 2018 with the best matches and our debut in the United States.
The Crash’s Code of Ethic is a new one on me, but it’s a kinder way of saying Konnan screwed up with them something major.
Konnan’s wrestling history is dotted with bad breakups with promotions, but seemed to be on good terms with The Crash. I was there just a few weeks ago in Naucalpan, and he seemed to be happy with what was going on. Usually, it’s Konnan getting annoyed with the promotion he’s working with and starting the break up, but I just say him in Nacualpan about three weeks ago and he seemed to be happy with The Crash. This time, it was the promotion who decided to break up with him. The story I’ve heard is The Crash were caught off guard by Konnan’s new job announcement as the lead writer of AroLucha. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported Konnan informed Impact Wrestling of this new job, and that group gave their approval. The Crash said is saying Konnan didn’t actually tell them of this new job, they found out around the same time everyone did, and they’re not ok with it. Very much not ok with it, apparently.
Arolucha is trying to start a US lucha promotion the same time The Crash is trying the same, and Konnan working for Arolucha could be seen as working against The Crash. Neither are really sure bets to make it in a crowded US market, but The Crash has at least built up some name value and would seem like the better bet of the two if you had to choose. It’s surprising Konnan would choose Arolucha over the Crash, but it’s possible he just thought he could do both and never got to make that choice.
This leaves a lot of questions going forward. The most pressing is Arolucha debut on Sunday; if The Crash had a problem with Konnan working that show, will they have a problem with luchadors who work that show? Will everyone just be allowed to work wherever, or will there be some split of “Konnan’s guys” and “The Crash’s guys” that’ll cause both promotions to change going forward? Start up wrestling promotions have a low rate of success as it is and “Arolucha” doesn’t seem like something worth going to war over, but there’s obviously strong feeling here.
This also seems to change affects The Crash’s relationship with other companies. Konnan was the point person for the relationship with Impact, though only Garza Jr. seems to be working both places at the moment. Does this actually help the CMLL relationship, since it seemed like it was more of a Nacho de la O deal and Konnan’s not beloved by the people of Arena Mexico? Does it even help the AAA/Crash relationship? AAA’s taking their anger out on Fenix and Penta, but it always comes off like they’re really angry at Konnan and those just are the guys they can get to easier. (Or, with no other big promotion to go to in Mexico, does Konnan and AAA mend fences themselves? Or does he just stay out of Mexico for the moment and focus on Arolucha?)
That Arolucha taping is Sunday. I’d suspect we’ll get a Konnan podcast or three before then.
Like this: Like Loading...Young Buck is eyeing 14 claims filed against him in his ongoing bankruptcy proceedings and those claims have reached a total of $11.5 million. G-Unit has filed a $10 million claim in the event of a breach of contract, while 50 Cent has filed a $171,000 claim for a loan of $300,000 in 2005.
Joyce notes that some of the Tennessean emcee’s financial issues have come from a deal signed with G-Unit, a deal that she says was unfair. Joyce adds that G-Unit managed Buck as an artist and that this didn’t allow him to conduct business appropriately, particularly after Buck’s longstanding differences with 50 Cent.
“One of the biggest problems with Buck’s situation is not only that it’s so complex, but also that he didn’t understand it,” she said in an interview with The Tennessean. “The money went in and the money went out and Buck’s universe of knowledge about his financial state is a balance on an ATM receipt. … Buck never knew at one point, at several points, that he was a millionaire.”
Recently, Joyce, who has worked without pay, requested a $500,000 budget for a new Young Buck album through G-Unit. Joyce adds that they are looking for a way to get the project released, though his records on the label have been on ice. If they don’t release the album, Joyce is asking for G-Unit to release YB from his contract.
This comes after other bad news surrounding Young Buck this month. Although currently out on bail, Buck was recently arrested on a federal gun charge. In the interview, Joyce says that she will continue to support Buck on the road to recovery from financial and legal troubles.Dozens of Iranian students and clerics have gathered outside the French embassy in Tehran to protest against the publication of caricatures of Islam's Prophet Muhammad by a French satirical weekly.
Protesters chanted "Death to France" and "Down with the US" and burnt the flags of the US and Israel on Thursday, in a demonstration that lasted two hours.
The protest followed a week of protests and riots by Muslims in many countries who were angered by an anti-Islam video produced in the US.
In Paris, a little-known organisation called Syrian Freedom Association has filed a lawsuit saying the publication of the satirical cartoons publicly provokes discrimination, hatred or violence of an ethnic, racial or religious nature.
The case is currently being considered by courts in the French capital.
Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland, reporting from Paris, said "authorities request that if anyone feels their rights have been violated, then the courts are the appropriate venue" through which to raise their concerns.
The government has already banned demonstrations planned for Saturday in Paris.
France announced that it would temporarily close its embassies and schools in 20 countries on Friday after Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of the prophet.
"We have indeed decided as a precautionary measure to close our premises, embassies, consulates, cultural centres and schools," a foreign ministry spokesman said of the shut-down set for Friday.
On Wednesday, France stepped up security and appealed for calm after the satirical weekly published the cartoons.
Laurent Fabius, the foreign minister, said he had ordered special security measures "in all the countries where this could pose a problem". Demonstrations across the Islamic world often follow Friday prayers.
Police were deployed outside the Paris offices of the magazine on Wednesday. The left-wing publication's offices were firebombed last year after it published an edition "guest-edited" by the Prophet Muhammad that it called Sharia Hebdo.
Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault urged "responsibility" and said anyone offended by the caricatures could sue in court.
French schools and cultural centres in Egypt were closed on Thursday as a precautionary measure, the French consulate said.
"Although there has been no specific threat in Egypt, it has been decided as a precaution and as in other countries, to close French schools and cultural centres in Egypt on Thursday September 20," it said in a statement.
Appeal for calm
Leaders of the large Muslim community in France said an appeal for calm would be read out in mosques across the country on Friday but it also condemned the magazine for publishing "insulting" images.
French editor defends Muhammad cartoons publication
The cover of the magazine shows a Muslim in a wheelchair being pushed by an Ultra-Orthodox Jew under the title "Intouchables 2", referring to an award-winning French film about a poor black man who helps an aristocratic quadriplegic.
The weekly carries a total of four cartoons that include images definitively intended to represent the Prophet. In two of them, the Prophet is shown naked.
The explict - arguably vulgar - nature of the drawings made it inevitable they would cause offence.
The Charlie Hebdo editor told Al Jazeera that its website has crashed after it was hacked.
'Freedom of expression'
Ayrault said anyone offended by |
after I’d seen him last, at an earlier Colts game when he’d told me that an MRI had come back with great results, he had aged 10 years, faded like a rose petal plucked from its stem.
He was 63 and looked 80. He looked small and tired and vulnerable. He looked beautiful, a man living his life to the end, feeling no self-pity, wanting not to talk about his condition – but about his craft. And mine.
“I have a story for you,” he said, and I’m thinking: So do I.
We talked about his story idea, about Purdue freshman receiver Jackson Anthrop and Anthrop’s father and his mother, his father a former Purdue basketball player, his mother the best athlete in the family and a spitfire to boot. That was Wash’s word for Jackson Anthrop’s mom – “spitfire” – and he told me so much about the story, he knew so much, he loved it so much, I blurted: You write it, Wash!
“No, you’d do it better,” he said.
That was Wash, a longtime former Purdue beat writer at the Journal & Courier: Humble to the point of telling a fib, just to make someone feel good. Oh, he deserved this story. No, he deserved better than this story, but he died too soon. I’d been interviewing him, but not telling him, starting at the Colts game on Sunday. Just getting some biographical info at first, that he went to Lafayette Jeff, part of a line of Washburns who went there. Jeff was named for the high school, matter of fact. He told me he went to Purdue, that his dad Paul was an engineer who died decades ago and his mom Maxine a homemaker who had died in last year at age 99.
Night absolutely made! Got to shake hands with two great teller-of-tales who paint pictures with their words and fill a room with their smile. Quite an honor to spend time with @JeffWashburnJC & @GreggDoyelStar after @BoilerBall game tonight pic.twitter.com/PCaqfriXLY — Michael Pinto (@ColePrincipal) November 29, 2017
He was telling me about his wife Cheryl, a retired special education teacher, and what a beautiful support she was. They had one son, Jade, who went into the same line of work as his idol: Jade Washburn is a freelance AP sports writer outside Chicago.
Jeff told me about his friend Mike Pinto, who’d driven him to the Colts game on Sunday and the Purdue basketball game on Tuesday. Mike and his wife, Kimberley, would drop off Wash, then be there after Wash was finished writing and take him home.
Wash didn’t tell me that he’s been inducted into the Pony League Baseball Hall of Fame in Washington, Pa., honoring his decades covering that sport.
Brendan Tebben, a 1995 Lafayette Jeff grad (and later Purdue) now living in Fishers, remembers Wash this way: "As someone who grew up playing baseball in Lafayette, the games were always bigger when Wash was there. I remember waking up early the day after to see what he had said about the game."
Tuesday night, Wash wrote about Purdue’s 66-57 win against Louisville from his seat by the court. The media at Mackey Arena sit two-thirds of the way up the bleachers, but Purdue put Wash at one of the tables courtside. Wash rolled his chair up to the table and took out his iPad. From way up high, where the media was sitting, Wash looked so small, so fragile, so professional and so content.
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After the game he wrote from that spot, writing as fans mingled and workers cleaned around him. A pro’s pro, Wash never looked up. I know because I was writing down the row from him, the only two media writing from the court. Wash was a machine, pounding away on that iPad. And when he was finished – before me, because he was just so damn good – he felt badly about interrupting me, but …
“Gregg?”
Yessir.
“Can you roll me to the back?”
He wanted to go up the tunnel, up the small incline, to meet Mike Pinto. I operated his wheelchair like an oaf, banging his extended feet into a railing.
“I’m so sorry Wash,” I tried to say, but he waved me off. Didn’t hurt, he said, and I’ll choose to believe him because the alternative isn’t acceptable.
Last I saw of Wash, he was being rolled out of Mackey Arena for the final time by Pinto. On the way home, Wash and Pinto made plans for Sunday. Northwestern’s basketball team is coming to Mackey Arena to play Purdue. Wash was going to cover the game for The Sports Xchange. Pinto was going to pick him up at 2. Tipoff was at 4, and Wash wanted to get there early to read pregame notes supplied by each school’s media relations department, game notes he could have written off the top of his head.
“Going and covering events energized him,” Pinto was telling me Wednesday night, shortly after Wash died. “He likes the sport and all the people around him. I saw such kindness to him – kindness of the Colts, and coach (Matt) Painter was amazingly kind to him in terms of access. Their people (at Purdue) were so great to him. As they wheeled him out last night, the local TV guys were all: ‘Hey Wash.’ Everyone’s stopping and talking to him and shaking his hand. He was looking forward to his next game.”
Oh, he’s at a game. They’re playing somewhere in the great beyond, and Wash is sitting courtside with that iPad. Heaven just got a sports writer, one who hits deadline. One who tells the story just right.
Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter: @GreggDoyelStar or at facebook.com/gregg.doyel.
More from Gregg Doyel
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► There's plenty to love in these Pacers
► How a stupid idea leads to a great ThanksgivingToday, the White House will bring together tribal leaders from federally recognized tribes to participate in the 7th Annual White House Tribal Nations Conference. The President and members of his Cabinet will discuss issues of importance to tribal leaders, with an emphasis on ways the Administration can continue to make progress on improving the nation-to-nation relationship and ensure these gains continue in future Administrations. In addition, 24 youth delegates will participate in the Conference to share their unique perspective.
The White House Tribal Nations Conference builds on the President’s travel this year to Alaska and the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma. During his recent visit to Alaska, the President met with tribal and community leaders in Anchorage to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation between the federal government and Alaska Native tribes, and announced the restoration of the Koyukon Athabascan name of Denali to the tallest mountain in North America, previously known as Mt. McKinley. The President also visited tribal communities in Dillingham and Kotzebue, where he announced new investments to combat climate change and assist remote tribal communities.
In July, the President traveled to the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma where he launched ConnectHome, an initiative designed to make high-speed Internet more affordable to residents in low-income housing units across the country.
Under the President’s leadership, his Administration committed to improving coordination across the federal government to promote strategic and efficient programming for Indian Country. Through the White House Council on Native American Affairs, the Administration is reinforcing the message that the federal trust responsibility is held by the entire federal government. With this all-of-government approach, the Administration is developing cross-agency partnerships to promote information sharing and better leverage existing programs to promote meaningful outcomes for Indian Country.
Throughout the year, Native youth remained at the forefront of the Administration’s effort to fulfill our promises to tribal nations. The launch of the Generation Indigenous (Gen-I) initiative last December is a recognition that tribal communities thrive when their youth are safe and healthy, have access to a quality education, housing, and meaningful job opportunities, and can learn their native languages and cultures. In July, the White House hosted the first-ever Tribal Youth Gathering, bringing together over 1,000 Native youth representing 230 tribes from 42 states to engage with the Administration on these issues.
And through the Cabinet Native Youth Listening Tour, top administration officials traveled to Indian Country to engage with Native youth to identify challenges they face and potential solutions, including opportunities to bolster federal policies and programs that will help youth reach their potential. In the ten months since the tour began, eight Cabinet members and two members of the Subcabinet answered the call the engage with Native youth from twelve tribal communities across nine states. Today the President is pleased to announce the following measures to help promote Gen-I:
Independent Support for Tribal My Brother’s Keeper Efforts. Casey Family Programs and PolicyLink will work together to provide in-depth technical assistance for all tribes who took the My Brother’s Keeper Community Challenge and are pursuing their own independent plans to ensure their young people can reach their full potential. Tribal leaders will come together with Casey Family Programs and PolicyLink to share their progress and helpful strategies for implementing their goals for the youth in their communities.
Casey Family Programs and PolicyLink will work together to provide in-depth technical assistance for all tribes who took the My Brother’s Keeper Community Challenge and are pursuing their own independent plans to ensure their young people can reach their full potential. Tribal leaders will come together with Casey Family Programs and PolicyLink to share their progress and helpful strategies for implementing their goals for the youth in their communities. Generation Indigenous 2015 Update Report. This report details the efforts to shine a spotlight on American Indian and Alaska Native youth, make targeted federal investments that will benefit them, increase public awareness of Native youth, and provide opportunities for Native youth to connect with each other.
The President is also pleased to announce the following advances and commitments in support of tribal nations:
ALL-OF-GOVERNMENT APPROACH TO INDIAN AFFAIRS
Central Website for Government Resources. Native One Stop is a central online location for American Indians and Alaska Natives to locate resources from 17 federal agencies, all of whom are Benefits.gov partners. The site includes over 100 different resources, including scholarships, vocational training, and loan repayment, from categories such as education, employment, environment, food, loans, and youth. American Indians and Alaska Natives may answer a series of questions on the site to determine eligibility for any of these resources. The number of resources is expected to grow in the coming months as the site continues to include additional programs from across the government.
Reducing Systemic Homelessness. The Departments of Interior (DOI), Labor (DOL), Veterans Affairs (VA), Health and Human Services, (HHS), Education (ED), Agriculture (USDA), and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to implement strategies that set a path to end homelessness among Native Americans. The MOU commits the participating agencies to improving access to work together to improve housing and services through Administrative action, improve data collection, and elevate awareness of the crisis of homelessness among Native Americans through improved interdepartmental coordination and communication, and continually engage with tribal leaders and experts.
Collaborating to Increase Protections for Sacred Sites. In 2012, the Departments of Defense, Interior, Energy, and Agriculture and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation signed an Interagency MOU on Sacred Sites. This year, the agencies collaborated to provide the following: a statement to offer guidance to federal agencies about protecting sensitive sacred sites information from public disclosure, a paper providing information to the public about the importance of protecting sacred sites, and comprehensive training for federal employees regarding sacred sites.
Interagency Indian Child Welfare Act Memorandum of Understanding. By the end of 2015, HHS, DOI, and the Department of Justice will enter into an interagency MOU to solidify collaboration and actions supporting implementation of and compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Coordinating and Leveraging Federal Energy Resources to Tribes and Alaska Natives. The Department of Energy and DOI expect to finalize and execute a MOU in December 2015, to facilitate coordination of efforts and resources to promote deployment of energy projects on tribal lands focused on local economic development. The MOU represents a historic collaboration between the agencies joining forces to improve delivery of federal government services and programs in Indian Country.
PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR NATIVE YOUTH
Documenting the Unique School Climate Issues Facing Native Youth. In October, ED released the School Environment Listening Sessions Final Report: a summary of findings from the listening sessions. ED held nine school environment listening sessions last year that focused on the unique educational and culturally-related academic needs of Native American students. Throughout the sessions, ED collected information about challenges related to school climate, including bullying, student discipline, potentially harmful Native imagery and symbolism, and the implications of all of these school climate issues.
Bridging the Digital Divide in BIE-Funded Dorms. A partnership with Microsoft and Verizon to improve technology and internet access in Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools led to the installation of wireless data service in ten BIE run and/or funded dormitories. Students residing in the dorms also received wireless tablet devices loaded with educational applications, along with two years of free cellular service.
Educational Preparation Tools for Native Youth. The Small Business Administration (SBA) is partnering with Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) to provide Native American youth with coaching and curriculum toward success in school and in the workplace through MLT’s Career Prep, MBA Prep, and Ascend programs.
Locally-Tailored Education Interventions. Under the new Native Youth Community Projects (NYCP) program, ED awarded the first-of-its-kind grants to a dozen recipients in nine states that will impact more than thirty tribes and involve more than 48 schools. NYCP provides grants to support community-driven, comprehensive strategies that address in- and out-of-school barriers to improve college and career-readiness among Native youth.
Increasing Tribal Education Capacity. In September, ED made five new awards to tribal education agencies (TEAs) under the State Tribe Education Program (STEP). The STEP grant program is designed to promote increased collaboration between TEAs, state educational agencies (SEAs), and local educational agencies (LEAs), to build the capacity of TEAs, and to support tribes’ efforts to meaningfully participate in the education of Native youth. Today, DOI awarded four tribes a total of $650,000 in funds to support the development and operation of Tribal Education Departments (TEDs) to advance educational outcomes for students and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Bureau of Indian Education (BIE)-funded schools. TED Grants provide funds for tribes and their education departments to develop educational advancement projects.
Native Youth STEM Challenge. This month, Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) Division of Energy and Mineral Development will announce its top five finalists for the Energy Challenge (EC). The EC is intended to encourage high school students to see how they can make a difference in their communities utilizing science, technology, engineering and math through a creative, hands-on, problem solving and engineering process.
Expanding Job Opportunities for Native Youth in the Federal Government. DOI is invested in recruiting and offering job skills training to Native youth within the agency. The BIA’s Office of Trust Programs is recruiting youth for up to 94 paid internships within the BIA. The 21st Century Conservation Service Corps recently began the First Stewards Wilderness Corps, an all Native youth corps that participates in field work alongside the Forest Service. The program also broadens career opportunities by offering job skills training at the University of Arizona.
Recruiting Tribal Colleges to Address Environmental Issues. The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Tribal ecoAmbassadors Program partnered with Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) to solve environmental problems most important to the participating TCUs’ tribal communities. This year, the Tribal ecoAmbassadors Program expanded to fund STEM-based projects on six TCU campuses across the nation.
Strengthening Tribal Colleges. Today, USDA announced 13 new awards totaling $2 million through the Tribal Colleges Research Grants Program (TCRGP) to assist 1994 Land-Grant Institutions (Tribal Colleges) in building institutional research capacity through applied projects that address student educational needs and solve community, reservation or regional problems. These competitive awards are made in collaboration with 1862 or 1890 Land-Grant Institutions. These new funds, along with continuation and formula funds awarded, are part of an overall investment of $14.2 million for FY15.
STRENGTHENING TRIBAL CONSULTATION AND SOVEREIGNTY
Streamlining Rights-of-Way Rules on Indian Land. Today, DOI’s new Rights-of-Way rule replaces regulations that were last updated over 30 years ago and relied on a patchwork of statutory authorities specific to certain uses of rights-of-way, rather than the general statutory authority applicable to all uses. The new rule is better suited to the modern requirements for rights-of-way and the need for faster timelines and a more transparent process for BIA approval.
Advancing Tribal Consultation Policy on Indian Education. ED developed a new tribal consultation policy pursuant to the Administration’s consultation policy and in recognition of the federal government’s trust responsibility. ED will further strengthen its relationship with Indian tribes by implementing a process that ensures meaningful consultation and collaboration with Indian tribes when developing ED policies and actions that have tribal implications.
Professional Development for Tribal Leaders. SBA will sign a Strategic Alliance Memorandum with The New School to provide tribal leaders with executive education and introduce Native American business cases into the institution’s existing business curriculum, encouraging dialogue about the issues facing tribal communities nationwide.
Expanded Tribal Consultation for 2020 Census. The Census Bureau is conducting tribal consultation meetings across the country to discuss tribal enrollment, land into trust, data needs for the tribes, new modes of data collection, and the tribal government liaison program to increase the accuracy of census takers in Indian Country.
SUPPORTING HEALTH AND SAFETY IN INDIAN COUNTRY
Interagency Partnership to Train Law Enforcement. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Indian Country Crimes Unit has partnered with the BIA and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center to develop a training course for Special Agents new to Indian Country. The three-week course features small group, hands-on instruction. The course will be taught by both FBI and BIA mentors, who will focus on curriculum and preparatory instruction on investigations common to Indian Country.
Providing Tribes with State-of-the-Art Law Enforcement Tools. DOJ launched an initial phase of the Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information (TAP) to provide tribes access to national crime information databases for both civil and criminal purposes. TAP will allow tribes to more effectively serve and protect their communities by ensuring the exchange of critical data. TAP will also provide specialized training and assistance for participating tribes.
Reinforcing and Enhancing Tribal Law Enforcement. In September, DOJ announced 206 awards, totaling more than $97 million, to American Indian tribes, Alaska Native villages, tribal consortia and tribal designees to enrich law enforcement practices, victim services and sustain crime prevention and intervention efforts.
Engaging Tribal Youth in Behavioral Health. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Tribal Youth Leaders (STyL) Initiative includes engagement with Native youth to develop their behavioral health knowledge, peer-to-peer engagement on behavioral health topics, activities to create a network for support and learning among youth, and development of leadership skills to support their efforts to be the generation for change in their communities. Native culture, music, and traditional practices will be infused into STyL efforts to strengthen engagement and sustainability of the Initiative.
Supporting the Behavioral Health Needs of Native Youth. SAMHSA provided $3.8 million for Tribal Behavioral Health Grant (TBHG) continuation grants. The TBHG program was established to prevent and reduce suicidal behavior and substance abuse and promote mental health among American Indian and Alaska Native young people up to and including age 24. The program allows tribal entities maximum flexibility to plan and implement programs that best meet their community’s needs.
Advancing the Arctic Region. HHS will develop a Federal-Tribal Workgroup through the “Executive Order on Enhancing Coordination of National Effort in the Arctic.” This workgroup will comply with the Intergovernmental Exemption to FACA. The timeline for consultations and review of consultation will be in early 2016.
Expanding Health Coverage in Indian Country. The Affordable Care Act extended Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) to employees of certain Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations, administered and promoted by Office of Personnel Management. As of November 2015, 79 participating tribal employers in 20 states offer FEHB coverage to their employees with total enrollment of over 16,000 employees. Beginning August 1, the administrative fee was waived for the remainder of FY15 as FEHB revenue exceeded projected expenses.
Increasing Leverage for Tribal Housing Projects. DOI issued a final rule aligning the Housing Improvement Program with other Federal requirements to allow leveraging of housing funds to increase the number of families served, and promotes tribal sovereignty and self-determination by providing tribes with more flexibility in determining how to address waiting lists of tribal members awaiting housing assistance.
PRESERVING NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES AND HERITAGE
Dedication to Preserving Native American Languages. HHS recently proposed the Community Coordination Demonstration Project, an effort that would assist tribal communities in their efforts to create a cradle to career native language education system. The initiative will build upon successful language programs and also address gaps in community coordination to bring together key drivers of program effectiveness.
Supporting Protection of Native American Graves and Repatriation. To better implement the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990, DOI is issuing regulations to properly repatriate and protect unclaimed human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony.Bitcoin seems to be unstoppable. Today, the virtual currency crossed the $1000-mark, moving closer to the price of gold.
What will it take for Bitcoin to cross over the "tipping point"---the moment the virtual currency reaches a critical mass of users, as described in the marketing literature by the Rogers Curve?
Everett Rogers argues that the diffusion of new products is a multi-stage process that proceeds in five stages: Awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, and adoption. In the beginning, product diffusion is slow as “innovators,” a small consumer group adopts the product. Then, product diffusion gains momentum, as “early adopters,” a larger consumer group connected to innovators, adopts the product.
Eventually, the diffusion reaches the early and the late majority, creating a cascade, soaring sales growth--the commercial success of the new product.
This means that products which eventually cross the tipping point follow the S-shaped or sigmoid curve, as observed in the diffusion of new durable products, whereby demand begins with a small group of consumers who appreciative the merits of the product, and then extends to larger and larger groups until it reaches cascade.
For Bitcoin to reach cascade, it will take two things: A broad awareness of the benefits of the virtual currency to different users; and a widespread adoption as a medium of exchange. Last week Bitcoin got an earlier adopter, University of Nicosia. According to an announcement posted on its site www.unic.ac.cy/digitalcurrency, the largest private university in Cyprus is now accepting Bitcoin for payment of tuition and other fees, making it the first accredited university in the world to accept the increasingly popular digital currency.
In addition, the University is planning to introduce a MOOC on Digital Currency, which will lead to a Master of Science Degree in Digital Currency. That certainly raises product awareness.
Will others follow? It remains to be seen.Mass Effect: Andromeda’s recommended PC requirements will offer you 1080p gameplay at 30fps, on the ‘High’ graphics preset.
We’ve known the minimum and recommended PC requirements for Mass Effect: Andromeda for a while now.
The recommended specs, which ask for a Core i7-4790, 16GB of ram, and a GTX 1060, are actually designed for a 1080p resolution and 30 frames-per-second. These specs will get you running the game on the ‘High’ settings preset.
That’s according to the Andromeda’s page on EA’s support site. The page mentions the target resolution and frame-rate under “predicted performance.”
Andromeda supports 4K resolutions natively, and will come with a decent set of graphics options to play with. BioWare also revealed settings can go up to ‘Ultra’.
This will no doubt be concerning for many PC players, a lot of whom prefer to target 60 frames-per-second at minimum. While a stable 30fps is certainly very playable, many would rather prioritise performance over visuals.
The specs above don’t necessarily mean PC players won’t be able to that in this case, but it does make us wonder what kind of specs we’re going to need for 1080p/60fps on ‘High’ or even ‘Ultra’.
All will become clear when the game goes live for Origin Access members, which is expected on March 16.
Mass Effect: Andromeda is out March 21 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.Welcome to First Click, an essay written by The Verge staff in which we opine on lives lived in the near future.
When I was a teenager, this time of year would be insufferable. My bedroom would be nearly 90 degrees Fahrenheit without air conditioning, but it wasn’t even particularly hot outside. I had at least five tower PCs running inside my bedroom, all contributing a lot of heat to my tiny little room. Each performed its own role in my home network, with a file server, domain server, Exchange server, and media center PC among them. All of those tower PCs are now inside my pocket, thanks to the iPhone.
I used to run a full Active Directory with individual organizational units and push out group policies to manage my family’s local PCs. I had a proxy server set up to control web access, and revoked administrator rights to ensure my family never installed malicious software. All of our email went through my Exchange server, and I had a custom app that pulled mail from ISP and Hotmail POP3 accounts and filtered it through an assortment of anti-spam tools before it was allowed to hit an Exchange inbox. All of my family’s important documents were stored on a file server, backed up in a RAID array. I even used Zip drives for the really important stuff. I was a true IT administrator, and I was only 15.
All of these PCs were built by hand, with custom cases, cooling configurations, and my own selection of processors or RAM. I laughed at the thought of having to buy a Toshiba or Packard Bell PC, and opted for AMD’s Athlon 64 processors. I’d build powerful gaming rigs and spend hours writing scripts to get a better field of view in games, or a slight advantage by squeezing out every single drop of performance by altering textures per map. I would enter contests and win better processors or RAM, upgrade my PC and push the older components down to my servers.
I used to use iPAQs or Pocket PCs
These servers were so powerful at the time that I was able to get push email on my phone, something you couldn’t really do back in 2002 unless you were a business using BlackBerry devices. I’d sit smugly reading my emails on a train with my iPAQ or one of the original HTC Pocket PC devices with a stylus. I couldn’t download apps from an app store for these phones because those stores didn’t even exist yet. Instead, I’d find apps on the internet and load them on, modifying the registry along the way to tweak things. I used to spend hours browsing on XDA-Developers for the latest ROMs, downloading and installing them to tweak and test the latest software and firmware. It was an exciting time, and I miss it.
All of that tinkering and hacking things ended for me shortly after the iPhone arrived, and the closest I've come to it recently is playing around with a Raspberry Pi and Kodi. The original iPhone was locked to O2 in the UK and AT&T in the US, but a hack quickly allowed you to run the phone on any carrier network. I continued to use Windows Mobile devices for a couple of years, but I played with the iPhone on the side as it was always tempting. The interface was smooth, simple, and I didn’t have to spend hours loading on ROMs to get a good experience. Once the iPhone 3G arrived, I switched fully over because of the App Store.
Apple’s App Store and the iPhone have altered computing massively, beyond my own examples. Nokia, BlackBerry, Microsoft, Motorola, and Palm have all had their businesses disrupted by the iPhone. The iPhone’s impact has also shaped how we use PCs today, and our expectations of computing in general. Apple’s iPhone has been on the market for 10 years now, and it hasn’t experienced a single instance of a mass malware attack like we’ve seen twice in the past month on Windows PCs.
Apple's iPhone model has succeeded for apps and security
Apple’s locked down and sandboxed environment for apps is a new model that has succeeded with consumers and security. Sure, there have been vulnerabilities, bugs, and near misses, but nobody has been forced to pay $300 to unlock their iPhone after a huge malware attack.
iOS itself has also simplified the way we use computers. A lot of what was considered “computing” back in 2002 was done from a desktop PC, but you can browse the web, file your taxes, write documents, send emails, and so much more all from a tiny device in your pocket these days. Apple didn’t invent the smartphone, but it did pioneer its simplicity and the idea of an App Store. Google has followed some of those examples, albeit with a more open Android operating system, and Microsoft responded with its own locked down mobile OS that focused on ease of use.
Even devices that we’d consider “traditional” computing have been impacted by the iPhone. Chromebooks are locked down with an app store, the iPad Pro continues to push what can be done with a tablet, and now Windows 10 S tries to answer both with an OS that only runs Windows Store apps. Windows 8, Chromebooks, and Android all probably wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the iPhone.
When I look at modern PCs, tablets, and phones now I’m surprised at the simplicity of them. Not all of them are perfect, but technology is rapidly turning into something in the background that’s accessible to everyone and doesn’t require hours of configuration. I miss the thrill of hacking away and tinkering, but as I shout to Alexa to turn off my lights at night I can’t help but appreciate just how easy everything is now.1) On Monday, Politico's Mike Allen dropped a "TRUTH BOMB" — caps lock his — on the GOP.
2) Here's the bomb: "For all you Republicans and pundits who are still talking about a Cruz-Rubio final, here’s a wake-up data point: It’s been 168 days since Trump took a big lead in national polling, and he has widened his margin by 10 points since then. It’s 28 days to Iowa, 36 days to New Hampshire, 47 days to South Carolina, 50 days to Nevada and 57 days to the SEC primary. If you think voters will suddenly get serious — and that Trump is a ‘lampshade candidate’ who’ll eventually wear out his welcome — you’re running out of time to be right. But at least it’s 309 days to Election Day."
3) Boom!
4) Allen's reality check is completely correct. But I still don't believe Trump will win the Republican primary. Which raises an obvious question: How does Donald Trump lose? What does it look like? What's the chain of events?
5) Many people — myself included — thought it would look something like this: Trump says something truly beyond the pale. Media erupts. GOP elites erupt. Republican primary voters receive a strong signal that Trump lacks either the qualities necessary to win the presidency or the temperament necessary to be the president. Voters abandon him in droves.
6) This theory of Trump's fall is clearly wrong. It fundamentally misunderstands the nature of Trump's appeal.
7) Donald Trump is the candidate willing to say things that are truly beyond the pale. He is the candidate who won't be cowed by the media or political elites. Every time he stands tall against a "politically correct" firestorm — wherein "politically correct" means treating people with some bare modicum of decency and respect — his numbers firm up. Backlash is his brand.
8) But there's another model of failure. Trump could just... not win. He could lose the Iowa caucuses. He could fall short in New Hampshire. A loss in any early state might lead to a loss in every state. Losing a presidential primary is often like going bankrupt: It happens slowly, then all at once.
9) This is basically how Howard Dean lost in 2004. As Andrew Prokop has written, Dean's lead looked a lot like Trump's: It was big in New Hampshire and small in Iowa, it was based on huge crowds and hot-button issues, and it scared party elites.
10) And then Dean just... didn't win. He lost Iowa, and then he lost everywhere. No one really knows why Dean collapsed in Iowa. Theories include a vicious air war with Dick Gephardt and last-minute worries among Iowa caucus-goers that Dean couldn't beat Bush. But there was no defining event behind his defeat — the infamous yelp came later. Dean went into Iowa looking likely to win it, and then caucus-goers abandoned him.
11) The single best sentence I've heard on Dean's loss came from his campaign manager, Joe Trippi. "People get more pragmatic the closer they get to an actual vote," he told the Washington Post.
12) An important thing to know when reading coverage of Trump is that a lot of reporters and politicos believe something like this is going to happen to him. But the prediction is hard to talk through explicitly because it's so maddeningly vague. It's based on nothing save the fact that it happens all the time.
13) It's the Underpants Gnomes theory of Trump's loss. Step 1: Trump leads the polls for month after month. Step 2:??? Step 3: He loses! Even if you think that's likely, it sounds a bit ridiculous when you say it aloud.
14) And yet, this kind of loss is common. Candidates lead, and then they don't. Eric Cantor is invincible, and then he's beaten by some unknown academic. Hillary Clinton is a juggernaut, and then she's beaten by Barack Obama. Howard Dean leads everywhere, and then he leads nowhere. Political analysis is a realm of post-hoc storytelling. Something unexpected or unpredictable happens, and then we explain why it was obviously going to happen all along.
15) But this is, I think, what will happen to Trump. He will lead until he doesn't. His fall will be quick, and it won't obey the apparent rules of his rise. If there is a reason for it, it will fundamentally be, "People get more pragmatic the closer they get to an actual vote." As much as Republicans tell pollsters they think Trump can win the general election, I am skeptical they will truly believe that come Election Day.
16) Could I be wrong about this? Of course. I'm anything but confident in this prediction. I think there's a real chance Trump wins, and my argument here is based on the same flawed model that led me to doubt his initial rise. But this is the implicit model behind how I'm thinking about Trump, so I figured it's worth making it explicit.Tim Armstrong, asshole.
Tim Armstrong, asshole.
Did you know that not only does AOL still exist, but it's successful enough that its CEO Tim Armstrong made $12.1 million in 2012? Did you also know that Tim Armstrong is a raging asshole?
AOL has decided that it will cut back its contributions to employees' 401(k)s. When employees complained about this fact in an open letter to Armstrong, he responded by telling employees it was Obamacare's fault. Oh, and those two women who are your co-workers who had sick babies last year. Yes, that's how much of an asshole he is.
"As a CEO and as a management team, we have to decide: Do we pass the $7.1 million of Obamacare cost to our employees? Or do we try to eat as much of that as possible and cut benefits?," said Armstrong in the CNBC interview.
"We had two AOL-ers that had distressed babies that were born that we paid a million dollars each to make sure those babies were OK in general," said Armstrong, according to a transcript first obtained by Capital New York. "And those are the things that add up into our benefits cost. So when we had the final decision about what benefits to cut because of the increased healthcare costs, we made the decision, and I made the decision, to basically change the 401(k) plan."
Ok, let's stop here for a bit. $7.1 million in increased Obamacare costs? How? AOL is a huge company, which provided health insurance benefits to employees before Obamacare. Since it was already offering benefits, it didn't come under the employer mandate (which doesn't go into effect for another year, anyway). So Armstrong would have to be asserting that Cigna, their provider, decided to charge AOL $7.1 million more this year for health insurance? Because of Obamacare? Bullshit. Perhaps understanding that this sounded like bullshit, Armstrong dug deeper, blaming the increase—and this is really assholish—on two employees.So, how did AOL pay a million dollars for each baby? Distress payments to the parents? Because AOL's insurance company would have covered the medical costs, which is what insurance companies do. Is Armstrong now blaming a $7.1 million increase in health insurance costs for the whole company on two employees? Once again, bullshit.
By the way, on the same day this all went down, AOL sent a press release titled "AOL delivers strongest revenue growth in a decade." Assholes.
Follow me below the fold for AOL's pathetic attempt at damage control.Applications for Sterile 3D Printing
Sterile 3D printing materials provide new capabilities for manufacturers in aerospace, auto, engineering, and medical device industries, but also for the production of sterile, end-use parts. Medical device manufacturers, aerospace sciences, and sterile compounding facilities all stand to benefit from rapid prototyping tooling, parts, molds, or fixtures that can be delivered to the production floor with minimal risk of contamination. Instead of relying on mass-produced, one-size-fits-all items, |
from these peak times.
From a systems point of view, it would seem that creating differential work/school shifts would greatly help even out the workload and hopefully make it easier for everyone. The MRT already runs more trains during peak periods, but it seems that even the absolute maximum capacity isn’t enough.
Not all MRT stations were created equal
Station-level traffic - At different times of the day, some stations serve as key entry points, some as exits, and some are even all throughout. Green bars are entries; red bars are exits.
When analyzing capacity, we not only have to look at the time-based load, but also the differential load on different stations. Let’s first take a look at the chart above. North Avenue, Araneta-Cubao, Shaw, Ayala, and Taft, being key points around the train line, are much busier than the others. Santolan and Buendia station, on the other hand, don’t seem to serve that many customers, possibly because they are too close to some major stations.
You may also catch the fact that not all stations serve the same load throughout the day. Some stations near residences serve as entry points during the day, and others are the opposite.
Such a phenomenon is more clearly illustrated in the chart on the left (click to enlarge). Stations near residences and north/south entry points (North Avenue to Araneta Center, Guadalupe, Taft Avenue) have more people coming in that leaving during the day when people are heading to work. Other stations, near workplaces (Santolan, Ortigas, Shaw, Buendia, Ayala, Magallanes), have more people disembarking during the morning rush hour. At around 1pm, the pattern for all of the stations flip, when people begin to return to their homes.
Taft Avenue and North Avenue are among the busiest stations, indicating that much of the workforce is already living beyond the reach of the MRT. In order to serve more people, extensions will have to be considered for the combined train system, but that’s when capacity isn’t such a problem anymore.
Poor urban planning might also be at play here: the uneven zoning of residential vs commercial might cause uneven concentrations of passengers, further increasing the peak-hour load.
Origins and Destinations
Since we had the entry and exit data per hour, I imputed the origin-destination matrix, i.e. the pairs of origins and destinations for each person riding the MRT. By taking a more detailed view, we can see the particular routes that people would usually take and how we can optimize around them.
Origin-Destination Matrix - The arcs represent the number of people from the particular origin-destination pair. Orange arcs are northbound trips, and blue arcs are southbound trips. Stations are arranged from north to south.
During the morning, the key routes are those to Ayala, Shaw, and Taft, whereas Taft, Araneta-Cubao, and North Avenue become key destinations in the evening. Although the MRT has no way in which trains can bypass each other (except for the stations in Taft, North Avenue, and Shaw), trains that do not stop at every station, but rather focus on serving busy origin-destination pairs might be feasible if such a method of bypass can be created.
If we further extrapolate by imagining the throughput at each rail section, we can reveal the “weakest links” in the system. On the left (click to enlarge), we can see that the central stations are under a lot of strain on the southbound rail during the morning, and on the northbound rail at night. Additional load from the upcoming south rail extension should be considered, because passengers that transfer onto the line will increase the load.
Having some trains skip some stations in this area should speed up the system, but only if trains were allowed to bypass each other. Then again, if capacity is really the issue, there is little system reengineering would do.
There you go! A closer look at our ailing MRT system. I realize that I’m no train expert, so please help me make sense of the data by commenting below.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author only, and do not relate to any personal or professional affiliation. The content above is presented for information purposes only and the author cannot be held responsible for any harm caused by acting on this information without prior consultation.
Related PostsI am a pretty anxious person. I started studying philosophy trying to find a way to cope with it. Anxiety is not anything new, so every era has some wisdom to share on the subject. Stoicism started to appeal to me early during adolescence.
My interest in Stoicism began when I was reading Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. It affected me in ways that I couldn’t imagine.
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.” “Everything that happens happens as it should, and if you observe carefully, you will find this to be so.” “He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe.” -Marcus Aurelius
Those are just some of my favorite quotes from the book, and as someone who is usually filled with internal struggles, I find these reminders extremely helpful and comforting.
There a lot of misconceptions about Stoicism promoting “emotionless apathy,” but that is not the case. Stoicism, if I had to distil it down to a sentence, is “Control what you can control, and accept what you can’t.”
It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
-Epictetus
My favorite aspect of Stoicism is its practicality. You can apply the teachings of a Stoic author to your life and you will notice changes. It shares similar qualities to the modern Mindfulness movement and Zen Buddhism.
Stoicism has helped me through some rough periods in my life. I read a lot of articles, watch shows, and hear broadcasts advocating that the true source of people’s unhappiness is some outside force, but that isn’t true. We can choose to be happy, all we need is some encouragement and I think Marcus Aurelius did a great job of encouraging himself so maybe his writings can help encourage you too.
You can read Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, in full, for free (legally), HERE.
What philosophy has helped you the most throughout your life? Please comment your thoughts.
All are welcome here. Please be respectful, courteous, and patient with your fellow readers.
AdvertisementsThis post was contributed by a community member.
I never wanted a girl.
I know, you're not supposed to say that kind of thing. But I really, really didn't. I wanted a boy.
I'm a video gamer, a sports fan, and I think toilet humor is hilarious. I'm loud, often impulsive, and I like stupid television and movies with super heroes and explosions.
In other words, in my heart, I'm a 12-year-old male.
I used to do play therapy in the San Francisco public school system, and I always connected better with the boys. We'd play 4-square, talk about South Park, and trade video game cheats. They thought I was awesome, and I thought they were wonderful.
Boys? Boys are easy for me. Girls? Well…
Girls are glitter. Girls are ponies. Girls are long emotional conversations and signature colors, and most of all girls are drama.
Parenting a girl? Gah! There's so much fear involved. With boys, I assumed you would teach them when they're young how to defend themselves physically and how to stand up to bullies, and then just cross your fingers. With girls, there always seems to be something more. The fear doesn't ease as they grow. There's emotional gang bullying in middle school. Physical attacks from people much stronger than them. Pregnancy. Rape.
I was too scared to want a girl. Until I found out I was having one.
I still don't know how, but from the moment the ultrasound was turned on, I could tell my daughter was female. In fact, I said out loud "Oh! It's a girl!" and after a moment, the technician replied, "Yes, do you know how to read ultrasounds?" I'd never seen one before except on Nova, but from the second I saw her, I knew.
Faced with a reality of a daughter, I was thrilled. And still terrified. And absolutely sure that I would be able to raise her gender neutral. I bought only yellow and green clothing with not too many frills. I painted her bedroom wall yellow and got a neutral wood crib and some neutral animal decorations.
Then she was born with jaundice. And the only color that made her look like she wasn't dying was pink.
Out went everything yellow and green and in came all the pink. (I do not do things by halves.) And it matched her. She grew up pink and happy and as girly as it is possible to be.
As she grew, she switched to purple, and it is now her signature color. She wears dresses all the time, and as much frill as I allow. She loves glitter. She LOVES ponies and unicorns. We have long emotional conversations, and she brings more drama into my life than I could have imagined.
But that is not all she is.
She's a fearless tree climber., and they play boy games together. She prefers Lego to Barbie. And she never lets her dresses keep her from doing anything physical she wants to do.
She's a video gamer, a sports fan, and she thinks toilet humor is hilarious. She's loud, often impulsive, and she likes stupid television and movies with super heroes and explosions.
She's a whole person.
And in being so, she healed something inside me I didn't even know was broken. She healed my gender issues. She made me rethink my own prejudices.
And she's only six. I can't wait to see what she teaches me as she grows.
No, I never wanted a girl.
But as the Stones said…
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes well you just might find
You get what you need.And of course I had to do an extra picture with their wings switched.Commission for of Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo as Daring Do/Indiana Jones and Short Round!First off I want to give ashout out to for being an extremely awesome commissioner! I had gotten injured halfway though making his ponies and he was so super nice and patient with me even though I took forever to finish. He's the best!Fun Features:- Magnitized wings - two sets for each pony: open and closed.- Fully removable outfits secured with button snaps.- Cute tiny hats!- Tiny whip! (that I totally forgot to take a picture of - you'll have to use your imagination!)Making the ponies:I made new patterns for both of these girls - I now have a filly pattern (woo!) and my new mare pattern is greatly improved. I finally got the front area of the face down to a single seam so I can machine embroider on the smiles and nostrils so they will be much cuter and more even from now on (I am SO excited about this!). Working with the knit fabric for their outfits was a fun change of pace and had a lot of new challenges. The biggest thing of course is that I found I had to iron almost constantly while working on them! I think I ironed more working on these pony shirts than I have in the last few years of ironing human clothes - hehe! It also doesn't have any stretch the way minky does so I made a few shirts that were just too small to get over the feet and had to do them over again. Daring Do's shirt has oodles of button snaps so it can come on and off and still fit snugly at the same time.Design Details:- These ponies are handmade by me from patterns that I designed.- Materials: Minky fabrics, cotton knit fabrics, plastic bean bag fill pellets, Silky Soft ultra plush fiber filling, quilt batting, Sulky thread, foam, chenelle coated wires, button snaps, buttons, embroidery stabilizers.The exoplanet 51 Pegasi b [1] lies some 50 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Pegasus. It was discovered in 1995 and will forever be remembered as the first confirmed exoplanet to be found orbiting an ordinary star like the Sun [2]. It is also regarded as the archetypal hot Jupiter -- a class of planets now known to be relatively commonplace, which are similar in size and mass to Jupiter, but orbit much closer to their parent stars.
Since that landmark discovery, more than 1900 exoplanets in 1200 planetary systems have been confirmed, but, in the year of the twentieth anniversary of its discovery, 51 Pegasi b returns to the ring once more to provide another advance in exoplanet studies.
The team that made this new detection was led by Jorge Martins from the Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço (IA) and the Universidade do Porto, Portugal, who is currently a PhD student at ESO in Chile. They used the HARPS instrument on the ESO 3.6-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile.
Currently, the most widely used method to examine an exoplanet's atmosphere is to observe the host star's spectrum as it is filtered through the planet's atmosphere during transit -- a technique known as transmission spectroscopy. An alternative approach is to observe the system when the star passes in front of the planet, which primarily provides information about the exoplanet's temperature.
The new technique does not depend on finding a planetary transit, and so can potentially be used to study many more exoplanets. It allows the planetary spectrum to be directly detected in visible light, which means that different characteristics of the planet that are inaccessible to other techniques can be inferred.
The host star's spectrum is used as a template to guide a search for a similar signature of light that is expected to be reflected off the planet as it describes its orbit. This is an exceedingly difficult task as planets are incredibly dim in comparison to their dazzling parent stars.
The signal from the planet is also easily swamped by other tiny effects and sources of noise [3]. In the face of such adversity, the success of the technique when applied to the HARPS data collected on 51 Pegasi b provides an extremely valuable proof of concept.
Jorge Martins explains: "This type of detection technique is of great scientific importance, as it allows us to measure the planet's realmass and orbital inclination, which is essential to more fully understand the system. It also allows us to estimate the planet's reflectivity, or albedo, which can be used to infer the composition of both the planet's surface and atmosphere."
51 Pegasi b was found to have a mass about half that of Jupiter's and an orbit with an inclination of about nine degrees to the direction to the Earth [4]. The planet also seems to be larger than Jupiter in diameter and to be highly reflective. These are typical properties for a hot Jupiter that is very close to its parent star and exposed to intense starlight.
HARPS was essential to the team's work, but the fact that the result was obtained using the ESO 3.6-metre telescope, which has a limited range of application with this technique, is exciting news for astronomers. Existing equipment like this will be surpassed by much more advanced instruments on larger telescopes, such as ESO's Very Large Telescope and the future European Extremely Large Telescope [5].
"We are now eagerly awaiting first light of the ESPRESSO spectrograph on the VLT so that we can do more detailed studies of this and other planetary systems," concludes Nuno Santos, of the IA and Universidade do Porto, who is a co-author of the new paper.
Notes
[1] Both 51 Pegasi b and its host star 51 Pegasi are among the objects available for public naming in the IAU's NameExoWorlds contest.
[2] Two earlier planetary objects were detected orbiting in the extreme environment of a pulsar.
[3] The challenge is similar to trying to study the faint glimmer reflected off a tiny insect flying around a distant and brilliant light.
[4] This means that the planet's orbit is close to being edge on asseen from Earth, although this is not close enough for transits to take place.
[5] ESPRESSO on the VLT, and later even more powerful instruments on much larger telescopes such as the E-ELT, will allow for a significant increase in precision and collecting power, aiding the detection of smaller exoplanets, while providing an increase in detail in the data for planets similar to 51 Pegasi b.After a few months of "Will he, or won't he?" Chivas USA forward Juan Agudelo remains a Goat heading into the 2013 MLS season. After a training stint with Scottish Premier League club Celtic FC, and another training stint with English Premier League club West Ham United, followed by extensive speculation that Agudelo was a transfer target of Celtic, it looks like the striker will be in MLS for at least six more months, as the British Transfer Deadline day has passed. Over on Goal.com, Alex Labidou also reported last night that Agudelo would not be moving on.
Reportedly, MLS and Celtic were in discussions over the past several weeks regarding Agudelo, but Chivas apparently helped nix the initial bid(s) for being too low. What complicates matters is that there are three parties involved on the American end - not only Chivas, but also Agudelo's former club New York Red Bulls, who will get a substantial portion of any transfer fee he merits, and also MLS as an entity. I would imagine that if the Red Bulls were the only club involved, they would have pushed to get a transfer, although MLS could have still blocked the deal (they have done so before, including Taylor Twellman, whose deal to Preston North End was reportedly nixed by the league in 2008).
Meanwhile, Chivas USA don't have the same motivation to see Agudelo go. Although coach Chelís seemed resigned to losing him just a couple weeks ago, he has also talked about the role the forward will provide this season. As I've previously written, Agudelo's European ambitions are no secret, and he has one year left on his current contract. Chivas would have a hard time convincing him to re-sign (though it is theoretically possible) and they won't receive a great deal from his transfer, since the Red Bulls would get the bulk of the fee. What is their motivation to see him walk? They can just let him play out his contract then see him walk away.
One last note - Agudelo has not trained with his club at all this preseason, as he's been with the U.S. Men's National Team in their annual training camp. No word yet on whether he will be part of the USMNT squad for next week's World Cup qualifier against Honduras, but if he is, he'll stay out of camp even longer (although he will be getting plenty of training in). He played almost a half hour Tuesday against Canada in the dull 0-0 friendly draw, but if he isn't called up to the Honduras match, he will join Chivas USA sooner.
What do you think? Leave a comment below!G2 Nation,
Today is the day. The day I have been working so hard for. Today I get to release the Elite. This yoyo consumed me, I put all my passion into it. I didn’t want to do this just to do it, I wanted to take my time and do it right. Striving to display the properties best fit for the dense SS rings. All while shaping the Elite into the classic, timeless yoyo that I am so proud of.
Not only does the Elite look great, it plays great. We kept the weight low, 62 grams, but were still able to maximize performance. Stability, speed, momentum are all words that come to mind when I play with this yoyo. It’s like a finely tuned machine made to slay tricks on the end of your string. I can’t wait for you to throw your hardest combo at this yoyo and after you’re done laugh when it asks for more.
Thank you all for being patient with us, believing in us, and understanding that it was going to take us some time to do this our way. The only way we know, the right way. You can’t rush something like this, so thank you for that.
As you know the Elite will be available today at 5pm est. In our store, gsquaredyoyos.com We only have 5 ready to do with the PNWR prerelease boxes. We know that wasn’t enough to warrant its own release. So, we have 15 pre sales going on the store as well. These yoyos are tested and ready to go, I am just waiting on the new packaging. (white boxes and sleeve with gold foil imprint) These boxes should be ready to go in two weeks, as soon as they are finished your yoyo will ship. At that time we hope to have a restock of the MS-70 Penny Elite. Ordering today will ensure you get one and will guarantee you get your Elite as fast as possible
Thank you for inspiring me,
G2 JakeNEW YORK—A startling new report asserts that the first known Americans arrived much, much earlier than scientists thought — more than 100,000 years ago — and maybe they were Neanderthals. If true, the finding would far surpass the widely accepted date of about 15,000 years ago.
A close-up view of a spirally fractured mastodon femur. Teeth and bones of the elephantlike creature that were unmistakably modified by human hands, along with stone hammers and anvils, leave no doubt that some species of early human feasted on its carcass about 130,000 years ago, scientists reported in the journal Nature. ( TOM DEMERE / AFP/GETTY IMAGES )
Researchers say a site in Southern California shows evidence of humanlike behaviour from about 130,000 years ago, when bones and teeth of an elephantlike mastodon were evidently smashed with rocks. The earlier date means the bone-smashers were not necessarily members of our own species, Homo sapiens. The researchers speculate that these early Californians could have instead been species known only from fossils in Europe, Africa and Asia: Neanderthals, a little-known group called Denisovans, or another human forerunner named Homo erectus. “The very honest answer is, we don’t know,” said Steven Holen, lead author of the paper and director of the non-profit Center for American Paleolithic Research in Hot Springs, South Dakota. No remains of any individuals were found.
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Two mastodon femur balls, one faced up and once faced down, and other bones at the archeological site near San Deigo. ( STRINGER )
Whoever they were, they could have arrived by land or sea. They might have come from Asia via the Beringea land bridge that used to connect Siberia to Alaska, or maybe come across by watercraft along the Beringea coast or across open water to North America, before turning southward to California, Holen said in a telephone interview. Holen and others present their evidence in a paper released Wednesday by the journal Nature. Not surprisingly, the report was met by skepticism from other experts who don’t think there is enough proof. The research dates back to the winter of 1992-3. The site was unearthed during a routine dig by researchers during a freeway expansion project in San Diego. Analysis of the find was delayed to assemble the right expertise, said Tom Demere, curator of paleontology at the San Diego Natural History Museum, another author of the paper. The Nature analysis focuses on remains from a single mastodon, and five stones found nearby. The mastodon’s bones and teeth were evidently placed on two stones used as anvils and smashed with three stone hammers, to get at nutritious marrow and create raw material for tools. Patterns of damage on the limb bones looked like what happened in experiments when elephant bones were smashed with rocks. And the bones and stones were found in two areas, each roughly centred on what’s thought to be an anvil.
The stones measured about 20 centimetres to 30 centimetres long and weighed up to 14.5 kilograms. They weren’t handcrafted tools, Demere said. The users evidently found them and brought them to the site. The excavation also found a mastodon tusk in a vertical position, extending down into older layers, which may indicate it had been jammed into the ground as a marker or to create a platform, Demere said.
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The fate of the visitors is not clear. Maybe they died out without leaving any descendants, he said. Experts not connected with the study provided a range of reactions. “If the results stand up to further scrutiny, this does indeed change everything we thought we knew,” said Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London. Neanderthals and Denisovans are the most likely identities of the visitors, he said. But “many of us will want to see supporting evidence of this ancient occupation from other sites, before we abandon the conventional model of a first arrival by modern humans within the last 15,000 years,” he wrote in an email.
San Diego Natural History Museum paleontologist Don Swanson at the archeological dig. ( San Diego Natural History Museum )
Erella Hovers of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University in Tempe, who wrote a commentary accompanying the work, said in an email that the archeological interpretation seemed convincing. Some other experts said the age estimate appears sound. But some were skeptical that the rocks were really used as tools. Vance Holliday of the University of Arizona in Tucson said the paper shows the bones could have been broken the way the authors assert, but they haven’t demonstrated that’s the only way. Richard Potts of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, said he doesn’t reject the paper’s claims outright, but he finds the evidence “not yet solid.” For one thing, the dig turned up no basic stone cutting tools or evidence of butchery or the use of fire, as one might expect from Homo sapiens or our close evolutionary relatives. The lead author, Holen, told reporters Tuesday that he and co-authors were ready for such criticism. “We expected skepticism because of the extremely old age of this site,” he said. “I think we made a very good case.”Part of being a doctor is learning to suppress your feelings. You get good at being what people need you to be. But it slowly transforms you into something you couldn’t have foreseen—a sort of Stepford doctor—pleasing everyone with your perfect smile and agreeable demeanor, hoping that your patient satisfaction survey will be favorable, no matter the cost.
Press Ganey is one of the top providers of patient satisfaction surveys, according to the Forbes article, Why Rating Your Doctor Is Bad For Your Health.
The government has bet big on these surveys, as a recent article in Forbesnotes. Armed with the idea that “patient is always right,” Washington figured that more customer satisfaction data “will improve quality of care and reduce costs.”
That turns out to have been a bad bet.
In fact, the most satisfied patients are 12 percent more likely to be hospitalized and 26 percent more likely to die, according to researchers at UC Davis. “Overtreatment is a silent killer,” wrote Dr. William Sonnenberg in his recent Medscape article, Patient Satisfaction is Overrated. “We can over-treat and over-prescribe. The patients will be happy, give us good ratings, yet be worse off.”
It’s Economics 101. If we ask drug-addicted patients to grade their physicians on how satisfied they are with the “service,” then a high score will likely indicate they got the opposite of good medical care. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out how putting addicts in charge of the patient encounter contributes to the $24 billion in excess medical costs caused by prescription opiate abuse. Nevertheless, some emergency rooms are even offering Vicodin “goody bags” to improve their ratings.
Thanks to patient satisfaction scoring, unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions are also on the rise, adding to the deadly menace of drug-resistant bacteria. A patient demanding unnecessary antibiotics is one of the things that doctors hate most, yet nearly half of physicians surveyed said they’ve had to “improperly [prescribe] antibiotics and narcotic pain medication in direct response to patient satisfaction surveys,” as reported in Forbes.
“The mandate is simple,” wrote Dr. Sonnenberg. “Never deny a request for an antibiotic, an opioid pain medication, a scan, or an admission.” So instead of better care and cheaper care, satisfaction scoring is making patients sicker and driving up costs. Indeed, the UC Davis researchers found the most satisfied patients account for 9 percent more in total health-care costs—and that does not include the excess monies wasted on trying to please the rest.
But when physicians don’t acquiesce, they pay a price. Last year, The Atlantic profiled a physician who quit due to the pressure to prescribe narcotics. In many cases, doctors can’t keep their jobs or make partner if their scores aren’t—not just good—but stellar. And many physicians claim that hospital administrators explicitly tell them to do whatever it takes to raise scores even if it means compromising their professional standards.
So why is this happening? As one fed-up physician blogger explained in a story he entitled The Focus on Patient Satisfaction is Enough to Make you Sick, it’s for “the same reason the IRS collects taxes and not seashells: Money.”
And it’s big money. The companies doing the studies—and their investors—are getting rich. According to Forbe, Press Ganey, the biggest of the survey firms, went from a valuation of $100 million to nearly $700 million in just four years—bringing in over $200 million a year. And with cash comes political influence, so of course the government plays along. Medicare uses the surveys to withhold payment to doctors and hospitals that don’t have high scores.
As Forbes points out, by 2017, Obamacare’s “pay for performance” program mandates that hospitals will lose 2 percent of their Medicare payments if they perform poorly on quality measures—some 30 percent of which will be based on patient satisfaction scores. Hospitals are investing in capital upgrades like escalators to improve the “customer” experience. Meanwhile, doctors are under even more pressure to “please the customers”—even if it means unnecessarily scoping them, irradiating them, or plying them with toxic and addictive pills.
To be sure, physicians know that good feedback is important, but these scores aren’t even good feedback. “We are not given access to [the reasons] why they were dissatisfied. We can never learn from our mistakes,” one emergency department doctor was quoted in Medscape.
While patients who read this may be unmoved by the doctors’ plight, understand that not all doctors are taking this lying down. In order to protect themselves, doctors are filling patients’ charts with diagnoses like “drug addiction” and “mental illness”—not exactly the kind of thing you want in your permanent medical record.
The public should be outraged that they’re being used like this and flattered into believing these scores ensure good care—while putting their lives in jeopardy. They should be outraged that hospitals and health systems are so corrupt that they play along instead of demanding that scores create better outcomes, not just better profits. These scores should be aligning the interests of patients and physicians—because in a perfect world, physicians’ and patients’ interests are exactly the same.
Instead we find ourselves in another kind of world—one turned upside-down—where the most ethical doctors are ousted and the most servile are raised high. In this world, doctors are forced to violate their sacred oaths to keep their jobs. In this world, once-proud physicians are over-prescribing and over-ordering, grinning and pretending, stepping and fetching.The former spy says he knew he'd get away with it. And he did. He traded his true identity as East German Albrecht Dittrich for a new life in the U.S. as American Jack Barsky. Then the undercover spy blended in to American society by leading a normal family life and working for top U.S. corporations -- all while spying undetected for the Soviet Union in the last decade of the Cold War. The FBI eventually caught up to him, but he never went to jail and he remains in the U.S. to this day, a resident of an upstate New York town where he has achieved a piece of the American Dream. Barsky tells his fantastic story for the first time to Steve Kroft on 60 Minutes at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
Asked by Kroft if he really thought he would get away with being a Soviet Spy in the U.S., Barsky replies with a laugh, "Yeah, otherwise I wouldn't have done it." But he points out that when he was recruited by the KGB, it wasn't to be a spy, rather he was to be a "scout for peace." "The communist spies were the good guys and the capitalist spies were the evil ones. So we didn't use the word spy," he tells Kroft.
What did he think of America? "It was the enemy. And... the reason that the Americans did so well was because they exploited all the third-world countries," Barsky says. "That's what we were taught, and that's what we believed. We didn't know any better."
The KGB apparently didn't know any better when they expected him to get a passport in the U.S. The form asked so many questions about his past that he had to leave the office. "I was not given very good instructions with regard to how to apply for a passport," he remembers. "They made a number of mistakes in terms of giving me advice...They just didn't know," says Barsky.
The real Jack Barsky was a 10-year-old American boy whose name on a tombstone became the identity for a Soviet spy who needed a birth certificate.
On Sunday, Kroft reports on how Barsky was able to pull off the ruse for so long, how he managed to remain in the U.S. free and clear and how he dealt with his double identity that included two separate families, one here and another in East Germany.
Perhaps the most important piece of information he admits to stealing in the 1980s was American computer code that helped the Soviets' factories compete with those in the West. "I would say [the most important] was the computer code because it was a very prominent piece of industrial software still in use today," says Barsky, who would not elaborate except to say, "It was good stuff."Why is Big Media losing viewers? Because it sucks
Watching the coverage of this week’s Democratic National Convention, I’ve seen endless amounts of media handwringing about the coverage of this week’s Democratic National Convention. Why are people turning to comedy news like The Daily Show? Why are people turning to partisan outlets like Fox News and talk radio? Why are people reading untalented webloggers? After some consideration, Big Media has concluded it’s the people’s fault. They’ve become to partisan, shallow, and stupid to handle healthy, traditional news, so they’ve abandoned it for lesser outlets. While this storyline is no doubt convenient for the people espousing it (see, we’re not doing anything wrong — it’s their fault!) it doesn’t seem quite right to me. The actual answer, which lies unspoken between the lines of all discussion on the subject, is much simpler: people are abadoning Big Media because it sucks. Notice how the media simply refuses to acknowledge this possibility. Although evidence of the elite media’s conservative bias is overwhelming (name one overtly liberal TV talk show host or regular pundit; read What Liberal Media? if you’re still not convinced), the only kind of bias the media will acknowledge is a potential liberal one. Every article about webloggers ends with the platitude that bloggers won’t be replacing journalists anytime soon. And when John Stewart was about to suggest that the regular media simply refused to do their job and call BS when they saw it, Ted Koppel quickly ended the interview. No, in denial, Big Media will never admit it has a problem. But it does. America is the only country with a media that refuses to analyze the news and draw conclusions. Instead, in the service of some notional “objectivity”, American media will only repeat “facts”—that is, quotes provided by both sides. There is no memory, no analysis, no context, no conclusions, no opinions, no humanity at all. Is it any surprise that Amerians look elsewhere for their news? Big Media has a prepared response. Why, they say, the very pillars of civilization would crumble if opinion were allowed in the news! This is absurd. First, as I have noted, practically every other country allows analysis in their news, and they seem to be doing fine. Second, we already have opinion, it just comes in the form of vapid and partisan pundits. Letting actual journalists give us their opinions would certainly be an improvement over those guys. Third, Americans are already leaving Big Media for partisan sources or no news sources at all. Surely giving your viewers opinionated news is better than having no viewers at all. This is not to say we should throw accuracy out the window and listen to whatever lies make us feel good. No, journalism’s goal should be to be fair and accurate (the oppposite of false and misleading), not “objective” and “balanced”. A journalist should tell the whole truth and not try to mislead the reader. But as long they do so, they should be free to give whatever context and draw whatever conclusions they feel are appropriate. Once you’ve given side A and side B a fair shake, there’s no harm—indeed, there’s a great service—in telling which side you’ve chosen and why. It seems clear to me that media with context and humanity is more popular than that with soulless objectivity. If Big Media wants to stop losing viewers to these supposedly less careful sources of information, they can start by adopting these goals as their own. posted July 30, 2004 05:18 PM (Politics) (21 comments) #
Just out of curiousity, why do you care? If Big Media is failing to the likes of partisan news sources and you want more opinion in news, why worry? It seems that wwe’re seeing survival of the fittest in the media sphere where the big media dodo is disappearing. Or is it that you worry if only the pundits provide opinion and context, then this is worse? posted by Chris at July 30, 2004 06: |
Despite our best efforts at self-awareness, we’re all too often partial or complete mysteries to ourselves. Art, de Botton and Armstrong suggest, can help shed light on those least explored nooks of our psyche and make palpable the hunches of intuition we can only sense but not articulate:
We are not transparent to ourselves. We have intuitions, suspicions, hunches, vague musings, and strangely mixed emotions, all of which resist simple definition. We have moods, but we don’t really know them. Then, from time to time, we encounter works of art that seem to latch on to something we have felt but never recognized clearly before. Alexander Pope identified a central function of poetry as taking thoughts we experience half-formed and giving them clear expression: “what was often thought, but ne’er so well expressed.” In other words, a fugitive and elusive part of our own thinking, our own experience, is taken up, edited, and returned to us better than it was before, so that we feel, at last, that we know ourselves more clearly.
More than that, they argue, the self-knowledge art bequeaths gives us a language for communicating that to others — something that explains why we are so particular about the kinds of art with which we surround ourselves publicly, a sort of self-packaging we all practice as much on the walls of our homes as we do on our Facebook walls and art Tumblrs. While the cynic might interpret this as mere showing off, however, de Botton and Armstrong peel away this superficial interpretation to reveal the deeper psychological motive — our desire to communicate to others the subtleties of who we are and what we believe in a way that words might never fully capture.
6. GROWTH
Besides inviting deeper knowledge of our own selves, art also allows us to expand the boundaries of who we are by helping us overcome our chronic fear of the unfamiliar and living more richly by inviting the unknown:
Engagement with art is useful because it presents us with powerful examples of the kind of alien material that provokes defensive boredom and fear, and allows us time and privacy to learn to deal more strategically with it. An important first step in overcoming defensiveness around art is to become more open about the strangeness that we feel in certain contexts.
De Botton and Armstrong propose three critical steps to overcoming our defensiveness around art: First, acknowledging the strangeness we feel and being gentle on ourselves for feeling it, recognizing that it’s completely natural — after all, so much art comes from people with worldviews radically different from, and often contradictory to, our own; second, making ourselves familiar and thus more at home with the very minds who created that alien art; finally, looking for points of connection with the artist, “however fragile and initially tenuous,” so we can relate to the work that sprang from the context of their life with the personal reality of our own context.
7. APPRECIATION
Our attention, as we know, is “an intentional, unapologetic discriminator” that blinds us to so much of what is around us and to the magic in our familiar surroundings. Art, de Botton and Armstrong argue, can lift these blinders so we can truly absorb not only just what we’re expecting to see, but also what we aren’t:
One of our major flaws, and causes of unhappiness, is that we find it hard to take note of what is always around us. We suffer because we lose sight of the value of what is before us and yearn, often unfairly, for the imagined attraction elsewhere.
While habit can be a remarkable life-centering force, it is also a double-edged sword that can slice off a whole range of experiences as we fall into autopilot mode. Art can decondition our habituation to what is wonderful and worthy of rejoicing:
Art is one resource that can lead us back to a more accurate assessment of what is valuable by working against habit and inviting us to recalibrate what we admire or love.
One example they offer comes from Jasper Johns’s famous bronze-cast beer cans, which nudge us to look at a mundane and familiar object with new eyes:
The heavy, costly material they are made of makes us newly aware of their separateness and oddity: we see them as though we had never laid eyes on cans before, acknowledging their intriguing identifies as a child or a Martian, both free of habit in this area, might naturally do. Johns is teaching us a lesson: how to look with kinder and more alert eyes at the world around us.
Such is the power of art: It is both witness to and celebrator of the value of the ordinary, which we so frequently forsake in our quests for artificial greatness, a kind of resensitization tool that awakens us to the richness of our daily lives:
[Art] can teach us to be more just towards ourselves as we endeavor to make the best of our circumstances: a job we do not always love, the imperfections of middle age, our frustrated ambitions and our attempts to stay loyal to irritable but loved spouses. Art can do the opposite of glamorizing the unattainable; it can reawaken us to the genuine merit of life as we’re forced to lead it.
The rest of Art as Therapy goes on to examine such eternal questions as what makes good art, what kind of art one should make, how art should be displayed, studied, bought and sold, and a heartening wealth more. Complement it with 100 ideas that changed art.Atlantans love their Chick-fil-A as much as they love their Falcons, so it’s only logical that the team’s new stadium would have an outpost of the chicken joint. There’s just one problem: it will hardly be open.
As Southerners are well aware, Chick-fil-A is famously closed on Sundays. The company’s founder, Truett Cathy, was a devout Christian and decided to shutter his stores on the Sabbath for a combination of religious and employee welfare reasons. The one inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium will be no exception.
Zaxby's now the official chicken of the Falcons. That doesn't mean Chick Fil-A isn't in the new stadium. It is closed on Sundays, however. pic.twitter.com/TfCIa3rz5T — Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) August 16, 2017
And how many non-Sunday regular season home games do the Falcons have this year? One. Week 14 against the Saints on Thursday Night Football.
While the stadium’s main draw will be the Falcons, the other major tenant is Atlanta United, the city’s MLS team, which has eight home games left this season (but three on Sundays). It’ll also host concerts and college football, so the Chick-fil-A isn’t a total waste.In the last few days, Der Spiegel and the Guardian published the latest revelations from Edward Snowden’s often random-seeming cache of PowerPoint slides, memoranda citing acronyms whose full import remains mysterious, and other top-secret files from the National Security Agency. The new disclosures describe data collection and black-bag bugging jobs directed by the United States against European allies, including Germany, France, Britain, and the European Union.
The notionally sophisticated reaction in both Washington and Europe has been mais, bien sur—all countries spy on their friends and betray the trust of their allies (even when, as now, those allies have sent soldiers to fight and die in an expeditionary war, in Afghanistan, that the allies never much believed in, but signed up for mainly out of loyalty to the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization). French President François Hollande, upon learning that the N.S.A. had bugged the French Embassy in Washington, exclaimed that he “cannot accept this kind of behavior.” “Come on,” is the typical informed response; “everyone knows” that the French spy on the United States routinely.
“I guarantee you,” President Obama said in his glancing defense of the N.S.A. this week, “that in European capitals, there are people who are interested, if not in what I had for breakfast, then at least what my talking points might be, if I meet with their leaders.”
At issue, however, is much more than how David Cameron and Angela Merkel prefer their eggs and toast. Even if European Presidents and Prime Ministers accept hypocrisy (in part because at least some of them practice it themselves), their voting publics will not.
As the reporters James Fontanella-Khan and Joshua Chaffin pointed out in the Financial Times this week, American diplomats have for four years now waged “an ongoing, multi-agency effort to convince the E.U. to cooperate on a wide array of intelligence gathering, from sharing airline passenger data to watering down consumer data protection legislation.” Persuading democratic governments to share information on their citizens in the name of counterterrorism or any other security priority is fraught with legal and political problems in the best of circumstances. It will now be harder. Was what the Obama Administration learned about the French Ambassador worth it?
As every parent of a nine-year-old has recited at least once, just because “everyone” does something doesn’t mean that it’s smart. Britain reportedly has decided against bugging American facilities on the grounds that, if caught, the damage to London’s reputation in Congress and among the American public as a distinctive, thick-and-thin ally would outweigh any benefits in information collection. That may just be British spin trotted out this week because Government Communications Headquarters, Britain’s equivalent of the N.S.A., hasn’t been caught bugging an American embassy. Yet it is surely better to proffer that story than to say, We’re no worse than anybody else.
The British line reflects the hard lessons of intelligence history. There may be some official secrets that will long remain secret, even in the age of Wikileaks; and yet, no President or Prime Minister should approve a covert action unless he is persuaded after careful review that, even if the action is exposed, its benefits will likely exceed the costs of bad publicity.
The bugging of E.U. offices in Brussels, according to documents obtained by Der Spiegel, is on its face the most puzzling case. For years, nine-to-five European civil servants have been commuting through the dreary Brussels rain to their soul-crushing cubicles in the headquarters of the modern European proto-state, cursing the triviality of their meetings and drowning their sorrows at night with beer. Why break the laws of Belgium to listen in on these specialists in the economics of recycling, antitrust regulation, and the health risks of consumer plastics?
Was the mission to seek for the United States a negotiating edge in “Open Skies” aviation landing rights bargaining on behalf of United Airlines? Or to obtain a file of secret memos that would allow American diplomats to embarrass European agriculture ministers at the next round of talks over excessive Italian vineyard and olive subsidies?
The most likely explanation is that President Obama never carefully discussed or specifically approved the E.U. bugging, and that no cabinet-level body ever reviewed, on the President’s behalf, the operation’s potential costs in the event of exposure. America’s post-September 11th national-security state has become so well financed, so divided into secret compartments, so technically capable, so self-perpetuating, and so captured by profit-seeking contractors bidding on the next big idea about big-data mining that intelligence leaders seem to have lost their facility to think independently. Who is deciding what spying projects matter most and why?
Above: Protesters in Berlin. Photograph by Kay Nietfeld /DPA/AP.
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Read more of our coverage of government surveillance programs.Atlanta is a city once called Terminus—a name that rivals only Nitro, WV for unalloyed industrial-metal awesomeness in these United States. But the city was restless, and full of shit. It changed its name to Atlanta, even though, as even my brain-damaged little brother once noticed, it’s nowhere near the fucking ocean. “Which way to the ocean, brah?” he asked. I pointed east, from Cincinnati. “Which way to Atlanta?”
Yes, Atlanta could have been Terminus, but it turned out to be Goodie Mob minus Cee Lo at best, Raven Symone’s overappreciated fourth album at worst. Like the city itself, I was restless and shit-stuffed when I touched down.
“I threw a wish in the well/Don’t ask me, I’ll never tell,” a bass-heavy, purposely slowed down Carly Rae Jepsen sang as I deplaned at Atlanta’s supermassive Hartsfield-Jackson airport. “I looked to you as it fell/And now you’re in my way,” Jepsen continued, sounding eerily like the serial killer from Silence of the Lambs. (“Put the lotion in the basket!” ricochets through my head.)
Right now the long trek from plane to baggage claim stands between me and a long weekend in the ATL. “I’d trade my soul for a wish.” Indeed, right now I wish that this airport wasn’t longer than fucking Game of Thrones. This place has characters on characters. “Pennies and dimes for a kiss/I wasn’t looking for this.” Well, in my case the airport’s shuttle turned out to be the “this” I failed to envision, resulting in my idiotic and painful schlep from Gate Bumblefuck to baggage, consuming a full 20 minutes instead of five. During the interminable commute from plane to exit I promised to make Shlomo’s 27 minute BBC mix tape, containing his twisted refraction of Jepsen’s iconic song “Call Me Maybe,” the soundtrack for the next 30 minutes, the opening refrain to my temporary Southern existence.
“Your stare was holdin’/Ripped jeans, skin was showin’.” I can say Carly got this one right because everyone in the airport seemed to be living in some sort of transportational coma, as my fellow transients adopted a glazed stare that could pass for eroticism or indolence, depending. As I soon learned, it’s just a cocktail of Type 5 Diabetes and freebase Krispy Kreme that creates this somnambulatory effect.
Sure, someone from Cincinnati, Ohio (Northern Kentucky for some observers) probably shouldn’t throw stones at a burgeoning metropolis like Atlanta. In Cinci we think chili is fucking fast food; we also think it’s the same thing as ground beef and tomato sauce, and that it deserves to be oozed over pasta. Basically, we think we’re on the verge of inventing spaghetti, but haven’t quite cracked the code yet. It’s sad. Well, fear not, Clement has no desire to throw stones—boulders yes, stones no.
When I finally reach baggage claim, my ride, ToM editors Ryan Reft and Alex “Sayf” Cummings seem more interested in discussing the spatial layout of airports and their “semiotic meaning” for “working class bodies” than driving me anywhere. When I ask about public transport to the airport, like light rail, Cummings begins frothing at the mouth, like a rabid dog or someone unaware of the proper way to consume Alka Seltzer. To be honest, I only caught every other word because I’m too busy trying to figure out how godawful hot it is outside. Needless to say, there is not light rail.
“Hot night, wind was blowin’/Where do you think you’re going, baby?” Exactly the question I am wondering when we walk out to the car. It feels like hot dog’s breath on my neck; the breeze reminds of working in a kennel for quadriplegic dachshunds. Still, Atlanta’s sprawl has a certain rolling charm, or at least from 30,000 feet it does. What treasures await us this weekend? What artifacts of ATL existence will we uncover? What hipster bar has the best Old Fashioned made out of Kool Aid? “Hey, I just met you, And this is crazy,” Jepsen’s altered voice intones, “But here’s my number, So call me, maybe!” Atlanta, no maybes, I’m here—call me.
The New South, the “city too busy hate,” Split Wet Beaver, Gate City, Gaytown—such nicknames have long attested to Atlanta’s prominent place in the new southern amalgam. While historians Kevin Kruse and Matthew Lassiter have demonstrated the dubious nature of this claim, Atlanta remains the capital of the modern South. Like a Dixie land Chicago, it has plenty of diversity but little sense of integration. Okay, it’s not uniformly true. In Little Five Points you might see black and white young’ins in their mid 20s and early 30s casually rubbing their sleeve tattoos, playing a fiddle in the alley like some kind of 1930s hobo or wandering the aisles of American Apparel searching for that “perfect t-shirt.” East Atlanta Village also has its share of integration, though it also has the occasional shooting. What did Killer Mike say? “Even though it’s blacktop from the mayors to the cops, Black blood still gets spilled.”
This kind of disjunction encapsulates the city. Atlanta’s magnificence seems at once obvious and obscure, a metropolis with a deep history that lays largely in ashes beneath its rebuilt exterior. Simultaneously the New South capital and a crown jewel of black America, yet in and around the city, whites and blacks live separate lives. Greenery everywhere, but few public spaces in which to enjoy it; a city desperately in need of public transportation but, as evidenced by recent elections, resolutely against it. On Saturday nights the heathen descend upon the town’s watering holes and Sunday morning these same sinners kneel asking for God’s providence and forgiveness. As the Drive by Truckers might attest, it’s that Southern duality thing.
On arriving in the Big A, I was shuttled to the tender bosom of East Atlanta, a neighborhood as well-known for sightings of Andre 3000 cashing in Scoutmob coupons at Dollar Sushi night as it is for cold-blooded murder. This bustling beachhead of gentrification brings together an eclectic mix of punks, drunks, librarians, and budding Manhattan Institute-style neocons, stockpiling guns to fight the onslaught of the life-threatening graffiti brigades. It is the new white Atlanta at its very cuspiness.
Still, Republican suburbanites find themselves bewildered as to why anyone would want to live there, while the erstwhile masters of the neighborhood’s middle class hatcheries begin to wonder if it’s time to leave as soon as the wee baby Seamus pops out.
My minders seemed uncomfortable early on in the visit—particularly “Sayf,” who evoked a North Korean tour guide in his evasive answers and relentless adherence to an official, booster-ish script about the city. “Oh, Buckhead? It’s shit. Carpetbagger?! Nah, not in Atlanta.” As soon as the bags were dropped they hurried me off to the Old Fourth Ward, a neighborhood that allegedly was once the heart of black commercial and religious life in the city. A scale replica of MLK’s famous Ebenezer Baptist Church notwithstanding, the “O4W” appeared to be little more than the latest out-of-the-box, no-assembly-required cluster of hipsters that every American city—even the execrable Richmond, VA—can somehow manage to order off eBay. There were tight pants, there were lesbians; kitsch was laughed at.
They must sell the blueprints for this stuff in the Sears Roebuck catalog, because ATL has a video “barcade” much like Brooklyn. It has a hilariously snazzy and upscale “Harold’s Chicken and Ice Bar,” apparently franchised out of Chi town’s legendary glory hole. There’s Vesuvius pizza, with a “secret” speakeasy tucked away behind a moving bookcase/door. I can’t remember where I’ve seen this before, but I’m cranky about it. Probably during my long (and successful, if grad school is about manufacturing misery; unsuccessful if it means anything else) sojourn as a grad student in NYC.
It’s like that old scene on the Dick Cavett show, where Yoko says that James Thurber stole his drawing style from John Lennon, and John is all like, “Uh, well Mother…”
Get me back to Cincinnati.
Yes, Atlanta is a city that believes its own bullshit. Or more than half believes it, if not quite completely. It’s kind of like its notorious pastor Eddie Long, who tells congregants that they can get rich by loving the old JC and dropping a hundy in the offering plate. His own glittering bank account lends credence both to God’s providence and the wisdom of Eddie’s own creed, but there must be a nagging doubt in there somewhere, about whether Atlanta’s future of violence and traffic congestion will be the unmitigated glory its pious people have been promised.
At least Atlanta gets Eddie. The little-city-that-could-not-quite-be-Atlanta, Charlotte, NC, remains defined by its disgraced pastor Jim Bakker, who won fame by spending desperate pensioners’ donations to air condition his dog house. And ATL does have Creflo Dollar, so they get points for that.
And it’s not like its totally devoid of its own history. Head on over to Grant Park where you can sit back and watch the Cyclorama, a giant moving painting of the Battle of Atlanta. It looks straight out of a brochure from the ‘70s—the fucking 1870s. To be honest, it’s sort of like going to the planetarium for the Pink Floyd laser show but getting there and realizing, nope its Nathan Bedford Forrest T-shirt night. “First one hundred customers get to deny ‘white privilege.’”
But wait, there’s more. While you’re picking hipster pretentiousness out of your hair over at MLK’s spot, saunter over to Margaret Mitchell’s home. Her tiny apartment remains open to the public though considering she wrote white people’s favorite Civil War novel, her housing accommodations might make one pause before pursuing a career in writing. “As God is my witness I’ll never be hungry again.” Well actually, if this is how it all ends I think I’ll stick with digging ditches or turning tricks. Is it weird MLK’s crib sits caddy corner from the home of a novelist who glorified the “Old South”? Yes, it’s right up there with Charleston, SC, where every monument reminds us of caucazoidian superiority. Whose idea was it to have a massive statue of John C. Calhoun overlook Charleston’s Holocaust memorial anyway? Does irony not exist in historic southern cities or am I just wallowing in Drive by Trucker southern duality bullshit?
Yet, as far as I can tell from my brief tour of Atlanta’s hipster archipelago, its people can look to the future with hope. Atlanta is a thriving city, in the sense that it’s not full of people talking about how much cooler it was in the 1930s, or 1950s, or 1970s, or 1980s (we’re looking at you, NYC). Partly that’s because for a lot of people in Atlanta life in the 1930s would not have been so wonderful in the slightest. But its motto is Resurgens and its mythology is all about wanton, pointless destruction and subsequent self-reinvention—a good combination for the early 21st century.
For all its faults, Atlanta is a place where “the Corner of Gay and Gay” is an internationally recognized landmark, and it boasts an impressive array of colleges and universities, even if some occasionally go out of business. Atlanta faces the Southeast the way New York faces the world, as an imperial city—a big, dense hunk of real estate, around which thousands of lesser rocks orbit. Except in Atlanta’s case the orbiting pebbles and satellites are Augusta, Ranlo, and Rock Hill, Birmingham and Erect, while New York’s are Paris, Amsterdam and Dakar. Shirtless no-accounts and slack-jawed misfits from the hinterland of Alabama and South Carolina come to seek their fortune in the big city™, whose most salient quality is its (relative) bigness. In this way, Atlanta is an all-purpose go-to place, sort of an Applebee’s to the Hooter’s of Nashville, a city that is self-aware enough to be “tacky yet delightfully unrefined.”Juggleguy's Apex 2015 Melee Singles Bracket projections! Follow me on Twitter for more Melee scoop this weekend! https://twitter.com/JuggleRob
Notes:
* Matchup projections are all generated from the Pools Transition Map on Page 50 here: http://www.meleeitonme.com/wp-content/uploads/Apex-2015-Schedule-and-Pools-v2.pdf
* Tons of assumptions were made about how players perform in the phases leading up to this final bracket. Overall, all the projected winners/losers bracket players are assumed to have advanced out of winners/losers respectively in their phase two bracket pools.
* Winners Round 1 matchups would not actually happen in tourney. They are all placeholders in order to create the appropriate Winners Round 2 matchups, due to limitations with the Challonge interface. This is super important to understand.
* Please respect the amount of work it took for the Apex Melee staff (Nintendude, Hectohertz, Gtown_Tom, FullMetal, etc.) to seed and schedule everyone through so many cross-game constraints. I know I do. Shoutouts to them.“Asians in the Library – UCLA Girl going wild on Asians” Racist Rebuttal
Hello fair AMWW Magazine readers, it’s huggable Heather with a timely article about a recent, sadly racist, event.
Yesterday, I was given a link to a Youtube video called “Asians in the Library – UCLA Girl going wild on Asians”. Upon reading the title, however, I exited out of it. I told my friend I would not watch it because I knew I would just get angry. Eventually, though, my curiosity got the better of me and I just had to look.
You bet your sweet ass I was offended.
My first impression was lackluster at best. The way she, Alexandra Wallace (aka UCLA Girl) looked, the way she moved – nothing about her told me I should take her seriously, the words that come out of that Barbie-doll mouth notwithstanding.
Everything about her seemed as fake as her hair extensions.
Of course, then she started talking…and the only way for me to critique her “work” is to break it down, piece by piece.
“So we know that I’m not the most politically correct person so don’t take this offensively. I don’t mean it toward any of my friends I mean it toward random people that I don’t even know in the library. So, you guys are not the problem.”
Oh, of course…the “disclaimer.” You know, you had to watch this part where she tried her hardest to cover her ass in case she gets a shitstorm of negativity from it. I had a teacher from the South once who explained to me that you could make fun of someone you liked, be it your mother, father, or dying grandmother, so long as you said “bless their heart” right before it.
“And that Camilla girl, bless her heart, but she needs to learn to take a shower every once in a while!”
Translation: I love her so I wouldn’t viciously make fun of her body odor…I mean well.
“I’m not politically correct so don’t get offended…I don’t mean this toward my friends…”
Translation: Excuse what I say because I’m not saying it to hurt my friends (we’re still up for Brad’s party later, right?) and I’m not trying to coddle any of you so don’t be hatin’!
I’m sorry, but that disclaimer excuses nothing, especially not your blatant racism that’s about to ensue.
“The problem is these hordes of Asian people that UCLA accepts into our school every single year, which is fine. But if you’re going to come to UCLA then use American manners.”
Oh, I’m sorry these people don’t look like you, have the same natural hair color as you, and have the same ignorant opinions as you; I’m sorry these “hordes” are invading “your” school. Must be hard for you, going to school and going about your daily life with these “hordes” of Asians running around, trying to do the exact same thing you do.
Tsk tsk…is there anything these Asians HAVEN’T done to exacerbate your problems? And WHERE are their American manners? How dare they not look like you yet demand to be called American!
That’s just…well, actually, that’s just AMERICAN of them. I’m assuming there’s a fairly good mixture within these “hordes” of those born here and those born overseas. Regardless, both are American; yes, even the ones who immigrated here. They came here for a better life, like many of our ancestors – to be perfectly honest, the immigrants (Asian or not) are the true emblems of the American image; working hard to contribute to their families, their communities, and their new country.
“…I’ll be in like deep into my studying, into my political science theories and arguments and all that stuff, getting it all down, like typing away furiously, blah blah, blah, and then all of a sudden when I’m about to like reach an epiphany…”
…excuse me for fifteen minutes, I’m about to laugh my ass off at the thought of this girl having any sort of epiphany.
“…overhear from somewhere, “Ooooh Ching Chong Ling Long Ting Tong, Ooohhhhh.”
…if I have to explain to anyone why this may be considered offensive, I will never regain my faith in humanity. Of course, though, I can’t just leave it like that, sooooo…it’s offensive because you’ve basically just undermined them as a person.
Is that all they are to you? Just “Asian?”
Even your so-called “friends” don’t appreciate that. If you can’t look at an Asian without having stereotypical garbage-Mandarin run through your head, you are stereotyping an entire race of people – it would be like someone thinking of the stereotype that all blonde White girls are racist after viewing your video.
By the way, thanks for that. You just set ALL THE WORK I’VE EVER DONE back about twenty paces. I’m tempted to dye my hair brown so I don’t get lumped into the same category as you.
“…being the polite, nice American girl that my momma raised me to be…”
Sweetheart, I’m sure we have the same kind of “homegrown American momma.” If I ever said anything like this anywhere, my mother would slap the racism off my face faster than I could make a crappy vlog about it.
The thing is, my mom instilled in me something more American than your supposed “manners:” she taught me compassion for other people, tolerance toward those different than me, and the humility to know that, in the end, I’m no better than anyone else. It’s a shame your momma never got around to it.
“I swear they’re going through their whole families, just checking on everybody from the tsunami thing.”
Please change your major. You fail at political science…and human decency, for that matter.
“…even if you’re not Asian you really shouldn’t be on your cell phone in the library but I’ve just never seen that happen before so thank you for listening and have a nice day.”
It’s a shame we don’t go to the same school. Depending on who calls me, I ramble on in broken Mandarin/German/Spanish on a regular basis on my phone, and have, on occasion, done so in the library. But this girl has given me a lot of insight.
Firstly, how Asian/Asian-American racism is alive and well in the minds of our youth. I thought we were getting past this, but it seems there is a long road ahead of us.
Secondly, the impact her video has had on the internet. I didn’t realize she had already taken it down – I watched someone’s bootleg of it. I copied a pre-written transcript and I read many of the posts on the UCLA’s chancellor’s page. This has caused quite a commotion, to say the least. There are even remixed song versions of Asians in the Library – UCLA Girl going wild on Asians!
Lastly, I became saddened by fellow White people who just don’t “get it.”
Too many times I’ve seen the comment “lighten up, it’s just a joke” and “I don’t see why everyone’s so mad.”
Of course you don’t – you’re White (and so am I for that matter).
You will never be hurtfully discriminated against for your race in your home country a day in your life.
You will never know what it feels like to be told to go home early from a sleepover because you’re the “Asian one out.”
You’ll never know what it feels like to be lynched because you’re “too Black for my liking.”
You’ll never be told that you’re “stealing honest Americans’ jobs.”
You’ll never know what it feels like to go through school and learn, historically, that people of your race were treated horrendously in your textbooks.
To those people, I say, simply, that you are no better than her.
Rumor has it she’s been expelled for her video. Even though she’s not in school anymore, I have some homework for her: open your eyes to the hurt you’ve caused to Asian-Americans – your fellow Americans.
Maybe then you’ll find your “manners” to be seriously lacking.Veteran rocker and restaurateur Sammy Hagar is looking to play a role in the development of downtown Roseville with a new restaurant. Local developer Steve Pease announced Thursday that the former JC Penny building at 238 Vernon St. will soon become Sammy’s Rockin’ Island Bar & Grill. The “family-friendly, island-themed” restaurant will feature pan-Asian influenced cuisine with burgers, seafood, sushi, pasta and salads as well as a full bar, wine list and draft beer. The 10,000-square-foot restaurant will also have two floors, outdoor seating on two levels and a stage for live entertainment. “It’s pretty exciting stuff for us as the real estate owner,” Pease said. “And for the city with everything that is going on downtown.” Jon Yip, managing member of Innova Restaurant Concepts, which is developing the restaurant, expects to have a grand opening on Sept. 15. Sammy’s Rockin Island Bar & Grill will be the first one of its kind and is designed to be a hybrid of Cabo Wabo Cantina and Sammy’s Beach Bar & Grill, Yip said. Pease said the building, which he purchased from the city of Roseville several years ago, underwent extensive exterior renovation in 2008 creating a covered outdoor patio facing Vernon Street. Yip said Innova Restaurant Concepts expects to begin the $3 million renovation of the inside of the building in the next few weeks. In addition to outdoor seating, the restaurant will also have upstairs, open-air seating that will allow patrons to look out over Atlantic Street and the Roseville rail yards. Innova Restaurant Concepts is currently seeking essential upper level personnel and management for the restaurant. Yip said the restaurant will provide close to 100 new jobs and hiring will begin for non-management positions about 10 weeks before the expected grand opening date. City officials hope the restaurant will be a catalyst in realizing the ultimate goal of turning downtown Roseville into a vibrant community center and entertainment district. “A restaurant venue such as Sammy’s is exactly what the community was seeking to see happen down here,” said Kevin Payne, assistant director of economic development for the city of Roseville. Payne said $80 million in redevelopment funds, private financing and city funds have been poured into the renovation of downtown over the last 20 years with the goal of getting it ready for such use. Payne also serves as vice president of operations for the Roseville Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit entity which was created in 2010 by the Roseville City Council to help further downtown renovation projects. Since the fall of 2010, the Community Development Corporation has poured $37 million in capital improvement projects and programs in the downtown area, Payne said. The corporation has purchased several properties in the downtown area, including the building directly adjacent to the future Sammy’s restaurant. That 7,000-square-foot space is also ready for a restaurant tenant to move in, Payne said. “We’ve had a number of different restaurateurs that have toured the building,” he said. “There’s been some significant interest in that.” Payne said that with the announcement of Sammy Hagar’s new concept restaurant coming to downtown, he expects to see an even greater amount of interest for name brand restaurateurs to open up shop. Pease said that patron’s of Sammy’s Rockin’ Island Bar & Grill might need to be ready for a surprise, unannounced guest from time to time. “One of the nice things about having Sammy Hagar involved is he makes surprise appearances in the restaurants periodically,” Pease said. “So we have to have that stage ready for him.” Toby Lewis can be reached at tobyl@goldcountrymedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TobyLewis_RsvPT.The context
Mercy Corps has worked in Somalia since 2005. Despite Somalia’s reputation of instability, the northern parts of Somalia are relatively calm and functioning. Still, more than two decades of civil strife and extremism have resulted in a group of people who have been displaced from their homes for years and are dependent on government and humanitarian interventions.
Somalia is now at the risk of famine. Some 2.7 million people are unable to meet their daily food needs and need urgent assistance. An estimated 1.2 million children are or will be malnourished by the end of the year — including 301,000 who are already acutely malnourished. Drought, flooding and ongoing conflict threaten the food security of people who are already living in a precarious economic situation. If drought conditions worse, hundreds of thousands of children will be at risk of starvation.
Get the quick facts about famine ▸
While some people are now choosing to return to their homes after years of displacement, they still face challenges. Poor weather conditions and other stresses threaten the stability of entire communities, and continue to make families vulnerable to food insecurity and loss of livelihoods.
Our workAs the Kings continue on their "Regular Season Doesn't Matter" '16 Tour, they get a nice little trek through the hamlets that helped them have a Spring off last year. Of course, they get to miss the playoffs this year. But it's not just the tiny towns of Vancouver, Calgary, and Winnipeg. Again, it is all of Canada. And because of the drain they are on the league in terms of not just being mediocre franchises, but also financially a blackhole, the NHL and Gary Bettman may want to start thinking about the tough decisions. I think it is time the league folded Canada.
Let's start with the obvious problem |
inquiring about health services Planned Parenthood could provide to underage girls in a sex trafficking ring the men said they were running.
In each case, according to Planned Parenthood, the man who visited the clinic initially presented himself as a patient seeking treatment for a sexually transmitted disease. The man asked to speak privately with a clinic employee and then requested information about health services for sex workers, including some who he said were minors and in the U.S. illegally.
After notifying the Justice Department of the possible sex-traffic ring, Planned Parenthood learned that at least one of the men is linked to a right-wing anti-abortion group, Live Aid. The federation says it believes these visits are likely a hoax seeking to discredit Planned Parenthood, which delivers preventive health care and abortion services to 3 million women each year.
Lila Rose, Live Action’s founder and president, declined to confirm or deny that the clinic visits were part of a Live Action operation, AP’s David Crary reported last week, but she “did indicate in a telephone interview that an undercover videotape project of some sort was in the works.”
On Tuesday, an edited video using footage from the visit to a New Jersey clinic, was published on “Big Journalism,” the website run by the notorious Andrew Breitbart. The video was edited to accuse Planned Parenthood of helping sex trafficking. Breitbart gained notoriety last year when he released a deceptively edited video of a speech by U.S. Department of Agriculture official Shirley Sherrod that led to her firing.
Live Action is also associated with James O’Keefe, the far-right scammer who was arrested for attempting to wiretap the offices of Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Louisiana Democrat, last year. O’Keefe was a key player in the video scam that led to the collapse of ACORN, an organization that helped register and turn out voters in low-income and African American communities. O’Keefe’s ACORN hoax videos were also launched on Breitbart’s site.
Live Action has conducted previous undercover projects targeting Planned Parenthood clinics. “Once inside, these people have recorded ‘undercover’ videos of their conversations with our clinic staff and then selectively and maliciously edited the videos,” Planned Parenthood Federation of America president Cecile Richards wrote in a letter to Attorney General Holder.
The January incidents are the first time that such visitors have used the sex trafficking ploy, the federation says.
The visits were made between Jan. 11 and Jan. 15 to health centers in Virginia, Indiana, New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Arizona. Among them was a clinic in Tucson, which Planned Parenthood said was visited on the 15th, a week after the shooting rampage in that city.
Planned Parenthood’s vice president for communications, Stuart Schear, told AP there had been some preliminary contacts with the FBI, which was asking for information from the clinics that were visited.
Schear said he and his colleagues found it striking that the clinic in Tucson was among those visited, so soon after the shooting rampage. “It shows how far some people will go,” he said.
Lila Rose began infiltrating abortion clinics in 2006, according to the AP report. One of her early collaborators was O’Keefe.
Rose gained prominence with a series of undercover videos in which she posed as a girl in her early teens who’d been impregnated by an older man. The aim was to portray Planned Parenthood staff as willing to ignore laws that required the reporting of cases of suspected statutory rape.
In Indiana, one clinic employee was fired and another resigned after Live Action videos were released.
In December, Live Action announced that it was preparing to launch several major new “investigations” during 2011 and said it had received a $125,000 gift to finance the operations. It did not identify the source of that gift.
Rose has said her goal is to unnerve Planned Parenthood employees and eventually put them out of business.
“We will work to de-fund them in every state wherever it is possible, to de-license them and to expose them,” she told the conservative Value Voters Summit in October.
“The other part of it, too, is to create controversy within the organization, keep them on their toes,” she said. “We need to help them feel that fear.”
It seems hardly coincidental that House Republicans have just introduced HR 3, the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.” The bill, among other things, would essentially mean the end of private insurance coverage for abortion. It also would restrict federally assisted abortion coverage only to victims of what the law defines as “forcible rape.”
Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., called the introduction of this bill “a violent act against women.”
Photo: fibonacciblue CC 2.0But much of the past research into exercise and appetite has concentrated on walking or other types of relatively short or light activities. Some scientists have begun to wonder whether exercise that was physically taxing, either because it was prolonged or intense, might affect appetite differently than more easeful exercise.
So for the new study, which was published recently in the Journal of Endocrinology, scientists from Loughborough University in Britain and other institutions who have been studying exercise and appetite for years recruited 16 healthy, fit young men. (They did not include women because this was a small, pilot study, the authors say, and controlling for the effects of women’s menstrual cycles would have been difficult.)
They separated the men into two groups, each of which would concentrate on one element of exercise.
The first group focused on intensity. To accomplish this, the scientists had the men visit the university’s performance lab on three separate occasions. During one, they sat quietly for several hours. During another, they ran on a treadmill at an easy jog, with their heart rates hovering at about 50 percent of their maximum capacity, for 55 minutes, until they had burned about 600 calories. On the final visit, they ran at a much more vigorous pace, around 75 percent of heart rate capacity, for 36 minutes, until they had again burned about 600 calories.
Throughout their workouts and for an additional few hours, the scientists drew blood to check for levels of a particular hormone, acylated ghrelin, that is thought to influence appetite. Generally, when acylated ghrelin levels rise, so does hunger. They also asked the men how hungry they felt.
Meanwhile, the scientists performed the same tasks with the second group of volunteers. But these men’s workouts emphasized length. So, one day they ran for 45 minutes at a steady pace and on another, strode at the same pace, but for 90 minutes. During a final visit, they sat.CHIANCIANO, Italy (Reuters) - Prime Minister Enrico Letta appealed for political stability on Saturday ahead of a week which could signal the end of his government, warning a political crisis would push up borrowing costs and throw Italy into chaos.
Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta arrives at the construction site of Expo 2015, on the outskirts of Milan, September 13, 2013. REUTERS/ Stefano Rellandini
“I want to send a very strong message here, we can no longer afford this instability based on political games,” Letta said at a convention of the centrist UDC party in the Tuscan town of Chianciano.
“Everything depends on stability, without stability we have no chance of pulling through,” he said, stressing that hopes of economic recovery and fiscal consolidation would be scuppered if his four-and-a-half month old government fell.
On Wednesday a Senate panel will vote on whether Silvio Berlusconi should be expelled from parliament following a conviction for tax fraud, and the media tycoon’s allies have threatened to sink the government if the vote goes against him.
Letta’s left-right coalition, which needs the backing of Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party (PDL) to survive, has bickered since it was formed in April but the infighting has intensified since Berlusconi was sentenced last month.
Letta said he was “absolutely convinced” that Berlusconi would not bring his administration down.
“My forecast is that, the day after, nothing will happen that will put the government in crisis,” he said. “No one will take responsibility for throwing everything up in the air and then having to explain what they have done to the Italians.”
The political uncertainty of the last few weeks has already raised Italy’s borrowing costs, Letta said, but he staked his credibility on Italy meeting its budget deficit target of 2.9 percent of output this year.
“We won’t just do our best to meet the target, we will meet it full stop. Credibility is everything, we have promised to do it and we will do it,” he said.
Economy Minister Fabrizio Saccomanni used similarly categorical terms at a meeting of EU finance ministers in Vilnius on Friday to respond to growing concerns in Italy and among its European partners that the deficit is overshooting.
“We will do whatever it takes, and believe me it will be enough,” Saccomanni said, deliberately echoing the words used by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi last year in his vow to end the euro zone’s debt crisis.
The pledges by Letta and Saccomanni suggest emergency deficit curbs will be imposed when Italy presents its 2014 budget plan in October. Data to the end of August point to a fiscal gap significantly higher than in 2012, when it came in at 3.0 percent of output, bang on the European Union’s limit.
Letta warned that one consequence of the fall of his government would be that the budget would be “written by Brussels” and would inevitably be far more draconian than his own plans.
Wednesday’s vote is not the final stage in the debate on Berlusconi’s fate, which must eventually go to a full vote on the Senate floor, but Berlusconi may choose to act pre-emptively as soon as he sees the majority is against him.It's been a year since the release of Psy's breakout music video "Gangnam Style," and the genre of K-Pop has experienced remarkable growth since the video went viral. YouTube has released a new report that shows that viewership of Korean musicians has tripled in the past 12 months, with a vast majority of new views happening outside of Korea. This trend shows that some viral videos have power beyond simply collecting hundreds of thousands of views, but can influence global tastes and help build an international audience for an previously niche musical genre. Psy is still the most popular K-Pop artist, with "Gangnam Style" securely ranked as the number one K-Pop song followed by his newer hit "Gentleman," but bands such as Girls' Generation and G-Dragon both have numerous songs in YouTube's top 10 K-Pop list.Average Dublin hotel prices in August have “surged” by 28 per cent on last year to €168, making it the ninth most expensive city in which to stay in Europe.
Trivago, the price comparison website, released its hotel price index on Wednesday, based on over a billion international hotel prices and offers.
It said Dublin prices increased from an average of €131 for the same time last year, an 18 per cent higher rate of increase than the 10 per cent recorded nationally.
The survey follows data released by the Irish hotel industry on Tuesday for 2014, which showed average Dublin hotel prices at €97.25, and €82.29 nationally. The data, compiled in the Crowe Horwath Annual Irish Hotel Survey, put the Dublin average at €109 in August, 2014.
While the more recent prices have increased on last year, Trivago says prices in Dublin have remained in line with last month.
Irish Hotels Federation has, however, questioned the Trivago numbers.
“The price claims made by Trivago do not reflect the average room rate actually paid by guests staying in Dublin this August. The research carried out is based solely on the prices for rooms found on Trivago and represents a small percentage of last minute availability rates where people are booking just days beforehand,” the representative body said.
“The vast majority of visitors to Dublin will have obtained significantly lower rates by booking their accommodation in advance, including through other sources such as directly through individual hotel’s websites, through group bookings, directly with the hotel, and the conference and event market segments.”
Trivago found a slight month-on-month increase of 2 per cent to €127 for rooms outside Dublin in August, up from €124 in July.
The largest month-on-month increases are to be found in Dingle (up 9 per cent to €123), Tralee (up 8 per cent to €119) and Kilkenny (up 7 per cent to €113).
It places Dublin as the ninth most expensive city in Europe this month, based on the 50 most popular cities on its website.
Edinburgh is the most expensive, with the price of a standard double room in the Scottish capital costing an average of €295 ahead of the annual Edinburgh Festival - up 41 per cent from €210 in July 2015.
The most expensive day in the city was Saturday August 8th, the second day of the festival, when a hotel cost an average of €334, a 45 per cent increase from the previous Saturday.
Marquee events in Ireland have a similar effect. The average price in Tralee rose 8 per cent this month ahead of the Rose of Tralee International Festival running from August 14th to 18th.
The price of a standard double room in Tralee will now cost an average of €119, up from €110 in August 2014. This is a 17 per cent yearly increase from €102 in August last year.
“With the average hotel room in Ireland up 10 per cent compared to August 2014 - and up 28 per cent in the capital - these figures are great news for the hotel industry, which continues to boom,” said Trivago’s David Lintott.
This echoed the sentiment of Crowe Horwath which reported a third successive year of growth for the sector.
August’s most expensive cities in order are: Edinburgh; Geneva; London; Venice; Bern; Copenhagen; Amsterdam; Nice; Dublin and Stockholm.What comes to mind when you think of romance, love, and Valentine’s Day? Probably things like sunsets, flowers, chocolates, candles, poetry, and bubble baths. You know, girl stuff.
Francesca Cancian, who writes on love, calls this the feminization of love. It makes love seem like its for women and girls only. This is a problem for at least two reasons. First, because men are supposed to avoid girly things in our culture, they are pressured to pretend like they’re not into love and love-related things. That’s why men are offered the alternative Steak and a Blow Job Day.
Second, it makes other ways of expressing love less visible. Maybe he shows love by always changing the oil in the car or making sure the computer is updated with anti-virus software. These can be mis-recognized as not about love because they aren’t the proper socially constructed symbols. So, if he doesn’t also show up with flowers or candy once in a while, maybe she doesn’t feel loved.
The flip side of this is the masculinization of sex. The rather new idea that what men are really interested in is sex and that this is secondary or, even, obligatory for women.
The feminization of love and masculinization of sex manifests itself in a myriad of ways across our culture, causing all sorts of problems. In the case of Valentine’s Day, it makes it seem as if the (assumed heterosexual) holiday is for women but, if he does it right, he’ll get sex as a reward. How romantic.
Cross-posted at Pacific Standard.UPDATE: This article has been updated with a comment from Walt Disney Parks and Resorts chairman Bob Chapek.
Disney (dis) opened the doors on its $5.5 billion Shanghai theme park and resort in June to significant fanfare, but only a few months later, attendance estimates show the massive new park may not be attracting as many visitors as was previously expected.
Multiple reports this week suggest Shanghai Disney posted disappointing attendance numbers in its four months of operation. CNNMoney cited Nomura analyst Richard Huang’s estimate that the new park has averaged roughly 20,000 visitors per day since it opened. A Shanghai University of Finance and Economics tourism management professor gave the same rough daily attendance estimate to the South China Morning Post on Tuesday.
Those numbers would add up to roughly 7.3 million visitors per year, CNNMoney notes, which would fall well short of previous estimates for annual attendance at Shanghai Disney. Many analysts, including those at Nomura, predicted that the new theme park and resort would attract around 15 million attendees per annum, with some predicting that Shanghai Disney could even one day top attendance at Tokyo Disneyland, which clears 17 million visitors annually.
Disney has boasted that more than 300 million tourists with disposable income live within three hours of Shanghai Disney and would provide ample attendance figures. In the month before the new park even opened, nearly 1 million people visited the area around Shanghai Disney, called Disney Town, to tour various connected stores and restaurants.
CNNMoney also noted that local media in China has been tough on Shanghai Disney, with reports on visitors complaining about long wait times for the park’s rides and attractions, as well as high food prices.
When reached for comment, a Shanghai Disneyland spokesperson provided Fortune with the following statement from Walt Disney Parks and Resorts chairman Bob Chapek: “The recent report speculating about our attendance is meritless. Our financial results during the first 100+ days of operation have exceeded our expectations, and guest feedback has been extremely strong, establishing a solid foundation upon which to grow.”
The Shanghai Disneyland spokesperson also referred Fortune to comments made by Disney CEO Bob Iger at the Goldman Sachs Communicopia Conference last month. Iger said the new theme park and resort “had a fantastic opening” this summer. “In fact, it delivered more [attendance] in the first hundred days than most parks that we’ve opened over the history of our theme parks,” Iger said at the conference.
Iger also said that the company’s guest satisfaction surveys showed that customers “love the experience” and are staying longer, by nearly two hours, than Disney had expected.
Wang Jianlin, China’s richest man and the chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, has regularly challenged Disney’s new China theme park. Jianlin has stated that Disney misread China’s tourism market while making clear his plans to beat the media giant at its own game with his growing portfolio of theme parks across the country. In August, Fortune reported that Jianlin and Dalian Wanda signed a deal to build a $9.5 billion tourism and sports complex in the eastern China city of Jinan that the company expects to attract more than 20 million tourists annually.Former Los Angeles Rams running back Eric Dickerson had some interesting words about Jared Goff and the team’s quarterback situation.
Sean Mannion, not Jared Goff, should start the season as the Rams QB according to @EricDickerson pic.twitter.com/klJAkgyi2h — Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) July 21, 2017
Dickerson joined Fox Sports 1 to discuss the difficulties the Rams had on offense last season. The former Rams running back said the offensive line and schemes were both suspect during the team’s first year back in Los Angeles.
However, the more noteworthy comment from Dickerson was that he thought the team could use a quarterback change. While he said Goff deserves a shot to start the year, he projects the team should go in a new direction eventually.
“For me, my guy that I would start the season with would be Sean Mannion. … I’ve been saying that since last year, give him a shot, you drafted him, he was great at … Oregon State, playing in a pro-style offense. He’s a big guy, he’s got a great arm. I was at practice early last year before I got kicked off the sideline, and I was standing next to some of the guys, I said, ‘He can throw it, he really can throw it,’ and I said, ‘Why they don’t play him?’ They said, ‘The money.'”
Of course, Case Keenum (and not Mannion) received the majority of the snaps at quarterback last season before Goff took over.
But Dickerson thinks Mannion would give the Rams a better chance at winning and Los Angeles should start the season with a new quarterback.ALEXANDRIA, Va. (WUSA9) -- A 69-year-old man died Friday about four days after he was attacked during a robbery, Alexandria police said.
Melaku Abraha was out walking Monday night when police say he was attacked in the 200 block of South Alfred Street in Alexandria.
He was found conscious but injured and paramedics transported him to an area hospital. There, additional tests found he was suffering from a head injury, police said.
Abraha's condition continued to worsen while he was in the hospital and he succumbed to his injuries on Friday, according to police.
Police say this is the first homicide in Alexandria in 2016.
According to police, the assailant, who police do not have a description of, did not use a weapon during the altercation.
The robbery happened about a block away from where Abraha lived.This year marks the 50th birthday of the first episode of the first Star Trek TV series, which would go on to launch an entire franchise spanning decades and worlds and several different types of media. Next year, the franchise returns to its small-screen roots (albeit on an on-demand subscription service instead of on regular old broadcast television). It’s missing that milestone anniversary by a matter of months, but something this exciting is probably worth the wait.
In the meantime, CBS isn’t wasting any time promoting its big, splashy new project. They’ve unveiled the very first Star Trek teaser, which isn’t much more than a glorified title treatment but is worth a look all the same, if only because it’s an exciting reminder that, yes, Star Trek will be returning to television in the not-too-distant future.
CBS unveiled the first Star Trek teaser at its upfront presentation at Carnegie Hall, and then because they are nice people shared it online for the rest of us to ooh and ahh aover.
The Star Trek teaser is playing coy, revealing only that we can expect “a new adventure” featuring “new crews, new villains, new heroes, and new worlds.” That’s reason enough to get pumped, especially if you’re already a Star Trek fan. But here are a few more juicy details: The new Star Trek comes from Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller, with Alex Kurtzman (who co-wrote the 2009 Star Trek movie) and Eugene Roddenberry (son of original Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry) serving as executive producers. Nicholas Meyer (who directed Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) is on board as a writer and producer.
Plot details are being kept under wraps, although rumor has it Star Trek could be an anthology series a la American Horror Story or Fargo, with the first season set in the period between The Undiscovered Country and Star Trek: The Next Generation. The show is not expected to cross over with the ongoing Star Trek film series. But hey, while we’re at it, the latest installment of the big-screen storyline, Star Trek Beyond, opens July 22, 2016.
The new Star Trek TV series will air its premiere episode on regular CBS in early 2017, and will then become a CBS All Access exclusive for the rest of its run. And if you’re trying to figure out whether you’re enough of a Trek fan to justify signing up for the new service, keep in mind a CBS All Access subscription currently goes for around $5.99/month.How Someone Can Steal your iCloud Password
Jake Mor Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jul 19, 2016
demo
This is the default “Sign in to iCloud” dialogue that iOS presents its users (sometimes a bit too often and for no apparent reason). What scares me is that this is a fairly simple sign in prompt for someone to doctor, include in a decoy app, and use to steal iCloud passwords.
Email Address
Although users iCloud emails aren’t readily available to developers, there is an API Apple provides that verifies if an email address belongs to an iCloud account.
The decoy app could ask the user for their email during a sign up process, or get it from their Facebook account. Later on, the attacker could verify that the email belongs to an account, then display the popup shown in the video. If the email doesn’t belong to an iCloud account, the prompt could be modified to say that the email address provided is wrong and just ask for the email and password from within the prompt — most people wouldn’t think twice.
Issues
The real “Sign in to iCloud” popup seems to present itself at random times, so a fake form would be hard to detect. Additionally, iOS uses a generic UIAlertController to ask users to input secure information, which means it would be hard for the average person to detect a fake one. Instead of iOS asking users to log in from within the alert view, it should launch settings to the iCloud section where the user can securely sign in. Unfortunately, users are already conditioned to the current dialogue. I get the feeling that even if Apple secured their sign in to iCloud flow, a majority of people would still fall for this sort of attack. You may think an app like this would never be accepted by Apple, but in order to fly under the radar during the reviewal process, the attacker can delay the pop up from showing until the app is approved. For example there could be some server side logic that dictates when and who to show the fake form to.
Keep up with what I’m up to on twitter or my website, and please share this article to raise awareness.Ether maintained its bullish bias versus the US Dollar and Bitcoin. Going forward, a few swings are possible in ETH/USD before it attempts to settle above $100.00.
There are many important support levels on the downside, highlighted by $92.00, $90.00 and $88.00.
Technically, the 12-hour chart indicators remain super bullish despite overbought levels.
Ether Price Slightly Down, but Not Out
It was a great past week for Ether buyers, as the price overcame all hurdles and reached new highs against both the US Dollar and Bitcoin.
The ETH/USD pair spiked up to $103.67, its highest thus far, but was unable to successfully close above at $100.00, a critical resistance needed to be overcome to confirm an extension of its latest bullish rally. In short, a daily close above $100.00 is needed for another sustained rally in the near term.
After trading at $103.67, Ether price started a correction, and dipped towards $90.00. There were a couple of attempts by sellers to take the price further lower, but they failed.
There is a key bullish trend line formed on the 2-hour chart, which prevented declines below $91-92. As a result, the pair spiked higher and broke a major bearish trend line on the same chart at $92.5.
ETH/USD also managed to clear the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level of the last decline from the $103.67 high to $91.00 swing low, currently attempting a close above the 50% Fibonacci retracement level of the same wave.
If Ether buyers succeed, there is a high possibility of ETH/USD retesting the $100.00 level. On the downside, the next bullsih trend line below $90.00 looms at $88.00, and may also act as a support if the pair moves down in the near future.
When we look at the 12-hour chart, there are clear support levels at $90.00 and $82.00. The most important one is just above $82.00 in the form of a bullish trend line.
The current candle looks bullish, suggesting an upside move towards $98.00-100.00. Overall, some minor dips in ETH/USD may materialize but the pair remains in a larger bullish trend, with chances of further gains above $105.00.NEW DELHI | BENGALURU: Flipkart-owned Myntra on Tuesday pipped Snapdeal and the Future Group to acquire rival Jabong in a $70-million all-cash deal that creates India’s largest online fashion destination, reduces discounts and strengthens the Bengaluru-based company’s prospects of keeping Amazon at bay in this high-margin business.The transaction caps months of seesawing talks between Global Fashion Group and Kinnevik, the owners of Jabong, and multiple Indian suitors. According to two persons familiar with the transaction, Myntra eventually offered to pay more than the $50 million that Snapdeal was willing to pay as well as the $35 million that Future Group was putting on the table.A person close to Snapdeal said the company dropped out of the race as Jabong did not address issues that had arisen during due diligence. The Snapdeal spokesperson declined comment."The sale process was competitive with multiple parties participating until the end, and Flipkart was the chosen suitor as its proposal delivered best value for all stakeholders," a Jabong spokesperson said.Myntra Chief Executive Officer Ananth Narayanan said the largest consolidation in India’s fashion ecommerce space will create an "800-pound gorilla" of fashion and lifestyle. "I don’t think this is consolidation in the traditional sense. I intend to run Myntra and Jabong as separate entities," Narayanan said in a telephonic interview with ET. He also assumes charges as CEO of Jabong.Analysts say Jabong’s acquisition will be crucial for Flipkart in India’s dog-eat-dog ecommerce market with formidable players including Amazon and upcoming challengers in China’s Alibaba and Japan’s Rakuten. The size of the Indian online fashion segment is currently pegged at $2 billion and this is estimated to grow to $20 billion by 2020, surpassing consumer electronics as the single-largest online category."Fashion (especially women’s fashion) is a top category on ecommerce platforms in terms of transaction volume and growth, and also one of the most competitive due to lots of brands and manufacturers," said Sandy Shen, research director at Gartner."The acquisition of a fashion platform is a move by Flipkart to not only further penetrate the red-hot category but also maintain its leadership position in the market and keep Amazon at bay."Another industry expert said the biggest benefit of the acquisition would be that it would allow both entities to quickly reduce the burn, or losses, on discounts. Jabong’s burn is expected to be slashed by more than half — from $4-5 million to $1-2 million in the coming months.Myntra’s acquisition of Jabong was first reported on www.economictimes.com — on Tuesday morning.Once a bright star and a vanguard of online fashion shopping in India, Jabong lost sheen lately as its investors decided against aggressively injecting capital into a business that thrives on heavy discounting. For the fiscal year ended March 2016, Jabong’s total sales were Rs 940 crore with a negative EBITDA of Rs 415 crore.Late last year, Jabong cofounders Arun Chandra Mohan and Praveen Sinha were let go from the company."It’s a good exit for Jabong," said Satish Meena, a research analyst at Forrester."Flipkart, on its part, wants to consolidate its hold in the fashion category. Amazon is picking up in fashion, but it will take some time even as it has closed the gap with Flipkart in electronics and smartphones."A person directly involved in the deal described it as "a steal" for Flipkart, which had moved aggressively to close the transaction in the past one week. Negotiations were led by Flipkart’s corporate development head Nishant Verman, and the company’s founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal were actively involved."The deal was a roller coaster, and there were several people interested in it. For all the offline players, it was their best chance to make a huge mark in the online space. For Snapdeal, which is not strong in fashion, this was a nobrainer. It could have acquired Jabong and become a credible competitor to Myntra. It could have raised an additional $200 million and created new hassles for Flipkart, which would have had to burn $70 million just to compete with a Snapdeal-owned Jabong," said the person directly involved in the transaction.He added that while Flipkart’s main driver for the acquisition could have been 'block and tackle', the company could derive a lot of value from the purchase. "There are a lot of cost synergies at the back-end between the two companies," he said.A person close to Snapdeal, however, had a different perspective. He said Snapdeal withdrew after Jabong’s owners refused to indemnify it against potential damages arising out of a 'financial impropriety' discovered during the due diligence process. He added that Jabong was understating its monthly burn rate for driving sales and was also violating the latest foreign direct investment guidelines by selling goods that it itself owned.A Jabong spokesperson, however, denied this. "Jabong’s financial accounts and regulatory structure are audited on a quarterly basis by a Big Four accounting firm to public company standards. The company has always maintained full compliance with all applicable laws and transparency of information," said the spokesperson.The bill to impeach President Park Geun Hye has been passed.
The bill was first tabled by the three opposition parties on December 3, and voting took place during the December 9 plenary session. Out of the 300 enrolled members of the National Assembly, 299 voted, and the bill was passed with 234 votes for impeachment, 56 votes against, seven invalid votes, and two votes to abstain. In accordance with Article 65, Clause 2 of the Korean Constitution, the impeachment bill needed two-thirds (200) of the 300 available votes to pass.
Voting took place at 3:20 p.m. by secret ballot in accordance with the National Assembly Law. Congressmen Lee Woo Hyun, Seo Cheong Won, and Jung Gap Yoon of the Saenuri Party participated in the vote, though they were late to the plenary session. Pro-Park congressmen Choi Kyung Hwan, Jo Won Jin, and Hong Mun Jong were seen leaving the room but returned later. Congressman Choi Kyung Hwan was the only person to not cast a vote.
The moment she receives a copy of the National Assembly’s impeachment bill, President Park Geun Hye must immediately forfeit her authority as the head of the state and the executive branch as outlined by the Constitution. Prime minister Hwang Kyo Ahn will take her place as the acting president. Once they receive the official copy of the bill, the Constitutional Court will begin their adjudication of the impeachment process. A verdict must be passed within six months (180 days), meaning that President Park Geun Hye’s suspension will last until June 6, 2017 at the latest.
Source (1)sign the best defenceman in the NHL, how much would you be willing to pay? That's the question many GMs are asking themselves as the possibility of Shea Weber becoming an unrestricted free agent is only one year away.
Last year Weber signed a one-year deal as a restricted free agent to determine whether the team was committed enough to winning. Well, GM David Poile re-signed Pekka Rinne to a massive deal, brought in rentals at the deadline, and made a strong pitch to keep Suter.
With that possibility, rival GMs are asking the same question that Poile is asking: How much is Weber worth?
The best comparison for Weber is Zdeno Chara. They are two of the premier defencemen in the league and there are lots of similarities between the two. Both are huge, physical specimens that play a dominating shutdown game. Each has a cannon for a shot and are undisputed No. 1 defencemen capable of playing big minutes in all situations. Weber’s agent will undoubtedly point to Chara as the basis of a new contract.
Both broke into the NHL at 20 years of age and, through their first six seasons in the league, the statistics surprisingly aren’t even close. Chara played 459 games, averaging 22:48 minutes of ice time a night, and tallied 41 goals and 91 assists for 132 points. He was plus-31 and was nominated for the Norris Trophy once and was named to the NHL’s First All-Star team once.
In comparison, Weber played 480 games, logging 22:46 minutes a night, and scored 99 goals and 164 assists for 263 points—that’s almost twice as many points as Chara. He was plus-44 and was nominated for the Norris Trophy twice and was named to the NHL’s First All-Star team twice. Weber has already surpassed the 15-goal, 40-point barrier five times, whereas Chara only managed to best that mark once in his first six seasons.
When Zdeno Chara signed as a free agent with the Bruins for $37.5 million over 5 years in 2006, the cap hit in the first season was 17 percent of the $44 million cap. Under the $70.2 million proposed cap for next season that would amount to nearly $12 million.
Combining the two contracts Chara signed with the Bruins, the total reaches $83 million over 12 years. Obviously, thanks to the Suter contract, the minimum it will cost to sign Weber is $98 million over 13 years. But using Chara as a comparison, it’s clear that Weber deserves much more than this minimum.
Year Cap Limit Cap Hit % of cap hit Cap hit today 2006-07 $44m $7.5m 17 $11.93m 2007-08 $50.3m $7.5m 14.91 $10.46m 2008-09 $56.7m $7.5m 13.23 $9.29m 2009-10 $56.8m $7.5m 13.2 $9.27m 2010-11 $59.4m $7.5m 12.62 $8.86m 2011-12 $64.3m $6.916667m 10.76 $7.55m 2012-13 $70.2m $6.916667m 9.85 $6.91m
If the cap hit stays at $70.2 million next year the first seven years of Zdeno Chara’s contracts (including next season) will have been worth $64.27 million. That’s an average of $9.18 million per season. If the cap goes down and stays at the level it was this year, $64.3 million, the first seven years of Chara’s contracts would have been worth $59.47 million, or approximately $8.5 million a season.
To create a more accurate contract comparison I combined |
shield against the xenon flashes.[186] The U16 chip seems to be bare silicon without a plastic cover (i.e. a chip-scale package or wafer-level package), which would, if present, block the light. Unofficial workarounds include covering U16 with opaque material (such as electrical tape,[186][187] lacquer, poster mounting compound, or even balled-up bread[186]), putting the Raspberry Pi 2 in a case,[187] and avoiding taking photos of the top side of the board with a xenon flash. This issue was not caught before the release of the Raspberry Pi 2 because while commercial electronic devices are routinely subjected to tests of susceptibility to radio interference, it is not standard or common practice to test their susceptibility to optical interference.[186]
In June 2017, Raspberry Pi won the Royal Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award.[188] The citation for the award to the Raspberry Pi said it was "for its inexpensive credit card-sized microcomputers, which are redefining how people engage with computing, inspiring students to learn coding and computer science and providing innovative control solutions for industry."[189]
Community [ edit ]
The Raspberry Pi community was described by Jamie Ayre of FLOSS software company AdaCore as one of the most exciting parts of the project.[190] Community blogger Russell Davis said that the community strength allows the Foundation to concentrate on documentation and teaching.[190] The community developed a fanzine around the platform called The MagPi[191] which in 2015, was handed over to the Raspberry Pi Foundation by its volunteers to be continued in-house.[192] A series of community Raspberry Jam events have been held across the UK and around the world.[193]
Use in education [ edit ]
As of January 2012, enquiries about the board in the United Kingdom have been received from schools in both the state and private sectors, with around five times as much interest from the latter. It is hoped that businesses will sponsor purchases for less advantaged schools.[194] The CEO of Premier Farnell said that the government of a country in the Middle East has expressed interest in providing a board to every schoolgirl, to enhance her employment prospects.[195][196]
In 2014, the Raspberry Pi Foundation hired a number of its community members including ex-teachers and software developers to launch a set of free learning resources for its website.[197] The Foundation also started a teacher training course called Picademy with the aim of helping teachers prepare for teaching the new computing curriculum using the Raspberry Pi in the classroom.[198]
In 2018, NASA launched the JPL Open Source Rover Project, which is a scaled down of Curiosity rover and uses a Raspberry Pi as the control module, to encourage students and hobbyists to get involved in mechanical, software, electronics, and robotics engineering.[199]
Use in home automation [ edit ]
There are a number of developers and applications that are leveraging the Raspberry Pi for home automation. These programmers are making an effort to modify the Raspberry Pi into a cost-affordable solution in energy monitoring and power consumption. Because of the relatively low cost of the Raspberry Pi, this has become a popular and economical alternative to the more expensive commercial solutions.[200]
Use in industrial automation [ edit ]
In June 2014, Polish industrial automation manufacturer TECHBASE released ModBerry, an industrial computer based on the Raspberry Pi Compute Module. The device has a number of interfaces, most notably RS-485/232 serial ports, digital and analogue inputs/outputs, CAN and economical 1-Wire buses, all of which are widely used in the automation industry. The design allows the use of the Compute Module in harsh industrial environments, leading to the conclusion that the Raspberry Pi is no longer limited to home and science projects, but can be widely used as an Industrial IoT solution and achieve goals of Industry 4.0.[201]
In March 2018, SUSE announced commercial support for SUSE Linux Enterprise on the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B to support a number of undisclosed customers implementing industrial monitoring with the Raspberry Pi.[202]
Use in commercial products [ edit ]
OTTO is a digital camera created by Next Thing Co. It incorporates a Raspberry Pi Compute Module. It was successfully crowd-funded in a May 2014 Kickstarter campaign.[203]
Slice is a digital media player which also uses a Compute Module as its heart. It was crowd-funded in an August 2014 Kickstarter campaign. The software running on Slice is based on Kodi.[204]
Astro Pi [ edit ]
A project was launched in December 2014 at an event held by the UK Space Agency. The Astro Pi competition was officially opened in January and was opened to all primary and secondary school aged children who were residents of the United Kingdom. During his mission, British ESA astronaut Tim Peake deployed the computers on board the International Space Station.[205] He loaded the winning code while in orbit, collected the data generated and then sent this to Earth where it was distributed to the winning teams. Covered themes during the competition included Spacecraft Sensors, Satellite Imaging, Space Measurements, Data Fusion and Space Radiation.
The organisations involved in the Astro Pi competition include the UK Space Agency, UKspace, Raspberry Pi, ESERO-UK and ESA.
History [ edit ]
An early alpha-test board in operation using different layout from later beta and production boards
In 2006, early concepts of the Raspberry Pi were based on the Atmel ATmega644 microcontroller. Its schematics and PCB layout are publicly available.[206] Foundation trustee Eben Upton assembled a group of teachers, academics and computer enthusiasts to devise a computer to inspire children.[194] The computer is inspired by Acorn's BBC Micro of 1981.[207][208] The Model A, Model B and Model B+ names are references to the original models of the British educational BBC Micro computer, developed by Acorn Computers.[178] The first ARM prototype version of the computer was mounted in a package the same size as a USB memory stick.[209] It had a USB port on one end and an HDMI port on the other.
The Foundation's goal was to offer two versions, priced at US$25 and $35. They started accepting orders for the higher priced Model B on 29 February 2012,[210] the lower cost Model A on 4 February 2013.[211] and the even lower cost (US$20) A+ on 10 November 2014.[53] On 26 November 2015, the cheapest Raspberry Pi yet, the Raspberry Pi Zero, was launched at US$5 or £4.[212]
Launch [ edit ]
16 April 2012 – Reports appear from the first buyers who had received their Raspberry Pi. [253] [254]
20 April 2012 – The schematics for the Model A and Model B are released. [255]
18 May 2012 – The Foundation reported on its blog about a prototype camera module they had tested. [256] The prototype used a 14- megapixel
The prototype used a 22 May 2012 – Over 20,000 units had been shipped. [257]
July 2012 – Release of Raspbian. [258]
16 July 2012 – It was announced that 4,000 units were being manufactured per day, allowing Raspberry Pis to be bought in bulk. [259] [260]
24 August 2012 – Hardware accelerated video (H.264) encoding becomes available after it became known that the existing license also covered encoding. Formerly it was thought that encoding would be added with the release of the announced camera module. [261] [262] However, no stable software exists for hardware H.264 encoding. [263] At the same time the Foundation released two additional codecs that can be bought separately, MPEG-2 and Microsoft's VC-1. Also it was announced that the Pi will implement CEC, enabling it to be controlled with the television's remote control. [66]
However, no stable software exists for hardware H.264 encoding. At the same time the Foundation released two additional codecs that can be bought separately, MPEG-2 and Microsoft's VC-1. Also it was announced that the Pi will implement CEC, enabling it to be controlled with the television's remote control. 5 September 2012 – The Foundation announced a second revision of the Raspberry Pi Model B. [264] A revision 2.0 board is announced, with a number of minor corrections and improvements. [265]
A revision 2.0 board is announced, with a number of minor corrections and improvements. 6 September 2012 – Announcement that in future the bulk of Raspberry Pi units would be manufactured in the UK, at Sony's manufacturing facility in Pencoed, Wales. The Foundation estimated that the plant would produce 30,000 units per month, and would create about 30 new jobs. [266] [267]
15 October 2012 – It is announced that new Raspberry Pi Model Bs are to be fitted with 512 MB instead of 256 MB RAM. [268]
24 October 2012 – The Foundation announces that "all of the VideoCore driver code which runs on the ARM" had been released as free software under a BSD-style license, making it "the first ARM-based multimedia SoC with fully-functional, vendor-provided (as opposed to partial, reverse engineered) fully open-source drivers", although this claim has not been universally accepted. [147] On 28 February 2014, they also announced the release of full documentation for the VideoCore IV graphics core, and a complete source release of the graphics stack under a 3-clause BSD license [269] [270]
On 28 February 2014, they also announced the release of full documentation for the VideoCore IV graphics core, and a complete source release of the graphics stack under a 3-clause BSD license October 2012 – It was reported that some customers of one of the two main distributors had been waiting more than six months for their orders. This was reported to be due to difficulties in sourcing the CPU and conservative sales forecasting by this distributor. [271]
17 December 2012 – The Foundation, in collaboration with IndieCity and Velocix, opens the Pi Store, as a "one-stop shop for all your Raspberry Pi (software) needs". Using an application included in Raspbian, users can browse through several categories and download what they want. Software can also be uploaded for moderation and release. [272]
3 June 2013 – 'New Out of Box Software or NOOBS is introduced. This makes the Raspberry Pi easier to use by simplifying the installation of an operating system. Instead of using specific software to prepare an SD card, a file is unzipped and the contents copied over to a FAT formatted (4 GB or bigger) SD card. That card can then be booted on the Raspberry Pi and a choice of six operating systems is presented for installation on the card. The system also contains a recovery partition that allows for the quick restoration of the installed OS, tools to modify the config.txt and an online help button and web browser which directs to the Raspberry Pi Forums. [273]
October 2013 – The Foundation announces that the one millionth Pi had been manufactured in the United Kingdom. [274]
November 2013: they announce that the two millionth Pi shipped between 24 and 31 October. [275]
28 February 2014 – On the day of the second anniversary of the Raspberry Pi, Broadcom, together with the Raspberry Pi foundation, announced the release of full documentation for the VideoCore IV graphics core,[ clarification needed ] and a complete source release of the graphics stack under a 3-clause BSD license.[269][270]
Raspberry Pi Compute Module
Raspberry Pi Model B
7 April 2014 – The official Raspberry Pi blog announced the Raspberry Pi Compute Module, a device in a 200-pin DDR2 SO-DIMM-configured memory module (though not in any way compatible with such RAM), intended for consumer electronics designers to use as the core of their own products. [63]
June 2014 – The official Raspberry Pi blog mentioned that the three millionth Pi shipped in early May 2014. [276]
14 July 2014 – The official Raspberry Pi blog announced the Raspberry Pi Model B+, "the final evolution of the original Raspberry Pi. For the same price as the original Raspberry Pi model B, but incorporating numerous small improvements people have been asking for". [54]
10 November 2014 – The official Raspberry Pi blog announced the Raspberry Pi Model A+. [53] It is the smallest and cheapest (US$20) Raspberry Pi so far and has the same processor and RAM as the Model A. Like the A, it has no Ethernet port, and only one USB port, but does have the other innovations of the B+, like lower power, micro-SD-card slot, and 40-pin HAT compatible GPIO.
It is the smallest and cheapest Raspberry Pi so far and has the same processor and RAM as the Model A. Like the A, it has no Ethernet port, and only one USB port, but does have the other innovations of the B+, like lower power, micro-SD-card slot, and 40-pin HAT compatible GPIO. 2 February 2015 – The official Raspberry Pi blog announced the Raspberry Pi 2. Looking like a Model B+, it has a 900 MHz quad-core ARMv7 Cortex-A7 CPU, twice the memory (for a total of 1 GB) and complete compatibility with the original generation of Raspberry Pis. [277]
14 May 2015 – The price of Model B+ was decreased from US$35 to $25, purportedly as a "side effect of the production optimizations" from the Pi 2 development. [278] Industry observers have skeptically noted, however, that the price drop appeared to be a direct response to the CHIP, a lower-priced competitor discontinued in April 2017. [279]
Industry observers have skeptically noted, however, that the price drop appeared to be a direct response to the CHIP, a lower-priced competitor discontinued in April 2017. 26 November 2015 – The Raspberry Pi Foundation launched the Raspberry Pi Zero, the smallest and cheapest member of the Raspberry Pi family yet, at 65 mm × 30 mm, and US$5. The Zero is similar to the Model A+ without camera and LCD connectors, while smaller and uses less power. It was given away with the Raspberry Pi magazine Magpi No. 40 that was distributed in the UK and US that day – the MagPi was sold out at almost every retailer internationally due to the freebie. [60]
29 February 2016 – Raspberry Pi 3 with a BCM2837 1.2 GHz 64-bit quad processor based on the ARMv8 Cortex-A53, with built-in Wi-Fi BCM43438 802.11n 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth 4.1 Low Energy (BLE). Starting with a 32-bit Raspbian version, with a 64-bit version later to come if "there is value in moving to 64-bit mode". In the same announcement it was said that a new BCM2837 based Compute Module was expected to be introduced a few months later. [280]
February 2016 – The Raspberry Pi Foundation announces that they had sold eight million devices (for all models combined), making it the best-selling UK personal computer, ahead of the Amstrad PCW. [281] [282] Sales reached ten million in September 2016. [8]
Sales reached ten million in September 2016. 25 April 2016 – Raspberry Pi Camera v2.1 announced with 8 Mpixels, in normal and NoIR (can receive IR) versions. The camera uses the Sony IMX219 chip with a resolution of 3280 × 2464. To make use of the new resolution the software has to be updated. [283]
. To make use of the new resolution the software has to be updated. 10 October 2016 – NEC Display Solutions announces that select models of commercial displays to be released in early 2017 will incorporate a Raspberry Pi 3 Compute Module. [284]
14 October 2016 – Raspberry Pi Foundation announces their co-operation with NEC Display Solutions. They expect that the Raspberry Pi 3 Compute Module will be available to the general public by the end of 2016. [285]
25 November 2016 – 11 million units sold. [10]
16 January 2017 – Compute Module 3 and Compute Module 3 Lite are launched. [58]
28 February 2017 – Raspberry Pi Zero W with WiFi and Bluetooth via chip scale antennas launched. [286] [287]
14 March 2018 – On Pi Day, Raspberry Pi Foundation introduced Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ with improvements in the Raspberry PI 3B computers performance, updated version of the Broadcom application processor, better wireless Wi-Fi and Bluetooth performance and addition of the 5GHz band. [288]
15 November 2018 – Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ launched. [289]
28 January 2019 – Compute Module 3+ (CM3+/Lite, CM3+/8GB, CM3+/16GB and CM3+/32GB) launched.[59]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]A watchdog group on Wednesday filed suit against the Trump administration in an attempt to reveal whether the White House consulted Pentagon officials before publicly warning of a potential Syrian chemical weapons strike in June that never took place.
Democracy Forward filed a suit in the District of Columbia district court after the Department of Defense (DOD) “refused to reveal” whether such talks happened before then-press secretary Sean Spicer on June 26 warned of an “imminent” chemical weapons strike, according to a Democracy Forward statement.
The White House said at the time it had “identified potential preparations” for the strike, which “would likely result in the mass murder of civilians” if conducted. The strike never took place, but administration officials later credited the White House statement with stopping the supposed attack.
“One military official at U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for directing U.S. military operations in the Middle East, claimed he had ‘no idea’ about the potential for a Syrian chemical attack,” Democracy Forward said in the statement. “Another administration official, a senior policy advisor at the State Department, claimed to have first heard the news from The Associated Press.”
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Democracy Forward Executive Director Anne Harkavy said that in refusing to reveal whether there was consultation before the June statement, “the Trump Administration is making our government less transparent and our democracy less safe.”
The watchdog group had filed a Freedom of Information Act request in June seeking records from the DOD to uncover whether military officials were consulted, but the Pentagon failed to respond to the request, the group said.
The government of President Bashar Assad, in April, launched a chemical weapons attack against his own people that killed scores of civilians and injured hundreds more.
In response, Trump ordered U.S. warships to launch 59 cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield, the first time the U.S. military directly targeted the Assad regime.
Lawmakers shortly thereafter asked the administration for its legal authority to conduct such a strike.By Elizabeth Diffin
BBC News Magazine
When Sir James Black passed away this week he left a vacancy in the Order of Merit - the so-called "most exclusive club in the world". But what is it and what makes it so special? Sir James Black invented beta-blocker drugs, won a Nobel Prize and is widely hailed as one of the great Scottish scientists of the 20th Century. But tucked away in his biography is a lesser-known accolade. In 2000, Sir James was given what's often called "the UK's highest honour" - the Order of Merit (OM). The medal is compared to France's Legion d'honneur and America's Congressional Gold Medal, but with one big difference. Most people in France and the US have heard of their country's honour, while over here most people have no idea what the Order of Merit is. This has a lot to do with the arithmetic, says Stanley Martin, a former diplomat who has written a book on the honour. SOME CURRENT MEMBERS Lucian Freud, artist Sir Aaron Klug, chemist Sir Thomas Stoppard, playwright Baroness Betty Boothroyd, politician Lord (Norman) Foster, architect Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web At any point in time, there can only be a total of 24 members of the OM. This has been the case since King Edward VII established it in 1902 to reward those whose accomplishments in the arts, sciences and learning may go unsung. Also, the honour does not come with a title, so there's no immediately obvious way of knowing someone has been bestowed with it. Members are given a red and blue enamel badge, which reads "For Merit". When a member dies the badge is returned to the Queen, who receives the next-of-kin personally. She also has a portrait painted of each member, which becomes part of the royal collection, and hosts a gathering for the entire Order every five years. It's thought the number of members is so small to keep it exclusive. "That was the number deemed to be exclusive enough," says a Buckingham Palace spokesperson. 'Personal gift' Mr Martin says the ratio of knights and dames to OMs is 150 to one. "Knights and dames are ten-a-penny," he says. "[The Order of Merit] is extremely exclusive. They are the names of the 20th Century." People who have been awarded the honour include Florence Nightingale - who was the first woman - TS Eliot and Sir Winston Churchill. There have been 11 honorary members from foreign countries, like Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela. Although nearly all prime ministers of the 20th Century have been knighted, only six of the 20 received the OM. Lady Thatcher is a member of the current group. Although there is some attempt to keep a balance between different disciplines, royal experts say the OM isn't about meeting quotas. Jean Chretien was the latest person to receive the Order of Merit in 2009 "It's absolutely earned by the individual every time," says Hugo Vickers, a royal biographer. "There's nothing automatic about it at all." Mr Martin says the Queen's advisers believe it's better to have multiple members who are outstanding in the same discipline, than to have mediocre members from varied fields. What also makes the OM special is that it is a "personal gift of the sovereign". It is awarded without any ministerial input; the decision rests squarely with the Queen. Her personal secretary receives suggestions from people and current members of the OM, according to Mr Martin. She then makes a decision. "It's an elite award, but nevertheless it's been fairly meritocratic," he says. Intellectual 'appeal' Sir Michael Atiyah, a mathematician and former president of the Royal Society, was awarded the OM in 1992. He recognises that members are not often well-known among the general public. But for him the honour is about getting respect from his peers. "It's not like being a pop star," he says. "I'm quite happy with modest fame and notoriety amongst people I respect." Mr Martin says the public's ignorance of the OM may be because it doesn't come with a title. The majority of knights and dames aren't famous, but the title gives them an air of importance. Rudyard Kipling didn't want the Order of Merit "Our society is so hidebound with our obsession with titles," he says. "For anything to be worth anything, it must have a title." But Mr Vickers points out that the OM is "more intellectual than a more worldly honour". Lucian Freud famously turned down a knighthood but accepted the OM. "It appeals to intellectuals, those who don't want to be 'Sir Somebody'," he says. "It just means fantastic achievement at a very high and special level." Not everyone is of the same opinion. There have been a few notable deferrers, including Rudyard Kipling, who turned it down twice. Kipling believed it wasn't right for him to take an honour from the state, says Mr Martin. The death of Sir James leaves a vacancy, but who will be the next recipient is not yet known.
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StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable versionIn case you haven’t heard, sleep is absolutely crucial to your health. With a few simple strategies, you can get the high-quality, restful sleep your body and your mind deserves.
Want to see our visual guide? Check out the infographic here…
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Introduction
Sleep is just as important as nutrition and exercise when it comes to improving your health, performance, and body composition.
Good sleep helps our bodies and minds recover, keeping us lean, happy, mentally focused, and healthy.
But chronically bad sleep slathers on body fat, screws up our hormones, ages us faster, increases chronic illnesses, and drains our IQ and mojo.
(For more on this, see All About Sleep.)
Fortunately, research also shows that returning to adequate sleep can quickly reduce these risks.
So how do we go about getting that replenishing shut-eye?
Create a sleep routine
Just like you can’t go from 0 to 100 first thing in the morning, you can’t do the reverse at night — going from “on” to “off” in a few minutes. Your body needs transition time and environmental cues to wind down.
Thus, the first step to getting more and better sleep is to create a nighttime routine that tells your body that you are preparing to go to sleep. Over time, if you’re consistent, your body will start the process of gearing down automatically.
Keep a regular schedule.
Our bodies like regularity. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day and night. While it might be unrealistic to do this seven days a week — especially if you have young children, like I do — try to be as consistent as possible.
If you’re consistent, your body will know when to release calming hormones before bed, and stimulating hormones to help you wake up. You’ll feel sleepy when it’s time for bed and wake up more refreshed, often without needing an alarm.
Keep alcohol and caffeine moderate.
Genuinely restful and restorative sleep comes from deep sleep.
Even though it seems like booze is relaxing, more than 1-2 drinks in the evening can interfere with deep sleep, as can too much caffeine.
So limit alcohol to the suggested amounts, and reduce caffeine after 2 pm.
Otherwise, although you may “sleep” for 7 hours, your sleep won’t be high quality, and you won’t get the recovery benefits.
Eat and drink appropriately.
Having a large meal immediately before bed can disrupt your ability to fall and stay asleep. Instead, eat a regular-sized (or even smallish) meal a few hours before bedtime.
A nice blend of protein, carbs and fats will help to keep you satiated, and might even improve your ability to fall asleep as your brain converts carbs to serotonin.
In addition, try to limit your fluids 2-3 hours before bedtime. Drinking too much liquid shortly before bed can result in frequent waking for bathroom breaks.
While total sleep time is important, uninterrupted sleep time is even better.
Do a brain dump.
We’ve all done it: Stared at the ceiling, long after lights-out, obsessing about all the things we’re supposed to do tomorrow, tossing and turning and getting more and more stressed by the minute.
Try this instead: In the evening, take a few minutes to write out a list of whatever’s bugging you: Emails you need to send or reply to, calls you have to make, project ideas, creative thoughts, that thing you should have said to so-and-so…
Whatever is in your brain, get it out and on to paper.
Around here we call this a “brain dump.” It clears your mind for genuine relaxation.
Turn off electronics.
Digital devices stimulate our brain with their light, noise, and mental demands.
Unplug from all screens — TVs, computers, phones, tablets — at least 30 minutes before bed.
(If you must read your tablet, switch the screen to the black or dimmer background. And if you’re going to be on your computer, download a program like f.lux, which decreases your screen’s color temperature at night.)
Our brain produces melatonin as light levels decrease. Melatonin ensures deep sleep, and may also help regulate our metabolism. If we have too much light at night, we don’t get proper melatonin production.
Stretch / read / de-stress before bed.
What de-stresses you? Do that.
This could include:
Gentle movement — such as stretching or yoga, or even a slow stroll around the block. Even 5-15 minutes can release tension and activate calm-down chemicals.
— such as stretching or yoga, or even a slow stroll around the block. Even 5-15 minutes can release tension and activate calm-down chemicals. Reading before bed — but make sure it’s not too engaging — otherwise you’ll be tempted to stay up with that thrilling detective novel until the wee hours.
— but make sure it’s not too engaging — otherwise you’ll be tempted to stay up with that thrilling detective novel until the wee hours. Meditation, deep breathing, or other simple relaxation exercises
Go to bed before midnight.
Interesting factoid: According to some sleep experts, because of the way our natural circadian rhythms work, every hour of sleep before midnight is worth two hours after.
(Whether that’s true or not, or whether it’s even measurable, I’m not sure. But I’ve heard it repeated so often by sleep experts it’s probably worth consideration.)
According to these experts, we’re meant to go to sleep when it gets dark, and to wake when it gets light. That old saying about early to bed and early to rise still stands the test of time.
Sleep at least seven hours.
Most people need 7-9 hours of sleep per night. 7 should be your baseline.
If you know you have to wake at 5:15 to get ready for work, then you should be in bed by 9:30 and asleep by 10. Getting in bed at 10:15 doesn’t count.
Also factor in transition time. Don’t stop what you’re doing at 9:29 and expect to be snoring by 9:30. Start moving in the direction of bed by 9:00.
Yes, we know. There’s this whole movement, started by time-starved Silicon Valley executives, where folks try to “hack” their sleep and get away with much less.
And, sure, it can work for a while. But every piece of credible research demonstrates that you pay a big health (and productivity) price for consistently getting less than 7-9 hours.
Exercise regularly.
Exercising regularly helps normalize circadian rhythms, tone down the sympathetic nervous system, and regulate endocrine function.
However, save the intense exercise for during the day if possible — a weights or interval workout in the evening can rev us up and make it tougher to get to sleep.
Take a bath or shower.
While not everyone likes to shower or bathe at night, warm water before bed can help us relax and de-stress, which is key for falling asleep. If you go the warm water route, throw in some magnesium-based epsom salts as magnesium is known to help with sleep.
Some brave souls — including JB — swear by cold water in the evening. The logic is that cold water stimulates a strong parasympathetic nervous system response once the initial shock has passed. A short, very cold shower will do the trick.
Give it a try, and see which works better for you.
Every hour of sleep before midnight is worth two hours after the clock strikes twelve.
Optimizing your sleep environment
In addition to creating a nightly sleep routine, to help improve your sleep quality and duration, you should ensure that your sleeping environment is actually conducive to sleep.
A few small adjustments can make a big difference here.
Keep the room as dark as possible.
Melatonin is a hormone produced by your brain that signals to your body it is time for sleep. Making your room as dark as possible will maximize your melatonin production.
Meanwhile, light — particularly blue light, which most electronics produce — inhibits melatonin production and makes it harder to fall and stay asleep. (Sunsets produce red light.)
So how can you limit light exposure?
Dim lights at night. Install low-wattage bulbs in your bedroom, and keep things as dim as possible in the hour before your planned bedtime.
. Install low-wattage bulbs in your bedroom, and keep things as dim as possible in the hour before your planned bedtime. Cover your windows well. (Maybe time to upgrade from the cruddy IKEA Venetian blinds you’ve had since undergrad?)
. (Maybe time to upgrade from the cruddy IKEA Venetian blinds you’ve had since undergrad?) Use a motion-sensitive or dim night light if you need something to illuminate your midnight path to the bathroom.
if you need something to illuminate your midnight path to the bathroom. Put your iPhone in another room or flip it face down.
. Cover or dim the alarm clock, or look for one that illuminates only when touched.
, or look for one that illuminates only when touched. Again, if you have to use a computer late at night, download the software f.lux, which changes the brightness and tone of your screen in time with sunset and sunrise, reducing evening blue light.
Create a relaxing sleep area that is quiet and free of clutter.
Your bedroom should be relatively organized and peaceful.
The sight of clothes strewn all over the floor or furniture, boxes or books toppling over, and tangled cords can make you feel stressed and interfere with your ability to relax.
A messy room can also be dangerous if you have to get up at night to use the bathroom.
Set your room to an appropriate temperature.
Most people sleep better when it’s cool (around 67 F); others sleep better at a neutral temperature.
Find what works best for you and do your best to regulate your bedroom to that temperature each night.
Use white noise if needed.
If you live in an urban environment and you tend to pop awake at the slightest sound, then a steady source of white noise could really help.
Using some nature sounds on your iPhone, or even just turning on a fan (or an old radio to static) can be enough to drown out other noises and lull you to sleep.
A HEPA filter can also work well for this purpose, serving double duty by keeping your air cleaner as well.
How to wake up
Think of sleep as something that begins the moment you wake up. In other words, what you do during the day will affect what happens that night.
So let’s look at how to wake up.
While a jarring alarm will certainly get us out of bed, it doesn’t exactly start the day on an enjoyable note. Not only that, it jacks up our stress hormones immediately, starting our day in “fight or flight” mode.
Here are some more humane solutions.
Take advantage of natural rhythms.
Sleep occurs in multiple stages, alternating between deeper and lighter sleep. We sleep more and more lightly as the night goes on.
If we wake up at just the right moment in our lighter sleep stages, we’ll feel reasonably good and snap into alertness quickly.
But if we’re forced to wake up while in a deep sleep phase, we’ll feel groggy, disoriented, and sleepy — suffering from sleep inertia.
There are many gadgets and apps that will sense your sleep cycles and wake you up when you’re sleeping your lightest.
For example, the iPhone SleepCycle app or SleepBot will wake you up within a pre-specified time window when it senses your wakefulness.
You can also track your sleep with gadgets and apps like Zeo or the Fitbit, which will help you gauge where to improve your sleep and wake routines.
Wake up to light.
The human body is designed to get sleepy when it’s dark and to wake when it is light.
However, it is not always feasible to wake up with the sun, and this is especially true if you use light blocking shades to keep your room as dark as possible.
Solution: Use a dawn-simulating alarm clock.
Research shows that when people are slowly roused by gradually increasing light levels, they feel much more alert and relaxed than when they’re woken up by a sudden, blaring alarm.
I personally use and love my Biobrite, as it slowly lights up my room, reaching maximum brightness at my wake time.
Increasing light has also been shown to raise cortisol in the morning (which is an important signal to your body to wake up), and to improve sleep quality. It can even decrease depressive symptoms in seasonal affective disorders.
Wake up to soft, slowly building noise.
Some types of alarm clocks (such as the Progressive Alarm Clock app) will also gradually increase noise or music, so that you’re slowly lifted out of sleep rather than being suddenly whacked in the ear with a loud morning DJ.
Get moving right away.
While I don’t have any research to support this argument, I believe it helps to put your feet on the floor the minute you wake up. It’s a recommendation I borrowed from Mike Boyle, and it’s worked tremendously well for my clients and me.
When your alarm goes off, one of the worst things you can do is hit snooze. Snoozing seems to increase sleep inertia.
Instead, once that alarm goes off, simply sit up and put your feet on the floor. Start shambling towards the bathroom, or anywhere else that isn’t your bed.
There is something magical about movement that seems to speed up the waking process.
Expose yourself to more light.
Whether you wake to a dawn-simulating alarm clock or not, continue to expose yourself to light as soon as possible after waking. This will stop melatonin production and increase your wakefulness.
Throughout the day, get as much light as you can. Most folks can sneak outside for 5-10 minutes. Run errands at lunch or eat outside. Do as much as you can to get that sunshine.
The more bright natural light you can get during your normal waking time, the more your body will know to gear down at your normal sleeping time.
(If getting natural light isn’t an option, you could always go with a device like Litebook Elite.)
Avoid the snooze button, and get your body up and moving.
Conclusions
Good sleep is crucial for good health. There are no short cuts, despite what the “sleep hackers” say.
Make good sleep a priority. Your physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing will thank you.
Think about good sleep as a 24-hour process. What you do during your waking period will affect your sleeping period, and vice versa.
Reinforce your natural circadian needs. When it’s supposed to be dark and quiet, make things really dark and quiet. When it’s supposed to be bright, noisy, and stimulating, get moving with some bright light.
Give your body and mind transition time. Allow at least 30 minutes (and preferably an hour) in the evening to slowly wind down and prepare for sleep.
Stick to a routine. Bodies love routines and consistency. If your body knows what to expect in your day, it’ll help you wake up and doze off at the right time.
You can’t control your actual sleep. But |
ations is give you oxygen. So, when you breathe through your contraction think about/visualize breathing all the way down and to/for your baby. You’re not the only person experiencing labor, your sweet baby is too and he or she needs you to breathe for him/her.
14. If you’re getting an epidural, try to wait till you’re at least four centimeters.
15. Remember there is more to progression of labor than just how dilated you are. The position of your cervix, how soft it is, how effaced it is, and the station of the baby all make a difference in your labor. In my experience, I have found that once a woman is completely effaced, she’ll plow through labor like a mack truck with a driver on speed.
16. You cannot escape the pain of labor, meaning, if you’re attempting an unmedicated birth, freaking out over the pain of the contraction will only worsen it. Try to imagine contractions like waves washing over you as you surrender to each rush. Visualize your cervix opening wide for your baby. I can always tell if a woman is trying to escape the contraction if she yells, or says, “No, no, no, no!” through it, or shakes her head and scrunches up her face and tenses her body and does what I call crazy legs, where she moves them like a toddler throwing a fit on the floor – back and forth through the contraction. These are signs that you’re letting fear of pain take over your body rather than trusting that your body is doing exactly what it should be and that you are created to do this – labor and give birth to your child. Trust the process, if you do, others will too.
17. Avoid getting in the tub too early in your labor. Otherwise it may slow down your labor. However, if it’s the middle of the night, and you’re uncomfortable with cramping that keeps you up, feel free to get in the tub. It may ease off your contractions just enough so you can get some sleep.
18. Feel free to use a shower at any point in your labor…this doesn’t seem to stall out labor.
19. If you’re birthing at a birth center or your home, don’t worry so much about writing a birth plan. However if you’re birthing at a hospital and you want an excellent sample go here. I encourage all parents to pay apt attention to your desires for newborn procedures. What are those you ask? Ah…look here, and here.
20. The hardest part of labor are the two weeks following it. Make sure you spend time understanding breastfeeding and life with a newborn before you give birth.
21. You may poop while you’re pushing. Most women do. It’s not a big deal. Personally, I think it’s a sign that you’re pushing effectively if you do poo. Just think of it more like Hershey’s Kisses, rather than Tootsie Rolls. Bearing down for pushing is the exact same thing you do when you bear down for a BM. There’s just no easy way around it.
For more of my labor tips and advice visit this link: How To Help A Woman In Labor
Every woman’s labor and birth is unique and may not always fit into the tips listed above – especially if there is potential for a precipitous labor (more likely with mothers who have already experienced childbirth). The tips on this blog post are provided for general informational purposes only and are not intended as, nor should these tips be considered, a substitute for professional medical advice.
AdvertisementsAbstract Background: Dysmenorrhea is one of the most common medical problems in gynecology causing several problems in the personal and social life of women. This study was conducted to compare the effect of thymus vulgaris and ibuprofen on the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea Methods: This clinical study was conducted on 84 students of Babol University of Medical Sciences with primary dysmenorrhea. The students were randomly assigned to three groups receiving thymus vulgaris, ibuprofen and placebo. In all three groups, with the beginning of pain, 200 mg capsules and 25 drops of essential oil were given every 6 hours for two consecutive cycles. Pain intensity used the visual scale before and one hour after each dose for 48 hour after starting medication. The data were collected and analyzed. This study was registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trial (www.irct.ir) with registration number ID: IRCT201101245683N1 Results: The mean age of participants was 20.5±1.8 years. Both thymus vulgaris and ibuprofen were effective to reduce the pain severity of dysmenorrhea. Before treatment, the mean pain intensity in thymus vulgaris, ibuprofen and placebo groups were 6.57±2.02, 5.30±2.23 and 6.18±1.78, respectively and after treatment decreased to 1.21±1.06, 1.48±1.62 and 3.54±2.26, respectively. Reduction of pain severity was not statistically significant between the two medications, however it was significant for each drug compared with placebo (p<0.001). Conclusion: The results suggest that thymus vulgaris as well as ibuprofen can be effective in reducing the severity of pain and spasm in primary dysmenorrhea. Key Words: Thymus vulgaris, Primary dysmenorrhea, Iboprofen
Primary dysmenorrhea is the most common complaint in a large number of women who experience this condition (1). The pain usually begins a few hours before bleeding and lasts 32 to 48 hours (2, 3). According to the report of WHO, the prevalence of the disease is 1.7-97% (4). In a study in Iran, the prevalence of primary dysmenorrhea was 71% as 15% of students were absent 1 to 7 days during the school year due to dysmenorrhea (5). Furthermore, dysmenorrhea is the most common cause of absence from school and work in women, causing 600 million work hours and 2 $ billion loss annually in the US (6-8). Although the certain cause of primary dysmenorrhea is unknown, one regarded notion is overproduction of endometrial prostaglandins, therefore, reducing the production of prostaglandin treatments are thought to be effective (9). The most common dysmenorrhea treatment is non-steroidal medications which come with side effects such as headache, dizziness, dysuria, sleepiness, loss of appetite, nausea, acne, increased acute asthma, vomiting and gastrointestinal bleeding (10). Thymus vulgaris is one of the herbs that is used in the treatment of dysmenorrhea. It is a plant of the Labiatae family with the scientific name "Zataria multiflora". The active material of thymus vulgaris oil is thymol and carvacrol. In traditional medicine; various attributes have been mentioned for this herb; such as assisting digestion as thymus vulgaris syrup helps in indigestion. Its antispasmodic effect on smooth muscles and also anti-microbial properties are the most common effects of this herb (3). Unlike NSAIDs medications, thymus vulgaris does not cause gastrointestinal complication and also relieves gastrointestinal disorders such as ulcers, indigestion, constipation, flatulence, and asthma (11). As the cost of treatments is significant for the patients and government and also some of them are partial and unsatisfactory, people increasingly turn to the methods of complementary and alternative medicine (12). Although, there have been various methods recommended to cure dysmenorrhea, but the side effects of these medications and the high cost of importing their raw materials encouraged us to investigate and compare the positive effect of thymus vulgaris and ibuprofen on dysmenorrhea.
Methods This randomized clinical study was conducted in Babol University of Medical Sciences. To investigate the research hypothesis, the investigators performed a triple-blind clinical study based on the consent statement and Declaration of Helsinki. The study population consisted of 84 students (age 18-24) of Babol University of Medical Sciences suffering from primary dysmenorrhea. All the students were single. Primary dysmenorrhea was defined as dysmenorrhea which begins in 1 to 2 years after menarche and pain coincides with the onset of menstruation with no pelvic pain during the rest of the cycle. The women with primary dysmenorrhea grade 1 and grade 2 in their current cycle and at least in their past two cycles that did not use no only analgesic during 48 hours before the onset of the research entered the study. Exclusion criteria included the history of abdominal and pelvic surgery, diagnosed liver or kidney disease, having severe stress (such as the loss of a close relative, serious family dispute and experiencing drastic stress during 6 months before the study), doing heavy exercises, history of allergy to thymus vulgaris and ibuprofen, lack of proper use of medicine, failure to record pain intensity and dissatisfaction of treatment. The sample size for each group was estimated 28 persons based on 1.5 units difference in reduction of pain with thymus vulgaris versus ibuprofen with α and β errors of 0.5% and 0.20, respectively. After getting the approval of the Ethics Committee of Babol University of Medical Sciences and informing the candidates of the research process and the effects of the selected medicines, the subjects were recruited. They signed the written consent forms to start the study. The information was collected using a questionnaire consisting of four sections: demographic and menstruation history, menstrual hemorrhage checklist, the multidimensional scale - verbal scoring (to determine the degree of dysmenorrhea) and the visual analog scale (to determine the severity of pain). Pharmaceutical Barij essence Company in Kashan prepared all the drops of thymus vulgaris essential oil 2% and placebo drop which our patients used. In order to have the same form of applied medicine in all three groups, they were all given capsules every 6 hours and 25 drops of essence oil. The first group: 200 mg ibuprofen (capsule form) + 25 drops of placebo essential oil
The second group: 25 drops of thymus vulgaris essential oil 2% + placebo capsule
The third group: 25 drops of essential oil placebo + placebo capsule All packages of medication were coded by the pharmacists and given to the subjects in three groups; A, B, C. They were asked to take medication on the first day of their menstrual cycle and beginning of pain and continue every 6 hours. They were to record their pain intensity before the start of medication, one hour after each dose of medicine, 24 hours and 48 hours after the beginning of medication on the forms which they were provided. To assess the score of dysmenorrhea and systemic symptoms associated with dysmenorrhea, the used multidimensional measure speech systems in which its scientific validity has been confirmed. The system consists of four scores: Zero: The absence of dysmenorrhea, so there is no interference with daily activities. Grade I: Mild menstrual pain that rarely interferes with daily activities, and mild systemic symptoms and needing to analgesia is very low. Grade II: Moderate pain and daily activities may be disrupted, but there is no need to miss school or work. Grade III: Severe pain so the person is not able to perform daily activities and severe systemic symptoms are observed (13). Measuring pain intensity was performed using the standard visual analogue scale (VAS). The patients were taught to record their pain intensity on a 10 cm line compared to the most intensive pain that they had experienced and continue the treatment for two consecutive cycles. The severity of dysmenorrhea was measured by visual analogue scale (on the 10 cm tape). On this scale, numbers 1-3 represent mild pain, 4-7 moderate pain and 8-10 severe pain. The validity of Multidimensional Scale - verbal and visual pain scale has been confirmed (13). To assess bleeding, a type of picture chart; pictorial blood loss assessment Chart (PBAC) was used. The horizontal row of chart shows the numbers of days of menstruation and the vertical row reveals blood pads used during menstruation which indicate mild, moderate, and severe. For its calculation, mild bleeding: ratio one, moderate: ratio five and for a pad full of blood: ratio twenty has been considered. For every pad change, the girls marked the same day the PBAC diagram according to the pad glut of menstrual blood. Then, we multiplied the numbers in the corresponding ratio and added the obtained numbers together and the total score was calculated. In this chart, less than 50 was considered mild hemorrhage, ≥50≤80 moderate and more than 80 severe hemorrhage (14). This study was registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trial (www.irct.ir) with registration number ID: IRCT201101245683N1. The data were analyzed using SPSS Version 18. Categorical variables were compared by x2 test. For ordinal variables Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used between the groups. ANOVA repeated measures and Tukey post hoc tests were used for comparing the trend of pain between groups. P<0.05 was considered significant.
Results The mean age of the students was 20.52±1.84 years; the mean age of first menstruation (menarche) was 12. 96±1.34 years and the mean age of start of painful menstruation (dysmenorrhea) was 14.95±1.62 years. All subjects were matched for age, menarche, dysmenorrheal age and body mass index. The mean interval between the two periods (interval cycles) was 28.1±2.79, mean of menstrual duration (bleeding duration) 6.62±1.34 days and their mean of body mass index (BMI) 22.01±3.36. In the thymus vulgaris consumer group, pain score decreased from 6.57±2.02 before treatment to 1.21± 1.06 in the first cycle, and 1.14±1.25 in the second cycle after treatment. In ibuprofen group, pain score before treatment was 5.30±2.23 which changed to 1.48±1.62 in the first cycle and 1.68±2.13 in the second cycle. In placebo group, pain before the treatment was 6.18±1.78 and decreased to 3.45±2.26 in the first cycle and 3.29±2.22 in the second cycle ( and ). Open in a separate window Open in a separate window Both drugs (thymus vulgaris and ibuprofen) were effective in reducing the severity of dysmenorrheal pain. But the pain decreased more in thymus vulgaris group versus ibuprofen. Pain reduction between these two groups was not significant, but the differences between the placebo group and each of the other groups were statistically significant ( ). The comparison of bleeding in the three treatment groups before and after treatment showed no significant difference ( ). Table 1 Criteria Groups Mean Difference p- value † Pain intensity in cycle 1 Thymus vulgaris Placebo -1.83 0.001 Ibuprofen 0.2 0.063 Pain intensity in cycle 2 Thymus vulgaris Placebo -1.66 0.001 Ibuprofen 0.07 0.89 Open in a separate window Table 2 Groups Thymus vulgaris Ibuprofen Placebo Amount of hemorrhage Before %(n) After %(n) Before %(n) After %(n) Before %(n) After%(n) Mild 25 (89.3) 27 (96.4) 25 (89.3) 25 (89.3) 27 (96.4) 23 (82.1) Medium 3 (10.7) 1 (3.6) 2 (7.1) 3 (10.7) 1 (3.6) 4 (14.3) Sever 0 (0) 0 (0) 1 (3.6) 0 (0) 0 (0) 1 (3.6) Total 28 (100) 28 (100) 28 (100) 28 (100) 28 (100) 28 (100) p-value† Open in a separate window The severity of clinical symptoms in each of the three treatment groups before treatment and 48 hours after treatment like nausea and vomiting revealed thymus vulgaris and the ibuprofen group had a statistically significant difference (p<0.04, p<0.01, respectively). Also, the variables of diarrhea in ibuprofen group, faint in the thymus vulgaris group and fatigue in the placebo group demonstrated significant differences before and after treatment ( ). Table 3 Groups Thymus vulgaris Ibuprofen Placebo Clinical
Symptom Before
(Mean±SD) 48 hr After
(Mean±SD) p-value† Before
(Mean±SD) 48 hr After
(Mean±SD) p-value† Before (Mean±SD) 48 hr After
(Mean±SD) p-value † Lower
abdominal pain 2.22±0.8 2.14±0.89 NS 2.04 ±0.63 1.89±0.73 NS 2.22± 0.64 2±0.72 0.03 Fatigue 1.78±1.89 1.75 ±0.88 NS 1.54 ±0.74 1.39±0.73 NS 1.69±0.78 1.68±0.98 NS Nausea and Vomiting 0.62±0.69 0.87 ±0.75` 0.046 0.82 ±0.86 0.61±0.91 0.01 0.71±0.65 0.51±0.57 NS Lethargy 1.19±0.68 1.32±0.9 NS 1.64±0.62 1.61±0.68 NS 1.63±0.88 1.57±0.79 NS Diarrhea 0.22±0.5 0.36±0.62 NS 0.57±0.87 0.32±0.67 0.008 0.37±0.62 0.37±0.56 NS Headache 0.92±0.9 0.96±0.88 NS 0.81±0.78 0.85±0.81 NS 1.12±1.14 1.04±1.01 NS mood variability 1.63±0.88 1.39±0.73 NS 1.11±0.73 1.18±0.72 NS 1.39±0.99 1.22±0.97 NS Faint 0.96±0.75 0.64±0.67 0.007 0.36±0.79 0.32±0.69 NS 0.65±0.84 0.54±0.74 NS Open in a separate window Comparing the satisfaction of pain relief and symptom reduction after the first and second cycles showed that majority of the subjects in thymus vulgaris group found the results great, ibuprofen group, moderate and the placebo group ineffective ( ). Table 4 Groups
Satisfaction rate After the first cycle of treatment %(n) After the second cycle of treatment %(n) Thymus vulgaris Ibuprofen Placebo Thymus vulgaris Ibuprofen Placebo No effect 0 (0) 4 (1) 57.1 (16) 0 (0) 4.2 57.19 (16) Slight 0 (0) 28 (7) 17.9 (5) 0 (0) 33.3 (8) 25 (7) Moderate 28.6 (8) 40 (10) 10.7 (3) 18.5 (5) 37.5 (9) 17.5 (5) Excellent 71.4 (20) 28 (7) 14.3 (4) 81.5 (22) 25 (6) 0 (0) Total 100 (28) 25 (100) 100 (28) 100 (27) 100 (24) 100 (28) p-value† 0.001 0.001 Open in a separate window
Discussion Excessive production of endometrial prostaglandins is considered as an acceptable theory about primary dysmenorrhea cause. Therefore, decreasing production of prostaglandins should be taken into account in developing its medicine. Non-steroidal drugs are considered as a typical remedy for menstrual pain which can cause side effects (9). Thymus vulgaris has antispasmodic effect and does not have gastrointestinal complication, also it relieves gastrointestinal disorders such as ulcers, indigestion, constipation, flatulence, and asthma (11). Our finding demonstrated that thymus vulgaris as well as ibuprofen significantly reduced primary dysmenorrhea compared with placebo. Iravani et al. showed that all three treatments (placebo, thymus vulgaris, 1% and 2%) reduced the severity of dysmenorrhea but the most effective treatment was thymus vulgaris 2% (15). In another study using thymus vulgaris and ibuprofen decreased the menstrual pain with similar score at the first and the second months of trial (16). Rouzbahani et al. used thymus vulgaris and mefenamic acid on primary dysmenorrhea that showed the mean pain intensity before treatment was not significantly different between the groups. After medication, the mean pain intensity was reduced significantly in both groups, however, no significant difference was observed in reducing pain measure between the thymus vulgaris and mefenamic acid groups (17). Jaffari et al. found the analgesic effect of antinociceptive effects of hydroalcoholic extract and essential oil of thymus vulgaris (18). Some mentioned studies confirm the analgesic and antispasmodic effects of thymus vulgaris which have been indicated in the traditional medicine. In our study, thymus vulgaris also was able to significantly reduce pain and spasm in our patients involved with dysmenorrhea remarkably, hence, our finding is consistent with the findings of the above studies. It is worth mentioning that a similar study has not been conducted on the effects of thymus vulgaris on systemic symptoms and menstruation volume in Iran and abroad, however, some studies have been performed about other herbal medicine. In our study, bleeding in each of the three groups showed no significant difference before and following treatment. Other study did not demonstrate differences in the intensity of bleeding in valerian (valeriana officinalis) group versus placebo (19). In Modarres et al.’s study, mefenamic acid has been more effective in reducing menstrual bleeding compared to chamomile (20). In the present study, the systemic signs intensity showed no significant differences in any of the three treatment groups before and after treatment except in variables ;nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue. Mirabi et al. showed that the mean total score of the systemic symptoms associated with dysmenorrhea decreased compared to pre-treatment, however, this reduction was not statistically significant between valerian and placebo, except for the intensity of faint (19). Torkzahrani et al.’s study showed that the total score of the systemic symptoms associated with dysmenorrhea declined compared to pre-treatment, however, this reduction was not statistically significant between the study and control groups except for the intensity of lethargy in which the difference was significant (21). We investigated two different antispasmodic medicines (herbal and synthetic) and compared to placebo, while the above queries compared an antispasm medicine with placebo. We comprehend that maybe this is the essential difference of our study with them. Our study indicated that majority of the subjects in thymus vulgaris group found the treatment excellent, while the ibuprofen group considered a moderate effect. Omidvar et al. studied the effect of fennel on pain intensity in dysmenorrhoea and found 52 percent of patients in the study group (vs. 8% placebo) considered the effect of treatment excellent (22). Iravani’s study revealed that the effect of thymus vulgaris 2% in the reduction of the severity of dysmenorrhea was more than thymus vulgaris 1% (15). The effect of thymus vulgaris 2% was more than ibuprofen in our study, however, other research may have done the best dose of thymus vulgaris on dysmenorrhea, bleeding reducing and systemic symptoms. The weakness of our study is that we used visual analogue scale to evaluate pain intensity and each person's perception of pain is different, thus, our study subjects may have rated the same pain score differently. On the other hand, as VAS was the only scale available, we had no choice but to use it. In conclusion, herbal medicines have fewer side effects versus synthetic drugs. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are effective in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea, however, not complication-free. So, the researchers are increasingly using complementary and alternative medicine approaches. Based on our study, the essence oil of thymus vulgaris 2% relieved our patients’ primary dysmenorrhea notably, as well as ibuprofen, owing to anti-prostaglandin and antispasmodic of thymus vulgaris was also seen in the ibuprofen group. It is suggested that clinical studies of this herbal drug should be done comparing with other NSAIDs drugs to reduce dysmenorrhea.
Acknowledgments The authors are thankful to Barij Essence Co. Ltd, Iran for providing the thymus vulgaris essence oil.
Funding: This study was supported by a research grant from the Babol University of Medical Sciences (Grant Number: 9031111).
Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.AS Katie Taylor boxes for what her father hopes will be the last time today (4.45), Arsenal are understood to be lining up a bid to sign the Olympic gold-medal contender.
AS Katie Taylor boxes for what her father hopes will be the last time today (4.45), Arsenal are understood to be lining up a bid to sign the Olympic gold-medal contender.
Pete Taylor believes the time is ripe for his daughter to pursue a gentler lifestyle and admitted that Arsenal are among a number of professional football clubs showing an interest in the former Irish international.
Taylor was capped more than 40 times for her country before devoting herself full-time to the quest for an Olympic boxing gold.
Arsenal already have a high-profile Irish player on their books as Leixlip native Emma Byrne has been their No 1 goalkeeper for the last 11 years.
The Gunners are the leading lights in the English ladies game, boasting 12 Premier League titles, and Byrne helped them to win the final of the UEFA Women's Cup in 2007.
"We haven't spoken about it, but I hope this is her last fight" said Pete after yesterday's 17-9 defeat of Mavzuna Chorieva.
"Like, she's done everything, she's been boxing a long time now, she's sacrificed her life for boxing at the moment.
decision
"Obviously, it's not my decision, it's Katie's decision. Whatever decision she makes, I will back her.
"We'll sit down as a family and speak about it. Maybe she'll go back playing a little football, it's a little bit safer (laughing)."
Asked about the rumoured Arsenal interest, Pete revealed: "Ya, she's got a good few teams interested in her at the moment, but she's got to get back playing.
"But, look, we'll concentrate on this final first, then we'll go away for a holiday and sit down. We'll stay away from boxing for a couple of months anyway.
"She needs to regenerate now because she has had a tough career, over 150 fights now I think and all senior fights, all international fights.
"She doesn't have club fights, they're all international opponents. They just take a lot out of you at the end of the day."
Katie herself said she was gearing up for the biggest day of her life.
"It's amazing, really" said the four-times world champion.
"This is what I dreamed of all my life and now I have the chance to box for a gold medal. It's incredible."
Irish IndependentA program that helps low-income Nova Scotians buy medication is being axed, but the province says funding will still be available to them through different channels.
Three hundred people were enrolled in the extended pharmacare program, which the Department of Community Services announced Tuesday it would be phasing out. The program charged people $5 for prescription co-payments.
Those people will keep their current benefits, according to a news release from the department.
However, new clients who apply for help will be streamed into the family pharmacare program along with 34,000 other Nova Scotians. They will be charged 20 per cent of the cost of each prescription, plus deductibles based on family size and annual income.
If they can't cover those costs, help can come through a special fund in the social assistance program, said department spokesperson Lori Errington.
"The social worker can have Community Services assist with the cost of co-payments on prescriptions as a'special need,'" she wrote in an email.
"Say you're on [social assistance] and needed a walking cast or to get a tooth pulled or some other necessary expense — you can have that covered as a'special need' over and above your regular monthly payment."
Discontinuing the current program is a way to streamline services, leaving all the province's pharmacare services managed by the Department of Health and Wellness, said Errington.
The extended pharmacare program, created in 2001, predated the family pharmacare program by seven years. Enrolment has declined by about 10 per cent every year to about 70 people annually in the last few years, said Errington.
Its clients didn't qualify for income assistance, but still struggled to pay their drug costs, said the release. That included people with disabilities and children in the child welfare program.THE CANADIAN PRESS
HALIFAX -- Police are looking for a violent thief with a taste for trousers.
They say two men approached two other men in downtown Halifax (around Prince and Argyle streets) just after midnight and began punching them.
Investigators say one of the assailants demanded that one of the victims hand over his jeans, however, the two fled the scene without the trousers.
"I think the pants were the focus of the robbery," said Const. Dianne Woodworth of Halifax police. "In my almost 10 years, it's nothing I've heard of. It doesn't mean it hasn't happened, but it definitely piqued my interest this morning."
A 26-year-old Bridgewater, N.S., man was arrested in the area a short time later and is due in court, but the second suspect remains at large.
Paramedics treated the two victims for minor injuries.NASA employees were caught buying child pornography from a criminal ring in Eastern Europe that distributed images of minors as young as three, it can be revealed.
An investigation by Daily Mail Online found staff members from the space agency paid for pictures and videos of children in sexual situations, but were never prosecuted.
Their names have never been released because of government guidelines which protect their privacy.
The probe found that in 2010, the employees paid for the pornography using personal credit cards or PayPal while working for the government.
Their actions were uncovered during Project Flicker - an investigation by the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) into American citizens buying child pornography from Belarus and Ukraine.
An investigation by Daily Mail Online has revealed staff members working for NASA purchased child pornography from Eastern Europe, but avoided prosecution. Pictured is the vehicle assembly building at the JFK Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida
The investigation began in 2007 when more than 33,000 images of minors being abused flooded into the country.
Investigators identified more than 5,200 citizens across the country who had paid for a subscription to illicit websites in order to access the content.
In 2010 it was revealed that 264 of these worked for the Pentagon as either employees or contractors. Some of them worked for the NSA and had top security clearance.
But the Daily Mail Online can reveal for the first time that NASA employees were also identified in the sickening scheme in the same year.
However their names have been redacted in documents obtained by Daily Mail Online via a Freedom of Information Act request from NASA's Office of Inspector General.
The documents initially stated that 16 employees were identified. However NASA contacted Daily Mail Online to clarify that eight employees were involved and they are all no longer employed by the space agency.
Transactions from the workers were discovered after a FBI special agent tipped off investigators.
Therefore it is not known whether they were disciplined or sanctioned within the department - meaning they could still be working for the government.
When the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) investigated the Pentagon employees identified in the scheme, they only investigated 52 of the suspects and 212 people on ICE's list were never questioned at all.
They were part of a group of federal employees who downloaded more than 33,000 explicit images of children between them (FBI headquarters pictured)
Some had highest available security clearance.
After the probe was completed just 10 were ever charged with viewing or purchasing child pornography - prompting fears some of those caught could still be working for the military.
It is not known whether any of the NASA employers were questioned, but it is clear they were not prosecuted - as their names have not been revealed.
If they had been found guilty of a crime, their names would not have been redacted in the disclosed files.
A spokesman for NASA told Daily Mail Online they would not be commenting beyond what was stated in the FOIA documents.
PROJECT FLICKER: HOW MORE THAN 5,000 US CITIZENS WERE CAUGHT UP IN CHILD PORN RING The investigation began in 2007 when more than 33,000 x-rated images of minors were believed to have flooded into the country from Belarus and Ukraine. Investigators identified more than 5,200 citizens across the country who had paid for a subscription to illicit websites in order to access the content. In 2010 it was revealed that 264 of these worked for the Pentagon as either employees or contractors. Some of them worked for the NSA and had top security clearance. But the Daily Mail Online can reveal for the first time that NASA employees were also identified in the sickening scheme in the same year. Despite the number of people identified, only a handful of people were prosecuted.
A spokesman from Immigration and Customs Enforcement said: 'In 2006, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) opened an investigation into the criminal network behind hundreds of child pornography websites.
'The investigation, called Project Flicker, was conducted in collaboration with other U.S. and international law enforcement partners around the world, and identified 30,000 customers in 132 countries - resulting in hundreds of convictions in the U.S. and 16 arrests in Belarus and the Ukraine.
'The criminal rings involved used a variety of online and traditional payment methods, elaborate defense measures and a franchise business model that provided access to images and videos of sexually exploited boys and girls, some as young as 3 years old.
'HSI’s Cyber Crimes Center distributed more than 5,000 domestic leads to field offices around the country and shared more than 4,000 foreign leads with its law enforcement partners via HSI’s attaché offices.
'HSI is a leading federal law enforcement agency combating the sexual exploitation of children. HSI conducts investigations under Operation Predator, a nationwide initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who possess, trade and produce child pornography; who travel overseas for sex with minors; and who engage in the sex trafficking of children.
'HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.'
The FBI said they would not be adding to the ICE's statement.The bar above this text allows you to do several important functions.
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If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact us.If Romney loses tonight, there are going to be a lot of shocked Republicans and conservatives. If you’re a reader of the Greek New Testament (and who isn’t?) the appropriate word is “skandalon.” Such a result will be a “scandal” or a “stumbling block” to your friends who were sure that good Ohioans would vote for Mitt Romney and that this Nate Silver guy at the New York Times was cooking the books on the polls, along with the rest of the media.
Conservatives will say, with some good reason, that unemployment is unacceptably high. Obama didn’t bring hope or change. And there is no way all those flaky college kids and minority voters could be excited enough to show up to the polls this year. So how did this happen?
Here are some things to remind them:
Lots of Republican voters died, and lots of Democratic voters came into being: The winning modern Republican coalition goes back to Richard Nixon. It includes lots of white ethnic Catholics, Southern Evangelicals, and the odd country clubbers. |
to make sure people know that it's a dirty drug, that it is not safe to use, and we're targeting particular cohorts of people... to prevent them from using that in the first place," she said.
"But if they do, we are then significantly expanding our treatment systems, whether that be in a residential bed-based service, or a counselling service."
Topics: child-abuse, domestic-violence, drugs-and-substance-abuse, community-and-society, states-and-territories, crime, law-crime-and-justice, melbourne-3000
First postedThe craft beer industry has something of an obsession with online media. The DIY attitude and face-first branding craft breweries employ fits perfectly with platforms like Twitter, Facebook, blogs and online forums. Want to know what beer Stone’s Greg Koch likes to drink when he’s riding the rails in Southern California? Just check out his Twitter feed. What about an inside look at Cigar City staffers packaging Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout? Swing by the company’s Facebook wall. But, sometimes, this personal window into the brands we love can be a first-row seat to drama. Whether personable, cringe-worthy or funny, does the behind-the-brand drama that unfolds online affect the beers you buy? A look at the good, the bad and the funny stuff that occurs when craft breweries pull back the curtain on brand-to-brand battles.
THE GOOD
Trademark disputes are the sparks that launch a flurry of poor tweets in the beer industry, but not all tweets leave drinkers cringing over their favorite breweries. Case-in-point: Wisconsin’s Stillmank Beer Co. vs. New York’s Sixpoint Brewery. Last fall, a trademark concern was brought by Stillmank over Sixpoint’s distribution of its Lil’ Wisco beer in Wisconsin. Stillmank believed the beer was too similar to its Wisco Disco brand. Instead of a very public battle, the two amicably came to an agreement—beginning in 2014, Sixpoint would change the name of its beer to Lil’ Wisconsin—and the Brooklyn-based brewery posted a very transparent account of the event on its blog, allowing fans an insider’s look into what they dubbed The Lil’ Wisconsin Accord of 2013.
From the blog post:
“When approached with the collaborative spirit of craft brewing and respect for those who are rightful owner of trademarks, these branding issues can be resolved amicably and positively. Brad expressed his concerns without trying to force a collaboration or drum up a firestorm,” Welch said. ”The victim in these situations is the party who had their registered trademark infringed upon – not the party who is infringing upon someone else’s mark. I’m inspired by this resolution, as together Brad and I have created a positive outcome for each brewery, and for the beer lovers of the state of Wisconsin. Now let’s get back to making great beer!” tweet
THE BAD
The most recent brewery vs. brewery spat occurred last December, leading up to the January launch of Samuel Adams Rebel IPA, the brewery’s first West Coast-style IPA. On Dec. 17, Lagunitas founder Tony Magee tweeted a rather startling accusation that the Boston brewery was allegedly asking distributers to remove Lagunitas IPA tap handles to make room for Rebel. It was a rather heavy accusation, which exploded online.
Learned that SamAdams' Rebel IPA marketing plans incl specifically targeting our biz as well as other craft IPA. Flattering & sad, it is. tweet — LagunitasT (@lagunitasT) December 17, 2013 tweet
Sam Adams /Boston Beer is powerful, but what is it about power that so inevitably corrupts. Fuck them. We're ready. Drink what thrills ya… tweet — LagunitasT (@lagunitasT) December 17, 2013 tweet
Magee—whose heart-on-his-sleeve Twitter feed is a must-follow—then launched a series of Tweets over the next week furthering the accusations. The conversation drifted over to BeerAdvocate forums, where Magee posted numerous times on the thread “Rebel IPA vs. Lagunitas?” supporting his claims. Eventually, Jim Koch—Boston Beer founder—sent a message to the site’s owner to post. In the message, Koch essentially denied the accusations, maintaining that distributors and retailers make their own decisions, not the brewery. Magee posted something of an apology on the thread, but by then the online war had already proved divisive—after watching and participating in the public airing, some readers declared they’d never drink Lagunitas again, others said the same about Sam Adams. Even people within the industry, like Boulevard’s Jeremy Danner, chimed in:
It's nice to have @lagunitast's twitter feed around to remind why I don't support his brewery. tweet — Jeremy Danner (@Jeremy_Danner) December 22, 2013 tweet
Since then, the war has died down, but for about a month on a small corner of the internet, both brands brand were being defined by what was happening outside the bottle, not what was in it.
THE FUNNY
Probably the funniest dispute between two breweries happened in January 2012, when San Antonio-based Freetail Brewing posted a copy of owner Scott Metzger’s letter addressing a trademark dispute. The offended brewery was redacted, and the original blog post since taken down, but the hilarious letter is still floating around on the internet for everyone to read.
While trademark disputes are serious business, this tongue-in-cheek reaction was entirely unexpected and refreshing.
The Take-Away
Does the public airing of grievances change the way you feel about a brewery, or is the stuff inside the bottle all that matters?RALEIGH, N.C. — At the moment, seven states across the country don’t levy a tax on income, and North Carolina Republicans want to make it eight, according to a powerful member of the state legislature.
State Sen. Bob Rucho, a Mecklenburg County Republican and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said Wednesday that he hoped to use the 2015 legislative session to eliminate the state income tax, replacing it with a consumption-based sales tax to make up for the lost revenue.
“That’s a direction we’d like to go,” Rucho said in an interview as the state Senate adjourned for the year. Rucho said it was impractical to push for such a steep cut during a short session the legislature holds in even-numbered years, but that cutting the income tax was a top priority of his when the legislature reconvenes for its biennial full session.
North Carolina’s income tax accounts for about 61 percent of state revenue, Rucho said. But the revenue stream has been choppy in recent years, given the impact of the recession. The uneven results on a year-over-year basis can play havoc with annual budget planning in a state that requires a balanced budget, and it’s something Rucho said he wanted to avoid.
“We want to get away from that and go to a more flat consumption-based tax on sales taxes, both goods and services, and in return, we’ll say, ‘We’ll go to zero with the income tax.’ And that’s something we think we can achieve. It just takes time to get there,” he said.
This year, the Republican-dominated legislature instituted deep cuts in both the personal and corporate income taxes. Personal income tax rates will fall by two percentage points, from 7.75 percent to about 5.8 percent, while the corporate rate will fall from 6.7 percent to as low as 3 percent over the next several years, depending on how much revenue the state generates.
Expect to hear much more about the tax reform package in the months ahead, especially as House Speaker Thom Tillis (R) gears up to run against Sen. Kay Hagan (D) next year. Tillis, who helped broker a deal on taxes between the Senate and Gov. Pat McCrory (R), said he will use his record in this year’s legislative session to make his case to North Carolina voters. In an interview, Tillis pointed to Tax Foundation rankings that showed North Carolinians shouldering a much lower tax burden after the reform package passed the legislature than they had in previous years.
“I think moving to a consumption-based model is something we all agree on,” Tillis said. But, he cautioned: “You have to do this in a way that you can give [businesses] a high degree of confidence.”
Read more from GovBeat:
North Carolina GOP split on immigration
Watch out Missouri, Rick Perry wants your jobs
Where public employees are paid the mostIn 1974 the first knights, construction workers and Native Americans with their unique smile started finding homes in children's rooms worldwide. 40 years later, on September 13th, 2014, 40,000 PLAYMOBIL® figures went out to surprise passersby in eight cities worldwide.
True to the motto “Share the smile!“, they lit up the faces of children and adults – from Berlin to Warsaw, Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid and Athens to Princeton (USA) and even Mexico City! They even discovered some of the retro styled PLAYMOBIL® figures while taking a walk through town.
Of course, those who found the figures were put in a good mood immediately and started to celebrate and share the PLAYMOBIL smile with their friends!
Take a look at the best pictures from the big anniversary event here:A Platformer Level Generator
My second /r/proceduralgeneration contest entry! I spent less effort on this than the previous round, but apparently there was just a lot less participation in general because of the steep hurdle of having to create a game in order for creating a level to be particularly meaningful. Instead of using F#, I decided to go with Typescript for this round, since I wanted an interactive online demo level that people could play around with. This was my first time using Typescript but it turned out to be pretty nice to work with; The platformer/level generator wound up just shy of 300 lines of code, most of which were not involved in actual level generation.
Generating Platforms
The core of the generation function is at Github:level.ts. I basically roll a die, randomly chooseing a direction up, up-left, up-right, right, or down. Before going in any given direction, I make sure it doesn't interfere too much with the previous direction (for example, I wouldn't go up, then immediate go down.) To build the level, I start with an initial platform at 0, 0, pick a direction, build a random number of platforms out in that direction, and then repeat. In the following example code, for example, I would start with an initial platform, build right, then right again, then up-left.
var platform = new Box(0, 0, 1, 1); platform = linkRight(platform, 3, 1, 1); // make a 1x1 box 3 units right from the first one platform = linkRight(platform, 1, 2, 10); // make a 2x10 box 1 unit away from the second box platform = linkUpl(platform); // make a box up and to the left from the third one
Series of Platforms
However, a level that goes in a random direction for every platform would turn out looking pretty.. random. While the random walk pattern looks nice for creating a cavelike network structure, it feels pretty aimless for a platformer level. It helps when you have a stronger direction of flow, both locally at the small scale (platforms form'set pieces' that go in a particular direction) and at the large scale (the entire level doesn't double back on itself too often). For the first point, if I want to build platforms towards the right, I might as well build 3 or 4 platforms in a series. I encapsulate this in the repeat function, which will update the state of the platform and repeatedly call a link function.
platform = repeat(3, linkRight);
For the second point, the generator tracks the last direction it was building new platforms in. Certain transitions are forbidden. RIGHT->RIGHT [which results in a long horizontal string of platforms towards the right] is forbidden, as well as "drops of faith" (large downward drops marked by caution blocks) when you've just been ascending up or leftwards (to prevent dropping back onto previously placed platforms).
var new_dir = randarr([RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT, UPRIGHT, UPLEFT, UP, DROP, DROP, DROP]); switch (new_dir) {... case DROP: if (prev_dir == UPLEFT || prev_dir == UP) continue; newbox.navi = "drop"; yield * repeat(randi(1, 3), drop); break;
Doodads
The level looks kind of boring when it's just a bunch of platforms, so I scatter little decorations, like rocks, bushes, and grass, randomly throughout the level. Since we want to keep the distribution uniform, the number of doodads on each block is proportional to the width of the block.
function * getDoodads() {... for(var box of this.boxes) { for(var j = box.w * 2; j --> 0;) if (random() < 0.2) yield [randarr(["bush", "grass", "rock", "grass", "bush", "grass", "rock", "mushroomBrown", "mushroomRed"]), new Point(box.x + 0.5 + random() * (box.w-1), box.t + 0.5)]; }... }
Keeping Track of Completion
Kind of a last-minute feature I threw in: save completed levels to Local Storage. 1) This gives you a sense of progress, and 2) it allows players to share particularly interesting level seeds with each other (or with me, if you want to report a bug).While multiple other candidates for president have released their medical records, Donald Trump, who would be the oldest person elected president in U.S. history, has yet to release his. But he promised Thursday that he would release them within two weeks.
He tweeted this Thursday morning, after a Politico story noted he had so far declined to make any records public.
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Politico previously reported that the campaign hadn’t responded to multiple requests for comment about his health records dating back to October. Shortly after the report, Trump touted his good health.
Other candidates, including Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie have released their records.
Trump has talked numerous times on the campaign trail about his unhealthy diet and lack of exercise. “I love steak and hamburger and pasta and French fries, all of the things that we shouldn’t be eating,” he said in a November interview.
Write to Tessa Berenson at tessa.berenson@time.com.Bono (Wikipedia)
Bono Thanks Vatican for Helping With Debt Forgiveness
Without Pope John Paul II’s intervention, the rock star says, the international debts of impoverished nations wouldn’t have been canceled.
CNA/EWTN NEWS
VATICAN CITY — The famous U2 vocalist Bono traveled to the Vatican Nov. 16 to thank the Church for its work to free the world's least developed countries from their foreign debt, enabling them to invest in education.
On Friday, Bono spent nearly an hour speaking with Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, according to Vatican Radio.
In 2000, the Church was an important backer of the “Drop the Debt” campaign, which coincided with the Church's Jubilee Year. Bono was one of the leading figures in the campaign, and he is known for his activism on behalf of the world’s poorest people.
Drop the Debt was an effort to persuade first-world nations to forgive the debt owed them by the poorest countries. The success of that effort has made possible “an extra 52 million children going to school,” Bono told Vatican Radio, since governments were able to use the money they would have had to pay back for investment in schools.
Bono said the Church deserves “incredible credit” for its role in securing debt forgiveness and that Catholics should be made aware of how their faith was central in the efforts.
Jubilee years are celebrations of God's mercy, the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation, and they are rooted in Jewish tradition.
The Jewish tradition of jubilee years was that in every 50th year slaves and prisoners were freed. Debts were also forgiven, which is why the Great Jubilee of 2000 was an opportune time for the Church to advocate forgiveness of foreign debt.
Pope John Paul II met with Bono on the eve of the Jubilee Year to discuss the debt campaign, and, shortly after his death, Bono recalled that “we would never have gotten the debts of 23 countries completely canceled without him.”
The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace promotes the Church's social teaching to advance justice and harmony the world over. Bono and Cardinal Turkson were looking forward to further collaboration on development and foreign aid.
Bono told Vatican Radio, “I just think the Church hasn’t done a good job yet of telling people what they’ve achieved, and we were just trying to figure out how best to do that.”A man sits next to the bodies of Palestinians from the Abu Jama’e family, who medics said were killed in an Israeli airstrike that destroyed their house, during their funeral at a mosque in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 21, 2014. Photo by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
If there’s a single thing that separates legitimate warfare from simple terrorism, it’s the effort to distinguish civilians from soldiers, and combatants from noncombatants. That’s not to say that noncombatants don’t die in “legitimate” wars, or that states don’t accept civilian deaths as a matter of course. At the same time, it matters that those actions aren’t war aims—that states are trying to distinguish between combatants and noncombatants.
To collapse the distinction, or to ignore it entirely, is to embrace the logic of terrorists, which is what Thane Rosenbaum, a senior fellow and director of the Forum on Law, Culture & Society at New York University Law School, did on Monday in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal.*
On some basic level, you forfeit your right to be called civilians when you freely elect members of a terrorist organization as statesmen, invite them to dinner with blood on their hands and allow them to set up shop in your living room as their base of operations. At that point you begin to look a lot more like conscripted soldiers than innocent civilians. And you have wittingly made yourself targets.
For comparison’s sake, here’s Osama Bin Laden attempt to justify the Sept. 11 attacks:
[T]he American people are the ones who choose their government by way of their own free will; a choice which stems from their agreement to its policies. Thus the American people have chosen, consented to, and affirmed their support for the Israeli oppression of the Palestinians, the occupation and usurpation of their land, and its continuous killing, torture, punishment and expulsion of the Palestinians. The American people have the ability and choice to refuse the policies of their Government and even to change it if they want.
For both Rosenbaum and Bin Laden, the situation is straightforward: Because a majority of Gazans/Americans voted for leaders who used violence or waged war against Israelis/Muslims, both have forfeited their claim to noncombatant status. After all, if they wanted to avoid conflict, they wouldn’t have elected those people in the first place.
If you recoil from this logic, your head is in the right place. By any standard, it’s perverse and morally wrong—a justification for the worst atrocities. What’s more, it’s based on the faulty assumption that there are no innocents in a democratic polity—that all individuals, from aid workers and conscientious objectors to children and the disabled, bear responsibility for every action of their government. If this were true, then the logic of Rosenbaum and Bin Laden would make sense, and everyone would stand as a legitimate target in armed conflict.
It should be said that Rosenbaum isn’t the only person to make this argument in the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict. In 2006, another law professor—Alan Dershowitz—took a somewhat softer line in arguing that we should have a “continuum of civilianality” that distinguished “the truly innocent” from the “guilty accessories to terrorism.” Dershowitz wasn’t as cold-blooded as Rosenbaum—sketching a difference between “a civilian who merely favors or even votes for a terrorist group and one who provides financial or other material support for terrorism” that Rosenbaum doesn’t abide—but even his logic is disturbing in its permissiveness toward broad-based violence against a population.
One last observation: In 2001, just after Sept. 11, University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill wrote an essay defending the attacks and disputing the innocence of the victims. “Let’s get a grip here, shall we? True enough, they were civilians of a sort. But innocent? Gimme a break,” he wrote, “They formed a technocratic corps at the very heart of America’s global financial empire–the “mighty engine of profit” to which the military dimension of U.S. policy has always been enslaved—and they did so both willingly and knowingly.” The men and women killed in the World Trade Center, he declared, were “little Eichmanns” who deserved their fate.
This essay resurfaced a few years later, and in the firestorm, Churchill lost his job. Somehow, I doubt Rosenbaum will lose his job, despite making similar comments for a much larger audience, which gets to an important fact about this logic. It’s only inexcusable when applied to us or groups we can identify with. When the targets are more marginal, or even foreign, the outrage is strangely silent.
*Correction, July 22, 2014: This article originally misidentified Thane Rosenbaum as a professor at New York University. He is a senior fellow and director of the Forum on Law, Culture & Society at NYU Law. (Return.)DUM MULTA
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII
ON MARRIAGE LEGISLATION
To the Venerable Brothers, the Archbishop of Quito
and the other Bishopsof Ecuador.
While We are burdened with much sadness in knowing to what a sorrowful state the Church in Ecuador is reduced, We were very pleased by your timely and publicly proclaimed ordinances. In your pastoral care, you did not hesitate to protest loudly these laws which are opposed not only to the rights of the Church but also to divine right. You protested them right from the time they were proposed. You devoted all your zeal and effort before the damage was done to prevent the public orators from carrying out their ruinous legislative intention. You are not unaware of the undemanding forebearance We have devoted to restoring the religious tranquillity of your country. This is of the greatest importance for the good of the Church and of the State. But, the hopes which We had, the hopes which encouraged almost all the people of Ecuador, have perished miserably. In fact, not only has no reparation been made for previous destructive injustices, but other very serious injustices have been added to them. We see that a diocese which was constituted according to the holy canons has been abolished. We know that bishops have been appointed to vacant dioceses, without any privilege from the Holy See. We also know that the sanctity of Christian marriage has been impeded in various ways.
The Nature of Christian Marriage
2. We have treated this matter often in other letters, especially in Our apostolic letter of 10 February 1880. In it We emphasized the nature of Christian marriage, its strength, the care the Church has devoted to protecting its honor and its rights, and the role of civil authority in its regard. As it is evident that Christ, the son of God, redeemer and restorer of human nature, raised Christian marriage to the dignity of a sacrament, every Christian marriage is this sacrament. The matter of the contract can be separated in some sense from the nature of the sacrament. This means that while the civil authority retains in full its right to regulate the so-called civil effects, the marriage itself is subject to the authority of the Church. In addition, it is certain that Jesus, the redeemer of every race, abolished the custom of repudiation, strengthened marriage with holy power, and reinstated the law of permanence just as it was established by the will of God from the beginning. It follows then that the marriage of Christians when fully accomplished is holy, indivisible, and perfect. It cannot be dissolved for any reason other than the death of either spouse according to the holy words: "What God has joined, let no man divide." In so doing, Christ certainly intended to confer many benefits on the human race, for this institution most effectively preserves or restores morality, fosters the love of one spouse for the other, confirms families with divine strength, renews the education and protection of offspring, maintains the dignity of woman, and finally establishes the honor and the prosperity of familial and civil association in the most beneficial and excellent way.
Condemnation of Civil Marriage
3. Therefore, in accordance with Our duty as supreme teacher which makes Us guardian and champion of divine and ecclesiastical law, We raise our voice and totally condemn the so-called civil marriage laws recently enacted in Ecuador. Concerning divorces, We reject them together with every assault on the holy discipline of the Church there. The fact that these laws have been established in the face of your opposition and are so much at variance with the development of civil prosperity and the interests of religion is no reason for you to be disheartened. You should rather increase your zeal for religion and be more vigilant. Continue therefore as you are doing to defend the neglected and spurned rights of the Church without yielding todefeat. Teach the faithful entrusted to your care and educate them so that theypreserve the reverence due to their leaders; be faithful to the teaching of theCatholic religion and practice Christian morality. With earnest and eagerprayers to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus to whom your people have been solemnlydedicated above all nations, you all should ask that He deign to bestow happiertimes on the Church of Ecuador through the abundance of His mercies. We stillremain your companion and share in your sorrows and supplications. Meanwhile, asa sign of Our good will and as a pledge of divine gifts, We impart lovingly inthe Lord Our apostolic blessing to you and to your faithful.
Given in Rome, at St. Peter's, on the 24th day of December in the year 1902, the twenty-fifth year of Our Pontificate.
LEO XIIIThe Best of the Worst Demos of NAMM 2015
Brock Golden Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jan 29, 2015
NAMM 2015 made it feel like Christmas came twice this year. It was the year that forced every major to cave in to the decades of pressure. An era of consumers moaning at companies to put down their software, and start making circuits again. It’s safe to say that they all delivered… to different extents. And that’s what made this month’s crop of demos range from astral modular bliss, to awkward Ketamine-induced monkey patching. So let’s recap the show’s biggest announcements with the greatest demos we all have to see.
Out of all the NAMM demo darlings, Korg’s Rich Formidoni is definitely a household favourite. And that’s probably because he’s got bigger forearms, and a meaner chin strap than you. But let’s not brush aside that — when it comes to keys, the dude has chops. Rich doesn’t show his true colours until he’s actually twisting knobs, and that’s what makes him the best in the biz. Like when he starts “experimenting” by swerving around sliders that do nothing for 20 seconds, until finally crashing into a tree of white noise.
There’s no where to start this YouTube demo video because it’s a full 5 minutes of “Dan from Akai” hating his fucking life. Likely because the voices for their new Timbre Wolf need to “warm up” to get in tune, or how about the knobs don’t actually do anything, or maybe it’s because this drum machine inspired mutt still sounds like it’s being filtered when it’s turned all the way to the right. But don’t forget folks, “it’s a lot of fun *hard swallow*”.
Just in case the JD-Xi didn’t make you cringe enough, Thomas is here to remind you that it’s, “pure analog straight through, right”. It’s got the “meat everyone wants in the analog world, right” when you cross it over with digital distortion to “make it sound like something brand new, right”. It’s like Roland handed this guy a bunch of buzz words and pumped him up with speed. At least give them credit for not being so shameless about it.The Short Story Challenge 2019 is officially underway! View the assignments, results, and rules using the links below. Best of luck to the 4,500+ writers participating from around the world! 1st Round: Kickoff Email | Assignments Rules: Official Rules & Participation Agreement The 13th Annual Short Story Challenge is a creative writing competition open to writers around the world. There are 3 rounds of competition. In the 1st Round (January 18-26, 2019), writers are placed randomly in heats and are assigned a genre, subject, and character assignment. Writers have 8 days to write an original story no longer than 2,500 words. The judges choose a top 5 in each heat to advance to the 2nd Round (April 4-7, 2019) where writers receive new assignments, only this time they have just 3 days to write a 2,000 word (maximum) short story. Judges select finalists and the remaining writers are challenged to write a 1,500 word (maximum) story in just 24 hours (May 17-18, 2019) in the third and final round of the competition. Feedback from the judges is provided for every submission and there are thousands in cash and prizes for the winners. Sound like fun? Join the competition below and get ready for January 18th! Registration is now closed. We will have many more competitions in 2019, so make sure to sign up for our mailing list and follow us on Facebook and Twitter to be the first to know about our next competition. While we send e-mails at the beginning of each round to all registered writers, many times e-mails go to junk mail folders, spam, or are blocked by servers for unknown reasons. We recommend that everyone marks their calendars with the start dates of each round, especially the first challenge at 11:59PM EST on January 18, 2019 so that you know when to expect an e-mail! 1st Round: January 18-26, 2019 2nd Round: April 4-7, 2019 3rd Round: May 17-18, 2019 Not only does every writer receive feedback from the judges for every story submitted, but a special review forum is available for the participants to submit their stories for review from fellow writers throughout the competition. During the Short Story Challenge 2018, there were over 9,500 comments made on the 700+ stories submitted on the forum. Click here to visit the forums.
Carrie S.
San Francisco, CA, USA
“Done! So excited....this is such an exhilarating exercise. :)”
Kim B.
Hixson, TN, USA “And with less than 50 minutes to deadline, I have done this thing I thought I could never do and submitted a short story in a major contest/challenge. Whew, now to rest and wake up tomorrow beset with anxiety and fear while I wait.”
Dave M.
Katy, TX, USA “That was exciting! Nothing like a tight deadline to get the creative juices flowing.”
Miguel R.
New Jersey, USA “Done. It made my wife cry, I'm taking that as a good sign. Although it was comedy, so maybe not.”
Kai Love
Hazel Crest, IL, USA “Submitted and feeling a great deal of relief. This was such a great learning experience for me. Good Luck to all!!!”
Janet P.
Newberg, OR, USA “Wahooooooo.Done.Crazy fun.”
Rachel C.
Jumbunna, Australia “Mine is in. Not a genre I was comfortable with but proud of what I submitted. Good luck to all!”
Cheryl B.
Greenville, SC, USA “All done! Phew! That was down to the wire. I can't wait to what everyone else came up with on the forums!”
Dawn F.
Indianapolis, IN, USA “First stab at political satire is saved, stored, backed up and submitted! So much fun!”
Ileana J.
Happy, TX, USA “This was immense fun! Luck to all!”Updated below:
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum expressed skepticism on Thursday about a recent decision by the Pentagon to open up more military roles for women on the front lines, suggesting their "emotions" could create a "compromising situation" if they were thrown into combat.
Asked by CNN's John King if the move, "perhaps opening the door to a broader role for women in combat," was an idea he'd support as president, Santorum responded:
"I want to create every opportunity for women to be able to serve this country, and they do so in an amazing and wonderful way and they're a great addition -- and they have been for a long time -- to the armed services of our country."
Then came the big "but."
"But I do have concerns about women in front-line combat, I think that could be a very compromising situation, where people naturally may do things that may not be in the interest of the mission, because of other types of emotions that are involved," Santorum continued. "It already happens, of course, with the camaraderie of men in combat, but I think it would be even more unique if women were in combat, and I think that's probably not in the best interest of men, women or the mission."
(Video above, flagged by The Atlantic)
Santorum has frequently been vocal about his personal beliefs on the dynamic of soldiers in the military. He opposed the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," suggesting that openly gay soldiers would upset the order in barracks because they would be in "close quarters" with their comrades.
The new Pentagon guidelines, which now go to Congress, "still ban women from serving as infantry, armor and special operations forces, which are considered the most dangerous combat jobs," the Associated Press reports. Instead, they'll be allowed to serve in existing roles such as medics, military police, helicopter pilots and intelligence officers at the battalion level, meaning their duties could bring them much closer to combat. Some were quick to note that this had already been taking place in some military operations.
If lawmakers don't act to counter the change, the new measures will be adopted into official Pentagon policy.
UPDATE:
Santorum clarified his comments in an interview Friday morning on NBC's "Today":
"[I meant] exactly what I said," he maintained. "When you have men and women together in combat, I think there's -- men have emotions when you see a woman in harm's way. I think it's something that's natural, that's very much in our culture to be protective, and that was my concern."
Santorum then rejected a suggestion by NBC's Ann Curry that some had interpreted his original remarks to be a commentary on
"women being emotional."Robot. Photo by Vladislav Ociacia/Thinkstock
Singularity. Posthuman. Techno-Optimism, Cyborgism. Humanity+. Immortalist. Machine intelligence. Biohacker. Robotopia. Life extension. Transhumanism.
These are all terms thrown around trying to describe a future in which mind uploading, indefinite lifespans, artificial intelligence, and bionic augmentation may (and I think will) help us to become far more than just human. They are words you hear in a MIT robotics laboratory, or on a launch site of SpaceX, or on Reddit’s Futurology channel.
This word war is a clash of intellectual ideals. It goes something like this: The singularity people (many at Singularity University) don’t like the term transhumanism. Transhumanists don’t like posthumanism. Posthumanists don’t like cyborgism. And cyborgism advocates don’t like the life extension tag. If you arrange the groups in any order, the same enmity occurs. All sides are wary of others, fearing they might lose ground in bringing the future closer in precisely their way.
While there is overlap, each name represents a unique camp of thought, strategy, and possible historical outcome for the people pushing their vision of the future. Whatever wins out will be the buzzword that both the public and history will embrace as we continue to move into a future rife with uncertainty and risk, one where for the first time in history, the human being may no longer be classified as a mammal.
For much of the last 30 years, the battle of the best futurist buzzword was fought in science fiction literature and television. Star Trek popularized borg—which helped give commonly used cyborg its meaning. Various short stories and novels tell tales of posthuman civilizations.
The last 15 years marked a shift toward nonfiction work and following of celebrity scientists. Ray Kurzweil’s classic The Singularity Is Near put the term singularity prominently on the word battle map. Biogerontologist Aubrey de Grey’s many public appearances touting medical discoveries to conquer human death did the same for life extension science (also called longevity research).
The word transhumanism has also long been in use, pushed by philosophers like Max More, David Pearce, and Nick Bostrom. However, until recently, it remained mostly a cult word, used by smaller futurist associations, tech blogs, and older male academics interested in describing radical technology revolutionizing the human experience. Two years ago, a Google search of the word transhumanism—which literally means beyond human—brought up about 100,000 pages. What a difference a few years makes. Today, the word transhumanism now returns almost 2 million pages on Google. And dozens of large social media groups on Facebook and Google+—consisting of every type of race, age group, sexual orientation, heritage, religion, and nationality—have transhuman in their titles. It’s also the term that I’m backing, even though I’m not sure it will win out.
Why did this happen so quickly? As with the evolution of most movements and their names, there were numerous moving parts. Dan Brown’s international best-seller novel The Inferno introduced millions of people to transhumanism. So have media |
is 20 years old and is undeniably talented. But the schedule is going to get a little rough for the Jets very quickly here (with 17 games in 29 days) and bringing in some guys with NHL experience who can help defensively and chip in offensively would provide a little stability. Since Bryan Little went down early in the first game of the season the Jets have not made a call-up to fill his roster spot. Now that questions are coming up about Connor’s big-league readiness, the time may have come to give Copp and Dano another look on the big stage.Rosa Parks honoured by Virginia bus company on birthday
Posted
A transit company in Virginia has honoured African American civil rights activist Rosa Parks on what would be her 103rd birthday by reserving the front seat of each bus for her.
The Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC) put commemorative signs on seats, which read: "It all started on a bus" and showed the well-known photograph of Parks sitting towards the front of the bus.
Electronic header signs on GRTC buses also displayed special messages to honour Parks and bus drivers kept headlights on all day to "represent her light," GRTC said.
This tribute to Parks has become a tradition carried out by GRTC each year as part of their celebrations of Black History Month.
Parks is famous for refusing to give up her a seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama bus in 1955 when the white section of the bus was filled.
Parks was arrested for civil disobedience and so followed a year-long bus boycott by the black residents of Montgomery, which caused buses to sit idle for months, resulting in great economic stress to the city transit system.
The boycott ended when the US Supreme Court declared the Alabama and Montgomery laws requiring segregated buses were unconstitutional.
Parks, known as the "mother of the freedom movement", passed away at the age of 92 in 2005 and was the first woman in American history to lie in state in the US Capitol.
Topics: community-and-society, race-relations, united-statesPresident Obama delivered his final White House weekly address Saturday, urging Americans to not take democracy for granted.
“Whether we’ve seen eye-to-eye or rarely agreed at all, my conversations with you, the American people – in living rooms and schools; at farms and on factory floors; at diners and on distant military outposts – are what have kept me honest, kept me inspired, and kept me going,” he said. “Every day, I learned from you. You made me a better president, and you made me a better man.”
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Obama recounted some of memorable Americans he has met over the course of his eight years in office.
“Over the course of these eight years, I have seen the goodness, the resilience, and the hope of the American people,” he said. “I’ve seen neighbors looking out for each other as we rescued our economy from the worst crisis of our lifetimes. I’ve hugged cancer survivors who finally know the security of affordable health care. I’ve seen communities like Joplin rebuild from disaster, and cities like Boston show the world that no terrorist will ever break the American spirit.”
Obama, echoing his Tuesday night farewell address in Chicago, encouraged people to stay involved and be “guardians of our democracy.”
"It has been the honor of my life to serve you as President. Eight years later I am even more optimistic about our country’s promise,” he said. “And I look forward to working along your side, as a citizen, for all my days that remain.”
President Obama has less than a week left in the White House. President-elect Donald Trump Donald John TrumpREAD: Cohen testimony alleges Trump knew Stone talked with WikiLeaks about DNC emails Trump urges North Korea to denuclearize ahead of summit Venezuela's Maduro says he fears 'bad' people around Trump MORE will be sworn in on Jan. 20.A painting that is the enduring image of the French revolution and adorned the 100-franc note for nearly two decades was vandalised this week at the Louvre-Lens museum, but officials there say it has not sustained any permanent damage.
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One of the most iconic symbols of the French Revolution, Eugène Delacroix’s 1830 “Liberty Leading the People”, was defaced on Thursday by a 28-year-old woman with a black marker at the Louvre’s branch in the northern city of Lens.
The famous work shows a bare-chested female figure bearing aloft the French Tricolor with one hand and a musket in the other.
"The integrity of the work has not been affected, as the inscription was superficial and remained on the varnished surface without reaching the layer of paint," a Louvre spokesperson said in a statement on Friday, amid fears that a piece of France’s national heritage had been permanently defaced. Specialists have since removed the mark, which measured approximately 30 centimetres (12 inches).
The painting was immortalised after it was featured on 100-franc bank notes from 1978 to 1995.
Motive unknown
According to judicial sources, the woman scrawled “AE911” on the canvas using an indelible black marker.
On Friday morning, French media were speculating that the graffiti could be a reference to the “Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth” group, which believes that the 2001 collapse of the World Trade Center could not have resulted solely from the impact of two fuel-heavy airliners.
“We won’t know if there is any political significance until police questioning ends,” the museum’s Communications Director Raphäel Wolff told FRANCE 24 on Friday morning.
“She is still under arrest and the state prosecutor is here at the museum investigating this,” he added.
The vandal is due to appear before a judge on Saturday, and prosecutors have ordered that she undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
“Liberty” is the showpiece work at the Louvre-Lens, which opened its doors for the first time on December 4.During the month of June, the Last Word On Sports NFL department will construct a Mount Rushmore for each team. For this series, we will only consider players. Today, we present the Kansas City Chiefs Mount Rushmore.
Kansas City Chiefs Mount Rushmore
Will Shields
For many franchises, the most celebrated players are often the star players: quarterbacks, running backs, linebackers, etc. The positions with the most stats get the most shine under the spotlight. Will Shields didn’t play one of those positions. Instead of racking up touchdowns or completions, he racked up consecutive Pro Bowls. Shields started at guard for the Chiefs in nearly every single game between 1993 and 2006. In 1995, he was selected for the Pro Bowl for the first time and he made that an annual tradition, playing in every Pro Bowl up until his retirement in 2006. Shields was the anchor on offensive lines that created lanes for great Chiefs running backs Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson, and the team manufactured a top five finish in rushing in seven of Shields’ 14 years on the team. He was awarded the NFL Man of the Year award in 2003 for his work with his “Will to Succeed Foundation” which provides assistance to families with little to no available aid. Shields was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year, and he will be remembered as one of the greatest, consistent, offensive linemen in NFL history.
Len Dawson
As the leader of Kansas City’s only Super Bowl team in 1969, Len Dawson is the team’s most celebrated quarterback. Dawson was the team’s starter from 1963 until 1972, bringing the team to two Super Bowl appearances, with the aforementioned victory being in ’69. He is Kansas City’s all-time leader in passing yardage (28,711), touchdown passes (239), and interceptions (178). Dawson was a great quarterback for a team who has had very few exceptional passers and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987. His #16 has since been retired by the Chiefs.
Derrick Thomas
There has been a myriad of great linebackers in Kansas City’s history from Bobby Bell and Willie Lanier in the late 60’s to Tamba Hali and Derrick Johnson today. The greatest of all was Derrick Thomas. From the moment Thomas was drafted in the first round in 1989 until his unfortunate final season in 1999, he was the leader of great defenses. Winning Defensive Rookie of the Year and making the Pro Bowl in his first season, Thomas had 10 sacks and forced three fumbles. He would continue that type of production throughout his career. Thomas was an exceptional pass -rusher, setting the franchise record for sacks with 126.5, including an impressive 20-sack season in 1990. He holds franchise records for sacks, forced fumbles (41), and safeties (3), and still holds the single-game record for sacks with seven. Unfortunately, Thomas never finished his career the way he should have. After a car accident in early 2000, Thomas was paralyzed from the chest down and died of a blood clot in his lower body weeks later. No Chiefs player ever wore #58 after his death and it was formally retired in 2009, which was the same year that Thomas was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Tony Gonzalez
Tony Gonzalez is a sure-fire Hall of Famer and stands as one of the best tight ends in NFL history. Gonzalez is fifth all-time in receiving yards, second all-time in receptions (behind only Jerry Rice), and has more touchdowns than any other tight end in NFL history. Gonzalez was part of some great offenses during his career, but also carried the load for a few years at the end of his tenure in Kansas City. In 2004, Gonzalez caught 102 passes, which is an astounding number for a tight end. He was selected for 10 straight Pro Bowls as a Chief, and holds the record for Pro Bowl selections with 14. He is the only tight end to have 15,000 receiving yards. The amount of records that Gonzalez holds is extraordinary. In 2019, when Gonzalez is eligible for the Hall of Fame, his illustrious 17-year career will get him inducted as just the ninth tight end in Canton’s history.
Main Photo:Baton Rouge, its police chief and several officers are rebutting allegations that the owner of a North Foster Drive convenience store where police fatally shot Alton Sterling last summer was illegally detained after the shooting.
Abdullah Muflahi, in a lawsuit he filed six days after Sterling was shot July 5 outside his Triple S Food Mart, claims he was held without an arrest warrant for four hours in the back of a police car outside his store.
Muflahi says police then drove him to State Police headquarters, where he was illegally detained for two more hours while detectives questioned him.
Muflahi and his attorneys contend the detention was unconstitutional.
Lawyers representing the city, Police Chief Carl Dabadie Jr. and officers Timothy Ballard and Robert Cook disagree and filed answers to the suit last month in the 19th Judicial District Court.
The nearly identical court filings set the scene on that fateful July 5 day: Officers were dispatched to Triple S Food Mart in response to a call about a man who allegedly threatened someone with a gun outside the north Baton Rouge store, and the situation escalated shortly after officers arrived at the scene.
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The food mart was a potential crime scene; people at the scene were potential witnesses or perpetrators; and officers were unaware of Muflahi's status, the documents add.
Officers "had a right to detain Mr. Muflahi for a reasonable time, dictated by the circumstances, to enable them to conduct a preliminary investigation," according to the answer filed on behalf of Ballard and Cook by senior special assistant parish attorneys Arthur Andrews and Tedrick Knightshead and Assistant Parish Attorney Michael Schillage.
The conduct of the officers was "proper and reasonable," and the initial investigation was conducted "promptly and with all due deliberate speed," the officers' attorneys argue.
Muflahi, the officers' lawyers maintain, was not falsely imprisoned.
One of Muflahi's attorneys, Joel Porter, said in a written statement that Muflahi's Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable seizures were trampled by the investigative hold.
"The last time I checked, there is one legal standard under law for detaining someone or for arresting/detaining someone, and that is probable cause," Porter said. "There is no investigative hold that I'm aware of that allows law enforcement officers to illegally detain someone who has not committed a crime.
"You must have probable cause to detain someone suspected of criminal activity. Mr. Muflahi was never suspected of any criminal activity."
Porter said detention "for custodial interrogation, regardless of its label, intrudes so severely on interests protected by the Fourth Amendment … to trigger the traditional safeguards against illegal arrest."
Muflahi alleges in his suit that during his four-hour detention in a police car outside his store, he was escorted to the side of his building to urinate "right there within arm distance of a (Baton Rouge Police Department) officer and in full view of the public."
The suit also alleges authorities seized surveillance video from the store.
The shooting of Sterling, 37, remains the subject of an ongoing federal investigation. East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore III recused his office from the case, citing his longstanding relationship with the parents of the officer who fatally shot Sterling.
A source with knowledge of the probe has identified Blane Salamoni as the officer who fired the fatal shots. The other officer involved in the altercation with Sterling is Howie Lake II.
Salamoni and Lake also are defendants in Muflahi's suit.
Any state criminal charges resulting from Sterling's shooting would be handled by the state Attorney General's Office.BEIRUT – The Al-Nusra Front has replaced its local leaders in southern Syria amid highly unusual reports that a contingent of the Al-Qaeda affiliate’s fighters in the region was granted safe-passage to Idlib.
Late last week, news began circulating that Nusra’s military chief in Daraa and Quneitra–Iyad al-Toumasi, a Jordanian jihadist also known as Abu Jalaybib–had been dismissed from his post by the group’s overall leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani.
“The differences between Jolani and Abu Jalaybib come amid the backdrop of the defections of Nusra members [in the south],” ARA News reported Thursday, adding that the Jordanian’s policies had pushed a number of officers to quit the organization.
Pro-Damascus Lebanese daily As-Safir also reported on the dismissal, describing Abu Jalaybib as one of the “pillars” of the Nusra Front and an experienced jihadist who personally knew infamous Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Interestingly, the Abu Jalaybib dismissal comes after the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in recent weeks has insisted that a contingent of nearly 200 Nusra members had voluntarily handed itself over to regime authorities in exchange for safe-passage to rebel-held Idlib province.
On December 15, the monitoring NGO said that 180 Nusra fighters had made an “unpublished agreement with regime forces to secure their movement. In return Nusra will release detained Iranian militants to the regime.”
The SOHR first reported on this unusual transfer of Nusra members in early December, while a number of opposition outlets have speculated on the exact nature of any alleged deal between the militants and regime forces.
Al-Modon on December 20 published a lengthy article on the leadership reshuffle in Nusra’s southern Syrian branch, claiming that the dismissal of top leaders was directly linked to the recent movement of fighters into Idlib.
Although Al-Modon has a pro-rebel editorial line, its report was re-published by Syria’s Al-Watan newspaper, one of the leading pro-Assad outlets in the war-torn country.
“In recent days the Al-Qaeda affiliate has dismissed and transferred some of its most important officials in the southern region, who had been there since the first days of the group’s formation,” Al-Modon said in its report.
The online outlet specified that not only Abu Jalaybib had been dismissed, but also Sami al-Aridi, Nusra’s general Sharia official in Daraa, with both of them being transferred along with 130 other Nusra members to Idlib in small groups.
“Abu Ahmad Akhlaq has been appointed as Nusra’s new leader in the region. Unlike previous Nusra commanders in the South, most of whom were Jordanians, Akhlaq is a Syrian and hails from the Tadamon area in Rif Dimashq,” the report added.
Akhlaq served as the Army of Conquest’s general coordinator in southern Syria and also was the Emir of Nusra in the eastern parts of Daraa province.
Activists speaking to Al-Modon claimed that Nusra’s leadership reshuffle is an attempt to address infighting and defections as well as to strengthen the group’s military position in the Daraa and Quneitra provinces.
“In the beginning Al-Nusra Front was one of the most important factions in southern Syria, but its role has receded and may even have disappeared entirely in many areas,” pro-rebel media activist Abdullah al-Hariri said.
The activist went on to claim that Nusra has lost a large number of its fighters due to its ongoing conflict with the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade, an extremist insurgent faction affiliated with ISIS.
“[Nusra] has become divided, with some of its members supporting and others opposing the fighting, while calls have been made to direct [the group’s] military efforts against regime forces before confronting the ISIS affiliate,” Hariri added.
Meanwhile, Omar al-Mekdad, a member of the Independent Media Commission, also told Al-Modon that Nusra’s role has receded greatly in recent months.
“There are a number of towns in which the group no longer has any real presence,” he explained, saying that Nusra’s fight against the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade has caused a great decline in its military operations against regime forces in the southern region, bringing them to an almost complete standstill.
NOW's English news desk editor Albin Szakola (@AlbinSzakola) wrote this report. Ullin Hope translated the Arabic-language source material.Researchers have found a way to steal a PC’s data by using the mechanical noise coming from the hard disk drives inside.
It’s not a very practical hack, but the scheme has been designed for “air-gapped” systems, or computers that have been sectioned off from the Internet.
The researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel have been studying how to use sound to extract information from air-gapped computers. In June, they showed that even a PC’s cooling fans can be controlled to secretly transmit data, including passwords and encryption keys.
In a new paper, the researchers found that a PC’s hard disk drive could also generate enough noise to do the same. They did this, by manipulating the drive’s internal mechanical arm, to generate binary signals.
Typically, the mechanical arm only reads and writes data within the hard drive. But when in use, it also creates a good deal of sound at different frequencies -- which the researchers decided to exploit.
They developed a piece of malware called “DiskFiltration” which can infect a Linux-based PC to control a hard disk drive’s operations. To record the emitted noise, the researchers placed a Samsung Galaxy S4 phone nearby to log and decrypt the signals.
They found that their hack could transmit enough 0s and 1s for a stream of data, including passwords. However, the transmission rate is quite slow at only 180 bits per minute, and the range is only effective at up to six feet.
Nevertheless, the method is covert. A hacker could infect an air-gapped system with a USB stick, and then secretly extract the data, by simply recording the nearby sounds.
To prevent this kind of hacking, owners of air-gapped owners can consider using solid-state drives, which have no moving parts, the researcher said.Review of Django 1.2 E-commerce
I've worked with Django for more than two years now. The majority of the sites I have worked on have been social-networking or content based, but I have yet to do any serious work on a site where the main purpose is to advertise and sell products. So I when a copy of ‘Django 1.2 e-commerce’ landed on my desk I was intrigued by what it might cover that I hadn't been exposed to with other fields of Django development.
The book starts out with a brief run-down of Django. The first chapter is more of a explanation of the philosophy behind Django, and definitely not a tutorial. Which I think is fair enough; if you are building an e-commerce site, you are probably a professional Python developer and there are plenty of books to get you up to speed with Django. In the second chapter, the author runs through a simple web-shop application with an inventory and a ‘buy now’ button – which seemed more like a confidence building exercise than anything else, but it does do a good job of demonstrating how simple it can be to build this kind of application with Django.
The subsequent chapters go in to detail regarding managing users, shopping-carts and taking payments with Google Checkout and Amazon services. I've never used these payment services, so I found the information particularly interesting. I like the author's approach of making generic views in order to share functionality across payment services, but I would have liked some more detail in to the APIs involved.
Chapter 6 was a surprise, it covers a variety of modules that you can use to add powerful search capabilities to your application. Django's database querying will only get you so far with searching, if you need more sophisticated searching of the kind you would expect from Google then you will need to integrate one of a number of external modules and services, which chapter 6 covers pretty well. The following chapter covers exposing data via several APIs, and creating PDF reports with ReportLab, but not in any great detail.
I was impressed with chapter 8, which covers writing JavaScript to create rich AJAX interfaces – something which is pretty much expected in a modern web-site. I would have preferred a more detail here, but only because I have a particular interest in front-end technologies. The next chapter explains how to integrate a Django application with Amazon payment services and S3 storage to sell digital goods, and goes it to more detail than other chapters.
The final chapter covers a number of options you will have for deploying your application. If your application is moderately sophisticated and has many components, deployment can be a tricky affair. This chapter explains how Python technologies such as Fabric, Buildout and Virtualenv can ease deployment headaches. It also covers serving the site with Apache and ‘mod_wsgi’.
The code snippets in this book are pretty good at demonstrating the subjects covered, but I did notice some quite glaring syntax errors in several of the code examples. The errors weren't subtle either; they would result in the code not even running. I suspect that many of them were likely to be the result of a non-technical editor re-formating the code and not a mistake on the part of the author, but there were also a number of programming errors and bad practices which were a little disapointing to see in a book aimed at professionals. For instance, the author consistently used the ‘is’ operator in place of the equality operator (they are not interchangable even though they may appear to be).
Overall, my impression of this book was favourable. It's definitely not a tutorial book in that its not going to teach you any new skills – since it covers so many technologies and doesn't go in to great detail about any of them. What it will do is give you a grounding of the components in an e-commerce system. If you are looking to build some kind of web-shop in Django then I would recommend this book. It's less of an essential purchase if you aren't working with e-commerce, but since many of the topics discussed in Django 1.2 e-commerce are applicable to other web-sites you may still want to check this book out.A few days ago, Marvel released a five-page preview of its Miracleman #1, scheduled for 15 January publication.
Having opined on what Marvel should do editorially with the series (and as the author of the only extended analysis of the series), I thought I’d discuss what I’m seeing in these preview pages.
First, the pages support my belief that recoloring the series isn’t a problem. Some fans have been concerned about this, but the fact is that computer coloring techniques have improved dramatically in the previous two decades. These techniques now allow for much of the detail of the original black-and-white art to be retained, despite the application of colors. Eclipse’s coloring job often obscured these intricate details (especially in Garry Leach’s art), which was a shame. Marvel’s preview pages bear this out, and there’s no doubt that they’re superior to the coloring jobs we’ve previously seen.
In fact, Eclipse actually colored the first Miracleman book twice. The first was when Eclipse serialized these reprints in color for the first time, as part of the Miracleman title. The colors there obscured a lot of detail, and several figures or objects were simply given a flat, bland color. Eclipse realized these colors weren’t great, and when it came time to collect Book One, Eclipse had the colors redone.
When you see color pages from Book One online, they’re usually from the serialized version, not the collected version (which, in fairness, few people own; the regular title sold a lot better than the collections). Comparing Eclipse’s original coloring to Marvel’s new coloring is no contest and isn’t really fair; even Eclipse acknowledged that coloring was lacking and had it redone. Still, comparing the colored pages from Eclipse’s trade paperback edition to Marvel’s new pages demonstrates the power of these newer coloring techniques.
Time for a comparison. Here’s the final page of Book One’s chapter 1, as it originally appeared in Warrior, in black and white:
As you can see, Garry Leach’s artwork is stunningly beautiful. At this point in his career, Leach was adding an absurd level of detail to his work, which really enhanced what the strip was doing, in terms of telling a more realistic super-hero story than ever before.
Now, here’s the same page from Eclipse’s Miracleman #1:
This is at least in color, but that’s about all that can be said for it. The moon is orange. The Earth is a uniform purple. Miracleman’s face is a pinkish-purple. In the first panel, most of the background buildings are also just a uniform purple. Next to them is a building that Leach shaded, which looks beautiful in black-and-white. It’s been colored brown, a dark color that makes this shading look like dirt; a lighter color would have shown off Leach’s shading work better.
There’s also a general sloppiness on clear display. Look at how the motion lines over the moon are just colored along with the moon. Or how the yellow on Miracleman’s ankle bleeds out of its container. Or how the yellow energy around his one fist magically doesn’t overlap the distant Earth, while Miracleman’s other fist has a similar area around it that’s inexplicably not colored yellow.
Also, a lot of Leach’s details simply disappear. If you look at the Earth, all those tiny lines Leach added are simply gone. This might be understandable, because at the time the original art was almost certainly manipulated in order to add color to it. But it’s kind of infuriating to realize that this detail has been lost from the clouds in the first panel too — and those clouds aren’t even colored.
Okay, enough; you get the idea. On to the same page from Eclipse’s trade paperback Miracleman, Book One: A Dream of Flying:
This is a vast improvement, and it’s clear that, in redoing the colors, Eclipse went all the way back to the original art, because Leach’s detail is back, and the crazy color choices (like purple and orange) are gone. Miracleman’s face is flesh-colored! All that sloppiness is gone, and there’s a real attention to detail. There are even subtle bits of coloring, like shading parts of the clouds or the Earth a light blue, or shading parts of the moon with brown and blue hues.
But while this is miles beyond the first colored version, preserving Leach’s detail has caused the colorist to make some very conservative choices. If you look throughout the collection, you’ll see that the colors look rather muted, in order to not wash out the detail in the original art. You see that here in the sky and clouds of the first panel, and in the second panel in the Earth and Moon, as well as Miracleman’s motion lines. As an antidote to the first coloring job, this is phenomenal work. But in doing no harm to the detail of the original art, the coloring is a little muted or whitewashed, with too much of the page looking like it’s barely not in black-and-white. I suspect that this isn’t the colorist’s fault; it’s probably the best that could be done in the 1980s.
Without further ado, here’s the just-released Marvel version of the same page:
It should be noted that this Marvel page is subject to change, prior to its release, but… wow. The Earth isn’t only blue, but the different shades of white and blue have managed to add to Leach’s detail, instead of subtracting from it. This is what’s expected of present-day coloring, which routinely adds detail to the art, making surfaces look more three-dimensional. If you look at Miracleman himself, Leach’s detail is preserved, but the coloring is able to make him look like an actual human in three-dimensional space for the first time. This is what coloring is supposed to do today, and it’s done well here.
This is even more clearer in the page’s first panel, where the clouds aren’t mostly white for the very first time. You see the effect of sun and shadow there, and the choice of a darker color is excellent. You can see the same attention to sunlight on the buildings themselves. Miracleman’s explosion through the roof is simply beautiful. The colorist has carefully colored around all those little fragments of roof, and added different shades of yellow and blue to the explosion itself, as well as different shades to the debris. The effect is subtle but quite stunning.
This new coloring job is also a bit reserved. You’ll note that it doesn’t color Miracleman’s motion lines, nor the apparent energy around his fists. But this coloring job doesn’t feel muted, the way the Eclipse trade paperback colors do.
While this kind of thing would be impossible without current computer coloring techniques, the success of this coloring job shouldn’t be reduced to “coloring techniques have improved.” It’s clear from the new colors that Marvel is taking this material seriously. One of the problems, when recoloring old material using current techniques, is that it’s very easy to overdo these computer effects because you can. This is most frequently seen in the adding of computer-generated gradients to make faces and the like appear more three-dimensional. But when this is overdone, it can look more artificial, like a computer model that uses artificial light sources, than realistic and three-dimensional. Moreover, this often looks especially weird when applied to old artwork, if only because seeing familiar artwork with that kind of aggressive computer coloring feels wrong. Here, the colorist has done a beautiful and precise job that enhances the original artwork but doesn’t draw attention to itself.
Just look at that beautiful shading in the first panel. It’s so much more dynamic, but it’s preserving and improving what’s there, instead of altering it in a way that diminishes the original. It honors not only Leach’s detail but the feel of the original.
The coloring is pretty masterful, actually. Miracleman‘s never looked better.
And this is a very good sign, by the way, for those concerned about how Marvel would handle Miracleman.
You may also notice that the artwork is taller than before, showing just a little more, above what we’d seen of the Earth and below Miracleman’s lower foot. This could be a modification to Leach’s original art, but it’s more likely that Marvel’s used that art and isn’t cropping it as aggressively as was necessary back in the Warrior days.
Also, the original pages have been relettered as well as recolored. The new lettering is very close to the original, again suggesting Marvel’s sense of fidelity — and that it’s handling this well. While it may not seem like there’s much need to reletter this particular page, other Eclipse pages sometimes erased “Marvelman” and replaced it with “Miracleman” in really obvious ways, with a different-sized font and whitespace around the inserted word. Once Eclipse started printing new material (in the middle of Book Two), the lettering drastically changed and was a lot larger, looking very inconsistent with earlier chapters. Relettering everything in a consistent style that’s faithful to the look of the original makes sense, and it’s another sign Marvel’s doing this right and is out to produce the definitive Miracleman.
Here are all four versions, side by side for easier comparison:
But there’s more to react to, in the preview of Marvel’s Miracleman #1, than the new coloring.
The preview contains two pages from the prologue that Eclipse added for Miracleman #1 but didn’t include in its collections. It’s a fantastic prologue, which adds a lot to the story and is a brilliant way of introducing the series, especially for audiences not so familiar with Britain’s Marvelman. This is another very good sign, suggesting that Marvel’s editing the series smartly.
It’s not really clear how Marvel intends to break up its serialized content by issue. It looks like issue #1 will contain this prologue, along with Book One’s chapter one. That’s a total of 19 pages of story. The issue will have a lot of back-up material, no doubt. Readers might complain because of the $5.99 cover price, but I’ve got no problem with essentially doing chapter one and accompanying material as its own issue.
Issue #2 is a bit more confusing. The solicitation says that issue #2 will reprint material originally published in Warrior #1-5, which doesn’t make sense. The story in issue #1 was Book One’s first chapter, which Marvel will be including in its new Miracleman #1. Even more puzzling, Warrior #4 contained the flash-forward “The Yesterday Gambit,” which wasn’t part of any of Eclipse’s printings. It might be cool to have it placed in its original sequence, and readers would probably be thrilled to see it, many for the first time and everyone for the first time in color. However, it doesn’t really make sense shunted between chapters three and four of Book One. Maybe Marvel’s Miracleman #2 will include “The Yesterday Gambit” as a back-up, which would make more sense. It should be noted, however, that while this would be a very cool feature for the new Miracleman #2, the story is best not included in the collected Book One.
Then again, the solicitation could simply be wrong; solicitations often contain errors. If issue #2 doesn’t include the story from Warrior #1, maybe it also won’t include the story from Warrior #4 either. The stories from Warrior #2-3 and #5 amount to 18 pages of story, and would end on a classic cliffhanger. Presumably, this issue will also have back-up material; whether “The Yesterday Gambit” (which is 10 pages long) is part of that material isn’t yet clear. The bottom line is that we don’t know exactly what Marvel’s second issue will contain, so it’s hard to know what these contents mean for Marvel’s larger editorial strategy for Miracleman.
There is one final thing to remark upon, about the preview — something I haven’t read anyone else point out. Marvel’s solicitation for the first two issues credited Alan Moore as “the Original Writer” — following Moore’s request. Yet the preview credits Alan Moore by name.
Oops.
This is actually a pretty big deal. I’m not sure what Marvel’s deal is with Alan Moore, and whether Moore could rescind his permission to reprint the material. While these Miracleman preview pages are only online and not part of the final product, this situation recalls Marvel’s reprinting of Moore’s Captain Britain work (which he had previously withheld from being reprinted). The first printing of the Moore / Davis Captain Britain trade paperback failed to include the copyright information that Marvel had promised Moore to include, prompting Moore’s public ire at Marvel going back on its deal. Joe Quesada had to apologize publicly and make sure that subsequent printings would contain the appropriate language. Fortunately, this material is still in print from Marvel, so this gaff didn’t scuttle things. I’m confident this new one won’t scuttle Miracleman either, but it’s still a gaff. Even before Marvel prints its first issue, it’s failed to follow through on always crediting Moore as “the Original Writer.”
Unfortunately, crediting Moore on this preview is the kind of mistake that’s kind of inevitable, to be honest, in big operations like Marvel. (Heck, it’s inevitable in a lot smaller operations; trust me on this.) They guy sending the preview pages isn’t the guy making the solicitations, and while Marvel higher-ups probably paid a lot of attention to make sure the solicitations and actual issues would credit “the Original Writer,” I’m sure this same kind of micromanaging wasn’t applied to the preview process. It’s the kind of thing that can be attributed to corporate shenanigans if you insist, but that’s best explained by a business being a big operation with lots of moving parts, in different offices and locations. All of these parts are used to doing things a certain way and have a lot on their mind in any given day. These parts also just aren’t perfect at communicating specific points of information from department to department, and then down (or up) the chain of command within those other departments.
Still, someone at Marvel didn’t get the memo — which I would imagine had “the Original Writer” in big letters with big red underlines.
Marvel’s new Miracleman #1 arrives 15 January 2014. The cover above, while included in the preview for the issue, is an altered version of the cover to Eclipse’s issue #1; the final version will have a Joe Quesada cover.
It’s not often that we get to experience comics history in the making and also get to know it at the time. This is one of those times.In a sign of continued disarray in the White House’s national security team, the Trump administration has rescinded its job offer to the National Security Council’s senior director for Africa, ejecting a highly-regarded retired lieutenant colonel who had been given the job this spring.
The decision to dismiss Rudolph Atallah, who served for 20 years in the Air Force, leaves a key position open as questions persist about US policy on major crises facing the continent from instability in Libya to civil war in South Sudan to ongoing counterterrorism operations against al |
license last year.
On Nov. 23, Jessica Gaha, 31, lost control of her Honda Civic and crashed it into a tree. When Deputy Denny Reyes and Georgia State Patrol Trooper Joseph Geddie responded to the crash, they realized Gaha was driving under a suspended license so they arrested her.
As the Times Free Press reports:
Gaha’s mother, Kiersten Elise Quick, then arrived at the scene. She yelled and cursed, and Geddie told her to step away. She walked back a few feet, but Geddie wanted her farther from the crash scene. The two argued, and Geddie grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a ditch. She said he slammed her head into the ground multiple times. Geddie charged Quick with obstruction of justice and disorderly conduct, pointing out that she yelled curse words at the trooper. But seven weeks later, Assistant District Attorney Len Gregor said he would not prosecute the case, arguing Geddie did not have enough evidence for the charges.
Quick has since filed a lawsuit against Reyes and Geddie in U.S. District Court, claiming Geddie made a false arrest, used excessive force and retaliated for her use of the first amendment, according to the report.
“He was a bully,” the 50-year-old Quick said to the paper this week.
In the video below, it is clear that Quick was agitated and being loud and angry. However, as the District Attorney noted, this was no reason for her detainment, assault, or arrest.
“I’m going to jail,” Quick’s daughter Gaha said, as seen on the dash cam footage. “You need to come get me.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Quick yelled.
After Geddie put Gaha in the back of the patrol car, Quick continued to voice her discontent.
As Gaha’s friend got in the driver’s seat to move the car, Quick and Geddie continued the interaction. Geddie told Quick to back away, or he would bring her to jail.
As Quick tried to respond to Geddie, the officer cut her off.
“Nope,” Geddie said. “You go right over there. Get over there right now.”
Quick tried to say something again.
“I don’t care what,” Geddie said. “You. Go. Now. You want to go to jail?”
“What are you going to take me to jail for?” she asked.
“Obstruction,” he said.
“I know the law,” she said. “I was married to an attorney for 20 years.”
“Obstruction,” he said. “Obstruction.”
Quick then raised her finger which Geddie said made him fear for his life, claiming he thought she may try to go for his gun. When watching the video, it is quite evident that this woman was never reaching for the officer’s gun.
However, the officer grabbed the 50-year-old woman, slammed her into the ground and then sat on her as she screamed.
In his incident report, Geddie claimed he was injured during the struggle. However, this was a direct result of his attack on Quick, not a from Quick herself.
When asked about the officer’s report of his injuries this week, Quick laughed and said, “He hurt his own knees when he tackled me to the ground…It’s almost humorous—if you weren’t the one being assaulted.”National security insiders and environmentalists believe the next U.S. president must create a new cabinet position to confront so-called man made global warming.
An environmentalist think tank and former members of the military brass argued in a report Wednesday that future presidential administrations must tackle global warming by crafting a cabinet level position to deal with the effects climate change have on national security.
The document, which also describes global warming as a “significant and direct” threat to the U.S. military, is the brainchild of Washington-based think tank Center for Climate and Security, as well as senior military officials including retired Gen. Anthony Zinni, former commander of the U.S. Central Command, and Admiral Samuel Locklear, the former head of the Pacific Command.
“The complex relationship between sea level rise, storm surge and global readiness and responsiveness must be explored down to the operational level, across the Services and Joint forces, and up to a strategic level as well,” the report said.
Climatic change presents an enormous risk to national security, the Center for Climate and Security said in a statement, adding, “inaction is not a viable option.”
Francesco Femia, co-founder of the Center for Climate and Security, said the reports show a surge in support from national security and military officials to engage in a multi-thronged fight against climate change.
Similar claims have come from Obama administration officials.
Secretary of State John Kerry called climate change the “most serious challenge we face on the planet” in 2014, and calls for President Barack Obama to do more to fight climate changed intensified.
“Let me just say that one of the greatest challenges of our times besides the fight against extremism is to deal with the enormous battle of climate change,” Kerry said in June during a press conference in Denmark.
Kerry doubled down on the assertion in a 2014 speech in Jakarta, claiming climate change is the “world’s largest weapon of mass destruction.”
The idea that global warming is affecting national security is not a purely Democratic position, as at least one Republican official with the Bush administration has bought into the idea, hook-line-and sinker.
The group’s report, as well as those calling for a new cabinet position meant to confront climate change, comes on the heels of a recent suggestion by Stephen Hadley, the national security advisor to former President George W. Bush, that global warming is stimulating terrorism.
“Climate change and a lot of other economic dislocations have put a lot of people out of work,” Hadley said during a speaking event in August conducted by Politico.
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Director of National Intelligence James Clapper called President elect Donald Trump tonight to discuss the many intelligence leaks to the liberal media over the past week.
Clapper also discussed the disgusting and fraudulent “golden shower” conspiracy being pushed by CNN, Buzzfeed and several liberal media outlets.
Clapper later released a statement.
Politico has more on the leaked documents.
“I expressed my profound dismay at the leaks that have been appearing in the press, and we both agreed that they are extremely corrosive and damaging to our national security,” Clapper said of last week’s briefing. Clapper further described a private unsubstantiated report that Russia has compromising, salacious material on Trump as something that should be looked at with intense skepticism. “I emphasized that this document is not a U.S. Intelligence Community product and that I do not believe the leaks came from within the IC,” Clapper said. “The IC has not made any judgment that the information in this document is reliable, and we did not rely upon it in any way for our conclusions.”
Is Clapper REALLY dismayed by the many intelligence leaks by liberal hacks in the intelligence community.
Clapper needs to step down.
The intelligence community is OUT OF CONTROL!
If he can’t control the leakers he needs to let someone else lead who can.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper tells Trump that the CNN-Buzzfeed report was garbage! pic.twitter.com/owtXzOXBMv — Mike Cernovich 🇺🇸 (@Cernovich) January 12, 2017The logo for the parody immigration Twitter account @alt_uscis, the subject of administrative summons from the U.S. government to social media company Twitter, is seen in a screenshot taken April 6, 2017. @alt_uscis/Handout via Reuters
By David Ingram
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Twitter Inc on Thursday filed a federal lawsuit to block an order by the U.S. government demanding that it reveal who is behind an account opposed to President Donald Trump's tough immigration policies.
Citing freedom of speech as a basis for not turning over records, Twitter filed the lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco and said that the account, @ALT_uscis, claimed to be run by at least one federal immigration employee. The acronym CIS refers to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the account describes itself as "immigration resistance."
Trump has vowed to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico and has promised to deport millions of illegal immigrants.
Following Trump's inauguration in January, anonymous Twitter feeds that borrowed the names and logos of more than a dozen U.S. government agencies appeared to challenge the president's views on climate change and other issues.
A Twitter spokesman declined to comment on whether the government demanded information about other accounts critical of Trump.
Twitter, which counts Trump among its active users, has a record of litigating in favour of user privacy.
"The rights of free speech afforded Twitter's users and Twitter itself under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution include a right to disseminate such anonymous or pseudonymous political speech," Twitter said in the lawsuit. (http://tmsnrt.rs/2p6CnXp)
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which is a defendant in the lawsuit, declined to comment on pending litigation. The Justice Department, which typically represents federal agencies in court, also declined to comment.
Esha Bhandari, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the Twitter user in the case, said the government's request was highly unusual. Requests for social media account information from the U.S. government typically involve national security or criminal charges, she said.
"We have seen no reason the government has given for seeking to unmask this speaker's identity," Bhandari said, adding that the right to anonymous speech against the government is "a bedrock American value" strongly protected under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Shortly after the lawsuit became public, @ALT_uscis tweeted a copy of the First Amendment and a picture of part of the lawsuit to its 61,000 followers, an increase of about 28,000 in a few hours.
For weeks the account has posted criticism of the administration. It tweeted a parody of the game "bingo" for "right-wing idiots," said that some anti-immigration advocates must have been dropped on their head at birth, and mocked Trump for not giving more of his wealth to charities.
Twitter said it received an administrative summons last month demanding that it provide records related to the account. (http://tmsnrt.rs/2oKlWnk)
A copy of the summons filed with the lawsuit says the records are needed for an investigation to ensure compliance with duties, taxes and fines and other customs and immigration matters.
It was not immediately clear how the anonymous account fit into those laws and regulations, and Twitter might have a strong case that the summons was improper, said Paul Alan Levy, staff attorney at Public Citizen Litigation Group who specializes in online privacy and free speech issues.
"I don't think there is any way for the government to come out of this looking good," Levy said.
The lawsuit may also be savvy public relations for Twitter, said Jane Kirtley, law and journalism professor at the University of Minnesota.
“Twitter and other social media sites make promises to users about protecting anonymity. This is a way for Twitter to say, ‘See, we are standing up for your rights,’” Kirtley said.
The social media company has a history of challenging government demands for information on its users, including a 2012 demand from New York prosecutors about an Occupy Wall Street protester. In that case, Twitter was forced to hand over tweets from the protester to a judge who threatened the company with sanctions, and the protester pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct.
Twitter sued the U.S. Department of Justice in 2014, seeking permission to publicly disclose more information about requests it gets from U.S. authorities for information about its users. The lawsuit was partly dismissed last year.
Among the lawyers representing Twitter in the latest case is Seth Waxman, a former high-ranking Justice Department official under President Bill Clinton.
(Reporting by David Ingram; Additional reporting by Dustin Volz and David Shepardson in Washington and Melissa Fares, Joseph Ax and Alison Frankel in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
Related:
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Virtual reality has been in the spotlight for a few years now with enthusiast products like the HTC Vive as well as more mainstream options such as the Gear VR and Google Daydream. Lately, we’ve seen renewed interest in augmented reality with Google recently launching ARCore. Creating content for these new platforms can be difficult for traditional developers but there are some who are trying to make it as easy as possible. To that end, a startup company called Viro Media has announced ViroCore: a SceneKit for Android equivalent to help accelerate both augmented reality (AR) as well as virtual reality (VR) application development for developers with experience in Java.
Viro Media had originally created Viro as a platform for developers to help them build immersive AR and VR applications. Their goal was to combine a suite of rendering tools with a rich feature set for AR and VR developers to use familiar frameworks and languages. To date, the company has raised $2.5 million in seed funding with its founders previously working at a 3D mapping company that was acquired by Amazon.
This week they have announced the launch of the ViroCore platform that enables native augmented reality and virtual reality development using Java. ViroCore supports developing apps for ARCore, Google Cardboard, Google Daydream VR, and Samsung Gear VR. The platform allows developers to build standalone AR/VR applications or can even use it to implement individual features into their existing applications. The company feels ViroCore is a great alternative to specialized game engines or lower-level APIs, like OpenGL, for building AR/VR applications.
Today, ViroCore is being made available along with ViroReact, which is Viro’s platform for React Native developers. ViroReact now supports ARCore (as well as ARKit), Google Cardboard, and Google Daydream. The Viro platform is free without any limits on distribution, and developers can sign up for the Viro platform at the link located below the video.Everyone is aware of the barely visible small particles known as water. Lots of people loathe them, and those that don't are the ones who use them. Most people just complain without offering any type of viable fix, however. I have a suggestion that would be simple to add.
Let's compare it to the other particles.
Clouds: HIGHLY VISIBLE, buffed with the delay
Rainbow: Same amount of particles as smoke, just more colorful.
Flame: Easily visible with larger particles, however puffs are a bit more spread out (I think, no idea actually)
all of the above are fun particles that either do not effect the ghost's chances of winning at all, or make it harder to win. Rainbows? Awesome! Flames? PYROO!!!! Clouds? FLUFFYYY!!! Water? um, well...
So what is my suggestion?
To make the water more fun oriented, like the other available particles, add some bubbles.
WHO DOESN'T LOVE BUBBLES?
So, what do you think of bubbles?Game of Thrones has become so omnipotent in its influence, that fans are having a pretty hard time telling fantasy from fact.
Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, who plays the formidable Ser Gregor Clegane (AKA The Mountain), is certainly suffering the consequences; he told Entertainment Weekly of the bizarre requests he keeps receiving from fans to "squeeze their eyes out".
"That's very popular," he added. "Or pick them up over my head. But the most popular is to squeeze their eyes out."
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It's unclear why so many are keen to recreate the clearly horrifying experience of Prince Oberyn back in season 4, but there might soon be another scene on the horizon people will be begging to reenact: Cleganebowl.
It's otherwise known as the long-running fan theory that The Mountain and his brother Sandor Clegane (AKA The Hound) are destined to settle their familial feud in a fight to the death.
Game of Thrones: The Frozen Lake (HBO)
One in which Björnsson believes the The Mountain would "100 percent" end up victorious. "I haven't seen it yet in my head how I would kill him, but somehow I would smash his head or kill him like that. I think the fight would be quick rather than something long. I think people would be expecting a big fight but I would finish him really fast. It would be a surprise to people."
Game of Thrones season 7 concludes on HBO, Sky Atlantic and through NOWTV on Sunday night.Depression: 9 Powerful New Things Research Has Found Out
Jobs with highest depression rates, herbs that beat antidepressants, the four types of depression and more…
Below are some of the latest findings from psychological research on depression.
(For those of you interested in my ebooks — currently on motivation and anxiety — you might like to know I am now working on a new ebook on depression. More news on this to follow…)
1. Jobs with highest depression rates
Bus drivers top the list of occupations with the highest depression rates.
They are closely followed by real estate agents and social workers.
What do these — and the other jobs with the highest rates of depression — have in common?
It’s dealing with the public, as the study’s authors explain:
“…service industries which require frequent or complex interactions with the public or clients are disproportionately represented… This supports the theory that the stress of emotional labor could contribute to depression.”
2. Forgetting how to be happy
People who are depressed can’t imagine what it’s like to not be depressed.
It is as though they have forgotten what it is like to be happy.
However, non-depressed people can imagine what it is like to be depressed — they seem to recall the state more clearly.
Ms Constance Imbault, the study’s first author, said:
“It’s not that people with depression aren’t capable of feeling like someone who’s not. People don’t start out being depressed – it’s that they’ve lost the ability to feel emotion altogether. They’re apathetic.”
3. Saffron beats antidepressants
Extract of saffron, the exotic spice, is a safer alternative to pharmaceutical antidepressants in mild to moderate depression, recent studies find.
Saffron has fewer side effects and is just as effective in some cases.
The conclusions come from a review of six separate studies that included 230 clinically depressed patients.
All the studies were high-quality randomised controlled trials — although they were small.
4. There are 4 types of biological depression
Four types of depression have been newly identified by researchers using brain scans.
The brain scans revealed distinctly different types of brain activity in each sub-type.
The four different types of depression they identified are:
Biotype 1 is characterised by anxiety, insomnia, and fatigue.
is characterised by anxiety, insomnia, and fatigue. Biotype 2 is characterised by exhaustion and low energy.
is characterised by exhaustion and low energy. Biotype 3 is characterised by an inability to feel pleasure as well as slowed movements and speech.
is characterised by an inability to feel pleasure as well as slowed movements and speech. Biotype 4 is characterised mostly by anxiety with insomnia along with the inability to feel pleasure.
5. Generalised goals
People who are depressed tend to use more generalised goals than others.
They tend to have goals such as: “I want to be happy.”
The problem with general goals is that they are difficult to achieve
6. Cause of depression in the brain
A part of the brain linked to disappointment at not receiving a reward has been linked to depression by a new study.
The area, called the lateral orbitofrontal cortex, normally becomes active when people fail to get a reward they were expecting.
In people who were depressed, this area was more strongly linked to other areas involved in our sense of self and personal loss.
In other words: depressed people are more likely to suffer self-esteem issues and a feeling of loss if they don’t get the rewards they are expecting.
7. Vitamin D deficiency
Vitamin D deficiency is linked to depressive symptoms and more negative thoughts, new research finds.
Vitamin D deficiency is also linked to cognitive impairments in young people.
Foods that have high levels of vitamin D include oily fish and eggs but most people get their vitamin D from the action of sunlight on the skin.
8. Why antidepressants don’t work for 50%
It is well-known that common antidepressants have little to no effect for up to 50% of people.
New research suggests it is at least partly down to people’s environment whether or not antidepressants work.
Antidepressants may give the brain a chance to recover from depression, but more is needed.
The rest could be down to being exposed to relatively low levels of stress.
9. The correct sleep schedule
Spending eight hours in bed at night helps antidepressants to work more effectively, new research finds.
Of those who spent eight hours in bed, 63% saw improvements in their symptoms while taking antidepressants.
After only six hours sleep, though, only one-third saw improvements.
The antidepressant response was also faster for those who had eight hours sleep rather than only six.
Trying supplements
If you are interested in trying saffron or vitamin D supplements, as researched in the studies above, here are some suggestions:It’s no secret that at doubleTwist, we’re constantly working on improving the design and usability of our apps. You can read about our long design process for something as ‘simple’ as an Alarm Clock app – we are still very proud of doubleTwist Alarm, and its success! For our latest major release, the newly updated doubleTwist player, I’d like to take a little trip down memory lane so I can explain what made us a little slower to introduce this new, ‘Holo’ version of doubleTwist.
When our Android player first came out, Android looked very different:
In fact, it was a given that Android was still in a phase of dynamic and constant change. The user interface of Android was simply struggling to find an identity, a visual style that it could truly own and be recognized by. At doubleTwist, we’d certainly found our own look and feel, but it’s a real challenge for a designer to come up with a design for an application on a platform that hasn’t truly found its own ‘native’ appearance yet. Not only was Android rather garish looking, it was also changing its UI guidelines and styles very often. When we first launched, it had just made several complete U-turns on design guidelines: for instance, where Google at first advised icons to be designed in a slanted, 3D perspective, icons were now to be flat, without any kind of perspective, using minimal decoration. This trend of sudden drastic changes in design styles continued as Android grew older: the system font for Android changed, green and orange highlight colors were phased out, and with Android version 3.0 a new design style called ‘Holo’ was introduced. I was very interested in Holo: I felt like the design team at Google was on to something with its simple lines and flat surfaces.
However, as you may be able to understand from our history (and Android’s!), we were reluctant to adopt an entirely new design style for doubleTwist. We hadn’t simply pushed out a design and maintained its appearance: as Android shifted in its user interface conventions and appearance, we tried our best to change with it and look like we belonged and fit in, without investing too much into the visual style of a single Android release.
Fortunately for us and all developers, Google stuck to Holo – and while it is refining the style, its basic concepts and core principles remain somewhat consistent. We’ve waited long enough: it’s time for doubleTwist to adapt. We’ve heard your requests and Google’s and we’re now pushing out what is the first part of a major redesign: the Holo Release, stage 1.
We haven’t simply adopted Holo, but worked to incorporate everything great about Google’s latest and best designs to bring doubleTwist fully in line with their conventions and design patterns. Navigation throughout the app now uses the Up button, we use the system action bar with accessible actions for any screen (for instance, switching between methods of viewing albums in Album view), but we haven’t lost our smooth and good-looking dark style in the process. We took a lot of care to balance the clean and crisp look of Holo with our own aesthetic and I think it turned out fantastic.
doubleTwist Player now has a whole slew of new screens that work in both portrait and landscape, with often optimized layouts for landscape devices and usage modes.
But hopefully you’ll also see smaller changes: with the care we put into typographically redesigning every single view and changing the color and layout to be more pleasing, something as simple as a list view of songs now looks fantastic. We really minded the details: even though we had very intensely custom-designed alert dialogs and prompts in the past, but we’ve completely redesigned these to be Holo-compliant. Our new alerts are lightweight and designed with clean, well laid out typography and with occasional use of color highlights.
All in all, we left no stone untouched. From the basic look and feel of icons in the main grid view, to the actual little app icon, to the smoothness of animations, we’ve worked very hard to make this new, lighter and redesigned doubleTwist a pleasure to use and feel absolutely perfectly at home on Android – right now, and in the future.
We have more drastic changes and improvements planned for the future that will bring the doubleTwist experience to even more devices. We are also optimizing doubleTwist for larger screens and devices to create a stellar app that will blow you away. We hope you expect nothing less from us.
doubleTwist is handcrafted with ❤ in San Francisco.
— Sebastiaan de With, Chief Creative OfficerWashington (CNN) Conservative states may have boxed President Donald Trump into announcing an end for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program -- but Democratic state attorneys general are already fighting back.
A coalition of 16 Democratic and nonpartisan state attorneys general filed suit in New York federal court on Wednesday to stop Trump's sunset of DACA -- the Obama-era program that protected young undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children from being deported -- and they say Trump's comments about Mexicans should be used against him.
The groups laid out five different constitutional arguments against Trump's move, saying it was motivated by discriminatory reasons, that it violated due process by being "fundamentally unfair," and that it violated laws that dictate procedures for federal regulations.
The lawyers note that most DACA recipients are of Mexican origin and devote a whole section to inflammatory statements Trump has made about Mexicans, including his attacks on a federal judge of Mexican descent.
"As President Trump's statements about Mexico and those with Mexican roots show, the President has demonstrated a willingness to disparage Mexicans in a misguided attempt to secure support from his constituency, even when such impulses are impermissible motives for directing governmental policy," the attorneys general wrote.
Trump's statements as a candidate and President have been used against him in previous lawsuits, most notably challenges against his travel ban earlier this year.
The lawsuit also devotes a section to Texas, the state that pushed Trump to end the program, using a section to describe Texas as "a state found to have discriminated against Latinos/Hispanics nine times since 2012."
Trump on Tuesday moved to sunset the DACA program, acting in response to a threat from 10 states led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sent in late June, threatening Trump that they'd sue in an unfriendly court if the President didn't end the program by September 5.
The President said his administration would not accept any new DACA applications from Tuesday onward and that any two-year DACA permits expiring after March 5, 2018, would not be renewed.
Now, those state officials' Democratic counterparts are hoping they can have the opposite effect on the administration, succeeding in the courts to reinstate the program that has protected nearly 800,000 young people in its time and currently has nearly 700,000 people enrolled.
"Immigration is the lifeblood of New York State," New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement. "The Trump administration's decision to end DACA is cruel, inhumane, and devastating to the 42,000 New Yorkers who have been able to come out of the shadows and live a full life as a result of the program."
"I filed suit against President Trump and his administration to protect DACA because Dreamers are just as American as first lady Melania Trump," New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas said in a statement.
Justice Department spokesman Devin O'Malley said the department is ready to defend itself.
"As the attorney general said yesterday: 'No greater good can be done for the overall health and well-being of our Republic, than preserving and strengthening the impartial rule of law,'" O'Malley said. "While the plaintiffs in today's lawsuits may believe that an arbitrary circumvention of Congress is lawful, the Department of Justice looks forward to defending this administration's position."
Difficult road to success
Legal experts say attorneys general have a long road ahead of them.
Trump is not prematurely revoking any permits, choosing instead to let them expire on their normal two-year cycle but not offer any renewals. That may help the administration skirt a challenge based on the revocation of permits, as expirations were allowed for in the original implementation.
The biggest legal argument against rescinding DACA, scholars say, hinges on the federal law that dictates how agencies can make regulations, the Administrative Procedure Act, which lays out a lengthy process that requires ample notice and time for the public to comment on substantive federal rulemaking.
Ironically, the main argument for that line of legal challenge comes from the former biggest threat to DACA: Texas District Judge Andrew Hanen. In his court decision forestalling an expansion of DACA and a similar program for parents, which formed the legal basis of Paxton and the other attorneys general's threats, Hanen cited the APA's regulatory requirements.
Hanen determined that move needed formal rulemaking to be put in place. Now, supporters of DACA are poised to argue formal rulemaking is necessary to unwind the program. That would open the Trump administration to a politically painful, lengthy process of getting comment on the impact of the move.
"I wouldn't say it's a long shot, (but) I would say it is challenging, just because of the tradition against reviewing prosecutorial discretion," said Washington University law professor and Obama administration alum Stephen Legomsky. "On the other hand, they do now have this precedent that establishing it requires APA procedure.... It's a challenging issue."
Cornell law professor and immigration attorney Steve Yale-Loehr gave the lawsuit even longer odds, saying other arguments, like due process rights being violated, are similarly difficult to prove given that DACA was explicitly set up as a reprieve from deportation, not a right.
"Given the general deference that most courts provide to executive branch decisions on immigration, because immigration touches on national security and national sovereignty issues, they're going to have an uphill battle in court," Yale-Loehr said. "I wish them well, but as far as I can tell, I think they've got a less than 50% chance of winning in court."
Still, cities and states have succeeded in the courts against the Trump administration since early in his presidency, getting courts to block policies including the travel ban and sanctuary cities threats.
There is already at least one lawsuit on the books against Trump's move: An undocumented immigrant and DACA recipient filed a suit on Tuesday, largely on the same grounds discussed by Legomsky and Yale-Loehr.
The states challenging the move are New Mexico, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.While many consumers are eagerly awaiting for the Surface Pro 128GB to be available in retail stores, after an out of stock crisis took place hours after the device’s launch, Microsoft is now offering a $100 voucher for your next purchase when you purchase a 64GB Surface Pro now.
As you can see from the screenshot above, when you purchase a Surface Pro 64GB (the only model available right now on the online Microsoft Store in the U.S.) or any PC over $699, you will automatically have the $100 voucher in your shopping cart, which Microsoft is giving to you for free. Unfortunately, you cant use the coupon/voucher right then and there, but it can be used towards your next online purchase. This offer ends February 18th and you will also have to wait until the 19th of February to receive this voucher. Could this be Microsoft’s way of saying “sorry for the out of stock issue?” Regardless, if you want to purchase the 64GB Surface Pro, now is the time. This $100 voucher deal ends February 18th.
Microsoft has also provided a statement to us regarding the $100 voucher. “Microsoft is currently running an online promotion on www.microsoftstore.com which is valid until 2/18/2013: Buy a PC over $699 and get a $100 discount code coupon for future online purchases. The $100 discount code coupon must be redeemed online at www.microsoftstoreonline.com between 2/19/2013 and 3/17/2013. The $100 discount code coupon excludes Surface RT and Surface Pro tablets, is not valid on prior orders or purchases, cannot be transferred or otherwise redeemed for cash or gift cards and cannot be combined with other offers. The discount coupon code is limited to 1 discount per PC purchased,” Microsoft stated in a statement to us. It appears that you can receive this $100 voucher if you purchase a PC (including a Surface) over $699, for a limited time only. The $100 voucher cannot be used towards another Surface tablet.
Microsoft has also revealed that the 128GB Surface Pro is set to go back in stock at MicrosoftStore.com by Saturday Feb 16th, after nearly a week of being out of stock.
Update: It looks like Microsoft has removed this offer when you try to purchase a Surface, but it still applies to any other PC purchase. Hopefully some people were lucky enough to snag the voucher while purchasing a Surface Pro 64GB.
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Further reading: Microsoft StoreAn Ohio man condemned to die for the slaying of his former girlfriend has killed himself on death row, the state prisons agency said Monday.
Inmate Patrick Leonard died Sunday night of an apparent suicide on death row in Chillicothe, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said in an email to The Associated Press.
Leonard was sentenced to death for the 2000 killing of his ex-girlfriend, 23-year-old Dawn Flick, in Hamilton County.
RELATED: Are attitudes toward executions changing?
The 47-year-old Leonard was angry at Flick for ending their relationship and refusing to reconcile, according to court records.
Records say Leonard handcuffed Flick, tried to rape her and shot her three times.
Leonard was unusual among death row inmates in that he did not have a previous criminal record.
“Prior to this incident, Leonard was not considered violent and had not been in trouble with police,” the Ohio Supreme Court noted in a 2004 ruling upholding his death sentence. “The fact that Leonard had committed these crimes was described as shocking and extremely out of character.”
Leonard didn’t have a scheduled execution date. A message was left with his attorney.
RELATED: Murderers with mental illnesses may be spared execution in Ohio
The last death row suicide in Ohio was in 2013, when Billy Slagle hanged himself just days before his scheduled execution. Slagle used a belt in his cell on death row, also at Chillicothe Correctional Institution.
In a note, Slagle called his nearly three decades in prison torture and said he was taking his destiny into his own hands, according to a State Highway Patrol report.
Earlier report: Ohio set to resume executions
Three years after the execution of convicted killer Dennis McGuire made international news, Ohio is once again delaying carrying out the death penalty as it deals with legal hurdles.
Ohio is appealing the ruling that U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Michael Merz in Dayton issued in December that put an indefinite hold on three scheduled executions. In the meantime, Gov. John Kasich, who supports capital punishment, pushed back execution dates for two inmates: Ronald Phillips and Raymond Tibbetts.
Phillips, Tibbetts and other Death Row inmates are challenging a new Ohio law that keeps secret the source of lethal injection drugs. Their attorneys argue that they can’t adequately challenge the use of the drugs without access to the information.
Ohio has 32 executions scheduled between 2017 and 2021.
Ohio has 138 inmates on Death Row.The Battle of Jenin took place in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank in April 1–11, 2002. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) entered the camp, and other areas under the administration of the Palestinian Authority, during the Second Intifada, as part of Operation Defensive Shield. The Jenin camp was targeted after Israel reported that it had "served as a launch site for numerous terrorist attacks against both Israeli civilians and Israeli towns and villages in the area."[7]
The IDF employed infantry, commando forces, and assault helicopters. Palestinian militants had prepared for a fight, booby trapping the camp, and after an Israeli column walked into an ambush, the army began to rely more heavily on the use of armored bulldozers to clear out booby traps laid inside the camp. On April 11, Palestinian militants began to surrender. Israeli troops began withdrawing from the camp on April 18.
On April 7, senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat suggested to CNN that some 500 Palestinians had been killed in the camp. Five days later, when the fighting stopped, PA Secretary Ahmed Abdel Rahman told UPI that the number was in the thousands, hinting, along with other Palestinian figures, that Israel had snatched bodies, buried Palestinians in mass graves and under the rubble of ruined buildings, and otherwise conducted on a scale compatible with genocide."
Stories of hundreds of civilians being killed in their homes as they were demolished spread throughout international media.[8] Subsequent investigations found no evidence to substantiate claims of a massacre, and official totals from Palestinian and Israeli sources confirmed between 52 and 54 Palestinians, mostly gunmen, and 23 IDF soldiers as having been killed in the fighting.[9][10][11][12]
Background [ edit ]
The Jenin refugee camp was established in 1953 within Jenin's municipal boundaries on |
"cheap ticket" to enable her to visit her family.
While there, he wired her $100,000 (£75,400), explaining it was to buy a house.
"I was grateful, but honestly I was worried it was a way for him to break up with me," she said. "It never occurred to me in any way whatsoever that he was planning violence against anyone."
Her sister earlier told Australian outlet 7News that Ms Danley "was sent away... so that she will not be there to interfere with what he's planning".
Paddock checked into a suite in the Mandalay Bay Hotel on 28 September, reportedly using some of Ms Danley's identity documents.
US President Donald Trump, who visited the city on Wednesday, said "America is truly a nation in mourning" in the wake of the mass killings.
Hundreds of people were injured in the attack.
President Trump praised the emergency services who battled to save as many as they could, despite the danger to themselves.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption How US mass shootings are getting worse
"When the worst of humanity strikes - and strike it did - the best of humanity responds," he said as he applauded injured officers.
"In the depths of horror, we will always find hope in the men and women who risk their lives for ours," he added.
Mr Trump said he was in the "company of heroes" after visiting the first responders.
"Words cannot describe the bravery that the whole world witnessed on Sunday night," he said. "Americans defied death and hatred with love and with courage."
Will the attack prompt more demand for gun control?
The shooting has prompted calls for reform to US gun laws.
But Mr Trump - who has been backed by the National Rifle Association, and spoke often of protecting gun rights during his campaign - has tried to steer clear of leaning too far either way.
After visiting Puerto Rico on Tuesday, he said "perhaps that [time] will come" for a debate.
Read more:
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption What's Donald Trump said about guns and gun control?
First Lady Melania Trump joined the president to meet some of the victims and emergency responders on Wednesday.
Mr Trump told reporters at the University Medical Center in Las Vegas: "I have to tell you it makes you very proud to be an American when you see the job that they've done."
Image copyright Reuters Image caption Air Force One leaves Las Vegas, passing the broken windows of the hotel the gunman attacked from
The president was joined by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Nevada congressman Mark Amodei and Nevada Senator Dean Heller, who had constituents killed in the attack.YouTube
From short-shorts to trick-shots to viral videos and blog posts, 2013 proved to be a year many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made headlines.
Although they often were not expecting the overnight attention and their faith didn’t always play a central role in their rise to fame, their works made national news thanks to easy access to technology and social media.
As Today.com explained, “The prevalence of cameras on our phones and computers has allowed us to capture memorable moments from our everyday lives and share them with others.”
The following 20 list items highlight the most-viewed, features-based Deseret News stories of the year in which Mormons made headlines, along with links to some of the other websites they appeared on.
20 Mormon couple's baby announcement videos goes viral Mormon couple's baby announcement videos goes viral
YouTube
"Utah Couple shares lessons learned from infertility after baby announcement video goes viral"
Mormon couple Jalene and Lincoln Taylor announced their pregnancy to Facebook friends through a video that ended up spreading the news not only to online acquaintances but to the world.
Within two weeks of posting their announcement video to YouTube, the Taylors had been featured on many national news sites, including The Huffington Post, CNN and TODAY.
"We really didn't expect the video to get so big. We had an idea that our family and friends would love it, but didn't think other people would," Jalene Taylor told the Deseret News. "We have really felt loved that all of these strangers around the world are excited for us too!"
Deseret News- "Utah Couple shares lessons learned from infertility after baby announcement video goes viral'
Today.com- "Utah couple puts some ‘swagger’ into baby announcement"
Yahoo! - "Utah couple parody Toyota commercial to announce baby"
Daily Mail - " 'Where my baby's at?' Couple who struggled to conceive announce pregnancy with hilarious rap video"
19 Mormon mom inspires many with YouTube hair tutorials Mormon mom inspires many with YouTube hair tutorials
Cute Girl Hairstyles
"Utah mom inspires braid for Prim in 'Hunger Games: Catching Fire' shares stories from being on set"
Mindy McKnight and her family have quickly built up their family business and their presence on YouTube.
While Cute Girls Hairstyles has been growing since McKnight simply started uploading videos for friends and family to see in 2008, this year the stylish family made headlines and garnered much recognition.
Most recently, the family YouTube channel announced that one of their hairstyles, the Bow Braid, was used in the blockbuster film, "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire."
This year Cute Girls Hairstyles has also been featured in many Disney Style videos.
"I was a stay-at-home mom before I started this," McKnight told the Deseret News. "And initially it started out making a few extra bucks here and there, and then it became where it was a pretty good secondary income and now my husband has quit his career and he's working full-time with me to run our YouTube business."
Deseret News- "Utah mom inspires braid for Prim in 'Hunger Games: Catching Fire,' shares stories from being on set"
Today.com- "Cute hair styles for girls make mom a YouTube star"
Daily Mail UK- "From Minnie Mouse buns to Katniss braids: Mother's lessons in making unique hairstyles for her daughters goes viral"
New York Magazine- "Mother Fashions Kids’ Hair Into Preposterous Updos, Becomes YouTube Sensation"
18 Scottish Mormon family of 14 featured in episode of BBC show Scottish Mormon family of 14 featured in episode of BBC show
"Scottish Mormon family of 14 featured in episode of BBC show"
On Oct. 30, the Children's British Broadcasting Company re-aired a “My Life” episode dedicated to one of the largest families in the United Kingdom: a Mormon Scottish family with 12 children. The show featured the oldest daughter's civil wedding, followed by her sealing in the Preston England Temple.
The show was nominated for a Royal Television Award for Best Children’s Programme (School Age), and the family members are vocal about their LDS beliefs.
"It is very important to us to have our faith," Annabelle’s mother, Emma, said in an interview on the blog Pinkoddy. "It has had an effect on shaping who we are. It has helped us in our hardest times, giving us a stronger commitment to each other."
Deseret News - "Scottish Mormon family of 14 featured in episode of BBC show"
Pinkoddy.co.uk - "Interview with the Hanns Part 2"
CBBC, My Life - "My Big Family Wedding"
Prolific North - "The Royal Television Society North West Awards 2013"
17 Lone Peak basketball stars Lone Peak basketball stars
Deseret News Archives
"LDS Church recognizes Lone Peak basketball stars"
This past year the Lone Peak basketball team surprised sport commentators around the nation and even had their name thrown around for best team in the country.
This high school basketball team, comprised of many members of the LDS Church, were not only talked about for their skills and how they looked like a chess club, but for their faith.
After the team competed in many tournaments and successfully made a name for themselves around the country, the Mormon Newsroom also did a feature on the Utah state champion boys basketball team.
Deseret News - "LDS Church recognizes Lone Peak basketball stars"
The New York Times - "Out West, reaching the summit"
LDS.org - "Basketball players are champs on and off the court"
Today.com - "Utah high school boasts nation’s top hoops team"
16 LDS Jabari Parker thriving LDS Jabari Parker thriving
Karl B DeBlaker, Associated Press
"LDS Jabari Parker thriving in first year at Duke (+videos)"
Jabari Parker has proved that he was equal to the hype he received in high school. Now playing for Duke University, Parker is leading the team in both scoring and rebounding. A Deseret News article reports that “in grading the nation's top freshman, USA Today's Nicole Auerbach awarded Parker an ‘A.’ 'Parker’s versatility on both ends of the court is exceptional,' " Auerbach wrote in her review.
The Deseret News reported that Parker is keeping himself busy finding a good balance between basketball, school and his other responsibilities.
Deseret News - "LDS Jabari Parker thriving in first year at Duke (+videos)"
USA Today - "Grading the freshmen: Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Julius Randle"
Sports Illustrated - "Jabari Parker, Julius Randle or Andrew Wiggins? All three are amazing"
ESPN - "Opening Tip: Rose proud of Jabari Parker"
15 Elizabeth Smart Elizabeth Smart
Deseret News Archives
"Doug Robinson: The other side of the Smart story"
A decade after her kidnapping, Elizabeth Smart, along with Chris Stewart, released a book recounting her traumatic experience.
In her book, Smart shares the best advice she received after her kidnapping, which came from her mother.
Smart’s mother said, “You be happy, Elizabeth. Just be happy. If you go and feel sorry for yourself, or if you dwell on what has happened, if you hold on to your pain, that is allowing (Mitchell) to steal more of your life away. So don’t you do that. Don’t you let him. There is no way that he deserves that. Not one more second of your life.”
And as Doug Robinson wrote in his article about the book, “remarkably and triumphantly, Elizabeth has moved on.”
Deseret News - "Doug Robinson: The other side of the Smart story"
CNN - "Elizabeth Smart shares '100%' of her kidnapping terror in book"
NPR - "Elizabeth Smart: My faith and 'My Story'
14 Mormon professor named world’s top management thinker Mormon professor named world’s top management thinker
"Mormon professor named world's top management thinker, delivers emotional speech"
Mormon professor Clayton Christensen, who teaches at Harvard, made headlines when he was named the world’s most influential living management thinker in November.
A British reporter described Christensen as “perhaps the nicest man ever to lecture at Harvard Business School.”
The reporter said in Christensen’s acceptance speech he “was controlled, thoughtful, sincere and provocative.”
Christensen is a best-selling author, most recently having published “How Will You Measure Your Life?” in 2012.
Deseret News - "Mormon professor named world's top management thinker, delivers emotional speech"
BloombergBusinessWeek - "Online courses to turn MBA programs into dinosaurs, panel says"
Inc.com - "Clay Christensen: The wrong kind of innovation"
The Washington Post - "The world’s most influential management thinker?"
13 Marriage isn’t for you: Author explains viral blog post Marriage isn’t for you: Author explains viral blog post
Seth Adam Smith
"Marriage isn't for you: Author explains viral blog post"
On his personal blog, Seth Adam Smith published an experience he had and a lesson he learned while deciding whether to marry his now-wife Kim.
That was a Saturday night, and by the next week he had more than 24 million page views.
His post, "Marriage isn't for you," and Smith's point that love should be selfless caused quite the controversy online and was one of the most talked about blog posts of the year. Smith stated in his post: "No true relationship of love is for you. Love is about the person you love."
Many national news sites republished Smith's article, while millions of Facebook users shared his original post, enough so that his site crashed for a time.
Smith has stood by his post and most recently announced that he will be writing a book.
Deseret News - "Marriage isn't for you: Author explains viral blog post"
CNN - "Best viral relationship advice"
Today - " 'Marriage Isn't for You' author: My wife was touched by viral post"
The Blaze - "Married man writes viral 'Marriage isn't for me' blog and gets hammered for it — but not for the reason you're thinking"
Huffington Post - "Marriage isn't for you"
12 Hip-hop violinist Lindsey Stirling Hip-hop violinist Lindsey Stirling
"Hip-hop violinist Lindsey Stirling overcomes anorexia, critics to find happiness, success"
Hip-hop violinist Lindsey Stirling was no stranger in 2013. She brought her music on tour through Europe, Asia and Australia, appeared on numerous talk shows and even won an award in the first ever YouTube Music Awards, among other notable accomplishments.
In January this year, Mormon.org released a video featuring Stirling. In the video, Stirling talked about her love of music, as well as her past struggle to overcome anorexia. She started her YouTube channel in 2007, and she now has more than 3.8 million subscribers. Currently, Stirling is working on new music for a new album.
Deseret News - "Hip-hop violinist Lindsey Stirling overcomes anorexia, critics to find happiness, success"
Deseret News - "Lindsey Stirling wins YouTube award, appears on 'Conan,' collaborates with John Legend"
USA Today - "On the Verge: Violinist Stirling blazes hip-hop trail"
Mashable - "Big winners of the inaugural YouTube Music Awards"
Katie Couric - "Lindsey Stirling: Proving Piers Morgan wrong"
Mormon Tabernacle Choir - "Guest artist: Lindsey Stirling"
New York Times - "If you like the Chieftains, try Lindsey Stirling"
11 Mormon missionary showcases basketball skills in viral video Mormon missionary showcases basketball skills in viral video
YouTube
"Mormon missionary, former Orem High basketball star showcases talent in viral video (+video)"
A missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Cole Payne, serving in Henderson, Texas, quickly became a viral sensation after a video of him playing basketball was uploaded to YouTube.
Mike Foss with USAToday was astonished by the physical play coming from the boys in white shirts and ties.
"If this is a new evangelism technique, consider us sold. Mormon missionaries disguised as basketball prodigies, or basketball prodigies disguised as Mormon missionaries, took a neighborhood by storm recently," Foss wrote.
Elder Payne was a former basketball and football star at Orem High School and has committed to play football at Southern Utah University after the completion of his mission.
Deseret News - "Mormon missionary, former Orem High basketball star showcases talent in viral video (+video)"
NPR - "WATCH: 'Mormon Missionaries' Dominate Pickup Basketball Game"
USA Today - "High-flying Mormon missionaries jam so hard"
BuzzFeed - "Mormon missionaries throw down very, very hard in street ball game"
10 Mormon contestants on reality TV Mormon contestants on reality TV
Instagram
Several Mormons have made appearances on reality TV shows this year. While some had victories, others simply enjoyed their time in the limelight.
The following national TV shows each featured members of the LDS church during 2013 episodes:
"The Voice"- "4 Mormon contestants advance on 'The Voice'
"The Biggest Loser"- "Mormon on 'Biggest Loser' survives first week on the ranch"
"Survivor: Caramoan"- "Mormon mother on 'Survivor: Caramoan' plans to change her game this season"
"Cupcake Wars"- "Mormon 'Cupcake Wars' champ says competing on show was fun"
"Next Great Baker"- 'Next Great Baker' finalist's Mormon faith on display'
"Get Out Alive"- "LDS father-son team on new survival show 'Get Out Alive with Bear Grylls'"
9 Christian convert’s beliefs hold up through violence, threats, imprisonment Christian convert’s beliefs hold up through violence, threats, imprisonment
DeseretBook.com
"Jeff Benedict: Christian convert's beliefs hold up throgh violence, threats, imprisonment"
In the fall, Christian Tito Momen and author Jeff Benedict released Momen’s book, “My Name Used to Be Muhammad: The True Story of a Muslim Who Became a Christian.” The book explores Momen’s decision to convert to Christianity and how it influenced his life. The book has a five-star average review on Amazon.com.
Deseret News - "Jeff Benedict: Christian convert's beliefs hold up throgh violence, threats, imprisonment"
Amazon - "My Name Used to Be Muhammad: The True Story of a Muslim Who Became a Christian"
Deseret Book - "My Name Used to Be Muhammad: The True Story of a Muslim Who Became a Christian (+video)"
LDS Living - "My Name Used to Be Muhammad: One man’s journey from Muslim to Mormon"
8 Mormon student refuses to ‘stomp on Jesus’ Mormon student refuses to ‘stomp on Jesus’
"Mormon student at Florida Atlantic University punished for refusing to'stomp on Jesus' "
Ryan Rotela, an LDS student at Florida Atlantic University, made headlines in March when he refused to stomp on a paper that said “Jesus” on it as part of a class activity.
“Anytime you stomp on something, it shows that you believe that something has no value. So if you were to stomp on the word 'Jesus,' it says that the word has no value,” Rotela said in an interview with CBS News. The university later released a statement saying that “the exercise will not be used again.”
Deseret News- "Mormon student at Florida Atlantic University punished for refusing to'stomp on Jesus' "
Huffington Post- " 'Stomp on Jesus' controversy at Florida Atlantic University draws Gov. Rick Scott's involvement "
NBC News - "Florida school apologizes after students stomp on ‘Jesus’ "
Forbes - "FAU college student who didn't want to stomp on 'Jesus' runs afoul of speech code"
7 Alex Boye featured in UK's ‘I’m a Mormon’ campaign Alex Boye featured in UK's ‘I’m a Mormon’ campaign
Alex Boye
"My husband Alex Boye grilled in UK for 'I'm a Mormon' campaign"
No. 7 on the Deseret News’ “Mormons who made headlines” list was written by singer Alex Boye’s wife Julie. In her post, Boye wrote about her husband’s involvement in the U.K.’s “I’m a Mormon” campaign and getting “grilled” during it.
This past fall, Alex Boye also made headlines when he released a new album titled “I Am Gold,” which has “pop music with an African twist.”
Deseret News - "My husband Alex Boye grilled in UK for 'I'm a Mormon' campaign"
Deseret News - “Reactions to ‘I’m a Mormon’ campaign in UK”
Deseret News - "Alex Boye's new album is 'pop music with an African twist'"
Mormon Newsroom - “Commuters reaction to I’m a Mormon campaign”
6 2-year-old 'Trick-Shot-Titus' 2-year-old 'Trick-Shot-Titus'
YouTube
"Mormon 2-year-old basketball star becomes famous for 'trick shot' YouTube video (+video)"
The all-star toddler Titus Ashby of Derby, Kan., has not only become a YouTube sensation for his basketball trick shots, but the 2-year-old is a regular on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and many other national entertainment shows.
This year 2-year-old Titus has not only gone viral on YouTube for his awe-inspiring shooting ability, but he has competed against several NBA stars, including Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and Metta World Peace.
Titus has competed against actors Channing Tatum, Bradley Cooper and Adam Sandler.
Titus also came in fourth place on Google's top 10 sport videos of 2013.
Deseret News - "Mormon 2-year-old basketball star becomes famous for 'trick shot' YouTube video (+video)"
Deseret News- "Mormon basketball sensation, 2-year-old 'Trick-shot-Titus' takes on Shaq"
Deseret News-"Toddler basketball star Titus Ashby takes on Kobe Bryant"
ESPN- "Trending: It's a basketball boy wonder"
Katie Couric -"Adam Sandler Faces a Pint-Sized Basketball Challenge"
5 Mormon husband wakes up from anesthesia Mormon husband wakes up from anesthesia
YouTube
"Mormon man dubbed 'husband of the year' shares story of coming out of anesthesia, viral video"
After coming out of surgery, Jason Mortensen didn't know where he was, he didn't know what happened and, most importantly, he didn't recognize his wife.
His wife, Candice, said she was used to her husband acting strange after waking up from anesthesia, but this time she decided to film it.
After putting the video on YouTube merely to show family members, the Mortensens quickly became a YouTube phenomenon.
"It's not too much of a shocker for me that when I'm out of it and coming out of anesthesia that I feel that way about her because that's really the way I feel about her," Jason Mortensen told the Deseret News.
The couple is currently in the process of adopting a child from Uganda.
Deseret News - "Mormon man dubbed 'husband of the year' shares story of coming out of anesthesia, viral video"
Deseret News - "Utah man tells his wife 'you may be the prettiest woman I've ever seen' in viral video"
Daily Mail -"Heart-melting video of dazed husband waking up from surgery"
Today - "Man to wife after anesthesia: You’re ‘eye candy’"
Inside Edition - "Jason and Candice Mortensen Speak About Post-Surgery Amnesia"
The Blaze - "The moment a husband wakes up from surgery and realizes he has a gorgeous wife — and becomes every women's hero"
Buzzfeed - "Adorable video of a man with post-surgery amnesia realizing the hot lady next to him is his wife"
4 Utah County dad’s viral short-shorts Utah County dad’s viral short-shorts
Becky Mack's Blog of Mild Chaos
"The real story behind Utah County dad's viral short-shorts photo"
Scott and Becky Mackintosh's lives have changed drastically since Scott decided to cut his own pants to mimic his daughter's apparel and teach her a lesson about modesty.
This Mormon family told their story in a blog post written by Scott, which then exploded. They have since appeared on news outlets and entertainment shows across the globe.
Now Scott and Becky have decided to use their fame to share their tips on parenting. Written by Becky with M. Bridget Cook, their new book, "My Husband Wears The Short Shorts In THIS Family," can be downloaded on Amazon.
The following news outlets featured this dad's short-shorts:
Deseret News - "The real story behind Utah County dad's viral short-shorts photo"
Deseret News - "Dream comes true for Utah's'short-shorts' dad following international reaction to viral photo"
Yahoo - "Dad wears short shorts to teach daughter a lesson, becomes online celeb"
Huffington Post -"Scott Mackintosh, Utah dad, wears short shorts to teach his daughter a lesson"
Today - "Who wears short shorts? One dad did, to teach his daughter a lesson"
ABC News - "Dad dons short shorts to teach daughter a lesson"
3 ‘Book of Mormon’ musical to Mormon convert ‘Book of Mormon’ musical to Mormon convert
Courtesy Liza Morong
"From 'Book of Mormon' musical to Mormon convert"
As the Deseret News article said, “It was underneath the lights of Broadway in Sept. 25, 2011, that Boston resident Liza Morong’s life changed forever. She just didn’t know it then.”
The Broadway show Morong attended was the “Book of Mormon” musical, and it was from her experience seeing it that Morong decided to learn more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was baptized on Dec. 31, 2011, and is currently attending the University of Utah.
Deseret News - "From 'Book of Mormon' musical to Mormon convert"
Huffington Post -"Liza Morong, college student, converts to Mormonism after seeing 'Book Of Mormon'"
2 Mormon bishop disguises himself Mormon bishop disguises himself
Tara Starling
"Mormon bishop disguises himeself as homeless man to teach congregation about compassion"
Deseret News broke the news of the Taylorsville, Utah, bishop who disguised himself as a homeless man for church services in late November. The story caught fire, and many major news outlets shared it, including Fox News, NBC, NPR and The Associated Press.
Deseret News - “Mormon bishop disguises himself as a homeless man to teach congregation about compassion”
The Blaze - “Mormon bishop transforms himself into a homeless stranger to teach his church a very important lesson”
Drudge Report - “LDS bishop dresses as homeless man to teach lesson
Fox News - “Mormon bishop dresses as homeless man to teach church lesson”
NBC News - “‘The congregation was besides themselves’: Mormon bishop dresses as homeless man to teach flock a lesson”
New York Daily News - “Mormon bishop goes undercover as homeless man to teach congregation a lesson”
NPR - “Costumed as homeless, Mormon bishop teaches a lesson in compassion”
Reuters - “Mormon bishop delivers novel lesson in guise of homeless man”
USA Today - “Mormon bishop in homeless disguise teaches lesson”
1 Al Fox: Tattooed Mormon Al Fox: Tattooed Mormon
Dylan Bitton
The Deseret News’ top performing 2013 “Mormons who made headlines” article was "Al Fox: Tattooed Mormon."
Her blog post made its rounds on social media, and as of January 2013, her speaking schedule was booked every week until December, according to her blog, alfoxshead.blogspot.com.
In August of this year, Fox married in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.
Deseret News - "Al Fox: Tattooed Mormon"
Deseret News - "Convert endures trial, shares happiness through social media (+video)"
LDS Living - “Watch Al Fox Share Her Conversion Story”
Meridian Magazine - “Al Fox the Tattooed Mormon Pioneer”New Delhi: Demonetisation will lead to a spurt in economic activity, which will in turn push GDP growth to 10%, union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal has said. “Some economists predicted that demonetisation would dampen economic activity over the next two quarters. But I believe that the decision to scrap high-value banknotes would push GDP growth up by 2%," he said.
“There are many types of financial transactions that are not considered as an economic activity. As a result of demonetisation, the ambit of economic activity will grow and add to the GDP," the minister of state for finance said.
Asked about former prime minister Manmohan Singh terming the implementation of demonetisation as “monumental mismanagement and organised loot", Meghwal said, “Singh has held several key posts in the government, such as chief economic advisor, Reserve Bank of India governor and Planning Commission head. He served as the prime minister for 10 years. I fail to understand why has he not been able to check mismanagement in these monumental offices?"
Also Read: Interest, tax rates to go down post demonetisation: Arjun Ram Meghwal
Replying to a query about opposition parties attacking government over the issue, he said, “Prime Miniser Narendra Modi while announcing the decision to invalidate Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes on 8 November had said there will some inconvenience to people for the initial 50-day period after which the situation will ease out."
Rubbishing the Opposition’s charge that the government did not make proper arrangements for demonetisation, the minister said “the government set up an SIT on black money, rolled out the Income Declaration Scheme and took several steps which were part of the preparations. And, if we had calibrated ATM machines in advance, we would not have been able to maintain secrecy."The annual game of projecting which player may sign here, which player gets re-upped by his own team, which player gets overpaid when desperate teams make an insane financial pitch to a free agent hasn’t officially kicked in, but the talk can now begin.
On Thursday, the CFL released the list of would-be free agents, a process that does not kick into gear until high noon on Feb. 13.
A total of 220 players can be eligible, which speaks to the new landscape of players opting for one-year deals hoping some bigger payday is around the corner.
Teams always look within before they take the dive into the free-agent pool.
Ottawa took care of its business Thursday by keeping Brad Sinopoli around, a Canadian who would have been coveted by every team had he gone to free agency.
The Argos, in retrospect, caught a break when the likes of Chris Williams, Ernest Jackson and Derek Dennis, some of the biggest free agents in last year’s process, took a look at the team and took a pass knowing the franchise had no GM or head coach.
As fate would have it, the Argos didn’t need any of the aforementioned players as they built a strong locker room around head coach Marc Trestman and quarterback Ricky Ray en route to a 9-9 regular season and a Grey Cup title, the 17th in franchise history.
Free agency did land Cassius Vaughn and Rico Murray, while Jeff Fuller was a non-factor.
The added money saved by not overspending in free agency allowed the Argos to bring back Marcus Ball, trade for S.J. Green and sign Bear Woods when the Als released the veteran on the eve of camp.
Free agency is a crap shoot, a dangerous game to play in a cap system where every penny counts.
Of the 22 players eligible for free agency, 14 dressed in Sunday’s Grey Cup, including Vaughn, game MVP DeVier Posey, Ricky Ray, Green, Woods.
Virtually the entire secondary is eligible for agency.
Cleyon Laing won his second Grey Cup in as many years, but, he, too is eligible for free agency.
Laing, who had a sack and made that great hustle play that resulted in the Vaughn scoop and score for a Grey Cup record 109 yards, makes Toronto his home.
“I’m not off this Grey Cup high,’’ said Laing about free agency.
“I’m going to try to soak it up for as long as possible and whatever doors open I’ll be ready to knock them down.”
HERVEY JOINS LIONS
Ed Hervey is back in the CFL and it’s just a matter of time before the B.C. Lions are back to being relevant.
The former player built a Grey Cup champion in Edmonton and he has a keen eye for talent.
The Lions formally announced Hervey as their GM Thursday, the same day it was revealed that Wally Buono will coach his final season in 2018.
The biggest issue hovering over the franchise is ownership and when David Braley plans to sell a team, whose value keeps diminishing amid fans’ indifference.
Hervey has a knack for acquiring players.
Once he sorts out which free agent to keep, he’s the type who will leave no stone unturned.
Manny Arceneaux will be eligible for free agency as will Travis Lulay, who is coming off knee surgery. Hervey will have to decide whether Jonathon Jennings is the franchise quarterback once Hervey settle into his new position.
FRANKLIN LINKED WITH RIDERS
One of the most intriguing names to appear on an extensive list of possible free agents is James Franklin, a talented quarterback who has been in the shadow of Mike Reilly, the CFL’s reigning MOP.
Franklin is set to be eyeing a one-year deal and his name has already been linked with Saskatchewan, where GM/head coach Chris Jones is fully aware of the potential and explosive play Franklin can bring to the field.
The Riders will have to decide on Brandon Bridge, who announced following the team’s loss to the Argos in the East final, that negotiations have begun.
Bridge appears on the free-agent list the CFL revealed Thursday.
Trevor Harris is once again a free agent after he left Toronto for Ottawa.
Harris put up good numbers, but he threw a brutal pass that would get picked off by Saskatchewan as the host Redblacks lost the East semi.
His stock isn’t that great at the moment and it remains to be seen if a team puts its faith in Harris.
The highest-profile free agent QB is Ricky Ray, but he’s gone on record as saying he’ll only play for Toronto if he doesn’t decide to retire.
Jeremiah Masoli will be eligible for free agency amid talk he may try the NFL.
Drew Willy is eligible as well, a journeyman who was a bust in Toronto, a non-factor when Montreal picked him up after the Argos released him before the start of the season.
In total, 11 free agents will be eligible for free agency.
TICATS MUST SORT OUT OFFICE
If history is any indication, the Ticats identify a need and target the player who can best address it in free agency.
Such was the case last off-season when the team lured Abdul Kanneh to the Hammer, a solid defensive back who unfortunately missed too many games in his first season because of injury.
By the end, Kanneh lined up at strong side linebacker.
Like every team, the Ticats have their share of players eligible to hit free agency next February.
Well before the time players hit the market, the Ticats need to sort out their front office and decide whether June Jones should have the interim tag removed or whether a new head coach gets put in place.
Players such as Jeremiah Masoli and Brandon Banks were given a new lease on life under Jones, but both are eligible for free agency.
When Hamilton was in the throes of an eight-game losing streak, Banks’ body language was not good.
The question of whether Masoli is a franchise quarterback remains in question as does the future in Hamilton for Zach Collaros, who is under contract but his name has been linked with Toronto, where Collaros began his CFL career in 2012 in a quarterback rotation that had Ricky Ray, Jarious Jackson and Trevor Harris.Unsurprisingly, Eagles fans are not happy about the team's decision to trade for Sam Bradford. At all. Take a look for yourself.
CAUTION - LANGUAGE NSFW.
@davespadaro You have to be kidding me. This could be the worst trade in NFL history. — Bill Cook (@BillyTCook) March 11, 2015
@MauiWowie56 This trade is the worst in NFL history. We trade an average to above average QB for one made of glass. — Philly Sports Talk (@_Philly_Talk) March 11, 2015
@Eagles hell no we don't — Kyle Bennett (@KBizzl311) March 11, 2015
@Eagles @davespadaro BLOCK ME NOW! This is an awful ass move. Just fucking awful — meowshawn (@misseaglelina) March 11, 2015
@davespadaro it's the worse trade in sports history — joe straface (@j_straface) March 11, 2015
@davespadaro @Jarhead_Jim I want the drugs they are smoking — Timothy reider (@treider1985) March 11, 2015
Get to know our newest quarterback in the #Eagles Nest, Sam Bradford: http://t.co/jsxx3aOF1d pic.twitter.com/ozOzchxSoO — Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) March 10, 2015I have previously suggested that the depth of congressional support for the president’s asteroid retrieval mission is shallow.
Perhaps it does not exist at all.
SpaceNews reports that a draft of the NASA authorization bill working its way through the House Science, Space and Technology Committee does not include any support for the mission.
The bill, according to a summary offers:
Continued commitment to develop the Space Launch System and Orion Crew Vehicle to return to the Moon and beyond, but no funding for an asteroid rendezvous mission.
As you may recall, back in April, the president’s budget plan for the space agency included $105 million in seed funding for a mission to robotically capture an asteroid and bring it to a location near the moon, where astronauts could explore it.
But many in Congress — and many outside of Congress — have never warmed to this proposed mission, which would give the rocket and spacecraft NASA is developing during this decade something to do in the early 2020s.
Many in Congress want NASA to focus on sending humans back to the moon and establishing a semi-permanent presence there.
The House Science space subcommittee has scheduled a June 19 hearing on the NASA Authorization Act of 2013.The hippy mentality isn’t the first thing you might relate to hardcore skateboarding… If anything, combining the two usually results in the shaggy barefoot beach cruising type. I don’t think most real skaters “hate” those guys, but we don’t exactly aspire to be them either. That’s why it’s so refreshing to see a brand that’s both. They embrace both cultures so strongly that it develops something completely new and somewhat profound. Applying the free love, back to nature hippy vibes with the meditative aspects of downhill and cathartic feeling of freeride results in some of the best feelings in the world, the coolest/nicest guys you will ever meet, and some fantastic handmade decks built with the utmost love and care. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m talking about DaSilva Longboards from Israel. Brace yourself friends, because here be Hippies.
Freeride:
Lets not waste anyone’s time here, the Aldous was designed to be the swiss army knife of skateboarding…and for Longboards, the “knife” part is always freeride. Want to make a good versatile board? Don’t skimp on the skids. Dasilva is clearly familiar with this rule of thumb, and proves it with the freak concave. It has a great depth and cradles your foot in nearly any stance. Plus, the Bellbottom flares are very well thought out. Well defined but not obtrusive or excessive, your going to feel comfortable both on or between them. Respectively, larger stances will benefit form the leverage they provide, while smaller ones will feel even more locked in with the way they somewhat |
The latest round of Obamacare sign-ups is running ahead of pace compared to a year earlier, the administration said Tuesday, providing backup for Democrats who say the law isn’t spiraling out of control and only needs fixes, not a full repeal.
Some 11.5 million people had picked plans on the insurance exchanges as of Christmas Eve, nearly 300,000 more than in 2015, the Health and Human Services Department said.
HHS said that level of demand shows a solid program, contradicting Republicans who say Obamacare is beginning a death spiral of falling enrollment and soaring prices.
“Today’s data show that this market is not merely stable, it’s actually currently on track for growth. So while they were always nonsense, today we can officially pronounce death spiral claims dead,” HHS senior adviser Aviva Aron-Dine said.
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, though, said the law already has failed and Americans are reeling from spiking premiums and a lack of choices — a third of counties will see just one insurer offering plans on their exchange this year.
Mr. Ryan said Republicans are “on a rescue mission to save the families who are getting caught up in the death spiral that has become Obamacare.”
He also revealed a shift in strategy, saying Republicans will try to replace as much of Obamacare as they can in conjunction with a fast-track repeal process that’s under way.
“We’re going to use every tool at our disposal, through legislation, through regulation, to bring replace concurrent along with repeal, so that we can save people from this mess,” he said.
President-elect Donald Trump urged Republicans to speed up the replacement process in an interview Tuesday in The New York Times, though he seemed confused about the upcoming schedule. He said he is eyeing a repeal vote “probably some time next week” and said “the replace will be very quickly or simultaneously, very shortly thereafter.”
Congressional Republicans had been eyeing a slightly longer time frame, though initial votes on a budget that would set up a later repeal are expected in the coming days.
Democrats and President Obama say Republicans should work to fix the law instead of pursuing their thorny “repeal-and-delay” strategy.
They say the law could be fixed by adding a government-run plan, or “public option,” to improve competition in the exchanges, or boosting the taxpayer-funded subsidies to entice more people to sign up.
Larry Levitt, a senior vice president at the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, said HHS’ enrollment update was a mixed bag for the law’s supporters. The administration might struggle to hit its own goal of 13.8 million sign-ups by Jan. 31, and the share of economically vital adults aged 18-34 signing up has flatlined at 26 percent compared to last year.
Yet the market isn’t careening toward collapse, he said, and insurers should be able to make money this year.
“Amid tremendous uncertainty about the future of the health law and big premium increases, marketplaces sign-ups are holding steady. There are no signs of the marketplaces collapsing or an insurance death spiral,” Mr. Levitt said.
“The bigger premium increases for 2017 will allow insurer revenue to better match their costs,” he added. “With no signs of enrollment deteriorating, that should allow more insurers to turn a profit on marketplace business.”
A separate Kaiser study on Tuesday underscored the political risks of upending the exchanges amid the GOP’s push to transition to a new plan.
About 55 percent of those enrolled in Obamacare’s exchanges — 6.3 million of the 11.5 million — live in Republican congressional districts, compared to 5.2 million represented by a Democrat.
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.MOSCOW, July 28 (Reuters) - The Russian Defence Ministry on Monday cast doubt on pictures that Washington said showed Russia had recently shelled Ukrainian military positions.
The United States has accused Russia of instigating the conflict in eastern Ukraine where pro-Moscow separatists are fighting central government forces. Russia has denied any involvement in the conflict.
On Sunday, the U.S. State Department released images it said showed Russian forces had fired across the border at the Ukrainian military.
Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov questioned the substance of the images in remarks to journalists, according to RIA Novosti news agency. “Such materials weren’t posted on Twitter coincidentally, since it’s impossible to establish their authenticity due to the lack of exact reference to the location and the extremely low resolution,” Konashenkov said.
The images showed marks on the ground at what U.S. officials said were launch sites and impact craters around Ukrainian military locations, and indicated fire from multiple rocket launchers, the State Department said. (Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Mark Heinrich)Liverpool staged a stirring late comeback to strike twice in the closing minutes to beat Bolton Wanderers just as the Championship side threatened the latest FA Cup shock.
Eidur Gudjohnsen's contentious penalty just before the hour gave Bolton a lead they were clinging on to with increasing desperation in the concluding moments - especially after Neil Danns was sent off for a second yellow card.
Raheem Sterling broke Bolton's resistance with a cool finish in the 86th minute before, with extra time looming, Philippe Coutinho curled a magnificent winner into the top corner to seal a 2-1 victory and a fifth-round tie at Crystal Palace.
Bolton were out on their feet with that numerical disadvantage near the end and simply could not survive a Liverpool siege, with Jordan Henderson and Emre Can striking the woodwork before Sterling made the crucial breakthrough.
This was a real scare for Brendan Rodgers' side but they will be relieved to advance after an FA Cup fourth round that claimed giants such as Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham.
It keeps Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, making his 700th appearance for the club, on course for that Wembley appearance on his 35th birthday on May 30 before he leaves the club for LA Galaxy.
The real hero was diminutive Brazilian Coutinho, who celebrated signing a new deal to keep him at Liverpool until 2020 with a sensational winner to provide the decisive moment in a fiercely fought tie.
Gerrard returned to the side to reach that landmark, making him only the third Liverpool player to play 700 games. He is third on the club's all-time list behind Ian Callaghan, who made 857 appearances, and Jamie Carragher on 737.
And he was the first to raise the alarm for Bolton with a shot that brought a smart save from Andrew Lonergan, who also did well to save from Sterling.
Bolton's best chance looked to be exploiting Liverpool's occasional frailty at set pieces and it almost worked when Liam Feeney's free-kick found David Wheater, but he could only direct his header straight at Simon Mignolet.
Liverpool were still working the openings, however, with Sterling hitting the outside of the post after taking his time in the area and the influential Coutinho firing inches off target seconds before the break.
Sterling was the big danger to Bolton and it needed a brilliant recovery tackle from Dorian Dervite to stop him as he raced through, but Liverpool's man in form was still quick enough to regain his balance and bring a flying save from Lonergan.
Media playback is not supported on this device Bolton 1-2 Liverpool: Neil Lennon 'not happy with referee's performance'
The game took a dramatic twist on the hour when Bolton were awarded a penalty as Martin Skrtel tangled with Zach Clough. Contact appeared minimal but Skrtel paid the price for making a poor decision in that position.
Gudjohnsen slotted the penalty in with complete calm to the huge delight of Bolton's fans, who were suddenly sensing another FA Cup upset.
Bolton were inevitably going to come under severe pressure and Danns made the situation even more difficult with a senseless lunge at Joe Allen that was only ever going to bring a second yellow card.
Gudjohnsen then spurned a glorious opportunity to seal victory for Bolton as he directed a free header straight at Mignolet.
As Liverpool's urgency increased, Rodgers introduced Daniel Sturridge as his third and final substitute with 20 minutes left - but it was another replacement, Henderson, who almost brought them level with a shot that deflected off a Bolton defender on to the post.
Lonergan had distinguished himself as the replacement for Adam Bogdan and did so again with seven minutes left as he turned Can's rising shot on to the bar.
Bolton were struggling to keep Liverpool at bay and the leveller finally came when Can's perfect pass picked out Sterling, who demonstrated great composure with a low first-time finish.
The home side wilted visibly and were not even able to hang on for extra time as Coutinho settled matters with that outstanding 20-yard strike, curled past Lonergan into the top corner from 20 yards.
Raheem Sterling's volley hauled Liverpool level
Striker Eidur Gudjohnsen, 36, gave Bolton the lead from the penalty spot
The match pitted Northern Irishman Brendan Rodgers against his compatriot Neil LennonConfederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) president Victor Montagliani says the Gold Cup tournament will be expanded from 12 to 16 teams in its 2019 edition.
The competition, which started in 1991, currently has a format of 12 teams in three groups of four, but the confederation believes that the tournament can only be strengthened by including more teams to increase the number of games.
"That will expand in 2019. That's the plan right now," Montagliani said. "That will increase the number of participants from the Caribbean and also Central America. We haven't finalised what the platform will look like in terms of qualification, but, obviously, it's a step forward as we've seen. Look at this year. you have two new countries - CuraÁao and French Guiana. You've got Martinique. Trinidad's not in it, but they're in the World Cup Qualifying Hex. The quality is there to go to 16. there's no doubt."
The Canadian also spoke about a new tournament to be launched called the Nations League, but said it is still a work in progress.
"We're looking to establish a league of nations, where we have some consistency for our countries, where they can play on a more consistent basis," Montagliani said.
He added: "A lot of countries struggle getting friendlies, getting competitions. We've got some of our national teams, whether it be in the Caribbean or Central America or even in North America, like with Canada, where rather than playing 40 games in a four-ear period, which is every FIFA date, they play like single digits or 10. You're not gonna grow or develop that way, so this League of Nations concept is for everyone to play on a consistent basis and keep the dream alive to qualify for things like a Gold Cup or obviously a World Cup."
Montagliani also ruled out the idea of CONCACAF merging its FIFA World Cup qualification tournament with CONMEBOL's (The South American Football Confederation).
"That won't happen. Can CONCACAF AND CONMEBOL work on things together? Other tournaments and stuff like that? Absolutely! We are two specific confederations and so we'll have our World Cup qualification and they'll have theirs," he concluded.Last April, Kevin Durant, of the Oklahoma City Thunder, held a playoff postgame press conference in a blue long-sleeved shirt with tiny screen-window checks. It had a spread collar and was buttoned up to his neck. Durant’s attire was noteworthy for several reasons, the first of which was that for most people it wasn’t noteworthy at all. Once upon a time, NBA press conferences were no different from the press conferences of other sports. An athlete looked like he threw on whatever was handy, answered reporters’ questions, then went on with his night. Durant is a good example of how that’s changed: He also likes to meet the press wearing a backpack.
For the people who notice this sort of thing — and it must be said that the backpack is something you’re meant to notice — the change Durant encapsulates is both surreal and ironic. The bag is never removed, worn with the safety strap fastened, and rarely acknowledged, as if the affectation is actually just natural, as if Durant might be carrying actual homework. In the same way that there are people who never thought they’d see a black American president, there are also people who never thought they’d see a black basketball star dressed like a nerd.
Durant isn’t alone. In their tandem press conferences, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, of the Miami Heat, alternate impeccably tailored suits with cardigans over shirts and ties. They wear gingham and plaid and velvet, bow ties and sweater vests, suspenders, and thick black glasses they don’t need. Their colors conflict. Their patterns clash. Clothes that once stood as an open invitation to bullies looking for something to hang on the back of a bathroom door are what James now wears to rap alongside Lil Wayne. Clothes that once signified whiteness, squareness, suburbanness, sissyness, in the minds of some NBA players no longer do.
If you happen to be someone who looks at Durant, James, or Amar’e Stoudemire’s Foot Locker commercials — in which he stalks along a perilously lit basketball court wearing a letterman’s cardigan, a skinny tie, and giant black glasses (his are prescription) — and wonders how the NBA got this way, how it turned into Happy Days, you’re really wondering the same thing about the rest of mainstream black culture. When did everything turn upside down? Who relaxed the rules? Is it really safe to look like Carlton Banks?
It certainly appears that way.
Carlton Banks wore his polo shirts, khaki pants, and cardigans tighter than a young black kid would dare in 1990-anything. The joke was that he and his two sisters were culturally white, and the secret of Carlton is that he began to see himself the way both his hip-hop cousin, Will, and the show saw him; and as he began to gain a black consciousness (like when he discovered Public Enemy), he gradually came to resent the laughter.
Carlton was something new for TV. The Huxtables of The Cosby Show were upper-middle class. The Bankses were rich. And Americans weren’t used to seeing rich black kids, which is why we were asked to watch The Fresh Prince through the eyes of a poor black one, and, in his discombobulation, Will saw in the Bankses what an indigent black kid from West Philly might: cartoons. Turning Carlton and Hilary into jokes made success look silly. The story of black men on television in the 1980s was always lightly Dickensian — upward mobility in the hot air balloon of rich white guilt: Benson, Webster, Arnold, Willis. The Fresh Prince was the same formula but with intraracial chafing.
All the interesting comic tension of the show was in how long it would take until Will got Carlton to do something black. How long until he, say, wore a track suit or stopped dancing like Belinda Carlisle and started doing the running man. This, of course, is also what people spent Sammy Davis Jr.’s entire career hoping they’d see, that he’d replace the skin he’d seemed to shed, that he would change back. The tragedy of Davis is the triumph of Carlton: Neither did. You know who changed on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air? Will. Carlton got Will educated, enlightened, prep-schooled, and blazered. It’s only a mild overstatement to say that Carlton changed us, too.
There were other black nerds — the Derwin of De La Soul’s first album, the Poindexter mentioned in Young MC’s “Bust a Move,” Steve Urkel, Spike Lee’s Mars Blackmon — but Carlton was the most pernicious because he was with us the longest. At its best the Carlton character embodied things that gave some black people pause — enthusiasm, knowledge, diction, all that’s symbolized by a sweater wrapped around your shoulders. If you saw a little of yourself in Carlton or a schoolmate saw a little Carlton in you, you probably felt unlucky, since being a Carlton became synonymous with aspirational whiteness and selling out.
What’s most surreal about what LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are wearing is that the clothes are versions of what, in the late 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, got kids terrorized. Black youth culture was so steeped in hip-hop and monolithic ideas of what and who black people should and should not be that in order to incorporate a tie into your daily wardrobe, you had to walk a kangaroo court of Karl Kani hoodies and FUBU jeans. Black love once seemed more conditional than it does now. In 1991, Kanye West might have been too much of a weirdo to be a star.
But 21st-century blackness has lost its rigid center, and irony permeates the cultural membrane.
But 21st-century blackness has lost its rigid center, and irony permeates the cultural membrane. More than kids knowing they can be president of the United States, it might be more crucial to the expansion of black identity that — thanks to, say, N.E.R.D or Odd Future — they know they can be skate punks. Kanye West can release an album called The College Dropout, then run around the world dressed like an Oberlin junior. (The backpack craze was popularized by him.) West had done what 15 years of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Family Matters could not. He ushered in the chic of the black nerd. He cleared a safe space for narcissism and self-deconstruction; for singing rappers with names like Drake, J. Cole, and Tyler, The Creator; for the Roots to be Jimmy Fallon’s house band; for the threat in the music to move from the street to the psyche. Hip-hop had already begun to splinter into a land of a million mixtapes before West’s arrival. And with that shattering, black male style was transitioning away from Sean Combs’ “Puffy” era gilded age, with its plushness, flamboyance, glamour, and actionable danger.
If you were black, liked hip-hop, but also liked the confessional dimensions of the singer-songwriter, West was an alternative you could relate to, and you could see the change in NBA press conferences. Once upon a time — about two or three years ago — these same players greeted the press and stepped onto buses awash in big, creamy sweaters, roomy leather jackets, and substantially karated wristwear. Then, suddenly, that was switched for less urban, more meticulously groomed style. You can still find baggy denim shorts, long white T-shirts, sideways baseball caps, and platinum ropes with a diamond-encrusted crucifix. But it’s Allen Iverson in the time of Blake Griffin, Gucci Mane in the moment of Drake. These men aren’t dressing for A-T-L pool parties. But they’re not wearing the clothes of the streets, either. Durant and James and Stoudemire are wearing what black kids are wearing in the suburbs, where white kids’ belief that the racial grass is greener applies to black kids.
If there were a tagline for the change, it would have come from Jay-Z’s melodic admonition “Change Clothes”: “Y’all niggas acting way too tough / Throw a suit and get it tapered up.” So the big stars arrived at press conferences looking like the executive Jay-Z suspended his rap career to become, looking, well, like the president of the United States.
In a sense, the shift is also a snapshot of how stylists continue to remove Darwinism from sports style. There’s very little natural selection now. And yet, no matter who dressed him, it’s fun to see Amar’e Stoudemire, in those Foot Locker ads, walking past NBA aspirants as some kind of instructor, like he’s the Tim Gunn or RuPaul of the NBA. The cardigans and black frames, the backpacks and everything else: It’s all as overdetermined as what happens on Project Runway with Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj, and with the drag queens. “Nerd” is a kind of drag in which ballers are liberated to pretend to be someone else.
When David Stern imposed the league’s reductive dress code six years ago, all this role-playing, reinvention, and experimentation didn’t seem a likely outcome. We all feared Today’s Man. But the players — and the stylists — were being challenged to think creatively about dismantling Stern’s black-male stereotyping. The upside of all this intentionality is that these guys are trying stuff out to see what works. Which can be exciting. No sport has undergone such a radical shift of self-expression and self-understanding, wearing the clothes of both the boys it once mocked and the men it desires to be.
It’s not a complete transformation. Being Carlton wasn’t just code for nerd, it was code for gay, and the homophobia these clothes provoked still persists, even from their wearers. Once last year, Dwight Howard, of the Orlando Magic, wore a blue-and-black cardigan over a whitish tie and pink shirt to a press conference. When a male reporter told him it was a good color on him, instead of asking the reporter “Which color?,” Howard spent many seconds performing disgusted disbelief: Whoa, whoa. A moment like that demonstrated how hopelessly superficial all this style can be. The sport can change its clothes, but, even with Dan Savage looking over its shoulder, will it ever change its attitude? If Howard thinks compliments about his cardigan are gay, he probably shouldn’t wear one.
Still, something’s changed in a sport that used to be afraid of any deviations from normal. That fear allowed Dennis Rodman to thrive. Now Rodman just seems like a severe side effect of the league’s black-male monoculture. The Los Angeles Lakers officially recognize the man who was involved in one of the most notorious fights in sports history as “Metta World Peace.” Baron Davis, of the Cleveland Cavaliers, spent the summer in a lockout beard that made him look like a Fort Greene lumberjack. And Kevin Durant wears a safety-strapped backpack. If Stern was hoping to restore a sense of normalcy to the NBA, he only exploded it. There no longer is a normal.
Wesley Morris is a contributing writer to Grantland. He reviews movies for the Boston Globe and tweets at the address @wesley_morris.
Previously from Wesley Morris:
The Worst-Dressed Men in Baseball
Michael Vick Style
On Brady’s Hair
Terrible Terrapins
The Sportstorialist: The Women’s Golf Disaster
Roger Clemens Gets Old-Time Religion
The Sportstorialist: Djokovic, Jeter, and Fowler
The Sportstorialist: On Draft Style
To comment on this story through Facebook, click here.The big news from yesterday (still settling in across Washington) is that President Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates teamed up to propose a sweeping overhaul of the defense budget–calling for the elimination of unnecessary systems and spending the savings on special forces, intelligence equipment, and other tools of counterinsurgent warfare.
In other words, by retooling the Pentagon, Obama and Gates plan to move a lot of money around, but they also plan to increase the overall defense budget. In the final year of the Bush administration (and excluding the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan) the defense budget was $513 billion. In FY 2010, if Gates and Obama get their way, it will be $534 billion–$534 billion that will be spent much differently than last year’s outlays were.
But you’d never know that from the news coverage.
Here’s how Politico reports it:
Now that Defense Secretary Robert Gates has rolled out major cuts to some of the Pentagon’s largest weapons systems, the decision to accept or reject those changes falls on Congress…. With all the advance speculation about Gates’ cuts, Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, has already put forward a few recommendations of his own…. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and other influential members of Congress are lining up for their turn to swing the budget ax. They may not have a lot of sway with two wars under way. But the group’s strong demand to reduce spending could lay the groundwork for cuts in years to come, particularly as U.S. troops begin to redeploy home from Iraq. Frank has been adamant in pushing for deep reductions, calling for a $100 billion cut by ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Frank estimates he could whack another $60 billion from Defense…. On the other end, a number of pro-military Democrats — particularly those on the Armed Services committees — are not expected to push as hard for cuts to defense while the nation is still fighting wars. But Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services
Committee, and Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, an Army veteran and member of both the Armed Services and Appropriations committees, may be receptive to cutting deals instead of budgets. McCain, the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee, has aligned with the chairman to co-sponsor an acquisition reform bill…. But don’t take that to mean McCain wants to cut to the bone. He remains an advocate for robust defense spending.
If you’re noticing a pattern here, you’re not alone.
By the same token, here’s Time reporting “deep cuts to some big weapons programs” with a link to this Associated Press article, which pulls a Politico of its own:
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is proposing deep cuts to some big weapons programs such as the F-22 fighter jet as the Pentagon takes a hard look at how it spends money. Gates announced a broad range of cuts Monday to weapons spending, saying he plans to cut programs ranging from a new helicopter for the president to ending production of the $140 billion F-22 fighter jet. The Army’s modernization program would be scaled back, while a new satellite system and a search-and-rescue helicopter would be cut. Gates says his budget will “profoundly reform” the way the Pentagon buys weapons and does business. To fight new threats from insurgents, Gates is proposing more funding for special forces and other tools.
Kudos to the AP for that last line, but nowhere does the article mention that the defense budget is increasing. Whether you agree with the increase or not, that’s what’s happening. Not a cut.
We’ll keep our eye out for more examples of this sort of thing–the media is pretty well trained to paint anything other than major spending increases on the same old Pentagon programs as “budget cuts”. So it could be a busy day.
Late update: The Wall Street Journal gets it right.The video will start in 8 Cancel
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A teacher who claimed he was attacked by a knife-wielding man who shouted pro-ISIS remarks has admitted making up the story, it has been reported.
The nursery school teacher said he had been slashed in front of the Jean Perrin nursery school in the northern Paris suburb of Aubervilliers earlier today.
The teacher claimed his attacker shouted: "That's for Daesh, this is a warning" as he cut his throat.
However, it appears the man now invented the whole story, the French prosecutor announced this afternoon.
(Image: REUTERS)
The 45-year-old claimed to have been stabbed several times around 7am before morning classes by a man wearing gloves and white overalls.
Read more: Paris teacher stabbed in 'ISIS-inspired assault': Victim knifed by hooded attacker in primary school
He said his alleged attacker was unarmed but used makeshift weapons he found in the school including scissors and a box cutter.
According to French broadcasters TF1, the teacher has now admitted to stabbing himself.
An official source, who also confirmed the man has mutilated himself, told L'Express: "A new investigation is underway to determine why he was driven to lie. It is too early to say.
"The fact that he said the aggressor came with empty hands and used a pair of scissors he had found in the classroom was very troubling."
A prosecuting source confirmed that wasting police time was a criminal offence which could result in prosecution.
There are also strict anti-discrimination laws in France, which aim to try and stop people stigmatising minority groups, including Muslims.
The source added the personality of the teacher would be investigated to discover why he might have made the story up and he may be prosecuted for wasting police time.
Before the latest revelations, police had opened a case of attempted murder related to a terrorist organisation.
In the hours after the attack the Education minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem described it as "very serious" and said: "We will strengthen security around this institution and elsewhere."
Ms Vallaud-Belkacem also tweeted: "All my support to the teacher attacked in a school in Aubervilliers, and all the staff. We are by their side."
She took the step of going down to the school on Monday morning.
(Image: REUTERS)
The November edition of Dar-al-Islam, IS’s French language magazine, called on followers to ‘kill teachers’, saying they were the ‘enemies of Allah’ and ‘in open conflict against the Muslim family’.
There have been dubious reports about ‘Islamic terrorism’ in France that turn out to be anything but.
They are often used for propaganda purposes, to try and make out that people are in constant danger from a homegrown ‘enemy within’.
The latest alleged incident comes a month after gunmen and suicide bombers killed 130 people in Paris an attack claimed by Islamic State.
Several of the perpetrators were later killed in a firefight with police in the same suburb as today's attack, Saint-Denis.
(Image: Google)
Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 28, was among a group of terrorists found holed up in the rundown apartment just a few kilometres from the primary school.
Three suspects including IS operative Abaaoud and his cousin Hasna Aitboulahcen were killed when police commandos raided the flat.Oh graphene! The cheap, easy-to-manufacture one-atom-thick sheet of carbon can add yet another weird, fantastical, and possibly life-changing ability to its list of characteristics: it has an incredibly sensitive thermoelectric response to light. In layman’s terms: graphene, when struck by light of almost any wavelength, can produce an electric current.
The discovery was made by a team of researchers from MIT in the US and the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan. A sheet of graphene was treated so that it had two regions with different electrical properties (a p-n junction). Then, by shining an 850nm infrared laser on the material a temperature difference between the two regions is created, and an electrical current flows. This effect is caused by a hot carrier response, where the electrons gain enough energy to move, but the underlying lattice of carbon stays cool.
Now, this is significant because a hot carrier response has only ever been observed in materials that are reduced to (almost) absolute zero, or when an intensely powerful laser is used to heat the material. Graphene’s hot carrier response occurs at room temperature and across a wide range of frequencies, and — most importantly — it only requires a very weak source of light to trigger the effect.
Since its discovery in 2004 (by pulling a thin layer off a piece of pencil graphite using sticky tape) a host of unique electronic, mechanic, and optic properties have led graphene to be dubbed a “wonder material” — and in this new discovery, all three of these spheres overlap to produce an effect that could revolutionize solar power, medicine, astronomy, photography, defense, and more.
It should be stressed that this is just a preliminary discovery, and so it’s hard to divine what the ultimate applications might be, but we can definitely do some educated guesstimating. First, this thermoelectric effect could be used in solar panels. Current photovoltaic panels based on silicon technology are only sensitive to a fraction of the sun’s emitted wavelengths — a graphene solar panel could be cheaper to make and more efficient. In biology, this effect could be used to detect disease and toxin molecules, many of which emit a small amount of light when illuminated from an outside source.
In astronomy and photography, graphene could be used as a highly-sensitive photodetector that works across a huge swath of the spectrum, including infrared which many sensors struggle with. The same tech could be applied to night-vision goggles for military use — and of course, in almost every case listed above, graphene would be a cheaper alternative to the current solutions.
All this, from a material that was only isolated a few years ago! In the long run, we really don’t know the full extent of what graphene-based technologies will enable us to do; it will probably be all of the above and then some.
Read more about graphene, or about MIT’s discovery
[Image credit: University of Manchester]Seven minutes. It’s not often we run across a time-lapse that lasts seven minutes, and even less often we actually watch the whole thing, slack-jawed, from start to finish. That, however, is what happened with photographer Roy Two Thousand‘s most recent creation: Lake of Dreams.
As breathtaking in its cinematography as you might ever hope to see from the time-lapse genre, Roy Two Thousand and second shooters August Winkelman and Connor McNeill didn’t actually limit themselves to a strict time-lapse or hyperlapse in a strict flow.
The movement of the piece ebbs and flows, from slow motion to time-lapse, from people to landscapes, from lightning storms to star trails, all in perfect harmony with the music.
Like the Barcelona and Enter Pyongyang ‘flow-motion’ time-lapses by JT Singh and Rob Whitworth, this creation seems to stand head and shoulders above the rest of the genre.
Give the video a look for yourself above to see if you agree, and then check out more of Roy Two Thousand’s work by heading over to his website or Vimeo profile.
(via DIY Photography)Revealed: Radical cleric Bakri's pole-dancer daughter
As the daughter of firebrand cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed, Yasmin Fostok might be expected to share his fanatical beliefs.
But the radical Muslim's daughter has ditched his extreme interpretation of Islam - as well as most of her clothing.
The busty blonde has been revealed as a topless, tattooed pole dancer.
Raunchy: Radical Muslim cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed's daughter Yasmin Fostok is a topless, tattooed pole-dancer
The 26-year-old single mother has been displaying her charms in London clubs and touring as a 'podium' dancer with a troupe called Ibiza Untouched.
Hundreds of youngsters go wild over the daughter of the preacher of hate who rants against Western 'depravity'.
Yasmin shrugged off the secret life that her father would abhor. 'I don't agree with his views - I just get on with my life and that's it,' she said.
Parents: Radical Muslim Omar Bakri Mohammed and his wife Hanan Fostok
Perhaps predictably Bakri, now exiled to Lebanon, dismissed the news as a'fabrication' and described it as an attack on him and Islam.
'The more you put pressure on me, the stronger I become. Islam will conquer Britain,' he said.
Galmour girl: Yasmin Fostok in Catford yesterday; she grew up a devout Muslim and wore a veil in her teens
'I have not seen my daughter for nine years, but because she is a member of my family people want to make things up about her.
'You are going to pay a heavy price. You can read it any way you like. The time is now.'
Bakri, who said the British people brought the 7/7 outrages on themselves and praised the'magnificent' September 11 hijackers, raised his six children on benefits totalling £300,000, and his daughter is following suit.
She lives with her three-year-old son in a ground-floor flat in Catford, South East London. Her rent and council tax are paid by the state and she receives child benefit and income support.
She grew up a devout Muslim and in her teens wore a veil. She left school in Enfield at 16 after her parents arranged a marriage to a Turk but the couple separated.
She told The Sun: 'I've done pole dancing, but I like to keep it quiet.
'I don't normally do topless work, but I'm willing to go topless if the venue is right.'
She said she did not get on with her father. 'His views are nothing to do with me,' she added. 'I am an adult, my own person. I do my business and he does his.'
One friend told the newspaper: 'Bakri would have a heart attack if he saw his daughter on stage.
'She was brought up a strict Muslim and had all of his extreme teachings about morality drummed into her head.
'But she has been leading a wild double life thrashing about on stage in pole dancing clubs and drinking and partying like there's no tomorrow.'
Bakri initially reacted with horror when confronted with Yasmin's lifestyle. 'If this is true I am deeply shocked,' he said. 'She was brought up properly in the Muslim faith, but she is free to make her own choices in life.
'I have no control over her because as far as I know she is still married. Her behaviour should be the responsibility of her husband.'
Syrian-born Bakri, whose leave to remain in Britain was revoked after the 7/7 London attacks, changed his tune and claimed: 'I have no daughter doing anything like this - all my children are practising Muslims.
'I spoke to my daughter. She told me it was all lies.' The 'Tottenham Ayatollah' then claimed the story was part of a plot to get back at him after police were forced by a judge to hand back £14,000 in cash they confiscated from his son Abdul.
'They are using members of my family to get back at me, because I have won. They are jealous because my son Abdul has got back the money that the police stole from him.
'Islam has prevailed and you are defeated. The lowest people on earth are non-Muslims and that is why we have to put up with these fabrications and lies.'
Miss Fostok was keeping a low profile yesterday at her dingy flat on the busy South Circular Road.
Police spent half an hour there and later said they were advising her on security.
They would not comment on whether she had received threats from religious fundamentalists.
One neighbour said: 'She's a very quiet girl, a good girl. I see her most days with her little boy and she seems like a very good mum.
'She doesn't smoke or drink so I'm surprised to learn that she has been pole dancing in clubs.'
Early years: Yasmin, pictured far right with father Omar Bakri, and brothers Mohammed and Abdul, admits |
knows they are good, and it is just taking the world longer to catch on. In this sense I thank you for booing because you have served as a steppingstone for a strong performer to get even stronger.
And I also realize that those of you who booed have probably been spoken down to consistently by your parents, your teachers, your bosses, your older siblings, older kids, etc.I know that shit is frustrating and it probably feels good to take it out on someone who has confidence you wish you had. But the truth is we are all here together. One of us is here because all of us are here. If you don’t respect other peoples feelings you can’t expect to ever have others respect your feelings. As long as you attempt to humiliate someone who is opening up to you, you will never have the courage to truly open up to others.
I knew there was a chance that Mickey would get booed by those of you who resent what isn’t familiar, and I also knew that he is of strong enough character to stand up to it, and perform as great as he does in a club in L.A. where people absolutely love and adore him. There is very little I admire more than that ability, which last night he clearly showed he has. A strong sense of self is what we all want, and so we should respect those who have it. Whether we like what they are doing is beside the point. If I see a performer who I think is terrible, my heart bleeds for them. The thought of trying to humiliate them is unthinkable.
I am very grateful to be able to share the music that comes through me and my band with each and every person who attends our shows. It means a great deal to me. But when I see that some members of my audience enjoy hurting others, I must speak up and say what I feel is right. If you are using the arena we all rented together to attempt to hurt a mans feelings, I must use the microphone to get across that that is not why
we are gathered there.
Thank you to all of you, including you who booed, and I honestly hope you got something out of the experience. I hope you who booed someday have the beginnings of true confidence, whereby you derive no pleasure from humiliating others, and can then have the courage to open up to the world and be yourself unashamedly.
What we share with music is a celebration of the infinite possibilites the universe has to offer. I love all who share in this celebration with us. I recommend that you use the experience to inspire you to be yourself, and to let it all hang out. What the fuck do you think is so cool about Flea and Anthony in the first place? Or Jimi Hendrix or David Bowie? Or Little Richard? They waved their freak flag high! We should all follow their lead! Have respect for those who do this(whether they’re famous or not)and you will develop the courage to do this yourself. Everyone of you is a star. Its just hiding inside of some of you. That part of you will come out if you treat others as you would like to be treated, and when you can’t find it in yourself to do so, if you just leave others alone.
All of you who we play to have given me so much and I write this in hopes that I can give help to some of you(who were clearly the minority) where you clearly showed yourself to be in need of help. If people try to push you down, don’t conform to their bullshit. Stand up to it, with courage. Make ‘em threaten you with death before you even consider backing down. Be how you want to be. Fuck’em. Then you will develop inner character whereby you would always support those who have the guts to be themselves openly, for you would know that you and they are on the same team. We are actually all on the same team but some of us seem to know that and others do not. Thanks especially to the majority of you, who opened up to MA.I know he’s different. It always takes a second for us to comprehend things that are unfamiliar.
Lots of love to all of you. That’s what this is all about.
Love,
John Frusciante
PS. I know I don’t know you personally and couldn’t possibly know if you only buy and listen to what your force fed. I was so mad last night, when Fleas mention of MA received some boos, that my words were led by my emotions, and I am not used to verbally speaking to large crowds. I wrote this letter to make my position clear. Thank you for hearing me out.St. Louis
In the shadow of the largest brewery in Anheuser-Busch InBev's multinational Budweiser empire, St. Louis's tiny craft breweries are the ones churning out the Gateway City's most flavorful beers. At last count, a dozen breweries and brewpubs were operating within 40 minutes of downtown, and two new production breweries are poised to open by this summer. All of them will get together in June for the annual Brewers Heritage Festival in Forest Park, which includes beers from A-B and local craft breweries as well as the area's most talented home-brewers. In-the-know beer lovers, meanwhile, flock to the Schlafly Tap Room, where the St. Louis Brewery puts its freshest beers on draft (cask-conditioned American Pale Ale is a perfect match for the city's best fish and chips). Two International Tap House locations are all about beer, including 50 on draft and hundreds more in bottles (there's no food, but customers are free to bring in their own eats or order delivery). This Bud's for you? Not anymore.Gorter responds with radical criticism to the reformist programme advocated by Lenin - i.e., for European communists to work within their Parliaments and existing unions.
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OPEN LETTER TO COMRADE LENIN
( by Herman Gorter - 1921 )
INTRODUCTION by WILDCAT
The current period is one in which Communism is supposed to be bankrupt. The recent events in China and the open acceptance of market economics and political democracy by most of Eastern Europe are used by the Western media to convince us that the epoch of communism, which they say began with the Russian revolution of October 1917, is coming to an end.
Yet, shortly after that event critics had already begun to doubt the communist credentials of the new rulers of Russia. From 1921 especially, tendencies emerged which saw the social systems of Russia, and later the rest of Eastern Europe, China, etc., as another form of capitalism. Herman Gorter belonged to one such tendency, the German Communist Left. For all its errors, his Open Letter is a communist pamphlet. And its target is unequivocally capitalist.
This is the full text of one the the landmark texts of the Communist Left: Herman Gorter's Open Letter To Comrade Lenin. Dirt-cheap copies of Lenin's notorious diatribe against the Communist Left, "Left-Wing" Communism, an Infantile Disorder, have been churned out by the ton by the state presses of Moscow and Peking, whereas Gorter's methodical destruction of Lenin's arguments has languished in near-total obscurity, at least to the English-speaking world, for nearly seventy years. Its reappearance is long overdue. The Open Letter was published in French by Spartacus, Paris, in 1979.
The original Russian text of Lenin's pamphlet was dated April- May 1920, and during the next few months it was published in various other languages. The chapter on '"Left-Wing" Communism in England', for example, appeared in the Workers Dreadnought, published in London, at the end of July 1920. The Dreadnought, a weekly newspaper edited by Sylvia Pankhurst, was one of the principal mouthpieces of the "Left" or "Anti-Parliamentary" Communists in Britain, and was thus one of the main targets of Lenin's attack. Gorter wrote his reply to Lenin during July or August 1920, and two extracts from the opening sections of the resulting Open Letter to Comrade Lenin appeared in the Dreadnought in September and October. It was not until the following year, however, that the Dreadnought published the whole of Gorter's reply, in eleven installments between 12 March and 11 June 1921. It is this version of the Open Letter which is being published here. We have made a few minor improvements to the translation, otherwise it is the original. Foot notes in the original have been rendered as end notes after each of the four sections.
The context of Lenin's pamphlet was, on the surface, the forthcoming Second Congress of the Third (Communist) International. The founding Congress of the International in March 1919 had been a hurriedly-convened affair. Only one "bona fide" foreign delegate, from the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) had managed to attend; the other foreign delegates were mostly emigres who happened to be in Russia at the time and found themselves acting as "representatives" of the communist parties of their respective countries of origin - parties which in some cases had not yet even been formed. This is not to deny the immense significance of the event. The Third International promised to be a revolutionary replacement for the blood stained Second International, most of whose member parties had supported the first world war. All revolutionaries at the time enthusiastically welcomed the new International. The Second Congress promised to be a much better attended event, and hence an important opportunity for the Bolsheviks to try to make their politics the International's.
In "Left-Wing" Communism Lenin addressed most of the crucial issues which were then being debated within and among the various revolutionary groups in Western Europe. If the gist of his arguments sounds familiar, this is because the tactics which Lenin prescribed are still peddled in more or less the same guise by many of the left wing groups around today... Communists must not refuse to work within the reactionary trade unions, but must work "wherever the masses are to be found". It was "obligatory" for communists to participate in parliamentary elections, and if possible enter Parliament itself, "for the purpose of awakening and enlightening the undeveloped, downtrodden, ignorant peasant masses". The communist party in Britain was instructed to offer an electoral alliance to the Labour Party, or if this was rejected, to "urge the electors to vote for the Labour candidate against the bourgeois candidate", in order to "help the masses of the workers to see the results" of a Labour Government. This experience was expected to "bring the masses over" to the side of the communists. Lenin supported the KPD's policy in Germany to "abandon all attempts at a violent overthrow" of the state there if a Social-Democratic government "which enjoys the confidence of a majority of the urban workers" came to power [Lenin, "Left-Wing" Communism, an Infantile Disorder, Progress Publishers 1950, p94]. He criticised some aspects of the policy but accepted both "its basic premise and its practical conclusions" [p93].
In passing, it should be noted how successful Lenin was in defending his political arguments to the delegates who travelled to Russia from far and wide to attend the Second Congress. Every "Thesis" presented to and approved by the Congress, including the central twenty-one "Conditions of Admission to the International", resounded with phrases plucked straight from the pages of Lenin's pamphlet. Only an obstinate minority - notably the tendency to which Gorter belonged - withstood the prestige that the Bolsheviks derived from October 1917: few then disputed that they were the leaders of the first successful proletarian revolution in history. This blinded most militants to the absurdity of such passages as:
"You must not sink to the level of the masses, to the level of the backward strata of the class. That is incontestible. You must tell them the bitter truth. You are in duty bound to call their bourgeois- democratic and parliamentary prejudices what they are -prejudices. But at the same time you must soberly follow the actual state of the class- consciousness and preparedness of the entire class (not only of its communist vanguard), and of all the working people (not only of their advanced elements)." [p43].
Obviously, you cannot both tell workers the bitter truth and at the same time follow their prejudices. In practice, Lenin's followers encourage faith in democracy, parliament, trade unions, left wing parties, and all the other reactionary things they think workers believe in in order to remain "with the masses".
Lenin's obsession with influencing and winning over "the masses", plainly evident in the sentences quoted above and also throughout the rest of "Left-Wing" Communism, provides a clue to the underlying aim of his attack on the Communist Left. At the time he was writing, the light at the end of the tunnel of the Bolsheviks' struggle against their internal and external enemies appeared to be dawning. On the other hand, the prospects were looking decidedly less bright for the spread of Bolshevik revolutions to Western Europe. The central organs of the Bolshevik Party and the Soviets had made their peace with capitalism in Russia and were now actively engaged in imposing it on the working class. The survival of the isolated Russian state depended on restoring normal relations with its bourgeois counterparts elsewhere in Europe. One way of trying to achieve this was to create mass movements in these countries, which could exert strong pressure to influence the policies of "their own" governments in Russia's favour. As Lenin made clear on several occasions in "Left- Wing" Communism, the perspectives of the Communist Left seemed to him one of the principal obstacles in the path of the this strategy; quite simply, they had to be swept out of the way.
The object at the basis of "Left-Wing" Communism soon became obvious in the statements of the Third International. For example, this organisation, which in the Invitation to its First Congress had spoken of "subordinating the interests of the movement in each country to the common interest of the international revolution", was by the time of its Third Congress (June-July 1921) demanding that its adherents must "fight energetically to clear away all the obstacles which the capitalist states place in the way of Soviet Russian trade on the world market".
In his Open Letter Gorter occasionally hints at some awareness of the transformation of the International into a tool of Russian state foreign policy, especially at one point towards the end where he describes how he and his comrades had tried to figure out some of the possible reasons behind Lenin's tactics:
"The one said: the economic condition of Russia is so bad, that, above all, it needs peace. For that reason Comrade Lenin wants to gather around him as much power as possible: the Independents, Labour Party, etc., that they may help him to obtain peace."
For the most part, however, Gorter took Lenin's pamphlet at face value, as a dangerously misguided but nonetheless serious proposal of tactics to be adopted by the Western European revolutionary movement. Although he often succeeded in defeating Lenin's arguments, the assumption that this is a fraternal debate within the revolutionary movement gave far too much credit to his opponent. The word "Comrade" in the title is the first of Gorter's many mistakes.
In "Left-Wing" Communism Lenin repeatedly attributed the "mistakes" of the Left Communists to their supposed youthfulness and inexperience - hence his characterisation of Left Wing Communism as an "infantile disorder" to be cured by a stern telling off from the Big Daddy of Bolshevism. Yet this description in no way fits the author of the Open Letter. Gorter, born in 1864, six years before Lenin, was already an experienced militant and theoretician with a lengthy record of involvement in the Dutch and German socialist movements. Within these movements had appeared the earliest and clearest critics of international Social Democracy. Likewise, Lenin's gibe that the Left Wing Communists "argue like doctrinaire revolutionaries who have never taken part in a real revolution" was also misleading, since Gorter's involvement in the German revolution of 1918 onwards was one of the strongest foundations on which his politics were built.
Gorter started immediately by taking issue with the opening premise of "Left-Wing" Communism. Lenin had asserted "the historical inevitability of a repetition on an international scale of what has taken place here" (i.e. in Russia), and had sought to "apply to Western Europe whatever is of general application, general validity and is generally binding in the history and the present tactics of Bolshevism". Gorter, on the other hand, constantly stressed the contrasts between Russia and Western Europe, to defend his view that whilst the Bolshevik revolution was appropriate for Russia, it would not necessarily work in the West.
In Russia, Gorter argued, the working class was able to count on having the large peasantry on its side in forging a movement which overthrew a weak and faction ridden ruling class. In Western Europe, on the other hand, the working class faced a strong and united ruling class, and could rely on the support of no other classes but itself. All tactics of the revolutionary movement should procede from this reality, about which Lenin, Gorter maintained, was disastrously ill-informed.
Against the powerful ruling class in Western Europe, Gorter continued, the only strengths which will bring victory to the working class are its weight of numbers, its unity, and its revolutionary consciousness. It is necessary for the vast majority of the working class to become active and class conscious fighters for communism. Depending on a majority of the working class becoming class conscious communists before the insurrection would simply put it off indefinitely. But the long term success of the revolution requires this.
Despite the emphasis on working class self-activity, though, Gorter still wrote as if he saw communist revolution in terms of creating a new government. In Russia this could be achieved by means of a handful of leaders, a few thousand followers with guns and a lot of passive support. In Western Europe it would be more difficult, requiring the participation of masses of workers. "To triumph over so many, with so few, is in the first place a matter of tactics", Gorter says of the Russian Revolution, speaking of Lenin and the Bolsheviks as Winston Churchill was later to speak of the Royal Air Force.
There are sound reasons for Gorter's seeming obsession with the question of leaders. Decades of parliamentarism had given many West European workers the idea that you can create socialism by electing party leaders to parliament, who will then create socialism from above. The communist revolution is completely unlike this. The permanent mobilisation of many millions of proletarians is necessary even to make a start on the process of replacing the state, wage labour and the market with the human community.
For this reason, Gorter attacked Lenin's idea that communists should participate in parliamentary activity. The deep rooted strength of parliamentary ideology, and especially its tendency to encourage passive reliance on leaders, can only begin to be combatted by revolutionaries if they take up a position of clear cut abstention from and hostility to parliament.
To fight capitalism and carry through the revolution, Gorter argued, the working class cannot rely on the trade unions, which have already amply demonstrated their counter- revolutionary role, but must create new organisations of its own, in which it can keep control of the struggle. Here Gorter made it clear that he had in mind bodies like the "Factory Organisations" created by the most radical industrial workers during the German revolution, which at their height were united in the 200,000 strong AAUD (General Workers Union of Germany), and which Gorter believed could be forerunners of the Soviets or Workers' Councils which had been central to the working class seizure of power in Russia. His defence of the Factory Organisations assumes that factory workers are inherently more revolutionary than the rest of the proletariat. This was a common point of view amongst revolutionaries of the time. A later text by Gorter (The Organisation of the Proletariat's Class Struggle, published in 1921) exemplifies the German Left's glorification of life on the shop floor. Today we reject this idea.
Gorter defends a rather contradictory position on trade unions. On the one hand, he argues that trade unions are inherently anti-working class because of their structure. On the other, he argues that they are too weak to fight capitalism. But the reason they don't fight capitalism is not because they are too weak to do so, but because their very existence depends on the continued health of capitalism. Thus they seek to preserve it by sabotaging the one thing which can destroy it - the struggle of the working class. Unions are not reactionary because of their structure but because of their role in capitalist society. This role is negotiating the rate of exploitation and getting workers to accept it. Unions are hierarchical for the same reason that any capitalist business of any size tends to be hierarchical, the need to con and coerce the "members" into acting against their interests as proletarians. By presenting the AAUD (General Workers' Union of Germany) largely as an alternative structure to the unions Gorter is ignoring its most subversive characteristics. Its primary difference with the trade unions was not its revocable delegate structure. It existed to prepare for revolution, it did not negotiate with the bosses, and it did not regroup workers on the basis of belonging to a particular trade or industry, but on the basis of their willingness to fight for the dictatorship of the proletariat. Throughout the section on the trade unions Gorter seems to be implying that the ability of workers to recall delegates at short notice is inherently revolutionary. This is a reactionary position. We do not just judge a movement by how it makes decisions but by what those decisions are, by the content of the movement.
We have more sympathy with Gorter's views on the nature and role of the revolutionary party. Since their task is to help bring about a situation where the working class as a whole is able to overthrow capitalism and exercise its own dictatorship, communists must organise themselves on the basis of absolute clarity and intransigent defence of communist principles. This ruled out, for the time being, the mass organisations which Lenin wanted.
Gorter was not simply advocating a party which led by having the best ideas. Against the social democratic tradition, his party took the lead through action :
"They see our strikes, our street fights, our councils. They hear our watchwords. They see our lead. This is the best propaganda, the most convincing."
Gorter's analysis of the Russian revolution is erroneous in two respects. First, it assumes that the Bolsheviks' policies were correct for the Russian revolution. He goes as far as saying that "the liberation of the workers must be the work of the workers themselves" is more true of Germany than it is of Russia!
Second, it argues that there is a qualitative difference between the needs of the proletarian revolution in Russia and in the West. Compounding this error, many Left Communists concluded that Russia was not ripe for revolution, that it was too backward. This is a nationalistic approach. In places, Gorter's concern to emphasise the differences between Asia, Eastern and Western Europe seriously corrode his internationalism, for example where he imagines the Russian proletariat saying to its Indian counterpart: "Our country is far more developed than yours". But then as now, the needs of the revolution in any one country were dependent on those of the world revolution.
Those involved in the Russian revolution saw it as the first stage in a World Revolution which would bring socialism to all the world's countries, undeveloped or otherwise. Petrograd was a link in a chain of industrial cities stretching to Berlin and Glasgow. The Petrograd working class was hardly backward, either politically or in terms of numerical concentration. True, it was surrounded by a sea of peasants, but so was Amsterdam if one looks beyond national boundaries. What went wrong in Russia had little to do with national particularities. Immediately after forming a government, the Bolsheviks, with the support of the main Soviets, and some of the established capitalists, started to run capitalism, i.e. exploitation through wage labour.
This is not to suggest they would necessarily have succeeded even if they had tried to create communism. But the prevailing Bolshevik view on what communism is (state capitalism made to serve the people) meant they had no chance of building real communism.
Another error is Gorter's attitude to the debate on tactics. Whatever his intentions, what Lenin was advocating was objectively counter-revolutionary. Gorter did not see it that way. To him the Open Letter was part of a fraternal debate between comrades who belonged fundamentally to the same movement. Had not Lenin been one of the first and clearest revolutionaries to break with the chauvinists of the Second International, along with Gorter and the German communists, calling on the working class to turn the imperialist war into a revolutionary civil war of class against class? Whatever his role during the first world war, the publication of "Left- Wing" Communism shows Lenin was no longer revolutionary. Accepting the label "Left Communists" implies that the Bolsheviks were part of the communist movement, and Gorter and his comrades were the left of it.
In the pages of "Left-Wing" Communism alone, the situation in Russia two and a half years since the insurrection is unwittingly damned often enough by Lenin's own words for a reader as sharply critical as Gorter. To take a single example, at one point Lenin argued that in Russia the trade unions were "and will long remain" a necessary means for "gradually transferring the management of the whole economy of the country to the hands of the working class (and not of the separate trades), and later to the hands of all the toilers". Which begs the question, if two and a half years after the revolution, the management of the whole economy was not already in the hands of the working class, in whose hands was it? The answer was, of course, that the management of the Russian economy was in the hands of the Bolshevik party, now part of the ruling class. In the Open Letter, it does not seem to have occurred to Gorter to ask the sort of questions which might have led to this conclusion.
Although the Open Letter neither characterises the Bolshevik party nor Russia as capitalist, Gorter's tendency was among the first to do so.
In the Open Letter (1920) he describes Lenin's politics as "opportunist". In 1921 he wrote of the Third International, which had adopted these politics:
"it is actually in tow to the international bourgeoisie" (Why We Need The Communist Workers' International).
And he went on:
"The more Russia develops towards capitalism, the more apparent will be the bourgeois character of the Third International".
The change in Gorter's position was mainly brought about by the conflict between the Third International and the organisation to which Gorter belonged, the Communist Workers' Party of Germany (KAPD). The KAPD had been formed in April 1920, as its revolutionary politics proved incompatible with the reactionary social democratic ideas of the "Spartacist" leaders of the KPD. The Third International tolerated two German Communist parties until its third Congress in June-July 1921, when the KAPD was told it must either reunite with the KPD or be expelled from the International. It didn't, and was. Uniting with the KPD would have meant dissolving the communist vanguard into a party which supported trade unions, parliament, and the social democratic parties. The KPD was not a revolutionary party, as its abandonment of the overthrow of the bourgeois state with a social democratic government shows. Luxemburg's followers had learned nothing from her assassination.
The KAPD's response was to issue a "Manifesto of the Fourth Communist International". This has nothing in common with Trotsky's attempt to set up a Fourth International - except in that they were both unsuccessful. Like the Open Letter, the Manifesto was published in the Workers' Dreadnought, during October-December 1921. Reviewing the course of events in Russia since 1917, the Manifesto observed that "the proletarian Russia of the Red October begins to become a bourgeois state". Taking his cue from the "Theses on Tactics" adopted by the Third International in July 1921, which had described "unconditional support of Soviet Russia" as "the cardinal duty of the communists in all countries", Gorter concluded that:
"The Third Congress of the Third International has definitely and indissolubly linked the fate of the Third International to present Soviet Russia, that is to say, to a bourgeois state. It has made the interests of the world proletarian revolution subordinate to the interests of the bourgeois revolution of one single country... The revolutionary proletariat of the whole world is today engaged in the struggle against the always- more-firmly-uniting international bourgeoisie, without possessing an international fighting organisation that will represent, determinedly and unbendingly, the interests of the proletarian revolution."
Hence the KAPD's call for a new International.
Russia was never communist. Gorter and other Left Communists began the task of exposing the great lie of the century. It is not communism which is in crisis, but capitalism and its Leninist parties.
In 1922, the Third International formally announced the policy of the "United Front" with the social democratic parties. Gorter dispensed with diplomatic niceties:
"The "United Front" of these Internationals is a united front with capitalism.
That is why the Bolshevik Party and the Third International have become completely counter- revolutionary organisations, which are betraying the proletarian cause". (Lines of Orientation of the Communist Workers' International, 1922).
Despite its undeniable errors, some of which we have briefly dealt with, the German Communist Left was a major contributor to some of the main tenets of the communist politics of today (1).
The counter-revolution and its Leninist thought police has tried to obliterate Gorter, the KAPD and the struggle for a revolutionary International. The republication of this text is part of that continuing struggle.
Wildcat, September 1989.
1. To some extent, Gorter's arguments have contributed to the emergence of the ideology known as "Councilism", whose basic positions can be roughly summarised as follows:
i) The Russian Revolution was inevitably capitalist due to the undeveloped nature of the country.
ii) All political organisations are reactionary.
iii) Elected workers' councils are the only organisations which can defend the interests of the working class.
But it was by no means inevitable that Gorter's views should have suffered from these distortions at the hands of the counter-revolution.
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I wish to draw your attention, Comrade Lenin, and that of the reader, to the fact that this letter was written at the time of the triumphant march of the Russians to Warsaw.
I likewise request you, and the reader, to excuse the frequent repetitions. They were unavoidable, owing to the fact that the tactics of the "Lefts" are still unknown to the workers of most countries.
I
INTRODUCTION
Dear Comrade Lenin,
I have read your brochure on the Radicalism in the Communist movement. It has taught me a great deal, as all your writings have done. For this I feel grateful to you, and doubtless many other comrades feel as I do. Many a trace, and many a germ of this infant disease, to which without a doubt, I also am a victim, has been chased away by your brochure, or will yet be eradicated by it. Your observations about the confusion that revolution has caused in many brains, is quite right too. I know that. The revolution came so suddenly, and in a way so utterly different from what we expected. Your words will be an incentive to me, once again, and to an even greater extent than before, to base my judgement in all matters of tactics, also in the revolution, exclusively on reality, on the actual class-relations, as they manifest themselves politically and economically.
After having read your brochure I thought all this is right.
But after having considered for a long time whether I would cease to uphold this "Left Wing", and to write articles for the KAPD and the opposition party in England, I had to decline.
Basis Mistaken
This seems contradictory. It is due, though, to the fact that the starting-point in the brochure is not right. To my idea you are mistaken in your judgement regarding the analogy of the West-European revolution with the Russian one, regarding the conditions of the West-European revolution, that is to say the class-relations - and this leads you to mistake the cause, from which this Left Wing, the opposition, originates.
Therefore the brochure SEEMS to be right, as long as your starting-point is assumed. If, however (as it should be), your starting point is rejected, the entire brochure is wrong. As all your mistaken, and partly mistaken, judgments converge in your condemnation of the Left movement, especially in Germany and England, and as I firmly intend to defend those of the Left Wing, although, as the leaders know, I do not agree with them on all points, I imagine I had best answer your brochure by a defence of the Left Wing. This will enable me not only to point out its origin (the cause from which it springs), and to prove its right, and merits, in the present stage, and here, in Western Europe, but also, which is of equal importance, to combat the mistaken conceptions that are prevalent in Russia with regard to the West-European Revolution.
Both these points are of importance, as it is on the conception of the West-European revolution that the West- European as well as the Russian tactics depend.
I should have liked to do this at the Moscow Congress, which, however, I was not able to attend.
Two Arguments Refuted.
In the first place I must refute two of your arguments, that may mislead the judgment of comrades or readers. You scoff and sneer at the ridiculous and childish nonsense of the struggle in Germany, at the "dictatorship of the leaders or of the masses", at "from above or below", etc.. We quite agree with you, that these should be no questions at all. But we do not agree with your scoffing. For that is the pity of it: in Western-Europe they still are questions. In Western Europe we still have, in many countries, leaders of the type of the Second International; here we are still seeking the right leaders, those that do not try to dominate the masses, that do not betray them; and as long as we do not find these leaders, we want to do all things from below, and through the dictatorship of the masses themselves. If I have a mountain- guide, and he should lead me into the abyss, I prefer to do without him. As soon as we have found the right guides, we will stop this searching. Then mass and leader will be really one. This, and nothing else, is what the German and English Left Wing, what we ourselves, mean by these words.
And the same holds good for your second remark, that the leader should form one united whole with class and mass. We quite agree with you. But the question is to find and rear leaders that are really one with the masses. This can only be accomplished by the masses, the political parties and the Trade Unions, by means of the most severe struggle, also inwardly. And the same holds good for iron discipline, and strong centralisation. We want them all right, but not until we have the right leaders. This severest of all struggles, which is now being fought most strenuously in Germany and England, the two countries where Communism is nearest to its realisation, can only be harmed by your scoffing. Your attitude panders to the opportunist elements in the Third International. By this scoffing, you abet the opportunist elements in the Third International.
For it is one of the means by which elements in the Spartacus League and in the BSP, and also in the Communist Parties in many other countries, imposes upon the workers, when they say that the entire question of masses and leader is absurd, is "nonsense and childishness". Through this phrase they avoid, and wish to avoid, all criticism of themselves, the leaders. It is by means of this phrase of an iron discipline and centralisation, that they crush the opposition. And this opportunism is abetted by you.
You should not do this, Comrade. We are only in the introductory stage yet, here in Western Europe. And in that stage it is better to encourage the fighters than the rulers.
I only touch on this quite perfunctorily here. In the course of this writing I will deal with this matter more at length. There is a deeper reason yet why I cannot agree with your brochure. It is the following :-
Difference between Russia and W. Europe.
On reading your pamphlets, brochures and books, nearly all of which writings filled us with admiration and approbration, we Marxists of Western Europe invariably came to a point where we suddenly grew wary, and on the look-out for a more detailed explanation; and if we failed to find this explanation, we accepted the statement but grudgingly, with all due reservations. This was your statement regarding the workers and the poor peasants. It occurs often, very often. And you always mention both these categories as revolutionary factors all the world over. And nowhere, at least as far as I have read, is there a clear and outspoken recognition of the immense difference which prevails in the matter between Russia (and a few other countries in Eastern Europe) and Western Europe (that is to say Germany, France, England, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, and the Scandinavian countries, and perhaps even Italy). And yet, in my opinion, the fundamental difference between your conception of the tactics concerning Trade Unionism and Parliamentarism, and that of the so-called Left Wing in Western Europe, lies mainly in this point.
Of course you know this difference as well as I do, only you failed to draw from it the conclusions for the tactics in Western Europe, at least as far as I am able to judge from your works. These conclusions you have not taken into consideration, and consequently your judgement on these West- European tactics is false (1).
And this is all the more dangerous, because this phrase of yours is parroted automatically in all the Communist Parties of Western Europe, even by Marxists. To judge from all Communist papers, magazines and brochures, and from all public assemblies, one might even surmise that a revolt of the poor peasants in Western Europe might break out at any moment! Nowhere is the great difference with Russia pointed out, and thus the judgment, also of the proletariat, is led astray. Because in Russia you were able to triumph with the help of a large class of poor peasants, you represent things in such a way, as if we in Western Europe are also going to have that help. Because you, in Russia, have triumphed exclusively through this help, you wish to make us believe that here also we will triumph through this help. You do this by means of your silence with regard to this question, as it stands in Western Europe, and your entire tactics are based on this representation.
Poor Peasants Decisive |
to know if a given build is supposed to fix a particular bug, as it can aid diagnosis of issues and make clear what's supposed to be happening, even if something isn't working correctly. Any user-visible functional changes make this even more important; if the operating system is going to change, people should be given some idea of what to expect.
At a time that Microsoft should be striving to build confidence in "Windows as a service" and its new update and release model, its peculiar reluctance to explain what goes into each update seems more likely to drive IT departments into using the infrequently updated Long Term Servicing Branch instead of the mainline Windows release. Microsoft's guidance is that LTSB should be used only on those mission critical systems that absolutely cannot tolerate anything more than security fixes, but if the company is going to keep people in the dark about what they're installing with each update, plumping for LTSB may well be the rational choice for the concerned administrator.
During a visit to Microsoft's campus a couple of weeks ago, we were told that the company might try to provide a little more information for IT departments—though we feel it should be made available to all—but still did not commit to providing any kind of serious release notes. And the official line is still that there are no plans to provide release notes.
This strange decision is made even more surprising, because Microsoft does actually create release notes for some, if not all, builds of the operating system. From time to time, this information leaks. Veteran Russian leaker WZor published on Monday the release notes to Windows 10 build 10537 and the notes for build 10540. This isn't the first set of release notes published this way, either. The release notes for the launch-day patches were similarly leaked.
The leaked documents do all the kinds of things that release notes should do. They describe new features, both user-facing (such as a new look to the context menu that you get when you right click the Start button) and administrative (a new default that locks down the Edge browser more thoroughly, along with a way of unlocking it should it be necessary). They describe the bug fixes that are included and the known bugs that still exist.
It's hard to know how complete these notes are. The documents describe the list of bug fixes as "a list of some recently reported bugs, which are fixed in this build," implying that other recently reported bugs, and any older bugs, aren't included, even if they have been fixed. The description also says that "many of the fixes" have also been delivered to Windows 10 RTM as part of the cumulative updates. We just don't know which ones.
Obviously, for public distribution Microsoft might want to tidy these documents up somewhat. References to internal bug IDs don't really need to be made public, for example, given that the bug tracking system itself isn't public. The formatting could be improved, and some of the workarounds would need further elaboration to make them appropriate to a wider range of users.
But fundamentally, Microsoft is doing the work and creating the documentation that its Windows updates should include. The company does know what its updates are doing. So why won't it tell us?Several previously undisclosed Metro Detroit public officials and politicians drew scrutiny from federal agents during a public corruption investigation that started in Macomb County and spread to Wayne County and Detroit, according to federal court records obtained by The Detroit News. In a lawsuit filed in August, Detroit officials alleged Boulevard & Trumbull Towing and other Gasper Fiore-related companies, committed “fraud, tax evasion and other crimes against the City of Detroit and its residents.” (Photo: Todd McInturf / Detroit News file)
Detroit — Several previously undisclosed Metro Detroit public officials and politicians drew scrutiny from federal agents during a public corruption investigation that started in Macomb County and spread to Wayne County and Detroit, according to federal court records obtained by The Detroit News.
The records, for the first time, publicly mention former Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Anthony Marrocco in a criminal investigation that has led to charges against his former right-hand man, Dino Bucci.
Federal wiretap documents filed in federal court contain a list of “target subjects” that includes several public officials. Among them: Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon, Wayne County Circuit Judge Vonda Evans, two former state representatives and Detroit City Councilman Gabe Leland.
FBI agents were investigating conspiracy to distribute marijuana, bribery, extortion and other crimes in connection with Detroit towing mogul Gasper Fiore or others, according to court records obtained by The News. The records included an application to continue wiretapping Fiore’s cellphone.
Of the public officials named in the filing, only former Detroit deputy police chief Celia Washington has been charged with a crime in connection with the investigation. Napoleon and others reached Tuesday by The News said they were unaware they had been named in the filing.
The names were included in a federal court filing that reflects the broader scope of a years-long investigation that has led to charges against 18 people so far. The filing, which was temporarily unsealed in federal court, gives a rare snapshot of an early stage of a high-profile investigation involving Fiore, a multimillionaire businessman who built a towing empire in Metro Detroit by securing lucrative contracts with municipalities and the federal government.
One court filing by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Bullotta from 2016 said there was probable cause that the target subjects “are engaged in the payment and receipt of bribes and corrupt payments.”
“Certain sensitive investigative documents were inadvertently filed on the public docket by a non-governmental attorney,” acting U.S. Attorney Daniel Lemisch told The News in a statement Tuesday. “There’s a reason why such documents are filed under seal. They may contain allegations against individuals, including public officials, that never rise to the level of criminality. It’s unfair to impugn the character of anyone, especially a public official, with an investigative document that the public official never gets to contest in open court. That’s the reason why these documents should be, and now are, back under seal.”
The ongoing corruption investigation has led to 13 convictions so far. The court filings were temporarily unsealed days after Fiore struck a plea deal last week with prosecutors, admitting he bribed former Clinton Township Trustee Dean Reynolds.
The government filing indicates FBI agents started wiretapping people in 2014. By summer 2016, agents were tapping Fiore’s phone.
Using phone records, agents analyzed which public officials and other people were in communication with Fiore’s phone. After realizing Fiore was in contact with several public officials, FBI agents started scrutinizing whether any were involved in wrongdoing.
Those named listed as “target subjects” in the filing included:
■Leland, a Detroit city councilman who was re-elected in November to his second, four-year term on Detroit’s City Council. Leland, 35, first took office in January 2014 and formerly served six years in the state House.
■Napoleon, a former Detroit police chief who has been Wayne County sheriff since 2009. He ran for Detroit mayor in 2013.
■Evans, a Wayne County judge who presided over high-profile trials, including the murder case against Grosse Pointe Park businessman Robert Bashara.
■Brian Banks, a Harper Woods Democrat who resigned from the state House in early February and pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of making false statements of financial condition to try to obtain a $7,500 personal loan. He was sentenced to one day in jail.
■Alberta Tinsley-Talabi, a Detroit Democrat. In 2015, The Detroit News reported that the former Detroit City councilwoman was under investigation in connection with a Detroit pension scandal that led to the conviction of her former chief of staff, George Stanton. She left the state House last year amid term limits.
■Assad Turfe, who is chief assistant to Wayne County Executive Warren Evans.
■Romel Casab, former owner of the Packard Plant, who was convicted last year in a separate medical marijuana investigation.
■Jennifer Marie Fiore, daughter of Gasper Fiore and Leland’s former girlfriend. She is an attorney who is an executive with several Fiore-owned companies. In a lawsuit filed in August, Detroit officials alleged Jennifer Fiore, along with her mother, Joan Fiore, Gasper’s ex-wife, her sister Jessica Lucas, Boulevard & Trumbull Towing and other Fiore-related companies, committed “fraud, tax evasion and other crimes against the City of Detroit and its residents.” The city later dropped the lawsuit.
■Michael Irvin Lucas, who worked at B&G Towing in Detroit. He’s married to Jessica Lucas, a daughter of Gasper Fiore.
■Paul Ott, a former Detroit police attorney who owns Gene’s Towing in Detroit.
■Shane Anders, owner of Area Towing and Recovery in Taylor.
■Morris Joseph, a Detroit police officer. He was sued in May, with Gasper Fiore as a co-defendant, and accused of improperly towing an owner’s cars, although a federal judge found the plaintiff’s civil rights hadn’t been violated.
■Louay Hussein, whose brother Hussein Hussein owns MetroTech Collision in Detroit. Detroit officials said in a Sept. 11 federal court filing — which was later withdrawn — that Louay Hussein was supposed to provide Detroit police with information about an alleged stolen vehicle ring involving cops, a towing company and a collision firm. Hussein Hussein “was criminally charged for his involvement in the theft of a stolen motor vehicle,” said the complaint. Louay Hussein offered to provide Detroit police “information on similar crimes involving other individuals in exchange for leniency with respect to his brother,” said the filing. The city agreed to the deal and the charges against Hussein Hussein “were either dropped or reduced,” according to the court filing. In 2016, Louay Hussein purchased an interest in Nationwide Towing, the city said, adding the company since 2010 has been associated with Gasper Fiore, whom the city said engaged in “fraudulent and criminal conduct.”
Bullotta, the federal prosecutor, listed each name in a request to continue tapping Fiore’s phone.
Last year, agents sought permission from a federal judge to keep tapping Fiore’s phone in search of evidence of various crimes, including extortion, honest services mail and wire fraud, and conspiracy to distribute marijuana, according to the filing.
The wiretap application that names the public officials is among evidence the government shared with lawyers representing people charged so far, including Washington, the former Detroit police official who was indicted on federal conspiracy and bribery charges in October.
According to the indictment, Washington, 57, of Detroit, pocketed bribes in exchange for helping Gasper Fiore grab a bigger piece of a Detroit towing industry that totaled more than $2 million a year.
Her lawyer, Arnold Reed, filed a copy of the wiretap application Friday among several motions to dismiss charges against Washington.
The wiretap application was filed despite a protective order that is supposed to shield sensitive documents from the public in the early stages of the prosecution. By Tuesday afternoon, the filings were resealed.
In one document, FBI Special Agent Robert Beeckman, who helped prosecute former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, describes the ongoing investigation.
“Evidence has been gathered showing that crimes involving corruption have been committed by some of the target subjects, including Tinsley-Talabi, Napoleon and Casab,” the agent wrote. “However, those investigations have been pending for months or years and the evidence so far has not been sufficient to bring federal charges.”
Federal agents were tapping multiple phones during the investigation. Marrocco’s name emerged in 2014 while agents tapped the phones of at least three people, including engineering contractor Paulin Modi of Troy, according to court records.
Modi has struck a plea deal after being accused of bribing a Washington Township public official.
The court filing names Marrocco as one person communicating with Modi and two other phones.
Marrocco has not been charged with a crime.
Earlier this year, Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller said a federal grand jury was investigating her office during Marrocco’s tenure and had subpoenaed testimony from about a dozen public employees.
FBI agents were asking questions about Marrocco, who lost to Miller in the November 2016 election; Bucci, his former deputy; and millions of dollars in payments to an unnamed county contractor, Miller said.
Public officials named in the court filings had a mix of reactions.
In a statement posted on Evans' Facebook page, her attorney Todd Russell Perkins defended her integrity.
"It is an unfortunate event that Judge Evans' image could be besmirched as a result of knowing an individual who is being investigated," Perkins wrote. "In the sentiment of our Acting US Attorney, Daniel Lemisch, it is wrong to draw the implication of any wrongdoing against those who are mentioned during the course of an investigation. To do so denies an individual due process and the simple freedom to lawfully associate with one another.
He continued: "It is a sad day when a public servant must field questions about her integrity as there are conclusions drawn against her. Please don't do that. Trust the system, and trust that Judge Evans is a servant for the people by the people and that her service to the people is without reproach."
Reached Tuesday, Napoleon said he was unaware of any of the activities described in the filing. Napoleon said there has never been a hint of impropriety during his law-enforcement career, including stints as Detroit police chief and county sheriff.
Fiore was a county vendor and the two occasionally would talk about questions or issues related to the towing contract, Napoleon said in a statement Tuesday.
“As sheriff, I am required to answer those questions and attempt to resolve those issues when they are brought to my attention,” Napoleon said. “I have never attempted to influence the awarding or implementation of a towing contract. Any suggestion to the contrary is so ridiculous as to deserve no further comment.”
Napoleon said after Fiore was indicted in May, he was removed from the county’s towing rotation.
Leland was unaware that his name was included in the list until being contacted by The News.
“This is the first that Councilman Leland has heard about this and, as I understand it, he has not been contacted by anyone,” said Leland’s spokesman, Daniel Cherrin.
According to the filing, Beeckman wrote that Fiore claimed Detroit Police Chief James Craig had “briefed Gabe Leland about the towing case, and Leland has briefed the Fiore family about it.”
In an interview Tuesday, Craig insisted he never told Leland anything about the investigation. He said he contacted the FBI after a meeting last year with the Detroit city councilman.
“He said he wanted to meet with me for the purpose of discussing something unrelated to towing, but once he gets into the meeting with me, he starts asking about the towing investigation,” Craig told The News. “It’s not my investigation, so I didn’t have anything to give him. I never felt comfortable with him, so I made sure to have a witness in the room with me during this meeting.
“I was not comfortable with Leland’s questions, and I immediately contacted the FBI as soon as he left the room and told them he was asking me questions about the towing investigation.”
Turfe said Tuesday he was unaware and had not been contacted by authorities.
“I have not been contacted and wouldn’t expect to be,” he said in a statement provided to The News.
Banks said Tuesday said he had no knowledge of the investigation and directed The News to his attorney, Ben Gonek, who could not be reached for comment.
rsnell@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @robertsnellnews
Read or Share this story: http://detne.ws/2pBwDKmRetail worker Laura has had a $24,000 debt hanging over her head since October last year.
Laura, who’s asked Hack not to use her surname, works casually and had been getting income support payments through Centrelink from 2011 to 2014.
Late last year, Centrelink told her she owed them thousands of dollars.
She was one of the thousands of people caught up in what’s known as the robo-debt policy - that’s when Centrelink started using an automated system to send out letters when it detects discrepancies in payments.
The old non-automated system generated 20,000 letters a year. But in the early days of the new system, that jumped to 20,000 a week.
“It popped up with a debt amount of just over $24,000... That’s my year’s wage,” Laura said.
[I felt] physically sick and I lost my shit straight away.”
Over that three year period, Laura had received about $38,000 in welfare payments. To be told she owed $24,000 was a big shock.
“I’m logical, I know it’s a big system and that things can go wrong. If it was a small amount, that things were inconsistent, then I would understand that,” Laura said.
‘No one is listening’
Laura looked into it.
An initial review saw the debt drop - but only by a couple of grand.
In December last year, Laura said a Centrelink employee told her that her debt looked like an administrative error. But the debt still stood.
“They said straight away that I had to be on a payment plan and pay it back. They sent me to their debt recovery person. He told me that they wouldn’t take less than $100 a fortnight to pay back. And I said, well that’s impossible for me,” Laura said.
“Since last year I’ve been paying back $20 a fortnight.”
She’s had to cut corners in an already tight budget. Paying for the internet was what had to give - and it’s the very thing she needs to help find more work.
Laura has engaged the services of Legal Aid and is appealing the debt.
She said her file is full of inconsistencies and faults. Hack has not viewed the documents.
Hack has asked former Human Services Minister Alan Tudge, and the incoming minister, Michael Keenan, for comment on this story.
Laura said the whole process is taking its toll on her.
“I’ve suffered from depression for a very, very long time and especially at the end of last year when I first got this debt I was already not feeling well because of other things, so I ended up not being at work for a month,” she said.
“No one’s listening… I’m basically being called a fraud and a liar and that I don’t matter.”
“It straight away said I was guilty, and a year later [I’m still trying] to prove I’m not guilty,” Laura said.
“That’s a year’s worth of my life of stress and struggle that I shouldn’t have had to deal with… It’s a joke.”
‘I was panicked’
Joy* knows exactly what that feels like. When she spoke to Hack early this year, she was absolutely distraught.
Just before knocking off work for Christmas break in 2016, Joy got a letter from Centrelink saying she owed $26,000 - more than half her yearly wage.
“I was really panicked. I was finishing up for Christmas feeling really happy and excited. And then all of a sudden I was thrown into this awful panic. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do.”
She was told she’d have to pay, in full, by 9 January.
“No Legal Aid type places were open to give advice,” Joy said.
“I had to make repayments otherwise my Family Tax Benefits would have been cut off. I’m a single parent, I work part time - I kind of rely on that,” she said.
Debt recovery told her to pay $800 a week - a near impossible feat for someone in Joy’s financial situation.
Both Joy and her brother - who had incurred a much smaller debt of a few thousand dollars - went public with their stories. Suddenly, they had Centrelink’s attention.
“A couple of days later, miraculously, he had a call from a mysterious Centrelink big wig.”
Joy’s debt was reviewed and reduced to only a couple of thousand dollars - a ten-fold decrease in the original sum. Her brother had his debt reduced to just $50.
All of that happened within days.
“If my brother hadn’t gone public… I would still be sorting it out now and still be in stress about it,” Joy said.
I’d be paying it off for more than a decade. That’s a way to make a person feel like they can never get ahead.”
“This was great for me, but there are thousands and thousands of people who did not know, who were not able to advocate for themselves in the same way, didn’t have this luck,” she said.
Letters on hold over Christmas
One of the biggest criticisms of the handling of the robo-debt program is the timing of it all. Thousands of letters were sent out over Christmas last year, making it hard to get in touch with Centrelink and appeal the debt.
Greens senator Rachel Siewert was part of a Senate inquiry into Centrelink earlier this year.
“It was deeply distressing for people last year when they were receiving notices over Christmas and the summer break,” she told Hack.
This year, Centrelink paused the program at the end of November, a move Senator Siewert said is welcome.
She said Centrelink’s picked up its game a bit since this time last year - its website is easier to use, it has a dedicated helpline for people to call if they get a notice, and the debt notice letter is much clearer than it used to be.
But she argued that doesn’t mean much to the people still caught up in the debt program.
People are paying off debts they don’t believe they owe.”
“They’re seeing it [welfare] as punishing people for not finding work and that is still the approach that the Government is taking,” Senator Siewert said.
Thousands of letters still being sent a week
Between 1 January and 30 September, Centrelink sent out more than 326,200 debt notices. That’s roughly 8,100 a week.
Early in the year, then Human Services Minister Alan Tudge admitted that one in five of the debt notices could be resolved by the recipients, which means that people who get a letter can work out where the discrepancy came from.
Critics of the program took that to mean that the error rate of those letters was about 20 per cent, but the government said it means the automated system is working.
In October, the Department said only 6.4 per cent of the debt notices had been reduced to zero, but that didn’t take into account the people who were still appealing, and didn’t break down what percentage of recipients had their debts seriously reduced.
The Department of Human Services would not give Hack updated figures on how many letters were sent out, or the proportion that were sent in error, instead directing us to the Senate inquiry.Submitted by Simon Black via Sovereign Man blog,
If you’re looking around right now for a new bank account that pays a reasonable rate of return, ANZ bank has a hell of a deal for you: 0%!
That’s right. ANZ is offering its depositors absolutely zero interest.
Now, a bank paying 0% isn’t exactly abnormal in today’s banking environment. But what’s really strange is that ANZ actually took out an ad in an Australian newspaper to advertise this.
Yesterday’s page 10 of the Australian Financial Review (AFR) had a quarter-page ad from ANZ boasting about 0% interest rates for accounts denominated in number of foreign currencies, including Hong Kong dollars, Japanese yen, British pounds, and more.
Curiously, in order to qualify for this bargain 0% rate, you have to meet a rather significant deposit minimum.
For the 0% Japanese yen account, for example, you have to deposit 23.5 million yen (currently about $223,000 US dollars).
So basically some manager at ANZ actually thought that paying 0% interest on substantial account minimums would be an attractive offer… so attractive, in fact, that they should brag about it in the newspaper.
This is so completely ridiculous. But it really crystalizes what’s wrong with the entire financial system.
We’re told to keep our money in banks… that banks are safe. But the objective data tells a completely different story.
Holding money in most banks guarantees that you will lose money.
Adjusting for taxes and inflation, you’re losing at least 2% per year, even if you believe the governments’ notoriously understated official inflation statistics.
This level of absurdity pushes people into riskier and riskier assets, simply in an effort to avoid LOSING money.
Case in point - the government of Spain recently issued 1 BILLION euros worth of bonds that yield a paltry 4%. And they’re due in 2064.
Bear in mind, Spain is completely broke. And just two years ago the government had to pay 7.5% on ten year notes.
Now people are lending money to the Spanish government for 50 freaking years at just 4%.
This is insane.
But couldn’t this insanity last forever? Couldn’t the grand wizards of the financial system continue to engineer one deranged bailout after another for decades to come?
Possibly. But unlikely.
Right now the US dollar is the world’s dominant reserve currency. This gives the United States nearly total control of the global financial system.
In order to clear cross-border trade transactions, foreign banks HAVE to use the US banking system (which is controlled by the US government).
Further, rest of the world must essentially mirror US Federal Reserve policy.
But this power… and insanity… only lasts as long as the US dollar is the dominant reserve currency. And this is starting to change rapidly.
China’s renminbi is becoming much more widely accepted around the world for trade settlement; a number of foreign governments are now holding renminbi reserves and doing deals to promote trade in renminbi.
Even in the United States, renminbi payment business increased 327% last year, and the US is now the fifth largest offshore renminbi settlement center.
It’s no secret here, this is happening right under our noses. The financial system IS changing.
People who ignore this trend do so at their own financial peril.
Yet those who understand what’s happening and align themselves accordingly stand to make fortunes.
The Weimar Republic’s episode with hyperinflation in the 1920s is a great example.
Despite all the warning signs, most people did nothing… and they got wiped out.
A handful of people, though, saw the writing on the wall. They took steps to safeguard what they had. And they allocated their investment capital to bet that the currency would collapse.
They were right. And vast fortunes were created in a matter of months.
Throughout history there’s always a handful of people ahead of the trend. And they’re rewarded for their foresight.
Right now we’re in the very early stages of a similar transition– arguably one of the most important economic transformations since the Industrial Revolution.
Because of this, opportunities already abound if you know where to look. It’s an incredibly exciting time to be alive.The Norwegian ministry of defense announced that it plans to replace its ageing fleet of nine maritime reconnaissance aircraft with five Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft (MPA).
Under a project that is expected to cost 9,825 million Norwegian Krone (approx. EUR 1,1 billion) including the acquisition of sensors, anti-submarine weapons and supporting equipment, Norway is replacing the current six P-3 Orion and three DA-20 Jet Falcon aircraft.
The ministry said the acquisition would be completed under the U.S. foreign military sales program and is expected to take place between 2021-2022.
The P-8A is a derivative of a modified Boeing 737-800ERX airliner, featuring a high-bypass turbo fan jet engine with a fully connected, open architecture mission system. The P-8A Poseidon is 39.5 metres long, with a maximum takeoff weight of 85,820kg and a wingspan of 37.6m.The Everglades Foundation will reward an individual or team who can develop a process to remove phosphorus from waterways
What the Ansari X Prize was to space travel, The Grand Challenge could be to water quality and world hunger.
Whereas the X Prize offered $10 million to anyone who could launch a spacecraft 62 miles above the Earth twice within two weeks (Mojave Aerospace Ventures won the prize in 2004), The Grand Challenge, which is administered by the Everglades Foundation, will pay $10 million to an individual or team who can develop a process to remove phosphorus from waterways and recycle it to be used as fertilizer for the world's food supply.
"This prize is a huge opportunity to find a science-based solution to an environmental problem not only in Florida but around the world," Melodie Naja, Everglades Foundation chief scientist, said Monday. "Phosphorus is important to grow food. At the same time, the supply of phosphate is diminishing. If we could solve both problems that would be great."
Southwest Floridians are familiar with how phosphorus harms area waterways: During and after major rain events, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers releases massive amounts of phosphorus-laced water down the Caloosahatchee River from Lake Okeechobee.
That phosphorus, which comes from fertilizer, sewage and animal waste, triggers massive harmful algal blooms that foul beaches, kill fish and smother seagrasses.
Southwest Florida isn't alone: Last month, phosphorus caused an algal bloom in Lake Erie that forced officials in Toledo, Ohio, to ban the use of tap water.
On Wednesday, the Everglades Foundation will officially announce The Grand Challenge in Chicago but held a telephone conference about the prize Monday for Florida media.
"The reason we're doing it this morning is that the news coming out of Toledo caused people to say, 'What kinds of solutions are out there to avoid what we saw in Toledo?' " Everglades Foundation CEO Eric Eikenberg said. "Things have to change. The private sector has to step forward to solve the problem.
"The government can't solve the problem. It doesn't have those kind of dollars. It's time for competition and innovation to come forward."
NEWSLETTERS Get the Lifestyle News newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Health, wellness, advice, causes, family-friendly events and theater Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-800-468-0233. Delivery: varies Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for Lifestyle News Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters
To win the $10 million, which has been provided by a single anonymous donor, an individual or team must develop a way to reduce phosphorus levels to 40 parts per billion; phosphorus levels in Lake Okeechobee fluctuate, but Naja said water entering the lake from the Kissimmee River has phosphorus levels of 250 to 350 parts per thousand.
The Grand Challenge will be formally launched in February 2015, and Everglades Foundation officials expect the prize to be awarded by 2022.
An additional $1 million will be awarded in various subcategories during the seven years of the competition.
"Many companies are interested in solving this problem," Naja said. "Many researchers at universities are working on the phosphorus problem. I bet we'll see many applicants who would like to solve The Grand Challenge."
Read or Share this story: http://newspr.es/1uCYy4bWith the Parks And Recreation series finale a little under 10 hours away at this point, it’s almost like you can feel the Internet’s collective sadness rising. And while the show’s ending will hopefully be cathartic and is, of course, what its creators wanted, that doesn’t mean we can’t all stock up on Kleenex, bacon, and eggs on the way home from work.
Ben “Jean-Ralphio” Schwartz is using some of his pent-up sadness energy to post old behind the scenes photos from the show to his Instagram account. He’s been doing it throughout the season, but promises to post at least a few photos today, including one of what appears to be a money-filled Lucite toilet from the Entertainment 720 offices set.
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More will hopefully come, but in the meantime, fans can look back at some of the pics he’s already posted, including snaps of Rashida Jones’ last day on set, Nick Offerman exploring a buffet, and Schwartz and his on-show twin, Jenny “Mona Lisa” Slate, modeling some wardrobeBy Edward Chaykovsky
IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby (23-1, 8KOs) has big plans in store for the new year, but first he needs to eliminate mandatory challenger Jonathan Victor Barros (41-4-1, 22KOs) from his path.
Selby actually flew to Japan last week to watch Barros, a former world champion himself, defeat Satoshi Hosono in a final eliminator last Saturday.
Selby hopes to have that fight happen as soon as possible. He is already targeting December to get Barros out of the way. He last saw action in April, when he decisioned mandatory challenger Eric Hunter as part of the Anthony Joshua vs. Charles Martin card at the O2 Arena in London.
Selby's goal is a unification fight with WBA champion Carl Frampton, who unseated Leo Santa Cruz in July. But there is a rematch clause, and Frampton may face Santa Cruz for a second time in December - which is why Selby wants his mandatory to come and go.
"Barros is next and it needs to be done before early January, but I want it done as soon as possible, hopefully early December," he told Sky Sports. "Everyone knows I want a unification fight with Frampton and I am sure everyone wants to see it."
"Let's be honest, how can we call ourselves the best featherweight in the world when we don't even know who the best in Britain is. I have to deal with the mandatory but I want the unification with Frampton in the spring time next year. I want to and will prove I am the best out there."
Selby says the fight with Barros will likely take place on American soil. Selby, who is promoted by Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Sport, is advised by Al Haymon and is part of the Premier Boxing Champions stable.
"When I watched him on YouTube he looked like a straightforward fighter but watched him live he was unorthodox, he was throwing punches from all angles and he was hitting hard," Selby said. "The Japanese guy would've suited me better, but he will do."
"It will probably be out in America. I'd love to defend my world title in Cardiff but the arenas make it difficult. The Motorpoint holds 4,000 and isn't big enough and then, especially at this time of year, the next step up is the Millennium Stadium, which is too big for this one. But a unification fight with Frampton would sell that out. No problem at all."OKLAHOMA CITY (RNS) A lesbian student who married her partner was expelled from an Oklahoma university one semester shy of her sports management degree.
Photo courtesy Christian Minard
Christian Minard, 22, attended Southwestern Christian University, a school affiliated with the International Pentecostal Holiness Church in Bethany, Okla. As part of her admission requirements, she signed a lifestyle covenant that prohibits “homosexual behavior.”
Minard, who belongs to an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregation in Oklahoma City, is a Christian, but her decision to marry her partner, Kadyn Parks, put her at odds with the school’s lifestyle covenant.
The two were married in Albuquerque, N.M., on March 17. On Wednesday (July 9), a letter addressed to Minard from Brad Davis, the school’s vice president of student life, arrived at her parents’ home, telling her she was being expelled.
“I was informed that you recently married someone of the same sex and saw a few pictures from Facebook,” Davis wrote. “Of course, this is opposing to our view as an International Pentecostal Holiness denominational university as well as the Lifestyle Covenant that all students must agree and sign.”
The expulsion leaves Minard in a difficult position.
“There isn’t a similar program at an area university, so I’d have to change my program of study,” Minard said. “And, being one semester from graduation means I have taken all my electives. I’ll lose all those credits if I transfer.”
The International Pentecostal Holiness Church is headquartered in Bethany, and the school sits adjacent to the world headquarters building. The denomination has consistently opposed homosexuality and same-sex marriage.
The lifestyle covenant states that students may be required to withdraw for violating certain provisions of the covenant, including prohibitions on “homosexual behavior,” harassment, sexual misconduct, pornography, alcohol, tobacco and other “sins.”
Minard said she is aware that her relationship violates the covenant, but she is troubled at the inconsistent application of the rules, saying she believes she was singled out for being a married lesbian.
“Students violate parts of that covenant all the time, but they don’t get expelled,” she said. “I didn’t even get a hearing, just a letter to my parents.”
Connie Sjoberg, provost at the university, declined to comment on specifics of the situation, citing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, a federal law that prohibits colleges from disclosing information about students, even to parents.
YS/MG END HORTONIn January 1971, Loyalist bombers from the Ulster Volunteer Force planted an explosion within the Daniel O’Connell tomb at Glasnevin Cemetery. This explosion caused significant damage to the stairwell of the impressive tomb, which removed one of the finest views of the city for many years. The windows and window frames of the tower were blown out by the explosion, and Gardaí kept a 24 hour watch on the monument for some time following the failed attempt at blowing it up. It was not the only important site to Irish nationalists which would be bombed by Ulster Loyalists. The final resting place of Protestant Republican Theobald Wolfe Tone was also bombed by Loyalists, as was the Daniel O’Connell monument on O’Connell Street.
This was not the first time the O’Connell tomb was damaged by bombers. In 1952, A Dublin schoolboy prank had seen an explosion in the famous Glasnevin Tower grab national media attention, and indeed a 15-year-old was dragged through the Children’s Court. On June 6th 1952, an explosion inside the Tower baffled authorities at first. The explosion damaged the windows of the tower, and the Irish Independent reported the following day that a “home-made bomb is thought to have been used.” Three boys were quickly arrested, one of whom was brought before the courts.
In a statement to police the boy said that “about two years ago I learned from other boys at school how to make explosions with potassium chlorate, charcoal and sulfur.” He was alleged to have told Gardaí he had set off some small trial bombs in the area, and had “purchased the ingredients for the bomb in small quantities in chemists’ shops for only a few pence.” On the afternoon before attempting his bombing at O’Connell’s tomb, the young 15-year-old used |
like a condemned ISIS captive—only to be betrayed by the incompetence of his lawyer, Frito (Dax Shepard), who later becomes his bovine sidekick. He is mistreated by policemen and correctional officers whose uniforms appear to have been supplied by Ed Hardy and who monotone in cop talk: “Now we will begin to proceed to obtain your IQ and aptitude test.” In one scene, the militarized police force (sounding familiar?) accidentally shoots a plane out of the sky while riddling an empty car with bullets.
Where Idiocracy laughs at our culture, though, it dares to ask: Are we stupid because business and marketing made us that way? Or did business and marketing take advantage of a trend that was set in motion by other circumstances? When we stroll with the film’s heroes through a Costco the size of an Imperial Star Destroyer, its interior like the cargo deck of a modern container ship, we are forced to wonder whether our own hunger for cheap and abundant crap—“goods” is a misnomer—made this abomination possible.
In the person of President Camacho we find a pointed criticism not only of personality cult but also, per an offhand remark, the kind of nepotism that thrives in corrupt societies. The sloth-like Secretary of Education is, we discover, “kind of stupid, but he’s President Camacho’s stepbrother.” This is Idiocracy’s lone stab at addressing the American education system, which is puzzling given the film’s preoccupation with intelligence. It’s almost as if Judge doubts the efficacy of education in narrowing the gap between the cognitive haves and have-nots.
If so, that was and remains the most controversial thing about Idiocracy. It does nothing to advance the argument that externalities make us dumb—that FoxNews and MSNBC retard our political thought; that, say, Maxim and Cosmo politan narrow our gender identities and consumer habits; that lousy and underfunded schools leave us ill-equipped to lead ourselves confidently into the future. Like the finest satire, it blames us. More harshly and fatalistically than all but the harshest satire, it blames our refusal to take eugenics seriously. Doesn’t it? Isn’t this why, despite its pungent humor, it was too disturbing to be much of a success?
Not so fast. Like Wells’s The Time Machine, Idiocracy posits that the human race will suffer a great and tragic bifurcation into, to use Wells’s evocative terms, Morlocks and Eloi. Here is how Wells’s Time Traveler saw that come to pass:
I grieved to think how brief the dream of the human intellect had been. It had committed suicide. It had set itself steadfastly towards comfort and ease, a balanced society with security and permanency as its watchword, it had attained its hopes—to come to this at last. Once, life and property must have reached almost absolute safety….
It is a law of nature we overlook, that intellectual versatility is the compensation for change, danger, and trouble. An animal perfectly in harmony with its environment is a perfect mechanism. Nature never appeals to intelligence until habit and instinct are useless. There is no intelligence where there is no change and no need of change. Only those animals partake of intelligence that have to meet a huge variety of needs and dangers.
Idiocracy shows, too, how a materially satisfied society tends toward intellectual lassitude. But it offers a solution to this tendency. The film is obsessed with language. The perfectly average Joe Bauers is scorned, even in court, for his articulate speech, while his lawyer spews malopropisms: “I supersize [sympathize] with you.” Misspellings abound, like ENTRINS above a door or TIME MASHEEN on the amusement park ride that ultimately confounds Joe’s hope of returning to the past. “[T]he English language,” the narrator informs us upon Joe’s arrival in the future, “had deteriorated into a hybrid of hillbilly, valley girl, inner-city slang, and various grunts. Joe was able to understand them, but when he spoke in an ordinary voice he sounded pompous and faggy to them.”
Language—self-expression, discourse, literature—is mankind’s best tool for exercising its intellectual muscle in the absence of existential threats to its survival. As Jacques Barzun wrote, “Intellect watches particularly over language because language is so far the only device for keeping ideas clear and emotions memorable.” When he becomes President of America, Joe doesn’t take a hundred slower-witted women as his mates. Instead, he delivers this rousing speech: “There was a time in this country when smart people were considered cool—well, maybe not cool, but smart people did things like build ships and pyramids and they even went to the moon. And there was a time in this country, a long time ago, when reading wasn’t just for fags, and neither was writing. People wrote books, and movies—movies that had stories, so you cared whose ass it was, and why it was farting, and I believe that time can come again.”
Toward the end of The Time Machine, Wells’s Time Traveler finds a gallery filled with “the decaying vestiges of books. They had long since dropped to pieces, and every semblance of print had left them. But here and there were warped boards and cracked metallic clasps that told the tale well enough.” That tale is the same one that Joe Bauers tells, about a time when human beings, having done a decent job of shoring up their physical welfare, used language and storytelling to create new challenges, new opportunities for self-examination, and new solutions. That time hasn’t quite come to an end, but recent developments make it clear that if we don’t want our brains to devolve into Nutraloaf, we’d better start using them in earnest.Who likes being lied to?
Hopefully, if we posed that question in person to a random sample of American voters, we’d end up with a crowd full of full pockets (i.e. no raised hands).
But here’s the thing about being lied to. No one likes to admit it when they’ve been duped. No one willingly concedes to having been conned. That unwillingness becomes more entrenched in proportion to i) how important the issue is, and ii) the length of time spent and amount of mental effort expended on suspending disbelief. Implicit in that latter point is the idea that after a certain amount of time has passed and after a certain amount of energy has been expended, there’s no turning back – you’re pot committed. Admitting the truth is simply too painful. Better to just go down with the ship.
That’s the situation quite a few Trump voters find themselves in these days. It is painfully obvious that the President isn’t fit to serve. It is also painfully obvious that he is and always has been a habitual liar.
Note we said “painfully” obvious. That gets back to the points made above. It is painful for people who have invested so much (in some cases literally in the form of campaign contributions) in this man to have to watch as Trump is exposed for what everyone who has followed his “career” (if that’s what you want to call it) already knew he was: a textbook narcissist with virtually no business acumen whatsoever and almost nothing upstairs in the form of either book smarts or street smarts (someone tell Rex to take Trump up on that IQ challenge).
Perhaps the most painful part of this for Trump’s support base is that thanks in no small part to his daily assaults on the free press, the media isn’t letting anything slide anymore. Not even for a day. That’s what happens when you make an enemy of everyone. For instance, to the extent Trump was already embarrassed by the Bob Corker fiasco, things got immeasurably worse for him when, just hours after tweeting that the Tennessee Senator had been “set up” by The New York Times, the Times released the actual tape revealing that not only was Corker fully on board with being recorded, he was actually recording the interview himself via an assistant. Unless you want to claim that’s not actually Bob Corker’s voice, or else that Bob Corker was somehow in on setting himself up, then the only conclusion you can come to is that the President of the United States knowingly told a lie about a powerful Senator from his own party on Twitter.
Even more egregious than that is how Trump is swindling his support base by soliciting small contributions from people like Martha Adams, a 70-year-old, retired speech pathologist from Austin and Gwynne Abrams, an unemployed nanny in Henderson, Nev., who recently gave $78 to Trump’s committee. It would be bad enough if he were taking money out of the pockets of unemployed nannies to advance an agenda that is in no way, shape or form designed to benefit working class Americans. But when you find out that some of that money is likely being diverted to pay his attorney fees incurred in connection to the Russia probe, the whole thing is just downright – dare we say it? – “deplorable.”
The Washington Post – among other media outlets – has been keeping track of Trump’s false and misleading claims. As of Tuesday, WaPo‘s count has Trump making 1,318 demonstrably false or misleading claims over just 263 days in office. He is lying to the American public more than five times every single day.
And it’s not just that he’s lying. He’s lying about everything. From the election, to domestic policy, to foreign policy, to the economy, to Russia, to taxes, to guns, to trade, and on, and on. Here’s the “all topics” chart:
WaPo has all 1,318 of these claims catalogued, broken down by topic, and accompanied by details and explanations including how and why they are either false or at best, misleading. You can review the entire database here (there’s an interactive version of the chart shown above as well).
Of course that’s the problem. The people who need to review that database invariably won’t, because doing so is far too painful. The only people who will click that link are the people who have known from the start that this was all a charade built on hyperbole, absurd promises, populist pandering, and a steady stream of the very same lies documented in the chart above.
Indeed, Trump even had the nerve to claim that his tax plan won’t benefit him (“believe me”, he said), when a simple check of the available information shows that he will benefit to the tune of $1.1 billion (with a “b”). And the funniest thing about that is, the only reason we can’t put an even more precise figure on it is because he refuses to release his most recent returns, most likely because they would reveal that he’s been lying about all kinds of other things.
But again, people are pot committed. They can’t turn back now. The emotional shock of admitting what some part of them knows to be true would be overwhelming not only for what it says about the President, but also for what it would suggest about their own susceptibility to being conned.
The saddest part for those people: persisting in the fantasy means standing idly by as Trump and the GOP take away their healthcare, pass tax cuts for the wealthy, and spend a quarter of a million dollars of taxpayer money to send Mike Pence to NFL games just so that same Mike Pence can turn around 24 hours later and take $5 more dollars from those same taxpayers’ pockets.First look at Mystery Chronicle
Spike Chunsoft's remake of the PC indie game One Way Heroics.
Famitsu has gone up with its online preview of Mystery Chronicle: I Won’t Look Back Until I Win, Spike Chunsoft’s newly announced PlayStation 4 and PS Vita remake of the PC game One Way Heroics.
The “forced scrolling RPG” and roguelike will feature turn-based movement like Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer and randomly generated worlds, but is different in that the screen forcibly scrolls as the world is slowly swallowed up by a mysterious and dreadful light known as the “Shine Raid.” If the hero touches the light, the game is over. So while avoiding the light, the hero must battle enemies blocking his path, pick up items dropped on the map, and invade dungeons that suddenly appear.
Mystery Chronicle: I Won’t Look Back Until I Win is due out for PlayStation 4 and PS Vita in Japan this summer.Now, when the phrase “just a nurse” is detected in a case discussion, a bot will automatically respond that “ There’s no such thing as ‘just’ a nurse. Nurses are vital members of the healthcare team and valued contributors to the Figure 1 community.”
Figure 1 has banned the phrase “I’m just a nurse” from its global case-sharing platform for healthcare professionals. These words have been used in case discussions by nurses, and they have the effect of diminishing valuable contributions to healthcare.
Nurses typically spend more time with patients than other members of the care team, and the information they gather directly informs care decisions. Their clinical expertise is essential for healthcare to work properly — and equally essential for Figure 1, a collaborative platform on which healthcare professionals share and discuss medical cases.
“Nurses are used to seeing all manner of symptoms and prioritizing care. That’s incredibly important in diagnosis and patient care, and it shouldn’t be downplayed,” said Dr. Joshua Landy, critical care physician and Figure 1 co-founder.
The close relationship with the patient is how nurses save lives. Catherine Griffin, a registered nurse in Tennessee who uses Figure 1, explains it this way: “As a healthcare provider that remains at the bedside for hours on end, it is often the nurse that notices minute changes in the patient’s condition that can lead to either positive or negative outcomes.”
Whether it’s a change in behavior or an unusual pattern on an electrocardiogram, everyone benefits from this attention to detail that is a hallmark of the nursing profession.
In banning the phrase “just a nurse,” we are formalizing an unwritten rule in the Figure 1 community. As seen in the quotations from actual case discussions that illustrate this article, there’s a strong grassroots movement against downplaying the important work done by nurses. With our @notjustanursebot, we are underlining that sentiment.
In the words of one internal medicine specialist on Figure 1: “I hate when you guys say ‘just a nurse.’ What would I do without all the high-quality nurses who work with me? Every day would be a lost battle.”Jack of All Trades is a half-hour-long syndicated action-comedy television series which ran for two seasons in 2000. With Cleopatra 2525, it formed the Back2Back Action Hour and both shows were notable for being the first American non-animated action series to be produced in the half-hour format since the 1970s. The show was canceled in the middle of its second season.
Plot [ edit ]
The program is set at the turn of the 19th century on the fictional French-controlled island of Pulau-Pulau[1] in the East Indies. Jack Stiles is an American secret agent sent there by President Jefferson. While there, he meets his British contact and love interest, English spy Emilia Rothschild. Together, the two work to stop Napoleon and various other threats to the United States. To the public, Jack is seen as Emilia's attaché (she sometimes serves as his), and in order to protect his identity as a secret agent, while acting against the enemies of America, Jack often adopts the identity of a legendary (though otherwise fictional) masked hero: "the Daring Dragoon".
The show contained many on-going gags, such as deliberate historical inaccuracies (such as Canada being a French territory rather than part of the British Empire), Jack being responsible for many important historical events but not receiving credit, Emilia inventing a miraculous invention in an obvious deus ex machina, sexual puns and innuendos, and Jack and Emilia's ongoing romantic tension.
Cast [ edit ]
Production [ edit ]
Theme song [ edit ]
The tune and lyrics are based on numerous period songs, such as the "Marines' Hymn" and "Yankee Doodle". The theme song was nominated for the "Outstanding Main Theme Title Song" Emmy in 2000, but lost to The West Wing.[citation needed]
Historical figures [ edit ]
Many episodes of Jack of All Trades involved real historical figures, usually drastically parodied for the sake of humor. Furthering the show's intentional inaccuracies, some of these figures died before the show's 1801 time period.
The following is a list of historical figures who appeared on the show:
Episodes [ edit ]
Season 1[2]
No. in
series No. in
season Title Directed by Written by Original air date 1 1 "Return of the Dragoon" Josh Becker Eric Morris January 22, 2000 ( ) The adventure begins when Jack Stiles is sent by Thomas Jefferson to a tiny island in the East Indies where he teams up with a beautiful British inventor and secret agent to take on Napoleon Bonaparte. 2 2 "Sex and the Single Spy" Charlie Haskell Story by : Eric Morris
Teleplay by : Melissa Blake January 29, 2000 ( ) Jack tutors Emilia in the art of seduction, and she then tests her skills on an eminent French spy from whom she must retrieve a secret code. 3 3 "The Floundering Father" Chris Graves Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman February 5, 2000 ( ) Benjamin Franklin is kidnapped while journeying to France to build a weapon of mass destruction for Napoleon, and Jack and Emilia must come to his rescue. 4 4 "Once You Go Jack..." Charlie Haskell Story by : Laurence Walsh
Teleplay by : Eric Morris February 12, 2000 ( ) Kentucky Sue, Jack's former partner and old flame, returns with guns blazing—literally—and proposing marriage. 5 5 "The People's Dragoon" Josh Becker Adam Armus & Nora Kay Foster February 19, 2000 ( ) Emilia and Jack, who is disguised as the Dragoon, work together to retrieve a shipment of American gold that has been intercepted by the corrupt Governor Croque. 6 6 "Raging Bully" Charlie Haskell Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci February 26, 2000 ( ) The stakes are high when Jack must beat Napoleon in a game of poker to win Louisiana back from the French—and save his own life. 7 7 "Daddy Dearest" Chris Graves Eric Morris March 4, 2000 ( ) It's all in the family when Emilia's father, who also happens to be Britain's most decorated spy, comes to Pulau Pulau to supervise a mission. 8 8 "One Wedding and an Execution" Charlie Haskell Andre & Maria Jacquemetton March 11, 2000 ( ) Jack is determined to save Emilia from saying "I do" after she agrees to marry Napoleon in an attempt to save England from a French invasion. 9 9 "Croque for a Day" Wayne Rose Geoff Martin & Josh Kravitz April 15, 2000 ( ) When Napoleon sends an inspector to evaluate Croque, Jack and Emilia scheme to keep the benign governor in office rather than have him replaced by someone who will bring real damage. 10 10 "Dead Woman Walking" John Laing Hilary J. Bader April 22, 2000 ( ) When the Dragoon is blamed for the desecration of a cemetery, Emilia plays dead in an effort to clear his name. 11 11 "Love Potion No. 10" John Laing David Ransil April 29, 2000 ( ) Hoping to keep the peace on the island, Jack and Emilia help Croque to satisfy his young wife's libido. 12 12 "Up the Creek" Chris Graves Kevin Maynard May 6, 2000 ( ) The famed explorers Lewis and Clark, two men who really should just ask for directions, think their deserted island is actually Oregon and can't fathom the idea that the Revolutionary War is over. 13 13 "X Marquis the Spot" Eric Gruendemann Timothy A. Jones May 13, 2000 ( ) It's a little bit of pleasure and a whole lot of pain when Jack and Emilia are sent to the Marquis de Sade's island of torture and participate in a leather-clad triathlon in order to retrieve King George's stolen crown. 14 14 "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Opera" Chris Graves Melissa Blake May 20, 2000 ( ) It's not over until the fat lady sings when Jack and Emilia are assigned to protect the unstable King George from a staged assassination attempt.
Season 2
No. in
series No. in
season Title Directed by Written by Original air date 15 1 "A Horse of a Different Color" Charlie Haskell Melissa Blake October 7, 2000 ( ) Someone's horsing around with the safety of the island when Katherine the Great threatens to destroy Palau Palau unless her champion horse is returned within 24 hours. 16 2 "Shark Bait" Eric Gruendemann David Ransil October 14, 2000 ( ) It's all hands onboard when Jack and Emilia enlist the help of the legendary pirate Blackbeard to thwart Leonardo Da Vinci's great, great, great, great grandson from destroying the annual Founding Father/Son cruise. 17 3 "Monkey Business" Chris Graves Eric Morris October 28, 2000 ( ) A priceless silver monkey by the WallaWalla Bing Bang tribe has Emilia and Jack ape mad at each other when they're both ordered to send it to their respective countries. 18 4 "The Morning After" Michael Hurst Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman November 4, 2000 ( ) There's a lot of bitter grapes going around when Jack and Emilia wake up in bed together after drinking the "special" wine that Napoleon plans to send to every world leader. 19 5 "Croquey in the Pokey" Chris Graves David H. Goodman November 11, 2000 ( ) When the governor is jailed for a planned assassination attempt on Napoleon, it's a battle behind the bars as Jack gets himself sent to prison so he can protect Croque from every thug he's ever sentenced. 20 6 "One, Two, Three, Give Me Lady Liberty" Michael Hurst Stephanie C. Meyer & Christopher Beresh November 18, 2000 ( ) Napoleon seems to be turning over a new leaf when he has a special statue sculpted to give to America, but Emilia and Jack soon learn that behind the stone beauty lies a beast. 21 7 "Hamnesia" Wayne Rose Eric Morris November 25, 2000 ( ) Emilia goes hog wild when an accident erases her memory, including the location of a priceless land deed, and Jack convinces her that she's really an uninhibited party animal. 22 8 "Seventy Brides for One Brother" Charlie Haskell Rick Copp December 2, 2000 ( ) Emilia finds herself one woman among many when she is kidnapped and placed in a sultan's harem, but the longer she stays, the more she refuses to leave without the other "wives."
References [ edit ]The diversity of nature constantly surprises me. If you asked me what the first thing I’d think of if you shouted the word “galaxy” at me, it would be something like the Milky Way: a large, disk-shaped pinwheel studded with stars, festooned with bright gas clouds, and splotched with dark dust clouds
Not all galaxies are like that, though. Some are puffy, some are elongated, some are just weird (technically, classified as “peculiar”). And then there’s ESO 318-38, a nearby galaxy that’s something of an underachiever when it comes to size, but that more than makes up for it in, well, glitteriness:
Hubble’s view of the tiny but very pretty galaxy ESO 318-38. Click to ensparklenate.
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Not much is really known about this galaxy. I searched through the professional journals and found only one paper about it, where the astronomers examined 450 nearby galaxies to determine some of their basic physical characteristics (our friend here is listed as “P32250”, if you’re curious). In this case, we know it’s roughly 20 to 30 million light years away, and pretty small. Judging from its brightness it’s only about 1 percent or less the mass of our Milky Way, and as you can see by the picture, it’s mostly stars! There’s not a hint of gas or dust.
For a moment I was thrown by the stars being all blue, since only hot, young, massive stars are that color. That would be pretty weird, because stars are born from huge gas clouds, and there aren’t any that are obvious in this picture! But then I checked and saw that in this picture, what you see as blue is actually light from the orange/red part of the spectrum. In other words, this is false color. The astronomers used two filters to make this picture, one that lets through only orange/red light (shown as blue), and another that lets through only infrared light (shown as red). Those two colors are useful when you’re looking at stars, and they make for a pretty picture, but you have to be careful interpreting the picture!
So this looks to be an ordinary dwarf galaxy, fairly flat, and otherwise unremarkable except for its beauty.
If you grab the bigger version you’ll notice a couple of things. One is that there are lots of stars scattered across the field. Those are foreground stars, ones in our own galaxy. We’re inside the Milky Way, looking out at ESO 318-38, so nearby stars get in the way—think of it as looking out of a slightly dirty window at houses in the distance.
A far more distant galaxy seen right through ESO 318-38.
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
The other thing you’ll notice is that the picture is littered with lots of far more distant background galaxies. You can easily spot several dozen, many red and smudgy-looking. One, though, is a face-on spiral we can see right through ESO 318-38! That’s another indication our little friend is mostly stars and doesn’t have much gas and dust. If it did, then that more distant galaxy would be heavily obscured, but as it is we can see it pretty well. So this is like looking out a slightly dirty window to a distant house and seeing through its slightly dirty windows to a house even farther away. Except in this case looking isn’t rude or borderline illegal.
It never occurred to me before, but astronomy is the ultimate in voyeurism. We get to peek in on our neighbors, and it’s totally acceptable! In fact, I encourage it.
The metaphorical cosmic neighbors, I mean. Don’t take me too literally. And if you do, you’re on your own.Senator McConnell (pictured above) wondering how it feels to be loved.
A Record Number of Republicans are Undergoing Surgery to Avoid Eye Contact with Mitch McConnell
Though they Claim it’s just a Routine Procedure
Kay Zare Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jul 17, 2017
After news broke that John McCain would be staying home to rest after an operation to remove a blood clot, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was forced to delay the Republican Healthcare vote yet again.
Republicans were shocked by the news. Kevin McCarthy of California, visibly distraught, was spotted outside the Capitol building with shoulders stooped, quietly sobbing into a paperback copy of Atlas Shrugged. Composing himself for just a moment, he said he was “Sickened by the thought of millions of Americans continuing to have health coverage throughout the week,” though he remained “hopeful that John will have a speedy recovery so other Americans won’t have to.”
But as the day wore on, a number of Republicans revealed in closed-door meetings that the wily maverick from Arizona didn’t really need the operation, but preferred going under the knife to spending even one more minute with Senate Majority Leader and neck-scrotum transplant recipient, Mitch McConnell.
It didn’t take long for others to catch on to the senior Senator’s shenanigans. Within the hour Senators Collins, Paul, Portman and Murkowski had all scheduled various surgeries ranging from completely elective to ill-advised. By Monday, over 25 Republican Senators had scheduled immediate medical procedures to avoid any chance of direct eye contact with McConnell, shuttering any Republican hopes for a repeal and replace of Obamacare in the near term.
Even party stalwart John Cornyn, suffering from what his office called “body aches,” appears to have checked into a Thai hospital where a team of freshly shaved young boys will soothe him to the rhythmic stylings of Bruno Mars. When called for comment, the Senator did not respond, although our office later received a fax with the dark silhouette of what appeared to be the pasty, aging meat flaps of a geriatric legislator.
“I would willingly contract syphilis if it would get me away from Mitch for even twenty minutes,” said another Republican Senator speaking on condition of anonymity. After being hit with a moderate dose of morphine, he continued: “You know, I actually agree with Mitch. Poor people should die. But there’s just something about his stupid face that’s so punchable, you know?”
This set off a fierce debate between other Republicans over whether McConnell was really more punchable or slap-able, given the malodorous jowly nature of what medical professionals refer to as his “face.”
According to experts, McConnell’s dewlap, or neck wattle, is a vestige of evolutionary adaptation from an era when giant sea turtles roamed the halls of Congress undulating their neck flaps to demonstrate a readiness to be “mounted” by well-funded lobbyists.
When reached for comment Senator McConnell produced an obnoxious shit eating grin with the confidence of a man who knows every meal he’s ever eaten was defecated in by the wait staff.Power has to be relentlessly fought. Without being constantly checked, exposed, harangued, mocked and driven back, it would swiftly devour all the rights that were won at its expense. There is invariably a cost. The powerful know that if those who chip away at their authority are not undermined, or humiliated, or even persecuted, others would be emboldened to strike blows at them, too.
And so it is with Bradley Manning. Although a military judge has found him not guilty of aiding the enemy, the guilty verdicts on other charges will leave him languishing in military custody for much, if not all, of his life: indeed, he faces a sentence of 130 years. Here is the sacrifice he has paid for exposing the secretive actions of a government that claims to act in the name of the US people.
Here's why. Over a decade ago, the US initiated two calamitous wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, with a terrible human cost that is still paid every single day. The then-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan declared that the Iraq invasion was illegal; the country is today still awash with car bombings and gruesome sectarian bloodletting. It was always in the interests of the US elite to keep the consequences of their actions as far away from public consciousness as possible. The justification is that such secrecy is needed to protect the American people from the country's enemies. “It's for your own good” is the stock defence of every authoritarian. But the real aim is to stem opposition. Every US hawk still shivers at the photographs of naked Vietnamese children, faces contorted with panic, running with their skin burned after a napalm attack, which helped galvanise the anti-war movement of the 1960s and 70s.
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By being responsible for the biggest leak of classified information in US history, Manning revealed the sordid realities of a war that the armchair warriors want sanitised. Like an Apache helicopter, bombing the life out of Iraqi civilians and a Reuters journalist, the corrupted pilots dismissing their victims as “dead bastards”. He found evidence of US-backed death squads and militias operating in Afghanistan. He helped reveal the rampant corruption of the US-backed Tunisian dictatorship, who basked in luxurious homes and extravagant lifestyles while their people suffered grinding poverty, providing ammunition for the revolutionaries who toppled Ben Ali.
It would have been a farce if Bradley Manning had been found guilty of aiding the enemy. After all, it was not Bradley Manning who funded and armed Afghan jihadis in the 1980s, some of whom evolved into al-Qa’ida elements; it was not Bradley Manning who propped up the thugs, thieves and murderers who dress themselves up as the rulers of the Middle East, provoking the fury of millions; it is not Bradley Manning who unleashed the bloody mayhem of Iraq, which attracted swarms of Islamist car-bombers and throat-slitters. The US government officials who doubled up as recruiting agents for al-Qa’ida remain at large.
Nonetheless, there is an important moral victory in the verdict. Manning is a whistleblower, not a traitor. If revealing information that was portrayed as playing into the hands of the enemy was officially declared to be treasonous, it could have had a crushing impact on investigative journalism and political dissent.
The US whistleblower Edward Snowden will have watched the verdict carefully from his banishment in a Russian airport. If he is unable to reach Venezuela, which has granted him political asylum, and falls into the hands of the US authorities, he too will face a lifetime of incarceration.
The US government will hope that an example has been set; that future whistleblowers will be deterred from uncovering injustices committed in the name of the US people without their knowledge or consent. That is why it is so important to offer gratitude and support for the Mannings and Snowdens of this world, when they sacrifice so much in the interests of openness, transparency and freedom. Only that will inspire other whistleblowers who know that – while their liberty is imperilled – millions will be cheering them on.
It should not come down to brave, one-off individuals, of course. The struggle for open governments, who are honest about what they do in our name, needs a mass movement to be truly successful.
Bradley Manning explained his actions by saying he wanted a debate about Western foreign policy. As this 5 foot 2 soldier continues a life without any liberty, we owe him that much. Even many of us who opposed or even marched against the Iraq war, then turned our eyes when the blood and chaos began: it was all too complicated, too distant, too unreal. We shrug off the support of our governments for dictatorships who torture, maim and kill as though it is simply a fact of life. Another shipment of arms for Saudi Arabia's ruling thugs; another Afghan wedding party reduced to a pile of shredded organs and charred bones; a former Prime Minister working for a dictatorship, as with Tony Blair and Kazakhstan's tyrant. Sometimes, it barely even registers.
We shouldn't pity Manning. We should admire his courage, and be inspired by it to scrutinise what our governments do both here and in distant lands without even bothering to consult us. For us all to do our bit in a struggle for a more just world order: that would be the ultimate show of gratitude to Bradley Manning.
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.
At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads.
Subscribe nowBlizzard is probably one of the best game developers in the world. Known for their World of Warcraft, Warcraft, Diablo and StarCraft series, they have made some of the most popular games in the gaming universe. Their vision about games is that they will not release one before it is perfect in their eyes. Not only does this create a whole lot of mystery in regards to the new games they are developing right now, it also creates big surprises when games finally get announced.
One of those big surpises in the past year is their game ‘HearthStone: Heroes of Warcraft’. It’s nothing like any game they have done before, but none the less it’s popularity has grown bigger than ever. As Blizzard says themselves: “Sheathe your sword, draw your deck, and get ready for Hearthstone – the fast paced strategy card game that’s easy to learn and massively fun. Start a free game on Battle.net and play your cards to sling spells, summon creatures, and command the heroes of Warcraft in duels of epic strategy.”
We at Barcraft.nl and Intel Pack4DreamHack have great news for everyone wanting to try this game out. We will be giving away a total of 40 HearthStone beta keys via these sites! This is your chance to get into the game early and start your card gaming adventure with the HearthStone beta!
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The winners will be announced the 17th of November!Jeremy Hunt is right to advocate the importance of work experience for politicians as well as managers in the NHS; the health secretary really should try a night in the cells. It would utterly convince him of the need to end the practice of using cells to detain mentally ill children and adults who are waiting for a psychiatric assessment.
Is it conceivable that a 13-year-old child with a suspected broken leg would be held in a police cell if there was no orthopaedic surgeon ready to assess them? Yet on 25 occasions since the start of this year that is, in effect, what has happened to children felt to have an acute mental disorder, in Devon and Cornwall. On three occasions those children were aged 12 or 13. Custody suites are scary places, especially at night and unacceptably so for an acutely distressed child.
It is not the fault of the police, who go to great lengths to try to arrange for psychiatric assessments to take place in an appropriate place of safety, after they have used their powers under section 136 of the Mental Health Act.
These powers allow them to detain a person in a public place, whom they believe may have a mental disorder posing a risk to themselves or others, in order to take them to a suitable place of safety for an assessment. The home secretary has made it clear that police cells should only be used in exceptional circumstances, and yet in Devon and Cornwall |
ercamer prend la défense des "entreprises familiales".
.@FVercamer (Les Constructifs) prend la défense des "entreprises familiales" : "On est toujours en train de parler du CAC 40." #DirectAN pic.twitter.com/g44GL4pUkM
? LCP (@LCP) July 5, 2017
18h40 - Débat sur la fusion des institutions représentatives du personnel
Le député communiste Pierre Dharréville s'oppose à la fusion des institutions représentatives du personnel (délégués du personnel ; comité d'entreprise ; comité d'hygiène, de sécurité et des conditions de travail).
Fusion des institutions représentatives du personnel : @pdharreville (PCF) s'y oppose et évoque ses "inquiétudes". https://t.co/plEeEvn1Ab pic.twitter.com/975jYIAlyg
? LCP (@LCP) July 5, 2017
Le rapporteur du texte, le député REM Laurent Pietraszewski, donne un avis défavorable à son amendement et rappelle que l'objectif du gouvernement est de "mutualiser les prérogatives" des institutions représentatives du personnel, pas de les faire disparaître.
Institutions représentatives du personnel : "Pas une disparition des prérogatives mais une mutualisation", selon le rapporteur du texte. pic.twitter.com/Sjuq7dgnyQ
? LCP (@LCP) July 5, 2017
18h30 - Dharréville (PCF) s'oppose à la fusion des instances représentatives du personnel
L'élu communiste partage son "inquiétude" en termes de santé et de sécurité au travail.
Fusion des institutions représentatives du personnel : @pdharreville (PCF) s'y oppose et évoque ses "inquiétudes". https://t.co/plEeEvn1Ab pic.twitter.com/975jYIAlyg
? LCP (@LCP) July 5, 2017
18h23 - L'article 1 est adopté
Aucun amendement n'a été voté par les députés de la commission des affaires sociales.
18h11 - Cherpion (LR) veut permettre à l'employeur d'organiser des référendums d'entreprise
Le député Les Républicains Gérard Cherpion veut permettre aux employeurs de consulter directement ses salariés. Pour l'instant, seules les organisations syndicales peuvent provoquer un référendum d'entreprise.
17h52 - Quatennens (FI) prend la défense des délégués syndicaux
Boris Vallaud (NG), Jean-Philippe Nilor (GDR) et Adrien Quatennens (FI) mettent en cause l'alinéa 12 de l'article 1. Selon l'élu de la France insoumise, il "favorise la négociation dans l'entreprise avec des élus ou des salariés au détriment du délégué syndical".
Muriel Pénicaud lui répond, prônant davantage de "pragmatisme".
"Il y a 4% de délégués syndicaux dans les entreprises de 11 à 50 salariés", assure @murielpenicaud, qui veut du "pragmatisme". #DirectAN pic.twitter.com/87LMLkZ2RQ
? LCP (@LCP) July 5, 2017
17h33 - Vif échange entre la présidente de la commission et Quatennens (FI)
Le député de La France insoumise Adrien Quatennens met en cause, une nouvelle fois, la méthode du gouvernement et considère que les députés sont "assignés à résidence" pour faire adopter ce texte. Il ajoute aux autres députés, ce qui ressemble à un avertissement : "Vous êtes regardés de près toutes et tous..."
La présidente de la commission des affaires sociales Brigitte Bourguignon n'apprécie pas et lui répond vivement quelques minutes plus tard : "Les mots ont encore un sens, nous ne sommes pas assignés à résidence, nous sommes des députés en séance. Les parlementaires ici présents sont tous responsables de leurs actes", rétorque la députée REM.
17h30 - Quatennens (FI) veut supprimer l'aménagement des délais de contestation d'un accord collectif
"Il convient de laisser un délai suffisant pour permettre la contestation d'un accord", explique le député France insoumise. Son amendement est rejeté.
17h16 - Vallaud (Nouvelle gauche) ne veut pas de licenciement pour motif personnel en cas de refus d'un accord collectif
Boris Vallaud met en cause l'alinéa 5 de l'article 1. Cet article propose d'harmoniser "le régime juridique de la rupture du contrat de travail en cas de refus par le salarié des modifications de son contrat issues d'un accord collectif". Selon le député des Landes, le risque est de généraliser le licenciement pour "motif personnel", ce qui donne moins de droits (au chômage notamment) aux personnes licenciées. L'élu prône un licenciement pour motif économique, jugé plus protecteur.
17h00 - Pénicaud défend sa méthode et prône le dialogue social
Répondant aux mises en cause de l'opposition, la ministre du Travail assure que, pour l'heure, le gouvernement "a plutôt élargi le champ (d'action) des branches". Muriel Pénicaud demande aux députés de "faire confiance" au dialogue social.
16h44 - Vercamer (Constructifs), Nilor (GDR), Quatennens (FI) défendent le rôle de la branche
Le député Les Constructifs présente son amendement qui veut "rappeler le rôle régulateur de l'accord de branche". Il est rejeté.
Le député GDR Jean-Philippe Nilor veut lui aussi défendre l'accord de branche et souhaite "rétablir la hiérarchie des normes".
Nilor (GDR) veut rétablir la hiérarchie des normes et dénonce la "profitation sociale". >> https://t.co/plEeEvn1Ab #DirectAN pic.twitter.com/3RjWumqydp
? LCP (@LCP) July 5, 2017
Adrien Quatennens (FI) met en cause la "suprématie de l'accord d'entreprise".
.@AQuatennens (FI) dénonce la "suprématie de l'accord d'entreprise" qui est "le triomphe du particulier sur le général". #DirectAN pic.twitter.com/3zWW4aZOAI
? LCP (@LCP) July 5, 2017
16h29 - Début de l'examen du texte, avec les amendements de suppression
La France insoumise et le groupe GDR (communistes) défendent leurs amendements de suppression. Ils sont rejetés.In a stunning display of pot calling the kettle black, the America Family Association’s Bryan Fischer called atheists and other secularists an “American Taliban.” On his Focal Point show Monday, he also said that liberals were the modern Pharisees. Get ready to facepalm…
“You know who the American Taliban is? It’s secular fundamentalists because they are the one that want to remove all mention of Jesus from the public square… and they’re the Taliban. The Taliban wants to do the same thing. Taliban wants to drive Christ and any mention of Christ and drive Christians from the public square.” (Source)
Apparently Fischer doesn’t realize (or is so stupid he doesn’t know?) that the actual Taliban is Muslim, so of course they don’t talk about Jesus in the public square. They want to drive everything but their religion out of their country. You know, kind of like Fischer and his ilk would like to do here. But he went on…
“So, who is the Taliban today, who are the Pharisees today? Freedom From Religion Foundation, ACLU and secular fundamentalists all across the fruited plain.”
Here’s a video of his rant:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ETvmxYLJrw?feature=player_embedded&w=640&h=360]
So, if we want religion – any religion, mind you, not just his – to get out of politics, to not have any influence over laws, that makes us religious fundamentalists? Folks, that right there is some insane troll logic. And using the term “American Taliban” to describe secularists is just crazy. Especially since the actual definition of American Taliban is:
“… [v]ocal, well-financed, extreme fundamentalist Christians attempting to legislate the oppression of homosexuals, women and science at the expense of our national schools, national health and U.S. Constitution.”
And the Internet world isn’t the only place where that term means something other than what Fischer thinks it means. In 2010, Markos Moutlitsas, the founder of the liberal website Daily Kos, wrote a book about how much the radical right is like the radical Muslim group:
“America’s primary international enemy—Islamic radicalism—insists on government by theocracy, curtails civil liberties, embraces torture, represses women, wants to eradicate homosexuals from society, and insists on the use of force over diplomacy. Remind you of a certain American political party?” In American Taliban, Markos Moulitsas pulls no punches as he compares how the Republican Party and Islamic radicals maintain similar worldviews and tactics.
No, Mr. Fischer, atheists, liberals, secularists, the ACLU… none of us want to replace the laws of the United States with a religious agenda. That’s your gig. We are here to prevent that. We are here to give voice to anyone who doesn’t want to have the Christian Fundamentalists and Dominionists dictate U.S. laws. That paper you pretend to like – the Constitution – is there to back us up. So you can take your self-righteous bullshit and keep it in your churches. It is not the American way to put a religion in charge. Don’t like that? Maybe you should join your brethren in the Middle East because, except for small doctrinal differences, you guys are all the same.
T. Steelman is a life-long Liberal. She has been writing online about politics since 2007. She lives in Western Washington with her husband, daughter, 2 cats and a small herd of alpacas. How can anybody be enlightened? Truth is, after all, so poorly lit…Post-Credits stingers have become a blockbuster staple. Where the heck did they come from?
Over the past decade, post-credits scenes have become a familiar part of the modern blockbuster landscape. Like nostalgia-baiting cameos and protagonists played by men named Chris.
I was 14 when Iron Man hit theatres. I didn’t have the first clue who Nick Fury was or why his presence meant so much to certain giddy audience members. But I recognized Samuel L. Jackson, and his talk of a “bigger universe” was exciting. Like most folks, I’ve since developed an expectation that it pays to stick around after a blockbuster fades to black, particularly when extended universes are involved. There are, as with most things, detractors who consider post-credits scenes as an “exhausting” form of “extreme hobbyism” that renders the last impression of the film “one of disappointment.” As someone who delights in trivia, I adore them.
Wherever your personal allegiances lie, the popularization of post-credits scenes is undeniable. Yet, in spite of their ubiquity, the origin of the post-credit scene is somewhat foggy. This is in part due to the fact that post-film credits as we know them are a fairly recent development. George Lucas, himself a pioneer of extended cinematic universes, is often credited with popularizing the omission of traditional opening credits with New Hope’s title crawl. While end credits certainly weren’t unheard of, until the 70s most films relegated their credits to the beginning of the film, which graced us with sequences like the haunting (and 10 minutes long!) opening credits of Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), the lyrical chalkboard of La Belle Et La Bête (1946), and the archival bomber ballet of Dr. Strangelove (1964).
While not exactly post-credits scenes, there were several early attempts to incentivize audiences to stick around for more robust closing credits. Around the World in 80 Days (1956) featured an impressively stylized animation by Saul Bass that recapped the events of the film. Help! (1965), ever the psychedelic fantasy, closes to the tune of the “The Barber of Seville” as The Beatles and company take turns passing behind a gemstone.
The earliest example of something resembling a post-credits scene comes by way of the one-reel cinematic milestone The Great Train Robbery (1903). The film features a final scene where the leader of the bandits unloads his gun at the audience. While not a proper post-credits scene (the Edison Films Catalogue even notes that it can be used either to begin or end the film), The Great Train Robbery offers an relevant innovation: a scene outside the main narrative that adds a sense of what the film’s producer/cinematographer Edwin S. Porter called “realism” and what we might call “world-building.”
At the risk of being reductive, there are, broadly, two kinds of post-credits scenes. The first is the “one-off”; a standalone, usually comedic sequence that winks at fans, and/or wraps up inconsequential plot threads. The second is the “set-up”; a scene that hints that there’s more to come in a future installment. Modern post-credits scenes tend to draw from both. Just this month, both Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League featured two post-credits scenes: a comedic follow up and a gesture to a future installment.
The one-off’s rich cinematic history kicks off with 1979’s The Muppet Movie when the Muppets (literally) tore down the fourth wall and Animal yelled at us to “GO HOME!! GO HOME!! Bye bye!” Seven years later, after an in-credits sequence where Mr. Rooney is seen escaping pathetically on a school bus, Ferris Bueller echoed his Muppety predecessors (“Go home…Go!”), with Deadpool taking up the bathrobe three decades later (“What are you expecting Sam Jackson to show up with an eyepatch and a saucy little leather number? Go, go!”).
The Muppet Movie is rightfully credited with kicking off the broader post-credits craze of the 1980s. In Airplane! (1980), a long-forgotten taxicab passenger resolves to give his driver another 20 minutes (but that’s it!). In Sleepaway Camp (1983) Angela stares into the camera for an unnervingly long 10 seconds. We reunite with Neal’s boss in Trains, Planes, and Automobiles (1987), now surrounded by a turkey dinner and mountains of coffee. Trick or Treat (1986) concludes with Ozzy Osborne’s anti-metal buzzkill knowingly warning us that “this could kick you off into becoming an absolute pervert!” The Howling (1981) features a TV playing an excerpt of Maleva from The Wolf Man (1941) whispering “Go now. May God help you.” And famously, Animal House and other John Landis films featured a post-credits advertisement for Universal Studios that would suggest that you “ask for Babs,” which for a time, could grant you a discount or free entry into the theme park.
It makes sense that one-offs would arise from something as irreverent and playful as The Muppets. And it makes sense that set-ups would get their start in one of cinema’s first big franchises. The James Bond films have a longstanding tradition of ending their credits with a title card informing audiences that “James Bond Will Return,” often teasing the name of the upcoming picture. While nowhere near today’s levels of anticipatory geekery, audiences would have been expecting these title cards when they went to see a Bond film.
The James Bond model was expertly mocked by the spy spoof The Silencers (1966), an early example of a post-credits scene that integrates humor and the promotion of an upcoming film (Bustle crowned it “the first modern post-credits scene”). In Silencers, a shirtless Matt Helm (Dean Martin) lounges on a rotating bed surrounded by women. A groovy text crawl tells us that “Matt Helm Meets Lovey Kravezit in Murderer’s Row” and Martin, overwhelmed, hangs his head in his hands and closes the film on a profanity.
And ultimately, serialization is at the heart of set-up scenes; Helm enjoyed four installments while Bond continues to rocket into the sun with twenty-five. No surprise then that Sherlock Holmes, one of the great serialized heroes, was also an early post-credits scene experiment. After the credits of Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), we learn that the villainous Eh-Tar is, in fact, Holmes’ future nemesis Professor Moriarty, a set up for a sequel that never came to be. Similarly, Masters of the Universe (1987) was a perfect candidate for a sequel set-up. And while the film garnered no sequel, when Skeletor emerged from the pit he got kicked into, promising his return, it was right on brand for a Jack Kirby-inspired sci-fi fantasy.
Marvel didn’t invent the wheel, but they sure as hell popularized it. Historically, post-credits sequences have been good for a laugh or a spook, but it wasn’t until Marvel’s revolutionary pre-planned film franchise that they had the opportunity to really shine; to not merely tease sequels, but entirely different films within a shared universe. That was unheard of.
In a promo tour for The Avengers, Marvel President Kevin Feige told /Film that he “[likes] that we’ve trained at least some people to stay behind and get a little reward.” Though as Vulture’s Alex Suskind eloquently notes, these scenes are more than just a Skinner Box; “they act as transitional moments for the entire franchise.” Sure enough, one of The Avenger’s post-credit scenes was a silly denouement featuring shawarma while the other allowed Marvel to “get cosmic,” and set the pace for the momentum and scale of the Marvel Universe’s larger narrative thrust.
Five years before Iron Man premiered, Feige was a co-producer on Bryan Singer’s X2: X-Men United, which he cites as his first experience leveraging specialized nerd knowledge for post-credits scene teasers; “we liked the idea of hinting to the Phoenix and Bryan [Singer] did in that little flash.” In a more recent interview with /Film, Feige cited Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Masters of the Universe as inspirations.
As a film nerd, I never wanted it to end. I didn’t want the experience…no matter how good or bad the movie was…I didn’t want [it] to end. So I would always sit through the credits. My Mom would do that, too. Would read all the names and think it’s so interesting what everybody does. So I would always sit through all the credits and you’re about two-thirds of the way through and it’s like “oh should I go?” Well maybe there’s…I mean, that one time there was something in that movie. Maybe there’ll be something on this movie. And there never was. Almost never was. So when I started making movies, I’d be like “that’d be fun to do.”
As described in Vanity Fair’s Marvel cover story, when Feige saw how general audiences responded to Nick Fury’s appearance in Iron Man, he knew that his dream of weaving together Marvel properties into a shared cinematic universe was possible. For better or for worse, Marvel has inspired other cinematic universes (the DCEU has, in recent years, finally jumped on the post-credits scene bandwagon). And so as long as we have cinematic universes, you can bank of post-credits scenes. Or, to bum a joke from the post-credits sequence of Airplane II: The Sequel: “Airplane 3!” That’s exactly what they’re expecting us to do!”More than a year after Rachel Lehnardt of Evans, Ga. was arrested for contributing to the delinquency of minors she has finally learned her punishment.
RELATED: Check out what the mom who slept with her daughter’s teen boyfriend finally has to say for herself
The 36-year-old divorced mother of five participated in what is perhaps the wildest parent-approved teen party in recent memory. The mother allegedly allowed her 16-year-old daughter and others to smoke weed, get drunk and play “naked Twister” in her home, WJBF reported.
Lehnardt allegedly had sex with an 18-year-old teen in a bathroom while others continued playing “naked Twister,” used sex toys in front of the teens and claimed she woke up to find a 16-year-old raping her.
RELATED: Nothing says “special family moment” more than a drunk mom letting a sex offender give her kids ankle tattoos
As a result of all of this, Lehnardt was sentenced to six years of probation and $600 in fines. The mother, who has lost custody of her five children, must also receive drug and alcohol treatment.
According to the Daily Mail, Lehnardt had once been a member of the Mormon church and never touched alcohol, but that changed after her 2014 divorce from her husband James.
Lawyer Shawn Hammond said his client feels remorse and is trying to start over again.
“Mrs. Lehnardt has recommitted herself to her faith and her family,” he said. “She is hopeful that her children, members of her faith and others will learn from her poor example as to just how easy it is for people to exercise such extremely poor judgment while intoxicated.”If you use Google Photos on your iPhone and iPad (and you should), you can now use AirPlay to view selected photos on your Apple TV. Google quietly added the feature in an update to the app yesterday…
NordVPN
It’s the only functionality added to the update, the rest of which was merely performance improvements.
Google Photos is a recommended app for all iPhone users as the company allows free, unlimited, automatic storage of all photos up to 16MP – which includes all photos taken with an iPhone or iPad. You also get free storage of videos, but that’s limited to 1080p rather than 4K.
A previous update to the app last month provided faster backup of photos in areas with poor mobile data coverage, Google first uploading a low-res preview and later replacing it with the hi-res version when you have a faster connection.
It’s not the only cloud-based addition to Apple TV: Sling TV’s cloud DVR feature was added to the platform yesterday.
Google Photos is a free download from iTunes.
Via The Verge. Photo: alphr.comWhen new bands play guitar music heavy on reverb and slow in tempo-- a combination that drapes tunes in a sublimely druggy dream-pop haze-- I can be slow to embrace them. It's not that there isn't plenty of good music in this vein being made. It's that one band, 20 years ago, did this sound so well and with so much personality, they set a difficult standard for newcomers to meet.
Galaxie 500 didn't last long. They formed in Boston in 1986, released three albums between 1988 and 1990, got great notices in the press (especially the UK), and then dissolved. Following their breakup, after which lead singer and guitarist Dean Wareham went on to Luna and the rhythm section of Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang formed Magic Hour and Damon and Naomi, Galaxie 500 albums went out of print. Krukowski bought the master tapes in an auction, the albums were gathered with bonus material in a box set by Rykodisc in 1996 and then reissued separately. They fell out of print again.
Damon and Naomi's label, 20/20/20, are now bringing them out again in expanded 2xCD form, along with newly mastered vinyl editions. The CD packages are more functional than revelatory. The three original LPs have been smartly paired with extra discs that gather all extant material: 1988 debut Today with the covers/demos/B-sides set Uncollected; 1989's On Fire with Peel Sessions; and 1990's This Is Our Music with the live album Copenhagen. The liner notes by Byron Coley originally included in the latter are included with all three packages. There's no new information or previously unheard stuff in these sets, but there is a lot of remarkable music.
Today might be the best song-by-song album of Galaxie 500's three. It's also the most varied, moving from the ghostly mid-tempo beauty of opener "Flowers", the dreamiest dream-pop song of them all, to the deeply affecting absurdity of "Tugboat", where the narrator wants to leave the world behind and "be your tugboat captain," to the pounding, mantra-like cover of Jonathan Richman's "Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste", which actually rocks. Wareham's voice stays in a cracked upper register that can either be yearning or transcendent, and his guitar sustain seems to go on for days. Yang's bass playing, like that of Peter Hook, from whom she borrowed heavily, is the band's emotional center, and Krukowski's drums are as much about texture as they are about time-keeping. There were no virtuosos in this group, but everyone's part was essential. Rare is the band where three voices this distinctive come together to make a fourth, equally distinctive thing that transcends everything that went into it. And even more rare is the debut this assured and complete.
Indeed, Today was such a terrific first statement, the only way for Galaxie 500 to best it was to narrow their focus and concentrate on doing one thing perfectly. Everything about 1989's On Fire, from the iconic cover art (the sleeve, like all three of their records, was designed by Yang) to producer Kramer's brilliantly surreal liner notes, to the just-under-mid-tempo beat that drives every song, comes together to support the whole. Wareham's guitar in particular remains fixated on one primitive strumming pattern, and the first three songs all find him taking off onto soaring wordless choruses in a falsetto-drenched reverb. Krukowski uses his drums to superb effect throughout, reinforcing the narcotic pace of the music with his slow-mo percussive explosions. It sounds samey in a sense, but On Fire's narrow focus turns out to be a strength. It feels immersive, the rock album as ambient record, and it's the definitive slowcore statement.
On this reissue, as with the prior Rykodisc set, the original album is augmented with three additional songs originally on the Blue Thunder EP, including a take on Joy Division's "Ceremony" that could be the best cover of the legendary band in existence. And the Peel Sessions set, collecting two four-song sessions, is nothing short of essential. Galaxie 500's versions of their own work are just as strong but different, and the covers of the Sex Pistols, Young Marble Giants, and Buffy St. Marie, show how they could absorb the songs of others into their aesthetic.
This Is Our Music, from 1990, has a few of Galaxie 500's best tunes and it also has the richest production, with greater focus on keyboards and layered guitars. "Fourth of July" is funny, "Summertime" has an almost blinding sparkle, and Yang's vocal on the cover of Yoko Ono's "Listen, the Snow Is Falling" is a pretty good argument that she should be fronting her own project. But despite its high points, This Is Our Music also has a few duds, which are the only easy skips on the band's proper records. "Way Up High" and "Hearing Voices" are nice enough, but feel like Galaxie 500 on cruise control. Hard to say where they might've gone from here.
Given the relative merits of This Is Our Music, a fine album that sometimes sounds sleepy instead of dreamy, the fact that Galaxie 500 called it quits in spring 1991 is no tragedy. Some bands are meant to last for three albums; this was one of them. All involved would go on to do good things, including Kramer, who carried his sonic innovations into Low's early work. The live album, Copenhagen, which is heavy on songs from This Is Our Music and in almost every case improves upon them, turns out to be the ideal closing chapter. During the 1990 show in Denmark, Galaxie 500 play magnificently to what sounds like a pretty small crowd. But that small crowd is into it. Sometimes bands work like that. They never made it big, but during their short run, Galaxie 500's often quiet and always beautifully rendered music had a profound impact on a few people, including this writer. It needs to stay out there, where it has a chance of finding a few more.Many people are saying that North Korea is evolving. If so, then how?
Professor Kim Sung-kyung at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul proposes a delicate approach regarding social change in North Korea.
She has coined the term “in-between generation” to introduce a little-understood group of young people through her academic paper “The North Korean Younger Generation’s Mind and Cultural Practices – the Hybridized Identity of the In-between Generation,” which she presented at the UNKS’ conference “North Korea’s New Jangmadang Generation: Who are They and What is Their Impetus for Change?” on June 23.
The in-between group is distinct from the jangmadang (black market) generation, which emerged during the great famine of the 1990s. They are, instead, the current generation of North Korean youth, caught between the continuing authority of the Kim regime and new trends originating from the outside world. Torn between these two powers, they must navigate between the two in pursuit of their own interests.
Using sociological methodology and considering the localized concepts of words in North Korea, her research has implications not only for academics but also the media, which tends to make assumptions about the collapse of the regime and the power of Western culture’s influence.
NK News: What is the difference between the “new generation” and the “in-between generation?”
Taking a look, the jangmadang generation is not only limited to the young generation, as experiences there are so prevalent for all generations
Kim: The term “new generation” is what the North Korean government is officially using. Then, we asked, “If there is actually a new generation like North Korea is saying, are they really new?” Taking a look, the jangmadang generation is not only limited to the young generation, as experiences there are so prevalent for all generations. Like the common young generation, they don’t have any idea about how to change society by playing a leading role. They look similar to North Korean society itself, overlapping and mixed but unable figure out its (society’s) exact character. That’s why I made a new terminology: the in-between generation.
NK News: I would think there would have to be certain conditions for future changes, such as an economic basis and a revolutionary new idea resulting in rapid societal change. Do you anticipate things like these?
Kim: Surely, the older generation everywhere says “the young generation is different from us,” and the younger generation reacts by saying, “They don’t understand us.” What is the difference? In North Korea, the political difference is slight, the economic aspect is larger, and there are some cultural differences. Whether these differences are expressed outwardly or not depends on how North Korea’s political and economic situation is fostered in the future. If North Korea advances an open-door policy actively, the younger generation, who are more adaptable, will lead the change. Without the (external) changes, I think it is difficult to awaken the society from the bottom.
In South Korea, during the ’70s and ’80s, youth wearing jeans and playing guitar exploded cultural differences, with the motivation based on economic growth. That’s the reason why I mentioned media (at the June 23 conference). North Korean defectors say they have different experiences, and we (scholars) should refine these arguments. As a scholar, I think we should not exaggerate the changes in North Korea.
NK News: Defectors Yeonmi Park and Jang Jin-sung have been talking about the jangmadang generation since last year. They say the generation under capitalistic influence can work as a seed for future change. What do you think about this?
… the media or academic circles pick certain experiences selectively and label them
Kim: I think we need to interpret North Korean society in a conservative manner. No generation ever names itself. A generation has many experiences, but people pick up specific experiences from among many things. Then the media or academic circles pick certain experiences selectively and label them.
I think one can clearly find differences between the old and young generations. Then what we need to do is figure out how different it is. Through an investigation, it becomes clear that it is not as different as we expected. It is not because the young generation is not radical, but rather it is because 40 and 50-year-old North Koreans are too radical. They (this older generation) are the people who created the market.
NK News: You mean they are pioneers?
Kim: Yes, they have strong characteristics of pioneers, from creating the market and distributing it, and now they are called donju (the capitalist class). They experience this procedure in its entirety, and largely have a shared mentality. According to (Karl) Mannheim, they are the marginal generation that is absorbed by the strong generation.
I think defining the jangmadang generation as the older generation would make more sense, as they have led the jangmadang, regardless of age. Furthermore, in North Korea we should closely follow the youth from their 20s, since they serve in the army about 10 years. I think the real youth period is from the late 20s in North Korea.
NK News: Is this because of the media, who hope to attract clicks, by using the new terminology jangmadang? If so, what do you suggest to the media when they report on changes in North Korea?
Kim: Of course it is attributable to the media, but what I feel uncomfortable with is that they can easily conclude that North Korea is collapsing. Upon reflection, nobody thinks South Korea will collapse, even though there are a lot of users of ilbe – a website (with anti-progressive tendencies) which has caused many social problems due to its hate speech against social minorities. A change in some individuals doesn’t mean the transition of the system. North Korea is not an exception.
Regarding North Korean issues, I think the media is also part of the division(-reinforcing) system; not only the Western media, which requires sensationalism about North Korea, but also the South Korean media. The reasonable South Korean media should report the news correctly. I think it is their social responsibility to organize information that Western media can’t. However, they are not doing this, and academic circles are following them.
Whenever North Korea shows an interest in new materials like mobile phones, and signs of reforms, the media reports that Kim Jong Un “screwed up.” I don’t understand why only North Korea is viewed like this. It is a very Western perspective, really imperialistic. The (South Korean) media should criticize this perspective. I think it is an essential point for North Korea observers to have precise information and an objective point of view.
If people want to conclude that North Korea will collapse, they don’t need to use generations. Class is enough. The reason I use generations to analyze North Korea is to diversify the perspectives about it, and try to recognize North Korea as itself
NK News: Young North Koreans copy South Korean styles, influenced by dramas or film from South. Do you think this will have a positive effect on unification in the future? During the Sunshine Policy in South Korea, the films released at that time depicted North Korea in humane ways, and it largely changed the image of North Korea. Do you think this could happen in North Korea as well?
Kim: There might be a certain influence, but still superficial. National image, created by culture, can easily change. (Because of the Korean Wave) in Southeast Asia, people said the image of (South) Korea is very nice there, but it is not anymore. These are very fragmentary things. If dramas and films show South Korean society honestly, those kinds of images could be maintained, but they still have limits. Furthermore, the quality of the dramas and films are low. It is almost fantasy, which doesn’t help them obtain a correct understanding of South Korean society.
NK News: Like the drama A Man from Another Star?
Kim: Yeah, and who would sacrifice themselves for others like in dramas? That kind of content would have a negative influence.
We should see the role of the media in people’s daily lives
Also, the media don’t create people’s identities. The media is one factor, but each person has their daily life. We should see the role of the media in people’s daily lives. In North Korea, which is a very oppressive society, something more interesting than following South Korean lifestyles, like eating pizza, is secretive experiences they can share each other, without being caught by the government. It could create peer awareness by asking one another “Did you watch that drama?” It can bring a sense of freedom, which seems more meaningful to me. It is a way of punching holes in the regime in their everyday lives, which I regard positively.
NK News: You mean the experiences of sharing media, rather than media itself.
Kim: These experiences can make them feel like the authorities are nothing. They are walking a tightrope between the nation (and their private life), which provides joy and the pleasure of doing what I want to, by not making serious problems. What we should focus on is the relationship between people and nation.
|
a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo 8/9 Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo 9/9 President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism. 1/9 Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images 2/9 Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images 3/9 Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo 4/9 Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty 5/9 Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared. 6/9 A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo 7/9 State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo 8/9 Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo 9/9 President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism.
Under its "early warning and urgent action" procedure, the committee also called on the US to ensure the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly are "not exercised with the aim of destroying or denying the rights and freedoms of others."
It asked the US government to provide guarantees such rights are not misused to promote racist hate speech and racist crimes.
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.
At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads.
Subscribe nowThe 52 men and women meeting in a conference room at the Hotel Maritim in Berlin's Tiergarten district were determined to remain undisturbed. No one else was privy to the location and time of the meeting, in a deliberate attempt to prevent protestors and journalists from showing up at the scene. The only outsider present was Daniel Pipes, an American author, critic of Islam and advisor to former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who happened to be in the city.
The Hotel Maritim is on Stauffenbergstrasse, near the Memorial to the German Resistance. It is an historic point of reference that the 52 attendees would likely have drawn encouragement from. Like would-be Hitler assassin Claus von Stauffenberg, after whom the street is named, they too hope to protect Germany against what they perceive to be pending disaster. The group drafted a set of bylaws and discussed a 77-page party platform, which includes such statements as: "We will do everything in our power to oppose the Islamization of our country."
They gave their party a grand name, a name worth fighting for: "Die Freiheit" (Freedom).
The 52 men and women chose as their party chairman an unprepossessing man with a short haircut and melancholy eyes, the 45-year-old manager of a company specializing in alarm systems and security technology and a member of the Berlin state parliament, René Stadtkewitz.
A few weeks later, Stadtkewitz, a former member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right Christian Democrats (CDU), is sitting at the wheel of his BMW 5 Series. It is a cold November morning as the Berlin skyline gradually fades away in the rear-view mirror. At first, Stadtkewitz's most noticeable feature is his voice, the kind of warm, rich bass often found among radio announcers on classical music stations. But despite his appealing voice, the words coming out of his mouth lose their weight due to their strangeness.
"If we don't get things right demographically, we'll have Algeria in Berlin before long. Islam has always been a religion of conquest," Stadtkewitz says in his throaty bass, the voice of a smoker who fills his lungs with cigarette smoke every two hours. It's about a 550-kilometer (344-mile) trip to Wetzlar in the western state of Hesse, but Stadtkewitz plans to return to Berlin that evening. His day will consist of more than 1,000 kilometers on the road, with political meetings and a press conference sandwiched in between the two legs of his trip.
Stadtkewitz speeds down the autobahn.
"There is a press conference, isn't there, Marc?" Stadtkewitz asks.
The question is directed at the man sitting in the back. Marc Doll, 33, is a teacher who has been a vegetarian for the last 15 years. Doll, who has an honest face and keeps his hair parted neatly on the side, is the deputy party chairman.
"Yes, René, as far as I know," says Doll.
Stadtkewitz nods in satisfaction. The event in Wetzlar sounds promising. A few members of the local chapter of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) intend to join the Freedom Party. Stadtkewitz doesn't know these people and has only communicated with them by e-mail and phone, but if FDP members are indeed defecting to his new party, it will be a coup that "will cause a lot of hype in Hesse, even in the media," says Stadtkewitz.
'Geert Wilders Is a Great Democrat and Liberal'
It's the kind of hype that can't be bad for a new, virtually unknown party, particularly as its chairman, Stadtkewitz, is also virtually unknown: a former member of the CDU from Berlin who never made much of an impression as a politician, never held any significant positions and produced few headlines. Stadtkewitz is the classic second-tier politician. His only media exposure consists of a few stories in Berlin newspapers that have generally described Stadtkewitz as a right-wing populist.
But what does that mean?
"Well, what exactly is that supposed to be, a right-wing populist?" Stadtkewitz asks, scratching his head.
Perhaps someone like Dutch politician Geert Wilders?
"That's nonsense. Right-wing populist. Geert Wilders is a great democrat and liberal. I know him well."
But Wilders says that the Koran should be banned, just as Hitler's "Mein Kampf" was banned.
"Well, Wilders does exaggerate sometimes," says Stadtkewitz. "But you have to be able to bring things to a head sometimes. The internal rejection of Islam has long been a majority view in Germany. You can see it in the Sarrazin debate."
For Stadtkewitz the debate that broke out after Thilo Sarrazin, the former member of the board of the German Central Bank, published a book claiming that Muslims would soon outnumber ethnic Germans and that they were dumbing down the country, went something like this: After reading Sarrazin's book, shortly after it was published, Stadtkewitz realized that he liked what he was reading. He felt validated and encouraged.
By the time he had finished reading the book, it had already set off a heated debate in Germany, first about the book itself and eventually about the broader issue of integration. The vehemence of that debate surprised him at first, says Stadtkewitz.
Another German Integration Debate
The book is thick and full of numbers, not exactly the classic formula for a bestseller. Nevertheless, it seems to expose a hidden undercurrent of threat and loss in the German psyche.
There have been similar debates in the past. Indeed, the German integration debate is a ritual that appears with the regularity of an outbreak of herpes. This time, however, the debate has been centered around a clear bogeyman: Muslims.
Book buyers and not politicians are the people who dominate today's integration debate. The mere act of buying the book constitutes a statement in itself, an acknowledgment that Sarrazin is right.
The fact that hundreds of thousands of people were buying the book encouraged Stadtkewitz in his belief that his fledgling party could be a success. He recognized that there was a certain mood in the country, and that all he had to do was to channel it into a political movement.
Within a few weeks of its establishment, the Freedom Party had already received about 6,000 membership inquiries. Stadtkewitz and his team were overwhelmed and hardly able to respond to all of the inquiries.
In a poll commissioned by the left-leaning newspaper Berliner Zeitung, 24 percent of Berlin residents stated that they could imagine voting for a "party directed against Islam." And a survey conducted by the Emnid opinion research firm concluded that 18 percent of Germans would vote for a Sarrazin party.
A Sarrazin party doesn't even exist.
But now there is one lead by René Stadtkewitz, a small business owner from Berlin's Karow district.Intel on Wednesday demoed an Atom x3 processor running a smartphone for the first time and said it's planning to release future, purpose-built x3 chips with 3G and LTE capabilities for Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
The chip giant kicked off its Intel Developer Forum in Shenzhen, China with a strong focus on the Atom x3 processor family codenamed SoFIA which the company unveiled at Mobile World Congress in February. The product line is aimed at inexpensive tablets, phones, and phablets selling for under $200.
Intel said that "[m]ultiple original design manufacturers (ODMs) are designing products based on the Intel Atom x3-C3230RK quad-core processor reference design from Rockchip, with devices expected to be in market later this quarter."
Showcasing its first Atom x3 processor for smartphones with support for LTE-TDD connectivity via China Mobile, Intel announced that the chip would ship in the second half of 2015.
The company had announced earlier that some 20 device makers were on board to release more than 45 tablets, phablets, and smartphones using the x3.
Meanwhile, Intel also said a new line of Atom x3 chips with cellular modems for the IoT would feature "an extended temperature range for extreme weather conditions, support for Linux and Android, and seven years of extended product lifecycle support." Developer kits "will be available in the second half of this year," the company said.
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich also showcased the chip giant's latest RealSense camera technology, including the first demo of "a 6-inch smartphone prototype with a new, longer-range Intel RealSense camera built into the device," the company said.
Krzanich stressed Intel's deep ties with China during his keynote to open the Shenzhen edition of IDF.
"The local and global impact of our 50 years of Moore's Law innovation and 30 years of strong collaboration and winning together in China is unmatched," he said. "Intel remains focused on delivering leadership products and technologies in traditional areas of computing, while also investing in new areas and entrepreneursstudents, makers, and developersto find and fuel future generations of innovation with China."Odoi Arrives
Thursday 14 July 2016 16:00
The Club is pleased to confirm the arrival of our fifth summer signing, Denis Odoi, after the player put pen to paper this afternoon.
The 28-year-old full-back, who is comfortable on either side, arrives from Belgian top-flight outfit Lokeren for an undisclosed fee on a three-year deal, with a Club option for a further 12 months.
Odoi began his career at Oud-Heverlee Leuven, before moving to Sint-Truiden in 2009. Belgian giants Anderlecht then signed him for a reported £1.3m in 2011, and in each of his two seasons at the club he won the Belgian Pro League, whilst also representing Anderlecht in Europe.
Odoi joined Lokeren in 2013 and made 37 appearances in his debut campaign as they finished fifth in the league and won the Belgian Cup. That trophy win set up a UEFA Europa League qualifier against Hull City, whom they beat on away goals to progress to the group stages.
He departs Lokeren having made 117 appearances for the club in three years.
Odoi has represented his country at Under-20 and Under-21 level, and was handed his Belgium debut in 2012 in an international friendly against Montenegro.Plus, a raft of new discounts go live this week
Cry Wolf, the final episode of TellTaleGames’ The Wolf Among Us is available today on PlayStation 3. What secrets will be uncovered? What outcome will your previous decisions make in this finale?
What would you get if you crossed Tetris and Lemmings? What would you get if you also threw in a slightly eccentric cat? The answer is Mousecraft! Stack blocks strategically to aid your lab mice on their quest for cheese. Help them avoid dangerous traps and guide them safely over 50 different levels.
Also continuing this week is the Big in Japan promotion featuring loads of Japanese games at low, low prices. The new Champions Offers promotion also starts today, featuring a raft of additional savings. Look out for more on that later today.
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Not available Russia, TurkeyThe Russian Navy will start sending so-called hypersonic missiles to sea as early as 2022. Capable of flying five to six times the speed of sound, the missiles will be carried by both aging battlecruisers and brand-new submarines, giving each the ability to quickly kill enemy ships.
Currently in advanced stages of development, the Zircon anti-ship missile is capable of flying at hypersonic speeds, between 3,800 to 4,600 miles an hour. That's fast enough to travel from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. in just over thirty minutes.
According to Moscow's state press, Zircon is undergoing land-based testing and and is planned to enter production in 2018. Zircon almost certainly builds upon Russian know-how in hypersonics, learned during the the joint development of the Russian-Indian BrahMos hypersonic anti-ship missile. Brahmos has a maximum speed of Mach 2.8 and a range of about 180 miles.
[image id='88375177-3be5-4f67-8b89-b0ffe528a943' mediaId='c4795c2a-64f4-4269-a06c-35d5a11005d4' caption='' loc='C' share='true' expand='true' size='M'][/image]
The extreme speed of the Zircon will make it very tough for navies to defend against. At 4,600 miles an hour, the Russian hypersonic missile will be traveling faster than a mile a second. Even if a defending ship were to detect an incoming Zircon at 100 miles, that leaves the ship just over one minute to shoot the missile down.
Zircon's striking range and warhead size are both currently unknown. Space inside every missile is at a premium, with the high explosive warhead, guidance system, engine and fuel all competing for room. The missile is meant to fit inside the new 3S-14 shipboard missile silo system, which can also fit Onyx and Kalibur anti-ship missiles.
This suggests a similar size to both, but Zircon's hypersonic engine will likely be larger than either of the slower missiles. Zircon could have a relatively short range and small warhead size; BrahMos, for example, has a large propulsion system but a short range and a relatively small 440 pound warhead. Of course it is worth noting that an object traveling at Mach 6 imparts devastating kinetic energy on its target, compensating for a smaller explosive warhead.
Zircon will be deployed on the battlecruiser Pyotr Velikiy when it emerges from shipyard overhaul in 2022. The battlecruiser, the largest surface combatant currently in operation in any navy, will be equipped with ten of the missiles. Zircon will also be deployed on Russia's next-generation "Husky" class attack submarines, currently under development.
Source: The National Interest(CNN) - Sgt. Stephanie Cole joined Britain's Royal Air Force more than three years ago to fly into battle - and not, as she says, to stay on the ground and "fly a desk."
Soon, she'll finally get to do what she signed up for - working on a helicopter crew in dusty and rugged southern Afghanistan, where British, U.S., other international forces and Afghan soldiers are slugging it out with Taliban militants.
"I'm looking forward to it," said Cole, 24 (on the far left in the photo above).
She will be among four female air crew members deployed to a pool of more than 100 pilots and loadmasters beginning New Year's Day to handle the newly-deployed Merlin helicopters in battle-scarred Helmand province, a haven for insurgents and an illegal drug trade.
The other three are pilots Flight Lt. Michelle Goodman, 32, the first woman to win Britain's Distinguished Flying Cross for her actions in Iraq; Flight Lt. Joanna Watkinson, 29; and loadmaster Sgt. Wendy Donald, 31 (pictured left to right after Cole). Three others are still in training.
Royal Air Force spokeswoman Lesley Woods said their presence in the Afghan war zone reflects a British societal trend: More women are considering careers in wartime and are realizing "they can play a part in today's armed forces."
The four-person Merlin crews will pick up casualties, fly supply missions and use machine guns to fend off Taliban fire. It is possible all four women will be deployed on one helicopter. Merlins can haul up to 20 people and they will complement the work of the Chinook, Sea King and Lynx copters.
Earlier this year, the four trained in southern California, where the hot and dusty environment resembled Afghanistan's.
Goodman and Watkinson practiced "evasive flying maneuvers" and Cole and Donald trained on the helicopter's three 7.62 mm machine guns, the British Defence Ministry said.
What's it like being females in a male-dominated military? The RAF's Woods supplied their comments from transcripts of interviews.
Their male counterparts, Goodman says, are great sports.
"You don't really notice any difference, it's just every day," Goodman said. "You always get banter but that's what you expect. If I didn't get banter I would think there was something wrong."
Watkinson agreed, saying she doesn't really notice being one of a handful of females on the Merlin force.
"You start your officer training and there's two or three girls on your flight and you just go through training and get used to the fact that you're one of very few girls around the place. The boys are the boys, they always will be, and I get on with them really well, but it is quite nice when you're flying with some other girls around the place that you can be close friends with."
Some women who join the military are following their male relatives.
"It was sort of following in the line of the family and it was something I wanted to do as well," said Donald. And, Cole said, her father is in the RAF and she has "kind of always grown up around it."
Goodman says, "It's a good career" and emphasizes that it's not "widely known that women can come into the military, that they potentially go out to places like Iraq and Afghanistan."
Watkinson said there will always be doubters who think women can't take on certain tasks because of their gender.
"I've had a few people tell me that in the past and I'd like to see them one day and go, 'Hah, told you!' "
She too has had relatives in the British armed forces, including her grandmother, a nurse who was "one of first females ever to be awarded a commission in the army.
"There's a lot of forces history in the family but I don't think as an only child girl I was ever going to follow down the same thing. My mum, dad and step-mum are all immensely proud. All my family are very proud."
Cole's female friends think her career is "pretty cool."
"They're all struggling in jobs and debts from university. I know some of my friends think, 'There's absolutely no way you'd catch me doing something like that, you're bonkers,' but it's good."
Watkinson said she "attended an all girls' school and all of us girls had the school's full support for whichever career we chose."
"I have friends who have become lawyers, dentists, doctors and business women - all areas which used to be very male-dominated. We were taught that we could do whatever we put our minds to, shown each year when a number of 'old girls', including myself, return to the school each year for the careers convention. It's amazing to see the support we have from the girls there today and their families."
As for the work, it will be in tough terrain. Comparing Iraq to Afghanistan, Goodman said, "Obviously the threat is slightly different out there as well and there's a lot more happening and going on. And... the Merlin force has expanded so much over the 18 months we've got a lot of new guys who are going to be coming out with us who will not have been on operations before."
Also deployed in the past to Iraq, Watkinson said the skills learned in that war will come in handy in Afghanistan. But there will be differences. "The Merlin has operated in Iraq at the height of the threat and will perform equally well in Afghanistan; with tasking that will be similar, covering trooping, underslung loads, replenishment tasks and casualty evacuation. The Taliban have had many years of fighting and so are very experienced; and with the inhospitable, high altitude terrain in Afghanistan, our task will require top notch training and engineering," she said.
Watkinson noted the unique challenges in Afghanistan for pilots.
"The area of operation is large and predominantly at high altitude. All engines suffer from reduced efficiency in hot climates and rotor blades, by their nature, have decreased lift at high altitudes," she said. "In addition to this, mountain flying on night-vision goggles is a difficult skill to master; with various wind effects through the mountains and dust clouds at most landing sites. The combination of these factors means that the operation of the aircraft is a challenge."
Is the work particularly arduous for a woman?
"It is a hard job. I don't like to say it's too tough, it's different," Donald said. "I like to put the girls on the same level. It's hard but you just get on with it. The best bit is flying in different places. We've been in Iraq for a few years; Afghanistan coming up, for myself in January, I'm going out with my flight in January, and that's going to be something new. Coming to places like this, doing different training, something new. You don't get to do that in an everyday job. Flying is what I've always wanted to do so that is definitely the best part for me."
The aviators expect to shoot, be shot at, and possibly, be shot down or "forced to ditch their aircraft in hostile territory," Britain's Defence Ministry said. But Goodman said their minds will be on their tasks.
"If we thought about the threat continually, we would never be able to do our jobs," Goodman said. "Obviously, we always bear it in mind in terms of our actions but when you're in the middle of a dangerous sortie you just get on with your job."How to Install Wowhead Tooltips?
Add this piece of HTML code in the <head> section of your page:
<script>var whTooltips = {colorLinks: true, iconizeLinks: true, renameLinks: true};</script>
<script src="http://wow.zamimg.com/widgets/power.js"></script> You are done!
achievement, building, event, follower, garrisonability, item, mission, npc, object, ship, spell, quest, zone
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General
Custom URLs
You can make your links point to any page you wish, and still display a tooltip. Example:<a href="#" data-wowhead="item=2828">hai</a>
You can make your links point to any page you wish, and still display a tooltip. Example:<a href="#" data-wowhead="item=2828">hai</a> Other Domains
Enter the wowhead domain (www, de, es, fr, ru, etc) to display a different version or localization (language), e.g: domain=ptr or domain=ru
Enter the wowhead domain (www, de, es, fr, ru, etc) to display a different version or localization (language), e.g: domain=ptr or domain=ru Icon Sizes
If you add iconSize:'small' to the whTooltips options you can make all icons "small" instead of tiny. Available sizes: tiny (the default), small, medium, and large.If you have iconSize added (even if it's just set to iconSize: true) you can also specify icon sizes on each individual link! Just add this HTML attribute to your <a> tag: data-wh-icon-size="small". The same icon sizes are available.
You can also specify individual links to be renamed! Just add this HTML attribute to your <a> tag: data-wh-rename-link="true".
Azerite
Enter the class ID, such as 5 for priest, and then the Azerite Power IDs.
Example: item=158349/petticoat-of-the-self-stylized-azerite-baron&bonus=4817:1482&azerite-powers=5:504:42:14
Items
Artifact Knowledge - ak
Enter the Artifact Knowledge number, such as ak=30
- ak Enter the Artifact Knowledge number, such as ak=30 Transmogrified to - transmog
Enter the item ID of the item you've transmogged to, such as transmog=32235 for changing your helm to Cursed Vision of Sargeras
Use transmog=hidden if you have chosen to hide that slot
- transmog Enter the item ID of the item you've transmogged to, such as transmog=32235 for changing your helm to Cursed Vision of Sargeras Use transmog=hidden if you have chosen to hide that slot Level – lvl
Enter the character's level, useful for heirloom items!
– lvl Enter the character's level, useful for heirloom items! Enchant – ench
Enter the ID of the enchant, such as: ench=2647
– ench Enter the ID of the enchant, such as: ench=2647 Gems – gems
List all the gems (item IDs) you want the item to have, separated by a colon. E.g. gems=23121. Other items slotted in to gear, such as Legion relics, are treated the same as gems, and can even have item bonuses applied. E.g.
/item=128908&gems=141522:141514:152696&bonus=1518:1520:1524:751
– gems List all the gems (item IDs) you want the item to have, separated by a colon. E.g. gems=23121. Other items slotted in to gear, such as Legion relics, are treated the same as gems, and can even have item bonuses applied. E.g. /item=128908&gems=141522:141514:152696&bonus=1518:1520:1524:751 Extra Socket - sock
Add an extra socket to the item. Only works for belts, bracers and gloves.
- sock Add an extra socket to the item. Only works for belts, bracers and gloves. Item Level - ilvl
Set the item level. This overrides even item level modifiers applied to the item, such as from relics. Stats will be updated accordingly. Example: Thunderfury with 1000 ilvl
- ilvl Set the item level. This overrides even item level modifiers applied to the item, such as from relics. Stats will be updated accordingly. Example: Thunderfury with 1000 ilvl Item Set Pieces – pcs
List all the pieces (item IDs) you want to consider for the set bonus, separated by a colon. e.g: pcs=25695:25696:25697
– pcs List all the pieces (item IDs) you want to consider for the set bonus, separated by a colon. e.g: pcs=25695:25696:25697 Item Upgrade - upgd
Enter the upgrade number, such as: upgd=2
- upgd Enter the upgrade number, such as: upgd=2 Warlords of Draenor PvP Mode - pvp
This shows the higher ilvl version of Warlords of Draenor items that change stats during PvP.
- pvp This shows the higher ilvl version of Warlords of Draenor items that change stats during PvP. Warlords of Draenor Challenge Mode - chal
This shows an ilvl 630 scaled-down version of an item, which is the version equipped in Challenge Modes.
- chal This shows an ilvl 630 scaled-down version of an item, which is the version equipped in Challenge Modes. Netherlight Crucible Item Level Ranks - nlc
This adds +5 item levels for each Netherlight Crucible trait you have that gives +5 item levels. Can be set to 1, 2, or 3.
- nlc This adds +5 item levels for each Netherlight Crucible trait you have that gives +5 item levels. Can be set to 1, 2, or 3. Timewalking Burning Crusade - twtbc
This shows an ilvl 90 scaled-down version of an item, which is the version equipped in Burning Crusade Timewalking Dungeons.
- twtbc This shows an ilvl 90 scaled-down version of an item, which is the version equipped in Burning Crusade Timewalking Dungeons. Timewalking Wrath - twwotlk
This shows an ilvl 160 scaled-down version of an item, which is the version equipped in Wrath's Timewalking Dungeons.
- twwotlk This shows an ilvl 160 scaled-down version of an item, which is the version equipped in Wrath's Timewalking Dungeons. Random Enchantment – rand
Enter the ID of random enchantment (e.g. of the Bear), such as: rand=-7. Full list of |
a larger pump flange increases pumping output for some moms. Scroll down here for more information on sizing the flange.
Galactagogues
Many working and pumping moms have found that eating oatmeal and staying hydrated is very helpful for increasing pumping output. It can be helpful to snack on protein-rich foods during the day and to have something to drink every time you sit down to pump or breastfeed.
Many moms have gotten good results using fenugreek or other herbs to increase supply, either on a short- or long-term basis. This is most effective when combined with increased nursing/pumping.
Other things to try
The following things are useful for maximizing nursing and minimizing the amount of expressed milk that baby needs while you are away.
Nurse right before you leave baby and immediately after you return from work. Make sure your care provider does not feed baby right before you are due to return.
Has your baby started solids? If so, have your care provider offer all (or most) solids, and only (or mainly) breastfeed when you are with baby. By doing this, baby may need less milk when you are apart (due to the solids) and will nurse more when you are together. This can both help your supply (more nursing) and decrease the amount of pumped milk you need to provide.
Encourage baby to “reverse cycle” – reverse cycling is when baby nurses frequently when mom and baby are together (usually at night) and takes little milk when mom & baby are separated.
One study has shown that the moms of hospitalized babies who listened to guided relaxation or soothing music while pumping had an increased pumping output. When mom listened to a recording that included both music and guided relaxation while pumping, in addition to looking at photos of her baby, pumping output was increased even more. In this study, the interventions led to moms producing 2-3 times their normal pumping output. Milk fat content also increased for these moms in the early days of the study.
Additional information
Increasing Low Milk Supply @KellyMom
Let-down Reflex: Too slow? @KellyMom
How Much Milk Should You Expect to Pump? by Nancy Mohrbacher, IBCLC, FILCA
What to Expect When Pumping by Paula Yount
How much expressed milk will my baby need? @KellyMom
To Pump More Milk, Use Hands-On Pumping by Nancy Mohrbacher, IBCLC, FILCA
Breastpumps – troubleshooting and general info @KellyMom
Ouch! What If Pumping Hurts? by Nancy Mohrbacher, IBCLC, FILCA
Working & Pumping Tips @KellyMom
See the Working, Pumping, Bottle Feeding menu for information on formula and other foods
Keith DR, Weaver BS, Vogel RL. The effect of music-based listening interventions on the volume, fat content, and caloric content of breast milk-produced by mothers of premature and critically ill infants. Adv Neonatal Care. 2012 Apr;12(2):112-9.Mathematical Advances Postpone Quantum Supremacy. Wait... What?!?
Earlier this month IBM announced they had created a method for calculating quantum amplitudes, also called probability amplitudes, using far less memory than current methods. A probability amplitude is a numerical factor in a math equation. Specifically, the one used to calculate the probability that a quantum system in superposition will collapse to a particular state when measured. That’s a mouthful. At this point some of you are wondering why I’m excited about it. The answer: because it allowed IBM to break the 49 qubit barrier. They now have a classical computer simulating a 56-qbit quantum computer.
Edwin Pednault (Distinguished Research Staff Member, IBM Research) helps us put this feat into perspective. “At roughly 50 qubits, existing methods for calculating quantum amplitudes require either too much computation to be practical, or more memory than is available on any existing supercomputer, or both.” In other words, 49 qubits was the limit of what classical computers could simulate. Now, IBM has bested the 45-qubit simulation achieved by the Institute of Technology in Zurich in July, and done so using far less memory. Institute of Technology in Zurich’s 45-qubit simulation took 500 terabytes of memory, IBM’s 56-qubit simulation only 4.5 terabytes. Previous methods would have required 1 exabyte (1 billion gigabytes) of memory to simulate 56 qubits.
Moving the Goalposts
Itay Hen (Computer Scientist, University of Southern California) has identified an unintended consequence of this fantastic work: “IBM pushed the envelope. It’s going to be much harder for quantum-device people to exhibit [quantum] supremacy.” Quantum supremacy is commonly used to mean the point at which a quantum computer solves a problem that a classical computer can’t practically solve. In the race to achieve quantum supremacy, Google had plans to demonstrate a 49-qubit chip by the end of 2017. Theoretically, 49 qubits would have been enough, until IBM pushed the target back.
Still, kudos to IBM. These advances in our simulation capability will help drive the development of quantum computers and software. Now that we’ve got 56, let’s shoot for 100. 100 qubits could represent over one quadrillion squared values. Think about what all the talented scientists out there could do with that! I know I am. Let’s go get it.“Where can I get Boston cream pie?” is the question Tim Michaud, a driver and guide for CityView Trolley Tours in Boston, is continually asked. “Tourists think it’s a major food group for Bostonians,” he says. He’s held the job for 15 years. The persistent question inspired the Quincy resident and his wife, Heidi, two years ago to start a side business, Boston Cream Pie Company. They sell Boston cream pies from a trike affixed with a cooler painted purple and pink. The couple, both 39, named the contraption Oregon, where it was built. They offer a half-dozen delicious, hefty varieties of the specialty in 4-inch rounds weighing 1 to 1¼ pounds ($5 to $6), which Heidi bakes at CommonWealth Kitchen in Dorchester. Packed in a clear container, her classic version has two layers of golden pound cake filled with a dense, pudding-like vanilla cream, the cake covered with melted chocolate oozing down its sides. One selection has sizable chunks of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups piled high on top; another has hunks of Heath bars. One choice is smothered with pieces of Oreos. You can find the trike every day in front of Boston Marriott Long Wharf. From May through October, the company will sell the desserts from a second trike, Rex (named for “Boomtown” host Rex Trailer), on Saturdays at Greenway Open Market on the Rose Kennedy Greenway, and on Sundays at SoWa Boston in the South End. “We’re selling a little bit of Boston,” says Tim Michaud. Boston Cream Pie Company, www.eatbcpc.com.
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Ann Trieger Kurland can be reached at atrieger@comcast.netMy fiance has been an iphone user and fan for abot three years. I tried introducing her to android with the nexus one when I was still a fan of android but she hated it. I also tried converting her to wp7 in the course of a year but she wouldnt buldge. fortunately for me, her iphone dropped in the toilet and stopped working so she asked me for my Titan temporarily.I was excited to give her without sny hesitation. I noticed she fixed her iphone but did not return my Titan and kept on using it. I did not ask cos I was excited she was enjoying it.
Fast forward a month later, she had converted 3 of her friends to wp7. she gets really excited when she converts her friends to wp7. she will call me at work just to tell me she recuited someone to wp7.Pin 58 Shares
This week’s Canada’s Craft Beer post comes from our Eastern Canada craft beer guy, David Ort, as he explores the intersection between beer and wine... in a barrel!
Wine and beer have traditionally met at the awkward and arbitrary point between afternoon drinks and with-dinner libations. But we’re working on that, right? We’ve found a place for beer with our meals and are enjoying various delightful pairings. I’d like to add another bit of territory to the list we’ve captured from wine and discuss wine-barrel-aged beer.
The concept is simple: Take a barrel that a winery has used to age their product, fill it with beer, and wait until that beer has drawn distinctive characteristics from the oak and wine that stains it. In some cases, the beer is exposed to the complexity-adding powers of brettanomyces, a wild yeast that winemakers go to great lengths to avoid, but is occasionally welcome in the brewhouse.
Given that the wine industries in Ontario and BC are even better established than craft beer, barrels are available and consumers understand the benefits they can lend. This month we have two excellent examples of wine barrel-aged beers for you to consider.
Microbrasserie Charlevoix Dominus Vobiscum Double Zinfandel
The standard Dominus Vobiscum Double has won a fistful of awards including bronze at the Canadian Brewing Awards in both 2009 and 2012. For this special release, Microbrasserie Charlevoix have blended batches aged in French and American oak, respectively, with fresh beer. The dubbel is dark auburn brown with a light tan head that sticks around for a minute or so. Dark-fruit aromas and flavours (blueberries in particular) are seasoned with vanilla notes from the oak and gain complexity from the floral background. There is a touch of sweet-on-sweet among the beer’s notable elements, so I do miss the carbonation it has lost while in the barrel.
Most who try this special version will have already had the regular DV Double, so this is an especially good opportunity to isolate the effect barrel ageing can have on a well-made beer.
ABV 9.3% Available in QC
Nickel Brook Winey Bastard Imperial Stout
For this release, the Burlington, ON brewery, Nickel Brook, took their excellent Bolshevik Bastard imperial stout and aged it in Niagara-area pinot noir barrels. It’s pitch black body and soft and creamy tan foam come from the base beer, but the barrels take over from there. The dark roasted chocolate and coffee notes are elevated and highlighted by blueberry, tart cherry, and vinous elements. The complete picture is like a beguiling take on black forest cake. This spectacular bottle will continue to age well, but I wouldn’t take it further than a year for fear of losing some of the fruit’s brightness.
ABV 8.5% Available in ON
Craft beer is steadily expanding its audience and making a convincing case for appreciating quality beer, rather than focussing only on quantity. That said, barrels and time are both added costs, so we won’t be returning to the 19th century status quo of breweries ageing up to a third of their annual production in oak. For now, this will be a niche curiosity, but definitely one with fans who will seek out these special bottles.
David Ort writes about food, travel, and craft beer for various online and print publications. His first book, The Canadian Craft Beer Cookbook, is in bookstores and available for purchase online. For more of his thoughts on all things edible and potable follow him on Twitter or get in touch with him at david@foodwithlegs.com.2012CONCACAF_OlympicQualifiers http://www.livestrongsportingpark.com/data/2017/06/2012CONCACAF_OlympicQualifiers.jpg
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Like FRS on Facebook to donate $1 to @LIVESTRONG. Help FRS raise $250k: http://t.co/IUYdLPkj 8 days ago via webA species of mammals belonging to the deer, muntjac, roe deer, reindeer, and moose family of ruminants
The water deer (Hydropotes inermis) is a small deer superficially more similar to a musk deer than a true deer. Native to China and Korea, there are two subspecies: the Chinese water deer (Hydropotes inermis inermis) and the Korean water deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus). Despite its lack of antlers and certain other anatomical anomalies—including a pair of prominent tusks (downward-pointing canine teeth), it is classified as a cervid. Its unique anatomical characteristics have caused it to be classified in its own genus (Hydropotes) as well as its own subfamily (Hydropotinae).[2] However, studies of mitochondrial control region and cytochrome b DNA sequences placed it near Capreolus within an Old World section of the subfamily Capreolinae.[3][4] Its prominent tusks (elongated canines), similar to those of musk deer, have led to both being colloquially named vampire deer in English-speaking areas to which they have been imported. The species is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN.
Etymology [ edit ]
The genus name Hydropotes derives from the two ancient greek words ὕδωρ húdōr ), meaning "water", and ποτής potḗs ), meaning "the fact of drinking", [5] [6] and refers to the preference of this cervid for rivers and swamps.
derives from the two ancient greek words ), meaning "water", and ), meaning "the fact of drinking", and refers to the preference of this cervid for rivers and swamps. The etymology of the species name corresponds to the Latin word inermis meaning unarmed, defenceless — itself constructed from the prefix in- meaning without and the stem arma meaning defensive arms, armor —,[7] and refers to the fact that the water deer is antlerless.
Habitat and distribution [ edit ]
Korean water deer
Water deer are indigenous to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, coastal Jiangsu province (Yancheng Coastal Wetlands), and islands of Zhejiang of east-central China, and in Korea, where the demilitarized zone has provided a protected habitat for a large number. In China, water deer are found in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Hubei, Henan, Anhui, Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Shanghai, and Guangxi. They are now extinct in the southern and western China.[8] In Korea, water deer are found nationwide.
Water deer inhabit the land alongside rivers, where they are protected from sight by the tall reeds and rushes. They are also seen on mountains, swamps, grasslands, and even open cultivated fields. Water deer are proficient swimmers, and can swim several miles to reach remote river islands. Chinese Water Deer are now located in United Kingdom, France and Argentina, and even some in the United States.[9][10]
South Korea [ edit ]
Despite a listing of ‘Vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in South Korea the animal is thriving due to the extinction of natural predators such as Korean tigers and leopards. Since 1994, Korean water deer have been designated as “harmful wildlife”, a term given by the Ministry of Environment to wild creatures that can cause harm to humans or to their property. Currently, certain local governments offer bounties from 30,000 won($30) to 50,000 won($50) during the farming season. However, the hunting of water deer is not restricted to the warm season, as 18 hunting grounds are currently in operation this winter.[11][12]
1971 1990 1999 2005 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Density per 100 ha (1 km2) of individuals[13] 0.4 3.7 5.3 6.2 6.6 7.3 7.5 6.9 8.2 7.8 8.0 8.3 Deer Kill (bounty hunting)[14] 11,269 29,756 50,333 58,786 88,041 113,763 Deer Kill (hunting)[15] 1,500 13,904 3,943 10,944 14,982 Deer Kill (car accidents)[16] 60,000
Britain [ edit ]
Hydropotes inermis inermis) at the Chinese water deer () at the Whipsnade Zoo
Chinese water deer were first introduced into Great Britain in the 1870s. The animals were kept in the London Zoo until 1896, when Herbrand Russell oversaw their transferral to Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire. More of the animals were imported and added to the herd over the next three decades. In 1929 and 1930, 32 deer were transferred from Woburn to Whipsnade, also in Bedfordshire, and released into the park. The current population of Chinese water deer at Whipsnade is currently estimated to be more than 600, while the population at Woburn is probably in excess of 250.[citation needed]
The majority of the current population of Chinese water deer in Britain derives from escapees, with the remainder being descended from a number of deliberate releases. Most of these animals still reside close to Woburn Abbey. It appears that the deer's strong preference for a particular habitat – tall reed and grass areas in rich alluvial deltas - has restricted its potential to colonize further afield. The main area of distribution is from Woburn, east into Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and North Essex, and south towards Whipsnade. There have been small colonies reported in other areas.[citation needed]
The British Deer Society coordinated a survey of wild deer in the United Kingdom between 2005 and 2007 and noted the Chinese water deer as "notably increasing its range" since the last census in 2000.[17]
France [ edit ]
A small population existed in France originating from animals that had escaped an enclosure in 1960 in western France (Haute-Vienne, near Poitiers). The population was reinforced in 1965 and 1970 and the species has been protected since 1974. Despite efforts to locate the animals with the help of local hunters, there have been no sightings since 2000, and the population is assumed to be extinct.[18]
United States [ edit ]
The species is not native, but a few small deer farms in the southeastern United States have successfully bred water deer.[citation needed]
Morphology [ edit ]
Physical attributes [ edit ]
Body Length Shoulder Height Tail Length Weight 75–100 cm 45–55 cm 6-7.5 cm 9–14 kg 2.5-3.3 ft 18-22 in 2.4-3 in 20-31 lbs
The water deer has narrow pectoral and pelvic girdles, long legs, and a long neck. The powerful hind legs are longer than the front legs, so that the haunches are carried higher than the shoulders. They run with rabbit-like jumps.[citation needed] In the groin of each leg is an inguinal gland used for scent marking;[19] this deer is the only member of the Cervidae to possess such glands. The short tail is no more than 5–10 cm / 1.9–3.8 in. in length and is almost invisible, except when it is held raised by the male during the rut. The ears are short and very rounded, and both sexes lack antlers.[citation needed]
The coat is an overall golden brown color, and may be interspersed with black hairs, while the undersides are white. The strongly tapered face is reddish brown or gray in color, and the chin and upper throat are cream colored. The hair is longest on the flanks and rump. In the fall, the summer coat is gradually replaced by a thicker, coarse-haired winter coat that varies from light brown to grayish brown. Neither the head nor the tail poles are well differentiated as in gregarious deer; consequently, this deer's coat is little differentiated. Young are born dark brown with white stripes and spots along their upper torso.[citation needed]
Teeth [ edit ]
The water deer have developed long canine teeth which protrude from the upper jaw like the canines of musk deer. The canines are fairly large in the bucks, ranging in length from 5.5 cm / 2.1 in. on average to as long as 8 cm / 3.2 in. Does, in comparison, have tiny canines that are on an average of 0.5 cm / 0.2 in. in length.[20]
The teeth usually erupt in the autumn of the deer's first year at approximately 6–7 months of age. By early spring the recently erupted tusks reach approximately 50% of their final length. As the tusks develop, the root remains open until the deer is about eighteen months to two years old. When fully grown, only about 60% of the tusk is visible below the gum.[citation needed]
These canines are held loosely in their sockets, with their movement controlled by facial muscles. The buck can draw them backwards out of the way when eating. In aggressive encounters, he thrusts his canines out and draws in his lower lip to pull his teeth closer together. He then presents an impressive two-pronged weapon to rival males. It is due to these teeth that this animal is often referred to as a "vampire deer."[21]
Behaviour [ edit ]
Apart from mating during the rutting season, water deer are solitary animals, and males are highly territorial. Each buck marks out his territory with urine and feces. Sometimes a small pit is dug and it is possible that in digging, the male releases scent from the interdigital glands on its feet. The male also scent-marks by holding a thin tree in his mouth behind the upper canines and rubbing his preorbital glands against it. Males may also bite off vegetation to delineate territorial boundaries.[citation needed]
Water deer use their tusks for territorial fights and are not related to carnivores. Confrontations between males begin with the animals walking slowly and stiffly towards each other, before turning to walk in parallel 10–20 m / 32–64 ft. apart, to assess one another. At this point, one male may succeed in chasing off his rival, making clicking noises during the pursuit. However, if the conflict is not resolved at the early stage, the bucks will fight. Each would try to wound the other on the head, shoulders, or back, by stabbing or tearing with his upper canines. The fight is ended by the loser, who either lays his head and neck flat on the ground, or turns tail and is chased out of the territory. Numerous long scars and torn ears seen on males indicate that fighting is frequent. The fights are seldom fatal but may leave the loser considerably debilitated. Tufts of hair are most commonly found on the ground in November and December, showing that encounters are heavily concentrated around the rut.[citation needed]
Females do not seem to be territorial outside the breeding season and can be seen in small groups, although individual deer do not appear to be associated; they will disperse separately at any sign of danger. Females show aggression towards each other immediately before and after the birth of their young and will chase other females from their birth territories.[citation needed]
Communication [ edit ]
Water deer are capable of emitting a number of sounds. The main call is a bark, and this has more of a growl tone when compared with the sharper yap of a muntjac. The bark is used as an alarm, and water deer will bark repeatedly at people and at each other for reasons unknown. If challenged during the rut, a buck will emit a clicking sound. It is uncertain how this unique sound is generated, although it is possibly by using its molar teeth. During the rut a buck following a doe will make a weak whistle or squeak. The does emit a soft pheep to call to their fawns, whilst an injured deer will emit a screaming wail.[citation needed]
Reproduction [ edit ]
Gestation Period Young per Birth Sexual Maturity Life Span 180–210 days 1-7 Does: 7–8 months 10–12 years Commonly 2-5 Bucks: 5–6 months
During the annual rut in November and December, the male will seek out and follow females, giving soft squeaking contact calls and checking for signs of estrus by lowering his neck and rotating his head with ears flapping. Scent plays an important part in courtship, with both animals sniffing each other. Mating among water deer is polygynous, with most females being mated inside the buck's own territory. After repeated mountings, copulation is brief.[citation needed]
Water deer have been known to produce up to seven young, but two to three is normal for this species, the most prolific of all deer.[citation needed] The doe often gives birth to her spotted young in the open, but they are quickly taken to concealing vegetation, where they will remain most of the time for up to a month. During these first few weeks, fawns come out to play. Once driven from the natal territory in late summer, young deer sometimes continue to associate with each other, later separating to begin their solitary existence.[citation needed]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson hit the town with " Beasts of Burden " from Dark Horse Comics this week, a four-issue expansion of their Eisner-winning short story about a ragtag band of animals hell-bent on protecting Burden Hill from occult forces.
Could this housebroken band of brothers join the pantheon of great heroic animals in comics? Maybe. Before we knit them a cute hero sweater, though, let's take a look at some of the bravest animals in comics.
Who got the bad guy? Who got the bad guy? You did! You did!
Comet the Super Horse
When choosing a member of the Legion of Super-Pets, the knee-jerk is to pick Krypto or Streaky, with Beppo being reserved for those who think they're too badass and non-conformist for the rest of us (they're not). But one word sets Comet above the rest: trample. Regular horses can kick and stomp strong enough to turn Craig Venter into Lenny from "Of Mice and Men." Think about how powerful Comet's kick has to be, and the jagged shower of bone fragments and face jelly spewing forth from whatever goop remains of any bad guy's face. Supergirl should enter every battle with one objective: get villain to spook Comet. If Superman is powerful enough to reverse the Earth's orbit, Comet certainly has the strength to maim and retard at least a continent.
Bandit, Tinker, and Pirate from We3
These poor animals from "We3" have been cybernetically-augmented with razor blades, projectile weapons, and high-yield explosives. Despite all that destructive power, that which sets them apart from other super-pets is their freakish ability to choke up their enemies. Super-expressive eyes and sad, simple dialogue attack the emotion centers like a swarm of ants devouring a lollipop, teasing out wave after wave of tears, blinding their hapless, sobbing victim. Snf.
Ch'p
You might think it a stupid idea to give a chipmunk a power ring. You are correct. Ch'p hails from H'lven, a planet in space sector 1014 populated by creatures with remarkable resemblances to Earth rodents. Despite his diminutive stature, insatiable desire to gorge on birdfeeders, and severe case of storage pouch envy, Ch'p proved himself a mighty warrior and good friend during his tenure as Green Lantern. Until he was run over by a yellow tractor-trailer. Beats being eaten by a golden wolf. I think.
Rocket Raccoon
Up there in the black hills of Halfword lived a young law officer name Rocket Raccoon, Judson Jakes stole the Halfword Bible, hit young Rocket in the eye, Rocket didn't like that, said "I'm gonna get that boy." So he and the Hulk went go for broke, something something rocket skates, he must be riddled with intergalactic parasites, in space no one can hear you knock over garbage cans, harmonica, and then they found "Gideon's Bible," end on G7 to open C. The story of Rocket, da dah. Go remasters!
Ace the Bat-Hound
The original Ace was a German Shepherd, a proud, noble dog capable of sniffing out burglars and ripping out a man's throat. Post-Crisis, Ace was emasculated into a beagle-pug crossbreed: a "puggle." Now look here, DC Entertainment. There is nothing more disheartening than seeing a proud creature reduced to a four-legged joke, a thirty-pound poop machine capable of nothing more than five minutes of rowdy time and a permanently cute expression on its face. If there remains any justice in this foul, broken tooth of a world, when Batman returns from Cavetime, the real Ace will be waiting for him, mask on and returned to his rightful German Shepherd self, no matter what the odds that his ancestors tortured a few Jews. That's not on him. Like most things, it comes down to the looming Apocalypse: post-Rapture, a German Shepherd is a skilled hunter, loyal protector, and trusted friend. After Armaggeddon, all a puggle is good for is dinner. I bet they taste adorable.
Lockjaw
It's no wonder this fella will be got his own miniseries, "Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers." Named after tetanus, endowed with the ability the teleport pretty much anywhere, and, thanks to the tuning fork implanted in his skull, blessed with perfect pitch, LJ is clearly the coolest canine to roam the Marvel Universe. At what must be 350 pounds of slobber and muscle, it's never been easier to your "Terrigen Mists" on the dog.Liverpool recorded a fourth successive victory as Southampton were beaten 3-0 at Anfield in the Premier League clash at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.
Mohamed Salah curled the Reds into a 32nd minute lead when he arched a brilliant shot into the top corner from a half-cleared corner.
He was at it again soon after, converting from close range after a superlative outside-of-the-foot pass from Philippe Coutinho picked out his diagonal dart across the area.
Coutinho then got himself on the scoresheet when he reacted quickest to sweep Fraser Forster’s body block from a Roberto Firmino effort into the net after the break, completing a pleasing day’s work for Jürgen Klopp’s side on their return to action.
The key points…
Salah’s sublime curler opens scoring just after half-hour mark
Winger adds a second before the break assisted by magnificent Coutinho pass
Coutinho finds the net midway through the second half
Reds fifth in Premier League table
Salah now division’s top scorer
The team news…
Liverpool made four changes for the encounter, with Coutinho, Dejan Lovren, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson coming into the XI. Sadio Mane was also passed fit to face his former club.
The first half…
Liverpool got the contest under way looking to build upon the three consecutive wins they’d picked up prior to the international break.
And the Reds made an enterprising start to proceedings, with just eight minutes gone when Forster was required to thwart Alexander-Arnold at close range. Salah pounced on the rebound and attempted to steer it into the near post, but Cedric Soares managed to block.
Seconds later, the Egyptian threatened again, this time hooking a half-volley wide of the upright from 10 yards after Mane’s run and cross from the left.
Next, Forster was required to pull off a save at full stretch to repel Georginio Wijnaldum’s curling effort on the turn, before the visiting goalkeeper tipped a low Coutinho strike around the base of the post after a counter-attack from the hosts.
But the Saints’ resistance was finally broken with 32 minutes registered on the scoreboard.
A half-cleared corner was worked back to Salah on the right corner of the area. He took a touch to steady himself before clipping the ball over everyone still gathered inside the box and into the top corner with a moment of quality.
And it was to be 2-0 before the interval, with Salah again on the mark.
This time an exceptional ball with the outside of his boot from Coutinho found his run into space inside the area as the hosts poured forward, and the No.11 scooped first time beyond Forster from close range.
The second half…
Liverpool began the second period again on the front-foot – and Mane was denied by a block inside the box after Salah and Firmino had opened up the visiting defence once more.
However, Lovren was required to put his body in the way of a blast from Sofiane Boufal after Mauricio Pellegrino’s team looked to capitalise on the counter-attack.
Back came the Reds and only a last-gasp challenge from Oriol Romeu prevented Mane from sliding in a third after Firmino had beaten Forster to the ball.
Soon after, a pacey raid forward from a Southampton corner resulted in Coutinho releasing the ball for Alberto Moreno, but he couldn’t adjust his feet quickly enough to prod beyond Forster.
Coutinho then slalomed his way into the area and grazed the outside of the post as the home team sought to further their grip.
Nevertheless, a third goal duly arrived with 68 gone; Mane sped into the area from the right and played a disguised pass to Firmino in space. His powerful shot was blocked by Forster’s shoulder, but the ball rolled nicely for Coutinho to sweep in the rebound.
It was the No.10’s last touch, with Emre Can replacing him before the re-start.
Liverpool threatened to further enhance their stronghold, not least when Firmino skimmed the post with a low effort across goal, but they’d already done enough to make certain of the three points.
The stats…The Russian Ministry of Finance has completed a new version of draft bill concerning the ban of “money surrogates” and is about to introduce it to the Parliament.
This information was provided to CoinFox by Alexei Moiseev, Deputy Minister of Finance. The previous version of the bill had been submitted in the Fall 2015 but was returned for revision.
“We have been elaborating it together with law-enforcement agencies and now are remaking the draft in order to introduce the bill for the second time”, declared Moiseev.
He also expressed his doubts concerning the prospects of MPs’ initiative on the ban of “surrogate money”. This document had been supposed to enter the State Duma – the lower house of the Russian Parliament – before the one elaborated by the Ministry of Finance.
“In practice it hardly can pass the first reading”, explained Moiseev.
The first version of the draft bill proposed by the Ministry of Finance classified bitcoin mining and trade to be a criminal offence. In addition, all bitcoin-to-ruble exchange transactions are the matter of particular concern for the Ministry.
Those issuing “surrogate money”, buying them with a goal of resale or selling them would have been fined 300,000 rubles (around $5,000) or sentenced to a year of correctional works. If committed by an organised group, the deed could have incurred even a stricter punishment.
The Ministry has not disclosed any information about the changes in the new version of the draft. Therefore if the bill is passed the consequences for bitcoin users and miners are still unclear.
The Ministry of Finance started working on the draft law back in August 2014. It explains its harsh stance on the digital currency claiming that the “surrogate money” might be used for money laundering purposes and create additional risks.
Nevertheless, the draft Code of Administrative Violations presented in December 2015 deals with “surrogate money” issued on the territory of the Russian Federation. Thus, the future of bitcoin in Russia depends on whether the draft bill is passed or not, and whether the new Code accepted.
Andrew LevichMalcolm Turnbull with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Saturday. Credit:Andrew Meares The Prime Minister's flight on the president's plane is believed to be the first time ever another world leader has flown on the French president's plane. President Macron said the decision to choose French company DCNS was an honour for French industry and "we will do our utmost and everything necessary to meet the requirements of the contract. The French leader also thanked Australia for its commitment to the Paris climate agreement, while Mr Turnbull said the submarines - which are not due to enter service until the 2030s - was the "largest and most ambitious military project in Australia's history". "The future submarine project is a generational, a multi-generational project. It is a national enterprise. And it is one where we are working together, our two nations side-by-side as our forebears did so long ago," Mr |
Flame maintaining the sacred order of government force and coercion. This is why the police are insured the sacred protection that allows them to maim and kill if they “feel” threatened and get away with it.
Officer safety is the reminder that government officials are more equal than others. All professions come with risks but the police are a special case because without their warrant for the use and initiation of force against others, our government and governments around the world would collapse because citizens would be able to ignore malum prohibitum laws with impunity. Civil disobedience would have a real effect and non-compliance, a peaceful endeavor, could not be stopped with bloody violence.
Every time that armed state official walks up to your car in pursuit of raising revenue for his masters, he is poised to maim and kill you if he wishes. Whether using the trumped up charges of “a furtive movement” or “resisting arrest”, the departments will find a way to keep their costumed & armed tax-eaters protected. They will be back on the streets to terrorize and cow more citizens into submission. That is their charter. The apprehension and detention of real criminals (malum in se) is but a small part of the enterprise.
To protect and serve, indeed – the government.
“I believe that liberty is the only genuinely valuable thing that men have invented, at least in the field of government, in a thousand years. I believe that it is better to be free than to be not free, even when the former is dangerous and the latter safe. I believe that the finest qualities of man can flourish only in free air — that progress made under the shadow of the policeman’s club is false progress, and of no permanent value. I believe that any man who takes the liberty of another into his keeping is bound to become a tyrant, and that any man who yields up his liberty, in however slight the measure, is bound to become a slave.”
– H. L. Mencken
Copyright © 2011 by zerogov.comMoyan Brenn/Flickr Scott Santens doesn't just want May 1st to be bigger than July 4th; he knows it will be.
This May Day, Santens, an advocate for universal basic income and moderator of the basic income subreddit, launched his third annual Thunderclap campaign to spread the gospel about the most popular economic policy of the last year.
Eventually, Santens hopes that people think of May Day as a day to celebrate basic income.
At 10 am EST, everyone who signed up for the campaign will share the same message on either Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr: "Let us celebrate the past, acknowledge the present, and embrace the future of labor — with #basicincome! #MayDay."
In essence, basic income is a form of income distribution in which people receive a monthly check on top of their usual salary. The extra cash is meant to subsidize costs related to shelter, food, and clothing, but no one polices exactly how people use the money. It's an idea that's quickly gaining traction around the world.
Switzerland announced a plan to hold a basic income referendum in June of 2016, and other basic income experiments are set to start in the Netherlands, Finland, and Canada sometime in 2017. New Zealand and the United States might not be far behind.
Santens believes the idea to turn May Day into "Basic Income Day" is one that future historians will come to see as inevitable.
"The attainment of basic income will be celebrated for what it is, a level of freedom and independence of which our ancestors could only dream and didn't realize they were working towards all along," he tells Tech Insider.
Economists and futurists alike agree that sometime in the next 20 or 30 years a huge chunk of the American workforce will be replaced by robots and software. Jobs that today need human hands to complete — long-haul truck driving, fast-food serving, certain types of factory work — will get replaced by driverless cars and artificial intelligence.
When that happens, many people see basic income stepping in as the first line of defense.
"This is not some half-baked idea that people haven't thought through all the way," Santens says. "This is an idea that has been considered for generations, and has been tested to varying degrees and observed in varying forms all over the world."
Santens is mostly correct. Basic income has been tried out in various forms since the 1960s, and with promising results. But no long-term studies have been done to evaluate just how much prosperity people gain from earning a basic income or what large-scale consequences might arise.
The good news is that such a study is coming: Later this year, the nonprofit GiveDirectly will launch a 10- to 15-year experiment in Kenya that involves more than 6,000 people. It'll be the world's largest trial in history and the best evidence to-date gauging basic income's effectiveness.
Santens hopes the Thunderclap campaign reaches 1 million people (at the time of writing, 488,000 people have signed up to spread the word). At such an early stage, awareness is still a huge challenge.
"Simply put, the biggest obstacle to the implementation of basic income at this point in time is simply the fact that most people have yet to learn of its existence," he says.
But he's also confident that once the masses do learn about basic income, its appeal will spread fast and wide.
"We remember the day we took 'one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind,' and we will forever remember that next giant leap forward called universal basic income, whenever that day comes," he says, "because that's exactly what it is — our next collective moonshot."Petition launched to ban fracking in Brent
The Third Energy facility in Yorkshire where fracking is planned to take place. Local London Energy wishes to dig in Harlesden (Picture: PA/Danny Lawson) PA Wire/PA Images
A petition has been launched to stop fracking in Harlesden as an energy company seeks to dig for gas in the borough.
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Cllr Lia Colacicco, who represents Mapesbury, has set up a petition to stop London Local Energy (LLE) from fracking in Brent as Dawn Butler MP and environment groups urge the council to throw out any proposals they receive.
LLE has indicated it will “revisit” Artesian Close in Harlesden when the Oil and Gas Authority opens its 15th Onshore Licensing Round, the date of which is not yet known.
In a statement, LLE said: “Until recently, producing any oil and gas under London would have been impossible. Thus, exploring for it would have been pointless.
“The White Heather Laundry at what is now Artesian Close London NW10 8RW, was an extremely successful commercial laundry business that drilled a well for water in 1910.”
It adds: “This isn’t a choice between renewables and natural gas. LLE are as Green as anyone else. We live in London, love our air, our water and our children just like you. We want what you want.”
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a controversial process used to extract fossil fuels locked in rock formations thousands of metres below the earth’s surface.
A mixture of water, sand and chemicals is injected deep underground at high pressure to fracture the rocks and release the shale gas or shale oil.
Ms Butler said: “They will need more than PR and spin to get this round me and the residents of Brent. These proposals would place the facilities right next to hundreds of homes in Harlesden and just a stone’s throw away from a local primary school.
“I won’t let any company put the health of my residents and students at risk, not on my watch. I am urging Brent Council to throw this laughable proposal out immediately.”
Cllr Colacicco, added: “We have started a petition to highlight the strength of local opposition. If LLE think the residents of Brent are going to put up with seismic testing and the contamination of their drinking water in order for LLE to make profits at our expense, then they have seriously underestimated us. Our children’s health is not for sale.
A spokesman for Brent Friends of the Earth (FOE) said: “In the US and in Australia fracking has contaminated drinking water. We know that any process which involves extracting and burning more fossil fuels will make climate change worse. So let’s not do it. The plans suggested may be better than importing gas as we are currently doing but not better than renewables. We should be concentrating on developing renewable energy, and reducing energy use.”
Cllr Eleanor Southwood, lead member for environment, said that the council is absolutely opposed to fracking adding: “We made our position clear in 2013. Any approach by would-be-frackers is not welcome.” LLE has been contacted. To prevent a license to drill being granted go to bit.ly/2sXyZBr.Sexual Abuse
The victim filed the complaint after she came to know last week that Gurjar was already married and has two kids, who do not live in the city.
A Customs official has been booked on the charge of sexually assaulting a CISF woman constable who works at the city airport, police said on Monday.
"We have filed an FIR against Customs officer Hemaraj Gurjar, on a complaint by the victim that he had sexually exploited her after promising to marry her but backed out later," Bengaluru North-East Deputy Commissioner of Police P.S. Harsha told IANS.
Gurjar is posted as an Inspector at the Kempe Gowda International Airport at Devanahalli on the city's outskirts, where the victim also reports for duty on shifts.
"The accused has not been arrested as the investigation is still on. We are questioning him on the charges the victim made that he had taken her to his rented house at Yellahanka and got into a physical relationship, promising to marry her soon," said Harsha, citing the complaint.
The victim filed the complaint after she came to know last week that Gurjar was already married and has two kids, who do not live in the city.
"He (Gurjar) lied to me that he was single and promised to marry me, but betrayed me after sexually exploiting me," said the victim in the complaint.Gimli is ready to take on the quest, and maybe a few axe swings as well! Along for the journey is his old pal, Legolas, and an unlikely third Hero in Sam Gamgee. Is this an alternative fan-fiction of “The Three Hunters” or something else. I’d like to know myself. Read on for this month’s Hero of the Month Deck, “The Three Questers”
The first thing I thought of when Gimli and Legolas were revealed was that a secrecy deck build was in order. I had never tried one and it seemed this dynamic duo was the perfect reason to give it a shot. Then I heard some lukewarm responses about the success of such a deck and set my sights elsewhere. When I looked around I saw very few decks, and those that were published were either including Beravor or, in order to make a Three Hunters Deck, some version of Aragorn. Perhaps it’s me being a bit stubborn, or foolish, or hipster, or some combination, but I wanted to build something… different, as tempting as some of the Three Hunter Decks were. That has left me with the following build.
Naturally the two Heroes that started it all for this deck were the aforementioned Gimli and Legolas, recently added to the card pool with the release of The Sands of Harad Deluxe Expansion. Each Hero provides their own readying effect, Legolas when he commits to a quest, and Gimli when he defends an attack. Where Legolas requires a discard to trigger his ability, Gimli needs resources. Both Heroes belong to spheres that are more than ready for the task, with Leadership having access to resource acceleration and Spirit having Elven-Light. While they are able to ready any Hero with their abilities, their effects provide a boost when used on each other, so they practically have to be partnered, unless there is good reason not to.
The third Hero was a puzzle to me, and I’m still figuring it out if I’m being honest. I tried Lore, thinking about Heroes like Pippin or Bifur (I think I even considered Haldir of Lorien at one point). Nothing seemed to stick. I always enjoyed the idea that the Noldor discard mechanic and the Dwarf mining archetype coincidentally work well together and I had hoped that this was the chance to try out the partnership. So Dain was a consideration and that deck is still very unfinished. I decided I wanted the deck to do two things, quest and defend (going off of Legolas and Gimli’s effects). Taking a step back I ultimately landed on Sam Gamgee who is still one of my favorite Heroes in the game. Sam provides 3 willpower out the gate and his low starting threat keeps my deck under the radar for more combat-focused decks. If an enemy does come my way Sam is more than likely going to ready, lending some assistance in defending in his own way. If I wasn’t already trying to make things hard, my next several choices made things even more so.
There are only 8 allies in the entire deck. Split between Galadriel, Gandalf, and the (also new) Greenwood Archer, each ally performs has its own particular use. A secondary focus of the deck was action-advantage, and so the archer was included to provide extra readying (in case Gimli or Legolas needed to participate in combat one more time than their abilities would allow). Gandalf is included to do Gandalf things, and solve one problem this deck greatly suffered in my first few tests – card draw. Last but not least, Galadriel not only adds 3 willpower to the quest but can fetch one of the 26 attachments that are part of the build. She doesn’t just grant card advantage but a sort of resource smoothing as well.
Many of the attachments are meant for Gimli, such as Dunedain Warning or King Under the Mountain. Steward of Gondor and Rune-master ensure Gimli always has resources to use his ability (and to pay for the 3o leadership cards in the deck) and, in the case of Steward, bestows Gimli with the Gondor trait. Taking advantage of his defensive uses, Blood of Numenor can then be used to good effect. Then there is Heir of Mardil which is bound to get a couple triggers off and ready Gimli a few more times throughout the course of a game.
For Sam and Legolas the attachments are a little less bountiful, but in a way a bit simpler to achieve their desired effect and still provide power. Since this deck is light on allies, I decided to take advantage of the 1-cost, neutral attachment Strider. While its first effect will almost never (hopefully) be used, it does give a Hero, in this case Legolas, 2 extra willpower for 1 neutral resource and that cannot be ignored. Next up is Celebrian’s Stone which although it’s resource to willpower ratio isn’t as good as Strider’s it does mean that Legolas can now quest for 5 willpower when both are attached. Mirkwood Long-Knife can take things one step further and bring Legolas’s willpower up to 6 while also bringing his attack to 4 (5 if you include Gimli’s effect). With Legolas’s willpower being rather high, I included 2 copies of Fair and Perilous to make sure Legolas can more than easily take out an enemy when the situation requires. Lastly, Sam Gamgee gets the very short end of the stick with just 2 copies of Hobbit Cloak. While I’d rather not have Sam to a lot of defending, the deck’s heavy reliance on Leadership cards and Gimli’s defending means that Gimli may just not have enough resources to ready. The Hobbit Cloak at least makes Sam a half-decent defender.
I’ve already mentioned Fair and Perilous, Elven-Light, and their uses. Other than those there are only a few more events, bringing the total count to 16. Unlikely Friendship seems like a no-brainer in this deck since it’s pre-req’s are already met at the start and it single handedly fuels both Legolas and Gimli’s effects. Well-Equipped is included to be a pseudo Galadriel that costs nothing and requires no resource match but at the cost of looking at less cards, discarding them instead of just searching, and only being able to grant Gimli with an attachment. Sneak Attack is practically meant for Gandalf, but the introduction of the Greenwood Archer to the card pool does add another interesting option that I’m glad to take full advantage of. And, finally, 2 copies of Hidden Cache are in the deck. While ideally they would trigger off Well-Equipped or King Under the Mountain, I don’t mind spending 1 resource for a card, especially since Legolas is bound to have a few extra resources lying around.
For the opening hand though it may be cliche, Steward of Gondor is a card worth a mulligan. Galadriel is another great card to see, assuming you can pay with her in which case you’ll also want an Unlikely Friendship. If you can manage to get her out quickly she can hopefully make up for any key attachments you don’t find. Elven-Light is probably the other key card to look for early on, as it will allow Legolas’s ability to trigger consistently and the deck to spit out cards all the more quickly.
So how have my experiences been with the deck? Well when it works, it works. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the deck is “good.” With a decent enough opening hand there is the potential to quest for 12 with just a few attachments and our 3 Heroes. The composition of the deck is also my favorite strength but also a weakness that I dread to see exploited. For quests that hate on allies or require action advantage, this deck can hold it’s own. But without it’s Heroes the deck is literally nothing, and so a quest like the third in the Sands of Harad Box, The Long Arm of Mordor will completely stomp this deck. And though there are multiple copies of many key attachments, care must be made to make sure we don’t lose a vital attachment to a shadow card (which seems to be cropping up more and more these days).
Despite the flaws of the deck, it’s a list I am happy with and am eager to tinker with as the card pool grows, much like my Eleanor Deck or Elrond/Outlands deck.
But I’m certainly open to suggestions. Check out the final list below and let me know what you think in the comments section. Of course I’m also interested to hear about how well Gimli and Legolas play together, and if they’re either a force to be reckoned with or a gimmick that will fade eventually.
As always, thanks for reading!
-The Secondhand Took
The Three Questers
Hero (3)
Gimli (The Sands of Harad)
Legolas (The Sands of Harad)
Sam Gamgee (The Black Riders)
Ally (8)
3x Galadriel (The Road Darkens)
3x Gandalf (Core Set)
2x Greenwood Archer (The Sands of Harad)
Attachment (26)
2x Armored Destrier (Temple of the Deceived)
2x Blood of Númenor (Heirs of Númenor)
2x Celebrían’s Stone (Core Set)
2x Dúnedain Remedy (The Drowned Ruins)
2x Dúnedain Warning (Conflict at the Carrock)
2x Heir of Mardil (Celebrimbor’s Secret)
2x Hobbit Cloak (The Black Riders)
3x King Under the Mountain (On the Doorstep)
2x Mirkwood Long-knife (The Sands of Harad)
1x Rune-master (A Storm on Cobas Haven)
3x Steward of Gondor (Core Set)
3x Strider (The Drowned Ruins)
Event (16)
3x Elven-light (The Dread Realm)
2x Fair and Perilous (Across the Ettenmoors)
2x Hidden Cache (The Morgul Vale)
3x Sneak Attack (Core Set)
3x Unlikely Friendship (The Sands of Harad)
3x Well-Equipped (The Blood of Gondor)
Sideboard
Attachment (8)
3x Dwarven Shield (The Sands of Harad)
2x In Service of the Steward (Flight of the Stormcaller)
1x Rune-master (A Storm on Cobas Haven)
2x The Day’s Rising (The Antlered Crown)
Event (8)
2x Common Cause (Core Set)
1x Hidden Cache (The Morgul Vale)
2x We Are Not Idle (Shadow and Flame)
3x Well Warned (The Sands of Harad)
Deck built on RingsDB.
AdvertisementsElectronic dance trio The Glitch Mob have been inspired by a winter sports fan who used their music to help him defy doctors and walk again after a crippling snowmobile accident.
Athlete Grant Korgan was left paralysed after the sickening crash in 2010 and family and friends feared he'd never leave his hospital bed, let alone walk again.
But he has amazed medics with his recovery and his will - and Korgan credits his favourite band with providing the soundtrack to his comeback.
And after inspiring him with their music, the band's number one fan has inspired bandmates Boreta, OOah and edIT to work harder on their sound.
In an appearance on U.S. TV show Last Call, EdIT says, "We saw him (Korgan) at Red Rocks in Colorado and he was on crutches and it was mindblowing."
But the best was yet to come after the daredevil asked the trio for a copy of its logo for a flag he was creating.
Korgan was planning a special tribute to the band at the end of a South Pole trek on a sit ski.
Ooah explains, "The last 100 feet of the journey, he got out of his sit ski and walked to the spot."
Footage of his flag salute to The Glitch Mob at the South Pole has been posted on the group's website.
Boreta adds, "We were so humbled when he told us our music helped him get through therapy and overcome a tremendous life challenge. There's no way to describe the feeling you get when you realise that your music has helped make a real difference in someone's life."Woman 'blackmailed billionaire for £3m by threatening to tell his wife he made her pregnant'
One of the world’s wealthiest property tycoons was blackmailed by a woman who falsely claimed she was pregnant by him and threatened to tell his wife unless he paid her £3million, a court heard.
Fuk Wu, 39, told the billionaire, who owns several acres of prime real estate in London’s West End, that she would go to the press if he did not pay up, it is claimed.
She also told him that she would ask his wife what she should name the baby unless he either paid her in cash or bought her a luxury flat, jurors were told.
Accused: Fuk Wu, 39, is charged with blackmailing the billionaire property magnate
Giving evidence at Southwark Crown Court, the alleged victim said that he had never had sexual relations with her.
The businessman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he had given Wu a job assisting his London and Geneva operations in April 2006 after being impressed by her ‘talent for business’.
She was paid a basic salary of around £50,000, with extra payments from business expenses, the court heard.
The alleged victim, who is in his 70s, told the jury that he owned hotels and office space in London, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Switzerland, and regularly completed ‘multi-
billion pound’ property deals.
He said Wu had proved herself a ‘top dog’ in the business, working as part of his teams of personal assistants. But he said that in a breakfast meeting towards the end of 2008, she told him she was pregnant and that he was ‘responsible.’
He said she demanded that he either buy her a flat for 15million Hong Kong dollars, or pay her a ‘lump sum’ of £3million.
He said that she had ‘threatened’ that her mother and father would confront him in public at his Hong Kong office if he did not agree to her demands.
‘It was also in the realm of threatening my wife, saying that she would tell her.
‘[She said] she would tell my wife and ask her to name the baby.’
Cross-examining him, Wu’s barrister, Paul Purnell QC, suggested that the truth was that he had had an affair with Wu.
Mr Purnell said: ‘Our case is that you have been carrying out a campaign, a malevolent campaign, against your ex-mistress Madam Wu.’
He told the court that instead of giving her a job as he claimed after interviewing her in Garfunkel’s restaurant in Victoria Station, the tycoon had in fact contacted Wu after seeing an advertisement in a Chinese newspaper – in which she advertised herself as a potential bride in search of a husband.
The complainant denied this, and insisted he had hired her after she impressed him in interview.
Mr Purnell also suggested that the man had given Wu a gift of £1million on Valentine’s Day, 2007.
Wu denies blackmail and attempted fraud by false representation between December 1, 2008, and February 1, 2009.
The trial continues.Over the past few decades, America has locked up more and more people. Our prison population has tripled. Now we jail a higher percentage of people than even the most repressive countries: China locks up 121 out of every 100,000 people; Russia 511. In America? 730.
“Never in the civilized world have so many been locked up for so little,” The Economist says.
Yet we keep adding more laws and longer jail terms.
Lavrentiy Beria, head of Joseph Stalin’s secret police in the old Soviet Union, supposedly said, “Show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.” Stalin executed anyone he considered a threat, and it didn’t take much to be considered a threat. Beria could always find some law the targeted person had broken. That’s easy to do when there are tons of vague laws on the books. Stalin “legally” executed nearly a million people that way.
I’m not saying that America is like Stalin’s Russia, but consider the federal laws we have. The rules that bind us now total more than 160,000 pages. The Congressional Research Service said it was unable to count the number of crimes on the books. Yet last week the feds added or proposed another thousand pages. States and cities have thousands more. Have you read them all? Have our “representatives” read them all? You know the answer.
When there is a big crime, legislators quickly demand that felons be given longer jail sentences and “mandatory minimums” for repeat offenses. This wins votes but kills judicial discretion and crushes unlucky people.
RELATED COLUMN:
Michael Barone: Conservatives backtrack on long prison sentences
In Iowa, a man with an old felony conviction found a bullet, put it on his dresser and forgot about it. A police officer, looking for something else, saw the bullet. Felons may not possess any ammunition, and this “crime” made the man a repeat offender. He’s now serving a 15-year mandatory sentence for possession of ammunition. Really. The long sentence was appealed, but the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld it, saying its hands were tied by the mandatory minimum set in law.
Most of us won’t be victimized by mandatory minimums or the countless ambiguities in today’s laws, but if you are the kind of person America needs most – an inventor who creates something or someone who builds a business – there is a bigger chance that you’ll fall victim to the incomprehensible maze. The laws burdening business and finance are bewildering – Dodd-Frank merely piled on. Even enterprises with big legal and accounting departments better watch out.
Then there’s the so-called war on drugs – a war on people, actually. Lots of politicians admit that they used drugs in their youth – even presidents. Barack Obama wrote in his memoir, “Dreams From My Father”: “Pot had helped …; maybe a little blow (cocaine) when you could afford it.”
And, yet in office, these same politicians preside over an injustice system that jails a million Americans for doing what they did. Don’t they see the hypocrisy? Give me a break.
Libertarian entertainer Penn Jillette has it right: “If Obama had been caught with the marijuana that he says he used and ‘maybe a little blow’ … if he had been busted under his laws, he would have done hard – ing time … time in federal prison, time for his ‘weed’ and ‘a little blow,’ he would not be president … would not have gone to his fancy-ass college, he would not have sold books … made millions of dollars. … He would have been in – ing prison, and it’s not a goddamn joke.”
I want my government to arrest real criminals – ones who violate our rights – and to lock them up so we’ll be protected. But our politicians go way beyond that. Governments at all levels have long been in the business of forbidding conduct that violates no one’s rights and piling on complex laws to govern conduct that might harm someone. And they keep passing more.
They have created a byzantine maze of criminal law that is so incomprehensible that even legal specialists don’t agree on what the rules specify. Then ambitious prosecutors ruin lives enforcing those laws. The prosecutors and lawmakers say this is for our own good.
No, it’s not.Exactly how the Motor City is rebuilding its urban core.
When people talk about the resurgence of urban America — the shift of people, jobs and commerce back to downtowns and center cities — they're usually talking about a narrow group of elite cities like New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Boston, and San Francisco. That's why a report [PDF] released this week on the transformation of downtown Detroit is so interesting. It documents the ongoing regeneration of a decent sized swath of the city's urban core. Detroit's Greater Downtown spans 7.2 square miles (reflected in the title of the report). It runs across the city's riverfront* from the central business district to trendy Corktown, home of Slows Bar B Q and Astro Coffee; Mies van der Rohe's verdant Lafayette Park and Rivertown, north to the Eastern Market, Detroit's farmer's market; the Cass Corridor, with arts institutions; Midtown, home to Wayne State University, up Woodward Avenue to Tech Town and New Center (see the map below). Image from the report The report draws on new and unique data from local surveys as well as national data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey and other national sources. It is the product of a partnership between the the Hudson-Webber Foundation, the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, the Downtown Detroit Partnership, Midtown Detroit, Inc., D:hive, and Data Driven Detroit.
The Greater Downtown corridor has a population of 36,550 people or 5,076 people per square mile. It might not be not downtown Manhattan, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, or Philadelphia, but it compares favorably to other Midwest city-centers, like downtown Minneapolis, with 3.4 square miles and 28,811 people; downtown Pittsburgh at 1.3 square miles and 4,064 people; and downtown Cleveland at 3.2 square miles and 9,523 people. Of these downtowns, only Minneapolis has greater density than Greater Downtown Detroit. Greater Downtown forms the Detroit region's commercial, educational, and entertainment hub home to major higher ed, arts and cultural institutions, its football and baseball stadiums and hockey arena, and several hundred restaurants, bars and retails shops. Each year, 10.5 million people visit the Greater Downtown area, according to the report. (Left) Elizabeth Rose stands in the first branch of coffee emporium 'Roasting Plant' outside New York, in downtown Detroit on January 25.; (Right) Entrepreneurs Brian Doig and Cyndi Lareau (R), work on their web businesses in the M@dison building in downtown Detroit on January 25. (both by Rebecca Cook/Reuters) While Greater Downtown is more affluent than the city as a whole, it lags behind other urban centers. The average per capita income of Greater Downtown residents is $20,216, considerably higher than $15,062 for the city as a whole but behind the nation ($27,334) as well as other urban centers like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Residents of Greater Downtown are also more educated than the city as a whole (see table below). College educated residents between the ages of 25 and 34 made up eight percent of the population for Greater Downtown compared to just one percent for the city as a whole, three percent for the state of Michigan, and four percent for the nation. More than four in ten young adults (42 percent) in Greater Downtown were college-educated, compared to 11 percent for the city, and higher than both the state and national rates of 29 and 31 percent, respectively. Chart from the report Cities are changing fast. Keep up with the CityLab Daily newsletter. The best way to follow issues you care about. Subscribe Loading... Still, one of the most interesting findings from the report is that Greater Downtown is considerably more racially diverse than the city as a whole. Even in the fabled Motor City, downtown's regeneration is being driven at least in part by people looking to live more sensibly and efficiently, with less dependence on the car. The report highlights this trend providing the results of a survey of pedestrian and cycling activity across Greater Downtown's six main districts (see table below). Table from the report As in other cities, Detroit's downtown urban transformation has surfaced a variety of issues. This past summer, Karen Dumas, former press secretary to Mayor Dave Bing, asked if Detroit was losing its fabled grit and becoming too suburban, highlighting the tensions arising with the influx of new, more affluent residents. "On one hand, you see a 'new' Detroit. Young, white, educated and employed are the characteristics of those who are taking a chance on the city. They stand in stark contrast to native Detroiters — most of whom are African-Americans and many who are undereducated and unemployed — who have stayed and stuck it out over the years, through challenge and controversy." And while Greater Downtown has seen considerable process, large swaths of the city remain terribly distressed. "We're a long way from gentrification," Kurt Metzger, director of Data Driven Detroit, the source of much of the data for the report, told the Detroit Free Press. I will be looking in more detail at these important issues in the upcoming Detroit installment of my ongoing series on America's class-divided cities. *Correction: An earlier version said lake front.With President Obama trying to deal with the Democrats' loss in Massachusetts, a new poll shows he's losing some support in California.
A new Field Poll shows Obama's approval rating is down to 56%, compared to 60% in October and 65% in March. California Politics, The Times' new blog, has more, as well as a roundup of what's going on in Sacramento and beyond.
Also on California Politics: How the election of Scott Brown is playing out in California. The Times' Seema Mehta reports it has given hope to the Republicans trying to defeat Barbara Boxer.
"The era of saying, well, something's a blue state and is always going to be a blue state is over," said California Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, speaking Tuesday afternoon to reporters after a speech to businesspeople in North Hollywood. "Voters are engaged."
Stay on top of California political news through the day.
-- Shelby GradAstronomy 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. 2016 February 6
Five Planets at Castell de Burriac
Image Credit & Copyright: Ignacio Llorens
Explanation: February's five planet line-up stretches across a clear sky in this predawn scene. A hilltop Castell de Burriac looms in the foreground, overlooking the town of Cabrera de Mar near Barcelona, Spain, planet Earth. The mosaicked, panoramic image looks south. It merges three different exposure times to record a bright Last Quarter Moon, planets, seaside city lights, and dark castle ruins. Seen on February 1st the Moon was near Mars on the sky. But this week early morning risers have watched it move on, passing near Saturn and finally Venus and Mercury, sliding along near the ecliptic toward the dawn, approaching the February 7 New Moon.There are enormous differences in how the leading presidential candidates want to tax America's superrich.
In March, the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank, published an analysis detailing how the presidential candidates' tax plans would affect the top 0.1 percent of income earners, or those making at least $3.7 million annually.
Here's a chart put together by Vox's Javier Zarracina based on TPC's findings:
There are huge differences between Democrats and Republicans, and among Democrats
It's worth highlighting just how big the divides are between the Democrats and the Republicans, as well as between the two Democratic candidates.
Sanders's plan is, unsurprisingly, the most aggressive toward the superrich.
If his plan were approved, President Sanders would raise taxes for each household in the top 0.1 percent by an average of $3 million per household, according to the TPC.
By contrast, President Ted Cruz would cut taxes on the richest of the rich by an average of $2 million per tax filer. Donald Trump's plan similarly calls for an average tax cut for the superrich by $1.3 million per family.
"These are tectonic shifts in tax policy," TPC's analysis says.
Hillary Clinton's tax plan is the least dramatic of any of the four candidates. (TPC said Republican Gov. John Kasich had not released a detailed plan.)
For the 116,000 households in the top 0.1 percent, for instance, Clinton's plan would have each family pay an average of $500,000 more.
Another way to dramatize the difference: Sanders's tax plan would, on average, raise the federal tax rate for the top 0.1 percent by 29.5 percentage points. Clinton's would raise it by around 5 percentage points.
Meanwhile, Cruz's plan would, on average, cut the tax rate of the top 0.1 percent by |
such a large body of men (around twenty-six thousand) and that there must have been an intervening infantry engagement. Nevertheless, Livy is pretty clear that both the Carthaginian and Numidian components of the Punic force were largely untrained and that it was Scipio’s cavalry specifically that drove them from the field, so this intermediate stage may not have been necessary. At any rate, nobody disputes the result—the Celtiberians were left very much alone.
Even if it was only the legiones Cannenses facing them, the Celtiberians would have been decisively outnumbered. However, they had no choice but to fight. Africa was alien territory if they ran, and they could expect no mercy from Scipio if they surrendered, since he undoubtedly remembered it was Celtiberian desertions that had led to the death of his father and uncle, not to mention their joining the Punic cause after he had supposedly pacified Spain.
The Celtiberians would have been roughly equal in number to the two legions’ worth of hastati facing them. But rather than feeding the remaining elements of the triplex acies directly ahead, Scipio resorted to his now-characteristic maneuver, turning the principes and triarii into columns and marching them right and left out from behind the front line to attack the Celtiberians on the flanks. Pinned by the forces ahead, and beset on each side, the Spaniards met death obstinately. In the end, Livy tells us, the butchery lasted longer than the fighting. The ghosts of Cannae, on the other hand, were very much alive, and, having exacted a measure of revenge for their commander, they were plainly ready for more.
Yet, the sacrifice of the Celtiberians, by keeping the Romans preoccupied until nightfall, had allowed the escape of Hasdrubal Gisgo, who eventually made it back to Carthage with some survivors and Syphax, who headed inland with his cavalry. Determined to retain the initiative, Scipio called a war council the next day and explained his plan. He would keep the main body of the army and work his way back from the Great Plains toward the coast, plundering and sowing rebellion among Carthage’s subject communities as he went, while he sent Laelius and Masinissa with the cavalry and velites after Syphax.
Both Polybius (14.9.6–11) and Livy (20.9.3–9) provide similar but internally contradictory descriptions of Carthage’s reaction to the defeat. On the one hand, they say the news was greeted with utter panic and loss of confidence; but then go on to describe the citizenry’s determined preparation for a siege, plans for manning and equipping the fleet for a naval offensive against Scipio’s armada gathered around Utica, and the recall of Hannibal as the only general capable of defending the city. As always, we can catch only glimpses of the true nature of Punic politics. One possible explanation for Carthage’s apparently contradictory reactions is that the intermediate position of the three courses cited above was now dominant. Livy states clearly that “peace was seldom mentioned,” and it is also probable that the Barcid faction (not to mention the general himself) did not want Hannibal (and presumably Mago) brought back, since it was tantamount to admitting that their great scheme had failed. In the interim, the Punic mainstream seems to have fallen back on the city’s traditional naval shield of war galleys as a way out of their troubles.
AdvertisementsApple has streamlined the process of dual booting Windows on your Mac, but when it comes to Linux, Boot Camp isn't so friendly. Here's how to triple-boot your Mac with OS X, Windows 7, and the shiny new Ubuntu 10.04.
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If you're a Mac user, you may have already used Apple's Boot Camp to get Windows on your system for those must-have programs. With a fast new Ubuntu out, however, you might want to give it a try—but installing Linux isn't exactly easy on Macs, since they don't recognize it by default.
Also complicating things? Linux and Windows' boot loaders will attempt to take over one another. Usually, this is a good thing, because Linux's multi-system loader makes the experience more seamless for PC users—but on a Mac, this really just makes things more difficult (no one wants to go through two menus to choose their OS). As such, installing Linux needs to be done with certain settings applied, or you'll be left with a jumbled mess. Here's a step-by-step guide to making your triple booting experience as user-friendly as possible.
Note that I will go through the steps to installing both Windows 7 and Ubuntu 10.04, but if you already have Windows installed, that shouldn't be an issue—just skip the Windows installation step and move on to installing Ubuntu, which is the more complicated (and important) part anyways.
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Install the rEFIt Boot Menu for Macs
Before we do anything else, we're going to install a new boot menu for your Mac that will make your life during and after installation much easier. rEFIt will show up every time you start up your computer, asking you which OS you want to use. By default, it will boot into OS X after 20 seconds of inactivity (so you don't have to be there every time to choose). It's super customizable, though, so you can change your default OS if you want to, as well as tweak other settings to fit into your workflow as best as possible.
Head on over to rEFIt's SourceForge page and download the DMG for the most recent version of the installer (0.14 at the time of this writing). Open it up and launch the installer package, and go through the installation process (which is pretty self-explanatory; it'll do all the work for you). Afterwards, restart your computer to see if it works! If everything goes as planned, your screen should look something like the screen at the top of this article (though if not, you might have to restart twice to get it to show up). Obviously, it'll only have one or two icons instead of three—the others come next!
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At this point, the rEFIt boot menu is fully functional, though if you want to customize it, you'll have to edit your configuration file. More information on this is available in rEFIt's documentation; I won't get deep into it now, but it's not very difficult to tweak things like the default OS, or which tools show up along the bottom. You just need to "uncomment" the given option by removing the # before the relevant command in the text file. You can also customize the icons by swapping your own.icns with the default ones in rEFIt's folder on your hard drive. You can do that now, or move on to partitioning your disk.
Partition Your Hard Drive with Disk Utility
We won't be using Boot Camp to partition our disk, mostly because we don't need to. Since we're triple-booting, it's easier to see it all at once, rather than let some tool do it for us (if you've already installed Windows using Boot Camp, though, that's fine—just ignore the Windows parts of this step). Open up Disk Utility, click on your main drive (the very top option in the sidebar) and head to the "Partition" tab.
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We're going to make three new partitions; one for Windows, one for Linux, and one for our Linux swap space, the space Linux uses if it runs out of memory. To do this, just click on your Macintosh HD partition. If you have multiple partitions already, click on the one from which you want to take back some space. Next, hit the plus sign enough times so that you have four total partitions. Click on your first new partition (the one under "Macintosh HD") and on the right side of the window, type "WINDOWS" in the name box. Format this Windows partition to MS-DOS, then make the size whatever you want.
The sizes don't particularly matter, as long as your OS will fit on the partition, and you have enough extra space for whatever you want. I partitioned 50 GB to each OS—probably overkill, but hey, I've got a big drive. Do the same for a Linux and Linux swap partition, formatting each to MS-DOS (the format isn't super necessary, but at least for the Windows installation it does make the process easier). Hit the apply button and let Disk Utility do its thing—it'll seem like it stops responding, but just leave it be for a minute, and you should be all set. Once it's done, move on to the next step.
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Installing Windows 7
Insert your Windows 7 install disc and restart your computer, unless you've already installed it, in which case, move on to installing Ubuntu). As your computer starts up, listen for the familiar Mac startup sound, then immediately press and hold the Option (or "Alt") key on your keyboard, until you see a drive icon with the word rEFIt under it. You'll need to give your system a second to check the CD drives (assuming you're running Snow Leopard, which is a little slow at doing so), but your Windows CD should pop up on the right. Click on the CD icon, then hit Enter to boot into the installation. You might also get a screen that says "Press any key to boot from CD...", in which case you'll have to do what it says, or else just restart your computer.
Go ahead and navigate through the first few steps of the installation. When you're asked what type of install you want to perform, choose "custom install", so you can pick and format the partition. You'll want to choose the one named WINDOWS (obviously), though you'll have to format it by clicking "drive options" and then "Format". It should reformat that partition to NTFS for you, after which you can hit the next button. It'll take a little while to install, and it'll restart a few times during that process—whenever it does, select the Windows partition on boot (which should show up in rEFIt now, so you won't need to hold option down again).
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When it's done and you finally get to the Windows desktop, you can go ahead and install the Boot Camp drivers from your Leopard or Snow Leopard install DVD. Since your eject key won't work yet, you'll have to eject your Windows disc manually by going into Windows Explorer, clicking on your optical drive, then choosing the "Eject" button in the toolbar. After inserting your Snow Leopard DVD, it should start automatically with the option to run setup.exe. Pick that, then let the installation run. Once you're done, head back over to OS X, so you can burn and install Ubuntu.
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Installing Ubuntu 10.04
If you don't already have an Ubuntu installation CD, you'll need to head back into your Mac system (or Windows, if you want to give it a go) and grab the ISO from Ubuntu's website. Make sure you get the right one for your machine, whether it be a desktop/laptop or a netbook, and 32- or 64-bit. Once it's downloaded, burn it with your burning program of choice (I'm quite partial to the flexible, open-source Burn myself, though you could also do it with Disk Utility). Once it's burned, keep it in the drive and restart your computer, once again holding option at the startup sound and clicking on the CD that shows up in your boot menu. It will say it's a Windows disc, but don't worry—it's the right one. OS X is just a little confused when it comes to the world outside itself.
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It'll take a few minutes for the CD to boot, but you should eventually be presented with the option to try Ubuntu or install it on your computer. Choose install, then go through the first few steps of the process, picking your language, time zone, and keyboard type (USA probably works fine, but I usually pick USA - Macintosh because, you know, that's what I have). When you're presented with the partition window, choose the bottom option to "specify partitions manually"—this is where the fancy footwork comes in.
Double click on your Linux partition's entry. If you've been following this how-to to the letter, it should be /dev/sda4. You'll be presented with a window in which you manually set the partition's characteristics. I chose to use the partition as Ext4, although you can pick something else if you want—Ext4 seems to be the new standard, so I'd recommend it if you don't know the difference between them all. Check the box to format the partition and make the mount point "/". Hit OK and double click on your 1 GB partition at the end of the drive, set it to be used as a swap area, and then hit OK. At this point, your window should look something like this:
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Go through the rest of the installation until the last window, where it's ready to install and asks you to double-check everything. Hit the advanced button. Make sure "install boot loader" is checked, and change the device for boot loader installation to the same partition on which you installed Linux (in the above case, /dev/sda4). Hit next and let 'er rip. When it's done it should restart your computer and your rEFIt boot menu should contain an option for all three operating systems. If you can successfully boot into both partitions, congratulations! You've got a working triple-boot system.
Unfortunately, installing drivers in Ubuntu is not nearly as easy as installing them in Windows. Actually, it's probably the hardest part of this entire process. It's model-specific to each Mac, so I can't detail it all here, but the Ubuntu Community Documentation is usually quite good at compiling a how-to for each model, so head on over to the page for your model of iMac or MacBook to get everything up and running. Follow the instructions as closely as you can, don't be afraid to ask for help on the Ubuntu forums, and God be with you.
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There are, of course, a few different ways to set this up (see our guide to dual booting Windows 7 and Ubuntu on a PC for a few possible modifications, such as creating a swap file within Ubuntu instead of on a separate partition), but in general this is a straightforward, user-friendly way to get it all working. You won't have to deal with a bunch of different boot menus, and you won't have to deal with OS X's limitations in recognizing Linux drives at boot (though you still won't be able to see your Linux partition from the Mac desktop). If you've got experience with this, though, we'd love to hear your preferred method of triple booting your Mac—tell us about it in the comments!Since the release of the Joint Committee on Taxation’s (JCT) dynamic scoring of the House and Senate tax plans there has been a great deal of commentary about how the plans “don’t pay for themselves.” Critics point to JCT’s estimate that the growth generated by the plans reduces the expected revenue loss from roughly $1.5 trillion over ten years to around $1 trillion as some sort of failure of the plan, even though JCT’s model showed that the tax plans increased the size of the economy.
Whether a tax plan “pays for itself” is not the right measure for any tax plan. The proper measure is whether it increases the size of the economy, especially relative to any revenue loss it may incur for the federal treasury. JCT’s analysis clearly shows that on this measure, both tax plans are a net winner, creating much more GDP than what the U.S. Treasury “loses” in revenue.
The table below illustrates how much additional GDP is generated by each of the tax bills according to JCT’s estimates. JCT estimates that the House plan would increase the level of GDP relative to baseline by 0.7 percent on average throughout the ten-year budget window, while the Senate plan would increase the average level of GDP by 0.8 percent. These figures don’t represent the rate of GDP growth, just the level or amount of GDP. Thus, because baseline GDP over the next ten years is $239 trillion, the JCT scores imply an increase in the cumulative amount of GDP over the budget window of $1.67 trillion for the House plan, and $1.91 trillion for the Senate plan.
Source: Joint Committee on Taxation Average Added Level of GDP Growth/Year (Percent) Dynamic Revenue Loss Over Ten Years (Trillions) Additional GDP Over Ten Years (Trillions) House Plan 0.7 $1.0 $1.67 Senate Plan 0.8 $1.0 $1.91
From a purely economic standpoint, it is easy to see that the plans do pay for themselves by generating more GDP than the amount of revenues lost to the treasury. Indeed, for every $1 lost to the treasury, the House plan generates $1.67 in additional GDP over the next decade, while the Senate plan would generate $1.91 in additional GDP.
As we’ve noted previously, it’s also quite likely that JCT’s results are underestimating the amount of economic growth possible under the House and Senate plans.
It’s understandable that many lawmakers may worry about the deficit impact of the tax plan. But while the plans may not generate enough new revenues to fully offset the loss to the treasury, the gains to GDP certainly make this trade-off worth the cost.OBESE model Susanne Eman wants to become the fattest woman ever, aiming to reach 726 kilos.
Eman, of Arizona in the US aims to reach this staggering weight by guzzling at least 20,000 calories a day.
The 32-year-old woman hopes to pass the half way milestone by the end of the year.
The single mum-of-two believes she's already overtaken former biggest mum Donna Simpson, 43, from New Jersey.
And Susanne - who is creating a stir among fans of 'Super Size Big Beautiful Women' (SSBBWs) - plans to increase her calorie-intake to keep gaining.
‘I'd love to find out if it's humanly possible to reach a tonne,’ she said. ‘A previous record holder was 726 kilos, so I have to be at least that.
Susanne visits the supermarket once a month with sons Gabriel, 16, and Brendin, 12, and spends up to eight hours filling six trollies.
‘It's like a full day's work,’ said Susanne, who uses a motorised scooter, but astonishingly believes she can stay healthy.
Read more in the Daily Mail.
Originally published as Model aims to be world's fattest at 726kgLondon — * Jan-May Wind output up 34% on year at 32.5 TWh
* Average 12 MW/day new turbines in 2013-15
* Average monthly power price at 12-year-low
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Germany's wind power output in January-May rose 34% year on year and the country is on track for a third successive record year for new turbine installations, with the first wave of offshore wind farms finally coming online, a Platts analysis of the latest available data show.
Wind turbines in Germany generated 32.5 TWh of electricity in January-May, up more than 8 TWh from a year earlier, grid operator data compiled by Platts Powervision show.
On average, wind generated 7.5 GW each hour in the first five months of 2015, the data shows.
That is the equivalent output of seven modern nuclear reactors. Compared with the first five months 2013, wind output so far this year was even 71% higher, the data show.
The main reason for the rise is record growth in Germany's wind-power industry with Germany on track to install over 14 GW of new wind turbines between 2013 and 2015, averaging over 12 MW a day.
That compares with 13 GW added in the seven previous years between 2006 and 2012, or averaging just 5 MW/day, data from Platts Powervision show.
According to industry experts, the pending reform of Germany's renewable energy law (EEG) and the introduction of an annual cap on solar in 2012 are one reason that triggered the latest boom in wind with onshore developers rushing to get projects implemented ahead of the launch of an annual cap on onshore wind this year.
OFFSHORE WIND FARMS FINALLY COMING ONLINE
Another reason for the current wind boom is delays in offshore grid links, which put back the planned start date of many offshore wind farms.
However, with the offshore grid link bottlenecks now easing, the first wave of some 3 GW of German offshore wind farms is on track to be online by the end of 2015.
Offshore wind power capacity registered for direct marketing was 2.225 GW in May, a fourfold increase from a year earlier, according to the latest data from the TSOs.
Last year, German offshore wind developers brought 529 MW online, doubling total installed capacity to 1.049 GW, according to the annual statistics.
Total onshore capacity was 38.116 GW as of end 2014 after a record 4.75 GW of new onshore wind capacity was installed last year.
For 2015, wind lobby group BWE still expects another significant increase of 3.5-4.0 GW, it said earlier this year.
However, the reform of the EEG, in place since August 2014, will cap future annual wind power installations at 2.5 GW for onshore wind.
Repowering of existing sites with more powerful turbines is exempt from the annual cap and more than 1 GW was added last year in a growing market, the BWE said.
The next update for new wind installations in the first half of 2015 is due in July.
POWER PRICES HIT 12-YEAR-LOW DESPITE SOLAR SLOWDOWN
The boom in additional wind capacity from 2013 to 2015 is in stark contrast to a sharp slowdown in new solar capacity, which boomed between 2010 and 2012 adding some 22 GW in those three years alone, Platts Powervision data show.
Germany's new solar capacity fell 2014 for a second year in a row, down 42% year on year to 1.9 GW, its lowest annual level since 2007, as deeper cuts to solar subsidies have sharply reduced growth in the sector.
So far this year, Germany has added only 419 MW of new solar installations, still bringing total installed solar PV capacity to 38.7 GW.
Germany's combined wind and solar portfolio is now estimated above 80 GW.
Combined output from wind and solar in January-May was 46 TWh with full-year estimates above 100 TWh, which would be the first time ever that wind and solar generated more electricity than nuclear in Germany.
Germany's nuclear phase-out will start this June with the Grafenrheinfeld reactor coming offline for economic reasons six months ahead of its final decommissioning date, leaving just eight reactors with a combined capacity of 10 GW online until the end of 2017.
German day-ahead prices in April averaged Eur25.30/MWh, the lowest monthly average in more than 12 years as the seasonal drop in demand combined with strong supply from renewables as well as conventional sources.
May was the third month so far this year with average spot prices settling below Eur30/MWh with June, July and August also trading below Eur30/MWh.
By contrast, day-ahead prices in Great Britain in May averaged at GBP40.82/MWh (Eur56.17/MWh), more than double the average wholesale power price in Germany with the strong pound and the additional carbon levy boosting wholesale prices in the UK.
--Andreas Franke, andreas.franke@platts.com
--Edited by Jonathan Dart, jonathan.dart@platts.comSpeaking to the media earlier this season, Sixers head coach Brett Brown said he at one point expected to have both Andrew Wiggins and Nik Stauskas as his 2014 rookie class.
Well, the Wiggins ship has more than likely sailed. His wish of coaching Stauskas, on the other hand, might be possible.
According to a report from Basketballinsiders.com, the Sacramento Kings have made Stauskas available for trade prior to Thursday's deadline.
Stauskas, who was the 8th overall pick in last year's draft, is averaging 3.4 points this season in just 12.1 minutes per game. The 6-foot-6, 205 pound shooting guard has not seen his touch from beyond the arc carry over from Michigan to the NBA, as he is shooting just 26% from deep this season.
So should the Sixers have interest in Stauskas?
They did prior to the draft, and many projected (including their head coach) thought Stauskas would be the pick at No. 10. The Sixers' interest in Stauskas makes sense, as has both the size and length the team seeks in their players, and has shown he can be a lights out shooter. For a team that wants to build from the inside out, Stauskas has value as a guy for center Joel Embiid to kick the ball out.
The question is, just how much value.
As the No. 8 overall pick, it's hard to see the Kings parting with Stauskas for anything less than a first-round pick or a very solid young prospect. The Sixers could offer up center Nerlens Noel, who might be expendable once Embiid returns, but so far the team's rookie center has proven to be a better prospect that Stauskas. It is also easier to find a shooter than it is to find an elite rim protector like Noel.
Still, the Sixers stack up assets, both in players and draft picks, for moments like this. As the deadline draws closer, and if the Kings becomes desperate, the Sixers would be wise to swoop in and try to steal away Stauskas.
Eliot Shorr-Parks may be reached at eshorrpa@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @EliotShorrParks. Find NJ.com Sports on Facebook.Police: Man set wife on fire, drove head-on into semi on I-65 Copyright by WISH - All rights reserved (WISH Photo/Chopper 8) [ + - ] Video
Staff Reports - GREENWOOD, Ind. (WISH) - A man set his estranged wife on fire before crashing head-on into a semi on I-65 near Greenwood, killing himself and injuring another person Friday afternoon, according to police.
Donn Keever threw gas on his estranged wife, Amy Keever, and lit her on fire in the 100 block of Highland Avenue in Franklin, according to Franklin police. A friend tells 24-Hour News 8 that at least two of Donn and Amy's three kids witnessed the incident.
Donn Keever left the scene before police arrived.
Amy Keever had serious burns over a large portion of her body and was taken to Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital in Indianapolis. She is "fighting for her life," according to a friend. As of 7 p.m., hospital officials say she is in the emergency department in critical condition.
Copyright by WISH - All rights reserved Amy Keever is seen in this photo from Facebook. (Facebook Photo/Used With Permission)
Copyright by WISH - All rights reserved Amy Keever is seen in this photo from Facebook. (Facebook Photo/Used With Permission)
Shortly after setting his wife on fire, police say Donn Keever was speeding south on I-65 while in the northbound lane. The area is under construction and has three lanes traveling northbound with a concrete median barrier separating the southbound traffic.
Investigators said Keever abruptly turned into the path of a northbound semi, causing a head-on crash. The semi flipped onto its side.
Keever then continued south, struck a Ford Escape and the concrete barrier before his truck erupted into flames. Keever was trapped in the vehicle and died of his injuries.
"Troopers arrived and found the wreckage totally engulfed in flames," Indiana State Police Sergeant Rich Myers said. Myers believes the whole incident happened quickly.
The driver of the Ford Escape, 47-year-old Donald Whitney, was transported to IU Health Methodist Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The semi driver, 50-year-old Toby Klar, was not injured.
Two more vehicles were involved, but no one was hurt.
A friend tells 24-Hour News 8 that Amy works at Caterpillar and the couple was going through a divorce. The friend says Donn would come over periodically to pick up the kids, but there was no indication that he was violent.
A separate crash also occurred near the 85-mile marker, between Franklin and Edinburgh.
According to the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, a driver dropped his cigarette and struck a construction barrier while attempting to pick it up.
In an unrelated incident, five people died in an overnight crash on I-65 in Tippecanoe County. Click here for more on it.Orlando’s hottest bar is the Basement. This bar has everything: Hobos. Tuvan throat singing. Kid. Play. George O’Weary.
George O’Weary?
You know, that George O’Leary impersonator with narcolepsy?
Oh, and free beer during Central Florida games until the Knights finally win one:
Just two seasons after a Fiesta Bowl victory over Baylor and one season after a 9-4 campaign, Central Florida is 0-4. Its losses have come against Stanford and South Carolina. Understandable! And also Florida International and, um, Furman. Bad! Bad bad bad.
The Knights rank dead last nationally in total offense, averaging nearly 50 yards less per game than the next-worst team on the list. They’ve also given up seven touchdown passes without an interception.
And so we have the Basement offering liquid solace to Central Florida’s fans, or anyone else who dares watch them play at the Basement (American macro-brews only). The bar’s marketing director told ESPN’s Darren Rovell that only 50 people showed up to watch last weekend’s loss to South Carolina at a bar that holds 150.
On Saturday, the Knights visit 1-2 Tulane at noon EDT. Vegas has the game as a pick-’em.
[H/T: Dr. Saturday]Tripwire Interactive have released a large statement on the “the state of the game” for Red Orchestra 2, a statement which you can read in full below. It addresses both the commercial success of the game and the technical failures in the opening weeks. The company admit that: “To put it bluntly, the game had a rough launch. We’ve been working diligently since launch to get these issues sorted and have made great progress fixing issues with matchmaking, VOIP, and stability as well as improving performance.”
The company claim to have addressed most of the issues, and will now be doing a stats reset due to problems with how people were earning stats and achievements. Hopefully things will be smoother sailing from here. We’ve requested an interview with Tripwire to talk about some of these issues and future prospects for the game.
Red Orchestra 2 – The State of the Game
7 October 2011, Roswell, GA
By most business measures Red Orchestra 2 has been a smashing success for Tripwire Interactive. Within 2 days of the launch of the game it had surpassed the lifetime revenue of the original Red Orchestra that has been selling for over 5 years. The pre-sales and launch week sales of the game broke all company records, even beating out our hit game Killing Floor by a three-fold margin. But for all of this success we’ve not done as well as we would have liked in the most important area to us – the happiness of all of our customers. To put it bluntly, the game had a rough launch. We’ve been working diligently since launch to get these issues sorted and have made great progress fixing issues with matchmaking, VOIP, and stability as well as improving performance. The final major area that we’ve been working on is stats, player progression and ranking.
We have now fixed all of the major issues with the stats system and released an update yesterday to address these issues. Due to the problems with stats and players either earning stats and achievements that they didn’t actually earn or earning stats at many times the intended rate, we are going to have to do a global reset of all stats for the game. This means all achievements, stats and player progression will be rolled back as if all players were new. This was not an easy decision for us to make, but one we felt we needed to do to preserve the integrity of the stats and ranking system, and to provide all of the players the best experience with the game over the long term. Knowing that there are people that have been playing the game for a few weeks now and will lose the stats for that time we are going to provide a special bonus to all players. For the next few weeks all players will earn double experience in Red Orchestra 2. This means if a player plays the game during the double experience period they will quickly get their experience up to where they would have been had these issues never existed. Additionally, we are going to give those playing the game during the double experience period a special achievement called “In B4 Reset”. Right now this is just an achievement, but we’re going to be looking at ways to give special rewards to the players that have this achievement in the future.
Thank you to all of the players that have made Red Orchestra 2 a hit so far. We’ve got a lot of exciting things in store with free content coming for the game so stay tuned over the coming weeks for more news on that front!ATLANTA (Reuters) - Measles cases have hit a 20-year high in the United States, a troubling increase fueled by international travel by people who have not been vaccinated against the virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.
Between Jan. 1 and May 23 of this year, 288 measles cases were reported to the federal health agency, the highest year-to-date total since 1994, officials said.
“This is not the kind of record we want to break, but should be a wake-up call to travelers and parents to make sure vaccinations are up to date,” said Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases.
Home-grown measles in the United States was declared eliminated in 2000, but cases imported from patients traveling abroad continue to infect unvaccinated U.S. residents with the highly contagious respiratory disease, according to the CDC.
A large outbreak in the Philippines was connected to 138 cases this year involving Amish communities in Ohio, health officials said. In all, 18 states have reported measles cases this year.
Measles has caused 43 patients to be hospitalized in 2014 but no deaths, Schuchat said.
Unvaccinated residents in the United States provide a “welcome wagon” for measles imported from abroad, Schuchat said, noting the virus is still common in many parts of the world including Europe, Asia and Africa. The Philippines has reported more than 32,000 measles cases and 41 deaths from January to April 20, she said.
Eighty-five percent of the unvaccinated U.S. residents who contracted measles cited religious, philosophical or personal reasons for not getting immunized, the CDC said.
“It was not because they were too young or had medical reasons like leukemia,” Schuchat said. “These outbreaks illustrate that clusters of people with like-minded beliefs who forgo vaccines can be susceptible to outbreaks when the virus in imported.”
The CDC recommends that, starting at age 12 months, infants receive two doses of MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine. Infants aged 6 through 11 months old should receive one dose of MMR vaccine before international travel.
The health agency also recommends vaccination for adults who were not immunized as children or are unsure of their immunization history.DAMASCUS, Syria — As the announcement was made Saturday evening that Russia and China had vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning the actions of the Syrian regime, some Christians inside the country celebrated.
One man from the western Syrian town of Qatana called his relatives to say "mabrook," or congratulations, on the result of the vote. A lounge bar in Damascus offered two alcoholic drinks for one in a happy hour offer.
But in Christian homes around the country the prevailing sentiment is one of relief rather than delight — they link the survival of the Assad regime to their own.
"Thank god for Russia. Without Russia we are doomed," said a Christian woman from Damascus recently.
As a fellow minority, Christians have long supported the Alawite regime in order to ensure protection and rights for themselves. The Alawite are a Shiite sect of Islam.
More from GlobalPost: Mass killings uncovered near Damascus
"Look what has happened in Iraq and now in Egypt," said the woman. "Assad in power means that won't happen here."
Thousands of Christians are tied up in the regime's security apparatus and are employed in high-ranking government and military positions. Aware that some day the masses might rise up against the regime, Syria's previous president, Hafez al-Assad, sought to consolidate power among the minorities, people he knew would unite when tested.
Furthermore, ties between Syria's Christians and Alawites are not restricted to the spheres of politics and security.
Both Alawites and Christians drink alcohol, regularly together. Alawites are seen by some Christians as being less Islamic in that many do not fast during the holy month of Ramadan. Many young Alawites frequent nightclubs and few wear the Islamic headscarf.
"The problems in Syria are nearly over," said another Christian woman, a school teacher, brushing off the latest violence. Her comments on Saturday were a repeat of what she told a correspondent for GlobalPost last August.
In the town of Qatana, 22 miles west of Damascus, the capital, a small Christian community is supportive of the army's current operation to surround the town. On Sunday, residents were not allowed to leave or enter the town following months of intermittent anti-regime protests there.
"They [the army] will keep us safe from the gangs and the extremists. We need them here," said one resident reached by phone.
More from GlobalPost: What the Arab League failed to observe
When an unexploded shell smashed through the wall of a convent in the Christian town of Saidnaya last week, many Christians felt vindicated in their support of the regime. Christians took to Facebook to show how they were being targeted because of their religion. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, though fighting between elements of the Free Syrian Army and regular forces have been taking place in the nearby town of Rank |
for games and automatically adds games to a specific folder that will suggest titles you might like. But what is even better in the Game Launcher are its features, such as options to save battery while you play, choose to stop alerts while you play, access the most popular games, featured videos and, most interesting of all, enable the floating button ‘Game Tool’. The Game Tool employs some Google Play Games features, such as being able to record matches to share with other users. The tool is useful, especially for those who use their phones to play but have no patience for capacitive keys that end up being activated unintentionally during a match, thus hampering the gaming experience. The Game Tool is functional and can be accessed by a floating button. / © ANDROIDPIT The Galaxy S7 Edge is, along with the Galaxy S7, one of the first smart phones compatible with the Vulkan API. This API has been designed to complement existing technologies like OpenGL and OpenGL ES. The goal is that in the near future Vulkan will become a standard for creating graphics solutions in 3D, both on PC and on mobile devices. Of course, this API is not exclusive of the new Galaxy S line, but shows how Samsung is committed to making the gaming experience better. USB adapter to replace lack of USB Type-C We all know that Samsung invested in a breathtaking presentation for the launch of the Galaxy S7 Edge. To the surprise of those who attended the launch, Samsung made use of its virtual reality gadget, the Gear VR, during the show. I have to say that the experience with 360-degree video was great. But have you ever wondered what would happen if the company changed the micro USB port from Type-B to Type-C? It would have to redesign all its accessories, and with it, the Gear VR. Transferring data from one device to another is easy using the adapter Samsung provides. / © ANDROIDPIT To streamline any port connectivity issues, Samsung provides a micro USB adapter with the Galaxy S7 Edge so you can connect it to any device with micro USB port. This allows you to share files quickly, as I saw when I downloaded my entire Galaxy S7 Edge picture gallery onto my Xperia Z2 in a matter of minutes.
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge software The Galaxy S7 Edge comes with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and TouchWiz has not changed much compared to the Galaxy S6 Edge+ or Galaxy Note 5. This Samsung skin, as we know, was overhauled last year, lightened, bloatware removed and features optimized. Yet the system still takes up little more than 7 GB of internal memory. Remember that the 32 GB you pay for ends up as only 25 GB of usable space. In the Galaxy S7 Edge we can see Android 6.0 Marshmallow features brought over to TouchWiz, such as changes to the arrangement and layout of the status bar and improved quick shortcuts. Previous problems, such as with RAM usage, have been resolved. TouchWiz does not bother me as it's definitely more intelligent. / © ANDROIDPIT Regarding bloatware, we have seven apps from Samsung, five from Microsoft, and, of course, Google Apps, Facebook and WhatsApp. But there are still another 25 pre-installed apps. However, the system proved to be clever, because when you start using the S7 Edge these apps don’t show up, and neither was the Game Launcher the default application for use with the Gear VR. However, when downloading my first game, the system automatically offered the option to enable the Game Launcher. The same happened when placing the Gear VR on and the phone automatically asked by a voice command to download Oculus services. But on removing the device from the virtual reality headset, it was already set to download the software. Edge Screen The ‘Edge Screen’ is dedicated to dual-edge models and allows you to slide your finger from a tab on the right of the screen to access a list of services. The service was known as the link function in the past, which still exists and offers the chance to add up to five favorite contacts, identified with different colors, as a kind of shortcut to the main contacts from your address book. The Edge Screen feature had some changes. / © ANDROIDPIT However, Samsung has expanded the range of the Edge Screen functions and can now add two columns instead of just one to access a greater number of features. You can add your favorite websites, too. This feature is cool but, honestly, I’m not sure if this would convince me to opt for the Galaxy S7 Edge over the Galaxy S7. Always On The possibility of having information available 24 hours from the Always On feature is already available on this model. The thing, however, is that it can be quite invasive when you simply don’t want the display to show you anything.
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge performance The Galaxy S7 Edge comes with an Exynos 8890 processor. The CPU was developed by Samsung and comes with eight cores, four of them running at a maximum speed of 2.3 GHz and the other four at up to 1.6 GHz. According to Samsung, the CPU and GPU are 30 percent and 64 percent more potent, respectively, than the Galaxy S6. When we look at the results of benchmarking by Metal and Multicore’s Vellamo, we see that the first, which measures the maximum performance in an operation, the CPU frequency is much of the time overclocked or 2.6 GHz. Thus, taking into account that the majority of Android applications use only two processor cores when running, the Galaxy S7 Edge delivers maximum performance the entire time. The size means the time the device spends at a given frequency. / © ANDROIDPIT This is, of course, only on paper. In real life, I had days when the software did not give me a headache or plain ran without crashes or delays. However, one day I downloaded four big games: Need for Speed No Limits, Asphalt 8, the Real Racing 3 and the Gods of Rome. During this time, I started to play one after another and I used almost 4 GB of data. My colleague, Sophia Neun, installed the Need for Speed No Limits and Real Racing 3 on the Galaxy S7 Edge and she did not have the same problems. The problems I had with Need for Speed No Limits could also be related to my internet connection. Moreover, the problem with background applications lock that has become a problem in the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus is not present in the S7 Edge. I had more than 50 applications running in the background with no system delays. 53 apps are open in the background and the system is still running fluidly. / © ANDROIDPIT Below, you can see a table with the results of different benchmarks from the Galaxy S7 Edge: Vellamo - metal Vellamo - multicore AnTuTu Geekbench 3 - single core Geekbench 3 - multicore v3.2.3 v3.2.3 v6.0.4 v3.3.2 v3.3.2 2.163 points 3.424 points 131.202 points 1.883 points 6.173 points The device I’m testing has 32 GB of internal memory and 4 GB of RAM. In it, I’m using a Samsung 120 GB SD card. The fact that the manufacturer offered an expandable memory option is great for storing photos and other media. But don’t get confused, you cannot use the microSD as internal memory. Looking at the examples above and below, you see that even after moving a 1.22 GB game in the device memory to the external memory, the external storage is only occupied by 492 MB. Also, when I search for applications in the device memory, Asphalt 8 is among them, in Settings > Storage > Device Memory > Used space > Applications. You can still save app data to microSD card with the Galaxy S7 Edge. / © ANDROIDPIT Samsung in the United States told Arstechnica in February that it chose against Adoptable Storage, stating that " our users want a microSD card to transfer files between their phone and other devices (laptop, tablet, etc), especially the photos and videos they shoot with the camera." In addition, the manufacturer claimed that misuse of this feature may cause the card to “be erased the first time it is inserted into the device." You have to keep in mind that, though the Galaxy S7 Edge is running Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, its microSD card functionality is the same as we had in the Galaxy S5: you can’t just add a 32 GB card to the 32 GB S7 Edge to create a 64 GB device.
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge audio Apparently, Samsung has yet to evolve on the question of speaker quality. The speaker audio is high but that does not mean it’s necessarily good. Playing Spotify albums at home or indoors is not a problem at 75 percent of the volume, but after that, depending on the genre of music, the audio is noisy. The worst thing, is Samsung really invested in this device for consuming media and put a great screen on the device for gaming. However, in most cases, plugging in an external speaker while playing games or watching video is necessary. To get better sound quality, you can use the headphones that provide stereo audio. However, if you are gaming, the timing in gameplay will be distorted. The speaker of the Galaxy S7 Edge is at the bottom of the device. / © ANDROIDPIT Just as we saw in the Galaxy S6 Edge and Galaxy Note 5 models, among others, Samsung offers an audio equalizer for the Galaxy S7 Edge, which can be used to optimize the sound of videos and songs that do not use players like Spotify. So with the headphones (via cable or Bluetooth) you can see an improvement in the audio effects, but beware, this is not a cure-all. The headphones come in the kit which includes the power adapter and USB. / © ANDROIDPIT The Galaxy S7 Edge kit includes a headset for two different ear sizes. A radio is not included in the device so you’ll have to use a streaming radio that uses data if you want to use this. The audio quality for calls is good. The speaker is great and the microphone is able to capture voice and filter out background noise. The size of the device does not interfere with audio quality for calls.
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge camera The camera of the Galaxy S7 Edge is one of the major highlights of the device. The new sensor with an f / 1.7 aperture does an excellent job in poor lighting and the larger pixels assist in the sharpness of images in these conditions. The result is quite impressive, I used the camera to take pictures at night and can easily see what was shot on the screen in vivid detail. The Galaxy S7 Edge camera has a lower resolution than the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus but the sensor uses dual 12 MP technology. This means that all pixels of the image sensor photodiodes have two instead of one. Thus, the sensor is able to focus quickly. When an object in focus rapidly changes position, like a moving car, the camera focuses almost instantly. Samsung claims that the Galaxy S7 Edge takes 95 percent brighter photos, which is 56 percent more light than with previous models. Because the test was not done in a controlled environment, I cannot say definitively whether this figures are completely accurate. However, analyzing the images captured with the camera, they certainly have improved greatly in this regard. The front camera has an aperture of f/1.7 and remains at 5 MP. Will the S7 cameras be the new kings of the market? Below you can see some images from the main camera: All images captured with the Galaxy S7 Edge can be seen in full size on Google+ An image captured with the Galaxy S7 Edge camera. / © ANDROIDPIT Macro mode for the Galaxy S7 Edge camera. / © ANDROIDPIT The camera controls are very intuitive, just slide your finger across the screen to access the different camera modes and the gallery. To exit the gallery, and go straight to the camera, just swipe your finger from left to right on the screen. Capturing images is also done in various ways, especially when using the front camera. Therefore, you can use the touch screen, the volume buttons, heartbeat sensor and standard camera button. The Galaxy S7 Edge’s camera offers a manual mode and a way to make collages. / © ANDROIDPIT Camera modes There are some camera modes that are worth mentioning in this review. The gallery mode now offers the moving picture feature, so you can show the images on the display with greater detail. Two other video resources are the ‘interval’ (time-lapse) and slow motion. You can watch a sequence of several pictures showing them as time passed. But the slow movement uses three different speeds, like ½, ¼ and ⅛. You can also choose a specific part of the sequence you want slower. The slow motion mode offers three speeds. / © ANDROIDPIT The front camera also offers modes for correction and highlighting certain parts of faces in selfies or group photos. The color representation provides an excellent saturation both in pictures and videos. What draws the most attention for the Galaxy S7 Edge is the maintenance of colors, richness of detail, the speed of focus and the excellent color saturation.
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge battery The Galaxy S7 Edge comes with a battery capacity of 3600 mAh without using any accessories. If we compare this with the previous model, the Galaxy S6 Edge, we are talking about an increase of 1000 mAh. This is due to a few factors, like the increased size of the screen. But in particular, Samsung has used a new flexible battery technology that is able to take advantage of extra space inside the body. These two accessories help charge the battery. / © ANDROIDPIT The S7 Edge has wireless charging and fast charging technology. In my tests, I tested only with the adapter and cable, but it was still very quick. When the device was at 5 percent, I only need one hour and 16 minutes to reach 100 percent. So if you are in a hurry, you will have no problem charging the device for just 30 minutes. This was the amount of time it took me to charge to 43 percent from 5 percent. In addition to this, Samsung maintained its well-known power saving modes. Of course, you will be limited on the use of the device in these modes. In fact, the S7 Edge software was optimized to save energy. When I launched the Game Launcher, for example, I got the option of ‘saving energy during games’. I prefer to keep power saving options turned off most of the time because I wanted the pictures at a normal resolution. If you need the ‘save energy’ option though, it does deliver a very good experience and yet consumes less power. As soon as you open the Game Launcher, you can choose to save energy during the game. / © ANDROIDPIT Below you have an example of the Galaxy S7 Edge in use for nearly 24 hours. From 9 PM Sunday to 5 PM Monday, the device went from 100 percent to 20 percent battery remaining. The smartphone reached 5 percent at 8:45 PM and this was with three AnTuTu benchmark test run. It consumed 30 percent of the battery during the day, so the battery would have endured a lot more without the benchmark tests. A look at the Galaxy S7 Edge battery consumption. / © ANDROIDPIT
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge technical specifications Dimensions: 150.9 x 72.6 x 7.7 mm Weight: 157 g Battery size: 3600 mAh Screen size: 5.5 in Display technology: AMOLED Screen: 2560 x 1440 pixels (534 ppi) Front camera: 5 megapixels Rear camera: 12 megapixels Flashlight: LED Android version: 7.0 - Nougat User interface: TouchWiz RAM: 4 GB Internal storage: 32 GB
64 GB Removable storage: microSD Chipset: Samsung Exynos 8890 Number of cores: 8 Max. clock speed: 2.3 GHz Connectivity: HSPA, LTE, NFC, Bluetooth 4.2Shifting 10% Of Urban Trips To Cycling Could Save $24 Trillion By 2050
November 20th, 2015 by Derek Markham
Boosting cycling in cities has been linked to better quality of life, lower costs (both to the individual and to the community), increased local economic activity, reduced CO2 emissions, and better personal and economic health. And that’s not even taking into consideration the amount of urban space that can be reclaimed by shifting to a more bike-centric model. But just how much of a shift to cycling would it take to make a sizable difference.? As it turns out, not much.
According to a new report out from The Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP), by adopting bicycles and electric bikes for just 10% of urban trips, it would save some $24 trillion between now and 2050, as well as reducing GHG emissions from motor vehicles by about 11%.
That’s a significant percentage, considering that about 6% of urban trips are already being taken by bicycles, and that a much larger percentage could be achieved through a mix of investments and policies. The report, A Global High Shift Cycling Scenario, suggests that bikes and e-bikes can cover up to 14% of urban miles by 2050 with “the right mix” of policies and investments, with some countries, such as the Netherlands and China, being able to shift up to 25% of their “urban kilometers” to pedal-powered transportation.
“This is the first report that quantifies the potential CO2 and cost savings associated with a world-wide shift toward much greater use of cycling in urban areas. The estimated impacts surprised me because they are so large. The costs saved in lower energy use and reducing the need for car travel, new roads, and parking lots through 2050 are substantial.” – Lew Fulton, report co-author and co-director of the STEPS Program within the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis
According to Climate Central, while “other scientists unaffiliated with the report said its methods are solid and shows what role bicycles can play in a warming world,” at least one stressed that while the report itself was valuable, its conclusions should be taken “with a grain of salt” because its calculations of emissions reduction may be “overly aggressive,” and that differing cultural considerations about biking were not included in it.
“Going down the path of the high-shift cycling scenario beckons a larger call toward culture, funding and societal characteristics. Bicycling has widely varying social connotations in some cultures and painting it as a silver bullet that is irrespective of these cultures leaves a lot of distance to cover there.” – Kevin Krizek, director of UC-Boulder’s Environmental Design Building program
Get the full scoop, and download the report, from ITDP: How Cycling Can Save Cities Money and Emissions
Image: ITDPThe Motorcycle
Our Motorcycle of choice was the 2004 V-Strom 650, or DL650, or “Wee-Strom.” We came to this decision after a fair bit of research. We started down the path of BMW GS, as this is what nearly everyone before us was using for this trip, two-up. Although the GS is no doubt a great choice, it was out of budget for us. The second most popular bike from our research was the Kawasaki KLR650. The KLR has a lot to offer the adventure traveler, but comfort is not one of them, especially two up. Enter the V-Strom. Priced between a KLR and a BMW it was attainable. The twin cylinder engine made it smooth. The new technology (compared to KLR) made it much more potent, even though the same capacity. The largest difference, and what caused us to sell our KLR and get the ‘Strom was comfort. We could do 400 miles a day on the Suzuki. We could not on a KLR.
After 20,000 miles in the saddle, we are convinced the V-Strom is THE two-up adventure bike. Obviously, if you are going two-up you are focusing on an asphalt based trip, but by nature of an “adventure” you need to be able to tackle a bit of gravel, streams, dirt, etc. The ‘Strom can do it. And it will blow the doors off a KLR on the pavement, and will cost you nearly 50% less than a new BMW GS.
· Reliability: We had no problems, while others we met did (mostly late model BMW GSs suffering from clutch issues or rear wheel bearing failure). Our bike needed only normal maintenance, and even that was light. No need for throttle body adjustment yet, or valve shims. Just a chain, brakes, tires, and filters.
· Economy: Two-up, and loaded, we were getting around 45mpg.
· Robust Design: We could cruise at 90mph on 80 octane gass at 4000m altitude all day long. We could hit a massive pot hole at 50mph unscathed. We could dump the bike over in gravel, and not suffer a scratch (this was in large part thanks to the panniers however).
· Performance: The 650cc was the right choice for us. If you want more, there is a 1000cc. It will cost you about 40lbs more weight, and a bit more in gasoline. For a trip to Australia, or across the states I would have gone for the 1000cc. But for South America, there were only a few times I wish I had more power. More often the road will not allow you to run at excessive speeds, and the loss in economy and addition of weight were not attractive to us. To be honest, we needed the bike as light as possible for this trip.
· Comfort: Twins are always smoother than single cylinders, but this engine was extra smooth. With the addition of the corbin seat with backrest, Amie was comfy as well. As the saying goes, “happy wife, happy life.”
Modifications
Yes, the V-Strom is an excellent bike, but here is a list of things we did to make it even better! By better I mean mostly more built proof and more comfortable.
Pro Taper Handle Bars: I had heard the stock bars get a bit flimsy when the bike is loaded and in the dirt, so I switched out for BMW GS pro-taper bars on a set of risers to fortify my steering and put me at a comfortable riding position.
Acerbis Rally Pro Hand Guards: These were a bit tricky to get on, but offer wrap around aluminum protection for the levers (saved me at least twice). The hand guards are a bit small. Look cool, but do not offer much by way of wind/rain protection. These were adequate, but there may be a better choice.
Adhesive-Type Heated Grips: $20 online, and worth much more when its cold.
SW Motech Engine Guards: These guards were great. Simple, clean, strong.
SW Motech Bash Plate: Integrates nicely with the engine guards, however, not really that robust. Not recommended. There were a few problems I had with this bashplate. First, the mounting screws for the rear are not recessed or protected. In fact they are very pronounced and the first thing to scrape. The topes and mexico all but sheared the heads off the bolts making it difficult to remove the bashplate. Second, below the mounting points in the front are three large holes drilled to allow airflow through the oil cooler. These points would break incessantly. I had to have them welded at least three times. I don’t know who makes a better one, but I encourage you to look elsewhere…
Dished Corbin Seat with Backrest: Quite a big ticket item at $600, but for all the hours we did in the saddle it was worth it. Very comfortable for the passenger. For me, I wish I’d got it customized because the front dish was too big for my skinny @ss. Still, a very comfortable addition, especially for the passenger.
Remus Revolution Exhaust: Previous owner installed, but nice. Gave the bike a great sound, and was a fair bit lighter than the stock unit.
Highway Pegs: I got a set of $20 highway pegs from the bike shop and fastened them to the engine guards. A good decision it was.
PVC Tool kit: A Happy-Trails inspired PVC tube was made and mounted where the second exhaust lives on the 1000cc model.
12VDC Outlet: I wired a 12V outlet and attached it to the back of the PVC tool kit. This was handy for charging ipods, digi-cams, and heated clothing.
Tires: We used Michelin Anakees and Metzler Tourances on this trip. Both were great tires on the street, but neither instilled much confidence off road, two up. That said, I don’t know a dual purpose tire that will. We got about 6-8,000 miles out of the rear tires, the Tourances lasting a bit longer.
Luggage
We did a lot of research on what luggage to bring and settled on a mix of hard and soft luggage. Price was always a concern. We ended up very happy with the items we chose.
Happy Trails Aluminum Panniers and Rack: Our most expensive piece of gear at $900, was much more than I expected to have to pay initially. In fact, the sticker shock had me considering welding up a rack and boxes myself. The time required and complexity led me to just pony up. Low production USA MFG isn’t cheap. This was the best value I could find compared to the other players including Jesse, Touratech, and others. I forget the name of the size we opted for, but it was second to the largest. I was talked out of the largest by the sales person, and I’m glad I was, I still managed to scrape the corners of the boxes when cornering at times. The install was easy, but the fitment was not precise. For nearly $1000 you would think the mounting points would line up! Is HT not using a Jig or is it just off? Regardless, the rack and boxes worked great for us. The rack was very substantial and well made otherwise, as were the boxes. The locking mechanism might last 15 minutes on the street—the aluminium loop can be snapped by a 12 year old with a screw driver. The other short coming was lack of passenger grips. The HT rack replaces the stock rack, and consequently the passenger grips. Turned out I got to do some welding afterall. I cut my stock handlebars in half and welded them into the rack to make grips for Amie. As for capacity, one box had our clothing and toiletries, the other tools, parts, electronics, etc.
REI’s Large Waterproof Duffle: A perfect choice. We looked at the “trunks” and other hard luggage available for behind the passenger seat but were not impressed. The duffle bag strapped to the rack with two tie-downs was our solution and one we are very pleased with. First, it cost us only $60 (compare that to the HT trunk). Second, it has straps like a backpack, so you can just put it on your back as you head to lodging, or wherever. It actually is completely waterproof (strapped zipper side down) and very durable. We still have it and its still in great shape. This duffle bag held the entire campsite (tent, sleeping bags, mattress, pillows) as well as tennis shoes and dirty clothes.
Wolfman Expedition Tank Bag: Rave reviews online lead us to Wolfman. The product they make is well thought out and of high quality. It is not cheap at $150 for a tank bag, but it is a very nice product. We packed it to the gills at times and it stayed put. We paid an extra $15 for back pack straps—don’t recommend this, it doesn’t make a very good backpack. We didn’t pay the extra for the rain fly (I had to stop the bleeding!) but kind of wish we did in retrospect. When it rained, we were scrambling for a plastic bag we could pull over the tank bag. Though this worked quite well, the hassle was annoying. The tankbag had our documents, guide book, map, and other handy necessities like chap stick, matches, a pen, a leathermen, first aid kit, headlamp, etc.
Granite Gear’s Compression Sacks: A bag you can cinch down to compress sleeping bags, pillows, or anything to a smaller size. This was a key item used in getting everything to fit into the duffle bag.
Eagle Creek Clothing Organizers: The eagle creek trapper-keeper-esque clothing organizers were invaluable. We packed our items in these, folded them up, and jammed them in the panniers. Everything stayed clean and tidy. Well worth $15-$20.
Bungy Cargo Net: The $5 cargo net is another must. This thing saved the day many times. Whenever there was something we didn’t want to pack or didn’t have room to pack we would just strap it (like muddy shoes, water bottles, wet swim trunks) with the net to the top of the panniers.
The Riding Gear
We rode in our riding gear every day, without exception. All in all, we loved our choices. We were not always comfortable in the heat, but we were amazed with the versatility and quality of the gear we chose.
Mike’s Gear
Aerostitch Darien Light Motorcycle Jacket: Love it. I did not want to shell out the big bucks for it, but from the reviews I read, it sounded like a good choice. I ended up finding one used off advrider.com for $100. Even in used condition, it was a fantastic jacket. The quality is there, and after a trip like this, I would not hesitate recommending to someone by an Aerostitch. Even at $400. Every day I rode I wore this jacket. The only other jacket I brought was the fleece liner (which I wore almost every evening off the bike). I’m sure there are better jackets for a hot weather trip, but for us, going from Central America, to the Andes, to the Pampas, to Tierra del Fuego, this jacket performed adequately in the heat, and exceptionally in all other climates. The fit was excellent, the padding substantial yet not cumbersome, I could go on all day. Great jacket.
Aerostitch Darien Light Pants: Great. Pants to me are not as critical, or as difficult to come by as a good jacket, but that being said, these were very good. Again, kept me dry, felt comfortable on and off the bike. They do not breath very well and my legs were sweaty whenever we were not moving and the temperature was over 80F/30C. Also, the knee pads were a bit annoying when walking around, but just fine when on the bike. Good pants.
Scorpion brand Helmet: Scorpion is a discount brand helmet from Canada sold at our local motorcycle shop Road Rider in San Jose. They are about half the price of the big named brands, but with superb quality. Highly recommended for those on a budget. We replaced the transparent faceshield with a smoked version before we left as we live by the “don’t ride at night” rule.
Sidi’s Strada Evo Air Boots: Fantastic. I considered dumping my pair of tennis shoes as I was wearing these on and off the bike. Great quality boot. I opted for the Evo-Airs, which are the same as the EVOs but with vents. I suffer from sweaty feet, that’s what drove me to the decision, and while it was a good one most the time, when it was raining I really wished I didn’t have the vents (however wrapping duct tape around them works well for about the first 30min).
Alpine Star MX Gloves: I don’t know exactly what model these are, but they were great for hot weather. They are mostly mesh on top with some knuckle protection, with a soft leather palm and fingers. I loved these gloves in the heat, but they didn’t cut it for the andes or TDF. For the really chilly days I put on a pair of Snowboard mits we picked up along the way: water proof gauntlets with fleece lining.
Amie’s Gear
First Gear: Kilimanjaro: Love it.
Aerostitch Darien Light Pants: Good pants.
Scorpion brand Helmet: Scorpion
Sidi’s Strada Evo Boots: Fantastic.
Alpine Star MX Gloves: Great warm weather glove
Camping Gear
Rei’s “Half Dome” 2-man Tent: A little small and overpriced. We needed the tent to be small and light, and this fit the bill, but ended up being a bit cramped, and at $200, more than we wanted to spend. With that said, we did get our money’s worth out of the tent and it has held up very well. We did not camp much throughout Central America and most of South America, but we used the tent almost every night. Accommodations are generally inexpensive (and organized camping generally non-existent outside of Chile and Argentina) but most are not very pleasant and are rather insect infested (especially mesquitos). The best thing about this it goes up in two pieces: a pop up mesh dome, and an optional rainfly. For avoiding the mesquitos we never wrestled with mesquito nets, sprays, or coils, we just pitched our mesh tent right on the bed and slept soundly and safetly away from them as well as other pests we ran into (like spiders and scorpions!)
Whisper’s International Lite Camp Stove: This stove made the most sense for us, small and light, and runs on unleaded (we’ve got plenty of that), but halfway through Mexico we gave it away—we just weren’t cooking. The food was cheap and we weren’t camping. The only time we wished we had it was the end of our trip in Argentina and Chile.
Thermarest’s Sleeping Mats: Another item we ditched in the first weeks of the trip. They were massively bulky and cumbersome. We simply weren’t camping enough to justify them. This hurt because they cost us about $60 each. In Argentina, when camping was the only way to go, we bought an inflatable mattress, with pump, that was the identical dimensions of our tent’s footprint for $29. This was a bit heavier than the thermarests were, but not near as bulky, and much more comfortable.
MSR’s Stainless Cooking Set: This made a Mexican family very happy. Another ditched item.
Northface’s Algheny 4C Synthetic Sleeping Bags: These were great. They packed up small, poofed up comfy, and kept us warm everywhere but TDF.
The Company Store’s Cotton Travel Pillows: I scoffed at the idea of bringing pillows on a motorcycle. I mean how much room does the wife think we have?! This was another item that was really great. They packed down small in a compression pack and we used them very often, even in many hotels (because they were so much nicer).
Misc
Cheap Laptop: Another item that I was against, but my wife pressed for. It was a great choice. I had two gripes: Expensive and extra weight. These were both addressed. We got the laptop for $399 at Walmart (its not the fastest machine I’ve used, but its got a 40G disk, wifi, and 3 hour battery) and it is the same size as the V-Strom service manual. We put the service manual in the computer, and now its no extra weight. Its been invaluable for storing photos (we upload the photos to the laptop, burn them to CDs, then mail them home. Once we have confirmed receipt, we delete them from the harddrive). We have also been able to glean wireless internet for free on many occasions, watch DVDs in our hotel room, play solitare, etc. I would definitely recommend bringing along a cheap laptop on any trip over a few months.
Canon Rebel XT Digital Camera: A $900 digital camera I was against, but the wife was for. Her argument was that I had the motorcycle riding as my hobby, she had photography as hers. The truth is the MAJORITY of our photos were taken on the point and shoot pocket cam as it is way easier to just whip out, way less flashy for the less than safe city streets, and far less cumbersome to just grab and go. For me the bulk and risk associated with bringing this camera led me to say no, however, I choose my battles. J
Canon SD500 PowerShot Digital Camera: This pocket sized camera took the majority of our fotos and performed very well. We were also able to take many video clips. At the end of our trip, the flash began smoking. Strange, I know, but other than this, Canon makes an excellent camera.
Ipod Nano: We started out with an Ipod each but Amie’s got wet in Guatamala and was ruined. My Nano survived the length of the trip and was a fantastic accessory. Amie would listen to music in her helmet as we rode along many of the days.
Lonely Planet Guidebooks: Central America and South America on a Showstring were our two guides for the trip and they served us very well. Our only problem with them was they were if anything too budget conscious. When in Bolivia for example and fine dining is $5 a head, and the best hotel in town is $20/night, you don’t want to know where the cheapest hostel is or where to get a saltena for $0.10.
Nelles Maps: We bought Nelles Maps from Amazon.com for all the countries we were heading before we left. These maps are very accurate and detailed and also include many points of interest right on the map. We loved them.
Loaded up on the day of departure, October 1, 2006
Detail of passenger grip, 12v placement, and tool tube
Our riding gear
The economical tankbag rainfly
Amie models the eagle creek packing cubes
(not the tent in the funky mexican motel room)
THE two-up adventure bikeWhite Liberals: We'll Say Who the Racists Are
Karl Lueger was the mayor of Vienna at the turn of the century, whose populist politics were often riven with anti-semtism -- so much so that he was cited as an inspiration by none other than Adolf Hitler in Mein Kampf.
However, there's a debate about how anti-semitic he actually was, and how much of an anti-semite he pretended to be for the sake of political positioning.
Lueger is famous for an answer he once gave on this issue. He was asked how he squared that fact that many of his policies were anti-semitic, while he counted many Jews among his close friends.
"I decide who is a Jew |
found a way to get a win."
Xavier Thames scored 23 points for SDSU (27-3, 16-2), which clinched the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament in Las Vegas. Josh Davis, SDSU's other senior, had nine rebounds and six points, including some big plays during the 19-1 run that pulled the Aztecs back into the game.
Thames and Matt Shrigley each made two free throws in the final 9 seconds to keep the Aztecs ahead.
The fans rushed the court and black and red confetti fell from the ceiling at Viejas Arena, where the Aztecs were 15-1 this season. Their only home loss was to Arizona on Nov. 14.
The Aztecs, who have earned at least a share of the MWC title three times in four years, can go entire seasons without playing zone. They first used one this season when they rallied from 14 points down at Boise State on Feb. 5 to win 67-65.
"That's the only zone we have in right now," Fisher said, who added that the Aztecs usually stay in zone for only one possession, not long stretches. "Even I thought we defended them well, but they're big and strong and good.... No harm, no foul when you're down by 16 and it doesn't seem like we have a chance."
How did the Aztecs do it?
"The same way we always do -- with defense," Winston Shepard said.
"That was tough," New Mexico coach Craig Neal said. "They went zone and we just didn't make the adjustment. We had some players, like Kendall Williams in foul trouble, and we couldn't guard Thames. Thames got it going and our defense wasn't the same. You've got to give them credit; they played well. We just couldn't make the adjustment and make things happen."
Bairstow scored 20 points and keyed two big runs for New Mexico (24-6, 15-3).
With SDSU leading 47-45, Williams, last season's Mountain West player of the year, missed a 3-point shot with 9 seconds left for the Lobos.
Thames rebounded and was fouled by Kirk, making both for a four-point lead. Thames had a steal and Shrigley was fouled by Cullen Neal, making both for a 51-45 lead. Williams made a 3-pointer with 1 second left.
New Mexico led 41-25 after Kirk made a turnaround jumper with 12:05 left, capping a 15-0 run in which he and Bairstow did most of the scoring.
But the Aztecs came racing back with an airtight defense and big scoring plays by Thames, Davis, Shrigley and Dwayne Polee.
New Mexico made its first field goal in more than seven minutes when Deshawn Delaney made a 3-pointer for a 45-44 lead.
Thames hit a jumper to give SDSU a 46-45 lead. Kirk missed two free throws with 59.1 seconds left and Davis rebounded the second miss. JJ O'Brien made the first of two free throws to give SDSU a two-point lead.
Thames had five steals and Polee four.
Bairstow had scored 26 points in a 14-point New Mexico win against the Aztecs in Albuquerque two weeks earlier.
The Lobos ended the first half on a 15-2 run to take a 26-20 lead. Bairstow had seven points in the run, including a long jumper at the buzzer, and fed Kirk for easy shots on consecutive possessions.
Bairstow had 13 points in the first half and Kirk nine. The only other Lobos to score in the first half were Kendall Williams and Neal with two points apiece.
Earlier, the Lobos went 8 1/2 minutes in between field goals as SDSU went on 12-0 run fueled in part by Josh Davis' rebounding. Davis had a coast-to-coast layup while Shepard had a three-point play and a twisting jumper to give SDSU a 16-9 lead. New Mexico finally scored when Neal made a layup.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.
Kenneth L. Marcus, an attorney who has championed the use of the 1964 federal civil rights act to investigate allegations of antisemitism on campus, has been appointed assistant secretary for civil rights in the Department of Education.
President Donald J. Trump announced the nomination Wednesday.
As president and general counsel of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, Marcus has deployed Title VI of the civil rights act in urging the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights to open investigations over harassment of Jewish students at various universities.The Brandeis Center, unaffiliated with the university near Boston, has also urged state legislatures and government agencies to adopt the US State Department’s definition of antisemitism, which considers demonizing, delegitimizing or applying a double standard to Israel to be forms of antisemitism.In 2011 the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the umbrella group of Jewish community relations agencies, endorsed the selective use of civil rights legislation to combat anti-Jewish and anti-Israel activity on college campuses. But reflecting the discomfort of some of its member bodies, it also warned that over-use of Title VI could undermine academic freedom and pit outside Jewish groups against both Jewish and non-Jewish students on campus.Marcus, a former staff director at the US Commission on Civil Rights, has been critical of the Office for Civil Rights for what he called its failure to address “antisemitic incidents that masquerade as anti-Israelism.”“On college campuses — and especially in protests brought by the anti-Israel boycotts, divestment and sanctions movement — it is now widely understood that attacking ‘Jews’ by name is impolitic, but one can smear ‘Zionists’ with impunity,” he wrote in 2010.Marcus previously served as assistant secretary of education for civil rights under President George W. Bush. He also served as the Lillie and Nathan Ackerman Chair in Equality and Justice in America at the City University of New York’s Baruch College School of Public Affairs.He is the author, in 2015, of The Definition of Anti-Semitism.
Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>>In 1965, future Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore published a paper entitled 'Cramming more components onto integrated circuits'.
In it, he made an historic technology prediction, which you can boil down to a simple statement: 'The number of transistors incorporated in a chip will approximately double every 24 months'.
Moore could only guess at the impact of this transistor-doubling. In his original paper, written in an age of cabinet-sized mainframes and $16,000 mini computers, he suggested that new transistor-based integrated circuits would lead to "such wonders as home computers - or at least terminals connected to a central computer - automatic controls for automobiles, and personal portable communications equipment."
Fast-forward to today and we have powerful desktop PCs and ultra-thin laptops, self-driving cars (almost), smartphones and tablets.
For the first 30 years of microprocessor development, speeds ramped up from 1MHz to 5GHz - a 3,500 fold increase. But Moore's Law isn't strictly about performance.
Show me the money
It's about economics. "What I was trying to do [in the paper]," Moore explained in 2005, "was to get across the idea that this was the way electronics was going to become cheap… you could see the changes that were coming, make the yields go up, and get the cost per transistors down dramatically."
Amazingly, Moore's Law has remained applicable to the semiconductor industry for almost 50 years, from the 2,300 transistors in Intel's 10-micron (10,000nm) 4004 microprocessor to the billions of 3D Tri-Gate transistors crammed into its 22nm Ivy Bridge chips.
Computing has become ubiquitous
Of course, There have been obstacles along the way, such as limits imposed by lithographic technology (the process for transferring circuit patterns onto silicon wafers) and transistor gate power leakage. But engineers have always found ways to overcome them - using shorter lithographic wavelengths, double patterning, optical proximity correction, and high-K/metal gate innovations, to name only a few.
Moore's Law is alive and kicking
The immediate future of Moore's Law isn't in doubt. At the 2013 Intel Developer Forum (IDF), Intel CEO Brian Krzanich showed off its next-generation Broadwell SOC chip. "This is it, folks," Krzanich exclaimed on stage. "14nm is here, it's working and we'll be shipping by the end of this year." Although dial down your excitement a bit, as manufacturing issues pushed Broadwell back into 2014.
Nevertheless, Intel seems confident that Moore's Law is alive and kicking as it moves to a 14nm process node, the next stop on a technology roadmap that scales down to 5nm. But while it might be possible to fabricate chips at 5nm and below, the technological challenges involved and the new equipment required surely won't make it cost-effective to do so.
So the question now is: how long does Moore's Law have left before silicon can't be pushed any further? Five years? Ten?
"I pick about 2020 as the earliest we could call [Moore's Law] dead," said DARPA Director and Pentium processor architect Robert Colwell, when he spoke at the Hot Chips conference in 2013. "And I'm picking 7nm. You could talk me into 2022. You might even be able to talk me into 5nm. But you're not going to talk me into 1nm. I think physics dictates against that."
From Silicon to Graphene
In the short term, Moore's Law will continue to hold true as engineers find new ways to push existing CMOS technology to its limit.
There's the promise of performance gains using new materials, such as indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs), indium phosphide (InP) and silicon germanium (SiGe). These have a higher electron mobility and support lower voltages, thereby reducing power consumption.
And keep an eye out for graphene nanoribbons, developed by researchers at the University of California in Berkeley - molecular-scale wires designed to carry data thousands of times faster than traditional copper interconnects.
"These nanoribbons might be a key to keeping up with Moore's Law," said Felix Fischer, a chemist working on the project at Berkeley. Use them in integrated circuits and these one atom-thick, 15 atom-wide graphene strips could potentially increase the number of transistors on a chip by more than 10,000.How to get involved with the trial run for the new PS4 vehicle combat game
Hi everyone! When we announced our new title recently, we mentioned that we were going to be running a beta in the near future. Well, I’m pleased to announce that the Hardware: Rivals beta will be launching exclusively to PS Plus subscribers worldwide tomorrow, 30th September.
In case you missed our previous post, Hardware: Rivals is an arcade-style vehicle combat game where you can get behind the wheel of a Tank or Fast Attack Vehicle, load up with devastating weapons and hunt down and destroy your opponents. Check out the trailer to get an idea of what you can expect in the beta.
Anyone with an active PlayStation Plus subscription is eligible to take part, and you can download the game from the PlayStation Plus section on the PlayStation Store.
During the beta we’ll be letting in batches of players on a first-come-first-served basis. When you launch the game, you’ll automatically be granted a beta key if one is available, and can start playing right away.
If all of the keys in the current batch have been taken, you’ll have to wait until a new batch is released. Don’t worry though, we’ll be releasing new keys regularly throughout the beta, so keep an eye on the official forums for updates.
Everyone who gets a beta key in-game will also able to invite a friend to join them, so think carefully about who you want backing you up!
Finally, anyone who participated in our closed beta already has a beta key waiting for them as a little thank you so come and check out what’s new.
The game is still deep in development so your participation and feedback is incredibly important to us. We have a dedicated beta forum where you can learn more about the game, leave feedback and get the latest updates from the dev team. If you have any suggestions, comments or find any issues, then please let us know!
In the meantime, thank you all for your continued interest and we hope to see you on the battlefield soon! Find out more here.How many caps did Galen Rupp wear during the men’s marathon race on Sunday morning, as a light rain fell in Rio, along with most of his rivals and doubters? It was hard to tell with all the poorly timed NBC commercial breaks, such as the one that prevented viewers from seeing when the Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge dropped those last few runners still nipping at his heels, with about four miles to go, or the one that aired right when Rupp finally fell back to third place for good. But six is probably a safe estimate. Rupp kept changing his hats at hydration stations. Were they packed with cooling gel? Chilled in ice water? Few beyond Rupp and his coach—the divisive but effective Alberto Salazar, Nike’s dark wizard of track and field—know for sure. (Reports surfaced in June of 2015 that Salazar had been accused of urging some of his athletes to use banned substances. Rupp, however, has never been caught doping and has never been sanctioned.)
What we do know is this: Rupp, the thirty-year-old distance runner from Portland, Oregon, whose hats now have their own Twitter account, took bronze in the Rio marathon, becoming the seventh and final American distance runner to medal at these Games. The last time the U.S. won as many as five distance medals at an Olympics was in 1924, in Paris. Other than Rupp’s performance this weekend, in just his second marathon—the first was in February of this year, at the U.S. trials—Americans have medalled only once in the event since 1976. (The last medallist was Mebrahtom Keflezighi, who won silver at the Athens Games. More on Meb’s performance momentarily.)
The gold belonged to Kipchoge, a five-feet-six, hundred-and-fifteen-pound man with a habit of scolding his rivals in the middle of races and smiling warmly at the end of them, who now has a claim to being the greatest marathoner of all time. He finished in 2:08:44. It was not an Olympic record, but it was a remarkable time considering the relative heat (mid-seventies), humidity (mid-nineties when it wasn’t raining), perilously wet course, and absence of helpful pacers—or, for that matter, many fans—to push him along.
Despite all that, and wearing just a single hat, Kipchoge’s victory was never much in question. All the drama concerned margins and runners-up. The first two-thirds of the race were utterly predictable. Then Kipchoge tossed off a 4:43 nineteenth mile, a 4:41 twentieth, and a 4:35 twenty-first. He tossed his hat—caught by a surprised cyclist, who was barely keeping pace alongside the course—with six miles to go, revealing his supremely confident face. Kipchoge, who is thirty-one, won six of the seven marathons he raced prior to Rio; in London, this spring, he missed the current world record—2:02:57, set by his countryman Dennis Kimetto—by eight seconds.
Marathon dominance by East Africans is still the rule, while podium-worthy American performances have, for decades, been the exception. When Rupp finally tossed his last hat off for good, with less than two miles left, his baby face was fully exposed. I have friends from Kenya and Ethiopia who ran distance races professionally for years. One once told me, when asked to describe the pain that a 2:10 marathoner will experience, “You feel like you will die.” He paused, realizing that this was an American cliché. “No, a_ctually_ die.”
Rupp finished, alive, in 2:10:05. Afterward, he admitted feeling “some pain,” despite the hundred-and-fifty-mile training weeks Salazar had put him through. He also, oddly, told NBC’s Lewis Johnson that he’d recently received some motivation from an Adam Sandler character. “I was watching ‘Happy Gilmore’ the other day,” Rupp said. “He fights being a golfer for a while, saying he’s a hockey player. I fought being a marathoner and wanted to run on the track, but maybe this is my best event.” The similarities seemed to end there.
In “14 Minutes: A Running Legend’s Life and Death and Life,” Salazar, who won three consecutive New York Marathons, in the early eighties, wrote, “Running a marathon is in many ways an imponderable exercise. No matter how thoroughly you prepare, there is always an element of discovery and surprise, sometimes gratifying; more often, unfortunately, otherwise.” For Meb Keflezighi, the other American given an outside chance to medal, it was an “otherwise” day. He stopped some seven times during the race, threw up, and literally fell across the line in thirty-third place. (He did a few pushups after falling. The tears came later.) It was a courageous swan song for the diminutive forty-one-year-old with the 2004 silver medal, but yet another reminder of the brutality of the 26.2-mile distance.
As the NBC commentators Craig Masback and Tim Hutchings were filling the more than two hours of race airtime, “14 Minutes” came up. “You have to hope he hasn’t read Salazar’s book,” one announcer said of Rupp, before paraphrasing from it: “Your mind can play so many tricks over the course of 26.2 miles. There are so many points where you can fall prey to either your panic or your exultation.”
Rupp did neither. Nor did Jared Ward, the mostly forgotten third American in the race, who finished sixth, in 2:11:30. A self-described “running nerd” and devout Mormon, Ward teaches classes at Brigham Young University and runs “only” six days a week, leaving time to observe the Sabbath. (He still gets in a hundred and twenty miles during those six days.) Ward wrote his B.Y.U. master’s thesis, in statistics, on optimal pace strategy in the marathon. His two main conclusions: learn to pace yourself, and take advantage of the downhill. No mention is made of rotating hats.James O'Brien Demolishes Claims We Need 'Dunkirk Spirit' To Make Brexit A Success
This is James O'Brien's epic takedown of Brexiteers' claim that Britain needs the 'Dunkirk Spirit' to make leaving the EU a success.
Allison Pearson wrote in the Daily Telegraph that, for Brexit to work, we need 'Dunkirk spirit' not 'Naysaying Nellies'.
But pointing out that even Churchill described Dunkirk as a disaster, James ridiculed the notion that it will get us through these times.
Speaking on his LBC show, he said: "People that told us it was going to be easy and enriching and the most natural and liberating thing in history are now saying you need the spirit of Dunkirk to get through it.
"Dunkirk. Described by Churchill as a disaster. And you have now or the idea that we have to invoke the spirit of Dunkirk to get through something that was supposed to be really easy and make is richer.
"But again you know I'm just the lonely weathervane pointing at reality, while everybody else is chomping on nonsense.
"The idea that the same people who told you that this thing was going to be brilliant are now telling you that actually we need to be a bit like we were when we undertook the biggest military evacuation in the history of Britain. Eh?
"Well hang on, either it's brilliant or it's a bit like the biggest military evacuation in the history of the United Kingdom. Which one is it?
"Because if we need to invoke the spirit of Dunkirk, that's about retreating, that's about stepping away from a mess, that is about fleeing, hopefully to return? So what's that got to do with Brexit?"Bones From The Badlands Belong To New Dinosaur
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Researchers made quite a find this week in Utah: a new species of raptor dinosaur. The ancient creature, a meat-eater, was small and fast, with talon-like toes.
"These animals were incredibly fast, incredibly intelligent and some of them wielded very significant claws and sharp teeth," Dr. Lindsay Zanno of the New University of Wisconsin tells NPR's Scott Simon. Zanno led the dig team that made the discovery.
Zanno named the species Talos Sampsoni after her friend and colleague, Dr. Scott Sampson, also known as "Dr. Scott" on the television series, Dinosaur Train. Talos Sampsoni was feathered and about 5-feet long and about 2-and-a-half feet at the hips, Zanno says. "Definitely an overgrown vicious Labrador retriever-sized animal," she says.
Michael Knell, a graduate student at Montana State University, actually made the discovery. Knell had been hunting the Badlands in Southern Utah for fossilized turtles. "He turned the corner and found one of the most amazing raptor-dinosaur specimens we have from the late Cretaceous in North America," Zanno says.
The bones were intact and, in the ground, looked the way they would have in life — a discovery, she says, that is fairly rare in North America.
"Most dinosaur specimens that we have have been laying out on the surface for a long time and the bones have become scattered," Zanno says.
The discovery is significant not because it reveals anything new about the biology of these animals, Zanno says, but rather because it's a piece of the puzzle researchers had speculated about but never confirmed. Zanno says that footprint evidence suggested that the specialized talon on the foot of the raptor dinosaur wasn't used for walking and was regularly put in harm's way. But this kind of evidence is ambiguous.
"Finding Talos was something we were all waiting for and was confirmation we'd been speculating about for a long time," she says.
The dinosaur will soon go on display at the Utah Museum of Natural History in Salt Lake City.
As for Knell? "He's still plugging away at his degree and hopefully getting some good fanfare out of his important discovery," Zanno says.Can we talk about how utterly enjoyable Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason’s Superman run has been? I know I mention it fairly often in Alex’s and my weekly reviews, but it remains so heartening to have a Superman comic that is bright, optimistic, and actually feels like the character I grew up loving for the first time in years. The rest of the line that surrounds it is great fun too (Action Comics, Supergirl, Superwoman), and I think it might be DC’s best set of books currently, which is something I’ve been waiting a long time to say about this franchise.
This week, Tomasi and Gleason are teaming up with Ivan Reis; who, beyond a recent Batman fill-in, was last seen penciling the bookend issues of Grant Morrison’s (so excellent there’s little need to go on about it) The Multiversity. Tomasi, Gleason, and Reis return to the concepts and characters found in that series for the three-part “Multiplicity” and The Beat has exclusive pages for Wednesday’s exciting new release:
“MULTIPLICITY” part one! The New Super-Man of China has been taken! The Red Son Superman of Earth-30 has been beaten! And who knows what’s happened to Sunshine Superman! Someone is collecting Supermen across the Multiverse—this looks like a job for our Kal-El as he is joined by Justice Incarnate in this multi-Earth epic!
Entertainment Editor for The Beat covering film, television and the occasional comic book. His work can also be found at GeekRex.com and can be heard on the GeekRex podcast. He really loves the Legion of Super-Heroes a lot.
Like this: Like Loading...Is Dean Ambrose the man to bring the Intercontinental Title back to its past glory? In a year that Randy Savage is going in the Hall of Fame, it makes you think of what the Intercontinental Title once meant. While Savage had a yearlong run with the WWE Title and a second shorter run with that belt that are on his Hall of Fame resume. He also some forgettable runs as WCW World Championship, but it is his time as the Intercontinental title run of just over a year that made him famous. In current times, even hardcore wrestling fans have to rack their brains to remember who the Intercontinental Champion is. If you don’t know, the answer currently is Bad News Barrett.Dean had a long but really pointless run with the United States Title. I would venture to say it was the least title defenses in a title run until perhaps Brock Lesnar got his hands on the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Dean unlike Brock was always around it is just as member of The Shield his title was secondary to that. Roman and Rollins at the same time had the tag team titles but were much more active in defending them. The state of United States title has been even worse. It has become a little more important since Rusev got his hands on it but it is more just a prop to his overall gimmick. The fact John Cena is challenging for this title in a few weeks and even people that dislike Cena would admit this title is beneath his status. This is part of the problem in how weak these championships have become.Back to our original question is Dean the guy to take this title and bring it back to being a big deal? There was a time when Ambrose was the most popular guy in this company in the summer. The return of both Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan along with the rise of Seth Rollins as a top heel have left Dean in some sense stuck in this gimmick as this crazy unpredictable guy that loses more often than he wins. In fact, you would think in theory a guy with the Intercontinental Title would win more often than he loses. That hasn’t been the case though and perhaps it is time to change that. Dean needs more than just being unpredictable and crazy to remain over with fans. A strong title run with a champion that welcomes challengers and is a fighting champion might be a good role for Dean.If he could have an extended run and come out of it gunning for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship it could be the best thing for that belt and for Dean. In the old days in WWE, you had two kinds of WWE Intercontinental Champions. You had guys like Savage and the Ultimate Warrior who were given the belt as a trial to see how they might do one day with the big title. This tradition carried on with the likes of Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold and even The Rock. Somewhere along the way from the Attitude Era to the PG Era, the Intercontinental Title lost that role. There was even a period when the title was but in mothballs. I am not sure if there is a point or person that is responsible for the decline of the Intercontinental Title. It just seemed to erode into insignificance.Wrestlemania in early days often had its second most important match on the card. Savage defending the title and having his over a year long reign come to an end produced one of the best wrestling matches of all-time. It was a lot to do with two of the greatest wrestlers of all-time but it also was about fans wanting to see Steamboat get his revenge on Savage. In the built to that historic match, Savage tried to take Steamboat out attacking his throat. Fans were invested and it makes even one of the greatest matches of all time that much better. In front of according to the WWE their largest crowd ever had Hulk Hogan’s favorite dome the Silverdome.Dean Ambrose gets compared to a lot of old time wrestlers from back in 80’s. Maybe he is the guy to take us back to when the title meant something. His reason for wanting a title shot is bizarre and makes little sense but who cares he is the right guy for the job. Barrett while I like him has had several runs with the belt to no real success. In fact, name me the guy on the roster in the mid-card that has been here for more than 5 years that doesn’t have multiple runs with the belt. The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston and a list that could go on much longer. The title in order to get over truly needs someone fresh attached to it and hopefully can understand what it once meant and how to make it mean that again.If there is anyone in the WWE that is capable of bringing this title back from the dead it is Dean Ambrose. While many would be disappointed with Dean vs. Barrett title match at Wrestlemania it would be worth it if we could see Dean return to Wrestlemania in Dallas still with that belt it might be worth it. Dean Ambrose needs something to be his legacy in this break-up of the Shield. Seth Rollins has his Money in the Bank win, Roman Reigns has a Royal Rumble win and likely World Title run in his future so what about Dean? If he could have a long and meaningful title run that might be his ticket to be his legacy coming out of The Shield. He would be doing all of us a favor if he were able to restore the I-C title to what it once was.If Dean can’t do it, I am not sure who can at this point. Dean seems well suited for the belt a great talker and solid worker in the ring. He matches the model of some of the great champions of the past and to me is a good fit to raise this title back up if only they book him in the correct way to allow him too. I am not suggesting anyone hold his or her breath that it will happen. I just see it as the best possibility for restoring the title and giving Dean something to focus on.In the end, a title is only as strong as the person that holds it and how they are booked as the champion. If they believe, the belt means something and is important that is the first step. I only look over to current day Ring of Honor in which Jay Lethal their Television Champion considers his title the most important in the promotion. He will face Alberto El Patron (Del Rio) on PPV and it very well could be the main event on that show in Las Vegas. The Intercontinental Championship being the main event in WWE would be a laughable thought at this stage. The only time it ever did was in England at Summerslam when the British Bulldog challenged his brother in-law and champion Bret “The Hitman” Hart. It was one of the best matches of both men’s careers.We don’t need to see that happen but we do need to see a Champion that we see as a main event talent holding that belt. Dean has already proven he can be that headlining a few shows with Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt. Dean and the Intercontinental Title is a marriage that could work for everyone.Prince Leonard. Image: Supplied.
The Principality of Hutt River, the oldest micronation in Australia, has finally received an official nod from Australia’s head of state.
Prince Leonard, the sovereign of Hutt River, 595 km north of Perth, has received a letter with the Queen’s good wishes on the anniversary of the principality seceding from Australia 46 years ago today, on April 21, 1970.
The principality is 75 square km in area, about the size to Hong Kong if the New Territories are excluded.
The letter from Buckingham Palace is signed by Mrs Sonia Bonici, Senior Correspondence Officer.
It reads in part:
“I am to convey Her Majesty’s good wishes to you and to all concerned for a most enjoyable and successful celebration on 23rd and 24th of April to mark the forty-sixth anniversary of the Principality of Hutt River.”
The Queen was replying to a letter from Prince Leonard congratulating her on her 90th birthday. The sovereign of the Principality of Hutt River himself turned 90 last year.
The prince is recovering from a recent fall requiring six stitches. However, his family says he is in fine form.
Prince Leonard, who was the farmer Leonard Casley before establishing the principality, has invited all Australians to join with him in celebrating the anniversary of Hutt River and the Queen’s 90th.
Hutt River, now a significant tourist attraction with its own coins and stamps, broke away from Australia over a dispute on the size wheat quotas.
Prince Leonard later received a letter from then Governor-General Sir Paul Hasluck addressing him as the “Administrator of the Hutt River Province” which was, he said, legally binding recognition of the principality.
The principality has its own royal family, including a crown prince, Ian, who is the Grand Duke of Hutt and the prime minister, and an honours list which regularly appoints new knights and dames, whose appointment is no longer done from within the Order of Australia.
The 46th anniversary celebrations kick off this weekend with the release of a special edition of stamps and the public announcement of honours recipients.
There will be award presentations in Princess Shirley’s Chapel of Nain at the principality. Princess Shirley was the late wife of Prince Leonard.
Pies, pasties, sausage rolls, hot and cold drinks will be available in the principality tea rooms.
Here is the letter from the Queen:
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Sears, which like Kmart is owned by Sears Holdings Corp, will begin its Black Friday sales earlier than ever at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving.
Kmart and Sears join a long list of stores waging a so-called "War on Thanksgiving," forcing millions of low-wage employees to spend their Thanksgiving holidays working.
A Kmart and Sears spokesperson told The Huffington Post in an email that stores will be staffed by seasonal associates and workers who volunteered to work on the holiday, both of whom will be compensated with "holiday pay."
"This holiday season is all about giving more to our members and because many like to start shopping well before Black Friday, we're excited to open our doors early on Thanksgiving and offer other early access opportunities for them to shop and save," Leena Munjal, senior vice president for Sears Holdings, said in a statement on the company's website.
Kmart certainly isn't the only store open on Thanksgiving. Most Walmart stores will be open all day. Macy's said it plans to open at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving -- two hours earlier than last year -- and will pay workers time-and-a-half.
Meanwhile, Costco and Sam's Club will remain closed on Thanksgiving.
Last year, Kmart's decision to open at 6 a.m. and remain open for 41 hours garnered some harsh criticism from shoppers who said it was inappropriate to be open all day on the holiday.
And the store's controversial decision barely paid off: Comparable-store sales at Sears and Kmart fell sharply during the holiday season last year.A group of Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers has made such a significant leap forward in reprogramming human adult cells that HSCI co-director Douglas Melton said the institute will immediately begin using the new method to make patient- and disease-specific induced pluripotent stem cells, known as iPS cells.
“This work by Derrick Rossi and his colleagues solves one of the major challenges we face in trying to use a patient’s own cells to treat their disease,” said Melton, who is also co-chair of Harvard’s Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology. “I predict that this technique will immediately become the preferred method to make iPS cells from patients, and, indeed, at the HSCI we are turning our entire iPS core to using this method,” said Melton, who did not participate in the work.
The findings were published online by the journal Cell Stem Cell.
Rossi’s group, based at the Immune Disease Institute, at Children’s Hospital Boston, used synthetic mRNA to reprogram adult human skin cells, called fibroblasts, turning them into cells that are apparently identical to human embryonic stem cells, the initial building blocks of the body’s organs. They then used other mRNA to program the new cells, which they are calling RiPS (RNA-iPS) cells, to develop into specific cell types. In the current study, they created muscle cells.
Because mRNA carries genetic instructions but does not enter the DNA of the target cells, the resulting tailored cells should be safe to use in treating patients, Rossi said, unlike the iPS cells now being created around the world.
“The new report provides a substantial advance,” National Institutes of Health director Francis S. Collins told The Washington Post. “But this research in no way reduces the importance of comparing the resulting iPS cells to human embryonic stem cells. Previous research has shown that iPS cells retain some memory of their tissue of origin, which may have important implications for their use in therapeutics. To explore these important potential differences, iPS research must continue to be conducted side by side with human embryonic cell research.”
“Our findings address three major impediments to clinical translational use of iPS cells,” Rossi said in an interview. “The method does not in any way breach genomic integrity, as it does not necessitate integrating genes or viruses into the target cells’ DNA; it is orders of magnitude more efficient at producing iPS cells than conventional iPS methods, which were notoriously inefficient; and it gives us a way to directly program and direct the development of the iPS cells toward clinically useful cell types.”
The three problems the Rossi group indeed appears to have solved in one fell swoop are those with which stem cell biologists have been |
in the last month, purporting to fix defective documents.
Kim Bolin of St. Louis, Missouri, was told to stop making payments while she negotiated a modification, and then was put into foreclosure simultaneously. The lender submitted as proof of ownership an assignment dated 2013 from the original lender Intervale Mortgage, which went out of business in 2008. Kim, her husband and her three kids expect to be out on the street in the next two weeks. “The feeling of failing your kids is unbelievable,” Bolin wrote. “I now have a heart condition that is causing rapid breathing and a rapid heart rate – the only reason they can find is the huge amount of stress I’m living with every day.”
It’s impossible to expend the time and resources necessary to verify these and the hundreds of other stories I get daily. I can’t even get through all the names of these victims. But I can paint a picture of the type of people who write them, which is nothing like the one the industry frames, a tale of deadbeats and losers who miss mortgage payments and try to scam banks into acquiring a free house.
These people are meticulous. They’ve kept every scrap of paper related to their cases, probably to preserve their own sanity. They know how the law works. Their perseverance, even while recognizing the odds against them, is remarkable.
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Andy Williams drove four hours from Chicago to St. Louis to see me speak last month. His foreclosure case began eleven years ago, and he’s compiled a half-dozen law firms to help borrowers in foreclosure in the Chicago area. His lonely battle for consumer rights occurred in parallel with the subjects of my book, thousands of miles away in Florida. There was no wide-ranging community to bring all these voices together, nobody to tell them they weren’t alone.
Which I guess made me the conduit. So I hear all these stories, knowing that years after the foreclosure crisis began, judges and lawyers and prosecutors and politicians don’t want to hear them anymore. Any drive to protect the public, if it was ever there, has withered. Having exhausted other options, foreclosure victims have to approach a writer as a last line of defense. It powerfully illustrates the dislocation people feel, of being stuck in a Kafka-esque trauma without resolution.
Political analysts still manage to wonder why people are angry in a time of economic recovery, without ever even hinting recognition of the scarring impact of the foreclosure disaster. More than 9.3 million American families gave up their home between 2006 and 2014, either in a foreclosure or a short sale or some other transaction. That translates to about 14 million people, all of whom have family and friends and colleagues who at least know of the pain caused by the foreclosure crisis. There have been more since then.
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It didn’t have to turn out that way. All of the losses didn’t have to be placed upon homeowners. Somebody could have been held responsible. We could have enforced the simple rule that you can’t take a person’s home with false evidence. This bare minimum would have engendered some faith that the system works, that justice still burns somewhere in America.
So to those who have reached out to me, and those who haven’t, to everyone still feeling the pain of foreclosure, I have just one thing to say. Your government failed you. Those entrusted with protecting you failed you. And when in your desperation you turned to me, I failed you. Because I wish I had something better to express than an apology.
POSTSCRIPT: This is my last column for Salon as a contributing writer. I am tremendously thankful to everyone I worked with here for their encouragement and support, and I exit with the best wishes that this incredible operation will thrive in the future. Thanks.The City of Waldo now faces two state investigations stemming from its police department, and a Clay County Sheriff's Office report released on Tuesday revealed more allegations against Waldo's police chief.
The City of Waldo now faces two state investigations stemming from its police department, and a Clay County Sheriff's Office report released on Tuesday revealed more allegations against Waldo's police chief.
On Tuesday, Florida Department of Law Enforcement detectives determined there was enough evidence of a violation of the state's ticket quota law to warrant a full-fledged investigation.
Last week, five Waldo police officers told the City Council that Chief Mike Szabo and City Manager Kim Worley ordered them to write 12 speeding tickets per 12-hour shift, which breaches a state law that carries no consequences.
The allegations by the officers spurred an FDLE preliminary inquiry and then the investigation announced on Tuesday.
The case is the second investigation opened by FDLE investigators against Waldo police. The first began on Aug. 12 that involved Szabo and relates to a possible violation of police procedure. Worley was still mum on details on that case as of Tuesday afternoon.
“Hopefully, I can tell you everything by Friday,” Worley said. “Then I can answer all of your questions.”
Worley also said the 12-traffic ticket requirement was only a guideline implemented to keep officers busy and was not meant to spur revenue for the community known for decades as a speed trap.
“It was only to make sure that they're working,” Worley said. “There's not a supervisor and a lot of times you're working by yourself.”
Worley had appointed Cpl. Kenneth Smith as interim chief but she later suspended Smith on Aug. 27 after his own officers claimed Smith used city-owned video equipment to monitor the parking lot outside his apartment and regularly stole hotel towels while staying in hotel resorts on official city business with Szabo.
Information provided by Worley showed that, contrary to allegations made by officers, Szabo and Smith usually spent roughly $100 per night on hotel stays within the state. The most expensive stay by Szabo was $250 a night for a convention in Philadelphia.
“That was the going rate for that convention,” Worley said. “That's Philadelphia.”
Worley was unwilling to comment on an inquiry that Clay County sheriff's officials opened against Chief Szabo in 2012. A report on the case requested by The Gainesville Sun stated that a high school teacher was heading to work when Szabo, driving a blue sport utility vehicle registered to the Waldo Police Department, shined his spotlight into her vehicle. Szabo somehow got ahead of the woman's vehicle and then slammed on the brakes, nearly causing a crash, the report stated.
The woman contacted the Clay County Sheriff's Office and told deputies that the driver of the SUV was Szabo because he had made similar actions in the past. Szabo had told Clay sheriff's Lt. Ken Wagner he was in Waldo at the time the incident allegedly occurred, responding to an alligator complaint.
“It was confirmed by Lt. Wagner that Szabo did not respond to an alligator complaint,” the report stated.
A Clay County investigator later contacted Waldo Police to confirm the SUV involved in the incident was part of their fleet. Szabo called back 12 days later to confirm the vehicle was issued to him and that he shined his spotlight and slammed on the brakes because the vehicle was speeding.
Clay County investigators do not think Szabo knew the woman who reported the incident and they have never been contacted by FDLE, sheriff's spokeswoman Mary Justino said.
The Waldo Police Department has operated without a chief since Aug. 27, and a plan to bring in an Alachua County sheriff's lieutenant to supervise its five remaining officers has yet to materialize. Waldo is still researching whether its insurance policy would cover a contract employee, Worley said.
“We've never done this – we've never brought on a contractor like this,” she said. “You want to make sure everything is covered before you do it.”
In the meantime, Alachua sheriff's deputies stepped up patrols in the hamlet of about 1,000 residents after they received a call from a concerned resident that city patrols had ceased.
On Friday night, a team of deputies trained to patrol high crime areas responded to Waldo on Friday night and made 12 traffic stops but issued only one citation. In that case, two Jacksonville residents headed to Tampa were pulled over on U.S. 301 on suspicion of failure to maintain a lane. The driver told deputies there were two guns in the vehicle and a subsequent search turned up a.45-caliber revolver and an AR-15 rifle.
Passenger James Baldwin, 33, was booked into the Alachua County jail on a felony charge of carrying a concealed weapon and has since been released.
Worley said she was pleased the deputies had chosen to patrol her city.
“We're a part of Alachua County and they come around here all the time,” she said. “We're glad to have them.”
The proposed Waldo city budget included $375,000 in revenue from police fines, but Worley said that total does not mean fat salaries for officers. As chief, Szabo makes $22.88 an hour and is followed by Smith, who makes $13.93. Two other officers make roughly $13 an hour and the lowest makes $10 an hour, she said.
“These guys definitely don't make much money,” Worley said. “They could get paid more working at a fast food restaurant.”
Szabo will be terminated if he faces a criminal charge from the FDLE investigation and Waldo will not be looking to promote a chief from within its own ranks, Worley said.
“I think we would need to bring in someone from the outside,” she added.WATERLOO — University of Waterloo researchers have released the first composite picture of the filaments that connect the cosmic web.
The image of a dark matter bridge that connects two galaxies was captured by University of Waterloo astronomy professor Mike Hudson and Seth Epps, a former master's student at the university. Their research was published Wednesday in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
"It's very cool," Hudson said in an interview. "I just find it amazing that I'm looking at a picture of dark matter. It's just incredible that we can actually produce these maps."
Dark matter is a mysterious substance that makes up slightly more than a quarter of all matter in the universe. It doesn't absorb, emit or reflect light, making it extremely difficult to spot, and has so far only been detected through gravity.
The composite image, made up of several individual images, confirms predictions that galaxies are tied together through a cosmic web connected by dark matter that has until now remained unobservable.
Other researchers had predicted the existence of the filaments of dark matter that connect galaxies, "but the evidence for them was very indirect," Hudson said.
"What is new from our work is that in addition to detecting them, we've been able to make this picture and measure them. We know how wide the filament is on average, and how much mass it has."
Hudson and Epps used a technique called weak gravitational lensing. It's an effect that causes the images of distant galaxies to distort slightly from an unseen mass such as a planet, a black hole or, in this case, dark matter. The effect was measured in sky survey images from March 2003 to November 2008 at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope.
The researchers combined lensing images from more than 23,000 pairs of galaxies 4.5 billion light-years away to create a composite image that shows the presence of dark matter connecting two galaxies.
"Galaxies and clumps of galaxies don't sit in empty space like little balls," Hudson said. "They're joined together with a three-dimensional spider web" of dark matter.Jae C. Hong/AP
The Cleveland Cavaliers have traded All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving to the Boston Celtics, according to Jeff Goodman of ESPN, in a blockbuster deal that will shake up the NBA's Eastern Conference.
In exchange for Irving, the Cavs will receive fellow All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas, forward Jae Crowder, rookie center Ante Zizic, and a first-round draft pick.
The draft pick is the 2018 first-rounder from the Brooklyn Nets, which will almost certainly fall into the top five.
The Celtics confirmed the trade on Twitter.
The move is a shake up of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, and makes for an exceptionally compelling potential Conference Finals rematch in 2018.
Irving reportedly had been unhappy with his recent time with the Cavaliers and asked the team for a trade in July, having grown resentful of playing second fiddle to LeBron James. Later reports would come out that Irving shut himself off from teammates for days during their 2017 playoff run.
The deal drastically changes the dynamics of both teams. The Celtics have indicated to the rest of the league that they are ready to go all in and win now and gain a proven playoff veteran for to their cause. Meanwhile, the Cavs received a new set of assets they could potentially depend on in a post-LeBron era if he were to leave as a free agent after the season. It also gives Irving a talented team that he could lead, making good on his reported desire to be the top guy on a roster.
In a stroke of luck for the NBA and TNT, the Celtics and Cavaliers meet in Cleveland on October 17 on TNT in the first game of the 2017-18 NBA season.With his goatee, tinted rectangular glasses and wavy grey hair, Ray Drea certainly looks the part as Harley-Davidson‘s chief stylist replacing Willie G Davidson.
But he’s still a long way short of the the Willie G’s personal affectations and Ray agrees he’s never going to fill the legendary designer’s shoes.
Ray has replaced Willie G who retired in 2012 as chief stylist, but still consults and has an office at Harley HQ in Milwaukee and designs various logos, but isn’t involved in bike design.
“I have some big shoes to fill. He was one of a kind,” Ray says.
“I believe he built a strong design team and is confident he has left it in good hands. Half the design staff have been there more than 10 years.”
Ray has known Willie G since he went to high school with his son.
“I entered a Sportster tank I’d painted in a school art show and Willie saw it and gave his card to his son and asked him to pass it on to me and get me to get in touch,” he says.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Ray says he is currently working on 2017/18 bikes and credits his greatest accomplishment as “always the next bike”.
He points to the Project LiveWire electric bike as “considerations in style” for the future. “We’re trying different things. It’s just a learning experience at the moment.”
Speaking at the launch of the 2015 models at the world press launch in Northern California, Ray says he was tempted by the current custom bagger trend to put a bigger front wheel on the reintroduced Road Glide model, but thought better of it. Meanwhile, Victory has jumped on the bandwagon with their Magnum, sporting a reasonably sensible 21-inch front wheel.
Ray believes the trend for ridiculous sizes, such as 24 and 30 inches, will pass and custom baggers will become more ridable.
“When something first comes out, it can be a bit extreme and it takes a bit of time for people to settle down,” he says.
“It’s important to not just follow a trend without also making sure the bike handles well.”
He says the custom bagger trend will continue to be popular and become refined, attracting a younger demographic who want a styling statement, but also something that is practical with its luggage capacity.
Ray also believes the custom bagger trend of fitting powerful sound systems will continue and he notes that the new models have the new Boom! Box 6.5 system and the CVO models come with 12 speakers, including pannier-lid speakers.
“Look around and everyone has wires in their ears. They want music wherever they go. Bike audio systems will become more advanced with intelligent infotainment systems.”What at stake: After years of deflationary pressures and anaemic economic performance, inflation seems to be on the rise again, both in the US and the euro area. Does this comeback mark a return to target? Will it be sustained, and what should central banks be thinking? These are among the questions raised in the blogosphere.
Dieter Wermuth is happy that inflation is back in Germany, with the consumer price index hitting 1.7% in December. He states that if prices increase monthly by 0.2% from now onwards, the HICP will increase to 2.2% or 2.3% in February on a seasonally adjusted basis. It will not fall under the 2% line if these monthly price hikes continue.
The real question is whether these increases will prove sustainable. For this, wages – the biggest cost factor, would have to move a bit more. But wages are not increasingly rapidly. This is despite increases in employment numbers – around 0.8% yearly over the last 5 years – and a decrease of the unemployment rate from 8.3% in crisis-year 2009 to 6.0% more recently. Since 2014, yearly wage gains range from 2.5 to 2.8% (on a hourly basis). There is no wage-price spiral in sight, and hence no action required by the ECB, given also the weaker inflationary pressures due to lower economic growth in the rest of the eurozone. But the train seems to have started moving.
Tom Yates adds his thoughts on the political economy of pre and post inflation rates in the euro area. Before the financial crisis, a standard assumption was that the southern peripheral countries were on a path to converge their income per capita to northern levels, and as such, through Balassa-Samuelson effects (describing how increase in traded-goods-sector productivity in the South bids up the price of non-traded goods there, relative to abroad), experiencing faster inflation. The ‘below, but close to’ 2% target of the ECB was fine for the conservative north, since it meant that hitting 2 per cent inflation in the Eurozone as a whole would actually imply <2 per cent for them.
However, after the crisis, the southern story looks rather different. It turns out that the price of non-traded goods was being pushed up not by durable increases in productivity, but by excessive domestic demand, fueled by borrowing against future income that was not going to arrive, and facilitated by spreads that were too low. The south has now been embarking on a protracted and painful internal devaluation. The political economy of the aggregate 2 per cent target is now not so favourable to the north, since it means northern inflation will have to average >2 per cent to hit the target while this devaluation is underway in the south.
On a global level, Gavyn Davies argues that in mid-2016, the global economy embarked on a regime of reflation that has been dominating market behaviour ever since then. One of the most important questions for 2017 is whether this bout of reflation will continue. His answer is that it will continue, at least compared to the sluggish rates of increase in nominal GDP since the Great Financial Crash. Headline inflation rates might keep rising if commodity prices respond further to the strength of global aggregate demand. However, he argues that one of the most important lessons from the recent past is that core inflation is extremely stable at a low level in the face of commodity price shocks in both directions. This limits the probability of a major inflation scare in the advanced economies.
On a similar topic, Carmen Reinhart asks herself if the deflation cycle is really over (see figure below). Since the global crisis that erupted in 2008, private deleveraging became a steady headwind against central bank efforts to reflate. In 2009, about one-third of advanced economies recorded a decline in prices – a post-war high. In the years that followed, the incidence of deflation remained high by post-war standards, and most central banks persistently undershot their modest inflation objectives (around 2%). Also, she argues that because US President Donald Trump’s stimulus plans are procyclical – they are likely to gain traction when the US economy is at or near full-employment – they have reawakened expectations that the US inflation rate is headed higher. Indeed, inflation is widely expected to surpass the Federal Reserve’s 2% objective.
Paul Krugman also has some thoughts about the shock of the normal, and shows it with an updated version of IS-LM. Suppose you’re considering the effects of policies that will, other things equal, raise or lower aggregate demand — that is, shift the IS curve. In normal circumstances, where the IS curve intersects an upward-sloping LM, such shifts have limited effects on output and employment, because they’re offset by changes in interest rates: fiscal expansion leads to crowding out, austerity to crowding in, and multipliers are low.
In the aftermath of the financial crisis, however, we spent an extended period at the ZLB, as shown by the “2010” IS curve. In those conditions, shifts in the IS curve don’t move interest rates, there is no crowding out (actually crowding in because increased sales lead to higher investment), and multipliers are large. Wages are finally rising, quit rates are back to pre-crisis levels, so we seem to be fairly close to full employment, and the Fed is raising rates. So it now looks like the “2017” IS curve in the figure.
Inflation “overshooting” and central bank action
Paul Krugman adds that the US seems just barely over the border into normality, which is why he thinks the Fed should hold and the US could still use some fiscal stimulus for insurance, and very low rates still make the case for lots of infrastructure spending. But the situation is not the same as it was.
Following Gavin Davis, inflation expectations will continue to rise markedly in the advanced economies only if the credibility of central banks’ inflation targets is called into question. For him, this seems unlikely in the Eurozone and Japan, but it is more conceivable in the US and the UK, where labour markets are very close to full employment. In both of these countries, there are questions about the tolerance of the central banks to “temporarily” higher inflation under the new political regimes that have emerged.
The President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Charles Evans put forward his thoughts on the topic in a speech back in June 2016. For Simon Wren-Lewis this essentially means that the Fed should depart from the usual policy approach of targeting expected inflation, and wait for inflation to actually rise above target before it raises rates. This would mean that it should ignore any fiscal stimulus (whether it be tax cuts or additional public investment), and focus simply on the actual inflation rate. He states that “if we are in fact below full employment, or if demand creates its own supply, fiscal expansion would raise output and welfare”.
Simon Wren-Lewis adds an important point: you do not need to believe with certainty that an economy is below full employment or that demand will create its own supply. All you have to do is give it some significant probability of being true. You then look at the costs and benefits of pursuing an Evans-type monetary policy weighted by this probability. A key point here is that the costs of a short term overshoot of the 2% target are likely to be a lot smaller than the cost of missing out on a percent or two of national output for potentially some time.I remember when OpenStack was announced – the creation of an open source solution in a formerly entirely proprietary area was something of a bomb shell. Regardless of your thoughts around open stack as a product (or, more correctly a series of product), it’s hard to be critical of an initiative that at its core is all about lowering the barriers to entry and encouraging innovation among multiple players.
It’s with this same degree of excitement that I welcome the announcement by Alcatel-Lucent of apiGrove – the open source version of their API management engine. apiGrove is a software engine that can be downloaded today from GitHub and installed in around 30 minutes, and is open source under the Apache 2.0 license. In a previous post about Alcatel-Lucent’s release of an API development methodology under creative commons, I stated that;
Existing API vendors are focused, by their very nature, on the technology of the API and hence the business discussion is secondary. I envisage a future where API delivery and management solutions are another offering sitting on top of cloud infrastructure, such that an API management function – say increasing a rate limit – can be automatically adjusted in the same way that cloud infrastructure scales. In order for this to happen the very API platform needs to be constructed on its own open APIs, allowing for clear hooks between it and other platforms
In a comment on that post, Steven Wilmott, the CEO of API management vendor 3Scale said that;
I don’t recommend companies look for “a business model for their API”, I recommend they look for an “API for their business model”.
By giving organizations a quick, painless and low (or no) cost way to create APIs, Alcatel-Lucent is greatly reducing the barriers to a burgeoning in the number of APIs that exist – and, by extension, that will greatly increase the number of innovative initiatives that organizations can experiment with. It’s also a smart strategy for Alcatel-Lucent which is trying its hardest to enable it’s existing carrier customers, not known as the most innovative of organizations, to “smart their dumb pipes” and drive some added value from their existing infrastructure. Alcatel-Lucent hopes to create a large pipeline of organizations who, having run a successful trial project on apiGrove, will then use Alcatel-Lucent’s commercial solution to fulfill their needs.
In terms of functional breadth, apiGrove supports a scalable approach through clustering, load balancing and request routing. It includes such base functionality as authentication and authorization, injection detection and certificate management. On top of all that the solution includes rate limiting, quota management and transactional record keeping.
The combination of the creative commons methodology, alongside the open source API platform itself removes all practical barriers to organizations trialing an API strategy – of course that’s no guarantee that they’ll do so – carriers are notoriously risk averse and innovation is an oftentimes foreign concept to them.Still, you have to applaud Alcatel-Lucent for at least trying.
In a glimpse of something I contemplated in my previous post, Alcatel-Lucent suggests the tantalizing concept that;
a cloud services vendor could integrate apiGrove into their core stack for managing cloud services, or offer a new cloud application service enabling customers to run their business in the cloud. Or a communications service provider could use apiGrove to address the wide, and fast-evolving array of security or policy management requirements they need to support
Interesting times in the API space for sure.Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) today announced that its annual fan event will now be called SOE LIVE and will take place at Bally's in Las Vegas, October 18-21, 2012. An annual SOE-sponsored event, SOE Live is set to be the ultimate gathering for the SOE community, and provides players an opportunity to celebrate their favorite games across SOE's portfolio of titles, including: DC Universe™ Online, EverQuest®, EverQuest II, Free Realms®, Magic: The Gathering - Tactics®, PlanetSide® 2, Star Wars®: Clone Wars Adventures™ and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes®.
"The 'SOE Live' name change represents a deeper meaning behind our annual event," said Laura Naviaux, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Sony Online Entertainment. "As our game portfolio continues to expand, we wanted to better represent our diverse player base and games, including the newest additions to the SOE family, with DC Universe Online, Free Realms, Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, and the highly anticipated PlanetSide 2. Previous event attendees can rest assured that we are not removing any of our established activities in order to accommodate the new players; rather, they can expect even more to make this the ultimate SOE fan experience."
SOE Live reflects the belief that all SOE players are part of one extended family and presents an opportunity for fans of all ages to meet the talented people behind some of the online world's most successful games. In addition to a slew of social events, SOE will host developer panel discussions and game-themed live events, giving attendees a chance to voice their opinions of current and upcoming game content. SOE Live will also feature exclusive access to new announcements and beta programs, tournaments, premium swag and more.PARIS -- Twenty-seven members of staff in French schools and high schools were struck off in 2015 because of pedophilia-related offenses, Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said Wednesday.
Vallaud-Belkacem said most of those fired where male staffers. She did not say whether they were teachers or administrative personnel, nor when the offenses happened.
France was shocked last year by the disclosure that a school headmaster who had been appointed despite a previous conviction for possessing child pornography was charged with aggravated rape of several pupils. Earlier this year, a high school teacher who had been convicted in Britain 10 years ago was given preliminary charges of sexual assault after police found pornographic images and video in his mobile phone.
According to a report aiming at improving communication between the ministries of education and justice published Wednesday, 19 members of staff in schools and high schools were fired in 2014 in cases related to child pornography or pedophilia. There were 26 staff at French schools laid off in 2013 for the same reason, and 15 in 2012.
"We believe that a teacher, or an adult, or an administrative agent in contact with children can't work with children as soon as he has been sentenced for offenses as serious as pedophilia or child pornography," Vallaud-Belkacem told RTL radio.
Legislation forcing the Justice Ministry to keep education authorities informed of previous convictions will be adopted soon, she said, adding that the Education Ministry is now authorized to scrutinize the criminal records of all the teachers it employs.
"It will take about one year as we are able to check about 3,000 dossiers every day," she said. "Every case will be checked to see if, in the past, we missed some convictions."
Meanwhile, the French Catholic Church is also facing child abuse allegations that led Prime Minister Manuel Valls to urge a cardinal at the center of the scandal to take action. Cardinal Philippe Barbarin insisted Wednesday that he never concealed cases of child abuse reported to him.
Barbarin is among six church officials targeted in a preliminary judicial investigation that grew out of allegations that a priest had molested boy scouts in the 1980s.
"Whether it's school or church, I have a simple principle," Vallaud-Belkacem said. "Pedophilia is something extremely serious that destroys lives. The principle is no silence, total transparency. Those who think that things can be settled internally or by remaining silent are making a serious mistake. I will be firm and sanctions will be issued when necessary. I'm expecting the same from every institution."Not here: It’s on a 65-hectare site, but smokers will be banned from every part of the Waikato University campus in 2014 under a new plan.
The University of Waikato plans to stub out smoking on campus by 2014.
But the move to a smoke-free environment, which will bring the university in line with most other tertiary institutions around the country, has been met with a mixed response from students - with some questioning the practicality of implementing the policy on a 65-hectare campus.
PhD student Mathew Thomas, who is studying technology education, said it would be a while before students stopped smoking on the university's grounds, and even then, the university would struggle to enforce it.
"Smoking is something personal. I can understand some places, but not the whole campus."
The university's vice-chancellor, Roy Crawford, said the decision to go smoke-free would help provide a safe and healthy working and learning environment, and was the next step in its drive to a "clean, green image".
"We've been using the beauty of our campus as part of our distinctiveness, and trying to create a safe and healthy working environment is the next step in that process," Professor Crawford said.
The plan will extend the university's current smoke-free policy, which prohibits smoking in all indoor areas of the campus, as well as select zones such as the cafeteria, to the entire campus.
Engineering student Arisha Naidoo, 21, said she was not looking forward to the rule. "Logistically it's impractical for me. In order to smoke, I have to leave the campus."
Ms Naidoo and Mr Thomas both said they would support designated smoking zones, but any binding consultation on the issue seems dead in the water.
In a statement on the university's website, the university said designated areas were rejected so that there would be no "confusion around where people can and cannot smoke" and no-one "will be unwillingly exposed to second-hand smoke that drifts into a smoke-free area."
Prof Crawford said the policy was going through a consultation stage to find out how the university could apply the plan "in a way that is sympathetic to everyone's needs".
"The consultation is not about whether we should or shouldn't do it, it is really about how we should do it," he said.
Waikato Student Union president Aaron Letcher said the student body did not officially have a stance on the issue but would be undertaking consultation through student surveys and a "coffee bean poll" at local cafes to gauge student feelings on the topic.
"I would hope that any consultation that the university conducts will be real and meaningful consultation with students and other stakeholders, not simply ticking all the boxes before pushing through to a predetermined outcome."
Mr Letcher said some of the current regulations around smoke-free areas had not been effective, and having a complete ban might be easier.Imperiling fish, crabs, squid, sea stars, and myriad other marine creatures, climate change is sapping the oceans of oxygen, according to a new study that warns of widespread deoxygenation within decades.
Using models and maps, researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, were able to quantify and differentiate between large-scale changes in oxygen in the oceans due to both natural variability and climate change.
They confirmed deoxygenated "dead zones"—which leave marine creatures struggling to breathe—caused by climate change already exist in the southern Indian Ocean and parts of the eastern tropical Pacific and Atlantic basins, and determined that more widespread detection of deoxygenation caused by climate change would be possible between 2030 and 2040.
The findings were funded by the National Science Foundation and published in the American Geophysical Union journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles.
"Loss of oxygen in the oceans is one of the serious side effects of a warming atmosphere, and a major threat to marine life," said NCAR scientist Matthew Long, lead author of the study. "Since oxygen concentrations in the ocean naturally vary depending on variations in winds and temperature at the surface, it's been challenging to attribute any deoxygenation to climate change. This new study tells us when we can expect the effect from climate change to overwhelm the natural variability."
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Putting the study in context, Popular Science wrote:
Low levels of oxygen in the oceans can be devastating. Not only can they kill or slow down ocean life in the present, but if low oxygen levels persist, they can have grave impacts on the future. 'The Great Dying' is an extinction event that killed roughly 90 percent of species on Earth 250 million years ago. Researchers looking at the event found that low levels of oxygen in the oceans probably slowed down the recovery of life on Earth. After that extinction, it took five million years for the diversity of life to recover as oxygen levels in the oceans slowly rose back to normal.
On Twitter, United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres said the findings represented the "Alarm bells...of science ringing loud & clear."
Climate change threatens the world's oceanic ecosystems on several fronts. Just last week, Common Dreams reported that climate change is the underlying cause of the coral bleaching event that has all but destroyed the Great Barrier Reef.
And as the Sydney Morning Herald wrote on Thursday, "We also know that our oceans have become about 30 percent more acidic since pre-industrial times as they absorb the billions of tonnes a year of carbon dioxide released from our burning of fossil fuels and forests, making it harder for shellfish and crabs to form shells."
"We're driving pretty massive changes in the environment—and we're not just changing one variable," Long told the paper. "We're changing a suite of variables to which marine organisms are sensitive, and basically putting significant demands on their adaptive capacities."Turkey looks to boost defense ties with Azerbaijan
BAKU
AA photo
Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık has called for further enhancement of defense ties between Turkey and Azerbaijan, speaking to reporters in Baku after a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Zahir Hasanov.“We have good cooperation but it is still less than its true potential. Many more steps are needed. We have to cooperate more to counter the threats our sister country faces,” Işık said.He also attended the opening ceremony of the International Defense Industry Fair (ADEX 2016) along with counterparts from Azerbaijan, Djibouti, Serbia, Belarus and the United Arab Emirates.Işık said the fair, which will run until Sept. 30 and is hosting 216 defense companies from 34 countries, would help boost cooperation between Turkish and Azerbaijani firms. Turkey is participating in the fair with 42 companies.The Turkish and Azerbaijani culture ministers also stressed on Sept. 27 that defense is not the only field where the two countries are seeking to deepen ties.Turkey’s Culture Minister Nabi Avcı and his Azerbaijani counterpart Abulfas Garayev attended the Multicultural Society and Tourism Conference in Baku on Sept. 27.In his opening remarks, Garayev said “nations get richer with multiculturalism,” recalling that earlier this year Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev declared the year 2016 as the “Year of Multiculturalism” in the country.Garayev also said the number of tourists going to Azerbaijan has been increasing.For his part, Avcı said multiculturalism paves the way for people to live together “with respect for diversity.”“It is the law of living together in a pluralistic society,” he said.Stating that both Turkey and Azerbaijan are ancient and culturally rich countries, Avcı stressed that the two countries have the experience and knowledge to integrate their historic culture with the 21st century economy.He noted that Turkey remains among the world’s six top tourism destinations, despite what he described as “all the Turkophobic and Islamophobic discourse” in the West.The two ministers also vowed future cooperation for stronger relations between the old neighboring allies.It’s the Oscar of comics. The Tony of comics. The Presidential pardon of comics. It’s the award everyone wants.
Well, now the Eisner Awards are now accepting entries from publishers and creators to be considered for this year’s awards.
I’m not expecting |
of diversity. People who wanted to discuss Plants vs. Zombies, people who were there for shitposting, people who took it very seriously, and people who were just along for the ride. Everyone lived in a very large castle together without separation. There were some debacles between groups, but in the end everyone got along fine. Time had passed. Much had changed. Two of the original founders had gone, only leaving King Boyned. He was thus known as "The Dictator." Whatever he said went. People grumbled when he ordered things they didn't enjoy, but everyone put up with it. At this time, notable pioneers had their name known in the castle. They were known as Red, Splat, Rocket, Mega, Gargf, Copper, and Arthro. These seven linger to this day. These seven weren't like everyone else, however. They would talk amongst each other, murmuring about The Dictator for whatever he has been doing. The Dictator had rather strange ethics. If there was a dame they liked, but the Dictator did not, talk of her was forbidden. Splat suffered the most from this, as The Dictator would always pick on him for liking the distant, vampire maiden. The Dictator also had a very strange liking for the stone age. Some people shared this, but some in the group of seven hated it. The moon is up. It's another typical night. The group discusses the Discord and the ethics another night. "We need to separate the shitposters from everyone else," Red would state. "I want to have serious discussions about Plants vs. Zombies, y'know?" Splat, Copper and Rocket would nod knowingly. The next day, the seven discussed this with The Dictator. After much discussion, it was done. Groups were separated. This caused some disturbance at first, but the dust settled quickly. At some point, The Dictator made a robot of himself in his name. This bot would aid anyone who needed it's assistance, but only The Dictator could modify it. The people of the castle liked the bot. It would sing for them, add to their conversations (even if they were one-word additions), and print out pictures when requested. One day, for some reason, an election was held. It was all as a big joke, and accomplished nothing. A presidential debate between Buyspins, Fred Flintstone and Ghost Pepper. In the end, Fred Flintstone and Ghost Pepper tied. All this accomplished was hanging up political posters in the castle, and being promptly removed the next day. For the next few months, nothing unusual happened. Day after day, conversation after conversation, banter after banter. One day, however, the order of the castle was changed forever... It was a typical day. The seven would always discuss how to mess with The Dictator. Most of it was played as a joke, but there was a hint of malice in each act. Rocket piped up with a new idea. "Say, you know the lass with the ember armor?" He inquired. Everyone nodded. "Boyned has an eye on her, if you haven't noticed," he continued. "What if I was to belittle his love, like Splat's?" He grinned and looked amonst the group. Some chuckled, some shrugged. Rocket approached The Dictator's throne. "Your love is but a tallowcatch!" He remarked. The Dictator was upset about this statement. "She is not!" He would remark. Rocket would continue his insults, using God-forbidden insults such as "Raggabrash" and "Loiter-sack." In the end, this got Rocket banished for an unknown amount of time. When the group of seven (now six) caught wind of this, they approached The Dictator and caused quite the ruckus. They insulted Boyned, questioned his methods, and stomped their feet. This, in turn, forced The Dictator to bring Rocket back to the castle. Everyone tried to play it off as if nothing ever happened, but since then there was always a sense of hostility in the air... At night, while everyone in the castle was asleep, Splat did not. He woke up Rocket and Red, and they discussed making their own land. A land without a Dictator, a land without chaos. A dignified and high-quality secret society. They discussed how they'd spread the word, how it would work, and where it would be. The next day, Splat, Red and Rocket went to the Great Hall, where they lifted a rug and searched for loose bricks under it. After finding one, they pulled it out and exposed a fair size of dirt. From there, they dug a pit in the castle, hidden away under a rug. This pit would lead to a small, yet well-kept chamber underground. It didn't have as many people that were in the castle, but the group was happy with it. Every night, they would wake up whichever member of the castle seemed the most sane. They would be invited to this small underground chamber, where they could discuss forbidden topics in the castle, their own problems, and anything else they felt was worth discussing. For some reason, Mega was never invited to this secret society. The Dictator, however, was slowly catching wind of what was going on. He said nothing about it however, and did nothing but simply watch what was happening. Eventually, The Dictator stepped into the society. Not into their private quarters, but talked with the group who founded it. The Dictator and the society sat at a roundtable and discussed what The Dictator was doing wrong. Despite his past, The Dictator was open to the criticism. He tried to state he could fix these problems, but they became overwhelming. For every fix, The group would state another problem with The Dictator. This lead to The Dictator dropping his staff and contacting the Council of Mods. He sent a letter through his through-time-and-space messenger pigeon to Troop98. The Dictator had but one request for Troop. For him to be executed, and have Troop take his place as king. Troop obliged. The same day, Troop brought Boyned to the guillotine. Boyned knowingly put his head down into it, waiting. The members in the castle jeered at The former Dictator for all he has done. The blade came down swiftly upon his neck, chopping his head clean off and into the bucket below. The members cheered and whooped regarding the execution of the former king. And thus began the reign of Troop, starting a new era for the castle. (Ch.2: King Troop will show itself... eventually.)Terry Litt, a Burnaby, B.C. hockey dad, has been sentenced for threatening a nine-year-old player on his son's hockey team.
Litt, 57, pleaded guilty to uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm to his son Jordan's teammate Rocky Bhala and was sentenced Thursday to a conditional discharge with 12 months probation.
The argument started among the two hockey players after a game at the Karen Magnussen Arena in North Vancouver on Feb. 21 and then escalated when Litt intervened.
In court, it was revealed the children had often had physical confrontations in the past.
Rocky Bhala says his teammate's father, Terry Litt, threatened to kill him. (CBC News)
"Jordan, every time he'd see me, he'd give me a little punch. I kept telling him to stop but he would never listen, but one day when he was having trouble taking off his jersey, I punched him," Rocky told CBC News.
That's when Jordan's father, who was in the change room, yelled at him.
"He said, 'Don't touch my f--king kid or I'll kill you,' and he repeated that two to three times," Rocky said. "If two kids have an argument, they should let them settle it, and not spazz out at the kids if something happened."
Rocky said he was traumatized and scared.
Hockey dad took anger management courses
Litt's lawyer argued in court that the outburst was completely out of character. Litt took six weeks of anger management courses after the incident, has no criminal history and acknowledged in court that there's no excuse for what he did.
Along with making an apology to Rocky, Litt must also avoid contact with him and his family as well as seek counselling if directed to by probation officer.
"It's apparent he lost his cool in the change room," the judge said, adding it was unlikely Litt would be before the courts again. As a result. he received a conditional discharge with 12 months' probation.
Rocky's father, Ron Bhala, who wasn't in the locker room at the time of the incident, said he's satisfied with the outcome.
"I hope this can serve as a lesson that you can't just attack a nine-year-old boy at the time and get away with it," said Bhala.
Police charged Terry Litt, 57, with uttering death threats against Rocky Bhala, who was playing on a Burnaby Winter Club Atoms team. (Burnaby Winter Club)
He remains upset with the Burnaby Winter Club, saying the coaches in the change room who witnessed the incident didn't protect his son.
Lesson for hockey parents
Players and coaches say it's a lesson for everyone.
"We're there for the kids to have fun and be there to be involved with organized sports, not there to get into battles with he said she said and all that aggressiveness," said Dan Melanson of the Burnaby Winter Club Minor Hockey Association
Litt has had difficulty enrolling his son in other hockey clubs since the incident, although Jordan now plays for another team.
Rocky had to see a psychologist for months, but is now back playing hockey.Suicides rates rose sharply in Europe between 2007 and 2009 as the financial crisis drove unemployment up, with Greece and Ireland worst affected.
However, rates of road deaths in the region fell during the same period, possibly because higher numbers of jobless people led to lower car use, according to an initial analysis of data from ten EU countries published in medical journal The Lancet.
The ten countries include six - Austria, Britain, Finland, Greece, Ireland and the Netherlands - that had been EU members before 2004, and four - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania and Romania - that joined afterwards.
In 2008, suicides among people aged younger than 65 in the pre-enlargement states rose by almost 7% over 2007, the study said.
Ireland saw a rise of 13%, only second behind Greece at 17%, according to the research.
‘This is... consistent with historical studies that show immediate rises in suicides associated with 'early indicators' of crisis, such as turmoil in the banking sector, which precipitates later unemployment,’ the study said.
In the four post-enlargement states, the number of suicides rose by 1% in 2008, but accelerated from 2009 when job losses started to bite.
In that year, the relative increase was higher than among the pre-enlargement states, which have a wider social safety net.
Only Austria bucked the suicide trend, with 5% less self-inflicted mortality in 2009 compared with 2007.
Unexpectedly, however, Finland, which like Austria has widespread support for the unemployed, saw an increase in suicides of just over 5% in the same period.
Overall, mortality from all causes in the 10 countries remained stable.
This was because deaths from road accidents fell substantially, especially in the eastern countries, as car use retreated due to the economic crisis and unemployment.
The letter is authored by five specialists in public health, led by David Stuckler of the University of Cambridge. The data is preliminary, and further research will cast a wider net across Europe.
Mr Stuckler said the researchers did not yet have enough data to make a worthwhile estimate of how many deaths in total could be linked to the financial crisis, but that is something they plan to do in future work.
‘In particular, we want to understand better why some individuals, communities, and entire societies are especially vulnerable, yet some seem more resilient to economic shocks,’ the researchers wrote.
He said he feared the social and health costs of the recent global economic downturn would turn out to be high.
‘We can already see that the countries facing the most severe financial reversals of fortune, such as Greece and Ireland, had greater rises in suicides,’ he said.The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is once again provoking debate about freedom of speech after publishing satirical cartoons playing off of the now famous photo of drowned Syrian three-year-old Alan Kurdi.
In one cartoon, the child is depicted under a caption that says: "So close to his goal…" The image also shows a billboard featuring a character who resembles Ronald McDonald, that reads: "Two children's menus for the price of one."
All those who said " <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JeSuisCharlie?src=hash">#JeSuisCharlie</a>" check this out, the ultimate disrespect <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/charliehebdo?src=hash">#charliehebdo</a> <a href="http://t.co/IflIkunidY">pic.twitter.com/IflIkunidY</a> —@rudol9h
Another cartoon includes a caption that says: "Proof that Europe is Christian. Christians walk on water...Muslim kids sink."
Charlie Hebdo: “The proof that Europe is Christian: Christians walk on waters…Muslim kids sink.” <a href="http://t.co/6HYgu5Puss">pic.twitter.com/6HYgu5Puss</a> —@thekarami
The cartoons are drawing a lot of criticism online:
For all those that danced and pranced around chanting <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JeSuisCharlie?src=hash">#JeSuisCharlie</a>, I'm glad that paper finally showed it's true colors...disgusting. —@eshymonk
Hearing Charlie Hebdo mocked the death of Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi for the 2nd time. Those satirists sure do punch up and aim at the powerful —@Remroum
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CharlieHebdo?src=hash">#CharlieHebdo</a> magazine has proven yet again exactly what it is with its latest cartoons on the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Refugeecrisis?src=hash">#Refugeecrisis</a> - pure trash incited hatred —@SajdaMughal
Charlie Hebdo is a purely racist, xenophobic and ideologically bankrupt publication that represents the moral decay of France. —@herbert_donald
Others have come to the magazine's defence, claiming Charlie Hebdo is trying to satirize Europe's response to the plight of refugees.
I don't think the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CharlieHebdo?src=hash">#CharlieHebdo</a> cartoon of Kurdi are mocking the dead child. They are highlighting ironies in a nuanced, subtle, way <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/kurdi?src=hash">#kurdi</a> —@noorpamiri
Extraordinary that people can read these cartoons and conclude that Aylan is the butt of the joke. Truly. <a href="http://t.co/vxjU658qBN">http://t.co/vxjU658qBN</a> —@michaeldweiss
In January, the slogan "Je suis Charlie," became a popular rallying cry for supporters of the magazine — and of freedom of expression — after extremists, claiming affiliation with al-Qaeda in Yemen, carried out a massacre at the magazine's Paris offices.
In the following days brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi were pursued and eventually killed by French police. A third gunman — Amedy Coulibaly — was followed to a kosher grocery store where he murdered four more hostages and a police officer, before also being killed by police.Former FCC Boss Turned Top Cable Lobbyist Michael Powell Blames Everyone But Himself For Current Net Neutrality Mess
from the some-of-us-remember dept
"He suggested that after the principles became a declaratory ruling under the chairmanship of his successor, Kevin Martin, it they were probably applied in a "reckless way" [the Comcast/BitTorrent decision] that led to being overturned in court," which he said put a bigger spotlight on it, after which it became a 2008 campaign issue for Obama, then was promulgated as a rule and political imperative, and that is where he thinks the issue "got off the rail."
"Asked to make the "Republican" case for network neutrality, Powell said Republicans are "no different from Democrats in that they want their messages to be heard," and Republican kids want to go to Nickelodeon, and everybody wants to use their iPhone. These services and apps are not partisan, he said. It was the President's "interjection" into the issue that turned it into "party political partisanship," Powell said.
You might recall that top cable industry lobbyist Michael Powell, formerly head of the FCC, got much of the current Title II debate rolling back in 2002 when he reclassified cable broadband as an "information service." This effectively opened the door to a massive era of broadband deregulation Powell and friends at the time insisted would usher forth an immense new wave of broadband competition. If you've checked your broadband bill or oh, stepped outside lately, you may have noticed that this utopian broadband landscape never materialized.A huge part of Powell's justification for rampant deregulation (or really, the need for any meaningful regulators whatsoever) was that broadband over powerline was going to make the marketthat regulators really wouldn't be needed. Powell repeatedly ignored engineers who stated broadband over powerline caused massive radio interference in trial markets, and wasn't suitable for even a niche broadband deployment technology. As such, Powell's "great broadband hope" never took flight, and what we wound up with was a more potent and uncompetitive broadband duopoly than ever before.Now heading the cable industry's biggest lobbying operation, the NCTA, Powell has popped up with a little bit of revisionist history, as he heavily criticizes the current FCC's shift back to Title II. According to Powell, the cable industry will most certainly sue over the FCC's new rules, and he blames everybody but himself for turning net neutrality into a "partisan issue":Of course Powell ignores the fact that if he hadn't massively deregulated the broadband industry in the first place based on flimsy justifications and bad data, we likely wouldn't be having this conversation. Powell then continues with the idea that it's everybodyfault for net neutrality becoming a partisan issue (like oh, claiming neutrality is " Obamacare for the Internet "):He's half right. As we've noted countless times, Democrats and Republicans alike support net neutrality, and a growing number of conservatives are supporting Title II because they realize it's the best available option in a market that's simply not going to be competitive any time soon. The difference is, if you back away from partisan pattycake for a moment, you'll notice that Powell's apart of the reason that competition doesn't exist. And as cable's top lobbyist he's still busy pretending the industry's hyper competitive while defending practices like unnecessary usage caps -- directly aimed at abusing the lack of competition he helped facilitate.Republican, Democrat or aardvark, it's unfortunate that nobody in this country appears particularly interested in somehow documenting and remembering what people have previously said and done; it might just come in handy sometime when trying to determine credibility.
Filed Under: blame, competition, deregulation, michael powell, net neutrality, open internet, partisan, politics
Companies: nctaThere are two kinds of political people in today’s world: a minority who believe that climate change is the most consequential problem humans now face or have ever faced, and a majority for whom, for one reason or another, the penny has not dropped. I once held Malcolm Turnbull in some esteem because I believed he belonged sincerely to the minority. I now realise what a fool I was.
During the 2010 federal election campaign, Turnbull, who some eight months earlier had lost the leadership of the Opposition on the question of climate change, strode onto the stage of a packed Sydney Town Hall at the launch of Beyond Zero Emissions’ Stationary Energy Plan. The person who introduced him mentioned that Turnbull was now a climate-change “pariah” among his political colleagues. Turnbull welcomed the description as “distinctly” a privilege.
To intermittent loud applause, Turnbull argued that there was a hunger among Australians for information about how their country might move “to a situation where all or almost all of our energy comes from zero- or very near zero-emission sources”. Turnbull argued that we must be “guided by science”; that humans were now “conducting a massive science experiment with this planet”, the only one we had; and that in their predictions about the “catastrophic” consequences of climate change the scientists might, if anything, very well be erring “on the conservative side”.
Turnbull pointed out that 2010 was the “warmest year on record”. Although it might not be possible to link each weather disaster with the changes in the climate, “we know” that “extreme weather events are occurring with greater and greater frequency” and that “these trends are entirely consistent with the climate-change forecasts, with the climate models that the scientists are relying on”.
Climate change was a “profound moral challenge”, said Turnbull. It was a profound moral challenge because “we as a human species have a deep and abiding obligation to this planet and to the generations that will come after us”. There was loud applause in the Sydney Town Hall. “In order to discharge that obligation we must make a dramatic reduction in the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.”
Of what order? What was necessary was a 50% global reduction of emissions by 2050 compared to what they were in the late 20th century. “I promise you [that] you cannot achieve that cut without getting to a point by mid-century where all or almost all of our stationary energy … from power stations and big factories and so forth comes from zero-emission sources.”
Turnbull admitted that he had once held out hopes for “clean coal”, by which he and everyone else in 2010 meant burning the coal but then capturing and storing underground the carbon dioxide that was released. He now had grave doubts. The future could equally lie with solar or wind or other zero-emissions technologies. The role of government was to put a price on carbon emissions, provide some modest research and development finance, and then leave it to the market to decide which zero-emissions technologies would win out. One thing only was clear. “The zero-emission future is absolutely essential if we are to leave a safe planet to our children and the generations that come after them.” Cue loud and sustained applause.
In 2010 Turnbull had argued that natural weather disasters were entirely consistent with climate scientists’ models and warnings about future catastrophe, and that the earth’s future rested on the rapid adoption of renewable-energy technology.
In late September 2016, at a time when South Australians were still fighting the effects of wild winds and floods, Turnbull seized upon the opportunity presented not to dramatise the dangers of climate change but to discredit those who believed that the future of the earth and of our children and our grandchildren relied on the progress of zero-emissions renewable technology.
Turnbull lambasted his political opponents for their wildly irresponsible renewable-energy targets. “If you are stuck in an elevator, if the lights won’t go on, if your fridge is thawing out … you are not going to be concerned about the particular source of that power – whether it is hydro, wind, solar, coal or gas.” He continued, “I regret to say that a number of state Labor governments have over the years set priorities and renewable targets that are extremely aggressive, extremely unrealistic.” The “incident” in South Australia was a “wake-up call”.
Ambitious renewable-energy targets – of precisely the kind he championed with apparent conviction in 2010 – now represented for Turnbull the triumph of “ideology”, a political disease to which Labor was prone, over common sense and practical reality. Modest renewable-energy targets were certainly permissible. But only so far as they did not threaten what Turnbull emphasised must always be the “key priority” of his government and indeed of all governments, namely “energy security”. For Turnbull in 2016 energy security was more important than any nonsense about the zero-emissions targets that Turnbull in 2010 argued were vital.
In October 2016, Turnbull was in Brisbane, touting the virtues of legislation aimed at preventing environmental groups from taking legal action against fossil-fuel developments. During a radio interview, the ABC’s Steve Austin put to Turnbull the arguments of the Queensland Resources Council. According to the council, the export of coal should be actively encouraged, because Australia produced “some of the cleanest coal in the world … [which] burns at a far cleaner rate, [with] less sulphur etc”. “Is that,” Austin asked Turnbull, “how you see it?”
As it turned out, indeed it was. “The reality is that Australia’s coal compared to that from other countries is relatively clean,” said Turnbull. “The fact is if we stop all our coal exports tomorrow, you would simply have more coal exported from other countries … that would be filling the gap … Trying to strangle the Australian coal industry is not going to do anything … to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.”
“Coal,” said Turnbull, “is going to be an important part of our energy mix – there’s no question about that – for many, many, many decades to come.”
In 2010 Malcolm Turnbull had serious doubts about the viability of what clean coal then meant – that is to say, carbon capture and storage. By 2016 he had no doubts that a certain kind of coal, serendipitously found in Australia, could be burned comparatively safely without capturing and storing the carbon released, and could thus reasonably be described as clean.
In 2010 Turnbull thought that we were recklessly conducting a dangerous experiment that was imperilling our planet, and that the only prudent course was to reduce the emissions of stationary energy sources to zero by 2050. By 2016 he was criticising the state Labor governments as ideological zealots because of their ambitious renewable-energy targets.
Even more significantly, the man who in 2010 believed zero emissions for stationary energy was vital and achievable by 2050 was by 2016 cheerfully embracing the idea that coal would be part of the world’s energy mix, not for “many decades”, or even “many, many decades”, but for “many, many, many decades” into the future. Many, many, many decades is, by any calculation, a very long time. Turnbull did not show the slightest alarm at the thought that our species would be burning coal, preferably Australian coal, for our energy needs well into the 22nd century.
The zero-emissions pariah had seamlessly become the fossil-fuel realist-cum-enthusiast in the space of six short years. In its own way, this was a remarkable achievement.
There is no need to argue why this metamorphosis has occurred. Everyone who follows Australian politics knows the reason: ambition. Without repudiating his earlier climate-change views, Turnbull would never have become prime minister of Australia. What is more interesting is what it reveals about his character.
Even when I still kind-of admired Turnbull, I had my doubts about him. How could someone, I wondered, who entered Australian politics as a supposedly passionate republican lose all apparent interest in the cause very shortly after the defeat of the referendum proposal, which he argued had broken Australia’s heart?
I now think that this provides a clue. Malcolm Turnbull is a barrister by training and inclination. For him, causes are quasi-clients that he voluntarily and serially embraces – with the kind of sincerity barristers must routinely muster in a court of law – in order to advance his career. At a certain moment, however, Turnbull appears to realise that this or that cause poses a danger to his progress. At this moment, the cause is quietly dropped, with as much dignity and disguise as possible. It is dropped because in the end there is only one cause that ultimately counts for him – the cause of Malcolm Turnbull. Perhaps almost all successful politicians have this quality to some degree. But with Turnbull, it appears to be definitive.Share this
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Email You are free to share this article under the Attribution 4.0 International license. University Boston University, Johns Hopkins University
There are more than 1,000 alcohol brands on the market, but only four brands show up often in the lyrics of popular songs.
Those brands are: Patron tequila, Hennessy cognac, Grey Goose vodka, and Jack Daniel’s whiskey.
They accounted for more than half of the alcohol brands named in songs from Billboard’s most popular song lists in 2009, 2010, and 2011.
[related]
“You would expect there would be hundreds of brands that are randomly mentioned,” says Michael Siegel, a professor of community health sciences at Boston University’s School of Public Health. “But we found that those top four accounted for 52 percent of all the brand mentions. That can’t be coincidental.”
The findings—published in the journal Substance Use & Misuse—raise questions about the relationship between alcohol companies and the music industry, in terms of both specific marketing and the larger influence on youth drinking behavior. The study, coauthored by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, is the first to examine in depth the context of the use of specific brand names in music.
Marketing to kids
In addition to identifying a small number of brands frequently mentioned in popular music, the study found that alcohol use was portrayed as overwhelmingly positive in lyrics, with negative consequences almost never referred to.
The study—citing the heavy exposure of youths to popular music—said preliminary data about youth alcohol consumption suggests that many of the brands that were recurrently named in songs also are popular drinks for underage drinkers.
The authors called the results “alarming, because they suggest that popular music may be serving as a major source of promotion of alcohol use in general—and of consumption of specific brands in particular—to underage youth.”
But Siegel says that further research is needed to determine a “causal connection” between promotion in music and actual consumption.
What the research did uncover was that the alcohol brands mentioned in songs often had sponsorship or other relationships with the artists—sometimes in the form of concert sponsorships or endorsement agreements.
Similar to cigarettes?
For example, Sean “Diddy” Combs is a paid spokesperson for Ciroc vodka and has a $100 million marketing deal with Diageo, the manufacturer of Ciroc. Grey Goose sponsors a television show on Black Entertainment Television that highlights up-and-coming urban music artists. And Patron sponsored a concert that was part of the Austin City Limits Music Festival, which showcased a number of urban artists.
“What we have to recognize is that the placement of brands in music is a form of alcohol marketing,” Siegel says. “It’s similar to when cigarette companies used to pay production companies to feature their brands in movies.
“Alcohol companies are now the ones developing financial relationships to encourage this kind of marketing. It really needs to be recognized as marketing, not random chance.”
Urban, pop, country, and rock
Of the 720 songs examined in the review, 167 (23.2 percent) mentioned alcohol, and 46 (6.4 percent) named specific alcohol brands. The leading four brands accounted for 51.6 percent of all alcohol brands specified by name.
The study found that alcohol was most commonly referred to in so-called urban songs (rap, hip-hop, and R&B, with 37.7 percent), followed by country (21.8 percent), and pop (14.9 percent).
At least 14 long-term studies have found that exposure to alcohol marketing in the mass media increases the likelihood that young people will start drinking, or if already drinking, consume more. Adolescents in the United States spend an estimated 2.5 hours a day listening to music.
Siegel and his colleagues used the Billboard listings to identify 720 unique songs in four genres: urban, pop, country, and rock. Three coders analyzed the lyrics of each song to determine alcohol references, brand references, and the context for each.
The researchers found mention of alcohol in 167 songs. Tequila, cognac, vodka, and champagne brands appeared more prevalently in urban music (R&B, hip-hop, and rap), while whiskey and beer brands were more common in country or pop music. Surprisingly, there was no alcohol referred to in the rock-genre music examined.
Only 4 of the 46 songs naming alcohol brands had a negative context, negative consequences, or negative emotion associated with alcohol use, the study found. The majority of songs portrayed alcohol use as “a fun part of the youth lifestyle that is free of consequences,” the authors wrote. “Furthermore, we found evidence that many songs glamorize underage drinking and excessive alcohol consumption and their association with sex and partying.”
Alcohol is responsible for at least 4,700 deaths annually among people under age 21 in the United States. Surveys indicate that more than 70 percent of high school students have consumed alcohol, and about 22 percent engage in heavy episodic drinking.
Siegel says that if further research shows a causal connection between marketing and consumption, there are several interventions that could be adopted—not in an effort to censor music, but instead to educate youths about the marketing influence. One intervention, he says, would be to teach young people “media literacy skills” that would educate them about marketing techniques.
“They’re being used in a way... to try to influence their consumption,” Siegel says. “If we can educate them about that, it might mitigate the effect.”
The National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism funded the study.
Source: Boston UniversityDENVER (CBS4)– State lawmakers say the dangerous problem of texting and driving is getting worse despite the fact that it’s illegal in Colorado. Now legislators want to increase the penalties for the crime.
The Colorado law that prohibits texting and driving is one of the most lenient in the U.S.
A Senate committee took up the bill on Wednesday that would increase the penalty for texting while driving to a $300 fine and four points on a driver’s license.
The current penalty is $50 and one point.
The sponsor of the bill, Sen. Lois Court, a Democrat representing Denver, said no message is worth a life.
“So I think it makes a statement that we know this is very dangerous and we want you to pay attention. And at $50 may not pay attention so much, but at $300, you might start paying attention,” said Court.
The Colorado Department of Transportation says distracted drivers caused more than 15,000 crashes in 2015 and killed nearly 70 people.
The bill passed its first committee hearing with a four to one vote.Share
Like two great tastes that (surprisingly) go great together, a new, downloadable game called Mari0 combines one of the most iconic games of the past and one of the most groundbreaking games of the modern era.
Created by indie studio Stabyourself, Mari0 is a full recreation of the original Super Mario Bros that gives Mario his own Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device (from Portal, naturally) and lets hijinks ensue. The game is free to download for PC, Mac, and Linux, and comes with a ridiculous amount of other features beyond the whole “Mario with a portal gun” element that make it a truly absurd experience.
Along with offering four-player simultaneous co-op play, there’s a level editor, free downloadable maps, game modifier packs, and a few other creation tools that make it share some similarities with Minecraft, too. (Watch the game trailer and you’ll see what we mean.)
Oh, and just in case the feature you really want is a wide variety of hats for Mario to wear, the developers have you covered. According to the specs, there are 33 hats for Mario to choose from.
They have clearly thought of everything.
Is it too early to declare Mari0 the Game of the Year?China's first large military transport aircraft, the Y-20, which successfully made its maiden flight on Saturday, will significantly boost the country's capabilities in national defense, rescue work and humanitarian aid and eventually end Beijing's dependence on similar Russian planes, experts say.
Showing video footage of its maiden flight, China Central Television (CCTV) said Saturday that large transport aircraft are an indispensable asset for a strategic air force, citing the crucial role played by large transport aircraft operated by the US played in the Gulf war.
The Y-20 took off at about 2 pm in Yanliang, Shaanxi Province, and landed one hour later, making China the fourth country after the US, Russia and Ukraine to independently develop a 200-ton class transport aircraft, the Hong Kong-based Wen Wei Po said.
According to people.com.cn, the 47-meter-long, 45-meter-wide (including wingspan) aircraft has a maximum take-off weight of 220 tons and maximum payload of 66 tons. In comparison, the US C-17 and the Russian IL-76, the world's two mainstream large transport aircraft, can carry payloads of about 77 and 40 tons respectively.
China's air force needs at least 100 large transport aircraft of the Y-20 class to enhance its global power projection ability, said military expert.
Another 90 are expected to be modified into tanker aircraft, electronic warfare aircraft and early warning and control aircraft and to supplement the air force's current Russian-made IL-76 fleet, the Wen Wei Po said.
The US air force has more than 200 C-17 Globemaster III aircraft.
"China's aerial strategic delivery capability depends heavily on imported IL-76, which number is limited. If the Y-20 program goes well, it will lessen and eventually end this dependence," Daniel Tong, a defense observer and the founder of the well-known website Chinese Military Aviation, told the Global Times.
The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan Province exposed the lack of capability of China's air force in providing large scale emergency aid, requiring Beijing to accept foreign aid, including assistance from two C-17 aircraft from the US, the US Joint Force Quarterly reported.
"Compared to fighter jets, transport aircraft do not require high maneuverability and combat capability. The Y-20's test flight scheme is relatively simple." Bai Wei, former vice editor-in-chief of the Aviation World Monthly and a Chinese aviation observer, told the Global Times, adding that the Y-20 might be delivered in four years or sooner, as the aviation industry has extensively studied the aircraft's core technologies even before the program was officially initiated in 2007.
The Chinese designers have studied other transport aircraft and put emphasis on the expanding cargo space to ensure the Y-20 could carry large items such as tanks, he said.
The engines of the aircraft tested on Saturday appeared to be from Russia |
% of the exposed records included a Gmail address serving as a username and a password; of those passwords, 7% were valid due to reuse. When it comes to phishing and keyloggers, attackers frequently target Google accounts to varying success: 12-25% of attacks yield a valid password.However, because a password alone is rarely sufficient for gaining access to a Google account, increasingly sophisticated attackers also try to collect sensitive data that we may request when verifying an account holder’s identity. We found 82% of blackhat phishing tools and 74% of keyloggers attempted to collect a user’s IP address and location, while another 18% of tools collected phone numbers and device make and model.By ranking the relative risk to users, we found that phishing posed the greatest threat, followed by keyloggers, and finally third-party breaches.Our findings were clear: enterprising hijackers are constantly searching for, and are able to find, billions of different platforms’ usernames and passwords on black markets. While we have already applied these insights to our existing protections, our findings are yet another reminder that we must continuously evolve our defenses in order to stay ahead of these bad actors and keep users safe.For many years, we’ve applied a ‘defense in-depth’ approach to security—a layered series of constantly improving protections that automatically prevent, detect, and mitigate threats to keep your account safe.A wide variety of safeguards help us to prevent attacks before they ever affect our users. For example, Safe Browsing, which now protects more than 3 billion devices, alerts users before they visit a dangerous site or when they click a link to a dangerous site within Gmail. We recently announced the Advanced Protection program which provides extra security for users that are at elevated risk of attack.We monitor every login attempt to your account for suspicious activity. When there is a sign-in attempt from a device you’ve never used, or a location you don’t commonly access your account from, we’ll require additional information before granting access to your account. For example, if you sign in from a new laptop and you have a phone associated with you account, you will see a prompt—we’re calling these dynamic verification challenges—like this:This challenge provides two-factor authentication on all suspicious logins, while mitigating the risk of account lockout.Finally, we regularly scan activity across Google’s suite of products for suspicious actions performed by hijackers and when we find any, we lock down the affected accounts to prevent any further damage as quickly as possible. We prevent or undo actions we attribute to account takeover, notify the affected user, and help them change their password and re-secure their account into a healthy state.There are some simple steps you can take that make these defenses even stronger. Visit our Security Checkup to make sure you have recovery information associated with your account, like a phone number. Allow Chrome to automatically generate passwords for your accounts and save them via Smart Lock. We’re constantly working to improve these tools, and our automatic protections, to keep your data safe.The automation revolution is well underway around the world and with it, some rather public and unfortunate growing pains. While some fear the surge in drones and others worry of losing their jobs to bots (or worse, their lives in a Terminator-like doomsday), another group of people were really upset some weeks ago about T-shirts. Specifically, an inadvertent computer error that led to a string of offensive phrases, such as “Keep Calm and Rape A Lot,” printed on T-shirts that were sold on Amazon. What started as a handful of poor reviews and some chastising blog posts for the shirts swelled into mass outcries against Solid Gold Bomb — the company that sells the shirts — and Amazon for selling them.
So how exactly did a bunch of offensive shirts get on Amazon in the first place?
Solid Gold Bomb used an algorithm (software that follows an automated step-by-step process) that combined words pulled from a few lists to generate thousands of catchy T-shirt phrases. These phrases were automatically loaded into a T-shirt manufacturer’s computers, and overlaid onto a T-shirt photo to produce images that are then displayed on Amazon. When someone places an order for a shirt on Amazon, the manufacturer’s computers are notified and the shirt is then printed, packaged, and shipped out.
In other words, once the word lists are built, almost the entire process is controlled by computers. Thousands of shirts manufactured daily with hardly anyone being involved in the work flow. It’s a truly amazing example of the possibilities that today’s automation can deliver and bears similarity to the approach of another Amazon seller named Philip Parker who is using computers to produce hundreds of thousands of books. At the same time, fewer eyes means the potential for something to slip through and that’s how the world ended up with “Keep Calm and Rape A Lot” T-shirts (along with a bunch of related and equally offensive slogans).
The lesson here is automation empowers individuals, amplifying both their successes and their failures.
Solid Gold Bomb is a 5-year-old wholesale T-shirt company with a handful of employees originally founded in Australia that also serves the US and UK markets (according to Manta). Many of the T-shirts that are sold online are graphic tees usually depicting some kind of popular artwork or slogan and are sold for around $20 plus shipping. The company offers a boatload of different designs on Amazon (over 500,000 different items of clothing at one point).
As explained in an apology letter written by company founder Michael Fowler, about a year ago a line of T-shirts was created parodying the “Keep Calm And Carry On” meme that had grown in popularity. Fowler produced a cloud-based database from word lists (verb list, pronouns, and prepositions) and scripts that strung the lists together in every possible combination, which is somewhere in the millions of phrases. The master list of words was whittled down to about 700 by criteria that selected primarily for graphics that would make the words fit on the shirt. Finally, the phrases were laid out in a template and converted into image formats ready for screen printing.
Now, many of the T-shirts that are offered by the company through Amazon indicate that they are in stock, but warn of an additional 3-5 day processing time. That’s because the company doesn’t have a warehouse somewhere full of thousands of preprinted T-shirts and a crew of quality control inspectors to go over each product. Instead, it worked with a larger supplier that prints the shirts on demand as they are ordered by utilizing a database of uploaded image files. Then, the T-shirts are automatically packaged and shipped out to customers.
Because almost this entire T-shirt operation is automated, the company can sell T-shirts at a low price point and stay in business. Lots of companies around the world work in this exact way, and owners are always thinking about what other processes can be automated to lower their overhead even further. Things like cloud computing do just that.
In light of this, it is rather easy to see how the error might have slipped in. Somehow the verb “rape” survived the culling stages, perhaps because no one else but Fowler looked at the list and let’s face it, offensive language on T-shirts is not a new thing. Furthermore, one would not expect a small clothing wholesaler to have a full-time editor on staff who might speak up about words on the list or the combinations that could result. Perhaps Fowler missed the offensive words because of their position in the alphabet or maybe he only spot checked the list.
What really happened? No one will likely ever know. Though some online commenters believe it was intentional, his apology letter suggests it was accidental and appears professionally sincere (assuming Fowler doesn’t become a repeat offender).
Automating the slogan generation process is not dumb or irresponsible, but savvy in today’s world. Its basically a two-pronged strategy. On one hand, offering an enormous number of T-shirt designs may mean that only a few of each type are sold, but when that happens hundreds times a day, sales can be significant. On the other hand, a few designs will likely prove quite popular, so the more that are offered, the greater the probability of getting those high-selling winners. By all indications, Fowler built an international company on this strategy through an automation process that is now being called into question because a set of combinations turned out to be highly offensive.
T-shirts with these slogans is clearly regrettable and pulling the line was absolutely the right move (it should go without saying that rape is heinous and promoting it on a T-shirt is scraping the bottom of the IQ barrel). However, when it comes to algorithms and the future of artificial intelligence, we can all take a lesson from this incident that will serve us well: embrace the reality of automation and realize this will happen again and again, in one form or the other.
Why are we doomed to be offended again? Because computers have no way of knowing what upsets people unless they are programmed to and that’s a tall order, especially when the responsibility falls on a single person to ensure that computers understand.
While this all could have been a simple mistake, Solid Gold Bomb may never recover, even with the entire “Keep Calm” line of clothes removed. The current Amazon reviews for other, nonoffensive T-shirts that the company lists now have a slew of negative comments blasting Fowler for profiting off of hate speech against women. Hopefully, the company now has a second set of eyes looking over the automatically generated lists.
Whether this particular situation blows over in a few months or the company will soon meet a dismal end (which seems likely) is not really going to stop this from happening again.
Perhaps in a future world, algorithms will be programmed to be personally attuned, culturally sensitive, socially accommodating, and politically correct, but until then, humans appear to be the best at getting offended. At least there’s one job that won’t be replaced quickly.OWASP Dependency-Check
Dependency-Check is a utility that identifies project dependencies and checks if there are any known, publicly disclosed, vulnerabilities. Currently, Java and.NET are supported; additional experimental support has been added for Ruby, Node.js, Python, and limited support for C/C++ build systems (autoconf and cmake). The tool can be part of a solution to the OWASP Top 10 2017 A9-Using Components with Known Vulnerabilities previously known as OWASP Top 10 2013 A9-Using Components with Known Vulnerabilities.
Introduction
The OWASP Top 10 2013 contains a new entry: A9-Using Components with Known Vulnerabilities. Dependency Check can currently be used to scan applications (and their dependent libraries) to identify any known vulnerable components.
The problem with using known vulnerable components was described very well in a paper by Jeff Williams and Arshan Dabirsiaghi titled, "Unfortunate Reality of Insecure Libraries". The gist of the paper is that we as a development community include third party libraries in our applications that contain well known published vulnerabilities (such as those at the National Vulnerability Database).
Dependency-check has a command line interface, a Maven plugin, an Ant task, and a Jenkins plugin. The core engine contains a series of analyzers that inspect the project dependencies, collect pieces of information about the dependencies (referred to as evidence within the tool). The evidence is then used to identify the Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) for the given dependency. If a CPE is identified, a listing of associated Common Vulnerability and Exposure (CVE) entries are listed in a report.
Dependency-check automatically updates itself using the NVD Data Feeds hosted by NIST. IMPORTANT NOTE: The initial download of the data may take ten minutes or more. If you run the tool at least once every seven days, only a small XML file needs to be downloaded to keep the local copy of the data current.Whenever someone claims that the Catholic Church is down with science because it accepts evolution, I remind them that:
1. The Church accepts theistic evolution, with human exceptionalism, so that humans are the unique species into whose lineage God inserted a soul. (And 23% of Catholics, defying their own faith in a more conservative direction, are young-earth creationists.)
2. The official doctrine of the Church is that Adam and Eve were the literal ancestors of all humanity. That, too, is wrong, and clearly does not comport with what science tells us.
3. The Church accepts the notion of Satan and Hell, which is about as retrograde a belief you can have in our modern world; and
4. The Church accepts demonic possession that can be reversed by exorcism. In fact, I believe the Vatican has its own official exorcist, and there are hundreds of trained priests operating as exorcists throughout the world.
In a piece in Saturday’s Washington Post, “A modern pope gets old school on the devil“, we learn that Pope Francis is a big booster of the demonic-possession hypothesis:
Largely under the radar, theologians and Vatican insiders say, Francis has not only dwelled far more on Satan in sermons and speeches than his recent predecessors have, but also sought to rekindle the Devil’s image as a supernatural entity with the forces of evil at his beck and call. Last year, for instance, Francis laid handson a man in a wheelchair who claimed to be possessed by demons, in what many saw as an impromptu act of cleansing. A few months later, he praised a group long viewed by some as the crazy uncles of the Roman Catholic Church — the International Association of Exorcists — for “helping people who suffer and are in need of liberation.”... “Pope Francis never stops talking about the Devil; it’s constant,” said one senior bishop in Vatican City who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak freely. “Had Pope Benedict done this, the media would have clobbered him.”
Indeed; Francis is given a pass. When are those people who are so impressed by his “humility” going to learn that it’s just a facade, behind which lurks all the incense-scented malfeasance and superstition of Catholicism? And, far from reforming his church by nudging Catholics toward more enlightened sentiments, Pope Francis is keeping the Church mired in the Middle Ages, at least on the issues of Satan and demons:
By most accounts, the ranks of official exorcists number between 500 and 600 in a global church of more than 1 billion Catholics, with the vast majority operating in Latin America and Eastern Europe. This week, at the ninth and largest Vatican-sanctioned convention on exorcism, attendees gushed about the fresh recognition being afforded the field. Almost 200 delegates — most of them priests and nuns — from more than two dozen nations talked about how Satanic cults are spreading like wildfire in the age of the Internet. The new pope, exorcists say, has become their champion in the face of modern skeptics, many of them within the Catholic faith. Officially, those claiming to be possessed must first undergo psychiatric evaluations. But exorcists say that liberal Catholic bishops have often rejected their services even after such due diligence. “The sad truth is that there are many bishops and priests in our church who do not really believe in the Devil,” said the Rev. Gabriele Amorth, the 89-year-old priest who is perhaps the closest thing the church has to a Hollywood-style exorcist. “I believe Pope Francis is speaking to them. Because when you don’t believe, the Devil wins.”
Yes, these people really do believe in Satan, and that itself is unbelievable! Where’s the evidence for Satan, much less God?
The reader who sent me this link, reader Matt, added a note to this effect:
“More Catholic craziness below. I clipped a quote from the article. Get a load of how one exorcist determines if a person is possessed. It’s amusing. But then you realize that people who really need psychological help sometimes get mixed up with these jackasses and it is sad and pathetic. And then to know that the Pope supports this nonsense is horrifying.”
Matt was referring to the following “clip” from the Post piece:
During the conference, the Rev. Cesar Truqui, an exorcist based in Switzerland, recounted one experience he had aboard a Swissair flight. “Two lesbians,” he said, had sat behind him on the plane. Soon afterward, he said, he felt Satan’s presence. As he silently sought to repel the evil spirit through prayer, one of the women, he said, began growling demonically and threw chocolates at his head. Asked how he knew the woman was possessed, he said that “once you hear a Satanic growl, you never forget it. It’s like smelling Margherita pizza for the first time. It’s something you never forget.”
And Matt added:
“I’ll never think about Margherita pizza the same way. Now, how does Truqui know these women are lesbians? Does he believe lesbianism is consistent with demonic possession? And what growling demons attack by throwing chocolates? Booooorrrrring. No spitting vomit? No spinning heads? If this guy wants a career in exorcism he better get a better story.”
The article ends with the description of an exorcism by Amorth. Have a look if you want to truly apprehend the craziness of this faith. The only thing that’s missing is the vomiting of pea soup.
I’d love to ask Catholics who are scientists or science-friendly—like Kenneth Miller of Brown University or Peter Hess of the National Center for Science Education—what they think of the Catholic Church’s acceptance of demons and the historicity of Adam and Eve. I’m sure they’d say it is nonsense—if they had the courage to answer—but then how can they maintain, as they do, that there’s no conflict between science and Catholicism?In the Philadelphia Eagles' win over the Denver Broncos on Sunday, a fired up Doug Pederson gave a post-game speech to his team, concluding with the team celebrating Pederson giving them the rest of the week off.
During that speech, Pederson seemed most pleased by the fact that his offense was able to run the ball on the No. 2 ranked rush defense in the NFL, while the Broncos could not run it on the Eagles' defense.
On the season, on average, the Eagles have out-gained their opponents on the ground by more than 70 yards per game. Here is a chart that shows "Rush yard differential," or the difference between rushing yards per game, and rushing yards allowed per game. As you can see, the Eagles lead the league in this metric:
Team Rush YPG - Offense Rush YPG - Defense Rush yard differential Eagles 136.8 66.4 +70.4 Cowboys 148.1 101.2 +46.9 Jaguars 166.5 124.9 +41.6 Vikings 120 81.4 +38.6 Texans 132.8 96 +36.8 Panthers 109.1 78.4 +30.7 Bears 130.1 104.4 +25.7 Broncos 112.4 88.4 +24 Bills 116.9 94.4 +22.5 Titans 117.9 96.8 +21.1 Browns 95.1 84.2 +10.9 Rams 131.9 121.6 +10.3 Saints 122.8 116.1 +6.7 Steelers 108.9 106.6 +2.3 Falcons 114.5 114.5 0 Ravens 120.9 125.9 -5 Seahawks 103.9 109.4 -5.5 Lions 79.9 89.9 -10 Redskins 98.6 110.5 -11.9 Patriots 109 121.5 -12.5 Jets 106.7 121 -14.3 Chiefs 116.7 131.1 -14.4 Colts 98.7 113.9 -15.2 Dolphins 77.6 94 -16.4 Packers 98.6 118 -19.4 Cardinals 76.4 100.5 -24.1 Raiders 87.6 116.6 -29 Buccaneers 81.9 116.6 -34.7 Giants 86.8 125.9 -39.1 49ers 92.1 135.7 -43.6 Bengals 72.2 116.5 -44.3 Chargers 88.9 135.1 -46.2
The Eagles, as you're very well aware, are 8-1, and thus they have had a lot of leads in games in the second half. That is going to result in more rushing attempts by the offense, and fewer rushing attempts faced by the defense.
Still, the advantage the Eagles have had in the run game so far this season cannot be overstated, and it has been a clear priority on both sides of the ball all season long.
Prior to the Broncos' matchup, offensive coordinator Frank Reich acknowledged that running against the Denver defense would be a major challenge, but emphasized that they still wanted to commit to running the ball.
"There are going to be some two- and three-yard runs," Reich explained, "but you have to still believe it and you still have to mix it in, even though it's tempting to want to say, ‘Why not throw it on every down when you've got a team that can defend the run this well?’ Your experience tells you, you just look at it over the years, you've still got to mix it up."
Defensively, stopping the run has been the clear No. 1 focus of Jim Schwartz all season long.
"Playing the run has been important to us, defensively, because when you can make that team one-dimensional -- look, people say that a lot of times, ‘make it one-dimensional' -- for us, it really is the case because it allows our pass rush to shine, so to speak, and it helps our coverage concepts," said Schwartz.
Here's a look at what the Eagles have done on the ground vs. their opponents this season:
Rushing attack Eagles Opponents Attempts 283 166 Rushing yards 1231 598 Rushing yards per game 136.8 66.4 Yards per attempt 4.4 3.6 Rushes of 20+ yards 12 3 Rush TDs 7 4 Rushing first downs 65 29
That is complete domination.
When you can win in the trenches, you can win consistently in the NFL, and that is exactly what the Eagles are doing in 2017.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @JimmyKempski.
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Like the new PhillyVoice Sports page on Facebook.Ferndale police say they've arrested "one of the world's dumbest criminals," a man who
and robbed a convenience store clerk at knife-point.
While he made off with a handful of cash, the suspect failed to conceal his identity: Surveillance footage released Wednesday shows him entering the store sans mask before attempting to apply the disguise -- backwards.
The clerk later said
as a regular customer.
"I guess the Force wasn't with him," Lt. William Williamson
yesterday.
The suspect fled the Get N Go Market at Hilton near 10 Mile on foot at around 1:35 a.m., but authorities say they received several tips after releasing the surveillance footage and arrested him at his home late Wednesday evening.
Ferndale police 1, dark side 0.
Update: Police identify Darth Vader bandit, who faces arraignment for armed robberyBitter Lake explores how the realpolitik of the West has converged on a mirror image of itself throughout the Middle-East over the past decades, and how the story of this has become so obfuscating and simplified that we, the public, have been left in a bewildered and confused state. The narrative traverses the United States, Britain, Russia and Saudi Arabia—but the country at the centre of reflection is Afghanistan. Because Afghanistan is the place that has confronted political figureheads across the West with the truth of their delusions—that they cannot understand what is going on any longer inside the systems they have built which do not account for the real world. Bitter Lake sets out to reveal the forces that over the past thirty years, rose up and commandeered those political systems into subservience, to which, as we see now, the highly destructive stories told by those in power, are inexorably bound to. The stories are not only half-truths, but they have monumental consequences in the real world.Sea monster? Mysterious creature washes up on South Carolina shore... but turns out to be a massive Atlantic Sturgeon
It could have been America’s answer to the Loch Ness Monster.
The corpse of a large, beady-eyed and scaly creature washed ashore on South Carolina’s Folly Beach, much to the shock of locals.
But a South Carolina Aquarium veterinarian identified the ‘sea monster’ as a gigantic Atlantic Sturgeon.
Mysterious: A South Carolina Aquarium veterinarian says that a creature that reportedly washed up on Folly Beach is a sturgeon fish
The species can grow to be as big as 15 feet long and 800 pounds, but are usually around 10 feet long and 300 pounds.
Their bodies are covered in bony plates called scutes rather then scales, and they have barbels on their faces that help them locate prey, characteristics which give them their bizarre appearance.
But this may be the last time residents in the area see a fish to this scale as sturgeons, which have been swimming our seas for 100 million years, are at risk.WASHINGTON: Officials are working overtime to complete negotiations on moving the assembly line for the F-16 fighter jet to India to enable Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump to jointly make an announcement on the deal.While there are still too many gaps to be filled, officials are trying to finalise at least the framework before Modi travels to Washington on Saturday. Well-informed sources told ET that the two sides were hammering out details to ensure India was in compliance with US law on proprietary technology.The information could not be officially confirmed as both sides are keeping a tight lid on the substance of Modi’s visit. US laws governing sale of sophisticated military technology are extremely intricate with overlapping jurisdictions by the Defence, State and Commerce departments.India too has hesitations about dependence on the US, especially at a time of flux in the international system. The announcement, if it comes when Modi meets Trump on June 26 at the White House, would be a good example of India’s designation by the Obama Administration as a “major defence partner,” especially if the deal is studded with significant transfers of technology.It would show that “Make in India” and “America First” can meet somewhere in the middle. In 2015, Modi made a surprise announcement while on a visit to France in 2015 to buy 36 “ready to fly” Rafale aircraft after negotiations with Dassault for 126 multi-role, medium-range combat aircraft or MMRCA unraveled.On Monday, Lockheed Martin announced it had signed a “landmark agreement” with Tata Advanced Systems Limited “affirming the companies intent to join hands to produce the F-16 Block 70 in India,” causing waves of excitement on Twitter.”The two companies are still working out details but Lockheed is clearly making a big push to win the deal. An Indian official told ET the government is yet to make a decision and Lockheed was taking “a leap ahead” with its announcement.The signing is in anticipation of the government of India’s decision in Lockheed’s favour and against Sweden’s Saab whose Gripen fighter is in competition to supply the IAF. But the IAF is yet to place an order for the 100 or more single-engine aircraft it needs to replace the MiG-21s.Although there are many unknowns on the Indian side, Lockheed executives have apparently been working on the Trump Administration with some success. Orlando Carvalho, executive vice president of Lockheed’s aeronautics division, told Defence News at the Paris Air Show that his company had “briefed various members of the administration on the programme” and there is confidence that the Trump Administration would be supportive.“We haven’t seen any resistance to the programme by the administration” Carvalho was quoted as saying.Trump has emphasised keeping jobs in the US under the “Buy American, Hire American” slogan.So far, his administration has not said anything about the F-16 line moving to India. The Obama Administration gave both Lockheed Martin and Boeing the green signal last December to build production facilities in India.It’s unclear at this stage if the US government is willing to part with crucial technology – a key Indian demand. Since the Pakistan also flies the F-16, it’s unclear whether India would exercise control on future orders.After threatening poor editors for some years with 5000 word exegeses when they barely had room for a listicle, I finally got a yes. And am very pleased to have started with something as straightforward the difference between value and price (is there even one?), why humans make such irrational decisions and if, in the end, it even matters.
Talking to dealers and players from several countries and career stages was illuminating and obfuscating in equal measure. Everybody has a sound line of logic based on their own experiences leading, inevitably, to opposite positions. Which, of course, is half the fun.
As always, I’m very curious to hear from other players, dealers, fans and other interested parties either in the comments or privately via email.
[gview file=”http://theomniscientmussel.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Strange-Music-Fine-Instrument-Market-Adair-Listen-Mag.pdf”]
If you’d like to see more in-depth pieces like this, please consider subscribing to Listen.Scientists have created palm-sized swimming robots made out of soft, transparent silicone. They’re tiny, squishy, and equipped with video cameras — and they could one day be used for underwater surveillance or research.
The nearly invisible robotic creature, described in a paper published today in the journal Science Advances, resembles a tiny manta ray. (If its creators aren’t calling it ray-bot yet, they should be.) It has flexible silicone fins stretched across acrylic frames, and two electrodes: one sits inside the robot’s body, sandwiched between two sheets of “muscle” made of a polymer that shrinks when electricity runs through it; the other electrode is the water itself, where the robot swims.
When the scientists hook the little robot to an electrical tether or tiny little battery pack, the electrical charge causes the polymer “muscle” to flex. That allows the bot’s fins to flap and the silicon body to undulate. That motion propels the robot forward, swimming a lot like the manta rays that inspire its shape, the study says.
The little ray-bot can move surprisingly quickly: more than five inches per second, when it’s hooked up to an electrical tether. For scale, that’s more than the length of its body in a second — and faster than a rainbow trout, which averages less than four inches per second. Replacing the tether with a battery pack gives the robot more freedom to roam, but adding the battery slows the little ray-bot down to half speed.
The study doesn’t really specify exactly what the tiny robot could be used for. “The interest to create aquatic robots is further fueled by the mounting importance of ocean missions,” the study says. Maybe these robots will be used for surveillance, or underwater research. Or they’ll serve the farting octobot overlords. Together they will rule the seas.I partnered with MAVEA on this post. All opinions are my own.
Last fall I moved into a rental house that is on a pond in the country. We’ve been really happy with our new place in just about every way. In fact, I think there is only one downside and that is the hard water. The water here doesn’t taste good and it causes build-up on the sinks, tub and toilet. I find myself scrubbing those areas much more regularly than I had to in our old apartments. We had been buying water for drinking but I am excited that we recently made a switch to a filtered water pitcher instead. In time it’s more cost-effective than buying water every week. We chose the MAVEA filtered water pitcher.
The MAVEA water filter pitcher uses MicroDisc technology to filter your water. You fill the inner portion of the filter with water, and it drips through the filter into the outer layer of the filter. When you put the lid on the pitcher, it traps water from the top portion (that has not yet been filtered) and only lets water come out from the lower portion that has already been filtered.
The handle has a simple start button that you press after changing the filter. It keeps track of how long it has been since your last filter change, so you don’t have to guess when it’s time to change the filter.
Other products from MAVEA also use MicroDisc technology, so the filters are all interchangeable. The MAVEA Carafe works in a similar fashion to the pitcher, as it has an inner portion that you pour unfiltered water in, and it drips through the filter into the outer portion. The Carafe has an electronic notification to let you know when it’s time to change the filter out. The carafe is larger than a regular water bottle, but smaller than a pitcher. I would be ideal for taking along to work, a hike or a picnic where you will need more water than a single water bottle can hold. The MAVEA filtered water bottle works a little differently. The water filter bottles have a single compartment for storing water, and the filter is right under the drink spout. It filters as you drink instead of filtering the water as it goes into the bottle. Sometimes when sucking on the water bottle I hear a little squeaky noise as the filter is working. I like how the water bottle filters as you drink because you can put ice cubes in the bottle to keep the water cold while on-the-go.
All three products use the same MicroDisc filters, so when they run out I can purchase a multi-pack of MicroDiscs and share them between the pitcher, carafe and water bottles as needed. The 3 pack is $11.99 on Amazon. Each MicroDisc can filter approximately 60 gallons of water which is approximately 50% more than standard filters! At 60 gallons per filter, and each filter costing around $4 this is a much more affordable way to have filtered water at home than buying filtered water.
The taste of my water has improved so much since we switched to MAVEA’s water filtration system products. We drink a lot of water in my house, so we use the MAVEA filtered water pitcher and the Carafe at home in the fridge. The water filter holds about 10 cups of water, and we go through that much water a few times a day so we were dealing with the water not being in the fridge long enough to stay really cold. So to combat this we fill both the water pitcher and the Carafe a couple times a day to keep enough cold water on hand.
Buy it: The Pitcher, Carafe, Water Bottle and refill filters are now available at Target.com, Amazon.com, BedBathandBeyond.com and at select Target and Bed Bath & Beyond stores in September.
Win it: A MAVEA prize pack including a water pitcher, carafe and 4 filtered water bottles.
To enter: Fill out the Giveaway Tools form below by 11:59pm eastern time on 8/6/2016. Giveaway is open to the US.
Entry Form
Hi there! I am Emily Evert, the owner of Emily Reviews. I am 25 and live in a small town in Michigan with my boyfriend Ryan and our two pugs. I have a large family and I adore my nieces and nephews. I am a calorie counter who loves soda. I budget to save money so I can spend it on my dogs. I love reading memoirs, and learning about child development and psychology. I love watching The Game of Thrones, Teen Mom, Sister Wives and Veep. I like listening to Jason Isbell, John Prine, Kris Kristofferson and Blue October. I created Emily Reviews as a creative outlet to share my life and the products that I love with others. Follow Emily on Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram http://www.emilyreviews.com/category/emily
Related posts we've written:In my teens, I moved into the home of an aunt and uncle. These were very good people and made very good food. When they asked if I liked sourdough pancakes, I admitted that I'd never even heard of such a thing. Trying to imagine what sourdough pancakes were made of, I first thought of lemons. Lemons in pancakes didn't make a lot of sense, so my mind wandered again. This time stopping at “sour cream” or “sour milk”. That sounded like a possible gourmet stunt, and I couldn't come up with what else it could be. I began to think to myself what I would need to do to get out of eating them should I find them unpleasant.
The cakes hit my plate. I smothered them with butter and syrup in an effort to hide the unknown. One small bite. What flavor. I ate nine pancakes about six inches wide that morning. I could've eaten more, but we ran out of batter.
You can reuse a sourdough starter about every two or three days, so we ate these cakes every other morning. We would often bicker within ten degrees, what the temperature setting of the griddle should be. “When to flip” was a good breakfast discussion topic. I was frequently ridiculed for serving cakes with the “last cooked side up”, also referred to as “upside-down”.
Years later, when I moved out on my own, I realized how economical these were to make. One batch could be considered a full meal for the average size person (I'm usually stuffed at one and a half). Including all of the toppings used, it costs about twenty-eight cents per batch. Cakes without toppings run about seventeen cents a batch. The stuff is so cheap, it seems like a waste to fire up the griddle for just one person. So I started inviting people over to help eat these cheap cakes. Since other folks would often bring toppings, the only expense to me is seventeen cents per person. The company attracted is more than worth it.
That was the math then. I haven't done the math now. Plus, now I use only organic ingredients and real maple syrup. I think this could be one of those "ignorance is bliss" sort of things! :)
Many, many times I've been asked for the recipe and I'm more than glad to give it out:
There are two items prepared in advance. One is the yeast-based sourdough starter, which must be babied for ever and ever. The other is “The White Powder” which you add to as needed.
The starter is the soul of these cakes. It's also the hardest ingredient to make or find. Although the best thing to do is get a “branch” from someone else's starter, it's possible to make your own from scratch.
Sourdough Starter Warning!: Clean all dribbles immediately! This stuff can double as cement. If you let it dry before wiping it up, it'll take you about thirty times longer to |
suspend the enrichment of uranium. Instead, under the agreement announced Thursday, enrichment will continue with 5,000 centrifuges for a decade, and all restraints on it will end in 15 years.
Mr. Obama argued forcefully — and sometimes combatively — Thursday that the United States and its partners had obtained “a good deal” and that it was preferable to the alternatives, which he described as a nearly inevitable slide toward war. He also said he welcomed a “robust debate.” We hope that, as that debate goes forward, the president and his aides will respond substantively to legitimate questions, rather than claim, as Mr. Obama did, that the “inevitable critics” who “sound off” prefer “the risk of another war in the Middle East.”
The proposed accord will provide Iran a huge economic boost that will allow it to wage more aggressively the wars it is already fighting or sponsoring across the region. Whether that concession is worthwhile will depend in part on details that have yet to be agreed upon, or at least publicly explained. For example, the guidance released by the White House is vague in saying that U.S. and European Union sanctions “will be suspended after” international inspectors have “verified that Iran has taken all of its key nuclear related steps.” Exactly what steps would Iran have to complete, and what would the verification consist of?
The agreement is based on a theoretical benchmark: that Iran would need at least a year to produce fissile material sufficient for a weapon, compared with two months or less now. It remains to be seen whether the limits on enrichment and Iran’s stockpile will be judged by independent experts as sufficient to meet that standard.
Both Mr. Obama and Secretary of State John F. Kerry emphasized that many details need to be worked out in talks with Iran between now and the end of June. During that time, the administration will have much other work to do: It must convince Mideast allies that Iran is not being empowered to become the region’s hegemon, and it must accommodate Congress’s legitimate prerogative to review the accord. We hope Mr. Obama will make as much effort to engage in good faith with skeptical allies and domestic critics as he has with the Iranian regime.Sevilla have won the Europa League four times in the last 10 years
Sevilla first team to win four Europa League titles
Carlos Bacca scores twice for Spanish side
Winners qualify for 2015-16 Champions League
Dnipro were playing in first European final
Sevilla won a record fourth Europa League trophy after beating Dnipro in a thrilling final in Warsaw on Wednesday.
The Spanish side had to come back from a goal down as Nikola Kalinic headed Ukrainians Dnipro into an early lead.
Sevilla responded with two quick goals as Grzegorz Krychowiak drove in before Carlos Bacca rounded the goalkeeper.
Ruslan Rotan's clever free-kick made it 2-2, but Bacca broke through to seal victory for Sevilla and with it a place in next season's Champions League.
Unai Emery's side are the first to retain the Europa League trophy since it was rebranded in 2009, and they have now triumphed in the competition more times than any other team, having won the Uefa Cup in 2007 and 2008.
Sevilla's second chance Sevilla are the first beneficiaries of the Europa League winners earning a place in the Champions League. They had initially missed out on a place in Europe's elite competition by finishing fifth in La Liga.
It was a far from comfortable victory though, as Dnipro belied their underdog tag with a spirited display in their first European final.
They had won just seven of their 16 matches en route to the final, scoring 13 goals in the process, but took a shock lead against Sevilla with their first attack.
A long ball was knocked on by former Blackburn striker Kalinic for Matheus, who waited for his team-mate to run into the area before sending in a cross for Kalinic to head home.
Sevilla immediately set about mounting a response, but found it difficult to break down a Dnipro side that had retreated into their own half.
Their equaliser came when Dnipro failed to clear Ever Banega's corner and Krychowiak drove a shot through a crowd and into the net.
Carlos Bacca scored seven goals in the Europa League, including two in Wednesday's final
Barely three minutes later the game was turned on its head when Sevilla took the lead. Former Arsenal forward Jose Antonio Reyes split open the Dnipro defence with a fine ball and sent Bacca clear, allowing him to round the goalkeeper and slot home.
Dnipro had not scored more than one goal in a Europa League game in their previous six fixtures in the competition, but responded superbly to Sevilla's quick double to level matters before the break, Rotan expertly steering a 25-yard free-kick into the top corner.
That set things up nicely for more of the same after the restart, but ultimately the second half failed to match the tempo of the first and when Bacca was put through by Vitolo to slot home, there was no way back for Dnipro.
Sevilla coach Unai Emery said:
"It has been a lot of work. The whole side worked very well. We've had difficulties in all of the games.
"At half-time, we spoke about how this competition takes a lot out of you, and that we had to wait for our moment. We deserve this. We have to enjoy it."
Dnipro coach Myron Markevych said:
"Unfortunately we allowed Bacca the chance to be aggressive. We made a lot of mistakes in defence.
"Sevilla were more experienced, and I think that showed. But we tried to play our best game."I guess this is flirting, but it’s hard to tell if they’re actually being a little insecure or just circuitous since it can’t happen while she’s his CO. In any case, good job Anvil?
Amaranthine means unfading, ceaseless, or everlasting, but can also mean purpleish, so I’ve decided that Dabbler will henceforth refer to purple haired women as amaranthettes. I am unaware of another word that’s been commonly adopted for that purpose within fiction (since purple hair unfortunately doesn’t exist in nature.) I came across this while searching for a word that meant “constant and oppressive” but couldn’t find what I wanted and this seemed like a word Max might know.
I really really wanted to do a page leading into this one with numerous panels showing the different ways guys look at boobs, or try to not get caught doing it, to show that Max isn’t coming totally out of left field when she gets grouchy any inappropriate attention since it’s something a lot of women have to deal with basically all the time – but 1) it would have required some subtle and difficult angles to draw. I wanted to do it all from a girl’s first person perspective (or even Max’s but it would be hard to tell it was her if it was first person), and as most women are shorter than most men, it would require drawing rather challenging low camera angles of faces. (Note the questionable high angle shot in panel two.) And 2) a lot of these would work far better if they were animated, even if it was just the eyes, and I don’t have time to do that. Besides I’d have to relearn how. The last time I animated something was probably on my Amiga.
So instead, here’s the list I came up with. Feel free to contribute.
The “Almost Caught” or The Fly Up – This is when a woman looks away, and when she looks back at the guy, she catches his eyes flicking back up to her face (from her chest or her butt.) This would have been one of the ones benefiting from animation to catch the flick of the eyes.
or – This is when a woman looks away, and when she looks back at the guy, she catches his eyes flicking back up to her face (from her chest or her butt.) This would have been one of the ones benefiting from animation to catch the flick of the eyes. The “No, I was looking at something behind you, honest” – When you’ve totally busted the guy, and you both know it, but he leans slightly and focuses his eyes past you. “Oh, what’s going on outside of the window? That’s what I was looking at the whole time actually.” Weirdly this actually works some of the time. She turns to look and he gets another look at your boobs. Actually I think women usually know what’s going on but don’t want to be confrontational about it.
– When you’ve totally busted the guy, and you both know it, but he leans slightly and focuses his eyes past you. “Oh, what’s going on outside of the window? That’s what I was looking at the whole time actually.” Weirdly this actually works some of the time. She turns to look and he gets another look at your boobs. Actually I think women usually know what’s going on but don’t want to be confrontational about it. The “What does your shirt say?” – He realizes he’s been caught, but you’re wearing a graphic tee and he doubles down and reads what’s on your shirt, and probably comments on it. “Coca-Cola? I’ve heard of Coke.”
– He realizes he’s been caught, but you’re wearing a graphic tee and he doubles down and reads what’s on your shirt, and probably comments on it. “Coca-Cola? I’ve heard of Coke.” The “Oh My God” – The poor guy, usually younger, who forgets all decorum and just stares wide eyed, lost in the hypno-cleavage.
– The poor guy, usually younger, who forgets all decorum and just stares wide eyed, lost in the hypno-cleavage. The Dart – You’re having a perfectly normal conversation with a guy, but he has this weird tic. His eyes keep twitching downwar… oh, right, you’re wearing a deep V.
– You’re having a perfectly normal conversation with a guy, but he has this weird tic. His eyes keep twitching downwar… oh, right, you’re wearing a deep V. The Sweep A.K.A The Assessment – This isn’t so much boob centric as much as it’s that full body look over, down then back up.
A.K.A – This isn’t so much boob centric as much as it’s that full body look over, down then back up. The Leer – This is the one that prompts the “My eyes are up here.” The non-stop lock on.
– This is the one that prompts the “My eyes are up here.” The non-stop lock on. The “I am a lion and your breasts are gazelles” – Basically the same as The Leer, but more intense and usually from further away.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like.How to Buy Your Badge
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Click Here to Register Events!Captain Neikezhakuo Kenguruse’s Mahavir Chakra medal citation reads - "He displayed conspicuous gallantry, indomitable resolve, grit and determination beyond the call of duty and made the supreme sacrifice in the face of the enemy, in true traditions of the Indian Army."
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As the leader of the Ghatak Platoon he was tasked with the capture of the area ‘Black Rock’ in Drass sector during the Kargil War. The commando mission involved attacking the well entrenched enemy position on a cliff face. The position had been interfering with the capture of the main objective of the battalion.
The Ghatak Platoon, as it was scaling the cliff face, came under intense enemy fire in which Captain Kenguruse was injured in the abdomen. Despite the severe injury and profuse bleeding, the brave Naga carried on with the assault. Unmindful of his injury, he led the platoon to the top of the cliff and was faced with a sheer rock that separated the platoon from the enemy.
While securing the rope for his men to climb the rock face, his feet started slipping. Neglecting the bitter cold and sharp rocks, he kicked off his boots and launched the final assault barefoot. He fired a rocket launcher and charged at the enemy, killing two infiltrators with his rifle and another two with his commando knife in hand-to-hand combat.
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A hail of bullets threw him off the cliff and he would later succumb to his injuries, but not before he was able to neutralise the enemy position single-handedly. An act of unmatched gallantry and courage.Equatorial Guinea (Spanish: Guinea Ecuatorial;[a] French: Guinée équatoriale; Portuguese: Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea (Spanish: República de Guinea Ecuatorial, French: République de Guinée équatoriale, Portuguese: República da Guiné Equatorial),[b] is a country located on the west coast of Central Africa, with an area of 28,000 square kilometres (11,000 sq mi). Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name evokes its location near both the Equator and the Gulf of Guinea. Equatorial Guinea is the only sovereign African state in which Spanish is an official language. As of 2015, the country had an estimated population of 1,222,245.[12]
Equatorial Guinea consists of two parts, an insular and a mainland region. The insular region consists of the islands of Bioko (formerly Fernando Pó) in the Gulf of Guinea and Annobón, a small volcanic island which is the only part of the country south of the equator. Bioko Island is the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea and is the site of the country's capital, Malabo. The Portuguese speaking island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe is located between Bioko and Annobón. The mainland region, Río Muni, is bordered by Cameroon on the north and Gabon on the south and east. It is the location of Bata, Equatorial Guinea's largest city, and Oyala, the country's planned future capital. Rio Muni also includes several small offshore islands, such as Corisco, Elobey Grande, and Elobey Chico. The country is a member of the African Union, Francophonie, OPEC and the CPLP.
Since the mid-1990s, Equatorial Guinea has become one of sub-Saharan Africa's largest oil producers. It is the richest country per capita in Africa,[13] and its gross domestic product (GDP) adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita ranks 43rd in the world;[14] however, the wealth is distributed extremely unevenly, and few people have benefited from the oil riches. The country ranks 135th on the UN's 2016 Human Development Index.[11] The UN says that less than half of the population has access to clean drinking water and that 20% of children die before reaching the age of five.
The sovereign state totalitarian government is cited as having one of the worst human rights records in the world, consistently ranking among the "worst of the worst" in Freedom House's annual survey of political and civil rights.[15] Reporters Without Borders ranks President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo among its "predators" of press freedom.[16] Human trafficking is a significant problem; the 2012 U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report stated that Equatorial Guinea "is a source and destination for women and children subjected to forced labor and forced sex trafficking." The report rates Equatorial Guinea as a government that "does not fully comply with minimum standards and is not making significant efforts to do so."[17]
History [ edit ]
Pygmies probably once lived in the continental region that is now Equatorial Guinea, but are today found only in isolated pockets in southern Río Muni. Bantu migrations started probably around 4,000 BP from between south-east Nigeria and north-west Cameroon (the Grassfields)[18]. They must have settled continental Equatorial Guinea around 2,500 BP at the latest [19][20]. The earliest settlements on Bioko Island are dated to 1480 BP[21]. The Annobón population, originally native to Angola, was introduced by the Portuguese via São Tomé island.
The Portuguese explorer Fernando Pó, seeking a path to India, is credited as being the first European to discover the island of Bioko in 1472. He called it Formosa ("Beautiful"), but it quickly took on the name of its European discoverer. Fernando Pó and Annobón were colonized by Portugal in 1474.
In 1778, Queen Maria I of Portugal and King Charles III of Spain signed the Treaty of El Pardo which ceded Bioko, adjacent islets, and commercial rights to the Bight of Biafra between the Niger and Ogoue rivers to Spain. Spain thereby tried to gain access to a source of slaves controlled by British merchants. Between 1778 and 1810, the territory of Equatorial Guinea was administered by the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, based in Buenos Aires.
From 1827 to 1843, the United Kingdom had a base on Bioko to control the slave trade,[22] which was moved to Sierra Leone under an agreement with Spain in 1843. In 1844, on restoration of Spanish sovereignty, the area became known as the "Territorios Españoles del Golfo de Guinea." Spain had neglected to occupy the large area in the Bight of Biafra to which it had right by treaty, and the French had busily expanded their occupation at the expense of the area claimed by Spain. The treaty of Paris in 1900 left Spain with the continental enclave of Rio Muni, a mere 26,000 km2 out of the 300,000 stretching east to the Ubangi river which the Spaniards had initially claimed.[23]
The plantations of Fernando Pó were mostly run by a black Creole elite, later known as Fernandinos. The British occupied the island briefly in the early 19th century, settling some 2,000 Sierra Leoneans and freed slaves there. Limited immigration from West Africa and the West Indies continued after the British left. To this were added Cubans, Filipinos and Spaniards of various colours deported for political or other crimes, as well as some assisted settlers.
There was also a trickle of immigration from the neighbouring Portuguese islands, escaped slaves and prospective planters. Although a few of the Fernandinos were Catholic and Spanish-speaking, about nine-tenths of them were Protestant and English-speaking on the eve of the First World War, and pidgin English was the lingua franca of the island. The Sierra Leoneans were particularly well placed as planters while labor recruitment on the Windward coast continued, for they kept family and other connections there and could easily arrange a supply of labor.
The opening years of the twentieth century saw a new generation of Spanish immigrants. Land regulations issued in 1904–1905 favoured Spaniards, and most of the later big planters arrived from Spain after that. The Liberian labor agreement of 1914[clarification needed] favoured wealthy men with ready access to the state, and the shift in labor supplies from Liberia to Rio Muni increased this advantage. In 1940, an estimated 20% of the colony's cocoa production came from African-owned land, nearly all of it was in the hands of Fernandinos.
The greatest constraint to economic development was a chronic shortage of labour. Pushed into the interior of the island and decimated by alcohol addiction, venereal disease, smallpox, and sleeping sickness, the indigenous Bubi population of Bioko refused to work on plantations. Working their own small cocoa farms gave them a considerable degree of autonomy.
By the late nineteenth century, the Bubi were protected from the demands of the planters by Spanish Claretian missionaries, who were very influential in the colony and eventually organised the Bubi into little mission theocracies reminiscent of the famous Jesuit reductions in Paraguay. Catholic penetration was furthered by two small insurrections in 1898 and 1910 protesting conscription of forced labour for the plantations. The Bubi were disarmed in 1917, and left dependent on the missionaries.[23]
Between 1926 and 1959 Bioko and Rio Muni were united as the colony of Spanish Guinea. The economy was based on large cacao and coffee plantations and logging concessions and the workforce was mostly immigrant contract labour from Liberia, Nigeria, and Cameroun.[24] Between 1914 and 1930, an estimated 10,000 Liberians went to Fernando Po under a labour treaty that was stopped altogether in 1930.
With Liberian workers no longer available, planters of Fernando Po turned to Rio Muni. Campaigns were mounted to subdue the Fang people in the 1920s, at the time that Liberia was beginning to cut back on recruitment. There were garrisons of the colonial guard throughout the enclave by 1926, and the whole colony was considered 'pacified' by 1929.[25]
Rio Muni had a small population, officially a little over 100,000 in the 1930s, and escape across the frontiers into Cameroun or Gabon was very easy. Also, the timber companies needed increasing numbers of workers, and the spread of coffee cultivation offered an alternative means of paying taxes[clarification needed]. Fernando Pó thus continued to suffer from labour shortages. The French only briefly permitted recruitment in Cameroun, and the main source of labour came to be Igbo smuggled in canoes from Calabar in Nigeria. This resolution to the worker shortage allowed Fernando Pó to become one of Africa's most productive agricultural areas after the Second World War.[23]
Politically, post-war colonial history has three fairly distinct phases: up to 1959, when its status was raised from 'colonial' to 'provincial', following the approach of the Portuguese Empire; between 1960 and 1968, when Madrid attempted a partial decolonisation aimed at keeping the territory as part of the Spanish system; and from 1968 on, after the territory became an independent republic. The first phase consisted of little more than a continuation of previous policies; these closely resembled the policies of Portugal and France, notably in dividing the population into a vast majority governed as 'natives' or non-citizens, and a very small minority (together with whites) admitted to civic status as emancipados, assimilation to the metropolitan culture being the only permissible means of advancement.[26]
This 'provincial' phase saw the beginnings of nationalism, but chiefly among small groups who had taken refuge from the Caudillo's paternal hand in Cameroun and Gabon. They formed two bodies: the Movimiento Nacional de Liberación de la Guinea (MONALIGE), and the Idea Popular de Guinea Ecuatorial (IPGE). The pressure they could bring to bear was weak, but the general trend in West Africa was not.
A decision of 9 August 1963, approved by a referendum of 15 December 1963, gave the territory a measure of autonomy and the administrative promotion of a'moderate' group, the Movimiento de Unión Nacional de la Guinea Ecuatorial [es] (MUNGE). This proved a feeble instrument, and, with growing pressure for change from the UN, Madrid gave way to the currents of nationalism.
Independence (1968) [ edit ]
Independence was conceded on 12 October 1968 and the region became the Republic of Equatorial Guinea. Francisco Macías Nguema was elected president.[27] On Christmas Eve 1969, Macías Nguema had 150 alleged coup plotters executed. [28]
In July 1970, Macias Nguema created a single-party state and made himself president for life in 1972. He broke off ties with Spain and the West. In spite of his condemnation of Marxism, which he deemed "neo-colonialist", Equatorial Guinea maintained very special relations with socialist countries, notably China, Cuba, and the USSR. Macias Nguema signed a preferential trade agreement and a shipping treaty with the Soviet Union. The Soviets also made loans to Equatorial Guinea.[29]
The shipping agreement gave the Soviets permission for a pilot fishery development project and also a naval base at Luba. In return the USSR was to supply fish to Equatorial Guinea. China and Cuba also gave different forms of financial, military, and technical assistance to Equatorial Guinea, which got them a measure of influence there. For the USSR, there was an advantage to be gained in the War in Angola from access to Luba base and later on to Malabo International Airport.[29]
In 1974 the World Council of Churches affirmed that large numbers of people had been murdered since 1968 in an ongoing reign of terror. A quarter of the entire population had fled abroad, they said, while 'the prisons are overflowing and to all intents and purposes form one vast concentration camp'. Out of a population of 300,000, an estimated 80,000 were killed.[30][31] Apart from allegedly committing genocide against the ethnic minority Bubi people, Macias Nguema ordered the deaths of thousands of suspected opponents, closed down churches and presided over the economy's collapse as skilled citizens and foreigners fled the country.[32]
The nephew of Macías Nguema, Teodoro Obiang deposed his uncle on 3 August 1979, in a bloody coup d'état; over two weeks of civil war ensued until Nguema was captured. He was tried and executed soon afterward.[33]
In 1995 Mobil, an American oil company, discovered oil in Equatorial Guinea. The country subsequently experienced rapid economic development, but earnings from the country's oil wealth have not reached the population and the country ranks low on the UN human development index. Some 20% of children die before age 5 and more than 50% of the population lacks access to clean drinking water.[34] President Teodoro Obiang is widely suspected of using the country's oil wealth to enrich himself[35] and his associates. In 2006, Forbes estimated his personal wealth at $600 million.[36]
In 2011, the government announced it was planning a new capital for the country, named Oyala.[37][38][39][40] It was renamed to Ciudad de la Paz ("City of Peace") in 2017.
As of February 2016, Obiang is Africa's longest serving dictator.[41]
Politics [ edit ]
Obiang and U.S. President Obama with their wives in 2014
Equatorial Guinea
The current president of Equatorial Guinea is Teodoro Obiang. The 1982 constitution of Equatorial Guinea gives him extensive powers, including naming and dismissing members of the cabinet, making laws by decree, dissolving the Chamber of Representatives, negotiating and ratifying treaties and serving as commander in chief of the armed forces. Prime Minister Francisco Pascual Obama Asue was appointed by Obiang and operates under powers delegated by the President.
During the three decades of his rule, Obiang has shown little tolerance for opposition. While the country is nominally a multiparty democracy, its elections have generally been considered a sham. According to Human Rights Watch, the dictatorship of President Obiang used an oil boom to entrench and enrich itself further at the expense of the country's people.[42] Since August 1979 some 12 real and perceived unsuccessful coup attempts have occurred.[43]
According to a March 2004 BBC profile,[44] politics within the country are currently dominated by tensions between Obiang's son, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, and other close relatives with powerful positions in the security forces. The tension may be rooted in a power shift arising from the dramatic increase in oil production which has occurred since 1997.
In 2004 a plane load of suspected mercenaries was intercepted in Zimbabwe while allegedly on the way to overthrow Obiang. A November 2004 report[45] named Mark Thatcher as a financial backer of the 2004 Equatorial Guinea coup d'état attempt organized by Simon Mann. Various accounts also named the United Kingdom's MI6, the United States' CIA, and Spain as tacit supporters of the coup attempt.[46] Nevertheless, the Amnesty International report released in June 2005[47] on the ensuing trial of those allegedly involved highlighted the prosecution's failure to produce conclusive evidence that a coup attempt had actually taken place. Simon Mann was released from prison on 3 November 2009 for humanitarian reasons.[48]
A 2004 US Senate investigation into the Washington-based Riggs Bank found that President Obiang's family had received huge payments from US oil companies such as Exxon Mobil and Amerada Hess.
Since 2005, Military Professional Resources Inc., a US-based international private military company, has worked in Equatorial Guinea to train police forces in appropriate human rights practices. In 2006, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hailed Obiang as a "good friend" despite repeated criticism of his human rights and civil liberties record. The US Agency for International Development entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Obiang, in April 2006, to establish a social development Fund in the country, implementing projects in the areas of health, education, women's affairs and the environment.[49]
In 2006, Obiang signed an anti-torture decree banning all forms of abuse and improper treatment in Equatorial Guinea, and commissioned the renovation and modernization of Black Beach prison in 2007 to ensure the humane treatment of prisoners,[50] However, human rights abuses have continued. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International among other non-governmental organizations have documented severe human rights abuses in prisons, including torture, beatings, unexplained deaths and illegal detention.[51][52]
The anti-corruption lobby Transparency International put Equatorial Guinea in the top 12 of its list of most corrupt states. Freedom House, a pro-democracy and human rights NGO, described Obiang as one of the world's "most kleptocratic living autocrats," and complained about the US government welcoming his administration and buying oil from it.[53] Dismissing international voices that call for more transparency, Obiang has long held that oil revenues are a state secret. In 2008 the country became a candidate of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative – an international project meant to promote openness about government oil revenues – but failed to qualify before an April 2010 deadline. The advocacy group Global Witness has been lobbying the United States to act against Obiang's son, Teodorin, vice-president and government minister. It says there is credible evidence that he spent millions buying a Malibu, California mansion and private jet using corruptly acquired funds – grounds for denying him a visa.
In February 2010, Equatorial Guinea signed a contract with the MPRI subsidiary of the US defense corporation L3 Communications for coastal surveillance and maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea.[54][55]
Obiang was re-elected to serve an additional term in 2009 in an election the African Union deemed "in line with electoral law".[56] Obiang re-appointed Prime Minister Ignacio Milam Tang in 2010.[57]
[58] According to the BBC, President Obiang Nguema "has been described by rights organisations as one of Africa's most brutal dictators."
Under Obiang, the basic infrastructure of Equatorial Guinea has improved. Asphalt now covers more than 80% of the national roads and ports and airports are being built by Chinese, Moroccan and French contractors across much of the country.[59] However, when a British parliamentary and press entourage toured the country as guests of the president in 2011, The Guardian newspaper reported that very few of Equatorial Guinea's citizens seem to benefit from improvements, with reports of empty three-lane highways and many empty buildings.[60]
The Obiang regime is an ally of the USA. During a 2010 meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Obiang urged the US to strengthen cooperation between the United States and Africa.[59] President Barack Obama posed for an official photograph with President Obiang at a New York reception.[42]
In November 2011, a new constitution was approved. The vote on the constitution was taken though neither the text or its content was revealed to the public before the vote. Under the new constitution the president was limited to a maximum of two seven-year terms and would be both the head of state and head of the government, therefore eliminating the prime minister. The new constitution also introduced the figure of a vice president and called for the creation of a 70-member senate with 55 senators elected by the people and the 15 remaining designated by the president. Surprisingly, in the following cabinet reshuffle it was announced that there would be two vice-presidents in clear violation of the constitution that was just taking effect.[61]
In October 2012, during an interview with Christiane Amanpour on CNN, Obiang was asked whether he would step down at the end of the current term (2009–2016) since the new constitution limited the number of terms to two and he has been reelected at least 4 times. Obiang answered he refused to step aside because the new constitution was not retroactive and the two- term limit would only become applicable from 2016.[62]
26 May 2013 elections combined the senate, lower house and mayoral contests all in a single package. Like all previous elections, this was denounced by the opposition and it too was won by Obiang's PDGE. During the electoral contest, the ruling party hosted internal elections which were later scrapped as none of the president's favorite candidates led the internal lists. Ultimately, the ruling party and the satellites of the ruling coalition decided to run not based on the candidates but based on the party. This created a situation where during the election the ruling party's coalition did not provide the names of their candidates so effectively individuals were not running for office, instead the party was the one running for office.
The May 2013 elections were marked by a series of events including the popular protest planned by a group of activists from the MPP (Movement of Popular Protest) which included several social and political groups. The MPP called for a peaceful protest at the Plaza de la Mujer square on 15 May. MPP coordinator Enrique Nsolo Nzo was arrested and official state media portrayed him as planning to destabilize the country and depose the president. However, and despite speaking under duress and with clear signs of torture, Nsolo said that they had planned a peaceful protest and had indeed obtained all the legal authorizations required to carry out the peaceful protest. In addition to that, he firmly stated that he was not affiliated with any political party. The Plaza de la Mujer square in Malabo was occupied by the police from 13 May and it has been heavily guarded ever since. The government embarked on a censorship program that affected social sites including Facebook and other websites that were critical to the government of Equatorial Guinea. The censorship was implemented by redirecting online searches to the official government website.
Shortly after the elections, opposition party CPDS announced that they were going to protest peacefully against the 26 May elections on 25 June.[63] Interior minister Clemente Engonga refused to authorize the protest on the grounds that it could "destabilize" the country and CPDS decided to go forward, claiming constitutional right. On the night of 24 June, the CPDS headquarters in Malabo were surrounded by heavily armed police officers to keep those inside from leaving and thus effectively blocking the protest. Several leading members of CPDS were detained in Malabo and others in Bata were kept from boarding several local flights to Malabo.
Geography [ edit ]
Equatorial Guinea is on the west coast of Central Africa. The country consists of a mainland territory, Río Muni, which is bordered by Cameroon to the north and Gabon to the east and south, and five small islands, Bioko, Corisco, Annobón, Elobey Chico (Small Elobey), and Elobey Grande (Great Elobey). Bioko, the site of the capital, Malabo, lies about 40 kilometers (25 mi) off the coast of Cameroon. Annobón Island is about 350 kilometers (220 mi) west-south-west of Cape Lopez in Gabon. Corisco and the two Elobey islands are in Corisco Bay, on the border of Río Muni and Gabon.
Equatorial Guinea lies between latitudes 4°N and 2°S, and longitudes 5° and 12°E. Despite its name, no part of the country's territory lies on the equator—it is in the northern hemisphere, except for the insular Annobón Province, which is about 155 km (96 mi) south of the equator.
Climate [ edit ]
Equatorial Guinea has a tropical climate with distinct wet and dry seasons. From June to August, Río Muni is dry and Bioko wet; from December to February, the reverse occurs. In between there is gradual transition. Rain or mist occurs daily on Annobón, where a cloudless day has never been registered. The temperature at Malabo, Bioko, ranges from 16 °C (61 °F) to 33 °C (91 °F), though on the southern Moka Plateau normal high temperatures are only 21 °C (70 °F). In Río Muni, the average temperature is about 27 °C (81 °F). Annual rainfall varied from 1,930 mm (76 in) at Malabo to 10,920 mm (430 in) at Ureka, Bioko, but Río Muni is somewhat drier.[64]
Ecology [ edit ]
Equatorial Guinea spans several ecoregions. Río Muni region lies within the Atlantic Equatorial coastal forests ecoregion except for patches of Central African mangroves on the coast, especially in the Muni River estuary. The Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests ecoregion covers most of Bioko and the adjacent portions of Cameroon and Nigeria on the African mainland, and the Mount Cameroon and Bi |
(Italian), which translate to "universal man".[2] The related term "generalist"—contrasted with a "specialist"—is used to describe a person with a general approach to knowledge.
The term "universal genius" or "versatile genius" is also used, with Leonardo da Vinci as the prime example again. The term is used especially for people who made lasting contributions in at least one of the fields in which they were actively involved and when they took a universality of approach.
When a person is described as having encyclopedic knowledge, they exhibit a vast scope of knowledge. However, this designation may be anachronistic in the case of persons such as Eratosthenes whose reputation for having encyclopedic knowledge predates the existence of any encyclopedic object.
Polymathy in academia [ edit ]
Although polymathy and similar constructs like multipotentiality and multiple talents have gained wider coverage in the popular domain, polymathy, as a field of scientific study, is still at an early stage of development, with some researchers calling for more studies to further advance this construct and shed new light on topics such as creativity and education (e.g., Shavinina, 2013; Sriraman, 2009). At present, researchers studying this topic come from backgrounds as diverse as psychology, physiology, mathematics, management and education. Although incipient, the extant studies can already demonstrate the importance of polymathy as a concept that can help enhance our understanding of human diversity and of the elements that underlie one of the most human of traits: creativity. This section presents an overview of the contributions of six contemporary scholarly authors to the understanding of the phenomenon of polymathy. The criterion to choose the authors included in this article was the existence of publications in academic outlets focusing on the concept of polymathy itself (and not, for instance, on the biographies of specific polymaths).
Robert Root-Bernstein [ edit ]
Robert Root-Bernstein is considered the principal responsible for rekindling the interest on polymathy in the scientific community.[13][14] He is a professor of physiology at Michigan State University and has been awarded the MacArthur Fellowship, known as a "Genius Grant", a prize awarded to those who have shown "extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction" and are citizens or residents of the United States.
Robert Root-Bernstein emphasizes the contrast between the polymath and both the specialist and the dilettante. While the specialist demonstrates depth but not breadth of knowledge, the dilettante demonstrates breadth but without depth. Thus, both of them lack the active engagement in multiple domains and the conjugation of avocations and vocations found in polymaths.[15][16][17][18][19]
A key point in the work of Root-Bernstein and colleagues is the argument in favor of the universality of the creative process. That is, although creative products, such as a painting, a mathematical model or a poem, can be domain-specific, at the level of the creative process, the mental tools that lead to the generation of creative ideas are the same, be it in the arts or science.[17] These mental tools are sometimes called intuitive tools of thinking. It is therefore not surprising that many of the most innovative scientists have serious hobbies or interests in artistic activities, and that some of the most innovative artists have an interest or hobbies in the sciences.[15][18][20][21]
His research is an important counterpoint to the claim by some psychologists that creativity is domain-specific. Through his research, Root-Bernstein concludes that there are certain comprehensive thinking skills and tools that cross the barrier of different domains and can foster creative thinking: “[creativity researchers] who discuss integrating ideas from diverse fields as the basis of creative giftedness ask not “who is creative?” but “what is the basis of creative thinking?” From the polymathy perspective, giftedness is the ability to combine disparate (or even apparently contradictory) ideas, sets of problems, skills, talents, and knowledge in novel and useful ways. Polymathy is therefore the main source of any individual’s creative potential.” (R. Root-Bernstein, 2009, p. 854). In “Life Stages of Creativity”, Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein suggest six typologies of creative life stages. These typologies based on real creative production records first published by Root-Bernstein, Bernstein, and Garnier (1993).
Type 1 represents people who specialize in developing one major talent early in life (e.g., prodigies) and successfully exploit that talent exclusively for the rest of their lives.
Type 2 individuals explore a range of different creative activities (e.g., through worldplay or a variety of hobbies) and then settle on exploiting one of these for the rest of their lives.
Type 3 people are polymathic from the outset and manage to juggle multiple careers simultaneously so that their creativity pattern is constantly varied.
Type 4 creators are recognized early for one major talent (e.g., math or music) but go on to explore additional creative outlets, diversifying their productivity with age.
Type 5 creators devote themselves serially to one creative field after another.
Type 6 people develop diversified creative skills early and then, like Type 5 individuals, explore these serially, one at a time.
Finally, his studies suggest that understanding polymathy and learning from polymathic exemplars can help structure a new model of education that better promotes creativity and innovation: “we must focus education on principles, methods, and skills that will serve them [students] in learning and creating across many disciplines, multiple careers, and succeeding life stages” (R. Root-Bernstein & M. Root-Bernstein, 2017, p. 161).[22]
Peter Burke [ edit ]
Peter Burke, Professor Emeritus of Cultural History and Fellow of Emmanuel College at Cambridge, discussed the theme of polymathy in some of his works. He has presented a comprehensive historical overview of the ascension and decline of the polymath as, what he calls, an “intellectual species” (see Burke, 2012; 2010).[23][24]
He observes that in ancient and medieval times, scholars did not have to specialize. However, from the 17th century on, the rapid rise of new knowledge in the Western world—both from the systematic investigation of the natural world and from the flow of information coming from other parts of the world—was making it increasingly difficult for individual scholars to master as many disciplines as before. Thus, an intellectual retreat of the polymath species occurred: “from knowledge in every [academic] field to knowledge in several fields, and from making original contributions in many fields to a more passive consumption of what has been contributed by others” (Burke, 2010, p. 72).
Given this change in the intellectual climate, it has since then been more common to find “passive polymaths”, who consume knowledge in various domains but make their reputation in one single discipline, than “proper polymaths”, who—through a feat of “intellectual heroism”—manage to make serious contributions to several disciplines.
However, Burke warns that in the age of specialization, polymathic people are more necessary than ever, both for synthesis—to paint the big picture—and for analysis. He says: “It takes a polymath to ‘mind the gap’ and draw attention to the knowledges that may otherwise disappear into the spaces between disciplines, as they are currently defined and organized” (Burke, 2012, p. 183).
Finally, he suggests that governments and universities should nurture an habitat in which this “endangered species” can survive, offering students and scholars the possibility of interdisciplinary work.
Kaufman & Beghetto [ edit ]
James Kaufman, from the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut, and Ronald A. Beghetto, from the same university, investigated the possibility that everyone could have the potential for polymathy as well as the issue of the domain-generality or domain-specificity of creativity.[25][26]
Based on their earlier four-c model of creativity, Beghetto & Kaufman[27][28] proposed a typology of polymathy, ranging from the ubiquitous mini-c polymathy to the eminent but rare Big-C polymathy, as well as a model with some requirements for a person (polymath or not) to be able to reach the highest levels of creative accomplishment. They account for three general requirements—intelligence, motivation to be creative and an environment that allows creative expression—that are needed for any attempt at creativity to succeed. Then, depending on the domain of choice, more specific abilities will be required. The more that one's abilities and interests match the requirements of a domain, the better. While some will develop their specific skills and motivations for specific domains, polymathic people will display intrinsic motivation (and the ability) to pursue a variety of subject matters across different domains.[28]
Regarding the interplay of polymathy and education, they suggest that rather than asking whether every student has multicreative potential, educators might more actively nurture the multicreative potential of their students. As an example, the authors cite that teachers should encourage students to make connections across disciplines use different forms of media to express their reasoning and understanding (e.g., drawings, movies, and other forms of visual media).[25]
Bharath Sriraman [ edit ]
Bharath Sriraman, of the University of Montana, also investigated the role of polymathy in education. He poses that an ideal education should nurture talent in the classroom and enable individuals to pursue multiple fields of research and appreciate both the aesthetic and structural/scientific connections between mathematics, arts and the sciences.[29]
In 2009, Sriraman published a paper reporting a 3-year study with 120 pre-service mathematics teachers and derived several implications for mathematics pre-service education as well as interdisciplinary education.[14] He utilized a hermeneutic-phenomenological approach to recreate the emotions, voices and struggles of students as they tried to unravel Russell’s paradox presented in its linguistic form. They found that those more engaged in solved the paradox also displayed more polymathic thinking traits. He concludes by suggesting that fostering polymathy in the classroom may help students change beliefs, discover structures and open new avenues for interdisciplinary pedagogy.[14]
Michael Araki [ edit ]
The Developmental Model of Polymathy (DMP)
Michael Araki is a professor at Universidade Federal Fluminense in Brazil. He sought to formalize in a general model how the development of polymathy takes place. His Developmental Model of Polymathy (DMP) is presented in a 2018 article with two main objectives: (i) organize the elements involved in the process of polymathy development into a structure of relationships that is wed to the approach of polymathy as a life project, and (ii) provide an articulation with other well-developed constructs, theories and models, especially from the fields of giftedness and education[30]. The model, which was designed to reflect a structural model, has five major components: (1) polymathic antecedents, (2) polymathic mediators, (3) polymathic achievements, (4) intrapersonal moderators, and (5) environmental moderators.[30]
Regarding the definition of the term polymathy, the researcher, through an analysis of the extant literature, concluded that although there are a multitude of perspectives on polymathy, most of them ascertain that polymathy entails three core elements: breadth, depth and integration.[30][3][31]
Breadth refers to comprehensiveness, extension and diversity of knowledge. It is contrasted with the idea of narrowness, specialization, and the restriction of one’s expertise to a limited domain. The possession of comprehensive knowledge at very disparate areas is a hallmark of the greatest polymaths.
Depth refers to the vertical accumulation of knowledge and the degree of elaboration or sophistication of one’s sets of one’s conceptual network. Like Robert Root-Bernstein, Araki uses the concept of dilettancy as a contrast to the idea of profound learning that polymathy entails.
Integration, although not explicit in most definitions of polymathy, is also a core component of polymathy according to the author. Integration involves the capacity of connecting, articulating, concatenating or synthesizing different conceptual networks, which in non-polymathic persons might be segregated. In addition, integration can happen at the personality level, when the person is able to integrate his or her diverse activities in a synergic whole, which can also mean a psychic (motivational, emotional and cognitive) integration.
Finally, the author also suggests that, via a psychoeconomic approach, polymathy can be seen as a “life project”. That is, depending on a person’s temperament, endowments, personality, social situation and opportunities (or lack thereof), the project of a polymathic self-formation may present itself to the person as more or less alluring and more or less feasible to be pursued.[30]
Angela Cotellessa [ edit ]
One of the most recent studies on the subject is Angela Cotellessa's doctoral Dissertation at George Washington University.[32] In this work, she conducts a phenomenological study focusing on the lived experiences of modern-day polymaths. Her investigation focused on accomplished polymaths with careers spanning both the arts and sciences. The participants’ narratives provided insights regarding how they became polymaths and what their experiences as polymaths have been like (Cotellessa, 2018). Seven conclusions were drawn from her research: (1) to be a polymath, one must accept not fitting in the typical box and perhaps even embodying apparent contradictions; polymathy is being intrapersonally diverse; (2) polymaths are exposed broadly, think creatively and strategically, and juggle their many interests and obligations through effective time management; (3) being a polymath can make life richer, but it can also be quite difficult; (4) polymaths are excellent at being creative and solving problems creatively; (5) polymathy develops due to a combination of nature and nurture, and polymathy is maintained in adulthood by a willingness to continue to work to improve oneself through self-directed learning; (6) polymath identity is discovered from not fitting in; polymath identity can be difficult to fully own and to explain to others; (7) family and financial resources impact the emergency of polymathy.
See also [ edit ]
References and notes [ edit ]At the end of 1987, U2 returned to the Arizona desert for the sake of posterity. That March, the band released The Joshua Tree, source of two no. 1 singles and mover of 12 million units. Over the next nine months, U2 played 111 shows in North America and Europe, selling out arenas and then moving on to stadiums. The tour ended where it had begun back in April, in Tempe, only now U2 was booked for two shows at Sun Devil Stadium before 120,000 people. The concerts were staged for the climax of U2’s tour documentary, Rattle and Hum, only things weren’t going according to plan. It was cloudy and cold, and the downpour drenched the cameras. Worse, Rolling Stone was there to document the drudgery. “Bono looks like one of the walking wounded,” writes Steve Pond, who wasn’t alone in using hellish, militaristic imagery to describe Rattle and Hum. “It’s like Apocalypse Now,” Bono says at one point, “without so many helicopters.”
Recently I revisited Rattle and Hum, ostensibly because the film turns 25 this year, but mainly because I was curious to see how one of the touchstones of my U2-obsessed youth looked all these years later. Rattle and Hum is remembered today as one of the band’s worst blunders — certainly the worst blunder not involving a supersize, lemon-shaped mirrorball — and as the catalyst for U2’s hard turn toward the Eurocentric art pop of Achtung Baby and the chin-stroke-y Marshall McLuhan–slash–Max Headroom multimedia extravaganza Zoo TV. Rattle and Hum both justifies its bad reputation and is somewhat ill-served by it. By November 1988, when Rattle and Hum was released, the media regarded U2 more like distinguished statesmen than like a rock band; never in the history of the world had grown men sporting the eternally questionable suit-vest-plus-naked-torso ensemble been treated with so much reverence. A backlash was inevitable, and Rattle and Hum unwittingly played into the perception that a metric ton of bullshit had been affixed to the bottoms of Bono’s cowboy boots in the wake of The Joshua Tree‘s success.
At the same time, a quarter-century removed from U2’s hectoring late-’80s persona, Rattle and Hum is surprisingly watchable. This might be the 13-year-old U2 fanatic in me talking, because I loved this movie back then, and even now that I can see (and make fun of) its flaws, I’ve never been able to completely extract Rattle and Hum from my heart. I don’t think it’s outrageously revisionist to declare Rattle and Hum the most quotable rock documentary ever; after rewatching it last week, I’m convinced that wannabe heirs like Coldplay and Kings of Leon have missed out by not referencing Rattle and Hum constantly, like rappers nodding to Scarface. “Am I buggin’ you? I don’t mean to bug ya”; “Charles Manson stole this song from the Beatles; we’re stealin’ it back”; “OK, Edge, play the blues”; “Apar-TIGHT!” — Rattle and Hum is rivaled only by This Is Spinal Tap in the memorable-lines department, and U2 didn’t have the benefit of some of the world’s finest improv-comedy minds coming up with their material. Christopher Guest might be a genius, but he’s no Bono in Rattle and Hum.
What’s most striking about Rattle and Hum now is how different it is from the majority of rock documentaries made in the past 10 years. The primary criticism of Rattle and Hum in 1988 was that U2 comes off as self-important and presumptuous about its place in rock history. But there really wasn’t a question about whether making a movie about U2 was valid; the band’s status at the time inarguably justified a film backed by a major studio (Paramount) that opened on nearly 1,400 screens. U2 is presented in Rattle and Hum with the assumption that the audience already accepts the band’s importance as a given. There are no talking heads making the case for The Joshua Tree being a seminal album, nor is there a brief history lesson on U2’s career achievements. The band members aren’t even formally introduced; like the ’60s rock films it emulates (Don’t Look Back, Gimme Shelter), Rattle and Hum operates in a world where guitar-slinging documentary subjects can be credibly portrayed as avatars for larger truths about contemporary society. When we see the Edge jam with a Harlem gospel choir, or Bono harangue a concert audience in Denver about Desmond Tutu, it’s supposed to mean something beyond the narrative of a successful rock tour. Even if the execution of Rattle and Hum isn’t entirely successful, that doesn’t mean pointing cameras at U2 in 1987 wasn’t a sound strategy for magnifying pop culture at the time.
Rattle and Hum (along with 1991’s Madonna: Truth or Dare) marks the end of this era of rock documentaries. If Rattle and Hum were made today, it would look like Mistaken for Strangers, a “very honest, personal narrative” about indie band the National that premiered earlier this month at the Tribeca Film Festival. Strangers resembles Rattle and Hum in the broad strokes: It follows a successful rock band on tour behind its most popular album (2010’s High Violet) and shows the band members commiserating with Certifiably Important Public Figures (including President Obama and director Werner Herzog). But the films are dramatically different in terms of scope: Rattle and Hum attempts to place U2 at the center of the world’s most serious conversations about weighty issues like apartheid, the U.S. military intervention in El Salvador, and the “troubles” in Ireland, while Mistaken for Strangers uses the rock-doc format to tell a more intimate story about two brothers — the National’s lead singer, Matt Berninger, and the film’s director, Tom Berninger — attempting to reconcile after a period of estrangement. Rattle and Hum, for better or worse, reflects the sociopolitical values and attitudes of a specific segment of culture at a specific moment in time; Mistaken for Strangers narrows its focus on one guy (and his quirky metalhead brother) in one band. Strangers does not set out to define what the National is supposed to mean in a larger cultural setting; like most 21st-century rock documentaries, it implies that music has no larger meaning.
I like Mistaken for Strangers. I like rock documentaries in general. Chances are you like rock documentaries, too, as they’ve never been more popular. For the past decade, rock documentaries have experienced a golden age — there are more of them being made, and about a wider range of topics, than at any point in pop-music history.
Rock documentaries these days can be divided into four categories: There are self-effacing self-portraits of popular-ish contemporary artists with a measure of hip cachet (like Mistaken for Strangers and the LCD Soundsystem concert film Shut Up and Play the Hits); there are really well-made career overviews for legacy acts that act as handy primers for neophytes (the best recent examples include the Rush movie Beyond the Lighted Stage and the two-part, three-hour film about the Eagles that aired on Showtime); there are glorified 90-minute commercials about massively famous celebrities that engage in straight-up hagiography with zero pretensions about telling the unvarnished “truth” (Justin Bieber: Never Say Never and Life Is But a Dream, HBO’s Beyoncé movie); and then there are the most critically reputable rock docs, the ones about little-known cult artists, what I like to call “Sugar Man” movies.
I’m referring of course to 2012’s Searching for Sugar Man, the Academy Award–winning film about “lost” ’70s folk singer Sixto Rodriguez. I’m using the term “Sugar Man” retroactively, but the classification fits Searching for Sugar Man‘s long line of underappreciated-genius predecessors. To qualify as a Sugar Man, you must strike an antiestablishment stance (like Anton Newcombe in Dig!), though ultimately your greatest battles will involve personal demons (like Daniel Johnston in The Devil and Daniel Johnston). While your music might not be immediately accessible or even seem all that exceptional upon first hearing, you are in fact hugely influential in spite of your lack of fame (like Scott Walker in 30 Century Man), or at least you would be if the public weren’t so prejudicial toward loner visionaries (like Arthur Russell in Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell). You don’t have to be male to be a Sugar Man (you can even be a woman like Mia Zapata in The Gits), but it helps, since the people most invested in these enigmatic figures are usually male. What’s most vital is that you’re somewhat obscure (like Arthur Kane in New York Doll) and definitely mysterious (like Jandek in Jandek on Corwood).
Where Rattle and Hum has no backstory, Sugar Man movies are all backstory, since the whole point is that these people aren’t prominent in culture. (Not being famous is what makes them doc-worthy.) The stars of Sugar Man movies aren’t really the protagonists, it’s the people who explain the protagonists — the record collectors, the music critics, the ubiquitous Rolling Stone journalist David Fricke, and guys like full-time articulator of cultural ephemera and part-time musician Henry Rollins. Sugar Man movies are about a niche audience asserting a version of rock history in which Cult Hero X is suddenly a lead character, and they get to be the supporting players who point this out to everybody else.
The search for the next Sugar Man continues with A Band Called Death, which premieres May 24 on VOD and arrives in theaters the following month. A Band Called Death isn’t about this band, but rather a group that was formed in the early ’70s by three brothers from Detroit — David, Bobby, and Dannis Hackney — who played shouty, vaguely political punk-rock songs and never succeeded in launching a music career despite years of trying. (Supposedly, Clive Davis would’ve signed Death had it agreed to change its name.) It wasn’t until the Chicago-based indie label Drag City released a spirited collection of Death demos called For the Whole World to See in 2009 that the group’s music was heard by the outside world. Not that it was heard by much of the outside world; other than a New York Times profile in which Jack White said the group was “ahead of their time,” Death’s fame is modest even in the low-stakes realm of indie rock.
This comes across in A Band Called Death in not entirely intentional ways. The movie opens with a testimonial from comedian and person who listens to music occasionally Artie Lange; later, a bad review of the Hackney Brothers’ band, the 4th Movement, in a college newspaper is depicted as a major setback in Death’s trajectory. The highs and lows of the relationships among the Hackney brothers form the film’s central narrative thread, but A Band Called Death also attempts to make a case for Death’s place in the pantheon of rock music. This argument is based on race (the Hackneys are African American) and the band’s dubiously prescient musical style: Death is frequently invoked as a precursor to the Ramones and Sex Pistols, which is technically true, though because Death came after fellow Motor City acts like the Stooges, MC5, and Alice Cooper, its role as a “proto-punk” innovator is debatable at best.
That A Band Called Death emphasizes the part about preceding the Ramones, and not the part about sounding like a lesser Stooges, is typical of a Sugar Man movie. Exaggeration fuels the storytelling: Sixto Rodriguez can’t just be a decent songwriter with a devoted corps of fans in South Africa, he has to be a rival to Bob Dylan and a Detroit music titan whose talents equal the greats of Motown. As viewers, we take this soft dishonesty with a grain of salt without realizing it; Sugar Man films are implicitly understood to be tall tales contained inside hermetically sealed-off worlds curated by music geeks.
There are only so many underground legends that can be dug up, brushed off, and repackaged in the form of a breezily inspirational narrative, and every single one of them will likely show up in a Sugar Man movie in the years ahead. Searching for Sugar Man was the first rock documentary to win an Oscar since Woodstock, the ultimate “statement-rock movie,” so if you’re looking for a symbolic moment for the genre, there you go. These films will be fine for what they are. (A Band Called Death is entertaining but slight.) But I want another Rattle and Hum. I still believe that pop music can be an entry point for making sense of the world we live in, and the Sugar Man documentaries aren’t giving us the contextual framework to do this. Instead, they’re reiterating, over and over again, the opposite message: Every band is an island unto itself, with no meaning or relevance beyond a pristine vinyl collection. I don’t think that’s true. Musicians are still big; it’s the pictures that got small.Former President Bill Clinton, the white, male, cisgendered, neoliberal, Southern-born, philandering, liberal-internationalist New Democrat, used The New Republic's 100-year anniversary to issue a challenge to the magazine. In the coming century, he implored, "make people debate an issue instead of labeling each other."
He rightly fears that citizens are no longer engaging one another.
"You know, Americans have come so far since, let's say, the era of Joe McCarthy. I mean, think about it. We're less racist. We're less sexist. We're less homophobic than we used to be," he said. "We only have one remaining bigotry. We don't want to be around anybody who disagrees with us.* And if you look, actually residential patterns in America are changing. I mean, not just by congressional districts. I mean fixed-line borders, like counties, the internal, social and political complexion of them are changing, and we also are siloing our information sources."
Clinton credits his mother-in-law for this insight:
I read the other day that 47 percent of self-identified conservatives will only watch Fox News on television. That's good for Fox News. I mean, it's a good business model. My mother-in-law, who died a couple years ago at 91, and whom I love dearly and who lived with Hillary in our Washington home while she was secretary of state and senator, was the most liberal member of our family. She watched Fox News every day. I asked her if she was trying to give herself a heart attack. She said, "No, I'm just trying to keep my blood pumping." But then she said, first of all, Bill, I need to know what they're saying so I have an answer and I need to know what they're saying in case they're right. She said, nobody's wrong all the time. It's almost biologically impossible. So it was really interesting to see for me—as I had time to study this in the last few years—how much we are disaggregating ourselves from people who disagree with us.
There are, of course, better places to find intelligent conservative analysis than the Fox News Channel. Cable TV is no place to send people hoping to be better informed! But the spirit of the remarks are right on. Marshaling labels does little more than assign stigma while evading substance. It encourages prejudgment, stereotyping, caricature, and vilification. Focusing on ideas permits people to disagree without anyone being cast as a villain. It facilitates persuasion by making it clear that people can change their mind without abandoning their identity.
Politicians are often clueless about the way that intellectual organs ought to operate. Credit is due to Bill Clinton for taking a stand on behalf of liberal values and understanding the special responsibility journalists have to carry them forward.
This is presumably shorthand for, We have one remaining bigotry that is still acceptable among the intelligentsia.The United States faces the possibility of much more rapid climate change by the end of the century than previous studies have suggested, according to a new report led by the U.S. Geological Survey.
The survey -- which was commissioned by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program and issued this month -- expands on the 2007 findings of the United Nations Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change. Looking at factors such as rapid sea ice loss in the Arctic and prolonged drought in the Southwest, the new assessment suggests that earlier projections may have underestimated the climatic shifts that could take place by 2100.
However, the assessment also suggests that some other feared effects of global warming are not likely to occur by the end of the century, such as an abrupt release of methane from the seabed and permafrost or a shutdown of the Atlantic Ocean circulation system that brings warm water north and colder water south. But the report projects an amount of potential sea level rise during that period that may be greater than what other researchers have anticipated, as well as a shift to a more arid climate pattern in the Southwest by mid-century.
Thirty-two scientists from federal and non-federal institutions contributed to the report, which took nearly two years to complete. The Climate Change Science Program, which was established in 1990, coordinates the climate research of 13 different federal agencies.
Tom Armstrong, senior adviser for global change programs at USGS, said the report "shows how quickly the information is advancing" on potential climate shifts. The prospect of abrupt climate change, he said, "is one of those things that keeps people up at night, because it's a low-probability but high-risk scenario. It's unlikely to happen in our lifetimes, but if it were to occur, it would be life-changing."
In one of the report's most worrisome findings, the agency estimates that in light of recent ice sheet melting, global sea level rise could be as much as four feet by 2100. The IPCC had projected a sea level rise of no more than 1.5 feet by that time, but satellite data over the past two years show the world's major ice sheets are melting much more rapidly than previously thought. The Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are now losing an average of 48 cubic miles of ice a year, equivalent to twice the amount of ice that exists in the Alps.
Konrad Steffen, who directs the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder and was lead author on the report's chapter on ice sheets, said the models the IPCC used did not factor in some of the dynamics that scientists now understand about ice sheet melting. Among other things, Steffen and his collaborators have identified a process of "lubrication," in which warmer ocean water gets in underneath coastal ice sheets and accelerates melting.
"This has to be put into models," said Steffen, who organized a conference last summer in St. Petersburg, Russia, as part of an effort to develop more sophisticated ice sheet models. "What we predicted is sea level rise will be higher, but I have to be honest, we cannot model it for 2100 yet."
Still, Armstrong said the report "does take a step forward from where the IPCC was," especially in terms of ice sheet melting.
Scientists also looked at the prospect of prolonged drought over the next 100 years. They said it is impossible to determine yet whether human activity is responsible for the drought the Southwestern United States has experienced over the past decade, but every indication suggests the region will become consistently drier in the next several decades. Richard Seager, a senior research scientist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, said that nearly all of the 24 computer models the group surveyed project the same climatic conditions for the North American Southwest, which includes Mexico.
"If the models are correct, it will transition in the coming years and decades to a more arid climate, and that transition is already underway," Seager said, adding that such conditions would probably include prolonged droughts lasting more than a decade.
The current models cover broad swaths of landscape, and Seager said scientists need to work on developing versions that can make projections on a much smaller scale. "That's what the water managers out there really need," he said. Current models "don't give them the hard numbers they need."President Trump speaks during an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office of the White House, April 27, 2017. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)
President Trump was 20 words into his recent interview with the New York Times when he raised a topic that he seemingly can’t resist: Hillary Clinton.
“Hi fellas, how you doing?” he said to the three Times reporters, two of whom were fellas. Then, asked about his meeting on health care with Republican senators, he continued. “It was good. We are very close. It’s a tough — you know, health care. Look, Hillary Clinton worked eight years in the White House with her husband as president and having majorities and couldn’t get it done. Smart people, tough people — couldn’t get it done.”
Clinton is Trump’s eternal foil, the person who, Trump seems to think, can always be identified as the unpopular yang to his yin, the looming reminder to his supporters of What Could Have Been. Whatever Trump does or doesn’t do, he’s always willing to point out what Clinton did or didn’t do that’s worse.
So she comes up in his interviews a lot. In fact, in 19 interviews that he’s conducted since becoming president, we found that Clinton tended to be mentioned much earlier than a number of Trump’s other favorite topics: The 2016 election, the votes he received, the electoral college and Barack Obama. Tallying the first appearance of each word in those 19 interviews, we figured out how far into an interview Trump first made mention of them, on average. (Making it 100 percent into the interview means he never mentioned it at all.)
Those figures:
In 17 of 19 of his interviews, Clinton came up, on average about 36 percent of the way in. That’s more frequently and earlier than his mentions of Obama, who made it into only 16 interviews, about 43 percent of the way in.
The two interviews in which Trump didn’t mention Hillary came, interestingly, at the beginning of his time in office. The second was his Super Bowl interview with Bill O’Reilly. His introduction of the subject in that Times interview released this week was the earliest she’d come up.
While Trump mentioned Obama immediately after Clinton in that interview, he’s still mentioned his predecessor earlier in other past interviews. (These percentages are the first appearance of the word relative to the total number of characters in the transcript of Trump’s comments from the interview.)
Surprisingly, Trump has mentioned the electoral college or vote in only about a third of the interviews we looked at.
But the election and the vote have come up in 14 of 19 (though not the same 14).
How much does Trump like to raise the subject of Hillary Clinton? He even mentions her more frequently and sooner than his other favorite opponent: the press.
We’ve come up in only 14 of his interviews, about 53 percent of the way in, on average.
But, as with his one-time and eternal political opponent, it’s a safe bet we’ll come up.
The interviews included above: ABC News, Jan. 25; CBN, Jan. 29; Fox News, Feb. 5; Time, March 23; New York Times, April 5; Fox Business, April 11; CBS News, April 20; AP, April 23; Reuters, April 27; Examiner, April 28; Economist, May 11; NBC News, May 11; Fox News, May 13; Fox News, June 23; Fox News, June 25; Reuters, July 12; CBN, July 12; New York Times, July 19 and a July 12 pooled interview distributed by the White House.Longtime WWE veteran The Big Show recently appeared on Sports Talk 790AM out of Miami, Florida to help spread the word about this Sunday’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view.
During the interview, Big Show spoke about his days as “The Giant” in WCW, recalling the time he got in trouble while on Hulk Hogan’s airplane over the impressions he does of “The Hulkster” and “Macho Man” Randy Savage.
“I got in trouble one time. Hogan, Hulkster, used to have a plane after Nitro’s because of the Turner deal and he flew back to Tampa [Florida] because he told WCW, ‘I’ve got to cook the kids breakfast every morning’. |
well as interest assessed for not paying quickly enough.
Six years later, Williams - a white woman who owes thousands more in connection with multiple other nonviolent felony convictions over the past two decades - still owes more than $9,000 for the 2011 conviction alone.
Such financial barriers amount to "an unconstitutional poll tax that discriminates against individuals on the basis of wealth," according to Randall Marshall, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama.
"Denying returning citizens their fundamental right to vote because they are too poor to afford fines and costs unnecessarily excludes them from the democratic process and impedes their rehabilitation," Marshall said via email.
"The right to go to the polls and vote should never ever be dependent on one's financial status."
Williams said that she struggles to make monthly payments on her legal financial obligations and that she does not believe she will ever be able to pay them off in full.
"They won't let you let go of your past," she said. "They tell you don't let your past define who you are. Well, how are we not going to let our past define who we are if you keep bringing it up to us?"
'Moral turpitude'
In May, Gov. Kay Ivey signed a law called the Definition of Moral Turpitude Act that advocates hoped would lead to large numbers of felons across the state becoming eligible to restore their right to vote. The law, which went into effect in August, created a list of "crimes of moral turpitude" - felonies that result in the automatic disenfranchisement of anyone who is convicted of one.
Before the law was passed, determinations of what crimes were considered "of moral turpitude" were made on a case-by-case basis by individual counties' boards of registrars. That approach resulted in wide disparities in who lost the vote between different counties.
The Definition of Moral Turpitude Act eliminated that slapdash system, and consequently, many felons who had previously lost the right to vote were deemed to have committed crimes minor enough that they should not result in that consequence.
But the policy requiring them to first pay off any fees, fines and restitution has resulted in a sizeable population of Alabama felons who have not committed crimes that would have resulted in them losing the franchise under the new law, yet they remain unable to restore their voting rights solely because of their financial situation.
Tari Williams, organizing director at Greater Birmingham Ministries, works with felons from across the state to try to help them restore their voting rights. She said that she has encountered "a number of people" who have only ever been convicted of crimes not considered "of moral turpitude" under the new law, but who are barred from regaining the right to vote because they have outstanding legal financial obligations.
"They are saying your rights shouldn't have been taken in the first place, but now in order to get your right to vote back you first have to pay your fees and fines off," she said.
"That's not fair at all because the person shouldn't have been in that situation in the first place."
In most states, Randi Lynn Williams would have been eligible to vote after her probation ended in 2011. (Connor Sheets | csheets@al.com)
The indigency quandary
In 1970, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Williams v. Illinois that courts must take a defendant's ability to pay - whether or not the defendant is "indigent" - into account when imposing punishment for nonpayment of fines.
And the Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure say that when courts in the state decide whether or not to impose a fine in a criminal case, they should consider "the financial resources and obligations of the defendant and the burden that fine will impose" and "the ability of the defendant to pay a fine."
But attorneys, advocates and academics say judges in Alabama appear to be ignoring or disregarding that guidance.
"Policies like Alabama's, which distinguish among offenders on basis of wealth, may also pay insufficient attention to indigency," the June study in the Journal of Legal Studies states.
Its authors looked at whether or not a felon was represented by a public defender as a proxy for identifying less wealthy clients. They found "a strong, and statistically significant, correlation between the probability of having an outstanding [legal financial obligation] balance and the use of a public defender, suggesting that current policy may be disenfranchising a number of people, who cannot afford, rather than refuse, to buy back their right to vote."
The researchers looked at more than 1,000 Alabama felons who had completed any prison terms and periods of probation or parole to which they had been sentenced. They found that about 75 percent of them still owed legal financial obligations, meaning they could not regain the right to vote even if they would otherwise be able to do so.
Marc Meredith, an associate political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, was one of the study's co-publishers. He said in a phone interview last month that Alabama's policy requiring the payment of fines, fees and restitution prior to the restoration of voting rights has had a significant impact on the electorate in the state.
"People should be aware of the share of people disenfranchised by policies like this and how much money people have to pay before they can get their voting rights back," he said. "Even with people who are 15 years removed from their conviction, the majority of them can't vote because of their financial obligations."
'Jim Crow 2.0'
Of the more than 280,000 disenfranchised felons in Alabama, 143,924 are black, according to The Sentencing Project. That means that disenfranchised felons make up 15.11 percent of the state's voting-age African-American population.
And black felons are 9.4 percent less likely to be eligible to vote in Alabama because of outstanding fines, fees and restitution, according to the June study in the Journal of Legal Studies.
"[W]e find that black defendants are significantly more likely to be ineligible to restore their voting rights due to [legal financial obligations]," the study states. "Together these findings suggest that [legal financial obligations] are a general threat to racial equality above and beyond the forces of mass incarceration."
Alexandria Parrish, an attorney with Evans Law Firm in Homewood, has years of experience representing clients who have been criminally disenfranchised. She sees the practice as a way to keep poor and black people away from the ballot box.
"They've got so many ways of skinning a cat, and I think most of it is to keep people from being able to vote so they can vote their own people in," she said. "This is like Jim Crow 2.0. They can keep them from voting."
Deuel Ross, assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in New York, said that the fact that Alabama "links voting to the ability to pay" has a disparate impact on black felons that indirectly suppresses the vote of African-Americans who are not felons.
"You're seeing large numbers of African-Americans being unable to vote," he said. "And there's this idea of community contagion. The way it's been used before by the Legal Defense Fund is to describe the idea that once you have a large percent of the population - 10, 15 percent of the population - being unable to vote because of felon disenfranchisement laws, it begins to impact a larger percent of the population... If your mother or father can't vote, you never learn the importance of voting."
Carmone Owens said he considers the idea that someone could be barred from voting simply because they cannot afford to pay off their fees, fines and restitution to be "the epitome of disenfranchisement."
Convicted of first-degree armed robbery in 2007, he was released on parole in 2015 after serving eight years of a 35-year prison sentence. The black Birmingham resident, who now advocates for felons' rights, is not eligible to vote until 2042 unless he receives a full pardon - and pays off his legal financial obligations.
"The right to vote should never be tied to the level of one's debt," he said. "It's a moral issue and if you want people to come back and transition back into society, one of the fundamental tenets of society is the right to be able to vote."
This story was also published by Guardian US, the U.S. edition of the Guardian.
One day after this story was published, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill clarified the state's voting rights policy, effectively clearing the way for a subclass of felons to vote despite having previously been barred from doing so.The Leatherman Tread will come out this Summer. It's an interesting departure for the company, and an industry first: a serious multi-tool that can be worn on the wrist. Each link on the band includes two to three functional tools, for a total of 25 usable features.
It's an ingenious design. The bracelet is fully customizable and can be re-built with slotted fasteners. The user can rearrange links, add or remove tools, or just adjust the bracelet's size for comfort down to one quarter of an inch. Even the clasp is functional, with a bottle opener and #2 square drive. Other tools include hex drives, screwdrivers, box wrenches, a carbide glass breaker, and a hook-style box cutter that doubles as a SIM card pick.
Know what you're thinking: Those links are going to snap off when I torque the hex nuts on my portable DAC. Wrong. This MacGyver wristband is constructed of metal-injected molded 17-4 stainless steel. The tools may be tiny, but they're not going to snap or bend under stress. There's an optional Swiss quartz movement watch (available in the fall of 2015), but I see the crafty Bushwick guys opting for the naked bracelet, which looks kinda Chrome Hearts.
Leatherman
The other selling point, which is huge: this thing is TSA- and security-friendly. In fact, that was the original inspiration for the Tread: being able to travel and pass security checkpoints with a full compliment of Leatherman tools.
The Tread bracelets will be available in April or May. The stainless steel finish will cost $150, and the black diamond-like carbon finish will cost $200. The tread watches will cost $500 for stainless steel and $600 for black DLC.The Arizona Coyotes are asking the state Legislature to create a new taxing district to mostly fund an arena. The team would kick in at least $100 million; taxes would generate at least $350 million.
The Arizona Coyotes face off against the Detroit Red Wings on Jan. 14, 2016, in Glendale. The Coyotes are now in the hunt for a new playing venue, hoping to move out of Glendale's arena. The team is pushing legislation that would allow the creation of a special taxing district to help finance a new venue. (Photo: Rob Schumacher/azcentral sports) Story Highlights Coyotes are asking the state legislature to create a taxing district for a new arena
Taxpayers would fund at least $350 million for arena
Despite being turned down by one key lawmaker, the Arizona Coyotes continue seeking legislation to allow creation of a municipal taxing district that would give the National Hockey League franchise a new arena, its president told The Arizona Republic.
One proposal floated at the Capitol would allow from $350 million to $750 million to be generated for an arena from sales and excise taxes imposed within a new taxing district. The plan, detailed in a 49-page draft bill obtained by The Republic, also could allow public funds to be used to build a hotel or other commercial real estate within the district, according to those who have examined the proposal.
The Coyotes confirmed they would want a hotel in any arena project — it would generate taxes to help pay for the arena — but public funds would not be used to build it.
ROBERTS: Coyotes arena scheme deserves icy response
The district's location and size was not specified, but only a community with a population of at least 150,000 people could establish a taxing district. By that definition, several Valley cities would qualify to create such a district.
MORE: LeBlanc pledges arena-plan announcement within weeks
The team would contribute $100 million to $170 million toward any project, according to Anthony LeBlanc, the team's president and chief executive. He said the franchise is looking to build on 50 to 60 acres.
'I don't think there is any desire to do it'
The proposed legislation, currently on the shelf at the Capitol, is opposed by an influential commercial real-estate group. And the Arizona Tax Research Association argues the public doesn't have the appetite to build a new, mostly taxpayer-funded hockey arena for a team that wants to leave a 12-year-old facility built for them in Glendale.
LeBlanc and the team's lobbyist, Jim Norton of Axiom Public Affairs, last month asked state Sen. Debbie Lesko, chairwoman of the Senate Finance Committee, to push through the legislation for a municipal facilities district, she said. Axiom, whose partners have close ties to Gov. Doug Ducey, did not return calls or respond to emails.
Coyotes officials say the concept of using sales and excise taxes generated from businesses within a district to retire debt on an arena has been used numerous times for arenas around the country.
Lesko, in an interview, said there wasn't enough time to fully vet such a plan this year at the Legislature, and that's why she wouldn't sponsor the bill. She also said it was unlikely such a plan would be thrown into the state budget in the waning weeks of the Legislature.
According to Lesko, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman personally met with her and Senate President Andy Biggs while in Phoenix a few weeks ago. He pushed for a new arena, as the Coyotes are looking to leave Glendale's Gila River Arena. Bettman also met with Ducey's chief of staff, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and Arizona State University officials, according to LeBlanc.
LeBlanc earlier this week said the team soon expects to announce plans for a new arena in metropolitan Phoenix. Sites being considered include downtown Phoenix and in Tempe at ASU.
“I'm a Coyotes fan, and I want to see them stay in Arizona.... We have four major sports franchises here, and that is what differentiates the state.” Gov. Doug Ducey
"I don't think there is any (legislative) desire to do it," Lesko said. "I'm not a big fan of tax-increment financing. Also, this is a big deal, using taxpayer money or having taxpayer risk for an arena."
But Lesko said she would be willing to keep listening, and possibly consider a similar plan in the near future.
Ducey said he wouldn't comment on proposed legislation, but he added that he doesn't want to see the team leave.
"I'm a Coyotes fan, and I want to see them stay in Arizona," Ducey said. "We have four major sports franchises here, and that is what differentiates the state."
LeBlanc said the team would continue to lobby lawmakers after the session ends and plans to bring a similar proposal to the Legislature in 2017.
Greg Stanton said it was his understanding the Coyotes' plan was not currently going forward at the Legislature, but he wouldn't oppose it if it did.
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"As it relates to arena issues, we need to keep all available options on the table," Stanton said.
LeBlanc said the team's arena funding plan poses no risk to the state.
"No funds would be pledged out of the state's general fund, and the state would take no risk," he said.
'No way' taxpayers will sign up for new arena
But Kevin McCarthy, president of the Arizona Tax Research Association, disagrees.
McCarthy said he reviewed the plan and it likely would take from the state about half of sales taxes generated within the district, and that money would be directed to retiring the arena's bond debt or mortgage. The other half would flow into the state's coffers, he said. The plan also calls for up to a 10 percent excise tax "on business activity in the district," including admissions and user fees.
McCarthy noted with interest that the Coyotes are seeking a new arena at the very time the Arizona Diamondbacks have threatened to leave Chase Field in downtown Phoenix. In both instances, he said, the public likely is not in the mood to pay for new sports complexes.
“There's no way taxpayers are signing up for new facilities when the existing facilities are more than adequate.” Kevin McCarthy, Arizona Tax Research Association president
"There's no way taxpayers are signing up for new facilities when the existing facilities are more than adequate," McCarthy said.
A Diamondbacks spokesman said the team was unaware the Coyotes were trying to get sports-facility legislation through the Legislature.
The plan is problematic for the 700-member NAIOP Arizona, a commercial real-estate trade association.
Tim Lawless, NAIOP's president, said his group would not object to using state incentives to build an arena, but it opposes allowing public funds to be used to build a hotel or other retail development within an arena district.
Lawless said public financing for commercial real estate is in direct conflict with projects being undertaken by the private sector and gives an "unfair advantage to the taxpayer-subsidized enterprise." He added that even if public funds aren't used to build a hotel, including a hotel in the project would give that operator an unfair advantage because the project is being underwritten by a government entity.
LeBlanc has repeatedly said the Coyotes intend to leave Gila River Arena, likely at the end of next season. Glendale built the arena for the NHL team by selling $180 million in bonds. Those bonds are being retired through sales taxes now imposed citywide. The city still owes $144 million on the arena, opened in December 2003 and built to lure the team from downtown Phoenix.
“We have heard loud and clear from our fans and from potential stakeholders that they want us to stay here in Arizona, and we are committed to staying.... The manner in which we're contemplating a new arena is a true public-private partnership, one that pays for itself.” Anthony LeBlanc, Coyotes president and CEO
Glendale last year terminated the team's long-term lease, which included a large subsidy for the Coyotes.
Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers said the city is doing all it can to keep the team at Gila River Arena. He added that AEG Facilities, which this year was selected to run the city-owned arena, has experience operating arenas in which the main tenant is an NHL team. He said it should be able to retain the Coyotes.
"I'm not saying 'no' to anything. The Coyotes have a lot of things to work out on their end, but with AEG, it's our best opportunity," Weiers said.
LeBlanc said his team had no choice but to look for other locations after Glendale "effectively evicted" the team at the end of next season. However, the team also has struggled to attract fans at the Glendale location.
"We have heard loud and clear from our fans and from potential stakeholders that they want us to stay here in Arizona, and we are committed to staying," LeBlanc said. "The manner in which we're contemplating a new arena is a true public-private partnership, one that pays for itself."
Reporter Paul Giblin contributed to this article.
Read or Share this story: http://azc.cc/1SaKrjKGoals are just milestones. Places where you stop for a while and enjoy the scenery. The trip is what gives you the ultimate thrill, and it will always be like this.
But, as interesting as the trip may be, goals have their own importance. They can either add more awesomeness to the mix or make the whole experience dull and boring. It’s one thing to stop on the side of the road, eating some dust watching how others are passing you by, but it’s a completely different thing to stop at a 5 star hotel, relax, and get your strength together for the next part of the trip. As I said, both are just milestones within a bigger trip, but their quality is different.
Let me share a personal story with you about some goals I set a few years ago. Although these are material goals, closely linked to money, I’m using these examples because they can be easily measured. The same approach works in many other areas, like personal evolution, lifestyle, or relationships.
The Early Years
A few years ago I was spending the majority of my time trying to build an online publishing company. I had a considerable degree of success, some would say, but it involved a considerable degree of personal involvement and time spent making things happening.
At that time, I could barely afford my own car. I was driving a very old Dacia model (a local brand, based on a Renault chassis). It was a wreck. I remember that at times the engine would heat up to the point where it would let out waves of white steam from the hood. Often I had to pull over and replace the water from the expansion recipient. Before going to a meeting, I would always making sure I was carrying around at least 4 liters of water on the back seat. It wasn’t unusual to stop 2-3 times a day to watch the white steam and to replace the water.
So, eventually I decided that it was time to get a new car. A beautiful one. Of course, I couldn’t afford it. I was barely affording the maintenance expenses for my wreck. But I wanted a new, beautiful, and shiny car really bad. So, after browsing a little on the internet I decided I want a Volvo XC90. It was 6 years ago and the model hadn’t even been launched yet, but since one of my niche websites was the biggest car portal in Romania, I was wired to everything that was new in the car industry. I already had a few wallpapers for the upcoming Volvo XC90. Beautiful, shiny pictures.
I set up my computer wallpaper to the most beautiful picture in the whole album. Each morning, it was the first image I saw when I opened my computer. Each evening, before shutting down my laptop, I saw the same image. I had made a very strong commitment. I think I had that wallpaper for more than one year. One day, I decided it would be no more than 3 years until I would have that car.
Time passed and in the process I changed my wallpaper. I also changed my car, but not to a Volvo XC90. I started gradually with a Skoda, then an Opel. At some point, after 3 years of countless hours spent in the office with clients, partners and employees, I realized that I could finally afford a much better car than my Opel Astra.
So I bought an Infiniti FX 35, a huge, powerful and luxurious car, more expensive than a Volvo XC90. That Volvo disappeared from my goal horizon, but the associated lifestyle didn’t. In fact, the goal of having a big, shiny and powerful car (which could act more like a statement of what I was doing at that time), become even stronger.
The whole process took about 6 years. From the moment I set up a certain goal, to the moment that goal became reality, there were around 2100 days. How did I feel the day I drove my new Infiniti home? Exactly the same. I wasn’t different. The car was, but I wasn’t. However, the car was a very clear sign that my intention to change my mindset towards a much more abundant one was working really well. The trip was unfolding in the right direction and this milestone was a very rewarding one.
The Current Situation
Now, this may be an interesting story, but it happened 6 years ago. How about now? What is an easy to measure goal that I have right now, and what exactly am I’m doing to make it happen?
If you read my last post, you already know, but I’ll say it again anyway: I want a jet. A Learjet, to be more precise. I know, I know, it sounds crazy. It may even be crazy. But that won’t stop me from wanting it.
Can I afford a jet right now? You’re kidding me, right? Of course I can’t! Compared to my “car goal” situation, I don’t even have a wreck to call my “first jet”. I have nothing in this area and the financial difference between how I’m doing right now and how I would need to do in order to afford a 17.9 million dollar jet is enormous.
But I’m reading about it. I started to look around for flying courses. I’m enjoying its pictures. I don’t have a wallpaper with it, but one of the tabs of my browser is always opened with that image. I’m “soaking” myself with a jet the same way I soaked with the image of a Volvo XC90.
I want it in 5 years from now. And I’m working towards it.
The Three Stages Of Goal Setting
Those of you familiar with my ebook already know that I’m using a life management framework called “Assess – Decide – Do”. Of course, 6 years ago I didn’t know that I was using that framework in particular. At least, not consciously. But, on a very deep and hard to grasp level, I have always done stuff following this pattern. Now, how can this be related to goal setting?
First Stage: Assess
This is the stage in which you’re pondering how your goal should fit into your life. It’s the stage in which you are wondering, day dreaming, brainstorming, and drifting away in dreams about your goal. This is the part where you are making room to fit your goal into your current lifestyle.
That’s the stage from which I am slowly getting out of now, with my jet goal. I impregnated its image into my daily activity. I made it familiar. I found ways to integrate it into my lifestyle.
6 years ago, wanting a better car had a close relationship with my lifestyle. I had the biggest car portal in Romania, and having a state of the art car was somehow part of my image as an owner.
Right now, I want a location independent lifestyle. Having a jet to support it looks like a good fit.
Second Stage: Decide
This is the stage in which you are signing the contract with your goal. And you do this by placing it into a space/time continuum.
Speaking of my car goal, the decide stage was when I clearly stated that I want the car in a time frame of 3 years, here, in Bucharest.
And speaking of the jet goal, this is the stage where I am right now. I have a clear time/space context in which I can see this goal happening. In this case: I’ll have it in 5 years from now, when I’ll be fully location independent.
Third Stage: Do
This is the most confusing stage for people, because they think they should focus on the goal. There’s a very subtle difference here. And I guess this is the most important difference in my goal setting approach versus other techniques. I’m not advocating a “fixed eye” on the goal. On the contrary. If you start moving towards your goal, you start making it happen, and you don’t have to focus entirely on it. Instead, you should focus on the chosen lifestyle.
That’s a fundamental difference and here’s why.
Focusing on the goal will be like focusing on the hotel. Instead, your focus should be on the trip itself. A goal is just a milestone. The trip is the great thing, not the goal. If you focus on the hotel, you’ll get stuck on the hotel. You may get a nice room, but your trip will be over.
So, in my “goal car” example, once I assessed it (having its wallpaper on my computer for a year) and once I placed it in a time/space context (3 years) the things I did where not directly even really related to this goal. I just continued to work on my business. I constantly improved my lifestyle. I grew up. I just went on with my trip and enjoyed myself.
And, at some point, the goal was already there, on the side of the road, waiting for me to enjoy it.
The Quantum Element
One more thing: you may have noticed that there was a little bit of a difference between what I wanted as a car, and what I got. I wanted a Volvo XC90 and I got an Infiniti FX 35. In this case, I outgoaled myself. I did better than I thought I was able to.
Most of the time this is the case. I set up a certain goal, start working towards it, and then I wake up one day realizing that I have much more than I initially wanted.
I call this the “quantum element”. If you do your job properly, if you stay on the trip, the milestones will be much more rewarding than you can imagine. It’s like reality is suddenly activating some invisible triggers telling you “ok, I know you wanted this, but I’m going to give you that instead, because, well, it’s much more fun”.
But be aware that sometimes this “quantum element” may be working “against” you. You may get a lower vibration. For instance, I am fully aware that I may not get a jet, but only a regular, 4 seater plane. That may happen.
We may not get exactly what we want. Sometimes we get more, sometimes we get less. I think it’s part of a bigger process, which is tightly connected with acceptance and observation. This “quantum element” adds a certain degree of randomness to our trip. Maybe for preventing us from get too wired up in our own little wishes. If we would always get what we want, life would be pretty boring and predictable, isn’t it?
But that’s another story.
Well, 5 years is a lot of time. Since I’m finished with the Assess and Decide part of my jet goal, I’ll just continue to do my work here, on this blog.
And that’s how goal settings works. At least for me. 😉Circa 946 A.D., a mountain exploded violently along what is now the border of North Korea and China. The eruption—among the most intense in recorded history—flung ash as far away as Japan and left a large, bowl-shaped depression (a caldera) atop Mount Paektu (known as Changbaishan in China).
Between 2002 and 2005, a surge of weak earthquakes around Paektu aroused concerns that lava could be flowing into a shallow magma chamber and increasing the risk of another major eruption. Such an eruption would put the 1.6 million people who live within 100 kilometers (60 miles) of the volcano at risk. In response, government scientists from North Korea reached out to seismologists from abroad for assistance in studying the volcano. The unusual research collaboration involved scientists from North Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States, and China. After deploying a network of seismometers (sensors that measure the motion of the ground) in 2013 in China and North Korea, the international group published their first results in April 2016.
On September 22, 2015, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 captured this image of Mount Paektu. Forests surrounding the mountain appear dark green. The less-heavily vegetated slopes of the 2,744-meter (9,003-foot) mountain are light green. Heaven Lake sits within the caldera at the top of the mountain. The gray areas along the southeastern quadrant are lobes of solidified lava with minimal vegetation. Similar gray lava flows also surround a handful of cinder cones southeast of the caldera (download the large image to see them more clearly).
Mount Paektu is particularly interesting because it is relatively distant from a tectonic plate boundary. Earth’s crust and upper mantle is broken into several large, thin, rigid plates that move relative to each other. Volcanoes often form near subduction zones—areas where different plates meet and one plate slides beneath another. But as you can see in the map of plate boundary data from the U.S. Geological Survey, the boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the Okhotsk Plate or the Philippine Plate is well over 500 kilometers to the east of Paektu.
The international research team confirmed the presence a layer of partially melted rock beneath Munt Paektu. But more research and monitoring is required before scientists can say much about the size of the magma reservoir or the likelihood that it will erupt.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey and plate boundary data from the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program. Caption by Adam Voiland.William G. “Jerry” Boykin, who was deputy undersecretary of defense under George W. Bush and is now the executive vice president of the Family Resource Council, is among the signatories of a new letter opposing the nuclear deal. (Ed Andrieski/Associated Press)
A group of nearly 200 retired generals and admirals sent a letter to Congress on Wednesday urging lawmakers to reject the Iran nuclear agreement, which they say threatens national security.
The letter is the latest in a blizzard of missives petitioning Congress either to support or oppose the agreement with Iran, which would lift sanctions if Iran pared back its nuclear program. Letters have come from ad hoc groupings of rabbis, nuclear scientists, arms-control and nonproliferation experts — and now, retired senior military officers, many of whom have worked in the White House during various administrations dating to the 1980s.
The letter, addressed to Republican and Democratic leaders in the Senate and the House, is a response to one sent last week by three dozen retired senior military officers who support the nuclear deal.
“The agreement will enable Iran to become far more dangerous, render the Mideast still more unstable and introduce new threats to American interests as well as our allies,” the letter states.
[Read the open letter from retired generals and admirals opposing the deal]
Iran has finally reached a nuclear deal with the U.S. and international partners. Here's what's in the deal, and what happens next. (Gillian Brockell and Julio C. Negron/The Washington Post)
The signatories include retired generals and flag officers from every branch of service, including a handful who were involved in some public controversies during their careers.
One is retired Lt. Gen. William G. “Jerry” Boykin, who was deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence under President George W. Bush and is now executive vice president of the Family Research Council. He had a history of making controversial speeches, including one in which he characterized U.S. military operations against Islamist extremist organizations as a Christian fight against Satan.
It also was signed by retired Vice Adm. John Poindexter and retired Maj. Gen. Richard Secord, who were involved in the Iran-contra affair in the Reagan administration, in which arms were sold to Iran to fund the contras in Nicaragua.
Many of the signatories served in the White House, under Democratic administrations as well as Republican. The only thing they appear to have in common is that they consider the Iran nuclear deal a threat to U.S. interests in the region and its own national security.
Leon A. “Bud” Edney, a retired admiral who served as vice chief of naval operations, initiated the letter after he read the letter by other retired officers in support of the agreement.
“I looked at the letter they published, and thought it was very weak,” Edney said. “I just don’t agree with it.” He then got the alternative viewpoint rolling through e-mails sent to some of his Navy and Marine friends. They in turn passed it on.
The competing opinions espoused by people within each group reflect the intense lobbying campaign underway even as Congress is in recess. Lawmakers must vote by Sept. 17 whether to “disapprove” the deal. The Republican majority is unanimously opposed to the agreement, so the Obama administration is focusing on ensuring that enough Democrats support it to sustain a presidential veto. They are close to succeeding. So far, 29 senators have announced their support, only five votes short of the 34 needed to block a veto override.
View Graphic Where lawmakers stand on the Iran deal
[The historic nuclear deal with Iran: How it works]
Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney, who was vice commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, said he considers the agreement the most dangerous nuclear accord in U.S. history.
“What I don’t like about this is, the number one leading radical Islamic group in the world is the Iranians,” he said. “They are purveyors of radical Islam throughout the region and throughout the world. And we are going to enable them to get nuclear weapons. Why would we do that?”
McInerney said he thinks that most retired general officers do not support the agreement, but he said some did not sign the letter because they feared negative career repercussions.
“I don’t think the retired general officers necessarily speak with one voice,” he said. “We’ve all gone our own way when we retired.”
The opinions expressed in the letter were popular enough that people rushed to sign on, even in the hours before it was sent to Congress. The number of signatories almost doubled between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, copies of the letter showed.
But it’s unclear whether the letter, or any of those written by people on either side of the issue, will have any effect on Congress. Edney suspects it won’t.
“I don’t think this letter will sway anything,” he said. “It’s just the opinion of people who have served their country. It’s an alternative view to what I consider a very weak letter put out by the administration implying generals and admirals support this agreement. But I don’t think it will have any impact.”
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By Dustin Rowles | Lists | May 8, 2012 |
Gay marriage is in the news again this week for a few reasons. Foremost among them is the Obama Administration's efforts to balance their actual feelings about gay marriage with what is most politically expedient. Vice President Joe Biden and Education Secretary Arne Duncan both came out with clear support of gay marriage, although the Obama Administration is trying to have their cake and eat it, too, by making it apparent that individuals in the administration support gay marriage but the administration itself does not. It's a tough line to straddle in a country where 47 |
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